Preached a Christmas sermon Issac's Church - Waffle Stand - Christmas Market

Well HELLO!!

First off we saw a wonderful miracle with RL, we had an appointment with an untersucher (investigator) in Samstag. We got the prompting to go by RL. So we walked over and klinged him. He says " Ich bin Tod (I'm dead)" I told him that he wasn't dead and that we wanted to talk. He just said okay and came down 5 minutes later. We started walking down the street and he said "I have my own bodyguards." We just laughed with him and started asking him how he was doing. He told us he had a new problem because his TV is broken. Finally after we made it to the park we sat down on the bench and he looks at us and said, "So, what do you want to teach me about God?" We were blown away! He had never said that before!! So I just started asking him about faith then started talking about the Plan of Salvation. He said that he doesn't believe that their is a life after death, but then Elder Bulkley pulled out the diagram of the Plan of Salvation. He looked at it and then just stopped arguing and acted like he had seen it before. Then we asked him if he would come and church and he said "Yes". We went by on Sunday and talked but he said he was too tired. But that doesn't matter, the fact was that he sat down and listened to us, He then accepted an invitation!! Wow there are miracles in patience!

The other one was with IC our Romanian. Monday he called us and asked us if he could borrow 50 euro. I told him very straight forward that we are not allowed to hand out our money. He just hung up. Later we made an appointment and then when we went over to meet, he badgered us for an hour about how we were not Christ like and that our work wasn't good enough and that we need to learn love and not care about money. Because he had prayed before he called us and said the Lord told him to ask us for money. We walked out feeling like we had lost him, but we still had made an appointment to go to his church. So Sunday we went to church with him, we just decided to be respectful and hopefully repair our relationship because he didn't want to hear us anymore and thought he needed to teach us about being Christlike. We went to church and he had told us he wanted us to preach to the congregation. We really didn't want to and after about 2 hours of the service we had to leave and catch our train. We left and then after 5 minutes this car pulls up next to us and it was his friend ME. He told us that Issac had given us 30 minutes to teach. We couldn't tell him no and so we got back in the car and went back to the church because he said he would give us a ride home. We walked in and up to the pulpit and I looked at Elder Bulkley knowing we hadn't planned anything and now we were suppose to preach. I opened up the Bible and stalled by introducing ourselves and then I remembered. John 3:16 I started talking about Jesus Christ and then the thought popped in my head just talk about Christmas and He is the Gift. So I started talking about that, we read from Luke 2 and John 3 and then bore testimony and were finished, We talked for about 5 minutes but we knew we had said exactly what needed to be said. After we got a ride home and we got home fast, we were doing 180 khm in a 30 year old van, "ME drives it like he stole it!" (This is a saying we have in our house when we are trying to get somewhere quickly." For Real!! Then IC told us he wanted to meet again this week and that he was coming to church with us next week!! The Lord will open our mouths in the time when we need too. Like it is promised in DC 88, because he needs to sometimes see our faith. I was super sacred standing up in front of a another congregation but I realized that the needed us to deliver the message, we just had to show him our faith.

It really cool around this time handing out the "He is the Gift" cards to people because they open up a little more. It really cool because I was shown during Zone Conference a Christmas story in the Book of Mormon. It is in 1 Nephi chapter 11. It is about 10 verses long talking about Nephi seeing the birth of Jesus Chirst. It was super good and actually the whole chapter is awesome!! I would challenge you to read that and share it!!

We just had our Christmas party or as we say in German Weihnachtfeier. It was super fun to make waffles for the members and laugh with them. It was funny because they had asked us to do a waffle stand we made the cool waffle stand the members were blown away!The ward is really coming to together and things are going great here.

All in all it was a great week.

 LOVE YOU ALL!!

Elder White

Waffle Stand for the Branch Christmas Party

Trying to keep warm

Christmas Market

Remember the Reason for the Season !!!

Well his week the sun finally came out!!

 Weihnachten ist unterwegs, hier in Deutschland. (Christmas is on its way here in Germany) We got the Er is Das Geschenk cards here in Germany this week!!! It has been awesome getting to share it with people on the street and as we contact!! This video is amazing!! In German it is on mormon.org/deu/weihnachten or english it is on christmas.mormon.org. You all have to go and check it out!!!

The one thing I would say this week is let us all remember the reason for the season. The gifts and presents are awesome, but the True Gift is Him. He is the gift to us. When we have nowhere to turn, we can turn to him. We have no more strength to climb or run we can turn to him. It is through him we are made strong. God did love the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son. He gave him to us so that we could be saved, he gave him to us because he loved us also. If we think about the Love our Heavenly Father has for his son Jesus Christ, referring to him as the only begotten and beloved. If we believe God is our loving Heavenly Father and perfect. Then he loves no son or daughter anymore then the other. That means the love his has for his son Jesus Christ is the same love he has for us. When I thought of that it blew my mind to think about the Love he has for me!Well Issac is a interesting guy, he is a pastor for a Frei Evanglischer Kirche hier in Germany. He is Romanian and he brought his friend to church yesterday and they met with our Zwieg Prasident (Branch President - leader of the congregation)  President Bellerson. When we asked them what they wanted to get out of coming to church and meeting with us they said love and a connection. Really confusing but we are going to keep working with him. He has a strong faith!

We got a new investigator this week named TR, from Canada. He is awesome!! He lives in Germany for a month and then in Canada for a month. He is one of those people prepared to here the gospel. He was founding doing a street display and wanted a Bible and Book of Mormon. It took forever to get the Bible but then when we went to drop it off he let us in and we talked about the gospel. He said he had been looking for a faith to join and then happened to run into us!! 

Well this week was awesome and especially yesterday, PR KR a mitglieder ( Member missionary who served a mini mission with Ryan and his companion)  in our branch gave his testimony about missionary work and about the missionaries in the ward. It was awesome! seeing him glowing and bearing his testimony afterwards he came up and gave us a hug and said that he just spoke from the heart. 

Some of the simple miracles in the day make the biggest impact. A couple days ago I was having a hard day, we had missed a train and now we had to wait for another 15 minutes for another one. I said a prayer saying "Heavenly Father I need you right now please help me out I don't know what to do anymore." As I opened my eyes a train pulled up out of nowhere. It wasn't on the list to show up, Elder Bulkley called it a ghost train, I called it a miracle. 

Love you all and cant wait to Skype in 18 days!!!

Love 

Elder White 

New Investigator - IC, All ready for Christmas, Never Give UP!!

Well this week we found a new investigator his name is IC, he is a pastor of a church in Aschaffenburg and he really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true, he said that when he finds out he is willing to leave everything behind and join the church!! He is from Romania and wow what a testimony!!!!!!We have a lesson on tuesday with him so pray that he will receive an answer of the truthfulness of the Book Of Mormon.

Well "He is the Gift" was introduced to us and we were so excited to get the pass along cards and share it, but the church isn't print them in German. Alot of missionaries were bummed because that would have been such a cool thing to use especially because Germany needs it! Oh well we are going to handwrite the URL and work that way! Maybe someone could write to Headquaters and ask them why they forgot Germany!!!! hahahahahhaha

It is freezing here in Germany right now and I'm probably going to go and buy a new jacket and a hat and gloves because our apartment heaters are broken and ITS COLD!

Today was the first day of the Advent so everyone is pretty stoked and Christmas is alive and well here in Germany!

Things here are changing slowly, sometimes we wonder what the Lord has in store, but I know a lot of times we are doing work that the Lord sees but we can't see. We just need to trust him and his plan. It crazy how people get so stressed around Weihnachts Zeit (Yuletide) and actually get a little meaner. But the Lord has a plan for all of his children and we just have to be patient sometimes and just show love.

The members here have already invited us over to dinner for Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and the second day of Christmas ( a German thing). So we have already had to plan where we need to Skype, definitely really excited to talk to you all and see how you are doing!!

This week the one thing I have learned is to never give up! It seems like a constant theme through out my mission so far. I always thought blessings and miracles were things that just fell into my arms! But that's not how it works, the Lord needs us to work and work hard! I never realized how much faith comes into to play!! When we show the most faith and it feels like "Lord I don't have anymore to give" that's when he steps in! SO NEVER GIVE UP.

This week I have seen so many miracles and now it's hard to write them all down, because this work is progressing and is shaping the German people and me. Just realize THE LORD HAS A PLAN!!!

Ich weiß dass mein Erlöser leibt, das Evangelium wahr ist! Deutschland ist die beste Mission!!!!!!! Alles möglich durch Glauben!

(I know that my Redeemer live , the gospel is true ! Germany is the best mission !!!!!!! Everything possible by faith !

Love

Elder White

Splits with a Fellow Texan - Good Birthday

Howdy!!

Well sorry I didn't email until today, we went to the temple today which was awesome as usual! Great temple session though the spirit was so strong and I had an amazing time!! 

Well this last week we lost pretty much all of our untersuchers, (investigator), Uhli tchussed ( ??) us last Monday and some of our less actives decided they didn't want to meet anymore. That was pretty depressing not going to lie, but we had to put our faith in the Lord and know that he has a plan for us. Definitely was a rough week because me and Elder Bulkley looked at each other and just laughed. We were like, "We have no one to teach." But we really have focused the past weeks on finding, we spend aLOT of time finding. We go dooring for a couple hours then meet with members in the evening. But our faith has payed off, in the last two days after a week straight of finding and service, we found 4 potential untersuchers in the past two days. One woman is from Lima Peru and she speaks perfect GERMAN!!! It's a miracle here because auslanders have horrible german or don't speak at all!! Definitly was a week of faith.

This week I got to go on a split with my Zone Leader, Elder Lovelace. He is from Houston Texas and when we went out contacting he would say, "Hey, we are missionaries and we both are from Texas!" It was so much fun, he taught me so much about contacting and just throwing everything out there and showing the people your love. I have really tried to make each person we talk to meaningful and it has changed everything about my contacting!! 

My Birthday was great!! Thanks for all the love that you sent and all the food!! It was awesome, since the other elders live across the street from us they came over and we had cake together!!We had geminde Essen (German food - Authenic) this week and the ward sang to me on my birthday so the singing was definitely covered!

Well tomorrow is Danger Day (call for trainers and district leaders), and transfer calls are on Saturday. Really dont know where I am going because I will be no longer a Golden and my training will be over. So we will see what happens!!

Well this week I want to invite and challenge everyone to share one scripture with someone or on social media! The beauty of member work is real, when members and missionaries work together we will see MIRACLES!!!!

Well I will be back on Monday so in three days!. Hope you have a great 'Thanksgiving. Don't worry we had Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday with the Zone.

Love yall!!

Elder White

Christmas in Offenbach, Mini Mission and Carpeting a room with a Swiss Army knife

Howdy!!

Well this week was a great week but a little tough. Our lesson with Uhli fell thru and now we can't get a hold of him, but we have faith the Lord has a plan for him and the Lord knows best. He is the gardener.

This week we got to do service for a American store ran by a member of the church. He sells all of this American Food!!! It was fun and we got to meet a less active member and got to know him better!! Also he had us carpet his room with a Swiss army knife and a roll of carpet. He just threw it at us and said he will back in 2 hours. That was interesting!!

For everyone that is wondering about the Autobahn here, missionaries are only allowed to go 120 km but the members drive faster. We did about 150 km in a moving van a couple weeks back. hahahah

Offenbach is still the same, the people are awesome and we get have made a lot of friends with people around town and have really tried to make a impact on how the people here think of the Mormon missionaries. We run into people all the time that we have talked to before, it's been pretty awesome!

Christmas has already arrived here in Offenbach, the Christmas Market is open and the trees and lights are out!! It's going to be so much fun and people are getting a lot more nice around here now that Christmas has come around.

This week we are having a 54 year old member in the branch serve a mini mission. His name is Peter and he is hilarious, he is a  Deutsch Lehrer (German Teacher) and he can talk your ear off. He has been talking about this mini mission since September so you know that he is super excited! It's going to a good experience for him and for sure help him better understand missionary work!

Not this week, but next week is transfer calls, and now that my training will be over, everything is going to be up in the air. I can stay or leave really comes down to the President and the Lord. So I will keep you posted!

Miracles are happening here everyday in Germany The one thing I would say to everyone is that, this church is true the Lord is our Savior and Redeemer and through him all man are saved when we use the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. Sometimes when its 5:30 at night and pitch black dark because of the Sun going down. Or when an appointment falls out, I think man this is tough. Why cant it be easier, then I remember my Savior bleeding from every pore for me and asking the Father if he will let the cup past. I know the Savior lifts me up and says 'I know what you going through, the people didn't want to listen to me either.' I remember the words of Jeffery Holland everyday when he said "Salvation is not a cheap experience, to become truly converted we all have to go through the trial of our faith.!!"

Love Ya'll,

Elder White

Challenge to find an Investigator from the Branch President's Family

Dear Good Ole Family and Friends!

Well this week has been full of miracles!!! I would have to say the one moment that stood out to me was this week working with the Familie Bellersons. President Bellerson is the Zweig (Branch - similiar to a Bishop just over a smaller congregation) President here in Offenbach, we had set up a appointment this week to met with him and his wife. During this appointment on Thursday, we talked to family about Faith and then gave them a challenge. If they would thoughtfully and humbly pray over a street anywhere in the Zweig area, we would find a investigator. I was super nervous giving this Challenge because I thought "what if my faith isn't enough." We gave them 1 day and then called then back, Sister Bellerson gave us a street in Aschaffenburg called Luitpold Strasse. The next day after receiving the referral, we went to this street to contact. It took us two hours to travel there, but after miracle after miracle we made it finally. We got to the street and it was in the middle of the city and was mostly businesses. When we saw the street we were a little discourage, I was just wondering how we were ever going to find a person to teach at 7 pm. We started talking and knocking on some doors. We ran into some people that wanted to talk a little but had no interest. After a while I voiced my concern to Elder Bulkley. I thought we couldn't find someone to night. He looked me in the eye and said we are servants of the Lord and we promised this family we would find someone. I really then knew I needed to show all my faith. We did some more contacting and both felt pretty good. We came back together and we were tempted to head home. But the thought in my head said keep going. So we walked across the street and that was when we meet Natalia. We talked to her and talked about the Book of Mormon. Her bus came and we realized we missed our chance to ask her if she wanted to learn more, but then a miracle happened. She missed her bus, so we got to talk with her more. We took the same bus as her and before we got off we asked her if she wanted a Book of Mormon and she said yes. We told her we would bring one by her house and she was excited.

That experience was unreal!! We were about to turn back and give up but I just remember all the words I had said and the words we had heard from Elder Jeffery R Holland ( an apostle in our church) on how those times when we are so tired and we think we have given just about all we can,  if we have faith, the Saviors Atonement keeps us going. 

We heard a video in Zone training this week that brought me to tears. Elder Holland was training a some  Mission Presidents and he said something that hit me. He spoke in a very booming voice,  "Mission work isn't suppose to be a cheap experience, and it will never be easy and always hard. Missionaries don't ask why won't the people listen to me, why won't he follow my commitments?" he continued, "WE ALL HAVE TO FEEL A MOMENT LIKE WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE." We as missionaries have to struggle and fight and feel not just a second, but moments of what the savior felt. He said the reason why it isn't easy is because salvation is not a cheap experience."

WOW those words hit everybody in the room really hard. Because it's true, this work will never be easy and we will want to give up, but the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

Also another awesome miracle, Uhli our untersucher (investigator) is getting close to baptism, the one who wouldn't call us back last week. I was on a split ( means that Missionary companions switch companions for a 24 hour period) with a missionary and we were in his town. We walked by his house and someone was home, we decided to go somewhere else because I didn't want to make him angry by coming to his house. But the people in the town we were going to met weren't home. I knew then we were here to met Uhli, but I was scared and nervous. Me and Elder Hansen said a prayer and then I knew this message is to precious to "hide under a bushel basket." I knocked on the door and he came out! He was so excited to see us, he said his week had been crazy and that he had to leave soon. Then I asked if we could set up a appointment, and he said "Yes, we need to meet." It was so cool!!! He is an amazing man and has such a sweet heart so many miracles have surrounded his conversion.

Well this transfer is half way over already! Me and Elder Bulkley don't know if we will be together next transfer since my training time will be over and we have been together for 2 transfer. It is a crazy time with Christmas around the corner and this week we found 5 new pontential untersuchers (investigators)!

All in all, alle ist gut here in Deutschland, wir haben jeden Tag so viele wunder gesehen. Unser Beiziehung mit die Mitglieder in die Gemeinde ist besser und wir haben jeden tag so viele mehr Lektion. Wir konnen jeden tag des Handes Herrn sehen. Diese Missionar Arbeit ist moglich durch das Sühnopfer Jesu Christi

Ich liebe Dich

Translation - All in all , all is well here in Germany, we see wonderful things every day. Our relationship with the members of the Branch is better and we have more lessons every day. We can see every day the Lord hands. This missionary work is possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder White

                                                          Selfie # European Haircut!!!

Pumpkin Carving, Cancelled appointments, and A New Contact

Well howdy!!

Well this has been a pretty interesting week to be honest! We are kind of having to start at square one because all of our investigators are having a hard time meeting this us. We had about 4 appointments last week drop out because people not wanting to meet or just not showing up! It was crazy and hard to deal with. On Sunday as we sat down to break our Fast, I was looked at  what we had planned and what had happened and saw a huge difference. and then I started feeling like I had failed as a missionary. Me and Elder Bulkley talked about it and he told me that it doesn't matter what we are doing with numbers. It easy to get caught up with numbers and baptisms, but in the end Offenbach is a tough place and you do a lot of seed planting, but that's when we have will see the miracles. Thats when I realized that even if I follow the spirit and want to see someone baptized, that sometimes that is not the Lord's plan for us, he has something different in mind. This work isn't going to be easy and we are not perfect,  but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can overcome our weakness and they are made strong, just like it says in Ether 12:27.

Well this week Uhli, wouldn't call us back and I got pretty frustrated, so I started my fast early on Saturday and later that day got on a train so we could travel an hour away to a town called Schollkrippen. We knew we would go through and right past Uhli's house on the train so I prayed hard that we would see him outside. As we traveled by, we we saw him outside working on his car. I had a feeling we should get off but was scared thinking we were going to bother him. But I put my shoulder to the wheel and just did it. We walked up to him and he was suprised! But invited us in, and we got to teach him a lesson!! It was cool. We knew that day the Lord needed us to go to Schollkrippen so we could run into him. Later we were contacting in Alzenau when I had the impression to walk up to a kid and talk with him. As I did I talked about the Das Buch Mormon and he took the book. then he said, "One of my friends is Mormon." (That doesn't happen here) Then I said who? He said a girl in our GEMINDE or Ward!!! It was such a cool experience for us to find him!!

Germans don't really celebrate Halloween especially in Offenbach, so it was kind of just another night. But I had an idea to get more ward support and we did a pumpkin craving Family Home Evening.The Germans had never done it before, so its kind of a fun American thing.

The sun goes down by 5:30 pm here and it feels like 9 when its really 6 in the evening. Germans go to bed when the sun it down so people yell at us for contacting them at 5 o clock in the evening. It's pretty funny sometimes. 

We only have 4 weeks left of this transfer which is flying by and we had to say goodbye to our district leader which he was a great missionary and a good friend. But we got a Golden from Utah named Elder Hansen, He is a studd!! and Elder Bulkley is the district leader

Well All i know is that the church is true, Jesus is our Lord and Savior and through the Atonement we are made clean and stronger. We are all not prefect and find faults but when we are humble and patient we will see miracles in our lives. When the going gets tough, the tough get going!!

LOVE,

ELDER WHITE

New Investigator, Investigator ready for baptism and Ankle issues

So my ankle I had surgery on in January has been having some problems this week, but like Grandpa Van Wagenen says, "Nothing I can't handle!!" Luckily the injuries are minor and I caught them early enough before worse things could have happened. It's a blessing in and of its self. My mission president, President Stoddard was so kind on the phone helping me out with my questions and letting me know he was there to support me. It was a rough experience, but hey,  the waiting room at the doctors office had some good schokolade. (chocolate)

Well that kind of ate at our time for proselyting and work because I had to go to so many appointments, but I should be okay. No more basketball, I guess when I was playing a few weeks ago and dunked the ball and I think I added to Kyle Emery's crack on the backboard. ( He is a  BYU Basketball player and is our AP and he cracked the backboard when he was here in Offenbach). I will have to tell him when I see him. Hahaha!!

This week we got a new investigator named Herr Zagorski. He has had such a hard life, we met him one night and he let us in the door, he was watching a movie and then turned it off and played us the song of his late wife. He cried so hard in front of us and told us about how much he missed her. Then talked about her death and it brought tears to my eyes. Then he told his son was stabbed to death a year ago and he lost his job. His only daughter doesn't talk to him anymore. Broke my heart hearing his story and see the pain of losing family. It was so awesome, getting to tell him about the Plan of Salvation and how he can see his wife again. He ask us, "You really think I can find joy again". He is a awesome guy and already loves his polish Book of Mormon.

Rafael is struggling right now.  Having a hard time figuring out what to do with him but I keep praying for him. 

Uhil our investigator who wants to be baptized came to CHURCH YESTERDAY and loved it!!! He was just in Utah meeting his friend who is a bishop and it seems like he ready for baptism. It is exciting, he is so cool and just a genuine guy full of the light of Christ. He is moving to the US in 4 months to Flagstaff,  Arizona for work.

The work is progressing here in Germany for sure, we are talking to people and see the hand of the Lord in our lives. Countless miracles everyday help me get through tough times here because people can be amazing and then sometimes plan rude. 

Just a little about my companion, Elder Bulkley. I'm older than him by about 4 months.

He is 6'4" and lifted weights before his mission. He is quiet so me and him are like water and oil sometimes (He read this and don't worry and laughed) He went to American Fork High School and lives in Pleasant Grove. He has 4 other siblings and wants to be a JAG in the military

My German is coming long pretty well everyday I'm getting more comfortable and able to understand more and more. Offenbach people have gotten a lot nicer and they are already setting up for Christmas!! Germans love their Christmas!!!

Well its great here, sad this week we have to say goodbye to Elder Wiedmann and actually me and Elder Bulkley will take him to the train station and send him off. Its going to weird but he is a great Swiss missionary (from Switzerland).

Love you all, hope all is well at home.

Love Elder White

Eternal Families Door Approach Saves The Week!!

Well Howdy!

Rough week, but great weekend. We had about 2 investigators fall out and say they don't have any interest in meeting with us. That was pretty depressing and on the top of that we were talking with RL and he told us he didn't think we could help him anymore with his problems and his apartment, but that he really enjoys talking with us and wants to continue our friendship. That was pretty rough, I found myself asking the Lord "WHY, I'm doing everything  you asked!" On top of that their were two strikes here in Deutschland and their trains haven't worked all week! And our investigator from the USSR had to start working with other missionaries because he doesn't speak German. 

As I sat there questioning what we needed to do next on Friday afternoon, I had a thought we should go 40 minutes to Alzenau. Elder Bulkley said it was fine, so we walked outside to the bus stop and realized we had 15 minutes before our train left, as we started worrying all the sudden a bus showed up. Then we showed up to the train, rode the train to Alzenau. Went to go visit someone but they weren't home. We started wondering why did we even come here, then I we realized that one of the members daughters was playing in the street. We prayed and realized we needed to go and visit this family, so we stopped by for 5 minutes asked them how we could help and then left. It felt kind of pointless but then we got on our train to head back and had to make a connection. We were running to catch the train, but realized we were 5 minutes late and had to wait another 30 minutes. But as we walked up to the terminal, the train was there! it was 5 minutes late. What a miracle and we realized that we had fulfilled whatever the Lord needed us to do there in Alzenau. 

All weekend I was wondering what we going to do because we really didn't have anyone to teach anymore. Then Elder Bulkley told me that we need to have more faith when we go out when we find. So on Sunday. yesterday we went out believing we could find people. We went and did some doors, and as I rang one of the doors and began to speak I said, "We are missionaries, we have a message about Jesus Christ," and then I said randomly about eternal families. The man on the other end said "Sure come up." We met him on the doorstep and he looked depressed he told us that he had lost his wife 5 months ago and that it has been hard so for him. It gave me the opportunity to look at him and tell him that he could see his wife again because we believe in eternal families. He said he wanted to set up another appointment with us!!! That never happens here in Germany!! I felt so good walking down the stairs, later that day we found 2 other people that gave us phone numbers for contact. What a day full of miracles!

 The one thing I do know is that Jesus Christ lives! And this is his work here on the earth today. Missionaries probably make him laugh because we are always asking him what our purpose is, what do we need to do and then we questions why we don't see success. Then he gives us a miracle and then as Elders we say "Oh we shouldn't have been asking why this whole time, because we have been doing it all alone." There are so many times I see  miracles happen. I look up to the sky and a little tear welds up in my eye because I know the Lord is smiling and saying "Run along Elder White I will catch you when you fall."

Millions shall know Brother Joseph again!!

Elder WHITE

HOWDY from Germany week of October 13th

HOWDY!!!

Well I finally got to see the last session of General Conference!!! What a great experience to hear the words from the Prophet!! Listening to General Conference on the Mission is so awesome!!!

This Sunday I bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting in German and the members came up super surprised about how well my German was.  I also blessed the Sacrament in German. It really helped build my confidence. It's great because now I can sit in church and understand what they are saying, not always everything but I understand most everything and can hold conversations on the street in German and contact on my own! 

The only tough part is the Branch here in Offenbach, don't really support the missionaries, I haven't eaten at a single members house since I got here and it is hard to set up appointments with members. We pray for the members that they will soften their hearts and help us out a little more. I have been thinking about how to work with with the members in the Branch and people who are difficult, so today I was praying and asked my Heavenly Father what do I needed to do. Then as I opened up Preach My Gospel, to the page about Christlike attributes and about charity. I realized that I can overcome these struggles through charity and having the pure love of Christ with me!  The one thing I have learned on the Mission is the importance of Atonement in my life. Through the Atonement we are healed of our short comings and weakness. Alma 7:11-14 doesn't just say sickness but it talks about afflictions and sickness. I haven't understood before that Heavenly Father can help overcome my weakness and not just sin itself!! What a beautiful Blessing!!!

This week we had splits, (this is where two sets of missionary companions switch companions for 24 hours)  and we got to do a golden golden split. ( This mean 2 brand new missionaries got to be companions for the splits.  They usually but a new missionary with a seasoned missionary)  So me and Elder Arnesen got to go on a split and he has only been out 6 weeks longer than me!! It was so cool though, we taught a lesson and then we were walking down the street and I had an impression to talk to a man. Elder Arnesen and I went up to him, he talked to us in English and he is from Argentina!! He Name was Ricardo and by the end of the conversation we figured out he was a inactive member of the church!! He told us about he active sister, and that he thought our encounter was a sign that he needs to go back to church! It was awesome!!

The work is a little slow right now because our golden investigator is in America on vacation, but it has given us a chance to just talk to everyone, I have gotten kind of lazy on contacting, but now I'm just trying to talk to everyone I see!! It's easy to get down because the sun doesn't come out much anymore and it rains about every other day. But we have to find joy, a lot of times Elder Bulkley and I sing church hymns as we walk down the street. It's funny because People look at us weird, but it really helps make me happy!

Well RL, the man from the park, who we had kind of given up on, we found him randomly!!! We talked with him and by the end realized that the Lord needs us not to give up on him. So the next day we went looking for him to see if he was in the Clinic yet, we found out that he does have a house so we went to the house and rang the buzzer and he said he would come down. Then randomly as we waited a man walked up to us and said he would let us in. We told him we were fine, but he insisted that we go inside, he forced us inside and so we went to RL's Apartment.He let us come in and OH MY GOODNESS, worse place I have every seen in my life, so many bottles of whiskey that he trips trying to get to his bed. Rotten meat everywhere and piles about 4 feet tall of flies and random stuff. We left the apartment realizing the Lord needs us to serve him. So we have a new Project, it is called Project Ü. We received special permission from the Mission President to involve another district in cleaning up the Apartment. We are going to clean his Apartment!!  And I'm so excited for him!!

Well all in all things are great a Little sad because our district leader is ending his Mission next week. he is heading back to Switzerland. But everything is great, Offenbach maybe a rough place sometimes but other times it is just amazing full of miracles and People from everywhere. This Gospel is true!! As we bear testimony of Jesus Christ the Lord silences those that would seek to do us harm, because whether you are a missionary or not you are a disciple of Jesus Christ and his Name will Sound in every Nation!! DEUTSCHLAND!!!

Love, 

Elder White

Here are pictures from when we went to the temple last week.

Here is a picture of the streets of Offenbauch

His infamous selfie photo facial expression..inside his apartment

Amazing Miracles in Germany!!

My testimony has been strengthened over the past couple of weeks, I have experienced many amazing miracles that have shaped me and helped strengthen my testimony. Here are just a few:

Elder Bulkley and I were going to met a investigator who lived about 45 minutes away. Our train was late and we missed our connecting train. We were about to head back home when this impression told me, get on this random train. I walked away thinking that this was crazy, but it happened again I told Elder Bulkley and he thought I was nuts. The train was still there, and I had been doubting myself as a missionary and was having a rough time. I knew if we got on the train and it took us to somewhere we didn't need to be that mentally I couldn't take that. It was a war in my head so like I have been taught, when it gets to hard to stand, we pray. So right there, I folded my arms and began to beg with God to help me because I didn't have much more in the tank to give. As I stood there something pushed me towards the train and it almost felt like I couldn't stand up straight. I said to myself, "Heavenly Father I'm putting this one in your hands, I'm giving you everything I have and using ever ounce of faith I have."  We got on the train and stood there, then as the train took off, Elder Bulkley remembered we could ride this train make it to the investigators house. We made it on time to UI's house and that night committed him to be baptized because he knew the gospel is true!! Our Savior walks with us and guides us along this mission path because some days being a missionary is exhausting and tiring and you think you don't have anything left and as you fall down he catches you and lifts you up, and he strengthens you!

Well RL, the man in the park we have been teaching was suppose to go into rehab Wednesday, but decided not to. We went to visit him yesterday and so we are kind of stuck trying to figure out what to do next. The only thing we know is that we serve him and hopefully bless his life.

We met a golden investigator this week named EE who grew up in the USSR and is from Ukraine. It was amazing, we were doing a street display when all of the sudden he walked up and said he wanted to talk with us. He is looking for work and has already read the Book of Mormon. He kind of speaks broken English, but the message gets through to him. He was raised in the Communist party and didn't think there was a God until he met believers that resisted the Communist party in his home town. He is an Antique Art Restorator and he believes Jesus is his Savior and Redeemer. He came to 8 hours of GENERAL CONFERENCE WITH US!!! We told him he could leave whenever he wanted too, but he said that the spiritual food he was receiving was great!! He is going to be transferred to the English Elders in Frankfurt, but he doesn't speak very good English and he doesn't feel super comfortable going to Frankfurt. So we will see!!

There is a town about 1 hour away from Offenbach called Aschaffenburg. It is the most beautiful town in our area but is hard to get to. We had a finding activity planned by our District Leaders there and we were asked to teach seminary that night also. So we met there around noon and did some contacting, then around 3 the other Elders left. We had about 5 hours before our next appointment which was seminary so we went to go contact a investigator about 20 minutes away. As we waited for the bus Elder Bulkley and I remembered people we had met here in this town. We said a prayer together that we would see SM and DD. We finished praying and I had some doubt thinking "this town is huge this can't happen". But as time went on I decided to test my faith and really look for this man. We got on the bus where we had met DD 3 weeks ago and he wasn't there. But then as the bus wandered up to where we needed to get off, DD, out of nowhere gets on the bus!! He recognized us immediately and we began talking and had a good conversation, no appointment set up but great testimony builder.

 Then we taught seminary and headed home around 8 pm. We knew we wouldn't get back till 9, we just hopped on a train and thought it was taking us to Offenbach, when is reality it was taking us to Frankfurt. Our tickets don't work on this train and it was too late to get off. The train conductor came down the aisle about 30 minutes later and we realized we were going to get a fine of 40 euro for having a invalid ticket. But the spirit came over me and said the Lord would provide. The man grabbed our ticket looked at it and stamped it! We both looked at each other and realized either the Lord had made him think it was the right ticket or softened his heart. We finally made it to Frankfurt at around 9pm and had to take a train back to Offenbach. We made it to Offenbach at around 9:30 completely exhausted and ready to go home. We got on a bus and were standing there when the woman we had tracked out a couple of weeks ago from the apartment got on the bus!!! We again saw another miracle as we talked with her about the Book of Mormon. That night was a late night but wow the Lord blessed us!!

These past couple weeks have been nuts! It has been challenging but rewarding for sure!!

Elder Bulkley and I are working extremely hard and its kind of gotten to the point where eating meals was such  hassle and we were putting in 13 hour days of contacting and teaching. We were able to keep it up for a couple days only eating 2 meals a day but then we started feeling the effects of  it and knew that the Lord wanted us to take a break and make time for ourselves. That was a lesson I learned this week for sure but wow have we seen some amazing miracles from the Lord and we got a good break listening to General Conference!

I wish I could tell you all the miracles I have seen here in Germany!! The Lord blesses this work and works in amazing ways!!


Love,

Elder White


PS. Sorry no pictures

Guten Tag from Deutschland!!! Week of September 22, 2014

*(Sorry this is a week late.  Crazy busy last week and Elder White will be attending the Frankfurt Germany temple today, so he will not be able to email us until Friday of this week.)

Well Guten Tag from Deutschland!!!!

Well this week has been a crazy and challenging week for sure, Offenbach is Kind of a rough place to be for Christians right now, not going to lie. The People are great and there are People prepared to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ but at the same time the enemies of the church are out there. We have been teaching the homeless man in the park for 2 weeks now and on Thursdays. We went to teach him and a Lady interrupted us in the park and started to Bible bash with us. Then we decided okay we will come back tomorrow. Then we go to back the next day in the park and these Islamic teenage kids come up and start harassing my companion and I. They yelled the usual that Jesus Christ isn't our Savior and then started making guns with their Hands and telling us they were Isis. I started getting pretty angry with them because they were just Punks, but then an Impression came over me to kill them with Kindness. So I walked right up to them and said "wie heissen sie" they were a Little taken back but my remark and stopped for a few seconds, the conversation turned a Little more friendly. Then they pulled out some drugs so we left there pretty quick. Satan is trying really hard on this investigator but we will not give up on him! 

Later that day a Teenager came up and started yelling at us that we were throwing our lives away and that Jesus Christ doesn't exist. I look him right in the eyes and in English bore my testimony of the Jesus Christ and that he is my Savior and Redeemer. He still went on and then told us to get a life. Another time this week a man on the bus started Bible Bashing with me in English. I turned him and felt the Spirit fill my mind with knowledge of how to defend my Religion. I began to kindly explain why we believed that we believed and he had no response and couldn't answer. I was very respectful, but firm with him so that he knew I meant what I said. Honestly, anyone reading this, I love People of the Islamic faith! But for some reason the mosque we live next to teaches them to harass every Christian they see on the street and so I just have to learn to love these People and see them as Christ see them! Its tough because they are mean and honestly feel the Tension when we walk home past the mosque,  but the light of Christ is here with us and real. Love is what solves issues not hostility.

Well after all these encounters I was getting pretty bummed out, Elder Bulkley told me that the Lord tests us and then will bless us. Friday our branch Mission leader told us about how he received Revelation about a Family ready to receive the Gospel. He only knew the Apartment building, so we went dooring.We have to get rung in, so we ring up all the rooms and try to get in. We did 4 with no success and then I started to get nervous. Elder Bulkley was like "you got this".  I rang the door and decided this time to Change my Approach and us Jesus Christ so i said "Halo wir sind die missionari von die Kirche Jesu Christi Der Heiligen Der Lezte Tagen und wir haben ein botshaft fur sie Uber Jesus Christus" The Lady said sure. We got rung in and meet her at the door, she told us she didn't have time right now but that we could come back and teach her about Jesus. I was taken back, she was setting up the appointment for us! Then she looks at me and says "You have a book for me right?" I was taken back again, and realized she was talking about the Book of Mormon. I had one in my bag and gave it to her, and then we left. If she wasn't prepared to receive the Gospel then I don't know who is!! It made the whole week seem worth it!! Its true sometimes we just have to faith and push on! I can't tell you how many times a day that Kind of Thing happens!

Europe is awesome, they don't eat a ton so I'm losing weight a ton because we walk all day skip some meals so we don't lose time. But hey that isn't a bad thing! Germany is great though, the People here just Need a Little light in there lives. They Need hope they Need miracles. We are working with a Young man in the branch who is doubting if he has a testimony. Classic looking German and a great kid, he is 19 and isnt planning on serving a Mission, something told me I Need to work with him. I challenged him to pray every night and read his scriptures and promised him he would get his answer. We will see how it goes, he is a great kid and is one of my good friends in the ward. We call him Jo-Jo!

The best part of the day is Walking down the street and see someone depressed and saying "Guten Tag" they look surprised and then smile! Somtimes we need to just share our light!!

The language is coming, I was having a rough day with the language and doubting myself when the branch president walked up to me and said "you German is getting really good!" and he is a native, that really lifted my Spirits!!

Well read DC 4 and ask yourself "What does harvest mean to you?"

LOVE YALL

Tchuss

Elder RYAN THE GREAT WHITE

Germany is my home!!!

                                   First Day in Germany with President and Sister Stoddard

Hey Yall!! I finally made it to Germany!! My first area is called Offenbach. It is right outside of Frankfurt. The flight over here was pretty good, I had a ton of leg room for real! But once we got to Germany it was just weird, the APs (Assistant to the Mission President)were late picking us up but a really nice couple from Colgone, Germany found out we were coming and greeted us and waited with us until the AP's got there. The first thing we did is go tracking on the streets of Frankfurt. It was crazy just trying to talk to people in a language we all barely even understand! Then we made it to the mission home about 3 hours later. Jet lag really started setting in, and while they were trying to orientate us we all kept falling alseep.  So they ended up letting us all go to bed at around 8 oclock which was a big blessing. The next morning we were paired with our companions. My Companion is Elder Bulkley, he is about 6'5'' so I'm pretty sure we are one of the tallest companionship's in Europe. People get really nervous when we come talk to them because usually they think we are the police, which is always funny!

In the Frankfurt Airport!!!  We made it

 Europe is a different experience that is for sure! They don't eat a ton for dinner or lunch so I'm usually pretty hungry but hey that is not a bad thing. There just isn't a ton of time for eating! The first day we were here we went out searching for people and so we started out in a Square just going up to people and  telling them about the Book of Mormon. That went pretty good, then Elder Bulkley decided to go to the park, there I went and talked to a man that was homeless. So I asked him how he was doing and if we could help. He then said that we couldn't help him because he was an alcoholic, we told him we had something that could help him! We shared the first message with him, but by the end he said he really liked our message. We gave him a Book of Mormon and set up another appointment with him! We spend 7 hours the first day just walking up to random people and introducing the gospel, I was so tired yet so happy and just full of love. 

Then next day we got to hear a message from Elder Ballard, it was just a amazing talk and I got alot out of it, and at the end of the talk was awesome when he said the things we are going through are preparing us for the future. That really hit home with me! He is a super funny man and  made me laugh a couple times that's for sure! We actually have a super nice apartment with a loft and really nice bathrooms! What a blessings, the only problem is that it isn't finished being remodeled so we still have some stuff to fix. The bad thing about Europe is the doorways are about 3 inches shorter then in America, so I have hit my head on a lot of doorways!!!!! But all in all everything is good!

The next day was Saturday, we helped a mitglieder in the church move his apartment and there I got to meet JS, a 19 year old from the church. He and I have really hit it off, he is a great kid with a good heart, but he just doesn't think he had a testimony. I know his does, I had a impression that me and Elder Bulkley need to get him out on a mission. So we are going to start working for him, but I understand where is coming from. He lives in a city the size of Dallas and there is only one branch that covers the entire city because the church isn't super strong here. The area is so big that we have 2 sets of companionships in one Branch. So its interesting, but I know that as we help people like JS see the hand of God in his life, he will begin to grow and progression and realize he does have a testimony. Well, after moving we had weekly planning meeting and then went and taught RL the man in the park again, he was still little drunk again but it was a good lesson. We challenged him to come to a baptism, he said he would but never showed up. We kept waiting and waiting for him to show up, but he never did, then as we were walking looking for a him a man ran up to us and said he was trying to find a place for his congregation to worship. It was weird but I felt like there was something there that we needed to do. Still trying to figure out how to talk to him about the gospel. Sunday was great because we got to hear from Elder Ballard again because it was Stake Conference. We met in a dance hall so we could fit two stakes in there. It was a great talk and he pretty much told the German people to wakeup!! It's time to get the church moving and help the missionaries out! He is awesome!! Afterwards we had a lesson with Herr GR, he invited us over because we were American and he wanted to treat us right. We tried to keep it gospel centered, and then he told his he had died for 20 minutes and seen Heaven. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God exists, he just thinks that every religion is right. He told us how sometimes things are staring us right in the face and we don't realize their importance (HOW IRONIC) and at the end he gave us advice to never forget God which was funny! Me and Elder Bulkley walked out and realized he came back to this earth because it was time for him to except the gospel. So I will keep you posted! 

Love ya'll a ton, Germany is great , the people are great, and the gospels true!!

Final Days in the MTC and the arrival in Germany!!!

This post is summary from his mom...alot has happened the last couple of days. 

Monday September 8th.  We received a suprise email from Elder White. 

"Hey!! we are allowed to email today since we are going to miss P-Day in Germany. So yeah less than 19 hours till we have to get up at 4:30 and head to the airport!

Yesterday we awesome! We all got to bear our testimonies and that was such a neat experience. I got up and talked about the need for the Atonement and how we can't do it alone. When I finished I had this impression to go up to Brother Clark and tell him thank you for serving in the Branch Presidency. When I went up to him and him and told him thanks, then he looked me in the eyes and said "Your humble testimony is what the German people need to hear.".I almost about broke down because I knew he was communicating this to me from the Lord (He has recently returned home from serving as a mission president in St. Petersburg Russia). It was a great testimony builder for me and great experience. I will be talking you to tomorrow so I will tell you more!!

Tuesday, September 9th Lunch time

The whole family had been anxiously looking forward to THE PHONE CALL from the airport. It was so great to hear when the phone rang from an unknown number, "Hello Mom, it's me, Ryan." The whole family gathered around the phone as we talked, and laughed and felt the spirit talking together.  At first, he had a hard time remembering English words and he kept talking in German with a sprinkling of English.  Which was great to hear. But by the end of the conversation he was speaking more words in English. He bore his testimony in German and said he still was struggling with the grammar, but that he had 9 hours on the plane to work on his grammar... He had a strong conviction that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and that there is no where else he would rather be or nothing he would rather be doing right now in his life. He talked about how he had really learned about Faith and the power of faith.  Until now, he said he really hadn't grasped the magnitude of  Joseph Smith's Faith. Ryan said he is humbled at Joseph Smith's desire to have to prayed, asked which church is true, receive an answer to his prayer and then act on that answer.  We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to talk to him for almost 2 hours.  Complete joy and happiness!!

This is sure tough to not have him home with us, but he is so happy, he has matured and grown spiritually and knows that this is what the Lord wants him to be doing right now. This makes it easier to let him go to Germany for 2 years, be happy for him and look forward to the emails every week.

Wednesday, September 10th 

An email and picture arrived this morning.  Elder White made it to Germany!!!  He will be watched over by President and Sister Stoddard for the next 2 years.

Feeling so blessed and appreciative for such a strong valiant son who know who he is and that he wants to serve the Lord, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Happiness.

Less than a week and I will be in Deutschland...and I haven't lost my pride in TEXAS

Hey Everyone!! In case y'all were worried about that I have lost my pride in Texas, worry no more. My District is so annoyed with my pride in Texas and they have tried finding scriptures to say that Texas can't be that good. Boy are they wrong!! hahaha!!! And 2 of my 3 teachers are from Texas so that has to be a sign!!

Well we got our travel plans this week! On Tuesday, September 9th, we are getting up at 4:30am  and heading to the airport, we land in Dallas around 11:45am and then head off to Frankfurt about 3:55pm. It will take about 8 hours to Frankfurt and then we land in Deutschland at 8:30 am September 10!!! We are at the mission home for the day and then the next day we take the train to our new areas. This is all becoming so real, so fast!! Its great! This week has been pretty good, we are all just getting stir crazy being here. 

I hope my German is alright, I mean I can teach a "lesson, but I know I have alot to learn in Deutschland that is for sure. I mean I feel alright with the language, but I know that in about 6 days I'm going to feel like I'm speaking Spanish to the Germans. Oh well, the Lord will provide if we show him our conviction for the work and our faith in this gospel. 

We had an amazing missionary fireside on Sunday from a return mission president (Which is a speech from a older gentleman that has been in charge of young missionaries for 3 years). He talked about how there are people out in our missions waiting for us to come teach them because the Lord has been preparing us to teach them. I started crying from how powerful the spirit testified to me that there are people out there waiting for me to teach them. What a huge responsibility on my shoulders, but as long as I turn to the Lord in prayer, I can not fail. 

Well my schedule is kind of the same old each week, but I did just get back from the temple which is my favorite part about Preparation-Days, the temple is such a refuge from worries and cares. I also talked with my zone and asked if they would help me get all the temple work done that Grandma White sent me, I am proud to say that the District 19 (our zone) completed 50 names these past two weeks, with the help from some Italian elders. I made it my goal to finish all the names before I left  because many are waiting on the other side of the veil for their work to be done.

Well I have realized that I never understood the MTC ( missionary training center) till now. I always thought about it was about learning how to teach and learning how to speak German. But that is not it, and if you go into the MTC thinking that you are going to miss the big picture. The main thing you should take away from the MTC is a better understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father will help you learn the language and when you speak with the spirit it doesn't matter how good or bad you speak. But if you understand the Atonement you can preach it and understand your relationship with your Father in Heaven better and understand his gospel better.

Well my next email will be from Deutschland!!!!

Auf Wiedersehen 

Elder Ryan "The Great" White

I'M GOING TO BE IN GERMANY IN A WEEK AND A HALF!!!!

1 week and 5 days!!! Time flies here when you are having fun!!! Well this week has been super fun, me and my zone are having the best time ever!! Yeah German can annoying and frustrating at times, but then you have to remember that " I'M GOING TO BE IN GERMANY IN A WEEK AND A HALF". That is what helps me keep going when the times get tough. This week has been pretty crazy, we are teaching about twice a day which is keeping our skills up and then just kind of setting goals that will helps us get ready for Germany. Tomorrow we are going to Skype people in Germany and its usually a member and a non member so I'm kind of nervous for tomorrow because there is a huge difference between Americans speaking Deutsch and Germans speaking Deutsch. Oh well, as long as I have the Lord on my side I can not fail!!

It's been super fun getting to go to the temple every week. I just sit there and ponder on the gospel and questions that I have, because the temple is where you find answer to questions and that has really helped me progress my testimony in the gospel. Today I got about 25 names done that Grandma White had sent me, I just started handing them out to people in my Zone and they were all more than willing to help the work move on!! I honestly love my Zone so much, its literally like this band of brothers that cant be broke. We have had multiple people lose family members in the past month, but we are stick together. When we walk around the other people are so surprised how well we all get along. I think it is truly a testament to how dedicated everyone is to learning the language, ya sometimes we get distracted but that's why we all keep each other in check. 

Its been super fun getting to see people from home here at the MTC because sometimes you feel left out here because if your not from Utah, and you know nobody! But its been fun!! I do have to warn anybody going into the MTC soon, that the first 4 days are the longest most boring days of your life, but then after Sunday it like magic and everything flies by!!!!

Elder Whitaker, Elder White, Elder Andrus, Elder Allred from the Plano, Texas Stake found each other at the MTC this week.

Just in case you were afraid I had lost my unique personality yet, I'm here to say No. I have found a cause to fight for..... and that's having someone clean the bathrooms. We have been here for a month and they have never been cleaned, they clean other peoples bathrooms, but the people who are suppose to clean ours, never do. I have talked to 5 managers about the issue and I keep getting the "capitol hill two step". Finally I talked to the head guy and he said "OH your the kid with all the complaints". MAYBE PEOPLE SHOULD DO THEIR JOB! It's just funny, oh well when you believe in something so much, sometimes you got work hard for it. Is it reasonable to ask for the overflowing toilet to be cleaned up? We don't even have a plunger and our irons broken hahahahahahah. But hey the MTC is so much fun, don't get me wrong, it has its ups and downs but I honestly I have loved every minute of it!

If you get chance read DC 128:22 I think of it as a battle cry! Because this gospel is too important to only give it 90% you got to give it 100%!!!! And when you have no more power to stand, kneel.

LOVE YOU ALL

ELDER RYAN WHITE

PS. Elder Deiderich has challenge me to write in my journal and I have to say I'm doing a pretty good job!

My 3rd Week in the MTC!!

 I just got back from the temple and got to do initiatories, it is so much fun going to the temple with a bunch of elders that are your best friends and knowing that they are all out here for the right reasons. In the MTC it is no longer time to gain a testimony, it is time to help your testimony grow. If you are English speaking, you are here for 12 days!!!! That is just enough time for you to get use to living the mission life which is tough sometimes, but very rewarding.

This week has been insane, we are teaching two investigators at the same time, it is testing our ability to speak and preach the gospel for sure! But it is fun, it makes the 6 hours of class fly by!! Since we hit the 3 week mark, they switch up all the district leader and zone leaders so I was released which takes a little burden off of me, but it was still a great experience. I can tell you one thing, that I have never been so tired in my life, I miss taking naps for sure!!! But hey it is all in the Service of our God, so I just put faith that he will help me not feel so tired. hahaha!!

 This week our teacher Bruder Garlick gave us this lesson on the Erlosungs Plan or the Plan of Salvation. We had tried all week to teach the Plan of Salvation and had realized that we had butchered the lessons. So he sat us down and made all of us explain the plan einfach (simple). So we wrote it out in 2 sentences and then in 1 sentence and then in 5 words and then in ONE word described the PLAN OF SALVATION!! The spirit was so strong and I realized that it was being too confusing that this gospel is simple, it is all about faith. So I challenge everyone to try this, take a really confusing gospel topic and break it down into 2 sentences and then 1 sentences and then 5 words and then ONE word. I will tell you that your mind will be opened and you will begin to teach the gospel more effectively. 

Thats the one thing I have learned being out here is love, you take a bunch of random guys and stick them together for 24/7 and before you would have people fighting and arguing. But here you create a family, I think of my fellow elders as my close friends, without phones, girls, and other distractions you really build a strong unit. At night when everyone is exhausted and ready to want to give up or just fall asleep out of exhaustion. I can always count on the Elder Cocker to come in and tell me some funny story about New Zealand, sing some funny missionary parody song, or see a bunch of Islanders sending a brother or friend off with the Haka. This place is amazing!!!

So I guess everyone is starting school this week!!  Good luck to everyone I know you will do great. My advice to you all is that if you are prepare you shall not fear. This week we taught a lesson to one of our investigators and I hadn't really prepared that well for the lesson, When I got into the lesson I could not speak German to save my life. When I got out of the lesson I was wondering what had gone wrong, and then I figured out that I hadn't prepared and so I realized the spirit can't help you if you "don't fill the Well". So fill the Well now!!

Love Yall,

Elder White

This is where all the Elders do their laundry and write to their families.

My MTC Companion Elder Bezzant.