June 15th

Hey y'all,

   This week was a pretty good one! It was hot as ever. Well, it only got up to 104 and I'm sure it will get hotter soon... we had some rain this week too which of course brought the cooler weather which was nice! 

We had a STM (Specialized Training Meeting for the Zone) which was good! It was all about having the faith to baptize. That's a big focus right now in the mission is baptism. As missionaries we are responsible for one saving ordinance and that's baptism. The first one! What a great responsibility it is!  Then on Wednesday we had Zone Conference which was really good! We also talked a lot about baptism and teaching the "why" of every commitment we leave. It was said that anyone who doesn't keep their commitments usually doesn't keep them because they don't know why they should. If they understand, they are more likely to keep it! So that was good. Then during the rest of the week we worked! We were all over the place! Its nice having a car especially in the heat and the rain haha. Only for 2 more weeks though! Then I'll be hitting the road again on my trusty bike! 

Saturday night I got a call from AP Davis. (One of my favorite missionaries and a past zone leader) He told me I was training again! I am so excited! I'm not as nervous as I was last time. Even though I only trained for 2 weeks I learned so much! Hopefully I wont screw this one up! haha Just kidding! Elder Read goes home next week and we'll miss him a ton!

  

I want to make a shout out to one of my best friends Elder Drake Ortmann who just entered the MTC on Wednesday! He will be serving in the mission just north of me in the Wichita Kansas Mission! Good luck man! We'll be praying for ya! You'll do great!   

   

An experience that we had this week that really stands out in my mind is when we had a lesson with Colby. We dropped by right after Zone Conference to try and catch him and we did! We read Mosiah 18 with him and it talks all about baptism and the covenants we make when we are baptized. He said that he wanted to be baptized and we asked him when. He then pulled out his phone and picked a day!  July 17th! That never happens! Like ever! Anyone who has served a mission knows that its a miracle when someone does that! So that was really cool to be a part of! But that also depends on whether or not he comes to church and he has a hard time with that. So please pray that Colby will come to church!! Today we are going to play some more Frisbee golf with him so that should be fun!

   

Yesterday at church I had a crazy experience. The Village ward Sisters came walking down the hall helping this young woman to a chair. They sat her down and she looked pail and faint. They fed her some fruit snacks and some water thinking that would help but she soon was unresponsive. Her "caretaker" was there and she had just barley taken her meds. She was conscious but unresponsive. Then she passed out and then it got weird. There was another sister there who went and knocked on our bishops door. Fortunately our bishop and first counselor are a doctor and ER nurse. So they came over and helped out. They propped her head up and then she went crazy and had a seizure!! Holy smokes that was weird! They were doing all this crazy stuff and finally she stopped. They carried her into the other room right before the other sacrament meeting got out! Then they called an ambulance and they took her away. But crazy to witness that stuff!  

   

Anyhow! This week I have been studying a lot about baptism. I was reading in Mosiah 18 about the covenants we make. When Alma was teaching the people at the waters of Mormon about that, when he finished telling them of those covenants, they "clapped their hands for joy!" Because that was the desire of their hearts! All these people who were baptized, all two hundred and something, were so excited to be baptized! Yeah they had just been taught by the prophet but still. We must constantly be thinking about those things that we have promised to the Lord. Covenants are an amazing thing but there is one thing that is interesting about them. Since they are a 2 way promise between us and the Lord, we do our part and He does His. The thing is, if we aren't receiving the blessings or promises of those covenants its not the Lords fault! He's perfect! So it all depends on us! So remember that. There's no one to blame but ourselves! Inspiring stuff right there. I would challenge y'all to read Mosiah 18 this week and ponder on those things. Love y'all and hope you have a great week!   

Elder Walker   

We found a snapping turtle