running 2 areas at once is a joke!

Dear family,

 

running 2 areas at once is a joke!   

 

It was one of the best hardest points in my mission yet.  We return to Pamplona tomorrow morning.  I wonder how crazy it got with the running of the bulls.  One of our mission buddies here Elder Shields, who is crazy, decided his last day on the mission to go with him and his family and actually run with the bulls.  I don´t know what ended up happening...that may be the last we saw of Elder Shields.  San Fermin is officially over though.  No more bulls!!!   I sent some photos of me in the traditional gear they wear while running.  We also did a ton of service for people this week....mom you´d be so proud of me I was representing the Walker squeeeegy club!!!!!  sent a pic of that too...i only learned how to clean windows from the best.  we also went on intercambios a lot this week....lots of fun...prob too much

 

  Zaragoza was amazing! We saw so many miracles! Three people we found and taught while we were there will be baptized this weekend. Miracles happen. We´re are really sad we can´t be there this weekend to see them baptized. I look forward to the baptisms soon to come in Pamplona. Two of our progressing investigators told us they have a suprise waiting when we return. They want to be baptized finally!!!!! We are really excited.

This week has been incredible. As much as I will miss Zaragoza, Pamplona needs us. I really enjoy the way Hermana Cozzolino and I work together. When it come to missionary work we really know how to get the job done.  As much as I love her, I don´t want to marry her haha.  we are on our third transfer together.  I´m sure it will be fine though. I do look forward to still being with someone who speaks the language perfectly.  This means, like Craig said 6 months in an area.  WOO!  Which means I´ll probably die in my next area (end there). 

 

Well keep me updated on Romney!  I feel sooo out of the loop. 

I continue praying for you all every night.  I look forward to seeing you all again, but until then take care!  ¡Cuidase!

Sincerely,
Hermana Walker

 

Hola, Como estaís

Thank you very much for the letters and encouraging remarks! They 
really do help me. 

Now that my spanish is way better and I don´t make some embarassing 
mistakes anymore, I would like to make fun of myself just a little 
bit. This probably would be more funny for those that know spanish and 
what it´s like learning a new language. :) 
 
Can I help you wash your bananas? (instead of plates) 
I know that we can become clean of our fish. Through repentance and 
faith in Jesus Christ, our fish will be washed away. (instead of sins) 
Lady - It is windy, no? Me - I´m good. And you? (heard wrong) 
When I´m orange.... (insted of angry) 
As I fart, I feel that same love that Christ has for us. (instead of 
serve, must´ve been slang...) 
Wow, that´s pregnant! (instead of embarassing) 
Yeah, I washed my horse this morning. (instead of hair) 
There´s probably a lot more, but thats enough for now. There´s a lot 
of words that sound the same, but mean something completely different. 
 
I don´t have much to write about, but I do want to say that I have 
seen miracles in my area. When I got here and during my first couple 
months, the bishopric and the missionaries were in a constant fight. 
They never got along. The members didn´t trust us for squat. We really 
didn´t have good investigators to teach, only children and teenagers. 
But with my companion that I have now, we have worked hard, and I can 
see the blessings. We work well or much better with the bishopric, but 
there is still need of improvement. The members love having us and 
hearing from us and aren´t scared of us anymore. We have found some 
great investigators of all different sorts. They are progressing well. 
My only convert, Gabriel, is great. Yesterday, he recieved the 
Melquesidek priesthood and a calling as the bishop´s secretary. His 
testimony is inspirational when he shares it. He wants to go on a 
mission, but is already 26 and the stake president said no. But he has 
been on splits with us and is fantastic. I know the Lord is using him 
and his talents. Tomorrow, my companion goes to Sucre for a conference 
between the leaders. So Gabriel is going to be a missionary for a day 
with me! I hope I´m in Cochabamba in a year when he gets to go through 
the Temple. It´s great. 
Also, we have been finding less or inactives in various places. We 
knock doors alot, and say we missionaries from the church of latter 
day saints or sometimes known as mormons. They say, yeah, so am I or 
at least I was. Seriously, there are several of those in my area and 
probably in the whole mission. This week alone, we taught 9 lessons 
with less-actives. We have seen some of them return back to the 
church. And this morning, we were playing basketball and futsol for a 
less active family. They said that they would like to return, but 
there´s no time. Every sunday, they have games to play. We tried many 
tactics with them, but then I said, We´ll play you in basket. If you 
lose, you are coming to church next sunday. They agreed because they 
said they were really good. So this morning was the match, my 
companion and I, Gabriel, and another teenager vs the 4 of them. They 
weren´t bad, but ended up losing. They agreed to come to church. I 
felt like I was good at basketball for a moment (I had scored the 
majority of the points) until I realized that I´m taller here than in 
the U.S and also, we play and watch alot more basketball than them, if 
they even play at all. 
 
Well, have a great week, Ta-Ta 
-Elder WALKER

What a Miracle Week

What a miracle week.....

 

I know our Heavenly Father LOVES us so much.  How do I know?  Because I have put his promises to test this week. 

    

        As I told you all last week I am back here serving again in my first area Zaragoza.  We left for the running of the bulls and will be here until next Monday making it 2 weeks.  The office told me specifically to bring ALL my stuff because transfers are today.  I have had my time in Pamplona and it was time to go.  But with this new President things have changed and I have been called back to Pamplona and will be finishing my week here in Zaragoza.  haha even after I hauled everything I own all the way up to Bilboa and then all the way down here and will have to haul it back....that´s okay I need the workout if I´m going to come back fit in winter for dance haha.  Anyway I know that that change was inspired of God.  This week it has been miracle after miracle here in Zaragoza as I have seen the fruits of my labor flourish.  What a blessing to understand the people I couldn´t before understand and see such a growth in them.  I felt very missed here as everyone shouted for joy at the ward activity, "oh good we can have dance classes again!!!"  haha, actually the senior couple kept my dance class going and she teaches tap.  She´s a cute old lady.  I´m glad I started and left a trend behind.  Everyone in the mission now is trying to start dance classes or music etc because of the success we had with it here in Zaragoza.  Miracle 2, the day i come to church my recent convert decides to come and he can FINALLY speak and understand English because he followed through with his committment to read the Book of Mormon outloud everyday!   We used to have our other recent convert translate from English to Twee (a tribal language from Africa)  all the lessons up until his baptism.  3rd miracle....my first recent convert gave a stupendous talk, took out his ugly eyebrow ring finally that i told him to talk out this last friday, and is preparing for the temple in august.  4th miracle...a man i taught back when i was here, who was not at all interested, just came for the friends...now is interested and we set a baptism date for this Sunday.  5th miracle...Luis, the first man i contacted out here in spain that was baptized then went apostate a week later and the church lost contact with him, I ran into!!!!!  I prayed to run into him...and long story short I did, got his information and we have a visit with him tonight.  Found him the same way i contacted him.  Lot´s of details I´m leaving out, but life is SOOOO GOOOD!!!!  My testimony has grown a ton this week.  6th miracle...best one of all....I went through the antiguo book to see what ever became of people found an investigator i remember i was super close to.  Enoch...thought he was going to for sure be my first baptism on the mission....he had a date to be baptized, received his answer, then last minute his Penecostal friends confused him and he was not baptized.  The Hermana´s after i left lost contact with him...remember this is the man i said who asked if he could teach our doctrine to his friends and said the Book of Mormon is like medicine? He plays the drums and dances. Well I looked him up again and asked if he wanted to try again.  I told him that I think he was the reason I came back.  He agreed that he just needed to do it because he knows it´s true!!!!  He will be baptized this sunday with Jorge!!!!!  What a testimony builder for me. 

 

Everyone that knew me here says I´ve gotten way delgada (skinny), my hair has gotten way longer, and my Spanish blows them away, (I´ll take all 3 compliments thanks!)  "when did you learn spanish Hermana Walker?"  No idea?  It just happened and I thank the Lord because I prayed soooo long and soooo hard to be able to understand these people and I´m finally seeing what a blessing the mission has been no matter how hard it´s been.  It´s so worth it and the Lord knows us so well.  More than we can ever imagine.   ....makes me feel good.  I know the Lords loves us and that the power of prayer, the gospel, the Book of Mormon, everything that goes with it is real.  It´s true whether people will choose to except it or not.

 

I feel like I´m finally at the high point on my mission.  I know the language, I understand how to be a good missionary, and my testimony is the biggest it´s ever been.  I thank the Lord for the point I´ve reached on my mission.  Don´t worry Craig, stay strong, stay positive, and the fruits of your labors will show in it´s due time.  Right now the Lord is just molding you and His relationship.  Keep that chin up and continue to be that smiley fun Craig I know.  Love you all, thanks for teaching me what you know so I can share it with the people of Spain. 

 

Con Amor,

Hermana Walker

 

Happy 4th of July!

So just like Marissa, I didn磘 know it was 4th of July either this 
week. That is until my pensionista surprised me with really good 
fries, an American hamburger (the first I had in 6 months), and an 
American flag in the burger. It was awesome, I might send you a 
picture. My pensionista is the best and really is like a mom here. 
Also, that same day, we were in a lesson watching a little video on 
the plan of salvation. Then all of the sudden, everything went pitch 
black. The kids got out their cell phones. I thought it was only the 
house. I walked outside and the whole street was black. I then looked 
toward the center of the city and the Cerro Rico, and the whole city 
was blacked out!! It reminded me in the book of mormon right before 
Christ came, there was blackness for 3 days. However for us, it was 
only about 15 min. Yep, that was chevre. 
 
Cambios were this week. I磎 pretty sure I磎 leaving this area in 5 
more weeks or the next change. I am going to be here for 6 months. An 
Elder that is new here in Potosi was looking at my photos and asking 
questions. He saw that my brother and sister were or are on a mission. 
He asked where they went. I told him that my brother just returned 
from Rio de Janero, Brasil. He was like Wow! Then I said that my 
sister is in Barcelona, Spain. Once again he was blown away and told 
me, ``dude, you really got screwed over...创 I thought about that 
statement. And I have decided that the Bolivia Cochabamba mission is 
for me. Sure I don磘 have hardly any luxuries or cool tourist places 
at all, but I wouldn磘 have experienced so much or learned as much as 
I have (i still have a lot to go) if I did go to another country or 
mission. And that has been the theme for this week. 
 
I thing I have learned is how to work with members and the bishopric. 
We had an intense meeting with the bishop and his counselors. We 
usually always bring our report of our investigators, but this time, 
we forgot. But the bishopric never does anything with it so we didn磘 
think it was that big of a deal. The bishop called my companion a bad 
leader for not having it and that made him angry. We spent about 2 
hours, talking, discussing, a little bit of fighting, and during the 
whole thing, I was laughing a little bit. I didn磘 talk much because 
most of the things they were arguing about were kinda pointless. For 
example, they don磘 want us to play soccer or basketball or any sports 
with the members or investigators because we should be fully 
concentrated on the work. I agreed. Then the other Elders argued that 
is wasn磘 a rule and in all other areas, they play with the people to 
gain their trust. I also agreed. Nonetheless, it was pointless. 
However, yesterday, it was a miracle. The bishopric went on splits 
with us! They helped so much in the lesson and getting to know our 
investigators. Also, with one family that has a baptism date (flia 
flores-Martinez), the bishop knows them and actually lived with them 
before. He磗 going to help us with that family and go with us tonight 
to visit them. He gave us alot a key information that has happened to 
that family. 
 
Well I hope things are going well back at home. Ryan, you still 
haven磘 told me what interests you about the gospel. But I know you 
are busy having fun. I believe it磗 summer break. The school磗 here 
also have a break for 2 weeks. They say it is because of the cold 
here. Good excuse for a break. Que el se駉r les bendiga. 
 
-Elder Walker 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!

Last Zone Conference with President and Sister Hinkley

 

iT´S weird, i had totally forgotten it was 4th of July until our new president reminded us monday!!!!  I ´ve become a Spaniard.  I only celebrate their holidays now.  it just kind of happens that way...did it happen that way on your missions?  Well anyway such an exciting week!!!  Our new President arrived Friday and he and is wife are just great!!!!  Exactly what I need right now.  Más personal.  I feel like I´ve known them my whole life, like their family friends or something.  He´s not a thing like President hinckley even though I LOVED President Hinckley and learned a ton from him.  The Hinckley´s were más formal and stressed obedience.  The Pace´s are more relaxed and all about loving the people.  He says if you don´t love the Lord or the people you will not want to be obedient or serve them.  so true.  President Pace first time meeting me shakes my hand and says "Hermana Walker, there is something different about you then all the other missionaries."  Well....gulp...garsh...made me feel really really good!  It was Hermana Pace´s birthday in which my companion and I put treats and cards together as well as decorations.  He came up to us personally and says thank you I knew your fingerprints were all over this.  He then the next time came and sat down right next to me just to talk about me.  I like the PACES soooooo much!!!  Conversation is so natural.  I felt nervous talking with the Hinckley´s sometimes.  Never knew how to act, put I can see the Paces being family friends with us Walker´s.  They´re a lot more lax and funny.

 

So we have officially evacuated from Pamplona, too bad because we had 3 baptism fechas for this weekend.  We were just going to have the members take care of the baptism but then decided it would be better if we were there to help out. so...They´ll just have to get baptized when we get back.  One is a Bolivian woman, the other an Equitorian woman, and then a Spaniard Joven.  Things were getting bad in Pamplona so we thought we had better leave before the bulls come charging at us.  haha.  It was fun seeing all the pre-festivities.  Did you get the video I sent you and the document so that you can feel like you´re there?  We were in Bilboa for a day and a half with the Paces, then took a 6 hour train ride back to my first area ZARAGOZA!!!!!!!!!!  I´m really excited to be serving back here for the next 3 weeks!!!!  We have plenty to do,  finish her training which ends next week, keep the work going in Pamplona through the help of the members, visit all my recent converts here, and maybe try and get a baptism here.  that would be neat, but hard.  we´ll see what we can do.  I have a list of people to visit.  It´s really exciting already because I was here when I couldn´t speak a lick of Spanish nor understand.  So the other day our dueño Antonio comes over, he´s a member, and says oh my goodness you speak spanish now hahaha!!!!!  I couldn´t ever understand a word he ever said either and now i somehow understand everything he says!!!!  wow...tender blessings of the Lord.  I didn´t realize how much i had grown until now.  Then at district meeting the senor couple leans over to me and compliments how much my spanish has grown.   made me feel good.  I can´t wait to see everyone sunday again.  this was for sure my favorite area.

 

Well I know this is the work of the Lord.  I know that our founding forefathers in America paved the way for a restoration of all things, now known as The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints.  I love this work, it´s work, but it´s the work of the Lord.  Do me a favor this week and just be positive no matter what.  Pointing out the negative will just bring you grief and pain.  and if things are out of your control, pray that the Lord will make your burdens light and he will.  Be happy, be positive!  Love you all!

 

Hermana Walker    

DyC 121:9

Buenas buenas

Dear familia, 
 
I just realized that I wrote ``familia´´ instead of family. 
 
I know that I should only write positive things; however, I want to 
express all my feelings that I have been experiencing here on the 
mission. 
 
                                  My Woes 
Well, this week was terrible emotionally. Let´s just say that 
everything seemed to build up and it really took a toll on me. First 
of all, I´m sick of being sick! Every other week, I get some kind of 
sickness. This week, it´s just the common cold, but it affects my 
accent, spanish, breathing, and eating. The cold! It is freezing. My 
ears and nose gets burnt during the day, then when the sun goes down, 
they start peeling from the cold. My shower right now is barely 
sputting any water, and the power always seems to go out when I start 
my shower so it turns ice cold. The smoke from the cars, it is so 
pollutiony here. I blow my nose and it comes out black. The language 
still. I understand almost everything said. But I still cannot fully 
express the sentiments and desires of my heart with the people. The 
culture. Everytime I walk into a store or on the streets or really 
anywhere, all the heads turn my way. Then they try making fun of me 
(sometimes in Quechua) being white, mormon, or handsome. The food. 
This doesn´t bother me as much, but sometimes I wish I had normal 
food. 
However, the thing that had bothered me the most was other 
missionaries. I´m tired of being wasquiar, I forgot what it means in 
English. It´s like reprimanded, or ``they´re giving it to me´. 
Everytime I do one thing wrong, we talk about it. For the zone 
meeting, I was the reason why we talked about a subject. This also 
goes for every district meeting. We talk about what I lack because my 
compy is the district leader. Then for companionship study, we always 
talk about the things I do wrong. I swear he purposely looks for 
something I do wrong during the day just so he can ``teach me´´ or 
reallly tell me that I´m doing it wrong. I don´t know if you guys 
understand or not. So basically, I felt like crap. It´s terrible being 
humilliated publicly and in private. I realized I don´t work like 
that. I need compliments every now and then to build up my confidence. 
When my confidence is down, I will never teach my best. 
But I would like to say that I had hope. I like the word hope. In 
Spanish, to hope is esperar. However, it means more than to hope. It 
also means to wait. When we hope, we have to wait it out. Also, it 
means to expect. So, when we have hope, we wait patiently and humbly 
during our trials with an expectation that it will get better. This is 
what I did. I held my tongue when I wanted to strike back aggressively 
in my defense (james 3). I tried applying the things they said to me. 
And would say that my week ended great. My comp talked to me one night 
for 2 hours. He talked peacefully about many things that he held dear 
and what he learned on the mission and what he expects for me. He told 
me that I was one of the most humble people he knew, especially from 
the other gringos and also he said that I was his second best friend 
in his whole mission (next to an argentine elder). I also recieved a 
letter with a pack of snickers of my trainer. He told me that he 
learned many things from me and I was his best friend he had. 
Sometimes you can´t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you 
keep pushing farther, knowing that there will be light, you will 
eventually reach it. 
 
-Elder Walker 
 
Mom - I need a couple more spray n wash thingys for my clothes. My 
white shirts get black fast... 
 
Ryan - Basícament, estoy enseñandote en la forma de una chica. ¿Que es 
lo que te interes o te animo del evangelio? 

6 months

Hello family, 
 
I hit the 6 month mark! Time flies by fast, and it keeps getting faster. 
 
So this past weekend was San Juan, whatever that is. All the hills 
were lit on fire and people lit off (lame) fireworks. We also ate 
hotdogs. It seems like there´s a holiday every other week. I asked 
around why they celebrate this holiday and nobody knew, they all said 
tradition. I think they just find reasons to eat, drink, and be merry, 
everyone was drunk Saturday and Sunday. It´s also getting very cold 
here...It´s a dry cold where it´s bone chilling. I wear all my 
jackets, my scarf, and a beanie. 
 
My companion keeps tellling me how horrible potosi is and how it´s his 
worst and hardest area he´s been in. Personally, I don´t think it´s 
that bad, probably because it´s my first area. Although I heard that 
most people find their most success with references from members. I 
visited a ton of members and less actives and know almost the whole 
ward personally; however, I haven´t recieved one refence from a 
member... We just knock doors when we have nothing to do. This week, 
it payed off pretty well. We found many people that have members for 
years but haven´t gone for over about 15 years. We then starting 
teaching them and their family who aren´t members. This happened 3 
times this week. ALso, I had my first baptism on the mission. Ít´s 
really my second, but it´s the first one that I actually taught up 
until baptism. He also recieved his confirmation on sunday and during 
priesthood meeting, he recieved the priesthood. It usually doesn´t 
happen that fast but I guess the bishop thought he was ready since 
he´s been listening to the Elder´s for 2 years and attending church. 
 
Stay close to the gospel, be prepared, and take the holy spirit as 
your guide so that you will not be confounded at the last day. 
 
-Elder Walker