Plymouth again :)

This week was really busy working with missionaries, and organizing the mission moves. This last week end we went to Plymouth. President Shamo had a stake conference there and we had a zone training that Elder Folkerson and I did. It was a really good stake conference and training meeting. It was so wonderful to see some old faces. C--- is a great missionary machine. He brought 4 fellow students to church with him. Good guy. He really is going to be a great leader in China. If he was the only person I had seen baptized my mission it would have been a success. We got a missionary this past moves from mainland China and so he is going to talk to C--- about the church in mainland China and how it all works. He may not be able to go to church in China. But he told me he knows the name of the church and he said that when the church does get to comes to China he will be the first one to it. Bless him. Not to mention the gift of the Holy Ghost works like a charm. All of the Chinese converts are doing great. R---- is doing well. And Re---is great also. It was so wonderful to see them all again in Plymouth as well as many of the members down there. That was a tender mercy to see all of them.

After conference on the Sat. night session president took us out for dinner. That is one of the great perks of being an AP is being around him. He told us story after story. Man I love him to bits, what a good man Pres. Shamo is. Dad I am trying to soak up as much as I can from him.

We really don’t have any more investigators cuz we have had to pass them all down to the missionaries in our area. But M--- and his family and the South African couple all came to church this week so they are doing well from what I have heard.

Family I love you guys tons. This week will be good. It is going to be busy as we have three zone conferences and a zone leader council.

Love you all!

Elder Michael White

Moves

I am beat. Literally. We have been at presidents a ton lately figuring out moves and who is going where etc. On multiple occasions (three times in the week). We would be at his house for about 15 hours figuring out moves and where missionaries need to be. Then along with that we needed to figure all of our other stuff with missionaries like accounting, travel plans for the missionaries (that one took forever) and then the departing missionaries and helping them out. I haven’t gotten much sleep cuz we will be up sometimes till about 1 or 2 and then getting up at 5 or 6. Today is when all the new missionaries come in. There will be 17 coming in. We do a training/orientation for them today and tomorrow. Elder Whitehead was released as an AP and so now there are only two of us, me and Elder Folkerson.

The work in our area is going very well. I don’t think we will have much time to work in our area this moves. Since there are just two of us and this next six weeks we have a ton of zone trainings to do, so we have introduced our investigators to the zone leaders in our area so when we are gone they can teach them and when we are in our area we can teach them. Hopefully that will all work out. Manoj is doing well. His family came to church this week. He wants to be baptized but his wife is a little reluctant and he wants to be baptized with her. It is only a matter of time though. We are also working with a South African lady names Debi who is a star and has read a bunch of the BofM. She is really promising. The only sad thing as I said is that we won’t have much time to work in our area. This moves president wants us out and about while we are doing the training and wants us to be working a lot in the areas with the zone and district leaders.

As far as neat things that has happened. I think I have told you but Chao Li is once again the star missionary. His friend was baptized and once again tons of Chinese were there! Chao is doing well and I will see him and all of my Plymouth converts this weekend as president will be gong down there for their stake conference and we will attend with him.

President gave us a p-day on Tuesday cuz he knew that the next week was going to be crazy and so we went to the seven sisters (white cliffs of Dover) and holy cow that is one of the most amazing places I have seen here in England. I loved it sooooooooooooooo much! The tide was out really far so we went out and walked on the coral and I got a bunch of sea shells so that was neat.

Love you all so much.

Elder M. White

Three Day Challenge

How is everyone? I am great. I went on an exchange this past week with a missionary who is a new elder and who is going through new missionary homesickness. I hated that feeling. I didn’t get it until I left my trainer E.Whitehead. It can be a hard time for new missionaries. Then to add to his homesickness this elder says he didn’t feel like he had a testimony. Occasionally ya hear some elders say they are not sure if they have a testimony it makes me crazy cuz you hear it from investigators all of the time and the answers is still the same whether it is from a missionary or an investigator or a less active. They seem to expect some amazing glorious answer the first time they ask but they neglect the little signs and tender mercies the Lord has truly shown them. We see them every day and yet we become so used to it that we expect more from a God who can do anything. I looked at this elder as he and I talked about the "flecks of gold" that Elder Ballard spoke of a few conferences back or Pres Uchdorfs talk on "waiting on the road to Damascus" I asked him about all these things the church has brought into his life and how the gospel has brought him happiness and I said "would you have it any other way?" and he of course said no and so I asked "then why do you question your testimony?" And then he said "Elder White of course I know the church is true." and then he started to cry. I really felt for the guy he has not yet fully read the whole book of Mormon. Once again I gave him the three day challenge. I have done that with 3 other elders and it hasn’t failed yet! The first one I did it too I told you about and he is doing wonderful by the way! Anyway this young elder will pull through he is just going through the adjustments of being a missionary.

Love you all so much and may God ever bless you.

Love ya tons!
Elder M. White

The London Temple

Lots to tell you we had lots of little miracles. The past two weeks once again we have been doing a lot of exchanges. I got to go on a great exchange with Elder Snow (who I trained) in Bath. He is doing great!! I love that kid. The city of Bath is flipping beautiful city!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything is the same brick everywhere you go and it is in the middle of the country side! I tried to see all that I could while I was there but there is so much to see in the city and not to mention I was there as a missionary and not a tourist. I really want to go back sometime and see the roman baths and ruins there. It is a really neat city. Mom I am sure you would love it.

Do you remember Wayne the one guy I met at the Slough bus station last year? Yeah? He was the less active man that went back to church and is fully active now. He baptized his good friend. This past week I got a call from him and he said "I just got my temple recommend and I would be honored if you came to with me for my first time to the temple.” I started shouting I was so happy. My companions, Elder Folkerson and Elder Whitehead, were with him when he went back to church. We got presidents permission and went to the London Temple on Sat and went through the endowment with him. It was really neat to see. That literally made my week. When I went into the celestial room he came up to me and gave me a big hug and said "Thank you so much for being at the right place and at the right time. You have no idea how much this has changed my life. You came and found me just at the right time. Thank you so much. Thank you and thank snowball (Elder Snow)." It is so wonderful going through the temple with someone you have helped bring into the church. That made my week and was by far the highlight.

Then Manoj who is our star date in Crawley is doing great. We are now teaching his family. He came to church and he loved it. In elders quorum they asked for people to come and help out with service and they asked for volunteers and Manoj was the first to raise his hand and it was his first time at church!!! It was sweet. We have been very blessed to find a great family.

Please pray for me as well as those who we teach and have been baptized, pray for missionary work. This is an amazing work. How wonderful it is to be engaged in the work of God. To see his mighty hand pushing forth throughout the world.

I Love you all so much!

Love,

Elder M. White

Exchanges

This was a good week, we did a lot of exchanges. We blitzed the whole west of the mission, well most of the west of the mission. We have been trying to work with future and potential leaders in the mission getting them ready for when so many of the missionaries go home. I went down to Plymouth, Elder Fulkerson went to Helston, and E Whitehead and President went all over Cornwall and Plymouth. They also went to St. Austell, Barnstaple, and Taunton. We hit a ton of areas in a few days. I also went on an exchange with the Staines zone leaders in London. I feel so tires physically it really takes it out of you but I love exchanges. We also had a good leadership training this past week that I really enjoyed.

We picked up another baptismal date this week!!!!!!!!! His name Manoj He is from India and he is really cool. R (Ugandan lady) is doing well, the only thing that she is facing is that her schedule is really busy and she doesn’t have tons of time to meet with us. We are getting some work done in our area but not tons and tons. Probably about 50% of work is done in our area and then the other half is in other areas. We are feeling good about the area. I am so happy to have some good people to teach and that have dates for baptism.