Dear Shanell,

On Thursday we started the program for the new missionaries that just arrived the day before. It went very well. Afterward we had a Thanksgiving lunch with the whole office staff and the new missionaries. It was quite good! We had pumpkin pie and turkey which I really enjoyed. Elder Steed and I then helped take the sister's belongings to their respective flats and had a very busy evening. President Gray talked to me later and told me that he wanted me to work out in the field with the other missionaries as much as I could. I'm excited to do that. Elder Steed and I have a goal to get out and study with at least 3 companionships per week.

On Friday we took President and Sister Gray to the airport to go to Darwin. After that we did some work in the office and had a city zone meeting which went well. Later, Elder Steed and I were on our way to David George's home when I had a feeling we should go see the Davis family. I turned the van around and went to their home. The husband had been in the hospital because of a stroke and his hearing was gone for a short time. Elder Jackson and I had visited him in the hospital a while back. They let us in and welcomed us very well. They expressed thanks for visiting him in the hospital. I was glad to see that his hearing is back and that we will be able to go back and share the gospel with them.

On Saturday Elder Steed and I got up at 5:30 a.m. and left to go open with Elders Zurzolo, Smith, Green, and Vanderhiede. When we got there at 7:30 everyone except Vanderhiede was in their robes and stuff. We told them we'd study our scriptures while they got ready. Everyone got ready except Elder Smith. He came out in his robe and I said, "We'll wait while you got get dressed." He replied, "I don't get dressed until 9:30 and I've already taken my shower." I explained that President Gray expects us to be clothed and ready to open by 7 a.m. He just looked at me and said, "Give me one good reason why I need to be ready to study in my Pros clothes." I said, "Because President Gray said so and that is all the reason we should need. Now go get dressed or I'll carry you in there to do it I have to." He then went and got dressed, but he held it against me for the rest of the morning. Later, we went tracting with Sisters Dulics and Kuhn. We placed a Book of Mormon with a lady who lives in Ceduna.

On Sunday, Mike came to church and we were so happy to see him, but he had alcohol on his breath. It was very sad. We took him home and talked to him more about the Word of Wisdom. I know if he puts forth the effort, he can get baptized. At 2 p.m. we went to the baptism of Karen Horton. Sister Benson had worked very hard with her. It was so neat. Elder Fusselman and I had committed her to baptism before, but then she ran off with a bikey and we didn't hear from her again. She is now back with her husband and they are doing well. He was excommunicated a while back and he looked very solemn throughout the service. I hope he comes around and gets rebaptized so they can go to the temple.

For P-day Elder Steed and I took the van and just looked around the city. We went to a port and saw a Soviet Union cargo ship with the hammer and sickle emblem on it. Very interesting. Then we drove to Glenelg and played video games and had lunch. We ate these Greek things called giros and they are beautiful. They have lamb meat inside a pita bread. I love them.

Later that evening, we picked up President Gray and Elders Smith and Jones from the airport, since they have just come back from Darwin and Elliot. They looked a bit bewildered and like they had been away from the city for so long. Elliot is a little aboriginal camp and Elder Jones had been there for about 5 1/2 months. Elder Smith could not stop talking about Darwin. Elder Call took his place up there. There was a lightning storm tonight and Elder Smith and I sat upon a hill and watched it. It was really neat and the air smelled so fresh. The sky gets bluer here than it does back home and also the water is a very vivid blue. The sky and water have a gorgeous blend. 

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

Things are going well here and I'm so happy to be serving a mission! I am not allowed to drive any more on my mission because this mission has a rule that missionaries aren't allowed to drive the last month of their missions. It has been great helping President Gray. I have a lot of mixed feelings about coming home. I am so excited to see everyone again, but I get really worried because I may never see some of these people again. It is kind of sad to think about. I really do feel that the experiences I have had here will help me the rest of my life and the leadership skills I have learned will carry through and help me be a better father and husband.

Last Thursday Elder Bleyl and I went to teach Mike the 3rd discussion and it went really well. We felt the Spirit strong and he has re-committed for baptism on the 29th so he can stop drinking and smoking. I know he can do it! It is so neat to be in his presence and feel the sincerity in his words and prayers. I love that man!

Then on Saturday, the Oswalds were baptized! That was amazing to see! Lance Oswald asked me, "Do you remember the time you came to me and said that you would like to see my wife and I back together?" I said, "Yes" and he said, "Well, we are now back together." It made me feel so great to think that I had something to do with his conversion and I have grown to love that family. They are great people.

On Sunday Craig Brabbyn got baptized. It was great! It went well and he was excited to come into the true church. Is is the 19 year old boy that is a bit slow that Elder McPherson, Stansfield, Jackson and I have been teaching. It was great to see that work pay off. Elder Jackson and I didn't get to stand in for him confirmation, which wasn't cool, but we just took it in stride. The Lord knows that we helped. Craig's father was not going to come at first, but he came and he was crying through the whole thing. It was touching. Supposedly, the father and his wife cannot be baptized, but I would like to follow up with them.

After the baptism, I had to go pick up my white baptismal pants from the Prospect chapel because Elder Call loaned them to a lady who was kind enough to donate them to the ward. I was not impressed, but it is okay since I got them back.

On P-day Elder Steed and I left for the Modbury zone leaders' flat with the van to go on the "Thanksgiving outing". We picked up Sisters Kofford and Reihana and Elders Zurzolo and Tehei. It was a tight fit in the van. Then we headed to Barossa Valley. Our first stop was a miniature "zoo" with wallabies, birds, and different kinds of animals. I was very fascinated with the animals of this wonderful country and am so glad I'm serving here. I love it here!

After that we went to a park and ate a picnic. There were wild Emus running around and we fed them food. They were quite aggressive and kind of like ostriches in that they eat anything, even chicken bones, and it was incredible to see how they swallow everything whole.

Then we went to "Whispering Wall" and started hiking around. The canyon was pretty steep and Elder Humphries started running down the hill. He slipped and began to lose his balance and bounced off the dam a couple of times before landing on the ground. He didn't move for a short time. Elder Wooley and I carried him back to the van and took him to the hospital. President Gray was not very happy.

On Tuesday we kicked off the "White Christmas" theme for December. We dressed in our "whites" an got really jacked up for the upcoming month. It went quite well. The sad part of the meeting was that Elder Jackson and Elder Parker are leaving. Even President Gray was quite broken up about it.

We have had about 16-17 baptisms this month and have about 5-6 more scheduled for the mission. Our yearly high was in May with 25 convert baptisms. It sure doesn't sound very great compared to some of the other missions in the world. We have to work our tails off for just one baptism. I like it better that way because it really makes us sacrifice for the success and I really feel great when someone enters into the waters of baptism. It represents a lot of work and prayer.

Being an Assistant to the President is pretty good, but I get down sometimes because we don't get to go out tracting very much. My companion and I did go tracting with some other missionaries for a couple of hours the other day. There were a lot of people that did not speak English and that made it tough to communicate with them.

I'm planning to work my hardest for the next 1 1/2 months. It feels like I want to move faster instead of slow down. I want to be able to say I worked my hardest clear up until the time I was released from my mission. Another thing I have decided I want to do is to keep my standards up to missionary standard and to keep my hair short, my clothing neat and I want to look like I should. I will not grow a beard, mustache or anything like it.

This past Thursday I did a lot of thinking about Thanksgiving and what I am thankful for. I'm so thankful for families and the love and support they give me. I'm thankful to be a member of the church. I'm thankful for the priesthood and that I can be a priesthood holder. I'm thankful to be a missionary and to have this time to serve the Lord. I'm thankful for my testimony of Heavenly Father and our Savior. I could go on forever.

Love,
Elder Wallentine

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

Dear Shanell,

This has been a super day for my companion and I. We started it off by opening with two of the zone leaders and it was really good. We then practiced with them to present the new study program that we are going to present to the mission this next Tuesday.

After that, Elder Larson, one of the zone leaders, and I went to teach one of our investigators and we committed him for baptism for November 23. He is the 2nd person we have committed for that date. It is going to be exciting to see my companion, Elder Jackson, see some baptisms before he leaves to go home. His parents are coming out to get him, and he is pretty excited. It is really tough to see him go because we were in the MTC together and we came into the mission field together.

President Gray keeps us busy and that is the way I like it. I don't want to waste any of this time while I am here serving the Lord. We don't get a lot of chances to go out and find our own people to teach since we are always in the office, so Elder Jackson and I went to our Heavenly Father and asked Him that if we couldn't find the time to find our own, that He would guide them to us. He has done exactly that! It has been miraculous to see people walk into the office and say that they want to hear the discussions. I am so excited about it all!

We were teaching a man the other day and in the middle of the discussion he looked at us and said, "You know the feelings you told me I would have as you spoke about these things? Well, I can feel them now." He also made the comment that thinking of getting baptized makes him feel all tingly all over.

We did go tracting on Sunday, November 9 and asked about three people if they were Mormons and then we said, "Why not?" like President Sonnenberg told us to do! It was funny to see how people responded.

A while back, we opened with Elder Larsen and Bleyl and they cooked us breakfast. It was pretty good except these little meat things they gave us were a bit weird tasting. They told us it was veal, but it tasted like slimy chicken to me.We found out later that it was lamb brains! We planned to get them back in the morning by not getting them back. We will show love in return and turn the other cheek. They came over for breakfast and we fed them pancakes. President Gray helped us figure out that it work best to feed them a good meal and leave them wondering. They were a little apprehensive and it worked!

The experiences that I have had out here couldn't be traded for any other experiences any where. The weather is beginning to get quite warm and it gets very hot sometimes. I appreciate you very much!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

I received your card the other day and I loved it! It really cheered me up! I am really enjoying it out here. Elder Jackson wants to type a line or so in this letter to you. Here he is: Dear Shanell. Where did you find this nut! He is a wacky guy, but I can see why you like him. He sure is a ball of fun isn't he. I actually like him a lot but I give a hard time so he thinks that I hate him. Actually, he's one of the funnest companions that I have ever had. If big Wally ever gives you a hard time like he does me all the time, just call him a ninanush with a "D" and he'll settle right down. Have a great day.

Elder Jackson and I came out together and he is already starting to pack for his departure for home. It wouldn't be too bad, except I was originally going home at the same time. I'm glad I made the decision to extend my mission, though. It is fun to go tracting with Elder Jackson and we have a lot of fun together. He says that I'm crazy but I am no where near as crazy as he is. He's fun though. We think of new door approaches to use on the doors and some of them are really funny. It will be neat to come home and to share the experiences with everyone that I have had on my mission. I have loved it heaps. The office is a busy place and we don't get much time to go out and do our own work, but we do get to help other missionaries reach their own goals and to commit people better to baptism. We have a lot of new missionaries out now so a lot of them don't know how to commit very well yet, but we're trying to teach them how with the help of the Lord. This mission is really improving in the last little while and I am convinced it is because President Gray is an inspired man and he knows what programs this mission needs now. I love working with him.

One of the new missionaries is Elder Sant from Washington. We took him to try a real Aussie meat pie and we had pie floaters again! Then we went and picked up his luggage and took him to the bus station and put him on a bus to Alice Springs. He will be on the bus for 14-16 hours. He was probably a little scared.

On Monday, November 3, we went to Flinders Ranges for p-day since we were traveling to Whyalla. Elder Spencer and I went up to go into the cave first and just as he went into the cave and I was about to, out of nowhere came a kangaroo jumping out at us. It scared the living daylights out of us! All four of us went exploring in the cave. It went for quite a ways. It was actually an old mine shaft and there were crystals all over in it. In some places we had to crawl on our hands and knees. At the bottom, we turned off our flashlights and it was total darkness. It was a weird feeling. We found another cave, but you needed a rope to enter so we didn't go in that one. The flies were really bad and buzzed around our ears, eyes and noses. We went to Alligator Gorge and spent some time. It is a beautiful place.

You mean the world to me. I know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and the truth has been restored in its fullness on the earth today. I also know that President Benson is a prophet of God. I love Jesus Christ and I have learned to know Him better than I have ever known Him before. I love Him for His great sacrifice and I want to live the kind of life that He would have me live. Thanks again for all your support!

Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

On Thursday we drove to the airport to pick up President Sonnenberg. It took us 45 minutes to get there and it is usually only a 5 minute drive. The traffic was bumper to bumper. We dropped him and his wife off at the mission home and then Elder Jackson and I had the opportunity to teach them the "Crossing the Bridge" program to them. We taught a general authority how to do missionary work! We thought that was quite funny!

On Friday we had a city-wide zone meeting with President Sonnenberg and it was excellent! I loved it! He is excellent! You listen to him for 2 minutes and you can tell he is a general authority. He is definitely a man of God. I know it! After that we had lunch provided by the Payneham Ward Relief Society--my ward. It was good! Later we met in a zone leaders meeting with President Sonnenberg and it was super! At 7 p.m. we attended seminary graduation and heard President Sonnenberg speak again.

On Saturday we drove up to Whyalla and Port Augusta with President and Sister Sonnenberg. They are super! You can feel the Spirit when you're with them. He likes to go up to people and ask, "Are you a Mormon?" When they say, "no", he asks, "Why not?" He likes to see them stammer and stutter. When we arrived in Port Perie, we got hamburgers and President Gray paid for everyone. Then we drove on to Port Augusta for the chapel dedication.

We left the dedication and headed for Whyalla and saw 2 kangaroos that had been hit by cars. About 25-30 km. out of Port Augusta, we noticed we were on empty. We decided to turn around and go back and barely made it. It seemed like the gas gauge was moving faster than we were. We filled up and headed back to Whyalla. As we drove into Whyalla, it was really weird to get the feeling that I was coming home.

At the chapel we had a tea with the Whyalla, Port Perie, Port Augusta, and Port Lincoln branches. Elders Cash, Spencer, Jackson and Sisters Wahlquist and Dewis were there. The Copes, a missionary couple, were also there. At 7 pm we had seminary graduation and President Sonnenberg and President Gray spoke, as well as their wives. It was excellent! Afterward we came back to the motel and Jackson and I showed President and Sister Sonnenberg and Gray how to work the heaters in the rooms. Then Jackson and I went for a walk to the beach. While we were walking, I heard someone yell, "Wallentine!" It was the Ernests! She had her baby last October and they were so fun to talk to.

On Sunday we had zone conference from 7 to 10 a.m. and it was very spiritual! Then we went to the Whyalla District Conference. President Sonnenberg spoke in it also, and it was very good. After I certified Sister Dewis, we left for Adelaide and stopped at KFC and President Sonnenberg bought us dinner. We arrived in Adelaide at 5:40 and came home and ate and then met all the zone leaders at President Gray's with President Sonnenberg. We got photos taken and President Sonnenberg signed my kangaroo skin!

The gospel is true!!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Shanell,

I am doing wonderful! Things are looking great here. Being an AP is a busy job. I understand now what it is actually like to have an office job. My companion now is Elder Jackson. He came out at the same time I did. We were in the MTC together. He is a super companion!

President Gray caught some of the elders playing cards at midnight and he was not at all happy! It apparently has been going on for a long time. I really don't find myself being to impressed with some of the elders, but I don't want them to get sent home, either. Elder James has been struggling and is living in our flat now. I'm going to try to help him.

We still haven't seen General Conference, but we will on October 26. I'm excited! I'm looking forward to hearing the General Authorities speak! I am super excited to hear what Ezra Taft Benson has to say on behalf of the Lord. Elder Jackson and I are excited about tomorrow. We get to teach our member missionary lesson to President Sonnenberg! A General Authority!! Is that cool!! It could be a nervous situation, but it will be worth it! It will definitely be a journal writing experience! I'm looking forward to it! I'll let you know how it goes.

We went tracting last night and it was fun! We are going back to teach a man named David next week. I'm excited!

On Saturday, September 18, I read the entire Book of Mormon! I started at 8:30 in the morning and finished at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. That is 16 hours and 48 minutes.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support, especially in extending my mission to January! It made me feel good to know that we both asked Heavenly Father about it and felt like it was the right thing to do.

I'm thankful for you!

Elder Wallentine