Chelsee Letter December 18, 2008

Hello!!
So first of all, have you ever seen palm trees with snow all over them??? Well folks, I officially have. We had SO MUCH SNOW YESTERDAY! It was insane. It snowed about 4 inches. It was a really heavy wet snow and so we spent most of the day being wet. It started snowing around 7:00 yesterday morning and didn’t stop until 6:00 last night. Then the snow turned into rain and it all started melting. So much water!!! You might think that water would be a good thing down here but problem is that the desert doesn’t handle water too well… so there is quite a bit of flooding right now. The kids all got school off today. Crazy, it took like 4 FEET of snow to close school in Utah and Colorado! Haha! They are so spoiled here! Ha!
Our district leader, Elder Florence, who is in his 70’s and pretty much our Grandpa, called around 2:30 and told us that we should probably go home and get out of the snow. We didn’t like that idea so we called the Zone Leaders and they told us that our District Leader was crazy and that we should stay out as long as we felt safe. We stayed out until 9:00. Elder Florence is just a concerned old man… but the work must go on! A couple inches of snow never stopped the Pioneers!
Ok, next on the list of updates. Well, I think I might possibly be learning Spanish soon. I know, I know… crazy. I have felt like I needed to learn Spanish ever since I opened my call. I pushed the feelings aside but… Then when I was set apart I was blessed that I would be able to learn a language if needed. Again, I thought nothing of it and kept pushing off the feelings. Heck, my English is bad enough… right? I kept telling the Holy Ghost to leave me alone but he just wouldn’t. He always gets his way. Well, since I couldn’t get it off of my mind I decided to get it off of my chest and ask President about it two weeks ago in my Presidents letter. Yesterday morning I got a phone call from President and he talked to me about it for a while. I told him that I didn’t know why but I just felt like I need to learn Spanish. I even told him that I have a hard enough time with English, why add more difficulty into my life… but the Holy Ghost has been nudging me for quite some time. Well, he told me that there is a good chance of me learning Spanish. In fact, they do have a lot of English sisters serve in Spanish wards and learn Spanish. They used to not even call Spanish sisters to this mission, they would just have English come and learn Spanish as needed. So, I don’t know why I need to or if I even will for sure but I feel so much better after getting Presidents opinion. Shocker… eh? Yeah, imagine how I’m feeling about it. YIKES!
Next… After talking to President, we got a phone call from the Zone Leaders. President had talked to them right before calling us and he is actually thinking about keeping Sister Egan in our area. That means 9 months for her. That is unheard of. But that means that I have a chance of being transferred now… unless they keep us together for another transfer, again, unheard of. Crazy. So, we have no idea what is going to happen. I guess that’s how it should be but it could make you go crazy. Sister Egan is going crazy because we thought for sure she would be transferred and I would stay, so she started packing… and now we have no clue what is going to happen. Oh well!
We have a baptism on Saturday and we are way excited. Lots and lots going on! We have a new investigator who is so excited about learning about the church. She has been to church twice already and she has so many questions for us!!! We love it when that happens! She is great! She works with a bunch of members so she has a lot of support! Woohoo! I sure hope all is going well!
Feel free to send me mail through USPS whenever you want! Haha! Don’t get too cold. I’m sure trying not to! I guess it isn’t too bad though, mid 30’s today. But I’m not a fan of the cold. I thought I got sent to the desert to be warm, not have surprise snow!!! I love it!
Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and share the gospel with EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love, ME!

Chelsee Mailing Address

Sister Chelsee Walker
Nevada Las Vegas Mission
3127 E Warm Springs Road
Ste 200
Las Vegas, Nevada 89120-3134

Letter from Chelsee

Here are some highlights from Chelsee's most recent letter... I love that you can feel her Spirit as well as her humor. There's no one like Chels...
_________

11/27/08

Well, today is Thanksgiving….I know, you have been wondering what I’m doing today…so, I’m going to tell you. I’m going to start with last night. Sister Egan and I visited some people and found out that they weren’t going to be having a Thanksgiving meal because they couldn’t afford it. So we went to the store, picked up a few things and went home and started cooking. We made Mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, and pie….they had a turkey already….then this morning we delivered it! They were so happy! We dropped stuff off for one of our less-active part-member families and one of our investigators too. It was awesome.

On Tuesday we drove to Bullhead, about 45 minutes away, to have our interviews and training. I love being able to spend time with the Christensen’s. They are incredible. President Christensen started to cry in my interview. He was telling me how much he appreciated my hard work and my easy/smooth transition to mission life and he started to cry! In my head I was like, “Oh man, what do I do? Do I give him a tissue? Oh shoot…my bag is in the other room…um…I guess I just smile and say Thanks. “ Random, I know but I was touched that he is so happy with me.

So, also on Tuesday, we went over to Shannon’s house so that the Elders could give her a blessing. She is getting baptized on the 6th, and she has to be smoke free by the 29th. The Elders gave her a beautiful blessing. I even started to tear up. When they finished, Shannon looked over at us, smiled and said, “this is weird, does everyone get this really warm feeling when they get a blessing?” We told her that was the Holy Ghost. She has pretty much kicked the habit, and she will be ready for baptism on the 6th.

Ok, so Tuesday was really quite the eventful day I guess. I also on Tuesday had my first “scary missionary story meal”. Oh my goodness folks, lets just say YIKES! All day we had been fretting this meal. It was with one of our recent converts whom we had helped clean their house several times. I’ve never seen a place get so messy so fast. Anyway, we knew the condition of her kitchen and we knew what kind of cook she was. Remember how Devin would cook his eggs in bacon fat, grease stuff? Yeah, this person does the same thing too. Her kitchen is always disgusting, and her food looked and smelled terrible all the time. So, all day we were thinking of things we could do because this was a meal we knew we couldn’t get out of. We were going to buy sanitizing wipes, and trash bags to put the food in. ha ha! However, we ran out of time. When we got to the house you could smell something burning. We went in and she was making something that I think was supposed to be Chili, and it was everywhere! Hence the burning smell. She said that it had been cooking for 7 ½ hours and it only needed 30 more minutes. Well, that was at 7:30. At 8:00pm it still needed 30 more minutes, and then at 8:30 it needed 30 more minutes. She finally put some of it into the microwave at 8:45pm and set it to cook for 45 minutes!

Finally at 9:00pm she decided that it was done enough. She pulled out huge plate sized bowls, puts rice in the bottom and this chili stuff on top. Holy Crumbs, who could ever eat that much? Before she came to the table, I said a little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me eat that food and not get sick. We began to eat. I took a bite…oh my…I have no idea what I had just put into my body, but let me tell you, I will be perfectly content with life if I never have to put it into my mouth again! The beans were still a little hard, and I don’t think that the meat was all the way cooked. I decided to skip the chewing process all together and just go straight to swallowing. I got about half way through before I decided I would probably die if I kept going. By that point I felt like crying. I kept looking at Sister Egan and I think she wanted to cry too. We told the person that we were full and asked if we could put our leftovers in a container to take home. She was ok with that, thank goodness. Then se proceeded to bring out the dessert….a half eaten cake that her husband had gotten into. She gave each of us a piece about the size of your average wallet. I took a big breath and want for it. One chew was plenty for me….egg shells!. To the swallowing technique it was again! I finished that piece of cake and part of Sister Egan’s after she looked at me with a pleading face. When I finished I had never been happier with myself. Victory was mine!!

Well, we got out of her house at 9:31pm. Yes, my friends, we are supposed to be home no later than 9:30pm. We took our 15 minutes drive home, then I ran to the bathroom and threw everything up. It was glorious! Tys, are you excited to serve now? Ha ha. Actually, that was the only nasty meal that I’ve had, so it’s not too horrible. Really though, I love that person, and she has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. And hey, now I have a crazy meal story to tell!

Well…that is just about all of the big news. It has been raining the past two days. I love the rain! Don’t worry, I took pictures of it for proof. I sure hope you are all doing well. I love you so much and pray for you every day. I hope you all remember this time of year and what it is all about.

Snow Ball Fight!

I just loved this video of Daiken and Grandpa. While everyone was finding a Christmas Tree, the kids were having a snow ball fight. Grandpa soon got in the middle of it all. Daiken sure loves his grandpa and loves teasing him, I think because he knows he'll get teased right back. We all had such a fun time and will be sure to post pictures of our tree all decorated.

It's Official

Well - It's official! The announcements have been made. I am the new Associate Administrator for the Urology Surgery Center of Colorado! What an awesome opportunity! I suppose all this really means is that I'm going to be attending a lot of meetings! (smile) I will be working with some incredible people that I so admire!

Holidays

So... I'm giving in and embracing the whole Christmas festivities - EARLY! I know we still have Thanksgiving next week... but... I'm thinkin' I'm ready to start the celebrations now!

Let me be one of the first to wish you a Very Merry Christmas!!!

From The Best Missionary Ever!

Chelsee's letters continue to amaze me. Wow! She is so on fire and such a great missionary!!! This week's letter just shines with enthusiasm for the work!

Um yeah, it is still in the 80’s in Kingman!!!! I’m loving my life!It has been a really great week!

I have been pretty busy since last week, a lot has happened! Last Friday we left Kingman at 8:10 and drove 2 hours to Henderson, Nevada for a Zone Conference. Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi from the first Quorum of the 70 came and spent the whole day teaching us. I was SO spiritually enlightened. The Zone conference went from 10 (Vegas time) till 5:30 then we drove home and with the time difference, we didn’t get back to our house until 9:47. Let’s just say it was a LONG DAY but it was so good! Elder Kikuchi taught us some better ways to do street contacts and he changed our morning schedule. It used to be as follows: 6:30 wake up, exercise 30 minutes, 7:00 eat, shower, get ready for the day, 8:00 personal study, 9:00 companion study. Now it is: 6:25 wake up, 6:30 begin exercise, 7:00 shower and get ready (that means 5 minute showers each), 7:30 Sacred Grove…. Let me explain this, Elder Kikuchi taught us that every day we can have our own sacred grove experience. We take the time to go into separate rooms and pray out loud. When we pray after exercise and showers we are way more alert and our prayers are much more sincere. It has been really cool so far….. ok back to the schedule…. 7:40 personal study, 30 minutes in the Book of Mormon and 30 minutes in PMG, 8:40 breakfast, 9:00 companionship study, 10:00 get to work!

I have loved the new morning schedule so far! I find that my mornings are much more productive and I have so much more energy throughout the day. Anyway, I don’t know why I just went into detail with all of that except that it has changed the work a lot. Elder Kikuchi promised that by following this schedule and the other things that he taught us, our baptisms would double, triple and even quadruple. We had 76 baptisms for the whole mission in the month of October. Our goal for December is over 100 and by January we hope to have double then triple that amount.

Well folks, we have a baptism on Saturday for Tanya, a 41 year old black woman who is very black! I LOVE HER! As you probably could have guessed, we get along really well! I love black people! She still has a lot of Baptist in her but she has a firm testimony of the gospel and the “Mormon Book.” I love it! Right now she is taking care of her 2 year old grandson, Peace, who is my FAVORITE!! I have officially adopted him as my little brother. I trained him to say, “I wov you Sista Waka.” I am so in love! Haha! I’ll for sure send you pictures of Peace!

Traci and Jarren still haven’t been baptized but we are going to set them again for the 29th. Hopefully things will work out this time. We finally got back into their home and we are on good terms once again. Sister Egan and I went and bought some Riesens and on 50 of them put reasons why we love the Cole Family (Traci, Jarren and Eddie) then put them in a bowl with a sign that said, “Here are 50 “Riesens” why we love you.” Then we delivered them. We were just going to leave them at the door since it was already 9:00 but we really felt like we needed to knock and try to get in. We did and it was so good to talk with them. Um… we didn’t get home until 9:45 but it was so worth it. Don’t worry, we told our Zone Leaders that we were late and they were fine with it!

On Saturday we re-set Aaron Hepner, the 9 year old whose apostate dad wants him to be baptized. Aaron actually re-set himself. Up until that point I think he was only doing it for his dad but now he is totally into it. He came to church on Sunday and will be coming the next couple of weeks as well. It is kinda difficult because he is at his mom’s house every other weekend but he was able to work things out to come to church. He will be getting baptized on December 6th.

Shannon is still getting baptized on the 6th and she is progressing at an unbelievable rate! Interesting situation with her kids though since her husband worships Satan. The kids can’t decide which way to go. We did start teaching 2 of them last week and hopefully they will choose the right side! :)

The work is CRAZY EXCITING! I am loving it so much! Hmmm… have I told you that before??? Haha! Even though I am not technically getting trained anymore, I am still receiving a ton of training from Sister Egan. I love that I get to have that opportunity for an extra 6 weeks. It will help me so much to be an even better missionary. I think everyone should be “trained” for 12 weeks! It has already proved to be so good for me!

I have decided to read the entire Book of Mormon this transfer… anyone want to join?? That means that we have 4 ½ weeks left! Ok, you can have an extra week since I did start last week! It’ll be fun… you should do it… you know you want to!

GO COUGARS!!!!

Awesome! Today was so fun as we went to the BYU vs. Air Force game. It's so fun to feel the energy and excitement of the croud. We were surrounded by Air Force fans but it didn't stop us from dancing and cheering. Well, Mom and Britnee did the dancing part. We were freezing until we all drank our hot chocolate. BYU won, as you can see from the score board. Go Cougars!!

Change

It's 6:00 Saturday morning - a beautiful Colorado sunrise by the way - and my brain is wide awake! Helllloooooo.... it's Saturday! I had every intention of sleeping in but my brain figures since I get up between 4:30 and 5:00 every morning that on Saturday it has to do the same thing. So I finally got up and came to the computer.

This week has produced several changes to my life... and... change is good. To me, change is an onward and upward movement of a great journey. I always learn from change. I always look back on change and see the hand of the Lord in my life as well.

When we moved to Colorado over five years ago, I didn't know what our lives would be like. It has been an incredible opportunity for each of us. I'm so glad we made that decision to jump at the opportunity of moving. As difficult as it was then, we have been blessed a hundredfold since. Colorado is very dear to me and most definitely feels like HOME! I also cannot believe the opportunities that have come into my life with this move.

I have been serving as the Stake Relief Society President for four and a half years. Our stake was created in March of 2004 and I've been in the Stake RS ever since. I have loved every minute and I can say that I have truly given the calling my all. I have learned so very much and I've been blessed with a myriad of blessings that are treasures to my heart.

Gyle was called as Bishop of our ward in August this year. I have known since then that I would be released from my stake calling. Our stake President told me that being a Bishop's Wife is a huge undertaking in itself. However, he asked that I continue in my calling until they could find a replacement.

Last week during Stake Conference the change was made. I have to be honest - I am saddened that I will lose the association I've had with so many sisters in our stake, but I am totally at peace with this change. It has not been hard or difficult to turn my things over to Cathy, (I love Cathy and she will continue to care for Relief Society in the best way!) ...nor has it been heartbreaking in any way. It just feel right!

Along with the change in Relief Society, I was also informed that my position at work will be changing. It will be announced to the staff this week that I will be the new Associate Administrator of our Surgery Center. Wow! Again, this is another growth experience that I consider part of the Lord's hand guiding me. I am working with one of the most successful medical contract management companies in the country - Med Exec. I am associating with incredible people who I admire and love. Sometimes it seems unreal to me - I'm just a simple "Mormon Mom" who dedicated the past 27 years to raising kids and doing PTA and community involvement - and now - I cannot believe where I'm at and what's happening in my life.

So... I begin a new chapter in my journey. I will miss Relief Society but I'm OK with it all and I'm looking forward to seeing what this new work opportunity brings my way.

New Chelsee Update

Here's some tidbits from Chelsee's most recent letter dated November 13th... It's so wonderful to hear that she is still loving every minute of missionary service. She's now experienced a type of sadness that she's never felt before - what a great opportunity for her to learn what true love and service are all about. She's such a GREAT missionary!!!!

Can you believe I have been on my mission for 2 months and 3 days now??? I can’t! Time is flying by far too fast! Well, I just thought I would let you know that I am still in Kingman! Phew! Transfers were this past Tuesday and luckily Sister Egan didn’t get transferred either! It is so good to know that I get to have her for another 6 weeks! Our next transfers are on Dec. 23rd. Sister Egan is for sure getting transferred then because she will have been in Kingman for 7 ½ months and that is the longest they will keep anyone in an area. Good news though… I will stay here! They won’t DT (double transfer) us out of Kingman because they just sent sisters to our area 6 months ago and they aren’t going to replace us with Elders for a while.

So, it is kinda funny though because next transfer, I will have been in Kingman the longest. They will be DTing the Elders and the other Sisters! So, my 3 months of experience here will be quite valued! Haha!

Oki Dokie Artichokies! So you know how Traci and Jarren had their baptism last week…. Well, we went to do her interview with the Elders and they found out that she had broken the Word of Wisdom that day and she would have to wait a week for her baptism. We haven’t been able to get a hold of her since. I just keep praying that everything will work out. She would be a great CTR 8 primary teacher one day! We were heart broken for Jarren because he is So ready but Traci wants him to get baptized with her. Let’s just say that Sister Egan and I had quite a few tears last Friday. It is interesting how much it hurts when things don’t work out. The hurt is something I haven’t really ever felt before though. It was like I could feel Traci and Jarren’s pain. I don’t know how to describe it but it confirmed to me the power of my calling. Wow! But, it will happen one day, I know it will.

On the bright side, we still have a lot of baptisms coming up! Woohoo! Um… Tomorrow we are spending the day in Vegas for Zone Conference! I am excited but I hate that it is a 4 hour round trip. That is 4 hours that we could be spending to teach and help people. Hopefully we can get a lot of administrative work done on the road.

Oh PS, I found out on Tuesday about Obama! I was just a few hours short of making it a week without knowing who the President was!

Chelsee Mission Update

Here's some excerpts from Chelsee's most recent letter. It's so wonderful to feel her spirit and to read her excitement! Way to be a super missionary Bones!!!

November 6, 2008
"First of all, I would like to state that I have successfully gone over 36 hours without knowing who our next President is! Sister Egan and I are in a race to see how long we can go without knowing. I know, that is pretty silly but you’ve got to come up with crazy things like that to make your days even more interesting (As if they weren’t interesting enough already!) haha! Shopping today might make it a little difficult with newspapers and magazines but we really want to get through today without knowing as well!
"Second of all, did you know that yellow sticky note pads and whites don’t mix to well in the washer??? We accidently washed a yellow stick note pad with our whites on Monday and it took 2 ½ boxes of dye removal to get the bright yellow blotches out. Now, you would never know that they were even stained. It was quite the experience. I thought I was going to have to ask for some new white shirts!
"Third of all, Holy cow, this week has been so good! We set 3 people this week for baptism. One is a woman who called us 2 weeks ago and wanted us to come and teach her. Her Brother is a member and she wants to learn about what he has. She has fully accepted everything we have taught her and is so excited and ready to get baptized on December 6th. We also set a 9 year old whose dad is less active but wants all of his family to be baptized. We are also working with his older brother who is 17 and hope to have him set for baptism on November 22 as well. The other one is a woman who the Elders had been teaching but she recently moved into our area. We have taken over the lessons and set her for November 15th. It will be a busy next few weeks! We also have 2 baptisms on Saturday, a mother and her 9 year old son. Lots and Lots and Lots of work going on.
"Hello, you would be so proud to see some of the "germy" situations I have gotten myself into. Yuck! I have touched things that I don't even want to know what they were. I have had dogs licking my face, kid’s snot rubbed all over my arms, and many many many other disgusting things. But, I just remind myself that I am doing the Lord’s work and I take a big deep breath and keep going! By the time I get home, I will be ready to be a sanitation worker!
"I can’t believe the environment some of these people live in. It really makes me grateful for a roof over my head, a heater (yes a heater, it is finally getting down to the high 50’s and it is cold), 3 meals to eat every day, shoes, a jacket, money to buy medication, and so much more. I had no idea that so many people lived this way in America. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to experience different cultures in our country and other countries and see so many different ways of living. I think that it has prepared me for what and who I am helping every day. There is a family that we are working with and every morning the mother tells her children to eat as much as they can at school lunch because it is the only meal that they will be getting for the day. That reminds me of my girls in Chicago who would eat as much as they could at camp because that was the only meal that they would be getting for that day. It breaks my heart to see people living that way but my sprits are lifted when I see their smiles and I am so happy when I get to help a family discover spiritual happiness verses temporal happiness in their lives.
"We had a cool experience with one of the families that we had extended a commitment to at a dinner appointment. In fact, I was the one that committed them so it makes me feel really happy! Anyway, I had committed this family to think of one person who they could pray for and ask that their heart would be softened so that Sister Egan and I could meet with them. Their whole family, even their 4 year old son included this person in their individual and family prayers, EVERY DAY! Yesterday while talking to the mom, she told us that the person who they had been praying for accepted their invitation to meet with us. She said that their family has “reaped the rewards of their labors.”
"Transfers are next week and I am praying so hard that I get to stay in Kingman. It sounds like I am going to stay from what the Zone Leaders have hinted. Hopefully Sister Egan is staying too. We both feel like we still have a lot of work to do here. I’ll let you know how it turns out! It is actually kind of funny that I started off here in Kingman because they never send “greenies” here. I have heard that everyone wants to serve in Kingman. Haha! I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to be here and I know that if I get transferred on Tuesday, I will be going where the Lord wants me to go!"

I LOVE ENGLAND!!!

I think that I was supposed to be born in England 'cuz I love it so much! Oh well - I'll just have to settle for visiting as often as I can.

We have terrific and incredible friends that opened their doors for us to stay with them:

We saw incredilbe sites: (lots more besides these but I didn't have room for more)

Bodium Castle

Canterberry Cathedral

St. Mary's Church in Winchelsea

Battle Abby

Guilford High Street

Buckingham Palace

And Generally Just Had Fun!!!

London Temple

So - of all of the wonderful things we saw, and all of the wonderful photos we took - this is my favorite! I love the London Temple.

This is what it is all about - isn't it? Our connections to England come because of Gyle serving his mission there. My life is so much richer because of wonderful relationships with absolutely incredible people that I love dearly - relationships that have resulted because of Gyle's service on his mission. I love the Gospel! I love my England friends! I love knowing that these long distance relationships will be eternal.

Having Fun In England

Just wanted to hurry and post a few photos of Gyle and Tyson in England. These photos were taken on Saturday the 18th. They are having a blast and I'm currently getting ready to leave for the airport to fly over to meet up with them. Oh how we love England! This is Tyson and Gyle in front of the HM Victory, used during the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
This is Gyle in front of his old flat where he used to live as a missionary ... that was a LONG time ago. (giggle)

Here is Tyson in front of the home where Charles Dickens was born.

Chelsee Mission Update October 16, 2008

Chelsee still sounds just as enthused and excited about serving as ever! Here's some highlights from her most recent letter:

• For Family Home Evening, our family prepared a "Greenie Package" for Chelsee. She loved it. This is what she said, "Sister Egan loved it too!! We had a bit of a peanut fight in our car! Um... yeah, those things don't vacuum up too well!" (she's talking about the packing peanuts)
• Exciting news: "Katrina and Rodney were baptized and the baptism was fabulous! It was incredible to see them come out of the water and shine!"
• A little road trip: " Sister Egan got permission from the AP’s to attend a baptism in Vegas so she and I went up to Vegas on Saturday to go to a baptism of an 83 year old and her grandson. Another beautiful baptism and it goes to show that you are never too old to accept the fullness of the gospel."
• Chelsee got to see the Las Vegas Temple for the first time and thought it was beautiful.
• She says it got cold over the weekend and that she's going to have to get some warmer clothes to make it through the winter. (winter clothes were NOT on her packing list) However, I can promise it was not any where near as cold as Rexburg!!! (smile)
• She and Sis. Egan picked up 4 new investigators over the weekend.
• Loved her Zone Conference
• For Preparation Day, they visited "Oakman" which is a little ghost town / cowboy paradise / mining town.
• She claims she's happy and healthy and loves sharing the Gospel.

Way to GO Sis. Walker!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

Homecoming Dance at Castle View High School

Tyson, with date and best friend, Kelsey.

Recently Kelsey's older brother lost his life in a tragic car accident. He was 22 years old, returned missionary, married just 2 months, very involved in the music department at BYU and an awesome brother! This all happened the day that the high school play was to open with Kelsey and Tyson as leads. Castle View really showed great support! They were willing to cancel the show for Kelsey's sake, but Kelsey wouldn't let them do that. The cast opened with an announcement that all performances were dedicated to the memory of Michael Hess. They had three performances and then Tyson accompanied Kelsey on her flight to Utah for her brother's funeral, attended the funeral and accompanied her on her flight back to Colorado and held three more performances after that.

One testimony builder through all of this is that the school asked Tyson to share with the cast and the faculty just what we as Latter Day Saints believe about life and death. Tyson has come away with a greater testimony of the Plan of Salvation and of the love of our Savior who blessed this wonderful family with such great peace and understanding.

We love you Kelsey!!! You're amazing!!!

Amazing Letter - Chelsee's In Arizona

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!!!!! I am FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!

So, I'll just start at the very beginning with lots of details! I got to the travel office Tuesday morning nice and early at 5 a.m. all bright eyed and cheery faced! Ha, right! It was pretty hard saying goodbye to Sister Riddle. She was just one amazing companion! However, we talked about all the parties and such we would have after we get back because she will be going to Utah State. Luckily there weren’t any tears. In fact, the only time I ever cried in the MTC was when I watched the Joseph Smith movie. Holy cow, you’d think I had ADD or something!
ANYWAY, we got to the airport around 7, me and 14 Elders. Can I just say I have never felt so protected and so respected in all my life. They carried my luggage, waited patiently while I went to the bathroom, when we walked around they all surrounded me so that nothing could happen to me. I LOVED IT! By the time we got on the plane, I felt wasted... haha! Not that kind of wasted... I was SO stinking tired. I was in the very back of the plane sitting next to an Elder and so I figured I would just take advantage of that time and get some sleep. I slept the whole way to Vegas. After I woke up the nerves kicked in. I hadn’t felt that nervous in a long time! Mostly I was just super anxious to meet President and Sister Christensen and my new companion.
So, we finally get to the baggage claim area where President and Sister Christensen are waiting for us at the bottom of the escalator. The second I saw them, the nerves stopped and I felt so much peace. I LOVE the Christensen’s. They are so warm and friendly and I felt right at home when I was with them. Sister Christensen talked to me about Colorado and told me that Karen Westbrook called and told her to take good care of me!!! President gathered us all together talked to us about keeping our eyes in the right place…. If you’ve ever been to the Vegas Airport, you know that there is SO MUCH PORN! Oh my HECK! It was everywhere. The Elders were awesome though and we just kept talking and making eye contact. We got our luggage and headed to the Mission home which is about 10 minutes from the airport.
The mission home is beautiful. We had breakfast together and had some instruction from the AP’s, President and Sister Christensen, the travel folks and the secretary… etc. So much information! We each had a chance to meet with President one on one and talk about concerns, medical stuff, and on, and on, and on…. Then we loaded up once more and headed to the church where we would be meeting our new companions.
They had us line up in the hall and as soon as the other missionaries started singing Called to Serve, we went walking into the chapel. It was SO powerful!!! They did their transfer conference stuff and then… dun, dun, da, dun… we met our trainers.
My Trainer is Sister Egan from north Potomac, Maryland... about 15 minutes out of DC. I LOVE HER!!!! Oh my, she is Incredible! She reminds me so much of Kelsey Hess. She is about 5’3, dark hair, blue eyes… you’ll get a picture! We have so much in common. I was so relieved after meeting her. I feel so comfortable being taught by her and I know that she will do an incredible job as a teacher. She is solid! Oh and drum roll please… we are serving in Kingman, ARIZONA!
After the conference we loaded up once more and drove 2 hours to Kingman. I went over the Hover dam which was super cool. Ok, so Kingman… Welcome to Radiator Springs. Kingman in right off of Route 66 and reminds me of the movie CARS. I really thought we were driving into Mexico when we got here. There aren’t many Mexicans but it looks so much like a little run down town in Mexico. The people here are super poor. Most everyone lives in trailer homes, don’t own a computer, have giant weeds everywhere, but, a lot of them have nice cars. There is very little grass here so when I see it, I get quite excited! Kingman is known for Meth busts. There have been several homes that have blown up from Meth explosions. CRAZY COOL!!!!! But, oh my, the people here are awesome!
Tuesday night, Sister Egan took me to meet some people then we went home and planned and got ready for bed. I can now say that I have never felt So tired in all my life. I crashed the second I hit my mattress. It helps that it is a pillow top mattress and it was so comfy. We live in a little house with 2 other Sisters, Sister Foulk from Jersey and Sister Liao from Taiwan. Mom, you thought the houses on College avenue were trashed, you should see our house! It is pretty darn cool though! And hey, it has running water, a swamp cooler, 2 couches (patched with pieces of suit coats), and a good sized kitchen! It is home! Did I say that I love this yet, cause I do!!!! Oh yeah, there are dogs everywhere. I have never seen so many dogs in all my life!
We are currently teaching 4 people with baptismal dates. We started off the day yesterday trackting. Let me tell ya, it was super hot, I was super sweaty but, it was super awesome! We met a lot of people who just wanted to talk, they weren’t really interested but they were friendly and wanted to hear a little tiny bit of what we had to say. We have one potential investigator out of that. Sandra is from a Catholic family, so she believes in God and wants to know more about our church. We will be going back on Sunday to teach her the first lesson. After we went trackting, we went and taught some lessons.
There are quite a few “eternal investigators” here. They are pretty awesome but they have had the lessons several times and just aren’t progressing. The ward doesn’t want to “drop” them though so, we will continue going back each week. One of the girls, Heidi, has been meeting with the missionaries once a week for about 5 years. She is just super content with life and doesn’t see the urgency in getting baptized. We went and taught the last lesson to Katrina who is getting baptized next week. She is awesome. She was living with her boyfriend who is less active and the missionaries found them and started teaching them. They decided that she needed to move out and continue getting taught. She has a 12 year old son, Rodney who is getting baptized also. He is the coolest kid. He has had open heart surgery and brain surgery. He is so into the church. Katrina’s boyfriend has two sons who are also taking the lessons, they are being taught by the Elders, along with Rodney, and they are going to get baptized too! So cool!
Then we went over to meet some former investigators. Jim is a cool guy and he reminds me a lot of Uncle Bill. He has a problem with smoking but he believes that the church is true and he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. He just feels guilty going to church because of his smoking problem. He is pretty awesome though and we will keep working with him. We also saw Traci and her son’s Eddy who is 6 and Jarren who is 9. Traci and Jarren are getting baptized next week also. Traci is IN LOVE with Glen Beck and she thought it was the coolest thing in the world that I have met him.
We had dinner with a family that just move into the ward. They have a 6 month old baby and they are excited about missionary work. Oh by the way, Sister Egan and I cover 2 wards. I think there are 6 wards in our zone… maybe… We also went and saw Mary who is a recent convert. She is 14, her dad was excommunicated a long time ago but he is supportive and he LOVES the missionaries. Her mom left when she was really little. We talked with them for a while. Evidently, we are sorta like his family counselors. I also met the ward mission leader and we stopped and talked to quite a few people to remind them about Conference this weekend. Oh boy, it was a long day yesterday but it wasn’t long enough! There is so much work to be done here! The members are great and they are so supportive of missionary work!
I am so excited to be in Kingman, Arizona. Crazy that I’m not even in Nevada but I’ll go where the Lord needs me! I love being a Missionary. I will just continue moving forward, and enduring till the end! I am SO grateful to have such an incredible, patient, loving companion. I couldn’t have wished for any better! Sister Egan is a HUGE answer to my prayers! I will send pictures soon!
I love you all SO INCREDIBLY MUCH!!! Remember who you are, what and who you represent and most of all, remember that I love you and that the Lord loves you! Read your scriptures, ponder, pray and you will find any answers you are looking for. This weekend, go to conference with questions in your heart and I promise you that as you listen to the words of the Prophet that your questions will be answered. The church is amazing and I have seen it change many lives. I know that it has changed my life and I know that if you endure it well, it will change yours. Make good choices, don’t do drugs! God Speed!- Sister Walker!

Tyson's Senior Photos

Can't believe Tyson is 18... Also can't believe that we're doing all of the "Senior in High School" projects! (My 'Baby' is growing up!!!) Here's Tyson's senior photos... (wish they were larger but this is as big as the computer can save them)

Chelsee Mission Update

Chelsee's latest letter reports that:

1. Her foot is doing well. She's not limping anymore, even though the muscle is still pretty tight.

2. The food at the MTC is "yucky"

3. Her favorite thing at the MTC is the Resource Center... this is where she calls investigators and talks to them on the phone.

4. She has been able to sing in the choir for Tuesday Night devotionals.

5. Chels says, "I love, love, love learning here. It comes so much easier than ever before!"

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Chelsee flew to Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 30th! We'll be anxious to receive her next letter or email to find out all about arriving, meeting Pres. and Sis. Christensen, her new companion, housing, etc...

Rotary Club Student of the Month

This morning Gyle and I had the privilege of accompanying Tyson to the Castle Rock chapter of Rotary Club. Tyson was chosen as the Rotary Club Student of the Month... the first one for this school year!

What an honor to watch as Tyson was presented and as he shared with the club members his involvement in school, community, church and his own piano business.

CONGRATS TYSON!!! We love you and we're sure proud of you!!!

Chelsee's Missionary Photos

Just wanted to share Chelsee's Mission Photo... What a cutie huh???

We actually had these photos taken the day that Chelsee left Colorado. Britnee really wanted Chelsee to have a missionary photo shoot... and thankfully Britnee was persisitent enough to make sure it got done. Britnee made the appointment for the sitting and voila... we now have some great pictures of Chelsee. (Thanks Brit!)

Letter From Sister Walker

We got a letter! We got a letter!!!

I stopped by the mailbox on my way home from work and there was the green envelope I've been waiting for. Yippeeeee! Sounds like Chelsee is more than fine - she's loving every minute of her time at the MTC (well - except the food) (grin)

Here's what she says:

"Once upon a time there was this really rad Sister Missionary named Sister Walker... oh wait, that's me!

"Oh my, I love the MTC! I am having such a great time here. Time is flying by. I know it has only been 5 days but it still is unreal how fast it has gone. They say that days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. So true! By the time I get back to my room at night I am so exhausted. I haven't fallen asleep at the side of my bed while praying yet but I think I could if I wanted to! However, it is the best kind of exhaustion ever!

"So, the food... not so yummy. But hey, it fills me up and gives me energy so I guess I can't complain too much! I am in the choir and we are singing tomorrow night. (by the time you get this it won't be tomorrow night it'll be more like 2 nights ago!) The choir just sings at the Tuesday night fireside/devotional things! Yesterday for Relief Society, Sister Margaret Liffereth the 1st Counselor in the General Primary Presidency spoke. She was great! She said to win the hearts of the kids to win the hearts of their parents! Hmmm...I think I can do that! Last night our fireside was with Brother Steve Graham who does the Missionary Training stuff. Yes, he is from Rigby so I'm guessing he is related to Bo. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I thought that was cool. Jot off a note to Bev and ask. His wife is from Liverpool and was baptized on the Isle of Man. Cool eh? I thought so! Oh, before I forget, Mom thank you for the package. Pretty much it saved my life! We don't even eat until 8:15 so we have a whole hour of class before breakfast. Killer! The pretzels saved me!

"Well folks, I love you! The Church is true! Love, Sister Walker"

Cute Boys!

Daiken and Devin...

I just had to post this photo... it makes me happy! Aren't these boys cute???

Sister Walker

Sister Chelsee Walker officially entered the MTC at 1:00 on September 10, 2008. Congrats to Chelsee!!!!

Hoorah for Israel!!!

As we sat in one of the chapels in the MTC yesterday, Sister Boone, the MTC Mission President's wife, talked about how hard it is to let go of your child when he/she leaves home on a mission. She then referenced D&C 6:20 “…therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.”

As hard as good-byes can be, it truly is comforting to know that as Chelsee left my arms, she was entering into the Savior's arms while she serves.

(Love you Bones!!! Be the best you can be!!!)

Happy 18th Tyson

For Rigby's birthday today we all met at Red Lobster. Ummm! He kind of got booted from attention as today is the day that Chelsee left for Utah to go to the MTC tomorrow. But Tyson is a great sport and enjoyed his king crab legs and apple crisp, which he even got a candle to blow out on. So, we love you Tyson and wish you a happy 18th year.

Estee's One Year Old Photo Shoot

From Britnee - I Finished!!!

I Finished!!!!!!! I just wanted to say that.

In Moroni Chapter 9:25, Mormon tells his son, "My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever."I thought this was a good conclusion.

I think, Chelsee, this is good to remember when you are feeling like you are in a rut or the times get tough. Always remember the Savior and all that he did for us. This will buoy you up and give you strength to continue. I know that for all of us, when we reflect upon our thoughts of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will feel the excitement of the gospel and want to share that with others.I am so grateful for this opportunity we've had to read the Book of Mormon as a family.

Thank you everyone! You truly can not read the Book of Mormon without your testimony being strengthend. I know and have felt the Lord's hand in helping me read. It's not easy with three little ones. But I told myself that I wouldn't even pick up "Twilight" without having read my seven pages for the day first. Some days I didn't get to read "Twilight" because I had only gotten in 3 pages or so. But I know that the Lord blessed me in my true desire and efforts to read the Book of Mormon.

I would lay by my kids at night and tell them of what I had read that day for their night time story. Brailee was always inquisitive. I loved being caught up with Sunday School. I found application to any other life lesson through and from what I was reading in the Book of Mormon at that time. I know that as I have read, the Lord has given me streangth.

There are so many applications to missionary work and it excites me to share. It fills the fear gap and replaces it with faith. I testify that we will meet Moroni some day, as well as the other prophets and I truly can't wait to tell them face to face how grateful I am for their lifes and their sacrafices. For their obedience and their love for their God and for even me. I hope and pray that we will live our lives to honor them, that their lives may not have been in vain.

The Book of Mormon is TRUE!!! Words can not express my gratitude for this book and the way it changes our lives. I love the Book of Mormon, I love my Savior, and I love all of you.~Britnee

Turkey In my Shoe... Kids and Sis. Walker

This is a note from Chelsee:

So, I am sitting here in tears, not especially sad tears but just somewhat emotional tears. I was trying to teach Brailee and Daiken the Turkey song a couple of weeks ago and they just looked at me like I was a crazy woman. Anyway, last week we were sitting around the pool and Brailee said, "Hey Chels, sing me the turkey song." I started singing it and she tried to catch on but didn't really get it. I didn't really think anything of it and just kept up my random singing of the turkey song. So, today I'm sitting here and I get a phone call from Brit and Adam's house phone and on the other end I hear singing... I didn't really understand so I said, "what?" Then I hear Brailee's voice say, "I'm singing the turkey song Chels." Then she starts singing "Turkey in my shoe, turkey in my shoe, turkey in my shoe." She even had a little accent.

It was just a tender moment for me when I realized how much I'm really going to miss those kids. I'm really going to miss those random phone calls with their sweet innocent voices on the other end calling to tell me, or show me, their daily accomplishments. Brit got on the phone and told me that when she told Brailee to go get dressed today, Brailee came running back in and said, "I can't find my dress, and, and, and," then she broke out singing "and there's a turkey in my shoe." How stinking cute is that.

Now, here is what really struck me. In two weeks I will be beginning an 18 month journey teaching people to come unto Christ. Teaching them to pray, teaching them to learn and to grow from others in the gospel. How wonderful a feeling it is to think of Heavenly Father hearing his children pray for the first time. Hearing their sweet innocent voices on the other end of the line. Now I can more fully understand the pain that he must feel when he looses one of his children. When he has to go for a time without communication from them. But how sweet the moment when he can hear their voices again. I will be able to teach people new things and at first they might look at me like a crazy woman but in due time, they will come to understand... and if not, at least they learned something new.

I know, kinda silly to compare Brailee learning the turkey song to people around the world learning the gospel but, that is what is so great about this gospel, everything applies in one way or another. So, I would challenge you to always keep the line open between you and our Father in Heaven. He loves to hear your voice!!!!!

I love you all! Make good choices and don't do drugs!!! -Chels

Cute Photos of Cute Grandkids!

Chelsee's had her camera out... and look at these cute photos!!!