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

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!!

Mommy!!!

Hey, that was super fun talking to all of you on Christmas day! :) It is so awesome how the members here are all so amazing and so willing to have us in their homes. Our ward mission leader is the one that let us use his home to Skype with all of you, and rather than just going up stairs he said, " Hey, lets all go outside and play with some of our new toys to give the missionaries a little bit of privacy." It was super funny! He is one of the best people that I have met on my mission so far! Anyways, I am super happy that I got to see all of you on Christmas. That was for sure by far the best part of the day. We had the whole zone together to play sports that night, but it did not even compare to Skyping.

The past couple of days have been super weird... Tons of people have been getting sick so we have not had many people that we taught, but the past couple of days I have not felt sick but I have not felt totally normal either. It has been really weird. But I am feeling good today! :) So I am super happy about that!!! Oh and don't worry, as much as I love all of you guys I am not homesick or anything! It is such a great blessing that I have not been super homesick yet on my mission. That would just make  everything super hard haha! :D

Yesterday a little miracle happened! :) Someone that I taught in one of my past areas was having a hard time for the past couple of months, and hasn't been seen by any of the members in the area for a while. It was super scary because I wanted to know what was going on, and I wanted to help in any way that I could... But as I have been thinking and praying for him it finally payed off! :) Yesterday on Facebook I got a message from Sister Hickman in Ahwatukee and she said that he was at church today!!! :) That was the best news that I have gotten all week! It was just such a relief to know that he is doing alright! :D

I think that is super cool about the lesson with that teacher. I know that if I were to be recorded all day every day I would act, and speak differently. It isn't even that I use bad language, or am a bad person or anything but I just know that I could always do better! :) That would be a super fun thing to do one of these days for sure! Thank you so much for telling me about that little story!

I have been stressing out like crazy for the past couple of days!!! :O We have Zone Meeting on Tuesday so Elder May and I need to prepare a big training for the entire zone which is already a little bit stressful. Then we found out that we were going to be teaching Gospel Principles on Saturday night before church which was crazy, and now we just found out that the Assistants want us to have the entire transfers training plan to them by tonight. :O IT IS GOING TO BE A CRAZY DAY! But at least I know that when this is all done I can go back to feeling normal again! But even though I am stressed out of my mind, I am still having a BLAST on my mission!!! :)

Love you tons,

Elder Brandon Wallentine

MOMMY!!!

Hey so I got both of those packages by the way! Thanks so much! I am having a hard time fighting the urge to open them though! ;) It is just so exciting to get mail on your mission that you always want to open it immediately! :) haha But I am waiting til CHRISTMAS!!! I love you tons and that's about all I have to say right now since I will see y'all TOMORROW!!! If we can skype at like 1:30-2ish that would be perfect!!! I am super stoked for it! Also thanks for the awesome letter again! It is always nice to get letters from home! ;)

Love,

Elder Brandon Wallentine

Mommy!!!

That is super cool that the moms got up and told some of their missionary’s stories! :) That is a ton of missionaries out from our ward. I did not even realize that there were that many!!! 

You will also be happy to know that both of those people in Gila Bend that got interviewed for baptism got baptized this past Saturday!!! It sounded like it was an awesome experience and now those same Sister Missionaries have someone else that should be getting baptized very soon also! It is going to be an amazing next transfer! There is another area in this Zone that has always had the reputation of not teaching a ton called Ajo (Pronounced Ah-ho). The Sisters that are down there right now are doing such an amazing job at staying motivated! They just recently put the first person in a while on date for baptism for this month! It is going to be super awesome to see this guy as he is preparing for baptism! Elder May and I are taking a 2 hour drive down there to interview him on Wednesday! I am super stoked!!! Amazing things are going to be happening this transfer and I am super excited to see what all the Lord has in store for us!

Last night was transfer calls........................................... And..................................... Elder May and I are staying together for at least 6 MORE WEEKS!!! :) When President Toone called last night to let us know who all was getting transferred he only said that one person was leaving the zone. So the zone basically stayed the same! :) We were so excited and I am sure that President and Sister Toone were able to tell how excited we were due to all of the cheering in the background! :D It was super funny because when they told us that we yelled, "That is DELICIOUS!!!" Then when the phone call was about to end President Toone said, "Elder's, you are delicious as well." It was probably one of the funniest things that I have ever heard President Toone say since I have been on my mission! :) It was way funnier in the moment though since it was like 11:00pm when they ended up calling us! haha

I am super excited for this upcoming week because we have some good people that we are going to go and see! The teaching in this area has really picked up lately. Especially within the past week! Last night we had a super fun time because we are teaching 2 kids in separate households that have ADD/ADHD. They are super hard to keep focused, and they never want to sit still just like any other 10 year old kid. But we made these super fun little games that we can teach the lessons to them in a fun way that gets them moving around. We made like that fun little carnival game that you try to throw the bean bags through the holes in the board! We wrote numbers of principals for the Restoration of the Gospel on each one of the little holes and when they made one of the balls through the hole we went over one of the principals with them! It was really fun and it worked even better than what we expected!!! Then the second time we went over and taught the Plan of Salvation, but we did it using play dough! It was super fun because we got the whole family involved and we were all making little things with the play dough that resembled something in the Plan of Salvation! It was a really good experience! :D

I know that no matter what I do while I am here on my mission, nothing is going to happen without the Spirit. If I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing then it will be impossible for me to have the Spirit and to testify in the powerful way that a worthy priesthood holder could! :) I love seeing how when we do what we can, people just seem to come up and want what we have! What we have is so great, and it is the greatest gift that we could possibly give anybody this Christmas Season! I love you all tons and can’t wait to Skype with you NEXT WEEK!!! Oh and BT-Dubs... You won’t be getting an email from me until Tuesday next week because we are going to be having our Christmas Mission Conference going on! :) So don’t worry. . . I am just fine, and I am still alive!

Love you tons,

Elder Brandon Wallentine

Mommy!!!

It was really cool with how smoothly the Thanksgiving dinner went though. The family worked super hard all day to prepare the meal since they were not originally planning on 4 missionaries coming over too. They pulled it off super nicely! Elder May and I had a blast because we were able to keep the little boy entertained while the parents were finishing up dinner (btw we did offer to help with the food)!!! :D The little boy is about 2 years old and he kept on playing with dinosaurs with us! One super funny thing that he did is he took like this little toy temple, and he put it on his head and yelled, "I'M THE TEMPLE!!!" Totally would not have been nearly as funny if I had done it, but he pulled it off!

That's super funny that the missionaries there are in a triple companionship! I always hate when I am put in those!!! It is super fun depending on who you are with, but it is always a little bit more awkward when you go up to a door, or someone on the street with 3 missionaries. I feel like people find it super intimidating! haha But I am sure that they are all great missionaries and they will do just fine in that companionship!

This past week was a pretty good week! We are teaching some really cool people this week, but are also kind of struggling with finding people in our area... Our area is still the best in the entire world though!!! :) I love the ward that we are in, and all of the members are super supportive of the missionary work that is going on here! I really appreciate that! I can’t wait for this next week and all of the miracles that are going to happen! Tuesday was a super rough day though for sure! We had like 7 appointments set up with some people, and only 1 of them actually happened... :( But I told Elder May, "Its a good thing that we are the HAPPIEST MISSIONARIES in the MISSION!" President Toone sure knew what he was doing when he put us here together! 

One thing that is super cool though about this past transfer is that although we are struggling with finding some new people to teach and all, the zone is doing amazing things!!! There is a place here called Gila Bend that is a super small town where everybody knows everybody! The missionaries there have not baptized in a super long time. But everybody has been so excited this past month, and they have 2 people getting baptized this next weekend!!! I am so excited for them!!! Oh and no big deal... I INTERVIEWED SANTA FOR BAPTISM!!! The guy that I interviewed down in Gila Bend plays Santa at all of the schools and old folks homes down there, and also up here in Maricopa! It was super funny!!! :) Thanks for all that you do and I love you so much!!!

Love you tons,

Elder Brandon Wallentine

HAPPY LATE THANKSGIVING!!!

Yeah, I thought that was super cool how that lady called and asked our moms what we wanted for thanksgiving! :) That lady actually ended up getting sick which was a bummer... But she was so awesome and passed down the information to the family that fed us! :) It was amazing!!! They made the sweet potato stuff with the brown sugar and marsh mallows on it! It was so good and I really enjoyed being there with that family! In the morning it was super cool because we got permission to go to our wards Turkey Bowl!!! As soon as we got the OK to go, Elder May and I thought it would be funny to go in our missionary clothes!!! We showed up in our white shirts, ties, slacks, and running shoes! :) It was the best idea that we could have possibly had for sure!!! But it got even better when we found out that the field that we were going to be playing on had been flooded by the sprinklers that morning! We were running up and down the field, falling down, and getting tagged in the mud! Our clothes got pretty dirty, but not nearly as dirty as I thought that they would! You will be happy to know that I do still know how to do laundry though, so all of the clothes are just fine, and I bleached my white shirt! :) It was so much fun! Even though I know that it would have been a ton of fun back home for thanksgiving, I think that this was the best thanksgiving that could have possibly happened on my mission. I love it!

That is super cool that you all got to get together and see each other a few times this past week! I remember when we would always have a bunch of big feasts, and a huge one with the whole family at Uncle Ben’s house! That is always one of the best parts of Thanksgiving, getting over there and hanging out with the family! I love that!!! :) 

It is really funny because we are going to a place today that reminds me so much of their house! They have a barn with pool tables and stuff in it, and then they have a volley ball court right next to it! The only difference is that they have a golf course too, so we are going to have a super fun P day today! :) I am super excited!  Oh, and also for the movie that we got to watch! We watched...... FROZEN!!! It was such a good movie! Elder May and I set up a projector in the relief society room and put the movie on in there with popcorn and stuff! It turned out super well, and it was really cool/weird to be able to watch a movie like that on my mission! The end message that we got from it though is not to get engaged right after your mission. Otherwise your fiance might just end up being the one that locks you in a room when you have just gotten hit in the heart with a thing of ice... That would for sure be no fun! :D haha It was way fun though and I love the part when the snowman is talking and he says, "Hey, I'm not sure if this helps... but, I found a staircase that goes exactly where we need to go..." It was so funny! I think he is for sure my favorite character in that movie!!! :)

That is way cool about Brenden's talk!!! He is going to be such an amazing missionary and I am so happy that he is getting out there to do work! :) I cannot wait to hear about the experiences that he has in Argentina! :) It seems like it was just yesterday that I was over at their house saying goodbye to them... but now I am more then half way done... CRAZY!!! Make sure to tell the Elwood's that I love them, and wish Brenden GOOD LUCK on his mission!!! 

Thank you for keeping me up to date on everything that is going on back home! I am really loving my missionary life out here in Maricopa right now! :) This is the place to be, and we are all so excited about the work here!!! Since Elder May and I got here we have seen such great miracles in this area! :) When we came into the area we did not even have 1 investigator, but now it is really cool because this next week we are meeting with so many awesome families! Keep me in your prayers, and specifically those families that we will be seeing this week!!! I am really excited for the miracles to come this next week!!! :)

I love you tons,

Elder Brandon Wallentine