Merry Christmas!

Wonderful things are happening! Mesa is amazing! Christmas is a wonderful time to be on a mission!!

How will we make room for Christ this Christmas?

"If you serve you will learn to love. If you love you will serve. Therefore love=serve

We are called to serve=We are called to love

Mosaih 2:17; Matthew 22:37-38; John 14:15"

One of our investigators got an answer to his prayers! He learned that God answers prayers 3 ways, sometimes he says yes, and gives us what we want, sometimes he says no, and gives us something better, and sometimes he says wait and gives us the best.

There are members here that let us come over every pday and it's like going home once a week! We are blessed with so much love :)

One of our investigators is a Jehovah's Witness and when I got here, she always said she didn't celebrate Christmas when a member talked about it. She used to argue with the missionaries. Well, Saturday, she said she wants to be Mormon!!! And when we were leaving, she told us Merry Christmas!!!!!!! It is incredible to see what individual prayer and reading the Book of Mormon can do--she has been reading them :)

Ofa'atu

Sister White

Miraculous Mesa :)

My cup surely runneth over. Your prayers are making a huge difference for this little missionary :)

On January 11, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland will be meeting with all of the missionaries who serve in the Mesa, Gilbert, and Scottsdale missions!!!!

I can skype y'all for Christmas!!

This week so many wonderful things have happened! An Elder resides in our area and does indexing, he's about 20 and suffers from a disease that makes him need caretakers to help his mother take care of him. We found out in correlation that he probably won't be on this earth much longer. He has been such a missionary in the hospital throughout his trials and pains! One of his care takers is going through a really hard time, many members of her family have passed away recently, and he and his mother gave her a Book of Mormon. We are so blessed to be the missionaries here! The Elder's mother set up an appointment. with this beautiful Hispanic woman to have us come and teach the plan of salvation. During the lesson the spirit was tangible, we were in the presence of angels. The Elder bore his testimony on the plan of salvation when we finished. Oh, and we got to sing his favorite hymn, half at the beginning of the lesson, and half at the end--If You Could Hie to Kolob. This is the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The comfort and hope that came into her eyes was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen.

I love being a missionary! The people in our area are wonderful! Many incredible investigators got to come to church this Sunday. One of the boys exclaimed, "I cannot stop smiling!" We are blessed to be in a ward that helps them feel Heavenly Father's love for them by the way they treat others. I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful people we are teaching, we are teaching about 20... with 4 hours less of proselyting time, prioritizing is something I'm learning very quickly. Sister Sallstrom and I are blessed to have the best problems :)

I love you. Something that is powerful: if you are confused about anything/don't understand, 1 Nephi 15:8

So, something that clicked for me this morning during studies: Christ's "laws [are] not inscribed upon stone, but upon human hearts" (Thomas S. Monson). Christ's laws are universal, our hearts drive us to keep them, as we act on the Light of Christ within each of us, we are given, we are able to receive more light. Each time we act, we are opening the "windows to heaven" (Mal 3:10) even more! I imagine a huge curtain that opens little by little. Life gets so much brighter!! There is more hope, more faith, more joy, etc :) The opposite is true as well though--each time we don't act on the feelings to do good, we close off the window of our soul, and life gets darker--less hope, less faith, less joy... Let us cheerfully do those Christlike actions so we may be a light on a hill, & give light to all (3 Ne 12:16). Let us go "about doing good" (Acts 10:38) Cheerfully doing all in our power (D&C 123:17)


Sister Rachel White

Serving at the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple!

The other night, Sister Sallstrom & I got to take the baby Jesus out
of the manger at the Christmas lights, it was really amazing :)

Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooo much for your prayers and letters!!

P.S.
Power quotes, the whole mission is reading a General Conference talk everyday :) "The companionship of the Holy Ghost is not just a pleasant convenience---it is essential to your spiritual survival. If you will not treasure up the words of Christ and listen closely to the promptings of the Spirit, you will be deceived" (Elder Adrian Ochoa). "But here is the point---rather than solve the problem Himself, the Lord wants us to develp the faith that will help us rely upon Him in solving our problems and trust Him" (Elder Terence M. Vinson)

Time is incredibly short!

Life is wonderful, the gospel is true. Never forget, you can rely on the Lord to help you with anything you need. I am so grateful that I can call on the Lord all the time, and have help so much!!

My testimony is stronger than ever, the gospel is true! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (and so can you!) Phillipians 4:13 & 1 Nephi 17:3

D&C 127:3, glorying in tribulation/growing Ether 12:27. Yay weaknesses and improving daily!

I love you all very very very very very very much!

I'd like to invite y'all to take 5-10 min and study about cheer, look it up in the Book of Mormon index and send me what you learn. That's what I did and it has helped me to help those around me with love and encouragement.

Merry almost Christmas! Stay strong in the faith!!

Sister Rachel White

Mesa Means Magnificent

I am convinced, Mesa means everything wonderful in the world at one place.

It's hitting me, I am on a mission!!! I am so very happy to be here! I love learning from everyone around me. Something that really really struck me yesterday is that when we were teaching the plan of salvation, I learned even more of why it is called the plan of happiness. As Tim realized what it meant, his entire face lit up with hope, and tears of joy came to his eyes. Being a missionary is so very wonderful, seeing this all the time. I do not think it is something I could ever take for granted, because those moments are so powerful. I hope each of you are taking advantage of missionary moments, and having the blessings that come from sharing this wonderful message of peace, hope, joy, and everything else praiseworthy. Phillipians 4:11 no matter what state we are in, we can have joy when we are grateful.

What is said is never as important as what is felt.

Christmas is coming! The spirit of Christmas is very strong at the temple here. We started helping on Friday. I get to walk on temple grounds every day :)

Something that stood out to me this week is how trials and blessings go hand in hand. We have seen so many miracles every day. The light of Christ shining in someone's eyes is one of the best things in the world.

D&C 90:24, is so true. bam.

If you want to hear about something specific, let me know!

Much love,
Sister White

Whoa!

My wonderful, dearest family!!!

Wow. Missionary work is just the best. Last week I was good and wrote down what I wanted to say as I was going throughout the week... I left most of my notes at home this day though, so this email will be a lot more random. Sorry!

One big thing I learned during a personal study is this: As we get to know someone better, the more we love them, the more we love someone, the more we want to make them happy--the more we love them the more doing things for them makes us happy. The more we love someone, what makes them happy makes us happy. Likewise, when we love God, we grow to love his children.

As I have born my testimony practically every moment I have been out here, it has been growing at an accelerated rate. I am working very hard, praying and relying on the Lord, and turning to Him for help. I know that this gospel is true, we are so loved. We can be healed. Jacob 2:8

Also, Mosiah 18:7-11 is powerful. Why not get baptized and have access to a fullness of joy through the atonement?

I am SO blessed!!!! I am in the 7th mission to get ipads and do online proselyting. Every single sister missionary gets to help give tours during the Christmas lights show at the Mesa Temple, it is such an
exciting time of year! The Lord really has His hand in everything.

My companion, Sister Sallstrom, knows Elizabeth Moss!!! Apparently she was her visiting teacher in SVU!

So, where to begin! The first night I was in Mesa, my day training companion let me share the spiritual thought after dinner--it was completely directed by the spirit. It was a witness to me of how I was in the right place at the right time, and showed me how prayers are answered. It also showed me
how much my past experiences can allow me to testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and His gospel.

The next day at transfers I was called up to share one of the miracles that happened the day before, so I shared that experience at dinner, the spiritual thought I gave was about the promise Elder Holland gave of the healing power of the scriptures--the healing words of Christ have been on my mind a lot. Because, I'm healing like crazy!!! When I got to the MTC, I could only run for half a minute without my knee causing me trouble, now I can run about 2 miles!!!! I have been getting sooooo much stronger and it is sooooo wonderful.

It is paradise here, perfect 70's weather right now. Funny--there were inch deep puddles!!! it rained a couple of days STRAIGHT here. Coming to the desert, I was expecting something different.

It feels like the MTC was FOREVER ago! Just because I have been learning so much I guess.

Wow, there is no time.

I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of you so very much. I know that the gospel is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and because of the prayer of that lad, millions have been blessed. I know that the Book of Mormon contains the words of God, and that through prayer, we may come to know. As we act with a sincere desire to know, and take it one step at a time, we can learn.

I compared it to a marathon. You cannot just take one step and say, woohoo, I'm done! Nope, it takes training and work and many many many steps.

Oh, and the members here love the missionaries and go to lessons with us all the time, we are so very lucky. They treat us like family. We are a part of the ward families. Oh, I'm pretty sure I've learned about 100 names already. I'm serving in 2 wards. We are sharing the love in Mesa!

Oh! and I met Kristin Connell's brother!!! He is awesome & he & his wife help the ward so much!

Ofa-atu,
Sister White

MTC Life

Here is encouragement and love from afar. You are amazing, I am recognizing so many things I have learned from each and every one of you while at the MTC. I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown, but at the same time it feels like we've been here for so long and know each other so well.


So, funny stories:

I found out I was too short to look through peep holes at the MTC.

Moser humbers me.
There is a tree that smells like orange cream soda (missionaries have been pouring soda on it). Recently it got closed off with rope and signs. On the tree was a sign that read: Jeremiah 12:10-11. Only at the MTC do we get such glorious humor.

We were taught that if we don't know something or if there was a concern we can rely the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. So, Sister Taylor asked her companion, Sister Laulusa if the relief society was held in a bigger room since the age change. Sister Laulusa responded, "I don't know. But I do know the Book of Mormon is true!"

Those two wonderful sisters, Sister Taylor and Sister Laulusa, Elder Spotten, Sister Smith and I make up our wonderful district. We have such a wonderful time in class learning from our awesome teachers.

I've learned so much! I cannot even try to give all of the lessons learned justice. Ether 2:13-14--praying from the heart. If in a rut, probably not having meaningful prayer. John 8:29. D&C section 88 is called an olive leaf plucked from the tree of paradise. Verse 119 we substituted companionship, district, zone, etc. for house. I highly recommend reading these :)

Sacred: "a piece of heaven we don't allow to get tarnished from the world"

I have been extremely blessed. I'm pretty sure I have the best companion in the world. On the first day, she suggested we memorize a scripture everyday so we can become better missionaries. It has definitely been a huge blessing in the small amount of time we have been doing it. Sister Smith lights up a room just by being in it. We sing everywhere we go. It's amazing how much we can grow to love everyone around us. Our leaders, teachers, missionaries in our zone, roommates, the people that serve us in the cafeteria.

Our Branch President, President Brown is awesome. He says awesome things like: "I'll flip you like a cheese omelet." and "love is always the key."

Oh, I gave a talk on the Atonement during church on Sunday. I used 2 scriptures, Alma 7:11-12, our Savior took on our pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, not just our sins; because he loves us SO much. Mosiah 2:11, enabling power of the atonement to serve, despite our weaknesses. I love the atonement. I love Jesus Christ, this church, the MTC, missionary work.

We are going to the temple later today :)

Heavenly Father loves you!

'ofa atu

(goodbye with love)

Sister White

Oh and P.S.
Elder L Tom Perry came and spoke to us on Tuesday evening!!!! We were sitting about 20 ft away  from him :) He taught us how to be better companions during our mission and always. The principles he taught are: Learn the gospel, raise each other up, be a good listener, be patient and loving, and stay together.