Hello Everybody!!

There is a family we are teaching right now that have 2 little boys and a baby girl.  We had lost contact with them for a couple of weeks.  Every time that we go over there the kids are so excited to see me and they are always giving me high-fives and telling me that they missed me if we haven't been there in a couple of days! It is pretty awesome! :) We stopped by on Saturday, and I had given myself a haircut (which I taught myself how to do) and one of the boys was like "Hey, did you get a haircut?" I said, "Yes, I sure did!" Then he responded with, "Wow, your white!" The family is an African American family and so it was really funny for me to be on the receiving end of that! 

Oh, and just so you know I got your package that you guys sent to me and I Loved it!!! I got a package from the Kohler's too, so it was awesome to be able to read all of the Valentines day ones! I loved Caleb's that told me that it would be just wrong for me to be his Valentine! :) That made me laugh! 

I really appreciate you guys keeping me in all of your prayers and I can tell that it for sure helps because yesterday at church I had a really cool thing happen! After our service was over we left with the 1st counselor in the Bishopric to go and visit JB. But he wasn't home, so we just asked to be dropped back off at the church so that we could walk to our next appointment! :) When we walked in,  there was a member family inside that had another guy with them that they had taken to the Gilbert Temple open house! He said for us to give him a call and set up a time that we can come over and teach him! I am super duper excited! :)

Here in Arizona it is now starting to get hot again and I could really use some snow right now! :) Today it is supposed to be 89 degrees! BURNING HOT. . . WHERE DID THE WINTER GO!  Oh wait I guess that winter left the very second I stepped off the plane here in Arizona, huh? :D It is nice to be able to go around in short sleeves though. I like that part!

Oh man, I almost forgot to tell you guys what happened to me last P-Day!!!! So, we decided to have a Zone Activity that day and we were playing kick ball in the gym. It was a blast and we were all energized and ready to go! It was super crazy and we were having probably close to the most fun that I have ever had on a P-Day in this Zone! Then something kinda funny happened! There was a ton of those big carts that were filled up with chairs that stood about 6 feet high right behind the first base. When I kicked the ball I ran really fast to the first base and the ball got thrown at me. The ball is about 1.5 feet in diameter and it is big and rubber. When they threw it at me I jumped in the air to try to dodge it, but it hit my legs and my legs went out from under me (still airborne), then I ran into the chair representing 1st base and then it sent me flying toward the giant chair racks. I HIT them super hard with my head and also with my shoulder. Everybody thought that I had a concussion because I was a little bit dizzy, but I thought that I was fine. The Zone Leaders made me sit out for a bit anyways. I sat for about 1 minute and then got bored and went back to playing. I had a huge goose egg on my head and on my shoulder which hurt pretty bad, but now it is starting to heal! So I'm good! It was really fun and I super underestimated the thickness of my head! :) #headofsteel 

Well, that is about it for me this week! Thanks a ton for writing to me and keep it up! 

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Hello Everybody!!!

It is still pretty funny when we talk to people on the street because when we say that we are from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a lot of people don't even know what that is so we have to clarify by saying that we are Mormons. Then usually they know exactly who we are, but have some false ideas floating around in their heads. :) It is really crazy to think that there are so many people that do not believe in God. I do not understand how you could not believe in God the way that the world is today. Apparently there is some weird debate going on right now with Bill Nye the science guy and some Creationist guy for some "evolution week" or something. We heard about it from one of our members this week and is sounded really strange. But it's whatever because I know that there is a God and that is what I am here to do is to help people come closer to him! :) 

Oh, and something kind of funny happened on Thursday this week! We had left a note on one of the doors of a member in the ward here named Jennifer. She gave us a call back and she wanted us to come over. So we did! We went over and talked to her for a while. Then when we were about to leave with a prayer she looked at my name tag and she said, "I used to know a Wallentine." Then I said, "Oh really what was his first name?" She said, "Dave!!!" So apparently I ran into one of Uncle David's friends from down here in Arizona! Its kind of funny how there are so many people that know someone that is in the family and how small the world really is! It was awesome!

We definitely did not get any snow here this last week nor do I expect to see snow for another 17 months.   It isn't so hard right now when it is in the 70's to not go swimming, but in the summer like right when I came out here when it was like 120, it was harder. hahaha! Good thing that I don't really have too much time to worry about that stuff because we are keeping busy enough that there isn't even any time to get distracted! :) It's Awesome! 

JB wanted me to tell you guys all thank you for raising me and making me the person that I am today! He continuously calls me and thanks me for everything that we do and for teaching him about God and stuff! It is so good to see how much the gospel has an effect on people. 

Well, thanks a ton for writing to me and keeping in touch and I am looking forward to the package from the Primary! Your AWESOME!!!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Hey Everybody!

This week was a super good week for me! I was really able to focus on the positive side of things rather than the negative which is what I usually do, but it seemed to be a little better for me this last week! I am always super happy when we go into a member's home over here, and the first thing they do is invite us in and ask if we need a glass of water? It is awesome to be able to have so many members that you can count on! :) 

It has really hit me this week and last week on how important the members are in missionary work! If we do not use members and if members do not come out with us then the people that we teach are not going to feel as welcome as they would if there was someone there that they could relate to a little bit better! 

I never realized how people see missionaries until recently as well! Well, I guess in the last 6 months. People always think that we are either perfect or that we are little stuck up brats dressed all nicely! It is pretty funny the reactions we get when they actually talk to us and realize that we are not so weird after all, just a little odd! haha :) We had one guy talk to us this week and he didn't even know who we were. He was like "Why are you guys all dressed nice and matching too?" So we explained that we were missionaries and told him what we do while we are on our missions! He wasn't interested, but it is always nice when you are able to bare your testimony to others even if they are complete strangers!

We also went on exchanges with the District Leader this week on Thursday and this time I got to go over to his area! That was super fun because the last 2 times it was always me staying in my area and my companion going to the others. :) When I was there, we saw this family who was moving. We asked if they needed any help moving or with anything. They said "Wait, you want to help us?" We assured them that yes, we do want to help them and we will do whatever they need us to. So we began to go inside the house and grab things to carry out to the truck and soon one of the ladies asked, "So in your church blacks can't be members, right?" We were able to teach her that they can and that everybody is welcome! She is now taking the discussions from my district leader and his companion! It was a really good experience! 

Also, when I was on exchanges we went to the Bishop's house for dinner! The bishop was so cool and his family is awesome! He owns the business that provided the concrete to build the Gilbert Temple! It was really cool to talk to him about that! Then he took us out into his back yard to show us his swimming pool. I wish that I took a picture because it was the coolest one I think I have ever seen. It was exactly like the one that is at sea world with the whale! Giant pool with a giant glass wall on the side! It's awesome! It even has water flowing over the glass wall so that it is like a waterfall too! Way cool! :)

We have been teaching a lot of people still, and also people on Facebook! There is still that one kid from high school that I am teaching and Natalie Laws is actually getting him in contact with the missionaries over there right now and they are going to go with him and her to show him around the church tomorrow! It is going to be such a cool experience for him! I hope that it all works out! Well if you guys know of anybody that would like to talk about the church, or has any questions about anything, then share my Facebook with them and inform then that I am a missionary and I will answer the questions that they have!!! :) It is still so weird that we are able to use Facebook on the mission now! But it is a really good idea! I am so glad that I get to hear from you every Monday for my whole mission! :) I love you a ton!

Love,

Elder Brandon Wallentine