Exchanges

Mom!! This week has been great fun! I went to Auburn, Alabama this week for exchanges and it was kinda strange to be in a college town where I wasn't a college student. There are a lot of people there who are from Asia too, none of who even know who Jesus Christ is. One person we had taught told me that people in China are very jealous of Americans because of the freedom that they have to even know who God is. So many of them want to know God and His goodness, but aren't allowed to because of their government, or their situation. It made me kinda sad, but it also testified to me that we really do have Spirits who knew our Heavenly Father, because why else would these people who know nothing about God, desire to know Him? It makes me glad I am here so that I can be the instrument in the Lord's hand to help these people around us. There are so many people who need the gospel and they consciously don't even know that their Soul is screaming for help. 

I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament Meeting. Brother Burgamy (counselor in the Bishopric) asked me to speak on "the reasons for and effects of modern revelation for the church as a whole and how this helps families and individuals stay closer to Christ." So pretty much he wrote my talk for me.. haha. Just kidding, but it was a really long subject he asked me to speak on. First thing I did of course was go to the Bible Dictionary and look up the word Revelation. (Because missionaries have limited resources this is what they go to a lot..) First thing I noticed is that Revelation is a word translated from the Greek word apocalypse which means to uncover or make known. Like the Apocalypse so many people are afraid of? I think at some point everybody has somehow made that word to mean something entirely different than what it is supposed to mean. This is why I think at least for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christ's Second Coming isn't a scary thing. It reminds me of the story you used to tell me about Ben as a kid, and when he asked you once why we aren't praying for the Second Coming to come. I really do think we should all be doing that, and sure it has to get worse before it can get better, but how great and marvelous that better will be! And how much knowledge will be restored to us that has been lost through time!

Anyways sorry about that tangent, but I thought that was something interesting that I learned when I was reading it, even if it didn't really have anything to do with the talk I actually gave. The BD also talks about how divine revelation as being one of the grandest concepts and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Revelation is dependent upon the person, and their faith. I remember in Joseph Smith-History when Joseph told that preacher about his vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the preacher told him that there were no such things as visions and revelations in these days and that they had ceased with the apostles, and anything he thinks he saw came from the devil. I can testify that modern revelation has not ceased. We have a LIVING prophet, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. God wants His children to learn more. and there is never a point where I can say in this life that I have learned enough, and that I know everything. Even if I lived to be as old as Adam was, and I was a diligent seeker or truths and wisdom, I still wouldn't even know 1% of what God wants me to know. Like in 2 Nephi 28:30 the Lord gives us "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little...for unto him that receiveth will I give more" He then warns us not to be proud in what we know and think that we know everything with the words "and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them it shall be taken away even that which they have." Scary thought. It makes me wish though that I had so much more time to study my scriptures instead of just the hour of personal study we are allotted each day. There is so much to learn in just the 2600 something pages of the standard works..

All is well here though, and I really do enjoy the work that we do here! Going on base is fun too, and we seem to do it a lot which is hard because of the limited miles that we have along with the distance that the base is from home. I'm going to send you some really cool pictures though of some stuff we just happened to see as we were driving around on base the other day.

Love you! And don't forget to find something to be happy about every single day!

-Sister Monica Walker

This sign was super funny so I wanted to take a picture by it 

I don't know if I sent these or not, so I am sending them again. This is our Zone helping the Red Cross install free smoke detectors in peoples homes. 

Also my companion decided to dress up at Walmart since we can't dress up on Halloween, so she saw this and immediately put it on.. Its about 2 ft too big for her.. haha

We played disk golf, and my companion accidentally hit one of the elders in the head. I happened to be taking a picture right at the moment when she realized it was going to hit his head. haha