Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a super crazy week for me and my companion for sure. We started off the week on P-day playing basketball and I will tell you what I am for sure getting better! But always room for improvement! haha  It is super fun to have these experiences to get together as a zone and to be able to make new friends and to have better relationships with others. The zone that I am in is the best!

Then, throughout the week we had some lessons with people in our area and it was super cool. We were able to go to some of our neighbors and made some new friends there. We also have a baptism coming up on the 26th for a 22 year old guy that lives down the street from us! He is super cool! We have been over to his house 3 times this past week and every time it is a super good experience and we can feel the Spirit so strongly! It's AMAZING!!!

This morning we got a zone activity approved to go and hike up a mountain that they call South Mountain. It is a lot like Table Rock but it has cacti all over the place which is super cool. It took us about an hour to hike up, and then at the top we took some pictures and had a little devotional as a zone. That was a super cool experience because the Spirit was so strong on the top of that mountain and it was super fun to be there as friends in the zone. In the devotional we went over why we set goals and why they are important! We also talked about how every single one of us in the zone were chosen and set apart to be here in this Phoenix zone at this very time. That is super cool and it really helps me to see how I am a part of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. It's awesome to have experiences like that!

Well, I will make sure to keep writing all of you guys.  You should send me some CD's with mission music on it!!!

 

Love you tons!!!

Elder Wallentine

Hello Everyone,

I got to baptize my first person this last week on Friday and that was awesome! She has been super happy and excited for that day for the past month. So, it was fun to be able to see her enter into the waters of baptism! Our goal for a zone this month is to get 20 baptisms, so make sure you keep us in your prayers!!!

This week has been especially hard for me because I was getting a little bit homesick thinking of how we usually are watching conference with those fun games and eating our coffee cake in the morning. We have all of those traditions so it was super tough and weird when, as missionaries, we didn't do all of that stuff. We went to the stake center and watched conference there. 

Earlier this week I got kinda angry at this guy we met on the street.  He was bugging me and my companion about living the law of chastity and was telling us that we don't know anything. We started to explain to him that it is our own choice and that it is the way it is supposed to be done, but he would not listen. So, it started to get a little bit heated and I said, "Okay, we are leaving!" I grabbed my bike and the guy said to me "You can't just leave like that!" So I started to leave and then he said something else to me that I cannot remember.  I stopped right there and put my kickstand back down and just wanted to hit the guy. My companion said, "Hey,  lets go" so we did. That was a super bad morning for me. However, we didn't let it make us down for the day. 

We came to the library and worked on Facebook for an hour and then we had some lessons set up. All of our lessons fell through, but we found two other people, and we had a lesson with them. We had never met them before, but we set them to a baptism date for the 26th and they accepted. That was a super cool experience for me to be able to see how fast things can happen. The first part of the day was super hard but the Lord will bless you as long as you are doing what you are supposed to be doing!

In conference something that really stood out to me is enduring to the end. Super powerful because we know that no matter what we do we can be forgiven by God. But, we have to go through the repentance process and continue doing what is right. 

My companion's bike got stolen a week ago right in front of us and then yesterday we found out that it is super easy to break into our house through the back door because I forgot my key for lunch and we had to break in using a bike pump! hahaha super funny!!!!   

Well, that is about all that I have for this week!  

 

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Hello Everyone!!!

That is freaking LEGIT that Tyler was able to make it to that race and that he was able to do so good. Sometimes doing sports in the rain is super fun but my preference would for sure not be running in the rain. I guess that makes Tyler a bigger man than me in that aspect :).  It has been forever since I have been to the Oregon Coast but I can almost picture how that was down there this time. That is crazy how rainy it was that whole trip, but I bet it was still a blast! 

I am super happy that all of you guys liked my experience that I had with the socks, and it is super cool for me to know that I am helping people out even just by these small and simple things. 

This week I had a few more experiences with giving a little bit to those who probably needed it more than me.

There is an area that we have not been able to make it to very much in the past that is a few miles away from our house. We decided that we were going to go and do our best to try to contact everybody that we saw on the road that night. One of the guys that we started talking to asked us to keep on talking to him and to walk with him. He mentioned that he was from the Indian Reservation and that he needed some money for food. He asked me if I could help him out. I said, "Well, let's go to the store really fast and I will buy you a little something to eat."  He said alright and we walked to a gas station that was just right down the road and I bought him two tamales.  He was super thankful and while we were at the gas station waiting for him to come out there was another man that was standing outside swearing, and drunk.  So, I walked up to him and started to talk to him so that he would stop harassing the store worker. He was saying the F word like every other word so finally I said, "Why are you swearing?"  He went on after staring at me funny for a few seconds. Then I said again, "Can you please stop swearing, I would rather not hear those words." He did the same thing so the last time I said, "Okay, stop swearing because I don't want to hear it and there is no reason to be saying those things right now!" Then he stopped and he didn't swear for the rest of the time I was talking to him. Then we walked with the guy home and we were on our way. It was amazing to me that even a man as drunk as he was just by being bold in what you believe and know to be right you can completely change the environment that you are in. Super cool!

Thanks again for all of the awesome snacks and all of the letters! I always love hearing from you guys and make sure to keep on writing to me!!!

Love you all tons!!!

Elder Wallentine

Whats Up all people reading this!

I loved the package this week, and I think that it made all of the guys staying with me super jealous with all of the food and muffin mixes and stuff! Thanks a ton!!! 

I was having a super good week this week even though some things didn't happen that I was expecting and wanting to happen really bad. Oh well... things happen for a reason I guess! :) I did have some super cool experiences this week though.  Although they are not super crazy, they are just little things that meant a lot to me being out here in the mission field. 

I love being able to go over to members' houses and share a short message with them. Last night we went over and had dinner with a family after church and it was ridiculously awesome! It was a great meal and there were a ton of people there. After the meal we went in the living room and shared a message with them through object lessons and then expounding on the lessons. We shared with them an object lesson with the rat trap that I bought about temptation. You take the rat trap, set it, and put it on the floor. Then you take a newspaper or anything else you want to smash and hold it far away. The newspaper represents us and the distance between us and the trap is where god wants us to be in life. He doesn't want us to be right next to the trap because if you get close it is easier to set it off and get trapped. If we begin to give into temptations from Satan we get a little bit closer to that trap and soon we are like a millimeter away and it just takes a little thing to send us over. Once we get trapped the pressure of the trap is like the guilt that is on our shoulders after we have sinned. But through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we are able to repent and Christ helps us lift up that pressure and we can be on our way to get back to where God wants us to be again. We shared that with many families this week and I think that it is one of my favorite lessons so far. It has really helped me to understand how important the Atonement is in all of our lives. Super Awesome!!!

Another experience that I had this week just happened last night at like 8:30 pm. We were on our way over to an investigator's house and there was a man sitting down at the bus stop. He just sat down and he didn't have any shoes on and his clothes were a little torn and worn out. We stopped and asked him if there was anything that we could do for him to help him out. He quickly responded and said to me "Do you have an extra pair of socks?" I answered and said, "No, I don't have an extra pair of socks." Then we continued to talk with him. As I was thinking I was wondering why I hadn't just given him the socks that I was wearing. Then he asked again "Do you have any spare socks or shoes that I could wear?" When I realized how foolish I was that I hadn't given him my own pair of socks in the first place, I quickly answered back and said, "Here, let me take off my socks and you can have them."  He was very grateful as I took off my shoes and socks and gave my socks to him and put on my shoes and was on my way. Although we did not share a gospel message with him and we probably will never see him again, I shared something of mine and it made me feel good serving someone that I had never met before.

Well, that is about it for this week and I will make sure to keep on telling you guys all of the crazy stuff that is going on over here. Also, of course all of the awesome stuff that is going on which outweighs the crazy stuff for sure!!!

 

I love you all!!!

Adios,

Elder Wallentine

Hello Everybody!!!

 

Thank you so much for all of those ideas for the object lessons! I think that the prayer one will be super awesome! I actually forgot all about that one and now that you tell me that really everything can be used for an object lesson, I have a ton more ideas on what I can do! That would be awesome if I could get grandpa's book though! I can use all of the help that I can get! As I have been using the object lessons that I have here with me right now, I've found that all of the little kids love them! I also really like them because just by using them it kind of makes the thing I am trying to teach seem a lot simpler to me as well!

Being a trainer is super fun and I love my new companion as well as my old companion! My new companion is named Elder Erikson and he is also an 18 year old, and he is from Rexburg, Idaho so we get along great! We have a ton in common and I think that we will be able to be very successful in this area that we are now in! I'M SUPER EXCITED!!! But I am for sure going to be learning a few things from him and I hope that I will be able to teach him a few things as well! It will be a WIN WIN situation!

 

So last night we found out that we might have bedbugs coming into our new house and we are also infested with cockroaches. NO FUN at all. But the way I see it, we are not in the house a whole lot of time other than when we are sleeping so if it gets to be a big deal then we will call someone and get it taken care of! It will all work out one way or another! hahaha I am really loving my mission so far and I will for sure let all of you guys know if any other crazy things happen! 

For this week we have 2 new baptisms on Saturday! Super excited! Also, those two and also another family of four was able to make it out to church this week and the two parents of that family are really excited about everything in the church and really want to be baptized! They are all super cool! 

Well, it is still super hot up here but I think I might just barely be starting to get used to it right when it is about to start to cool down a little bit! Oh well!!! In the next package you guys send me you should send me some snacks and food! hahahahaha! (feel free to tell other people back in Idaho to) :) hahaha Well, I love you all tons!

 

Adios,

Love Elder Brandon Wallentine

 

p.s. Tell everybody to add me on Facebook

Mommy and Other people!!!

This week has been super crazy and also kinda mellow at the same time.  It was really weird. We went on exchanges on Thursday.  I went to another part of Phoenix and my companion stayed in Maryvale, but my area was super cool! We were going around trying to find some people to teach and didn't have much success, but then when we found someone that was home we were able to talk to them for a little while and it was an awesome experience! Remember when I was getting my blessing by the stake president and he said that I would be looked at as a father figure to some of the kids on my mission? Well, this little five year old girl was at the lesson and her father left her and her mother. During the prayer she wanted to say it and I had been playing water guns with her had talking to her and stuff and during the prayer she said, "I wish these guys were my dad!" She repeated that several times and it was an awesome experience to me. It was cool to know that the stake president really can receive revelation to what is going to happen and how we can help others. Super Cool!!!

Other than that this week was super mellow and stuff until I woke up this morning and got a phone call!!! So we were supposed to get transfer news last night, but it was running late so they called us about it this morning and it was awesome! My companion answered the phone and said, "Hey President Toone" hahaha then he began to talk and after he was finished he talked to me and asked me if I would accept the call to be a new missionary trainer on Wednesday! :) Wow!!! As soon as I heard those words I just like went into shock because I have only been out here for like six weeks! But I know that my Mission President received revelation to call me and I accepted. Instantly Nephi popped into my head when he said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them." Super powerful moment in my mission so far and I am super excited to be able to share all that I have learned with others!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABELLE!!! I wish that I could see her and give her a huge hug! I am sure that all of you guys had a blast and I was so happy when i got all of the letters in the mail from all of you guys! It is always so fun to be able to read letters! It is awesome that Collette can say my name now as Caleb told me! That is super exciting! Well it is awesome to hear all of your stories and make sure to tell Caitlyn congratulations on the wedding for me! That is super crazy that she is married!

Well before I go I need to tell you what I made for dinner for myself last night!!! So I was feeling super imaginative so I decided that I was going to attempt to make a milkshake. I had a plum, a tangerine, and milk. When I mixed it all together it didn't have much flavor so I decided to go searching for more items to put into it. We had no more fruit so I improvised a tad. I found some strawberry jam, and a strawberry pop tart and then some ice and tossed it in there. It was super good, although it didn't sound that good, it was way delicious!!! My new favorite milkshake!!! Everybody should TRY IT!!! Well can't wait to hear back from all of you guys. I love ya!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Mommy! And everybody else!!!

 

Hey, so I was able to come over to the bishop's house with my companion today.  They had us over for breakfast and now we are writing emails and letters at their house until we have to go shopping. That is a relief that we were able to come and write to you guys! 

I was in my first big dust storm this week and that was a crazy experience. We were talking to this guy in an apartment complex and we talked to him for a half hour.  He offered me and my comp some weed, and said that he has strippers in his apartment. GROSS!!! That was a super weird conversation and soon turned into a talk about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom.  I'm not really sure what he was thinking when we were telling him all of these things. But, anyways we ended up praying with him and as soon as we said amen the dust storm hit us.  We had to ride our bikes about a mile and a half home in the dust storm because they don't want us being out in them. Of course it had to start to rain when we were on our way back too! hahahah

Something Amazing happened this week though. The zone leaders talked to us and we get to use Facebook for missionary work starting tomorrow. I am going to be able to use my home Facebook account and I can now teach people all over the world on Skype. The best part is that I could get one of you or some of my friends to teach investigators over Skype with me kinda like my companion. That will be super awesome, and I am way excited. It will be super weird being able to be back on Facebook, though since I haven't been on for a month and a half. CRAZY!!!

Hey, well good job on the running and also that is awesome that Tyler was able to do so good in his meet. That is ridiculous that he might have qualified for that race. GOOD LUCK TYLER!!! Well, make sure that you guys stay safe over there in Idaho. I am trying to stay safe here in Arizona and not get shot or anything and it is working out pretty good!!!! Well, I have to go and I can't wait to get your letters and stuff in the mail. I will be waiting for it!!!!

 

I love you all a ton,

Elder Wallentine