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

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

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

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

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

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

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!