Dec 29th

Hey Y'all!

This week has been good and bad. The weather has been crazy, our numbers were awful, and Christmas was amazing! To start it off, its been cold and warmish this week. On Christmas it was over 60! On Saturday we woke up to about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down! so the weekend was pretty cold! All of our investigators were either sick or out of town so we didn't get to teach anyone this week which is sad. 

On Friday something really sad happened. We got a call Friday evening from Bishop Bynum. Rocky Drake, one of our investigators, passed away of a massive heart attack. They took him to the hospital and worked on him for an hour but no luck. He has been transferred to new missionaries on the other side. His funeral is tomorrow and we will be going. I was so sad to hear this but I know he is in a better place now. 

Christmas was fantastic though! After a solid workout in the morning we came back and showered and opened presents! Man I am spoiled! I don't think I have ever gotten so many presents in my life! Thank y'all so much for sending me packages and gifts! It truly was fantastic! But after that we went over to Bishops home to skype our families! That was the best part of my Christmas! It made my day! Then we spent the rest of the day at other members homes playing games and eating tons of food! Oh man we ate a lot! We had quite the day and slept very well that night! We have been so spoiled by members! We got tons of ties and t-shirts from them! We got OKC Thunder shirts! Go Thunder! (The only reason I know who they are is because I'm here in Oklahoma so don't laugh). But they are so generous here! Our fridge is full and our pantry is packed! (mostly with junk food) But that's OK (: But thanks to y'all I had an amazing first Christmas away from home! 

One thing that I've really been thinking about a lot this week is studying the scriptures. The scriptures are words, counsel, stories, experiences, commandments, etc. from our Heavenly Father and our Savior. When we pray to our Heavenly Father he often times uses the scriptures to answer our prayers. We have the wonderful blessing of having the Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price all at our finger tips. What a blessing! Many people have gone through so much trial and persecution to bring these books into our lives. These people would have not had such a hard time bringing about these books if they were not true. Satan knows that they are true. He didn't want us to have access to the truth but he could not stop the Lords plan from happening! So here we are! Read them! It does no good for us to let them collect dust on the shelf. That's not what they are intended for. I came out here and my perspective changed so much on the scriptures. I can't get enough of them!!! They are such a blessing in our lives and provide so much inspiration and revelation. So take advantage of it! 

Love y'all and Hope y'all have a fantastic week!

Elder Walker