September 27, 2010

Hey family, how is it all going? Well, I got some transfer news and to tell you the truth, Elder Ellis and I did not see this one coming. Well, I am staying in Anger with Elder Ellis but we are also getting a new Elder in our companionship. His name is Elder Brady. He is in our District but is moving from another city. He is in his 3rd transfer, so it will be cool. You have me, in my 7th elder, Ellis in his 5th and Elder Brady in his 3rd. We are the only companionship in the mission with 3 missionaries. We have a lot of missionaries I guess on visa wait to come over. So there are a lot of missionaries that will come in, well, whenever they can. Some missionaries think that we will get one in our companionship and they will just make us into two companionships. That would mean that one of us will be training....fun. Well, that is the transfer news. We have a very young district. We have Elder Crump and I who were in the MTC together in our district. Elder crump is our district leader and he is also training, so fun for him. You then have Elder Ellis in his 5th transfer, Elder Smith in his 4th along with his companion who is in his 4th, and then you have Elder Brady who is in his 3rd and the greeny. So, we have a young district - how fun.

Well, on to this week. Life here has been good. We have been working hard and having fun. We have had a couple of mangez-vous (dinner appointments) with members this week. So, that has been real nice to go over and talk with them. A couple even tried to invite their friends over to have dinner with us. Awesome member referrals! This last Saturday we did a big district activity where our whole district came to Angers and we built a Live de Mormon tower. We then went on our way contacting. It was great. We got some good contacts and people who were really interested in the Book of Mormon and our funny tower that went along with it. Then we also went out to get a kabob for lunch. It is a sandwich and really good. There was someone who they stopped and talked to and we taught him after lunch. During the middle of the lesson some guy comes up and starts as he says; “just talking and sharing ideas” or in other words, trying to bash us and tell us that we are wrong and all the Christians are wrong and everything. The cool part was that guy we were teaching started to defend us and the Book of Mormon. He doesn’t even know us and he was defending us and telling that man what the Book of Mormon was. It was just awesome! We were all in shock, just thinking WOW! We have a rendez-vous with him next Saturday, so that should be awesome.

Well, we also did the same old, same old contacting stuff we do every day. It is something that needs to be done so that’s why you have us. I am now (and I can’t believe I am saying this) but I am officially OLD! I am no longer a teenager. Goodbye teenager childish years and hello to the adult childish years.....I mean you always have to have a child in you somewhere. It was a good day. It does fill weird to think that I am 20 years old but what can you do. It was good. I did some fun missionary work. Also Soeur (sister) Staheli called me, the mission president’s wife, to wish me a happy birthday, so that was cool. Elder Ellis was nice and bought me a pastry for my birthday.

Oh yah - on Tuesday we had a member who works with us, he is way cool, anyway, we go to the church and he had lunch for us. Guess what we ate.....it was a real French meal....we had ESCARGOT or in other words SNAIL.

It wasn’t the first time I had eaten snail. I had some in Utah but I don’t think they are that bad. They taste like chicken, just rubbery and chewy, but they were good. We also had shrimp. One problem, when we left we left some of the stuff in the kitchen. When we came the next day the whole room smelled like fish. So, we had to air out the whole relief society room. It was good though, it did not smell like that at church. So, that is good.

Well, I wanted to thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes and your hopes that I had a great day - so thank you. And thank you for the wonderful gifts and cake also. I have not made the cake yet, but maybe today I will because I want some American food or dessert. So, thank you! I hope you all have a great week and know that I love ya. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

September 20, 2010

Hey family, how is everything going? This week has been great. We had a baptism! Hooray! Well, it was a great day! We have had a rendez-vous with him all this week. Every night we had a rendez-vous with him and his wife. Then, on Friday, Elder Hass came down from Paris to baptize him on Saturday. That night we all went over to Joan’s house and had dinner with him and his wife. Then we watched “Special Witnesses” with him. Saturday morning we got up and headed over to the church to get everything ready. When we got there, there were people showing up and we didn’t even know who they were. We found out that there was a big stake meeting at the same time as Joan’s baptism. Because we meet in the stake center everyone came here. So, we were freaking out a little because they were here and taking up everything, but eventually it turned out to be ok. Joan showed up and we were able to take pictures with him before the baptism. When the time came Elder Ellis and I were asked to be the witnesses to the baptism, so that was a cool thing to do and the baptism was great! Everything went well the first time and there was a great spirit there in the room. Then, yesterday was his confirmation. He showed up in his wedding suit. He had class and he was looking good for the confirmation. We asked him about it and he said it was a special occasion so he wore that. He was looking good. Then, when the time came for his confirmation, there was a great spirit in the room. It was awesome!!!!!!

So, that was the baptism. It was great. A funny thing happened though when we interviewed him last Wednesday. The interview was great. The zone leaders came down from Nantes do the interview. Then, after the interview, we went to the store across the street to get something to eat. When we came out of the store Elder Ellis said, “Bonjour” to some guy and the next thing we know the guy says, “You fascinate me.” Our zone leader’s face was priceless and I just started to laugh. I could not help it. Good thing the other zone leader was there to cover me. Well, Elder Ellis says, “Sorry sir, I don’t understand. Can we help you with something?” That was the wrong question to ask him. Let’s just say that is when it got weird. He starts going off on how we can help him he said this as he pointed his finger to all of us; “Man, Man, Man and Man. There are four of you and you are always together.” Then he went off on other things. Eventually our zone leader says, “Look, we are not gay.” The guy goes off saying; “That is not a problem is it?” Then he went off on other things that were not good. Well, we told him that we had to go. We got in the car and locked the doors. Then Ellis asked, “Was he hitting on me?” We just all started to laugh. He said he knew it, but he just wouldn’t accept it. He just kept telling himself, “No! This is not happening again!” I guess when he was in his first city and was at his first rendez-vous, it was with a gay guy and he liked him also. Well, we all had a great laugh about that. It was pretty funny.

Oh, and guess what? Last Tuesday, Elder Ellis and I where potato farmers for someone in our ward. They called us up and asked if we could offer some service. We said, “Yes” and when we got there they taught us how to be farmers. We farmed potatoes! It was pretty fun. I liked it. Oh, and yesterday we went to a catholic church. It was weird. I have never been in another church for their services or mass. We stayed for a little bit then we just left. It got a little too weird for us and we didn’t want to stay. It is pretty cool here, they have a lot of old churches and they are really cool to go into and see them.

Well, time is short family. I want you to know that I love you and hope that you will all have a great week. Happy Monday to you all. I love you and TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

September 13, 2010

Hey everyone, how is it going? je spare tout le monde est bien. Well, this week has been fun. Tuesday there was a strike thing going on so we were stuck in our apartment for a little bit. We headed down in the morning to drop off our car at the shop because it was time for service and other stuff like that. When we got to Centre-ville the roads were closed off and there was a bunch of people. So, we went back to the apartment and headed back down by foot. When we got there we wanted to take pictures off the thing but as we were getting close we both felt like we shouldn’t be there. So, we turned around and we got a little French pastry before reaching our apartment. It was good. Wednesday was one of our most packed days and I also found out some great news about Angers. Well, first of all, we had district meeting then we had a really weird rendez-vous with a person we found going port a port (door to door). It was just weird but we left a live du Mormon avec elle and hopefully she will read it (Book of Mormon) with her. Then we went to a less active family where there was a bunch of construction on the road. So, we ended taking this small one lane country road and luckily it leads us right to their house. Ok, now this is where the good – no! No! No! Not good but GREAT news comes in. We found a GOLF COURSE!!!!! You should have seen my face when the less active members showed us. I was so happy. Big wide eyes, open mouth, couldn’t speak. I felt like I was in heaven. We so wanted to go today but people came to our apartment a couple of days ago and needed us to be home today. They where workers and needed to fix a couple of things. We saw them today and they told us they couldn’t come so we spent a lot of time in the apartment when we could have played golf.

Well, Thursday, we dropped off the car in the morning and I about had 4 heart attacks on the way over. One - Elder Ellis almost side swiped a car, two - this old lady on a bike about ran into us, three - a couple of times we went the wrong way around a roundabout and four - we also used an intersection as a roundabout. But, don’t worry, everything is fine. Then, later that day, different story, we were contacting in Centre-ville when this group of kids came up and two girls asked if they could recite a poem to us. So, we said ok....then they took our hands got down on their knees and started quoting a poem to us. I couldn’t help smiling and Elder Ellis just kept a straight face. Then, after they both got up and gave us both a bisous (a bisous is how they say hello and good bye in French. It is where you kiss someone on the cheek.) The mission has asked for elders not to give or receive these and the sisters can only do it with girls. Well, they both gave us a bisous. Elder Ellis was a little shocked because it was his first time getting bisoused. I was a little shocked thinking what in the world is going on but it was not the first time someone gave me a bisous. Some old black lady, who was really nice, in Brussels gave Elder Caywood and me one. She also took Elder Caywood’s gum from him. We just both laughed.

Now, I don’t want anyone to freak out but I did have some beers on Wednesday. It was over at the less active member’s house. BUT DO NOT WORRY! IT WAS NON ALCOHOLIC BEER. It still tasted horrible. I can’t imagine drinking it all the time.

Well, this past Friday I had a workday or an exchange with Elder Smith. He is the one from the Roods home ward. It was great to talk to him and get to know him. We had a great time together. Then, when we changed back Saturday morning, I had to drive all the way from Cholet to Angers. It was good! Just put in some music, nice, calm music and Elder Ellis fell asleep. I drove home. It was about an hour drive, so it was not too bad.

So, that has been our week in Angers. We don’t have that many amie de l'élise so we are doing a lot of finding. We go here and there doing port to port (door to door) contacting on the street. We still have our baptism date set. It is for this Saturday and we have a rendez-vous with him every day this week. So, hopefully he doesn’t get sick of us but he is so ready. It is so cool and I am so excited for him. His name is Joan and he is awesome. We also want to ask this 12 year old kid who comes to church every week. He has done everything to be baptized. So, we want to ask him why he isn’t baptized. Then, ask if he would like to be. His mom and his brother are already members so; it should be easy, maybe, hopefully! Well, that is pretty much the life of a missionary in Angers. Things seem to be going great. Well, I love you and hope that you have a great week this week and have fun at work or school, where ever you are right now. I love you and hope you all have a great day. LOVE ELDER WALKER

September 6, 2010

Hey family, how is everything going? I hope that you have all had a great week. Well, things here are going great. Well, we haven’t been doing much this week....no I take that back, we have done a lot of stuff but it’s all pretty much been contacting. The work here has been a little slow but things are good. Our baptism date is doing awesome. He just got married last Saturday so that is awesome. I am excited for him, it is great. He got married to a member, which is also very nice and now he is going to get baptized Saturday the 18th. It is awesome; he is so ready for the baptism. He has been investigating the church for almost a year and now he is ready. We had a rendezvous with him today which was awesome. We gave him a baptism calendar with days we can see him and what we are going to do when we have a rendezvous with him. He also invited us over for dinner with him and his wife the Friday before the baptism. I am so excited; he is so ready for the baptism.

Well, we got the car back from the other Elders in Cholet so, now we have it. So, guess what? I can drive stick now. It’s all good, no big problems. I haven’t grinded the gears or anything. I have stalled it a couple of times though but practice makes perfect, so I am still practicing on how to get better. But it is coming and I am doing pretty well though. The driving in France, now that is another question. They have weird rules here on who has the right a way or who does this and who does that. It is just very confusing. Well, I would have to say that I was scared out of my mind when I started because I haven’t driven a car in almost 10 months. Now I have to drive a stick and I am in France, so I was a little scared out of my mind but things are good. Now I am not so scared anymore so I am happy about that. It’s cool though, now I can say that I can drive a stick. We got a call from the elders in Cholet and they said they can’t drive it anymore so we would have to come and pick it up. So we headed down by train to Cholet and when we got there they were not home. So we did what every missionary would do, sit around and do nothing. JK JK No, we headed out and did some contacting until we found them. Then we went to a little library and I found this way awesome calligraphy pen and a book to go with it. So I can write in calligraphy. It is fun. I will have to write something and send it to you guys. Ok, so we are in Cholet and the other elders needed help to teach someone because she is a single person. You need someone to go with you if you teach a lady. So, we went but she wasn’t there, but we had a fun time talking. Oh, and guess what? The missionary’s names were Elder Montingé and Elder Smith. Now, I was in the back talking to Elder Smith and I found out he lives in Rood’s ward. His name is Taylor smith and he knows the whole Rood family, even Ben and Wendi. So, that was cool to talk with him and to get to know him. I have a photo of him but I forgot my cord to upload a picture, but it was cool to get to know him and what he does. After we dropped them off and we headed home on a nice country drive. It was cool to see a little bit of France while driving home. I like it. It is very flat though and I do miss the mountains. But, it was still cool to see some of France.

Well, we eventually got home in time for planning then going to bed. It was a fun day though. On Saturday’s we do a cool thing. Every Saturday is called ping pong and pancakes day. This is where you get to come and play ping pong and have real American pancakes made with French stuff. It is cool. My ping pong skills have gotten pretty good, I must say...well at least better than they were. So we do that every Saturday night. It is a good time and fun but, last Saturday we made a ton of pancakes and no one showed up. So, now we have a ton of leftovers. But, all is well, that just means more for us. Well, I do have to say that I think I like Belgium a little better then France so far. The people are a lot nicer there then here. But, it is still very fun. And I do have to say that I miss the Belgie waffles and chocolate and Belgie frites (fries). They were good! Maybe one transfer I will go back but things are good here. I like it I am having fun. And now I have the chance to visit Paris before I go home, which I do have to say that I am stoked for that.

Well, not much else has gone on. We have about 2-3 people who we are teaching and that’s about it. We have been doing a lot of finding though. It’s funny; Saturday morning we have the marché here. This is held in the center of city and there is a bunch of people selling stuff and there is a bunch of people looking around. So, what would a companionship of missionaries do? I would like to call it English Board Contacting. One of us goes around with this board that we wear around our necks. It says: “Practice your English for Free with the Americans.” So, we walk around with that on, and it is funny to see what people do. Here they all read things out loud. So some one reads it and they read it out loud as if they were by themselves. And we are just like “Oh, are you interested?” and they just look at us some weird way and walk off. The same with the name tags. They come up and they stare at your name tag and read it out loud; “L'église de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours.” And the best part is when they look up and realize that you are looking at them. And then you start talking with them, it is so funny. I laugh all the time. Then there are people when you say “hello” that just say “sir” back to you. I love it. Just good times, good times.

So, that is pretty much all of our amies. We decided to work a little bit more with less actives and inactive. So, yesterday we drove pretty much to our boundary to see an inactive family who lives about a 45 min drive away. It was a long time but they where awesome. We have another rendezvous with them this week, so that is cool. Well family, time is running short. It’s been fun talking, but I hope you all have a great day and have fun at work or school. Yes, school has started even here. There are less kids on the street and more in school. Ya, those where the days. Well, I hope you have fun and have a great week. I love ya and TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

Sorry last thing here is a picture of Elder Taylor Smith who lives in the Roods ward.

August 30, 2010

Hey family, how is it going? It has felt like a long time since the last time we talked. Sorry, I never got back to you last week. We were just really busy. Well, no time to lose. I have to write about two weeks, so you better be ready.

Well, transfer day - what a day! Patrick, the member in Charleroi we work with, came and picked me up and took me to the gare (train station). Before I left he gave me a Belgium comic book called Tin Tin (in English it is pronounced Tan Tan) which was pretty cool. He took me to the gare and waited with me until the other elders came. I said goodbye then I got on the train all by myself to go to Paris. It was a nice train ride, not too bad. When I arrived there were a couple of missionaries there to help me get through Paris. I had to go to another station so they helped me on the metro. We got to the other station and I was by myself again waiting for an hour till my train showed up. Finally my train showed up and it took me forever to get to my car. Then when I did, there was no place to put my luggage. So, I stayed with my luggage for the whole trip down to Angers, which sucked because I had a reserved seat on the train that I didn’t get to use. There was also a mom and a little girl riding where I was. During the train ride the little girl threw up, but luckily nothing got on me. Well, after a long trip down to Angers with my luggage, I found my companion and he took us to the apartment. We had a car so that was nice. We have a car for 1 week then the Cholet elders have it for 2 weeks then we get it back. We switch off like that all the time. So, when we get the car back guess who has to learn how to drive a stick? Well, we then had to take Elder Montiney to the train station to get his companion and on the way over we get a flat tire. So, I took off my tie, rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I eventually got the spare tire on but my hands were pitch black and there was no place to wash them. Oh, and by the way, while I was changing the tire I ripped my pants. So now I am walking around with ripped pants and my hands are black with grease and stuff. Well, we drop off the elder and we get back to the apartment to wash up. We then had to go get food because they didn’t get any on p-day. So, we get out to the car and Elder Ellis forgot the keys to the car and to the apartment. He left them in the apartment. So, now we are locked out of the car and our own apartment.....but don’t worry this gets better. We tried calling everyone we could to see if they have a spare key - but no luck. We had English class that night so we headed to the church. No one was there so we eventually got back to the apartment. A member said he could come over to see if he could break in. He came - but no luck. So, now we are out of options and Elder Ellis decides to kick down or open our door.......ya.....well, he kicks it open and the door was fine but the lock - not so much. So, we found some glue and put it back together and the member took us out for a kabob sandwich just to relax. That was my day - flat tire, ripped pants, black hands, locked out of the apartment and to finish it off, a broken lock.

Well, the next day we got some stuff and put it back together and now it is better then what it was. Oh, some time that week, a “Captain Jack Sparrow” contacted us. He didn’t look like him but he had all the actions. He was drunk and he had all the hand motions and everything. It was a little funny until he touched my face. I didn’t like that - not one bit! But, he was cool - just a little special. On Monday it was p-day and I am sorry for not e-mailing you. It was good though. We had to take the car in to get the tire fixed, so we didn’t have a car. But, oh well, I like walking. We had other Elders come over to spend the day with us and also the night because we had zone conference the next day. They came early and spent p-day with us. We went to a sweet castle, the Chateau d'Angers. There they have a tapestry of the Book of Revelations from the Bible. It was SICK, as we say OR AWESOME, as you would say! I even got a book that had it all in it. It was really cool! After that is when Ii wrote you that little e-mail saying I would write later. Then we went back and got things ready for zone conference. Oh, the Assistants to the President came and slept over with us also. We had 6 elders in the apartment - cool huh! Well, early in the morning we had to leave to go and pick up the car. So we did that and headed over to the church for zone conference. We gave the car to the Cholet elders. Zone conference was awesome! We talked about how the spirit is the best tool we have and how in our mission calls we promised to be obedient to all the rules. Pres. Staheli gave us these formulas on how we can find answers, change behavior and more. I will have to write them next week because I don’t have them all with me. Well, after we had to clean up the church and get everything ready. I also got a package from the ward that was really cool. Tell them thank you!

Well, that has been all the big stuff. We have been doing a lot of contacting and a lot of door to door. Just to let you know, we do have a baptism date for the 18th of September. So, that will be cool. He had been investigating the church for a year now, so that is cool. He is also getting married to a member this Saturday, the 4th, that is also awesome. I am excited for him. He is so cool. We are just going to review the commandments with him and he should be good. Last week he taught us about the atonement of the savoir. It was cool from what I understood. Everything should be good.

Well, not much else has been going on. We have been doing a lot of contacting lately and we have had a couple of appointments here and there. Elder Ellis is really cool. He is a great missionary and speaks French really well, so that is cool. Not much is different being Senior Companion. I do have to do a little more work like filling out reports for the secretary. He needs to know about the credit card expense; for example, the repair on the car, buying tickets for transportation and so forth.

Things here are going great. This is a cool place. It is different than Belgium though. The people here are a lot more up tight, but its good. Their French is a little clearer, so it is easier to understand. Some people can’t understand me, so that is funny. Our apartment is pretty ghetto. Our dining room table stands about a foot and a half off the ground and is held up by 8 Book of Mormons. Our oven was in pretty bad shape so they got a new one last transfer, but the gas thing doesn’t fit. We have the worst shower I have ever seen in my entire life. It is so freaking small, and weirdly shaped. I can’t even explain to you how it is. I guess I will just have to send pictures, so that will be good. Our fan is held together by tape and a chair, so ya, well it’s fun though.

Well, things are great. I hope you are all having a great time and I hope you will have a great day today. I love you all and hope you will have a great week. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

P.S. Here is a picture of the castle and a picture of what a missionary does when no one is looking. Love ya!
These last two are of his companion Elder John Ellis.

August 23, 2010

Hey family how is it going? well time is short I only got about 10 mins today because life has been busy. But I wanted to let you know everything is great here and I got a lot of fun stories to tell. We are planning to do Our actual e mail tomorrow or the next day but I think tomorrow, we just didnt have a lot of time today we had to get things taken care of and I promis that I will tell you all about it. I just wanted to let you know everything is good and I made it safe here in Angers and I am haveing a great time

Also the email place we usualy do email at is only open between 4-6 pm so You should all get my emails around 8 or 9 am in the U.S. so if the email is not there at 3 AM that is why. Well I love you and hope you all have a great day today on this monday It is probably around 11 o clock there so I hope you have a great rest of the day and Know that I love you and am truly greatfull for all the support you give me I love you and will probably talk to you tommorrw LOVE ELDER WALKER

August 16, 2010

Transfer note we received on Saturday:

Well, family how is it going? Well, it is transfer time and some sad news - I am leaving Belgium :( No, it is all good! I am going to Angers, France. It is in Nates and I will be with Elder John Ellis. And guess what else - I am SENOIR COMPANION. I think I am a little sick. I mean I didn’t even get to be co-companions with someone. I went from Jr. companion to Sr. I think I am going to be sick. No, I know that the lord will help me and this is where he wants me to be and I will be happy with that. I will serve where ever the lords wants me to serve. Here is my new address:

6 Square Alexandr 1er
49100 Angers
France

Wednesday is going to be fun - moving from Charleroi to Angers, I will probably have to go through Paris to get there.......it is going to be along day!
Well, I love ya and I will write more on Monday on p-day. I love you all and hope you will have a great day. LOVE ELDER WALKER


Monday’s e-mail:

Bonjour tu vas bien? How are things going? I am glad to hear things are going great. Well if you didn’t here, I am leaving Charleroi and I am leaving Belgium. I am going to Angers, France and will be with Elder John Ellis. I found out he will be in his 3rd transfer with me, and I have heard he is pretty funny and he is a hard worker so, I am looking forward to that. However, I am not looking forward to the traveling. I think am I going to go through Paris because Paris is right in the middle between Charleroi and Angers. So, I will probably go to Paris, change trains, then off to Angers.

Well, this week has been a little weird. Not much has happened. When we had more missionaries in Charleroi we had two apartments, but now they are closing one. So, the office called us on Tuesday and said that the other apartment had to be deep cleaned by Thursday morning. So we had to clean the apartment. Well, we had a district meeting on Tuesday which lasted forever. After that we went to the apartment and cleaned for the rest of the day. Then on Wednesday, we spent the whole day cleaning. We had one appointment in the evening, then back to cleaning. Thursday morning we cleaned until about noon when the office elders showed up and check the apartment. The apartment wasn’t that bad but we had to do a deep cleaning and get it ready to close. So, we spent a lot of time cleaning everything up. But the rest of Thursday we had appointments and stuff, so that was good.

On Saturday we had a ward picnic at our church or so we thought. We get there and other people show up. Then they said, “Time to go, everyone in the car.” We thought we were just going to a park, but the park was in Wavre which happens not to be in our zone, but don’t tell pres or the zone leaders. It wasn’t that far away, so we went. It was not bad. I got some cool pictures, so it was cool. Then we got back and that is when we got the news about transfers.
So, that was pretty much my week. Not much went on besides cleaning, but it was good. We had three investigators at church and they loved it and want to come back. So I am happy about that. Our baptism date is still going good. He didn’t come to church yesterday but we have called him and he is still reading the scriptures and praying, so that is good.

Well, not much else is going on - just packing and stuff. Well, things are great here. It is going to be a long train ride on Wednesday, but it should be good. Well, I love you and hope you all have a great week. I will tell you all about Elder Ellis and my trip down to Angers and also about Angers next week. I hope you all have fun and stay safe. LOVE YA, LOVE ELDER WALKER

P.S. Here are a couple of cool pictures from Belgium