Progress Report: Halloween Edition

 Hey everyone!

                                ______________________________________________________________

                                  🇫🇷 🎃💀👻 IT'S SPOOKY HALLOWEEN TIME 👻💀🎃🇫🇷

Glad I got that over with.  This week was pretty good.  We didn't have too many lessons because a few of our investigators cancelled on us before we were able to meet.  A bit of a halting to our previous weeks' bounties, but nonetheless, our investigators with baptismal dates are still underway in their preparation for their dates, throughout a few hold-ups.  I am really hoping that they can stick through it until, and more importantly eternally after, their baptisms.  We're really trying to help them understand the magnitude of this covenant.  Our ward is really hoping that they'll be able to hold on, and so do we! 💀

We had an unexpected, but needed, lesson with Kingsley on Tuesday.  It turns out that he wasn't aware that the Book of Mormon was different than the Bible...which I reckon is PROBABLY a good thing to get established, haha!  We spent a long time trying to really emphasize the purpose and significance of the Book of Mormon, alongside the role of it alongside the Bible.  Kingsley seemed a bit troubled at first, but I think once we got the issue cleared up he was a bit better about it.  Still, he slid back about his confidence in being baptized.  We're going to be praying and doing our best to help him keep progressing.  He's been doing awesome.  He really has.  He's been reading and praying every night, and I hope that will help him to increase his confidence in the whole situation. 👻

We also helped with Louis and Mauricia's move across town on Saturday.  That was pretty fun!  I was worried that they would move out of the area, but luckily, they're still within boundaries...just a little further away than before.  They've both been doing really well and Louis has been progressing overall.  They both do have a willingness to join the church and I'm hoping we can see them at church this coming week.  They weren't able to come this week because we had Stake Conference out in Dortmund, and they said that they weren't able to travel that far.  But we'll be pushing to get them there next Sunday. 🎃

We also saw an interesting exchange last P-Day in Essen Central Train Station (or "der Hauptbahnhof").  These two policemen where escorting a man, who was quite drunk (His drunkenness exuded by the situation in one of the policeman's carrying of a large bottle of vodka--an almost empty bottle of it, that is).  This guy is speaking somewhat loudly, then stops in his tracks and shouts:

"ICH MÖCHTE EUCH ETWAS SAGEN.  GANZ LAUT." 

("I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ALL SOMETHING.  QUITE LOUD.")

At that crucial moment of exclamation, anticipation filled the bustling train station, as the policemen stopped as well as many other people around.  The world seemed to stop for a moment, as if it were waiting for a profound response to escape the heart of this mysterious man. Our eyes widened as we saw this man prepare to speak, and when he finally did, he shouted:

"ICH LIEBE DEUTSCHLAND; 'ÜBER ALLES!'" 

("I LOVE GERMANY.  OVER ALL!")

People resumed their business and the policemen continued to pull him away with somewhat of a groan. 👻

My companion got sick a few days ago.  I think it was just from him eating not-fully cooked chicken the other day.  Or he caught a bug from the Essen Elders in our district, who were both locked up Saturday with sickness, but they said that they also may have gotten that from Chinese food they ate.  It's been a few interesting days. My companion recovered pretty quickly, and has been able to leave the house at the occasions we planned, so that's good.  He's feeling almost completely normal now--just a little under the weather at this point. 💀

Oh, right, and I mentioned this before, but we got to go to Dortmund for Stake Conference (Pfahl Konferenz).  I've been there two other times so far for some trainings.  It's always nice to visit.  Dortmund is a pretty cool city. 🎃

And SHOOT.  I've been on my mission for almost four months already.  This week is the end of my second transfer, which means I will be done training!  That's crazy.  It's also pretty likely that my companion will be transferred out, and so I might be getting a new one shortly.  But who knows?  I'm really hoping that I can stay in Oberhausen for a few more transfers. 👻

Time is flying by, though. 💀

Anyways, with that taken care of, I've been looking a lot into the teachings of the Presidents of the Church, as well as the standard works about repentance and forgiveness.  I've been slowly realizing something on my mission that I perhaps did not fully realize before, and that is how daily a process repentance is.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you all may have heard this much before, but repentance is not exclusive to those who have committed notably grievous sins.  As one of the key principles of the gospel, it is fundamental that we acknowledge its daily use.  As we humble ourselves before God in prayer, he will help us to notice things that we can do better, in order to grow nearer to the Savior.  It's not always pleasant, and sometimes can cause us pains to think about our infirmities, but I know that each time we put ourselves through the furnace of repentance, we are able to be molded and shaped by the Lord Himself to be the people He knows and wants us to be.  I'm grateful for this ability, and for the Atonement that allows us to always become better than we were before and overcome our afflictions and imperfections.  I hope that as we improve in daily repentance, we will find ourselves taking steps each day, closer and closer to the Kingdom of God.  If we do so, we will one day be able to stand before Him with peace in our hearts, and through the grace and eternal mercy of Christ our Savior, return to live with Him some day.

Ether 12:27 

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Thank you for all your support, love, and prayers.  I'm grateful for all you have done for me!  Have a happy Halloween and a great week!  Stay safe!

-Elder Wallentine 🎃

The Truth is Marching On

Hey guys!

This week was awesome!  We've really been experiencing a ton of success so far in Oberhausen.  I've really grown to appreciate it, and have been enjoying it a bunch!  

On Monday we got in contact again with one of our awesome investigators named Sina, whom we have gone for a few weeks without hearing from.  He's been pretty busy but we were finally able to see him that day.  We caught up with him a bit and invited him to pray about some difficulties that he has been having lately, and we're continually emphasizing that with him.  We were able to meet with him an additional time this Saturday, and we had a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation.  We really tried to emphasize the significance of Christ in our existences and salvation, and invited him to pray again, especially to feel the love and joy of Christ.  We also spoke with him about getting him baptized, and he agreed!  We have a date set for the 26th of November!  We've got some hurdles to jump before that time comes, but rest assured, we know he can be ready by that time if he really turns to Christ in faith.  We've really been trying to help him with that.

We also met with Louis and his sister, Mauricia.  My companion actually contacted Mauricia the first day he was in Oberhausen, and has been teaching her since.  We taught Louis about the Priesthood, which was the first investigator lesson I've had about that so far, actually.  Mauricia joined in to listen within about the first five minutes.  She has quite a bit of questions and we answered them to the best of our ability, and it ended up working out pretty well.  At the end, we invited Mauricia to be baptized on the same date that her brother Louis will be as well, which is planned for the 26th of November.  She said that she would have no problem with it, and accepted!  But I am hoping that these investigators all will be reading and praying before this date comes.  I want them to understand the importance of the message, and I think that will just come with more meetings and commitment-keeping.

We got to meet with Kingsley three times this week.  He's been doing really well.  He's been reading in the Book of Mormon and came to church with us Sunday.  He's leaving lots of our appointments very joyfully, and is integrating well with the ward.  I would say he is just on track for his baptism in November, too.  

But wow.  Things are really seeming to blossom here in Oberhausen.  My companion has been doing really well with giving credit to the Lord for the people here.  It really is His work.  Lots of hearts are softening, and we've been experiencing miracles all around us.  We also have some awesome, awesome members that are super motivated to share the gospel.  Steven, a new convert as of July, has been an awesome force in strengthening all those we've been introducing to the ward.  It's not even just in this area, either.  Our mission is not only on track to hitting its baptismal goal for the year, but even a bit over, and I think it's a wonderful thing to see.  Germany is really undergoing a great conversion! 

And that reminds me of an interesting concern that Louis had for us.  He was struggling to understand why God would only give his Priesthood to our church.  He said: "People need this!  Why isn't it available to more people?"  He said that there are so many people suffering in the world, and he asked why God would "want to have only a few people carry the Priesthood."  The great thing about this, though, is that he doesn't.  He is showing His hand throughout the world.  He is hastening his work and softening the hearts of thousands and millions as time goes on.  We teach that God loves His children, and uses the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bring joy to them, and strengthen their families.  I think Louis's concern is one that should be shared among all missionaries and members of the church.  This is a message and gospel that brings incomprehensible peace and joy into the lives of all who come into contact with it, so long as they choose to embrace it.  Whether it be across the world or at home, we can all help to take the Gospel to all the world!  

That's all I got for you guys this week!  Thank you for your prayers and support!  Love you all!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

PICTURE FROM THE DORTMUND ZONE TRAINING

Hey friends and family!

This week was a little crazy!  It's been awesome, though.  We've hit the highest investigator lesson mark that I've had since I've gotten here, and so I feel that it has been a quite productive week.  Much of those lessons have been with the same investigators, since we're trying to either solidify those baptismal dates we have, or establish new ones.

One of the investigators we met with was a man named Kofi.  Kofi is a pretty cool guy.  He comes from Nigeria, and actually approached us on the street a few weeks ago while we were talking with another man (who wasn't interested).  He walked up to me and asked "hey brother, would you like to talk about the Word of God with me?"  We accepted after the other man shoo'd us away, and then we talked with Kofi for about thirty minutes about his and our beliefs on a bench.  We've met with him about three times since then, but he always unexpectedly cuts us off and has to leave early.  He's very interested in our message, I believe, and a baptismal date is likely.  We will be trying to establish one with him the next time we meet.  He's a great guy.

We focused a ton on meeting with Kingsley this week, following up in commitments and solidifying our baptismal date for him.  He's been doing rather well with reading the Book of Mormon, and he's enjoying it quite a bit I believe.  Unfortunately, our original baptismal date will likely have to be pushed back.  He wasn't able to meet with us at church this week, and he will be gone two Sundays from now as well.  He's still open to baptism, but we simply need a little more time to set a firm date.

We also met with Louis again this week!  We taught him about forgiveness and repentance, and that was a really awesome lesson.  We learned a few unfortunate things though.  He told us he wasn't going to be able to come with past Sunday to church, and that at the end of November, he would be moving back to Cameroon.  We've had to push back his baptismal date because we're having difficulties getting him to church.  He, like Kingsley, still wants to get baptized, though.  We're working in that with him, and we're hoping that we can get him baptized before he leaves.  We've located a branch near his home in Cameroon, and have made a plan with him to see that he continues to progress in his conversion following his move.

We've spoken more with Maria, from Serbia, yesterday, as well.  She will be moving back to Serbia in a week, actually, and we will not be able to continue teaching her (naturally).  

She says that she really believes the Book of Mormon to be true, though.  Sister Plattner, the sweet old lady in the ward I mentioned last week, has been a rockstar with helping Maria gain a testimony and has spent a bunch of time talking with her about the gospel.  We've found a branch near Maria's' home as well, and are coordinating with the missionaries in Serbia to keep Malaria in touch with the gospel.  I hope that the transition with her goes very smoothly and that she will be baptized!

A few weeks ago, I also contacted a woman named Joy at the train station.  We learned that she lives in Essen, outside of our area, and we transferred her contact information to our Essen Elders.  They got in contact with her, and her family was super excited to hear about the gospel and they have ended up with a baptismal date!  They sound quite confident about it from what I have heard, too.  Really hoping this works out!

Anywho.  It was a busy but great week.  It came to an end on Sunday.  We came to church, sat down, and began Sacrament Meeting.  After the Sacrament was administered, I got out my notebook to write down what the soon to speak speakers would say, to see if I could understand them.  The bishop walks up and says:

"Guten Morgen, lieber Geschwistern. (*Ill just translate the rest*).  Today we will be hearing from a few speakers.  We will start by hearing from ELDER WALLENTINE."

I then hear my heart triple in pace.  I try to rationalize myself out of the situation, first thinking that I certainly WASN'T asked to give a talk.  But wait.  I was.  I frantically pull out a piece of paper that they gave me the previous week, and saw the word "Opfer" on it.  Good enough.  It means "sacrifice".  I stand up from my seat and slowly make my way to the stand, doing my best to put on a smile through the confusion in my mind.  My companion is nervously laughing on my behalf when I finally face the congregation.  

"......Hallo."

I proceeded to do my absolute best to act like I totally prepared the talk.  I shared D&C 58:1-5 and I think that people understood at least a bit of what I was saying.  I think I got my nervous trembling under control...although people did tell me I said "um" a bunch and that is true.  I barely survived.  Otherwise, church was really great.  I think that it was the first time where I really felt that I understood what was going on for the majority of the time.  Except third hour.  Priesthood meeting is always much harder to understand because people speak a lot more quietly, quickly, and specifically about whatever the topics may be.  But it was overall a good Sunday.

I've also finished memorizing the list of 2000 German words, which means that I can supposedly understand 80% of words in regular German conversation.  I've begun to memorize an additional set of 2000, and when I complete that, I should be able to understand about 95-98% of German conversations.  As soon as that is done, which it should be by around Mid-December at the latest, I'm planning to hit grammar and pronunciation the hardest.  

Anyways...Sometimes my head gets really numb.

Anyways, I've had a wonderful as well as chilling Book of Mormon study throughout this week.  I've been reading it alongside the institute manual and there was a part in Mormon that struck me.  It states in Mormon chapter 2 verse 15 that the "day of grace was passed" for the Nephites.  I saw in the manual a detailed elaboration by Elder Holland, who said:  

"It is at this moment in Nephite history--just under 950 years since it had begun and just over 300 years since they had been visited by the Son of God himself--that Mormon realized the story was finished. In perhaps the most chilling line he ever wrote, Mormon asserted simply, ‘I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually.’ His people had learned that most fateful of all lessons--that the Spirit of God will not always strive with man; that it is possible, collectively as well as individually, to have time run out. The day of repentance can pass, and it had passed for the Nephites. Their numbers were being ‘hewn down in open rebellion against their God,’ and in a metaphor almost too vivid in its moral commentary, they were being ‘heaped up as dung upon the face of the land'".  Even though this scripture speaks of the Nephites specifically, it's important to wonder why this part was added for us, with the knowledge that the Book of Mormon has been written for us in these days.  God is patient with us.  He's perfectly patient, in fact.  But we cannot allow ourselves to try and take advantage of that by prolonging our repentance and strive for good in our lives.  I won't write too much about this though.  Elder Holland covered it perfectly.

Anyways.  It's been a great week!  Thank you for your prayers and your support!  Love you all.

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Hey guys!  

This was a great week!  We got one new investigator, and I'll go into detail about that shortly.  We also had a tad bit more success with lessons in general, but we still got stood up a bit this week at times.  We also did our best to focus on contacting, but a few wrenches got thrown in there.  I'll get to that as well.

On Tuesday, anywho, we went to deliver a French Book of Mormon to a man, named Morocco, whom we met a few days prior.  We got to his house, which turned out to be a complex for students, but he wasn't there.  We knocked on a few doors, then met a man named Kingsley (a great name) after he let us know that Morocco was gone.  We explained what we were there to do, and that we would enjoy speaking to him about the church as well.  He let us in and we gave him the first lesson, then invited him to be baptized on the fifth of November.  He accepted!  We will be trying to really solidify this as we keep meeting him, and I'm really hoping this works out!  We then finished with a prayer and as soon as we were leaving the building, Morocco came running up and we were able to give the Book of Mormon to him anyways.  Unfortunately, he only speaks Italian and French, and scarce German, so I'm afraid that we may be at a standstill for him for now, but I am confident that if he reads, that will open up the path for him to learn mostly by himself through the Spirit.  If that happens, we could have some great lessons in spite of language barriers.  If not, we'll do what we can.  But that was a cool day.  I'm glad we got to meet with Kingsley and deliver that Book of Mormon, and I have high hopes for the future.

We also had a member lesson with a man named Inan.  We had a very sweet old lady, "Schwester Plattner", from the ward come with us to greet him, since she is actually his neighbor.  The lesson was pretty good, but we weren't able to get a solid return appointment in the lesson itself.  We'll be trying to reschedule with Inan.  Also, he rushed us out because his wife was coming home, who he said would be opposed to us being there.  That is a topic that will have to be dealt with eventually if we are to keep teaching him, haha!

A wrench was thrown into our schedule that day because the SIM card in our phone stopped working and got stuck very badly inside of it.  We were planning on contacting our other investigators to meet the night it broke, so we got a bit messed up there.  The next day we finally met with our other district elders, and got the phone fixed, but that was a bit of misfortune for us that day, haha!

Overall, we could have had much more success this week if we didn't get held up by things such as the phone, or other incidents that occurred throughout it, but I am also pleased with our opportunities to have met Kingsley and Inan, as well as a few other investigators!  We're planning on really pushing ourselves for lessons this week and have  begun to schedule as many appointments as possible.  I hope that this week 

proves to be fruitful!

I've read through the last of Alma and halfway through Helaman this week in the Book of a Mormon, and that has been a great study opportunity!  These scriptures always reveal valuable truths and principles.  One thing I would like to focus on is the times which we read about the "pride cycle" throughout these chapters, and the entire Book of Mormon.    I found a very cool scripture from Helaman 3, which reads:

27 Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

28 Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked--

I find it both wonderful and saddening when I read about the phases that the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon go through in pride.  It is shown that the Lord blesses people so greatly when they simply turn to him.  We preach so often to our investigators that our Heavenly Father is waiting to distribute the greatest blessings of eternity to His children, and that is because it is true.  He does bless us.  The sadness comes when we receive such blessings, and then forget to thank the Lord or continue to be penitent. We may harden our hearts and forget the mercy of God, and when we do that, we become subject to the worldly tumult and danger that constantly threatens us in an increasingly wicked world, as occurs with Nephites and Lamanites through the Book of Mormon.   I hope we will never forget the Lord in our lives, whether it be in times of sorrow or in times of prosperity!

Also, I will share with you guys the German term of the week.  This is how you say "Garb of Secrecy", referenced only once in the Book of Mormon, in Helaman 9:

Vermummungsgewand 

Also, I've found that in many cases, the more old English that you read, the more you realize similarities between that and German.  Plenty of examples, but just one is:

"Wist" is a past participle of "wit", a verb that means "to know" in old English.  Weiß, or Weiss, in German, means "to know" as well.

THE MORE YOU KNOW.

Love you guys!  Thanks for reading and for all your prayers!  You all have great weeks!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

P.S.: I've had at least two dreams in German this week.  It has begun.

Hey everyone!

This week was another good week!  We got to meet with a few investigators on Tuesday, and that was pretty awesome!  The first investigator we met with was the daughter of a woman from Serbia. I believe I mentioned her mother in one of my previous letters.  If or if not, they're the Falatovis'.  Unfortunately, the mother, Maria, is moving back to Serbia quite soon, but her daughter seemed very interested through the first lesson.  We'll very likely be meeting with her again this week, and I have high hopes for her!  Secondly for that day, we met with a very strong Lutheran man, named Volker.  He is a former investigator.  He expressed to us that he was Lutheran because his family has been it for about four generations.  We had a good first discussion, but I don't know if that touched close to his heart.  He was still very polite and invited us back.  We're hoping that we will be able to see a miracle in him!

We met with Louis again.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come to general conference, but he finally got a new job that will no longer be forcing him to work on Sundays!  He has promised to come to church this upcoming Sunday, and if that happens, we will propose bumping his baptismal date to be earlier, perhaps on the 29th.  He's making great progress, and I am very excited to see the happiness that will continue to come to him as he continues on the path he's taking! 

Oh, and also, we met a younger man last Monday whose name is Akmal.  He said that he was raised in a Muslim home, but that he has not practiced it for many years.  He expressed desire to meet with us, and has actually called us multiple times since then to see when we can meet.  We can tell that he is excited to learn the truth, and I have high expectations for him as well!  Very exciting!

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME.  This has been an awesome conference this October, and I haven't even been able to watch the last session yet (due to the time difference).  I really enjoyed many of the talks that were given, and enjoyed what President Monson had to say in the time he had to speak.  I also thoroughly enjoyed President Nelson's wonderful talk.  I loved the emphasis he placed on relying on the Atonement and obedience to God's commandments to achieve happiness.  We encounter a lot of people who see our commandments, and obedience thereof, as barriers to happiness and "freedom".  But when we learn to follow each commandment given with, hopefully, ever-increasing diligence, we gain a testimony of the blessings that come from obedience!  We learn that it is obedience to God's commandments that brings true joy and freedom, and certainly not Satan's temptations that bring guilt and spiritual captivity.  In addition, when we fail at being perfect in any commandment(s), we can use the Atonement to restore our happiness, and to improve ourselves and our willingness to obey God.  I loved these principles that were so well portrayed by President Nelson, and I hope we can all apply them in our lives, that we may receive pure joy.  All the other talks were fantastic as well!

Anyways, that's all I got.  I think I managed to shrink this letter a bit!

I love you all.  Thanks for your prayers and support!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

P.S.  The German word of the week is "Pulver", which means "Dust". ((Pulverize.))  Isn't German cool?)