Dear Shanell,

I kind of had a hard day today because it was the day that I was supposed to go home, or at least meet my parents. Elder Jackson, one of the elders whom I came out with, had his parents come out here and get him and it was tough for me to see him go. I will get over it, though. I now have a new companion, Elder Bleyl, and he is a real great elder.

Things are going very well out here and I am thoroughly impressed with the work! Baptisms have been down in the last few months. In September we only had 3 for the whole mission and in October we had 8. So far this month we have had 15 and there are a few more scheduled and we are excited. We have made our goal of "Double Digit November" by getting double digit baptisms.

Time is going by so fast as we are engrossed in the work and forgetting ourselves. I now have a new assistant that I am serving with and he is a bit cocky at times. I asked for his help today and he just flat out turned me down. I was a bit shocked because that is not how he should have responded. I know that as we talk out our problems that he and I will both become better people. As an assistant, we do a lot of trade-offs with other missionaries and help them on their door approaches and we help them to become better missionaries and also we become better missionaries ourselves. I am learning more and more each day and President Gray told me that I could spend my last 13 days of my mission serving with Elder Adams and that we can pick our area. I am going to set a goal to achieve a record breaking door-knocking week for the history of this mission as far back as it has existed. The record now is 50 1/2 hours knocking in a week, but I want to beat that by at least 10-20 hours. That means my companion and I will have to knock for 60-70 hours straight on the doors. It will be tiring, but I have seen missionaries go home and slack off towards the end of their missions and I don't want to end my mission that way. I want to end it on a working high and I want to really get super tired from serving the Lord my last weeks especially. I know that Elder Adams and I can do it and President Gray already said that we can serve together and I am excited for that.

I had a discouraging day this week. I attended a Sister's Conference where some negativity was shared about Relief Society and how the sisters are just as great as the elders. It felt like a waste of my time and I was frustrated. Then as I was carrying in a stack of about 10 chairs into the chapel, I stepped on a slippery spot and fell on my back. I was in my brand new suit and that was all I could take. I got angry and said things I shouldn't have said. President Gray ended up coming to visit me at my flat even though it was very late. He didn't say anything fancy, but it sure made me feel better.

I know the church is true and that no matter how hard people try to prove the Book of Mormon wrong, they can't do it! I know that God lives and that Jesus atoned for our sins. I am so thankful for that and I now can honestly say that I am well acquainted with the Savior. I love him and Heavenly Father with all my heart!

Thank you for being the best and sweetest young lady a man could ask for!

Elder Wallentine