Elder Whitnah's second city: Dusseldorf

The Shield of the city of Dusseldorf...the place where Sean has now been transferred after 3 months of service in Krefeld.

Sean has been transferred a new area. Dusseldorf! Quite a big place, nearly 600,000 thosand people and the economic center of Germany. Sean has hopes to be able to serve in some small areas of the Mission but time will tell and he will go where the Lord wants him to serve. He had become quite close to some of the members in Krefeld and will miss many of them. This one brother in the Ward became quite close to Sean. Sean thought of him as a Grandpa figure in a way. He will miss him that is for sure but even though he will miss his first area he is looking forward to his new area of Dusseldorf.

Elder Whitnah nearly 3 months in Germany!

Elder Whitnah has been in Germany for nearly 12 weeks. That means he will no longer be classified as a "golden." In the German missions instead of calling a missionary a "greenie" when they are first out they are goldens. Sean has loved his mission thus far and has learned valuable insights from his companion Elder Hawker.
It was great to speak with Sean on Mother's Day. We had a 2 and a half hour long conversation. I enjoyed hearing all that Sean is going through and all the ways he has grown. He shared with us that he now truly understands the Gospel and believes it like he never did before. At one point he told me that if someone were to put a gun to his head right now and shoot him if he didn't deny what he believed that he would have to tell the person to shoot him because he would never deny the Gospel and all the blessings that he has received from it. What a cool blessing and what a great son to have! I am so glad that he is progressing so much in the Gospel!
He is thinking that his companion might be transferred this next week when transfers come up..only time will tell. I guess Elder Hawker has been in Krefeld for some time.
Sean shared with us that each day he studies to learn 50 new German words and then he practices reading preach my gospel outload to put the words to use. He finds that that along with talking to native Germans is the best way to learn the language and pronunciation of words. He says right now he has about 75% of his German down. That's pretty good for a missionary who has been out only 2+ months.
He loves the foods in Germany and told us that he thinks the food there is better than what we have here. I am not surprised as I have tried many German foods and it is good. Sean and his companion are teaching a family from Afrika as well as a young college student. They continue searching for those who are ready to hear the Gospel. I am glad that Sean is enjoying his mission. He writes every Tuesday and it's great to hear how much he has learned.