Querido familia,
Well, I survived transfers. Easily
the hardest transfer of my mission yet. I love my area, investigators,
and companion, but I'm just tired of having a trunky companion. It's time
I got someone who will work hard with me. Nonetheless, these transfers
should be interesting, as the whole mission is undergoing
reorganization. Several missionaries got transferred to other missions
because their visas failed, or something like that. And last transfers
almost nobody got changed which is rare. So many leadership positions
are opening up this change and many newbies are coming in too. So stay
tuned for next week, things should get dicey. ;)
Every transfer seems to bring new challenges and
lessons to learn. I pick up a new life lesson from every change and
every companion I have. I usually have to suffer or taking a beating
first which is the bad part haha, but in the end its worth it. This
transfer, the lesson I definitely learned was to overcome apprehension.
I realized that one of my biggest problems is that I'm apprehensive and
sometimes insecure about my choices. Why? As a missionary, you cant be
apprehensive. If people ask you a question, you can't be unsure about
the answer. If someone is disobedient, you can't be apprehensive to tell
them the truth. This transfer I basically learned to open my mouth. As
my MTC instructor told me, "Whatever it is you're thinking- JUST SAY
IT!!" (Luis Chavez). Its much easier to just sit back and watch things
happen, or to just not say anything to avoid confrontation. But what we
don't realize is it that we could be impeding the Lord´s will by not
saying anything at all. Truth is hard to take when you're guilty, but
its the only way to get better. What would happen if a police officer
saw someone mug somebody, but didn't say anything at all? My point is,
so when you feel that burning inside your chest to say something-
whatever it is you're thinking- JUST SAY IT! It hurts a plant when you
cut off the branches that have gone bad, but it allows it to grow even
bigger, even better, even more beautiful. If not, the bad branches will
overcome it, and it will eventually rot away.
Our lives are the same too. Many times we find
ourselves in routines, or our lives are just moving in circles and
circles. Have you ever felt like that? I have. I guess its just
natural for us as humans to look for complacency, things that we´re used
to, are easy, and keep with us to avoid change, which would be "hard".
Or we just lose sight of where we´re going. This is the natural man.
This is basically how Satan cheats us. As it says in 2 Nephi 28:21, "And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."
As humans, we need to be careful of our own lives and routines/choices.
The world will always have more to offer, so its important to
recognize when we have enough. The question we need to ask ourselves is
the same from Elder Bednar´s talk: "Is the load I'm carrying providing
enough spiritual traction to keep me from being stuck?" Well I hope I
quoted it right haha. We all have a load to carry in this life. Many
people think an empty load is happiness. Others have too much of a load
and way themselves down. Its a constant struggle, but if we balance
our load right, we wont get stuck. We should continuously look for the
good and cut off the bad/old. If we do this and find the balance in our
lives, well find happiness and joy in the journey. :D
So I invite you all to make an effort this week to
cut off the old things in your life, and look for new exciting things
that will help you grow and be a better person. Open your minds, and
open your mouths to whatever comes your way. And find joy in the
adventure. :)
Con Amor,
Elder Walker
PS I finally learned how to say underwear in Spanish this week. Calzon. See? There's always something new to learn. ;)
