Back in Columbus!

Dearest Mother:)

I am back in Columbus!! This was the place that I left 6 months ago to go to Albany, and now I just left Albany and I came right back! This time though it is in the other ward in Columbus, so it isn't exactly the same, but its still pretty close. We had stake conference this last weekend and it was kind of funny because I knew more people there then my companion did. Three people in the other ward I was in even offered to feed us dinner or lunch sometime.. Haha it was nice to know that I was missed and that people still remember me here:) The ward I am in now if the Flat Rock Ward, and my companion is Sister O'Brien. She is from Hawaii, and I'm pretty sure this is the first companionship I have ever had where one of us is not from Utah or Idaho.. Really all we need is to be in a trio with someone from Florida and then we have all the vacation states.. haha I thought that was funny. It has been pretty cool though, because this companionship is a lot like the one I had with Sister Danible. With Sister Danible, it was cool because she left the Rivercrest Ward 6 weeks before I got there, and then when I got to my new area in Albany, she was my companion, and we could talk all day about the Rivercrest ward. Here my companion is Sister O'Brien, and again, she had just left Albany 6 weeks before I got there, and my next area, which is ironically Columbus again, she is my companion!! So it has been fun to catch up with her about Albany and also to hear some of the updates of the Columbus wards.. I love Sister O'Brien though! We became friends almost within an hour of meeting each other, and we are still friends a week later.. haha.. so I am excited to see where this is going to take us in the next few weeks. It is entirely likely that she will be my last companion and that she will be the one that will see me off, and I love it. She is pretty much obsessed with Star Wars. I gave her a Star Wars puzzle and she almost freaked out on me. It was funny. She is an awesome person though, and we already have found a good rhythm in our teaching where both of us are teaching and testifying and participating pretty equally in all the lessons that we have. She makes me happy:) I have decided about this area though that I haven't seen as many sketchy areas as I did in Columbus. Perhaps that is because the Elders cover those areas here, but it does make it seem a little bit different, even if I recognize a lot of the people.

Alex sent me pictures of all of them, their family pictures are adorable! I love them so much. I can't wait to see them again! It will be fun to meet Henry for the first time. I love my family:)

That is so cool that all of you got to go to the Sacramento temple! I vaguely remember going there for the open house. I know I remember thinking the ceilings were really high, but I was also smaller, so I don't really know how tall they are.. haha. Didn't Alex go through the Sacramento temple for her endowments when the Oakland temple was closed last time? And did something happen to it to need major repairs? or did it just get old? 

This last weekend we had the opportunity like I said before to have Stake Conference. The cool thing about this Stake Conference was that there was going to be a General Authority there. This is the second time in a short span of time that I get to meet not just one but three of the General authority 70s. The one that spoke this last Stake Conference that I attended is a recently called General Authority named Elder Peter F. Meurs. He is from Australia, and he gave wonderful talks with his wife on the Atonement and the power of it. His wife shared a story that I thought really put into perspective for me repentance and how it works. Forgive me if I tell it wrong, but the general idea of it will be the same:)

-There was once a boy named Johnny who had recently been given a slingshot to play with. One day he decided to practice using his slingshot and spent a long time trying to hit his target of the trees. He continuously missed, and eventually got tired so started to make his way home. He had almost made it all the way home when he spotted a duck. Thinking to try his luck one more time, he shot at the duck. Surprising to him, he managed to hit the duck. Sadly, the rock hit the duck and killed it. Devastated, and knowing that he would be in trouble for killing the duck, he took the duck and hid it behind the woodpile in their backyard. After hiding it, he looked up to see his sister, Sally, watching him. She told him she saw what he did with the duck but that she wouldn't tell. Later that evening, his grandma was asking Sally to come help her with the dishes, Sally responded with "I would love to come help you with the dishes, but Johnny told me earlier today that he wanted to help with the dishes tonight." and then leaned over to her brother and whispered "Remember the duck!" Grudgingly, but a little guiltily Johnny went and helped his grandma with the dishes. The next day their family was going fishing, but the grandma told them that she needed Sally to stay home with her to help her prepare dinner. Sally again told her grandma that she would, but that Johnny had expressed a desire for him to help earlier to her. Again she whispered "Remember the duck!" After a few days of Johnny not only doing his chores, but Sally's as well, he finally went up to his grandma and confessed what he had done with the duck. His grandma looked him lovingly in the eye, and said "I know, I was standing at the window and saw it all happen. I was just wondering how long you were going to let Sally make a slave out of you." 

I thought that was a wonderful story! Because how true it is. Heavenly Father is much like the grandma who is watching out the window who sees it all happen, but is waiting for us to come to him to tell him. If this boy had only gone to his grandma earlier, he would have been spared the anguish of doing so many more chores. He would have been able to do all the fun things that he missed out on because his sister made him her slave. If only we would learn to immediately turn to our Father in Heaven when we do something wrong. We cannot hide it. He has already seen us do it. Our hiding it only causes more pain for us. What a powerful example of repentance though. Although I knew it, and I understood its significance, this made it hit a lot more home then usual.

I wish I had more time to tell you more about it, but again, time has run out. Remember that I love you all and I appreciate everything that you do for me everyday:)

Make today a great day!

Love,

Sister Monica Walker

Last Transfer

Dearest Mother,

News of the week-I'm getting transferred!! Both sisters in my area will be leaving because my companion went home today. I am currently sitting in the family history center in Perry, GA with Sister Danible and Sister Blackburn. I get to crash with them until tomorrow morning when I find out who my new companion is and where I am going. That's why I get to email today even though it is still a holiday because they have a key to get to the Family History Center computers. Yay!! 

Yes there was a "storm" last week. I was honestly kind of excited for it, but it really didn't come my way at all, we just watched the clouds move over us, and then it rained one night. However as a precaution, our mission president told all of us in the mission that we had to stay in our apartments until about 2 or 3 Friday morning, which made that day super hectic because we had appointments about an hr away at noon, so we had to push them until after President's lockdown ended, and before our other appointments that we had in Albany later that afternoon and evening. It was pretty amazing though, because even though we were rushed for time, we were able to see three of the referrals that we had there in Cuthbert, and every single one of them not only accepted a Book of Mormon, but also really wanted us to come back. I thought that was super awesome! We somehow still managed to see everyone that we planned on seeing, which was awesome too. Despite everything being pushed back about 4 hours. That was definitely a tender mercy, and something the Lord really wanted us to do. Other then that though, there wasn't really any other affects of the storm. From what I hear, there was a lot of worry about it, but it really didn't hurt anyone or anything.

Sister McCulloch arrived at the mission home ok and as now boarding the plane as I type this. Her flight leaves shortly after 11. In a few hours her family will be welcoming her home! Super exciting for her:)

I can't believe you sold the van!! that is so crazy to me!! Do you two just drive the truck and car now? Or is there another vehicle? I remember either last week or the week before you were talking about how both vehicles had been damaged by some form of a wreck.. I assume those two you are still keeping?

It is interesting that you mentioned the notes you took on a scripture that you don't remember anymore. I had a member that I knew in one of my areas who had lost a good part of his memory, but he still writes down his thoughts and impressions of his reading of the Book of Mormon, and he still tries his hardest to continue learning everything because he knows that eventually he will get all this information and knowledge back, but as long as he is learning something new everyday, when he finally gets to remember all the things he learned he says he is going to be pretty well off in intelligence.. I thought that was funny, but also a really smart idea.

Not much happened last week other then that because we were saying goodbye to a lot of people. I didn't get to say goodbye to very many people even though I had been told about 12 hrs ahead of everyone else because we already had plans for a good majority of the day. So that was sad, but it is ok, I will be able to find them all later when I get home from my mission. I was also hard to say goodbye to some people because many members went to Louisiana to help with a cleanup service there. So there weren't that many people at church on Sunday or home of Saturday either.

I will send a better email tomorrow when I have more things to talk about, but for now, I love you all!!

-Sister Monica Walker

Still here!

Dearest Mother!

I am staying in Albany for another transfer! And my companion is staying too!! So This means I get to send her home which is cool because she was my MTC companion:) I'm so excited for the next 6 weeks!

You have Sister Missionaries now? Awesome!! That is so exciting! I hope they keep sister missionaries until I get home! That will be so fun to get to know them! :) Tell them when I come home, they should feel free to use me for miles and member presents (as long as it is ok that I use the car while I am home:)) I think that is it awesome that the visiting general authority encouraged y'all to have "gospel discussions" with your non-member friends! If nothing else, it will definitely increase your testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel! I hope one day everyone will do that.. It would make it so much more fun to be missionaries:)

President Grayson decided that he was going to put two more elders in our area! And they are going to get a car!! So then we will be able to go to the far away areas more often:) I am so excited for it because it means that there will be so many more people that will be able to be affected! President Grayson officially announced it during transfer calls last Saturday night, but we knew earlier in the week because he would call us what seemed like daily to ask about the area and where a good place for them to be living would be. Its been a pretty hectic week, but it is so worth it! 

I'm glad people are still thinking about me:) I think about all of you all the time and when I get the ward newsletters from Brother Martinez each month, I am just so amazed at how much everyone has grown since I have been gone.. Its crazy how the world changes when you are away from it for even a short while!

I remember at girls camp we were always warned about bears, but that bears never actually came close.. I'm amazed that they did come closer though. I have learned that sometimes it is needed so that we can learn the importance of obedience.. (Gospel tie in ready?) Sometimes we are told so many different times the dangers of the "bears" in our lives. Gossip, bad language, laziness, etc. They don't always hurt us, but the potential is always there.. Until it hits closer to home, or it walks in on you at camp, we think we are still doing good! So what if it isn't necessarily 100% right? everyone else is doing it! We start to roam at night, we start to leave our companion. There is a reason there is the buddy system whenever you are in potentially dangerous places. We can get lost, we won't know where to go! Hope is there! First, know that Heavenly Father is always there, if we but just listen. Understand commandments aren't meant to confine, but to protect and free.. Your choices become very limited if you decide to break the rule of not going into the deep forest at night and you come across a bear. That works the same in life.. It's amazing what Heavenly Father sees in our lives that He tries to warn us about, but because we are too stubborn we don't listen and we trip.. A lot. He is always there though ready to pick us up and help us move forward:)

In some good news!! One of our investigators is getting baptized on Saturday! I am so excited for her! I will talk about it more next week, but I wanted to let you know that because it was so exciting when she passed her interview last week!!! Yay!

Anyway, I love you all and I hope everything is going ok with life:)

Remember to always count your blessing, especially when you are down, to choose happiness, and always TRUST the Lord. He does know you and He knows what is best for you:)

Always and forever my love,

Sister Monica Walker

New Companion and Father's Day

Dear Mother,

You can most definitely be president of my fan club:) I trust you to make sure everybody sees all the thousands of pictures that you have of me too.. hahaha :)

My new companion is actually one of my old companions!! Her name is Sister McCulloch and we were companions in the MTC together! We also figured out that if she and I are companions for the next transfer as well, then I get to send her home! It is a very strange thought, because we came out together, but because she served a mini mission in the Salt Lake City South Mission for 3 months before going to the MTC, her mission ends 3 months before mine does. She is super awesome though! I remember when I met her in the MTC, she was super quiet and didn't talk very much, now she talks a lot! which is nice, because sometimes I get tired of talking (surprising right?). While we were in the MTC, I remember being part of a lesson with her, where she shared with our "investigator" that her dad has passed away about 6 months prior. I was super impressed with her dedication to still be willing to go on her own mission so shortly after her dad passed. Remember she had already served fro 3 months by this point. Now I get to learn more about her, and I am so amazed by the strength that she has, and the support that she carries with her everywhere she goes (from both sides of the veil). I love how willing she is to talk to everyone (considering she doesn't know anyone). I love how she has decided to help me continue to prank the Elders every once in a while (no mean pranks though promise) because it is a nice stress reliever during the week, when all of us can just laugh about what was done. (we plastic wrapped their apartment last time). I also love how she is so willing to help me plan and do the things I ask her too, even though they are long and tedious, because I know it will help her learn the area faster, and because I know it will help us be more productive too:)

I don't think I know what the Doctrinal Mastery Program is, you will have to enlighten me on its purpose as you are learning about it:)

I am super excited for this transfer and all that I will get to learn with my new companion! It will be fun to catch up on all the things we have missed out on in the last year since I have really been able to talk to her, and it will also be fun to be able to make new memories with her as well:) We already made some fun memories yesterday when we attended the Sherwood Baptist Church (someone invited us too). It looked a lot like a mini conference center, but the service was basically a rock concert which was a little strange, but fun. I also learned that the movie Courageous, Fireproof, and Facing the Giants were made by Sherwood, or else someone closely associated with them. Apparently I met one of the actors too, but I didn't know it. My comp told me that later:) They were all super nice, and a couple came up later and introduced themselves to us. It was kinda funny to see how many people would look at our tags before they looked at our faces. I got lots of hugs there and lots of prayers. And everyone told me that God loved me, which was kinda awesome. It was very strange for me though because I was used to something so different, and that made me really think about the people that I invite to church, and am I preparing them for what they will see? Many people we invite are used to the type of services that we went too, and I didn't realize how differently they do it until I went myself. It was fun though:)

Tell everyone I said Happy Father's Day! and that I love them all very much!

Love forever and Always,

Sister Monica Walker

Still here!

Dear Mother,

I am not getting transferred this time! I get to stay in Albany! But my companion is getting transferred. We don't know where she is going yet, and I am going to be super sad to see her go, but it will be exciting to meet my new companion and have a new friend to learn all about her life with.

This week has been a super crazy week though!! On Wednesday Sister Danible left on exchanges and Sister Black (who was in my district back in Columbus but now was in this other stake with me) came to Albany with me. It was a really long drive, and so it took up much of the day just getting to and from there to here. It was fun though because then it meant that I got to drive and I haven't really driven in the Toyota corrolas yet. I will get to soon though once I have been in the area longer (so basically tomorrow once Sister Danible officially transfers) The tiwi/black box things that we have in our car are kinda frightening though when we would be driving and then suddenly some robotic voice yells at us to watch our speed. They are awesome for teaching people how to drive though so that is pretty cool.

Thursday we went to our ZTM and we gave the trainings that we had given the last week at MLC. It was a lot less stressful and scary because the mission president wasn't sitting behind us taking notes this time so it was less like a test and more like a discussion. I did however end up singing at the ZTM too. Sister Danible volunteered me to last time we had ZTM. I sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Font. It was actually pretty good considering we only went through it twice before the meeting.

Saturday we were in a city called Blakely all day and we did a blitz split where each of us had a member with us, and we had the elders there too with each a member and we tried to go see some of the people that wanted to be seen by missionaries over there. It is hard to always see them all because they live an hr away from us, and we can't feasibly go there once a week due to the mileage limitation that we have, as well as the time constraint that happens as well. It was really awesome though to see peoples reactions when we would show up and they hadn't seen missionaries in a long time, or had never seen missionaries, and they were so happy to talk with us and allowed us to share our message. It was nice and refreshing compared to much of the time here where people close their doors when they see that we are missionaries.

I really do love the South though, and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of the culture here, as well as experience how much people can really love their Savior, no matter who they are, how rich or poor they are, or where they originally came from. If nothing else, we are all united in that:)

Love you all!

-Sister Monica Walker

Mother's Day

Dearest Mother,

I loved seeing all of your faces yesterday:) It was awesome to see my family, as well as all the other people that decided to say hi:) It's amazing to see how much people have grown in the last year even. I feel like they have grown so much while I am on my mission. Even more so then they did when I went to college for a year.

Here are some fun stories that happened this week:)

So last week like I told you were transfers. Neither I nor my companion got transferred, but one of the Elders did. It was the first time he was leaving an area, so it was really hard for him. We decided to cheer him up on Monday and so we planned out his whole P-Day for him:) One of the things we did was have a flour fight. I don't know if you have hear or seen it done before, but it was super fun! We didn't want the Elders to know what we were doing though, so we blindfolded them, and had one of the members with us to help guide them to the field of grass a little bit away from our apartment complex. We had earlier prepared a bunch of little nylon sacks filled with flour to take with us. When we got about halfway there, I realized that we had forgotten them, so I had to run back and get them. We told the Elders to stay where they were and we would be right back. When we got back, we discovered one of the Elders decided to try to keep walking, and then he stopped in the middle of the road. (It was a good thing there was a member with them to make sure they didn't get hit by a car.) Sister Danible decided to try and scare them, since they do it all the time to us, so we crept up behind them, and yelled in their ears. It was pretty funny because they jumped about two feet. haha. We kept going though and made it to the field, where we had them stand for a minute so we could take pictures and then we started to hit them with flour! They took their blindfolds off at that point and then retaliated against us, so by the end we were all covered in flour. It was awesome! Sad to see Elder Anderson go, but it was fun to welcome our new Elder here. :) I really do love being a missionary because of all the life long friends that you make with not just the missionaries, but the members as well:)

There really is a lot of potential here in the Albany ward. Yesterday I was telling you a little about it, but I thought I would repeat myself today as well. On Saturday, we planned on going to a little town called Edison (which is about 45 mins away) and then head over to Blakely (which is about 40 mins past that). There are a lot of potential people there for us to teach, that previous missionaries haven't had the opportunity to go to yet because of the far away distance. This month Sister Danible and I have been trying to plan out more of the far away places for us to go visit and then to hopefully help them realize the importance of what we do. While we were out and about, we met with 8 different people, all of whom said that they wanted us to come back, all of whom we were able to set return appointments for in two weeks!! It was amazing to me to see the difference in their attitude towards missionaries when they haven't had us knocking on their doors for the past long while, and how willing they were to listen to us, especially when they hear how far we went to talk to them. It makes me think about how much their souls are worth and that honestly, they are worth a whole lot more than what I have to offer. People coming to Christ is worth any sacrifice I have to make, even if it means a long day of a lot of traveling for me and my companion to come teach them about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If I haven't learned anything else, I have learned a part of how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves each and every one of us. None are more entitled to His love than any other, and all are equally loved. I know how much He loves me, and I know that He feels that same love for everyone else. I am honored to be the one who gets to help others understand that even more than they might already know. God is most definitely alive! Not just figuratively like many believe, but actually, in the flesh. He watches over every one of us, and knows exactly what you need when you need it. He will always make sure you have all the support you need to get though something when you are going through hard times, but sometimes we just have to dig a little deeper to find them.

I love all of you! (Even those I might not actually know.. I love y'all too!)

Keep on keeping on!

Love,

Sister Monica Walker

Finding His Sheep

Dear Mom!!

Oh how I love you!! Mother's Day is this Sunday and I am so excited to be able to talk to you face to face. To think, a year ago at this time I was preparing my farewell talk and packing for my mission! I can't believe it has almost been a year. Crazy. After I talk to you on Mother's Day the next time I get to talk to you is in person!! that is so crazy to think about. Especially since that still feels like a longs ways away and that I just got out on my mission.

This week has been pretty slow, but good news!! I'm not getting transferred! So I get to stay in Albany for at least 6 more weeks. I'm super happy about that. Especially since Sister Danible gets to be my companion again for those 6 weeks as well.

It has been a pretty slow week this last week, so not much happened, but there were some really awesome moments where we were able to be in the right place at the right time for the Lord to help us find people that needed to be found.

Backstory-My trainer began her mission in Albany about 2 years ago. Of course when I remembered that, I emailed her and told her that I was here. She emailed me back and told me to go find a part member family that she had been working with, whom she loved a lot and to go tell them that I knew her, and that hopefully they would let us talk to them. Apparently somewhere along the way, the family got lost because none of the missionaries that had been here before me and was still here knew who they were. We had planned on seeing them last week, but due to other things coming up, we weren't able to make it to the city in which they lived and try to go see them. Last Saturday though we were going to the Farmer's Market because we heard about a member who grows fresh produce and sells it there, but who also gives it for free to missionaries. So we went to go see what we could get, and plus we really wanted to meet this person. We go and find him, and after talking for a while, the family that was there buying stuff too was about to leave, when the mom told us that her daughter had something to say to us.. Super shyly she told us her name, and then ran away. It was super cute. The mom then said that her husband and her daughters were members and then told us their last name. IT WAS THE SAME FAMILY THAT MY TRAINER ASKED ME TO FIND!! It was pretty awesome how random of a meeting it was. We were able to set up an appointment with them, and the member who was selling the produce was from a different stake but he volunteered to come with us to go teach them because he is good friends with them. That was so awesome!

Another crazy story. So on Wednesday, when we were on exchanges, I had to make a quick stop at Walmart to grab something, and for whatever reason, this Walmart didn't have any self checkouts, so I had to go to a regular one. While I was going through the line, the cashier lady stopped us and happily exclaimed, "Hey! They brought the ladies back!" We gave her a super confused look, and then she pointed to our badges and said, I'm a member! The missionaries used to visit her, but about two years ago for whatever reason they stopped. We were later about to go visit her, and her son who is now 8 really wants to get baptized! Super awesome!

The last thing that was super awesome was that on Sunday one of the young Women's leaders came up to us and told us that there was a young women who had been coming to church for about a year now that wasn't a member (how the missionaries didn't know this, I have no idea) but that she wanted to meet with the missionaries and have the discussions so that she could get baptized! We are so excited to begin teaching her! It seems like she already knows all that she needs to know, but that she just needs to have the discussions so that we can make sure that she knows what she needs to know. I'm stoked to see how it is going to go!

Oh! Also this one is short, but the awesome moment when a member who is less active calls you out of the blue asking for a ride to church for her and her son, actually comes to church, signs up to feed us, asks us to then visit her family (none of whom are members), and then volunteers to go teaching with us. Yep. That moment made me so happy!! She seems like a pretty fantastic person already even though I have only known her for less than 48 hrs.

There are so many people here that I don't know, and so many that are amazing people but because there are just so many people to see that are on our records and then lots of people that aren't either, we hardly get to see even part of them. (here is an idea of how many people there are- in Albany alone, there are over 200 families. In Leesburg there are about 150, and then there are a lot in the outlying areas as well.. Those are just the members. We then have a list of online referrals that people want us to come see them of about 200 people over the last 18 months.) So we can't see all these people all the time, but we are working on it!!. There is so much work to do here and I am so excited for the future!

Love you all!

-Sister Monica Walker

New Place, New Companion, Stronger Testimony

Dear Mother,

Now that I hopefully don't have to worry about bed bugs (hopefully, unless I carried them with me when I left Columbus), I am doing a lot better. As I told you last week, I got transferred, and I am now in Albany, GA!! Side note for Brother Hawkins, yes, people remember him, and I was told that I can have some good stories of him when he was a kid here. From what I can understand, they are very similar to Robert Stories. Super excited to hear more. They think well of the Hawkins family here though. So it was cool to be able to make that connection to this area even in my first week.

I love the area already! There is an investigator here who has the same name as me, and it is the strangest thing to hear people say my first name, even when they aren't talking about me. Mostly though that is because it doesn't feel quite like my name right now. Kind of fun though! Monika is super nice and she is currently on date to be baptized in June. Hopefully that date sticks, because she thinks she might have to move to Atlanta soon, but whatever happens, I know the Lord will provide a way:)

My new companion is Sister Danible, and she is super awesome! It turns out that she served in my last area, and that she left 6 weeks before I got there, so she knows a lot of the same people as I do. It has been fun in the last few days reminiscing about all the people we knew there, and the many more people that came or progressed after she left. I was surprised to find out that there were a lot of people that she had been talking to that had somehow been lost after she and her companion had been whitewashed (her companion completed her mission, and she got transferred). It really hit home for me the importance of record keeping. Its also why it is so important for the ward members to be involved in everything because when things like this happen, then the members know who the missionaries had been seeing and will be better able to help the new missionaries figure out what they need to be doing, and giving them some people that they can go see. 

Sister Danible is from Idaho, and she has actually been out one transfer longer than I have, which is definitely a change from being the "oldest" sister missionary in my last zone. I was pretty sure there weren't that many Sister Missionaries that were out longer than I was, and I am glad to report that there are some, but they are hidden all in the other zones. I love Sister Danible already though because she is such the sweetest person ever! She also is more willing to go on fun adventures than some people are, seen by the fact that last Saturday when we almost slid into a ditch (multiple times), because it was stormy and we were on a dirt road, she and I just laughed and screamed the whole way through. Haha It was fun:) and it reminded me of all the fun adventures we have gone through on our trips to Utah and Oregon.

I've settled in pretty well here, which is awesome. And I am certainly ready for some fun adventures in Albany!

Well I love you, but I have to get off soon, so I will end my letter with a short testimony. 

I know so much more so now than ever before, of the reality of Christ's love for us! He is real! He really did suffer so much for us so that we can be happy. He did not have to do any of what He did, and if He so chose, He could have left us to ourselves, but He didn't. He sacrificed himself for each and every one of us. And He felt everything we did. Not just something similar, but EXACTLY what we feel. He is the only one who knows. He knows how to help. He loves us. And I love Him. I am honored to be numbered among those around the world who bear His name on a little black name tag. I am honored to be considered worthy enough to represent the one perfect Being. I, an imperfect person, representing He who is above all. What a responsibility. I love being a missionary, and I am super grateful for the opportunity to serve all around Southern Georgia! I love it! I bear my witness to you as His missionary that He lives! In Jesus Christ's name, Amen.

Love,

Sister Monica Walker

PS at the time of this email, 24 days exactly [until her birthday]!! Cause I'm sending it right at 9:55 California time:)

Bugs and Transferred

Dearest Mother,

Who came home to keep me from being your favorite missionary in Modesto 1st Ward? Shouldn't I be your favorite anyway since I am your child? Also, why in the world am I not your favorite missionary in the world? Having favorites outside of your children is not allowed.. It's hard enough to compete for the spot with 4 other people, we don't need to be adding in any more.. ;)

So we had an interesting adventure this week.. Last Sunday (the 13th) Sister Maher and I went home for lunch and Sister Maher went into our room to take a nap, while I stayed in our living room and read (what a surprise!) when Sister Maher starts freaking out and yelling and ran back into this room, grabbed her shoe and went back in our room. I followed her in, and discovered BUGS!!! There were many little black bugs crawling around our room, that had been there for who knows how long, but since we are only ever really in our room at the end of the day or the beginning of the day we never noticed them.. I then freaked out because it meant that I had been sleeping with bugs for who knows how long. Pretty much cried for the rest of the day. The Senior couple here who is in charge of helping with housing in this area told us to try to spray everything with permetherin (as did the Senior couple over housing for the whole mission) so Sister Maher and I spent the next 5 hours doing just that. And then we checked the mattresses for bugs (because we figured out it was bed bugs on the wall) and they were clean so we sprayed them again and brought them out to the living room and had a terrible night sleep as both of us couldn't stop thinking about the bugs. Day two of the bugs was P-day so after we finished emailing, we went home and vacuumed and sprayed everything again. We also called the office for our apartment complex (they were closed on Sunday) and told them that we had potentially bed bugs. They told us they would have the Knox people come look at it soon. So anyway, we did that again, I might have had a minor meltdown as well again because I realized that it was all on my side of the room that the bugs were, and we are pretty sure I had been bitten on my legs from before. (Nasty).

Tuesday comes along, and I am done with the bugs so I started to pack, because I didn't want any of my stuff to have the bugs in them so I checked and sprayed everything I owned before I packed it all.. At about 9 the Knox guy came for a inspection and when he went into our room, he flipped over our box springs. Mine was solid black in every corner on the bottom, and Sister Mahers only had a few. Super nasty. They then gave a checklist to us of all the things we had to do before they could come and spray our apartment. So we spent the next 6 hours doing all the stuff on it. Essentially it was like we were moving apartments, but we had to wipe down and spray everything in the process. So my beautiful map that I made a few months ago had to be taken down, all the fabric in our apartment had to be put in heavy duty trash bags to be washed when we left, all the stuff on the counters and bookshelfs and etc had to be put in bags and either taken with us, or we could leave them (but we took the supplies with us since most of them are paper, and we didn't know how those would fare in the bug bombing). The Sisters in the other ward, who we were going to stay with for the next week came and helped us pack all our stuff and clean everything. We filled both our cars with stuff and took it to the other Sisters apartment where we sprayed their apartment and then put the bags from our apartment in the middle of the room with a permetherin boundary around the whole thing so they don't spread. And then we went and did missionary stuff for a few hours, and then came home to the sister apartment and began what would end up to be over 15 loads of laundry. I stayed up that night until about 1 switching laundry around so that we didn't have to stay at the apartment and do it. As we took it out, then we sprayed them again and folded them.

The next day we had to go back to our apartment to vacuum the whole thing (including our room, which we honestly hadn't touched yet because neither of us wanted to deal with the bugs). We also had to get rid of our beds and box springs since the mission was going to just pay for new ones, so we called some members to come get them, since they had a truck, and we don't and so three of the brethren in the ward came to get them for us. We asked them before the went in to grab them if they wanted us to spray them, and they said no, then they went and got it all and afterwards asked us to spray them. (apparently after seeing it, they changed their minds.) Better safe than sorry people! 

Apparently we found out later, each of them went home to their wives and told them it was probably the worst they had ever seen it, and it completely freaked them out. So my meltdown Sunday was completely validated, even though Sister Maher was laughing the whole time.. I am the Queen of Drama is all:) Basically after we finished cleaning we left the apartment and haven't been back since. I will never be in that apartment again so that is strange. We still and to clean the rest of our clothes and we even had to send some to the dry cleaners which was interesting, but hopefully when we can go back it will all be fixed and there will be no more problems. They even get new mattresses and box springs so they know there are no bugs in them. It has been fun though at the other Sister's apartment for the last week. Tonight is our last night there.

Another blessing that came from this was the fact that after I cleaned everything of mine, I was able to pack it all, and transfer calls were last Saturday. Either way I would have had to pack it, so I just packed on the off chance I was going to get transferred, and I'm getting transferred! Luckily because this happened, we don't have to clean our apartment, and I don't have to try to locate everything that is mine, because everything is already packed. We also don't have to go shopping today because there is no point as we have no place to put it until we can get back in our apartment tomorrow. So I don't have to pack, or shop, or clean my apartment today, and I can just go say goodbye to people all day instead.

I am getting transferred by the way. I found out Saturday. I have been here 6 months and I knew it was probably time for me to leave. It will be interesting. I don't know where I am going though. I kinda hope I am either going to Savannah or Augusta but my thought is that I will go to Fort Stewart area since my last two areas have been military places. (Fort Stewart is over by those two places either way). We will find out what happens tomorrow and I will tell you all next week where I am and who I am with! :)

Also I am super excited to be able to talk with you when I get home because I am learning so much from my studies that I can't all email home, but that I am writing down for everyone to read (namely my companion because she wants to read it later when she can understand it better). Much of it is the thoughts and connections I have made in Jesus the Christ, but some of it is from my study of the Book of Mormon as well.. Super awesome! Plan for a whole month mom where I am just going to talk your ear off. It will be great!! :) Someday in the long distant eons of time these questions will be answered.

Super excited for that day.

Love you all!! Hope all is well with you:) I am thinking about you every day:)

-Sister Monica Walker

Love Reading the Scriptures

Dear Mom,

Transfers were 2 weeks ago. I might not have mentioned it because neither I nor my companion were changed. It's a bit strange to not be a part of transfers.

My companion and I are one of three sets of missionaries in my ward. There is a Spanish set of Elders, and an English set of Elders, and us. I'm almost positive that in this mission, I will never cover more than one ward, and if I am ever by myself in a congregation, its a good chance that it is a branch, or a group. We almost always use our car to get to the different places we have to go, and then walk around for a little bit. It's hard to not use our car because our area from top to bottom is close to 25 miles. And we live closer to the top of the map where there are less people, so it would be hard to not have our car and try to reach the bottom of the map, especially when we don't ride bikes.. if you want to see my area, you can go to maps.lds.org and look up the Rivercrest Ward. Those boundaries are my boundaries. It's only half of Columbus, because the other ward covers the rest and then some..

I think the things I have learned the most, the abilities that have been enhanced as I serve as a missionary, are honestly my abilities to study. I had poor study habits at home, and I never really figured it out, being here on a mission though helped me to learn how to effectively study for myself and or other people. I love those few hours in the morning that I get to study my scriptures and talk to my companion about the things we learn as we study. The scriptures have opened up so much for me! I am on my 3rd reading of the Book of Mormon since I have gotten on my mission, and I am amazed at the connections that I can make from the smallest lines. Here is something I learned this week from my studies, that I was telling my mission president about.

This week has also been very interesting as I have been reading the Book of Mormon again and looking specifically for wisdom and insight that will help me improve myself, and to become more like Christ. I know all these stories. I have heard them my whole life, but the connections I have been making in the past few weeks, are amazing! And they are little things that I should know already, but for whatever reason never connected. For example, in the story of the 2000 stripling warriors, we always talk about the effect their mothers had on them, the spiritual growth and example that they were, but I learned last week that it mentions the fathers too and how they sent provisions to their sons. I knew that, but I thought it was cool that the scriptures mentioned something that the fathers of these 2000 boys did to help them, and to me it was awesome as well because you can see from that that without either of them, they wouldn't have survived. Without provisions, they had no energy. Without the Spirit, they would not survive. Both parents therefore were essential to their surviving the battles they faced. Just like today. Super awesome.

Its cool to see the connections between everything. I will send home the mini Book of Mormon I am using during this reading of it and you can see more of the connections that I have made as I read. Reading the book itself is much different than just hearing the story. There are so many details that you miss by just relating the story. Those ah-ha moments when after reading the connection is made to see that this particular thing relates to this other thing. I don't think I would be able to make these connections as easily had I not been on my mission.. I love [reading] my scriptures! It's super awesome. It brings new light as to why we are supposed to read our scriptures instead of just listen to the stories. Because it isn't the stories that are necessarily the important stuff. Sometimes is the words on the page that will stand out to you in a way that will help you right then and there.

Love you all! Sorry this letter is short..

Sister Walker

Christmas Time

Mom!!

First, Tell Robert I said Happy Birthday!! I can't believe he will be 16! Crazy life..

Second, Transfers are tomorrow!! I am not going to be transferred, which means I will be here for the next 7 weeks, but I am training a new missionary:) Which is going to be fun.. It also means though that Sister Dayton is going to have to leave, and neither of us are very happy about that. We have definitely grown pretty close in the last couple of weeks due to the craziness of this area, and so it is hard for us to separate, but I know that the Lord knows what is best, and I will do what He has asked me to do, and I will do my best to do so cheerfully and with a willing heart, even when it is really hard. On the bright side, I will be training again, but this time I will be training a sister who just came out from the MTC! So that is super exciting:) I don't really know who it is yet, but it will be super awesome when I get to meet them.

Sister Pilimai and I went on exchanges together this last week:) That was awesome!

We had a Christmas Party for the ward last Saturday night, and I have to say it was one of the best activities for missionary work I have seen since coming out on my mission! There were so many people who brought their non-member friends and brought them over to see us. And there were a bunch of recent converts and less active people who went to it. Super cool. And then a lot of them came to church the next day too. Miracles abounding. 'Tis the Season I guess.. 

This weeks letter is going to be a little shorter than normal just because Sister Dayton wants to go to base to say goodbye to some people and that is going to take us some time to get there, so I don't have as much time today as I would like.. But all is well, and I am super excited for this week, and for seeing all of the friends I have made in the different areas again. Transfers are fun, at least if you take off the part where your companion has to leave. But it's all good:)

Oh, also because Sister Dayton had never been to early morning seminary before, since she is from Utah, and they had release time, we went to early morning seminary this morning. Guess what time it was at? 6:20!! So not as early as I was used to, but still pretty early since it was across Columbus and we had to leave at 6 and we still got there late.. but it was really fun, and I wish we could do it everyday, but that would be extremely hard as a missionary just because we are busy until basically 10:30 and so that would mean we would get from about 6-7 hours of sleep every night, and that would only happen if we were able to fall asleep right away.. So definitely not an everyday thing, but it will probably be something that we do every once in a while:)

Life is good, I love you all! 

Love your favorite person in the whole world!

Sister Monica Walker

PS if you haven't yet, go to christmas.mormon.org and watch the videos on it. They are all pretty awesome, but especially the one #asaviorisborn Its so cute!!!! I've watched it a million times and it still isn't old.. So go watch it even if you already have seen it, and then share it everywhere you go!

Studying the Scriptures

DADDY!! 

I love you! It is kinda funny that you send the letter from mom's email even though it is you that is emailing. It has been a super crazy week here. Last week were transfers, and while neither I nor my companion moved, we have two new sets of Sisters in our Zone, a new set of English Elders in our District (they live a building down from us), and one week less in this transfer than in any other transfer due to Christmas. So now I and Sister Dayton are Sister Training Leaders over 4 other sets of Sister Missionaries, and two of them opened up new areas while also training missionaries that both just got off the airplane to come to Georgia.. So those are going to be some crazy exchanges. Especially since we only have 5 weeks to do exchanges with the Sisters, and we have 4 to go on. The new Elders in our ward obviously didn't know anything about the area, and since they were also opening up new areas then they didn't have anything to do except try to get some investigators. Fortunately, the Spanish Elders in the ward as well as us have a bunch of people that we were able to give them to help them get started with a teaching pool. They have been coming over to our apartment a lot to do planning since they don't have a map yet, and I just finished making a very detailed map of our area. (I'm super proud of this map. It took me 5 weeks to just make the map part.) We are still putting people on it, but it has definitely been a blessing because then we were able to more effectively plan for both us and the Elders without it getting to crazy and tracting the same areas.. Life is good. But super crazy.

It was also a really hard transfer because Sister Dayton had made some really good friends in the last district we had, and many of them left. It wasn't very easy for her, because she doesn't like being the one that is left, but we have been managing fine, and Sister Dayton is still a super awesome missionary:) One thing that she did do though, before Transfers was have one of the Elders who left give her a blessing for comfort. As you well know me being the daughter of my mother, cried the whole time the blessing was given because I knew how hard it was for her. It was one of the sweetest blessings I had heard in a while, and it really touched me because of the comfort and peace that was offered to her. It also made me miss a bit being at home where you could give me a blessing when I need it. The priesthood is the same, no matter who holds it, but there is definitely something different and more special when it is your own father giving you a blessing from your Heavenly Father. 

I feel extremely blessed to have a father who has played such a big part in my life. There are so many families here who are missing a father in the home due to whatever circumstances, and it makes me feel really sad that they are missing out on such a wonderful relationship. My life at home was extremely blessed. I really did have no idea how much so until I got here and saw the consequences of so many broken families. I still don't even understand how much my life has been blessed because I haven't experienced fro myself what it is like to live without any of that stuff. All I know is that it would be an extremely hard trial to have to go through. 

On a different note, Thanksgiving will be interesting to have here, especially since we are going to have Thanksgiving with a lady who is from Japan. So she is going to feed us Japanese food for Thanksgiving. Definitely not what I was expecting. Also strange realization is that from now on, I only have one of every single holiday before I go home, so next Thanksgiving, I will be with y'all. Weird. I still can't believe that I have been on my mission for 6 months already. Super crazy. I hope you eat some wonderful pie for me:) idk if I will be eating any pie since we are eating Japanese food.. Who knows though? Maybe we will go to 2 Thanksgivings! That would be a lot of fun:)

Sorry to hear about the Heiner's car. But I am glad to hear that Sister Heiner is ok. I see that car here all the time, and I'm not sure how in the world people can afford it when the majority of the people live in trailer parks, but maybe I am just seeing the same car over and over all over Columbus.

Oh also, I never really realized how much of a sacrifice it was for you to be driving an hr too and from work every week day for as long as I can remember. I guess I always thought that was normal, because that is always what you did. But there are people here that will spend the night in hotels rather than drive the 2 hrs everyday to commute from work, so I wanted to tell you thank you for all the hard work and sacrifice you gave for me and my siblings. Thank you also for all the preparation for life you gave (like what to do in case of a fire, kidnapping, death, if the prophet calls us to Jackson County, etc haha) as well as for all the mornings you wanted us to be up for scripture reading as a family before you left for work. I always took that as the normal thing people did, and nobody else that I have talked to on my mission has ever even thought about doing things like that. It really helped me be more prepared for my life, spiritually, and physically. 

As you well know, I am a super fast reader, and I retain a lot of what I read. A few months ago, my mission president challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days highlighting all the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy ghost, Endure to the End). I took my time with that and still managed to finish within 40 days. So I decided back in September that I wanted to challenge myself to read the entire Standard Works in 90 days, highlighting the righteousness and blessings one color, and the wickedness and curses with another. I am about 80 pages away from finishing the Old Testament, and about 30 pages away from finishing the Doctrine and Covenants. I'm halfway through the Book of Mormon, and I still have the whole Pearl of Great Price and New Testament to do. I also plan on reading the Bible Dictionary, because I have decided its pretty awesome, so I have all of that to do as well. So I still have a long way to go. However, my point in telling you all of this isn't to tell you how amazing your daughter is. The point in my telling you this, is to tell you how much I have come to really love the Book of Mormon. The whole Bible is filled with wickedness and abominations. God is trying to give these people the best and they are turning around and telling Him they don't want it, and would rather go ask for things from some fake idol they went and made themselves. And then they get punished for their pride and selfishness, and like many of us do, when we are reprimanded they will agree with whatever so that the punishment will stop, and then once they are blessed again, they turn back around, and the cycle continues. The Book of Mormon goes through the same cycle, but there is so much more hope! The power of the Atonement, and the Savior and repentance are all put into this positive light rather than a negative one as consequence of something bad. I have learned so much more how wonderful and great is the sacrifice that Christ gave for us is. My Bible is full of the color red with a couple of blue spots every once in a while. My Book of Mormon (and remember I am only halfway through it) is full of the color blue, with only a few red spots in it. The Doctrine of both is exactly the same. God is the same God no matter what you read about Him. The Message of the Book of Mormon though is one of hope, and peace, and everlasting joy! It is a message about the eternal nature of families when founded upon Christ's Church. It is a message of hope for those who have been stuck in darkness fro so long. It is a message of joy for those who think that the end of mortality is the end of life. It is a message of peace when the world gets crazier all around us! I love the Book of Mormon! I love my Savior! I know my Heavenly Father loves me! That is the message I have to share. God is Alive. His Son did die, but is living now! Because of Him, all will live.

Before I get off, I wanted to share a story that one of our recent converts told us. This man is in the army, and he has a great uncle who was Mormon, and had probably one of the hardest experiences I can ever imagine anyone going through. Since I don't know the name of the man whose story it is, I will make one up so you don't get confused.

John was in the army during WWII. After Japan bombed Hawaii, the emperor of Japan told his people that no one would be able to bomb them back because they were a 'promise people' and their God was fighting for them. So a call went out for volunteers only, who were going to go on a mission to Japan, to bomb parts of their country. The bombs that were dropped did very little damage, but the purpose wasn't to destroy anything, but rather to prove to the Japanese people that their Emperor's statement that they were impervious was incorrect. Basically it was to drop the morale of the Japanese people. Anyway, John was one of these volunteers. He and a bunch of other men flew over Japan, and dropped bombs on their ground. Unfortunately, John's airplane was hit, and it crashed into the ocean not far from the coast of Japan. 20 people survived that crash and were captured by the Japanese once they got to shore (since there wasn't anywhere else for them to go). They at that point became Prisoner's of War. Time goes by, and they are sent from camp to camp, tortured and beaten, and starved, and all manner of horrible things were done to them. Meanwhile back in the States, they received a report that their plane had crashed, but that there were 20 missing soldiers. As the time passed, and no one was able to located them, they were all declared as KIA. More time passes, and those soldiers are still subject to so much torture and all manner of things. Eventually, America gets a report that there are 5 American soldiers who are Prisoners of War in a certain camp, and they take all sorts of efforts to get these men back. They discover that these 5 men were all that were left of the 20 that were captured. John was one of them, and the only one who was still sane. Every other man that was rescued could no longer function in their lives, and had major PTSD. John was later asked in an interview what kept him sane while he was captured, and he told them it was because everyday he would read the Bible to the other men who were captured with him. Because of how much he read it, he was able to memorize it, and recite it whenever he was feeling especially down. He arrives home, only to find out that his wife had married another man, because they all thought he was dead, and his whole family didn't know how to respond to him anymore. The recent convert was telling us that he asked John once (when he was 10) if the Bible really was what got him through that whole experience. John told him no. And then John went inside and came out with a little blue book, and told his great nephew, "This is what got me through it." On the cover of the book were the words "The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ."

The power found in the covers of this book are real. The promises are true. I know it. With all the fervor of my soul I testify of it. Never forget it!

Love you all!

-Sister Monica Walker

Transfer Week (No, I'm Not Going Anywhere)

Dearest Mother,

This week has been pretty crazy. It is the last week of the transfer (and no I'm not getting transferred, and neither is my companion) and so it was filled with a lot of anxiety before we knew that we wouldn't be transferred. Our next transfer though is in 5 weeks instead of 6 so that people aren't getting transferred 3 days before Christmas. Likelihood is that either Sister Dayton or I will be transferred that transfer and that will be hard because it will be a week before Christmas. However I'm glad that I get at least one more transfer with Sister Dayton. She's pretty legit:)

This week had been pretty stressful though. On top of that and everything else that you are aware of, we were preparing one of our investigators, Danny for baptism, when we realized that he hadn't actually stopped drinking tea or coffee. Soooo after reiterated to him how important it was, he managed to find substitutes (such as hot chocolate and fruit juice) and he is still set to be baptized. It freaked us out for a minute though because we thought maybe he wasn't willing to stop, but what it was was that he didn't understand. Not understanding is really important, and apparently we didn't help him understand the importance well enough the first time around. We got it though so it all worked out in the end:) He is still on date and we are still so excited for him!

Yesterday we had probably one of the craziest things happen that I honestly didn't expect to happen. It sounds like a pretty scary story, but really it was a blessing that it happened the way it did. So this is what I told my mission president:

Yesterday about 7 minutes before the Sacrament Meeting started, one of our investigators had a seizure and collapsed on the pew. It was one of the scariest things Sister Dayton and I had ever experienced because one moment he was fine, and then the next we heard him scream and then fall down next to us and start shaking. We honestly thought he was going to die it was so bad. There were three brethren that rushed to his side to help him, all of whom were doctors, and one of whom was a trauma doctor. He was definitely blessed to have been at church when it happened, because he lives at home all alone, and he has no family, so if it had happened when he was home he wouldn't have been able to get the help he needed. The ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital. Eventually we started sacrament meeting, even though we started a bit late. We went with the Elder Quorum President (who was one of the doctors that ran over to help him) after sacrament to go check on him at the hospital. He was doing a lot better than he had been, sans the fact that his blood pressure was through the roof (250/160). Its expected though that he should be fine. Sister Dayton and I are still shook up about it, but we are certainly grateful that it happened in a place where he could get help. Not only were there plenty of doctors to help him, but it were serious enough, there were plenty of worthy priesthood holders who could give him a blessing. This was the first seizure he had had in 40 years since he was 9 so it was definitely a surprise to him as well as everyone else. The miracles that God gives us are amazing. If we hadn't met him and had been teaching him, and had he not been coming to church as diligently as he was, he wouldn't have been in the position at that time and place to be helped. Who knows what would have happened then. I JUST LOVE GOD! So pretty much life is awesome:) and I feel really blessed:)

Yep. So crazy stuff. Definitely not something I want to happen again but it was a memory I will probably have for the rest of my life. It was also pretty cool though how for the rest of church, everyone is praying for him to get better. Everybody was so nice about it. Also random fact I learned. The pews in the front move. So another blessing about this was that we were sitting in the second to the front pew and they were able to move the bench far enough away to get the stretcher in front of him so he could get in it. Who knew?

Anyway love you all! And I hope and pray that all is well this week for you:)

Love your favorite child in the whole wide world!

-Sister Monica Walker

PS are we going to do Secret Santas this year? and if we are can you tell me who I have? Because I want to be a part of it too:)

PPS. Today we are saying goodbye to a lot of our district because one companionship is getting whitewashed, and one comp from every other companionship is getting transferred tomorrow. Except for me and my companion, we are staying here. Then later tonight we get to have dinner and FHE with a recent convert. Its pretty hilarious because this guy is one of the most sarcastic teddy bears you could ever meet.

PPPS. Yes I have been to both [Zaxby's and Waffle House], but luckily I live in an area that has a wide variety of restaurants available to me. Zaxby's is a lot like Chick-fil-a but the outside makes it look like a sit down restaurant. The Waffle House has some pretty good waffles, but looks super ghetto and is basically like one of those really old diners where you sit at the counter and they give you your food, but they are everywhere. There are probably more of those than McDonald's. Crazy. Also the Burger Kings here are ridiculously fancy. One of them is three stories and looks like a train station. One of them looks like a Draper house, and the rest of them are like insanely fancy places. Kinda crazy. [We usually go to] All sorts of places. My first transfer we went to Buffalo Wild Wings every week. Sometimes we go to Chick-Fil-A sometimes we go to Hibachi Buffet which is a Chinese buffet place, sometimes we go to Taco Bell, or a Mexican Restaurant, or a Thai restaurant, or pizza. Pretty much whatever we are in the mood for.

General Conference, New Companion, New Area

MOM!!!

I LOVE CONFERENCE! There are some really amazing things that I learned at conference, and it was really cool to be there as a missionary because I feel like so much of it had just greater impact on me than it had before. I saw the little boys holdings hands too and it made my heart melt. So cute!

So my new companion's name is Sister Dayton, and she is actually one of Sara Buckley's best friends! So we kinda know each other because we had met once when I went to someone's farewell. That was crazy! She is from Salt Lake City proper and her Great Uncle was actually Elder Perry so she cried though a good part of the conference because it was hard for her. But she is such a trooper and she is so willing and ready to learn about everything there is to know:) I'm second half training her so she has already been out 6 weeks, but she and I have a lot of leg room to cover in this area because she still doesn't know exactly what she is doing.. haha.. its all good though:)

I'm actually in Columbus, GA so I'm about 2 hours away from where I was before in Warner Robins. This base here is Fort Benning. There are some really nice people here, and the members that have fed us are a lot like the members I would suspect you'd find in Utah.. Haha. So that is pretty fun too.

And Sister Shephard actually wasn't from the mission office, but rather a member we had lunch with. Probably should have gone though the mission office, but we were on a time crunch and needed the information ASAP. Haha that was super fun though to hear you talk to her.

I do automatically receive a Ensign from the mission, so I think I should be fine. We might fight over the little insert with all the new apostles on it though.. Haha Ok not really, I'd let my companion have it, but its funny to think about..

I'm sorry this email isn't as long as most my emails are, but I have a lot to do today since its a new area that needs a lot of updating and fixing up.

Love you!

Sister Monica Walker

Transferring

To my favorite Mother in the whole wide world,

I'm being transferred! I'm also still going to be a Sister Training Leader, and I'm also going to be a trainer. So basically I'm going to be super busy this next transfer. I just hope that I will be able to do all that the Lord wants and expects of me in the next 6 weeks. I do know however, that I can do whatever the Lord asks me to do as long as I am relying on Him, because He can do anything, even shape me in the way He needs me. I am of course very nervous, but I am still very excited to be able to have this opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father and my Brother, Jesus Christ. 

Yesterday during Sacrament Meeting, I was able to bear my testimony to the ward, and I hardly got any words out before I was crying. It's almost harder to leave this area than it is to leave home because the people at home I know I will see again soon, but the people here I might not ever see again in this life. It isn't a bad thing though because how wonderful will be our reunion in the Celestial Kingdom will all these people who I have met and become like family too? I really have loved serving in Warner Robins and I am so super excited to be a part of the Lord's work elsewhere.

In other news though, I don't remember if I told you about Endora, but she and her two older daughters are preparing for baptism, and this last week we discovered that her boyfriend might be interested in learning too! We weren't sure before, because he would always take the baby and go outside when we came, granted he was always very nice, and he wasn't leaving because we got there, but rather to help it be a more calm environment without the baby. It turns out though that he might get baptized with the rest of his family! That made me kind of excited because they would be baptizing a whole family in stead of just part, and then they can go to the temple in a year and be sealed for ever as a family. It makes me so happy and excited when that is everyone's goal! Because families truly can be forever, but only through God's authority and not anyone else's.

I also really loved Conference! We watched it at a member's home, and it was such a spiritually uplifting event! The story of the girls Great Aunt Rose made me cry. It testified to me of the love that my Savior has for every single person in the world, and that no matter where we are in life, He can help us lift those burdens and "shake off the chains" of the adversary (2 Nephi 1:23).

I love my Father in Heaven! He is such a source of comfort to me:) Especially when those hard times come (as they always do) and I can't go to any of my other family. His Beloved Son, My Brother, knows my sufferings and my joys and weeps and rejoices with me every single day. The Holy Ghost is always with me and I can feel Him guiding my thoughts, words, and actions in the direction that My Father wants. Jesus Christ LIVES! And because He lives I can have joy, and peace, and hope! There is nothing that can change my thoughts on that. I know that the love my family (both earthly and heavenly) have for me is real, and powerful. Prayer is the key to greater knowledge and enlightenment. I love my scriptures, and I learn from them all the time. God is real.

I love you!

-Sister Monica Walker

(Your favorite child)


P.S. What happens for transfers here is that we all get on a conference call Saturday night (Except this time is was Saturday morning due to the women's session of conference), and they list the names of the missionaries who need to pack their bags and go to the transfer meeting on Tuesday. They also list the names for all the new trainers (whether 2nd half or brand new isn't announced) and they have to be early to the transfer meeting for another meeting that they will go to to help them learn how to be trainers. Then today (Monday) They send an email out with the names of all the leaders for the transfer, and my name was on that too. But they list those randomly because they don't want people to be able to guess who their companion is before they get to the transfer meeting. (Although if you really in tune with the spirit you'd be able to figure it out) haha so really I don't know much except for the fact that I have to pack and prepare to help another missionary learn the ropes and that somewhere I will be training all the sisters in the area.

I don't know if it will be a brand new missionary or a missionary that has been out for 6 weeks, since training technically is 12 weeks. But yes. The Lord has asked me to do a lot this next transfer. Basically every position that I can fill on my mission all at once. Plus I'm transfering. So yep. I know I can do it though. Because the Lord has asked me too, and He's not going to leave me hanging

Mom I do want you to know that as hard as a mission is I really do love being here:) It is so awesome and I get to meet all these wonderful people. I do miss talking with you all the time though about the things I learn, but there is just not enough time to share everything that I want to with you, but I am making a little book for what I learn from the Book of Mormon, and I will send that to you when I am done and you can read that:)