What am I doing wrong?

A friend of mine erroneously told me that all you need to do to make friends is to be nice and be a good friend. This friend has not had to move as many times as I. I lived in the same area for the first 14 years of my life. Since then, I have lived in two foreign countries, three states, and many houses within those states. Family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers have given me a place to live for a time. In all of these experiences, I have learned that it is very different to make friends.

Each country has its own difficulty. In Peru, (Christian) girls are hard to get to know. They are generally timid or reserved. Their families protect them, so many times they cannot go out, especially at night. In Buenos Aires, I found the people to be generally cold and uninviting to reticent people as I was at the time.

Even though I lived most of my life in the US, I still find it a difficult place in which to make friends. I could give many examples but will limit myself to the present.

My last few years gave me much confidence and brought out my out-going behavior. I hoped that this "new" me would help me as I started a new life in Indiana. I was quickly able to make a couple friends with similar interests as mine. I would be prefectly happy with the two new friends I have made, but they are often busy. This summer both will spend a significant amount of time out of the country.

Although I have put in much time and effort, I have failed at my attempts to make any other meaningful friendships here. I don't get it. What should one do to make a friend here? I call people, text people, invite them to do things, go out of my way to talk to them. Yes, they are nice and talk to me when I talk to them, but I get little to nothing in return. I feel like I'm loosing the strength to keep trying yet lack of socialization weighs down on me.

My only consolation is that God is with me and is in control. He has brought me through many a worse situation. I pray that he gives me wisdom and provides me with opportunities to get to know people better.