My Happy For Tyson Tears!

OK - I just got word from Bishop Walker who just checked the Church's missionary website and just found these words posted next to Tyson's name:

Elder Tyson Walker - Call Letter Sent

That means Tyson's missionary call has been made and now we just have to wait for the mail!

We're expecting the call to arrive in the mail on Thursday September 3rd (Happy Birthday Georgeene!) Tyson has already made the plans for the "Opening"... He's invited the two Elders currently serving in our ward, several of his friends (members and non-members) and he's now figuring out the logistics of the many cell phones that will be connected to family.

Wow! I didn't know I was this emotional - but I'm sitting here in my office at work in tears! It's a great day for a mom!!!

Sister Walker's At It Again... August 27

Just read Chelsee's enthusiasm! She's so on fire and so loving being a missionary!!! Wow!

• Life is good. Life is SO SO SO SO SO GOOD!!!!!!!!I just want to dance around and sing all the time because I am so happy and life is so amazing!!!! Hey, did you know that THE CHURCH IS TRUE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well folks, I am here to tell you that IT IS!!!!
• We have seen so many wonderful miracles the past week!
• First of all, last Friday we were teaching Jake and at the end of the lesson we asked if he had any further questions and he said something like this, "How long does it take before I can get baptized, I mean, I use to think that I didn't know enough and that I had to gain all of this knowledge before I could get baptized but today at work I was talking with Nick (another member) and he told me that becoming a member of the church is like getting your pilots licence. You can become a pilot without knowing EVERYTHING and once you become a pilot, you still have a lot to learn. So, I feel like I have learned the basics and I know that the church is true and I was wondering, when can I get baptized." I wish I had a camera on my face because I am sure it would have been a priceless look. Jake basically set himself for baptism right then and there. We told him that he still had a bit to learn but he could be baptized on the 29th or the 30th of August. We decided on the 30th and got permission for a waterside confirmation. MIRACLE.... I think YES!!!!!!
• Jake has been on fire since the second we started teaching him (which was just 2 1/2 weeks ago) and we were planning on setting him for baptism during the next lesson but hey, why wait! I didn't think that we would have a baptism this transfer but WE DO!!!!! This week we have been teaching him every night, for two reasons, 1. because we still had to finish his lessons and 2. because we knew that because he is so amazing that he would be hit with the adversary like crazy.... and he has. He has been SO strong through it all. It is interesting how it has come to him as well. He is so stinking solid!Ok, enough of Jake.
• Another Miracle... we went to a baptism that some Elders had on Saturday and we invited DeLoris to come. Sister Snow, a member in the ward picked up DeLoris and brought her to the baptism. While sitting in the chapel after the baptism, DeLoris said, "I think I can hold my breath that long." Then Sis. Snow turned to her and said, "when are you getting baptized?" DeLoris turned to Sis. Little and said, "When AM I getting baptized?" then Sis. Little said, "Well DeLoris we have just been waiting for you to get your answer about September 12th." DeLoris then said, "well, I think that September 12th sounds great!" Then she turned to Sis. Snow and said, "September 12th." We were all so excited!!!!!!
• Who knew, 5 weeks in an area and we have 2 investigators that WE found set for baptism!!!!! I believe in Miracles, Miracles, Miracles!!!!!!
• Transfers are on Tuesday and both Sister Little and I are praying our hearts out that we can stay together in Boulder City... but of course, we will "go and do the thing which the Lord hath commanded..."
• Today we hiked up what they call Black Mountain but really it is just a big hill so I have officially changed the name to Black Hill. It was pretty insane though because it is 109 degrees out today and Black Hill is literally black with lava rock. It is actually a volcano!
• Anyway, I got lots and lots of sun and I think I might be a little burnt! Oops! Oh well, it was fun to be out of proselyting clothes and in shorts and a tee-shirt for a couple of hours!!!

This part of her letter warmed my mother's heart!

• I am so happy, so healthy and SO SO SO in love with Missionary work!

Chelsee's famous closing...

Thank you SO much for your prayers and love!I love you!

Make good choices, don't do drugs and remember to be HAPPY!Love, ME!!!!

Chelsee Update August 23

Sister Walker makes me smile! Boulder City seems to be doing great! Chelsee has only served there for about 4 weeks and when she and Sis. Little arrived, there were no investigators and no dates of baptisms. Just read on to see what's happening now.
________________

When Chelsee heard the news that her younger brother's mission papers were turned in she replied:

• I AM SO EXCITED FOR TYSON!!!!!! I can’t wait to find out who the lucky people are that get to be taught by him! I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! Oh my Goodness!
  Chelsee refers to a sign in front of a Church in Las Vegas:
  Warning! Exposure to the Son my prevent Burning! (that subject line was on a sign at a church and it made me giggle!!!!!)

Special trip to Hoover Dam:

• We went on an exclusive tour of Hoover Dam today. By exclusive I mean, EXCLUSIVE. Usually you have to be the President of some country or a famous movie star to get the tour that we got. It was a blast and the best part was that it was free because it was a member who works there that took us! A lot of the movie Transformers was filmed there…

When referencing her work in Boulder City Chelsee writes:

• Boulder City is on FIRE! It is amazing down here! I am so blessed to be serving here along side Sister Little! We have a LOT of new investigators in the Lakeview ward. I don’t know exactly who is praying for the missionary work there (besides us) but they sure are faithful in their praying and their prayers are being answered.

From Chelsee's most recent letter:

• Please sing the following to the tune of Popcorn Popping: I look out the window and what do I see? Invest-i-ga-tors all around me. Boulder has brought me such a nice surprise, investigators popping out before my eyes. I could take a planner full and make a date, a baptismal that would be so great. It I-S really so and it seems to be, that the Lord is blessing Boulder Cit-y.I LOVE SERVING IN BOULDER CITY!!!!!!!!!!!
• Oh my goodness, there is SO much amazing work going on right now. Let me just take a second to introduce you and update you on a few of the investigators in this area!
• ~Lindsey- is engaged to a less active member who comes from and extremely active family. We have been teaching Lindsey for about 3 weeks now. Right now she has been smoke free for 6 days as she is preparing to be baptized in the near future. We haven’t set a date yet because she is getting married in September and is a bit focused on that. SHE is 100% AMAZING!!!! We didn’t even get a chance to teach the second lesson before she started talking about her baptism. She is so ready to make a change in her life. Her Fiancé is being very supportive and is actually becoming active again!
• ~Daniel- is probably the most spiritually in-tune 17 year old I have ever met. He is so in gear and knows just what he wants for his life. He is already talking about going on a mission and we haven’t even set a date with him either. Sheesh, what’s with all of these “golden” people!!!! I LOVE IT!!!
• ~DeLoris- is praying about being baptized on September 12th. She already told us that that date would work but we want her to pray about it first. She has become my newest Grandma and has a very special place in my heart. We have taught her 3 of the lessons and plan on having her set for baptism on Sunday evening. She is too cute!
• ~Damon- have been taken under the wings of the ward members unlike anyone I have ever seen. They are being cared for so well. Their little family is still living in their 20 foot trailer but they have been moved up to a member’s property where they don’t have to pay 600 a month for their spot in the campground. I can’t even imagine being a parent and having to live in such a small space with 4 little kids. They have so much faith that things will work out and that they will be able to find an apartment or a house soon. The ward is looking for a place for them to move soon. Damon has changed a lot since we started teaching him 3 weeks ago. He looks forward to the day that he can take his family to the temple and be sealed to them for eternity. We’ve just got to work on getting him smoke free so he can be baptized!!!
• ~Angelique- is Damon’s 8 year old daughter who we just started teaching last week. She turns 9 in a couple of weeks and wants be baptized. We have had a great time teaching her and getting her prepared for baptism!
• ~Donna and Craig- are doing fantastic. We took some members to their last lesson and it was like peanut butter and jelly. They went together SO WELL!!! The members that we took are converts to the church and they were so perfect because they had been through a lot of the same things that Donna and Craig are struggling with right now. Craig is so excited that he can be together forever with his beautiful wife!
• ~Jake- loves learning about the gospel and is embracing it very well. The members who are fellowshipping him are such a great support and they have been so helpful in helping him understand the gospel!
• ~Tony- has been getting into a lot of anti stuff because we are only able to see him once a week. He is so hungry to learn but has been eating all the wrong foods. He needs a diet. We set him strait every time we go to teach him. He has come a long way since we first met him.
• ~Pickering Family- is a new family that we are teaching. The wife took the lessons about 9 years ago and she is so excited about getting back into the church. She loves to learn about the gospel. She and her husband stayed up really late the other night watching the Restoration DVD and reading through the pamphlets and the intro to the Book of Mormon. I love teaching them!
• These are our most solid investigators right now!!! We have 3 new investigators so far this week and I think they are pretty solid! The Lord LOVES Boulder City too!
• I can’t believe I have already been here for 4 weeks. Time is flying by so fast here. I still haven’t figured out how to slow it down! YIKES! I am loving every single second of being here! I cant wait for our very white, wet September that is coming up!!!!!!!!!
  

And I couldn't finish this update without sharing one of Chelsee's famous closings to her letters:
I love you all so very, very much!!! Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and remember that Jesus loves you!!!!LOVE, ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Walker Was Transferred!

Chelsee is now serving in Boulder City, Nevada. Here are some highlights from her letters:

• SO… transfers were on Tuesday and………………………………………… I am staying…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. In Nevada!!!! I got transferred to Boulder City, Nevada and I am serving with Sister Little again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Boulder City is right in between Henderson and Lake Mead, in fact, my area covers Lake Mead!! Kinda different. We were double transferred into this area which means that we replaced Elders down here. It is a new experience for me and Sister Little because neither of us have served near Boulder City before… lets just say that I am glad that Dad taught me good navigating skills and that I was blessed with his sense of direction.
• I am excited to be serving with Sister Little again. I know that we are for sure supposed to be serving here together. I couldn’t imagine getting double transferred into an area with a companion I didn’t know. That would just add to the stress level. At least we know how to serve together and we can just get to work!!!! It is a huge blessing. I also know that we have both matured and grown a ton in the past 6 months and we will be able to learn new things from each other!!!!! I am looking forward to round 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The members here are SO EXCITED to have sisters. We cover 4 wards… yes folks, that is FOUR wards. We haven’t quite figured out how we are going to do that yet, however the members have been extremely helpful so far! I LOVE IT HERE! It is very different from the crazy busy city life I was living just 3 days ago. It is funny how different it is here and we are only 15 minutes from Vegas. The houses here are HUMONGOUS and there are quite a few multi-millionaires in our wards. I already feel loved and at home with the members!
• Oh boy, IT IS HUMID DOWN HERE! Yesterday it was only 112 degrees but I was sweating way more than I was in 120 degrees. Being right by the lake plus everyone here has grass which means more watering equals lots and lots of humidity!! My arms are baby bum soft though. Oh and so is my bum!!
• It actually wasn’t as hard to say goodbye to Paradise as I thought it would be. I didn’t even cry. In fact, I was quite at ease over the whole thing. I think it helped that President gave me a weeks notice. And I just kept in mind that I would be coming back to visit soon!

In a response to some of my questions she said:

1. I LOVE MY NEW AREA!!!!!!!!!!! I love it SO MUCH! I told dad that it is like having kids... you never think that you could love the next one as much as the first and yet you end up falling in love with them all!!!

2. I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO happy to be serving here with Sister Little!!! I call this time my repentance time because last time we served together I thought I
knew it all and I thought I was all that and this time I am just me and we are being ditsy together!!! I have loved every single second of serving with her this transfer!!!!! I really think that we have built a friendship that will last forever!

3. I am drinking so much water and gatorade that I am peeing like a mad woman!!!!! Oh and yes, the pee is almost crystal clear! Haha! I can definitely recognize when I haven't had enough water.... therefore I fix the problem immediately. Did you know that it is illegal to refuse water to someone here??? We get offered water all the time, it is a great way of getting into peoples houses!!!!!

This week she mentioned:

• I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Boulder City!!!!!
• Since last week we have 8 new investigators!!!! The member have been praying for quite some time for the work to move foward here and they have also been praying for sisters for a long time. President told us last week that we have been sent here to teach the people who have been waiting for sister missionaries. He promised us that the member would start giving us people to teach because they have been waiting for us!!!! It is so exciting to be an answer to prayers!!!!
• Everyone is so excited to see us here and to have us teach their friends and family! We have also been doing a lot of tracting because we know that right now it is a good way to find people. I used to hate tracting but I have actually really enjoyed it this past week. Sister Little and I are constantly laughing about something.
• We have already been adopted into so many families and have had many many many marriage proposals from the fathers of RM's and other young single men!!!! It has been quite amusing!!!
• Because we cover four wards we have to do splits on Sunday. It isn't the best of circumstances but it works! The wards have also been extremely helpful with the splits! We have been given so much by the members for our apartment. In fact, we have extra! They sure do love us!

And in ususaly Chelsee manner - "I LOVE YOU ALL! Remember that Jesus Loves you TOO! Make good choices, don't do drugs, and be happy!LOVE, ME!"

More Sister Walker

Chelsee on her 22nd Birthday- One of the members in Vegas made her a princess! (Thanks Sis. Elmer)

Chelsee displaying the Three Degrees of Glory for P-day

And yes... this is her dashboard boasting a whopping 120 degrees at 4:13 in the afternoon.

Sister Walker Photos

Chelsee sent home some absolutely adorable photos... Here she is in front of the Las Vegas temple with Jilian and Jacob - some of her recent convert baptisms.

Family - Life is Good!

Oh to joy of young ones!!! Makes me want to be young and carefree all over again!!!