"My mission has meant everything to me"......Week 104

THE LAST ONE

Well, these 2 years have flown by. This is my last email before I fly home in two days. It's almost impossible to describe how you feel as a missionary when it's all over. You leave your home and everything else for 2 years. You don't take holidays off, there are no vacations, weekends don't exist. You get rejected, yelled at, people swear at you as they drive by, and sometimes it feels like you and your companion are against the world. But the funny thing is that not a single one of those things matters in the least amount. In fact you don't even think twice about them. Because on the other side you have the Spirit burning like a bonfire inside of you, you see miracles left and right, you see people's lives change for the better. And those few things outweigh all the bad things that may happen. 

My mission has meant everything to me. It has been the best choice I have made in my life up to this point. My testimony has become solid. I love the simple and the deep things of this gospel. It's all true. 

I was actually surprised how much i loved it. No music, tv, movies, anything for two years. Honestly I can't remember a single day where i missed those things. There was never time to miss them haha. 

This week has gone by in a rush. There have been so many feasts that I am sick of eating. It's a burden now haha. I have gotten so many gifts and felt so much love from these members. Man I will miss the Samoans. It has been a cool experience being the zone leader over a Samoan stake. There are a lot of cool experiences that come with it. 

I like this story and since it is the Christmas season I figured I would share it. 

"There was a little crippled boy who ran a small newsstand in a crowded railroad station. He must have been about twelve years old. Every day he would sell papers, candy, gum, and magazines to the thousands of commuters passing through the terminal.

"One night two men were rushing through the crowded station to catch a train. One was fifteen or twenty yards in front of the other. It was Christmas Eve. Their train was scheduled to depart in a matter of minutes.

"The first man turned a corner and in his haste to get home to a Christmas cocktail party plowed right into the little crippled boy. He knocked him off his stool, and candy, newspapers, and gum were scattered everywhere. Without so much as stopping, he cursed the little fellow for being there and rushed on to catch the train that would take him to celebrate Christmas in the way he had chosen for himself.

"It was only a matter of seconds before the second commuter arrived on the scene. He stopped, knelt, and gently picked up the boy. After making sure the child was unhurt, the man gathered up the scattered newspapers, sweets, and magazines. Then he took his wallet, and gave the boy a five dollar bill. 'Son,' he said, 'I think this will take care of what was lost or soiled. Merry Christmas!'

"Without waiting for a reply the commuter now picked up his briefcase and started to hurry away. As he did, the little crippled boy cupped his hands together and called out, 'Mister, Mister!'

"The man stopped as the boy asked, 'Are you Jesus Christ?'

"By the look on his face, it was obvious the commuter was embarrassed by the question. But he smiled and said, 'No, son. I am not Jesus Christ, but I am trying hard to do what He would do if He were here."

Thats what I tried to do as a missionary.  That's what we should all try to do as Christians.

I love you all and can't wait to talk to you later this week. My mom already claimed rights to the first hug but there are still some spots open if you would like to book in your hug haha;) 

See you all soon.

Love,

Elder White

"God make me into what you want me to be and please don't throw me on the scrap heap." ".....Week 103

G'day,

Well this is the start of my last week on the mission. It has gone by so quickly but at the same time so much has happened. It still hasn't really hit me that I will be coming home soon. It should be all good though haha.  I'm pretty pumped to see all yous.

This was a good week. We saw some miracles and also some trials. Our investigator is still struggling to get over some addictions. He is so close, it makes me realize how thankful I am for the word of wisdom. Our investigator from Venezuala has been really sick this week so we haven't been able to see her. We brought her some star bucks to cheer her up though! She was way excited and then when she took a sip a confused look came over her face and she said "what kind of coffe is this?". And we laughed and said its hot chocolate. She was disappointed haha. It reminded me of one time when I was teaching a ninvestigator in the city and we had just finished the law of tithing or something. As we were getting up to leave she asked if we had a pamphlet that she could study for next time. We said yes and I pulled a random one out of my bag. It was the word of wisdom pamphlet, we thought it was good enough and handed it to her. She thanked us and told us she was going to starbucks to meet up with a friend for some coffee and that she would read it while she was waiting haha. We thought it was pretty funny. 

My studies were awesome this week. I was reading some different things from the Prophet Joseph Smith. I love Joseph Smith,  I love his teachings and what he did for us. It is such a cool and amazing thing to have modern prophets. 

This week has been a war on the mice. Our flat has heaps of them. Because our neighbors that live in the other half of our house are hoarders. So all the mice come into our place as well. We have killed like 10 this week! 

The deaf man iItalked about last week is doing solid. We had a lesson with him on Saturday and he showed up to church. He has gone through quite a bit in his life. He is seeking direction and he feels that we are helping him find it. After our lesson we watched the mormon message called Refiners Fire. He was crying at the end of it and he really understood why we face hard times as well as good times. I was reading this story about a blacksmith the other day and it talked about a man who was a blacksmith. His family was Christian and after many years he eventually softened his heart and believed in God and everything. But as soon as he made that change in his life everything seemed to go wrong. His buisness started failing, his friends left him and so on. One day a close friend of his came around to his shop. They began talking and his friend said he didn't want to put down his new found faith, but just thought it was interesting that the moment he began following God everything seemed to fall apart for him.The blacksmith was quiet for a moment then he said "do you know what i do as a blacksmith?" He said "I take this metal here and heat it until it is red. Then I pound it over and over with my mallet then plunge it into cold water. I do this over and over until it becomes what I want it to be. Sometimes, he said, the metal doesnt hold up to this treatment. I dont know why it fails but I know it will never make a good horse shoe or whatever else it is that I am making. So I take it and toss it on the scap heap." He then said to his friend, "I am feeling the heat and the blows from the mallet right now in my life." HE said "this is my only prayer, God make me into what you want me to be and please don't throw me on the scrap heap." 

All of us feel those blows. We just need to have faith and trust in God. When we told this to the deaf man he was quiet for a moment, then looked at us and said -that is very hard. We agreed that it was, but promised him God has not let us down yet and we know He never will.

Well I hope you all have a good week! 

Love you heaps

Elder WhIte