Dear Shanell,

I thought I would drop you a line and let you know how things stand in the land down under. Being in the office is really good, but it sure is tough at times because I would rather be out doing some tracting or something of that nature, but it is not always possible. I guess that is one of the sacrifices I have to make to be in here working with President Gray. I find the time going very fast and I can barely keep up with it sometimes.

President Gray asked me who would make a good assistant for when Elder Jackson goes home and I suggested Elder Adams. I may get to serve with him at the end of my mission! That would be exciting!

I think the toughest thing about being an assistant is that we are trusted with a lot of information that we are not allowed to tell anyone about and sometimes you almost bust because you can't tell any other missionaries about it. I realized the other day that I have 1225 pages in my journals. I love writing in my journal! It will give a detailed account of my childhood and also a good detailed account of my mission. I love keeping a record and writing down my personal triumphs and failings. It really helps me grow, too.

On Saturday we got up at 5 a.m. and packed our stuff and Elder Parker and I took off in the car at 6 a.m. and showed up in Berri at about 8:30. We visited with Sisters Thomas and Burwell until about 11 and then we went to Monash which is a huge playground. It was cool! We got to ride on a river ferry in our car across the Murray River. We then left Berri and saw the "giant orange" outside of Berri.

Then we drove to Mildura and completed some business with Elders Chapman and Nielsen. Before driving to Broken Hill, we stopped at the hospital to see Jesse Mott who had a heart attack. She is a member and a super lady! We left at about 6 p.m. and Elder Parker and I stopped in the desert to open our special mission-wide fast. The sun was setting and it was beautiful! As we drove, a kangaroo jumped about 20 ft. in front of us. It scared us to death! I know the Lord was with us. With some effort we found the address of the Balleys, the missionary couple we stayed with. I slept on a flat air mattress in a state called New South Wales in a city called Broken Hill on Garnet Street.

On Sunday, September 12, we attended the church in Broken Hill and the counselor in the branch presidency asked us to each speak for 10-15 minutes instead of our original plan of just bearing our testimonies. Elder Parker spoke on feeling good about yourself and I spoke on charity and serving others.

We drove back to Adelaide after the meeting and saw many frilled and blue-tongue lizards on the roads! We also saw heaps of beautiful purple flowers everywhere in the hills as we got closer to Adelaide.

I love the gospel with all my heart! Thank you for always supporting me.

Elder Wallentine