ALLLL ABOARD

Hey folks!

Transfers are this week!  I got an exciting call on Saturday morning and was informed that I will be training for the next two transfers.  I am PUMPED.  I will be heading down to Frankfurt tomorrow and staying overnight, then returning Wednesday to Bayreuth, and then WE ARE GOING TO GET TO WORK.  

We've had continued progress with several of our baptismal investigators.  Emmanuel has accepted to live according to all the commandments that we are supposed to teach as missionaries, even though he admitted that it would be hard.  Zack, his friend, also has committed to do so.  I really think that they're promising, and hope that they will keep progressing through any potential difficulties approaching their baptisms.

We met with Bravedo and shared the Word of Wisdom with him.  He seemed on board for almost all of it, except for tea, which he thought was really weird and said he would need time to think about it.  We've been doing all we can to maintain daily contact with him in an effort to commit and prepare him for baptism. 

We couldn't meet with Favour, sadly.  She was sick and had to cancel.  We couldn't meet with Markus either because we couldn't get a hold of him until last night.  But we have an appointment scheduled with them for Wednesday and Friday respectively!  

We keep doing our best to find new potential investigators.  We continue finding about 20 each week...for this week, we got 22!  Hope to have another 30 week one of these days or weeks!

But anywho.  I continue to ask you all for your support in the forms of prayer.  Pray that our investigators can come to church, and that they will all develop testimonies of the Savior strong enough for conversion and obedience.  My heart would swell with gratitude if you did that!

I've been continuing my study of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and New Testament.  I read a super good Romans scripture, in chapter 12:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

As a missionary, I feel like I am on a roller-coaster of sorts at times.  Some days, particularly on those when I am exhausted, I have felt that perhaps the load is hard to bear over the remainder of my time.  I assume this is normal for anyone who undertakes a calling, especially in mission work, that may require long and sustained effort over a "long period of time".  But then, there is always the realization that this is for our benefit as well, because God uses our sacrifice to build us up, and bless us for the rest of our life.  And also, the realization that I am in my fifth transfer and that the time has FLOWN BY...I am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve and am truly loving my mission!

Also, we have a new schedule change. My next letter will come next Thursday, and our P-Days will be on Hursdsy instead of Mondays from now on.

I openly acknowledge the typo above but refuse to fix it.

LAST PDAY WAS AWESOME, TOO. We went to Rothenburg!  Very fun.

That's all I have.

Thanks for the support you guys!  I love you all and hope all is well back home!

-Elder Wallentine 

OF GOOD REPORT

Hey guys!

Well, this week has been truly fantastic.  Numbers-wise, in general, it has been my best week on my mission so far!  We were able to set five baptismal dates, got seven new investigators, and got 23 new potential investigators throughout the week.  Honestly, it's crazy.  I guess all I can say is that I am very grateful to see the work paying off.  One of our baptismal candidates came to church yesterday, too, along with one of our other progressive investigators!  Now, the name of the game is maintaining all these people.  I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE THESE PEOPLE MAKE IT IN THE WATERS.  I'M NOT LETTING THEM GO THIS TIME!  I'm happy--no, ecstatic--right now that we have people who have desire to be baptized, don't get me wrong, but I will be hoping and praying and fasting and working and doing my best to teach and calling to make sure we can get those desires fulfilled.  Now the work begins!

I'll spend a hefty amount of writing now describing how awesome these people are.  Most of them are brand new investigators, though.  But, here I go.

The first person, or pair of persons (???), I'll write about is Emmanuel.  I met him and his friend, Zack, on the street one time while we were contacting.  We shared with him what we were doing and exchanged telephone numbers, then scheduled an appointment within a few weeks.  Unfortunately, I wasn't actually there for the first lesson with the two of them as I was on a split in Grafenwöhr, but I got a wonderful phone call after the lesson saying that they had both agreed to be baptized on the 25th of February.  Since then, I've met with Emmanuel, and I can say that it truly seems that he has real intent.  We taught The Plan of Salvation to him, and he said that it was a "huge relief" (and also that this sounded a lot better than the concept of "hell-fire").  He has promised to read the Book of Mormon, and naturally pray about it, too, and he came to church the next day!  Even though he only speaks English, and we have a small German branch, I think he enjoyed it, and we have another appointment with him scheduled for this evening!

Next, we have Bravedo!  He is a student at the university in Bayreuth and we found him while street contacting with our Assistant to the President a little bit ago.  Bravedo is a super cool guy and really clicked on each part of the lesson.  We emphasized the apostasy with him and asked if he has ever wondered why there are so many differing Christian churches, and he started laughing and said "SO MANY TIMES!"  We then, of course, presented God's response to this through The Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith.  Even though no tears were shed by him, I felt that he was touched by the message, and he told us that this brings him joy to know, and that he would be baptized in the 25th of February as well.  We will be working with him closely to get him ready, and he actually suggested that to us before we did to him.  I think he is promising!

Next, we have Favour.  We found her also while street contacting with the Assistant to the President, and then met with her on Saturday.  We taught The Restoration and she expressed to us beforehand that she has, as of late, felt distant from God.  She said she would like to restore that relationship, and we told her that this is kind of the greatest way to do it.  We promised her that by keeping commitments that we extend, and especially through reading the Book of Mormon, she will feel an increase of God's love in her life, which would be further increased by eventual baptism--which she agreed to for February 25th as well.

And finally, we have Markus: The Only German Speaking Man Out of Them.  This was an interesting lesson.  He says he grew up as a Catholic but also drifted away because of the teachings.  He is a scientist apparently and kept speaking about "absolute nothingness" versus "nothingness", parallel universes, antimatter, light versus anti-light, and so forth, and managed to tie one of these in with every point of the first lesson.  We did what we could and taught him throughout, then extended our testimony and commitment of reading the Book of Mormon to him.  He accepted.  We asked him if he would have anything against being baptized in our church if he found out it was true, and he said that "[he] already know[s]".  He agreed to be baptized on April 1st (there is a joke in there somewhere).  We'll have to make sure we go over a few things soon, just to make sure he knows what baptism would entail and mean for his life, but anyways, he's a possibility.

That's all of them.  Most of these people seems like they really do believe, or have the desire to believe at the very least.  I really believe that they can and will be ready through their own efforts and our contributions on the way.  But, at the end of the day, we will remember that the choice lies within them!  We can only help to provide the means to gain faith, and push them to receive it.

I just really hope these great people can turn into converted members of the branch here!  They could do so much good here!  One of the things I like about the small-branch dynamic is that there will be a lot more responsibility there, both for us to work hard to strengthen it, and for the converts to immediately feel needed in it.  Also, even though only one speaks German, we are working to...uh haha, teach them German...to become better integrated with the ward.  

Shoot.  I have a lot to write about but I don't want to make you guys keep your eyes on the screen for this long.  Because reading on screens is the WORST.  Who invented Kindles, anyways?  I'm trying to crack a joke here but I am mentally exhausted.

Okay, one last thing.  In an effort to practice teaching in companionship Study better, and more enjoyably, we have created fictional investigators. We're currently teaching a man named Eric.  He comes from Norway and is a Viking who fights dragons.  He's hard to contact because he is at sea so much, but our lessons with him so far have been pretty interesting.  He has a lot of odd beliefs but we're hoping to help him out.  We will keep you updated on his progress.

That's all I have for you guys!  Please pray for our wonderful investigators so we can help them in the waters!

Love,

Elder Wallentine 

Creative Contacts, Train Tussles, and Wacky Weeks: Volume I

Hey folks!  Also, "folks" is derived from the German word "volk"!  Add that to your list of trivial facts!

This week has been absolutely fantastic!  We've been having more and more lessons and have been finding more and more people.  We had a few really cool lessons with people we've been meeting.  One of them is a man who is studying at the university here in Bayreuth.  We got an appointment established while tracting and taught him The Restoration.  I think that was one of the most spiritual lessons I've had in my mission so far.  He comes from India and is a pretty firm in his religion, but I have high hopes notwithstanding his pre-existing belief.  We are searching to add to the truths he knows, as should the case always be, rather than take his faith away.  We got another appointment set, so I am anticipating that!  We also met a man from Egypt, and have taught him twice.  He is also very religious in his faith, but is currently progressing by reading, praying, and even coming to church, too!  I think he will find the truth if he continues doing this with real intent. 

I am trying to kick up my Contacting skills and efforts due to a situation that will be described shortly hereafter.  The contact-of-the-week for this week was when we were crossing a bridge and I saw someone crossing underneath.  It was at night and so there weren't very many people out and this person was the first one we saw in several minutes.  I left the bridge and clumsily used my frictionless shoes to slide down the snow on the side of the hill underneath to talk to them...   ...they weren't interested :(

Remember that goal of twenty potential investigators we set?  Hahaha, about that.  This week started out well and we were getting a pretty good amount of potentials per day.  Then, we had a split with Elder Evans, one of the Assistants to the President here.  That was pretty humbling.  I thought that I was decent at contacting before, but I don't think I can hold a candle to him.  We learned a bunch from him about contacting, because he is definitely the most energetic and smart missionary I've met on my mission when it comes to contacting.  While on our split, we got about nine potentials.  We've then continued to experience great success as we have tried to apply what we've learned, and by the end of the week, we had gotten a total of 34 potentials!  We've gotten a bunch of appointments set and I really think that there are some golden people in this bunch!

The question then comes into play of how we can keep things going, and not just settle for a burst of success in this particular week.  I've been trying to adjust my strategies to be more effective with contacting, and anything else that I've noticed, really, and that has caused me some stress.  But I know that it's helping a bunch.  My last district leader told me that there's no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone (inspirational quote that you put on a vague picture of a beach or starry sky [there goes my broken sense of humor again]), and I think that is quite right.  I think I just need to keep working on improving always and then asking God to grant me the energy to keep the pace up.  I think that when we do all we can do and show the Lord that we are putting in our effort, He will consistently reach down, make up for our flaws and fill in the gaps that are caused by our often mortal infirmities.

Also, I finished the Book of Mormon again this week!  I finished the institute manual as well, and this has been a really awesome read-through!  Time to start again!

As I've been writing this, I've thought about the importance of whole-heartedness in the things you do, both in serving the Lord and everything else you do that is good.  I've also thought about the dangers of complacency in these such things.  I've noticed that at times, I have become complacent in certain things as a missionary--namely with contacting.  These are the times that not only prove to be the least fruitful, but the least enjoyable as well (for me, and probably for the people I talk with, too!).  Likewise, if I pray using only words and no feeling of heart, I do not feel invigorated or strengthened as I do when I pray with more intent.  I would expect any other callings or careers accepted with lack of enthusiasm generate similar feelings.  In the Book of Mormon, we read many times about the pride cycle, all of which seeming to start with pride, which begins, I think at least partially, due to complacency to the truth that has blessed the lives of so many people beforehand.  We may even, sadly, observe this on individual levels when people stop caring about doing the important things to strengthen their faith, and often without realizing, find themselves on the road to loss of testimony and even personal apostasy.  I could go on for ages about different depressing examples, but I think that I've had my fill.  The point is that we need to really realize the importance of the things we do, both in this life and the eternities.  This is easier typed than done, and forgive me for typing so much, but I know that when we find ways to take enthusiasm and joy and energy into the good things we do in life, we will find that our lives become brighter, happier, and more meaningful as a result.  It also is important for us as missionaries to note that people probably aren't going to trust that our message can and will fill our hearts with joy if we ourselves are not allowing such a message to bring us said blessings.

All in all, I am so grateful for this time I've had here in Bayreuth, and Germany in general.  The Lord is good!  When I have knocked, He has opened.  When I have asked, He has given!  The promise at the end of D&C 4 is true and I hope I can always remember that, as well as all of us!

ADD-IN:  Today we got on the wrong train on the way to Nürnberg and I got in a conversation with a very firmly religious man.  One thing led to another and I had three people on the train, including the man, pretty boldly accusing me of trying to destroy their faith or to force them to believe in something they didn't want to, both of which are completely false accusations.  Probably the most interesting train contact I've had.  I learned we have to always be careful not to get into bashing situations because that's not what we're here to do.

Thanks for taking the time to humor me by reading my letters!  I hope you understand that writing in English is the only thing that keeps my grammar alive as I try to cram my mind with all the German rules and vocabulary!  Also one of these days, I could write an email in English using only German grammar rules.  Give me notice, if you interest on that have, because I very happy would be, that to do.  I have love for you guys!  That is all, that I say would like to!  I know, that that very excruciating to read would be, but I find it somewhat entertaining, right now like such to type.  Also, count you your blessings, because this not nearly as genuinely frightening as Japanese grammar is.

-Elder Wallentine

Also, one day I want to get to the point where I can paint satisfactory Book of Mormon paintings.  Not here yet, but here's a drawing I made:

Also, nice picture. 

What Do I Title This?

Hey guys!

This week has been really good!  First off, I will say plainly that we were not able to hit our goal.  I did try and talk to everyone I could, but people just weren't super open this week in that particular field of work.  We ended up only hitting 10.

I will attribute this, however, to the fact that we were too busy teaching lessons!  We've had a bunch and have been very busy this week with those.  For this reason, I am very satisfied with the work that we did, even if we just scraped by with potentials.  My companion says this is the most he's ever taught in a week here, and we hope to make this a more constant thing!  I look forward to this week.  We don't have a whole lot of lessons scheduled as of yet, but I will be making calls and we'll be going by on people to try and get some scheduled!

I have lots of hopes for some of these people.  Jonathan, one of the guys we met with, really wants to be baptized.  If he lived closer, he really would.  The problem is that he lives fifty kilometers away from our church building, and it's a bit of a stretch for him to come.  A few things are looking up.  First off, a big problem he has had is his work, being on Sundays, but he has recently quit and will now be available.  Secondly, he does have a car, and is only hesitant to drive it through the snow.  But I think if his desire is true, we will be able to help him find a way to get him to church.  We're meeting with him again this week, and I think an official baptismal date is within reach.  I'm praying that it works out!

We also met with a certain man named Sabrowski, whom we met on the street, and his father.  We taught the Restoration lesson and it was going great.  I thought it was, really.  But then we introduced the Book of Mormon and at this point the father informed us he was not aware that we were the Mormons.  They seemed open to another lesson, kind of...but I'm also pretty sure that the father told us "thanks for using our time" in the way out.  We'll see.  We met with another man, named Mike, and he says he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  When we asked him about baptism, though, it appears that he still fears that he would be making the wrong decision before God.  He invited him to pray and ponder about it, thinking about if God would want him to pursue this path, but he hasn't gotten a specific inclination yet. 

I'll be keeping you guys in touch as to what happens with all these wonderful people.  The work is picking up, though.  I'm loving it.  I ask for your prayers to help things keep growing and picking up.  Our goal for this week is to establish two baptismal dates.  It's definitely possible, but a stretch.  I think we can do it, though!

I have had a WONDERFUL study this week.  First off, I've read through 3 Nephi and finished it today.  Then, I've started the Doctrine and Covenants again and have been reading that in the evenings and around dinner and lunch time.  I've also done a bit of New Testament study, reading in the Acts and the Romans.  But I really feel that I've learned a bit more about the Savior this week.  I love the Doctrine and Covenants, because it is direct in so many differing ways: It's direct revelation for us, and our church, in these days.  It's direct in the sense that almost all of the words that are written in as revelations are words given directly from The Lord himself in leading His church.  Building on these as well, we see the actually flawless directness and honesty of the Lord in leading His servants, yet also see His love and abiding care to those who receive follow Him and do His will.  

With this being said, I will share one of my favorite parts of D&C:  It is in sections 18 and 19.  These sections focus heavily on repentance.  Here are some of my favorite verses from them:

18:

10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

19:

15 Therefore I command you to repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--

19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

These verses, I hope, cause us to pain at the thought of having Christ suffer for our sins, and us not appreciating His, in all reality, frighteningly-deep sacrifice.  He has suffered for us to receive such glorious joy, as spoken of in section 18!  But, likewise, we must realize what is at stake and what we're dealing with if we ignore His sacrifice, as spoken of so intimately by Christ Himself in section 19.  

I am so grateful for Christ.  I'm grateful that he has sacrificed so much for us.  I am grateful that He accepted this task and carried it out so humbly and loyally, for the salvation of all of our souls.  I know that He lives and that He is our Savior, Redeemer, and King, and that He will come again.

I love you all and I thank you for your support!  Please keep my Investigators in your prayers!

Love,

Elder Wallentine 

Ps Here's a video from the good old days and yes, we are allowed to send home videos in this mission.

Bayreuth Blizzard Blitz

Hey folks!  I'm going to try to not make this email long-winded!

This week was great!  We continue to lack a little in lessons.  Actually, in most of our key indicators, we have been continuing to lacking.  But we have added to the foundation for them and I have great hopes for this week.  We worked really hard to get potentials this week and got the most we have gotten so far, getting fifteen new ones!  We will be making lots of calls in the next few days trying to get things scheduled.  We have started already and have a good amount of lessons planned to occur for this week.  I really hope all works well!

We are going to adjust a few things this week to hit a new goal we set.  We are planning on getting TWENTY Potential Investigators.  That's more that we've gotten in any week so far but I think we can do it if we seek guidance from the Lord and really push ourselves to talk to everyone.  I really think we can do it!  

My simple request for you guys is to pray for us this week, that we will be lead to those who will accept our message, and/or that people will be lead to us.  We're going to hit the streets, busses, trains, ANYTHING, to get it done and I'd love for your help along the way!

Also, we told our District Leader, who is in a U.S. military base area, about our goal and he said if we hit it he will give us American food.  Hooray for extrinsic rewards!

Today is officially the first good snow fall I've had in Germany!  Ich freue mich darauf!

Other than that, things are going smoothly.  The work will be picking up, and I am loving it.  It's been a hard few weeks still but I would say I feel that it has also generated the most growth for me so far.  The language is going well.  Some days I feel like I can't do squat with it but most of the time I am happy with the progress.  I have been hitting all the grammar principles hard these last three weeks and am almost finished with a German textbook for it.  Learning all sorts of interesting stuff like SUBJUNCTIVE II (Speaking hypothetically with "would be" "would have" "would do" etc etc etc), SUBJUNCTIVE I (A much less useful section that is only used in the German Press as a way of unbiasedly of biasedly reporting events and quotes), PASSIVE VOICE, AND SO FORTH.  I am willing to bet you are all so enthralled by this.

I finished Alma and started Helaman this week, as well as began a new reading of the Doctrine and Covenants which I will be using about all of my lunch and dinner time with for the next little while.  I read a particularly chilling verse, at the end of Alma 47.  This speaks of the dissenters, may I particularly single out the disturbingly diabolical Amalickiah among them, of the righteous Nephites, who went and abandoned their faith and people to defect to the wicked Lamanite civilization.  It reads:

36 Now these dissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the Nephites, yea, having been instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord, nevertheless, it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more hardened and impenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the Lamanites--drinking in with the traditions of the Lamanites; giving way to indolence, and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God.

As partakers of the gospel in these last times, we are so blessed!  Never before have people been able to access so much gospel knowledge through the combination of multiple scriptural volumes, living prophets who receive modern revelation and guidance for us, holy Priesthood ordinances, and a plethora of things to follow!  We have been blessed with these things to strengthen us in these times.  Likewise, we must remember, with great power and knowledge comes great responsibility.  We are, though able to feast of the gospel through our current blessings, bombarded by the deceptive lies and evils of the world. If we are not careful, Satan will find a way to lead us out of our shelter, where we will be bombarded by his influences.  We must be ever vigilant if we are to stay strong and near to God in a world increasingly weakening and drifting away from him.  DO NOT suffer yourselves to tiptoe on the borders of sin and righteousness.  Regardless of how small a sin may seem, the moment we indulge is the moment the Holy Ghost leaves, and we become increasingly more susceptible to spiritual dangers following.

That's all I have to say for this week! I gotta blast now, though.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  Stay safe in the winter season.  Eat your vegetables and stay in school.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Wallentine