The Work Goes On

Hey guys!

This week has been good!  We have found a bunch of new investigators, which has been awesome, and this has probably been one of the busiest times of my mission so far in terms of the lessons we've been having.  I am hoping to continue onward with this and increasing those numbers.  I don't feel discouraged any more, which I admit I felt a little bit of that in my last letter.

  

We don't have anyone on the roster who has baptismal dates now, so the biggest thing we're doing (and the biggest thing we really can do) is trying to meet with as many people as we can.  We've been continuing to extend invitations to baptism, but we will see if anyone accepts.  In the meantime we will be working with those we already have to help them develop their testimonies unto baptism.

I saw perhaps the most majestic thing the other day.  I was speaking with two old guys on the street who, although in the end were not interested in learning more, were very friendly.  Then, ALL OF THE SUDDEN, I felt a brisk wind pass swiftly by us.  I turned around and saw a man in a wheelchair--BUT, not just any wheel chair.  He was moving much faster than any man I'd ever seen on one.  Upon further inspection, we found that his wheelchair was indeed motorized, and he was going a solid 20 mph with it.  Not only that, but in spite of the cobblestone he was riding on, he was driving perfectly smoothly--no shaking or anything, just gracefully driving--no, gliding, by.  And that was that, he flew by--he spoke not a word; he made hardly a sound.  I don't know where he is now, and heck, I don't know if anyone truly does.  But I believe he is goin' places, and that as we speak, he continues to glide across the nation of Germany.

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEK.

LONGER-THAN-EXPECTED SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

In the Book of Mormon, we read in chapter five of Helaman the story of two missionaries, Nephi and Lehi, going to preach the gospel to the Lamanites in hostile territory.  They were taken by a Lamanite army, who then threw them in prison for many days.  Following that, Lamanites entered in unto the two men to put them to death, but seemed to be astonished when they saw that the two missionaries were surrounded by fire, yet that they stood among it remaining unscathed.  Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to teach, Lehi and Nephi began to testify of God's power.  The prison shook around them, yet did not fall, and about three hundred people were surrounded by a cloud of darkness.

  

These people were, in the situation they were in, disturbed as they remained in this cloud of darkness as they found that they were in it.  Desiring it to be removed, they asked: 

"What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?"

  

The reply they received was as follows: 

"You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, [...] and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you."

These people, afflicted by the thick vapor of darkness round about them, cried unto Christ to be saved from it and forgiven.  As they did, the vapor dispelled and they were, like Nephi and Lehi, surrounded by fire, and "filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory."  

When I read this story, I thought of two things.  I will start by sharing that which is most applicable to you all.  I think of a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Hope of God's Light, where he says the following:

"It is part of our condition as mortal beings to sometimes feel as though we are surrounded by darkness.

"But even though we may feel lost in the midst of our current circumstances, God promises the hope of His light--He promises to illuminate the way before us and show us the way out of darkness."  The question of how he fulfills this promise is clearly illuminated in this scripture from Helaman 5, and all scripture for that matter: RELY ON THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST.  Christ has suffered for us so that we may be saved from the vapor of darkness that often traps us along with so much of the world.  We must learn to believe and accept His Atonement as a real power that applies in whole to us--you, me, and our brothers and sisters on the earth.  All will be made right after this life, and we can find peace in this life and eternal joy in the life to come if we choose to make Christ our foundation in all things--something you read about right before in Helaman 5:12.

This week, I have had a few personal experiences that have helped me to realize out of prayer that the Atonement truly is a power that we have the ability to access out of our own faith and reliance on Christ.  I am so glad to be making the realization for myself and that I can feel my experiences on my mission growing my testimony in Christ.  I know that through Him, we will experience a joy beyond comprehension.  I'm grateful for that and the chance that I have to share this message with others.

That was a lot of writing.  I won't explain the second part I enjoyed from this scripture until perhaps sometime in the future.

Thanks for the love and support I have been receiving!  I am very grateful for all of you and love you much.

Love,

Elder Wallentine 

We had to walk 7 kilometers home this week from a fallen out appointment and saw some nice German countryside when my companion insisted that we take a selfie.

I guess some guy found above image in space.  HMMM.   

Bayreuth Boogaloo

Hey folks!

Well, this week has been a bit of a disappointment.  We got a text Thursday morning from Bravedo, informing us that although he had enjoyed our discussions much and learned a lot, he had prayed a lot and decided that he did not want to be baptized.  That was a bit of a punch in the face to me.  We texted back asking if it would be possible to meet with him this weekend, but he never responded.  We will go by on him anyways, and perhaps a miracle could happen.  But unfortunately, it seems our remaining baptismal date has fallen through for the time being.

I feel similarly to how I felt the day Emmanuel's date got cancelled.  It really is hard sometimes to keep on going and keep things in perspective.  I think one of the hardest parts of my mission so far has been realizing that hard work in this effort, while important and even integral to our duties as servants of the Lord, still requires the agency of other people when it comes to true conversion.  I do believe that I have worked hard, as we missionaries do, to hopefully help people receive every necessary resource they need to come unto Christ--and when all is said and done, we must then wait and pray that they will choose the Lord.  Sometimes they do, other times they don't.  And if they don't, we can then take solace in the fact that we did all we could, and that there was hopefully no more that we ourselves could have done.  Perhaps this can help us to understand how the Lord and our Heavenly Father have felt as He has seen us make both good and bad decisions.  He weeps when we do bad and cause pain, but He will never obstruct our ability to choose for ourselves right or wrong.  It would be wrong for us to obstruct the agency of another, too.  Lots of people out here think that is our goal.  That is lame.  Two thumbs down.  Booooo.

But, hey, now it's time to rinse and repeat.  Tomorrow is another work day.  And the next day.  And just about each day thereafter until my time here is over.  I feel like I've been run off the road again for a little bit, but I pray to get back on it.  We're finding new potential each day and I am simply hoping we can find another person to hear us out.  Heck, we already have multiple times!  

But other than that, seriously, I would say I am doing okay.  I feel happy and at peace much of the time.  I would say I'm still loving my mission.  Homesickness hasn't troubled me much, or really at all, since the MTC still, which has been a miracle by itself.  This week has just been hard due to said situation and other feelings of stress, a bit of inadequacy and pressure from others.  But it all will pass.  I am doing what I can.  I am glad that if no one else does, the Lord sees what we are doing and I think I am proud of our efforts here.

We've gotten a pair of new investigators this week!  One is Suzan, the other is Adam.  They are both pretty cool, it seems, and I will give updates on the investigators we have once they start progressing more.

In other news, the children of Israel are getting slapped around for being punks in Numbers right now.  

Have you guys seen the new First Vision video, by the way?  I think it may be my favorite one, in a lot of categories at least.  Check it out!:

https://history.lds.org/story/first-vision

Anywho, that's all I feel like writing this week.  I hope we can get back on track.  I am hoping that this serves to be yet another testimony-building time for me here on my mission.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Wallentine 

WHEAT PILLOWS

Hey folks!

This week has been pretty good. We have been staying busy with appointments and finding activities, which I am grateful for. We had planned last week to visit Bravedo on Saturday before church the following morning, but we were unable to get a hold of him and he wasn't home. We were hoping to solidify some details about his baptism, and communicate that with the ward, but we weren't able to contact him until it was a little too pressed. We'll postpone the baptism another week, and will be working with the ward to get him there. This should allow us to plan accordingly, but man, I sure hope we can get him there. I hope I still have some sort of credibility when I postpone these things, haha, I have had to postpone them a little too much on my mission.

But yeah, anyways, we've been getting blessed with finding more people to meet with.  One of them was a lady who has moved here from Texas, named Carol, that we have taught twice now.  She says she has had a hard life, and from the sounds of it, she has.  She's an awesome lady and seems open to much of what we have taught, except for baptism, as she has expressed to us that she feels it unnecessary to be baptized again. We had a lesson on Priesthood authority, but I think she still believes what she previously expressed.

We also met with an awesome man from eastern Europe, named Thomas. He is super friendly to us.  He is very strong in his faith in the Catholic church, and we had a solid first lesson with him this past week about the Restoration.  Although he is very devout, he was very respectful and open to our message and said that he would read in the Book of Mormon.  He told us that if he received an answer, he would be baptized, but says he doesn't know when that will be and didn't want to set any specific date naturally because of that.  Hey, that is all we can ask, right?  That is all we need to ask, really.  We'll see what happens.

I'm getting more creative with my meals right about now, because I'm tired of living off of salami sandwiches, bratwurst, and Nougat Bits.  OH RIGHT.  I've totally forgot to explain Nougat Bits to you guys.  It's the greatest cereal I've ever had.  The package description, when translated, says: CHOCOLATE-FILLED WHEAT PILLOWS.  Actually, I will leave you guys with that.  Just trust me when I say this cereal is great.  But the Kellogg's version isn't good at all.

I'm continuing my study with the Old Testament and Book of Mormon.  I've also been reading more General Conference talks to provide a little more variety.  It is refreshing, although our scriptures are simply wonderful and cannot be replaced, to hear the words of modern prophets.  I would say that a little bit of focus in our modern-day scripture is a very good thing for us, combined with our studies of the Book of Mormon and other standard works (I might be preaching to the choir) (I might have been doing that this whole time).  

Perhaps my favorite talk from last General Conference was "O How Great the Plan of Our God!" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  I re-read that yesterday and would just like to share this quote concerning our day of judgment after this life:

"That Day of Judgment will be a day of mercy and love--a day when broken hearts are healed, when tears of grief are replaced with tears of gratitude, when all will be amde right. Yes, there will be deep sorrow because of sin.  Yes, there will be regrets and even anguish because of our mistakes, our foolishness, and our stubbornness that caused us to miss opportunities for a much greater future.

But I have confidence that we will not only be satisfied with the judgment of God; we will also be astonished and overwhelmed by His infinite grace, mercy, generosity, and love for us, His children.  If our dsires and works are good, if we have faith in a living God, then we can look forward to what Moroni called 'the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge.'"

I am grateful for the prospect that we can and will be forgiven by God for our faults, so long as we strive for humility and repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  From another talk from October 2016, we are told that we should continue doing our best, repenting of our mistakes, and never excusing, hiding, or justifying sin.  I sure hope that one day, as we stand before God, we will feel worthy and happy to be there, and be made truly clean through the Atonement and mercy of Jesus Christ.

That is all I've got for you today!

Have a great week.  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Foofoo

Hey guys!

It's been another great week in the good old Bayreuth Battlefield!  We've been continuing to work hard with trying to find new investigators and have been finding as many as we can.  Our pool of people has been growing and we've found a couple of new investigators this week.  Bravedo is out of town, but we have just finished teaching him everything up through Laws and Ordinances, which means we will be trying to schedule the baptismal interview with him for this next week.  I'm praying and hoping that things with that go well.  If they do, we will be having a baptism on the 18th.  I'm worried a bit generally, but also confident that he is ready and repentant--he just needs to recognize that.  Keep him in your prayers!

Training is going well.  One note is that there is probably nothing so far in my mission that has opened my eyes more up to things I need to work on than this, which is very interesting.  My focus of development for the next little while is going to be on patience and humility--haha, both things that take a lifetime to develop.  But anywho, training is a very awesome experience and even though it can be difficult in its own unique ways, it is a blessing to be able to and I'm grateful for that.  ALSO, shoutout to my awesome trainer, Elder Warner, back in the day.

One thing that I have realized is that I have neglected to mention a lot of things about the culture here--probably one of the only things people actually want to read about.  I apologize for that, and so this week will be a special week.  I shall now make a brief account of some major points and events that have happened here in the past...--well, mission.

-I eat Bratwurst on an almost daily basis.  That is, I have been, until I have recently acknowledged perhaps out absolutely unhealthy that is.  So I have been mixing it up a little.  However, it may be too late for me.  We will see.  There are many types of Bratwurst in this land.  White ones, grayish ones, brown ones, blue ones, red ones, some as big as your head, some that walk, some that talk, some that fly and some that cry.  No, but seriously, there are a lot.  Some of my favorites are called weisswursts, which are very popular in Bavaria.  Haven't had some since Christmas, but eh.

-This isn't necessarily German culture, but I haven't had fufu/foofoo since my first transfer.  Fufu is an African dish, which is (don't know how to explain it exactly) basically just very thick mashed potatoes with usually an array of meats and other things found in the fridge in the moment, including the occasional cow tongue from what I hear.  It is also spicy.  I look forward to the day of eating it again...minus cow tongue.  I SWEAR, it tastes better than it sounds, if it's done right that is. I am not pulling out a very compelling argument but you gotta bear with me.

-The German language is my favorite.

-Sauerkraut is good here

-Mustard is actually good here

-Kellogg's cereal is mediocre here.

-The people here are awesome and often times interesting.  I could take 5 emails explaining the experiences I have with that but I will save that for someday when I get home.  But the young people we encounter especially are often times super nice and cool and I love speaking with people about in my age group about the gospel because I feel they are that much more receptive.

Okay.  I have to admit.  Perhaps that hasn't highlighted the culture as much as I would like.  I will try to share stuff now on for a week to week basis concerning the culture here.

I hit Leviticus last night in the Old Testament.  The reading so far has been very interesting.  I am focusing primarily on symbolism throughout it for Christ and His Gospel, and there is a lot of awesome symbolism that we read about in Exodus about the tabernacle.  But any who, I have also learned from reading the Bible that, although it is a wonderful testament for Christ, the purity and simplicity of the Book of Mormon is simply powerful and I know that the Book of Mormon has been brought to the world in these times so that it can strengthen our faith in Him, even in discouraging periods of time where many lose their faith.  It is a light and source of strength so that our hearts will not fail us in these times.

This is all I feel like writing for now!  Have a great week!  I will work hard FOR YOU GUYS.  Best regards to the friends and family back home!

Love,

Elder Wallentine 

A L M O S T. A L L. M E N.

Hey folks!

 

This week has been good. We were able to see Emmanuel, Bravedo, and Emmanuel's friend, Daniel, at church this past Sunday, which made me really happy.  I was really worried that us not being able to baptize Emmanuel for the time being would have driven him away from wanting to come to church, but luckily he has told us that he loves coming, and will continue to keep coming as long as he can!  That was pretty cool.

 

Well, I don't have a whole lot to write about in particular though. Carnival was this week, which is apparently a German holiday where people dress up in costumes and wander around. Apparently people will try to cut your ties off (if you are wearing them) and kiss you on the cheek. Luckily that hasn't happened so far. Respect to people who are fearless enough to do that to random people. Missionaries should learn how to be that fearless. But, of course, in different ways.

 

We got Bravedo's date pushed to the 18th of March!  Please be praying for him to be ready by that time!

 

I finished the Doctrine and Covenants just yesterday for the second time on my mission! That was a very cool read-through.  I believe that my testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God really grows each time I read from it.  One powerful section is section 121, which is a letter and revelation written during the prophet's time in Liberty Jail.  We read as follows:

 

34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?

35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson--

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.

39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile--

This is excellent insight and counsel written in a time of dire need for both Joseph and the members of the church collectively.  It is counsel that is fundamental for all, especially those who hold the Priesthood, and power of God. We have, and feel, authority from that power as we have and/or have access to it, but it is useless to us on an individual level when we lack the principles of righteousness in our lives, (as the now-familiar example of authority being the engine to a car and our worthiness and righteousness being the keys demonstrates).  As a missionary, I am ordained to the office of an Elder, and am authorized to preach the gospel and perform other actions through Priesthood authority, power, and administration. However, it is possible to be ordained and to yet lack power. If I, as the scripture says, seek to cover my sins to Priesthood leaders or the Lord, gratify vain ambitions by being obsessed by gaining positions of leadership, seek to exercise unrighteous dominion in any image, or act unrighteously in any general way, I lose that power of the Priesthood, and probably the power of the Holy Ghost as well, that fuels the work we do constantly.

  

We learn as well that it is the nature of almost all of us as human beings to seek these things at times, at differing capacities, but almost all of us nonetheless.  Now the progress continues as we all personally try to perfect ourselves through the elimination of pride, anger, hate, and sin, and the development of long suffering, love, gentleness, meekness, and so forth. I wish you all good luck, and pray that we all together can one day overcome our weaknesses. 

 

I think I already focused on this scripture in an MTC email, perhaps.  But it is a really good one. In other news, as I have completed Doctrine and Covenants twice and the Book of Mormon about five times since the start of my time here, I decided to give the Bible a bit more love and will now be focusing more heavily on the Old Testament as I continue my study of the Book of Mormon. This should be fun. I look forward to doing a more in depth and dedicated personal study than I did this previous year in seminary.

 

I love you all!  I appreciated the continued birthday wishes and for the support I have received!

 

Love,

Elder Wallentine

The district: episode 3: coming soon

Very cool Lutheran church we found today