July 31, 2017

Happy birthday Hermana Chynoweth! When it's the b-day of your comp it's the b-day of you too. Loooots of cake yay

zone

Shirtless man in the back lol men dont wear shirts here. 

Taught some of my Haiitans how to whip and dab. 

Ice cream for Jossue our lil helper. 

A lesson at the temple with Leonel. his idea.He just loves it so much. 

HOLA! The highlight of this week was definitely Saturday. Our dear investigator, Jossue had his baptismal interview, and he passed, and he will be entering the waters of baptism next Saturday. Jossue is so great. He is 14 years old, but super mature, and sweet and nice which is not the norm for 14 year old boys here in the DR. Usually they are kinda punks, but Jossue is awesome. He loves basketball and James Harden. He loves to do zumba with the women in his neighborhood, and he loves Chris Brown haha. 

Also I think I saw James Harden the other day.

But anyways, his interview was at 3 and the baptism was at 5 and that whole time he was our lil sidekick. He helped prepare for the baptism of Cleonse. We played a lil ping pong and he stressed with us when Cleonse was late for his baptism. BUT eventually we went with a member to go pick Cleonse up because his taxi wasn't coming, and it all worked out. The baptism was solid and he was soooo happy!  It's truly amazing how God's hand is in everything. The day I found him was intercambios with the CCM sister. So here I was with someone new, and all of the appointments I had set fell through, and so we went to this neighborhood and bussed the house, but it didn't work, but usually after like a minute and not hearing anything I would move on to the next house, but for some reason we stayed for a little longer than usual. And then out walks Cleonse. He was headed to work and didn't have time to talk, but we got his number and he said he really wanted us to come back.  The next week we went and saw him and that's how it started. I know it was the hand of Heavenly Father that made those other lessons fall through,  The hand of Heavenly Father that made me just wait at that gate a little longer. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost who guided me to that house and for the Holy Ghost that touched the heart of Cleonse. That man was sooo prepared and I am so humbled and thankful to my Heavenly Father who trusted me to play a part in this man's conversion. Cleonse's testimony was so great at the end of the baptism. He said he is super happy to be baptized and how next Saturday he will get to go to Haiti and be at the baptism of  his neice and nephew, who he took to church in Haiti like 4 weeks ago, and now they will become members too! All through him. Woohooo This gospel is amazing and one of my favorite things ever is seeing someone's countenance change after they come to know the truth of this gospel. There is such a light and happiness. Life is good.  Love ya'll. 

July 24, 2017

Feliz cumpleanos Cleonse

 

Glivert and Crystal are super funny kids. We are teaching the mother of Gilvert, but the other day she wasn't there so we read The Book of Mormon for kids with them, and then Gilvert just started playing with my hair and like making dreads. haha He calls me Green because I have green eyes and my comp Blue because she has blue eyes, and he thinks that when we go back to New York (that's the only thing he knows about the US haha) our eyes will change to brown. haha He's a weird and funny kid. 

Baby Savannah hahaha

 

My sweet Rosmita learnin English

Hola Todos!! This week we had the Baptismal interview of Cleonse! And he is ready for this Saturday! Super excited for this man! 

So here in the DR there are men that just walk around with a cooler full of ice cream ringing a bell and they have this delicious cake flavored ice cream/popsicle thing. And it has become one of my talents not only to hear the ringing of the bell and find the ice cream man, but then to eat it suuuuper fast, because it will melt within like three minutes. 

Also something that tons of people do here is they say "si Dios quiere" (if God wants)  for everything. We say hey, come to church, hey, read this book, and the response is always "if God wants." Ughhh, trust me people, God wants. haha

So its pretty certain that i will be leaving in about 3 weeks and i am pretty sad about that. I have come to love these people soooo much. 

Also I am a third of the way done with my mission and I am soooo confused as to where the time has gone! Time is just flying by and I don't know how I feel about it.

 

There will be a little Haitian baby named after me here in the DR. haha My girl, Chelda, who is about to pop asked me what my first name was and how she wants to name her baby after me. So that's pretty sick. 

Also freak. I hate the men here. They are creeps and almost everyday I have some weird encounter with men trying to kiss me, or asking me to marry them, or asking me to say the word "perfecto" again because the way I say it is just soooo beautiful and attractive. (those aren't my words haha) But anyways, a really obscure thing happened this week on intercambios. So this man started talking to me in English and then he asked for my name and number so I put the names and number of the hermanas in that area, and that was that. But then this Sunday, in the ward of that area, in walks the man we talked to on the street, and he had a letter for the "pastor" and the letter said "I have received revelation that I need to marry Miss White, the girl who prays. I have all my information, my birth certificate, my papers, and now i just need the permission of the pastor." And then he goes on about how he needs to marry me. hahahaha I am sooo glad I am not in that area and that I was only there for a day. 

So yeah, I am having many strange experiences, but also the best ones of my life. I love this gospel and I am soooo happy to be a part of this church! Read yo scriptures! love you

July 17, 2017

Leonel was so pumped to show us that he put his head on a missionary. He says he wants to preach the gospel in Brazil. 

Bautismo do Leonel and also us tyring to learn how to tie the tie to teach him haha 

the smile of a man with the Holy Ghost!!

 

Also went on intercambios with an hermana from the ccm and her name was Brown and she's brown and my name is White and I'm white lol

Leonel Monterro is a baptized man!! His baptism went very well and after it he gave the most amazing testimony and said something like, "my parents both died when I was young and I have been alone since, but I have never been truly alone. I have always had God, and a long time ago, the voice of God said to me that I need to find the truth. And now here I am, and like the Book of Mormon says, I have partaken of the fruit and now I need to hold to the iron rod." And when he said those words, I just started crying. You guys!!! This work is so amazing. The gospel is true, and seeing it change tehse people's lives is sooooo amazing!

From the first time I met Leonel when we were contacting the building he "guards" and also lives in through the intercom, and then he came over and walked to us and I thought he was gonna say go away, but instead, he invited us to sit down and talk to him, and all I thought in that moment was "Wow, this man talks sooo much haha." But little by little the gospel started to change him, and God permitted me to watch this change in this man. I am so thankful. He still talks sooooo much, but it's okay. We still love him.

On Saturday, Leonel gave us some money to go buy him a new shirt and tie so he could look fresh for when he receives the spirit. But they didn't have any clip-on ties so we bought him a normal tie, but he doesn't know how to tie a normal tie. So we spent a good while trying to learn ourselves and teach him, but we kinda failed. And then on Sunday we were kinda stressed because he wasn't at church and he needed to be confirmed!!! But then he finallyh walked into the church during the sacrament and after, he received an amazing blessing that said the words, "You will meet a worthy woman and go to the temple with her one day," and guess what? I started crying again because once again, I was just in awe of the Lord's plan for his children. Leonel was late because he was figuring out how to tie his tie. haha. Ugh!

Also he was so excited to hand his tithing envelope to bishop. It was soooo cute. 

#blessed July 10, 2017

 This next part goes out to my brothas back at home, because ball is life and I found a legit Taiwanese restaurant in the DR with a Taiwanese woman who likes it when I say ni how ma and xio xio. Already eaten there twice. lol 

The sign at the basketball court says "God bless this court." Joe, you could take these Dominican kids any day. 

 high five lil monkey

I could title all my emails with the word miracle! cause woooow, so many lately. This week two of my recent converts, Doxy and Dania, entered the House of the Lord, and I got to be a part of that experience with them! After Dania got done doing baptisms for the dead, she just gave me a big, wet hug and I just got so emotional. It was such an amazing moment. After that, while we were waiting for Doxy, she leaned over to me and said "the water was hot. I liked it." haha So cute. 

Also this week was a nail biter with Leonel. We've been really stressing the importance of the Book of Mormon with him. He always says he likes it and it's the word of God, but he still hadn't really truly asked and received confirmation that this book is real and true, and his baptism is coming up real fast. So that was at the beginning of this week, and then in the middle of this week, we taught about fasting and he himself suggested that we fast so that he can know what he needs  to know and be ready for his baptism. Yay! Okay, and now we are to the end of the week. So Saturday we go to see Leonel, and the first thing he says is "Wow, its real, this book is true, my neck hurts from reading it so much, and Nephi had to kill Laban for the gold plates. He's a man of God." My smile was soooo big and I was soooo happy!! And so then we continue on with the lesson and I start asking him the questions for his baptismal interview because it was the next day! I asked him if he believes that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and his response is "no not really. I don't know enough about him and I have never heard his voice." My heart just dropped. The beginning of this lesson I was so pumped and then this moment was like "shoooot, we dont have time for this!" If I was an ipad missionary this would be super easy, just throw on a video about our prophet, but no. So we were talking about how if he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet then Thomas S, Monson is a prophet. But nothin was working. We had him pray right then and there and ask if he's a prophet, and then during the prayer I remembered we had the documentary of Thomas S. Monson in our house. So after the prayer I told him we would be back in like 45 min, so we sped walked to our house (which is not close at all) and my comp was stressin big time, but for some reason I felt at peace. I knew it would all work out and the only thing we could do was maintain our faith. So we walked into our house and just went right to our knees. We prayed for a solid 15 minutes together and I gave the most pleading prayer of my life, and there were tears and honestly it was one of the most spiritual moments of my life. I had never talked to my Heavenly Father like that before, just with so much pleading for help, and I felt his love so much in that moment. So after that amazing moment we walked back to Leonel with high spirits, having faith that it would all work out. I had "If You Could Hie to Kolob" stuck in my head, that song just pumps me up. haha So we got back to Leonel, threw on the dvd "On the Lord's Errand" about Thomas Monson, and the whole 60 minutes he was just making comments like "wow, this man is sanctified, he's been being prepared his whole life, this man listens to God" and at the end he said the glorious words "YES HE'S OUR PROPHET" ahhhhh it was so great. And then last night he had his interview and passed, and after, my zone leader said "he is the most prepared man I've ever seen" ahhhhh God works miracles with faith!! 

So this Thursday Leonel Monterro will become a member of this amazing true Church!! 

Also took Cleonse to the temple this week. "I want to get married here one day" -Cleonse

July 3, 2017

Saw Elder Sagers (from our ward) at zone conference.

 This is Elder Joseph and he lives where THE ELDER STEVEN ACKLEY is serving right now. If all of Steve's people are like Elder Joseph, that's dope cause he's hilarious and I can barely understand his accent. 

 Our minutes always run out on our lil mission phone, and so I started talking on a platano and my comp thought I was really funny. 

 Got a new mission president. Said goodbye to these great people and now have a couple from Puerto Rico.

 So leonel is so weird and so funny. A couple things with him this week... We were going over the questions for baptism with him and we asked him "Have you ever committed a serious crime?" His response, "I stole a piece of chicken from my mom once when i was a kid" hahaha The next question. "Have you ever participated in a homosexual relationship?" "I hugged my male cousin once." So needless to say, .he is totally ready for his baptism on the 15th! But yeah, we went to the temple with him this week and he was just in awe of the beauty and the happiness and peace that is there. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me to be one of the missionaries to find and teach this man. I am so humbled and grateful to be here doing this work and feeling the hand of God in my life soooo much. It's truly incredible. 

Ahhh, also one of the funniest moments with him that made me laugh soooo hard. We had a problem calling him this week, so we were figuring it out one day, and I was looking at his phone and our contact name in his phone was the "profetas." hahaha I just started busting up and we had to explain to him that no, we are not prophets. hahaha 

feliz cumpleanos estados unidos! How'sM Trump?

I get sad thinking of leaving my dear Haitians one day. These people are the absolute best. We were teaching them English this night. and Jose (the one is green) asked what "kiss me" means. haha I was like why do you know this?! haha And he said the chocolates always say it hahaha. Love these people so much 

Also, awkward pic of Cleonse....he stood close to me and put his hand on my shoulder at the last second and I didn't know what to do. haha