Dear Family,

Mission life is great now that I have a companion that wants to work!  He's from Texas and he is a pretty good guy!We have a goal of door-knocking more hours than any other companionship from October 28 to November 3! With the Lord's help, we can do it! There are discouragements out here. I appreciate the poem about not quitting! It says, "When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you're traveling seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh. When cares are pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don't you quit!" It has helped me a lot! I guess if we didn't have the bad times, we would not appreciate the good. We just had our two investigators ask us not to bother coming back. We are still going back to one of them. We don't give up that easy.

Nobody back there has been writing to me. The only people still writing to me is my family, Carmacks, Randalls, and occasionally, your family. I guess everyone is pretty busy. I really do wish the members would take time out and write though! Maybe a mission shows who your true friends are.

The weather is starting to warm up here. We are just going into summer. It will be weird to spend Christmas in the summer. I really enjoy reading my scriptures and am in Corinthians now. Today we had a correlation meeting with the ward mission leader and we straightened out the area handbook. Today has been busy! I loved it! We tried to get a hold of some people named Bob and Alice Rose to invite them to church. They weren't home so we left a note saying we would drop by tomorrow.

I appreciate all the support you give me. I love my mission and know the church is true!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

Thank you for the goodies! My companion is still Elder Pruett and he is dead against tracting, or any other type of work. I've gotten him out a couple of times, but he's not very cooperative in that way. All he wants to do is listen to music and read his Sports Illustrated. Right now he is listening to "Born in the USA". We aren't supposed to listen to rock music, but he gets sick of me putting in my Mormon Tabernacle Choir tape. It is rather frustrating because I want to teach and baptize people. I hope my next companion likes to work.

The people that said they would come to church didn't come and I am rather curious why. We are going to check up on that, I hope. The blind elder I told you about is now with Elder Todd Herrera. I think you know him. Elder Shawn Crosgrove is going home on Friday, October 25.

Thank you for all your support!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

I haven't received letters for quite a while and just found out why. The Sydney mail system has been on strike! I will be getting a new companion in one week. My current companion has been in this area for 6 months, so he will definitely be getting moved. I really enjoyed him as a companion. I think I already will welcome this transfer though. He is Elder Pruett and he loves missionary work if you leave out the "work" part. He is a super guy, but he still doesn't like working. He is a recent convert and usually they work the hardest. Oh well.

Remember the elder I sat on? When I was with him, he would always drive and go out of our area. I explained to him that we would get our car taken away if he din't quit. Well, I found out 2 days ago that he was caught out of his area and he no longer has a car. I can't believe some of the stupid things missionaries do out here. I'm not perfect, but some missionaries go overboard! This is a pretty rowdy mission. In our district, we have a motto: "Don't be a nerd. . . be obedient". It is working well. When somebody does something not in line with the rules, we just look at them and say, "Elder, you shouldn't be a nerd!" It is working as stupid as it may seem.

We have 2 investigators and both are not progressing very well right now. Faith is the key. Well, all in all I love my mission! A mission is where I have to be now to make my Heavenly Father happy. I love serving Him and I'm grateful for your support.

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

I really enjoy all your letters and your support for me out here! We are teaching a lady named Allison Randall and we went to teach her again on the 10th of October, but she was gone. We have 2 people that we met knocking that said they would come to church, too! We just need to work with them. I am so excited for this work!

I have had an interesting experience that has taught me the importance of being an example. When I came to Christies beach, the area I'm in now, my new companion, Elder Pruett did not go tracting at all. He didn't study, he was always swearing and was always watching television. As you know, I got very tired of him being so lazy so I decided that since he is senior companion, I would just try to set an example. I started by praying and studying in front of him. I then suggested that we go tracting more. I also recommended that he not watch his television since it is against rules to even have one. Guess what? He is up-to-date on his scripture reading now and he doesn't swear hardly at all! He is still very reluctant to go tracting, but I'm still working on that. Being an example is probably the best way to get someone to do what's right. I'm learning heaps out here! There are a lot of rules, but I am learning obedience for sure!

I set a couple goals in October and each time I keep them, I give myself a star on a chart I made. I guess I must get a thrill from putting stars on a piece of paper! Our zone leaders came by the other day and asked me how mnay mission t-shirts I wanted. I said two. One for me and one for you! Won't that be fun!

I am trying my hardest out here! I am 100% on my mission! I love this work! I love writing in my journal and am on the 300th page. I love serving my Father in Heaven! I love Jesus Christ! I love serving in His church.

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

The missionary work is picking up in this area. We taught a lady yesterday and it took 2 hours for one discussion. I thought it went really well! My companion, Elder Pruett, is still being really lazy. He is the senior companion and he doesn't like tracting so he just sits in the flat and sleeps. I'm not out here to sleep so I just read our study while he's sleeping. He will probably be getting transferred on October 24 so I'm still hoping to train a new elder. I really get along with Elder Pruett, but I hate to see a super missionary like him get lazy! He has excellent potential. Our mission president just came over yesterday morning and talked with us. He just wanted to know how we were doing.

On Wednesday, October 2, myself and Elder Adams were on our way to his flat and he was driving. He didn't see a bicyclist coming down the hill and when he went to turn, a guy ran into my side of the car and his hand came through the window and glass went in my face. Elder Adams quickly slammed on the brakes and we both got out. The guy had flipped over the car and his bicycle landed on top of him. We took the bicycle off of him and his hand was bleeding from about 75-100 cuts. His arm was definitely broken and he was in sort of a mild shock. Someone went and phoned the ambulance and while we were waiting, we put a tourniquet on his arm to stop the bleeding and just directed traffic and kept him calm. We covered him in a blanket ad then the ambulance came and took him to the hospital. The police came and Elder Adams had to give a report of what happened. I never thought I would use what I learned in scouting, but I was grateful to know what to do. We went and visited him in the hospital and he is okay. He just has a broken arm. Elder Adams asked him if he would like to know about the church and I think they are going to try to teach him What a way to ask someone the golden question. The guy's name is Keith Dalton and he is really nice. He is 20 years old. Both Elder Adams and I are okay except I have a few cuts but nothing real serious.

I guess I'll say bye for now.

Love,
Elder Wallentine