April 30, 2012

Hello Everyone!! Sister Riggs and I had a good week. And we are exhausted! We got up at 4 am this morning to go crabbing! I was really excited to go at first, but it ended up being cold and dark and we didnt catch a single crab. Not very fun. The assistants took us to this spot that was suppossed to be really good, but... it didnt work out so well. I've decided after this morning that I'm definitely not a fisher. I dont have the patience. But we did get to see the sun rise over the bay! I'll send a couple of pictures. I love maryland. Well we've had a little more success in finding people to teach this week. We met with a girl named anna who is just great. She has a 5 year old daughter and another one on the way. But she's not married and feels REALLY guilty about it. When we brought up baptism in the lesson she started crying. She's been in and out of jail before and has been carrying her past around. She feels like she cant overcome all the mistakes she's made and continues to make. We hope to help her understand that God loves her no matter what she's done, or continues to do, and that she can be free from guilt through the atonement. She's so awsome. I love meeting these people who are truly trying to make positive changes in their lives. We also got to do a bit of exploring this week! I dont know if i mentioned it already, but our area tripled in size a few weeks ago. So the kent island branch is bigger in geographic area than the rest of our stake combined. Its crazy! So there were 34 less active families added to the branch, so our branch president asked us to go out and meet all of them. I drove 200 miles one day. Which may not sound like a lot, but when you drive 5 or ten miles and then stop and then do it all over again it gets pretty tedious. Anyway... I didnt realized how rural maryland is. Theres nothing but miles and miles of trees out there. We actually got about 10 feet into delaware too! I'm super excited for this upcoming week. We have two days of training tomorrow and wednesday and then Elder Bednar at the visitors center on saturday! I love being a missionary! I love this work! And I love the maryland baltimore mission! Have a great week everyone! Sister Walker

April 23, 2012

Hello!! Well this is going to be a short email. Sorry! My new companion is Sister Riggs!!! She's from Pasedena CA. She's been out about 5 months and is great! super hard working and very focused. Unfortunately she got food poisoning this week and we were in for two days, but even so this has been by far the most productive week I've had in kent island. Long story short, the missionaries here in the past ( including my previous companion) weren't very good at keeping mission rules and had lost the trust of the members. So sister riggs and I are here to clean up their mess. And the Lord has blessed us incredibly this week. Like I said, more has happened here in one week than the previous six weeks combined... It's amazing what happens when a companionship is unified and obedient. the miracles start coming!! Since I dont have much time to write I'm encluding an email from my mission president and part my email to him this week. Kind of explains whats been going on here in kent island. Sister Walker, Thanks for sharing your feelings! Yes, we know when we are doing all the Lord expects of us. I appreciate all of your efforts! You are getting that much closer to miracles. The Branch had lost a lot of trust with the missionaries in the past few months. I received some negative feedback. You, and now Sister Riggs, will be able to change the perceptions. There are many reasons why the Lord sent you to Kent Island. He will bless you with many great experiences and miracles. You are a great missionary! Sure do love you! Have a great week! President Belliston Hello President! Thank you for the email! You are absolutely right, I think we are that much closer to miracles! Wow! Its been a totally different feel since sister riggs got here. For the first time since i've been in kent island I felt like we had a week where we actually accomplished something! I love sister richards, and I have respect for her for coming on a mission when she could have gotten married, but I have to be honest, her focus wasnt entirely on missionary work. And I am not by any means putting blame on her for whats happened here, we were a companionship and it was a result of the both of us. But there was definitely a lack of unity and the work suffered because of it. We have met some great people in the past few days and have quite a few appointments set up for this upcoming week. Sister Riggs and I went knocking on thursday morning and the very first door we knocked on we met carrie. She has a very sick 5 year old boy and is looking for a way to find peace in her life. She told us she couldnt meet with us then because she was busy taking care of her son, but we set up a return apointment. A couple days later we called her back to confirm and she told us that half an hour after we left her house she wished she hadnt turned us away and went out looking for us! How cool is that?! We have an appointment with her on tuesday and I am SO excited to talk with her. She's prepared :) Our branch mission leader kind of stepped things up this week too. He's a photographer for the bay times and knows a lot of people in the community. He invited us to come to a "post easter egg hunt" and introduced us to quite a few people! He even gathered everyone up and offered a prayer before the hunt and then told them if they wanted to learn more about jesus christ they should come talk us. We met so many people! It was great! I'm amazed at the things that have happened here in just the last few days. The branch leaders seem much more supportive, and even members who havent fed the missionaries in months have invited us over. Heavenly Father is blessing us so so SO much. Miracles are pouring out in every direction! I have been so overwhelmed with gratitiude this past week. It makes the all the struggles worth it. I'm excited to be a missionary again! Thank you so much for all of your love and support president! It means a lot! Love Sister Walker Oh Also!! We got this in our email fron the mission president too: "We have been invited to attend a meeting along with the DC North and South missions with Elder Bednar and other General Authorities on Saturday, May 5. This will be an experience you will never forget! Our mission was blessed to be invited." ^^^^ Im SO excited for this!!! I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week!!! The gospel is true!!!! Love Sister Walker

April 16, 2012 Transfer week

Hello Everyone!!!!! It's transfer week again!!! I cannot believe it! this has been the fastest six weeks of my mission. We already got call outs.... Sister Richards is leaving. It doesnt feel right for some reason. I was with my other two companions for 2 transfers each so I feel like our time together has been cut short. But for some reason this is how it's suppossed to be, so i'll have to get over it.... Well we had an ok week. I say ok because we worked really hard, but nothing resulted from it. Were still struggling to find people to teach. I feel like everyone here knows who we are and so they run the opposite direction when they see us. This week we got to work city thats never been touched by missionaries before. Chestertown. We had way more success there then we have anywhere else. People would actually come to their door! The only problem is its 80 miles roundtrip to go up there and we only have 1400 miles a month, so we cant afford to drive up there more than once a week. Well i'm really not to sure what to write... i'm bummed because sister richards is leaving and also because the work is at a low point. I dont have much of anything good to share. Even though things arent going so well here, I have to say I think ive learned more this past transfer then I have in any of the others. Ive come to a greater understanding of my purpose as missionary. It's easy to get discouraged in this work when you're putting your effort forward and nothing is happening. But i've come to understand that success as a missionary is not about the number of lessons you teach or people you talk to or how many baptisms you have. At the end of each day I know that the Lord is pleased with the things I did. I worked my hardest, and thats all he asks for. God will bless us however and whenever he wants, and sometimes he withholds blessings to teach us something. Sometimes a bad week or bad transfer is a blessing. I'm not here to please a companion or district leader or a zone leader or even the mission president. As long as the Lord is pleased, thats all that matters. He is the only one who knows if I tried my best to fulfill my purpose. Well I will let you all know who my new companion is next week! I love you all! Take care and have a good week!! Sister Walker

April 9, 2012

Hello Everyone!!

Hmm.... I dont even know where to start. It's been a pretty discouraging week to say the least. Everything is crumbling! No one wants to talk with us! Our investigators are avoiding us! Actually, we dont have any investigators at the moment, so thats not even true...
Ok... I'm done. I just wanted to complain for a minute. Missionary work is hard. But salvation is not a cheap experience, so I have no right to expect it should be easy! In the words of Elder Holland " Missionaries, you are not the first ones to ask if there is an easier way. The savior himself asked that very question in the Garden of Gethsemane."
Speaking of which, how was everyone's Easter? I think this was possibly the greatest easter i've ever had. The first time ever I truly got to spend the whole day focused on the Savior. We got to share the bible videos with a lot of members and there families yesterday. Have you all seen these? http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng . Theyre really good. Anyway... there were many tears shed and testimonies born. It was amazing to see how the atonement affects everyone so individually. I complain about how things aren't going so well right now, but truly, I see miracles every day. Do you remeber a couple weeks ago when I wrote about sister madron? She left her husband who has been struggling with bi polar disorder. Well yesterday brother madron got up and bore his testimony on eternal families. Wow. Talk about someone who has used the atonement. Thats a miracle. We met with the newton family yesterday. The father was less active for years, and just a few months ago he's come back into activity, his wife and daughter were baptized, and they are preparing to be sealed in the temple. We showed them the video I linked above. Brother Newton cried through the whole thing. Another family who has used and come to deeply understand the atonement. Another miracle!
I know I dont bear testimony too frequently in my emails like other missionaries do. But I want you all to know that I know our savior lives! He loves and understands us more than we could ever comprehend. His atoning sacrfice means everything for us. Through him, all hurt can be healed, all sins can be washed away, and all our shortcomings and weaknesses can be overcome. And because he lives, we will too!
I love you all! have a wonderful week!
Sister Walker

Im attatching some pictures from this week. saturday sister richards and I had some fun in a parking lot with sidewalk chalk. We drew a giant plan of salvation and mormon.org.... im holding my hand up because you're supposed to see their covered in chalk, but it didnt show up. Well anyone...We talked to a guy for about 25 minutes because of this! Taught him the whole plan of salvation with the diagram conviently right in front of us! Unfortunately, he doesnt wamt to meet with us :(

April 2,. 2012

Hello Everyone!!!

How was everyone's week? I hope you all enjoyed conference as much as I did! It goes by much too fast! I really loved Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf's talks.... we live in a world with way too much pride. I've made a resoloution to be kinder to everyone! And did you all see David Archuletta in the choir at the Saturday afternoon session? HA! For some reason his christmas album has become a bit of an inside joke with the entire mission. It's out of control. Good for him for going on a mission!
Well its been a bit of a rough week, Sister Richards and I are really struggling to find people to teach. I miss the africans. They always wanted to hear about God! Americans are just rude people! We did have kind of a miracle this week though. We've been praying and working our hardest to find someone who is ready to be baptized and it seems like NOTHING has happened in the four weeks ive been here. But on thursday the daughter of a less active couple texted us and said " Sisters! I want to get baptized! How do I do this?". I am convinced that if we work hard enough and pray diligently the Lord litterally starts dropping people into our laps! Well anyway, her name is Katie, she's 12 years old. She's been coming to church on her own for a while and has been talking with her parents about getting baptized recently. She's really mature for a 12 year old. It takes a lot of courage to go to church on your own without any family support. So hopefully we can get that worked out for her. It's exciting!
Hmm... well theres not much else going on thats really worth writing about. I'll send some pictures we took last week!
I love you all and thank you for the support! I am so grateful to be a missionary! There really is nothing better!
Sister Walker

March 26, 2012

Hello Everyone!!

How is everyone? I've only heard from a few people in the past couple of months, I hope everyone is still alive and well!
Sister Richards and I had an ok week. Definitely had better. We're lacking people to teach right now. Well, actually there are a ton of people we could teach, but no one will meet with us. We had 7 former or potential investigators at church yesterday. Everyone will come to church, but they are all "too busy" to meet with us. It's kind of frustrating. We are just going to keep working hard and bugging these people until something happens!
Our investigator lawrence kind of flopped this week too. He's still smoking and there hasnt been any plans made for a wedding. His such a good guy, but he's not very self motivated. So we're going to give him some space and hope that he figures things out on his own terms. I think his girlfriend is also a huge issue. She's not too fond of us. We dont want to cause contention in their relationship, so thats another reason were going to give him space. The whole situation is so sad! Lawrence would be baptized tomorrow if he could be. He'll get there eventually.
So... I think ive realized part of the reason I was sent to kent island. I've already mentioned how the branch really struggles, the members arent very strong, etc. Well im also learning that many of them also suffer with depression, bi-polar disorder, etc. We had kind of a crazy experience this last week with sister madron. She was the woman who we helped with the lice problem. I'm proabably making here sound crazy, but she's really awesome. She's a great mom and everything, takes good care of her kids. Anyway. So her husband suffers from bi polar disorder and has been in a mental hospital this past week. Wednesday morning Sister Madron called us and left a message telling us that she was moving to kansas, and that if she didnt see us before she left, good luck on the rest of our missions. She sound VERY upset. We were a little confused, so we called her back and aked her what was going on. She told us again that she was leaving for kansas, and asked us if we could help her pack because she was leaving that night. Then we asked her if her husband was going with her, and she just started crying and hung up on us. We tried to call her back, no answer. We had an appointement in 15 minutes, so we decided we would stop by her house afterwards. Well, as soon as we got to out appointment, we both knew that wasnt where we suppossed to be. Luckily it was just with lawrence, so he understood that we had to cancel. So we headed over to the madrons. Knocked on the door, but there was no answer. After banging on her door for 5 minutes, we let ourselves in. There were half packed boxes and suitcases everywhere. Sister Madrons 5 year old son was playing a game on the computer, and no one else was in the house. Of course Sister Richards and I both started to panic a little. We found an empty gun case on sister madrons bed and became REALLY panicked. Sister madrons suffers from depression as well and we thought she might have done something rash. We kept asking Ezekiel ( the 5 year old) if he knew where his mom or the rest of the family was and he said he had no idea. It was probably the most frightening 10 minutes of my mission. We checked the closets, bathroom, everywhere, didnt find anyone. After a few minutes, sister madron showed up though. She never really explained where she went or what she was doing. We could tell she was extremely stressed. She continued to pack everything frantically.Thankfully Ive learned a couple of helpful things in my social work classes! We got her to calm down a little and talk to us. She told us she had reached a breaking point with her husband. They were going to send him home from the hospital that day, but he hadnt made any improvement. According to sister madron he hasnt been on the right medication for over a year. So for her well being and the kids, she felt it was best to go live with some family for a while until everyone was mentally well. At first I thought she was making a pretty harsh choice, but after talking with her for a while, I realized that she knew what she was doing. She had prayed a lot about her decision and felt that it was right. I never expected to walk into a situation like this on my mission, but im gald I did! We kind of showed up at just the right moment. I cant imagine how overwhelming it must have been to make the decision she did, pack up a house and four kids and leave in 1 day! She definitely needed our help! So we talked and packed until some members of the ward were able to come and help out later that evening. Once again, this is an experience that I just cant put into words very well. But it was a day I definitely wont forget. It meant everything for me to be there for her.
Heavenly Father is aware of his children. I keep seeing the evidence of it over and over again. He loves each one of us more than we can understand. He knows our struggles and everything we are going through, no matter how big or small it may be! And he hasnt left us to face our challenges alone. He sends others to our aid when we need them!
Well other then some stressful moments with the members, theres not much else too exciting going on.... It's been warm here all week, in the 80's. The beach is really tempting. During the day we walk down the piers and docks when we need a five minute break from knocking on doors. Island life is great! I'll eventually get some good pictures to send. I've got a few I can send today.
I love you all! Have a good week! And dont pass up an opportunity to help someone who needs it!
Sister Walker

March 19, 2012

Hello Everyone!

Well spring has exploded in kent island! EVERY tree flowers here. My allergies arent doing so well, but atleast its nice to look at!
We had specialized training tuesday and wednesday this week. 2 days of 8 hour meetings! I feel like half my time as a missionary is spent in meetings! It's kind of exhausting, but i do love it! We get some really good training from president and sister belliston and the zone leaders.
Our investigator Lawrence is doing well. We're taking him to the temple visitors center on wednesday (hopefully). He's cut back on smoking quite a bit. I can't get over how amazing he is! We stopped by his house unannounced last night and he was sitting on the couch reading the book of mormon. He kept telling us how grateful he was that he's found THE church. He's so cool! I can't wait for him to be baptized. Right now his date is set for april 8th. With the way things are going it'll be a stretch for him to make it, but it can definitely happen.
I'm really loving being in kent island. I never realized that missionary work could be totally different from one area to another. We visit less active and part member families here all day. The branch isnt strong enough yet for converts. Not that we arent trying to find people, but our job here is mainly to strengthen the branch.
I'm sending a picture of some service we did this week. One of the members had a pretty rough week. Her husband has bi-polar disorder and was hospitalized. And then her kids came home from school with lice! So... we her helped out. It wasnt as gross as it sounds!
My time is running short! Have a good week everyone!