Still Small Voice has a large impact, Writing a AP manual, Planning for Transfers

This week has been crazy again! President Stoddard has his family in town and he has been working non-stop and has been missing time with his family because of mission stuff so he asked us today if we could help transfer plan for part of our p day. 

I also have been working on making an Assistant to the President Manual Tutorial to hopefully take some of the load off of President Stoddard's shoulders. I'm on page 26 and I'm about half way done. I have been trying to power through it all week. Tonight we are driving to my favorite place in the world Dortmund and we get there around 12 for a conference tomorrow. Fun fun, not going to lie when I come home, first 48 hours I'm going to sleep. The service of the Lord is great, but wholly Molly is it taking a toll on me Hahaha. This is how it probably will be like as a Pre-Med student glad I'm learning this habits and sleeping schedule now hahaha. 

I have something really special planned out this week for Dads Birthday. The Galz Family wanted to meet you and are going to throw a birthday party for Dad. They are the super crazy family that we have been working with, she is going to make a cake for Dad, they were super excited to get to meet you. The only problem is that they can speak English but it will be fun. 

This week probably the biggest highlight was probably the fact that T. gave his testimony about his conversion process and also brought a friend who is now investigating the church his name is A. and he is from Syria. We have been praying all week that the Lord would bless us and help us find a new investigator that we could teach because we have been finding all day long and have been running around. And he came through for us! It was just a cool miracle, and the member that said he was going to take his name off of the records made us this amazing meal this week and told us that he had met with the Bishop and had changed his mind. What a tender mercy! What I thought was the coolest experience was, one night I was reading from the scriptures and something really stood out to me and said you need to go and write that down, then I felt like we needed to share it with S. we went to our meeting with him, he started out by saying I found this amazing scripture in the Book of Mormon during my study. He then goes on to open up and read the exact same scripture that I wrote down the night before and that we had planned on sharing. It was just cool to see the still small voice really being still and small, but having such a large impact. 

Love Elder White 

Super busy, lack of sleep and reminiscing about the past 2 years!!

Well, first rule learned this week, always READ THE FINE PRINT. But that is a whole different story. But this week has been verrückt as we say in German. We have been getting little to no sleep. I say this all in humor because I laugh but sometimes I feel like I could pass out right now. Probably the most draining thing from the week was staying up till 2am finishing a report for President Stoddard for one of his meetings. I was literally losing my mind staring at the computer for 4 hours but WE FINISHED IT!! It was good, I honestly love staying up late especially when it means that we can lighten the load of President Stoddard and let him get some rest because I swear that man doesn't sleep. It has been a fun learning experience because you learn that there is just some stuff that needs to get done and if it means losing sleep over it then hey that's how the cookie crumbles. It is reassuring to me that in about 3 weeks I can sleep a little, but wow I have truly learned to give the Lord our all.

This Transfer, I'm not going to lie has been probably my most demanding transfer spiritually and physically. It's hard because I want to go out with a bang and sprint to the finish but it is impossible sometimes to find time to do actually missionary work because we are driving to Nurnberg and Heidelberg and then spending the other days planning with President because he is sacrificing some of his vacation with his family to finish interviews (what an amazing man). So I think everyone is kind of running on low. The night we stayed up till 2am finishing our report, we had decided that day that no matter what was going on in the office we would go finding finally, so we made the goal and went finding and had a fun day, then went to the office that night at around 9:30 and did leave till 2am. I kind of got frustrated and said "what do you want from Lord, in order to do your work I have to go to bed super late, is that what it's going to take." I talked with my companions about my feelings and my frustration. Because some days I would love to just love to have time to do missionary work. But something that Elder DeMass said really hit me, he said, "This is exactly how it is going to be at home." He had a really good point, there is going to be a million things going on that will be important also and at the end of the day I'm going to say, "Where was the time for scripture study or anything else gospel related?" but its all about sacrifice to the Lord and making time. I also fasted yesterday because we had a regional broadcast from Salt Lake City last week and I just asked the Lord if what I was doing was pleasing to him even though everything around me is falling apart. All day I didn't get an answer of words but the whole day I just felt happy. F. didn't make it to church so not really any investigators showed up, but I just felt happy and it was just this feeling of "you are doing everything you possible can don't worry just keep going forward it may not seem like it on the outside but you are doing my work". It was super comforting and really brought the peace I was looking for! So that was the biggest miracle of the week, realizing this is the Lords work and being happy with what you have. 

This week we met with S. our new convert that was baptized about 3 months ago, and WOW. He is preparing for his endowment right now and he and his girlfriend are preparing to go to the temple to be sealed. Meeting with him is also such a high note. He just talks about how he loves this gospel he loves coming to church, he even said one time "its so simple but hard sometimes all we need to do is pray read the scriptures and go to church". I have never seen anything like it, Sunday the bishop was talking with him and said "Where is such and such and then S. piped in and said "I have been way worried about this man I have not seen him in a long time." He even last week took out T. (new convert of 4 months) and F. (preparing for baptism) so that he could help F. prepare for baptism and help keep T. active and talk about what it is like being a member of the church and recently baptized. Amazing to see him every week pass the sacrament and bless it and sometimes his brother with him too! T. who was baptized in January is doing amazing also on August 6 he will be receiving his patriarchal blessing and passes the sacrament every week. he really loves the church and the people here, he was the one that gave us F. to teach and continues to do missionary work. To have seen him serve a mini-mission and serve faithful for his calling in the ward has been such a blessing and ward loves him with open arms and invite him over for dinner and include him in so much. Bruder L. the man that was re-activated proposed to his girlfriend and he and his girlfriend will be sealed in Bern Temple in Switzerland on October 22 2016 for time and all eternity. I have been blessed to watch him receive the Melchizedek priesthood and become an active temple recommend holding member of the church what a blessing to have taken part in bringing him back to church. I still get opportunities to talk with B. from Hamm and she is doing great! They also preparing to enter the temple to be sealed and unfortunately she can't come to church a ton because she had work but the ward is there and say that she is still active and going strong. Also another person I taught in Hamm named R. got baptized about 2 months ago and has already gone to the temple and done baptisms for the dead and everything, what an amazing person! C. and P. Diekmann, got to see them prepare to enter the temple and be sealed as a family for time and all eternity, unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to the sealing but what a wonderful. There are so many other wonderful people I have met on my mission that have changed my life. I'm so happy to be here and hate to leave this place.

Anyways, love yall and miss yall excited to see you soon!

Love 

Elder White

Elder White got a flat tire and got to change it...good thing he learned how to do that at home a couple of times.

Reunite with previous companion, traveled to Erlangen, Duisburg, Nurnberg and Dusseldorf

Well this week I spent a total of 8 hours by myself traveling between Nurnberg and Düsseldorf. It was fun though because I got to ride the train in Germany that goes 330 kmh. I'm was great !! First I got to go on a spilt with my old companion Elder Butler!! He is doing good, it's weird because he has been on a mission for about a year. And now I'm going home, it's weird to think that we were on a split together the same week one year ago! Crazy how time flies, I'm at the point in my mission where everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited to go to home. Weird....

After that split in Erlangen, I traveled to Duisburg and visited Elder Kress and Elder Vogl. What rock solid missionaries they are!! It's crazy how much success they are seeing and how they are really becoming a powerhouse. We got to teach their friend A. he is way cool! He is just willing to give up everything for this gospel what a experience to get to know him!! Well I also on that day had the chance to take part in 4 blessings it was crazy but good reminder to me about the priesthood and the power of the priesthood. Later I had a chance to sit down one on one with them and talk about how things were going it was just a neat experience to hear from them and hear about their stories and experiences. Satan is really trying his hardest to get them down but they are probably the strongest companionship in the mission right now!! It was just fun to see Elder Kress again he is such a dear friend and really has blessed my life especially when we ere serving together! Hope you get a chance to meet him someday! 

Well afterwards I finally made it back home to Frankfurt! The rest of the week was more splits and late nights to be completely honest and in the last few days I haven't been sleeping well. So that's my life. It's going great, but the lack of sleep is draining on me. I'm excited really for the upcoming transfer its a little tough because the mantel falls on my shoulders with anew companion coming in tonight and Elder Fitzgerald leaving, I will become the most experienced missionary in the area. But I'm not a afraid,  I'm just know it's going to be tiring for sure. But I'm ready. I only say it to be honest to you then you know where I'm at honestly I'm more happier then ever before, but I know this is what the Lord needs from me because he wants to push me to the very end of my limits. He wants to see how dedicated I am to his work. What better way then to push me to become my best. 

Another experience that really stood out to me was the fact that I have been praying to ask the Lord if he would help me see my success and help me see how I have played a role in people's conversion processes. It has been on my mind lately and so during the Sacrament I prayed and asked the Lord for a answer to this question. Then right after sacrament meeting S. got up and gave his conversion story. And wow what a powerful conversion story he talked about how his life before the church was in shambles. He had money and everything someone would need except for God and faith. He talked about his conversion story and the he shared his favorite scripture. Out of 2 Nephi 4 he shared the scripture about Nephi and his words. It was cool because he said that the missionaries had shared this scripture with him and it had helped him through a tough time. In that moment I realized S. was talking about the time he called and had some things from the past come up the Monday before his baptism. I read him this scripture then challenged him to read it. It was simple and something I completely forgot but then realized that is was a tender mercy from the Lord it was way cool!! 

 Love ya,

Elder White 

Reunited with Elder Butler

Hitler's Castle

Hitler's Castle

Planning for Transfers

Well this week is going to be insane right now I'm in Nurnberg Germany, we are going to visit one of the Nazi Museums today which is going to be way cool! Then I go on a split with Elder Butler (the missionary I trained) in Erlangen, then tomorrow they are taking me to the train station and I'm taking a 4 hour train ride up north by myself on a assignment from President Stoddard. Then after working up there I'm heading back to Frankfurt on another train where my companions will pick me up. Craziness but I'm excited, I definitely need your prayers this week because I need the lord to help me as I get a chance to work with these missionaries! 

This week was way fun though, but kind of weird we spent 2 straight days from 8am to 23:00 at President Stoddard's house planning for the upcoming transfer it was draining, weird too because Elder Fitzgerald is going home. Then afterward we got one solid day to proselytize in our area and then Saturday we had more planning with President Stoddard. It was way cool though because he invited us all over to his home to meet his family that was in town for the weekend. He had us talk with his grandkids about why we serve missionaries and it was a really great experience. His two grandkids were way funny because they reminded me so much of myself! They are a great family and it was a privilege to get to meet them! 

Sunday was way fun because we figured out the Bruder L. (who we have worked with over the last couple of months) is engaged to one of the members in our ward! He is getting married on October 21! It was way exciting and he super excited! Then we thought F. wasn't going to come to church but then he randomly showed up! Had great lessons during church then went over to his house after church and taught about temples. We tried a different approach this time instead of just focusing on baptism we focused on the reason why we get baptized and that is so that we can go to the temple. He was way interested and starting say, "So if I got baptized I could meet with the bishop and then go to the temple so I could ask the Lord if I needed to go back to Mexico!?" It was way cool he is doing amazing. He picked a temple in Mexico, we printed it out on huge paper and are going to hang it on his wall so if he is ever tempted to sin he can remind himself about the goal of got to the temple. I think it finally clicked in his head that yeah you can be baptized in other churches, but we are a temple building people and there is no other church on the earth that practices baptism as preparation to enter the house of the Lord. It is simple. I just started to see the big picture too that people are waiting now the other side of the veil for him to get baptized so that they too can receive that saving ordinance. I told him that sometimes we feel a desire to be baptized not only because it's something we need but because other people from the otherwise of the veil are relying on us to receive their covenants. It shows that this life isn't just about us! 

Overall great week I'm excited for the upcoming week and the adventures I'm going to have, I'll make sure and take tons of pictures!

Love you

Elder White 

New Investigators, Baptismal Date

This week I really saw blessings from working hard and sacrificing, we found 3 new investigators and had 5 new people come to church. I just saw miracle after miracle!! It really taught me a lesson that the Lord really doesn't want just a part of us or 3/4 of us, he wants us all and to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ I need to learn that he is going to ask everything of me and I need to be ready to give it up. It was kind of that idea that when the Lord needs an errand run, he can call on me to do the job and know that I will do it.

We found a super awesome guy from Ghana named G.! He is super cool, he has lived here in Germany for about 3 months or so! He came to church on Sunday with his brother! They were super funny! He is just so excited about Jesus Christ and what is even cooler is that his Uncle was baptized in Italy and he went to church there! He has a baptism date for June 19th. So he is going to need a lot of help but we will be there every step of the way! 

Also on Sunday two men from Mainland China show up! They sat through all of Sacrament meeting and then afterwards Elder DeMass and I met with them in the basement of the church. It was way crazy because one of them has his PhD in economics and is super smart and both of them are part of the Chinese exchange working for a joint venture with the German Borse. Very successful men but are at the point in life where they are wondering why people believe in god. They have had interactions with the Mormons before in the corporate world and have been impressed that the Mormons make tons of money but never drive fancy cars and what to just serve others. It was interesting because they are very logical thinkers and I think it just bothers them a lot that people could believe in a God. It's going to be a very interesting time teaching them but it will be fun! They are good men! 

F. is doing really well! He is just a great guy, he is right now just making thoughts about baptism and when he wants to get baptized. He comes to church still and really enjoys himself a lot, it's crazy! He is literally a dry Mormon! But what a great friend, he keeps reading and if he keeps doing what he is doing then he will eventually make it! Step by step is what it takes and the Lord has his own time table, we just need to be patient. 

Overall it was just a really good week, it had its ups and downs, but Wow I have learned so much. It's crazy because we are starting Transfer planning this week and so that will be way fun and weird because Elder Fitzgerald is going home in a couple days. First time on my mission I have sent a companion home. It's weird because after he is gone then I'm on deck!! Not looking forward to this!! But at the same time, I am. It's the Missionary struggle!

Love 

Elder White 

Great things happening in the Germany mission

 Germany is finally warming up and it is amazing! Today we got a
guided tour by one of the members through the huge Catholic Church in
Frankfurt!! Way cool!! All this week was insane because we were
driving around like crazy! We found ourselves in Düsseldorf and had to
move some missionaries around, after 5 hours in the car we finally
made it home that night at 12:30 it was insane then we had to get up
the next morning and run like mad dogs again. But it was nice because
we are all healthy and we didn't crash the car this time!!
 This week was cool because all of our miracles happened on Saturday. We met with
our family from Portugal which is awesome we are starting to make
progress and starting to understand what we are teaching. Another cool
story was T has not been coming to church for a while and we thought
he wasn't coming this Sunday. Then he called and said "I'm trying to
come to church but no buses are running" turns out that because of the
Frankfurt Bike Race all the buses on Sunday weren't running. So we are
standing thinking "he got up to test his faith with church and now
THIS" But then I saw this member and we were literally in the middle
of sacrament meeting but we were in the foyer waiting for someone. I
asked him if he would drive us to pick up T. and he said, "yeah sure no problem."
 After we took the sacrament he took us to his car and FLEW out of the parking lot. He
is the craziest member alive and we were drifting around corners and
flying downs street you would of thought that the devil was chasing
him. But he was the man for the job because all of the turn offs to
T. house were closed, he just kept flying around and soon most people
would say "no hope let's turn around" but no it turned into a pride
thing for him he was dead set to get there. I'm just sitting there
saying "Heavenly Father you promised that there would be a way, T.
has done everything please make this happen" then we finally asked a
cop and he got us there! We finally got T. to church and he had such
an amazing time and I think all of he things that have offended him
are water under the bridge now, all because he exercised his faith. 1
Nephi 3:7 really does happen, sometimes in the most crazy ways!
Also went to the S. "S Brothers house" to visit with them.
But this time, J. the Wife, had her best friend over!! She was so
prepared!! She actually lives on cruise ships as a travel agent is
staying in Germany for one month in Frankfurt. She actually took the
lessons in Brazil when she and Jessica were 12 years old and loved
church. It was so cool because as we talked you could see the look on
her face like "I'm home!" What a tender mercy! We are going to try and
baptize her while she is here in Frankfurt because she has no home,
but she knows the church is true! Her name in D.!
Overall just feeling so blessed to be here on a mission! The Lord has
truly opened doors that I thought were never possible! Truly I'm
ending my mission on a high note it's weird to think that in 2 months
I will be home again, I'm going to miss Germany so much these people
are some of the most goofiest, loving people in the world! Yeah they
can be way mean, but you got to crack eggs to make omelets. No greater
place to be then serving the Lord. Dad I finally know what you mean
about your mission!!

Love
Elder White

Zone Conferences and Repentance

Well, this week was crazy and I now have a new companion named Elder DeMass from Murray Utah. He is way cool and we are all loving life working together and things are going well. It has been a spiritual draining week, hard to really describe it all, Right now is really stressful time for President Stoddard and he needs all of your prayers and support. The oLrd is really trying our mission but at the same time too, he is opening doors that we didn't even know existed. So it has been cool to see how the Lord has been working in the mission. This week we went around to Zone Trainings while President Stoddard was at the Mission Presidents Conference and taught the Theme about Repentance, it was way powerful and you could see how it really impacted missionaries to change, it has been cool seeing how as we cry repentance to the people it is the way that we unlock the Atonement of Jesus Christ! Also on a side note we had to go to the mission presidents conference to grab a key from President Stoddard. We went up the stairs at the hotel and while we were there Elder Kearon walked over and said "Elders! how are you doing!" he is the man from General Conference, super awesome man and so happy! Then later I saw Elder Johnsons wife (he talked in General Conference also) I got to tell her about how good her husbands talk was at General Conference! It was kind of cool to be like "your husband gave a great talk at conference!" She is a sweet lady and I'm glad we got the chance to get to know her a little bit better! 

Well President Stoddard came with us yesterday to teach F., we ran into a problem and that is that F. lives in a joint apartment with another man and girl. He isn't in a relationship with this girl and really doesn't even know this girl, but after counseling with President Stoddard we realized that he needs to move out because technically he is living with someone of the opposite sex. It was way tough talking to him about the situation but it was cool because we talked really open about the Law of Chasity and we even had President Stoddard there (home run hitter). F. took it like a champ and is going to look into moving because he has tried before to move but it just never worked out. We promised him and felt the spirit testify that he would find an apartment before his baptism on May 28th. It's going to be insane but the Lord has promised and he will keep the end of his bargain. It going to be a great opportunity for me to grow faith that when there is a commandment we can keep it! The Lord always provides a way! Well things are going well, we are going to enable the bishopric and this is going to be a great opportunity for F. to exercise his agency and faith. I remember as we were talking I remembered the time where the surgeon called to tell me I needed surgery and that i had to make the decision procrastinate my surgery and maybe save my basketball season or going on my mission as soon as possible. I knew in that moment simply what it was time to do and that was to sacrifice it all for my mission. I remember how sad I was and how frustrated I was, but in that moment when I looked at Francisco as we were talking I realized the Lord just wanted him to make a sacrifice and show his obedience because in reality is he is keeping the law of Chasity. I also realized that I would not have been there that day saying what I was saying If I had not chosen in that moment to go on a mission. It's crazy how it has taken almost 2 years to realize that, but I have seen how as I have repented of my sins the Lord opens doors and lets us receive revelation and answers prayers sometimes not in our own timing. Some questions I have had forever and finally after years I have finally gotten answers. We really need you to pray for F.!!! We pray for him every time we pray and we need it to be a joint effort! We are going to reach our goal and F. will be baptized!!  

Well all in all things are going well for us! This next week got a lot crazier but I'm excited!! Its going to be a blast this upcoming transfer and I'm really looking forward to skyping! 

Love you 

Elder White