Mummy and Daddy,
Just a little catch up on last week. Kenneth got baptized!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOO! HOOO!!! WHA-HA!!!!!! BAM! MIRACLE! He's such a gift!!! He was so cute. Another little juicy tidbit, a recent convert, Dan, of just a few months baptized Kenneth. :D It was an exciting day for all. Dan was so chuffed, he wore a white bow-tie for the occasion. I love convert baptisms...:D hahahah they're so awkward :D Every blasted time these people go under, anxiety swells in my jugular! Dan put his had up into a Live-Long-and-Prosper sign ( just the way his silly fingers are formed), and baptized Kenneth. Kenneth's lone hand spasmed in the breeze......Ohp....gotta do it again. :D Let's just say...we got it in the end :D The best part of the whole evening was Kenneth's testimony. Our humble little Kenneth got up on the stand, and said,
This is such a special night for me. I'm not sure where to begin.....I guess at the beginning....that's always the best place to start. Six weeks ago, my life was not worth living. Someone told be to read the bible, I did, and it got me thinking. I got on a bus one day and I saw these missionaries get on and I knew...I just KNEW...that one of them was going to sit next to me....she did. She gave me a leaflet for a free DVD about Jesus Christ. I sent for it straight away and the missionaries came to my door. I watched this film and I cried...I couldn't believe how cruel people were. I felt something I've never felt before, and I knew...I just KNEW this was for me. I was hungry for the information. I still am! I can't get enough! I'm always learning and improving.... Here I am today. I made a promise with my Father. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet. I love the Book of Mormon! I wouldn't dream of ever going a day without it. I know this church is real....it is. Thank you for your love and friendship.
I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."
There he was, a pillar of strength, drops plip plopping on the pulpit, bearing his testimony for the first time. The spirit was so strong...not very many dry eyes... I am so proud of him.
In other news, we're teaching this man, Kevin, aka our pseudo-Muslim. Kevin's at a point in his 30 year old English life where he's doing a bit of soul searching. His Muslim friend is teaching him all the ways of Islam. Kev's really enthused about it too. He has his own prayer carpet, sends us off with Arabic blessings, he's even doing the fast for Ramadan. Each night we see him he concludes with, "Well...the time has come. I must eat my date and drink my glass of water to open my fast! Let us pray." The highlight of the evening is Kevin, sat in his daughter's make shift play pen, sunglasses on, sporting the backwards hat, praying, "Dear Heavenly Father......*says a prayer*.....in the name of Jesus....................................................................Allah and Muhammad Amen. I'm sorry I couldn't just do it...I didn't want anyone to feel left out." Hahahaha he's great, but he's still searching for "the truth." The day we met Kevin he told us he prays every night for God to show him the true path that leads to happiness.....then we showed up....BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!
In closing, I just want to mention our Zone Conference we had this past Wednesday. It was all about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We watched the following youtube video that made a big impression on me. It makes the Atonement just a little more personal. I think about moments in this video a lot everyday. I am filled with gratitude that my life was worth saving. Someone died so that I can live. I am so grateful to be out here and teach this message to everyone around me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhkpxpjHIRg
I love you so much! Thank you so so so much for letting me be here! I can't tell you how much it means to me.
Love always and forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Horbury
Mummy and Daddy,
Highlight of the week....Kenneth passed his baptismal interview! BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's such a star! He's looking forward to his baptism so much! HE's so humble and full of faith...I love it He has such a strong testimony of the church and he loves everything about it. He love love loves President Thomas S. Monson. Every spare moment he has, Kenneth's online watching "Thomas Monson talk." He is plowing through the Book of Mormon like there's no tomorrow, and he's always talking about the next tie he's going to wear to church....AND the one thing he wants in all the world is for Sister Sorensen and I to sing "Jesus wants me for a sun beam" at his baptism :D hee hee cute.
Funny story. President Lindley gave Kenneth a call to congratulate him on his upcoming baptism. President Lindley called us afterwards to tell us how impressed he was with Kenneth. After our phone conversation, we headed up to Kenneth's for a lesson. We walked in, got settled, and there was Kenneth....peering at us with this knowing look in his eye. (Whistling through his four-toothed gap) "You'll never guess who I just talked to."
Sister Sorensen: "Someone online?"
Member: "Your long lost children?"
Me: "President Lindley?"
Kenneth: "......nope." :D
..................uh..........................
Kenneth:"President Monson....the big man himself! He told me how pleased he was of my decision to be baptized. He said, "Welcome to the Church!" I'm as good as in!"
His whole toothless face lit up!
We couldn't help but laugh! For two reasons
1) It was so cute! He loves President Monson.
2) You know me....toothless grins just get to me...not to mention his bottle brush mustache flappin in the breeze! hahhaha :D
We're so proud of him. He really was a little gift from above. He's one of our Horbury miracles! BAM! MIRACLE NEXT!
In other news last night I barfed up a storm. Not to worry....it was just something I ate. I ate a little onion whole and I think there was some sort of war raging in the abyss of my stomach. Needless to say, I tried all sorts to pop what felt like a massive gas bubble trapped by a slab of apple pie....Nothing worked....til I got a whiff of our nappy rubbish bin.....urp.....that did it. Lucky for me....I had a handy dandy Krave box at my disposal. OH! AND......last P-day, we had a District outing....where you ask?....this place called Love Your Feet, where we had tiny miniature carp eat our feet off!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! Talk about sensory overload!!!!!!!!!!! BLAH!!!!!!!! I've never giggled so much in all my life! We had all sorts of oldies on the bus try to dissuade us from doing it....but the sheer experience out weighed the risks. Good news....I don't have any sort of disease but I do have silk soft feet :D and an even better story! Can anyone say Life List....kaching!
I love you so much! Thank you so much for letting me be out here! I'm learning so much about myself, people, my faith, and my Savior! This is really important to me....thank you so much! Have the best day of your life!
Love Always and Forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White
Highlight of the week....Kenneth passed his baptismal interview! BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's such a star! He's looking forward to his baptism so much! HE's so humble and full of faith...I love it He has such a strong testimony of the church and he loves everything about it. He love love loves President Thomas S. Monson. Every spare moment he has, Kenneth's online watching "Thomas Monson talk." He is plowing through the Book of Mormon like there's no tomorrow, and he's always talking about the next tie he's going to wear to church....AND the one thing he wants in all the world is for Sister Sorensen and I to sing "Jesus wants me for a sun beam" at his baptism :D hee hee cute.
Funny story. President Lindley gave Kenneth a call to congratulate him on his upcoming baptism. President Lindley called us afterwards to tell us how impressed he was with Kenneth. After our phone conversation, we headed up to Kenneth's for a lesson. We walked in, got settled, and there was Kenneth....peering at us with this knowing look in his eye. (Whistling through his four-toothed gap) "You'll never guess who I just talked to."
Sister Sorensen: "Someone online?"
Member: "Your long lost children?"
Me: "President Lindley?"
Kenneth: "......nope." :D
..................uh..........................
Kenneth:"President Monson....the big man himself! He told me how pleased he was of my decision to be baptized. He said, "Welcome to the Church!" I'm as good as in!"
His whole toothless face lit up!
We couldn't help but laugh! For two reasons
1) It was so cute! He loves President Monson.
2) You know me....toothless grins just get to me...not to mention his bottle brush mustache flappin in the breeze! hahhaha :D
We're so proud of him. He really was a little gift from above. He's one of our Horbury miracles! BAM! MIRACLE NEXT!
In other news last night I barfed up a storm. Not to worry....it was just something I ate. I ate a little onion whole and I think there was some sort of war raging in the abyss of my stomach. Needless to say, I tried all sorts to pop what felt like a massive gas bubble trapped by a slab of apple pie....Nothing worked....til I got a whiff of our nappy rubbish bin.....urp.....that did it. Lucky for me....I had a handy dandy Krave box at my disposal. OH! AND......last P-day, we had a District outing....where you ask?....this place called Love Your Feet, where we had tiny miniature carp eat our feet off!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! Talk about sensory overload!!!!!!!!!!! BLAH!!!!!!!! I've never giggled so much in all my life! We had all sorts of oldies on the bus try to dissuade us from doing it....but the sheer experience out weighed the risks. Good news....I don't have any sort of disease but I do have silk soft feet :D and an even better story! Can anyone say Life List....kaching!
I love you so much! Thank you so much for letting me be out here! I'm learning so much about myself, people, my faith, and my Savior! This is really important to me....thank you so much! Have the best day of your life!
Love Always and Forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Horbury
Mummy and Daddy,
What to say....what to say :D I just want to tell you about a little experience I had last night. Poor Sister Sorensen felt like death...she had her first Mission Body Breakdown! Yay....fret not...we documented the experience. So there I was downstairs, filling out all this paper work, and I said to myself, "Self, you know what I want to do at this moment in time....I'm going to say a prayer." Now this may seem like a silly thing. You may be saying to yourself, "What are you talking about? You pray about twenty times a day!" This is true; however, we have so many time constraints (I have 30 seconds to pray to be ontime for Personal Study) ,I'm always so beat/ sleeping (Heavenly Father, Thank you for my day today I really liked eating Krave this morning...I wonder how they get that delicious chocolate into those tiny cereal squares....I should really purchase more milk tomorrow....oh wait......Sorry Heavenly Father I was thinking about Krave agian. I get distracted...forgive me), etc etc...I feel like It's been a while since I've had a really meaningful conversation with Him. Anyways, there I was kneeling on our carpet...little stones and bread crumbs drilling into my knees....and I just talked outloud to Him. I told him everything....The beautiful part of it.....I felt Him there. It's like when you have your eyes closed and you can still sense that someone is in the room with you....I felt Him there...really listening to me. It meant a lot to me.BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!
This week has been interesting. We've met some right crazies(We met this old lady that laughed...ooohhhooo hoo hoo hoo hoo every five seconds and said, "Sometimes my hearing aid lets me down, but I don't find out til it happens!" ooohh hooo hooo hoo. I literally could not breathe!!!!! ahahahahhaha I love old people!), picked up loads of trash, and spent a lot of time teaching and helping Kenneth learn.....but I also hit my year mark....wow....one year......goes by fast. I feel like I've changed quite a bit, but at the same time....I still feel like I don't know anything ahahhaha which is probably true, but I do have such a greater appreciation for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm glad they give us hard things to deal with....yeah...it's hard, but that's the only way we'll get better. I hear people tell me all the time, "If there were a God, all these bad things wouldn't happen in the world. We'd be happy all the time, and life would be good." I grow weary of this :D People people people...how in the world are you gonna know happy if you don't know what sad is? How are you going to know what's good if you have never experienced bad. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me opportunities to be a better version of ourselves. Sister Sorensen and I chant this little quote every day before we head out to get "pumped,"
"I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed! The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will not look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talk, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals! I no longer need to preeminence, position, promotion, plaudit, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now walk by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor with power...... It goes on from there, but we have yet to memorize that :D
I love it out here! Thank you so much for letting me be here! I will never be able to express in words how much it means to me!
I love you all!
Have the best day of your lives!
Love always and forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White
What to say....what to say :D I just want to tell you about a little experience I had last night. Poor Sister Sorensen felt like death...she had her first Mission Body Breakdown! Yay....fret not...we documented the experience. So there I was downstairs, filling out all this paper work, and I said to myself, "Self, you know what I want to do at this moment in time....I'm going to say a prayer." Now this may seem like a silly thing. You may be saying to yourself, "What are you talking about? You pray about twenty times a day!" This is true; however, we have so many time constraints (I have 30 seconds to pray to be ontime for Personal Study) ,I'm always so beat/ sleeping (Heavenly Father, Thank you for my day today I really liked eating Krave this morning...I wonder how they get that delicious chocolate into those tiny cereal squares....I should really purchase more milk tomorrow....oh wait......Sorry Heavenly Father I was thinking about Krave agian. I get distracted...forgive me), etc etc...I feel like It's been a while since I've had a really meaningful conversation with Him. Anyways, there I was kneeling on our carpet...little stones and bread crumbs drilling into my knees....and I just talked outloud to Him. I told him everything....The beautiful part of it.....I felt Him there. It's like when you have your eyes closed and you can still sense that someone is in the room with you....I felt Him there...really listening to me. It meant a lot to me.BAM! MIRACLE! NEXT!
This week has been interesting. We've met some right crazies(We met this old lady that laughed...ooohhhooo hoo hoo hoo hoo every five seconds and said, "Sometimes my hearing aid lets me down, but I don't find out til it happens!" ooohh hooo hooo hoo. I literally could not breathe!!!!! ahahahahhaha I love old people!), picked up loads of trash, and spent a lot of time teaching and helping Kenneth learn.....but I also hit my year mark....wow....one year......goes by fast. I feel like I've changed quite a bit, but at the same time....I still feel like I don't know anything ahahhaha which is probably true, but I do have such a greater appreciation for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm glad they give us hard things to deal with....yeah...it's hard, but that's the only way we'll get better. I hear people tell me all the time, "If there were a God, all these bad things wouldn't happen in the world. We'd be happy all the time, and life would be good." I grow weary of this :D People people people...how in the world are you gonna know happy if you don't know what sad is? How are you going to know what's good if you have never experienced bad. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me opportunities to be a better version of ourselves. Sister Sorensen and I chant this little quote every day before we head out to get "pumped,"
"I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed! The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will not look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talk, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals! I no longer need to preeminence, position, promotion, plaudit, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now walk by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor with power...... It goes on from there, but we have yet to memorize that :D
I love it out here! Thank you so much for letting me be here! I will never be able to express in words how much it means to me!
I love you all!
Have the best day of your lives!
Love always and forever,
Your Sister Stephanie White
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