10-26-15

Hey Y’all! 

            This week was a pretty good one for us. The Lord has blessed us with new people to teach and with cooler weather! I've missed the cold! Summer is so hot and humid here I’m ready for a change! I wish that it could have been like this all summer long! It’s down into the 50's and 60's now so that’s nice! 

            This week we were able to find 2 new investigators: Eric and Wendy. Eric we found by talking to him on the street. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and how it can change your life. He loved it and invited us back to teach him more! He is an Army Vet who served several tours in Iraq and has a really cool boy named Billy who is 4 and is awesome! 

            Wendy actually referred herself and requested a visit by the missionaries and a Book of Mormon. She said that she is searching for where she is supposed to be in life and wants to know more about our church! She said that she loved the little bit we taught her and wants to be baptized! So exciting!

The Lord is blessing us with people to teach who are prepared and ready to hear the Gospel! These people are all God’s children and he Loves them so much and wants them to be happy! I love teaching the Gospel! 

I am doing pretty well. Transfers are this week Elder Taggart and I are staying together but we are getting a new set of sister missionaries in our zone. They are getting shot gunned into the Edmond 2 ward! Then my MTC companion elder Morton is going to be the new DL (district leader) in Edmond as well! Things are going great here and I love it here in Quail Creek!

            I’m sorry to make this so short but we have lots to do today! I love y’all and hope you have an amazing week! 

Elder Walker

Oct 19th

Hey y’all,

   This week has been a little better than the last few. We have seen miracles though! We were able to find 2 new people to teach and had some other wonderful things happen! Most of our appointments still fell through but that happens sometimes. We did lots of biking this week.

The weather is amazing right now. It’s been in the 70s and mid 60's all week and it perfect! These Indian summers as they call them here are amazing! I love it! It’s the middle of October and its perfect outside!

This week has been a busy one! We had exchanges on Tuesday with the village south elders, a district leader council on Wednesday, and exchanges on Friday with the Edmond 4th elders then I get asked to give a talk on Sunday! Whew! Glad this week is over! With only 2 weeks left in the transfer, things are flying by way to fast. It needs to slow down... It’s crazy that time can fly by so fast. I never thought it would be possible. A lot of my friends and fellow missionaries are going home next week and it makes me sad! But the work continues on! I hope that we are able to have an amazing week like we have planned already! I’m looking forward to it. 

   This week I have been studying a lot about how we have been given many responsibilities.

In Luke 16:10-12,  

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 

It talks about how if we aren’t faithful a little bit or a lot we are still unfaithful. Also if we can’t be trusted with the things we have been given why could we expect God to give us more? Something to think about though. Can God trust you with the things that you already have? Can He trust you to give you more?

Hope that y’all have a great week! Love ya!

Elder Walker

Me and my companion Elder Taggart!

Oct 12th

Hey y’all,

   This week has been a hard one for us. We had the opportunity to teach several good lessons but no matter what we did, most of our appointments fell through. We have definitely seen miracles this week and have seen the atonement work as well. I don’t know why but I've been feeling a little down the last week or 2 and that didn’t help anything, but that happens every now and then. It only matters that you get up one more time than you fall. Cinch that saddle up and keep on going.

I am so thankful for this gospel and the peace and the support that it brings. I am also so thankful for you all and the love and support that you give to me as well. This week was hard for me but that’s not going to stop me from pushing forward and working hard. I know this Gospel is true and it has blessed my life so much! I love giving others the opportunity to enjoy that peace and comfort and that knowledge of God’s love and plan for us.

Sorry to make this so short but life is busy right now. I hope that y’all have an amazing week and don’t forget how much God loves us. After all, He did send His only son to be sacrificed for us so that we could return to live with Him again. I know that to be true and I will be eternally grateful for that. Never forget what our Savior did for us, that infinite and eternal sacrifice. I love y’all and hope that you have an amazing week! 

Elder Walker

Oklahoma sunset

Octber 5th

Hey yall!

   Holy smokes! One year has come and gone faster than a twister rippin through Moore Oklahoma!

On October 1st I hit my 1 year mark. It was a time for me to pause and reflect on my mission and what I have accomplished and become. In that year I have had 4 baptisms, 9 companions, trained 2 missionaries, served in 4 areas, been a District Leader and a Zone Leader, got pretty good at disc golf and basketball, rode the snot out of my bike and gained only 7 pounds (: I have loved every second of it! From the -10 degrees to 110 degrees and everywhere in between! But now that I am on the downhill slide, I have thought a lot about what lies ahead.

The mission as a whole right now is really young so I am strengthening my resolve to be the best example I can be. I know there is a good time ahead of me and I’m so excited for it! I have had so much love and support from all y’all and I have grown so much. Especially in my testimony! I thought I had a strong one when I entered the mission field but now it’s even stronger! 

Thank you to everyone who has been there to support me both financially and spiritually. It means a lot to have that kind of support. There are missionaries that don’t have that support at all and I don’t know how they do it. This work is hard but so rewarding!

I am so thankful for everything I have learned and the people I have met and taught. I know that this Church is the one and only true Church on the face of this earth. That is a bold claim but if that wasn’t true I would be wasting my time as a missionary. I know that God loves all of His children so much more than we will ever be able to comprehend. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that it is inspired scripture written by ancient prophets and translated and brought forth by the Lords Prophet Joseph Smith. This work is so important and I am so blessed to be a part of it! It is the most important work that can be done here on earth! 

Other than that I am doing well! Zone Leader life is insanely crazy and I’m still getting used to it but I’m surviving (:

General conference was amazing and I am so thankful for a living prophet and apostles who receive guidance and revelation from God and direct us in His ways! I hope that y’all have an amazing week and don’t forget to pray! 

Elder Walker  

Sept 28th

Hey y’all,

   This week has been a pretty crazy one for us. We had amazing weather though which made it super nice! We got out on the bikes just because we can (: I like biking even though we have a truck it’s nice to feel the cool Oklahoma breeze. It’s officially fall now and its really cooling down fast.

This week we had the chance to visit with lots of different people. Ranging from less actives to investigators to active members. We have really been trying to focus on member missionary work! It is the most effective way to do this work! It’s hard to get it started but once it’s going it’s going! 

   On Sunday morning we had a meeting with our stake president and counselors, and our mission president to discuss missionary work in the stake. The Zone Leaders in the stake are in charge of the meeting so it was a little intimidating because there were some important people there. So it was me and Elder Taggart from Quail Creek zone and Elder Beus and Elder Quijada from the OKC Zone. Also the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Beltaton and Sister Garner were there. We discussed member missionary work with them and made some plans to spread that type of work across the whole stake. It was really awesome to be able to counsel with all those church leaders and correlate our work with theirs. We are striving to be a stake of invitation by having the members invite their friends to visit with the missionaries. It is the only way this work can be done!

I hope that all of you have the courage to invite someone to partake of the Gospel. General Conference is coming up this weekend and would be a wonderful opportunity to invite someone! So do it!

All is well here and I am loving being in my new area with Elder Taggart! He is an awesome missionary!

Remember that the success is in the invitation! The most they can do is say no! When you have invited, you have done your job and fulfilled your responsibility as a member of the Lords church!

Love y’all and hope that you have a week full of invitations! 

Elder Walker

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 (: 

August 31st

Hey Y’all!

   This week has been a really good one for us! Summer is coming to an end and the weather is cooling down, but also the work is picking up! We were able to do a lot of service for both members and non-members this week. We did 3 moves and a few lawns haha. We just need to start a business!

We were also able to teach a few good lessons to Colby and Amy and also to Kiera. Kiera came to church this week and that was awesome! She loved it and said that she wanted to come back next week! She is very curious and willing to learn. It’s so exciting when people are like that and progress so quickly in the Gospel! 

On Wednesday we were able to go to the temple as a zone! That was really awesome! We have the best zone leaders in the whole mission! Elder Bues and Elder Quist are amazing!! They are so inspired and led by the spirit in all they do! 

Anyhow, all is well here! We are getting along great! The rest of the district is doing good too.

This week I was studying in the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 10) about Jacob talking about the coming of Christ. He talked about how Christ had to go to the Jews specifically in order to complete His ministry and the Atonement. Jacob talks about how the Jews were the only ones who were wicked enough to kill their Savior. Any other nation would have repented and accepted Him as their Savior. That really surprised me when I read that! Something interesting that I never really thought about before! I hope and pray that we all would repent and accept Jesus as our Savior if He came to us!

I hope that y’all have an amazing week and stay strong and don't be afraid to share the gospel and open your mouth! Love y’all!

Elder Walker

Here is our Zone at the Temple