He Lives

I've continued to see so many blessings this week! I guess that shouldn't really be a surprise anymore, but it continues to amaze me how much I used to miss! The Lord's hand is continually outstretched and leading us! 

The work this week was just as any other: wonderful! 

Austin Zone Soccer!

We've been teaching Michael, who's 12, and his brother Matthew, who's 9. Their mom wanted them to make their own decision to be baptized, but they've been through many sets of missionaries. They came to church one day, and we set up a time to meet with them. And wouldn't you know it, now they've decided to be baptized! They're a whole lot of fun to teach. It's definitely different, but I love it! Michael has had all of the lessons before, so he's a great help when it comes to helping Matthew understand. :) 

Brother Kruger is still very excited to be baptized and continues to proclaim "IT JUST MAKES SENSE" whenever we ask him questions. He's a great guy. 

We also finally got in touch with Rosemary. She brought up some concerns she had, and we helped her through them. It's always amazing to me how much more powerful using the scriptures is as opposed to us just telling people things. We made it a goal to start using the scriptures more in our teaching, and it has
definitely brought in so much more power! Rosemary is getting ready for a baptism in May! :) 

The Spanish Elders in our area also handed off a mother and two daughters to us this week (they decided to attend an English ward instead of the Spanish one). Maria, Nicole, and Lynda are so excited to be baptized! We've been told that they just need to understand prophets a little bit more, and what better time to teach about that than with General Conference coming up?! It's funny how things like this work out. ;) 

Email time with Sister Gagon and the zone leaders.

Due to some circumstances we couldn't control, Geoff's baptism didn't happen. But it's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". He's still so great and has such a strong desire to be baptized! He even came to church yesterday, despite the fact that he was so sick he could barely move. I still see the light in his life increase daily as we meet with him and discuss the gospel! 

The ward continues to get better and better as we build more and more trust. We finally met our lessons with a member present goal this week! At the beginning of my time in this area, it was really hard to get members to come to lessons... but now we can't get enough appointments to take people to! :) 

With the celebration of Easter this week, we've talked to a lot of people about the Savior. I've been amazed at how many people focus on His death. The suffering and crucifixion of Christ were both vital parts of the Atonement. Without them, the great plan of happiness would be frustrated. He would not know how to succor His people, neither would He have been able to blot out our transgressions. And He had to face death, but only to accomplish something far greater: to "loose the bands of death which bind His people." (Alma 7) (also 2 Nephi 9)

He lives. I don't know any other way to say it. Christ lives. He died, yes. For you, for me, and for everyone else. But He also lives... for you, for me, and for everyone else. Christ rose on the third day, and has been risen ever since. Because He lives, we also may live again. And He's also here. For all of us. In the short time I've been His servant, I've had the opportunity to feel a portion of His love. Not only for me, but for everyone I meet. And if I can only feel a tiny fraction, I can only imagine how much He truly does love us. And it's amazing to me. 

Hope y'all have a great week! :) 

Love, 

Sister Waite

P.S. General Conference is this weekend! I encourage you to prepare! One thing we've been doing as a companionship is listening to Conference talks from the past. A few of our favorites include: "Converted Unto the Lord" by Elder Bednar, "Your Happily Ever After" by President Uchtdorf (... really anything from him...), "None Were With Him" by Elder Holland, "Ponder the Path of Your Feet" by President Monson, and "The Race of Life" by President Monson. 

The Spirit and The Atonement

Betsy and Esther sent me pictures, so I hung them on the fridge! :)

I had quite the experience yesterday. I knew it would happen eventually, but holy cow. I was not prepared for it. Yeah... I had what you might call my first "Bible bash." 

I'll start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). On Thursday, we met with a sweet family that was baptized a few months ago. We so love them! They told us that a man had knocked on their door and started preaching to them. Soon, he found out they were LDS, and began "bashing" the Book of Mormon (among other things) and they couldn't get him to go away. Happily, they told us that they just kept telling him "We know it's true!" We told them that if he ever came back, they could tell him they knew two people who would be able to address his concerns. Then we had a wonderful lesson about the Book of Mormon. 

Fast forward to yesterday. The Vargas family missed church, so we decided to stop by their home to check on them. As we were knocking, a man walked up, saying loudly: "Hi!" I didn't recognize him, but I just knew. It was the man who had been bothering the Vargas family. He soon realized who we were and immediately attempted to start an argument. And immediately, I felt the Spirit leave. It was an odd feeling. Doing our best to be polite and follow the counsel of President Slaughter, we thanked him for sharing his faith and told him we needed to go... but he wouldn't let us. Just then, Brother Vargas opened the door and quickly realized what was happening... so of course he called Sister Vargas over to watch! (Haha!) Over and over again, this man attacked my beliefs. It was all I could do to smile and resist the urge to bash right back, easily proving all his points wrong. But I knew that without the Spirit, the truth would have no effect on him. We finally got inside the home and he said he'd be back to talk to the Vargas family; simultaneously contradicting everything he had just said to us (but I'm not going to go into that). Although I had resisted the urge to take the bait and argue, I still felt wrong. Almost dirty. The contention-even though very one-sided-had driven the Spirit away. (2 Nephi 11:29) It just reaffirmed to me how careful we need to be in order to keep the Spirit with us, always surrounding ourselves with things to invite it! 

Not to worry, though! Sister Gagon is a pro! We were able to leave a testimony and politely step inside the Vargas family's home. The Spirit we felt there as we talked about the importance of testimony and the Holy Ghost was so sweet to me! :) 

The view of Austin from our apartment

In other news... Geoff's baptismal date has been moved... to THIS SATURDAY! We decided that the April 18th date that the Elders from the other ward had given him was just too far away! He's excited, we're excited... it's just a whole lot of excitement! It's been so sweet to me to watch the atonement and gospel beginning to work in his life! 

The power of the Atonement is so real, but I think a lot of times we forget its full purpose. Yes, it covers the big stuff that we do wrong. If we truly repent, it's forgiven. It also covers the little things. Little changes we need to make in order to be more Christlike, or keep the commandments more fully. But that's really only part of it. Christ suffered not only for our sins, but our trials and pains and temptations and EVERYTHING (Alma 7:11-12). If we allow ourselves to be humble and ask for help and strength and forgiveness, we will receive it. Elder David A. Bednar said:

"Thus, the Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us.

There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light." 

I've seen this power work in Geoff's life. I've seen it work in my own. And it will work in your's, if you'll let it. 

Same skirt?

NOPE! ... We matched. As we do. Every time. Without fail.

Time is moving so quickly here in Texas! I feel like I blinked and it's March! I don't know how I feel about that... I'm loving it so much! I'm so glad and grateful I've been given this opportunity! 

Love you all! :) 

Sister Waite

P.S. I also want to add that I'm so grateful for the good members of both wards Geoff has attended. He's told us several times that this is the only church in which everyone has welcomed him with "the pure heart and love of Christ." And that's one of the reasons he's decided to be baptized. It's so important to always be willing to say hi and get to know a new face, especially at church. Going to a new church, especially one so different from others, can be scary. Do everything you can to make it less scary for new faces! You never know, maybe you'll be the one who helps them make that important decision in their lives! 

Plus, the missionaries will love you. ;) 

Another Week of Miracles :)

I'll try to keep it short today and not ramble on and on as I've been known to do. It's hard when there's so much good to write about! :) 

This week has been full of miracles and tender mercies! It's been so wonderful to see the Lord's hand in His work! He truly does NOT leave us alone! 

Let's see... now I have to choose which ones to share! I'm really bad at choosing! :) 

We had a member we've been working with to get back to church call us and ask us to say a prayer with her. She said she had a bad toothache and needed it to go away. I said the prayer with her over the phone (it was pretty late at night and we couldn't just go meet with her), and a couple hours later she texted us and said her pain was completely gone! It was just what she needed to strengthen her faith and we saw her at church yesterday! :) 

Last week, we had an investigator ask us a question about the Old Testament that we didn't know how to answer. We told him we'd study and come back with an answer... if we could. A couple weeks ago, I started reading Genesis at lunch with the intention of getting all the way through the Old Testament so that I would at least know a little bit about it, but I had been distracted with reading other things for a few days.On Friday, I decided to continue my study, opening it with a prayer that I might be able to find something to help an investigator-even in the Old Testament (... I've always had a really hard time with the Old Testament... I'm working on it, though! :) ) Not 4 verses in, I found the answer to this man's question! Why did I decide to study that bit that day? Well, it wasn't a coincidence. :) We are so led! 

And some big news this week: We now have four investigators with a solid baptismal date! Rosemary, Celeste, Erik, and Geoff! Rosemary is still going strong (I mentioned her last week)! There are a few things we're going to have to help her overcome, but she felt the Spirit so strongly at church yesterday and wants to do it. And we know she can! We met with her on Monday, and she had brought her niece, Celeste, to the lesson. And now Celeste want's to be baptized, too! Erik's wife has been a member for two years, and Bishop asked us to stop by to visit with her. But Erik was there and wouldn't you know it... He wants to be baptized as well! Geoff was living with a less-active member in another ward. She took him to church once, and he loved it! Due to some circumstances that he couldn't really control, he had to move across the street... into our ward! He's so great and ready and we love him. I'm just so excited! I've been able to see the Lord's hand in these people's lives, and I've only known them for... less than a week! That's so crazy to me! :) 

These are only a few of the miracles this week! The Lord is so looking out for us in Zilker Park! He's answering our prayers and guiding (not to mention hastening) the work! :) 

One of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon is in Mosiah 24. There, Amulon "put tasks" upon Alma and his people. Verse 10 tells us that "so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God," but Amulon forbids it. He sets guards over them, and tells the people that if they prayed, they would die. so Alma tells the people to "pour out their hearts to God," and they do. And, as always, their prayers are answered. My favorite part of the story, however, comes in their answer. The Lord does not somehow make the work any easier or the burdens any lighter. No, instead we learn that "the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience..." I love that! We all have trials and burdens, and we may just want them to stop. But as we pray to our Heavenly Father, he will strengthen us to be able to bear them. Even bear them cheerfully, because we know that He is there. 

I have seen this work in my life. We can do ALL things through Christ (Philippians 4:13) (AND Alma 26:12 :) ) Always remember that! 

Love you all! :) 

Sister Waite

PS Yeah... I did really bad at taking pictures this week. 

But I have one of us in the car. Sister Gagon had an investigator she had been working with for the first 6 months of her mission get baptizedon Saturday, and President let us travel to San Antonio so she could be there! 

... And I found some cool kid sunglasses in the car. So naturally this had to happen. :) 

The First Vision

This last week made me very grateful for a car. I have such respect for the Elders and Sisters who do the Lord's work by bike or on foot every day. Our area is so big and spread out that we had to make sure not to schedule things without at least 30 minutes in between or we'd be late! Couple that with a lot of cancelled lessons or no-shows and you have a pretty long week! Thankfully, we have great members to get us place to place and an awesome district who took some time out of their own busy missionary schedules to help us out when members couldn't. Especially after dark and in the rain!

Happily, after 10 days of walking (biking in skirts, wind, and rain proved to be very difficult), riding the bus (once, and probably never again. Sister Gagon got really bus sick), and begging for rides... Kevin is back! Our beautiful car!! Oh how we love Kevin. :)

In the midst of all this, we managed to find three people who want to be baptized! Well... they found us. We're hoping to help them work to a baptism in early April or late March. We're so excited for them! We had a sweet lesson with Rosemary about the Holy Ghost that I wish I could say that we planned or could even remember, but it was led by the Spirit and that's how the work should go. I was able to share my favorite scripture (or one of many) with her. John 14:27. I had "mysteriously" come across it that morning during personal study, but used it 3 times with 3 different people. I pray every morning to be led in study to find what I'll need that day and it is answered every day. 

We also made s'mores over our stove before Sister Johnston was transferred on Thursday. I can safely say I've never done that before... but I'd certainly do it again! :) ... And we had a little Texas visitor the other day... Apparently there's a man in our stake who makes earrings out of them... So stay tuned for some super cute cockroach earrings! Haha! :) 

Last week I made a goal to reread Joseph Smith History and memorize his entire experience and not just the two verses in the Restoration pamphlet. It's really been a blessing for me! The First Vision has always been my favorite story from church history; every time I am able to talk or read about it, I feel my testimony grow stronger. A couple summers ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Grove. I was able to find a quiet place to sit and ponder. I read Joseph's own account of his experience while listening to the gentle rain on the leaves above me. I softly hummed "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and watched light dance in gorgeous patterns on the ground. I asked again- as I had done many times before- if Joseph had really seen and experienced the things he said he did. As I sat in quiet marvel, I began to feel the quiet stirrings of the Spirit in my heart. Again, though, it was only a quiet confirmation of things I already knew. I had already done the same things that Joseph had done-scripture study and prayer-and I had received my own testimony long before my visit to the Grove. However, just as is always true, the Lord answered when I knocked, letting me know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Through him, the Lord restored His gospel and His church to the earth. Joseph translated the Book of Mormon, which serves as another testament of Jesus Christ and will only strengthen the faith and testimony you already have of the Savior. I echo the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's great-grandfather "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." 

Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. 

Through him, we have the restored gospel. 

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

You can know this for yourself! Just sincerely ask! 

Love, 

Sister Waite

Of Baptisms, Bananas, and Bike Rides

I know you all are dying to hear the transfer news ;)... Sister Gagon and I are staying together here in Zilker Park! Yay!! :)

That's super exciting for me because I really love Sister Gagon. We have so much in common and I've learned so much from her! Elder Pew (an Assistant to the President) told us that they all expect miracles from us this next transfer. And we're ready to deliver! :)

I really, really love Zilker Park. It's got to be the best area in the whole mission! I really love the ward and all the people that I have been able to meet. Just love them to death! So much that I rode my bike this week just to be able to see them! Our poor car is having transmission issues (I know, me and transmission problems...), so we took it in to be fixed. This week has been the coldest and rainiest by far, but we didn't let that stop us! We've been on foot and bike all week! :) And we've met some very interesting people that way... Haha! :)

The best thing ever happened this week! Alana and Jadon were baptized! They're both so awesome. Jadon got his hair cut, so you  won't get to see his crazy curly hair... but it was awesome. It was so great to see them be baptized. Now that I think about it, the first time I've seen Alana REALLY smile was after her baptism. Wow! This really is the happiest message on Earth! Jadon is a crazy 8 year-old and he asked to bear his testimony... it was one of the sweetest testimonies I've ever heard. So simple, but so powerful. Especially for an 8 year-old! I'm so excited for them. :)

My little sister sent me a banana this week... 

I haven't tried to eat it yet... but we'll see. ;)

So this week I've done a lot of thinking about our Heavenly Father. We all lived with Him before this life and were happy, because what else would we be in the presence of such a loving Heavenly Father? Yet we knew we needed to come here in order to progress, so we did it. But we're not left alone and wandering without guides! We have scriptures and prophets and all of that stuff, but we also have the PERFECT EXAMPLE, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father just loves us SO much (John 3:16). I usually think of it as "He gave us a way to get back to Him. And we so want to be with Him again." But the other day I flipped it around. HE so wants to be with US again. And I may or may not have cried. (You'll never be able to prove it.) I've never thought of it

like that, but of course it's true! It's sort of like physics. When you push on something, it pushes back with the exact same force. We want so badly to be with Him again (even if some of us don't realize it), and Heavenly Father wants us back just as much. Probably even more, which breaks the analogy. Everything he does is to save souls. Everything. His very purpose is to bring us back (Moses 1:39). I love Him so much, and He loves me so much, and He just loves all of you so much, and it's just a whole lot of love going on. Always remember that!

Love,

Sister Waite