Week 6:  What a Week!

Mom's Favorite Quote of the Week:  This is a quote from a personal email sent to me (Mom) this week that I really wanted to share.  She has been encouraging our family to read and study the scriptures and not just read them to say that we have read them.  So when we were taught about "Ponderizing" the scriptures I knew that it was exactly what she had been challenging us as a family to do.  This was her reply to my statement.  "Ponderizing...exatly what I was talking about a couple of weeks ago.  The great thing is, in our weekly planning I had set aside Moroi 10:4-5 to be the verse that I would focus on this week.  It proves to me that I am doing what I am supposed to be doig, Elder Durrant confirmed it!"  

Each Tuesday the Nevel's set aside their evening to spend with Sister Fisher and I.  If I haven't told you before that we have the best members in Fulton, we have the best members!!!  Unfortunately the appointment that we had set up cancelled :( so we spend a lot of time trying to find less active members whom we could visit.  The 8 o'clock hour is the hardest time to be out just because it's alreay dark and I always feel so bad knocking on people's doors.  Plus there is always the temptation of going back to the apartment and getting to bed a little bit early!  But it is also known as the miracle hour!  We have been trying multiple families and finally decided to try the Jamison family.  Much to our surprise we also found Sister Felt with the Jamisons, a woman we had been trying to contact earlier that day!  What a blessing.

Wednesday we had an appointment with our investigator, Juanita.  Juanita is a baptist minister who runs a church out of her home.  We had asked her to read the Restoration pamphlet and to pray to know if it was true.  Well she did just that.  But she didn't exactly give us the reaction we had been hoping for.  She told us that we needed to get right with the Lord and that one day we would come crawling back to her to tell her that she was right.  When she said that I kind of chuckled to myself, even though I probably shouldn't have.  I learned for myself that people really do have to be prepared to receive the gospel!

Thursday Sister Fisher was really sick so we spent the whole morning in the apartment so she could sleep.  I don't think I have ever felt so helpless!  I really did not like just sitting there, I wanted to be out working!  Around 2 o'clock we had to go to Columbia for a Zone Conference so we met up with some of the other Sisters and drove up there.  Last week the Zone Leaders had called and asked Sister Fisher if I was musically talented.  Unfortunately, I was out of the room so Sister Fisher said yes and that I would love to sing for Zone Conference.  So, I ended up singing "Beautiful Savior".  I really was trying to get Sister Fisher to sing with me since she volunteered me, but since she was sick I let her off the hook.

Conference was THE BEST!  What a great experience to be able to raise my arm to the square and sustain the three new apostles!  My favorite talk was Elder Jeffery R. Holland's.  Mother's are such a blessing and I would be completely lost without mine and her willingness to cintinue to bear me up.  I also really enjoyed the testimony of the newly sustained apostle, Elder Dale G Renlund and his story of how he had hardened his heart to mourning, because of his occupation.  But after he saw the parents of one of his patients weeping he began to weep himself.  And too much surprise, the parents comforted him.  How important it is to be able to see people through our Heavenly Father's eyes!  We are all brothers and sisters, how would we act if we truly saw others as our siblings?

I hope you all have a great week!

My address is:  

808 Center Street, Apt 203

Fulton, MO  65251

Love, 

Sisiter White

Here are some fun pics I would like to share!

First picture is Sister Fisher and I.
Second picture is Sister Sperry and I out on exchanges in Columbia
Third picture is Sister Fisher and I.  What scripture will you "Ponderize" this week?

Week 5:  Miracles in Missouri

Mom's Favoriet Quote of the Week:  When life gets too hard to stand, kneel.  Our Heavenly Father needs strong servants in his war against the devil.  How are we supposed to get stronger when life is comfortable? ... I am thankful for my trials because they have made me a stronger servant of the Lord; I would not be who I am without them.

This week has been nothing short of miracles!  We have been able to grow our teaching pool tremendously and Sister Fisher and I definitely have our work cut out for us!  We saw tender mercies as almost all of our appointments were cancelled on Wednesday so we were driving home trying to eet with our investigator when I saw an enderly woman sitting on her front porch.  Her face was flushed and it looked like she had been weeding her flowerbed.  I told Sister Fisher that we should pull over and go help her and she kind of looked at me like I was crazy because I was wearing a cream colored skirt and cream colored shoes and they would get all dirty. We finally pulled oer once we were around the corner and as we came walking up to her she said to us, "You're nissionaries, aren't you?"  We said yes, and then she told us to come and sit down and teach her about Jesus.  Well we definitely weren't expecting that!  I replied by saying, "Well, while Jesus Christ was on the earth, he went about doing service, so that's what we came to do!"  She actually put us to work!  Most people tell us that they don't need any help because we're in skirts and we probably shouldn't get the dirty.  Well I could care less about getting dirty! As we were working the woman said to us, "I didn't even ask the Lord to help, but he sent you anyway.  Goes to show that he knows what we need better than I do!  Cause I was just wondering how I was ever going to finish this by  myself."

This Friday I went on exchanges for the first time.  So I went up to Columbia with Sister Sperry.  That evening we were able to teach a family of seven.  The unique thing about this is, they spoke Thai and Burmese!  So I have been able to experience all types of culture right here in Missouri.  When we taught the faily about the First Vision, their reaction was, "Wow."  I love seeing the spirit touch people's hearts.  It was a miracle.  They later told us how they wanted to be baptized.  It made me sad that I can't be there to continue to teach them!  But it was an amazing experience.  Another investigator that we taught while on exchanges was Dod.  He was feeling that he has been stuck in a rut and has done everything he can to get out of it.  It was azing to see Sister Sperry litterally be the mouthpiece of our Father in Heaven.  I have never had an experience like it.  Sister Sperry is near the end of her mission, with only three weeks left and she said that Friday tops all the days that she has had.  It was Amazing!!!

Saturday was my one month birthday!  It is crazy to think that I have already been out for a month.  I came back to Fulton and we were visiting some less actives.  We met a less active who told us that she did not have any faith and didn't really want to build faith.  That broke my heart.  She continued to tell us of how she got in the situation she is now in.  I know that life is not easy for any of us.  But for me, the only way I have been able to get through those hard times is by praying.  When life gets too hard to stand, kneel.  Our Heavenly Father needs strong servants in his war against the devil.  How are we supposed to get stronger when life is comfortable?  In Women's Conference, Sister Reeves said that, "This is the time to prepare to meet God, not receive all his blessings."  We will be blessed as we overcome our trials, but those blessings are only the beginning of what He wants to give us.  He loves us.  And he weeps with us when we weep.  He wants to help us and He will.  I have felt it. God created us to be happy.  I am thankful for my trials because they have made me a stronger servant of the Lord; I would not be who I am without them.

Week 4:  Second week in Missouri

Mom's Favorite Quote of the Week:  There is a universal need in the world; the gospel.  Share it :)

This week has been great!  Sister Fisher and I have been focusing on trying to build our teaching pool because it is slowly diminishing.  So we have set a goal to tract for an hour every day so that we can find more souls who are searching.  On Wednesday we had our Missionary Coordination meeting whichis always exciting and motivating because we have such great ward missionaries!  Brother Brake is attending one of the Universities here in town and is doing a conference on campus where he teaches some of the doctrine of the gospel.  He did it last year where he taught some of the misconceptions and had a really big crowd so he is expecting even more this year.  He asked Sister Fisher and I to help him teach some of the doctrine which is great and should be fun!  Then he said that he wants me to teach most of it.  Oh my goodness!!  I got scared!  I told him that I was going to ask my Mom to pray for me and they all laughed like it was a big joke.  Little did they know how serious I was; Mom please pray for me! :D

On Friday we had a Mission Tour with Elder Grow from the Seventy.  It turned out to be exactly what I needed!  One of the things that was brought up was:  no matter how active someone is in the church, everyone is three weeks away from being inactive.  AH  how true that is!  I know for myself how easy it is to justify stayig home from church.  But I know how important church attendance is!  Personally, if I have missed church my whole week is off. Attending church sets the tone for the rest of the week.  We all have to continue to endure to the end, because it's not over unti we're all safely dead!  Near the end of the meeting, the missionaries were given a half and hour to ask Elder Grow anything that we wanted.  One of the questions was, "What is the key to staying active?"  His answer, TITHING.  People are not going to pay tithing if they don't have faith in where their money is going.  Put your faith where your money is and your money where your faith is.  I have seen that when you do so, the Lord will bless you by making sure everything works out like it's supposed to.  Especially when you sacrifce to pay tithing.

Once we got home from the mission tour, we had about an hour and a half, so we decided to go visit one of our former investigators, Diana and Greg.  It was great to be able to meet them but the lesson didn't go as well as we had hoped and we left pretty upset.  Earlier that week we had received an online referral, Allison, whom we contacted but they didn't even answer.  When we came out of the lesson with Diana ad Greg we had a call from Allison so we called her back.  She said that she was interested and was planning on going to church with three of her friends on Sunday.  Allison's phone call was exactly what we needed to feel like we could move on from Diana and Greg and to continue to find others.  Earlier that day, Elder Grow had talked about how it is okay to move on from investigators who are not progressing because there are people out there who will progress.  We just have to find them.  Missionaries are not the only oes who have that responsibility either.  As members of His church, we are supposed to share our testimonies and share our knowledge that we have o this good news.  With General Conference coming up, I challenge each of you to invite sone one to come unto Christ, by inviting them to listen to the words of the prophets.  There is a universal need in the world; the gospel.  Share it :)

I hope you all have a great week!
Love you all!

Sister White