December 18, 2017

Hey Everyone!

Not much happened this week so it will be kind of short. That and I don’t have a lot of time. 

We did have transfers today and guess who is staying in Cedar West? Sister Barnett and I! This is my 6th Transfer here (by the end of this Transfer it will have been a total of 9 months) and I am glad to stay. Cedar West is a good Stake. 

With all the Christmas excitement  people have been busy and not able to meet, which we understand. But we did run into a woman yesterday who was telling us that she doesn’t even buy presents anymore. She wants to be solely focused on Christ and what He did for us and that is something I have been able to see this year. Christmas presents are fun and wonderful but there is something so special about focusing on Christ. He is truly the reason we celebrate. 

With love, 

Sister Waite 

December 11, 2017

Hello everyone! 

We did extra amounts of finding this week, but that is all good. With the holidays coming up, people are more inclined to listen to a short little something, but much less inclined to schedule anything because we are all so busy. We have a lot of potentials! 

Saturday and Sunday were so special this week. On Saturday was the cultural celebration and the youth did an amazing job! Troy was able to participate as well and I hear he had a great time. I don’t actually know because he has been so busy with it that we haven’t been able to meet with him. 

Sunday was amazing. After putting all that hard working into the open house, it was amazing to actually be part of the dedication of the temple. We watched it from the stake center but what President Eyring and a Elder Holland had to say was incredible. Haha, the only thing was that throughout the week we kept asking our selves how we were going to get people to church and we kept inviting them to church...only to realize that there was no church. 

We are looking forward to inviting people to church this week!

-Sister Waite 

December 4, 2017

Hello everyone! 

This week has been incredible, for so many reasons. We haven't found anyone new to teach yet but we did have a couple people come to church! Rula came again, and agreed to go again in a couple weeks when she is in NY if we find her the church building. Lds meeting house locators are nice to have. :) Mitch (an older gentleman we have been teaching) also came to church yesterday which was a big step forward for him.  We hope to put him on date for baptism this week. 

We also did exchanges this week. I went to SUU again with a sister from the Phillipines. Haha, we were talking about it and I have only done 5 real exchanges outside of my area and 4 of them have been to SUU. 

The next highlight, and one of the highlights of my mission, happened this Saturday when Elder Stevenson of the 12 apostles came and spoke to us in an all mission meeting. It was incredible! He talked a lot to us about how to help people repent. Listening to him reminded me of how important  it is that we have latter-day prophets and apostles here on the earth today. Without them we wouldn't know God's will for us today or how to deal with today's problems. I am so grateful for them and for all that they do for us. I love and sustain President Monson as well as his brethren. If we listen to them then we can hear the Savior's voice speaking to us. 

I love you all! 

-Sister Waite 

November 27, 2017

Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty great! It was good to get back into contact with everyone, I mean most people were busy with the holidays but they scraped out sometime to talk with us. 

The highlight of the week was talking with Rula. She has had some hard things happen to her these past few weeks, and she has to go back home for a month to face some things,  but  we know that God will help her. She says the most amazing things, though. We were talking about how we can ask God for help in the small details of our lives and she told us that, “God likes to be acknowledged when we ask for small, unimportant details because we can not do them ourselves. Even if it doesn’t work out how we want it too, God likes to be acknowledged.” I think that it true! We can be humble and turn to God for both and the big and the small things in life. 

We have also talked about about being thankful this week, only in part because it was Thanksgiving.There is so much to be thankful for in our lives, even the bad things that go wrong in our lives we can be grateful for. The scriptures teach us over and over again to be thankful in all things and as we strive to do that then even or trials can become a  little bit more bright. Our Thanksgiving was good though. We got to spend part of our with our newly called live at home senior couple, the  Corry's, we are excited to get to work with them. 

Thanks for everything! 

-Sister Waite

Cedar City Temple Open House You never know who you'll see

It was a cool experience to get to get to see Great Grandma! And she came at the perfect time, we had a few minutes to chat before everyone else showed up! It it would have happened on a Saturday we would have filled up the tent in a few minutes, showed the video, then sent them one their way. But it was good to get to see her.

Here is what Great Grandma had to say:
"
A tender mercy...Kathleen and I were the first people sent to the last tent..who did we find there...Sister Waite!"

11/20/2017

Hey Everyone! 

This past few weeks have been an adventure to say the least! 

The Cedar City Temple Open House was an experience to say the least.  It was harder than we thought it would be and what most people expected it to be but good came out of it as well.  I think one of the things I learned from though was that God knows us personally. It was amazing how people that the sisters knew would come to the right tent to see that Sister. It happened multiple  to everyone, not just me. But those where the moments that made it all worth it. To see people that I knew and loved, like my Great Grandma and people I had worked with in Kanab and Richfield made all the difference. The talk that Elder Rasband have this last conference comes to mind. There is no chance in life, and it was done by Divine Design.  

Another touching story from the temple open house happened to a woman who is not a member. The story begins with a Presbyterian church in Queens NY that was built over a hundred years ago. This church was demolished fairly recently but there were at least 4 stained glass panels that an art dealer saved. Knowing that the church would take good care of these beautiful pieces of art they were donated. The church restored them to their former glory (as they were in quite bad condition) and then placed them in temples. One is in the Provo City Center Temple, another in Star Valley Wyoming Temple and then two here in the Cedar City temple. This woman walked inside the temple and just started to cry because there, hanging above a recommend desk, was the same stained glass panels from the church that she had grown up going to. The Lord knew her so well that he knew she would be at this open house at that time And that those painting would mean a great deal to her. She was having a rough day and that is exactly what she needed! She isn’t making any plans to join anytime soon, but what a fond experience she must have to remember the temple by.  

That was a big moment in her life but I know we all have small moments that we can look for where we can see the hand of God in our lives. Look for it and I know that you can find it! God truly does love each and every single one of us! 

Also, last week transfers happened. I am staying here in Cedar West for another 6 weeks! Sister White, however, went back down to St. George and Sister Barnett came up. She is from Washington state, about an hour north of Seattle. We look forward to finding lots of people and teaching once more! 

I love you all! 

-Sister Waite 

A picture of Sister Waite and her companion from a member

It is so wonderful to get emails with pictures of Sister Waite. Doesn't she look happy? 

10/23/2017

Hey Everyone! 

This week has been pretty great. The highlight of the week was clearly getting to go on a tour through the Cedar City Temple. It was astounding! It was so beautiful and wow. I can’t wait to go through again (which is all honesty might be when it is dedicated) but wow, guys. It is a work of art.  

We also started working the temple open house last Saturday. That night they also did a special open house for investigators which was so fun. I got to see People from Kanab which made my life. Let me tell you, it was hard not to break the don’t get to excited when you see people you know rule. 

But this week should be good! We are at the temple from about 9-8 every day this week so not much is going on. 

We weren’t able to meet with either Jessica or Corey this week. All of our schedules kept getting in the way but hopefully next Sunday we can meet with them because that is really our only day off. Speaking of which, we might email on Sunday so if you get an email from me then, don’t freak out. We aren’t sure how this is all working yet but Sunday is pretty much our P-day now, expect for shopping. We are also teaching on Sunday so I don’t know how it will all work but it will. 

I am so grateful for the temple. It truly does provide ways that we can be closer together as a family and to God. 

I love you all! Thanks for all you do!

-Sister Waite 

10/16/2017

Hey everyone! 

Wow, I feel like so much has happened this week! We had a meeting in St. George that finally explained a little bit more about what is going on with the Temple Open House. This is going to be a slightly crazy 4 weeks!  Starting this Saturday we will be at the temple till about 9 at night each day except Sunday and Mondays. Sunday’s we get off to work in our area, which I am super excited about and then Mondays are a half day at the temple. Thus, we get P-day from 6-9 at night so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me  until then next week. :) 

We also had zone Conference this week. They gave us more instruction about Facebook and all that lovely stuff and also released what is basically a new chapter of Preach My Gospel. It basically replaces chapter 8 of it but it is really good. We are excited to get to use it!

We had an AWESOME experience last night. We have been going through the part-Member family list for the last month or so and there was this family on the list that we were super confused about. The list said that they lived in an apartment that was clearly college housing but we thought, why not? If they are still there then we contacted them, if they are YSA and interested we will pass them on.  So we proceeded to try and knock their door but never caught them at home, until last night. She opened the door and it was clear that she was YSA but she invited us in and after talking to her for minute we learned that she had gone to church for the first time that morning, and that she wanted to know a little bit more about Jesus Christ. She had taken the lessons before but she said that she wasn’t as open then but she wants to know more now! So we gave her information to the Elders and she promised us that she would listen to what they had to say. 

Another fun thing that happened to us this week was seeing Rula. She is the sweetest woman. But we were talking with her about the Restoration a little bit more this week. And she told us about how she believes one of the big differences between us and her own religion is that we believe the Bible. She told us about how her family doesn’t believe in the Bible at all because of all the changes that have been made to it. Aren’t we glad that we have the Bible? Aren’t we glad that we have those records of those people and of Christ himself? Yes, parts of it aren’t fully correct but the Bible is still the word of God and I am very grateful for it and for important lessons that we can read and learn from there. The Bible and the Book of Mormon work together hand in hand. 

Thanks for all you do! 

I love you all! 

-Sister Waite 

10/9/2017

Hello Everyone! 

This week was incredible! We found a lot of people to teach this week. Some of them are more ready than others but that is alright. :) 

However, we did have a lesson with Corey Hill that was like it was right out of a movie. We went over to teach him and after we had said the prayer and such and just turned to us and said “I know you probably have something prepared, but I was wondering if we could talk about baptism.” So we talked about baptism and he wanted to know what he needed to do to get baptized and if he could do it around his sons birthday (which scared us because what is if his birthday was in March, but no, turns out it in the middle of November). And then he kept his commitment to come to church this Sunday even though there was a family event going on. He has been prepared by the Lord over years worth of missionaries. I just wish the missionaries who had taught him before could know. I think it will be a wonderful thing up in Heaven to get to see the people we meet in our lives and how their lives turned out.  

We also had the chance to meet with Jessica again this week. She is such a sweet woman who really does want to know more. She just wants her family to be together forever and that is such a sweet thing to want. Temples are where it is at! Speaking of temples we are finally going to be receive some training for it this Saturday, for real this time. 

Besides that our week has been pretty normal. I may or may not have already introduced myself as Sister White twice. My mouth speaks faster than my brain sometimes... a lot of times. But it was been really great. 

Thanks for all you do!

I love you all!

-Sister Waite 

10/4/2017

Hey Everyone!

This week has been crazy! Lots of changes have been made. First off, they just changed our transfer day to p-day so that was crazy. Thus the emailing on Wednesday. And then we learned that we also just became a Facebook mission, all the missions across the USA became Facebook missions. So if you see me on Facebook, that is why. I still don’t know how I feel about that but the Lord is hastening his work!

 But wow. This week was so good. To start off, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister White (yes, people are going to be very confused, it will be awesome) and she is from Texas, the Dallas Fort-worth area. I served around her in Kanab, so this will be a fun transfer. 

Also this past week we had exchanges. I stayed here with Sister Williams and we saw so many miracles. To start off, we went by to see a man that Sister Lapine and I had talked to a while back. He was interested in reading the Book of Mormon and maybe even in baptism  but he had no interested whatsoever in setting up a return appointment. But this time when we came back we learned that he has actually been asked to help with parking for the temple open  house . We talked to him for a little bit and he mentioned something along the lines of ‘I am so involved I might as well just get baptized”. Well, we jumped on that and we talked for a few minutes about that. And then HE asked us when we would be able to come back and then HE asked is if we could say a prayer with him before we left. It was so cool! God does work in preparing people, and we don’t always get to see that change but it for sure there!

We were also able to watch General Conference which was so good! It was amazing to get to hear from our leaders and even though President Monson wasn’t there, you can still see his influence and his power as God’s ordained prophet here on the face of the earth. His challenge is just as real today as it was 6 months again and I think it is interesting that the apostles brought that up. They applied his advice and we need too as well, because it is how we can come closer to God. 

Thanks for everything!

I love you all! 

-Sister Waite 

9/25/2017

Hey Everyone!!

This week was amazing! We were teaching Troy almost everyday this past
week and it was incredible to watch the change that happened to him
even in that short space of time. He seemed much lighter for lack of a
better word. This gospel does change lives and it does make a
difference. At Troys baptism his Granfather gave the closing prayer in
Navajo which was fun to hear but before he prayed he gave a few
closing remarks about how the Ward family can be just as much Family
as your actually family and how he has so appreciated how this Ward
has reached out to his family in Cedar. Our wards are truly our family
and we are all brothers and sisters in the gospel.

Last night we also ran into a Chinese man who we talked to for quite a
while about the Book of Mormon and Jospeh Smith. He didn't know much
but he did have a Book of Mormon (though he did keep saying that he
thought that the language was weird). He didn't want us to come back
because he only had 9 days left in the states but it was a cool
experience.

Rula left this week to go to New York. We are going to miss her for
these two weeks, she was always a bright spot in our day, but before
she left the bishop in her Ward gave her a priesthood blessing.
Afterwards she told us that she was reminded during her blessing that
God has a plan for her, and that he is in control. She feels the Holy
Ghost so strong it is just a amazing to us. She just has a special
spirit about her.

Thanks for all that you do and I love you all!!
-Sister Waite

9/18/2017

Hey Everyone!!

This week has been a blast. We had to make the trip down to St. George
for a meeting and I got to see lots of people I haven't seen in
forever because I am in the boonies and not a visitor center sister.
It was great!

We also had interviews with President Smith, which is always good. He
pretty much told me that I was going to stay in Cedar West next
transfer which I am perfectly fine with. I am probably getting a new
companion however which I am not so happy about. Sister Taylor is an
amazing missionary and we have had a blast together! I guess we will
just enjoy the next few weeks that we have with each other.

Tuesday was a busy day for us! We taught 6 lessons! It was great. We
taught Dan and Susie Lopez and we asked them if they wanted to be
baptized...but they don't and in fact they don't want to meet with us
again. But that is alright because we planted some good seeds and the
next missionaries who came along will help them further along the path
toward baptism.

Troy is also progressing! He is still set for baptism on the 23rd so
we are super excited about that. He is an amazing young man with a lot
of potential and deep thoughts. We asked him the other day why he
wanted to be baptized his answer was that he didn't want it to change
who he was, but the direction his life would go. I have never really
looked at it that way but it is so true! Baptism, and taking the
sacrament, does not change who we are, but it can change the direction
of our lives as we apply the covenants into our lives by doing small
and simple things.

At the end of this week we will be going to a meeting that will fully
explain the missionaries role in the temple open house and give us
some training. We are so excited for the temple!!! I can't put into
words how excited we are to be able to help out. Still don't fully
know what we will be doing but we got official flyers from the church
this week about times and such so that is a step in the right
direction.

Thanks so much for everything! I love you all!
-Sister Waite

9/11/2017

Hey Everyone! :)

This week we had the chance to teach a man (Dan) and his mother. His
mother has been sick lately and hasn't been able to to do much, but
with this inability to do anything she decided that she wants to go to
church. Haha, she says that she will walk there if need be (once she
is all the way better). We are excited to get to teach them!
We had an amazing lesson with Troy this week. He is still progressing
towards baptism and wow. He just has this really special spirit about
him.

On Friday night we were also able to have an amazing experience withRula. We walked into her home and there was just their happy spirit
about it. Her husband, who is a trucker, was home finally and we
learned that he is working on getting a job down here so he can stay
close to home (which was a huge answer to Rula prayers!) and then Rula
was telling us that she knows. She knows that Christ is her Savior
which is big considering she is Muslim. D&C 46:13 was pretty much
exactly what told us and how she believes. However, with that she is
making the scary step these next few weeks in telling her family. We
will see how it goes but we are sure praying for her!

Sunday was a regional Stake conference and it was so good. We had the
chance to hear broadcasted this conference out to most of southern
Utah (256 stakes). We had the chance to hear from Elder Stevenson fromthe the Quorum of the 12 and he gave some amazing advice. There did
not apparently used to be missionaries in Utah, they very first tried

it out as an experiment with just two elders when Elder Stevenson had
just started his mission. And now look at where it is. 9 missions, 800
missionaries, and even more investigators. Wow, it is amazing to watch
the hastening of the work go forth today.
In this Stake conference we also heard from Elder Uceda who gave an
outstanding talk on doing the small and simple things. He talked about
reading the scriptures and praying and how, when we pray with a
sincere heart, then we have a moment in the heaven. The Lord does hear
and answers our prayers. That is something that I know without a doubt
and He always answers, even if we don't always understand or recognize
right away.

I love you all!!
-Sister Waite

9/4/2017

Hey Everyone!!

This week was pretty good. Pretty slow as well but with it being Labor
Day weekend what does one expect?

Exchanges were this week as well. Sister Taylor when with Sister
Williams in YSA while Sister Zhang (my pal!)  came over to Cedar West
to chill with me. Haha, we had a blast and a lot of doors opened up
for us. None of them were interested but they opened. That is
sometimes an accomplishment in and of itself.

One of the more interesting things that happened this week was that we
almost had dinner in a tattoo parlor. Our Ward mission leader had
assigned us dinner with a less active trying to return couple who run
a tattoo business in their home. When we knocked on their door and
they opened we realized that they must have forgotten (when we called
to confirm we got a voice mail of a tattoo parlor and we were really
confused because but we just thought we had the wrong number) so we
played it off as a door contact and she invited us in. We had an
amazing discussion about the temple though. Their goal is to be able
to be sealed in a temple for time and all eternity and I loved hearing
about how hard they were working toward that. Not always making it,
but they were continuing to get up each time they fell down. And truly
is that not what this is all about? Getting up each time we fall and
realizing that we can do better but being able to relay on the
Atonement of Jesus Christ when we do make mistakes. We didn't get any
dinner that night but we did feel the spirit with them and who knows,
maybe the couple in the back getting tattoos in the back felt it as
well. ;)

We were able to teach Troy twice this week! Man, that boy has some
amazing, unique insights on the gospel. We asked him how the Book of
Mormon was able to change his life and he said that it was teaching
him how to trust. Another time he said that the Book of Mormon helped
him feel potential and I think that is so true. The Book of Mormon is
filled with ways that we learn and grow and have a greater potential
in life. Guys, the Book of Mormon is an awesome thing.

I love you all and thanks for everything!!
Sister Waite

August 28th

Hey Everyone!

This week was super good, bitter-sweet, but good. It was hard to see
Sister Lapine go, we had a lot of fun together but it was great to get
to meet Sister Taylor! She is super awesome. She is from Springville,
UT and she is excited to be here. Haha, going to Utah I never would
have guessed that any of my companions would be from Utah, but she is
the second.

We had a bit of a hectic day Wednesday. We went down to St. George
(where is was like a reunion! It was great I got to see a lot of
people)to get everyone where they needed to be and finally got back to
Cedar about 6:40ish before we had a lesson with Troy at 7. That was an
awesome lesson you could just feel the spirit there. He has this
spirit about him that just invites The Spirit. He also agreed to bebaptized in September, so that was exciting to here,

Then on Thursday we also had the chance to see Rula!! Man, nothing cankeep that woman back from coming to Christ. She wants it so bad and
you can see that because she is really starting to know this is all
true. We were talking with her about the open house of the temple and
what the temple is for and she wanted to know if  even though she
wasn't a member if her cousins work could be done. That was cool! That
is one of the most amazing parts of the gospel in my opinion is that
we can do work for those who have passed on. It is a so amazing that
we have this unique and special privilege. I am also super excited for
the temple open house. It is going to be amazing guys!!!

Being so close to the temple (and having a Ward mission leader who
works on the temple) has allowed us to hear a lot of stories justabout how perfect the house of the Lord must be. They used to vacuum out the sawdust and such every single night, they wipe down all the

steel that they use before it goes up and after, they can and will
redo something that may have cost thousands of dollars because it is
the house of the Lord and it should be treated as such. It is so
cool!!

Thanks for all you do and I love you all!!
-Sister Waite

August 21st

Hey Everyone!

This is going to be quick because we don't have a lot time because
transfers are happening this week. I am staying in Cedar West and my
new companion is Sister Taylor. I'm not sure where she is from but I
am excited to get to know her.

Sister Lapine is going down to St. George along with Sister Ellis.

This week was good though! We had a lot of opportunities to talk to
people who aren't ready yet but will be soon. :)

I love you all!!
-Sister Waite

August 14th

Hey Everyone!!

This past week was amazing! First off... I got to go home to
Richfield! Literally, went home. We went up the night before because
the other sisters had a meeting that started at 7:30 so we stayed with
the Chappells.  Highlight of the week for sure. We had a bi-zone
conference there were two members of the 70 came and spoke to us.
Elder Pearson and Parrella. They were amazing. Elder Pearson was like
an Elder Holland in training as he, just like Elder Holland, "got in
our faces, but just enough to singe our eyebrows". It was quite
intense. But it was alright because he taught us some really amazing
things. He talked a lot about agency in a new way that I have never
heard of before and how it is more than just choice. It is choosing to
act instead of being acted upon.

Another really cool thing that he talked about was how most people
need about 7 positive contacts with the church before they will
listen. Even if we aren't baptizing, as long as we are trying to
change a 1 to a 2, or a 5 to 6, then we are doing what the Lord is
asking. Just do what you can to improve people and the world in
general around you.

We also did exchanges this week. I stayed in Cedar West with Sister
Ellis while Sister Lapine went with Sister Zhang to the YSA Stake. We
saw so many miracles! Sister Ellis and Zhang cover the young married
Stake as well which covers all of Cedar so one time they were looking
for dinner, but found this really hidden basement apartments so we
went and knocked those. Seriously, you would never know they were
there unless you were lost. Anyway, we talked to a 15 year old by
named Chris who was super open. He says he doesn't know if he would
ever convert (haha, the spirit can change that...) but he is willing
to listen.

Sister Lapine and I were also able to start teaching a 17 year old boy
named Troy. His aunt is a member of the church and he is staying with
her for the school year. We are excited to get work with him. He says
that he wants to be baptized but we are going to have to help him work
through some things first, he has had a rough life.

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for everything!
-Sister Waite

August 7th

Hey Everyone! :)

This week has been...interesting to say the least. I got to experience
lots of new things in life, like taking my companion to the ER.

Sister Lapine, for whatever reason, decided that drinking water was
not a necessity in life. Or at least not drinking enough water for the
fact that we are WALKING and we were spending ALL DAY out in the
HOT sun...so we ended up in the emergency room Wednesday morning. We
almost took her on the night before but the mission nurse told us not
to so we waited. Dehydration and heat stoke all mixed into one was not
fun. Two liters of fluids and lots of drugs later fixed most of her
symptoms. She is not longer about to pass out if she walks a few feet
and she is keeping food down, oh, and her vision is back so that is
good. Apparently she still has killer headache but that will go away
hopefully as she drinks water. Haha, I think she is sick of everyone
telling her to drink water but she deserves it. If that is the worst
she is going to get out of it then life is fine.

Because of the above reason Sister Lapine has spent pretty much all
week inside and I have spent all week calling people to try and find
people to go out with me on splits and a place for her to stay at
because she also had to be with someone 24/7.  But we did have the
most amazing experience with Rula this week.

My split and I went over to help her out with something this week and
afterwards we sat down to chat. Zain, her 4 year old, was miraculous
asleep so we didn't have to worry about him running around. I don't
remember how we got on it, but she started telling us about this dream
that she had. She said that it was realer than anything she had every
experienced on earth. She was in heaven, and she knew, for lack of better
words, that she was an eternal being. And Christ was there, and
apparently she spoke with Him and he told her that she was a child of
God. The thought that she might be a child of God had never even
entered her thoughts before but after that she knew that she was a
child of God because she could not deny her 'dream'. It was so
amazing!! We truly are blessed with the knowledge that we have we have
Heavenly parents who know and love us. We are truly children of God
and it is a knowledge that we need to share with people. Remember
that, though, that you are a child of God.

Thanks for everything!
I love you all!
-Sister Waite