Spanish

Dearest Madre,

Como esta? No hablo mucho Español, pero tangamos dos investigators de Mexico, y misionarios de español no vivan aquí. Mi compañero y yo vamos a leer El Libro de Mormon para aprender Español. Dios es Padre Celestial, El Niño es Jesucristo. Los profetas guían me. 

Yep. I'm not even sure I said that right, but there it is. My companion and I decided yesterday that we were going to read together the entire Book of Mormon in Spanish before one of us gets transferred, because as of yesterday, we have two Spanish investigators!! But due to the fact that there are no Spanish missionaries in the area, we get to teach them! It is going to be an adventure. We already taught them the Restoration, and luckily we had a Spanish book of Mormon in the car that we could give to them so they have it in a language they can read. We are super excited to teach them more about the Gospel. Fun story though, we found him through one of the dozen media referrals we received weekly, that take forever to contact due to the vastness of our area (probably two or so hours from the longest points), and it turns out that he moved here about a year ago from Mexico, where he was learning about the gospel from missionaries there. He had been taught for about a year before he came here, and his family is still being taught there in Mexico. I'm super excited to be able to help him. His niece (who is the other investigator) knows Spanish, and English is her first language, so she is acting as translator for us, when we can't figure out how to say it in Spanish, because we don't know Spanish, but she said she is willing to learn as well!! Super awesome! the only downside is that it is an hour away from where we live, so its a long drive, but the Lord willing it will all work out:)

Bro. Hawkins (from my home ward), me, Sister Danible

There is a great work to be done here, and I am so excited to see it come to fruition! Sister Danible and I are working hard to be the best missionaries we can be, and while it is true that we still have our ups and downs, we are still going strong. We had interviews with our Mission President and his wife last Friday, and it was really fun seeing them again! I loved what Sister Cottle talked to us about though, and I thought I would share some of my thoughts on it with y'all. First, a few months ago, she committed all of us to choose happiness every day. That is a lot harder than I thought it would be. But I did my best to do so. Last Friday, she checked up on us, to see how we did in choosing happiness, and then committed each of us on top of that to choose gratitude everyday. For me, the way that I am going to implement that into my life, is that any time I am feeling sad, depressed, angry, tempted, or whatever, I will begin a list of things that I am thankful for in my life. And I will continue listing until I can be happy again, and the moment of weakness is gone. I tried that over the weekend, when I was feeling particularly stressed, and I was amazing how quickly I was able to get around it, and to focus enough to get through it. The feeling of true gratitude that we can have in our lives, is akin to the feeling of happiness and love. I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve a mission and help those around me! I am thankful for my family who supports me from so many states away, and for all my friends who do so all around the world. I know that this is God's true gospel restored once again on the Earth, and that it will never again be taken from us! I know that through the gospel, and temple ordinances, that families can be sealed together forever, and I hold on to that hope and that knowledge as I go through life. I love my Savior! I know He lives! Not just as a spirit, but as a corporeal being with a perfect body of flesh and bone!

Thank you for all of everything that y'all do for me and all the missionaries in the world! Remember each one of them is a beloved child of someone else. Treat the missionaries in your own areas as you hope people around the world are treating your children, siblings, friends, etc. Love them, help them. This is your work too:)

Mucho Amor!

Hermana Walker

P.S. 9 days 23 hours and 54 mins until I have lived 20 years:)