Hey guys! (I mean, uhh...dutchmen)

It sounds like things are going very well there, and I want to assure that conditions there it sounds like are not too different from a lot of them here. I've been so blessed with apartments so far on my mission. I went on exchanges to another part of north Philly, and we saw 9 different mice and a full size rat run across the combined living room/kitchen. It was pretty nuts, it's definitely different from Idaho, so I'm sure there's a shock factor in moving to Belgium.

I love the mission! This has been a very hard week. It's been a long time since I've been blessed with a baptism, and I couldn't seem to figure it out. Finally, after days of asking for an answer, I got it. It would be fine. Then, on Sunday, we got an incredible woman at church, with her 9 year old granddaughter. I'm so excited for them. She had visited the church for a year earlier in 2005, so she's already familiar. And when we asked her if she ever got baptized, there's nothing like hearing her reply, "unfortunately, no."  I'm so stoked about her, just keep on praying for us and the people here. I like N Philly a lot more than west, it's a lot less stressful, but there is still a lot of work to do, (especiamente con mi espanol.)

I love the mission, I'm so excited for this next week, it's going to be a lot of fun. We did a service project the other day, and it was a lot of fun. We did landscape restoration at a local park, so it was right up my alley. It was a good time.

I love this gospel, and we have seen so many miracles it's too incredible to even get started to tell you everything. One interesting thing though, is the concept of opposition. I never quite understood it until this week. There are a lot of rumors around these parts about the church anger African-american people, in one way or another, and many never miss an opportunity to bash on the church. It's nbd though, we don't pay much attention. But I noticed one thing; when I was at home, sure, I knew it was all true, but there was really no opposition. no anti people, no real opposition. But the real testimony, the real conviction, begins I'm realizing, when someone on the street looks you in the eye, and tells you "you've been mislead.", or "You need to do your research."
and I can tell them, "I HAVE! and GOD told me that it's true! Who's been giving you your research?"

It's so interesting to see what happens in their heads, it's pretty funny.  I know it's true, and the work of God will never stop. I've said it once, and a guy on the street actually told us this week too, that the church must be true, if it wasn't, us 19 year old kids on the front lines would have messed it up already.  I know it's all true, and the blessings are real! I love you guys, thanks for all of your support!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

PS-Pigeon tastes a lot like chicken, I found out this week. It's not bad, but kind of gummy. Tastes good in Chinese food though. I don't know why they try to tell us it's chicken, even I can tell the difference.