September 21st

Hey Yall!

   This week has been a crazy one! Monday and Tuesday were spent saying goodbye to members/investigators in the OKC 1st Ward. Wednesday was transfer day! That was an adventure to say the least! At 9:30 on transfer day they hold a zone leader meeting. So I got to go to that for the first time and that was interesting! Being in a room with 20 zone leaders, the leaders of the whole mission, and I felt like I was back in high school again haha. Those guys are all crazy! I walked in and there were 2 elders wrestling around on the ground and there was stuff being thrown through the air and lots of laughing and making jokes and all sorts of stuff! I was like, um... this is what zone leaders are like? It was pretty funny I thought! 

   Anyhow, I was able to meet Elder Riley Jeffs at transfers! He is such an awesome guy! He is being trained in Cushing. It’s a little one light town in the furthest north eastern corner of our mission. It’s a great area and I’m so excited for him! I know that he will do amazing there! 

   This week we did lots of missionary work! So now that I have a truck, yes I said truck, we are able to get around easier. Now unfortunately, it is a Nissan. It’s a Nissan frontier. It’s a nice little truck and its brand spankin new! We get to switch off driving every other day so that’s nice. Now that I haven’t driven in almost a year! Plus it has a terrible turning radius so that made for a rough first day of driving. It was rough but I survived it all. I’m doing well and loving life.

  Elder Barton is doing good with his new companion Elder Hurd. I am so glad that he got a good companion for his breaker!

  It decided to finally rain here on Saturday night and into Sunday. When it rains in Oklahoma, it POURS!! It doesn’t mess around here! It straight up gets after it! We had a river running through our complex! But thankfully we have a truck now so we don’t have to worry about getting soaked (: 

   On a more spiritual note, we had the opportunity this week to help this brother give his grandson a name and a blessing. We are the "blessing elders" because we have tons of hospitals in our area. So we went to this hospital to help this brother out. His daughter had just had a baby and it probably wasn’t going to survive the night. They wanted the baby to have a name and blessing before he passed. As we reached into the little enclosed case the baby was in I couldn’t help but think about what was going on on the other side. This baby was brand new to this world and was going to be leaving it very shortly. We all placed our hands on the baby and the grandfather gave him a name and a blessing. The spirit was so strong there I knew that there were other people in the room other than us. I know it was a very hard time for all of them because they were about to lose the baby. I could picture Heavenly Father standing there with his arms out stretched waiting to welcome this precious child into his arms. It was a very tender moment and as he finished, a feeling of comfort flooded over the whole room. As the mother and father sat there crying I heard him whisper into her ear, “it’s ok, we'll see him again.” The Plan of salvation is so amazing and it is such a blessing to have knowledge of it! I am so thankful for this gospel and the peace that it brings. What a blessing to be part of that moment.

   This week I have been studying a lot about the Sabbath day. I know that the brethren of the church are pushing that really hard lately. There is a quote in Preach My Gospel that talks about the Sabbath. It says, "Our Sabbath Day observance is a reflection on our commitment to follow our Savior Jesus Christ." It’s very true and made me reflect on how well I do. As a missionary Sunday is just another day but we get to go to church. There isn’t really much that sets it apart other than that so I was thinking about how I try and make it special. The Sabbath is a day of rest but when we are not doing anything, that is not keeping the Sabbath day holy. We must always be doing something productive on the Sabbath. And Spencer W. Kimball (Prophet) Said that yes, even sleeping is a good thing to do on the Sabbath haha so no worries there! On the Sabbath we should refrain from spending money in any way, participating in recreational activities, watching TV, using electronic devices that distract us, and doing anything that takes our mind off of the true meaning of the Sabbath day. This day has been set apart from the beginning of this time as a day to rest and focus on the Savior and the things that He has done for us. It is a day to spend time with family and develop those important relationships. I hope and pray that all of you will evaluate yourselves and your Sabbath Day Observance and decide now how you will better show your commitment to follow our Savior.

I love y’all and hope that you have an amazing week! 

Elder Walker 

      

Here is my posterity picture! This is me, my trainer elder Stahlei (who went home that day), my son elder Barton and my brother Elder Kerr. (My trainer trained again after me) 

And then this is who I am replacing as ZL. Elder Fronk! He was one of my disc golf buddies (: