Birthday Weekend

Thanks for celebrating my birthday. I had a good day. I went with Elder K to Russians that he recently baptized. That was fun. They would switch between English and Russian so I was really confused a lot of the time. At least they did not always speak in Russian I can't even say hi in Russian, and I have been trying for a while.

So Ben, I have an area that is 2 miles long by about 3/4 of a mile wide and I feel like I bike a lot. It would take us 20 min to cross our whole area even when we talk to everyone we meet and ride slow. I can't imagine having to ride an hour to an appointment. You could ride across half of our mission in an hour on a bike.

I really enjoy riding a bike sometimes. It keep you fit and it allows me to not feel so bad when I eat dessert at 5 members houses every day. I told people that my birthday was yesterday and they all gave me cake. We have lots of cake at our house right now. 

I am getting to know this area better and things are picking up slowly but they are picking up. My district leader talked about patience and how as we do all we can and qualify for the Holy Ghost that God will send someone in our path that is ready to receive the gospel. 

This mission is strange because it works a lot out of faith. I could spend a half a week and knock on every door in our area, but we have the faith that there are people still out there that when asked in a different way they will receive the gospel. If you look at our mission it is the one of the highest baptizing missions in the world that speaks English. Also there are more people here that are going to receive the Gospel because they are putting even more missionaries here. That means there is too much work here for us to handle. We just need to find the work. The prophet knows that right now is a good time to spread the gospel because he is sending so many more people on missions and asking for money to help others go out on missions. So that means that there are people all of us know that will receive the gospel we just need to open our mouths and invite them.

New Place, New Companion

I got transferred :( That stinks. The area I am in now had no one on date and we had 4 people on date in my last area. We are struggling to find people to teach. That makes the day go by so much slower. I have a new companion he is from Russia his name is Elder Kopikof he is a great guy. He said that I am his favorite companion because of how much I want to work. I really think that I am going to help him enjoy his mission more then he has in the past. He has been out 18 months and is 24 years old. Way older than me. 

I am now on Russian assignment part of the time. That does not mean that I need to learn Russian but it means that I get to go all over the mission to have my companion teach Russians and I get a name tag in Russian.

Also we are now on bikes. I love that part we get to talk to so many more people now then we got to before. Also lots of people honk at us which I think is really cool.

My Analogies

This week was good we found 8 new investigators and we have found several golden investigators, I love those. They are willing to be baptized and really want to. We will have a baptism next week and the following week and the week after that we will have a new investigator that will be baptized, I am so excited.

The bad part -- transfers are this week. :( I don't want to get transferred out of Mount Jordan. I like it too much.) It is one of the most stressful days on your mission, the days when transfers come.

My favorite family is going to be married because of the Gospel that I had brought them. I love that family and will remember them for a long time. The dad is a professional cook and he made lobster and a really good food for us to eat. I hope that the family will always remember the Gospel that has changed their life.

In response from learning that his garden has died his family was suppose to take care of while he's been gone on his mission: My Garden is Dead!! :( lol That is ok. I already knew that. We still have the atonement and because Jesus Christ overcame death so can my garden. Hurray for the Atonement! At least the blackberry is still alive. I watered that for a long time and now it is big enough to withstand the forgetfulness of my family. Excluding Ben and kinda Alex because she is never around, but she would not remember either or just would not care (I am also teasing you Alex). That is like my mission, I am the blackberry plant that is watered really well until I reach a certain age when I go off on my own and have to work by myself to find water. (Luckily I have the living water so I only need to drink that once and I will never die), but an occasional drink that is easier to get would be nice and would help me grow faster. So it all goes down to . . . water the garden once in a while and pull the weeds that grow around it so when I come back we can make a blackberry pie. Because I don't get fed enough dessert on my mission. lol

Did you like that analogy? I am getting good at coming up with those out of the blue.

Example: I clean my shirt every week. What would happen if I never washed my shirt? It would look nasty. That is like church. We need to go there and get a "new shirt" every week by partaking the sacrament. That will wash you clean of your sins every week so you don't have to go around in a really nasty "shirt". So will you go to church this week and get a new shirt? Then they say "No" and you go on to the next person. Just kidding they are not that mean, they do hear you out most of the time.

I like analogies. It sometimes makes people laugh and makes them like you so that they will accept your invitations better.

I hope you like my letter. I tried to make it funny. I think my humor is different then it use to be. Like the dead Garden joke.

First Call Home

First of all I really like the things our mission pres sends us so I am going to send it to you:

Message from the President:

HOW BIG IS YOUR HEART? The heart (♥) has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul.   Lehi explains the only way to salvation is through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  The price we must pay to affect the atonement in our lives is by having a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  (2 Nephi 2:7)    Solomon asked for an understanding heart (1 Kg 3:12) and Ezekiel was told in temple language,   “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh…” (Ezek. 36:26).  Earlier the Lord had directed Israel to “cast away your transgressions: and make you a new heart…” (Ezek. 18:31). Once there was a horse named Big Red.   This horse was a stallion of good breeding, but nothing out of the ordinary.  He was groomed for racing.  It is reported that the owner acquired this horse with a “coin toss”.  On July 4, 1972 he finished fourth in a race at Aqueduct Racetrack.  He had been forced to the back of the pack and could never make up the ground to win.  From this Big Red learned how to be in the back of the pack and still pass the other horses to win.  He won some races and then finished third in the Wood Memorial as a three year old.  At the Kentucky Derby, the first race of the Triple Crown,  he again broke last but eventually overtook the favorite Sham and finished first by 2 ½ lengths.  Big Red had set a course record by running each successive lap faster than the previous one, coming again from last to first.  In the second leg of the Triple Crown he again broke last; he again won by 2 ½ lengths over the favorite Sham.  The last of the three races was the Belmont Stakes.  The jockey was warned about running the horse too fast as the race was a long one and this particular jockey had raced another horse so hard that the horse literally died that day of a broken heart.  This time Big Red broke first with, you guessed it, Sham.  The two horses set a fast early pace, opening lengths on the rest of the field.   Then, Sham began to tire, ultimately finishing last.  Big Red astonished spectators by continuing the fast pace and opening up a larger and larger margin on the field.  In the stretch he opened a 1/16 mile lead.  At the finish he won by 31 lengths, breaking the margin-of-victory which was previously 25 lengths.  Big Red had run the fastest 1 ½ miles on dirt in history.  The record still stands after 38 years.  Oh, Big Red’s track name was SECRETARIAT. After Secretariat’s death necropsy was performed to see what made this horse so special.  Those that were present said; “We just stood there in stunned silence.  We couldn’t believe it.  The heart was perfect.  There was no problems with it.  It was just this huge engine.”  It is estimated that Secretariat’s heart weighed 22 pounds or 2 ½ times the size of a normal horse heart.  What made this horse so special was the size of his heart. The question now must be asked, “How big is your heart?”   Are you hanging back hoping to win by a nose or do you have a new heart and trust in the Lord to break out in the lead and continue to run each lap faster and faster as you serve as a mighty warrior in fulfilling your purpose to invite all you come in contact with to “come unto Christ”?  If you have a stony heart, can you now exchange it for a “new heart”?  Our Savior, Jesus Christ proclaimed, “All things are possible to him that believeth”.  (Mark 9:23).    

I really like this.

I loved talking to my family. I thought it would be strange to talk to my family, but it was just like I saw you yesterday. I don't have very much time today, but I also know that I have a purpose here and I know that I need to do the work here. I know that the Lord will help me though my mission if I rely on him. I love this talk about the heart. I know that I can replace my heart with a 22 pound heart. (That means that I will be 190 when I get back because I will have a bigger heart). I don't know what to write about, so I will share my testimony.

I know that the prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he saw the Son and the Father in the Sacred Grove. I know that Jesus Christ lived and that he suffered for all of my sins. I know that He always know what I am going though and can help me any time of the day. I have seen the priesthood work. On my mission I get the opportunity to use it a lot. I have personally healed people though the priesthood power. I have also baptised and confirmed people and have been an advocate for the Lord on my mission. I know that my family loves me and that they care for me very much. I know that the prophet Pres Monson is a true prophet today. I have felt the Holy Ghost every time he speaks and I know that the apostles are also called by God to teach the gospel. Elder Holland told us that he is on a mission too, just like us. We are promised a lot of the same blessing he is [promised] as an apostle. He called us apostles of Jesus Christ. We are truly apostles and I know that the Book of Mormon is a book of God's words. I know that. I read it every day and every day it helps me get closer to my Heavenly Father. No other book can help me as much as the  Book of Mormon.

I loved talking to you family. I love you all and will pray for you. I encourage you to open the scriptures every day to grow closer to Jesus Christ.

I also love Grandpa's comments. You are one of the most knowledgeable people I know (about the Gospel). I would love to have hours of conversations with you about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Joshua Walker

Miracle Time

I got to baptize someone this week. That was so cool. She is the eternal investigator that we have been working on for 6 months. and I got to baptize her. It was very special. I will never forget that experience  I will also confirm her next week at church about 2 CA time. I was so excited when it actually happened. I love missionary work. I also have a talk on Mother's Day about Mothers. That will be cool. We also had a funny experience this week. Elder Rae went outside and someone was looking though the car that was in the car port. Elder Rae looked at him and he walked away and then Elder Rae called 911 and the police came over and we talked.

Turned out that the person was my landlady's granddaughters husband and he was looking for papers to the car for some reason. It was funny and we got to talk to the police.

We had a great week. I hope that people see the benefits of going to Church and not getting offended. That happens a lot in Utah. People get offended and then they leave the church because of that. My favorite thing to say is that the church is not for perfect people. If it was then no one would be there.

I also like an analogy when people say that I want to go golfing that day or I want to do other things. but then you say what is good on a sundae (ice cream) bananas, chocolate strawberries, but is mustard good on a Sundae? No, it is not. It is good on other things, but not on Sundaes. 

Elder Joshua Walker

A Cool Week

Well, This week has been very cool. We have 4 people on date for baptism and they are all going to get baptized. Yay! I hope that I don't get transferred out of this area. It is a really good area with good potential. I think this area that I am in is going to get split because of its good potential. All of our areas is going to get smaller. 

Some cool things that happened this week; first, I got a really cool pen that is made from a tree from Jerusalem from a olive tree that is really old. It is a present that I will keep for ever. [Note: I believe the present is from Brother Sacett.]  His name is Bro. Sacett. He loves us. I hope that I will be able to remember him forever. He came to church with us this week. He loves us so much and he said that we are the missionaries that were inspired  to talk to him right at that moment. I love things that we are inspired to do. I love the Holy Ghost that helps us every day of our life. When I explain the Holy Ghost to investigators I explain that he is like a best friend that will never leave you if you are righteous. He knows all and is willing to help you at any moment in your life.

Love

Elder Joshua Walker  

So Much Potential

So my area is a great area we have so much potential. I can't wait for the time these people decide to get baptized and meet with the missionaries. This week was harder then others because if feels like we are doing the best I have ever done and things are not working. It is frustrating sometimes when you know that people are ready to step though the gates of repentance and baptism 2 Nephi 31:17.

We heard about the Boston  marathon bombing. That is so sad that such young people would do that. I heard that at like every house I went to this week.

So we are teaching a less active bishop. That lesson that we taught was one of the most spiritual lessons I have taught yet. I love people that are willing to progress and they know that they should. 

We have a ward missionary named Bro Valcarce. He was the one in Jeff's ward in Tracy and he convinced Jeff to drive up to propose. He also lost a companion that was new and that companion went to uncle Jeff's house and Bro Valcarse went to his apartment  The new missionary had the phone and called uncle Jeff because he was on the phone.

Can you ask Jeff if he remembers that story? I think it is cool the connections that I have up here.

We eat so well here. So well. Too well. I think that I have gained too much wight. lol. I have never had this problem in my life. It stinks. lol. Well I get to eat lobster some nights and pizza lots of nights. We never know what is coming for dinner. We also have lots of people give us stuff. I am keeping a record of all I get from members. That is not including what stores discounts for missionaries or the dinners we get fed every night. I also know that missionaries are late for a lot of things ): I don't like running late. So just expect the missionaries, when you set up a dinner appointment, to be late. We don't want to get there to early but we also don't want to be late. It is a hard balance to find.

I think that this is a great time to work on patience. It is a Good Christ like attribute. One of the ones I need to work on the most.

This week I heard a talk given by our bishop in the 3rd ward. He was talking about the parable of the sower. He said not to go chasing the birds because then you will leave the rest of the seeds while you are chasing the birds to prevent them from eating the seeds. Now he did not say that you should leave them if they are easy to get away but don't chase them, but nourishes the ones that have been planted. "The field is white and ready to harvest" so lets get out there and harvest!!

This week has been a hard week. We are working really hard and no work is coming because of it. Our area has so much potential to grow and explode. We just need to work a little better and find other ways around like Alma did in Alma 8:19 and will find another way in "the city" the great experience  I had this week is watching Elder Rae grow to meet the requirements of district leader.

Dear Monica

I have a present for you it is to read 2 Nephi 31 with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mind. (Article of Faith #4 with endure to the end). It will bring you great wisdom and you will be wise in your youth. (Do I sound like a person from the Scriptures or what?) I have read that chapter 10 times on my mission and have gained so much out of it every time I read it. It is the only place where it shows the responsibility of all the Godhead. Find that in the chapter too. My scriptures are so marked up there it is unbelievable.

Monica I know this is a lame gift because you already had it but I am a poor missionary and can't afford to sent you the buckets of candy I am accumulating here. Sorry.

Happy Birthday.

Love Joshua Walker