Hey Everyone!
This week has been insanely hectic! Those two words are crazier
than I meant to write them down as, but I'm committed to the phrase now that
it's already typed. We have been running around from place to place, trying to
teach one appointment to another to another and another. It's been another busy
week in a great part of my mission. We are continuing to do our best balancing
splits and other responsibilities with the state of our area as well. It's been
a whole lot of fun and we're seeing progress.
Since I've been companions with Elder Crossley, a string of odd events has
occurred, more-so than with any other companion. You know already the tale of
the soapbox preaching to the high teenagers, or strictly "jungs" (yooongs) as we
call them. We had an old man walk up to us on the street, do a little jig in
front of us, stick his fist out for a fist-bump, and then run away. We have run
into the jungs again, twice, since the incident, and we have also gone into
some...dark...parts of town. One guy let us into his house, who then began
laughing loudly and performing magic tricks for us. He had writing all over his
walls--illegibly, mind you--and old children's coloring pages and pictures taped
everywhere. In one room, we caught a glimpse of a large color clown,
scribble-drawn on the wall. We quickly showed the "prince of peace" video,
after which he bade us to allow him to watch again. We left with a prayer, and
walked out of the apartment, hearing him laugh as he shut the door.
So yeah, that is that.
In other news, we were able to find some cool new investigators by the end
of last week. Unfortunately, many of our follow-up appointments have fallen out
for now, but we are trying regardless. Hopefully we will be able to meet with
some more people. We are having a bunch of appointments per week though! We've
tripled many of the numbers that I had at the start of my mission, and it's fun
to see the progress made both in ourselves as companions and the area in which
we serve. It's a blast and I'm still somehow enjoying helping the zone out. I
have sent out a letter to the zone this past week about using time wisely and
have set some goals for the zone to seek to accomplish it. We will see how it
goes. I know if we all truly work and focus on that we can baptize more and
overall be more efficient people.
Today, we visited an old mine/cave located in a place called Homburg ( not
Hamburg :( ). It was pretty fun and we finally saw some rain, which made the
hike to and fro better.
One thing I learn about the Restoration of the Gospel is that God is the
same now as he was yesterday, and that he will remain the same forever. In the
Old and New Testaments, we may read stories such as Moses parting the sea,
Elijah calling down fire from heaven, Jesus feeding the 5,000, or healing the
sick, raising the dead, and causing the blind to see, and think of a common
question among people today: "why don't we see this happening more often
today?". The first thing is that miracles do still happen, we just don't notice
them. The second thing is that when we don't notice the miracles in our life,
and when we seem to think that God has stopped with His miracles, we may have to
do a re-evaluation of our own faith. In Moroni 7, Moroni answers the question
clearly as to if miracles have ceased:
"37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are
wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore,
if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of
unbelief, and all is vain."
I hope that we can all look forward with hope and faith for the coming of
Jesus Christ. That time is truly near! We need to all improve our faith and
prepare. There will be many difficulties that will test all of us in the
future, but if we make the arm of the Lord our strength, we will be blessed with
miracles. It is important to remember: miracles come from faith, not faith from
miracles. I know that God is still a God of miracles and he loves and cares for
us. I hope that I will be ready when I meet him again someday.
I love you all! Thanks for the love and support!
Elder Wallentine
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