Què falta de respecto, en serio.. ari

Hello family, 
 
Hope you guys are having fun in the wilderness or cabins or whatever 
you guys are doing. Ryan, congratulations on making show choir and 
some other choir. What, were there like 6 guys that tried out. Just 
kidding, but have fun singing. The rest of the family, cuando no 
tienes ni idea de lo que hacer, recuerda a matar dos pajados con una 
pierda. 
 
Well, my week ended great. My new companion Elder Dias arrived 
Saturday night, so we really only had Sunday to work together. But I 
already know that he is exactly what I and this area needed. He´s 
great. He´s had 7 gringo companions, so he knows how to work with them 
and is really americanized, unlike my trainer (I was his first white 
companion). By the way, I heard my trainer really isn´t working at all 
and is very trunky or homesick. No surprise there. But really, with 
this change comes a fresh, new start with a new companion and a new 
me. If repentance means a change in heart, thoughts, and actions, then 
I suppose I´m repenting with this new companion. I´ve regained my 
purpose as a missionary y estoy feliz. I worked with the members this 
week and they and the bishop are starting to trust us again. They´ve 
had many bad experiences with missionaries and what happened a couple 
weeks ago didn´t really help. 
So mother´s day in Bolivia was yesterday. It turns out that last 
minute shopping for your loved ones is a universal concept. The 
streets were packed in the center of the city and it took a couple 
hours longer to get to the zone leaders house to pick up my companion 
on Saturday. We also had ward conference yesterday which was good. 
Let´s see, what else is going on here... I noticed that my spanish was 
a lot better when my new companion arrived. ummm, the weather, it´s 
hot in the sun, but cold in the shade. Well it appears I really have 
nothing else to talk about. 
Here´s what I learned in my studies. I was studying in the D&C´s while 
reading the BOM in Spanish (by the way, you should be on page 138... 
remember, 8 pages a day. yeah, you guys probably forgot). More 
specifically in D&C 137:10, which has one of the most beautiful 
doctrines in the gospel. The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, 
that they may escape the envy of man, the sorrows, and evils of this 
present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on Earth. How 
great! This also suggests that those of us here need the tests and 
trials of this life. We still have to overcome the world to become 
like those little children in their pure and spotless state. I don´t 
like to compare, but it bothers me when some other religions teach 
that if infants are not Baptized, they are damned. What kind of loving 
God would do that? Instead, they are alive in Christ! 
Te quiero, 
Elder Walker 

¿HOLA?

Dear Family,

 

Transfers are today, but I will be staying with Hermana Cozzolino to finish training her here in good old Pamplona where the bulls run free...(which will be running free in one month exactly)  My guess is we will leave the city and be staying with the sister in San Sebatian by northern coast during the run.  They have already started getting the city ready for this event.  This is President Hinckley´s last transfer.  Kina of sad, but I´m sure our new President will be just as outstanding.  Kind of sad in the mission all the people that come and go so fast. 

 

The weather has finally started to warm up.  Spring has finally made it´s way to the north of Spain, but so has the pollen.  There´s this cotton ball looking pollen here that flies around like snow...gives me the worst allergies!  I sneeze about every 5 minutes.  It´s from this tree grown here that I forgot the name of.  My companion swallowed one the other day in the middle of talking to someone on the street.  She couldn´t finish talking I had to finish her sentence, kind of funny.

 

We dropped some more investigators this week.  Really sad because they become your friends out here.  It´s just not their time though.  We´re here to pick the flowers that have bloomed or the wheat that is ready for harvest.  Jesus came to teach, not to be taught.  Their buds just aren´t ready to bloom yet.  One whom I want to talk about is Richard.  His wife is a member and they have the CUTEST little 2 year old.  Such a character.  Richard really likes us.  His wife told us we are the first missionaries he´s really liked and sat and listened to.  He just can´t seem to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God and just likes to argue.  Well the problem is is that he won´t even read the book.  You can´t judge a book by it´s cover.  We began to read with him and all he did was try and find faults with it.  We have told him that we can´t teach him until he does his homework and actually reads the book.  Well along that line I was reading in Ether this week.  Two things is that one it talks about us having faith first.  Richard all he wants is evidence and a messanger to come down from Heaven to give him the answer.  I told him it doesn´t work that way.  You have to have faith.  The brother of Jared had so much faith that Christ showed himself to him.  His faith then became perfect knowledge.  As we read and study we gain that perfect knowledge.  I know the book is true because I have read it as well as the bible which testifies of the truth of the book as well.  Many people just listen to what they hear instead of going straight to the source.  Also I read in Ether 9:19 this week that they had elephants upon the land back then.  Well I thought that was odd that anciently they had elephants upon the land.  I thought they were only in Asia and Africa.  Well a member shared with us the other day that recently in South America elephant fossils have been found as well as a bunch of ancient records in a cave that are the same figures anciently as enscribed in the Book of Mormon.  Interesting fact huh?  I get south american news first hand here ha.

 

My miracle this week is Osas from Nigeria.  He is the most prepared investigator I´ve ever taught.  The gospel just makes sense to him.  Lessons are easy and short because he just gets it.  We started questioning him because it was too good to be true.  I thought, no one is this easy to convert.  By the second lesson he had a fecha for the 9th of June.  We were just waited for a doubt or question to come, but he never had one.  We have been teaching him a lot now and just this past Tuesday he decided to open up to us.  He told us of a dream he had the night before we were contacted him.  Before going to be he was reading in Revelations 4:4-11, which talks about missionary work.  Later that night he said he had a dream where we were teaching him and sharing fruit, sharing oranges with him.  But he had no clue who we were at this point.  The next morning we contacted him and his friend Joy on the street.  That next week we passed by and rang the timbre.  He said he knew it was true all along.  He was just waiting on us.  We later read and talked about Lehi´s dream and the fruit he partook of.  The spirit was so strong.  He showed up to church with a big smile and is really, really excited about his baptism.  Too good to be true.  Our other fechas we had for this week decided not to answer their phones all week.  Oh the work of the adversary.  We are teaching some beautiful new families from Pamplona, Spaniard!  We´re really excited about that. 

 

Love you all stay true to the faith!

 

love,
Hermana Walker

Wow!

Dear familia, 
 
This week has been eventful and yet nothing really happened at the 
same time. So last Monday and Tuesday I was in Sucre as you know. It 
was a lot nicer than Potosi. Anyways, so I had my interview with the 
president. I told him everything that went on with my companion and 
the other elder that lives with us. He was pretty surprised but knew 
something was different with them when he interviewed them. I decided 
that I really like my president. He´s down to earth, funny, 
knowledgeable, and inspired. Everytime I said a name, I usually said 
their last name and then he corrected me saying ''Elder'' so and so. I 
did it like 3 times. Then later he said only  their last name and then 
I corrected him. We laughed. Well the president said he would take 
care of everything. So this last week, nothing really happened at all. 
The same things were still going on - nothing. Then Friday, we got a 
call. My companion and the other elder were to leave the next day to 
Cochabamba. So last Saturday, my companion left and I´ve been with 
Elder Shafer since. I don´t know what is exactly going to happen. I´ve 
been praying for a good companion that´ll work hard and help me learn 
more spanish. I just found out last night that my new companion is 
Elder Dias from Ecuador. He comes in Thursday. He is the ''son'' of my 
zone leader and he said that Elder Dias works pretty hard. Apparently 
he used to have a pony tail because he is from a tribe in Ecuador and 
it is honorable to have long hair. But then he cut it. Yep, that´s 
about all I know about him. Everyone that knows him says that he´s 
pretty cool and a good missionary. Lately. these past couple weeks, I 
haven´t been feeling like a real missionary. Seriously, it feels alot 
better to be actually working hard and obeying all the rules. That´s 
why I´m hoping my next companion will work hard. 
         Well, since I really haven´t had any spiritual experiences 
that stick out this week, I will share a little from what I´ve been 
learning in my studies. The difference between believing and knowing. 
When you believe something, it´s usually because someone told you it 
or you read it from somewhere and it makes sense to you. It´s logical. 
Your belief system changed or altered a little to fit it in. On the 
other hand, to know is intrinsic in nature. When you know something, 
it´s something you have felt. Most of the time, you can´t explain what 
you have felt. This is what happens with investigators all the time 
and I am here to tell them that it was the testifying power of the 
holy ghost that they felt. To know something is way more powerful than 
a belief. So at testimony meetings, when people say they know 
something to be true, it´s because they can feel it. 
Also, I was reading in D&C 46 where it tells the gifts of the spirit. 
For some reason, it just clicked that a testimony that Jesus Christ is 
the son of God and the savior of mankind is a gift of the spirit and 
nobody can actually know it to be true without the witness or given by 
the holy ghost. I always thought that I came up with it on my own and 
that others do too. But once again, I´ve been humbled to know that it 
came from the holy ghost. This gift is given so that people can be a 
beacon, guide, and help others share the great message of Christ. 
 
Good stuff right there, 
Elder Walker 

¡Buenas!

Dear Family,

The work here in Pamplona is moving along.  Our baptism fecha is for the week is Francis Arthur.  He is great!  So humble, so willing to learn.  He´s just like a sponge, soaking up everything we say.  It has been a process to teach him so now that he´s finally taking that step, we are thrilled.  We also have set the goal to have Alexander baptized this week.  I have faith that we will have success this week with getting people to take the step of baptism this week.  Our miracle really is the people we have been seeing in church.  It´s so packed we have to bring in the extra chairs.  If we get anymore investigators in the sunday school classroom, us missionaries will all have to stand.  We are all teaching a lot of very receptive families.  We plan on setting a fecha this week.  My favorite thing as a missionary is teaching people who just get it.  It just makes sense to them.  How blessed we are with many families that are progressing and understanding the fulness of the gospel.  Something that I admire about my companion is her ganas to try and learn the gospel in English.  Everytime she talks in the English lessons we teach, the spirit is so strong.  The words she choses to use are so dignified and she just has a way of saying things that I never would have thought about using in English that really help bring the spirit.  I also like her attitude of always trying to help.  As for the ward mission plan things are getting better.  They are now going to give us families to accompany us with men instead of nobody.  We still need to call our ward mission leader 48 hours in advance and we are still not allowed to have members until the second lesson with investigators. Strange. Little by little we hope to get members in every visit as Preach My Gospel teaches.  I love being a missionary!  Best job ever.  Love you all! 

Sincerely,
Hermana Walker

D&C 121:9

Happy Mother´s day!

It was nice to talk with you guys yesterday. I´m sorry that you guys 
couldn´t see my beautiful face, had to hear my sick voice, and looked 
bored. Everything basically sounds the same back at home - busy, 
stressful, yet fun. Since I already talked to you guys, I don´t really 
have much to write about. Thanks for the advice about my companion. I 
have an interview at 8 o clock tonight and will bring that up. I will 
also talk with him beforehand. Right not we are in Sucre for our zone 
conference. In about an hour or so, our zone is going to play sucre´s 
zone in soccer. Go Zona Potosi! 
 
Well, like I said when I talked to you guys, we weren´t very 
productive in our workings this week for those circumstances. But 
there are changes within the mission in about a week and I won´t be in 
training anymore. Also, I will get a new companion which is needed. My 
area has so much potential in it, but I need a companion that will 
work hard, obey the rules, and work with me. When you and your 
companion are not in sync (haha nsyc), have contention, or don´t obey 
the rules, you can´t have the spirit which turn means you can´t teach. 
That is critical. 
 
Oh, I forgot to tell you guys about the political uprest stuff this 
week in every city in Bolivia. The minis or buses that give 
transportation for all of the cities wanted more money and went on 
strike this week. So that meant walking everywhere, even if I needed 
to get to the other side of the city. There was no buses from Monday 
to Friday. So one day, we walked to the zone leaders house to pick up 
something. They live in the very center of the city and for 2 days 
couldn´t leave their house. However, we did not know that there were 
protests, riots, and other stuff in the center. About every 20 to 30 
seconds, you would hear a boom. The protestors were throwing dynamite 
and other exploding stuff or throwing blood on some buildings. It was 
pretty intense. Yeah, we left that area pretty fast. 
 
That´s about all I have to say until next week. Peace, love, happiness. 
-Elder Walker 
(those pictures are from the museum of money. It is the main turist 
attraction in Potosi for some reason. That face above our heads is the 
face of Potosi - scary no.)

HaPpY MoThEr´S Day!

¡Feliz dia de la Madre!

Hope your day was special yesterday mom!   Thanks for all you do!  Just like the Book of Mormon´s stripling warriors teach...."and they did not doubt that their mothers knew best."  It was like putting gas back in the tank talking to everyone the other day.  You all look and sound great.  Made my day!  Sorry if I was a chatty cathy...i just had so much to say and so little time.  I think I just exploded because all day everyday I play the role of councelor and phyciatrist. hahaha...

so you asked me the yesterday what the hardest thing has been about a mission.  Well it´s honestly been different in every area.  I just told you what I had been struggling with in this area.  In the beginning it was the language without a doubt.  The second time it was just adapting to a new area and groove and people.  This area it´s been....well a lot of things.  Sometimes it´s just dealing with the people who you have to work close with.  But I was really touched by 2 different talks that helped me.  One was the talk given by President Uchtdorf at general conference and the other by my President Hinckley just this last week.  He spoke about having charity and how to have charity in any kind of relationship.  Sometimes people are going to want to do things that are just lame!  But you do it anyway because it makes them happy.  Service is key.  So if we have a problem with others, we must do the following as President Uchdorf says, "Just STOP!" 

President also taught us this week a lot about power and authority, how they are different and how they are the same.  As missionaries we are physically set apart into this calling, by the laying on of hands, just as Jesus did with his disciples.  Well that gives us the tag we wear....but are we really using that power to have more of that authority.  Where do we get more power as missionaries...by being obedient, worthy, praying, studying the scriptures, etc.  That way when we are doing what´s right God can bless us.  The power and authority from God are inseperably connected.  We will be blessed to teach with the spirit that will touch the heart´s of man and gather the people of Israel.  great talk he gave....

This week has been special.  We went through nearly a droubt.  Now it´s flooding again.  We have 5 fechas set for baptism.  More to come...Alexander who we thought couldn´t be baptized for a while until his mother either okays it, decided to take the risk of moving out of his house.  He took that leap of faith, this 18 year old that I have taught from the beginning decided to take a leap of faith, in this terrible economy and move out.  He doesn´t have a place to go, doesn´t know how he´s going to finish his studies alone, etc.  But what he does know is that it´s true.  That the fullness of the gospel has touched him somewhere in his heart, that God does again minister to his children as times of old.  That the  people that were on the American Continent in the Book of Mormon are real, just like God´s children in Jersalem (the Bible).  That the key to forever happiness with God is the B word, BAPTISM.  He will be baptized within the next month.
I cannot even tell you how much joy I have for him.  We also have a family from Africa that will be baptized in 2 weeks.  They are great!  My poor companion is trying to learn English.  Because this family speaks English, she´s doing a great job helping out in lessons.  I will also be baptizing my first Spaniard soon.  His name is Antonio. From Andaluccccccccthia.  He´s great...one of the most prepared and open Spaniards I´ve met.  More news to come....

I know this church is true.  I know that the power of God is on earth today just as ancient times.  That God continues to show his hand in his work.  That miracles exist because God is the same today, yesterday and forever.  He is unchanging.  That God doesn´t want us to be confused or sad.  He knows us individually because he made us.  He loves us.  We are his children.  He blesses us when we are obedient to his commandments.  "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say ye have no promise."  Let us all take some time to listen to him because he knows whats best for us. 

Hermana Walker

p.s. Ether 11:7-8 Crazy how QUICK the Lord is to forgive even the most wicked people.  Its the same with us.  IF we want to change, the Lord is willing to help us!  Its never too late to repent.

It's me again . . .

Buenas tardes! 
I received letters from the last month or so. Also, a couple letters 
that were sent to the Peru MTC also got to me. That includes the two 
sets of stamps that you sent me Mom. It´s funny because in you letter 
with the stamps, you made a joke how the other one would come at the 
same time which it did. So this week, I wrote a letter and went to 
mail it only to find out that I don´t need stamps... So when I send a 
package to you guys, I will include the stamps. Sorry and thank you. 
Also, tell me if and when the letters come, I am trying the system 
out. 
 
I will answer some questions - 
Yes I have definitely lost weight. I´d say about 10 lbs. On both my 
belts, I´m at the last hole thingy. 
Yes I feel taller here. I would say I´m above average here, not tall. 
Mom would be average size for the girls. 
Yes I play the piano every week in sacrament meeting. In about a month 
when my spanish is a little better, I´m going to start holding piano 
or choir/singing lessons for our investigators and members. Maybe 
English lessons even later. The two things the people want to learn 
here is English and how to sing. 
Yes it is getting really cold here. I have my garments, long white 
shirt, sweater, jacket, coat on. :) We got a heater which is pretty 
cool. I wanted to dry off my shower sandels after the shower so I 
leaned them against the heater. Then I smelled smoke and it was my 
sandels! The tips of them where my toes go melted like candle wax. So 
now it smells like burnt plasic in our place right now. The good thing 
is, is that they are still wearable. 
My Mission President is pretty cool. I haven´t talked to him much but 
all I know is that he´s inspired. In my beginning interview thing, he 
told me a few things that will happen. I guess you can call them 
profecies. He said that my trainer or companion will teach me how to 
love the people, talk with them, become their friend, and really find 
their needs. This has truly happened in these past couple months. Then 
he said that I would teach him how to be obedient. I thought that was 
weird because yeah I´m obedient, but I don´t force them on other 
people. Well, I never did force anything. It was being an example. He 
said that he has been the most obedient he has since he began his 
mission a year and a half ago. Before, he would take naps during the 
days and other stuff like that. 
 
My mission president just told our whole mission to read the BoM (in 
spanish) in 90 days. He then asked if we would write our families and 
do the same thing which is what I´m doing write now. So I´m going to 
stop where I am and restart to finish it in 90 days and I ask you guys 
to do the same. 
 
Let´s see. A ver. My spiritual experience this week is really simple. 
It was with an investigator of 15 years old named Juan Manuel. Him and 
his family seemed like the golden investigators. They have lots of 
energy and excitement towards our church and have gone to church each 
week and are hopefully getting baptized the 19th if we get permision 
from his parents. They are seriously golden. Then this last week we 
were talking to them outside their house. These girls, who my 
companion knew, walked by and started talking to us as well. Juan 
Manuel got left out of the conversation, but heard my companion and 
the girls say something about him. I don´t know what he said but he 
stomped back into his house offended. Great. My companion offended our 
golden investigator. We tried coming back the next couple days, but he 
would not come out and talk to us. He said that he would not come to 
our church any more also. So then I prayed alot that his heart would 
soften towards us and the church because it could have gone for the 
worse down the road. Friday, my companion went on splits with another 
elder and my buddy, Elder Shafer, from the U.S. came with me. We went 
to go see him. He let us in and talked to us. I shared with him our 
purpose of missionaries, the example of Jesus Christ, and that 
everyone, including missionaries, aren´t perfect. He then decided to 
continue our lessons with him. The next day my comp. apologized and 
now he has the same energy like before. The point of this is that God 
still answers prayers and revelation still exists. It´s hard sometimes 
to realize this only because God, a perfect and just being, is trying 
to communicate with us, very imperfect beings and less than the dust 
of the Earth (at times). So pray with faith, and then listen very 
carefully to the whisperings of the holy spirit. 
 
I look forward to next sunday = Mother`s day. 
Elder Walker 

  I need to take more fotos. You can still put them on facebook mom. 
These are pictures of my area, my desk. Me beating all of my zone but 
one person at chess (he plays in national tournaments and gets money, 
but I was still close). 

I know . . .

Dear Family,

I say every week that we have miracles, but this week was honestly the miracle of all miracles.  All those people who said they would come to church finally came!  We finally have a good amount of investigators keeping commitments.  We will be setting a lot of fechas this week.  One with Antonio tonight, a friend of our mission leader.  He is from Spain and just has fallen in love with the church.  Just a golden investigator.  He came to the baptism yesterday and asked us if he could be baptized.  We will be setting one for next weekend tonight.  We also have Ernesto who will be baptized in 3 weeks now because he didn´t come to church, but later that night came to the baptism so he could meet the bishop.  He has already made lots of friends.  He is from the Dominican Republic.  He really has a strong desire to change his life.  Also many other prepared investigators who came to church that we will continue working with.  More news to come.....

I love my companion.  She really is a joy to have around.  I love her!  I look up to her.  Something that I love about her is that she is not afraid to try new things.   We worked so hard this week!  All week long when someone cancelled on us we went knocking door to door.  Lots of new potential investigators.  Something that I love about my companion is she is also on top of things.  Usually I get around to contacting my contacts within 3 days, but she is right on it the next morning.  So that is what we did different this week was follow us on people faster which brought us to 11 new investigators.  Just a really successful week!

I know my Savior lives.  I know he loves us and watches over us in all we do.  I know he has a plan individually for all of us.  I love you all!  Please take care of yourselves and just do whats right.  Life is easier when we keep our will in line with the Lords will.  

Hope you have a delightful week!

Sincerely,

Hermana Walker

PS Congrats Rebs and Jasmine!!!!!  Enjoy the honeymoon!!!!!