Good by Glen Rock I will miss you!!!!!

At the farmers market our booth:)

I'm leaving Glen Rock……. I don’t know where I will be going but I feel so sad to go.  Sister Hill is going too.  Sister Plater, will stay here.  We will find out tomorrow when we get to Harrisburg.   I am off to a new adventure... still not sure how I feel about it, but it will be fine.  I will love my new area and companion,  I just thought it would be fun to send Sister Plater home but I guess the Lord has other plans for me.

Our Glen Rock district

We had a great week.  We had so many wonderful things have happened, the work is ready to BOOM.  Monday we helped this LA Hispanic lady in our ward get ready to move they have hordes things!!

Sister White in the mission field

I then went on exchanges this week, I went to Gettysburg with my STL.  It was so much fun, I really enjoy that girl.  We were able to do so much work, I felt so productive. It was good for my soul. We met this cute family and this cute little boy reminded me of Ross, and we were playing Dragons, it was the funniest thing ever, and yes I got quit in to it. :):) My imagination was running wild. Dragons are  a fun game.

The D--, family is wonderful. This past week we helped them with their bunnies, and birds. We really had enjoyed that. We also taught them the commandments. They are progressing, and I have grown to really love them. The bishop had Bro. D-- speak in church on Sunday about his son who is on a mission, and he did so good.  I was really proud of him.  He said that it had been 35 years since he had spoken in church. They are a wonderful family, and I feel so blessed to have been able to teach them.

This week we started doing this thing to help us find more people!! It's been sooo successful! To even make it more successful is that we made a goal to stay out of the apartment all day. Leave at 10 don't get home until 9. And blessings have come because of it. When we go knocking we ask the people a survey question like.  Are you religious? What religion do you affiliate with? Then according to their answer we have categories and would ask them about prayer and about families. It was awesome because people would just speak to us more, and open up. It was wonderful!! We got 18 SOLID potentials out of it. It was so awesome!!

I'm learning how to cook:)

Since everyone in the family is going to Hawaii for the Esplin reunion  Sister Plater had her mom send her this Hawaiian stuff and she set up a little tropical room just for me.  It was so sweet it for her to think of me and brightened my week. I’ll send you a picture of it. I totally loved it. She is so sweet, I will miss her.

Family, I love you all, thank you for your support, I know this gospel is true, I feel like a whole new person spiritually, I love it. I have such a great understanding of the gospel, and just starting to figure out who Heavenly Father wants me to be. I love you! Stay strong! Work hard, go to the temple often--I miss It.--blessings home! Love ya!!

Love, Sister White

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!:)

Our ward mission leader they are wonderful!!!!

Proceed and Be Bold

The documentary Proceed and Be Bold is about an African American man named Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. On the outside appearance Amos would appear to be an uneducated southern farmer. However, underneath his pink button up shirt and overalls is an educated former business man who gave up the business life in order that he might live his dream; his dream of owning his own printing press.

Amos' printing press is not any ordinary printing press. His style of printing is what any person would consider a work of art. Each poster that Amos printed has a bolded statement or word on the front in order to capture his audiences attention. This bolded statement or word speaks of Amos' opinion upon whichever issue he addresses and tries to get his audience to look at that issue in a whole new light. The fact that he is  willing to put his opinions in the public eye and not be afraid of what others will think is very inspiring to me.

Although, I may not agree with all of his opinions, I do agree that we all can make a difference through the little things we do and that we should make our voice heard.

While watching the movie I felt that many of Amos' ideas were extreme, however, the message he is sending through his actions is bold. This is a man gave up his career in order that he might live his dream.I would imagine that Amos would have made much more continuing on with his previous career path as a business man, but living his dream was much more important. I believe this message is stronger than any poster that Amos could have ever printed. I believe that we should not worry about what the world thinks of us and that we should pursue our dreams: even if it means wearing a pink shirt and overalls. Our dreams are what make us, and as said in the movie, it is not a sacrifice if you are loving what you are doing. Live your dream.

Works Cited:

Proceed and Be Bold. Dir. Laura Zinger. Perf. Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. 2008. Web.

Vietnam

We are again educated by a photo taken by Sebastio Salgado found in his book Migrations on page 345. This photo shows a Vietnamese man with two framed photographs. One of them is of him in his younger years, dressed in his military attire, and with his medals clearly visible. The other photograph is of his wife who had passed away years previous. The man's face gives the evidence of the life he has lived, full of trials and hardship. He is an older man who gives the impression to the viewer that he posses knowledge only experience can give.

In 1954 war erupted in Vietnam. This war was between northern Vietnam  southern Vietnam. The north was wanting to unify the country under a communist rule, while the south fought against it, along with her ally, the United States. At the peak of the war in 1969, there were over 500,000 American soldiers in Vietnam fighting. Then in 1973 Richard Nixon ordered the American troops to come home. It wasn't long after ( in 1975) that the north took over the country making it a communist government. It is estimated that over 3 million people were killed in the Vietnam war, more than half of them being civilians.

 As stated earlier, one of the photos the older man is holding is of him when he was younger in his military uniform. This photo was taken when he was in the Vietnam war, fighting against the American troops. The medals on his uniform make it obvious that he was a good solider. However, despite the fact of him being a strong solider and being on the "winning team", his face is still a face of solemnity. This face of solemnity I believe illustrates the after effects of war. The after effects of war are most often emotionally scarring to a country and its population, as I have stated many times in this blog. Even though this man was a decorated solider, and fought on the side that eventually claimed the victory, he was still suffering from the effects of war, and the loss of his wife. As there are many reasons that different nations go to war, some justified others not, I would hope that we would support our troops in whatever global conflict they may be involved in. Remember that they aren't the ones who started the war, and yet they often are the ones who suffer with the greatest emotional harm.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York:    Aperture, 2000. 345 Print.


Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York:    Aperture, 2000. 26  Print.


"Vietnam War." http://www.history.com. History . Web. 14 Nov 2013.

Abandoned Babies

One of the most intriguing and symbolic photos I have seen this year is found in the book Migrations by Sebastio Salgado. This photo shows dozens of babies on the roof of a FEBEM center. And in the middle of the page we one baby sitting on a high chair. Where did all of these babies come from? Why are they there? These are children who have been abandoned by their families. 35% of these children were found abandoned on the city streets of Sao Paulo, while the rest were delivered up by their parents to the center FEBEM.
There are two very interesting insights I find about this photo. First, we need to realize that there are children out there who are in need. There are children out there who have been abandoned. Maybe they still live at home and have not been abandoned physically by their parents, but they have still been abandoned by their parents. Poor relationships between a child and their parents lead to complex problems such ad substance abuse, crime, and emotional challenges. Where in this photo these children have been physically abandoned, we see this issue each day of children who have been emotionally abandoned by their parents. The problem is still the same. In both cases neither child gets to know their parents.
The second insight I found interesting was of the baby in the high chair. With dozens of babies on the ground, we have only one in a chair, away from the chaos. I feel this represents those who are well off in the world. I feel this most likely represents you and me. We sit on our "high chair" of comfort in the world but away from it at the same time. We can see from our position those who are struggling on the ground and from our "high chair" we cant do anything about it, or we choose not to. Let us choose to help those who are crawling on the ground by helping those who have been abondend. Being placed on the "high chair" gives us that opportunity to help them.


Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York:    Aperture, 2000. 314-315 Print.
Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York:    Aperture, 2000. 23-24 Print.

Left To Tell

This unbelievable story captures the emotions of the Rwandan genocide. The author of the book succeeds in relating her story by using her personal experience of the genocide. Her experiences are about everyday life such as school work, family, and boys. She is just an everyday human being who is about to experience a nightmare--the genocide.

  Each evening as I read this book I found myself having trouble putting it down. I wanted to read more and more. Knowing what happened next consumed my mind.  Where this book doesn't focus on the politics or the whole reason why the genocide happened, it really captures what happened to the "everyday" Rwandan. This book really changed my perspective that even the best of people can do stupid things if they put themselves in a wrong situation. It also helped me understand that even in such tragic times there will always be good human beings to fight the evil of the world. This book highlights those individuals who help hide and protect the targeted Rwandans.

One last element of the book is the author’s hope in God. This hope is what sustained her through the genocide and helped her learn to forgive. Whether you believe in God or not her belief in God is very thought provoking and character building. Her beliefs and ideas can help change anyone in a positive way by giving them hope for the future. If a person  needs a boost, or a book that will help them appreciate life, I would highly recommend LEFT TO TELL. This is not an easy book to read; in fact it is very difficult to get through each page because of the high emotion and detail given by the author. However, I would not hesitate in saying that it will change whoever reads it. It helped change me in the understanding of hope and forgiveness. By speaking about her personal experience I believe it can help anyone who is looking for a change in life.

Civil War in Mozambique

War not only affects those involved but also everyone around them. In the book Migrations by Sebastio Salgado on page 238, we see a group of women who have been affected by the traumatic experiences of war. These women have fled civil war in their country, Mozambique, to neighboring country Malawi ("Malawi").  In this photo we see a group of women with their arms held out holding a knives. Their eyes are looking up and it is obvious that this is some form of tribal ritual. These women are performing an exorcism on their husbands who had passed away during a civil war that plagued Mozambique for over 18 years. These women come from both sides of the conflict; their husbands fought for either the rebels of the government. In the pamphlet that goes with Migrations it says: They had to free themselves from the spirits of a nightmarish war that lasted 18 years (16). Only after this ceremony could these women coexist together after such a horrific conflict.

I believe the lasting memories of war are far more detrimental than the actual war itself. Where war is never a good thing, what comes after seems to reveal the real the horror of war. The process of mourning is not always immediate, comes after the tragedy, and almost always lingers for a period of time. Where each of us have a different way of coping with mourning, It doesn't always mean it is easy. For this group of women they result to religious practice to give them comfort. Whether you find comfort in religion during times of crisis or not, there still is period of time that is required to mourn. Mourning can be a lonely process. However, like these women, if we choose to befriend those who are going through this mourning process it eases the pain. I think these women give us a great example by going from enemies to friends to help each other during such difficult times.


Works Cited:

"Malawi." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York:    Aperture, 2000. 238 Print.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York:    Aperture, 2000. 16 Print.

Salgado: Rwandan Genocide (part 2)

For this weeks post, I will continue speaking about the Rwandan genocide and its scarring effects. On page 206 in Migrations by Salgado, we see a picture of an abandoned room. It is an old room with one window, nothing on the walls, and rocks on the floor. As you look at the picture closer you notice that the rubble on the floor isn't rubble at all, but it is the remains of human bodies. What happened here? During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, this former school house was used as a room to harness Tutsi's in a confined area. With them confined in this room it made them easy targets for the Hutu killers. Their remains are shown in this picture, unburied and untouched.

While looking at this photo I think Salgado captures a real moral message. The location of this incident truly speaks a thousand words; this was a former school house. This was once a location for learning and enlightenment. History has shown that when humans turn to their worst, enlightenment and knowledge turns dark and baron: much like school house in the photo. It is our duty to make sure that we use our enlightenment for good, and not for evil. Knowledge is a gift. Not a gift for our benefit, but rather for the benefit of others. It is my prayer that we use this knowledge to act for the better, and help others as we all continue down life's path.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York:    Aperture, 2000. 206-207 Print.

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York:    Aperture, 2000. 13 Print.