crazy week.....

dance pose in San Sabastian

Dear family,

This week with our investigators we have seen the concept of "opposition in all things" play a huge role.  Although Alexander was not baptized this week, he is still a miracle in our eyes.  We found him through his father Abel, a menos activo, when they came to church one weekend.  From Pero and Alexander is an only child.  We set up a visit with them and continued to meet with him and his father every other day, if not more.  He is so intelligent and the gospel just makes sense to him.  Just a golden investigator.  It came to our knowledge that his father has not been keeping the commandments or living the gospel at all.  He offered the son coffee one morning, Alexander sweetly declined.  The father stopped meeting with us, but we were finally able to meet the mother one night.  She walked in asking who we were, "what is this?"  Alexander replied, "the Mormons."  I said our full name then asked if she would like to join us.  Quickly she replied, "No, NO I´m Christian."  I sweetly replied, "Oh that´s great! Us too!"  She still declined but said that we could keep going.  She is Evangelical.  Everything was going great, everything was set for his baptism this past Friday.  As the Elders went over to his house the day before to interview him the mother went ballistic.  She was not in agreeance with him being baptized.  The Father also started to back her up saying "He´s not ready and I´m afraid of him falling into temptation right after his baptism."  Well the Elders thought they were just going over to interview Alexander, but it turned into a great lesson.  They helped the Dad to remember the blessings of the temple.  They were able to bring the spirit to the home.  They told the father that his son is more than prepared to be baptized.  The father came around, but the mother still is not in accordance.  This all happened within these last 2 weeks.  Although Alexander is 18, he wants the support from his mother.  I think the parents are just afraid that what happened to the father will happen to the son.  The wife pins the church to the fathers example.  The adversary is working on this family, but we´re going to work harder!  The miracle is that he still wants to be baptized and is still aloud to meet with us.  This boy will be baptized!  I pray for the mother´s heart to be softened every day and night.  The Lord softened the Lamanites hearts, I know he will help to soften this mothers heart.  We told Alexander to continue reading, coming to church, and being a good example to his family.

As for Hermana Smith, sweet Hermana Smith and I there is a lot of work to be done in this area!  A skill I truly admire about my companion is her ability to teach in parables.  She is extremely talented at telling stories, even in Spanish.  I can´t tell stories worth a dime, so that is a skill of hers that always comes in handy.  We are having a hard time finding people to teach as well as investigators who keep their commitments.  But I am going to continue doing the little and big things, as taught at the last zone conference this past week, so we can find more miracles.

Through all these great experiences and challenges we are facing I am still the happiest I have been.  Never before have I been so engaged in the scriptures and on my knees.  There is a power there.  My love and relationship with others around me, and especially my father in heaven and His Son has grown in tenfolds.  I know this is the work of the Lord.  We see too many prophecies and miracles unfold daily to say it´s not.  I love you and thank you for your support.

Sinceremente,
Hermana Walker

ahhh yeaa

Buenos dias, me gusta papas fritas (that rhymed),

I can´t believe it´s already been another week. You would think that I
would get trunky when I read your letters. It makes me miss home a
little.... but then I think of how crazy life is back at home and I
would rather be here. It´s too big of an opportunity to miss here if I
don´t work hard enough.

This week has been the most successful week so far. Although we were
supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, the joven couldn´t get
permission from his parents but really has a desire to be baptized. We
taught the most lessons this week upon arriving and secured 7 baptisms
in April (ojalà). We somehow got the same amount of new investigators
this week as I´ve had since I got here. It´s crazy because mostly all
members here are converts. The oldest member was baptized about in
1993. But most of the members were baptized within the past 2-5 years.
One of the problems here for them is preserving to the end. Each week,
we have to teach or reactivate a certain number of families or
inactives a week. A lot of people are receptive to our message, but
they have a problem keeping commitments for a sustained period of
time. They would rather play futbol on Sunday or drink with their
amigos (there are lots of borrachos or drunk people here. One guy
collapsed to the ground right in front of me). If only they realized
that obedience brings on blessings. Intelligence is gained by being
obedient to the principles irrevocably decreed in heaven. Knowledge is
gained by diligent study. These people know have a knowledge and a
belief of the gospel, but some lack in intelligence. Which brings me
to the scripture of the week. D&C 130:18-21.

Well, a lot has happened as usual; however, it´s impossible for me to
write everything. If you want to know anything specific - ask
questions. Or if you want to just hear me blabber about nothing and
bore you to death, es chevre tambien.

Eu querote muito,
Elder Walker

Welcome home lil bro . . .

WELCOME HOME CAMERON!!!!! 

Wish I could be there to welcome you home with a big hug!  Sounds like everyone went on and on about how great of a missionary they could tell you were.  That´s neat to hear.  How are you adjusting to home?  I´m sure just fine as you lay in your bed or watch TV.  Is it weird without a companion?  Craig, Mom and Dad you crack me up.  Ya don´t worry Craig I used to just fall asleep in visits and now I have no choice I have to figure out what their are saying.  Literally takes all your might mind and strength.  I think the tiredness will never go away Craigy.  Glad to hear you all made it home safely!  It´s weird I tell people all the time we have 3 missionaries out....now I can´t sound cool...

This week has been fantastic!  Miracle after miracle.  Alexander is the biggest miracle of the week.  We found Alexander from a part member family.  He already has a testimony and desire to be baptized.  It was only the first lesson!  Our job is easy at this point.  His day to be baptized is this Friday the 23rd.  He is 19 so we want to prepare him for a mission.  He is from Peru is very intelligent and has many skills.  We love him and he teaches us so much president!  Evelin, her mom and their friend are progressing as we have been teaching them more frequently.  Evelin has a baptism fecha for the 6th of April.  We want to get her mother and friend on the same page.  The friend told me that there is something different about me.  Which means YES!  She recognizes the spirit!!!!  We have a hard time getting them to church though.  It´s like pulling teeth.  But they feel the spirit and Evelin knows it´s true.  She could teach us by now.  We went from 5 investigators to about 17 new ones this week.  Kind of exciting.  I have come to the conclusion that the best way to find investigators is not dance or english classes of some sort...it´s doing the dirty work and just contacting everyone.  Talking with everyone everywhere you go.  Not easy in Spain.  Lot´s of rejection and rude people out there.  I´ve decided the mission has toughened me up and helped me deal with rejection.  I´ve feeled how Christ felt this week as he was scorned and laughed at.  It´s not that easy.  I just have to think about what makes me happy and stay focused.  Being in a nicer richer town, here in Pamplona, it´s a lot harder.  The mission has really taught me how to be a good leader.  All the Hermana´s are shy...and there´s me unfortunately. jajaja.  Hermana Dalton asked me, "what I am afraid of if it´s not contacting?"  I thought about it then replied, "hmmm...the elders."  jajaja

My companion Hermana Smith is such a sweetheart.  I have seen such a growth in her since the MTC!  I remember how much we both struggled in the MTC with the language and now she´s a pro!  We work well together.  Hermana Dalton left us this week so now it´s just us two.  I´ve had no choice but to step up to the plate.  This week I am repenting of getting more members present.  Neither of us are acquited very well with the ward.  So I decided we should pass around a Noche de Hogar calender this week so we could hopefully get to know each family better and bring an investigator along.  Directions are the hardest thing for me.  I ALWAYS get lost at the beginning of a transfer.  It´s really hard to find things in Spain. Mom you ask about laundry.  We have nice machines!  But it´s annoying because you can only have two things of electricity going in the house or else all the power turns off.  You ask about what I eat.  Something fast.  PB and J sometimes a salad or pizza.  Lots of quesidilla´s.  Not a lot of time om the day to cook...welp gotta run....

Hermana Walker

Ps my address here is

c/ hermanos Imaz 6, 1B
Pamplona Spain 31002

What the . . .

Imaynalla, ima su tiki? Imarayku wawa? ari,

That´s Quechua. I´m glad you guys had fun in Rio picking Cameron up
and that Cameron had a good mission. What are you going to do now
Cameron? You should go convert Red across the street haha.

Answers to Mom´s questions:
My living conditions aren´t that bad. I have a bed, a desk, drawers, a
small bathroom about the size of my bed with a toilet that actually
flushes, a sink, and a shower with hot water. The 1st counselor in the
Bishopric lives right above us and we pay rent to him. There are two
other missionaries in my district right across our door. Our apartment
is actually way nicer than most of the houses here in Potosi (which
are usually just bricks built up in a box with no floors and most of
their family living with them).

My daily routine is: get up at 6:30, get a six-pack, take a shower, 8
personal study, 9 companionship study, 11 language study, 12:30 lunch,
2 first appointment. The rest of the day is usually appointments; if
not, we contact. 8 dinner, 9 plan 9:30 personal necesities, 10:30 bed.
Repeat for most days. Saturdays is baptism service, Sundays - chuch,
mondays - preparation days.

Luckily for me, my companion is really good with making friends or
people trust him. So, the person who makes us Lunch also has a washing
machine and does it for us (for money of course). We drop it off early
Monday morning and pick it up someday at lunch. However, sometimes, I
wash my own laundry in a bucket and hang it up to dry. I don´t really
make any meals. The people here don´t eat breakfast, but I usually
make hot chocolate with powdered milk and some cookie or pun I bought
earlier.

The money system is 1 dollar for 6.9 bolivianos. We get 80 dollars a
month which is 550 bolivianos. Here for the most part, things cost the
same as in America, but in Bolivianos. So a one dollar donut cost 1
boliviano. People say that if you start converting it to dollars, you
will end up spending all your money because of how cheap it is.

My companion is pretty cool and funny. The only problem I had with him
is that he has no patience for me. This is the first time he is
training anyone (which he´s doing great) and the first time he´s had a
gringo. However, I talked to him last night in comp invetory and he
said that he knows and will try harder with patience while I try
harder to learn Castillano.

For the language, I am starting to understand people better so I get a
jist of the conversation. However, I need to speak more to practice.
My companion is great with that because after he´s done talking or
teaching one point, he just stares at me until I say something.
Sometimes it´s awkward because either I didn´t understand what was
said, I don´t know what to say, or it turns out that I sometimes get
distracted in my head. Even when I´m looking at them, my mind
sometimes wanders to like the dog or the little kids in the room. I
sometimes get tired of trying to discern what was said.... yeah.

Also, the peptmo bismo didn´t work because that came up too. I threw
up last night. But I think that is because I ate way too much. It´s
always hard for me to finish the food because there is so much. It is
rude to leave food on your plate. Also, most houses we get into, they
give us something to eat or drink.

Everyday like clockwork (at least this week), it rains right after
lunch and at like 6. Even if the sky is blue and looks like a
beautiful, the rain clouds seem to find their way to Potosi. I
understand that rain is good for cleansing, crops, and other things.
But two days this week, the rain turned to hail. Hail is truly from
hell. It hinders the work because people usually don´t let us in, it´s
hard to talk to people outside (if there is anyone), and it hurts. It
feels as if you are losing a bb gun fight!

Well mom, I hope that answers you questions. I have no more time to
write of other things (probably of more importance). Oh yeah, and i´m
sorry if it sounds negative. It really wouldn´t be if I was talking to
you face to face. I´m just telling you exactly how it is. And in fact,
I´m loving it here. The peole are really nice and are probably a
little frightened of me. I stand out because I´m a gringo and have a
name tag on. It´s funny because people think if you´re from the U.S.
you are really rich. It doesn´t help that I say I´m from Las Vegas.
They think the streets are paved with gold there. When I asked one
lady we were teaching what she wanted in my prayer for them, she said
money and she kept commenting something about money and me. Next time,
I will tell them that I have something worth more than money for them:
the gospel.

munakuyqui family,

- Elder Walker

Double load....2 areas...2 weeks...ah!

Dear World,

What an exciting week!  The north is just gorgeous!  We started in Pamplona Tuesday, were there for 2 days, then took off to San Sebatian.  We will be running both areas until the new Hermana comes in.  Kinda fun!  The scenery is to die for!  In San Sebatian we are living right on the north coast and border of France.  Beach city!  Opposite side of Barcelona.  It looks like we´re in a movie.  Lighthouse in the distance and everything.  We went walking down the boardwalk with a member the other day.  So tempting to jump in, but ya ya ya I know the rules.  I´ll send some pictures.

We were able to see miracles this week in both areas.  There´s not a lot of investigators in both areas so we´ve been contacting like nobodies buisness.  I enjoy contacting, probably my favorite part of the mission.  I hear it´s harder here in the north.  In Pamplona we have Christian and Evelin with Baptismal fechas.  They are both so prepared and ready.  Christian was shocked first about the Word of Wisdom, but as the visit went on he said, ¨If this is making me a better person and closer to God I will do it, pero poco a poco.¨  So we will be checking up on him.  Although we heard while we were out of town that he didn´t go to church.  So we will have to explain the importance of church.  Evelin wants to wait until the first of April to get baptized so that her sister can attend.  Supposedly she´s been putting it off for a while.  She knows it´s true though.  I hope we´re doing the right thing by waiting that long.  And from what I hear Sam was baptized in Hospitalet!  What a miracle.  I´m glad to hear he finally did it!  Ofcourse right as I leave.  I was going to stay behind to see it but President says he needs me here.  As far as San Sebatian, we have found a lot of new people to teach so Hermana Dalton has a lot to work with when the new hermana gets in.  We had a very spiritual experience the other day as we finally got a family they had been working with for a while to prepare for baptism.  They wanted to wait on setting a date though.  Lot´s of work and lot´s of miracles!  We´ve been teaching a TON of Chileans here.  It always creates a good conversation when I say that both of my parents served in Chile.  I have a testimony of the Lord making our burdens seem light if all we do is but ask.  He tries our faith and patience first, but does visit us in our afflictions.  (Mosiah 23, 24)

My new companions are amazing!  Hermana Smith is just a sweetheart!  Exactly what I remember from the MTC.  She is always aware of everything and ready to work.  She´s has been attacking the area book this week of both areas, and she´s fantastic at it.  She organized everything and made it look nice, found those who once had a fecha, and updated the tabs.  She´s great and I love her!  I have learned so much from Hermana Dalton.  She is such an example to me!  She makes me want to be better everyday.  I know she will be a fantastic trainer!  She is worried about it, but I keep telling her she´ll be great!  She´s able to understand and speak the language really well already and has a huge heart and testimony.  Whomever that new Hermana is that will be here in San Sebatian will be lucky!  She has a great sense of humor as well, always makes the work more enjoyable.  She leaves us on Friday to pick up her trainee.

This week I am repenting of not writing in my journal daily.  It´s so much easier to forget about it and do other things, but I am aware of the importance of it.  Especially as I read the Book of Mormon and how it stresses the importance of record keeping.  My testimony grows everyday out here.  I am learning so much and am so grateful for this opportunity to serve.  I know the Lord is somehow qualifying me for the work.  My language skills grow daily.  I somehow am understanding a lot better and am able to communicate this week better than last transfer.  I now feel like I am finally able to really do my job.  What a tender mercy, blessing and gift the Lord has given me.  Thank you everyone back home for your support, it is greatly appreciated! Mom and dad and Cam...good luck and enjoy Rio! um can we say Que Suerte!!!!!   Make the best of it!

Sincerely,
Hermana Walker

ps---welp forgot the comp. chip to send pictures....looks like you´ll have to wait until next week to see these amazing pictures!

I survived

Well, I would have to say that the last week is definitely the hardest. Yesterday was the hardest day. After church I felt like it was all done. Endure to the End would have to be the hardest part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I see so many of my friends who start relaxing earlier than they should. Every time I feel like doing that I remember how important this time is and that I can´t do that in life. I cannot simply give up when I get old just because I am old. I will always have to give it my all and do what I did when I didn't even think about leaving. That's what I did. The members didn't even know I was going home until my companion, Elder Nascimento told bishop who announced it in sacrament meeting. It's not my style to tell everyone that I am leaving and have people come up to me crying. The brazilians hate it when you just leave without saying anything. So, at least they enjoyed it more than I. I think my companion was more excited to tell people I was leaving than I was.

On sunday we ate lunch in Renata's house. Renata and Matheus were our miracle baptism a few weeks ago. It's nice to see them so active in church. They are ALREADY giving lunch to missionaries. That is conversion.

We are helping Maria and Jaqueline be baptized next week. After they went to church last week and their member uncle went home, we invited them to be baptized. Tehy didn't want a lot of pressure or be baptized really quickly. We gave them an extra week but explained to them that they have been prepared for many years. Just because they recently received missionaries in their house doesn't mean that they haven't been being prepared. They accepted the baptismal date and are very special. I think I will take mom and dad to meet them. Jaqueline feel unworthy to be baptize or pray because she has done bad things in the past. We understand and teach he that the atonement and her repentance can change all of that for her and help her six year old son. It is really incredible how these people can change so quickly. They are now saying prayers willingly. They have opened their hearts and they are noticing the difference it has in the house. Yesterday we taught them the importance of the sabbath day. They promised to live this commandment the whole day long as we explained it. I have faith that they will do so. I expect to see baptismal pictures next week at home.

Until Sunday,

Elder Walker

Hola

This is Craig's favorite of literally gathering Christ's sheep

Hello,

Thank you for your emails and letters.

I feel a ton better this week! I am getting used to Potosi, the
people, my companion, the mission, and the work. The only thing I
still have trouble with is the language still. I feel bad because my
companion does most of the talking while I try to listen, but my mind
gets tired and I start to fall asleep. And when I try to speak, they
don´t understand me that well, even when I thought I said the right
thing. However, when we teach lessons, i understand, speak, and they
understand because that is mostly what I have learned in the MTC. I
guess what is most important is to preach the Lord's word, but I think
an apostól said that we want missionaries to not only have a
missionary knowledge of the language, but to be immersed into the
whole culture. So that is one of my goals. Apparently I had an
incorrect idea of the food here. I pictured burritos, tacos,
carneasadas, churros, etc. But i guess that is only Mexico and not the
whole South America. Tortillas are rare here and pizza is more common.
The main food is sopa, arroz, papas, un typo de carne (I not sure what
the meat is exactly...) y postre. It´s funny because before, I would
say, eww gross - there´s a hair in my food. But now it's more like -
yes, wow! There´s only one hair in my food. jajaja.

One thing I´ve seen on a mission so far is how much the Lord uses our
talents, knowledge, and past experiences. For example, yesterday was
stake conference for all of Potosi and they didn´t have anyone to play
piano, so I played. By the way, Elder Holland spoke to all of Bolivia
through satelite transmission for the meeting. For his testimony, he
said it all in Spanish. It was funny because it one of the worst
gringo accents that i´ve heard, but yet it was still powerful to hear
his own voice and not the translator. I´ve even used things I´ve
learned from psychology here. In fact, all of missionary work is
psychology. Even the small and simple things you wouldn´t expect
anything of, the Lord uses. Like a simple magic trick I learned amazes
and entertains the kids here. Or the little beatboxing I learned is
also entertaining.

At a baptism on Saturday, I was asked to give the message. Of course I
was hestitant because of the language, but I decided to go up with
confidence. I shared a message, read a scripture, and explained
further. The best thing was is that it flowed straight from my mouth
and they understood me. I shocked myself as well as my companion. It
was definitely by the spirit that made it happen. Which also brings up
a good point. Go into life with humble confidence/faith knowing that
what you want to happen will happen. The Lord will provide the rest.
Frustration, doubt, and discouragement are not of God and the spirit
can´t be there. It´s all about visualization, worthiness,
desirability, appropriate evidence of realization, faith, and the
Lord´s mercy. With that combination, anything is possible.

-Elder Walker

Where to begin? Transfers again!

Oh my goodness where to begin....

 

I can´t help but laugh about Craig.  jajjajaja.  Seriously those who chose not to serve a mission don´t know what they´re missing out on.  Nothing will ever compare to this experience Craig.  It´s funny how different the stages each of us are at in our missions.  I´m right in the middle, Craigy´s just being born as we like to call it and Cameron is about to be an RM!  Crazy!  Craig don´t worry all those concerns are normal.  You´re get used to it and you´re whole mission you´ll feel on a rollarcoaster.  Just never give up whatever you do.  The blessings and miracles I have seen bring tears to my eyes.  I have learned and grown so much.  Just remember through every test and hard experience the Lord is trying to teach you something.  Stay positive and actively engaged in the work and DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!!!  BUt it´s not about us, it´s about the people.  It´s about understanding their concerns through the spirit.  Pray is real so use it, and so is opposition.  You´ll see  it all miracles heart aches everything.  I really feel like everyheart felt prayer, if it´s the Lord´s will is answered.  I have also grown a testimony of humor.  Learn to have fun through the work or you´ll be miserable.  Something about humor and laughing releases the tention.  Nothing gets done too if you don´t have the spirit.  Cam good luck on the adjusting back to home!  It´ll come easy for you Im sure.  If you could go back and do it again what would you do differently?  I can tell a change in you already.  I love you.  Stick it out til end bro!

 

You might ask what the update out here are in PAMPLONA SPAIN!!!!!!!!  Yep by suprise I´m being transfered again.  To the beautiful classy city of Pamplona.  Up north where the running of the bulls takes place every summer.  The piso is even nicer than zaragoza.  It´´s like a mansion.....and we have a dryer!!!!!  WEnt to the worst piso to the best again.  I´m also by suprise back with Hermana Smith from the MTC as senior companion.  We have 6 new hermana´s coming in this transfer and 5 the next.  Welp this means every hermana will be training.  I´m soooo nervous.  That poor girl.  haha.  But it will be fine.  I´m understanding finally, not everything but a ton.  It´s amazing what the gifts of the spirit can do.  All the members spoiled me as I left BARC.  Everyone was shocked including myself that I left so early.  I like getting a fresh start.  We´re also in a trio with Herm. Dalton who I already know from ZAR.  just for 10 days until her trainee comes in.  So I will be also serving in San Sebatian, right on the beach in the north! for 10 days trying to run both areas with them.  Kind of exciting.  The train ride took like 5 hours, but the view was gorgeous!  The north is so green and to die for! 

 

I was so sad to leave Hermana Reeder there to take care of the baptism by herself but she´ll be fine.  So this is the day when I admit that piano lessons have paid off.  I´ve had to jump in and play the piano for every baptism.  I feel that it makes a difference in the spirit at all baptisms to have music.  I suprised myself with how much I bluffed my way through hymns I haven´t played for years.  It´s that spirit I´m telling you.  I know the Lord can do more with me than I can with myself.  Love you all have a great week and be safe in Rio!  Don´t worry Barcelona is the number one pitpocketing city in the world so Rio...you should be a little better off then you will in December esp around Christmas time jajja. 

 

Love you,

 

Rissa

--

Hermana Caminadora, Spain Barcelona Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

 

Baptism of Samuel

Leaving to Pamplona

ps picture is of Samuel for Republica Dominicana....getting baptized in my last area this week....ofcourse as I leave.  and on the train to pamplona

Greetings from Bolivia!

What´s up dude (in the words of my companion from Ecuador), 
 
I´m glad everythings great at home, it sounds exciting. Cameron, have 
fun with your last week, I wish I knew everything you now know after 
the mission. And I am probably one of those elders who says everything 
wrong... Marissa, keep it up! haha yep. 
 
I finally made it to Bolivia. Just the feel of Bolivia seems more 
familiar than Lima. In Cochabamba, it is actually quite beautiful, 
surprisingly. It is also not as crowded. The first couple days 
(Tuesday/Wednesday) were a little boring because all 30 of the new 
missionaries were doing paper work and visiting the police station, 
etc. At night, we stayed at the temple hotel. Yeah, that was luxurious 
compared to other places here. After I got my trainer, Elder Lopez, we 
got straight to work. His old area was in Cochabamba and so we visited 
all of his investigadors, converts, friends. However, our area is not 
in Cochabamba. Thursday morning, we flew for 15 min. straight up a 
mountain to Sucre. Then we took a 3 hour taxi drive with some pretty 
neat scenery. We then finally arrived in Potosi; The highest and 
coldest city in Bolivia and probably in South America. Yeah, you can 
check it out on a map if you wish. My first night was probably the 
worst night I´ve ever had. I threw up 6 times from the altitude and 
some members´ food. The next morning, i felt really dizzy and weak. 
Probably the sickest I´ve ever been. I couldn´t digest anything. 
Everytime I ate or drank something (including water), it came back up. 
For a couple days, I had nothing in my stomach, but wasn´t very 
hungry. Luckily, we ran into hermana missionaries and they told me 
that my face look really green. I was dehydrated. Yeah, intense! She 
said to drink some citrus juices. I bought powerade, which probably 
saved me. I am still getting used to the food and the climate here. 
It´s funny because everything that I´ve probably ever complained about 
in my life is here in Potosi. But now I should be getting used to it. 
I think I am becoming bi polar. Some moments I´m happy, then sad, then 
frustated, then energetic... hopefully that was because I´m adapting. 
Anyways................... 
 
There are these women called Cholitas here. They are the natives of 
Bolivia and primarily speak Quechua (which I have to learn a little 
bit of - ema su tiki). They all look the same with their long black 
pigtails and these home made dresses. They always try to sell you 
stuff or beg for money, I kinda fell bad for them. Also, they go to 
the bathroom in the streets, yeah gross. There are lots of dogs here 
also. For every 1 human, there is 3 dogs. They´re pretty dirty ( if 
you know what I mean). There is a particular dog that likes to follow 
us around, he is nice. I named him lucas. Lucas got in a fight today 
with 3 other dogs and won. Yep, cool story. Back to the mission. 
 
On Saturday, I had my first baptism. Although, she was going to get 
baptized with or without me here. My companion has like 5 people set 
up for the next 5 weeks. He´s had a baptism every week for the past 
month. He´s great with listening to people and truly becoming their 
friends. He is perfect for learning to love the people. However, he 
speaks no english, so it´s rough. Oh yeah, Mom - Elder Swasey, who we 
met at the mall with his dad is also in my zone. He baptized someone 
last Saturday as well.  For the people here, people will say yes to 
your committments, but then we have to follow up many times for them 
to actually do it. Also, I´m pretty sure the inactive rate is high 
here. Any suggestions for that? My companion said that a little less 
than half of his converts are inactive. hmmm, problems. 
 
Well, there is so much more I want to share, but I´ll save that for 
the weeks that I hardly have anything to write. Chow! 
 
Elder Caminador 

Last full week as a missionary in Rio

Cam-What is your favorite candy bar? 

My favorite candy bar. hmm. I like Twix.

Dear family,

The weeks pass faster than you can think about them. We are doing our best with the time we are given.

Last week we found a family while eating lunch at their restaurant. The mom felt like she should come and talk to us. Well, it turns out that their family is one of those already-member-of-the-church-without-knowing-it situations. After teaching a few lessons, they are really interested and already talking about baptism. Had it not rained so much on Sunday, they would have gone to church. Next week is the daughters birthday and she is really excited to go to church on her birthday! I am too. During the lessons she just talks about how great the church sounds. She said that she found the church for her.

We are also working with a fairly large family. They were a referral from a man we found in the street who said he was a member of the church in another state. We went to their house this week and found out that they needed help building stairs on their house. We helped. Well, you can imagine someone my size hauling cement and sand and rocks and other materials to make a staircase. Needless to say, I was whipped afterwards. I have never been so sore in my life, but the great part is that Maria (the mom) really opened up. She was ready to accept any invite we give her. We invited her to be baptized and got to church. Because of a simple act of service, she and her family all went to church and enjoyed it. I pray that she and her family might continue to progress.

Time is short today. Sometimes I feel like Mormon because I cannot write but a hundredth part.

Love you all. The church is true.
 

 Elder Walker