Elder Brandon Wallis

Tuesday, September 23, 2014 11:57 AM

Hey so a lot has happened! haha. I am in El Paso and it's AWESOME!!! The apartment is what you probably saw online. It is like a resort! I want to swim so bad in the pool here. It's one of the nicest pools I've seen in a while! ahhhh!!!! The weather has been awesome. We've had a lot of rain and it's pretty humid. I kind of like the change! I feel like I'm in Florida... I'll be sure to look up Mike! I was really excited when I got called down here because of that soul reason! My companion is Elder Hill. We're a little rushed this week, so I'll have to upload some more pictures and videos next week. I'm in a car share area, which is awesome! I get to bike for a week and then have a car for a week. Because we're all the way down here, I wasn't able to get my bike :/ so I'm using one that is already here, which isn't bad. The roads here are flat. I'm actually using a fixed gear bike right now. Kind of fun! I'm going to need to buy some cages for the pedals so I can stop better though... our investigator pool is ok... a lot of them have been taught for a long time and none of them are progressing. Looks like this area had plateaued pretty bad. That's usually when they do a transfer though for new ideas and new methods of work. So I'm here to shake things up a bit.

Yesterday was Temple day!!! So I drove all the way down to El Paso only to drive back up to Albuquerque on Monday haha. A member drove us up there though, so I got to sleep! It was a super cool trip. I learned so much, and I'm so glad I wrote it all down last night, because I can't remember it all off the top of my head anymore! The biggest things that stood out to me were the need to go to the Temple as often as possible. I have a goal of when I get home to go weekly. Because I need the blessings of the Temple, especially with the decisions and big life changes that will be happening when I get home. President Miller made us a promise that if we go to the Temple weekly then we will be better students, better employees, and we will receive confirmations and guidance for the big decisions coming up in our lives such as schooling, career, and marriage. I also pondered on my purpose as a missionary. I know my purpose and it's to invite others to come unto Christ, but with this last trip it gave that purpose a deeper meaning. I'm to invite others to come unto Christ ALL THE WAY. Not just baptism, or church, or read scriptures for a bit, but to make it to the TEMPLE!!! Elder Bednar says the only reason we baptize is so we can go into the Temple. In a way that is true! We need to be clean in order to enter God's house, that is through Baptism.

Well, it's been a crazy week! It was also Stake Conference here, so I was able to see all the missionaries down here in the Stake. Which was AWESOME!!! Lots of friends that I haven't seen in a while. Just like my areas in the past I know I'm here in El Paso for a reason, or reasons. It's always exciting to find what or who that reason is! In every area I've had I can name at least one person that I felt like I was there specifically for, and people that were there or companions that were there specifically for me. The mission is the refiners fire, it's a microcosm of life. There are many growing pains in the mission, but that's the exciting part. I've learned so much, and have so much more to learn! It's been amazing to be able to go all over the mission, to experience the culture in each area. I love this church, and this gospel. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and that He is our older brother. I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us enough to allow us to go through the pain of life to be able to become like Him. I know that the Temple is the house of the Lord. He walks those halls. I love this work, and I love the fact that I don't ever have to stop doing it. Every member a missionary.

I love you all! As far as a care package, I need to buy some more pants... Alamo kinda destroyed some of them and the biking has been pretty hard on them too haha. Cliff bars are great, and anything else you want to throw in there haha. Thank you!!!

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis leaving the Alamo Reservation

                                        PEACE!!

Elder Brandon Wallis

August 28th

Alright, so we had transfers! As you know... and my new companion is...(drum roll).... Elder Hafoka! He's been out about 4 months, and he's straight from Tonga! His English is a little rough, but he's learning pretty quick. The Native's here seem to love him. We get along just fine, and we've had some great success already! We have 7 investigators with a baptism date. Dale, Kahora, Vangela, and Brooklyn have a goal for the 23rd! Evon and Harvis have a date for the 30th. Audree Johnson has a date for the 23rd. All of them have some things that they'll need to work on and change, but many of them are sincere and have a desire to change. We've been able to start teaching some less actives, and some of them are making some good progress now too. We even got this older lady Sadie to church! She hasn't been in a while! It was awesome to see her come. So Dale and his family were taught the Plan of Salvation yesterday, and I have to say, it was a very spiritual lesson! They lost a son about a year ago, his name is Dallas. Not only did he pass away, but he was murdered by some supposed "friends". This has been really hard on the family. Yesterday was also the first time that we taught the Mom. When we told her that her son was safe in the Spirit World she was so happy, starting to get teary eyed. Then we told her that she and her entire family, including Dallas, could be sealed together for time and all eternity she started bawling. After the lesson we recommitted everyone in the family and committed her to being baptized on the 23rd. If they continue doing what they are doing, they'll be a wonderful asset to the rest of the Branch.

So today is going to be the best P-Day of my mission! Not only do we get to go play Zone Sports, I got permission from President Miller to go back to Ladera West to Baptize Kiley!!! It's Heather's daughter. Her father finally gave her permission to be baptized and she requested that I come back and do it! I didn't think it would be allowed but I promised them I would at least ask, and to my surprise President said yes!!! This also means that it's going to be a lot of driving today... but totally worth it. I'll try and send some pictures real soon. This was a big transfer for this Zone. Every companionship has changed except for two! This is also the biggest Zone in the Mission! It'll be fun playing bball with new people. Oh, hey Dad! I got my six pack back!!! I'm working hard and eating heathly! Thank goodness I haven't been sick either for a long time now! Knock on wood...

I love you all! Have fun on the rest of your vacation! Time is flying by! It's starting to cool off nicely here, and we're well into monsoon season, so we get rain fairly often.

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

                                            Elder Wallis on the Reservation!

July 23, 2014

Hey family! There's tarantulas out here! Lots of snakes too. I killed one by our trailer. I'm working on getting a rabbit... and catching a lizard. Some of the lizards get up to a foot or longer! We also had a calf get into the church lot. It snuck around the cattle guard! So me and Elder Ah Loy went and cornered it and tackled it to the ground and walked it out of the lot. That was an adventure!

                                               Cows come to the Church on the Reservation

There's a Womanhood Ceremony this week, and the Navajo's are wanting the belegaana gamalii's (white Mormons) to slaughter the sheep for the event on Saturday!  Apparently its quite an honor to do it for a big event like this. They don't use guns to slaughter sheep out here though... They slit their throats and rip the head off... I'll admit I'm a little nervous.

                                           Baptisms on the Reservation

Julia, Lyn, and Suzie Johnson were baptized and confirmed this last weekend! It's a really cool story of how we found this family. At the beginning of the transfer our Stake President called us and told us that we needed to have a goal of getting three baptisms this transfer. We thought it was a good goal, and started fasting and praying that we would find three people that were prepared to enter the waters of baptism this transfer. Later on, we went teaching with a member of the branch and he brought us to this family's home. Just like everyone on the Reservation, he was related to them somehow! We taught them the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them to baptism. We set a goal with them for about 3 weeks out, and they kept all their commitments to make that date. This family was prepared and willing to make changes to allow God's influence into their lives. I'm so happy that I've been able to be a part of all of that! There is a brighter spirit about their home now. They are happier. Everyone wants to be happy in this life, and it's great to see people figure out that through Jesus Christ is how we can be the happiest. I know this Church is true. I know that in this Church, Jesus Christ's Church, we have the fullness of His Gospel restored again. This came about by people just like you and me that were willing to act on promptings and commandments of the Lord. People that asked questions and sought diligently for answers. I have had some incredible tender mercies as I have dedicated myself more and more fully to this Gospel. Faith is a verb. We act using our faith, to repent and make covenants with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. We are blessed to have the immeasurable power of the Atonement at our disposal when we come short. Jesus Christ doesn't make up the difference. He makes ALL the difference. We don't push through life on our own until we're tired and worn down and then pass off our load to the Savior. He is there the entire time pulling with us. IF we are willing to humble ourselves and ACT on our faith and USE the Atonement. I'm now down to 6 months left on my mission. It's a real bummer! I feel like I have finally figured it out, and it's coming to a close. The people here on Alamo need this light in their life. I am called as a messenger to bring them that light and invite them to plug in their faith so it can illuminate their lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So this is what I will do. Until my Stake President takes my tag off I will serve as a called representative of our Savior. However, it doesn't stop there. Those of us who have taken upon ourselves the Covenant of Baptism have a solemn and sacred responsibility to take this light into the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters. Every member a missionary. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all! I hope you enjoy your week and have some opportunities to share this light with our brothers and sisters! If you aren't already, pray for missionary experiences, and your testimony will grow as you open your mouth and share this wonderful message.

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

Hi All,

Brandon transferred to what may be his last area, the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation (transfers have typically been 6-7 months).  Background on the reservation on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Navajo_Indian_Reservation  A YouTube video I found that shows the landscape and talks a little about the reservation of around 2,000 people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v92yKZBIYo

Rob Wallis

From: Brandon Wallis

Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014

You'll be happy to hear that in my new area we go off roading every day! hahaha. I'm on the Alamo Navajo Reservation! The only full reservation in the mission! It's suuuper different out here. It's practically a different country. People live in trailers, and there's wild dogs, horses, cattle, and other animals just running around everywhere. Everyone here speaks English, but they also speak Navajo. Which makes it kinda hard for us. I'm trying to learn some, but it's a suuuper hard language! I feel like I'm choking on my tongue when I try and say a regular sentence. There's a free gym here! So that's super nice! We live in a trailer too, with a swamp cooler. It's not quite enough to keep us cool! Some good news though! We have 5 people on date for baptism!  Two of them are looking really solid, and there's another three in the family that we might be able to get too. Really exciting! That's all happened within this past week! This area hasn't had solid baptism dates in a long time! We're working hard, and we're already seeing the fruits of our labor. We live right next to the Church building. There's a small branch here, and about 50 people attend every week. So there's hardly any member support with the missionary work. We're in what's called "phase 1"(Missionaries do all the work). Probably sounds familiar to Dad! So we don't get fed meals in this area. Maybe once a month. We hardly ever get members out teaching with us, BUT! It's all improving already. We were able to get 4 lessons this last week with a member.

I'll tell you a bit more about my companions, Elder Ah Loy has been in this area for about 7 months. This is also his first area. He's super tall, and is roughly half Polynesian. He says is 38.5%... He also makes the best spaghetti I've ever had in my life... I'll have to get the recipe from him. Elder Farb is 25% Japanese, and has been out 9 months. This is his second area. Before this he served in Taos, up by Los Alamos. I actually saw him come into the mission and get trained up there. We all get along great. We've been able to mold our teaching style's really well. All of us have been learning from each other.

Well, I love you all! Glad to hear that everything is still going well for you! Stay safe and healthy!

Love,

Elder Wallis (your belegaana son, that means white person hahaha)

Elder Brandon Wallis

Between moving, transfers, and General Conference it was a pretty slow week, but we were able to set up a lot of stuff for this next week! We're keeping our fingers crossed that we can get some more people on date for Baptism. We have 7 that we could potentially get on date, that have either had a date before and need to reset it, or have progressed enough to where we can extend an invite. Open with prayer, spiritual thought, TESTIFY AND INVITE THE SPIRIT!, then INVITE THEM TO BE BAPTIZED while the spirit is really strong. Works more often than not. Getting them to progress and keep commitments is where people tend to struggle. We did commit Jennifer (the Wilson's daughter who's 28) to come to church this Sunday! We have some members that are going to pick her up. May Wilson (the mother) said she would come the following week. Mike Wilson... we have to figure out his work schedule. He has a testimony, he has to act on it though and ask for Sundays off. Keep your arms crossed and heads bowed praying that it'll work out! There's a few other investigators that we're starting to be able to meet with again, they've become more receptive and willing to have us over again. That's been pretty cool. The Scotts are a returning to activity family and we're teaching 3 of their daughters. Ages 8 and two are 9. They are on date for the 26th of this month! They seem pretty solid, two of them have some autism, and the lessons can be pretty interesting and hard to keep their attention. But they are learning and want to be Baptized. They also committed to come to church on Sunday. Janice Rivera is a less active that we teach and she's been doing pretty well. She really struggles with the spiritual side of the Gospel. She tries to live the Gospel but has a hard time believing that it comes from God. BUT she knows that it's a good thing. She has two twin sons that are 7 years old. They're awesome. We teach them as well and they've been absorbing a lot of it. They come to Church pretty much every Sunday now. Jonathan and Justin have asked if I'd Baptize them! I was so touched. I can't remember when their b-days are, hopefully I'm still in this area!!! Other than that, not a whole lot else has happened. We have several people that we're hoping to pick up as official "new investigators" this week. We've talked to them before and have their info. We'll see how it goes.

General Conference was the BOMB!!! I've loved every General Conference on my Mission. can you believe that I only have one more??? That blew my mind. In a way I'm kind of sad. Dad you're right, something about being on a mission and watching General Conference, you seem to get so much more out of it. A couple of my favorite parts were President Uchtdorf's talk on Gratitude, and President Packer's talk... his was a powerhouse! Did you catch his round about way of saying that he's seen the Savior? That gave me chills. President Uchtdorf gave me a lot to think about... Am I only grateful during times of happiness and ease? Or am I also grateful for the hard times that make me grow and mature? In hindsight I'm grateful for my trials because I learned from them and grew, but what about when I'm experiencing them? So I've been trying to change my attitude of picking when I'm grateful depending on my blessings, to having a attitude of gratitude, just like President Uchtdorf counseled. Right away I've been able to see a difference. Generally I'm more happy and I'm able to not only endure trials and temptations but enjoy almost relish the challenge because God knows what my limits are and will only give me tribulations that will help me. IF, I have the ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. I know that we have modern day Prophets. There's no way that this Church could be false. There's too much good in it... it is PURE TRUTH. Like I've told some people on my Mission, why would I come out here for two years to tell people a lie? Why would 15 million people be so firm and steadfast in a lie? It is only through Jesus Christ that people are able to be this steadfast and immovable. Above all my other goals in life, my first priority is to be able to call myself confidently, a Man of God. The Gospel is where I have found the most joy in this life. So naturally, this is where I will stay. There is so much I have to learn, there's an infinite amount of knowledge if we use the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I love this Church, not because I think it's a good church or because of the people, I love this Church because it is Jesus Christ's Church. By continuing to progress in this Gospel and sharing our testimonies, we can all become truly converted to Christ. It is that point that I am striving to get to, where anything we do in this life is a conscious decision to do good and to bring us closer to Christ. This is my testimony and my witness of the Savior, that He lives, He loves us, and wants us to use His Atonement to return to our Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all! I hope you enjoy the other pictures that I've been uploading! I hope you have an awesome week. Stay safe, stay healthy/get healthy.

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

So the work is going really well! We had a rough week last week because we were sick the previous week and had no appointments set. BUT, this week is looking amazing! We have another person that wants to be baptized! The Begay family is an inactive family that's returning and they have a son that wants to take the lessons and a daughter that's also interested. SWEET!!!! We just met them a few days ago. Awesome family. Savanna is still doing great we're hopefully going to have her baptism interview this week. Sean and Kelsie are doing pretty good too. They're still talking about the wedding date, and hopefully the next time we meet with them they'll have a date we can start working with. I read them the emails you all sent of your testimonies of different topics. They loved them! Kelsie especially liked hearing your testimonies and is even more excited to raise her family in the Gospel. The Shorty family is a recent convert family. The dad was inactive and decided to come back to church and brought his family along. They were Baptized a few months ago. Their son, Grant, got the Priesthood! He went with us to Louis Wadely in the nursing home to give her the sacrament. It took him a few tries, but he got it! He loved being able to serve with the Priesthood. Things are really moving along. 

Our Mission President, President Miller, set a new standard for our meals with members that we're also really excited about. We're only allowed to eat with two active members a week, and the rest of the meals need to be a teaching opportunity. So active members can have in-active or non-member friends over and that counts. We're really excited to put this new standard to work. President told us to be bold when we're talking to the non-members we know and the less actives, simply tell them that we're having a tough time filling our dinner calendar and would love to join their family for dinner sometime in the next couple weeks. It'll be interesting to see how that is received. So far most of the members seem on board with it as well, we were a little worried about that.

All in all, things are going great! Love you all!

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

Last week I transferred from Los Alamos to Albuquerque. It’s much warmer here and there are a lot of dogs! Haha! The Indian reservations have dogs everywhere. We were just at a former investigators apartment yesterday and their pitbull jumped at me. It was more of a "back off this is my house" barking jump. None the less, it still scared me half to death! Why does everyone seem to have a pitbull here??? I've only met two that were actually nice! I was able to go out to the reservation branches on Sunday! My other two companions went to the Ladera Ward and the Sage Ward to confirm a guy a member. This area is awesome! We have everything from the suburbs to inner city ghetto to almost third world reservations. It keeps it pretty interesting! We have a few investigators that we are working with. We have 9 of them set on a date for Baptism! Elder Reali set 3 one night on a member split, I set 3 the next night on a member split out on the rez, and they already had 3 others on date! This is super, super cool! We're also working with some less active members and it's been really cool to see them get back into the Gospel! I'm meeting new people everyday, but I've noticed that I already love all of them. Our companionship is awesome. We all get along really well. We work out in the gym every morning and that just makes our days go even better. I love this new area! The Church is true! I know that I'm the happiest when I'm following the commandments and the principles of the Church. I want other people to be happy. That is why I do what I do everyday. I leave my Testimony of these things with you in the name of our older brother, our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!

Elder Brandon Wallis

Here's an update on the work up here. Marcella is still out of town. Until January I think... The Johnson's are doing awesome! They're talking with their family about when they could all come to Baptism! We're going to set a solid date with them tomorrow at lunch. They want to do it before Christmas! We haven't been able to catch Pete home again, he seems really busy, and we haven't been able to go to the Jemez again with the weather and the mileage thing. We have to go to Zone Conference this month, and it's going to take a lot of miles. Denice is the investigator up in the Jemez and her neighbor friend is a potential investigator, Judy. Daniel is the less active that wants to come back. The Ward counsel was really excited to hear that. We got 3 new investigators! Vijay and Sahana are friends of the Bakers family in the Ward. They're Hindi! And awesome! Vijay is the father and Sahana is the daughter. There's no one else at home. Not sure what the situation is. We also got Burgandy Brock. She's 22 has a little boy and is super nice. All these people came to the Creche show. It's a display of a bunch of Nativity scenes from around the world. It was quite impressive. The best part is, I think all of these new investigators will come to Church this next Sunday! They're all willing to try things to feel closer to God. It's nice to find people who are genuinely searching. Not much else has happened. It has slowed down a lot with the Holidays and the weather, but none the less we have been able to see some awesome miracles. 

I love you all! Stay safe with the snow!

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

I love being a Missionary! With the Thanksgiving season I feel it only appropriate to include some key things that I am thankful for. I'm thankful to be a full time representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for the spirit that I feel when I do my part. I'm thankful for my family and the wonderful example they are to me and specifically to my parents for raising me in the Gospel. I'm thankful for my sister and for her uplifting personality. I'm grateful for my Church leaders and how much they have helped me in the past and how they continue to help me in the present. I'm also thankful for trials bikes... ; )

The work here in the town of Los Alamos has really been picking up. Enough so that the Lord has seen fit to call another set of Missionaries to work here as well! It'll be interesting and very exciting. This might be a small place, but there is still so much to do! We're getting more and more excited about the Johnson family. Scott, the father, and Jona, the son, have been participating in the lessons and it's been wonderful to see the change that has been going on in their home! The Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly bringing them closer as a family. Marcella Walker is still doing well. She is convinced that she will get Baptized but is having trouble picking a specific date. The members have been very key in getting her interested in the Church and keeping commitments. We found a new investigator named Pete that we are very excited about. He is 49 and currently separated from his family. He neeeeeds the gospel!!! He is already a very religious guy and we're hoping that he will recognize the truth that is here in the Church of Jesus Christ.

I love this Church, and I love being a Missionary.

Love, Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

Jackson's Baptism went really well (picture attached)! We could tell that his Dad hadn't done it in a really long time. We had to help him get the placement of his arms right, haha. It was really cool though. I got to be in the Confirmation circle! That was really special. Max came! He seemed to enjoy it. We're going to teach him about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We also had a couple other investigators come. Mallissa is a new investigator. We invited her to come see the Baptism the day before! She came and liked it. She's already read some of the Book Of Mormon. We have another investigator, Marcella. She's a friend of the Bakers family. All we have to do is teach her the lessons and she's going to get Baptized. Then we have Sylvie Johnson, and her two daughters, Nina and Lilly. They are all going to get Baptized in November, most likely. Beau is doing ok. He got offended because someone took down his posters that were advertising his tool chests for sale in the Church. Ferman and Denice are also doing okay, but not as well as we would like. Denice would rather go to the Catholic Church. Ferman would rather go the LDS Church. He really likes the environment and people there. They'll come around!

Elder Brandon Wallis

Los Alamos is still going well! A lot of our older investigators have slowed down a lot, but we've been able to find some really solid new investigators. Ferman and his wife Denice came to church with their whole family! Well, Taylor their oldest son stayed home. But it was awesome! We've invited them several times and it hasn't worked. This time they were invited by one of their daughters friends to come to the Primary Program! That goes to show the power and influence that members have on their friends. We were very excited and they loved it. Ferman said they will definitley come back. He even made the statement that as they keep coming that their kids will get used to everything. Their two youngest had a hard time being away from Mom and Dad during Primary and Nursery. We're hoping that this will really help them commit to Baptism. They're such a wonderful family! They're practically Mormon already! We also have a relatively new family that we're teaching.  They've met with Missionaries before but have been in Germany for work for a year or somewhere close to that. The Mom and her three daughters came to Church. They have wonderful friends in the Ward that have helped them so much! Member Missionary work is soooo important! We've found that a couple of the Bus Drivers are getting annoyed at us teaching people on the bus... so we've been hanging out at Starbucks of all places! It's a really small town, so there aren't that many hang out spots. Between the bus and Starbucks we've picked up, Jacen, Ash, Nicole, Emma, and Victoria as new investigators! Jacen was reading the New Testament on the bus and we starting talking to him that way, and we set an appointment with him and he brought a friend, Ash, who is also interested in learning more. They both have many questions. They're 16 and 15 years old. Nicole and Emma are Seniors, and were studying for a test in their Psychology class at Starbucks. So we quized them and helped them study! They were curious about what we do as Missionaries, and we're hoping to meet with them again this week. Victoria is a Freshman, we met her on the bus and we noticed that she was looking at our tags, so we talked about her religion and ours. It turns out that she is very Christian and loves service. She actually wants to be a Missionary someday. So we want her to be a Missionary for the right Church... All of these new investigators knew at least one member of the Church. They were all impressed by the standards that we live by, and how we practice what we preach. I know that as we all embrace the call to be Missionaries we will be able to make just as good or better of an impact on the people that surround us. I love this Gospel, I love this Church, I love helping my brothers and sisters come to know the joy of this message.

Elder Brandon Wallis

So our week had some awesome things happen!!! We had a pretty good lesson with Bill, he got a lot of concerns out in the open. Basically he's looking at the Book Of Mormon like it should be a textbook. He wants facts and well... he's not going to get too many haha. So we're working with him, and he's getting more open to the idea of actually coming to church and trying it out. Beau made a major break through! We went to just stop by and see how he was doing, and he brought up the subject of Baptism! He asked US what the "rules" were to our baptism. So we just gave him a quick lesson on Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity and Tithing. And about what the actual Covenant or promise is between him and Jesus Christ. So he said that some of those things he'd have a really hard time with, but he said he does understand and respect all of it. He also said that knowing us and coming to church and getting to know the people, he's had a closer relationship with the spirit than ever before. He's really making some headway! He also really likes the idea of the Priesthood. So next lesson we're going to go over Joseph Smith a little more, and share the First Vision, and offer a blessing to give him strength to try these new things out. We also went and had a lesson with Ferman and Denice. Their son Taylor came and sat in on the lesson! We haven't been able to really talk to him other than a quick "hello" AND he was asking questions and getting involved in the discussion! So we're really excited about him. We were also able to finally set a Baptism date with Jackson! Both his parents went kind of less active for a bit and he wasn't baptized at 8. So he's 9 now and feels ready for baptism! He and his parents decided on October 5th. The work is definitely progressing! We're picking up new investigators here and there, and our current investigators are making progress. I love this Gospel and this Church. I know that I have been called by a Prophet of God to teach the people of New Mexico. We are all God's children, so we're all brothers and sisters! I feel very honored to be able to take part in this Work.

Elder Brandon Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

Los Alamos is starting to explode! If you know the history of the place, it's one of the few sites for the Manhattan Project where they made the Atomic Bomb. Thankfully it's not literally exploding but the Missionary work here sure is! We have several investigators that are looking very promising. A few of them we're planning on inviting to baptism here pretty soon. The members up here are helping out a lot, and are getting more and more excited about Missionary work. Ferman and his wife Denice are two of our investigators that we're very excited about. We can tell that they have definitely been prepared to receive the Gospel. We also have some ancient investigators... Bob is 85, Bill is 89! Both of them are super nice and love having us over. Bob is reading and praying to know if he should be baptized. We have several other investigators that we're still getting to know and are trying to schedule times where we can teach them again. 

I testify that the field is white and ready to harvest. Not just in foreign countries or just here in New Mexico. Missionary work is happening everywhere! Including Utah! Every member a Missionary. That phrase has been told to the members of the Church for a few decades now. If you're wondering how you can help the Missionary effort, be a friend to a non-member. Invite them to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! Do it out of love, not out of duty. The primary characteristic of Love, is Loyalty. Jesus Christ is the head of this Church and He has inspired Prophets in these latter days to call His people to The Work. I know this Gospel is true. I know that it is the only way to find TRUE HAPPINESS in this life, and ETERNAL JOY in the life to come. Share the message of the Gospel and the blessings that come with it because you love your fellow brothers and sisters. I have found this to be the best motivating force in Missionary work. Love. I love this Gospel, I love my Family, I love my spiritual Brothers and Sisters. I want to do my best to help them find the blessings and joy that come from the knowledge of the Restoration. I leave my testimony and witness with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

I am now serving in Los Alamos. It is awesome up here! There is a lot of work to do, and I'm very excited that I get to be a part of it. I have a new companion, his name is Elder Hatch and he is also super awesome! It's been very fun to work with him so far. Elder Hatch is waiting on a visa and I've been able to help finish his training here in NM. This area is also new! The ward up here split and they needed Missionaries to cover Los Alamos specifically. There were Sisters here but they had to split their time between here and another area. It has been very interesting and fun to help the wards get organized and to be able to work with two Bishops two Ward Mission Leaders etc. We started out with pretty much no one to teach here. We've been able to find a few investigators that look pretty promising! We're very excited about this guy named Ferman and his family. Right after our first lesson he told us that we had to come back and tell him more. The wards have also been outstanding in supporting us and willing to come teach with us. It's slow but steady right now. It's been quite a thrill to see the growth start happening.

I know this Church is true. I know that the way we are able to receive multiple spiritual witnesses of that truth is through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I know that I have been called by a Prophet of God to serve here in New Mexico. I love being able to share my testimony with others every single day. I pray that all of us will have a desire to share what we have been blessed with.

Thank you all for your support and love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

Here’s an update on our investigators and the Albuquerque Mission. Casey Stearns has his baptism on June 8th and the next day on Sunday he's getting confirmed, his baby is getting blessed, and he's getting the Aaronic Priesthood. He's GOLDEN! Angela is still struggling, but she has a lot of support, so hopefully she'll continue to progress. This last week we taught 26 lessons! That includes lessons to less actives, and investigators. We also found 6 new investigators! The week before we found 3! Our lessons and our investigators just keep going up! We're all very excited. We've been going on splits with the ward members. (one of us will go with an Elder in the ward or a Priest). and we've had a lot of success that way. We have around 3 to 4 of our investigators that I could see getting baptized within the next few months. Our work is paying off, this area has caught fire. The Pope's gave me a card and a Wal-Mart gift card for my b-day! They're awesome. It's been very nice to live in their basement. I love this work, and it truly is the Lords work. I feel so blessed to be a part of it. We are all brothers and sisters, and we know the truth. We are all blessed with Missionary opportunities. Pray to be able to see those opportunities and to have to courage to take action and bless the lives of our brothers and sisters. We challenged two families here in our ward to pray every day for Missionary opportunities and they've had great success, and joy in their efforts. One family has three separate people that want to learn more about the Gospel and to come to church. None of them were from sources that they expected. One was an old work colleague that called him and asked if she could come to Church. We had another really cool experience this last week. We were helping the ward clean the church, I was washing windows, and this man walks in and asks me, "is this Church open to the public?".... It took me a second to respond! I told him of course! We were able to give him a tour of the Church and get his information for the Missionaries over his area. You never know what is going to happen, or how you will be able to help further this work. All we can do is prepare ourselves for those missionary opportunities by going to church, seminary and making sure we're saying our prayers and studying the scriptures. The Lord will place people that are prepared to hear the Gospel in your path when you prepare yourself for those opportunities.

Glad to hear everything is going well! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Brandon Wallis

This last week was awesome!!! We had several good lessons and we set two baptism dates! Angela and Casey. Angela was invited by her neighbors to hear the discussions in their home, and it's been going really well! Casey is married to a member and has just now started to show interest and is progressing very fast! The Lord has truly placed prepared people in our path. Both of them are preparing to be baptized on May 25th. We play soccer with Casey and some of the ward members on Thursday nights and it's helped him get to know a lot more of the people and feel much more comfortable at church. This last Sunday he wasn't at church, and we were pretty bummed about it. I knew he would feel pretty bad about it though. In one of the lessons we taught him I told him about when I swam in a swim meet on Sunday. I told him how important the swim meet was to me, and how rare of a chance this one was. It was the Clovis California Swim Meet. I told him how bad I did in my race on Sunday and how I just couldn't stop thinking that I wasn't keeping the Sabbath day holy. He had a very similar experience when he missed church and went to play in his men’s league soccer. It was a really good team and they needed him. It turned out to be the worst game they had ever had. He got stomped by a cleat on his ankle, and he said he felt super guilty and sad the whole time. Needless to say, he got his answer about whether to do soccer or church on Sundays. Transfers are tomorrow, and I'll be staying in this same area. I'm very glad I'll be staying. We've worked so hard to get this area going, and it has really started to pick up. We'll also be getting another Elder in our companionship. We'll be in a trio!!!! This Elder will be waiting on a Visa to go to Brazil. We're very excited to have another Elder and be able to go on splits a lot easier and teach more people that way.

The Popes are doing well, and we're continuing to look out for service that we can do for them. We helped them put in a garden a few days ago. They are such nice people and help us feel at home. Their dogs also make for great entertainment right before bed.

I'm very very grateful for the opportunity and responsibility I have being a Missionary, and a representative of Jesus Christ. I know this Gospel is true, and it has been repeatedly confirmed to me every day on my Mission. I have a Testimony of the Atonement. I know that Christ made that ultimate sacrifice for every one of our Heavenly Father's children. I have a testimony of Prayer. I know that when I'm prayerful and diligent in following the promptings and answers I receive from Heavenly Father I become a better tool in our Fathers hand. I have a Testimony of "opening our mouths",(D&C 33:8-10, D&C 60:2-3) I know that when I have the faith to open my mouth and trust in the Lord, it is filled with His words. This Gospel is for everyone. Everyone on this Earth was a "yes" sayer in the Pre-Mortal world. They can be "yes" sayers again in this World. I know that I'll be with my family forever. I know that it is only through this Gospel that we can have everlasting joy. I know that I have been called by a Prophet of God to serve in my specific area. Even though the chili here doesn't seem to agree with me, I'll continue to do my best, and improve each day so that I may better serve my fellow men, and therefore, serve my God.
I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.