Hello family,

This was quite the week. We had a lot of people fall out for church on Sunday, and that was kind of a downer. Earlier this week, we went over to visit Jim and his wife, with his home teacher. Jim answered the door, and he was scared to even talk to us with his wife home. We don't know what happened, but he's really not happy with us teaching him anymore; not much we can do about that, either. Just keep Jim in your prayers. That night we prayed for a miracle. We had nobody to teach, all of them had fallen out. We really needed somebody to start teaching.

The next time we went tracting we found an African woman named Zailag. We taught her about Joseph Smith, and it made perfect sense to her! She's excited to come to church. We got a call this morning, too, about a man that is being taught up in N. Philly by the Elders Quorum President up there. He lives in our area and has been taught by the Doylestown missionaries. We have a chance to go help him move on Saturday, which is a real miracle. It is really cool to see these little answers to prayers that happen. The mission is going really well, and I am excited to go see this guy on Saturday!

Next week we have a special zone conference on Thursday, so our p-day is on Wednesday that week only. I love you guys, and good luck to Ryan!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Hey there,

The Spanish branch in our area has grown a lot in the past few months. It's almost doubled in how many people show up. It was interesting when the missionaries there started to focus on reactivating priesthood holders, how the priesthood holders went on to help build the kingdom in their own lives, and the branch really took off!

The mission has changed a lot recently. With President Fillmore, we had a chance to go out and tract for 5-9 hours, every day. That was it. Find. Teach. Hopefully baptize. But missionary work here has changed a little bit. I'm having a chance to learn to do something I am not very used to.
In school, I feel like I understood most of the stuff pretty well. Well enough to do everything on paper and back some of it up with actual common sense. At work, I could sit and dig trenches for hours without giving it much thought, just getting it done. The mission is forcing me to learn something new; imagine that.  That is, working SMARTER. It's not something I'm too good at, but it's making me think that's something God wants me to learn. It's funny how that kind of thing works.

We had a pretty great week this week. The ward has really opened up to us. The bishop said he was willing to make up a "fake meeting" on a Sunday night, just to help one of our investigators get to know the ward, because she works on Sunday. The whole leadership is trying to help us to help Jim, too. The auxiliary leaders went to a concert this week in Rosetree Park, and Jim and his family went along with the party. It's so great to see them working together, and missionary work goes so much smoother that way. Please continue to keep Jim, Nancy, and Mimi in your prayers. The work here is doing wonderful, and keep up the good work over there! I love you!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear Mom,

Thanks so much for your help with the ticket. It was a road we had biked 1,000 times before, and my first time driving it I didn't recognize the 'no left turn' sign. It was a stupid mistake, but we were safe. Thanks a bunch for that, though.

Jim's wife got home from Chile on Monday, so we are all (the ward, ward mission, and missionaries) hoping everything works out well with her! Keep Jim in your prayers still!

The quote you gave me really is true. when we live to have "hope for a better world" beyond this one, everything in this life seems brighter too. There's just so much that comes from a good life here on earth. It goes by fast, as does the mission. I woke up the other day and realized it was my 17 month mark! It FLIES by!

My companion got poison ivy last week, and the swelling is just beginning to go down in his face. It was pretty hard for him, and it freaked a lot of people out at their doors, but he is getting better now.

Things here are going really great, and the ward here in Broomall is doing fantastic! There's a family here with a son serving in Boise; Elder Carl Meaders. I thought that was pretty funny, he just got transferred to Melba, ID.  Quite a different mission area, huh?

I love you guys, thank you so much for all your help. You guys are absolutely wonderful, and I love you so much!

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Hey there mom and dad,

Things are really going great here in the mission! We just changed a couple things in the mission. P-day is now on Thursdays, so sorry about not getting an email to you on Monday. That was my fault. From now on, I will  only have a shot to use the computer on Thursday mornings. We also moved apartments, from Chester to Media, PA. It's a really nice place, and it's a lot quieter than the last apartment. Last night was the first in a long time that I didn't hear all kinds of noise outside. We are in a lot better location now, and I like it a lot.

We are teaching a really great guy named Jim, and he is really progressing. His wife is a member, but she isn't too happy about the church. She is coming home from vacation soon, so keep Jim in your prayers. He's doing great, and he is really getting a testimony of the gospel. Last night we helped him jump his car, and the week before that we helped another member change a tire, put in a ceiling fan, and put down some floor molding. It was pretty cool, I could remember how to do those things from dad teaching me in our other house! It was a lot of fun, and a really good service project.

I got a traffic ticket this past week, and I need your guys' help.  The mission office took care of it for now. I'm so sorry about this, it was $108.00. The mission office paid the ticket, but they need us to pay it back by August 7th. Thanks so much for your help, I'm sorry.

I love you guys, we'll talk to you later!

Love,
Elder Wallentine