Dear Family,

Everything is going great here in the mission. We just baptized a family yesterday of four!

Things are going great and we have 3 more baptisms scheduled for next Saturday! It is really exciting here in the mission field. About tithing--I know it is a real and a true principle. One of our baptisms next week was about to lose his house. He was going to be evicted on the 25th, so he was going through some really tough times. His job wasn't giving him enough hours, and he couldn't survive without working 7 days a week. He told us he couldn't come to church because he found a job he could get extra hours at. We promised him that if he declined the job and paid his tithing, he would receive a job within the next week that would pay all his expenses, get him out of debt, and give him work Monday-Friday. The next day, after he had committed to come to church, God must've known his commitment was sincere because he got another job working weekdays and is currently getting out of debt and keeping his apartment. The blessings are real and it's so exciting to see lives turn around when they follow the commandments.

I have a funny story for you. We knocked into a young man last week who readily let us into his apartment. Something seemed a little strange with him, like he didn't get out much or something. As we talked with him, we found out what it was. He has the Bible memorized! He was brilliant! The problem was that he knew it. He shortly became more set on showing us how much he knew than having a discussion with us. As we were leaving, I commented on how nice his apartment was. He had a huge HDTV with a PS3, Nintendo Wii, all the new stuff. Just as we were walking out the door, he said, "Wait, I have something for you". He walked into his back room and pulled out a Nintendo Game Cube. I told him I didn't want to take it from him, but said he was on his way out to throw it away. I told him he could probably make a pretty penny off it, and I didn't want to take it for free--nor did I want to buy something like that out here. He said selling it was too much trouble and he had no use for the silly thing any more. I tried to decline again, but he hastily put it in my arms, and went to go get a bag for it. I really didn't know what to do. As you already know, I have no use for it right now, but i's got some pretty cool games the kids would really like. I sent it home today, so it should be getting there pretty soon. I think the kids will have a lot of fun with it.

Things are going absolutely great here and the entire mission is seeing ridiculous amounts of miracles and success. I love the mission field. Thanks again for all you've done to help me. I couldn't be here without you.

Love,
Elder Wallentine