TRANSFERRED

Hey folks!

Well, this last two weeks have been pretty difficult.   All of our investigators have essentially dropped off the face of the earth, and have completely stopped answering our calls and/or answering their doors.  Unfortunately, we have lost all but one baptismal dates due to inability to meet with our investigators, and their lack of progression.  It's been sad to see, but I am also confident we have been doing all we can with them specifically, and it's simply been their choice not to move forward...for now.  Still, we will continue to meet with them in the future as often as we can because there still is a lot of potential in these people.

Well, at least my companion and his trainee with be doing that.

I am getting transferred.  After about four months of being in Oberhausen, I have been reassigned to the NUREMBERG ZONE, to the Bayreuth area!  I am both nervous and very, very excited.  The dialect there seems to be considered as essentially another language from that which I have learned here.  I'm jumping from one of the most west-ward areas in the mission to one of the most east-ward, and I expect that there is going to be a decently significant change in scenery.  

I am excited for the change, as well as the prospect of seeing people possibly wearing Lederhosen on a daily basis (I don't know for sure if this is true or not, but the rumor is that it's a pretty casual thing to wear in this part of Germany).  There's also lots of cool history in the zone that will make some good p-days.

I have heard that it is pretty spread out population-wise there, but I'll have to see.  One thing I have really enjoyed about Oberhausen was how compact it was.  I've really grown to love dooring and contacting, even if it doesn't seem to prove very profitable on a lot of days.  I hope that there will still be plenty of places in my new area to do that.

 

But yes, I really have enjoyed my time here in Oberhausen.  We have a really awesome ward here.  I've loved getting to know the people and visiting some very strong new converts.  I really think that I worked hard here, but in spite of that, I unfortunately never got to see any of the people I had set dates with get baptized.  I hope that things work out with them following my leave.  I've learned a lot here, and I hope that these next transfers will prove to be fruitful ones.  I'm trying to evaluate myself to determine how I can become a better missionary and if there's anything on my part that I've been doing to prevent success.  I hope I can eliminate any roadblocks out of my way in the next little while, but we will see.

One of the most special things about my time here has been the last few weeks as well.  We have encountered a lot of difficulties, as I stated (perhaps venting a little) at the start of my letter, but I know that this has also been a time of growth.  I was asked to give a lesson in district meeting two weeks ago about happiness, and how we can achieve it, and I spent about a week studying it.  I've found that there are many building blocks to happiness.  I would say that obedience to God's commandments is integral to that, as well as traits of gratitude, generosity, and overall selflessness.  I found plenty of other building blocks to that as well, but these are just some of the main ones I've found.  I have been trying to implement all of these things more in this last little while, and while I am not perfect in any of these categories, trying my best and praying to the Lord for peace has provided for some special feelings that I have since experienced.  I've been trying to do better to ponder lately as well, and I have realized through pondering how blessed I have been, both on my mission and life as a whole.  This realization has increased my testimony in Jesus Christ and His gospel and Atonement.  It has helped me so much to have peace and actual joy when things may even seem to be falling apart at times.  All the while, my appreciation for my mission has grown greater, and I am really excited to get into this new area and work even harder in order to achieve success.

I guess that this is really it.  It's weird to leave my first area.  It's been a wild ride.  Now it's time for the next part to begin.

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

Love,

Elder Wallentine