Growth and fotos

 Dear family,

This week was a week of growth for just about all of us. It all started Tuesday after a district meeting. About 8 of us elders get on a tiny bus to go home. Our area is the farthest away and the other 6 get off at about the same time. As they were walking away, this old man and a kinda old women started making some comments about them. ''Mormons... where are they going? They go from house to house and when they get in, they steal from the poor.'' And some more comments. (it wasn`t even true what they were saying. I love the people here and would never steal from them. If they refered to tithing, they should understand that it`s a commandment from God and everythign goes to him. No one gets paid for their service in the church). Little did they know, my companion and I were sitting in the back listening to every word they said. I wanted to say many things to them, but was constrained by the spirit. I felt as Alma and Amulek watching their wives, children, family, and friends getting burnt in the fire and were constrained to do anything. So as we got off, I just stared at them through the window and we had eye contact for a good 10 seconds as my companion was paying. I sure she got the message as she gazed into my eyes.

The next day just wasn`t working for us either. We were jammed pack with appointments the whole day. As we went to them, they ALL failed and canceled on us, most of them didn`t even tell us anything. So we went contacting knocking doors, nothing. It was as if no one was in their house or just really didn`t want to talk to us. We even went to member`s house, they weren`t there. Sigh. That was a terrible day. A lot of patience and diligence. 

I think it also hurt my companion`s confidence. It seems a bit angrier and bothered. I can tell because he starts walking faster when he thinks alot or he`s bothered.

Many key investigadors also decided they weren`t interested anymore or they just couldn`t get an answer, etc. Not many people came to church etiher.

Later, we went of splits, or divisions with the district leader. I don`t really have confidence in him. I feel like he just tells us what we`re doing wrong all the time and the other companionship he praises all the time. It`s wierd. I don`t know what he`s trying to prove, I barely even know him. But I know he`s new to this and trying, he`ll learn alot. 

It sounds like a lot of negative things, right. It seems like when things go wrong, the easiest thing to do is blame it on other people. My companion, other elders, the bishop, etc. When in reality, it`s us that have a bad or negative spirit. But I feel at peace and love for my fellow being. So is it me?Sometimes God tries us to see if we`ll still be faithful and do what we were called to do. Preach the Gospel! That`s the beautiful thing about Jesus Christ. He was hated, rejected by many, hurt, spit upon, betrayed by His friends, etc. He finished His mission and is now crowned with Glory on the right side of God. 

It`s a question of pushing forward doing the right,

Elder Walker

So I`m finishing my last 30 min of internet that I didn`t get to use.

Here are some fotos that I found of baptisms we had in Sucre. I`ll have more the next week as well.

M

Dear family,

Sounds like the wedding was a success! 

I`m really enjoying the last 4 months of my mission! I get along with my companion and we just have fun everyday. There`s not enough time to worry about the little stuff, get mad; just relax and enjoy it as much as I can. I taught the missionaries in the zone the Haka. We have a noche de hogar (family home evening) almost every night with members and investigators. There I´ve taught them the traditional goofy Walker Family games (example, king of the jungle). I beatbox or sing everywhere I go to get attention. Seriously, I do not get bored here! 

I can really tell the difference between new and experienced missionaries. When I was new I would just try to get my message out there as soon as possible trying to convince them that what I was saying was true. Now, I have fun at the doors and contacting people trying to get them to laugh and see that we`re normal people too. Jesus knew his disciples, their names,family, interests, desires, etc. They had confidence in Him and wanted His help. The same is with investigators. My rule of thumb now is to be fun, then serious after the prayer and in the lesson, and then normal again.  

We`re teaching a family, la familia Prado. The dad´s an inactive. The mom really enjoys our company and is impressed by the way we care and help their family. The 22 year old son William is difficult to find and convince. I`m teaching English to the 16 year old daughter Sanam. And they also have another girl emily`s age. They all came to church this last week which was huge progress. They read everytime we leave assigments. I think they`re more and more convinced everyweek.  I`m more and more impressed at people`s faith in Christ and the Holy Ghost that is the real converter here. 

Well, his is elder Walker signing off saying ''nice work''. Don`t forget to make your delicious and nutritious energy drink. I hate it, but I love it.

-Elder Walker

Yeps

Dear family,

I can tell you guys are very busy with the wedding and other things.

Can I ask you a favor? Maybe only mom will do this but that`s ok. I`m looking over my companion`s shoulder and he didn`t recieve a letter. And it looks like he`s only had a few emails in 2 months. Maybe you could write a little somin somin to him to encourage him. Here is his email Victor.Laura@myldsmail.net. It won`t be that weird because I`ll tell him next week that I sent you guys his email. Thanks.

This week went better that the first! I love this ward. - We had an activity for the independence day of Bolivia, August 6. They had information, food, dances, and traditional stuff from each department from Bolivia. They are 9 for those that aren`t informed about Bolivia. It was funny because the traditional food in each place looked like it had the same ingredients, just cooked or placed differently and with a different name. - For the hard work that we did and the work of the members, the church was FULL yesterday. There were over 200 people, almost double from the first week. From the 2 companionships in the ward 22 investigators came and a ton of less active. It was beautiful. This ward is also open to my ideas for activities and I know they`ll go through with it. They told me to squeeze the rest of the juice out of this ward. 

We have several people that are progressing. We also have several people that could get baptized this Saturday, but there are some obstacles like marriage, problems with the parents, desires, etc. One guy, Manuel Santa Cruz and his wife, that the missionaries have been teaching for the past year is waiting for his lost papers in his town in Peru to get married and baptized. This guy is awesome. He`s blind and can`t work but he has more faith in his finger that I have in my body. We go some days to read the D&C to him and answer his questions. You only need to explain things to him one time and he gets it. He listens to the bible and finished the book of mormon this week from listening to a tape. He`s awesome and I`m glad I`ve had the opportunity to meet and teach him. 

Something that I learned even more this week was the importance of learning who your audience is and teaching to their needs. We taught the teenagers` class, 14-18 year olds, in Sunday school and they actually paid atention. Right after that, I was the guest in the Primary who had to share ''a little somin somin'' wit da kidz (why am I talking like that?). There`s a huge difference between the two. It felt natural talking to teens while I really didn`t like talking to the primary. On a personal note, I feel like I`ll be working with adolescents almost all of life. Anyways, learn who your audience is. Everyone is different. Teach to their needs. 

Don`t party too hard this week. Have fun at the temple Ryan. It`s awesome.

 

Training . . .

Dear Family,

I was looking at the cool photos that mom sent in the package. Looks like Walkeen replaced me haha. Dad and mom look skinnier, Cameron and Marissa look happier and Ryan looks more handsome with his haircut. Emily, you`re always cute and looks like you`re growing.

So the city I`m in is Sacaba next to Cochabamba. It`s like Henderson and Las Vegas. They`re basically connected but there`s a different government. When I heard it was Sacaba, I was thinking outskirts, more cholitas, drunks, etc. because that`s how it was when I visited one day. But really, my area is the closest to Cochabamba and really nice. I think it`s my nicest area and most comfortable to live, perfect to ''die'' in (in the mission). This will probably be my last area and my best! The people here are intelligent, rich, and humble. It`s perfect. When people are intelligent, but not humble, they understand the message, but usually don´t have the faith follow Christ. When they are humble but not very smart, they listen to what you say and will believe you but really don´t understand why. But when they`re both, the spirit testifies like no other. The members here are also the best! This ward funcions better than any other ward I`ve been in and the bishop is great. The welcomed me into the ward like I`ve always been there. It was wierd because their piano player left on a mission the week before and the bishop was praying for a new one, then I came. Cool right. Seriously, it`s the best!

My companion, Elder Laura from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, has only 6 weeks. So I had to go to a training meeting on how to train since I`ll be finishing his training. People have told me, and I`ve already noticed that he doesn`t like people telling him what to do. He already knows ''everything''. I can testify that he doesn`t. I read in the 12 semanas program that by the end of training they need to be prepared to train if called upon. So had a brilliant idea that would help the both of us. He needs to ''train'' me since he already knows how. I think I convinced him that he`s training me. It`s funny. I told him that I never was trained because my trainer was terrible and we never studied (that`s true). Also that I`m new to this and since you know the area, you can show me what to do because I`m new here. I really do think he`s convinced because he keeps telling the members that I`m new and that he`s training me. 

Yep, so we`re getting along because of that, he`s a good guy and will be a great missionary when he looses his pride.

Yeah, so that`s all I got this week. Oh yea, the family of 6 did get baptized in my last area! That was some good news. I left without saying goodbye to many people. I thought I was leaving wednesday and I had all tuesday to bid my farewells. Well, They told me monday night that I was leaving tuesday morning. Thanks. 

keep it classy and dale duro!

-Elder Walker

Yes

Mom - I got the package. Thanks.

Dear Family,

So right now I have mixed emotions. Transfers again... I´m leaving. The time is flying really fast. I was only with my companion for one transfer, Oh well. I´m going to Cochabamba, a little on the outskirts like Henderson is to Las Vegas. Seems like I´m never in the city. I´m going to be finishing training Elder Laura who has about 6 months  in the mission. I´m really excited because there, I´ll ''die'' and I know there´s a ton of people waiting there for me. I´m also kind of happy that I going down form Zone leader. I mean, I learned a ton, but I´m just tired. Time for someone else. But I´m also kinda sad. We have a marriage-Baptism this Saturday, the familia Mamani. They´ve been ready for a couple weeks, we were just waiting for Sucre to finish the papers for their marriage. It´s not a one day process kind of deal. I think you guys are going through that right now... But today, we finished everything and the date is set for this Saturday! Those two will get married and then baptized with their son and 3 nephews (who are basically like their sons). So that´s 6 people! There´s also another family of 4 that have a date for the 17 of August. Oh well. It seems like I´m always preparing the way for other missionaries. This is the Lord´s work and baptisms, not mine. Some are John the Baptists, others are Jesus, And some are Peters. (if that makes sense).

Seriously, this whole week was focused around making sure those 20 with baptism dates make it to the date we put and helping them come to church. We´ve had a lot of success here and the next person will be very happy as well. Saturday we had a really fun activity called ''Viaje a Hawaii''. You´ve probably heard of it before. We all got on an airplane, then we landed in Hawaii where there were several games put on by the members, a club, and spiritual stuff like be a missionary for two minutes, a distribution center, and the temple. We gave them money so they can spend it on the games, food, etc while in the spiritual stuff, they gained money. At the end, we all got back on the plane to go back to Sucre. Then the plane crashed and we all died. According to the money that you have left, you go to one of the kingdoms of God or outer darkness if you have nothing. It was sweet. My job, besides helping set up and take down, was being the pilot, a temple worker, the judge, and an angel in the Celestial kingdom. Cool stuff. There were many people that weren´t members that came and even many members finally are coming to stuff. 

Keep the faith. Keep the energy. I can´t tell you exactly what this power is, only that it exists. And when a man is in that state of mind, determined to fulfill what he set out for, this power become´s available. 

-Elder Walker