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.

Well I'm officially 2 weeks into the mission!!

HEY!!!

Well I'm officially 2 weeks into the mission!! The MTC is still amazing but it has gotten a lot more challenging that is for sure. We challeneged our "investigator" for baptism so now we have a new untersucher named Kathir and Jens. Both of them don't believe in God, it has been quite a challenge trying to help them gain a testimony in God. But me and Elder Bezzant are doing really well with the language. We haven't been using any notes and have been just speaking from the heart,  the gift of tongues is real and i know that for a fact. Well things have been so much fun with the Zone, we are super close. We have had our ups and downs but that is just part of being together 24/7. My district is doing amazing, i am here to tell you that through exact obedience you can do "wunders" (word miracles in german). We have made a district goal to be on time to class everyday and i have first hand seen many elders in our district progess so quickly with the language because of that. It has been fun being the District leader and in a week i will be released and a new one will take my place. Hopefully i have set a good example to the other members of our district. 

It's crazy how fast time flies and then sometimes we wish we could make time speed up, but hey that's just the mission. We have had some amazing devotionals that have really been touching. My companion got me to sing in the choir this week and we sang at the devotional. We sang the song "Nearer My God to Thee". i never knew that the song was about Jacob after hearing that his brother was out looking to kill him. It brings so much symbolism as you listen to him talk about sleeping on the rock and then receiving revelation about "Jacob's Ladder". As we strive to find spiritual experiences in our lives, we will find ourselves nearer to god. 

Well everything here is great, you wanted to know about my schedule 

6:30 wake-up

7 personal study

8 breakfast

8:30 gym

9:50-12:50 Class Time

12:50 Lunch

2:15-5:15 Class time

5:45 Dinner

6:30-9:30 Personal Companion and Language Study

10:30 Lights out (sometime the best part of the day hahahaha)

Well I liebe alle meine Familie im Texas. Sich erinnern an der Evangalium wahr ist.

Tchuss

Elder Ryan "The Great" White

Elder White and Elder Dent (Ryan's Cousin) meet at the Provo Temple