Worksop November 2010

Mummy and Daddy,

Oh do I have a story for you. :D Do you remember the chap Neil? He was
the one who approached US in the street, called US to come to church,
and who lived behind the door we just happened to knock one day and
schedule him for baptism? Well....he's amazing! We made a little
calendar for him to keep track of his reading and praying. He loves
checking off all the little boxes.

Anyways....we got a text message from him yesterday morning.....I
never thought I'd say this, but I really really hate text
messages.....shocked much?....so am I....Whenever people text us on
Sundays, they usually break the news to us that they're backing out of
church and the whole investigation process.....I shake my wrists at
the sky, "OOOOOH TEXT MESSAGES!!!!" .....BUT.....his text message
thanked us profusely for all we've done for him, and later he called
us right before church. I nearly had to dive after the phone as his
elated squeals rocketed it into the street.
"IT'S TRUE!!!!! IT'S TRUE!!!! IT'S ALL TRUE!!!!"
" What's true, Neil?" *shouting at the pieces of the phone in the street*
"I did what you said. I prayed and I got a RIGHT TINGLE!!!! I KNOW
IT'S TRUE!!!!!! --- Don't mind me,Neil I'm just putting the phone back
together---I JUST WANT TO SHOUT IT AT THE ROOFTOPS!!!!! IT'S TRUE!!!!
My kids can just sulk if they don't want to come to church. I'm
coming! I'm the father, I'm coming! IT'S TRUE OH THANK YOU FOR ALL
YOU'VE DONE. THIS IS AMAZING!"
You can imagine that this put a particularly good spin on the day.
I've never quite experienced this before.... :D BAM! MIRACLE!
NEXT!!!!!!

He came to church, and he looked quite smart indeed. He was so happy.
He bore his testimony to us. SO COOl. He called us a few times that
day to tell us that he invited a bunch of people to his baptism, he
prayed with some of his friends. One of his friends and his wife have
been trying to have a baby for 8 years with no luck. Neil said, let's
say a prayer, so they did and afterward Neil asked, "How do you
feel?" "I feel a right tingle!!!" hahahah Neil's referring us to his
friends....it's crazy. BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!

In other news....The latest heated debate in England....Pepsi v.
Coke.....Which is better? I agreed to a blind taste test......Guess
what I picked.....nope... wrong....Pepsi tickled my brain in the right
spot...shocked?! So was I!!!!! .I still think it was rigged to be
honest. The coke was flat and diluted....which made me anti-happy.

Life is good :D Sister Terry and I are so happy! We're planning on
going to Sherwood Forest today :D Robin Hood here I come! We're so
excited for Christmas. We bought a little £5.00 tree and decorated
it....oh! blast I should have taken a photo...will do....that's
coming. I love feeling the spirit.....even if that means I'm sweaty
all the time :D I'd rather me sweaty and happy than dry and empty :D
ha HA!!!! Being a missionary rocks. Thank you so so so so much for
letting me come here! I'm learning, and relearning stuff all the time.
I know so much, but I know absolutely nothing at the same
time....isn't it wonderful :D I know this church is true with all my
little heart...how could it not be....oh if you could just feel what I
feel right now.... :D I'm so glad that all is going well. I wish I had
more time to comment on everything, but know that it makes me happy to
hear what's going on. I love you so so so so so much! mmmmmwah!

Love always and forever
YOUR Sister Stephanie White

Worksop November 2010

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Ahhhhh.....Life is good. What to say? What to say? I will just
explain. So remember how it was time for me to take control of the
Worksop area....stress of my life...we all know responsibility gives
me gas, but I had to bite the bullet and do it anyways....so I did :D
I spent the last few days feeling like I was spinning my wheels,
straining to prove that Sister Terry and I could do this missionary
thing. Everyone in the mission was stunned that two 3 1/2 month old
sisters were put together....BAM! I wasn't :D heh heh, but I must
admit that I was feeling the pressure a bit.

Can I just tell you that I love Sister Crystal Terry so much! I've
been so so blessed with my companions thus far.......maybe I passed my
test with my many "interesting" flatmates in college heh heh...jk....who
knows....touch wood. Just a bit about her....Sister Terry is from
Wilard, Ut. She has four siblings, one of which is her fraternal twin
Angela. She is the
sweetest, sunniest person I know. She has all these goals for her life
like being on the cover of Time magazine for a medical advancement,
and travelling to space. Bears stir her soul...she'd love to rescue
bears for a living. Her favorite color is yellow, she loves
pistachio nuts, but hates fish. :D I love her, we have so much fun
together.

We were having a good long chat on our way to an appointment. I was
telling her about all my pressure and she said to me, "It's ok if we
don't make 100% standards every week. We just have to do our best." At
that very moment in time, my burden clanked to the floor of the car
and I was so happy!!!!!! Even still....I am so so happy. :D do you see
the size of that grin on my emoticon! Now that's happy. I can't fully
explain what happened in our little Vauxhall Meriva, but my little
eyeballs twinkled and the spirit told me that we were going to do
amazing things :D.BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! The moment we stepped out of the
car, we ran into this man and his dog. He told us he's happy with his
life. He has a beautiful family, everyone's fed and happy... he's
quite content, but he feels like something is missing in his life. He
sees that religious people just glow and he knows he needs to find out
more about God. BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!

Sister Terry and I were walking home for tea when I felt like we
needed to knock on a door. So we did. A man came to the window, poked
his nose through the curtain, saw who it was, flipped out, pulled down
the curtain in the process, and as he was was sorting out the door, I
said, "OH! Look who it is......it's Neil!" Neil flogged our
appointment earlier that day. Amidst all his apologies, we invited him
to be baptized and he accepted! BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!

There are so many miracles! I remember my dreams now. I've really
missed having dreams. The scriptures I need to soothe my soul appear
on the pages of the Book of Mormon as soon as I pray for them. Life is
so good :D And I'm crazy happy!!!

Side Note: Can I just tell you how much I love these oldies....hahahah
I love old
people....I love how none of them can talk at a normal volume. Either
they blast your face off or they inhale as they talk
hahahahhahahah.....I mention this merely because I'm in the Library
right now and the poor librarian is having one heck of a time trying
to explain to various "patrons" how to double click. HAHAHAHAHAH "No
sir....double...double click....that means TWO quick presses of the
button....not one long --- sir....please.....do pay atten---no, see,
that was too long....let me show you....Sir, don't click on
that......oh.................I believe it froze. Well....you'll just
have to wait in the que for another station to open, I'm afraid."
ahahahahah I love old people.
Ps..I still sound the same. :D Everyone here thinks I sound
Irish....except for the Americans who think I sound Texan....Pretty
sure I just sound the same. :D

I love you so much. I'll send you a Christmas List. Don't worry about
Heather, I'll sort something out. I'm excited about Steve Young! WHoo!
I love you so much!

Love Always and Forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White

Worksop November 2010

Mummy and Daddy!!!!

I'm happy to inform you that the clouds have parted from last week! I wish I had a bit more time to email today, but today is a little weird....we got transfer calls last night....and today we have to make...preparations....I'll get into that a bit later, but point is, I only have a little bit to write today. This week's highlights are:

Beryl's Baptism!!!!!!!! Miss Beryl Dolan got baptized on Saturday!!!! BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! Oh Miss Beryl...how I love Miss Beryl. She investigated the church three years ago, but felt like she couldn't keep the commitments that were associated with getting baptized. When Sister Owen first showed up, she felt like she needed to go see Beryl. When I showed up, we went to see Beryl once...she said flat out, "I cannot forgive...I will NOT be baptized." Alrighty then...well...we went about our merry way, and a few weeks ago I felt like we needed to go back and visit Beryl. We walked in the door, talked to her for a bit and Beryl told us she missed feeling the spirit we bring with us. She missed seeing the people at church. She didn't want to be a "visitor" any more. She wanted to "belong." BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!

Her baptism was an experience. She has knee and back problems so we finagled a way for her to get baptized on a chair. Then someone put the plug in the hole too soon and the font over flowed hhahahahha. When Beryl sat down on the chair, she was straining to keep her lips above water hahahhaha oh dear...even now...it's a visual. Then she was baptized....it was all in slow motion...all I could see was that her right hand was not aiming to plug her nose.....oh she's gonna drown. All of a sudden, from the back of the room....some tall girl with crazy long arms....we won't name names....shouted out "ooooooh.....hold your breath!!!!!" She went under for a moment, tossed about, and sputtered her way back out. SHE LIVES!!!!! BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!!!!! Good day. Good Day.

We were street contacting one Sunday morning on our way to church, and this man approached us saying, "You are from the church on Sherwood Road aren't you?" "Yes" "Oh good. You're the Mormons right?" "Yes" "Ok, brilliant....I'm coming to church next week. See you soon" Perfect. Fast Forward to Saturday night....*ring ring* *ring ring* "Hello, this is Neil, I'm coming to church tomorrow. Is it ok if I bring my kids?" "OF COURSE!" Fast Forward to Sunday afternoon during Fast and Testimony meeting. *Neil and his two kids show up. He shakes his head in wonder "This is brilliant!" He leans to me during the meeting* "Am I allowed to go up there and bear my testimony?" Risky business.....but I decided to let him. He went up on the stand and bore his testimony about the incredible warm feeling he felt in the meeting, and strength he got from Jesus Christ at the hungriest point in his life. He had quite the story, and was so impressed our church meeting. BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! Wow....

Now for the major news of last night......Transfer Calls......Our zone leaders put us all on a conference call. Our little hearts bounced about while we listened to the different assignments...."Worksop Sisters!" ooooohh....Sister Owen and I literally synchronized our nail chewing....."Sister Owen.....You're going to Ashington with Sister Granier!!!! Sister White....you are.....staying and your new companion is......Sister Terry!!!!!!" Say what?!?!?!?! Homegirl Terry!?!??! I thought for sure I was going to get a follow-up trainer.....Sister Terry and I were in the same MTC group!!! I am the senior companion after three months....well lookie here. BAM! MIRACLE NEXT! It'll be a miracle if I can pull this off :D hahahhah we all know that Heavenly Father will be right there with me, telling me where to go, what to do, and what to say. Sister Owen is sad....who wouldn't be :D hahhaha there is only one Sister White....never mind that she's going to the coldest place in England for the winter with no car....psssh whatevs...she's going to the Harry Potter Castle for Christmas...that's pretty phenomenal. :D

I'm doing so well.....I'm fat and happy :D I've eaten more fish and liver than anyone who has ever lived.....AND I haven't yakked up a storm!!!! BAM! MIRACLE NEXT!!! hahahhahah life is so wonderful!!! I'm so grateful that I get to feel the spirit in such abundance every single day. I wake up every morning and say, "Self, remember how you're in England right now....freezing your knickers off? hahhaha" It BLOWS my mind!!!! How did I get to be so lucky? :D I must have done something right. :D I love you all so so so much! I think about you and pray for you every blasted day. I'm so grateful for my solid testimony that I know that God lives, and that he listens to my silly worries, thanks, and jokes. I know I'm doing His work. I'm so grateful to my Savior.....wow....I love him so much. Thank you so much for letting me come here. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I love you!

Love Always and Forever

Your Sister Stephanie

Worksop October 2010

Mummy, Daddy, Brotha and Sista,

My goodness...Happy Halloween, Happy Bonfire Night and Happy
November!!! and to my lovely father, Happy Birthday this
week....expect a little somethin somethin soon :D.

It sounds like you
all are up to your usual mischief....unfortunately for me, I was
ordered to stay indoors from 5pm onwards. Not that I mind that
much....it's chilly. :D

What to write about? What to write about? Well...if I may be
candid....this week was kindo of a Debbie-Downer week full of sadness,
mayham and death! ahahhah. Tis true. The majority of the people we've
met with, cried with us. Lots of people died this week. There's been a
funk in Worksop. The major tidbits: there was a deadly gun fight in
town center. The only thing people would tell us was that there was
and "incident," Come now....I'm not a babe in swaddling
clothes....splatters and debris on the street coupled with caravans of
ambulances.....I was not born yesterday, good sir..."incident" my
foot...puh! hahaha. Our dear friend Julie Kelk has been in hospital
for the past two months with cancer....leukemia (?) Things took a turn
for the worst this week. She had a major chest infection, and she was
"confused"...not good. We've been calling her little husband Trevor
everyday to give him words of encouragement. Bless him. Trevor was
very upset yesterday during church and rushed to the hospital with
some ward members (all of whom missed my epic talk...not that i'm
complaining) We got word at the tail-end of Sacrament meeting that she
passed away. There's a funk in Worksop...I think we all kind of
knew... if you catch me drift. BUT Trevor is determined now more than
ever to kick his smoking habit and qualify himself to be sealed to
Julie in the temple. BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!

In other news Sister Owen successfully learned to whistle! I'm sure it
happened because of my constant love, encouragement and expert
teaching :D only speculation :D.BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! hahhaha she's
giving me the stink-eye right now...and it's not just her face :D

Yes I received Debi's package!!!!!!!!!! Every day I harassed the
Royal Mail employee, "Please Sir, do you have a parcel for me?"
Yeah.... the "sir" didn't really go over so well considering that this
employee was a "madame"....fail, but one day she saw me coming and
said, "37 Beaumont Rise? Right, I have a parcel for you!" Ha Ha!
Success. Let's just say, there was quite a bit of ugly dancing in the
street, and even more when I strapped on those fanciful Hallows Eve
argyle socks!!!!!! Wonderful!!!!! Sister Owen walks away from me when
I dance...that or says,"You're so LONG!" Truth:D heh heh.

I would like to thank all those who have rallied in support for my
Liprosy.....Leprosy of the lips. I officially have 27.25 sticks of
chap. Count them again...27 1/4 chapsticks!!!!! I've tried them
all..I've tried all home remedies....everything.....to no avail......I
think I'm just allergic to this country :D hahahha I'm a right
state....my right eye's a puffy sliver, and my mouth looks like a
three-year-old had a hay day with some red lipstick on my face, yet
I'm still smiling. I'm downing the multi-vits and avoiding things that
make my throat itch :D any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
It's just getting to the point that if one more person points at my
mouth and says, "oooohh..*sharp intake of air*.....what's up with your
mouth?.....you really should try some chapstick.....are you
contagious?" the name tag might "fly off "as I wail on someone :D
hahahha anyways....

I love you all so much! Thank you for all the love....so much
love....I can't even handle myself right now. Know that I'm thinking
and praying for you always. I am so grateful for the Spirit....and
chocolate...in small sensible portions :D mmmmwwwah! Write soon! Eat
some mac and cheese for me.

Love Your Sister Stefanya