"I just want you all to know God is there. No matter what happens in the world. He does care about us." Week 71

Hello!  

This week was awesome. We are really seeing some amazing miracles. We have 3 baptism dates we set this week with some of the people we are working with! Its been a focus of ours to really try to connect with people this week. It has been a cool experience just having people open up to us about how their life is going and the struggles they have. 

A funny experience this week- we were out walking and were dying of thirst so we decided to knock on a door and ask for some water. This old chinese lady answered and my comp spoke to her in mandarin and away she went. She came back with a big bottle of soda water. We looked at each other and shrugged. She poured us each a glass and I swear it was so hard to drink the whole cup.  It was nasty.. But my comp was seriously struggling.  It was so funny and when he finally finished she asked us if we wanted more and I said no but hesaid he did so he got another glass full haha. It was just a little thing but it was crack up. I have never seen someone struggle so hard to drink soda water!

A spiritual experience this week-  We were out walking Monday evening. It was raining and windy and cold so there weren't many people out but we didnt have anything else planned for the last 30 min of our work day. A chinese girl rushed past us trying to get home out of the cold. We decided not to stop her because we knew no one would want to talk out in this weather. Then I got an impression I needed to reach out to her. I turned and called out to her. She stopped and turned and we walked up. We  began talking and she threw so many barriers up. We stopped and asked "have you ever had anything happen in your past that you wish the pain could be wiped away from"? She paused and said yes. We began to talk about her life and the things she had been through. It was a powerful experience for me. Then she told us she had believed in God once, but that she had called out to Him for help and He never answered. She took that to mean He was not there. We began to talk about the Nature of God and how much He really does love us. We talked about how sometimes He won't take away the trial but will give us the strength to go through it and how its up to us to learn the lesson from it. She really opened up and we have had a few lessons now. She is loving it all. 

Well I just want you all to know God is there. No matter what happens in the world. He does care about us. And through Jesus Christ and his suffering we can find peace in the darkest moments.

Love you all! 

Elder White

"Please don't ever get off the train. Because I know I never will" Week 70

Hey mom, 

Thanks for the letter. This has been an awesome week:) I'm feeling so good about my mission. We had some awesome highlights this week. We had a very busy week, we only were in our area working for like 2 or 3 days and we were feeling pretty down. Just because we want to set the example for the zone. and things were moving a little bit slow. So on saturday night we opened a fast together for miracles to happen and the work to progress. And God answered our fast. We found 5 solid new investigators in just a few hours. One of them is named A-K, he is from Pakistan.  We knocked on his door randomly and he opened it. We talked for a little and I asked if we could come in. He said sure and we went in and sat down. We asked him questions and just kinda got to know each other. We asked what his hopes were and he said "I want to feel peace". We asked what he thought would bring him peace. He paused and thought and then looked at us and said "I need to know where I came from...what is my purpose on this earth, why did God send us here to be alone, and where do we go after"? We looked at each other and I pulled out a plan of salvation pamphlet. We only had a few minutes so we opened up to the back where it has this chart,

We walked through it with him. We told him about how much God loved us and how he wanted us to be as happy as He was so we had to come down to the earth He created for us and receive a body and experience sorrow so we can prize the good. We taught him how when Adam and Eve disobeyed a commandment of God sin and death came into the world, We told him that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can overcome those two things, and the way we access the atonement is through Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. 

As we got to that point he asked a deep question.  He said let me give you a scenario.  What if there was a man who did good his whole life but never knew of God, and then you have a man who knows God but doesnt follow what he knows. Who is better in the sight of God?  

We then told him of the Spirit world, and how those who never heard of the gospel are being taught there, and that through the restored gospel they can be baptized and receive the atonement in their lives. He was silent for a moment and then whispered quietly "I knew it". He was worried for his grandparents who had passed away without this knowledge. 

We then taught how we will be resurrected and judged for our works but that we dont need to be scared, as long as we do the things we need to do to have the atonement in our lives.

He asked us to come back tuesday to teach him more. He is so ready.   

There were other little miracles like that throughout the day. Just things comming through that we really needed to happen. God really is out there watching and caring for us

This scripture stuck out to me this week, 

Omni1:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying,and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

I love the part about offering up our whole souls to God. One of the apostles said "sacrifice never was just putting the animal on the alter, it was putting the animal inside of each of us on the alter and letting it be consumed in the flames" I know God is there, This is His church. We just need to decide for ourselves what we are willing to do and where we are willing to go. One of my recent converts said this to me, "Elder White I'm not really sure where this train is heading but I have decided to hop on and I never plan on getting off"  I hope we can all be like this.  We are on a fast moving train. It's destination is the Celestial kingdom with all the glory and happiness of the Father. We can't afford to get off the train because we never know when the trains will keep coming by to let us hop back on when we decide we are ready. God is hastening His work we have to make our decision to stay on the train or get off. Because eventually it will be too late to leave our sin and laziness and ask to be let back on the train. I feel we might find that the train is long gone and that we have wasted the time God has given us. It reminds me of this scripture,

Alma 34:35-38  35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his;therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you,and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

 36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out;but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.

 37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;

 38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ;that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

I know we can be made clean through the blood of the lamb. The atonement is there for all of us. I know we can make it as a family. We can ride this train together all the way to the celestial kingdom of God and be there never more to go out. I want you all to know that I love you I think of you every day. Please dont ever get off the train. Because I  know I never will. Read the scriptures, say your prayers, partake of the sacrament. These will keep you safe. The will keep your seat sure on the train. The way is straight and narrow but it is full of protection and love. We can do this:) 

Love you all,

Elder White

"...and have loved every bit of it so far. The hard times and the good times" Week 69

Hey!

So this week has been great. I'm right across the street from the temple and mission office so that's been fun. Because we are so close we get special assignments sometimes.  Like for three days this week we had an elder from south america staying with us before he went home. He was crazy haha.

We are right on the other side of the Harbour bridge from my old area in the city, and its still like 90% asian here! My companion speaks mandarin though and they are always surprised. It's funny because we will walk up and say hi or something and they will just ignore us.  Then he whips out the chinese and boom they love us haha, their chins just drop and its awesome:) 

We have some good people we are working with in our ward and some good investigators. All we do in this new area is GQing. It means golden question. So we just talk to people on the train or bus or on the street and its awesome. It took me a day or two to get used to it again because it takes you way out of your comfort zone but its all good. 

There isnt too much to report on yet but I know good things will happen in this area. We are working hard and finding heaps of people willing to hear our message. Most of the appointments are for this week!

This zone is a lot different than the last one, no more polynesian missionaries haha.  Most of them in this zone are asian.  They are awesome though. Their conversion stories are all amazing. 

One cool experience this week is we were working through a list the bishop gave us and it was about 9pm so we were walking to the car to head home and as we passed a door we felt like we should knock on it. We knocked and a chinese student answered. She said "hey! I have seen you before.  Do you want to come in?"  We said sure and sat down with her and her boyfriend.  They brought us some water and strawberries and it was just totally different than anything that has ever happened with chinese people. They usually never let people in! But we talked and began to teach them. They had awesome questions and we were able to help them. We just saw them again last night and talked more. They ran into some anti stuff but are not sure if they beleive it. We resolved their concerns and will see them again on Sunday. They are doing awesome:)

The mission is going great.  I'm at about 16 months now and have loved every bit of it so far. The hard times and the good times. 

Love you all! 

Elder White