One last time

Well everyone, it's been a long (not very long) year and a half but we're made it to the last email.

This last week was a little uneventful so I'll just finish this adventure with my testimony.

I truly know that God is our Heavely Father and that He loves us more than we can even imagine. I know that He sent us here in families and that they really are eternal. From personal experience, I know that He listens to our prayers and answers them. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I've read it and prayed about and found so much comfort within it's pages. I know this church is Christ's church restored on the earth today and that we are guided by a living prophet. I know that God works through us to help His children here on the earth. We are His hands. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I've learned so much and have met so many people. I love them so much.

Thank you all so much for your support and your prayers. You've helped more than you could even imagine.

See you in a week!

Love, Hermana White

Merry Christmas!

This week was really awesome full of incredible lessons until we got to Friday. Friday and Saturday we literally walked around all day because all of our appointments fell through. 

Saturday we stopped for a minute to watch a parade and then as we started walking up the street again. My companion asked if a lady carrying a giant bag of clothes in her hands and a child on her back needed help. She immediately asked us what religion we were from and as we walked with this bag down to her house she told us a little bit about herself and said that she had visited with missionaries when she was younger and wanted to visit with us again. It was a little miracle that was sent at the time it was needed.

Sunday, in church, a member brought her friend who said that she liked what she saw and she also wanted to visit with us. 

I will not be here to see if any of these people make it to baptism but I will help them as long as I can. I really know that hard work pays off. Sometimes in ways that we're not expecting but the Lord does bless His servants. :)

I love you all!!!!

Love, Hermana White

Oh, something funny: Everybody tries to yell english words at us. We had someone yell Merry Christmas at us while we were walking the other day. 

Instruments in God's Hands

I just want to tell you all about the miracle that we were able to be a part of on Friday. We had no appointments and no idea where to go so my companion and I sat down on a curb right by a river to think for a second. We talked a bit and then we decided that we couldn't sit there any longer and we got up and started knocking doors. There was no one home at the first door that we knocked but at the second door we were able to talk to a young man named Pool (not kidding). He came out with his eyes swollen and red and at first we thought he was smoking or doing drugs. After talking to him for a second though we realized that he had been crying. We were able to talk to him about the church and the hope that the gospel brings and how our Heavenly Father really cares about our happiness and the small things. He was struggling with things in the university and just needed some help. We were able to be part of that help. We ended with a prayer and as we listened he thanked God for sending two miracles to his door and for answering his prayers so fast because he had been praying just moments before. 

It was so amazing to really feel like we were being instruments in God's hands. He needed us and in that moment when He needed us we were there. I have so little time left in the mission but in these last few weeks I've seen and felt and heard so many amazing things. There's no way I could ever stop working early.

I love you all!!!! Just so you know we had an awesome fourth of July!!!! We had watermelon and pulled beef sandwiches and hot dogs and potato salad. It was great! We just played sports all pday and we were all able to relax and have fun.

I love you!!!!

Love, Hermana White

Happy Fourth of July

Due to the fact that it is pday today and also the fourth of July us gringos here in Peru will be celebrating with a BBQ and we are all super excited :)

Last week was super exciting. President Henderson finished his mission and President Silva started his. He's from the northern part of Peru and he has five kids (he brought all of them with him but one who is in the mission in Guatemala). We had a multizone conference to get to know him on Friday. Also in the conference those who are leaving this transfer shared their testimonies..... that included me. I'm not sure how I felt about that but I shared what I knew and I found that I know a lot more than I thought I did.

Right now in this area we're just working on finding new people to teach. A lot of the new investigators that we've found have lied to us about schedules or even their phone numbers and it's really hard but we know that we're doing our part. Someday they'll understand.

I love you all!!!! Enjoy your fireworks!!!!!

Love, Hermana White

The Last Transfer

So this last week was transfer week. My companion had been in this area for five transfers so she left and went to Oxapampa (a jungle area). She was absolutely thrilled. Hermana Olson is my new companion. She's from Arizona and has about 13 months in the mission. She's also my little sister (or, in other words, we have the same trainer). I'm so grateful to have her as a companion we've worked so hard in the last five days and it's been so exciting to see what we've been able to accomplish.

We switched our Pday from today (Monday) to last Friday. President and Sister Henderson wanted to hike Huatapallana one more time before they left the mission and they invited all the missionaries serving in Huancayo to go with them. It was a blast!!!

That's just about all that's happening here. I just want to leave a little note with everyone on service. This week I had the wonderful learning opportunity of ignoring someone when they really needed help. I was thinking about it later and thought about Christ when he says inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ye have done it unto me. I felt that I had given up the opportunity to serve someone else and in turn serve Christ. Repentence is such a blessing everyone! I would invite you all to look at the people around you and pray to recognize their silent pleas for help. Everyone needs a little service.

That's all!!! I love you all and really, truly need your prayers.

Love,

Hermana White

It's the Little Things

This week we decided that if there were sisters in the office they'd be us.

The office elders went with President to the different parts of the mission to do the mulitizone meetings so when some sisters had to travel to get an MRI we got to take them to the hospital. We played an epic game of dots with her companion while we were all waiting.

We've also had a sister who is finishing the mission stay with us because she had to travel to Huancayo from Cerro de Pasco (about four hours away). She has had some end of mission trainings this weekend and then she heads of to California tomorrow.

In our area we've been working with a lot of less actives. We've grown to love them so much that it just about broke my heart this sunday when one of them didn't come to church. We went and visited her and spoke very directly about going to church and reading the Book of Mormon. She knows she needs to do it sometimes we just get lazy.

I really just want to testify about the little things. God really does love us. This weekend we've been in and out of the office doing this and that and I have seen so many people from my old wards. It's amazing to see how much these people love us and how much I love them. There was one time when we were walking down a long road in the blazing sun that is incredibly close to the earth here and a car stopped and my old stake president from the other half of Huancayo stopped to say hi. The little things are so amazing and they just keep me going.

I love you all!!!!! Thank you for sending your prayers this way

Love,

Hermana White

Welcome to the Tambo Hospital

This week started out with a trip to the hospital. One of the sisters we are over was incredibly sick so monday night we took her to the hospital. We had to get permission to be out past hours and at about 11:30 we got home (for those who don't know, curfew is 9:30 at the latest). The sister had a stomach infection and was dehydrated so now she's on a strict diet of boiled chicken and rice. She's really happy about it. 

Tuesday we were exhausted due to the missing hour and a half of sleep but it was ok because we got to eat pizza in leaders council. It was President Henderson's last leader's council with us as he'll be leaving. It was very sad but he's still working and worried about the progress of the mission so it feels like he's not even leaving.

For the past couple years the sisters who are leaving the mission, entering the mission or staying for leaders council have always stayed in President's house. Now they will be staying in our house due to the fact that the new president has kids. Our house is nicknamed the Tambo Hotel because it's got a room full of bunkbeds for when people are sick but this week we've changed the name to the Tambo Hospital because different sisters have been sick and been staying with us. It's a fun life :)

Friday we had a multizone conference. It is also our last multizone conference so he's basically saying good bye to the mission. Everybody who was leaving the mission this transfer bore their testimony so President and Hermana Henderson bore theirs. It's incredible how close to the spirit we can be here in this life.

I love you all so much!!!!! Know that I'm working hard. I miss you all but I love the people here so much as well. It will be hard to leave them.

Love, Hermana White

Also, all of my companions that haven't finished the mission were in the same multizone.