February 29, 2016 Service in Phoenix, AZ

Hey y'all how's it goin? Random quote of the day " Love BIG, play HARD & eat DESSERT. Savor the simple things and don't worry about the rest. Choose today to be AMAZING!"

I read that on a paper towel so I write it down because it was cool. We had a zone conference where our mission president shared a story.

"There once was a boy named Benjamin. Benjamin loved to play his violin. Well he loved it so much that his mom would lock it away so he would do his chores on the farm. Once his chores were done he would play the beautiful violin. He got so good he auditioned for a symphony and was they were so impressed with his ability to play that he got a job where he would make enough money for himself and have enough to send home to the family too. Benjamin thought his life was made that's when his bishop called him into his office and asked him to accept a mission call. Benjamin ran home and told his mother, she was delighted but when he told her of the expenses her smile faded. They had nothing but land to sell and Benjamin would not let her sell the land. They had one thing to sell one thing that meant soooo much to him. The only thing they had that would cover the finances was Benjamin's beautiful violin.

Benjamin records in his journal "I woke up early and played my violin all day long I played wonderful melodies and played late into the night where the light grew too Dim for me to play anymore so I put away my violin knowing that in the morning I would not see it anymore.

Well he went on his mission and over 40 years later recorded in his journal " I am so great full I made that sacrifice and gave up something that was so dead to my heart for the God that I love even more."

Wow what a powerful statement what a great story. Now you know I am serving my mission in the Scottsdale Arizona mission where I am currently serving in Mesa. I was called to a marvelous work and a wonder to help "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

So my commitment to you to think about and ponder today and throughout your life "WHAT IS YOUR SACRIFICE FOR THE GOD YOU LOVE EVEN MORE?"

Now mission update this week was slow. We worked hard! we peddled hard, we biked, we sweat, it was in the 80's and 90's this week so biking was a blast you know (it was no sweat) Hahaha little humor well Sunday was our stake conference and 2 of the members in one of the wards I am serving in were translating English into Spanish. It was cool. The talks were great I sang in the stake choir we sang "this is the Christ" and I believe in Christ those 2 songs were sung with conviction and power it was truly amazing singing and feeling the spirit of music I love music.

We also got to do a HUGE service project. The Phoenix marathon was on Saturday and guess what station I get put at? none!!! I got to do garbage. Now man I have so much more compassion on garbage men. It is a nasty job. The liner would fall into the trash can and people would still put stuff in the garbage so we'd have to put a liner over the top of the whole garbage can and flip it upside down and dump the trash in and then put the liner with the garbage back in the can.

Now a little bit of math for y'all 15,000 runners and plus their families that is a TON of people!!!! And a TTTOOONNNN OF GARBAGE!!!!!! Now let's see 10 garbage cans and 6 of us at trash we would go around to all 10 garbage cans and if they were full we would tie it up pull it out of the can and have to walk it to a little cart that loaded up the trash and took it to a dumpster. Now it was crazy there was a lot of nasty food there was Famous Dave's, kneaders French toast, muscle milk with buff dudes and nasty girls handing out muscle milk, there was creamies oh man we would load up the little golf cart full of full bags of garbage and take them to the dumpster. When we got to the dumpsters we would have to throw the bags into the dumpster and sometimes the liners weren't strong enough so when we would throw the garbage the bags would sometimes blow open and cover us in melted creamies, Mac and cheese, Famous Dave’s barbecue sauce, kneaders syrup, and muscle milk!!! Nasty we were covered in nasty garbage.

we started at 6:30 A.M and got done at 2:00 P.M. We got 4 things of Gatorade concentrate kneaders gave us 25 14" x 6" trays of French toast and a ton of syrup and muscle milk gave us like 68 protein shakes which is a ton of money like a TON!!! So helped out got free stuff got to learn a lot about garbage and how oblivious people really are.

So had a good week full of service on Saturday and stake conference on Sunday I got to go to a Spanish baptism where I couldn't understand them but I could feel the spirit. So that was cool and yeah you are caught up on my life now.

Peace for now!!!!

Love you so much!!!!

-Elder Walker

February 22, 2016 Short Post

Well work is going well we found 2 less active families who we are working with!! :D we are trying to get them back to the temple and they are really prepared and I am super excited!!!

Love you,
Elder Walker

February 15, 2016 Bomber Week

Oh my heck Friday we went to this investigator named James house so his wife answers the door and we say is James here. she goes yeah!!! So James comes out, mind you I've never ever met this dude. He comes to the door and he is JACKED OUT OF HIS FREAKING MIND!!!!!!! This guy is 5 foot 9 and he is 240 POUNDS OF PURE MUSCLE!!!!! he is huge he says "when you want to come by or want to do service come by, we'll have a lesson well do service I'll cook up some steaks." This guy was like "if anybody messes with you, you tell me because I'm the guy who messes people up who mess with my missionaries!!!" Hahahaha we were like "bro I bet you could mess them up your freaking jacked!!! And he was like dude I'm out of shape!!!" He used to do professional boxing and used to make a 7 figure salary! He has trained missionaries after their mission for UFC and boxing.

So about the mission we have A LOT TO DO!!!!!!! It is pretty hard because work has been backed up for so long. in our area there are 260+ potential investigators who might want to hear the gospel. A potential investigator is someone who once made contact with the missionaries maybe on the street or at a booth or somewhere but either they don't answer the door or the missionary never goes by. So they never get taught a lesson. So we have to find out if they are still interested or if they even live there and here are over 260 houses we have to go by. we have lots of work.

our mission is making a push to teach member missionary lessons so what that is, is they are short little 10 -15 minute lessons where we teach members of the church to do missionary work. It ranges anywhere from using social media, to creating a mission plan, to inviting someone to church or to meet with missionaries. So it goes over a lot and it will be for about a year.

So Guys I have 2 commitments for you. Will you individually and as a family pray for opportunities to do missionary work? The hardest part about doing missionary work is opening your mouth. So my 2nd commitment is Will you pray as individuals as well as a family to have the courage to open your mouths when the opportunities arise to do missionary work?

I can promise you that as you pray for opportunities to do missionary work that they will come your way and it is a promise over and over in the scriptures that as you "treasure up in your mind continually the words of life it shall be given you what you shall say" also "take ye no thought beforehand what he shall say"

It is my testimony that God lives. God the eternal father lives! And loves us. I testify that Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of mankind, he bled and died for us so that we may return to live with him again, and that without his sacrifice we would not make it to

heaven. I know Joseph smith was a prophet he was called of God to restore Christ's church here upon the earth once again. I know that I have been called to Arizona to this great work so that I can further the work of the kingdom of God here upon the earth. I know from personal experience that as you pray for opportunities to do missionary work Heavenly Father will throw experiences your way. I know that he Holy Ghost will promo you on what to say. So listen to the holy host listen to the promptings of the spirit but more than listening you must act. A wise missionary I know once said "the more you act on a spiritual prompting, the more spiritual promptings you will receive." I have a testimony of prayer I know that prayer is the way we communicate to God and that God hears every prayer you pray to him and he not only hears them but he answers them but God will answer prayers it may not be at the time you want him to and it might not even be the way you want it but God is all knowing and all powerful he has a plan and knows what is best for us. I leave my testimony with you In The name of my savior, redeemer and brother, Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Walker

February 1, 2016 Inspirational Thoughts / Stories

Hey y'all guess what?!?! I killed my first companion he is dead. He is

home now he is done with his mission he is home now!

A star with an apparent magnitude of six is barely visible to the naked eye

HA-HA! random fact of the week

Glenna’s Gifts

New Era December 2014

Lauren B., California, USA

My grandfather died just three days before Christmas. That year, my

family received a gift that changed our lives forever: Glenna. Glenna

is my dad’s sister who was born with disabilities. She came to live

with us after my grandpa passed away. Ever since that first Christmas,

Glenna’s example has taught me how to be more Christlike.

Glenna was born with many physical challenges, and she’s helped me see

that sometimes the most beautiful spirits are housed in

different-looking bodies. Because of Glenna, I’m no longer

self-conscious about the way I look, and I choose to focus on what’s

inside.

Living with Glenna has taught me patience. She has difficulty

speaking, she often breaks things, and she struggles to do many tasks

on her own, but she’s also willing to learn. There’s no greater reward

than working with Glenna until she gets something right.

Glenna has taught me to find joy in the little things. For instance,

at Glenna’s birthday parties, it didn’t matter whether she received a

one-dollar bill or a one-hundred-dollar bill--she was delighted. And

when we drove around each year at Christmastime, Glenna would shout,

“Wow!” and clap her hands at each brightly lit home we passed by.

She’s taught me to see the extraordinary within the ordinary. She’s

taught me to see that there’s something special in everything--and

everyone.

As I look back on the past Christmases I spent with Glenna, I can see

the impact she’s made on my life. Every year, the one Christmas gift I

will never forget--and will be forever grateful for--is Glenna.

Let us all be like Lauren and focus on what's inside rather than how

we look and be self-conscious you know when I read that I filled with

tears and a huge smile came on my face it made me super happy reading

about all the joy in the tiny inns that are generally overlooked!

So my challenge for you is to look inside rather than outside and look

for the blessings in your life

Quote

I always thought of charity as giving things to those in need, but I

learned how to give pure love and received much more. I realized that

charity doesn’t revolve around money. Charity is answering the Lord’s

call to help someone in need.- Amanda D.

What more can I add to that quote? I'll say another quote "the more we

act on the promptings we receive the more promptings we will receive!"

Dana P., Minnesota, USA

For New Beginnings, I was asked to talk about virtue as a Young Women

value. I was supposed to wear something gold to coordinate with its

value color, but my wardrobe didn’t seem to include that color. After

searching through my closet, I located a gold shirt that I hadn’t worn

in a long time. I tried it on only to realize I’d outgrown it. Looking

in the mirror, I thought, “This is probably not a good night to wear

something a little too short--I’m representing virtue.”

Then it hit me: I’m always standing for virtue. Every day I represent

virtue and modesty in my attitude, actions, words, and clothing. On

Sundays and at youth activities, I can be a model of modesty for the

younger girls. As one of the few Latter-day Saint students at my

school, I try to dress appropriately, because to others, I represent

my religion. Most important, my clothes can show others and myself

that I know my body is a temple and that I respect it as such. By

dressing modestly, I “stand for truth and righteousness,” just as the

Young Women motto proclaims.

As I talked about virtue that night, I spoke with confidence. Perhaps

my outfit was more yellow than gold, but I felt at peace before my

friends, my leaders, and my Heavenly Father. “No matter what I’m

doing,” I thought, “I always want to dress modestly. I represent

virtue every single day.”

So my next challenge to you is to remember that you represent virtue

every day. Be modest, "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly",

"be an example in deed and in conversation". If you have thoughts of I

am worthless that is not virtuous and therefore it is not from God.

Mike C., Gloucestershire, England

One weekend I visited a seaside resort in the south of England. While

there, I wanted to get to a place called Fairlight Glen farther up the

coast. As I started to walk up the coast, I saw a sign saying, “Do not

walk along this section of the beach.” No other information was given,

and I didn’t know why the instruction was placed there. I ignored the

sign and continued up the coast to Fairlight Glen.

As I walked I noticed that the tide was coming in. On one side of me

were very steep, almost vertical cliffs, and on the other side the sea

was closing in. I realized that I could be trapped by the incoming

tide. I panicked and started to run! The pebbles on the beach made it

very difficult to run, and as I put my weight down, my feet would sink

in and cause me to feel as if I were getting nowhere. Realizing that I

might not make it to Fairlight Glen in time, I looked at the cliff

face and considered climbing at a point that didn’t look as steep as

the rest. But as I held on to the cliff face, the soft chalk rock gave

way and there was no grip or support to climb up. Continuing to panic,

I ran along the beach until I eventually reached Fairlight Glen, where

there was easy access up the cliff face.

I’ve thought about how much that event applies to our lives in the

Church today. God has put certain rules in place, and sometimes we

don’t know why. However, God’s commandments can be a blessing and a

protection for us because they prevent us from getting involved in sin

or spiritual and physical danger.

I now appreciate the wisdom of that sign near the coast. Although it

was a restriction, it was also a protection from being trapped by

incoming tides. Had I followed its wise advice, I wouldn’t have put my

life in danger that day. I know the same is true for us when we choose

to keep the commandments, because they are there to bless and protect

us and keep us safe.

I couldn't have said it any better. Sorry I shared a lot of stories

from new eras and other church magazines but there is valuable

information in these little stories

Well that's all for this week! Talk to y'all next week!

-Elder Walker