WALKER CIRCLE

Catch-Up

2011-02-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Wow- it's been quite some time since I have updated this blog... mostly because I wasn't able to access it for some time - and of course, the usual excuse of TIME! Please watch for updates coming soon!

Precious Notes from Sister Walker

2010-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

In response to her dad's final letter:

Gee Dad, now I'm sitting in the middle of the library with tears streaming down my face and on to the key board... luckily I'm in corner where not too many people can see me! THIS ISN'T EASY! NOT ONE BIT! Man, I don't want to leave but I know that I have to. My heart is being torn to pieces! I guess that just means that I have been a successful missionary otherwise I would have no problem with this. I HAVE fought my hardest and I know that the battle must come to an end.... I just wish it
could last forever... and I know it will, just not full time. I do look forward to, and I am excited to see my family and friends again. I am excited to get back up to Rexburg but darn it all, I'm not ready to no longer be a full-time missionary. I have put my whole heart and soul into the past 18 months and.... well, you know how I feel! I love you SO MUCH and I am excited to see you on Tuesday! Just be prepared for the tears!!! HAHAHAHA!

Cute note to her mom in response to a letter about housing at BYU-I for Spring Semester:

Phew... actually, I wasn't worried about that at all... in fact housing hadn't even crossed my mind since the last time we talked about it! haha! It sounds WONDERFUL! I think I've been in there before... maybe... I think some of my friends use to live there! I'm excited for you to come with me... no cheating and trying to see your son though (well maybe we will have to accidentally buy him a box of goodies and accidentally come across his living quarters and accidentally drop it off on his porch)!!! Hahahaha!! I love you MOSTEST! Thanks for getting that all set up!

In response to a letter from her mom - an analogy from Mary Poppins... even though the end has come, "It's as it should be" So - Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Thanks Mom, I needed that... today is hard and I do just need to go fly a kite! Read my response to Dad! I love you SO MUCH! Thanks for all your love, support, encouragement and most of all thanks for being MY mom! Love you MOST!!!!

Final Letter from Sister Walker as a Full Time Missionary

2010-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Family!!!!

Today, I just want to keep this simple today and share my testimony with you!

Over the past 18 months 2 weeks and 2 days I have come to realize even more than ever that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lords church on the earth today. This IS the ONLY church that contains the fullness of the gospel. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father he loves us so much that he sent us away out of his presence for a time so that we could learn and grow for ourselves and learn to become more like him. He has given us families on the earth so that we can learn from one another and work towards eternal life together! I know that we have a living prophet on the earth today and I know that as we follow him we will be lead back to our Father in Heaven! I know that through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ we will be saved so long as we repent and come unto him! I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ and that it changes lives every day! I know that the CHURCH IS TRUE!

I love you all so much and if I haven’t told you already…. I am so grateful for all of your prayers, love, encouraging words…. EVERYTHING! I could have NEVER done this without ALL of you!

I have fought the fight and THIS battle is ending… but a new one is just about to begin… BRING IT ON!
I am excited to see you and give you all LOTS AND LOTS of hugs and kisses!

For the last time from SISTER Chelsee Walker… Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and remember that you are a child of God and we WILL live together with him someday!

Love, Sister Chelsee Walker

Cute Briggan - 2 months old

2010-03-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just had to share these darling photos of Briggan. He's two months old and absolutely darling! Big, bright blue eyes! Makes you want to snuggle with him, huh?

Sis. Walker - March 18, 2010

2010-03-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my EVER LIVIN... this is your second to last e-mail from your favorite Sister Chelsee Walker! CRAZY!!!!!!!

First of all... happy St. Pats Day yesterday... yes, it is my favorite holiday and YES I did tell everyone that... I had corned beef and cabbage 2 times this week... I'm not so sure I want any more corned beef for about a year! I liked it but twice in one week is getting a little overboard! Ha!

We had another Sister Exchange on Tuesday and once again, I went Spanish for the day... yes, another 24 hours of nothing but Spanish. My brain didn't hurt as much as it did the last time I did it because I understood about a 3rd of the words this time! It was fun. I was with Hermana Hernandez from Mexico. Hna Hernandez has only been out 2 months so it was fun sharing some insight with her. I had something reaffirmed to me this time... it doesn't matter what language you speak, we all have one common language and that is the Spirit. I could feel the spirit so strong when she shared the first vision with a new investigator. It doesn't matter what language the first vision is told in... it is a true event, Joseph DID see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.

Cool experience.... The other night I was feeling super sad because one of our investigators who we had set for baptism for this weekend told us that he wasn't ready to be baptized and wanted to wait for a couple of weeks. Well, I was being super selfish and my thought process was... "well if he waits for a couple of weeks I wont be here and there is a possibility of not having a baptism this transfer because we aren't sure if Kelsey is getting baptized on the 27th anymore..." I was super bummed. I went down and laid on my bed and I kept thinking, "this is going to haunt me for the rest of my life... You didn't have a baptism your last transfer, what a failure..." And then the tears came... then after a minute I thought..." WAIT, I AM NOT A FAILURE... Sister Walker, this is Satan trying to make you sad so that you don't feel like working as hard as you can to have a baptism this transfer..." as soon as I had that thought I felt a TON of peace and the second thought came to mind... "Not THY will but MINE.... HELLO SISTER WALKER... If the Lord wants Kelsey to get baptized on the 27 then she will get baptized on the 27th. If it is not His will then it wont happen. AND you are NOT a failure... look at all the other success stories you have had on your mission... sheesh Sister Walker, this is the LORDS work... HIS WILL!" Then I got down on my knees and thanked the Lord for comforting my heart. I wish you could have been inside my head because it would have been quite the comedy show! I feel 100% better now and I am working as hard as I can... we have a lot of people set for baptism for next transfer and I know that my hard work will pay off!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I have got to get running now. I only have 6 minutes and I need to send my Presidents letter! I love you all more than anything!

Make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and love Jesus!
See you real soon baboon!
Love, ME!

Elder Walker March 15, 2010

2010-03-15T12:31:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Well I asked President about seeing Chelsee when she comes up here. He said I can! That makes me very excited. He told me I can do what ever I want, I can go to the temple, go to lunch, maybe both... He told me to give her a big hug (not in front of a lot of people) and then tell her I'll see her in two years. I'm very very excited that I can see my sister when she gets home.

Transfers are coming up not this week but the next. I asked President Colton about transfers and he told me that this mission is only getting 4 new missionaries; he wants to keep this transfer as invisible as possible. I said so does that mean that I will be staying in St. Anthony with Elder Call again? He said that most likely we will. I told him that means I am the only missionary that came out with my group that is still with my trainer and will be with him for 6 months. He then responded and said, "well if you didn't baptize 11 people in 2 1/2 transfers then I would consider splitting you up. I do like Elder Call, and I love St. Anthony but things are getting a bit monotonous. I think it's weird to be with your trainer for 4 transfers. Elder Call told me the other day that if we do stay together again then that is cheating me of some learning experiences from other missionaries. He said that he learned the most from his second companion anyways. Who knows though, President told me that before they even decided anything.

Well we still don't have any baptism dates set yet but we are trying really hard. We have a couple that are getting close but are afraid to commit because of word of wisdom problems. I hope to see a difference here this next transfer if I stay again.

I never thought that the temperature getting to the 30s would be warm, but let me tell you, we are getting toasty here in the 30s. When the temperature gets that high we like to park the car and walk because it's warm enough to be outside without coats.

We look forward to general conference because then we can take off our suit coats and just wear white shirts. I wish we could go out in jeans but that is just wishful thinking...

We are going to take Robert Terrill to the Idaho Falls temple visitor center on Tuesday to see the Joseph Smith film and Legacy. It's great to have a visitors center close to take investigators and recent converts to see films and paintings.

I love you all very much. I hope all is well and life is great.

Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

Sis Walker March 11

2010-03-12T09:35:00.001-08:00

Happy 18 months and 1 day to me!!!!!! Oh my EVER LIVIN, I cannot BELIEVE that I have been on my mission for 18 months officially! I almost don't want to believe it! I wish I could slow time down but I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot and I'm just going to have to make the best of it! This has been the greatest 18 months and 1 day of my life and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity I have had to be a full-time servant of the Lord! I have thought a lot about the past 18 months... and one day... and all the changes that have taken place in me and I tell you what... WOW! I feel like a new person! Don't worry though, I'm still as quirky and blond as ever... I'm just a bit more in tune with my spiritual side! Haha!

Can I just say that I LOVE Sister Matthew! She keeps me laughing constantly. Yesterday we were doing some tracting and out of the blue she turns to me and says, "Sister Walker, my body is a temple, not a visitors center." Yeah, I have no idea where that came from but it was right at the perfect moment because I was getting a little grumpy from tracting... In case you didn't know... I don't like tracting... AT ALL! She is so on top of things and knows how to cheer me up right at the right moment! I LOVE HER! She even bought me lunch yesterday to celebrate my 18 months!!! I wish I could bring her with me in a couple of weeks and set her on my shelf and have her cheer me up when I am piled in homework! I'll just have to find a replacement Marshaleese person until she is done with her mission!!! Ha!

I of course am in love with this work. Things have been a little slower this transfer as far as LTM's and baptisms go but we are still trudging forward! I have been a little nervous because we only have 1 person set for baptism this transfer (a couple more for next) and she is having major problems with her family. But I have faith that all will be well and that she will get baptized. We are still doing a lot of finding and being quite successful... still slow but successful!

So, the sun can't make up it's mind, it is standing on the sidelines and the clouds keep taking the stage! Yesterday the weather was like Colorado. Beautiful and sunny in the morning, cold and raining from noon to 4, sunny and warm till 5, then snow at 5 (yes snow... just flurries... nothing stuck), cleared up by 7... sheesh! Maybe it is just trying to prepare me!

We went to the temple this morning! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!!! I love the Las Vegas temple! Do you know what is weird???... The next time I go to the temple Mom and Dad will be there! CRAZY!

Ok, I've got to get running now! I love you all SO MUCH!!!!!!!! Make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and baptize someone!

Love, ME!

Elder Walker March 8

2010-03-12T09:34:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!

So the funniest thing just happened 30 seconds ago... Elder Call just flipped while reading his e-mail, stood up and started pacing. I was like what's going on? He says read this e-mail. I read a paragraph that says that his family has put up his house for sale and they are now moving to Texas from Illinois. The reason this is so funny is because he has always given me grief about Colorado being the second most prideful state in the Union with Texas being the most. Karma! This is hilarious! Only because this didn't happen to me. hint hint... please don't move away from Colorado... ever.

Alright so the update for this week. We concluded our 11th baptism this Saturday. Robert Terrill was baptized very successfully. He was very excited and very prepared for that day. Once again I had the great opportunity to confirm Brother Terrill. There is no greater opportunity than that of giving a child of God the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't wait to see him take his wife to the temple a year from now. After the baptism Brother Terrill took me aside and told me that if he had a son he would hope that he would be just like me. I will never forget that moment. That means a hole bunch to me.

We have now run into a problem... Yesterday was the first day of the mission that we did not have anyone with a baptism date. I don't know what has happened. Actually I think that the problem is that the stake just got rearranged and we got 7 new ward mission leaders. I think the work is going to explode when these new bishops and ward mission leaders get things under control.

The next transfers are on the 24th of March. I'm pretty sure Elder Call is going to get transferred because he has been here for a while but then again think of Elder Bosen, he had a lot of junior companions leave before he did. I think we need a little change here to get things going again.

Congratulations to Iver to get his call to Mexico. That officially means that every one of my friends are Spanish speaking except Scott. Bernie, Casey, Spencer, Patrick, and now Iver are Spanish speaking. I think it's great for Iver to go to Mexico because he is already used to eating bugs... haha. I'm very excited for him. I know he'll be a great missionary.

I do have one thing to say about the Idaho Pocatello Mission. There aren't too many missions where you get a shoulder workout because of waving to everybody who honks at us to say hi. Also I feel like a celebrity sometimes especially going to ward parties or church. Everyone wants to shake the missionaries hands.

Yesterday the lesson in church was about home teaching. I had the impression that I know that dad and I taught the Lindsey family for a reason. I believe that by dad making me teach the lessons I was prepared to teach families here in Idaho. I know that wasn't a coincidence. What a great family for me to "practice" on for preparation.

Well the last thing that happened is that we got our new car on Saturday. We got a brand new Chevy Malibu. It smells like new car which is my favorite part. The funny thing is that because our mission is so close to Utah our car has Utah license plates. Now everyone knows who the missionaries are.

Well the work is going forth. We plan on working hard all the way to the end of this mission. I know there are more people to find. We had a district fast yesterday to find more people to teach. I shouldn't complain because having 11 baptisms in 3 1/2 months isn't a bad thing by any means.

I love you all very much. I hope and pray that little Briggan is doing well.

Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

Sister Walker 3/4/2010

2010-03-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

ALOHA!!!!!!!!

Ok, I'm feeling a little Hawaiian with Sis. Matthew around... even though she isn't Hawaiian, she is Marshallese ! Oh well, she still spent half her life in Hawaii!

This week has been a great week! Last weekend I went to the temple with Maria May and I tell you what, that made my whole mission. I sat right behind Maria during the session and I loved seeing the excitement/ nervousness/ confusion come across her face during the session! It was fantastic! It reminded me SO much of when I went though the temple to receive my endowment! She did such a great job! The second I got into the Celestial room I wrapped my arms around her and told her how proud I was of her! She hugged me SO tight and said, "Thank you so much for choosing to come on a mission. I know that you came on your mission for me!" I had to fight back the tears at that point because I knew she was right. I am SO glad that I chose to come on a mission! I know that I was sent here to the Nevada Las Vegas Mission at this time because there were and are people here that needed ME, yes, Me, Sister Walker to come and teach them and bring them unto Christ! I have been so blessed and so privileged to teach so many incredible people!

On Sunday Sister Matthew and I gave talks in one of our wards. When the Counselor, Bro. Armantrout got up to introduce us, he said, "Well brothers and sisters, today you get a special treat, you get to hear from a sister who is still fresh from the MTC and a sister who only has 4 weeks left." I laughed! I was trying not to tell everyone, even though most people already know because I have been here so long. I started off my talk by saying, "My name is Sister Walker and if you don't know that by now than you probably moved in in the past 3 months because that was the last time I talked. You know you've been in an area a long time when this is your fourth time giving a talk in the same ward." I actually felt like I was giving a farewell talk because I know everyone in the ward and I have grown so close to all of them. It was great!

On Monday I did an exchange with the sisters serving in Henderson. President asked me last week to organize an exchange with those sisters because they were struggling. I must admit, I sort of felt like a district leader for a second because they are the ones that usually do that with the elders in their district!!! I guess that's what happens when you are the oldest sister in the mission by 7 1/2 months... meaning that the next sister doesn't go home for another 7 1/2 months! The exchange was good, I was able to figure out what the problem is in their companionship and I talked to both of them about it and so far things are getting better!

Ok, I've got to go now. I'm getting kicked off the computer!

I love you all SO SO SO MUCH!!!!

Remember to make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and serve the Lord!

Love, ME!!!!

Elder Walker - March 1, 2010 FOUR MONTHS!

2010-03-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I'm glad to hear the news that Briggan is doing well. There is not much worse than being so close to him and knowing that I am so helpless. I'm am relieved to know that all is well and that I can continue with out worry.

Yesterday I hit my 4 month mark. Can you even believe that it's been four months already? I can't. I also realized that if I stay in St. Anthony another transfer I will hit my 6 month mark here meaning that I would have spent a quarter of my mission in this great place. I hope that happens. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks though.

At church yesterday they had a returned missionary speak. He said something that has really made me think... He said, "homesickness results in the guilt of not showing your love for your family when you had the chance." I then think about Max Bastian after he was out a bit and how Spencer would say that he turned into a softy. Maybe I'm just going through one of those stages; I hope you all know that I love you. I know I wasn't perfect at showing my love, especially my Junior and Senior year of high school with the chaos, but please know that If I could do it again I would show more of my love to my family. If there is one thing I learn from this mission it is how much my family means to me.
President Walker, the stake president, said at a recent baptism, "Heavenly Father could have had us do this on our own but that isn't the way he created His plan, he put us here in families for a reason." I strongly testify of what President Walker said. My greatest joy is seeing a family become united in the gospel.

Aaron Boots was baptized Saturday! None of you will understand why that is so significant just trust me when I say that it is. He has been meeting with missionaries for 3 years! The last month or two we really focused on eternal families and our Heavenly Father's plan for us. That has really hit home for Aaron. He now understands the responsibility he has as a husband and father to keep his family together in the Celestial Kingdom with our Father in Heaven. I had the wonderful opportunity to confirm Aaron yesterday. Let me tell you, if there is ever a light that turns on in someone after baptism, Aaron Boots was a spotlight. He had such a different countenance about him. His burdens were lifted and his spirit was rejoicing. THIS IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT. This is why I am here. This is who my Father in Heaven has sent me to find. Aaron is now apart of his fold and I have never felt such spiritual satisfaction than to watch his progress.

On a more temporal note... Elder Call crashed this week. We were late for a meeting so he was speeding. Well the roads were icy and we went off the road. The problem was that the car crashed into this large chunk of ice which took us air born and flip us 180 degrees. We were protected and we are fine. We do get a new car this week which is great. It's either going to be a truck or a Subaru so we will have four wheel drive. The brother who pulled us out asked where we were from and when I said Colorado he made comment, "well why don't they have you drive? I wouldn't be pulling you out of this mess if you were driving." I just laughed because that's what most people say when they find out where I'm from.

Well that's pretty much all the exciting things I'm doing... I do spend quite a bit of time with the Spanish elders because Elder Call has a bunch of leadership meetings this transfer. It's great though because they are teaching me Spanish. I now know how to bear my testimony in Spanish and how to pray. I'm going to ask President if there is an opportunity I would like to be put into a bilingual area. Wouldn't that be cool? Espanol es muy facil.

Peace and love everyone... amame

Elder Walker

Sister Walker 2-25-2010

2010-02-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love missionary work!!! This past week has been a VERY different week in Boulder City. We have had a constant stream of progressing investigators since the first month I was here BUT we have had SO many baptisms lately that we have recently run into a shortage of people to teach. SO this past week we did a TON of finding! It has been a BLAST! Sister Matthew is SO incredible! She has literally kept me running from person to person! We also ran out of miles on our car so we walked all weekend and we taught SO MANY other lessons! We did a little bit of tracting but mostly just street contacts... that's what's nice about the warmer weather, people are actually out and about!

Cool experience... we were driving up a street on Monday night and over in a drainage ditch I saw a guy sitting there, I turned the car around and jumped out (Sis. Matthew had no idea what was going on but she followed). I went up to the guy, he had a half empty bottle of beer by his feet and he was smoking a cigarette! I knew something was up so I said, "Hello, are you OK?" He said, "No." I of course was curious (I've become quite a nosy person) so I said, "What's up?" He told us that he had just been attacked by a drunk guy and was having a VERY BAD day. I could tell. I told him that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that we could help make his day better. He looked at me like I was some sort of maniac but I kept going. I told him that Heavenly Father was very aware of his situation and that through the Atonement he could have comfort in his life. At this point he stood up and came over to talk to us. He said, "I've only got one question... Where did you come from? People have walked by all night and you are the first ones to stop and talk to me." I felt like a good Samaritan!!! We gave him a Finding Faith in Christ DVD card and set up a time to go and talk to him the next day. We went to his house the next day and he told us that he thought we were angles (I'm sure that had something to do with the half empty bottle of beer)!!!! Hahaha! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and watched Finding Faith in Christ. At the end of the movie all he said was "Wow!" That's how I felt too! He still has quite a way to go... like not drinking while we are at his house. But I think Eddie had his prayers answered that night!

Kelsey's baptism didn't go through on Saturday. Her dad called us on Friday and said, "Kelsey will not be getting baptized until she is 18... that is in 4 weeks and if she wants it that bad then she can wait." I told him that was fine... so now we are planning a baptism for March 27! Kelsey also handled it very well. I called her right up after talking to her dad and told her to keep it cool with her parents and that they would come around eventually and that it would be just fine to wait for a month. So, all is good!

I am SO in LOVE with Boulder City. I'm quite seriously considering moving back here! I have had a TON of job offers from members and one member even offered to buy me a house!!!

I get to go through the temple on Saturday with Maria May!!!! I’m so excited! One of MY recent converts is going through the temple and I get to be there!!!!!!!! Woohoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that is just about all the exciting news! I love you all SO MUCH! Make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and LOVE JESUS!

Love, ME!

Elder Walker 2-22-2010

2010-02-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

This week has been quite the eventful week. We got a call on Tuesday night that our 75 year old investigator, Robert, had a heart attack and was taken to the Rexburg hospital. Robert Terrell is the one that is going to be baptized on the 6th of March. We immediately canceled our appointments for the night and rushed down to Rexburg. We found him in the ER just as they were strapping him up to take him to Idaho Falls to a heart specialist. When we got there his wife Rose said that we got there at a perfect time because they were just about to go. We asked brother Terrell if he would like a blessing and he replied that he would. We gave him a blessing of comfort and council. I don't remember what was said in the blessing except that the phrase, "everything in your life has prepared you for this moment", has stuck with me since that time. Well they found out that his heart had sped up to about 250 bpm which sparked the heart attack. He now has a pace maker and defibrillator to keep his heart on track. When we got to the hospital his first concern was if he was going to make it to his baptism. We told him that it didn't matter if he did or if his father in heaven called him home that we would take care of his baptism either way. We stopped by to see him yesterday after church and he is doing well. He told us that we are to plan for him to be baptized on the 6th of March unless his doctor tells him otherwise; I'm thinking we are going to have to postpone it...

That event has made me really stop and reflect on the authority that I hold to stand in place of my Heavenly Father and use his power to bless his child. I'm sure that it was hard for Heavenly Father to watch one of his children experience the pain that Brother Terrell went through but to know that I can stand in his place to do what he himself would do is such a humbling experience. I told you last week about Trevon's baptism and how that experience is my most memorable so far on the mission. From the first time I met him he said that he wanted to be baptized so he could have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Trevon asked me to confirm him and give him that gift that he so desired. That event and the event of Brother Terrell have made me really respect and understand the significance of the priesthood. Think about it, how great is it that we have the priesthood on this earth to be able to give the gift of a God. How great it is to bless someone with comfort and counsel literally from our Father in Heaven. I know that Joseph Smith restored that priesthood to this earth from Peter, James, and John; Christ's original Apostles. I know that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with this power so we can be blessed. I will forever honor and cherish this authority that I hold.

I had the strangest dream last night. I had a dream that Iver Johnson was called to the Idaho Pocatello Mission and that he was assigned to St. Anthony and I served him as his trainer. Weird. Maybe it'll happen...

Well that's all the exciting news here in St. Anthony Idaho. I hope you all are having great experiences too. Remember that we can always expect miracles.

peace and love,

Elder Walker

Note From Me

2010-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Well - I just spent the last hour updating this blog and Tyson's Mission blog. That meant that I've had a chance to re-read every letter that Sis. Walker and Elder Walker have emailed home the last month! Wow!

I am so grateful for two of the best missionary children ever! Their testimony is so strong. Their zeal is evident. Their desire to serve is heartwarming!

Tyson recently wrote home and told us that he and his companion recently spoke at a Bishop's Fireside. He said he told the kids that less than 6 months ago he was in their shoes... senior in high school, actively involved at school and with friends, and now... look where he is. That really hit me... In less than six months Tyson has gone from being 'Tyson' to becoming 'Elder Walker'

And... now in just six weeks, Sister Walker will be returning home!

Wow!

When did my kids grow up???

Sister Walker Stays in Boulder City

2010-02-19T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hello!!!!

So let me explain a little something called transfers to you... in our mission it works like this:

if you and your companion are getting double transferred out of an area you get a call the Saturday night before transfers.-
if you are getting sent to Elko you get a call the Saturday night before transfers so that you can get ready to go Monday morning.-
if you are training you get a call the Sunday night before transfers.-
if you are getting transferred you find out on Monday early afternoon.-
if you or your companion are getting transferred you go to Transfer conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Ok, now that I have explained all of that you can somewhat understand how stressful the weekend before transfers can be. Many thoughts run through a missionaries head such as, "Am I getting transferred, or am I staying here..." "Am I getting a new companion, what if they are lazy..." "Is the work going to continue if I'm gone..." STRESSFUL!!!

Well, lets start my story off here... Every transfer I have found out at least a week ahead of time if I was staying or not... President knows me too well... and I'm a bit sneaky! BUT... Last week, I had NO CLUE what was going to happen. I was SO STRESSED all weekend. I had no idea what was going to happen for my last transfer. As you all know, I really, really wanted to stay in Boulder City but in the back of my mind I was preparing myself to head out.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

On Sunday night I received a phone call from the Assistants and of course I knew this meant a training call because this was the 3rd time I had received the "Sunday night call." I'm not going to lie, I was hoping to have an experienced companion for my last transfer because I was getting a bit worn out from training... but of course, I was willing to do whatever the Lord asked of me!!! I asked the Elder if that meant that I was staying in Boulder City and he said he could not tell me! YIKES! I had another slight freak out session then went to bed. I couldn't sleep all night because I was so stressed out. WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!! So........ I thought for sure I was getting transferred UNTIL I got a call Monday morning from President. He called and made me promise him I would stay focused because......... I would be STAYING in Boulder City for another 6 weeks!

I'm pretty sure I squealed! I'm creating quite the habit of squealing a lot! He also made me cry. He told me that he knew right away that I needed to train my last transfer. He told me that he had full confidence in me and he told me that if this were his daughter coming into the mission he would want me to be her trainer. He told me that he wanted my legacy to live on in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission and that it was through training this transfer that that would happen. I told him that I promise to make him proud and I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!

Well Folks, lets just say it's a good thing I am in LOVE with Boulder City because at the end of this transfer I will have spent half of my mission here! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE MY COMPANION!!! Her name is Sister Matthew and she is from the Martial Islands... but most recently Honolulu! She is the greatest, most excited, hardest working companion I have had my entire mission. In a trainers meeting that we had on Tuesday morning President told us trainers that the transfer that we spend training should be the most exhausting transfer next to our last transfer. I am the only Trainer going home at the end of this transfer so I said, "ok President, then I'll be double exhausted for you!..." and let me tell ya, after yesterday I am exhausted and SO EXCITED for this transfer! We literally ran from person to person, house to house yesterday to tell EVERYONE we saw about the Restoration of the gospel!

I am so grateful to be serving with Sister Matthew because she is just what I need to go out with a bang! She has the most powerful testimony I have ever seen!!! She is the BEST!!!!!!!!! The Lord does work in mysterious ways!!! He knows that Sister Matthew is the PERFECT companion for my last transfer!

Cami's baptism was perfect! She bore her testimony and simply said, "I know that this church is true. When I went into the water... I felt it. Amen." As she said those simple but truly heartfelt words, her eyes filled with tears and I knew that the Spirit had touched everyone in the room at that moment. And dang, it hit me like a ton of bricks, I couldn't hold back the tears!

Kelsey had her interview for baptism last night and it went great! She is so ready for baptism!!!!!! I am so happy for the decision she has made and that she has stuck to it even without her parents support! I am constantly amazed at the things people go through to be members of the True Church. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!

Ok, I think that's about all I've got to tell you this week! I love this work so much and I am so blessed to be serving the Lord!

Remember that I love you! Make good choices, don't do drugs, and go spread the gospel! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, ME!

Elder Walker 2-15-10

2010-02-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

St Anthony is going to get Translated

Hello everyone,

So this week wasn't as exciting as last week due to the fact that we didn't have any Apostles come speak to us. We have had a great week though. Saturday concluded baptism number nine. Trevon E was finally baptized after lots of prayer and fasting for his parents to soften their hearts. Trevon asked me to confirm him a member of the church which, if you knew him, was a huge honor. Treven was more prepared for his baptism than anyone else that has been baptized since I've been here. I will never forget the first time I met treven nearly 12 weeks ago and I asked him why he wanted to be baptized, his response was more profound than I think he realized at the time; he told me that the reason he wanted to be baptized was so that he could have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to protect him. Keep in mind that answer came from a 10 year old.

We've been teaching this man who is 75 named Robert Terrell from Colorado. He just recently moved here to get married to his 4th wife after loosing the past 3 to cancer and sicknesses. He has been so prepared throughout his life to receive the restored gospel. I can't even describe to you the experiences that he has had that have led up to this point of him meeting with us. He has experienced more heart ache and more sorrow than any one person I have ever met, yet he has keep looking forward to see how he can make the future better. The reason he married his current wife was so that he could give her a better life than the one she has had with the death of her husband due to illness. That goes to show the kind of man Robert Terrell is. Well we met with him two days ago to teach him for the 3rd time. While teaching him we got on a conversation about how the world is today. He spoke up and said, "it's going to be up to the Mormons to save this world from corruption and I'm ready to join them." That was way cool to experience someone recognizing the power of the church. We have set up to go to Idaho Falls with Robert and his wife Rose to the temple visitor center. He said I'll agree to go on one condition; I get to take you out to dinner at Chuck-a-rama. Anyone who knows me knows that I am so excited for that! I would always have my birthday dinners there when I lived in Utah every year until I moved to Colorado.

We also set another baptism date with Aaron Boots. This is the first time he has committed to a date since he started meeting with the missionaries three years ago. He will be baptized on the 27th of this month. He was super emotional when he accepted the date. Aaron is going to be such a diligent member of the church.

I love this work. I know that I am on the Lord's errand. I am the Lord's missionary and will bring the world his truth.

Peace and Love,

Elder Walker

p.s. this stake has seen 9 baptisms in 10 weeks... That is remarkable

Sis Walker 2-11-10

2010-02-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

I LOVE MY MISSION!

That's really all I have to say!

So this morning I was starting a fire in our gas burning fireplace and I was starting it with some pocket matches... well, I had the gas up to high so when I stuck the match in there it went... POOF... I only singed a good chunk of hair so I gave myself a little trim and now you cant even tell!!!! My comp. told me I am no longer allowed to start fires! I agree!

Last week I discovered a new recipe! I bought myself some frozen chicken but I didn't have anything flavoring for it so I went on a hunt... in my search I saw the otterpops in the freezer and thought I would try that. I placed 5 pieces of chicken in a cake pan, cut up the otter pops, two orange and 1 pink, and placed it on the chicken and then cooked for an hour at 375... YUM! Who woulda thought??? It was almost as good as mom's orange juice chicken! I'm so creative!!! Haha!

Earlier this week we left our condo only to realize that I had locked the keys inside... Yes, the condo keys and the car keys. Oh and it was raining like crazy outside and probably only 40 degrees. We called our landlord's three different numbers... no answer... so we decided we best get walking because the Lord's work isn't going to get done by standing around waiting for a phone call! An hour later our Landlord's wife called... they were at the hospital... but they had received our message and they were sending a key with one of their daughters down to their other daughters house! We finally got the key a couple hours and a lot of laughs later!!!!!! We were happy to get inside and get dry clothes on!!!!

Um... what else! We have Cami's baptism this weekend! We only have 20 pages to go before we meet our goal in the B of M!!! Kelsey's parents both gave her permission to be baptized so she is FOR SURE getting baptized on the 20th.

Transfers are on Tuesday and again, I am praying like crazy that I don't get transferred but I'll do whatever the Lord wants me to do!

I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!!!! Make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and LOVE LIFE!!!!!!

Love, ME!

Elder Scott - Tyson's Mission Conference Experience

2010-02-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Elder Scott

Hello everyone,

It is now official, the St. Anthony stake has now been redone and is starting new. We sustained 5 new bishops, lost 4 ward mission leaders, got a new ward, and now have new ward boundries for 9 of the 11 wards... pretty much the most exciting thing that has happened around here since the Teton Dam broke in '76. This change had been the topic of discussion in every house we have gone to. We were told what the boundries were going to be before they announced it to the stake due to our investigators and their fellowshippers. So now that the word is out we have been trying to re-pair our investigators with families that can take them to church and such. Pretty much chaos.

Saturday was definately on the top 5 of my most spiritual experiences. Elder Richard G. Scott is an amazing man. We left for Idaho Falls on Friday night to stay with some Elders down there so the drive would be shorter for us in the morning. We got up around 5 to get ready and to drive the rest of the way to Pocatello to be seated and spiritually preparing at 7. We had the whole mission in the Alameda Stake center in Pocatello, roughly 190 missionaries. It was quite funny actually because we would look down to our scriptues to read a few verses then look up to see if Elder Scott had come in yet, then down to read some more verses. Finally Elder Scott came in around ten to 8:00. The whole mission just stood up in silence as Elder Scott walked with Elder Snow and Elder Hammond to the stand with President and Sister Colton. Elder Scott asked us to shake hands at the start so he could get out quickly to a meeting at noon. He asked us to tell him our name and where we were from. I learned something about Elder Scott that day. Number one he is shorter than I thought, and number two he has more qenuine love than any other person I have ever shook hands with. We all sat back down anxiously awaiting his message. To be honest, I didn't care too much for what he had to tell us. Not to make that sound like I was disregarding the message of a Prophet, its just that he was talking about marriage and getting married in the temple and such. My thoughts are that I have 21 months left before I need to think and/or worry about that. During his talk he brought up one of the Sisters who is learning English. He asked her a few questions and then said,"as an Apostle of Jesus Christ I bestow upon you the gift on tongues." My favorite part was the last 10 minutes when he bore his witness of the Savior. He said, "Elders and Sisters, I have been talking to you as Elder Scott, I am now going to talk to you as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ one of the 15 who holds all keys of the priesthood in the Kingdom of God. Me as Richard G. Scott doesn't mean anything, I am nothing, but what I represent and testify of means everything." at that point the Spirit just filled to room, He, the spirit, was preparing us for a testimony of our Savior given by Elder Scott. I don't remember everything that was said other than his last sentence that I will never forget. He said, "I bear solemn witness that he lives... I know Him." I will never forget those words that were spoken by an Apostle of the Lord.

So let me just tell you transfer information with a little story of how I found out about transfers... Our zone leaders called us last night around 9:45 which is weird because they never call to give us transfer information, they usually just send it out in a voicemail. So Elder Dangerfield says, "well Elder Walker and Elder Call, I have bad news." We were thinking alright well one of us is getting transfered, that's cool. Then he proceeds to tell us that President has seen it fit to white wash St. Anthony or to transfer us both out. I was like yeah right, you're joking, why did you call us. He then said that we wished he was joking and that we are number 3 and 4 in the baggage line. Oh at that point I lost it. I was like are you kidding me! We just got new ward boundries and all of our investigators don't have fellowshippers yet, I am calling president, there is no way they can take us both out of here! Finally after getting me heated for 5 minutes Elder Lagazo our other zone leader gets on to tell us that they were joking, they just wanted to see how we would react to that. Let me just tell you something, I have been in theatre for a very long time and I have not seen/heard anyone be as convincing as Elder Dangerfield was last night. I still get heated thinking about that mean joke. Long story short, Elder Call and I are staying in St. Anthony for another transfer. I am very excited and thankful for this opportunity. I know that there is still work for me to do here and I am ready to get it done.

well I love you all so much. I hope you know how much I really appreciate you. I am loving each day more and more as a missionary. This is such a great opportunity to stay here once again. I look forward to telling you about the growth that will happen in the next 6 weeks here.

peace and love,
Elder Walker

Sis Walker Feb 4

2010-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Family!!!!!

This week has been a great week! Phil’s baptism was incredible! There was a great turnout! Jammie, Phil’s recently baptized wife gave a combined talk on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost… lets just say, she is ready to speak in Stake Conference. The talk was phenomenal!!!! They are so excited to go to the temple in a year and I can’t wait to be here for that!

We have an investigator, Kelsey, who really wants to get baptized on the 20th of this month but she is only 17 and her parents aren’t too keen on the idea. But get this, before we even taught her about fasting, she asked us if we would join her in a fast for her parent’s hearts to be softened. I guess she had learned about fasting in Seminary… at any rate, we had a fast yesterday and I really feel as though things are going to work out! Kelsey is another one of those really mature teenagers whom I feel so privileged to be teaching. I feel like she teaches me more than I teach her!!! I love it!

We are getting so close to our goal in the Book of Mormon with Cami!!! We are almost done with Mosiah! I have noticed a couple of things as we have read, 1. her understanding of the gospel has increased, 2. her family is growing closer together as we read together 3. her reading skills are picking up quite a bit! I just love the Book of Mormon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cami’s dad is now sitting in as we read and contributing quite a bit!!! We are getting Cami to enjoy primary and she even attended the Activity Day’s activity this past Tuesday!!! This girl has come a LONG way and she is doing so great! We are excited for her baptism next weekend!

The Carranza family, the family with 6 daughters, is doing great! We have had some really fun lessons the past few weeks and they are also coming a long way! Tomorrow we are going over to teach them about the Wise Man and the Foolish Man and we are going to do a little object lesson… lets just say it includes lots of sand, a rock, water and a popsicle stick house, or two!!!! A family in the ward invited them over for FHE this past Monday and they had a blast! They are getting so close to baptism!!!

We are teaching a girl, Tamika, who just moved here from Chicago a few months ago! I LOVE HER!!! She is as black as black gets and I’m pretty sure she had some Baptist upbringing! She is great to teach. I’m not sure how committed she is yet but she does her reading assignments and asks really great questions in lessons… we’ve just got to get her to church!!

I LOVE BOULDER CITY!!! I would love to finish off my mission here but of course, I will go wherever the Lord needs me! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!! I love the happiness I feel at the end of every day! I love the strength my testimony has received. I love having the Spirit with me at all times! I love meeting new people! I love serving others! I love seeing families accept the gospel and work toward the temple together! I love baptisms! I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all of you love, prayers and support!

Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and go out and baptize someone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, ME!

Elder Walker Feb 1

2010-02-19T09:09:00.001-08:00

Family,

I just passed up my three month mark a few days ago, my second transfer is almost over, and we just concluded our 8th baptism in the St. Anthony Stake in two months. Where has the time gone? Like I said in the last e-mail, every week seems to go faster and faster.

We just got an e-mail from President Colton telling us that Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the twelve and Elder Steven E. Snow of the presidency of the seventy are going to be at our mission conference this Saturday. Elder Call and I are going to drive down to Idaho Falls on Friday night and stay with some Elders there in Iona then we'll go with them to Pocatello Saturday morning for the conference. I'm really excited for this conference; it'll be one that I will always remember.

Saturday night when we were talking with President Crapo (in the Stake Presidency and who we live with) he said to us that they are going to make a big change in the stake that will give us some work to do. We tried to get the information out of him but he wouldn't tell us; he said that they would be announcing it in church the next day. So the big news is that the St. Anthony stake has called a stake meeting this Saturday night for all 10 wards in which they will be changing all of the ward boundries and adding a new ward. They will be releasing 4 bishops and calling 5 new ones (one for the new ward). When we saw President Walker (the stake president) we asked him, jokingly, when are you going to update our area book for us? We are going to have to take a three inch binder that is full of teaching records and ward information and move them all to their appropriate wards. That is going to be super fun...

Well this past week was super slow in teaching. We didn't teach too many lessons but we did set another baptism date! There is this boy who has been taking the lessons for quite a few months. He has such a desire to recieve the Holy Ghost and to be baptized. It's been really hard to see this 10 year old with such a desire to come unto the Savior but that his parents wouldn't let him. At one point Trevon's Mom mocked Elder Call's testimony. We have prayed and prayed for their hearts to be softened. We dropped by last Monday night to pick up some CDs that I left when we knocked on the door Jenine (Trevon's Mom) answered and said, "so we've decided that we want Trevon to get baptized on the 13th of Feb". We are so excited for him and for his parents to have realized the importance of this day. Trevon has asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost at his baptism and to confirm him in church the next day. So family, please pray that I don't get transfered because I would hate to have to tell him that I wont be at his baptism now that he finally has a day.

Mom: Happy Birthday on Wednesday!!!

Have a great week everyone!

peace and love,

Elder Walker

Sister Walker 1-28-10

2010-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

Hello my favorite People!!!

Boulder City is still 100% incredible! On Friday evening we went over to have a lesson with our investigator, Phil, who had just got home for a week and a half road-trip through the mid-west, including Nauvoo. Anyway, after telling us about their trip, Jammie, his wife, said, "So, Phil do you have something you would like to tell them..." After a minute of hesitation, Phil said, "Well, I have decided I am going to be baptized." WE HADN'T EVEN CHALLENGED HIM FOR BAPTISM YET. I squeeled, of course!!!! So then we said, "Ok, how does Feb. 13th sound?" and he said, "Wait, why do I have to wait so long, why cant we do it next Saturday?" I am pretty sure that it was at that point that my eyes filled up with tears. So, Phil is getting baptized on Saturday! YAY!!!!! And that my friends is what we call the power of members.

Phil is really good friends with a lot of members and they have been there for him every step of the way, answering questions, being there to study when we could be there, etc. I LOVE MEMBERS!!!

We are in Mosiah with Cami. We have to get to page 265 by the 13th. AND... We received a phone call the other day from a man, Jason, who is a recovering heroine addict whose wife is a member and kicked him out a few months ago because he relapsed. She told him that he needs to be reading the Book of Mormon every day and so he decided that he was going to do that. SO, he reads a chapter every day and then calls us every evening and explains what he read and then we add our 2 cents! We are also meeting with him every couple of days to have a lesson!!! OH BOY, I am REALLY going to get to know the Book of Mormon in the next couple of weeks! I LOVE IT!!!

We have anther new investigator, Kelsey, who is 17. She is attending the Las Vegas Arts Academy where she is friends with a lot of LDS kids. She has been attending seminary up there for the past year and just decided that she wanted to take the lessons. Her fellowshipper is a great kid who is preparing to leave on his mission in March. Anyway, when we had our first lesson on Monday, she told us that she has already read the entire Book of Mormon and she knows it is true. So, we are going to set her for baptism on Saturday... then quickly go through the lessons... that was easy!

Did I tell you that Maria May got her mission call to Ft. Lauderdale???? Dad, you will have to fill her up with referrals!!! She goes into the MTC the day that I fly home. Anyway, she is receiving her edwoment next month and President just told me that I will be able to go!!!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a treat! That is what this work is all about! Teach, Baptize, Temple!!! Yay!!!

Well, I think that is just about it with the exciting news!!! Oh, so it keeps raining. Last week we had CRAZY rain. I'm sure you saw some of it on the news. It was a pretty big deal! We had floods all over the place! I loved it! Lots and lots and lots of puddle jumping... and wet, pruny feet!!!

I LOVE THIS WORK!!!

I love you all so much! Make good choices, don't do drugs, be happy and remember that Sister Chelsee Walker LOVES YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Love, ME!

Elder Walker Week 13

2010-02-19T09:04:00.001-08:00

Hello there,

So it seems to me that the weeks are just speeding by. I can't even believe that this transfer is now more than half way through and that I've been out nearly 3 months. Every week seems to go faster and faster.

I loved seeing the pictures of the baby! Elder Call didn't think it was appropriate to have a picture of Estee on the table naked but I just laughed. It's just who she is. So has the name finally been decided? Briggan Samuel Harrop? You better make your mind up soon or this kid is going to be confused! I'm already confused as to what to tell people my new nephew's name is.

On Feb. 6th we are having a mission conference with an Apostle and a member of the presidency of the Seventy down in Pocatello. We wont know who they are going to be yet but President Colton told us that he will know by next week. How cool is that though? Apparently Elder Bednar came in May so probably not him but if it is I will make a connection with him through Adam. I'll tell him, "hey you know my brother-in-law." That way we can talk more than just saying hello. Oh p.s. a lot of people know Adam here. Just the other day I was talking with a lady whose husband works at BYU. She said that she lived in Decatur so I asked her if she knew Adam's parents she did and then went on to say, "I think their son was student body pres when he was 17." I was like yeah he's a pretty cool guy. She then asked how I knew him. I said well he married my sister. She was so excited to hear about Adam again and says congrats on the baby.

I had a very spiritual lesson this last week. I've told you about our investigator Aaron and how missionaries have been teaching him for 3 years now. Well we were on exchanges this week with the Spanish Elders which was the same day that we were going to teach Aaron. Elder Hernandez and I went with the ward mission leader and taught from Luke 15:1-7 about the "ninety and nine" and "the one". Aaron is definitely "the one". We told him that the Savior is still trying to bring him back to the fold and that he is only continuing to loose himself. The scripture says that Heavenly Father's joy is greater for the one that repents and joins the fold then it is for the ones that are doing the right thing. Finally, speaking from the Spirit, I said, "Aaron, look at your daughter, do you love her?" He said through tears, "yes". Then I said, "If you truly love her you will do anything in your power to keep her for ever." The Spirit was so strong in that lesson. Aaron knows the church is true, he knows the Book of Mormon is true, and he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Aaron then proceeded to ask, "what do I need to do to get baptized?" I was about to stand up and shout the Hallelujah Chorus! Aaron Boots wants to get baptized! This investigator who has met with missionaries for 3 years has now developed the desire to be baptized! Aaron is definitely one of the people I was sent to St. Anthony to find. It's cool to see experiences like that and how the Spirit is the one that converts, not missionaries.

Last night at our dinner appointment there was a boy in the family named Tyson. I was so confused last night! When ever they would talk to him or tell him something I would think they were talking to me. One time they got upset with him and I got offended inside because I thought I was getting in trouble! I haven't been out long enough for that name not to register with me yet so there were several times when I would start to respond to this family but then realize that they weren't talking to me. Weird!

Well I love this work. I love the Gospel. I love my family. I love my friends. I hope you all have a great week and will continue to be awesome.

Peace and Love

Elder Tyson Rigby Walker

MORE RAIN - January 21

2010-02-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

My most dearest family in the whole entire world!!!! Hello!

It is SO WET here! Oh my goodness, I have NEVER seen this much rain in Nevada! Lets just say that there is a dry lake bed in Boulder City that isn't so dry anymore!!!! The streets are completely flooded! Needless to say, my feet have been prunes for the past 3 days. Literally non-stop rain for 3 days now. I can't believe my eyes! I have quite enjoyed splashing in the puddles, the only problem is that I am constantly WET! I love it!

We are still truggin' along with Cami reading the Book of Mormon every night. We are now on 2 Nephi 28. LOTS of reading! It has been a blast! Slowly yet surely the more and more members of the family are sitting in as we read! We've just got to get her dad in on it! As we were reading the other day we came across the word fatigue and Coty the 9-year-old was reading. He said the word correctly, of course, because he is a genius... it reminded me of Tys though when he was about that same age and we were reading as a family and he came across the word fatigue and read it as fat-i-goo! I had to giggle inside! I love our Rigs!

So, other than being really wet and reading the Book of Mormon like crazy people... nothing too new is going on since last week! We are hoping to set Phil (Jaimee's husband) for baptism tomorrow. I am SO excited for him. Oh get this, they had to go out to Michigan for a funeral this past week and they drove out there and then decided to take the southern route home so of course they just had to stop in Nauvoo!!! They said that there was an ice storm so Nauvoo was all shut down. However, they ran into a Senior couple who took them around and showed them some sights. Can you say GOLDEN!!! Oh yeah and he went to church on Sunday in Michigan! I love them!

We seem to meet a lot of drunk people lately! They are so stinkin fun to talk to! We can get all sorts of info out of them and they aren't afraid to give out their phone numbers! Then when we call back they have no clue who we are! Hahaha! Oh yeah, and of course I have Sis. Burgess talk to them! I get some great giggles in!

I LOVE MY LIFE! Oh, I am sitting next to one of the other Sisters, Sister Done and I asked her what else I should tell you and she said to say, "I love Sister Done!!!" It's true! I have wanted to serve with Sis. Done my whole mission but seeing as how this is her last transfer and we haven't served together yet... well, I suppose that just isn't going to happen! Sad day. However, she just got transfered into my zone so at least I get to see her a couple of times a week now! We have come to realize why we have never served together... we are just too good of friends and we would probably drive people crazy because we just have too much fun around each other! I am trying to convert her to BYU-I so that we can live together but she just isn't buying it! Ha! I'll keep trying! She is going to go to LDSBC though so at least we can play on the weekends!!!!

Ok, I really don't know what else to talk about so I am going to sign off now! I love you all more that the desert loves rain!

Remember who you are, remember that I love you!

Make good choices, don't do drugs and be the best missionaries you can be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, ME!!!

Oh P.S. my new baby is SO CUTE!!!!! OK, maybe a little squished out of shape but still cute!!! I need more pictures!

Rain - Letter from Sis Walker Jan 14

2010-02-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

This week has been a great week! Not anything too exciting but it has surely been good! It rained yesterday and that made me smile!!! I of course had to pull over the car and jump out and dance in it!!! Luckily we were in the middle of nowhere so I could get away with it!!!

I love Sister Burgess! She is SO Green!!!!! I love it! She keeps me on my toes! She is very shy but she is totally coming out of her shell!!!! I just have to remember to shut my yapper so that I can allow her to shine!

We have done about 2 hours of tracting this past week… which I HATE, because tracting is the biggest waste of time in the world… but, I have had to humble myself because it has been SO GOOD for Sister Burgess to come out of her shell. In fact, yesterday while tracting, we knocked on a door of a woman who wasn’t interested, she said she was Born Again (which in my opinion is just another way of saying we only go to church on Easter and Christmas because we have been saved and don’t need a church) and that she didn’t want us to waste our literature on her. As we were leaving her doorstep, before she closed the door, Sister Burgess said, “Wait I really feel like I need to leave this with you…” and handed her a Proclamation pamphlet. Then we went on to the next house. As we were going back down the street that same woman was sitting in her garage smoking and we said “Hi” then kept walking. THEN all of the sudden Sister Burgess then turned around a b-lined over to this woman and said (actually more like blurted out), “So what if I told you that the same church that Jesus Christ set up while on the earth has been restored and that we have a Prophet who leads that church today?” The woman was a bit dumbfounded and said, “Well what do you mean by restored…” Then Sister Burgess explained. The whole time I was just standing there with my jaw hanging down to my knees because I was NOT EXPECTING THAT! I wish I had a picture of my face. I didn’t even know what to say to the woman… so I just let Sis. Burgess talk… then I shared my testimony with her. We gave her a restoration pamphlet and told her she didn’t need to even look at it but that at least she had it! She said, “thank you” and we headed off on our way. It is amazing how when shy people decide they are going to talk… they just talk!!! Anyway, that is one of the MANY reasons I love Sister Burgess!

I have come to realize this transfer that having a companion that is COMPLETELY opposite from you is an amazing thing because we both have our strengths but just in totally different ways and we are able to use those strengths together to do amazing things! It’s like Batman and Robin! Haha! I love it! I have learned so many new things in the past week with Sister Burgess. It is fun having an Asian Studies Major for a companion. I have learned all about the Asian culture, cinema, ANIME, and many other things that I could have cared less about a week ago but I have learned to appreciate them because that is Sister Burgess’ passion! Totally different experience than training Sister Johnson. This is a great prep for when I have kids and they all come out completely different. You just learn to enjoy what they enjoy!

We re-set Cami for baptism last night. She is now set for Feb. 13th. She told us that she is okay with that date but that she wanted to read at least half the Book of Mormon before getting baptized and she was only on page 22. So told her that we would come over to her house everyday and read for 30 minutes with her. We have to read 8.1 pages day to meet her goal!!! Exciting!!! How many 10 year-olds do you know that want to read the Book of Mormon for that long every day????? Haha!

Well, that is just about it! Everything else is going so great! I love you all! Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and go out there and spread the gospel!

Love, ME!

Missionary Work in Idaho Jan 18

2010-02-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well hello there family and friends,

Due to the success in December we are now a little slow in January. We have not had much interest from people and it seems like the possible baptisms keep falling through. It's sad because I was so used to the baptisms we were having in Dec. that not having a baptism every Saturday is really a tough thing. I continue loving to work here in St. Anthony and hope I don't get transferred.

We have a family that has to wait until March to get baptized, due to approval from the First Presidency, so I told President Colton that means I'm staying in St. Anthony at least two more transfers to see that happen... don't think that's going to happen. President Walker, the stake president in St. Anthony, called President Colton for something the other day and mentioned to him that the English Elders are to finish out their mission in this stake... I don't think he succeeded either.

I got a phone call from the mission office around 1:00 PM on Friday telling me that I have a new Nephew! Sister Parkins said she would sing me a lullaby but I probably wouldn't like it. I'm so glad that Britnee and the Baby (Samuel or Briggin) are doing well. I need some help from everyone to make sure some of his first words are "uncle tys", that means that Devin is not allowed to be around that baby until I can be there to help him understand who his real favorite uncle is. I'm not to worried about Estee because she already knows that I'm favorite, but the new baby wont see the light for 21 more months.

This week of missionary work... The coolest story for this week... the missionaries have been working with this guy named Aaron for a long time. In fact his three year anniversary with missionaries was yesterday. We taught him on Friday and showed him "Between Heaven and Earth", a video about temples and family. During the video Elder Holland says "I can't imagine not being sealed to my wife in heaven because it wouldn't be heaven if I didn't have her forever." That sentence really struck Aaron and now we think he is going to be making some serious changes. We had a powerful lesson after that about eternal families. Aaron loves his family but has something that is holding him up. His wife gets emotional every time we go over to teach because she wants more than anything for their family to be sealed together in the temple. When we bore testimony of eternal families and the power of the temple Aaron was in tears. He understands what he needs to do and how to get there, he just has something that is holding him back. I love being able to testify of family and the temple because then my own testimony strengthens and I realize everyday the importance of keeping your family close to your heart.

Well all is well here in Idaho. We are now back on our cycle of meat and potatoes for dinner appointments though. It seems to be a month of meat and potatoes and then a few days of pizza, a month of meat and potatoes and then a few days of pizza, etc. I'm pretty sure I have gravy in my blood stream all the time. I am working out a lot though because there is no way I am going to gain 40lbs like the average missionary in this mission does.

I've learned something the last few months of being here and that is that I really don't like sending e-mails; it's not very personal on my part. If you send me an e-mail, I will most likely write you back through snail mail. If you have the time or the desire I would highly encourage you to write to me through snail mail too because then I will be able to keep your letter forever. I know that's a lot to ask for in this day and age because of how easy it is to shoot off a quick e-mail, but that way I will have letters forever.

I hope all is well for everyone and life is great.

Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

p.s. Happy anniversary to Devin and Lianne a long time ago!

Email from Elder Walker 1-11-2010

2010-01-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Some notes to family:

I havn't heard anything about the baby yet. It makes me nervous because nobody sent me an e-mail this week either. I hope everything is all good. I thought Britnee was going to deliver on the 10th but now it is the 11th please don't forget to call the mission office. If you need the number it is 208-233-0130. My vote is Briggin if it's a boy and... well I don't know for a girl. I'm convinced the baby is going to be a boy though so there is no need for a girls name.
Mom, thank you so much for the stationary and the letter you sent me. I really appreciate the advice and the concern you have for me. You are the greatest mother in the world. We teach about families in the first lesson because then I get to testify of my family. One of my greatest testimony is that my family is ordained of God. He has blessed me with such a solid family with great standards

From his weekly letter home:

I just completed the 7th baptism so far on Saturday. Her name is Jenna Miller and she was the "golden" contact. She just moved here to St. Anthony from Washington. She was contacted by ward members and they set up the lessons for us. When we met her the first time we committed her to baptism and just taught her 4 times then she was baptized. I love it when that happens. Well come to think of it, most of the people we baptized we haven't had to "fight" them to the font. Long story short, St. Anthony Idaho is the best.
I received a package from my best friends! When missionaries receive a package its like we loose all control and rip it open! It's quite funny actually. I got the package from Ashante, Hedy Lu, and Garrett. They sent me all sorts of stuff like sun flower seeds, spider-man crayons, bubble gum, and a puzzle. There was much more than that but that gives you an idea of what was in there. They included pictures of themselves and a sweet spider-man inner tube. Receiving packages makes the day so much better.
As missionaries we have a teaching pool, or people that we are teaching. The problem that we are running into right now is that we are baptizing everyone in our teaching pool! The members saw how successful we were and how much work we were doing that I think they just gave up on trying to find people for us to teach. After baptizing 7 we now have a teaching pool of 6. Kinda crazy that we don't have that many to teach when we cover 10 wards. The referrals that we do get though are great and then get baptized so I guess I can't complain.
I get really frustrated with people when they say they don't know anyone or there isn't anyone to teach but there are! Then I think about Colorado where there are more than plenty of people to teach! I didn't do the work that I should have done when I lived in a town with plenty of people to teach and now I'm getting upset with people that really don't know of people that aren't already members of the church. I hope you all back home will try to do your part for the Elders serving you. We cannot fulfill our purpose without the help of the members.
I hope you all are having a great New Year! I know 2010 is going to be a great year. I look forward to the work that we get to do. By the way our mission had 750 baptisms this last year. We had 80 in December. The IPM rocks. I love you all.

Peace and Love,

Elder Tyson Rigby Walker

Sister Walker Highlights January 2010

2010-01-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

SISTER WALKER

Happy New Year… I can’t believe 2009 has come to an end. Where did the time go? Well, I for one would LOVE for 2010 to be Much slower than 2009 but I don’t think that is going to happen! Maybe if we combined our efforts and prayed really, really, really hard than the next 3 months will go really SLOW! I would rather enjoy that thank you!
So, this has been quite the eventful past couple of weeks! We had 2 baptisms last week, one of which I never thought I would see the day that he got baptized. I have been teaching Jimmy since the second week I was in Boulder City and he was off and on for all of that time. Finally he decided back in September that he was going to get baptized on Dec. 26th and even though it was still a rocky road he finally made it to his baptism! He is going to be a great member! The other one was a 9 year old genius! Coty was/is the smartest investigator I have ever taught and he has grasped the gospel more that anyone I have ever taught! They were 2 fantastic baptisms!
Coty’s family has been less active for quite some time but now they are back into activity! Coty’s 10-year-old sister Cami is currently taking the lessons and wants to get baptized in March… we hope to move that up some! Cami has made a huge 180 since we first met her a month ago… she was trying to go down the “gothic” route and now she has turned into a little sweetheart! Their family has been very active the past month or so and I believe they will remain active! They are such a great family and I am excited for the adventures in the gospel that lay ahead! Oh man, I love this work!!!
Oh, P.S. I have shingles on my leg! Ouch! I guess they are caused by stress or something like that! The doc says they are clearing up though and should be gone in 3-4 weeks! I might miss them when they go. They are rather interesting looking and you all know how I love my battle wounds! Haha! However, I don’t suggest getting them they are extremely painful!
Guess what, guess what, guess what, I survived another transfer and I am still in Boulder City! I am training again this transfer. Sister Burgess is straight from the MTC!!! Sister Burgess is from Maryland! I LOVE Sister Burgess! What a great missionary! She reminds me a LOT of Melanie Hunter! I am excited be serving with her. She has a solid testimony and isn’t afraid to open up and share it in appointments. Yesterday we had quite a few appointments with investigators that have very interesting questions and she just opened right up and answered their questions without any hesitation! We went to check on a new investigator who ended up not being home and as we were walking back to the car, Sister Burgess noticed an open door to an apartment a few doors down (that I hadn’t noticed because I was focused on who we were going to see next) and she said, “Hey, shouldn’t we go talk to those people.” So, we did! She shared a simple testimony with them, then we gave them a card for Finding Faith in Christ and a Restoration pamphlet. They weren’t interested in us coming back but, heck, I was so proud of Sister Burgess! I have a lot to learn form her!!!! She is going to be a great asset to our mission!
I am so excited for this transfer! This means that at the end of this transfer I will have done 7 ½ months in Boulder AND I could possibly finish my mission here which means I would spend 9 months here!!! That is half my mission!!
Oh goodness, we had the best baptisms last week. We had Jammie’s baptism on Thursday and it went so well! Then her daughter Abby was baptized on Saturday and again it went very well. AND… we are starting to teach Jammie’s husband Phil who wasn’t really interested before and then he came to the baptisms and Church on Sunday and now he is totally interested. He has had the first lesson and we are going back tonight to teach the second one! Yay!!! I love when a whole family embraces the gospel! I can’t wait to be in the temple when they are sealed!!!

Elder Walker Letter January 4, 2010

2010-01-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

ELDER WALKER:

So I am very excited to be staying in St. Anthony. I love the people here and the work that we are doing. I am creating this bond with this area that when the time comes to leave I really wont want to. When President Colton was talking about splitting this area I had a hard time with even thinking about other missionaries "poaching" my area.
We are still seeing a bunch of success. We set another baptism date on Saturday which brings our total to 5. Our goal is to beat Decembers baptisms with 7 instead of the mere 6 we had last month. haha
While tracting we ran into this boy named Shawn. He was visiting a member family for Christmas. We asked if we could share a message with him and shared a brief restoration. He had wide eyes the whole time and his response was that he thinks it is so great that God would call a prophet once again to lead and guide us today. We gave him a Book of Mormon to read and he already read the chapter we gave him (Moroni 10) and prayed. He said that his Mom is Christian and his Dad Catholic; his whole life he has been confused. When we went back today we taught a more detailed 1st and asked a few more questions. His answers were so profound and so genuine. He's 14 and had more interest in the gospel than most adults we teach. The only problem is that he lives in L.A. and was flying back home today. He said that he would really like to continue learning from us and that he wished we could keep teaching him. We said, "that's alright we have missionaries in California too." He had no idea the church was around the world. We described the L.A. temple and said that was a temple of our church. He was so excited. Too bad he isn't our investigator anymore. We just set up a golden investigator for the L.A. mission.
Yesterday I experienced my most spiritual low of the mission. We have been teaching a boy named Carson H___ for a while and yesterday when we went back to teach him his Dad came to the door and told us that Carson wasn't interested anymore and that we shouldn't come back. I get sad thinking about it because Carson is such a great kid and knew so much about the church. We don't think that Carson actually said that and that his parents are still bitter towards the church. It's terrible because Carson's dad served as an Assistant when he served his mission but now is less active and doesn't like the church. I was asked just the other day by our Zone leaders what the hardest part about serving a mission is. My response was that It's hard to see somebody's potential and then watch them not reach for it. That's how it is for Carson only worse; he has great potential but his parents are restricting him from achieving it.
Here in Idaho we teach so many over aged youth and part member families. Most of our converts are teenagers or pre teen kids. It really makes me appreciate the way I was raised in the gospel and the structure I have. Some families are so closed minded and restrict their children from growing. As a missionary you really want to sit the parents down and tell them how to raise their children but we don't necessarily have the authority to do that.
Yesterday Sarah Ferwerda, one of our investigators with a baptism date, bore her testimony in church! It was her first Sunday in her new ward and the first time we heard her say that she knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true! Elder Call and I sat there with our jaws hanging down in our laps. We were about to fall of the bench out of shock! The Lord works in mysterious ways...

Elder Walker December 28

2009-12-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

So I tried sending an e-mail on Christmas day but when I went to send it the computer froze and deleted everything. So here is a recap of what has happened.

This past week was super slow because people were out of town for Christmas or they told us to come back after the Holidays. I'm excited for this week to be able to go back to work and teach. I don't want to say that last week was super unsuccessful because we did have two baptisms on Saturday for Stephanie and Kyle. The baptism went great; they both had a great experience. Kyle is 8 and Stephanie is his Mom. Both of Kyle's parents were not members so he is considered a convert. They both became interested in the Church when Kyle told Stephanie that he wanted to go to church. Elder Call and I stopped by after we heard they went to Church and to our surprise Stephanie had sent away several Missionaries in the past but for some reason said that we could come back and teach Her and Kyle. She later told us that she didn't know why she let us back but she just felt right about us. I think that Stephanie is one I was sent to Idaho to bring into the fold because it took the right Missionaries at the right time to help her.

Stephanie's 13 yr old son, Chance, we think might be interested in taking the lessons now that he watched his Mom and Brother learn.

We found out transfer information last night and Elder Call and I are staying in St. Anthony. It's weird now that I think about it because I will be about 10 minutes away from Torie, Tasia, and Jessica when they come up here to BYU-I in January. I never thought I would be so close to my friends when I went on a mission.

Elder Call received the new assignment as our District Leader and Elder Lagazo (our current district leader) is going to be our new Zone Leader. Elder Call joked this morning saying he knows why he is going to follow up training me, it's so he can do it properly the second time. That isn't true though, he did a great job of training.

I'm excited to stay here because we have several people that either have a baptism date in January or who will have one this week. It's weird because there are two boys, Treven and Carson, both are 10 and they both want to be baptized but their parents haven't given permission yet. The reason I say it's weird is because although we baptized 6 this transfer I haven't felt satisfied yet because those two haven't been able to be baptized yet. I hope I get to see that happen this transfer.

Last night we spent a few hours in the Dentist office because our district leader, Elder Lagazo, had serious pain in some teeth. I called up one of our ward mission leaders and he gave me a few dentists to call in the ward. We got a hold of one of them and he met us in his office. Long story short Elder Lagazo had to have three shots of that numbing stuff and had a serious root canal. he's doing alright now but he was in serious pain last night.

Well I think that is all of the updates for this last week. I am keeping the same address so please continue sending letters there. If you send it to the mission office first I usually receive them a few days later then if they are sent directly to St. Anthony.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a great New Year.

Peace and Love,
Elder Tyson Rigby Walker

Chelsee Letter December 17

2009-12-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

OK, so you are never going to believe that I am saying this but……… I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!

Yes, that’s right; I said it and I mean it! This season has been SO fantastic! We have been getting new investigators like there’s no tomorrow. We picked up a new investigator last week and he is going to get baptized the day after Christmas! We are teaching a family of 8 and 4 of them are baptismal age and the other 4 are going to be baptized when they are 8!!!! I love bringing families into the gospel!

At one of the ward Christmas parties last week we had 10 investigators and 2 potential investigators come! We were shocked! We also met all but one of our goals for the week and that rarely ever happens! I truly believe that this recession has been so good for the people here. So many hearts have been softened. So many people are focusing more on the true meaning of Christmas rather than all the gifts and decorations. I LOVE IT!

So let me tell you about 2 of our Christmas miracles that have happened in the last week……Coty is 9 and part of a part-member family. We went over to their house to visit them because they had stared coming back to church and we set up a time to start teaching Coty and… set him for baptism that night. He is getting baptized on the 26th and he cant wait. He is the most intelligent 9 year old I have ever met. He stared reading the Book of Mormon on Wednesday and is already done with 2nd Nephi… and it’s not like he is just skimming through it, we have him tell us what he has read and he tells us every little detail of every chapter… I can’t even do that. He has been SO fun to teach and his family has been super supportive as well.

We are also teaching his 10 year old sister Cami and hope to have her set for baptism soon!

The family of 8 was a referral from a less active member. We met the family on Thursday last week, had a lesson of Friday, invited them to the ward party that night and they came! The parents, Alex and Kristina, and all 6 of their daughters sat in for the lesson and it was fantastic! The girls are 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, and so naturally we can only baptize the parents and the oldest two girls but we will also prep the 7 year old for baptism in Feb when she turns 8!!!!! How awesome will that be one year after their baptism to see them in the temple… OK, I know we have only taught them one lesson and not even set them for baptism yet but I just know that they are going to get baptized in the near future!

We are so excited for the next couple of weeks!!! We also have Jimmy’s baptism next week and then Brian the following week and Jammie and Abby 2 weeks after that! I LOVE BAPTISMS!!!!!
Well, alas I must end this e-mail and get on with my day! I love you all SO VERY MUCH!!!! Make good choices, don’t do drugs and remember that Jesus LOVES YOU!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I won’t be able to e-mail next week so hopefully this can last you for 2 weeks!

LOVE, ME!!!

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

2009-12-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Gyle and I had a fabulous week in the Dominican Republic. We stayed at the Dreams Resort in Punta Cana. It was so fun to spend time at the pool doing nothing, sitting on the beach doing nothing, and then a little bit more of doing nothing! We loved it!!! Our favorite thing was attending Church in DR - we couldn't understand a word they spoke but instantly fell in love with the people... they are truly our brothers and sisters in the Gospel. What a wonderful week spent with my Sweetheart!

One of the shops we visited

A local Gas Station - really - most people don't have cars, only mope-heads so they would buy gas by the dixie cup full.

Our room at the resort - second floor second balcony. Perfect location!

Our Punta Cana beach!

Gyle and Suzi at dinner one evening.

Elder Walker's Letter - December 14

2009-12-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hello family!

So the Christmas spirit is setting in! We just got several inches of snow and the Christmas lights/trees are almost all up. Although this season is making me really sad not to be home sharing this Holiday with my family, I am really busy sharing the gospel with everyone. I know that Christmas day is going to be a really hard day but for now everything is all good.

I love sharing the gospel this season because people seem to be more receptive to us. This season helps us all focus on what is most important, the Savior and our Families which makes it easier to help others to come unto Christ.

Good news! We have 5 people with baptism dates for Dec! Our district is only 4 Elders but between the 4 of us we are second to leading the mission in baptisms with 11 dates this month plus the 2 that we've already had. President Walker, the stake president for the St. Anthony stake wants our area to lead the mission in baptisms so the stake had a fast focused on missionary work a month or so ago. We are now seeing the fruits of that labor. President Colton has asked us our thoughts on bringing in 2 more missionaries in this stake because there is that much work to do.

I don't know if I've told you this yet or not but President Colton told me when he assigned me to St. Anthony that my mission is now down hill because I've started off in the best part of the mission. He was right, I am in the best part of the mission (knock on wood; I don't want to get transfered).

One of our ward mission leaders is going to be in Denver next week and asked for my home address so he can stop by and visit with Mom and Dad. I gave him the address and both cell phone numbers. His name is Kurt Harrison and is the best WML in the world. He has done more for us than any other person in this stake. I hope you will be able to visit with him.

Well Mom, you asked for a Christmas list. I don't know what I would want though. It's hard to want things as a missionary. There are a few things that I need though:

1. 2010 stake directory
2. Juice Plus (I'm almost out)
3. Some more CDs because we spend a lot of time in the car and have listened to them all about 15 times. I don't know if you've done this yet but if you could please send Christmas music. I really really need some Christmas music.
4. Any sort of scarves you can find. I love scarves.

So I have met so many people that I'm related to! I'm pretty sure that every other dinner appointment I'm related to the family. Our dinner on Saturday night apparently knows Grandma because I think she said that Grandma called her and told her to tell me hi. Her name is Sister Miller and is a great grand daughter of William F. but it is weird because she is older than Grandma but Grandma is a grand daughter. So if you want to let Grandma know that I talked with her and got her message of hello that would be great!

We also are activating one of Grandma's cousin's daughters. Grandma's cousin Gene Rigby's (Rulon Gene Rigby) daughter, Julie Murri, is who we are meeting with.

I know that I was sent here to find our family. Which has led me to think that if we never moved to Colorado chances are that I would not have been called to the Pocatello mission. It's cool to see how the spirit has directed us to Colordao for so many reasons.

Well we've got to get to Rexburg. I love you all very much! Have a great Holiday season and remember that our purpose as members of the Church is to invite others to come unto Christ.

Peace and love,
Elder Walker

Chelsee Letter - December 10

2009-12-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

I love my life. Just in case any of you had any doubt…… I love this work and I love the Lord and I love being a missionary! Yay!

Now that I got that out of my system… today is my 15 month mark. You know what that means??? Any babies that were born the day I entered the MTC are now walking, talking and pooping in the toity. HELLO! 15 MONTHS! YIKES! I’m just slightly freaking out today! But by 6 I will be over it and back to focusing on the work of the ministry. I just had to have a trunky moment for a second there. Phew… glad that’s over with!

This has been a fantastic week. First of all, we got 10 new investigators last week, 7 of which were in one ward, the ward that has been struggling to have any baptisms this year. Can you say year end bonus??? I love it! We are going to baptize all of them and I am so excited! We officially have 5 people set for baptism right now and hopefully 3 more by the time we chat next week! It is raining baptisms here in Boulder City and I am LOVING IT!

Ok, so one more trunky moment and then I will move on… since I only have 2 transfers left after this one I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I will probably be transferred from Boulder City after this transfer. YIKES. I think I can handle it though. I just have to keep reminding myself that I have made it through being transferred before and I can make it through again! I am doing a lot of self-talking workshops with myself lately, can you tell??!!!!

Jiminy Crickets did you know that wool sweaters are itchy? Just wondering? I am wearing one right now and it is making my arms itch therefore I am wasting about 3.7 seconds of time stopping to itch every 7.3 seconds! Wow, life can be difficult!

Well, Christmas time is upon us and it is finally starting to feel like Christmas around here. We only listen to Christmas music in the car, lights are up everywhere, and the air is crisp and cool. Today it was only in the 30’s. Yes, that is cold even though you are all experiencing negative temperatures, you still have to admit that 30 is cold… especially in the desert!

Hum-in-a, hum-in-a, hum… what else is there to talk about??? I am doing super well and I am SO HAPPY! We have a ton of investigators right now and we are setting lots of people for baptism… what better Christmas present could there be than that???

Thanks for all the letters and cards, they make me smile! Thanks for all the prayers and love, it warms my soul!

I love you all so very much! Make good choices, don’t do drugs and BE HAPPY!!!

Love, ME!

P.S. new favorite scripture… Romans 8: 35-39! SO GOOD!

Elder Walker's letter to Mom and Dad

2009-11-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

It was so great to see the pictures that Dad sent. Thank you for not sending the pictures of the ATVs although I don't think I would care anymore because everywhere I look I see ATVs here in Idaho! We just got snow a few days ago so now I see SnowMachines everywhere. But I guess I can deal for 23 more months.

The table looked beautiful and the weather did too! I showed my comp the picture of the kids in their swim suits and said, "it just snowed a foot and a half a few weeks ago." It was funny.

Great to see you all out golfing. I wish I could have seen Bosen live up to all his talk of being a great golfer.

We got the opportunity to go to the Rexburg temple on Saturday. What a beautiful temple! It was so great to be there and do a session. I still want to just happen to be in a session with my sister when she gets home. I think that would be really fun.

Well that's all that's going on here. I'm freezin my buns off but having fun doing it! I love you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

peace and love,
Elder Walker

P-Day Letter from Elder Walker

2009-11-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Family and Friends!

I just wrote to you all a few days ago and nothing new has happened but I didn't want to miss a week of writing.

We had a great Thanksgiving with lots of food. I have never eaten as much as I have in the last week and a half! Every house we knock on, member or not, always has pie and ice cream for us! We don't have to buy too much food because everyone always wants to give us something to take home. Just from Thanksgiving we have a freezer full of turkey and ham. It's so great to know that I will never go hungry!

I have my first baptism this Saturday! I am so excited! His name is Jake Ohs, 15, and a great kid. He is so excited for his baptism day! Elder Call and I are teaching him for the last time tonight.

I received an e-mail from one of the Elders in my MTC district who went to Connecticut. He said that the mission average is 4 baptisms per companionship for the whole 2 years of serving. How blessed am I to be in a mission where we get that in one month?! I didn't realize how great those numbers were until I read his e-mail today. In our mission, each companionship usually baptizes weekly. How wonderful that opportunity is.

We have our first Zone Conference on Thursday. It is going to be different though because of the Holidays. I think we get to watch a movie and play some games as a zone. Apparently I came into a weird transfer. I hope I don't get used to all the Holiday time we are getting.

Well I will have more to write next Monday. I love you all so much!

If anyone happens to see Troy please tell him to write me! I haven't heard one thing from him since I've been gone.

peace out
Elder Walker

Christmas Tree Cutting 2009

2009-11-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here's some photos of our day cutting our Christmas Tree. We have some dear friends who let us spend the day on their property looking for the perfect tree. We had chili, hot chocolate, and lots of fun!

Suzi and Gyle on the 4-wheelers

Britnee - trying to stay warm!

Estee enjoyed the day!!!

Grandpa and Estee

Devin and Gyle cutting the tree down

Suzi and Gyle

2009-11-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Suzi and Gyle - Pikes Peak National Forest November 26, 2009

North Pole 2009

2009-11-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

We spent the day at the North Pole near Pikes Peak the day after Thanksgiving. The kids loved it while Gyle tolerated it! (hehe) Here's some of our fun...

Sister Walker's Thanksgiving Week Letter

2009-11-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

We were just a bit worried because we had not heard from Chelsee on her usual email day, and we wondered if she had been transferred, stayed in Boulder City, or just what??? Here's our answer:

Hello People!!!

I know, surprise, it’s Saturday.

We didn’t get a chance to write on Thursday because nowhere was open and we were a little pre-occupied with the Mission’s valley wide Turkey Bowl, and eating yummy goodness! We drove an hour to North Las Vegas to go to the Turkey Bowl and we had a blast! As soon as we got off at the exit the first thing I said was… “Yay, colored people.” You have no idea how white Boulder City is!

Oh and yes, that means that I stayed in Boulder City this transfer! Yay, I’m going on 6 months here! Sister Johnson also stayed and we got a 3rd companion, Sister Brown who is actually from North Las Vegas. Sister Brown originally served in the Houston South Mission but had to come home for medical stuff and hasn’t been able to go back out there so she is here with us this transfer! I feel like I am training all over again but it is a good experience for me!

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful day! We had dinner with one of our investigators and her family. Lisa is Jake Davis’ mom (Jake got baptized back in Aug.) and she invited us over for dinner so of course we said yes! We had dinner with 6 non-members and 1 recent convert! The food was of course delish but nothing compared to Aunt Dee’s mashed potatoes!

After that dinner we went over to one of our ward mission leader’s home and I had some turkey with cranberry sauce over there because the first dinner didn’t have cranberry sauce. And, I recently discovered that I like candied yams! Yup, they are pretty tasty! Let’s just say I was pretty stuffed by the end of the night.

Since Thursday is a Preparation day we also did our laundry and went grocery shopping! We were done with P-day and out teaching again by 6:00… nope, not like Elder Walker’s all day P-day, we actually work on Holidays here! Hahahaha!!!

Daniel’s baptism was so fantastic! There were over 150 people there and President and Sister Christensen came too! They said they had never seen a baptism with so many people there. I told them they should have seen Jake’s baptism where there were over 200 people there!

Boulder City is the Celestial Kingdom so of course, it is perfect and everyone comes out to support those getting baptized! Daniel received the priesthood on Monday evening so that he could leave that night to go up to Utah with his cousins and do baptisms in the SLC temple and the Bountiful temple! I told him I was way excited for him to go to the Bountiful temple because that is where I did baptisms for the dead for my first time!

Ummmmm….. by brain is dead. I think I am still in a turkey coma! I think that is basically it. I’ll fill you in on more details next week!

I love you all more than anything!
Remember who you are and what you stand for! Make good choices, don’t do drugs and BE HAPPY!
LOVE,
ME!!!!!!

Family Letter From Elder Walker

2009-11-29T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Family!

I wanted to write another message just for you. Today is my first family holiday away from home and I just wanted you all to know how much I love you. It's interesting how much my love for my family has grown since I've been serving.

Brailee, Daiken, and Estee - I love you kids so very much! I think about you everyday. I hope you are having so much fun in the snow! I just got some snow here in Idaho too! Thank you for all of the green toys and notes you sent me! I love you so much! Enjoy your day eating turkey!

Britnee and Adam - Thank you so much for my "greeney" package! It took Elder Call and I like 10 minutes to figure out what it was. He said, maybe they got St. Patricks day confused. Haha! The back scratcher and the ball thing are my new favorite things.

Adam, I really appreciate you letting me know that Idaho is not for ATV riding, I was confused. Haha! I know you wish you were here serving as much as I wish I was riding so this goes both ways buddy! What was your address when you lived in St. Anthony? Maybe we'll go tract it out.

Britnee, how is the new baby coming along? Are you ready to pop?? Just remember to eat double today, this is the baby's first Thanksgiving. Are you still on track for the 10th of January?

Mom - You have no Idea how much I miss you today. When I got a letter from Elder Bosen telling me he was going to eat with you all today I thought that maybe he and I could switch spots today. I love and miss you so dearly but I will get to talk to you soon.

Dad - It is so great to read your e-mails. It's my favorite part about p-day. I got your message about Elder Bosen staying another transfer! That is crazy! He told me that Brenda finally got baptized. That is great news to hear. How is the work going in the Perry Park ward? In our area we get so much help from our Bishops. If our ward mission leaders don't help, the Bishops step right in and do a great job.

Our Stake President is President Walker and he is determined to find a way that he and I are related. Can you and Mom do me a huge favor? My companion is way into family history and now has me wanting to know about my family. Especially about William F Rigby because everyone here knows about him. Can you send me a more detailed pedigree chart that goes back farther than the one I have and maybe include a little story or something interesting about them? Especially because everyday someone says "Walker? Where is your family from?" I then have to say, oh, I have no idea! So it would be nice to be able to answer that question.

Anyway, you all are so great! I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Tell Elder Bosen and his new companion I say hi and I wish them the best. Have a great day!

Be sure to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for allowing us to be a family, you are all definitely my greatest blessing.

peace out!
Best wishes,
Elder Walker

Thanksgiving Day Email from Elder Walker

2009-11-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving family and friends!

We got the opportunity to go to the family history center here in St. Anthony to write e-mails today. So I wanted to send an e-mail telling you all how thankful I am for all of you.I have been out on the mission now for one month yesterday and I have come to know how grateful I am for my beautiful family and my wonderful friends. Today already has got me thinking and giving thanks to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a wonderful life. We have all been blessed with so much.

Although today is the first real day of wishing I was home to spend this holiday with those I love, I am thankful to be serving my Savior and giving all I can back to him for everything he has done for me. The work is going forth here in St. Anthony. Although it is extremely cold, there is such a warmth of great spirit from the people here. Every member family we meet they always invite us to join them for Thanksgiving. I told Elder Call we should definitely be tracting today because we would get fed something every house we go to!

We are eating with a family that just lost their son last month and his wish was that the Elders ate with them on this day. They are a great family and super excited for us to come over. President Colton has made today an all day preparation day. We get to do what ever we want (well within mission rules) all day. This morning we went and served over at the community Thanksgiving meal. We were able to help them prepare for the meal at noon. We'll be going back later to help serve food. There are so many families in this town that don't have very much. Most of them don't have a College degree and work as farmers. We have many trailer parks here and some are falling apart. It's interesting though because although they don't have much, they all still have such high spirits.

Here in St. Anthony we have my whole district (which only consists of 4 Elders). It's fun to have a really small district because we see each other all the time and get together often. The other Elders are Spanish and all together the 4 of us cover 10 wards and 6 cities. Our district leader is Elder Lagazo from the Philippines and speaks 4 languages. He is really great though.

Some more about Elder Call; He is from northern Illinois, about an hour and a half North West of Chicago. It's great for us to be together because he isn't as outgoing as I am. He is more reserved and thinks it's weird that I can be so excited when I talk to people. It's funny to watch him teach children because he totally loses them. I'm grateful that Brailee, Daiken, and Estee were able to live with me so I can know how to teach little kids and keep their attention.

Anyways I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate your love and support. I do love all of you so much. Keep the work progressing.

Peace out
Elder Walker

Tyson's First Letter Home from the Mission Field

2009-11-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

So I just got the opportunity to finally sit down and write an e-mail. We have prep day on Mondays here in Idaho.

I don't even know where to begin! So much has happened since I last prep day.First off I am assigned to the St. Anthony area which is just about 10 miles north of Rexburg. I love love love this area! I am truly in such a beautiful part of the country. I have a perfect view of the Tetons which I love to see everyday.

So I concluded my time in the MTC on Tuesday waking up at 4:00 AM to catch a flight at 8:00. There were nearly 400 missionaries leaving the MTC that day 20 of which came to Idaho with me. When I got to the airport I got to call home for a short talk and had the wonderful opportunity to call my favorite Sister Missionary! I forgot about the time change so I woke her up, oops! Oh well, it was great to talk to my sister. We then got on the smallest airplane I have ever been on. There were 17 missionaries on this plane which took up all but 4 seats. What a great memory though to have an airplane full of Elders.

We were greeted with a big hug from our Mission President, President Colton, and the Assistants. We waited and waited for our luggage but come to find out the plane was so small they couldn't fit all the luggage on the plane so they had to send a second plane with the other half of our bags! I thought that was really funny!

We were then taken to the mission home and fed breakfast, had interviews with President, then went on splits with some missionaries in the Pocatello zone. I got to teach about the Atonement in the second lesson to a part member family. What a great experience! Later that night President handed out our assignments. He had us stand and read it out loud to the whole group. He would then proceed to tell us about our trainer and the area.

Like I said earlier I am serving in the St. Anthony area with Elder Call. My area is very much a farming town. The population in my area is about 3,300 but is so big that it would take about 25 minutes to get from one end to the other. Elder Call has been out about 9 months. I am his first green companion and this is his first time being a senior companion. He is great though. We are teaching constantly and always have people to go see.

The first day I got here we started teaching from the get go. I didn't even unload my bags untill we got home that night. My very first lesson taught was a success infact we had a lady sit in that we thought was an inactive member but come to find out she isn't a member and wants to be baptized! Before we left she asked if she could have a blessing to help her with her faith. I was so excited that she was willing to ask for a blessing, for me that is excercising a lot of faith already.

There is another man, his name is Aaron, he has two kids who are members as well as his wife. When we taught him, he told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true but he just didn't have the urge to get baptized. I felt prompted to tell him that there was something that was preventing him from feeling the spirit. I told him, "Aaron, you are doing something in your life that is preventing you from feeling the spirit, as long as you continue doing that you will never recieve an answer to getting baptized. I promise you that if you put away this thing and you pray with real intent, you will recieve an answer on Sunday in church."

Now I have never met this guy and come to find out he had met with the missionaries since 2006 and hasn't been to church yet. After I promised him that he would recieve an answer if he would stop doing this thing, he was crying. He thanked us and we left. I have no idea what it is that he is doing, but I know that he went to church yesterday and during sacrament meeting he got emotional. We are meeting with him on Wednesday to follow up.I know our Heavenly Father loves these people and wants them to come to him. I know that Aaron recieved his answer because I only spoke that what the spirit told me to say.

We have taught so many lessons already if I was to tell you all about them you would be reading forever. Here is a run down of the mission so far. We have 2 baptisms ready to go, 4 that are setting dates this week, 6 that are close, and several less active families that are being taught. I love this work and I love the people here in St. Anthony. There are so many that are prepared and willing to accept the gospel. Elder Call and I are teaching so many and will continue teaching more. All I can tell you is that Elder Walker is definatly going to bring so many people to Christ. Watch out Sister Walker, your numbers are going to be challenged! Haha! I know it isn't about the numbers, but I am really looking forward to the work that will go forth in this area.

I love you all so much. Keep strong to the gospel and never let your testimony go. This work will go forth "boldly... until the great Jehovah will say the work is done."

Peace out
With love,
Elder Tyson Walker

Sister Walker Letter 11-12-09

2009-11-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hello People!

Who LOVES being a missionary? I do, I DO!!!!! I LOVE THIS WORK! I love hearing from Tyson and seeing his testimony grow. I love remembering my MTC experience and thinking about all of the great memories he is now making. I love seeing people, both missionaries and members, gain their testimonies of missionary work. I love hearing that my family is having great missionary opportunities. I love seeing prayers answered and miracles take place. I love diving into the Book of Mormon and learning how to help others from the teachings of that great and marvelous book. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!!!

As we get closer to Thanksgiving I am always striving to think of the things that I am grateful for. The great thing is that everything that I think of that I am grateful for has everything to do with the gospel. My family, my testimony, my friends, this mission experience, the Book of Mormon, food to eat, a safe place to live…. It can all be summed up in one sentence by saying that I am thankful for the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ because without His Atonement, I wouldn’t have any one of those things in my life! I love being a member of this church because, “I know who I am, I know God’s plan, I’ll follow Him in faith….”

Last weekend we had the Turner’s baptism. I can’t even explain how incredible it was without being brought to tears. And that is a pretty big deal for me folks because I don’t EVER cry anymore. Their baptism was what this work is all about, it is the very reason I came on a mission… a family was brought together in the gospel and they will be able to be sealed together for eternity in a year. I didn’t come here just to baptize but to get families to the temple! I can’t wait to see them all in white again as they are brought together in the sealing room… and you can betcha that I will be bawling like a little baby! Yay for the Turners!

We have a lot of excitement in the next couple of weeks. We have lots more baptisms taking place! The members have been SO excited to do missionary work. There hasn’t been much action down here for a while so they are getting all sorts of excited with all these baptisms taking place! The Lord is blessing Boulder like you wouldn’t believe! The members are giving us referrals up the wazoo. I am begging President to send another companionship down here because there is so much going on and so little time to do all of it! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!

Um… I just went on 24 hour exchanges with my Chocolate Sista so I am a little on the hallelujah and praise the Lord side of things right now!!!! Uh… what else is going on????

I am doing so fantastic! I have never been happier! I can’t stop smiling, in fact my cheeks are getting a little sore and my mouth is constantly dry from smiling all the time!!!!!!! Gee, what a horrible problem!!! (giggle)

Ok, I guess I will be done now. I really could go on and on and on with the excitement of this work but I know you have other things to attend to so I will let you get on with your day now!!!!I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO SO SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Make good choices, don’t do drugs and remember that Jesus Loves YOU!

Love, ME!

Tyson's Letter to Gyle and Suzi

2009-11-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

This letter from Tyson is truly a "Pay-Day" letter! Wow! What a great kid he is!!! This is just a segment that Tyson wrote to his mom and dad today...

I have 5 mins left and wanted to just send a quick message to let you know how much I love and appreciate you! You both are the best parents any missionary could ever have. I have grown my love for you both very much in the last two weeks. I want you to know how much my testimony has grown and my love for my Savior. When I was in the Celestial room today there is a big picture of Christ on the wall, the one where he has his hands out and is in his robes in the clouds. I sat there just staring at the picture and sung in my head, "I feel my saviors love." I just sat there on the couch with tears in my eyes and could seriously feel my Savior's love.

Elder Walker Letter 11-12-2009

2009-11-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hello Family and Friends!

All is well here in the wonderful state of Utah in the Provo MTC. I love, love, love being here and feeling the Lord's Spirit so strong. This week has been so amazing as well as super challenging.

As you know from the last letter I was called as the District Leader and with that calling I have had a lot of responsibility. Our district had a big turn for the worst the last few days due to contention and loss of the Spirit. I was told by one of our teachers that I had to find the root to the problem; you can cover the symptoms but that doesn't get rid of the virus. I was praying so hard to have help. I had no idea how I was going to find out what the root problem was. I spent a few days in prayer pleading for help. Just last night my prayer was answered. Sister Walker, one of our teachers, came to class and said that she didn't know what it was but she felt as though we needed to have a distric inventory and get things to normal. She said she felt prompted to read Alma 24 and talk about the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people and how they chose to bury their weapons of war. We then talked about what is driving everyone crazy and how we can fix it. I don't know how it worked or what Sister Walker did but after that our distric has been closer and stronger than it has ever been before.

That was only the beginning of what happened though. Because she is so guided and inspired she felt prompted that we needed to teach her in the role of someone she taught on her mission. She played this girl named Hannah who had served a mission and went through the Temple but when she went to school she messed up with her roomate and got into a homosexual relationship which in turn led to her getting excommunicated. It was so sad to see the depression and the loss of everything in her life. She so desperatly wanted to feel the spirit again and know that her Heavenly Father loved her. Sister Walker told us not to teach unless we were inspired to teach from the spirit. I don't know what it was but I felt the spirit so strong during that lesson. I talked about the Atonement and how Christ is always there with his arms open and she is the only thing pushing him away. The lesson was going well until we got to the end and I said, "Hannah, I feel impressed to offer you a priesthood blessing." Although we couldn't do it there because it was a role play, Sister Walker got emotional and said that is exactly what she needed. I felt so good because the spirit works in such a great way. I learned that as a missionary I am only a mouth peace for Heavenly Father to talk to his children.

After the role play was over Sister Walker asked our district to give her a blessing. There was nothing better to bring our district together than to give our teacher a Priesthood blessing.

One last story to tell. On Sunday one of the councelors in our Branch Presidency taught the lesson in Priesthood. He is so great, he was mission companions with Elder Holland and grew up with Elder Anderson. He was comparing mission work to Christ's earthly ministry. He said that Christ submitted himself completely to the will of the father. Missionaries are very similar he explains, "obedience with exactness shows that you are submitting yourself to the will of the father." That has been my favorite quote from the mission so far. I use that in everything. I can tell you that that quote is going to be my standard for the rest of my mission.

Well my time in now up. I only get 30 mins to read and type. I love you all so much! I love being the Lord's missionary and doing his work. "I will say and do what he himself would say and do if he was ministering to the very people to which he has called me."

I love the Church and know that this is the only and true Church of Jesus Christ who is my Lord and my Savior. I love being here and love what I am doing. Thank you so much for the prayers, packages, and letters! Recieving them are my favorite part of the day.

Keep the work going strong in Colorado and never be shy of bringing someone into the arms of our Savior. I love you all so much and wish you the best!

Peace out!

Elder Tyson Rigby Walker

Letter From Tyson

2009-11-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

Letter Dated November 5, 2009

My Favorite Family!

HELLO!! This is the first time I have been able to write a letter. Today is our first P-day, so being the obedient one that I am, I decided to write today. So many things have happened since my arrival last Wednesday. This is the biggest thing I 've learned since then... THE CHURCH IS TRUE!! The Spirit is so strong and I love being here in the MTC. I always knew the Church is true, but being here amplifies that testimony by millions.

Our teachers are great! We have Brother Laubaugh and Sister Walker. They are both so great and so filled with the Spirit. Our Branch Presidency is great as well. I have been called as our District Leader! We have 10 Elders in our District and I love every one of them so much . It's been a challenge being District Leader, but I can feel of my Heavenly Father's love for me.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to interview my district. What a great day that was. I had felt direct revelation for each Elder as they met with me. I was able to answer their questions and feel the inspiration to their issues. I felt even more love for them as I worked with my Heavenly Father to address their needs. It's also been great because my leadership skills are able to be used. About our District, 8 of us are going to ID-POC and the others are going to CT-Hartford. We have all grown so close and love each other so much. One of our Elders is from England. He lives in Dedam (I have no idea where that is) It is great to hear his accent though. Our whole district picks up on his accent sometimes which is rather annoying, but as long as that's all that annoys me, I'll be fine. Another Elder is from Colorado. He lives in Thornton. He and I always brag about how beautiful Colorado is and such.

Now about my Companion. He is probably my largest road block here at the MTC. I'm trying to make it a goal not to say bad things, but let's just say that he is one of those Elders that's here just because his parents made him. He falls asleep all the time and mopes around. I have ZERO tolerance for Elders that mope, because that is not the reason we came out here on missions. Anyway, that is all the bad things I'll say. Know that I am working hard to get along with him and I'm praying my guts out to help my heart love him. I've talked to my teachers about this, well actually they both came to me and said they felt like I needed to talk to them. They have been such great support. I've even asked Elder Spencer, our Brit, for a blessing. Elder Shipley, my companion, is my comp for a reason, I'll just have to seek what that is.

Well I have other letters to write. I just have 1 request. Please send packages!!! I loved the CD's, but I need something from home. All my Elders get treats and such and I'm jealous! HaHa... Included in my treat package, can I have sent: 1. My slipper shoes (the blue/gray ones) they are the ones I wear all the time. 2. My jacket from London, (the white and grey stripes) 3. Shirts from my closed. (the light blue and the green one.) They both have collars.

I think that's all I need right now. I just want you all to know how much I love and don't miss you. (not in a mean way, just that my Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with no home-sickness) Please tell Brailee, Daiken and Estee that I love them so much and loved their Halloween costumes! I have those pictures on the wall.

Anyway, the Field is White, and I'm going to go harvest it! I love you all so much!!!

Peace and Love!
Elder Walker

Gratitude

2009-11-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

I love early, quiet mornings. This morning there was another absolutely beautiful Colorado Sunrise - purples, oranges, pinks... incredible! And it's always on mornings like this that I just feel so much gratitude!

Love my kids! I have six (four by birth, and two partners of my children) of the most amazing children in the world! They are stalwart, good, loving, kind and amazing! They make good choices. They serve the Lord. They are so much fun to be around.
Love my grandchildren! Oh, they make me smile! They are such good kids who have been taught well. They, too, love the Lord and it is evident in all they say and do.
Love Colorado! This is such a beautiful state! I have looked at the same view out my back windows for over six years, and I never tire of it! The front range mountains are so breathtaking with all of the different shades of purple - and now the tallest ones are covered in a blanket of snow. I love the blue skies of Colorado! The fresh air! The quiet of Castle Rock. Love it all!
I love that my family likes to participate in the same sorts of things; from the mountains to the theater to the games around the table. We love to be together and do things together. What more could a woman want???
I love the Gospel! I enjoy the peace, the sweetness and the love that only the Gospel can bring!

My heart is just simply grateful today!

Sister Walker Letter

2009-11-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

Chelsee's letter this week - She sounds happy!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just thought you should know! I am on such a spiritual high! Today we went to the temple as Trainers and New missionaries! It was so good to be in the temple with President and Sister Christensen! That was the first time that I have been in the temple with them. We first met with the brand new Temple President, President Ballard, and then we went into the session. I'd have to say that one of my favorite parts was looking over at President during the session and seeing him look at his beautiful wife and wink at her! SO CUTE! I love seeing people who are in love!

Ok, enough of that lovey dovey stuff...I am excited because President is coming to Seminary tomorrow. He is coming for our investigator Daniel who met President back in Feb. and was very impressed by him. Daniel's schedule is so crazy busy that that is the only time we could get the two of them together again. Speaking of Daniel, he is getting baptized on the 22 now because that is when his aunt from Georgia can make it in to town. One of the greatest highlights of my mission thus far was on Sunday when Daniel bore his testimony in fast and testimony meeting. Sister Johnson and I were smiling from ear to ear. We felt like proud Momma's!!! He has such a powerful testimony and I am so excited for him to get baptized!

The Turners are getting ready for their baptism on Saturday! They are the most stellar family I have ever taught! We played a review game yesterday in the form of Jeopardy! They knew the answers to every single question. In fact, they even beat the members who were playing. Yay Turners!!!!!

We are all praying that Barbara the 15 year old daughter will follow the example of her family members and join the church in the near future. I don't think it will be too long!

Donna and Craig are getting back on top of things after a slight downhill slope. We were over at their house on Sunday, we took them a fresh pomegranate right off a tree (yep thats right... they are all over out here!!! YUM!!!). We sat and pulled it apart and talked for about an hour one on one with Craig. We got a lot of his true feelings towards the church out of him. He has a testimony but just doesn't recognize it yet. As we have gone over every day this week we have seen that testimony bloom and he is starting to realize that he has one!!!! Yay for Craig!

We found out on Monday that Victor Pickering's dad is getting baptized this weekend in Henderson. Victor and Kassie had no idea he was meeting with the Elders and Victor Senior had no idea that Victor Jr. and Kassie were baptized almost a month ago. It was actually Victor's sister who told Kassie and then Kassie told her that they had been baptized and so on... now Victor's sister is taking the lessons and we are going to start teaching his mom tonight. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Victor has been praying that his family would have a chance to learn about the gospel and accept it into their lives. Prayers sure are heard and answered!

I am LOVING November in Nevada! It is even nicer than it was last year! It has been in the 80's lately... in fact, we are playing sand volleyball for a zone activity today! I love wearing shorts and a tee-shirt outside in November!!! Heaven, I'd say YES!

Oh and incase you have forgotten......... I love Boulder City!!!!!!!

Thank you all for being so fantastic! Thank you for the example you all are and THANK YOU for all of your prayers! Remember to make good choices, don't do drugs and BE HAPPY!!!!!!!

Love, ME!

Tyson's First Letter Home!

2009-11-05T19:57:00.001-08:00

Hello Mom and Dad!

Today is Prep Day and the first time I've had a chance to get online to write you an e-mail. All is well with me. I love the MTC!! It is so great! I really love the spirit and the blessings I see in my life daily as I serve the Lord. The spirit is so strong here. There is never a moment when I don't have the spirit burning in my heart. I think it is because this is dedicated land.

My teachers are great! I have two of them, Sister Walker and Brother Laubaugh. They have been such an inspiration to me. I have grown to love and appreciate them and their spirit.

My district is great! We are all Elders with 5 companionships. I have been called as the district leader by my Branch Presidency. I have had the calling for a week now and have loved every minute of it. Being district leader is challenging but yet super rewarding. I have been blessed with the love for all of my Elders and do all I can to help them succeed. I had the chance to interview them and know of their struggles and their weaknesses but love them so much that I want to do all I can to help uplift them. The spirit has been so strong with the calling as well. I always know answers to questions and concerns. I know I wouldn't have answers if I wasn't called as their distric leader.

We went to the temple today. What a blessing to have the Provo Temple so close. I loved it! What a great break from MTC life and just go and soak up the spirit.

I wrote a letter today that has more details about my life here and my companion. Please pray for my companionship, it isn't going very well. You will see why in the letter.

Well my laundry is done, I should get my shirts before they wrinkle.

I love you so very much. Know that my testimony has grown so much. I love this gospel and I have had such a great relationship with my Heavenly Father and my Savior. They are great and the church is great. Love you tons and tons. Hope all is well.

love, Elder Walker.

p.s. one of my Elders is from Dedam, England and is writing Chelsee. It's great!

another p.s. Please send me packages!! My Elders are getting snacks and stuff from home and I'm jealous! I need something!

A Thought From Chelsee 10-29-2009

2009-10-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

It is SO COOL having another missionary in the family. I can feel it. I can't describe the feeling but I can feel that he is serving right along side me. I have been thinking about him all day and thinking, "oh, this is probably what he is doing right now" and "oh, I hope he likes this part".... etc. It is bringing back floods of memories from the MTC. I feel like I was just there last week. It is unreal to me that I have been out so long. Dad, almost 14 months. I cant even get a grasp on that. I AM SO FREAKING TERRIFIED OF COMING HOME! I'm just not going to think about it. I was joking around with President the other day and he did say something about me staying till 2011. I told him that I would just extend till the end of their mission and then I would just fly home with them!!! He thought it was a great idea!

It's Time for a Sister Walker Update!

2009-10-29T10:46:00.001-07:00

Okie Dokie - let's get an update on Chelsee:

I have never felt so exhausted in my life. I have also never felt the spirit so strong in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even know where to begin. The Book of Mormon challenge was life changing! It was hard but it was SO worth it! It was a lot like running a race. I started off strong on Monday morning and finished off even stronger. Of course I could only sit for about 20 minutesat a time so I did a lot of standing and walking around as I read. By the time 3 am hit, I was pooped. I am pretty sure I actually fell asleep while standing up and I almost fell over a couple of times. I decided to take a quick shower to wake up and that helped a ton. Then around 5 I decided I needed a quick 30 minute nap then it was back to reading. Luckily it was pretty windy outside so I went out on our balcony and the wind blowing in my face kept me awake while I read and read. I hadn't quite finished by the time we needed to go out on Tuesday evening so I decided to save the last chapter for when we were at the church on Wednesday morning. I was able to go into the chapel to finish reading and when I was finished I went into a corner and prayed. I didn't have to pray to ask if the book was true because I had already had that witnessed to me. I just thanked Heavenly Father for the incredible testimony that he has allowed me to have! I KNOW IT IS TRUE!!!!!!!!! I had never done something that took so much out of me but every inch of energy that I used to read was replaced 100 fold by the spirit! I am so filled with the spirit right now that I could just.... well, I don't know....We were at the church for a zone meeting and that is where the spirit hit me like a ton of bricks. Each of us took some time to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the room by the time we finished. Being in a room with 21 stalwart young men and an incredible companion, while listening to testimonies of the Book of Mormon, would change even the stoniest of hearts. I wish you could have all experienced what I had yesterday morning. I always thought that I had experienced a burning in my bosom before but it was nothing like what I felt yesterday. It changed my mission and it changed my life.

We have 4 baptisms this weekend! I am SO SO SO Excited for all of them! They have been the most prepared for baptism of all the people I have taught!!! So amazing! We are still receiving
Blessings like CRAZY! Heavenly Father is leading us right to his elect! I am constantly amazed!

I'm a Proud Mama!!! I LOVE SISTER JOHNSON!!!!!!!! Oh man, I am so blessed to be serving with such an incredible missionary. She is making this whole training thing a piece of cake! She has an amazing testimony and she is constantly happy! I couldn’t have asked for a better baby! We are having such a great time together and we are working our batooties off!

Holy Moly, it is finally cooling down. It has been right around 100 degrees the past couple of days and it has been so nice! Yes, I know, I am crazy and the heat has gotten to me! I never thought I would think that 100 degrees was nice weather... but it is! In fact, this morning at 6:30 it was only 75 and it was CHILLY! I had to put on a sweater to go outside and I considered turning on the heater as we drove to the diner for breakfast... but, don't worry, I didn't.

During Sunday school on Sunday my mind started wandering like it usually does when I am in a confined space for more than a half hour. Don’t worry, it was wandering to good places. I started thinking about one of our investigators, Craig, and his ex-communicated wife, Donna. They have been doing so wonderful the past couple of weeks. Craig had been sober for 11 days and Donna is just plain ready to get back into the church. As I was thinking about them, baptism popped its way right into my head and I couldn’t help but start thinking of different baptismal dates for Craig. November 21st kept coming to mind so then I said a silent prayer and asked Heavenly Father if that was the date for Craig to be baptized. He said yes, yes, YES! As soon as Sunday school was over, I turned to Sister Johnson and said, we need to go set Craig for baptism right now. She looked at me and laughed a little and then said, okay, lets do it! So we ran out to the car, drove to Donna and Craig’s, jumped out of the car, knocked on the door and… no one was home. I said another little prayer asking Heavenly Father to provide some sort of way because I had felt so prompted to set them right then. About 30 seconds later, they pulled into their driveway. I was ecstatic! When they got out of their car, I told them that we had something we needed to talk to them about. They were a little hesitant but said ok and we went into their house. We said a prayer and then I just blurted, out, “we feel impressed to set you for baptism on November 21st.” I wish I could have had a video recording of their faces at that exact moment. We talked it over a bit and then Craig said Yes and Donna said that she would like to talk to the bishop and make plans to be baptized on that date as well!!!! WAAAAAAAHHOOOO!!!!!

Mom, it has been FREEZING here the past couple of days. Like in the mid 50's. Now, I know that that isn't that cold BUT, I have become a desert wimp and I AM SO COLD! Luckily I have my coat... I just need to crack out the gloves and such. I guess I've just been here long enough that my blood has thinned out and when it gets down to 65 I freeze my batootie off. I cant even imagine snow right now. I heard that you are getting hit pretty hard today. I get my weather updates from the old guys at the diner on Thursday mornings! They are excited for the snow to hit the Rockies because that means that we will have water here next summer! Wahoo! I like snow for that reason but otherthan that snow is BLAH!

2009-10-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

What a roller coaster 7 weeks we've had around here... Tyson received his call and he has now entered the MTC on October 28th. Between the trip to Utah for him to receive his Endowment in the Bountiful Temple, doing his shopping, creating announcements, planning an open house, receiving all kinds of guests, etc... Phew! I think I need a nap!

It was a difficult good-bye this time for me. In the past as each of my children have gone off to school or on a mission and there was still someone at home to turn my attention to. I've noticed that as the oldest child left home, the next one in line had a chance to blossom. This time - ??? But now - there are no other children at home to turn my attention to. (besides the grandkids, but they have a mom) It makes me feel old and I'm not so sure I want to be old.

Anyway - Tyson is safely at the MTC. Chelsee is working her tail off on her mission in Vegas. Devin and Lianne are healthy and fine... they are coming over next weekend to go to see Wicked with us at the theater. Britnee and Adam are doing well, and of course my absolutely darling grandchildren are such fun!!!

Elder Walker

2009-09-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Elder Tyson Walker has been called to serve in the Idaho Pocatello Mission
He will enter the MTC in Provo, Utah on October 28, 2009

My Happy For Tyson Tears!

2009-08-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-02T09:49:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-02T09:44:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-02T09:38:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-08-02T08:51:00.001-07:00

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

What's Going On In Sister Walker's Life?

2009-06-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Between end of the school year, graduation, dance recital, vacation and life I've neglected to share some of Chelsee's letters. So, here's an update for the past several weeks:

May 21, 2009

Holy MOLY we had a fantastic week last week! We met every single one of our goals for the week! I have never done that on my mission! I was so excited that I called President Sunday evening and told him, he was excited too!!! I know that the Lord is watching over the Paradise Zone and he is placing many people in our paths. The last couple of weeks, the wards have really stepped it up. We are having more lessons with members present (LTM’s) then we have had for a long time. It is awesome!!!

May 28, 2009

We played dart wars this morning against another zone and then Sis. Jernigan went to lunch at a members home and by the time we got to the computer lab it was closed so we had to come to the library and reserve a time…. In other words… Here I am so you can take a breath and not worry about not hearing from me this week!!!!
So, we went on exchanges on Tuesday and I was in a Spanish area for 24 hours. I felt like a brand new missionary once again because I had no clue what was going on half of the time. Hermana Alvarez was a great companion to have for those 24 hours and she took great care of me. I love the Latin people because they are so welcoming and they are so loving! We finished off our exchanges by going to the mission home and having lunch. It was all of the sisters in the Valley so we were just missing the four that are in Kingman. It was really fun to have just the sisters there and be able to giggle and have a great time! I really missed Paradise while I was gone. I really, really, really feel like home in my area right now.
We are teaching so many great people and having a fabulous time. When I do leave eventually, I will feel like I am leaving home again. If I get the chance to bear my testimony in Sacrament meeting it will feel like giving a farewell talk again.
Oh speaking of Sacrament meeting… Sister Jernigan were the speakers in the Greenbriar ward last week! We talked about how we can come closer unto Christ by understanding the restoration of the gospel. It was the bomb diggity! I’ll send you a copy of the parts I can remember saying…. You know that whole spirit taking over deal, it totally happened and I have no clue what I said for most of the talk! We have received many, many compliments so I guess they went well! I love speaking in church and I was so happy to finally get a chance to do so.

June 4, 2009

NEWS ALERT: It was 77 degrees outside this morning at 7:30. I haven’t felt 77 degrees since February. We had a Zone breakfast outside and it was so, so, so nice! But alas, it is now 97 degrees at 2:30! Fun, fun, fun!!!
This is going to be quite the weekend for me folks. Can you believe that it was one year ago this weekend that I opened my call?? And now, here I am! Wow! I can’t believe it at all. It is also my “hump day” next Wednesday! (yep, hint, hint, I will be expecting something good!!!!) Crazy! It actually makes me sick to think that I am half way through but it also gives me the strength to know that I just have to make the next 9 months the best 9 months of my life so far!
I have enjoyed my letters from Puff and Colee because they are still so brand new in their missions. They help me to remember what the “greeny fire” is all about and it helps me to continue to try to have that fire!
I am just grateful that I have been so blessed while I have served. I have had good health, mentally and physically, amazing investigators, fantabulous baptisms, stellar companions and a mission president who has become my second father! I wouldn’t change a single thing from the past 9 months and I hope the next 9 are even better!
On Tuesday we had a mission wide conference call. It was stinkin awesome. I had chills as President did a role call and we were able to hear from every district in the mission. We have NEVER all been together for a meeting at one time. The spirit was powerful! President just wanted us to know that we had broken a lot of mission records the past month and he wanted to remind us to be grateful for all that the Lord has done. And oh boy am I grateful! It is fantastic!
I LOVE YOU MORE THAN A PB and H SANDWICH! Yup, that’s a big deal because I LOVE PB and H sandwiches!
Oh yeah, there is only 32 and 1/2 days till my birthday! Just thought you should all know! Happy almost birthday to me, happy almost birthday to me, happy almost birthday to to me-e, happy almost birthday to me!!!!! (Her birthday is July 7)

June 11, 2009

Yay, I am still in Paradise!!!! So is Sister Jernigan!!!!! We are going to be together for 4 ½ months. That is pretty rare! We are both excited! We did something different though. President called us up the day before transfers and told us that we would be doing a senior swap… meaning that Sister Jernigan is now the senior companion. I think it will be really good for her. I think it will be really good for me too. I need to learn how to lead from behind. It will be a good lesson for the rest of my life.
Jillian and Jacob’s baptism was incredible, the spirit was overwhelming! Their mom got up and talked about how they will be working toward the temple now. I am very excited for them.

Vacation in Missouri

2009-06-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

OK - when I first heard that Gyle had decided we were going to Missouri for summer vacation ... well let's just say that I was more excited about a week away from work than I was the location. BUT... we had tons of fun! It was a vacation without an agenda! I loved it!

My Baby Graduates from High School

2009-06-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

Happy Graduation Tyson Rigby Walker! Cannot believe my baby graduated - when did all of this happen? When did he grow up? When did I grow up? Love you Tyson!!!

Red Rocks Amphitheatre where graduation was held. Morrison, Colorado

Tyson sang the National Anthem ... beautiful rendition and powerfully performed.

The podium... Go Castle View Sabercats!!!

Brailee's Dance Recital

2009-06-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Look how excited and how absolutely adorable little Brailee looks on the day of her recital! What a cutie! While taking the photos, Brailee was directing how she posed and where the photographers (Britnee and Grandpa) should stand. She did a terrific job at the recital and loves being on stage! I gave her some flowers following the recital and she got sooooo excited! She said, "Oh, is this my graduation from dance? Tyson got flowers when he graduated, so this must be my graduation!" How can you not love this precious little one???

Sister Walker and Cockroaches YUK!

2009-05-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Chelsee's letter is very positive and uplifting as usual. She's working hard and sounds like she's enjoying every minute of it. For some reason I cannot picture my 'germ-a-phobe' daughter living with cockroaches and being OK with that. But she is! Wow!

Here's some highlights from this week's letter:

Life is amazing as always!!
I am looking forward to Treicy’s baptism this Saturday! Holy heck, if you want to see someone whose life has been changed because of the gospel, look at Treicy! I have seen such a HUGE change in her! It is amazing what the gospel does for us! It puts a smile on my face!
So, this week has been even hotter than last. It has been around 104 the whole week. Yeah, try biking in that. I now take 2 showers a day! It has been fun being on bike part-time because we are meeting TONS of people. Hopefully one of these days my rear end will stop hurting! I am quite proud-ish of the fact that I took a $20 bike and turned it into a very useable bike! I put lots of work into it and it is as good as new now. And… I did the whole thing myself. New breaks, new tires/ tubes, new seat… and a good shine up! It looks great. Who knows maybe I’ve found my lot in life… a bikeologist! Ok, so I made that word up but it sounds like a cool title!
This morning I went to a sealing of a family I worked with in Kingman. IT WAS 100% INCREDIBLE!!!! Folks, that is what this work is all about. It was fun to see most of the missionaries that had worked with them from the very beginning came back to be there! The Paulsens have had a huge impact on a lot of missionaries. I loved it!
I gave a training on Tuesday in District Meeting on how to communicate better with our investigators! Thanks to my Major, I was taught well in school and I was able to give a pretty stellar training!!! It’s good to see the last 3 years of my education be put to good
use!
We have picked up 3 new investigators so far this week and we are meeting almost all of our goals! It is fabulous!
Today we had someone come and spray for cockroaches and we are getting our carpets cleaned this afternoon! Let’s just say that I have learned to live in very humble living environments! It is good for me though!
Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and always remember that I love you!
LOVE, ME!

Tyson's Final Choir Concert

2009-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

So- I vividly remember about 13 years ago standing in my laundry room on Lakeview Way crying as I folded Tyson's training pants for the very last time. It was just one of those "Mom" moments when you realize that a tender part of your life has passed.

Thursday night we went to the high school for Tyson's Choir Concert. As "Voices of the Pride" finsihed their last song, Tyson turned to Kelsey Hess and they embraced. That's all it took - my eyes filled with tears and the thought that came to my mind was folding those darn training pants.

A new chapter in life begins. Tyson graduates in two weeks and that means no more high school performances.

It means I'm getting old! And I'm SAD!!!

Tyson looking studly in his performance tux

Tyson and Mr. Walter - the choral director

All of the seniors after the concert

Tyson with best school pals, Ben and Troy.

Nicely Nicely Johnson

2009-05-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

I realized I never blogged about Tyson's performance in "Guys and Dolls" Tyson was Nicely Nicely Johnson and he did a fabulous job! His characterization of Nicely was excellent! Anyway, love the suit!

Nicely Nicely Johnson

Nicely Nicely and Adelaide (Kelsey Hess)

Tyson at the end of one of his scenes.

Sister Walker Letter Update

2009-05-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Cute Bones!!! Always happy, always looking for the bright side of things! Her hand is healing - although slowly. And... she's going to be on a bike - oh my - more accidents just waiting to happen! (giggle) Here's what she has to say!

Waz up Folks???
I am still livin it up in Paradise with Sister Jernigan!!!! Yup, we made that transfer cut! I am so happy that neither of us got transferred! We are really getting things moving forward here!

We had an AWESOME weekend! On Saturday we left the celestial boundaries of our mission and traveled to the “other side” dun dun dun!!! Kelly’s baptism was fantastic! She was the perfect of all perfect investigators! She will be a Huge asset to this church! We got to meet President McCracken, the mission president of the west side. He is a really friendly man! I was excited to see him at the baptism! He was giving us a hard time and asking us how we felt on the more celestial side of Nevada and of course, I gave him a hard time right back and told him that President Christensen warned me to not be afraid when I crossed over the line and the spirit wasn’t as strong! Haha! They actually have some awesome missionaries over on that side! It as fun to see the other side of the strip… don’t worry, I was never on the strip! However, did get pictures of the back side of the Bellagio and the Rio and some other famous hotels/ casinos. It was like going on a vacation… for 4 hours! It was fun! The members that we got our ride with took us to Café Rio after and it was YUMMY!!!

It is so nice to be back to a normal schedule this week without Savior of the World. We weren’t getting home until 10:50ish almost every night last week and boy we were worn out. It is nice to be asleep again by 10:30!!

I went to the doctor last week for my hand. He says it is looking good and I don’t have a return appointment so that is exciting! It is still about 3-4 weeks behind in the healing process but as long as I take it easy, it will heal just fine!

I bought myself a bike for $20 at DI yesterday. We got our miles cut so we are going to be doing a lot of biking this transfer. I just need to fix it up quite a bit and then it’ll be good to go!

Let see, what else…? We went to the temple this morning so my brain is exhausted! I LOVE the Las Vegas Temple! I saw Sister Little at the temple, she was transferred into our neighboring zone that we do everything with. It will be fun to see her at Zone conference and such too!

So, I didn’t do a bad enough job being senior comp last transfer I guess because I am once again senior comp. Hmmm…. Maybe I’ll have to work on that this transfer. Or maybe I didn’t do a good enough job and President is giving me a second chance. Huh, who knows! I look forward to learning more this transfer! I love learning!

We have some really exciting baptisms coming up! I am super excited for everyone! I love baptisms… they make me smile all over!
Remember that the church is true, make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and remember that Heavenly Father loves you and remember that I LOVE YOU!
Love, ME!!!

Tyson's Senior Prom

2009-04-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, since my 'baby' just went to his senior prom I guess that means that I'm officially old! Here's a few photos of Tyson and his date Ashante...

Chelsee Update

2009-04-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sister Walker's letter home this week was full of newsy tidbits:

HeLlo heLLo HEllO!!!!!
I have had such a great week!!! Where to begin… Krystal was baptized on Saturday and it was awesome! The spirit was out of control! The change that took place in Krystal’s countenance was amazing! She looks and sounds like a whole new person now! Her dad came to her baptism and I think that it really touched him to see the support that his daughter had and the love that everyone there had for her.
On Sunday we got a whole new Bishopric in the Villa Bonita ward… get this, the new Bishop is only 34. I was shocked, I had no idea they were even thinking about hanging the Bishopric, but it is SO GOOD! Bishop Theriot will be so good for the ward. He is supper gung hoe for missionary work!
We had Easter dinner with a family in the Greenbriar ward. It was sooooo yummy!! Bro. Cooper is a chef and he made ham, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, home-made root beer, cornbread… oh my ever livin, I was in heaven!!!
On Monday we got a new car… I think ours was about to die or at least the breaks were about to die. So now we are driving a Mazda 3!
We started teaching a new family from Haiti, they are awesome, super religious and freaking amazing!
On Tuesday we set Vanessa for baptism for May 2nd. It’s about time!!
We finished up everything that we needed to do for Luis baptism this weekend (interview, program… etc.). He is still super excited for his baptism!
Yesterday we went to a funeral for a sister in the Villa Bonita ward. We helped prep the food and such. Remember how much I HATE funerals??? Well, I decided that I just needed to get over myself, especially since this was our second funeral this transfer, and be there for support and to answer questions! It was actually a very nice funeral service!
We talked to our investigator John about being baptized and he said that he would think about it. He is super busy right now and just needs to have the time to sit down and finish the lessons. Hopefully we can get that all worked out. He is basically already a member, he goes to church every Sunday and to all of the ward activities. He just needs to be baptized!
We had an awesome lesson with Treicy and she is still super excited about her baptism on May 9th!!!
Our lesson with Kelly last night was the bomb! She had questions about going to the highest glory of the Celestial Kingdom because she isn’t married. We did a lot of research before her lesson so that we would be able to answer her questions and I think we were able to. We shared with her D&C 76 51-70 something where it talks about the qualifications for getting into the Celestial Kingdom and we shared with her D&C 131 and parts of 32. We were able to help her realize that not everyone will get a chance to be married for time and all eternity in this life but we will have the Millennium and if she has the desire to be married and has the desire to enter into the highest glory of the Celestial Kingdom then she will have the opportunity to be married during the Millennium. We are so excited for her baptism on the 25th!!!
The Lord has truly blessed us the past couple of weeks. We have a baptism every weekend for the next 3 weeks and we had Krystal’s last week. That is the fuel that keeps us going!!!
Well folks, that is about all that is going on in the life of Sister Walker!! It is pretty much an AMAZING life!!! Keep sending the letters and the updates! I love to hear how everyone is doing! I love you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!
Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and remember that Jesus Loves YOU!

Happy Anniversary April 18

2009-04-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Gyle and I have been married for 29 years!!! When did I grow up and when did I get so old???

Love you Sweetheart! Thanks for being mine and for 29 years of sharing our lives together!

Life / Easter / Wind

2009-04-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few thoughts -

So - it's windy today (darn) that puts such a damper on outdoor Easter plans. It's not so much fun to hide Easter eggs outside when it's only 30 degrees! Makes me want to bundle up with a blanket and go take a nap!

Easter is tomorrow. I love it! That means new, fresh, clean, bright, happy, SPRING to me! The sun shines longer each day and I just feel like I have more energy!

But that's not what Easter is really all about - my testimony is made stronger as I understand more and more about the atonement and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for continued knowledge that I gain as I study the scriptures, attend my meetings, and find opportunities to learn.

And then... LIFE... Life is good! Experiences in life are amazing! I am ever so grateful for my family that makes my life complete!

Chelsee's Learning How To Make Decisions

2009-03-26T17:06:00.001-07:00

Can't believe it... Chelsee is learning how to make decisions! All her life she has struggled with decision making... She's spent her life saying "I don't care" If I ask her "pink or green" she says, "I don't care." If I ask her what she wants to eat, "I don't care" BUT... now that's she's senior companion she's learning how to do it! In her letter this week she wrote:

I love my new companion. Sister Jernigan is awesome. Yep, like I said before, I am senior companion even though she has been out longer… however, I this is the first companionship where I feel like we are on completely equal ground. Sister Jernigan likes making decisions about as much as I do. However, because of that, I have gotten better this past week!! So I guess the Lord does know what he is doing by making me senior because it has pushed me to step up in my decision making. You’d be proud! Haha!

Chelsee, the germ-a-phobe has a clean freak companion...

Sister Jernigan is a clean freak and I love it! Our apartment is spotless 24/7 and we have become quite fond of bleach. Right now we are working on trying to solve our cockroach problem, we have been told things not to do to cockroaches (like smash them because it spreads their eggs and it makes the other cockroaches mad) but we still haven’t figured out how to get rid of them. Any ideas are welcome!

Next - her hand is healing. It's slow but it is healing.

I went to the doc. this morning and he says it is healing nicely… just a bit slower than it should. I am about 3 weeks behind in the healing process due to my lack of calcium… well hello, I’m lactose intolerant… but I have been taking calcium pills (which is actually a really funny thing, I went to get them and I had no idea what I was looking for… I felt like an old lady looking at all this Osteoporosis medicine and such… while I was looking, Sister LuPeni turned to me with a bottle of Pre-Natal vitamins and said in all seriousness, “Is this what you are looking for?” I laughed so hard… that would be a fun surprise for my new companion to come in and see those sitting on the counter! Haha! Gotta love those foreigners!!!) which have seemed to help because there is SOME bone growth!! Woohoo! I have been in a half cast for the past two weeks and I get to be in it for another two weeks but I only have to wear it when I’m out working… so pretty much all the time… then it is OFF!!! I go back to the doc. in a month to get it x-rayed once again (for the 8th time I think!) and we will see how things are looking then! Lets just say that I am becoming friends with his office staff!

The work is good:

We have two investigators set for baptism and one more will be set next week! Once again, the Lord is Smiling on the Paradise Zone! Luis is set for the 18th of April, he is being taught by the Spanish Elders but he is attending the English ward so he is counted as our investigator. He is from Mexico and is married to a Samoan who speaks very little Spanish and he speaks very little English! Love, true love!!! They are an awesome family! Fo, his wife is a member and we have been working to get her back into activity! Krystal is still set for baptism but we had to move her to April 4th instead of this Saturday because she missed church on Sunday, on accident! She is so incredible and it has been so amazing to she her complete turn around! We just started working with a woman, Treicy, whose mother just got baptized a month ago in another ward. Treicy just went through a divorce and has been looking for some peace and comfort in her life. She says that nothing has helped her as much as learning about the gospel has. She has 2 little boys who are so cute, they want to be missionaries when they grow up. they are buddies with the Elders who taught their grandma!

And in usual Chelsee fashion, she closed her letter with:

Make good choices, don't do drugs, and BE HAPPY!!!

Susan's getting baptized!!!

2009-03-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

What a miraculous week we've had! Susan is getting baptized on Saturday! I am so thrilled and so happy for her.

We had Stake Conference this weekend - she personally met the mission president, Pres. Phile as well as our visiting authority, Elder Melchin. It was in a special session just for investigators and newly baptized members. She connected quickly with President Phile and it was while Elder Melchin was speaking that Susan knew that she knew.

Later that evening, we had Susan, the missionaries (love our missionaries!!!) over for dinner. After dinner we watched, "Together Forever" and after that we just visited. We let Susan just talk and as she talked she basically bore her testimony to all of us. At that point, Gyle spoke up and said, "Looks like we have a baptism to plan"

Once she was able to verbally admit that she found her answer, she just seems to beam!

This opportunity is truly an answer to our prayers - not just to share the gospel but answers to prayers concerning our own family. This has been a miraculous journey of prayer and blessings!

Walker Fam Missionary Experience

2009-03-19T16:35:00.001-07:00

We've had the marvelous experience of sharing the missionary discussions with one of our neighbors and friends. The following is a segment from a letter that I wrote to Chelsee about our discussion Wednesday evening:

Last night the lesson was on prayer and asking to know the truth. This was our fourth lesson with her. Elder Bagley derived a lot of his lesson from 3 Ne 11 where the Savior speaks to the people in Bountiful and that the first thing He teaches is that He is the Savior that the scriptures speak of. The first lesson the Savior wants us to know is that He is Jesus Christ.
Then we went on to talk about prophets, and the BOM. Susan admitted that she has let anger get in her way... anger about being ill, about having a hard life, etc... She's searching for truth and is trying to find answers. She also has questions about why she should be baptized again since she was already baptized by immersion.
Bro. Richey told Susan that when he first looked at the Church, it was a casual thing - just sorta wanting to know. But it wasn't until the trial of his faith and his desire to really want to know that he received his answer! Elder Bagley bore testimony that he believes that working through Susan's problems is a trial of her faith as well. Then, Elder Bagley promised Susan that if she would just pray and ask Heavenly Father if He did restore his gospel that she would get an answer. He promised that all she had to do was ask, "is it real?" and that the Spirit would bear witness to her. The Spirit in the room was sooooo strong! It was tangible! I was so glad that Tyson was there. It was one of the sweetest feelings, very peaceful and amazing.
Elder Bagley said, "Susan, we'd like to ask you to pray. And you can use this opportunity to simply ask." Susan whispered, "I'm not ready." And that was that!
Elder Bagley told me that usually he would have persuaded her to go ahead, but that the Spirit told him not to push. After she left, I spoke quite a bit with the Elders. Elder Bagley was tearful as he said, "You know, I can handle the discouragement and disappointment of knocking doors all day and getting no where. I can handle the disappointment of doors slamming and rejection. But my heart just breaks with things like this. I can't force her to make the choice, but I feel like I just want to plead with her!"
I told the Elders that we do need to be patient because Susan has a lot on her plate right now. She is a single mom, fighting cancer, trying to deal with enormous finances because of medical bills, trying to be the best mom she can to a 6 year old who doesn't understand, etc... She's doing it all alone.
Then Elder Bagley spoke up and said, "Sis. Walker what you just said is profound! She's not alone! We need to teach her that! She's not alone! If she were to get baptized she'd have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost as well as a whole ward family! She's not alone!"
Wow! What an experience this has been.

Chels is Senior Companion!

2009-03-19T16:28:00.001-07:00

Sister Walker's is now the Senior Companion! Here's some highlights from this week's letter:

Hand is good!!! Oh the life of Sister Walker! The work is going great! We set Krystal for baptism for March 28th!!! I am SO EXCITED!!!
I have a new companion now, her name is Sister Jernigan and she is from North Carolina near Charlotte. She has been out 6 weeks longer than me but I am the Senior Companion... How did that happen! Yikes… I don’t know! I was really scared at first but now I’m ok with the whole thing!
Sister LuPeni got off ok and now I hope that she is still doing ok because I have heard that they are having a Tsunami in Tonga right now….hmmm… She cried lots and lots when she left. She was having some super comp separation anxiety problems when I dropped her off at the airport and she had to be by herself! It was sad to see her go (mostly because I am going to miss having a Polynesian Companion who goes to lots of Polynesian things) but I look forward to once again learning from a new companion!
This area is growing up very well! I’m so proud of it! Haha! We went to the temple today and it was glorious as usual!!!
I will let you know… IN DETAIL… how the doctor goes nest week so that you won’t have to call Sister Christensen! Ha!!! I love you all SO much!
Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be happy and continue sharing the gospel!Love, ME!!!

Sister Walker's Letter Update

2009-03-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

We received a very touching and powerful letter this week. Here are a few key portions that I think you might enjoy...

In response to Gyle sharing with Sister Walker that Richelle, one of Chelsee's Colorado friends, will be returning home from her mission the end of the month, Chelsee wrote:

Dad, time flies by WAY TOO FAST! A couple of weeks ago I was starting to feel discouraged because I was doing SO much in Kingman and then I came up here and we had 2 investigators and only 8 potentials... we did have Maria's baptism but that was all. I didn't know what to do with myself... I was feeling like I wasn't at my full potential. And on top of that I was put with a trunky companion... Time flies by WAY too fast to be tracting all day every day and have no results. So, I called President one night and asked if I could come in and visit with him so that he could give me some advice. I was able to go in and tell him everything that was on my mind... I want to be the best missionary I can be and I didn't feel like I was able to do that at that time. I felt like I had emptied out my bucket on these people and it wasn't getting re-filled. He was so incredible. He helped me resolve some of my concerns and gave me some excellent advice. He told me that for the next couple of weeks all he wanted me to study was the life of the Savior and write an Easter talk on the atonement. He also gave me a blessing and he blessed me to realize the impact that I am making in others lives. In the blessing he said that I will be having a Huge change next transfer and that I would have a lot more responsibility... that kinda made me nervous because I think I might be training... He said that this time is preparing me for future companionships. And he blessed me to recognize the love that the Savior has for me!! I felt 100 times better after that. He has placed a lot of trust in me by putting me in this area that hasn’t had much, if any, progress in the past year. I am supposed to be one of the ones to turn this zone around… Yikes!!! He told me that if there was anything that I needed to do better, he would tell me and there is nothing that he would change about me. That really lifted me up!!! He has so much love for all of us and of course some extra love for me because I am a fellow Coloradoan!!! Haha! Anyway, the moral to that story is that time needs to slow down. I think that by the time I get a hang of this, I will be boarding an airplane to come home. Everyday is an amazing learning experience and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world!!!!

The Elders serving in our ward asked Gyle if any of the many baptisms that Sis. Walker had slated in Kingman when she left, ever materialized.

You can tell the Elders that yes, the baptisms are ALL going through. Patricia, the new wife of the ex-communicated bishop/ newly baptized member… was baptized with her husband on Feb. 14th. Jennifer Hepner, Aaron Hepner’s step-mom was baptized on the 21st and her baby was blessed on the 22nd. The Schuelers (Dad and two boys… LA now Active Mom) are getting baptized next weekend. The Farnsworths (Mom and Son are still working towards their baptism. The Schoeneman kids (3) are ready for baptism and are waiting for their dad to be ready… I am going to call Sis. Little this afternoon and find out if there is anything else going on. I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO Happy for them!!!!!!!!! It just makes me want to work even harder in this area! Woohoo!!!

Can't believe that Sister Walker has been serving for over six months - time does fly by WAY TOO FAST!

Oh - and Chelsee will go back to the doctor in one week to find out if the cast is working or if she will end up needing surgery for her broken hand.

Sister Walker This Week

2009-02-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some highlights from Chelsee's letter to me this week...

I really am doing Amazingly well!!!! It is just what President Benson says, "I have often said that one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." I just keep working and the Spirit keeps me going and keeps me SO happy!!!
I went back to the doctor today and he says everything is looking good... we still think I can be ok without surgery BUT, I go back in 2 weeks and they will remove the cast to see if there is anything the x-rays aren't showing... then they will re-cast it.
President has been keeping a pretty close eye on me too... he calls about every 2 days!!! Hahaha! We are becoming quite the buddies! Ha!!
Thank you for your love and concern... Know that I am doing VERY well!!!! I can’t think of a better place or time to have broken a bone and still be able to keep my
spirits up!!! I love serving in the Lords Army!!! Onward Christian Soldiers!!!!!

Sister Walker's Broken Hand

2009-02-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sis. Walker thought she'd break her hand on Friday the 13th - Here is a copy of the letter Chelsee sent this week explaining about her broken hand. She included a photo of her X-Ray as well as a photo of Sis. Walker and her companion - it is a classic "Chels," sporting lovely yellow sunglasses that I'm sure are considered conservative for missionaries???? (giggle)

I will be talking with her doctor this week and will keep you posted on any updates... This is just such a Chelsee kind of thing. (smile)

Yes folks I broke my right hand on Friday the 13th (go figure!!!) and I have a
freaking AWESOME green cast!!!! I'm doing great! The work must go on
and hey... it softens people’s hearts when you show up on their doorstep with
your arm in a sling!!!!

Ok, you are probably wondering how I did it... but it shouldn't surprise you that I am very talented at being accident prone...... I broke it when I was reaching for my mousse in my cupboard and the mousse fell on the ground... on my way from point A to point B I ran into point A 1/2!!!

Sis. Christensen (the mission Mom) laughed pretty hard when I called her and told her what happened. The bone broke in half and I had to go in on Tuesday and get it set...OUCH! Very, very, very painful but super cool how they did it!!!! I wish I had a picture of sister Lupeni’s face!!! Priceless! I go back in next Thursday to
make sure I don’t need surgery!

I am SOOOOO excited for Maria’s baptism on Saturday!!!! She is so incredible! We have had so much fun planning her baptism and we have also had many many spiritual experiences while planning too!

We went to a Samoan fireside last Sunday with an investigator. A Samoan choir from St. George sang at it! So good… even though I didn’t understand a thing they were saying! The chapel was full of Samoans from the Vegas area!!! Sis. Lupeni
loved it because there were a lot of Tongans there too! Yummy food
afterward!!!! Delish!

Well friends, I am LOVING LIFE!!!!!!!! I have written this whole thing with one hand and it sure is getting tired! Make good choices, don’t do drugs, be
happy and watch out for those crazy counters!!!!

LOVE,
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Have The Bestest Family Ever!!!

2009-02-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

Well, you've seen some of the fun created by my family for my birthday! I just have to tell you that even though I dislike getting older every year - this birthday was great! I thought I would have been fine just letting my day slip by - but instead I enjoyed every minute of it! (Actually a couple of days worth of fun!)

On Sunday we had a great meal, my favorite cake and that's when I got to open my books!

On Tuesday (my actual birthday) I woke up to find a "Happy Birthday" banner taped to my mirror and the cutest darn Mary Poppins card that actually sang to me!

I just had to post a quick note to tell my family how much I love each and every one of them!!! The published memory books are so tender and incredible!!! From Tyson's insistence on going above and beyond with balloons and my "Birthday Princess" badge (and I wore it the whole day!) and my beautiful yellow roses and red tulip bouquet! (breathtaking!!!) Wow! I am spoiled!

Anyway - I just had to thank my husband and kids publicly for being so awesome!!! Love you all!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZI!

2009-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, mom had another birthday! We celebrated on Sunday night, since dad was going to be gone on her birthday, which was Tuesday. We had her favorite, angel food cake and bbq pork chops! Britnee has been working for weeks now at getting two books published for mom. One of a bunch of her baby pictures that, some, she didn't even know existed. And another of pictures of her mom as a baby and child, that again, she had no idea even existed! What a treasure!!

Then on Tuesday, Tyson sent her to work with a big, bright pink ribbon with all the disney princess on it that said she was the birthday princess that she wore. He also got her a birthday card with Mary Poppins on it, again, a favorite of hers. She came home to a dozen bright yellow baloons decorating the house, and Dad bought her some BEAUTIFUL flowers!

Happy Birthday Mom! WE LOVE YOU!!!

PS. Contact Britnee if you would like to publish your own book! www.capturingyou.com

Fishing Trip???

2009-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

So, Chelsee's letter home today was titled "Still On My Fishing Trip!!!!" At first I giggled, and then I thought about the meaning behind it... She is being a "Fisher of Men" (And a darn good one at that!)

Here's some highlights from today's letter...

So this transfer is coming to a close pretty soon, February 3rd (yup, mom's birthday!), and as that end gets closer I have realized how immensely I have grown as a missionary. It has for sure been a challenging transfer… new companion, new investigators, no baptisms…etc… but it has been SO worth it!

One of the most challenging parts for me is that I really feel like the senior companion most of the time… I have had to step up to the plate and take on a LOT more responsibility. I know the people here and I know the area and I have had to teach Sister Little SO MUCH. However, I have realized that she is one Powerful teacher and I am learning a ton from her too! So last night as we were talking about this we decided that I am the senior companion over the area and she is the senior companion over the teaching!!! It works out great for both of us!

I love Sister Little! She is a fabulous missionary and I learn from her everyday!

We have had quite a bit of success in our teaching as we now have 4 investigators set for baptism next transfer and 3 or more that we plan on setting within the next week. I have seen the hand of our Father in Heaven so prominently in my life and the lives of our investigators these past few weeks.

One baptism that I am SO excited for is the baptism of our investigators Belinda and Holden. They are a part member family, Belinda is the soon to be wife of a less active member and Holden is her 8 year old son. We found this family on a potentials list and we started teaching them right away. They are amazing! I have loved seeing them keep commitments and grow stronger as a family. The gospel has changed their lives so much! It is incredible!

Know that I am doing well, I am healthy and SO HAPPY!!!! I couldn’t be in a better place doing anything better than this work!

Chelsee Mission Update January 2009

2009-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

It seems that Sister Walker has been extremely busy - so much so that her letters home on Thursdays have been very short. (and always with an apology that she just doesn't have much time) I think that is AWESOME!!! I'm happy that she is so enjoying the work and so busy teaching and serving that that is where her focus lies.

Here are some highlights from her last two most recent letters:

I have started praying in Spanish… I still can’t speak it well but I am beginning to understand it more and more.
Yesterday we went on companionship exchanges (aka Splits) and Sister Ditto spent the day in my area with me! We did a ton of great work. We set 3 people for baptism and had some great lessons, including an incredibly powerful lesson with an ex-communicated bishop and his girlfriend. We set the girlfriend for the 14th of February and he decided that he would like to be baptized on the same day. Of course, he has to go through the bishop but I think that he is ready! Oh and they have to get married… just a minor detail!
We also set a 15 year old who we started teaching last week. Her dad is the Elders Quorum president and KD, who had been living with her mom, just moved in with him and decided that she wanted to take the lessons. She is just worried about hurting her mom’s feelings because her mom doesn’t want anything to do with religion. We reassured her that it was her decision and that she would probably be setting a great example for her mom anyway.
Have I mentioned how much I love being a missionary…? Life couldn’t be better!
We had zone conference yesterday and it was 100% fabulous! I just soak in everything that President Christensen teaches. He teaches with such great love that you can’t help but become captivated in his teachings!
We have a lot of great work going on and we are super busy!

In her letter home this week she shares this great understanding:

Also, today as I was reading my scriptures I was reading in Alma 26 and these
scriptures stood out to me…

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.
30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

Ok, so I haven’t been spit upon nor have I been smote upon my cheeks but I tell you what, at the end of the day I sometimes feel like I have. However, just as it says in verse 30, “that perhaps we might be the means of saving SOME soul…” That is all that matters, as long as I can be the means of saving just one soul then all of this hard work is worth it! I love being a missionary!

Taking Down Christmas / Fresh Air

2009-01-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

I always hate to take down Christmas... until I'm about half way done and then I get so excited that things are getting cleaned up. The house always looks so 'empty' when the decorations are tucked away for another year. But - it's really like a breath of fresh air. Things always end up looking so clean and tidy. That's the part I love!!!

We had a two story Christmas tree in the family room - and so
when the ladder came in the house to take the decorations off the tree, I had Gyle move some art work around. Down came the mirror in the living room and up went our new family photos. The painting in the family room got moved to another wall and in it's place went up pictures of my kids. Tyson wanted to rearrange the furniture, so that's just what we ended up doing.

While we were at it, Gyle decided that the old, broken in, very cumfy chairs in our bedroom had to go - so off we went to purchase some new ones.

All in all, it feels so nice to have Christmas down and my house all tidy and clean.

The Newest Walker Fam Photo

2009-01-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

We took this photo just a few days before Chelsee left on her mission. It's probably the last time we will all be together for over three years! By the time Chelsee comes home from her mission, Tyson will be on his mission. I'm sure there will be many changes to our family by the next family photo time... more grandchildren? another marriage? kids growing up!" etc... Hmmmm, what will the next three years bring?

Chelsee Letter December 18, 2008

2008-12-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

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

Letter from Chelsee

2008-12-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-25T14:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2008-11-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-10-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T07:04:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-19T04:47:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

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!!!