"I am always surprised at how quickly the Spirit can change our very nature".....Week 75

Hey!

So the other night we were out walking in Eastwood, its basically a mini China, and we saw in the crowd this Tongan man. We ran over and began talking to him in Tongan and found he could speak English a little. As we talked he told us he was a member and that his wife was not. He said she was from Italy and we needed to come teach her. We swapped details and went to visit on Sunday evening,  but when we typed in his address we couldn't find it. We drove around searching and were led to a street that sounded similar to what he had told us. We knocked on the number and an old Italian man answered. We asked if Tavete was there and he said "ohhhh yes yes yes come in come in!" so we went inside and began talking with him and his wife, who live with her parents, and it was awesome.  She was ready for the gospel. We set an appointment to come back and teach for Tuesday, which is today, and we taught her about God and Jesus Christ and what it would mean for her.  She told us of a hard past. We read 3 Nephi 9:13-14 which talks about coming to Christ and letting him heal you. We asked if she would come unto Christ and be healed. She said that she wanted that more than anything. We committed her to be baptized so she could receive a remission of her sins and be clean again. She accepted to be baptized on May 21. As we promised her the blessings that would come into her life we began to weep, we all cried together as the Spirit testified to us that God was real and that the healing that comes through His Son is real. I know God lives. She is looking forward to being sealed in the temple to her husband and 2 month old daughter and to have an eternal family. There is honestly no joy that compares to how I felt when she said that she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be healed through the power of His Atonement by being baptized.     

Sarah is doing amazing as well, we had an awesome 2 lessons with her this week. We taught the law of chastity and the word of wisdom and she accepted them with no hesitation. We asked her after teaching the word of wisdom how she feels she has progressed since we found her 4 weeks or so ago. She told us how she can feel her testimony deepening. She knows and believes God is there and said she is looking forward to the blessings of the temple one day. I am always surprised at how quickly the Spirit can change our very nature. Sarah in a few short weeks has gone from being sure God is not there to knowing for a fact that He is.  

I can promise that God is there. He is a real and living God who knows His children. He knew that Tavete would be in Eastwood coming home from work and that his wife was yearning for the gospel. And so he led us to him so we could bring her the message that God still speaks. God knew that Sarah was having a hard time and that she would go for a walk to clear her mind. He prompted her to walk a way that she never had before because he knew that's where we would be walking. There have been countless times in my mission where I have seen God working through us to serve his children. It has made me realize that that is the most precious thing in the world to me. The truth that God still speaks, the heavens are not closed. People may doubt the reality of God, people may say that science proves its all a fairy tale, they may say we can't really know if God is there. But I know that God lives. He speaks and I hope I always am listening. The day will come when we will stand before Him and I think Alma puts how I want to feel perfectly:

Alma 5:14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

 15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

 16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

I have been Spiritually born of God, I'm trying to receive His image in myself, To align my will with His so that my heart can be changed to be one with His. I know that my Redeemer lives, Oh what comfort this sweet sentence gives. 

Have an awesome week!

Elder White

"I have come to know how the Spirit speaks to me. It's personal for each of us, but it's one of the most precious things to discover"....Week 74

Hey Everyone!

So just a quick update this week, Im getting a new companion once again! He is from Nevada and is awesome so we will see how this transfer goes! I am now on my 10th companion I think. 

Sarah is doing amazing this week. Honestly I am surprised at how much love you can have for a investigator after knowing them for only a month. She is so prepared for this gospel. Just from last week til now she has read all of Alma. She will text us her favorite part she read and the notes she writes about it. She has had some trials since learning about the gospel with her family and boyfriend rejecting her, but she doesn't care -she knows it is true. She came to a baptism this Saturday and loved it. She is so excited for her own baptism. It will be on May 14th and she will be confirmed on May 15th. Honestly the best birthday present I could ask for. I feel that this is real joy, seeing other people come unto Christ and find the joy in it. This was her favorite scripture this week: 

Alma34:36 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.

She is so ready for this gospel. I think that scripture is good advice for all of us, to stop contending with the Spirit but to yield our hearts to it's promptings. Maybe that is a challenge I will give for these next few weeks. Learn how the Spirit speaks to you and act on those promptings. I have come to know how the Spirit speaks to me. It's personal for each of us, but it's one of the most precious things to discover.

I am doing good, I love being a missionary. There isn't much joy that compares to this. I am truly happy. I hope you all have a great week!

Love elder white

"....running and tripping up stairs to hear the prophet and apostles speak..." Week 73

General Conference Week!

General conference was awesome this week! I received the answers and comfort I needed. After the Saturday morning session we had a lesson about a 20 minute train ride away from the chapel. We taught Sarah who is the one we found 3 weeks ago on Monday evening that is awesome, I will talk more about her later. But we had finished the lesson and realized conference was starting soon so we caught the train back and when we got to the train station we were a 15 min walk away from the chapel and conference started in 5 minutes. We looked at each other and took off in full sprint in our suits with our bags and everything so we wouldn't miss out on any general conference. We got lots of weird looks for our choice in running apparel but we could care less. I was thinking about it and it was funny to see the change from a few years ago how I felt about conference to today where we were running and tripping up stairs to hear the prophet and apostles speak. It is such a blessing to hear from them. 

Sarah is doing so awesome.  We had a lesson with her Saturday and we taught the plan of salvation, she loved it. She texted us one night and said how she loves praying now. She can feel Gods love and power when she prays. She came to conference sunday morning and at the end we asked her which talk was her favorite. She said she loved the prophet the most! President Monson is a spiritual giant, he can say so little but it means so much. After conference we showed her the baptism font and she said she would be baptized. She wants it in her life so much. We showed her a picture of the temple in her home town in taiwan and she wants to go there one day. 

This week was all around great, we finished up our trainings in all the disricts of the zone and have some good things comming up this week! 

Here is part 2 of the list i sent last week from our mission president.

Several speaker’s challenged us to apply Moroni’s promise. They bore witness of the Book of Mormon. Here is part 2 of your challenge, the challenge Joseph accepted and fulfilled through help from heaven;

You must have;
16. Tens and hundreds of thousands (over 1 million missionaries with millions of members) must bear record to the world for the next 185 years that they know the record to be true, because they put the promise to the test and found it to be true, the truth manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
17. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants and scholars must subscribe discipleship to the record and its movement even to the point of laying down their lives. 
18. Your descriptions of the cultures in these civilizations of which you will write about is not known when you publish your manuscript.
19. There can be no logical flaw whatsoever in the entire book. 
20. Yet, you must not make any absurd, impossible, or contradictory statements.
21. Even so, many of the facts, ideas, and statements given us as true in your record must be entirely inconsistent, even the direct opposite of the prevailing beliefs of the world. Very little is even claimed to be known about these civilizations and their 1,000 years of history. 
22. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text with care. You must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of all those most eager to prove it a forgery and who are most competent to expose any flaw in it. 
23. Thorough investigation, scientific evidence and archaeological discoveries for the next 185 years must verify your claims and prove even the minutest details of your history to be perfectly true. 
24. After 185 years of extensive analysis, no claim or fact in the book is disproved, but all is vindicated. Other theories and ideas as to its origin, rise, and fall, leaving your claims as the only possible ones. 
25. Internal and external prophecies must be confirmed and fulfilled in the next 185 years.
26. Three honest, credible witnesses must testify to the whole world that an angel from heaven appeared to them and showed them the ancient records from which you claim your record is translated.
27. You must call out of heaven the voice of the Redeemer to declare to the three witnesses that your record is true and that it is their responsibility to bear testimony, and that they do. 
28. Eight other witnesses must testify to the world that they saw the ancient records in broad daylight and they handled them and felt the engraving thereon. 
29. The first three and the second eight witnesses must bear their testimony, not for the profit or gain, but under great personal sacrifice, persecution, and even to their death. 
30. You must find someone to finance your book with the understanding that he nor you will ever receive any monetary remuneration from it. You must sell the book at cost or less. 
31. Finally, after suffering persecution and revilement for 20 years after you finish the book, you must willingly give your own life for your testimony that the record is from God. 

What a remarkable test. What a challenge. And yet the Prophet Joseph fulfilled each item. His testimony is so powerful. It is why we share his testimony of the first vision. Know my friends that this book and this work are true. It bears witness of Christ the Messiah like no other book ever written. It teaches basic Doctrines that support the Fathers plan clearly.

God loves us enough to send us the means to grow our faith. Please read the Book of Mormon and apply Moroni’s promise, you will receive great blessings.

I echo what my mission president said. Read the Book of Mormon. It is divine and true. I know it for a surety, God does live He is our almighty Father in Heaven and through His Son Jesus Christ, Who is mighty to save, we can  return in glory to God's presence. 

I love you all!

Elder White 

"It's amazing how the Book of Mormon changes lives" Week 72

Hey!

This week has been great, Carlingford is awesome, so many people here. We are teaching people from Lithuania, Persia, Pakistan, China, Tawain, Korea.... it's crazy how many different cultures there are. Like the other night we went to a barbecue with an investigator from Lithuania, one from the Netherlands, and one from Brazil. It feels like I am traveling the world haha. 

A cool experience this week was a follow up from last week's email.  We met with that girl twice since last monday. She is so awesome. We set a baptism day with her for april 30th and when she put it in her phone she wrote "best day of my life" as the note! We were teaching her at a park yesterday and read alma 32 with her and just mega applied it to her life. She realized she wants her tree to grow, and she said she will water it everyday. She is really starting to find how awesome her life can and will be with Jesus Christ back in it. I love teaching people about this message. Without fail it brings happiness. It is a full proof plan. 

One night, I think Friday, we were traveling back at 9 to get home and as we were sitting at the train station waiting for the bus I was watching this woman.  She had her head in her hands and looked like she had a rough day. I went and sat by her and said hello.  We began to talk and she told me she was from Persia and had come here for work and couldn't get a job. She had only been here 1 month. She just got divorced and all these other things just weighing down on her. I asked if she had a religion she said no. She had never been to church before.  We talked about how Christ could help her. She said she would come to church. And she came! She loved it and we are seeing her later this week. 

The man from Pakistan named AK I talked about a week or 2 ago is on date for april 23rd. He is loving the Book of Mormon. We read alma 36 with him and he felt like it was God giving him the advice for his life. It's amazing how the Book of Mormon changes lives. People can deny it all they want, but it will always stand as a tetimony of this work.

Our mission president sent us this:

Occasionally some say "I could believe your Mormon Doctrine if I just didn’t have to swallow the story about Joseph Smith being a man of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon from some golden plates which he claimed he found on a hillside."   It is even possible that you yourself have doubted his story. Well let us consider some facts or conditions that must be complied with in order for you or someone else to produce a similar record under comparable conditions. 

1. You must be between 23 and 24 years of age.
2. You cannot be a college graduate. In fact, you can only have three years of formal schooling.
3. Whatever you write must be on the basis of what you know.
4. You must write a book with 239 chapters; 54 of them about wars, 21 about history, 55 about prophecy, 71 about doctrines, 17 about missionaries, and 21 about the mission of Christ. 
5. You must include in your writings the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people. 
6. Your writings must describe the religious, economic, social and political cultures and institutions of these two nations.
7. You must weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living. 
8. When you start to produce this record, covering a period over 1,000 years, you must finish it in approximately 80 days.
9. When you have finished, you must not make any changes in the text. The first edition must stand forever. 
10. After pauses for sleep and food, if you are dictating to a stenographer, you must never ask to have the last paragraph or last sentence read back to you.
11. Your history or record must be long, approximately 522 pages with over 150 words per page.
12. You must announce that your “smooth narrative” is not fiction, but true, yes, sacred history.
13. In fact, it must fulfil the Bible prophecies; even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom given, and its purpose and accomplishments.
14. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, declaring it to be the word of God.
15. You must include with the record itself this marvellous promise: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask of God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

I thought it was pretty awesome. But even without all that I would know it is true. I have studied it for hours every single day for almost a year and a half now. I have studied it side by side with the bible and have come to know it is good. It is true. 

love you all!

elder white