happy some type of holiday

Dear family,

 

Did I tell you that I lost my camera a month  ago, bummer. My companion`s taking lots of pictures so I can send some to you guys.

Tell me when Ryan gets his call and to where.

In almost all of Mom´s email, she talked about food. She wrote about everyday of the week last week and with each day, she wrote what you guys ate.... I haven´t eaten breakfast nor lunch yet, I´m hungry.

 

Well, since nobody really reads my emails anymore, I´m writing this for my future reference. This week, we had a baptism. Miguel Cardona. He´s the guys that I felt like a marriage counselor. It turned out that he wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ and His church for his own life and not because he wanted to get back with his girlfriend that dumped him about 3-4 weeks ago. When we went to Cochabamba that week, he did also. We taught him in our hotel and later went to the grounds of the temple. I think there, he really recieved a testimony. He came back this last wednesday and told us if we were still doing his baptism Saturday. Obviously yes. He´s going to be a bishop someday. He has the hair, the personality, he already keeps many of the commandments even before he knew us. Good guy. He´s also going out with that girl again. Knowing her, they already have or will have this week a goal to go to the temple to get married. Blessings come after faith.

Another baptism. Daniel Cartajena. We taught him all the lessons and everything, but then found out he lives in another area. So we gave the reference to other elders and was got bpatized saturday, the goal that I put for him. He´s a little bigger (fatter) and taller than me, so I almost couldn´t get him back out of the water at his baptism. He made a big splash when I threw him down. Haha. It was funny. His girlfriend is also a member and showed him us a while ago. All the other girls are now showing us their non-member boyfriends. We´ll probably be baptizing a more of them and will be known as the Elders who baptized the boyfriends and girlfriends. But he´s a great guy and I know that these people were prepared for me to teach them and that there are other people waiting for me. I got 6 months left and I feel like there´s a ton more out there.

 

Have a great week together. Don´t eat too much delicias food. But if you do, please don´t tell me about it, haha. Remember to find out and do the Father´s will always, and not your own. If you feel like you should do something, do it. Do not hesitate or wait. That feeling of fear only means that something good will come out of it. And remember to have fun.

 

-Elder Walker

I hear the echos from the ancient battle grounds

Dear family,

 

First off, happy birthday to my aunt Jennifer and Uncle Stuart this week... What is that like 30 years?

 

It was nice talking to you guys and meeting Joaquin (good guy). Nice to know that none of you have really changed. So I can finally write you guys after 2 weeks. A lot of stuff has happened, but like my companion told you guys, I really don´t have enough space and time to write everything. So many stories, so little time. I forgot to tell you that now they say I´m leaving december 18. Just to let you know.

No I haven´t recieved any letters yet. Yes, my companion is fantastic. And yes, I am handsome...and humble.

 

The Leadership counsel that we had was very inspiring. Instead of teaching the same (*cough* boring) clases and talks, they focused on helping out the wards and bishops to which we are assigned and on us as missioneries. We talked about the war going on between good and evil and has been going on before the foundation of the this earth. The world is getting darker and harder of heart. If missionaries enter without a testimony, not worthy, or without desires, the world will no longer accept them. Soon they will go straight into the field and they won´t be an MTC. So they and we need to be better prepared and more pure so that we can teach with power, authority, confidence, and faith, holding our ground and bearing pure testimony to the lost world.

 

In Sucre, we had a mini MTC experience with more than 100 pre-missionaries on saturday and a testimony meeting with all of them sunday. Saturday, my companion and I taught them how to contact people and we did practices. Just like dad said he´s getting better at public speaking and with the mic, I´m feel like I´m getting a lot better as well. It turned out fantastic and we didn´t even plan anything, but it fired everyone up to leave and go knock doors, talk with everyone on the street, etc. So right after, each missionary had 1-5 people follow them around. The 2 that I had were excellent and we taught about 6 lessons in 2 hours. They thought they didn´t know what do say or how to get in doors and kept asking me. But when they finally did, the spirit helped them out a ton and we had a lot of success.

 

One of the best experiences that I had was on Sunday after the testimony meeting MTC. All the Elders in my zone were seated in the back row in a line. One by one, I went down the line and said hello to each of them with a big long hug, telling them how much I appreciate them. For someone who isn´t filled with the pure love of God, it sounds kind of dumb and embarassing. But I learned and experienced that our purpose as humans are to love and be loved. We need both of those to find true happiness. Or like Ammon says, ``my joy is complete´´. It´s because he loved the people he taught and was loved by them.

 

-Elder Walker

 

Quote for Cameron and for the week. ``We make way for the guy pushing his was though.´´ I forgot who said that.

OK

Familia,

 

Thanks for your letters and your help/advice. I´ve really just had to get over it and move on.

 

This week we found out the transfers and we are moving people around. My companion nor I have a change. That´s cool, cause I wanted more time in my area. There´s a lot potencial in my area that needs to be found and progressed. Yesterday, Eduardo recieved the priesthood and is going to bless the sacrament the next week. He´s also helping us a ton in our area. One of his friends went to his baptism and we have been teaching her and she has a baptism date. Her name is Sulma. Also, he brought about 5 other friends to church yesterday! He´s awesome and getting prepared to go on a mission in a year. The members have also been helping out lately. We went with members about 8 times this week to lessons so I feel like they´re having more trust in us.

I also felt like a marriage counselor this week. We taught many couples, some married, some not. I of them, named Miguel, broke up with his girlfriend, who is a member just last week. We taught him about 3 weeks ago the restoration, but he wasn´t that interested. So his girlfriend broke up with him cause she was tired of waiting for him to become a member (it´s been about a year). Kind of harsh right? Wrong, he humbled himself and searched us out. He has been progressing quite well and is doing it for himself, not only to get back with her. He seriously has humbled himself, yea, even to the dust of the earth. He reminds me of Alma 32. Before Alma talked about faith and before the people started to believe him, they were cast out of their synagoges and were seriously humbled. Miguel was cast out of his love and has started to believe and his seed is growing. Notwithstanding, blessed are those that believe without being obligated, yea, even unto baptism.

Yea!

So that´s pretty much what has been happening in my area.

 

I realized that I dón´t have that much time left in the mission. I leave the 4 of december... my whole group leaves that day because the president wants to send us for our studies and before Christmas. That leaves me about 4 transfers after this one. I seems so short and that I just began my mission. I have learned a ton and I still have a ton to learn.

 

-Elder Walker. :)

 

-This letter was really short. keep it real. No damos el pescado, enseñamos a pescar. Siempre estamos enseñando!