1/17/2010 The Power of Preach My Gospel

Hello Everyone,

Another great week has passed. It's interesting to me how fast time flies when you're in the service of the Lord. I believe missionary work and feeling the Spirit is a glimpse of what eternity will be like and that is why time flies on the mission.

Let's start with something I've learned this week. I learned the power of Preach my Gospel. Elder Durnall and I were talking about how crazy the adversary is working on this area. I have seen and even at times felt his influence more here in Taylor Mountain than anywhere else I've served or been. It really is an interesting experience to see Satan working so hard on these people. I've seen more trails and roadblocks come into the lives of our investigators than at any other time; it'll be interesting to see why he's working so hard on these people.

Anyway, because of this issue we were talking about ways that we can get him out of our area and to stop his pathetic work on the people we're working with. We hold the keys of the preaching of the Gospel which is something Lucifer cannot control; "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing". We are commissioned to preach the restored gospel to all who will listen. Long story short we were at a correlation with the Stake President and he told us the reason Satan is working so hard is because ward councils are not using Preach my Gospel... interesting... We decided that since we will do everything we can to get this scum out of here that we will visit each member of the ward council in every ward and teach them what Preach my Gospel is and how they can use it and then share with them the story of Joseph Smith and have them feel the Spirit of the first vision. We've done this to one of the wards now and there is a huge difference! The ward seems to be more missionary minded and focused on "inviting others to come unto Christ..." Everything in the Lord's church is missionary work; anything from sharing time in primary to a stake or general conference, the purpose is the exact same to "invite others to come unto Christ..."

It is amazing to me how perfectly Preach my Gospel was designed for everyone. Sister Julie B. Beck, the general Relief Society President, gave us a great example of this. In her general address in the April 2010 general conference she quoted from Preach my Gospel. Now I don't know what she said or what she quoted but I remember the feeling I got from the Spirit that this book is designed for all aspects of the Church. My invitation to all of you is to pull it off the shelf and use it in your study of the gospel. I promise you that as you do so you will be a better prepared servant of the Lord and He will trust you to bring lost sheep into His fold.

I know that is a long story about what I've learned but I can tell you that I know Preach my Gospel is the way we can keep the Lord's church focused on what His purpose is. We all play a part in this great work. I also invite you to print off a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott called The Power of Preach my Gospel and read how the prophets want us it.

We were able to have 7 investigators to sacrament meeting yesterday! That is the most of my whole mission. Our zone broke the record (since I've been a zone leader) of investigators taught with a member present and sacrament meeting attendance. Great things are happening.

This Friday Alan Welch is getting baptized. He is way excited and really wants to serve a mission in a year. On Saturday Lizzy Rigby (recent convert Tiffaney Rigby's daughter) is getting baptized. This weekend is going to be great!

We are supposed to have Travis Steven's baptism but tragedy has struck his family once again and has added to his son's death; his wife's mother passed away this weekend from the very very rare mad cow disease. He has gone through so much in the past month that someone shouldn't have to go through in a lifetime. Please keep him in your prayers.

Also starting tomorrow we will have all the leaders in the mission come to Idaho Falls for a 3 day leadership conference. I look forward to sharing with you all what I've learned.

Have a great week everyone! I hope you are all happy and healthy.

--
Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

1/10/11 Transfers

Hello Everyone!

Well transfer info has officially come and to not much of a surprise I'm staying in Idaho Falls for another 6 weeks; Elder Durnall is going to be staying here also. I'm excited to stay because there is so much work going on and still so much to do! We have scheduled, so far, 4 baptisms for the next 6 weeks! The Lord is blessing us so much and will continue to bless us as we are diligent in seeking the elect.

We had such a great day yesterday with 6 lessons, two of which I wanted to share with you all. The first is the appointment we had with Alan. Alan is such a great guy; he's 18 and is very knowledgeable of the gospel and his relationship with our Heavenly Father. He received a triple combination for Christmas which he's already read most of the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, but his new world translation of the Bible was confusing him when he would cross reference and especially in Sunday School. After some thinking I decided it would be best to buy him a KJV to go with his triple and put his name on both. Last Monday we went to Deseret Book and bought him his own Bible. You should have seen his face light up as we gave him his book. Yesterday in Sunday School was much better as he was able to follow along and reference the Bible dictionary and JST. Anyways, back to what I wanted to tell you... He was scheduled to be baptized on the 29th but we felt like that date was too far away for him because he is ready now. He's been living the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity for a while now and has attended church since we've been teaching him. After considering his desire and how ready he is we invited him to be baptized on the 21st instead. He gladly accepted the change of day and is still preparing to be baptized.

The second experience was last night at our appt with Travis Stevens. Brother Stevens is the one who had his 13 year old son pass away a "couple three" weeks ago. For this appointment we invited President Colton who at first said he wouldn't be able to make it but then he asked, "tell me about this man". After we told him Brother Steven's story President said that he would move his schedule around and to plan on him being there. It was so great to teach with President Colton. We expected him to take the lead and answer the questions but to our surprise he took the back seat and let us teach. Don't get me wrong, President did add his testimony and brought a very powerful spirit but I learned something from this experience; President Colton is a full time missionary just like I am and he teaches the restored gospel of Jesus Christ the same way that I do and he invites others to repent the same way that I do. This truly is the Lord's work if he has all of his servants doing "His work in His way and by His power". Brother Stevens is still preparing for baptism on the 22nd.

I'm so excited to continue my mission here in the Taylor Mountain stake. There is much to be done and not much time to do it. May we all continue onward and "invite others to come unto Christ".

--
Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

I saw Bishop Polson yesterday. He and I talked about so many things... paintball at President Polson's barn, stake youth council sleep overs at President Polson's house, DCHS, and many other things. He was excited to hear that I graduated with Taylor and that Nate was my scout leader for a while when we were in the Plum Creek Valley Ward.

I also met a sister in my area that is Pete Anderson's sister. She too grew up in Castle Rock and her Dad was the Bishop there for a long time. She is friends with Julie Graves and remembers the Johnsons (Gary and Linda) very well. I don't know her first name but her last name is now Athey. She said she would tell the Andersons hello from me. Speaking of Andersons, I didn't realize that Cole and Hunter are now 16!!! What the heck! Crazy!

Small world here in Idaho Falls. I've made more connections to Colorado and Walker here than any other area.

January 3, 2011 Happy New Year

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe it's 2011 already! Where did 2010 go??? This new year has caused me to reflect on the events of 2010 and see where I was and now where I am. I feel that the Lord has taught me more this past year than the previous 19 years of my life combined. I have grown closer to my Savior and have learned and studied His gospel to the point where I can say I know His gospel is true where before I only believed it was. What a great lesson to learn right? I believe so.

I feel as though 2010 was a year full of challenge and success, sorrow and joy, disappointment and excitement, but most importantly full of love and charity. Another great year has come to a close but brings a new year to learn, grow, and continue to pursue happiness.

On Wednesday my companion and I traveled to Pocatello to attend the funeral of Brother Stevens' son. This service has caused me to reflect on the purpose of life and the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us. From this experience a principle of the gospel that myself and Brother Stevens learned is how great it is that Jesus Christ is our perfect judge. Too many of us would wonder what would cause this 13 year old boy to take his life and mourn over the potentials that he has given up, however, all things are to fulfill a purpose in this plan of salvation. I don't know exactly why Dylin took his life nor do I think anyone will know but what I do know by the Holy Ghost is that Dylin is completely covered by the Atonement of our Lord. I felt more powerfully than probably anything I have said on my mission to say what the Spirit shared with me and I in turn shared with Brother Stevens last night at our appointment, the Spirit told him that Dylin is being taught about the gospel the same way that he is learning the gospel from Elder Durnall and myself and that they are both in this together with the same goal in sight to be sealed together in the temple. Behind tears Brother Stevens agreed and understood what his purpose is now for his son.

Now this experience didn't come from what I had to say or even what I was thinking but through a servant of God, our Heavenly Father, delivered what was meted to him at that time in his life. How great is the plan of salvation!

I love you all very much. I am doing well and Idaho is great too, well a little cold but still great!

I hope you all have a great week and have an opportunity to share the most important message this world has ever heard.

--
Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

Happy Holidays 12/27/2010

Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays,

I hope you all received the Christmas cards I sent out to you all. The picture is very dark but you can still tell it's me. I took that picture at Sister Newbold's house (the lady we used to live with). I appreciate the gifts that I've received and truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers. The present I sent Mom and Dad is for the whole family because we all started in 1980 at the alter of the Salt Lake Temple when our parents were sealed for time and eternity. Merry Christmas everyone!

Yesterday was a wonderful day! The performance at church went great; not because I was apart of it but I think it was the best Christmas program I've heard. I loved the pieces I got to play on the piano. My favorite part of the whole ordeal was in Joy to the World when I got to play fortissimo this sweet into that blew my mind and then the organ came in to blow my mind again and then the choir belted out "joy to the world, the Lord has come!" You should have heard it. I also really loved playing Peace, Peace with the sweet runs in the left hand and the beautiful melodious choir part written with silent night by the congregation. If only I had a digital recorder I could share the magic of music.

A really great step happened with Travis Stephens yesterday, he is the one who had a 13 year old son commit suicide a few days ago. When we visited him he, of course, was in shock and despair but even with all of this happening in his life he asked us if we would give him a priesthood blessing of comfort and guidance. I was shocked that he even knew what a blessing was or even that he would ask for one; goes to show the humility of a disciple of Christ. We offered him a very reverent blessing and I want to share with you a part of the blessing that really stood out to me. In the blessing it was stated that "soon he will be sealed to his son in the temple of the Lord and will one day be reunited with him again". How powerful those words were to Brother Stevens yesterday. At the end of the blessing he gave my companion and I a hug and broke down in tears. I will forever remember this sacred moment I had with him. As I've reflected on Travis and this event the Spirit taught me something very important, he taught me that although God can't control our actions because of our agency, he can prepare us for events that take place in our life. How wonderful it is that Travis had gained his testimony of eternal families and the restoration of the priesthood right before his son passed away. Heavenly Father could not control the death of Brother Steven's son but he could send missionaries to bring him the comforter and the Gospel. How great is the plan of salvation!

This Christmas season was wonderful. I really feel that I missed Christmas, which is a good thing, because nothing really changed for us. Sharing the Gospel is the same now or in July and is definitely the best thing I can do. I've really come to understand the true meaning of Christmas and that the Lord doesn't care about gifts or lights or music, even though these things are great, but what he really cares about is that we remember him and commit to follow Him. May we all remember the perfect child born of Mary and Joseph and rededicate ourselves to follow His example. He lives now as He did when He was born and loves us ever more. How grateful I am to bear His name and declare His message of peace and safety. As His authorized representative I leave with you my witness of Him and His love for our family and each one of us individually and specifically.

All is well here in Idaho. This Gospel is the great news of our Lord. I love you all very much and will continue to do my best to fulfill my purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ; I pray the same for you.

--
Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

Photos 12/20/2010

Sister's Rigby's baptism

A little bit of Colorado in Idaho :)

Merry Christmas 12/20/2010

Another "payday", as I like to call it, has happened again. Sister Tiffany Rigby was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a wonderful opportunity I had to be apart of such a wonderful event in her life. She was way prepared for this milestone in her life. Now her baptism isn't even the best part of her conversion story because the best part is what will happen in a year from now when her and brother Jason Rigby are sealed for time and eternity in the house of the Lord. I love when my brothers and sisters that are not a part of the Lord's Kingdom understand that we aren't about baptism or that their goal isn't just baptism but that baptism is an essential step that leads on a path to the mountain of the Lord. As a missionary I love to be a guide to those searching for that missing link in their life and now Sister Rigby has that link that binds her to eternity if she stays faithful to her covenants.

Sister Rigby has a daughter who is an "un-baptized member" (I have no idea why the church calls them that because to me that statement is an oxymoron). Lizzy is 9 years old and wants to be baptized like her mom so bad! At the baptism on Saturday she kept saying, "my baptism is going to be in 2 days." I love how thin the veil is to children and their spiritual sensitivity. We explained to her that her baptism will probably be in 3 weeks so she can learn more about the church but she was insisting that her baptism is going to be in 2 days. We have an appointment tonight with them and we'll set a date for her to be baptized on the 15th of January.

We moved apartments on Saturday. This is the second time that I've opened a new apartment and I didn't like it even the second time. This new place is way sketchy! Saturday night we killed 37 cockroaches! I sent a text to a less active we're working with telling him about it and he showed up 15 mins later with wal mart bags full of repellent. Yesterday we only killed 3 so we're in business. We're calling the landlord today to get an exterminator out here.

Way cool thing that happened this week. We held a zone council on Tuesday which we like to do once a transfer to train the missionaries in our zone. This council we trained on teaching people, not lessons with an emphasis on revelation through church attendance. For this council we asked the assistants to help us with the training. This council was one of the most spiritual meetings I've had as a missionary; the Elders and Sisters just seemed to understand and feel what we were trying to train on. The best part of the whole thing is when we collected key indicator numbers last night we saw that we had 27 investigators attend church yesterday! That is remarkable! I've never seen a zone reach above 20 since I've been a zone leader and now our zone, with the help of the Spirit shot that out of the water. The zone has also increased baptismal dates to 28. Great things are happening here in Idaho Falls I'm so blessed to be apart of this great cause. The best feeling as a zone leader is when I see application and success on what I've trained on, especially in my own area.

Great things are happening. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.

Remember the Christ Child and have a very Merry Christmas.

--
Peace and Love,
Elder Walker

Elder Walker Christmas Photos 2010

Elder Walker's MTC District just a little over a year since the MTC