July 20^th

Hey yall,

    This week has been a good one. We were able to get a lot done. We also did lots of service which was good! We mowed 3 lawns and did a bunch of other yard work too! I love any opportunity to get out of pros clothes! The heat and pants and a white shirt and a tie don't go well together! But we survive.

So this week we had a miracle! So y’all remember Colby that I talk about all the time right? Well he wants to be baptized but as of last week he couldn't because he worked on Sundays and they wouldn't give him Sundays off. And if you don't come to church you can’t be baptized. So he got sick of it and up and quit his job! So now he can come to church! Total miracle! We were shocked when we heard that! That doesn't happen very often! But now his wife Amy is going back to school to re-qualify for her CNA so she can work while he looks for another job. That was probably the highlight of the week! He's scheduled for baptism on August 22nd! Now the only thing he's got to do it quit his vape thing. Those stupid things are really popular out here. There are vape shops everywhere!

Not much else has been going on this week. We've received a lot of referrals and we've been running around everywhere to contact all of them! So that's good! Oh! And then on Thursday we found something nasty in our apartment! When I got out of the shower I almost stepped on a spider. When I got closer to look at it, I saw it was a fiddle back! (Or brown recluse for those of you who don't know the Oklahoma vocabulary). So we caught it and put it in a jar and fed it to another big nasty spider we caught earlier that week! Exciting stuff! Those things are everywhere out here!

   Anyway, on a more spiritual note, haha I read a scripture this week I really liked in 1 Nephi 17:13. In there the Lord promises us that he will be the light in the wilderness and that He will prepare a way for us as long as we keep his commandments! What a promise! He will prepare a way. And I have a testimony of that!

Love y’all and have a good week!

Elder Walker

July 13th

 What a week it’s been! It’s flown by! It was cool and rainy earlier in the week and got real hot this weekend.

On Tuesday I was on exchanges with one of our zone leaders Elder Quist. We were biking around in the pouring rain and I wrecked because my brakes don't work too well when they're wet haha. Oh well! Then we had a bunch of meetings. A meeting for the new missionaries and they're trainers called veterans meeting. After 2 weeks they're considered "veterans" I think it’s funny but whatever works I guess. Friday and Saturday we were biking like mad too!

  

Saturday morning we went mountain biking in the morning for our exercise. I think we may have found the only mountain biking trail in Oklahoma. And it’s right next to a lake. That was pretty fun! Got all muddy and sweaty! Great way to start off the day! I think we rode a total of like 20 miles Saturday! We were all over the place! That same evening, we were planning on going down to 30th St. (we live on 63rd St.) to do some less active hunting and elder Barton got a flat tire. So we were going to go to the apt. real quick to change out his tube and then head down there. Then my chain got jammed as I was riding behind him! It was jammed so bad that I had to disconnect it to fix it! I think the Lord didn't want us to go down to 30th St! And that's not even the ghetto, but oh well.

Then yesterday it was a million degrees outside! Holy smokes it was hot. And Sundays are hard days anyways because people are either sleeping or in church. Oh well. Hopefully we can continue to work hard and find tons more people to teach! We dropped like 6 or 7 investigators this week so we are down to 2 or 3. So please pray that we will be able to find new people to teach!

This week I have been studying a lot about Lehi's dream. Its talks about his dream in 1 Nephi 8 and also even more in depth when the Lord is allowing Nephi to see it as well in the few following chapters after that. It’s amazing to read those things and realize that they are all happening right now! These are truly the last days and the Savior will be coming quickly! Are y’all ready?? I am! I would highly recommend that y’all study those chapters deeply. There is a lot of cool stuff in there! Have a great week!

Elder Walker 

7-6-15

Hey Y'all!

First of all I want to apologize for not sending a big email last week. I totally spaced it!

Holy smokes it’s been hot this week! There were a couple days where it was up in the 100's, and the humidity doesn’t help either. But we've been drinking plenty of water and taking lots of slushy breaks, so don't worry!

 he work is going fine here. Our area is experiencing some growing pains a little bit. We are working hard but not much is happening. Trying to get the ball rolling again is hard. It’s also been fun trying to juggle being a trainer and a district leader. With that comes some stress, haha. I haven't really experienced much stress until now so I’m still trying to get used to it. But it’s all good and we are hanging in there. 

This week I have been really focusing on what the Lord wants for us to do in this area and it’s proving to be a challenge to figure out. It seems like we just need to find all new people to teach. Other than a few of our investigators, the other ones are starting to get stale... but tracting is super ineffective so we'll see how that goes. I hope that we can get things going again!

This week I have been thinking a lot about how everything that happens to us and everything that happens in general happens for a reason. Whether it’s for our benefit or for someone else or maybe we don't even know why at all! But it all happens for a reason. Also when the Lord commands us to do certain things, whether that takes the shape of a calling or any other responsibility or rule we are asked to follow, He asks us because He knows that we can handle it! He has faith in us. He knows our potential! He knows who we can become and who we need to become! 1 Nephi 17:50 says that He commands us to do things because He knows we can. He might have to help us but He has faith in us! He's definitely has a plan and has it all under control!

Love y’all and hope you all have an amazing week! Stay cool!

Elder Walker

Shane and his new trainee sitting next to him, Elder Barton