Monday, July 13, 2015

Hey Mommy!

So sorry that this email is a lot shorter than usual! I had my departure interview today and it was pretty cool! It wasn't really what I was expecting but it was still pretty awesome. It is weird to think that I am going to be home in like 3 days. I am super excited to see you all! Tell all of the family that I can't wait to see them all! :) LOVE YOU TONS MOM and all of those plans sound awesome! I have something cool to share with you on Friday BTW so remind me if I forget! Love ha tons!

Love,
Elder Wallentine (Soon to be Brandon)

Monday, July 6, 2015

Mommy!!!

That sounds like you guys have been having a little bit of Arizona coming up to Idaho huh? That was insane when I heard about how hot that it was getting up there. Members have just been telling me that it will be fine because going back to Idaho will be just like Arizona now so I will be used to it. ;P But I am glad to hear that it is cooling back down now! :D That would be a super crazy High Adventure for Tyler if it was in the triple digits the whole time! He would for sure come back a little bit darker than when he left! :P But I remember when I went on high adventures and I always had a blast! I remember the last one that I was able to go on was I think at the Salmon river and Dad was able to come with us! We went rafting and kayaking so that was super hard to figure out how to do it, but it was a blast once you figured it out! I loved all of the high adventures that I have been on!

Thank you for sharing all of those fun/cool experiences that you have had over the past week! It is so crazy how some things happen in our lives that help us later on. 

I remember a specific experience that I had on my mission that has really helped me to keep a good attitude through trials. There was a lady that we were teaching who was a member of the church but was also very angry at it for some reason. No matter what we said or what we did for her she would still be mad, and she had her mind made that she would be mad at the church. It really showed me how much of a choice we actually have to either be mad, or be happy. We have complete and total control of our emotions and actions! Even though some things might happen whether it is actually something big, or just a little misunderstanding, we could take it Well, or we can take it Bad. I know that the way that the Lord would like us to take it would be for us to take it Well. I think that is where the story of forgiving 70 times 7 comes into play! :D It sure makes life a lot easier when we can do that and helps us be happy!!! 

This past week we had a meeting with President Toone again and he was addressing the letter that was sent to all of the leaders of the church from the First Presidency on the Supreme Court Decision of Gay Marriage. He read the statement and then he continued on and talked about some of the things that we need to change as a mission... I know that I am not a perfect missionary but Elder Cox and I left that meeting and I seriously just felt empty for the remainder of the day. I was trying to think of why I was feeling like that, and what was wrong with me but nothing was coming to mind. There are always little things that we can work on to get better, but even though I realized that it didn't really help me feel any better. Still to this day I have no idea how to deal with that better... I don't think that I have ever felt so depressed in my entire life as I did in that meeting. But once that day was over and a new day began I was back to normal and I was good to go!!! :D I was glad that it didn't stick with me! It probably didn't help that I have been sick for the past week... But now I am better! I got some medication and I am set now! :) But this past week was really good other than that meeting and we were able to meet a lot of cool people once again!!! 

One quick question... I have the option to either send my bike home, or to donate it to the mission. Do you guys have any particular choice as to what you would like me to do with the bike??? It isn't broken but it has 2 years of ware and tare on it so I was thinking about donating it rather than going through the trouble of shipping it home. What do you think? Oh and I will be sending a bunch of books home in a package soon so if you get a package from me don't get too excited.... Its just a bunch of books! :P Don't worry though I am bringing a shirt home for everyone from a service project we did!!!

Love you bunches!
Elder Brandon Wallentine

P.S. for the 4th of July we got to go over to our ward mission leaders house and watch some fireworks! So it was a good time for sure!

Monday, June 29, 2015

Mommy!!

Yeah it was really cool to be able to hang out with Elder Erickson's brother for a few hours. It was cool to hear some of the questions that he had for missionaries who had been out for a while.I also think it is really cool that President Toone has made some exceptions for some missionaries to do some cool things like that! But yeah us for chicken and waffles you should totally go and try them because it is like the best thing ever made.

Oh so as far as my knees go? I got to go and see a doctor and he said that I just have something called runners knees where the grooves just aren't matching up right. He said it's common for teenage girls to have that but apparently missionaries get it too... 😜 but he just gave me a few exercises I can do for my legs so that I can strengthen my muscles around it and he said that my knees should be fine. He said if they don't start getting better after I start doing the exercises that some physical therapy might need to take place. But I think I'll be fine! Oh and make sure that you tell Carin hi for me and make sure she knows that she's in my prayers for the procedures that she's going into. 

This week we had a lot of crazy things happen… But it was cool because we were able to have a lot of discussions with a lot of different people. This weekend especially we went over to a lady's house with one of the priests and asked her about coming to church because she hadn't been in about three months. We talked with her and she said that she might come to church, and then during our first three hours of church we got a Facebook message saying I'm up and it had a picture of her and she was all dressed and ready for church! It was awesome.  We also got to go to a family who is Hawaiian and we realized that we had been knocking on the wrong door for the past three weeks to try to get a hold of them. We went over in the first two days of being in this area and then we kept setting up appointments and for some reason they kept missing them… But I guess it wasn't them missing it. . . it was us being dumb and knocking on the wrong door. 

It was an awesome week and we ended the week on Sunday by giving talks on missionary work! We gave talks as well as a lady who has been baptized recently and our ward mission leader. We actually just got a new ward mission leader whose name is Brother Helgerson and he has a son who I worked with a lot the first time in this area.  He is on his mission in Nampa! So I told him that when I get home I will have to go on splits with his son. The wards are super funny because everywhere we go members are always telling us that we are seasoned missionaries and that we know that what we're doing now… It's kind of funny because we don't really feel like we know how to do anything! But hey I guess we must know little bit after two years right! 😀 I love being back in this area!

Well I love you tons and I can't wait to see you guys in a couple of weeks! It is crazy to think that here are only 2 more emails after this one! 

Love,

Elder Wallentine



Monday, June 22, 2015

Hey Everyone!

Hey so this past week ended up being a lot better than the week before by far!!! We were able to get out into our area everyday and we didn't have any big meetings that took us out of the area at all! We had District Meeting and Weekly Planning but that is all! It was so nice to just be a "Normal Missionary" again. I love just being able to go out and find people to talk too a lot more than just sitting in the office all day for sure! It is really funny because missionaries always ask me if I miss being in the office, and if I miss being an Assistant. My response is usually that I do not miss it for sure!!! I loved the time that I spent in the office and I am really happy that I got to make so many close friendships with the senior couples, and the Toones while I was in there, but I know that I was for sure ready to get out and teach again. I love it!!! I am so glad that I am finishing up my mission here in this area and that I got put here with Elder Cox! We are super tight and it is a blast in the area EVERY DAY! 

Zone meeting ended up going really well! Elder Erikson is getting ready to go home just a little bit after me and his little brother is leaving before his actual departure date, so President Toone gave permission for his brother to come out here to AZ and come to the zone meeting and go out proselyting with him and his companion for the day! Right after zone meeting Elder Cox, Elder Erikson, Elder Hemsley (Eriksons Comp), Logan (Eriksons Brother), and Myself all went out to a restaurant for lunch! We went to Jorges Chicken and Waffles and it was super good! It is funny because to eat it you put some fried chicken ON TOP of the waffle and then poor syrup and gravy on top of all of it! It sounds like super weird, and kind of disgusting but it is like the BEST THING EVER!!! You will all have to try it sometime.

I love you guys a ton and I look forward to hearing from you again next week! Keep me updated on everything!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, June 15, 2015

Mommy!!!

I am having such a fun time here in the Ahwatukee and Mountain Park wards! It is really cool to go around an area that I have already been in on my mission before and already know a lot of the members and even some of the people who have been taught in the past. I am super tight with the members and they are all super cool still! This is for sure going to be a great place to finish the mission for sure! :) In Elders Quorum yesterday we were introducing ourselves and a lot of the guys were saying when they were going to be moving out of the ward in their introductions. They came around to me and I said, "I am Elder Wallentine, and I will be moving out in 4 weeks." Everybody started to laugh and I don't think that they actually thought that I was being serious! ;D It was pretty funny though! It is so crazy that I have so little time before I am going to be coming home... But don't worry I am definitely excited to come back and see all of you! I have probably been asked if I am getting Trunky more times this week than I have been my entire mission haha. But don't worry I am not trunky yet! haha It is a blast in this ward! Oh and that sounds good to like ease me into accounting and stuff. Just do whatever you think would be the smartest thing to do and I trust you! Thanks mom!

I will for sure be keeping Carin in my prayers. It is hard to think about things like this happening within your own family. I have seen things like this happening to families all around me on my mission, but it seems so much different when it is happening within your family for sure. I know that everything will work out though! Even though this is for sure going to be one of the hardest things in our lives, she will be OK! :D We talked a lot about the Priesthood yesterday in church and it is so awesome to have a testimony of the priesthood and the power that it can bring into our lives. I know that as we call on the powers of heaven she will be OK!

This past week has been super hard for sure... I love my mission and everything a ton! It seems like though that lately in whatever meeting we go to there is always a huge part of it that if focusing more on the negative things that are going on in the mission than the positive. I think that is what has really been getting me down the past few days. Our mission is definitely one of the best missions in the church and one of the most obedient ones for sure! But although there is so much positive to focus on it seems like the few negative things are still being focused on more... That has made this past week super hard for me at least. But I am positive that this week is going to be better!!! We think that the other missionaries in the zone are getting the same feelings that we are so at zone meeting on Tuesday we are going to use it just to focus on the good that is going on and really just get the missionaries happy again! I am excited to bring the Happiness back into the work! I love you tons Mom and thank you for all that you do behind the scenes to make our lives that much easier! 

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine



Monday, June 8, 2015

MOMMY!!

Ok so you were super close with your guess of Elder May and I being companions again but not quite on the spot! :) But funny thing is that almost happened too! Elder May moved into the office and took over my spot as an AP and I moved out! :) But I am now in the same ward that I already served in in the Ahwatukee area!!! Oh and another super cool thing about this is that my new companion is Elder Cox who I lived with when I was with Elder Bono!!! I am super stoked because even just over the past couple of days this has been one of the coolest transfers of my mission! We have gone by a lot of the people in the area book and they have all been super nice to us. I feel like Elder Cox and I are going to be able to connect with a lot of people these last couple of weeks. It will be awesome!

Last night we were driving back home from a long day of work and we pulled up to this guy with our window in the car down and he said, "Hey do you have any Crack?" So I laughed and said "NO" He apparently thought that he was super funny because then he started to laugh and then turned to me and said, "Sorry, bad joke... but don't worry we are Christians and we believe in Jesus and all of that stuff..." It was a super awkward encounter so then I was super happy when the stop light turned green and we were able to book it out of there! It is funny what people will say to you on the streets! haha But other than that all of the ward members remember me and It is super fun to be able to see all of my friends from the ward again! I am super excited to be able to work around of of these guys again and strengthen the relationship that I have had in this ward even more! IT WILL BE AWESOME!!! :)

Love you tons!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, June 1, 2015

Mommy!!

Thank you so much for transferring that money over to my account! I totally forgot about that until you mentioned it in the email, but I am going to see if I can go without touching that money for a while! I guess that we will see how that goes huh... :D It is super nice because when you are an assistant you get just a little bit more money put on your account just in case you have to go and run some errands and you have to eat on the road. It was super funny when I heard that because me and the financial secretary have a super fun time here in the office and we are always cracking jokes at each other! It is a blast being able to work with some of the senior couples in the mission so often. 

That is super cool about the experience that you were able to have with those parents of the other players on Caleb's baseball team. It is insane how much and what people will talk about behind peoples backs but then when someone stands up they will all just quiet down. I have really come to know that if you are not strong enough to say something out loud to someones face then you probably better think twice about saying it. But it is nice to know that in those situations the Lord will bless you with the ability to say what needs to be said just like you were able to stand up for what you believe!  GOOD JOB MOM!!! :D

I am really considering the whole PT thing now that you said that about what they are doing for Tyler. It has been amazing as a missionary serving in the Leadership that I have had out here to notice how much you can help people help themselves. Sometimes when people have to keep on coming to you with their problems for you to fix them it is not the best way to handle the problem. If you give them instructions on how they can fix their problems then it will help them more in the long term. I guess it is like teaching a man to fish. If you catch a fish for someone then they are fed for a meal, but if you teach the man to fish then he can be fed for the rest of his life. That was a good lesson for me to learn on my mission for sure!!! Thanks for the pointer.

We have been working on transfers all this past week and I think that we have made some really good changes for the mission! I am probably not going to be in the office for my last transfer which will be super fun and it is super fun to already know exactly where I am going... but I will leave that as a surprise for you!!! ;) I am super excited for the last transfer of my mission though because it is going to be in the best area, with the best companion ever! I AM ABSOLUTELY STOKED FOR IT!  I love you tons!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine



Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Mommy!!!

Hey so you will for sure have to go and ask that missionary what his friends name is because we have 4 Elder Carters in the mission! :) But that is super cool that he knows someone that I probably know super well from serving around him. We have had some more super fun things go on this past week with us and President Toone for sure!!! But I will tell you about all of the crazy adventures this past week.

So we had a super regular and kind of slow first part of the week... It was really good thought because we actually got to go out and teach some awesome people in our area and we actually ended up finding a few new people to teach and also contacted a few people that the members of the ward have been having a super hard time contacting too! :) That was a super awesome way to start off the week. Then to wrap up this past week on Saturday I got to go and pick up Elder May for a baptism that was down in Maricopa of a guy that Elder May, Belnap, and myself all taught while we were down there. He is such a cool guy and his son got baptized while I was still serving there, but his time finally came and he knows that what he has been learning is totally true!!! He bore such a powerful testimony at the end of his baptism and it just confirmed to me that the Lord will for sure prepare people in his time. It was a really good experience to be able to go back for that baptism.

So, then if that isn't crazy enough that I got to go back down to Maricopa, you will not even guess where else we went this week... ;) Soooo... There are like a ton of temples around our mission boundaries and I have so far been to the Mesa Temple, Gilbert Temple, and the Phoenix Temple. What other temples would we be able to go to you might ask? :D So after months of President Toone trying to get us permission to go, and after he pulled a few strings we were able to go to one more temple on Monday that was probably my favorite one of all time! On Sunday after church we drove a van down to Yuma Arizona to have the last of all the training in the mission this transfer. We have really been focusing on the Mormon Battalion and the trails that they went on, and it just so happens that we found a really cool museum that goes over a lot of the stuff that happened to the battalion in San Diego California!!! :) So on Sunday night we stayed in Yuma in a Holiday Inn Hotel, and then Monday morning we got up at about 5:00am and ate breakfast/met up with all of the Yuma missionaries, and we all headed out to go to the San Diego Temple! It was probably one of the coolest  things that I have been able to do since I have been on my mission. It is the most beautiful place that I have ever seen, inside and out. We stayed there for a little while and took some good pictures that I will send to you next week, and then we headed out and went to the museum of the Mormon Battalion where Elder Belnap thinks that he might have met his future wife... ;) JK It was super fun though! We got back today and we are for sure exhausted and ready to get back to working in our area though. It was such a good experience to go to the temple and have a mission President that holds the Temple so sacred that he wants us all to understand what happens there. It is an awesome feeling!

Sorry that the email isn't longer and that you are getting it a day late... We did get permission thought to email you today since we missed out on yesterday though so don't worry! ;) I love you tons!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine




Monday, May 18, 2015

Mommy!

Holy cow!!! I was reading the story of Coco and that scared the heck out of me! I am so glad that everything worked out and that she ended up being ok. I could not even imagine being Caleb in that situation and seeing Coco like that... That would be so hard to see someone go through that. I hope that both Coco, and Caleb are doing alright now. Good thing they have an awesome Mom/Grandma to look out for them! :) It is awesome to have a mom who whenever we get sick or need anything you always know what will make us feel better. Thanks so much!

That is also super crazy that Parker Hansen is going to Russia. That is going to be a super cool experience for him! Probably a little bit scary looking at it from this point, but it is really cool how missionaries can go all over the world and be safe. Not many other people can have the comfort that we can have as we leave to go on our missions. Even though I just stayed in the United States I have still never felt so safe, but so threatened in my life. It is so crazy how both of those feelings can exist at the same time... But it is cool to know for sure! :P 

This past week we had a ton of stuff to get done... After the hike on Monday, (which by the way was AMAZING) we went and tried to get all of the rest of the stuff that we needed to get done on out p day finished, and we ended up not getting back from the hike until about 2:00. So we didn't get to go shopping or anything, but President and Sister Toone took us out to dinner that night which was really fun. We got to talk about how the hike went and how some of the missionaries are adjusting to being out here on their missions. It was a cool time to just talk with them for sure! But then that night after dinner we had to go and drive around the valley and drop off all of the supplies that we gathered from the members to use on the hike. So that was basically our Monday haha. 

Then on Tuesday through Thursday we had the rest of the Zone Conferences and we ended up traveling to Casa Grande, and Yuma! It was super fun going on a little road trip with President and Sister Toone because we had like 3 hours there and back that we could just talk to them and get to know them better. Oh and you will have to remind me when I get home to show you a little video that  we took of a joke that President Toone told us! :) It is super funny!!! But yeah that is basically my week! Sorry it is not super descriptive... It is a lot different being in the office and stuff. It for sure tries to teach you how to balance your time a little bit better! I love you tons! Thanks for being awesome! :)

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine



We got to stay in a hotel when we went down to Yuma so we all got some hot chocolate and sat down at some tables by the pool for a little while! :) It was awesome!!! (Don't worry... we didn't go swimming)




Monday, May 11, 2015

Mommy!!

It was so much fun to get to talk to all of you yesterday! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY AGAIN!!! Even though Dad wasn't able to be there for all of it I know that he does still love you a ton just like all of your kids do. I love you tons mom, and sometimes it for sure takes leaving home to realize how much you actually do for us so THANK YOU! :D I know that you probably didn't hear that from me enough while I was home but I do mean that. It was so fun how much Collette and Izzy can talk now! My companions and I thought that it was super funny how they were telling us stories and stuff like that! They can for sure talk your ear off haha. I could imagine that they have tons to say when Uncle Brandon isn't in the room too! They are the best!!!

I know that we told you most of the stuff that we did this past week in the Skype call... so there isn't a whole ton that comes to mind of what to write about haha. But we did go on the hike today on the Mormon Battalion Trail and we had a super good experience! We had to go around and pick up a ton of canopies so that when we had a little presentation on the trail we would not all get baked so we did that all last night, and then picked up 2 missionaries that were going to be coming with us in the morning. Then we all woke up this morning at 3:30am and were out the door in the car by 3:50am so that we could make it down to Maricopa in time to set everything up on the trail. We ended up  getting to the trail by about 5:00am and got everything set up by about 6:15am. It was a little bit crazy because we had to drive the car in on the trail and on the trail there were like 2 big sand pits that we were a little worried about getting stuck in. Since I am a professional driver though I plowed right through the sand and made it to the destination! :) It was awesome!!!

When we all got in on the trail and we got to the place where the presentation on the Mormon Battalion was being given we all sat down and got ready to listen. There was a guy that came out and he is an expert on the mormon battalion. He was dressed up like the members of the battalion would be dressed, and had the weapons and nifty little gadgets that they had too. It ended up being really cool! That is something that I think would be super cool to learn more about! One thing that he pointed out is that the Lord will always provide!!! He shared a story of some of the people on the trail who had their carts being pulled by oxen. They entered into like a bog area and the two oxen ended up getting stuck in the mud... One of them got out safely with some help, but the other one when they attempted to get it out of the mud they accidentally broke its neck and it died. They did not know what they were going to do, so they said a prayer and asked their Father in Heaven for help and then went to bed. When they woke up in the morning they found 2 young oxen wandering around their camp with a yoke already on them. :) It is so amazing how the Lord will always cover what we need and he is always willing to help us out! That goes for feelings that we have too. If we begin to think negative thoughts, and begin to question some of the things in life that we know the adversary will work hard to morph it into something way more severe than it really is. But it is hard to overcome that without Gods help. You could even say it is impossible to overcome by yourself! Continue to know that He does love you and He knows you personally! If you ever question anything turn to him in prayer and he WILL help! I love you tons Mom and keep being the BEST MOM EVER!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine



Monday, May 4, 2015



Mommy!!!

I never realized how much time just to think and time by yourself is needed until I came out on a mission... Especially as one of the assistants we really never have any time to relax, which in a way is good because it makes time seem like it is flying. But when I get home I am for sure going to be looking forward to an awesome date with my bed! :) But until then I will keep on hitting the pavement for sure! It is super fun being in this area still though so I am doing well!

This week was a little bit more relaxed than the last week. We had some training's that we had to give on Thursday, and Friday which was pretty fun but other than that it was a pretty chill week. On Thursday we had another MLC which we had to give a little training at and it ended up going super well. We ended up breaking up into three groups of missionaries depending on what they wanted to work on the most this next transfer. For example my group focused on Teaching People and Not Lessons from PMG. It was awesome just to be able to talk personally with a big group of the missionaries. It was super cool and now we are just going to be focusing more on PMG for the rest of the transfer to get all of the missionaries PUMPED again which will be a BLAST!!!

Then the training that we gave on Friday was for all of the missionaries that have only been out for about 6 or 12 weeks, so the new missionaries in the field. Every 6 weeks we will get them together to make sure that their training is going well and get them to have a little bit of fun. We prepared some fun get to know you games that we ended up playing with them, and then we made a really fun game where they pretended to teach each other in different ways. I will have to explain it later because it is super hard to explain how it worked over writing. haha

Other than that I am super stoked to be able to see you guys this upcoming Sunday!!! It seems like I just got to talk to you guys. It is going to be so much fun to get to see all of the little kids on Sunday and I am really looking forward to this last Skype home before I am on the down hill stretch. Crazy to think that this will be the last time I will see you guys when I am not actually with you in person!

Love you lots!!!
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, April 27, 2015

Mommy!!!

Wow that is a lot of stuff that is going on back home! Caleb is killing it with the whole baseball thing with all of his games it sounds like!  I was looking back on some of the memories that I have had in the past with sports and some of the experiences that I have had playing sports with my siblings and stuff this past week. I realized that in high school runners and football players just usually don't get along and actually look at each others sports in disgust... I think that it is so funny how just in our family we have runners, football players, and now baseball players and we all seem to get along for the most part. We all have our moments of getting annoyed and stuff but it is really cool how close you get to people when you live together! :) But thank you for always keeping me updated on everything going on for sure! Also I thought that it was really cool how you shared the experience that you had when you were younger with your primary teacher. In my patriarchal blessing it tells me that I will be an example to kids, and it tells me that again in my blessing from the stake president. It specifically tells me to fold my arms and close my eyes during prayers. Even those super small things are picked up on!

This past week was transfer week and I am still in the office with Elder Babcock!!! We got a new companion too named Elder Belnap and he is super awesome. We are going to have a blast this transfer, and have already had a super fun time this past week with each other! I will just kind of walk you through my week this past week and maybe you will be able to relate with all of the craziness that happened... :D

Monday: We woke up as usual and decided to go out and exercise like we usually do on a P Day. But then we got to the office and found out that we were actually really not going to get much of the P Day today... President Toone was still in the hospital and was going to be released sometime that day, but he didn't end up getting out until like 6:30 pm. We started looking at transfer board by ourselves and President Toone told us that we needed to seek the direction that the mission needs to go by ourselves this time until he gets back. We worked on the transfer board just about all day and then at 6:30 when President got back we worked on it some more! It was a day full of transfer fun for sure. We got to sleep at 11:30....

Tuesday: Today we had to get all ready to make the calls to the entire mission TONIGHT! We finalized all of our plans for the transfer and then we actually got to go out and teach on of the people that we are currently teaching here. She is super cool and so open to learning about the gospel. If there is one thing that being in the office has shown me it is that if we are doing all that we can do to get out and work in our area we will be blessed so much with the people that we will find and talk too! She is Japanese and soooooo cool!!! We always have her read/pray in Japanese and it sounds soo awesome! 
Then tonight we talked President Toone into letting us spend the night at the mission home with them! But rather than just being boring and sleeping in the mission home we got permission to camp right outside in the backyard which was way fun. President Toone was even cool enough to order us pizza that night... it was 12:30 by the time the Pizza got there!!! :D I think that we were up until about 1:30 that night... ;P

Wednesday: We spent all day today with the new missionaries that came in Yesterday. We got to have some study time with them and then had a little fireside with them that night. The fireside was super powerful and everybody who was invited had a great time! Probably one of the coolest things is that we invited on of the trainers to come to the fireside and the trainee didn't even know that he was his trainer until the next day. It was good for the trainer to get to know his trainee a little before they were companions! We were up until 1:30 again.... ;P

Thursday-Sunday: Honestly all of these days are just a huge blur because we were so busy making all of the housing arrangements and talking with all of the missionaries that got transferred... we transferred about 70 missionaries to a new area and had to combine about 8 areas in the mission. It was kind of a mad house in the office for this past week... But it all worked out and I am starting to get back onto my sleep schedule again which is good! ;D

I can't wait for this upcoming week and all of the fun that we are going to have out in our area working! We are going to go for another great week of teching and I know that we will be able to do a ton of things with our ward this week! I'M STOKED!!! Love you all tons and keep being the best family that a missionary could ever have!!! 

Love ya,
Elder Brandon Wallentine



Monday, April 20, 2015

Mommy!!!

This past week was just super crazy so most of the days I don't even really remember what happened... But it was super cool for sure! On Monday we went out and had our P Day as a district. We went and had burgers at Five Guys and then went over to the institute building and played some soccer. It is so much fun playing sports with the group of missionaries that I am with right now! But with this next transfer we are going to be getting a lot of different missionaries in our zone so we will see how that goes... :) It is super weird being on the other end of the transfers where I get to help know where everyone in the mission should be transferred too. But it is really fun for sure to get to spend all of that time with president figuring everything out. 

We had a super fun trip this week also though. We left on Tuesday night to head down to Yuma Arizona to go on some exchanges with some missionaries down there. To get to Yuma it is about a 3 hour drive so it was the longest road trip on my mission so far! It was a blast though!!! I got to drive the whole way because my companions don't really like driving, but I LOVE it! When we got down to Yuma I went on exchanges with one of the Elders that I was a zone leader for when I served in Mesa and we had a blast. I got to see a Zonkey (Zebra/Donkey) It was a super interesting thing to see here... Instantly I thought of the Liger from Napoleon Dinamite. It was awesome and we quoted that movie like all day long because of it!

Then on Wednesday night we had to come and head right back into town so that we could be in our area for Thursday. On the way back up to Tempe we stopped at some Sand Dunes and got some super cool pictures! :) That was a blast. We ended up getting home from Yuma at about 11:00pm... It was so weird being on the road past 9:00 haha. But we got back safely and got all rested up for the rest of the week.

On Friday we went on some more exchanges with some missionaries. Elder Janis went into South Phoenix, Elder Babcock stayed with a companionship in Tempe, and I got to go back to Maryvale!!! It was so much fun going back there because the missionaries that have taken over that ward just got there so I knew the area better and was able to show them around to some of the people that I taught while I served there. It was awesome and I was able to get some pictures next to some things that I had seen about 18 months ago! That is weird to think about.

Ok so even though we had all of those exchanges to go on this past week, that was not even the craziest part of the week... President and Sister Toone were in Dallas Texas for a Mission President Seminar this past week so we were kind of playing as the mission president for the whole week. Any questions that would have gone to President Toone came to us instead so that was fun... It for sure kept us busy and on our toes. But then to add on to the load when President got back into town he got really sick and has been seeing some doctors for the past few days, so we have been having to work on the transfer board by ourselves. It is a different experience for sure doing it without President Toone there. But we got to go and see him last night and he is doing awesome!!! He should be out by today so we can meet with him again!!!

Thanks for the awesome letter again and I am so glad that you guys always keep me in the loop with all of the stuff going on back home! I love you tons!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine





Monday, April 13, 2015

Mommy!!!

So, I am getting a little bit nervous about this upcoming transfer because I might be taking over as the oldest assistant... I have noticed a pattern in my mission so far though. After I had been in the mission for only 6 weeks, and was only half way through my training, President Toone called me to be a trainer. Then when I was called to be a Zone Leader, I was trained for only 6 weeks before I got a brand new Zone Leader to train. Now I have been an Assistant for 6 weeks, and may be training some brand new Assistants this next transfer... It is going to be super crazy, but it is really good to know how much trust President Toone and the Lord have in me.

If I have not been a quick learner before my mission I will be after this for sure! :) It is awesome to have the chances to serve other missionaries like this, but one thing that I especially want Tyler, Emily, and Caleb to know is that all of the real work happens when you are out with your companion TEACHING!!! Having leadership is awesome and all, and if you get a calling you need to magnify it to the best of your ability, but NEVER think that just because you don't have a leadership assignment that you are not SUCCESSFUL! That is mostly for when they are on their missions haha.

I have loved every second of my mission so far and am going to continue loving it for the next 3 months! 

Love you tons,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, April 6, 2015

Mommy!!!

That is kinda a bummer that dad wasn't able to make it out to the Priesthood session this year... All of the talks in all of the sessions were super good though and I made sure to take some good notes so that I could stay awake the whole time! I really liked Elder Holland's story that he told about the boys going climbing as well! That was super amazing how he explained that even though that brother told the younger brother to go look for a branch, the brother really stayed there the whole time. The Lord always knows what we are going to do and when we will need Him the most! Then when we do need Him he will show us that He is reaching out to us when we are trying to make the big jump. It was super cool!!!

We went and did a lot of exchanges all around the mission with a ton of different missionaries! It was super cool and it will continue to be super cool when we get to go into other areas and learn from the other missionaries! I went on exchanges with Elder May and so I got to go back down to Maricopa for a day!! In that day one of the kids that we were teaching down there got baptized and confirmed! That was so cool to see him get baptized by his grandpa. We got some good pictures, but I will have to send them to you next week for sure! It was an awesome experience though.

I'm still alive and kickin' out here in the mission and I plan on continuing to work hard for the next 3.5 months while I am out here! It is so weird to think that I have been out for so long and I just barely turned 20. It is really cool though because I feel like I have gotten a little bit of a jump start on life! It's going to be awesome! Sorry that this letter is not super long and detailed... I just wanted to let you know that I LOVE YOU, and your the best Mom I could have asked for! Oh, and I got the whole family some shirts from a service project we did!!! :) Love you all tons!!!

Love,
Elder Wallentine


Monday, March 30, 2015

Mommy!!!

Thanks for the awesome birthday wishes and packages Mom! :) I just got the calendar as I was sitting here in the office emailing and all of my companions got to see all of the pictures of the family. That is a really cool calendar and I was super excited to see how much everyone has changed! That is crazy how old Tyler is getting now... He is going to be out here on a mission before we know it. He will have a blast! :) I think that it is really cool that he is getting so involved in leadership while he is back home. That will really help him prepare for the assignments that will come to him on his mission.

Oh, and working in the office is a ton different than being a Zone Leader for sure... But it is super awesome to have the opportunity to just talk to President Toone almost whenever you want to. President has become one of my favorite people in the whole world since I have come out on my mission and I learn more about him every time that we talk to him. The other day we were talking in his office and he brought up how his whole family is super big on "March Madness" the basketball tournament, and one of the fun traditions that they have every year with it. They all make their own brackets for who is going to win, and then whoever in their family loses the bracket first has to pay for the winner to get his name engraved on a plaque that they then hang in their home! :) It sounded like a super fun tradition for sure! But another thing that is a little bit different is now we are in charge of getting missionaries to the airport and bringing missionaries back to the mission now. We are going to be making 2 trips to the airport this week which will be interesting... but other than that the work in the office is starting to calm down now that we are like mid transfer so that is nice. We are able to get out and work in our area a lot more now. 

I had a really cool experience while I was talking to Elder Fuhriman the other day though. We were driving to one of the church buildings to pick up some baptismal suits for one of the trainings that we were doing, and we were just talking in the car about some people that we could help. While we were talking we got onto the subject of how throughout our mission we were able to overcome some of the hard times that have come up. I could not think of anything other than the fact that I had made a decision that when I came on a mission I would NOT go back until my time was through! It is amazing how much one decision can help you overcome so many trials. I'm still here and have 4 months left!!! :D It is so cool to look back and see that I have made it this far, but I am also trying to look forward and see where I want to be. That is super important!

Thank you so much for going and trying to get that all figured out with my BYU Idaho stuff! You're the best mom ever for helping me out with that when you have already had to deal with me for 20 years. Your the BEST! :) Also.... HAPPY 28TH ANNIVERSARY!!! I am super glad that you all had a fun day together and got to spend some time away from all of the kids! Even though Dad has a bad knee now I am sure that you both still had a blast. Hopefully, we can get that all figured out on how we can help dad though... That is super not good to have to deal with a bad knee. It will all work out though!!! I look forward to everything that is going to be happening here in the future and can't wait to see everyone again soon! Love you all tons!!! :)

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

P.S. I realized that I have not sent you a picture in a few weeks so here is one! This is right after the Training that we gave at the Missionary Leadership Council. I got to use some of Grandpa Decker's object lessons in the training and it was super cool. I used the one with the egg and the food coloring, and the HABIT one where you write HABIT up on the board. It was awesome!!! OH and cool story on the ties... We all got matching ties for the training but obviously a regular size tie will not fit President Toone. So we bought two of the same tie and had one of the members customize the tie to his size so that it fit perfectly! IT WAS AWESOME! :D



Monday, March 23, 2015

Mommy!!!

President Toone said that they did continue with the tradition for March Madness this year, too, even though they are serving! So I guess we will see who wins the contest! It should be exciting. I can't wait until I can carry on the traditions that we had back home, and also make some new ones with my future family! It's so awesome!

That is really cool about Elder Bednar and President Hinckley though. I have heard President Hinckley's story so many times and it is amazing how much of an effect that can have on people. I never want to be one of those guys that starts something and does not finish it. Once I started football I finished all 4 years, now that I am on my mission I will finish both 2 years, and when I get married I am going to finish in the eternities! ;) It is all about attitude. 

We talked to a guy this past week that has allowed other people's decisions to change his life forever. He was a convert to the church, and he was super involved in the scouting program for a while. But a bishop made a bad call concerning him and someone that he invited to church, and then instead of talking to the bishop about it and addressing the problem he decided to leave the church forever... He then began to tell us that because of the bishop, all of his kids and their kids are not in the church anymore. But, obviously it was ALL THE BISHOPS FAULT... at least according to him. People do not understand the principle of agency for sure. It was super sad. But I want to be one that acts, and is not acted upon! :D 

Thanks again for all of the birthday stuff that you sent me! I showed the littler Nerf guns to President Toone, and we were joking around and he said, "Hey, we can use that on transfer night and call it the revelator!" So for the transfer board and stuff when we are finding out where to put people we will just take the gun and shoot it at the board to find out where they need to go! It was super funny to have that conversation with president Toone! We have some funny things happen when we get the time to talk to President Toone!!!

Love you tons,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, March 16, 2015

Mommy!!!

Hey, mom so this past week was super crazy with all of the transfer things going on and stuff! Monday through Wednesday was pretty fun because Elder May and I were still killing it in out area and getting along just like we had been for the past 3 transfers. But we got a call on Tuesday night from the Assistants and President Toone giving us all of the transfer news and stuff. They said that there were 4 missionaries leaving Maricopa... 2 Elders and 2 Sisters. Then they read off all four of the missionaries names and it looked like Elder May and I were staying together for another transfer which we were super excited about! But, then we heard President Toone in the background say that Elder Wallentine will need to pack too... So I asked if I was staying a Zone Leader or not and they said that I would find out later. I WAS SO CONFUSED!!! So, we went to all of our investigators explaining to them what was happening and that they would be having another missionary come by who is still going to be super awesome just maybe not quite as good looking as me and that everything would work out. That was super fun because all of them were super understanding as they usually are!

But then when we got to the meeting on Thursday, Elder Babcock (one of the Assistants) came down from the stand and asked me if I could help him out with something. He then took me into the hallway and walked me around to a room where President and Sister Toone were waiting for me. When I got inside the room President Toone asked me if I would be willing to serve as one of his Assistants... Obviously I said yes and then went back into the meeting. It is so crazy to be in the office now though because missionary work in the office is so much different than any other kind of missionary work. I love my companions though and spending lots of time with President Toone!!! :)

Tell Tyler congratulations for me on winning the election! That will be awesome and I wish that we would have had someone as cool as him in that position when I was a senior!!! He will be so good for that and everybody will love him for sure! Other than the crazy call that I got there have just been a few more crazy things that have happened since I have been in the office. On Thursday night we got to have dinner with the missionaries that were going home with the Toones which was way fun. We got to watch a whole slideshow of pictures from their missions and then we got to just have like a little testimony meeting with them. But then they all stayed the night at our apartment so we talked a lot and then woke up bright and early to take them to the airport at 3:30. At 3:30 we woke up and then at 5:00 the Toones fed us breakfast and then by 6:00 we had to be on our way to the airport. That was the first time that I have been to the airport in 20 months. But yeah just lots of crazy stuff going on with transfer week and stuff but it is fun to be here still!!!

Oh, hey last thing for any mail and stuff you can send it to the mission office now because I will be here a lot. The address is 1875 E Del Rio Dr Tempe, Az 85282. thanks Mom and I love you!

Love You Tons,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, March 9, 2015

Mommy!!!

Mom this could be a super frustrating week for sure because we are not going to know transfer stuff until Tuesday or Wednesday night and then transfers are on Thursday. It is going to be super weird waiting for the call... But it's all good since Elder May and I are totally going to be roommates in college! :) But, yeah the picture was totally set up! One of the missionaries that we live with took the picture and then sent it home so that like his aunt or someone could edit it and put a cool little saying on it. You might say that we are some of the best looking Elders in the entire world haha! 


But yeah it was a relief that we were able to get rid of those bed bugs... The guy had to come in our home and spray all of these chemicals all over the place twice... It was super lame... But now we are super happy that they are gone for good! :D But hey that is super cool that you all got to go to that RS meeting! It really does give you a lot of confidence that the Spirit will take over and relay the message to the people that you are talking too. It takes some pressure off, but then we obviously have to be worthy for the companionship of the Holy Ghost!

Thanks for sharing that cool story about Sister Dew and the girl. I think it is always super cool to know that no matter what we say, if we are inviting the Spirit into the homes of the people that we are teaching, the Spirit will make things known to them so simply. We are teaching a guy right now that is struggling to feel the Spirit when he comes to church. That is a different concern for me because usually when people come to church they DO feel the Spirit. But there is always something more that we can do to help others feel the same Spirit that we can feel every week! I am super excited for him. But this past week was the best week for our companionship for sure!!! We taught even more people this week than we have taught the other weeks we have been together... and that's a long time. We have now been together for 3 transfers and we are both super worried that we are going to get transferred... We will see. :/

I hope that everything goes well with Tyler's election! He sounds like he is working super hard at that so I hope that everything turns out well for him. He is awesome!!! I am going to need to hang out with that kid more when I get home so let him know that we are going to go and find some crazy things to do around Idaho! :) It will be a blast!!! Oh, and tell Caleb to let me know how his PACE project went! I remember when I had to do that in 5th grade. But then I got to skip the 8th grade one because we were in Belgium! That was awesome!!!

Love you tons Mom!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, March 2, 2015

Mommy!!!

Transfer calls are coming up next week so Elder May and I are on the edge of our seats... It would be insane if both of us stayed together for one more transfer because that would make 6 months! One can hope right? :)

Thank you for sharing that with me! I think it is always super scary when people find out that their kids have gone away from what they know to be true. Especially when you as the parents know that it is the right path that they are on. But it is awesome that we can always have the hope that if they are truly seeking truth and wanting to know what they are supposed to be doing, the Holy Ghost will always lead them back to the path that they should be on. It is amazing how the Lord works with some people. Sometimes we have to hit the very bottom before we can really see the light at the top. :D

This past week was AMAZING! As a zone we have been trying sooo hard to find more people to teach and this past week we had some miracles happen! :) There were 3 people who got baptized this past week and two of them are boys that Elder May and I taught! They are some of the coolest kids ever and they are always wanting to come and play some basketball and stuff with us on our P Days. They are super cool and I am super excited to see how they do in the future! But also as a zone we taught so many people this week! At the very beginning of the transfer the zone was teaching in between 40-50 lessons a week which is still pretty good. But this past week we taught 91!!! That was the highest in the mission for any of the zones! It always feels so good when we are able to go out and actually find people to share the gospel with! :) Its awesome! 

Well, hey, you will also be happy to know that we got our bed bugs all taken care of today so we are going to be doing a ton of laundry for the rest of the day... WOOOOO! I love you tons and can't wait for this upcoming week! :)

Love you tons,
Elder Wallentine

Monday, February 23, 2015

Mommy!!!

It has been really cool to have Facebook on my mission because now I am able to go and reach out to the people that we know who are struggling as well as the people that live here in Arizona. It is pretty cool to know that we can do that now! If there is a way that I can help out with anyone you know, let me know and we will set up something where I can Skype soon! I am currently going to be skyping with one of my friends really soon to catch up, and see how everything in life is going! I am super excited for that! :) 

Oh so about going to the temple with that lady from Maryvale... President Toone tried to get permission for me to go from Salt Lake and they said that since it is outside of our mission boundaries I can't go. :( That was super sad. I was really hoping that I would be able to go but I know that it will still be an awesome experience for her when she goes through the temple for the first time! :) I sent her a little Facebook message and she is super excited to go. It will be awesome! :) 

This past week was a really good week because we were able to teach more people this week than we have taught in the 4 months that I have been here in this area with Elder May! The people that we are teaching right now are all super cool and we have a lot of cool baptisms coming up in the near future!!! :D I am really excited because it seems like we have known these people for such a long time and we just know them so well. It will be amazing to see them enter into the waters of baptism soon! One super cool thing that we did this week again though is we got to go and play some more basketball with a young man who is like 14 years old, and we brought one of the Priests in the ward over to play also. I was on the 14 year old's team and we DEMOLISHED!!! We won 4 times in a row which was super fun! I am going to be so good at basketball by the time that I get home! 

But enough about sports and stuff. Back to the stuff that really matters... I am still loving my mission and I was thinking and talking to Elder May the other day and I realized that I have never just been like a regular missionary... ;) It was super funny to think about. I have now been a ZL for like 7 1/2 months which is super weird to think about. I can't wait til I can just be a normal missionary, or be a trainer again. I hope that I get to do that again before I come home. I love training new missionaries!!! But I guess we will see if that is what President Toone wants from me or not! ;P I just got an email from Brenden (Elder Elwood) and he was talking about how crazy it is that I go home in like 4 1/2 months already... I imagine by this time his trainer is giving him all the new "greenie" jokes about still having like 21 months left on his mission. That was always so annoying for the first little while! But he sounds like he is doing good work and killin it in Argentina!!! I am so glad that he went out on a mission!

Love you tons! Tell everybody hi for me and that I love them all! :)

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, February 16, 2015

Mommy!!!

Thank you so much for all of the help. :)  I love being a missionary and it is super crazy that I only have 5 months left now. TIME IS FLYING BY SO FAST!!!

That movie is so inspiring and just makes you want to be the best that you can possibly be for sure! After seeing how many hardships that the saints crossing the plains went through it really makes the things in my life seem like I should be able to get through them easy. But, then you also have to realize that although there may not be the same kind of struggles today, the ones that have replaced them have become just as bad. There is for sure some super scary stuff in the world today... But yeah he is the one that stood and said that he is ready right then to go and help the saints. I hope that I can be worthy to be able to get such amazing promptings in my life if necessary. It is really cool just to think of how important that task was, and how Brigham Young knew that he could trust him because of his strict obedience to the commandments of God. 

That is a super good talk about the Atonement though. It always seems that people think that Christ will just take all of their burdens away, and everything will just be hunky dory for the rest of forever. But more people  need to realize that just because we can repent and the gospel of Jesus Christ is always there for us, we WILL still have struggles in our life. The struggles can always be overcome, but the loads that come from the struggles will not always just be done away with. But just like Elder Bednar said without the loads there are some things that we would just be stuck in. Sometimes we need some loads on our shoulders to keep us going on the right path. When I think of that I always think of my investigators and how I can connect with them. It always seems like it is so much easier for converts to connect with people because they have seen the other side of things. If I had not had some of the experiences that I have had in the past, I may not be able to help those people that really need to be uplifted here. We are all given experience and struggles for a reason, and I think that 9 times out of 10 we have them to go out and help others! :D But as far as "Meet the Mormons" goes it is amazing with how many people are touched by it. One person that we are teaching actually was super cool with that movie because it shows so many different perspectives on what Mormons are like all around the world! Its super cool! :)

 LOVE YOU ALL TONS! Love you Mom, Dad, Jason, Katie, Izzy, Ryan, Ashley, Bob, Coco, Emmett, Tyler, Emily and Caleb! Y'all are the BOMB! 

Love,
Elder Brandon Walletine

P.S. I got the package!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! The cookies were delicious!



One of the missionaries that we live with--his mom was down here in AZ for something and she heart  attacked our door while we were all sleeping inside! 




Monday, February 9, 2015

Mommy!!!

Thank you so much for sharing all of those cool stories with me! It is always so amazing how Heavenly Father uses us and the message that we prepare to get a super important message to others. We had another MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) this past week and we talked a ton about obedience and also using the Holy Ghost to his full potential. President Toone is feeling that the missionaries are getting too caught up in the deeper doctrine of the church rather than just focusing on the simple things. It is so amazing how when you just focus on the basics and the fundamentals of the gospel everything starts to make sense. We do not need to know all everything to know that this gospel is true. We do need to know enough that we can trust our Heavenly Father as we get down on our knees to pray though. That is one of the biggest things ever!!! If we are humble enough to get down on our knees and ask for help, it will come.

I had a really cool experience just last night and this morning! We are now planning for another training that we have to do tomorrow, and I have been stressing out about it again. I think it is probably similar to how you were feeling about getting up and giving a talk. ;) I woke up this morning and got ready for the day, and then realized that I really have not gotten down on my knees to pray for my morning studies in a couple of days. I just sat in my chair usually. But this morning I felt like I needed a little bit of extra help, so I got down on my knees next to my desk and just asked for anything that I needed. I specifically asked to be guided to some places where I could find more information on how to receive answers from the Holy Ghost. As soon as I finished my prayer I started writing down in my study journal what I thought. I got a few scriptures down and some plans for the training, but then my mind went completely blank... :/ So I got down on my knees and prayed AGAIN! This time I had something amazing happen! I immediately thought of my Patriarchal blessing. So I pulled out my blessing and began to read and write down some of the things that stuck out to me. In the beginning it tells me that as I read my Patriarchal blessing my mind will be cleared and I will be able to receive promptings from the Holy Ghost. It was that experience mixed with Sunday nights experience that got me... On Sunday night we were able to have some of the people that we are teaching come to the church and watch "Ephraims Rescue" with them. Ephraim in the movie is an amazing priesthood holder that always tries to do what is right. He realizes that he is not perfect, but he can get as close to perfect as he possibly can by following the teachings of the prophets. He is exactly obedient and does anything that they ask! Because of his STRICT OBEDIENCE he is able to perform miracles for the pioneers that are crossing the planes. In my Patriarchal Blessing it tells me that I am from the tribe of Ephraim. I know that I have been called to share the gospel and what I know is true to all of the people in the area that I am currently serving in! I am not sure if it really made sense how I explained my experiences, but I guess that is what happens when a 19 year old tries to talk right? ;)

I am so glad that I am out here on my mission and I am going to continue to make these last 5 months some of the best months of my mission!!! It will be amazing! LOVE YOU TONS!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine


Monday, February 2, 2015

Mommy!!!

Thank you for sending me all of that information about the new Insurance that I am on now! :) I am going back into the Dr. today just for a little check up to make sure that it is healing how it should be! But it is feeling so good and we were able to play some basketball this past week without my toe even bothering me a little bit. It was awesome to be able to do that again for sure! Oh and BT-Dubs I am basically killing it out here when we get to go and play basketball with people! There are a couple of people that we are teaching right now who are like high school kids, and they will not talk to us unless we play basketball with them. We played like 4 games in a row with them and beat them every time!!! It was a blast though! When you are out doing the same thing every day for 18 months, it is really amazing how much better it feels when you get a little bit of time to go and play some games like that! It really puts things in perspective!

OH and about the bed bug problem... THEIR BACK!!! So when I thought that they were gone because we haven't been being bit, I laid down in my bed and slept until about 2:30 am on night, and then woke up because I my neck was itching. I got up and looked in the mirror and I had HUGE bites all over my left shoulder and the right side of my neck. :( That was super lame... So then I put some toothpaste on the bites and went back to sleep on the living room floor. It actually reminded me of on Sundays when I would always just lay on our living room floor and sleep until dinner time! Those naps always felt so good, and it will be nice when I can take naps again for sure! But we are going to talk to the housing people again today to see if we can get it all figured out.

I have not been getting Elder Elwood's emails lately so if you could like forward them out to me that would be super cool of you for sure!!! Oh and before I forget I have some good news. . .. Transfer calls came on Tuesday night and Elder May and I are staying together again!!! It was super surprising because I have never been with a companion for more that 2 transfers! But Elder May and I made it a huge point in our emails to President Toone for us to stay together for at least one more transfer! I am so happy!!! :D

This past week was super fun because we just were basically in Aww that we were staying together first of all, and we also got a new Elder in our house named Elder Mason from Virginia! He is a brand new missionary and he is super cool for sure. He reminds me a ton of Ryan. He is super big on like video games, and running, and all of the other kind of things that Ryan is into. He is also huge into computers and stuff like both Ryan and Tyler! It is really cool to be here with him and see how exciting it is for the new missionaries to come into the field! We are doing our very best to set a good example for him so that he knows what the mission expects of him! He is one of the most obedient elders that I have been with so far for sure! He is awesome!!! 

Anyways I am super stoked for this next week and all of the stuff that Arizona has in store for me!!! 

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

P.S. Elder Forson just finished his mission this last week... I am going to for sure keep in contact with that guy!!! :) 

Monday, January 26, 2015

Mommy!!!

That is super crazy that Hannah had that same problem in her mission! Bed bugs are for sure no fun at all! I got bit a couple of nights, but then they just kinda went away and all started biting Elder May which was a bummer for him... We told the people in the mission home that we have bed bugs, but they have not sent anybody in to kill them yet. We went out and bought some rubbing alcohol, and some bug bombs. So the problem has at least gotten a little bit better! :) But, we will see what happens with that! As for my toe, it is doing a lot better! They did a really good job of trying to make it so that I will not have any more problems with it hopefully. It is super good walking on a non destroyed toe though! :D

So this week was super funny because we went on an exchange with another companionship in the zone on Tuesday! I went with an Elder from Tonga named Elder Naeata who is super cool! I have been on exchanges with him before and he is just like one of the funniest missionaries ever!!! But on this exchange I went to his area and was told 2 times in one day that I look like one of the players on the Patriots Football team named, Rob Gronkowski!  It was pretty funny, but the big difference between us is that he is RIPPED!!! Probably because he is kinda in the NFL. But that is not even the best part of the exchange... We went over to dinner at 5:30 and apparently the member that we went to is like obsessed with Ghost Peppers. He made us ribs with Ghost Pepper BBQ sauce that was actually super good!!! But then he gave us both the challenge to eat a ghost pepper... I told them that if Elder Naeata would do it that I would do it too... Elder Naeata said, "Yeah I will do it!" So of course being a man of my word I did it too... So you remember when I told you that I ate a habanero pepper, and how I will never do that again because it was so hot... The Ghost Pepper DESTROYED that habanero pepper with its heat!!! As soon as I ate it I could like barely even talk because it was so hot. But it was totally worth the experience after I got lots of ice cream and some tums. haha Plus now I can say that I ate a Ghost Pepper! It was crazy!

I am learning how to teach from the Book of Mormon so simply though! I have really found out that you can teach the Restoration of the gospel super easily by just using the introduction to the Book of Mormon, and the testimonies of all the witnesses in the front of it! It just makes it so obvious that the Book of Mormon is totally true and that I am not out here for no reason at all! I am so happy when I am able to have little testimony builders like that! :)  I love you so much!

Love,
Your Favorite Missionary Son Who is on His Mission Right Now!
Elder Brandon Wallentine

P.S. Transfer calls got changed to this coming Tuesday so I will let you know if one of us gets transferred on Monday... I hope Elder May and I stay for another transfer!!! THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST TIME IN MY MISSION!!! So pray that we stay together! We told President Toone that we want to stay together for the rest of for FOREVER!!! Love you Mom!!!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Hello Everyone,

Yeah, I remembered when I was over in Maryvale and would tell you all of the stories about all of the sketchy things that happened to me and how I told you about them way back then! :P So I figured this time I would give you a little heads up since things like that have not happened to me  in a super long time! :D Oh and BT-Dubs the training went amazing!!! We got up there at to the front of the room and went CRAZY! We were training on the nature of God and who God is to us! It ended up going super well. The training went way better than I could have ever pictured it for sure and after the training the Assistants came up to us and said that our training was the BEST that has happened by the Zone Leaders! So NO BIG DEAL! :P It was super cool though! I also got to have an interview with President Toone and it was super cool. Now that I am down to just 6 more months on my mission, he started talking to me a little bit more about the things that are going to be going on after I get home, and also making sure that I am not getting TRUNKY! Don't worry I am for sure not trunky at all! 

I am super excited for this coming week because this last week was super amazing! I am having so much fun here in Maricopa with Elder May and I am really hoping that we get to stay together for 1 more transfer! :) Our house may or may not have gotten Bed Bugs though so we might be staying together again just because they don't want them to spread throughout the mission! ;) I would be perfectly fine with that as long as we get to go one more transfer here!!! That would be super cool!!! But this week was really cool because we were able to meet up with a lot of the people that we have been trying to see for the entire time that I have been here. It was really cool to just see all of the fun stuff that can happen on the mission when you do what you are supposed to do! :) I love MARICOPA!!!

Sorry that this letter is not super long... :( I am going in to the doctor today to get my toe looked at again, because it got bad for a second time. Super lame... :O But that is alright because I am going in to see Dr. Crezee again from my ward in Ahwatukee and I am going to talk with him a little bit more about JB to see how he has been doing these past couple of days! It should go well and hopefully this time will be the last time that I will have to get my toe taken care of on my mission! Good luck with all of your classes even though they sound like they could be pretty hard, I love you tons and will be keeping you in my prayers always along with the whole family! :) You guys are the best!!! I am memorizing The Family A Proclamation to the World right now so I will let you know how that goes! :) Love you FAMILY!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

p.s. We hit our 18 month mark this past week so we got to take off our skirts! (finished our Sister Missions) ;)

Monday, January 12, 2015

Mommy!!!

Yeah, it for sure helps to have cousins and family members setting a good example for everyone! I am just hoping that this awesome streak that we have will continue in being active in the church! :) That would be so awesome. It is really cool just how the Lord works with all of the new tools that we have as members of the church. Skype and Facebook is such an easy way to find and contact the less active members of the church! :) It is one of the best tools that we can use for sure!!! 

That is super funny about the FHE though with that talk! :P At least he started talking about God a little bit! I can only imagine what was going through your head when that came up instead of the real talk that I was talking about. If it helps the talk is by Troy Dunn. :) But it is an amazing talk and Elder May and I are actually doing another training on Thursday to the zone and also President Toone, Sister Toone, and the assistants are going to be there! It should be fun because we are basing the training on that talk! :) It should be really good and super fun! I think you guys will really like that talk though! I honestly think it would hit Tyler the hardest right now though. It gave me a whole new understanding of the plan of salvation and how I can teach it to my investigators! Its AMAZING!!! :)

It is amazing some of the things that you hear from other missionaries out here in the field! It always brings me right back to the story of Nephi and his brothers. There are always missionaries who are totally obedient to the rules, and then there are others that couldn't care less about the rules. Missionaries always seem to think that the only blessing, or the only way they can "prosper in the land" is if they get baptisms. That is so false!!! It has been amazing to see even some of the most disobedient missionaries that I have known of baptizing a ton of people. However, their own personal conversion is still the same as it was before. :( I have really focused as I have been out here on my mission to keep thinking that I am here specifically to serve with President Toone. Although some of the mission rules may seem a little bit strict, I know that those rules that he makes have been discussed with the Lord, and the Lord is saying, "Elder Wallentine needs _____ in his life, so here you go President Toone, this rule will help him prepare for _____." As I have continued to think that way the mission rules have not even been an issue. I know what they are, and I know how to keep them. I am so glad that I was taught the importance of obedience and hard work. Even though sometimes it did not come across as that when I was home. I am IMPROVING!!! :)

Anyways this past week was super good and we were able to meet a lot more people. One thing actually kind of funny that happened last week I forgot to tell you... DONT WORRY I AM FINE! :) There is this guy that we have been trying to get in contact with a lot since I have been here. He is 6' 7", Black, and super big! He is probably one of the people in the world that I would for sure not want to meet in a dark alley. Anyways we knocked on his door at about 8:00 one night and nobody answered. So we walked back to our car and got in. As soon as we started the car I looked up out of the driver side window and saw him standing outside on his porch. I jumped out of the car and said, "Hey!" Then as we got closer he recognized who we were, and said, "Oh man, I wasn't expecting anybody. Let me go and put something away." He then pulled out from behind his back a HUGE Desert Eagle Pistol, took the bullet out of the chamber and went inside. But then he came back out and invited us in and we had a good little discussion! :) It was a pretty crazy night for sure!

I LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

Monday, January 5, 2015

Mommy!!!

That is not fun that everyone there is getting a little bit sick! :( Tell everyone that I will be keeping them in my prayers for them to get feeling better. That is super funny with Coco though, how after she got all of the medication she just started jumping all around and playing with everything! :) She is such a funny girl! I have THE BEST FAMILY EVER!!! You guys are so awesome and I love all of the support that you all have given me so far in my mission! I could not even imagine coming out on a mission knowing that my family didn't even support my decision to come out... That would make it so much harder. It is such a great blessing to be a part of a family that are members of the church and have the same beliefs that I do. :)

I have been thinking about like all of the rules that you all had for me while I was home... I always thought that they were kind of ridiculous. Especially the ones for when I needed to be home at night, and the ones about dating members of the church because you marry who you date. I always thought that was a little bit strange. :P But as I have been on my mission I have seen so many families that do not have the same beliefs, and it is so much harder for a family to function when they do not even have common beliefs. I am totally looking forward to when I have a family of my own, and do what I can do to raise my kids in the gospel. :) Our family is so blessed since all of the family is active members of the church! That is such a rare thing now for everyone to be active! :D It is crazy how many people have believed that the gospel is true, but then fail to come to church, and act on the promptings that the holy ghost gives them. Its super sad... :( OH and I don't think that those rules are lame anymore BT- DUBS!!!

This week we had some really good experiences! Mostly this past weekend! :) I was able to get in contact with Alexis Chandler on Facebook yesterday! :) It was really fun to talk to her again. I have this friend that was in some of my classes in high school who lives in Columbia and she is not a member of the church, so we were able to teach her yesterday!!! I Skyped Alexis, and the other girl and we were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! It was so amazing to be able to teach someone who is actually one of MY FRIENDS on my mission. I want to give all of the members that same experience that I had yesterday! It is so amazing that if you are willing to teach, someone will come into your life who will listen! They may live on the opposite side of the world, but they can use the gospel in their lives just as much as we can here in the USA! :) It was a great experience!

Then we went over to this family’s house yesterday and had a super fun time!!! Have you heard the talk "Life is a Game of Football" by Troy Dunn? We listened to that talk a couple of times this last week in the car and it is so amazing how simple the Plan of Salvation can really be explained! We talked about the Plan of Salvation and then talked a little bit about baptism! :) The question got asked, "Why do you want to get baptized?" It was super funny with the timing of his response! Right away he said, "I WANT TO GET BAPTIZED SO I DONT GO TO HELL!" It was perfect! This family is so amazing and I am so excited for what is going to be in their future! :) Please continue to pray for me and all of the people that we are teaching at this time!!! :) I love you all tons!

Love,
Elder Brandon Wallentine

P.S. I am feeling better now!!