May 24, 2010

Hey family, I don’t have a lot of time right now because I am in Namur Belgium. We went to go see some castle/citadel thing. It was really cool! The member, Patrick, is going to post pictures and tag me in them on Facebook, so, you should be able to see them. Well, I am still in Namur. The train leaves in about 25 minutes so I don’t have that much time. I think I have about 12 minutes I can write. Well, today was great. I took a ton of pictures to they are pretty cool. I should be sending them home soon because I have a ton of pictures, so that will be good.

Well, just to let you know, Namur is so beautiful. It is so clean and nicer then Charleroi. Charleroi is like the ghetto of Belgium, but it is still pretty fun in Charleroi. Well, I am staying for another transfer here with Elder Broadway. So, that is good, another transfer here, it is fun. Last week Elder Crump, Elder Receveur and I went bowling and had a goaf match (goaf is a waffle) ((can’t spell sorry)) where if you lose you owe the other two a goaf. Well, we played 3 games. We all won one and all lost one. That means we owe each other 2 goafs. It was way fun.

Then this past week we did a district finding activity in Namur on Tuesday. It was fun. We all go to one place with a box of Book of Mormons and go talking away. I started talking to this one guy and he was speaking with a Romanian and an Italian accent. I was glad Elder McQuay was there because as we say here, “J´ai rein compri” (I did not understand). Half the time he was speaking Italian not French, but it was fun. It was great to do a big group activity like that, it was fun.

On Saturday we had some Joseph Smith fireside where we took an investigator to it. After, he told us that he made up his mind and that he was going to get baptized. It was awesome! The Charleroi 1 elders had an investigator there too and he wants to be baptized also. He is only 14. He is one of the smartest 14 year old kids I have seen. He was reading in the Book of Mormon in Ether where the brother of Jarrod saw the finger of God and the veil was taken off. He asked how we can be like the brother of Jarrod and have that faith to have the veil taking off from our eyes. Man this kid is cool!

Well, I’ve got to go but I love you all and have fun with the snow you are still getting, when I am here dying of heat. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

May 17, 2010

Hey family, how is it going? I hope you have all had a great week. This past week has been good. I have a funny story. I can now say that I have had a devil cast out of me by some evangelic pastor (or however you spell that). We went over to his house and then we said we are children of our Heavenly Father... that is as far as we got. After he starts going on like. “you are children of the devil and kissing someone before marriage is of the devil and against the law of chastity,” and all that kind of stuff. He was asking us if we can kiss someone and we said yes. Then he is like, “you are children of the devil.” He goes off for awhile, then we said, “can we leave with a prayer?” So, he said, “I will pray, then you can pray after.” So we said ok.......bad mistake on our part! He stands up and starts bouncing up and down and starts saying, “Cast these devils out of these two people. Make them see the light and have these devils cast out.” He also starts mumbling and chanting away. There were two others in the room, his friend and his wife, and they start chanting and mumbling also......at this point I can say me and my companion were afraid that he was going to hit us with the bible or something trying to get devils out of us. But he didn’t. After, we said a nice prayer and asked the spirit to be with us and after that they didn’t say a word. They were expecting us to try and do the same thing with them. We can now say that we will not be going back, but I can say I have had a devil cast out of me now.

Well, that is my funny story for the week. On a happy and good note, this week has been great. We haven’t been able to see our investigator, the one we wanted to set a baptism date with, but we have a rendezvous (appointment) with him this week, so that will be good. Oh, we also have another pastor that we are teaching, but don’t worry, he is awesome! Every time we go over there he starts off saying that we should pray and he offers it. He asks if the people we meet will open there hearts to the spirit and that the spirit can testify of what we say. He then asks if they can have their spirits burn within them and he asks that we may be blessed. It is awesome! The best part is he prays in the name of Jesus Christ, it is so cool. He is one of the coolest people we are teaching. We went over to teach him the plan de salut (for you English speaking people, the Plan of Salvation) and he basically taught himself. It was sweet!

Did anyone ever watch the movie BIG FISH? Well, if you did, do you remember the part when the main person goes through the woods and finds a little town that was hidden. Well, I think I found that place, kinda. We took this road with trees on both sides (it looked like a nature walk) and it ended up in this little town that was hidden from the world, it was pretty cool.

One question, have you ever seen someone walk a cat? I mean I have seen people walk dogs and stuff but I saw someone walking a cat with a leach and all. It was pretty cool I guess. I thought it was pretty funny.

Well, that was our week. Oh, before I forget, we also had interviews this week. He didn’t say if we were staying or going. But we will find out this Saturday if we go or if we stay and if we are going to have the same companion and all that stuff. Well, whatever happens, I will go were ever the Lord wants me to go.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week and thanks for all your love and support. JE T'AIME (I love you in French or you can say JE VOUS AIME. It means the same thing but the je vous aime is more formal. Je t'aime is for friends, family and people who are close. Well, JE T'AIME! LOVE, ELDER WALKER

May 10, 2010

Hey family, how is it all going? It was great to get to talk to you yesterday for Mother’s Day. It really made my day....well; it made more of my evening, because I was talking to you at night here. Well, life here is good. It is going great. The work is going great also. We are planning to set a couple of baptisms dates this week with two of our investigators. So, I hope that goes well. The sister missionaries in Charleroi have a baptism this coming Sunday, so that will be great. There are baptisms happening all over the mission. It is great.

Well, the French is coming along, slowly, but it is coming. When I was in Brussels I don’t think learned that much because half of the appointments we had were in English. And then church was in English and French also. Then when I got here EVERTHING is in French and I just realized not too long ago I can’t understand that much. So, I was kinda freaking out. I am like “I can’t understand a word you are saying.” Maybe, it is because they have a different accent than in Brussels. But, oh well, I know that with the lords help the language will come. So, I am not too worried about that, so it is all good.

It was funny, on Wednesday we went to a rendezvous (appointment) were at the end we played a game called rage. Well, it was my first time playing and I was playing with two Africans and my British companion. I ended up winning and I kinda beat them pretty bad. I was a head like 20 some odd points and after Sister Mopia, the person we are teaching, was going off saying “the American won! They always win! She kept going off about that. Then, her son called and she told him that she was playing a game with the missionaries and guess what, the American won. So, we set up another rendezvous (appointment) for this last Saturday. She told us to bring the game back because she wanted a rematch against the American. So, we brought it back and all 3 of them, Sister Mopia, Timothy Mopia, her son, and my companion all teamed up against the poor old American. I lost, but it was all good and we all had a fun time.

It is also pretty funny. My nickname is Walker Texas Ranger, just like in the show with Chuck Norris. Everyone here has like seen that show. So, now when I introduce myself I say, “Hi. I am Elder Walker, as in Walker Texas Ranger. They always laugh and have a good time. It is a great way to connect to them the first time you meet them, so it is not too weird.

Well, everything else is going great. The work is great, the French not as great as I thought but it is getting there. I am having a great time serving the Lord. I have found great joy. I am so glad I am here serving. Oh, before I forget, every once in awhile we go bowling on p-days, so that is pretty fun also. Well, the mission is a great place to be. I love it here and am having a great time. Thank you for all of your love and support. I hope you all have a great week and you also have a fun week at that. Well, I love you all and am truly grateful for your love and support. Have fun and remember, stay bright eyed, bushy tailed, and egger to excel. Love ya! LOVE ELDER WALKER TEXAS RANGER

May 3, 2010

Hey, how is it all going? I hope everything is going great for everybody. Well, the weather is not too bad. It’s been pretty nice. It has been like a high of 27°, isn’t that just awesome! It is so nice we haven’t been wearing our coats or suit jackets for some time now. Oh, just to tell you so you don’t think I am crazy, it is 27°C not °F, so it is in the high 70’s and low 80’s in °F. So, it is pretty nice here. Well, things here are going good. We never set up the baptism dates for our other two investigators because they were too busy this week and we never got to go teach them.

Well, things seem to be going good. The French is coming along. It is way hard, but I will eventually get the hang of it. Well, you know how you play slug bug if you see a Volkswagen Beatle, you yell slug bug. Well, they have it here but they play it with Mini Coopers. We were on the bus and these two girls were telling us a story. They were just talking away when one just yelled out MINI and hit the other person on the arm. So, that was pretty funny.

Ok, a funny story for you. I was on a work day with Elder Simonson and we go to a door to knock on it. So we did and a guy comes out and said he was not interested. So, Elder Simonson said “you are not interested in our ties?” Well, he comes out of the house, closed the door and was like “listen! I am into Satanism. The devil is my Master and I serve him.” We are like, ok, He goes off for a little more. Then he said, “I know there is going to be a great battle between Satan and God.” We said “yes there will be and I guess we will see you on the battle field.” He is like “I am like you guys. You serve your master and you will fight for him too. The same goes for me. But if I see you on the battle field I WILL KILL YOU.” We tried not to laugh and we said “ok then I guess we will see each other on the battle field” and we said our goodbyes. Right when we got around the corner Elder Simonson just started laughing way hard. It was a funny experience.

Another story, there always seems to be an Ice Cream truck following the missionaries around. One day we were with a member working with him when an ice cream truck pulls up next to us in the car. Elder Broadway rolls down the window and yells, “hey stop following us...” Well, the ice cream truck driver heard and rolled down his window. At this point I was like, “you have done it now Elder.” Well, the guy just looks at us and Elder Broadway rolls back down the window and was like, “Hi, how are you doing today?” acting like nothing happened. It was a pretty funny experience also.

Well, those are a couple of things happening here in Charleroi. Life is good. I am having a fun and great time serving the Lord. Oh, it was way funny. One of the mornings this week, Elder Simonson and I did a work out. We did lunges, where you work out your legs. We did 351! Afterward our legs hurt so bad we couldn’t even walk. Then the next day it was the same thing. It was pretty funny, we couldn’t even sit down. My legs are still a little sore still but it’s all good.

Well, I hope everything is going great. The mission is great and I love being here. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week and I will talk to you next week. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER