October 25, 2010

Bonjour famillie vous allez bien. Allors cette semine etait chouette! Nous sommes fair le contacting le port de port, et tout le chose com ça. I have no clue what I was doing. I just wanted to go off talking about nothing for one sentence. So, how are you all doing? Things here have been good. It was a long week and a slow one at that. And, I have to let you know that I hate this country and its stupid grèves (strikes). It is killing the mission work for us. We only have 3 lessons last week and this week. We got a call from the Zone Leaders and they have had to cancel interviews, cancel all the exchanges and all the activities we have. Apparently there is supposed to be a giant strike this week because this is the week when they sign the thing for the retirement. And this week they will be closing everything. Nothing will be open. There will be no trains or anything. So, it looks like we will be spending some time in our apartment. Oh, I got some news. Our companionship of 3 will be over tomorrow. A visa waiter is coming in and he is getting trained in Nevelle, Belgium. Elder Berrett who was in Charleroi the same time I was is coming down here to Angers. So, Elder Ellis and Elder Berrett will be companions and Elder Brady and I will be companions. Good thing we have a 4 man apartment so we have enough room. It will be cool. We are hoping he will be able to make it through tomorrow with the strike going on and that there will be a train to get him here.

Ok, well this week was good. We had to go back to Nantes for Elder Ellis and we got everything worked out for him that day. It was a long day. First we had an exchange with Elder Crump and we had to go to Le Mans to pick up Elder Ellis. Then we had to take a train from Le Mans to Nantes for his legality thing. Then we had to catch another train to Angers. So, we spent the whole day on the trains. We were worried because there may not have been a train with all this going on, but it all worked out. So, we were grateful for that. Oh, this strike thing is so funny. We were on the bus and we drove past a fire station. The firemen were outside painting it. They painted a sign saying, “Non a cette réforme; tous ensemble” (which means “no” to this retirement reform) and all together we just laughed. Then they stormed the beaches of.....wait not the beaches, the Castle of Angers. I was going to say the beaches of Normandy but that was a long time ago. No, they stormed the castle here and they had big signs and banners and they were all freaking out. We all just laughed.

Besides that, there hasn’t been much going on. We didn’t do that hot this week but next week with the strike hopefully over, we are hoping for something better. Well, I am doing good. Everything is going fine, just working hard and staying alive. I do hope this strike is over soon because transfers will be coming up soon. I hope we will all be able to move around with the trains and everything.

Well, here are some pictures of the zoo we visited last week. Oh, and also, when the people stormed the castle. Well, I love ya family! I hope you have a great week. bon journé et je t'aime

LOVE ELDER WALKER

October 18, 2010

Hey family, how is life going for everybody? I hope it is all fine and dandy. Well, things here have been fun and not so fun as well. So, let me tell you about the life of a missionary in Angers.

Well, Monday was good. It was our p-day and we didn’t do much. We went bowling again and had a good time. Then after that we had FHE and the person who was supposed to bring the games was late. It just so happened that I had Phase 10 with me so we had to teach them how to play. It was ok. I went around helping everyone. My companions were playing and since I was helping everyone, I turned them all on my companions, it was great.

Well, Tuesday there was a big Grève (strike) going on because of the retirement age. They raised the age from 60 to 62 and everyone freaked out. Well, that was going on. There were a lot of people walking the street and they were pretty angry. So, we decided to go check it out in normal clothes because they are mad at the government and it wouldn’t be smart to dress up like a government person. So, we checked it out and we decided that we should go back to the apartment because it was bad. So, we had to stay in our apartment all day long. That was so boring.

Wednesday we had nothing special, just district meeting with the zone leaders. That was about it. Now, the best day had to be Thursday. Oh what a day, what a day. We had to go to Nantes for Elder Ellis’ medical visit for his French legality. Well, the strike was still going on. Well, I mean it is still going on even today. Since it was going on we had to catch an early train that got us to Nantes around 9 – 9:30am. Well, we get there and we need to buy stamps for the medical thing. Now theses stamps are expensive (sorry I can’t spell.) Well, they are a lot of money. They cost 340 euro’s which is about 470 dollars.....ya expensive. Well, before that we got pastries and they were very good. Elder Ellis put the wrapper in his pocket and when we got the stamps he put them in his pocket. Well, we were walking to the medical place and there are garbage cans along the way and Elder Ellis throws his pastry wrappers away. But, not just his wrappers, but his stamps as well. We eventually get to the place and we cannot find the stamps. He then realized that he threw them away. So, we went back checking every garbage can we passed along the way. But, they had just emptied them right after we left - so we never found them...... so, we just threw away 340 euro’s worth of stamps. How fun! So we had to call president and it was ok. We told the medical place and now we will just have to go back and get some more to give to them. I think we are planning to go back tomorrow which is Wednesday the 20th. Then, because of the strike there were no trains going back to Angers until 5pm. We spent the whole day in Nantes. It wasn’t bad and we even went to a cool castle that was there. We also did some contacting for the elders there. So, that was a fun day spending the whole day in Nantes - Oh ya.

Friday was a normal day. We did some good missionary work so that was fun. Then Saturday - oh what another day. Along with the strike which was still going on there was another big movement with a lot of people. We had a rendez-vous in the morning so we had to go in non pros clothes. We went in jeans and shirts. He wasn’t there which was disappointing. When we came back we ran into the movement. WOW! Let me tell you, there were thousands of people and we were in the middle of it. There were cars with big speakers yelling, very angry people! We just said, “Well, time to go!” We were trying to run away and get out of that mess. Well, that whole day was also spent in the apartment doing nothing. Ii finished the Book of Mormon again though. I have finished it now on DEC 17, MAY 17 and OCT 17. Every 5 months – fun. I didn’t plan it like that but it turned out that way - cool huh. Well, that is what we did.

Sunday was good - going to the good old church in France. It was fun and I like this ward so I am happy. Now yesterday was also a good day. We took a one hour and a half bus ride to La FLéche to visit the ZOO! It was so cool! They have white lions and white wolves, which are my favorite animal. The Arctic Wolf which is called Loup Blanch. They also had some really cool monkeys and polar bears. The cool part is that you can get so close to the animals. I mean you can get close! I forgot my cord to my camera so I will have to send some pictures next week. They were cool. It was a way cool zoo to go and see.

So, that has been our week. Fun and also not fun with the strike that is STILL going on...yea well, things are great. I love you and hope you have a great week. LOVE ELDER WALKER

October 11, 2010

Hey family, how are you doing? I hope everything is going great. Well, we had a great week this week. Monday we went bowling and it was very fun. I was about to go and it was my first round of the game. The ground was a little sticky and I am one of those bowlers who puts one leg behind the other when they bowl. Well, the ground was sticky and I went to put my foot behind me when my foot got stuck on the ground. So, now I have no balance. So, I just fell flat on my face and began sliding down the lane because at this point the lane is all slippery. Well, I slid down the lane flat on my face. Fun huh?! But, the good news is I got 9 out of 10 pins, so that was cool - painful but cool.

Well, the other big things that have been going on is the work here in Angers...I mean it is on fire! Last transfer we just contacted all day and now we have rendez-vous everyday and so much other awesome work. We still do contacting and I forgot how weird it was to contact with 3 people. But it is coming back to me. Well, Saturday, just another funny story, we do what we call “ping pong and pancakes.” This is where we play ping pong and eat pancakes if you couldn’t guess. Well, we had a lot of investigators there which was awesome, but we also play basketball. When we were playing I got elbowed in the face and cut my lip open. It was awesome! We were just playing in our pros clothes when the stake president comes out and just looks at me. At this point I was sweating and I didn’t look very good. He just comes up to me and says, “Oh, are these the new sports clothes?” We just laughed, then he took the ball and played with us a little, so that was good.

Well, I don’t have much time on my e-mail. I got a little screwed over with that so, this e-mail will be short. I just wanted to let you know that everything here is going great and that I am still alive and kicking. Not just that but I am hip hop and happening. Well, I love you and hope you all have a good week. I love you. You guys are awesome! I love you so much. Well, take care and TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER
PS - THE GUY IN THE PHOTO IS AN AWESOME RUSSAN DUDE NAMED DIMITRY. HE IS AWESOME

October 4, 2010

Hey family, how is everything going? I hope you all had a great week and a great weekend with conference. I hope you were able to see some of it. I was able to see some of it over here. I saw the Saturday morning session at 6 pm here on Saturday night. Then, Sunday morning we watched the priesthood session and then the Saturday afternoon session. Then we were able to watch the Sunday morning session live at 6 pm. We were not able to watch the Sunday afternoon session because it was from 10pm to midnight. So, we couldn’t watch it. I am actually listing to it right now while I am on the computer at lds.org. It is awesome. It is still not the same as watching it however, and I will not be able to watch it at all. But, oh well, I will just have to wait to read it.

Well, conference was awesome! It talked a lot about following the prophets and trusting the Lord and it just was awesome. I have learned to love conference a lot more then I used to. I took a ton of notes. I will just have to remember to read them and look over them to review what I have learned. It was a very good conference. We were all talking about the 2nd coming just before it started and then we hear all the talks on trusting the Lord and following the prophets. They just didn’t seem like their same old joyful selves. You know, the way they usually do. So, we were there and we were thinking, “something is up, something is going to happen and they are going to ask us to do something.” We were all kinda freaking out. I did get to watch it in English and from my own opinion I think it is a lot better in English than in French. You just don’t have the same voice and their attitudes. I was grateful to watch it in English.

Well, this week has been great. The work here is starting to catch on fire!!!! It is awesome!! We wanted 6 new investigators during the entire last transfer. We got 0. This transfer we have 6 just in 2 to 3 days. Oh ya, and we asked this guy if he would be baptized and he said yes! We didn’t fix a date yet, so the next time we can fix that. But I do have to say that the work here is picking up and it is awesome.

Well, do you remember the guy Joan that we baptized? Yeah, he hasn’t been back to church and wasn’t there the Sunday after his confirmation. He was not there this week either. Sucks! Right? No, life is good! He is just really busy. He already told us he wouldn’t be there and that he won’t be back till the end of October. The reason why is because of his job. He works with guide dogs and they are holding this big huge convention thing. So, it is taking up all his weekends, but we still see him during the week. So, don’t worry too much. It’s all good.

Well, transfers went well. It is a little weird to get back in the motion for contacting with 3 people, but it is all good. We go to a park every once in awhile and we just split up kinda. We stay close but we just go contacting. We will have a Book of Mormon tower and just stand by it. We talk to whoever wants to learn more. It is pretty cool. We have also got this new center for young adults in our ward. It will be good to start working with the young people in our ward.
Well, things have been good here I was going to tell you some stuff about conference but I forgot my notes. I can’t remember it all so next week I will be good with that. I hope you all liked conference and hope you all learned a lot of good things and loved it. It was really good and I am glad I got to watch a little of it. I don’t have much time because we have to be in Centre Ville at 5. So, sorry we don’t have that much time this week. I hope you all have a great day and a great week. I love you and hope you have fun. I am still alive so it is all good! LOVE YA LOVE ELDER WALKER