July 26, 2010

Bonjour famille. Vous-allez bien? J'espère. Well, things have been going great this week. Oh by the way HAPPY 24TH OF JULY! I hope you had a great day! It would have been cool to go to the big parade, but maybe in 2012. Well, things are good. Not much has happened this week. I did have to go to Liege, Belgium on Wednesday for our interviews with President Staheli. It sounds like there is a good chance I might be leaving Charleroi after this transfer, because it is Elder Dungun’s last transfer and we have a lot of missionaries coming in. So, there is a good chance I will be leaving. But, oh well, I will go where ever the lord wants me to go and I will be happy. But transfers are not till the 18th of AUG. so I have a little time.

Well, I have to say that I hate my 1st counselor in the bishopric, he is a great guy, really funny, and I love him to bits, but I hate him. The reason why is because he asked me to give another freakin talk in church. Why must I be tortured? This will be my 3rd time I have to get up and say something. Oh well, it is not till the 8th so I have some time to work on one. Now I am very grateful for the MTC when they made us write a talk every week. So, now I can just take one of those and change it up and make it better. It should be fun. It will help with the French also, so that is good.

It was great, on Friday night and all of Saturday I was on a workday or an exchange with the district leader, who is French and speaks very, very, little English - to no English at all. So, it was great to have a whole day were I didn’t speak any English. It helped me out a lot and I was surprised by how much I could actually say and I could understand him very well. I truly know that Heavenly Father has helped me out a ton with the language, because without Him I don’t think I would be this far along. Then, that Saturday night when we switched back we were in our apartment about 9:45 - 10:00 and we hear a bunch of yelling. We look out the window and there is a big huge riot going on. There were cops everywhere with big shields, cops on horses and big huge trucks. I got a little video on my camera it was pretty cool.

Not much else is going on. Our investigator with a baptism date did come to church again so that is great. He is so cool. The only problem is he needs to stop smoking, but we have a plan with him and we are going to help him, so that is good. He loves church and likes the lessons and wants to stop smoking also. So, I am pretty happy about that.

Well, not much else is going on this week. I have another workday with the district leader, but with the other elder, Elder Berrett. So, I am looking forward to that. Things are going great. I am buying an envelope today right when I am done with e-mails to send my memory card home, so that should be good. Things are going great. Charleroi is awesome! I love it here. It is such a great experience to be here serving the Lord. I have found so much joy being here testifying about the restored gospel. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Félicitation (congratulations) Abby on the mission call to Russia. That is so cool. You will have a ton of fun on the mission. It’s Awesome!!!!!!!

Hey, I know I am early, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITT, on the 29th. I hope you will have a great day.

Well, I love ya and hope you will all have a great week and remember to stay bright eyed, bushy tailed, and eager to excel. Love ya, LOVE ELDER WALKER

July 19, 2010

Bonjour! How is everything going? I hope everything is going great. Well, things here have been fun. We had a good week. So, that is always good. So, let me tell ya about this week.

We found a new investigator. He is African and speaks English. Cool right. As we were going to the rendezvous I was thinking to myself, “Ya, I got this. It is in English. I got this”....Oh, let me tell ya, I did not have it. After teaching in French for so long then going to English, it was hard. I could not even describe the Book of Mormon. It got better towards the end but at first it was bad for me. I didn’t think it was going to be that difficult switching back to English, but it was. It was really sad. It is all good though and he understood it and we have tried to set up a new rendezvous (appointment) with him. He is having problems with his legality papers but he wants to see us again, so it is good.

Last Sunday Elder Andrew Schmutz came to Charleroi because he was touring the mission with his family, because he is done. So, I got to see him for one last time. I was in the same district as him in Brussels. He was an office elder and we went on workdays with him so it was fun. He also lives in Aunt Ruth’s ward. His mom knew who I was before I could even tell her my name, so it was fun to see him again.

One of the cool things that happened this week was we contacted an old investigator who used to have a baptism date and we went to go see him. His name is Cedrick and guess what? He is a certified NINJA.... I kinda laughed at first when I read the paper but when I went to his house his walls were covered with ninja stuff. He had swords, throwing stars, knifes, air soft guns and other ninja stuff. We taught him about prayer and what it means to have real intention when praying and he said that was his problem, having that real intention. He said he was going to read the Book of Mormon again and pray again, so, that is good. He is way cool. Elder Dungan and I both got a picture with us holding this huge, huge air soft gun and the Book of Mormon together. It is kinda funny.

Well, I got my memory card ready to send home. I just have to get a padded envelop to send it home in. But, in the mean time, I will send you some pictures today in the mail. They are just some pictures that I printed off. I think you will like them, especially the one with the white background. I am not going to say what the picture is but you will be able to tell because the background is all white. The other picture is just a funny saying I found on a building. You have heard of the Nike slogan JUST DO IT. Well this one is JUST DAVE IT. It is pretty funny. There are also descriptions on the back of the pictures as well so don’t forget that.
Ok, ok. I will tell you what the other picture is because I know some of you are thinking why won’t he just tell us. So, I will. It is a picture of a huge spider that we found. Now in the picture the spider looks really big. Now the spider was really big but the picture makes it bigger.........no, wait, now that I think about it, it was that big and disgusting all at the same time.

Well, things here are going good. My stomach has been a little sick this past week but besides that I am doing good. We are teaching one investigator who looks very promising. He has come to church twice and the best part is he doesn’t live to far away from the church, so that is good. His is making some great progress and we have a baptism date with him. Well, more of a baptism goal for him to stop smoking, so that is good, but he is awesome.

Thank you so much everybody for all the love and support you give me while I am on a mission. I really appreciate it. It helps me get through the hard days here. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Have fun on vacation for the summer and just make sure you don’t have too much fun without me, ok. I love ya. LOVE ELDER WALKER

July 12, 2010

Hey everybody, how are things? Things here are great. There are a lot of things that have happened this week. This week as I looked back on it went by fast but it was really, really long. Monday after p-day we had a dinner appointment with a member. That’s all we did there. Tuesday I went with the other companionship to have them pass me there investigators. We went to an Africans house and had African food; it wasn’t the best. It was pretty bad! Then that night we had another dinner appointment with our DMP (ward mission leader) where we had kous kous. I have no clue how to spell it or what in the world it is, but we had it and we ate it. Then we played a little game and went home. Then around 11 o clock at night a fight broke out in front of our apartment and we watched that for a little bit. Wednesday, transfer day, we had to get up at 5:15 to help Elder Simonson get to the train station. And let me tell ya, I was not feeling well after eating the African food and that kous kous or whatever it was. I was sick! After that we dropped Elder Simonson off and then came back. Then, about an hour later, we had to take Elder Broadway to the train station and get him off. Then we went to the sister’s apartment to help them take their stuff from their apartment to the train station also. By the time we got back to the apartment it was only 9 am. Then can you guess what we did? We went back to the train station to pick up my companion, Elder Dungan. We went to get him a bus pass and headed back to the apartment once again. We had a little lunch and helped out Elder Berrett with teaching some people. Can you guess what happened next? We went back to the train station to get Elder Berrett’s companion, Elder Prunier, who is French. So, we went to the train station 5 times that day, 5 times carrying luggage back and forth, back and forth. Oh, what a joy it was and it was really hot, so that did not help one bit.

That was just a fun transfer day. Well Elder Dungan and I had to get a lot of stuff sorted out because we had the other companionships investigator and ours. So, we had to do some planning on that part. OK, OK, get this. We have a 4 man apartment. They are moving the other companionship, Charleroi 1, to the sister’s old apartment. So now we have a 4 man apartment all to ourselves. I have no clue why they did that because now they have to pay for two apartments instead of just one and our apartment is big just for 2 people. I guess it is because there are a lot of missionaries coming in the next transfer, so there is a chance they are going to move back and reopen the other companionship, so they need a place to live.

Well, there has been some cool stuff going on here. Yesterday we were just walking down the road when a car stopped. A man asked if we were the Mormons and did we have a book for him. He said he read some of the Book of Mormon at a friend’s house and wanted to read more and he was way interested. He also has a wife and a kid. So that is hot. Know what else is HOT? We set another baptism date with a guy named David. He is awesome! He is way interested and he wants to come to church and change his life. The date is for September 11, 2010. We tried to set is earlier, but he said he couldn’t stop smoking that fast, but all is well.

A couple of weeks ago I was with Elder Simonson and we helped a member in their ward move to a house shared with a family. The family was renting the top of their house out to a couple of college students, so we helped her move in with this family. A couple of nights ago the member we helped move in called me. She said the family I am staying with really likes you and wants you and your companion over for dinner on Tuesday. I don’t even know this family. I talked to the dad a little bit but we have only seen each other once. It is cool and the best part is they are not members, so we can TEACH AND BAPTIZE them, it’s awesome! The only bad part is they live in Charleroi 1, so we would have to pass them.

Well, everything is going great. I love it here. It is awesome and I am glad to be here on a mission. Well, I love you and hope you all have a great week. Love ya, TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

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

June 28, 2010

Well hey, how ya doing? Life here is great. I love it. This week has been great. This week we had two workdays or exchanges with the other elders in our apartment. The first was on Tuesday where I went with Elder Simonson’s “blue” and we contacted all day. He was a great example for me. He basically did all the contacting. Every time when I was about to say something he would cut me off. He is a great guy and an awesome missionary. Oh, by the way, his name is Elder Berrett and he is from Highland, Utah. Then, on Friday, I went with Elder Simonson and we did some service and helped someone in his ward move. On the way over to her new house with all the stuff, I was in the car with her landlord and he was asking about my religion and what we do. Then, Elder Simonson was in the other car and they had to go back and get something that fell off the truck. So, I was all alone with Jean, the landlord, and it was really weird. We got to the house and I was all alone and ya it was way weird. Then we got to go do some contacting and we had a great time.

Saturday, that was a day. We did sports in the morning and it was freakin hot! I don’t get this weather. It is raining, then it is hot and sweat is running down your face. You are thinking to yourself, “I am going to have a heat stroke and it will not be good.” Well, we played soccer or as we call it over here football and I was dying, it was fun. Then, Elder Broadway wasn’t feeling well at all. So, he called Sister Staheli and she told him to get some rest so I spent the whole day in the apartment. I was trying to read Jesus The Christ, but I fell asleep for an hour. Then I made dinner and read some talks out of the church magazine. Then, yesterday Sister Staheli told him to call a doctor and go see him. So, we did that and we are now going to the doctors at some point of time. So that has been fun.

Well, transfers are coming up. We will find out Saturday if I am staying or going. I will probably tell you if I am going or what when we have to check our e-mails on Saturday. I will just leave ya a quick note.

Well, our baptism date - something is wrong because we called him an hour before our rendezvous (appointment) and he was fine with it. Then, he has disappeared. We have not been able to get a hold of him or anything. We think something is wrong because he wants to be baptized and he knows this is the true church but he has just disappeared. So, the date is on hold for the moment.

Everything else seems for the most part to be doing great. Life is good so I am happy. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY this upcoming Sunday. I hope you will have fun and watch a lot of fireworks for me. I love you all and hope you have a great week. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

June 21, 2010

Hey, how is it all going? Well, guess what? We had another baptism this week. Here is the story. Awhile back, our companionship was teaching this kid Timothy. His mom was less active and her other son also, but we were teaching this kid. Then he moved to Charleroi 1 so we had to pass him. Well, he got baptized this week. It was pretty cool. In the end we ended up teaching 1/2 the lessons and then Charleroi 1 taught the other 1/2. It was awesome. They are from Africa and the mom speaks Lingala. So, Elder Broadway, the mom, a friend and I sang a Lingala song. It was slick. I still have it, so I will have to record it on a memory card and send it. It is pretty cool.

Well, some bad and good news. Our baptism date will not make it for the 3rd but we fixed another date for the 17th. His mom got into a depression and threw herself down the stairs and broke her foot. So, he was over there for the past week, so, we never got to teach him. He didn’t come to church but everything is fine right now, so that is good. And in other news, the member, Patrick, that we go teaching with and have lunch with every Saturday, left to go on vacation. He went to America and he will be there for about 3 weeks. So, if I leave on the next transfer I won’t be able to see him again, but if I stay all is well. So, whatever happens, I will be happy. Life is good.

Well, some corrections on the questions for last week. We had zone conference and I found out that we have the biggest mission in Europe with 183 missionaries. The next biggest is London South mission in England with 140 plus or minus some. And the work here is just on fire. They are calling it the miracle of 2010 or that is what President Staheli is saying. He told us there are 19 baptisms for July 3rd, it is great. The work is just moving on through.

Like I said, we had zone conference this past week in Bruxelles (Brussels). It was great to see that place again, I missed it. It was also great to see the other missionaries there also. They told us another story about 2 more missionaries who almost died of carbon monoxide because they took the batteries out of the detector because it was making a beeping noise. So, we had a talking to on that and to make sure our co2 detectors are working.

Oh yes.... yesterday....... Sunday...... sacrament......the talk.... ya ça va pas. It is one thing to give a talk in your own native language. It is another thing to give one in another language. For example: franças moi je suis pas d'accord. Well, it went ok. People said it was good but let me tell you I was freaking out. My hand was shaking and everything! Oh man! Oh man! But people said it was ok. They were just saying that so I wouldn't feel bad probably.

Well, life is good. Things are going good and everything is F.I.N.E. (Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional - Italian Job - good movie) Well, I love ya and hope you have a great week. TTFN LOVE ELDER WALKER

June 14, 2010

Hey family, how is everything going? Oh, by the way, BONNE FETE PAPA (happy Fathers Day) yesterday, I hope everyone had a great day yesterday. Well, time for some questions and answers. 1: How many missionaries are in the Mission? I am not a 100 percent sure but I think there is about 160-170 missionaries in the field. 2: How many missionaries are in Charleroi? We have 8 missionaries in Charleroi, 6 Elders and 2 Soeurs (sisters). 3: How many baptisms do you have every month? I am not really sure, but I do know that the work here in Europe is on fire and that we have a lot of baptisms, maybe not as many as in Brazil or the states or anywhere else for that matter, but for Europe, it is just increasing. 4: Have you had zone conference and interviews? Well, President changed it so there are some places that have interviews every other transfer and this transfer we are one of those places. So, we don’t have interviews this transfer. Zone conference; we haven’t had conference yet but it is this Friday and it is in Brussels. So, I get to see Brussels again. Oh YA! I love that city. Well, if I forgot any questions, sorry, and next time when I receive a question I will write it in my planner so I don’t forget. So, if you have questions, feel free to ask.

Well, things are going great here. On Tuesday, last Tuesday, I had a workday or an exchange with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Berlin. He is a great Elder. He is on his last transfer. It was funny. We went to a door and a guy came and he spoke English also. So, we talk to him and he has seen the missionaries before. He asked us a question? Have you ever read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover? We said “yes”. Then he said; "good, so have I. So, you have read the part about the horses on the Moon"....What horses on the moon? No, we have not read about the horses on the moon. I don’t think it is in there. He said; "Oh, they must have taken it out then." Right.....he didn’t believe in the book because you can’t prove it by science and stuff like that, but it was kinda funny.

Well, now is the big world cup for soccer and everyone here is way excited for it. On Saturday America played against England and they tied 1 to 1. But it was big because my companion is from England and I am American, so it was fun. There are games going on everyday and people are always talking about it. Yesterday at church we had stake conference, where it was broad cast throughout Europe. We had Elder Paul V. Johnson of the 70, Sister Cook of the Young women Presidency, Elder David A. Bednar and President Boyd K. Packer speak to us, and it was great.

Well, our baptism date is still going strong. As long as he comes to church these next two weeks, he can be baptized. So, I am hoping and praying for the best. Everything else seems to be going great. My talk on Sunday - I decided to use one of the talks I made in the MTC, but change it a little and make it a little better, also. Well, everything else is going great. France is still pretty bad. No, it’s ok. I am learning more and more every day. I know with time, hard study and help from the Lord, I will learn it. So, I am not too worried about it.

Well, everything here is great and I hope you are all having a great week and a great time. I love you all and hope you all have a great week and have fun. Remember to stay bright eyed, bushy tailed an egger to excel. Love ya!
LOVE ELDER WALKER