July 5, 2010

Hey family, how is it all going? Well, just to tell ya if you don’t know, transfers have come and gone and I am staying here with Elder Dungan. So far I have heard only good news about him so I am hoping he is a great guy. Well, some news about my old companion, Elder Broadway. This was going to be his last transfer and he would have gone home in August. But, last Wednesday president called and he said "he was just sitting in his office when he had a prompting to call Elder Broadway and give him the chance to go home 6 weeks early and it would be a great blessing to him and his family." His family has been having some problems lately with his sister in law and stuff and Elder Broadway has been having chronic illnesses. So, he is leaving this transfer and going home. SO, as we say in the mission world, “I am killing him.” The person who is sending the missionary home is the one who kills him. Other terms like ,”I was born in Bruxells” and “my fathers are Elder Caywood and Elder Mitchell.” Just some weird terms missionaries use. Then, each mission has their own vocabulary and so forth, like boafy, frére, mook, furgy, stuff like that.

We are also losing a companion ship in Charleroi 2. So, in total with Charleroi 1 and 2 we had 8 missionaries, 6 elders and 2 sisters. Well, the sisters are closing and the other companionship in Charleroi 2 is closing. I am the only one staying in Charleroi 2 and Elder Berrett is the only one staying in Charleroi 1. So, I have been going with the other elders to teach so they can pass me their investigators, because they are leaving. So, that will be fun.

You told me a little about Jake and how he has bugs and mice and other creepy crawly thing in his apartment. I thought that is was funny, but I kinda feel bad for him. I kinda had a similar thing happen to me but they were not crawling on me or anything. Last week on the exchange with Elder Berrett, we taught a lesson and as we were leaving we saw a huge spider on the wall. We found out it was a wolf spider. I got a good picture of it. I will try to send it home. We ended up killing it and after I told him IF I ever saw a spider like that in our apartment I would freak out......That was a bad part on me. I had to open my big mouth. A couple of days later I was taking the garbage to the basement and when I open the door guess what I saw, a HUGH FREAKIN SPIDER! That thing was ugly! I ended up getting a couple of Joseph Smith brochures in a language I have no clue and killed it, but that thing was big and ugly. Well, that was my story about that. I just hope when I wake up one morning I don’t find one on top of me.

We had a chance this week to do some service for someone in our ward. Last Sunday the bishop got up in Priesthood and treated it like a military operation. He said that there is not going to be any honor in what we are about to do. We just go in, do it, leave and never talk about it ever again. Doesn’t sound to good, does it? Well, it was moving a person to another house. On Wednesday, we went over and we ordered a huge garbage bin to throw everything in. I thought they were just joking, but I underestimated them. We go in and it was bad and I mean bad. I have seen garbage dumps cleaner then her house. Stuff everywhere - dirt, old food, everything, if you hit the sink in the kitchen - millions of flies came out. I am sure that 2nd hand smoke was better to breath than what we were breathing in at that house. That day we just cleaned the basement. Then Saturday is the day we moved. It was bad! We got the fridge to the new apartment. The ward mission leader and Elder Winker were carrying it up when it opened. Old, and I mean old, mayonnaise fell on the floor and broke and some other stuff. And the smell, oh mamma mia, the smell was horrible. The 2nd counselor in the bishopric ran out and threw up. Everyone just ran for their life. It was bad! When we finally got the fridge up, the ward mission leader told her to clean the fridge right now because it was horrible. We eventually got done and we are not going back, it was bad. I think I may have lost 10 years of my life due to what I was breathing.

Well, that is my story for the week. Well, I love you and hope you all had a great 4th of July. Have fun and remember to stay bright eyed, bushy tailed, and egger to excel. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER