Week 50: Contacted by Testigos

Hola hola hola!

This week has flown by, it's crazy how fast the time is going. On Tuesday morning we worked out in one of our pueblos, El Palmar, and then ate mediodía with a family who lives there.

On Wednesday we visited Josefa! She gave us food too, but it was just kind of lukewarm chicken, chips, and this funny crouton-ish toast bread from a bag. She also had us take pictures of various rooms in her piso to send to a friend of hers. She's so funny haha. On Wednesday night we went to the noche de hogar at Estefania's house with Thomas!

On Thursday morning we met with Eva, who disappeared for a few days last week but it turns out she had just lost her phone. We went over the restoration again, but more in-depth. She really liked it! We ate mediodía with the Mendez family, they always have the best food! In the evening we met with one new investigator we found last week named Margarita! We taught her the restoration and it went really well! And right after that... we taught another new investigator, also named Margarita! The restoration with Margarita 2 went well too. 

On Friday morning we had district meeting, then all went afterwards so that one elder in our district who's new to the mission could try kebab for the first time. On the way back from district meeting we got contacted by some Russian Jehova's Witnesses (they're called testigos in Spanish), that was a little awkward... they tried to give us one of their pamphlets so we were like, "okay cool, here's one of ours for you!" but it seems like that kind of scared them for some reason (I do not know why) and they quickly said they didn't need anything and took their pamphlet back and left haha.

On Saturday afternoon we taught Conchi, she's hilarious. We taught about learning and serving in the church--this really is a church where we're always teaching and learning from each other!

On Sunday we had church (claro). Eva didn't come at first, which we were sad about, BUT turns out she was just working. And get this: after she finished her tour, she walked all the way across town to come to the last 45 minutes of sacrament meeting! (our church is backwards and sacrament meeting is last). She's the best.

I've been studying the scriptures a lot lately and I just have to say that I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES! There is so much that we can learn from them. One thing that I've learned from being a missionary is how to study with a purpose--study trying to find a specific answer or understand a specific concept. I know that as we are really searching and trying to understand the scriptures, the Spirit will teach us new things every time we read them!

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 49:Transfers

Hola hola hola! 

This week was kind of a blur, transfers happened on Wednesday so a lot has changed! I'm still in Murcia but it's always different being with a new companion. My new comp is hermana May, she's from Wyoming and super funny. She's also very serious about cleaning. 

Anywho, Monday was good, we had a noche de hogar with Sharon and Luis but in the house of Araceli and her family so it was really fun. Sharon was so sweet and had brought a cake with "Gracias Hermana Philips" spelled out in it. Yes, Philips only had one L on the cake haha. 

Tuesday we had a district meeting even bigger than last week... There were FIFTEEN of us! That was crazy, we barely all fit in the room. We had to combine the districts since our district leader was in Málaga to pick up his trainee, plus we had a few random missionaries in the area who were staying in Murcia since their companions were also in Málaga. On Tuesday we also met with Conchi, and Eva, and Evelyn and her boys, and then went to the noche de hogar at Estefania's house! 

Wednesday were transfers, so basically I was at the train station all day with other missionaries waiting for our companions to show up! It was fun though. We got pizza for lunch. Hermana May came in the afternoon and then we went with a member, Paquita, to visit David and Fatiha (they're moving to a different pueblo). 

Thursday we started off the day with weekly planning, then went out and did some finding at night! Friday was a finding day too, we worked all morning and found no one, all afternoon too with no success until like the last hour of the night when we met six people who were all interested and gave us their number to call them! 

On Saturday morning Arellys (a girl in the ward) got baptized, the baptism was really sweet and she had invited some friends which was so good! In the afternoon we met with Conchi and then watched the broadcast of stake conference. 

Sunday we had stake conference again, they're building a big church building in Cartagena but until then they do stake conference via broadcast because there's not enough room for everyone to come to one building! Then we had correlation, ate with Mírian and her family, and went out finding again! We met a few more people who had interest which is good. 

Today I read in the Book of Mormon about the travels of the prophet Lehi and his family. Laman and Lemuel (2 of the sons in the family) were basically complaining the whole time, but I liked what one verse said. 

1 Nephi 2:12 "And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them." 

When hard times pass, we're prone to complain (at least I am) but if we could understand "the dealings of that God who created us," or what God's big-picture plan is for us, we would understand why we have to go through what we do. Everything that happens to us in life can be for our benefit, even though we don't see how in the moment! 

Love, Hermana Walker

Answer: Brother of Jared      This is the answer to last week’s question who was the Book of Mormon person who went 4 years without praying?

New question: did the Nephites have pillows? 

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Week 48: Eva got Baptized!!!

Hola hola hola!!

This week flew by. Actually, the whole transfer has flown by! On Monday some of the missionaries from our zone went bowling during pday, me and hermana Phillips had the second-best companionship score so basically we're professionals. Monday night the cita we were going to have failed us, so we ended up contacting for a loooong time. BUT, it was actually really good and we saw a lot of success and found a lot of people we got to talk to and a few people who gave us their phone number to have us call them.

 On Tuesday we had district meeting, except it was a big combined 12-person district meeting which was definitely different. Afterwards we went and got burritos at this burrito bar that a member had shown one of the elders. Mexican food really isn't popular in Spain, I had never seen a burrito restaurant. But it was like Chipotle and it was awesome. 

Wednesday was a good day, we contacted a lot in the morning and then went with Eva to eat mediodía with Araceli and Nery, two members in the ward. It was really good and we found out that Eva has already done her family history work 5 generations back! She's awesome! On Wednesday night we had the noche de hogar at Estefania's house, Thomas came with us again and that was really fun.

On Thursday morning we went to the library to make the programs for Eva's baptism, then in the evening there was a noche de hogar activity with the relief society that some less-active members came to so we went too. Those women are all crazy but very funny haha.

Friday was a crazy day, we had to go to the church early to start filling the font for Eva's baptism at 6. We did weekly planning at the church too while we waited for the font to fill. The baptism went really well, Nery was able to baptize Eva and we could all feel the spirit! It was really cool. Eva was nervous beforehand but felt really good afterwards. Then right after Eva's baptism, there was ANOTHER baptism at 8, and we got to stay for that one too. 

On Saturday morning we met with this less-active member named Carlos who got baptized a few years ago but then went back to his country and lost contact with the church. He came back to Spain a while ago and it was cool because he called us over on the street last week and asked to meet with us! He wants us to give him all the charlas again so he can remember everything, which was an answer to a prayer because now that Eva's baptized, we're probably not going to be teaching her as much as we used to be, so we were hoping to find someone else to teach. And Carlos is already a member but we are excited to be able to teach him all the lessons! On Saturday night we taught Conchi, we talked about baptism and the sacrament. The sacrament is really such a big blessing we have and I have definitely learned to appreciate it more since being in the mission.

Sunday morning we got transfer calls, Hermana Phillips is heading out which I'm sad about but we expected, and my new companion is going to be Hermana May. Church on Sunday was a little sad since Hermana Phillips had to say goodbye to everyone, but it was good and cool to see Eva get confirmed! Someone had made these rings for all the people in the relief society but they were really ugly so Hermana Phillips and I didn't want them, but they were really insistent that we take them so... yes. Then in the afternoon I Skyped with my family! I think I don't know how to carry a conversation without a companion next to me, so I didn't know what to say and they were half-asleep (sorry for making you call me at 7am family) but it was still fun haha.

Anywho, this morning hermana Phillips packed and we got burritos again because it was her last chance, and now we're just at the church emailing. Hey, random book of Mormon trivia question: who was the person who went four years without praying?

Love, Hermana Walker

PS other random non-book of Mormon question: how long does it take a pineapple to grow? Someone who will remain unnamed is convinced it takes 18 years but I'm just not buying it.

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Week 47: Basically spent the entire week watching the restoration video

Hola hola hola!!

Another good week in Murcia! This transfer has flown by! On Monday night we went to a noche de hogar with Sharon and a couple of members named Paula and Enrique who are super awesome. They gave us pizza afterwards and one of the pizzas had pesto and little sliced tomatoes on it. I think the only pizza that I really liked before coming on the mission was pepperoni, so you could say I'm a real adult now haha.

 On Tuesday we had district meeting, except it was in Molina instead of in Murcia, which wouldn't have been a problem BUT Tuesday was a holiday here and so the bus we normally take to Molina wasn't running... so it ended up taking 2 hours to get to Molina between finding the right bus stop, the right bus, and then walking through Molina trying to get to the capilla there. And we got to district meeting 30 minutes late haha. But it turned out good, and afterwards me and hermana Phillips got lunch at domino's so it was all worth it!

On Wednesday we were going to have two citas in the morning, but they both failed us, so we ended up drawing the plan of salvation in a plaza and talking to people on the street about it. On Wednesday night we went to the noche de hogar at Estefania's house and Thomas, a recent convert in our area, was there so it was really fun.

Thursday started out with weekly planning, and then we taught Eva. We taught her a mega-lesson about lots of things but she understood it all and was excited to read the folletos we had given her! Then in the evening we went to visit Sharon and Luis. We watched the restoration video with them, just the 20 minute one. It's very much from 15 years ago BUT it's really good and was a good chance for Luis (who's 13) to relate more to the story of Joseph Smith (who was 14). 

On Friday we spent the morning finding, just talking to people on the street and making calls and things. In the evening there was a baptism in the other ward and we got to go, and then when the guy who was baptized was changing afterwards, we watched... the restoration video.

Saturday we got permission to eat with the elders and Eva, because she really wanted to make paella for us which was so sweet! In the afternoon we met with Conchi and went over the restoration with her, featuring... the restoration video! It's really a good thing that Hermana Phillips and I like that video so much.

Mothers day in Spain in the first Sunday so everyone was just talking about their moms all Sunday which was kind of interesting. We had correlation and ate with a member family, then had a lesson with a man named Manolo in the park which went well!

I've been reading this week in the book of Acts in the New Testament. It had been a while since I read it, and I hadn't read it really in deep before. But reading about the early church led by the apostles has strengthened my testimony so much that this really is the same church that Jesus Christ established, restored in this time! I have really developed a love for the scriptures on the mission and am so grateful that we have them.

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 46: Another week in the life

Hola hola hola!!

Another good week here in Murcia! It's getting hot and we're getting scared for summer haha.

On Monday night we got to do a noche de hogar with Sharon and Luis, which was really good. Afterwards she gave us some food and Luis taught us some brain teasers which was fun. Actually I'm going to try typing one of them out...

5 + 5 + 5 = 550

you just have to add one straight line to the left side of the equation so that it really does equal 550... not sure if that makes any sense. Anywho, that was one of the brain teasers he gave us haha.

Tuesday we had district meeting in the morning. I always like district meeting! Elder Tabilo who's a native Spanish speaker gave us some Spanish tips about pronouncing our T's, D's, and R's better. Afterwards we got to eat as a district and with the other district in Murcia. We shared some of Luis's brain teasers with them and they couldn't figure them out haha. In the afternoon we went out to talk to people in the street. We've been working on more inspired finding and so we decided to pick a color people were wearing and talk to everyone wearing that color. Hermana Phillips felt like we should talk to everyone wearing a blue shirt, and no more than 2 seconds after deciding that, it seemed like everyone we passed was wearing a blue shirt! So that was fun, we talked to a lot of people who we might not have otherwise! One of them was a woman who was on a bench a little out of our way, but she was wearing a blue shirt AND blue pants so we had to talk to her. She was on vacation from Bulgaria but was super interested in hearing more and so we are going to pass her email to the missionaries in Bulgaria so they can get in contact with her! We also got to have a noche de hogar with a less-active member and her four cute, crazy little boys. We finished the night with a lesson in the park with Isaac, which is a little hard since he doesn't speak Spanish and speaks only a little English, but his friend is a member and speaks English and Twi so we are going to get him to come with us next time to translate.

Wednesday was the 25th, so obviously it was a party. In the morning we met with a man named Rogerio in our first lesson with him. Funny story about how we found him--he accidentally called our number, and then we explained who we were and he said he would actually be interested in meeting with us! We are hoping to teach him again. A member couple invited us over for lunch, and gave us a really good paella! The members here are so good and supportive! In the evening we went to a noche de hogar with Estefania (who just got back from her mission in August--sorry if I'm repeating things, I can't remember what I said before). She is so involved in sharing the gospel and Eva was able to come! It was a good chance for her to get to know a few more people from church and also just a lot of fun.

On Thursday morning we did weekly planning, we had a cita with a man named Omar, then we went to eat mediodía with another family from church! They made us arroz con frijoles and it was super good. We spent the afternoon calling people and talking to people on the streets to find more people to teach!

On Friday we didn't have a ton to do, so it was another finding day. We did get to eat mediodía with Sharon and her daughter. She said she was making us some food with seafood called encebollado that me and hermana Phillips hadn't heard of before, and we aren't huge fans of seafood so we were a little nervous. But in the end it was really good! On Friday night there was a relief society noche de hogar and a few less-active members were going so we did too. The women in our ward are so funny and it was really spiritual too so a good end to the day.

There was a big stake service activity on Saturday morning in Torrevieja and we had permission to go, so we got to go clean up the coastline for a few hours! It was fun being by the ocean again, this is my first area where we don't have coast! In the afternoon we met with Conchi, who continues being hilarious and awesome. 

Sunday we had church in the morning. Apparently literally no one except for one person in the ward plays piano, and that one person was gone, so I got to be the ward pianist for the day... I thought they learned that was a bad idea after the first Sunday when I had to play, but bueno. I got at least half of the notes... also we sang this song that's super weird, it's number 307 in the English hymn book and jolín it was so weird haha. Sorry if you like that hymn I guess, me and hermana Phillips were making fun of it all the rest of the day. We had a few meetings in the afternoon and evening that ended up taking up most of our day. Eva came to church again, for the third Sunday in a row! We were so excited! She's a máquina! 

I love Murcia, I love hermana Phillips, and I love being a missionary! Have a good week!

Love, Hermana Walker 

Week 45:Too much rice

Hola hola hola!!

 On Tuesday we had our tri-zone conference in Alicante. It was a really good conference and fun to see old companions like Hermana Lighten and Hermana Encarnación there. But one of the best parts was definitely getting THREE MONTHS OF MAIL! They forgot the mail from our zone at the last conference so they had a little packet just for me full of letters (such as birthday cards from back in February haha). So thanks to everyone who sent me a letter! I also really liked what one of the missionaries said in the conference, that if we want to find a lot (like, 100 for example) new people to teach then we have to talk to at least 100 people on the street! Sometimes I wonder why we don't have a lot of people to teach but really I need to be doing my part and talking to EVERYONE.

On Wednesday we did weekly planning in the morning, then walked over to the sister training leaders' piso on the other side of Murcia for intercambios! Intercambios are always so fun and we get to learn so much! On Wednesday night I was with Hermana Rust, who's hilarious. We had a good time and got to teach a few lessons too. On Thursday morning I was with Hermana Dos Santos, and we got to teach a lesson in a bar. Then the two of us went to eat lunch with a member in their ward. The food was good and included a giant plate of rice. Afterwards we went to the church for interviews with President Andersen! The tricky thing about interviews is that you always need to be on time, but a lot of the time he's running late (which is understandable, he talks to a lot of people!), so then you just end up waiting at the church for a while, which means you get the chance to hang out with Hermana Andersen. Well we got to hang out with her for more than an hour while we waited and it was so fun, there were a few of us Hermanas there and Hermana Andersen was telling us all sorts of fun stories hahaha. We are going to miss the Andersens so much when they leave in July! Then I had my interview with President, which was good too.

After interviews Hermana Phillips and I went to the park to teach a lesson to Eva! We were going over some of the points they had taught her before and she still remembers and understands everything really well. MAQUINA! Then we went to visit Sharon and Luis, we talked about the Atonement with them and then they gave us some food to eat which included a giant plate of rice.

On Friday we were supposed to have 3 citas, but in the end we had none, which is always a little frustrating. One guy did show up for our cita in a park, but apparently he couldn't find us and left. We're going to try that one again this week, with a more specific meeting point haha. We did go to eat mediodía with Sharon and her daughter, who's a member of the church but hasn't been coming for a long time. The food included a giant plate of rice. THREE GIANT PLATES OF RICE IN 24 HOURS IS TOO MANY GIANT PLATES OF RICE. It's okay though, I just hope I never have to eat rice again. Anyway, Friday turned out to be more of a finding day, we were contacting and looking through the teaching records of people who used to be taught by the missionaries and calling people.

On Saturday we visited David and Fatiha in the morning. They really don't know Spanish, and the Arabic book of Mormon they have is apparently a different kind of Arabic than the kind spoken in their country. But they are still MAQUINAS. They read and pray together every day as a family and are so excited for their oldest son to turn 8 this summer so he can get baptized! 

Sunday we were basically in the church all day. Oh also EVA CAME AGAIN! She's the best. And she brought food for the three of us to eat together after church! Then we had correlación with the elders and Nery, our ward mission leader who's 18, and then finally went back to our piso around 6. We did some studies and then did a video call with Conchi to read the Book of Mormon with her. Except, she's kind of old and not awesome with technology, so it was a little chaotic. In the end it was good though haha.

Anywayyy that's been our week. I was reading this morning in Moroni chapter 7 and I don't know, I'd always thought about it just being about faith, hope, and charity, but it has SO MUCH MORE GOODNESS!! I studied it for an entire half hour this morning and still feel like I need to go back and read it again! It's directed towards people who are already living good lives, and just is some kind of extra wisdom for them to maybe give them ideas on how they can be a little bit better. Anyway, would definitely recommend reading it. It's completely true what they say, that every time you read the Book of Mormon you learn something new. Start your study of it every day with a prayer and I promise that you will be taught so many new things every time you read it! 

Love, Hermana Walker

Week 44: My Companions Keep Having Birthdays

Hola hola hola!!

I haven't even been here in Murcia for 2 weeks yet, but it feels like at least a month. I already feel like I know people, like I (kind of) know my way around, and I love it here!!

On Monday night we got to visit Sharon, Arturo, and Luis again. Arturo has been visited by a lot of missionaries but he has never had much interest. But the lesson we had with them on Monday was SUPER spiritual and at the end of the lesson he agreed to read the first chapter in 1 Nefi in the Book of Mormon! We haven't been able to meet with them since, but we will be visiting them tonight!

Tuesday was a bit of a slower day, since we didn't have many set citas and the citas that we did have ended up failing. In the afternoon we went to visit this sweet member who has cancer. Sitting there with a hat on her head she testified to us that God is a God of miracles who hears and answers our prayers. Talk about faith! Then we came back to our piso and called a bunch of people on the extremely long list of future investigators in this area. A couple people picked up and either told us they weren't interested or told us they would like to meet this next week, so we'll see how that goes.

On Wednesday we had district meeting, which was fun, and we talked a lot about ways to find more people to teach. Then we went to this restaurant called cien bocaditos which was also fun. Since it was Wednesday all the little sandwiches were only a euro. After district meeting we went to teach another lesson to this 8-year-old girl, Arellys. Her parents are members but she wants to hear a few of the lessons before getting baptized to make sure she's prepared. She's so cute and gave us these teeny little flower bouquets. Also, her brother brought in a napkin full of silk worms and then him and Arellys were playing with them. I don't know what I was picturing when I heard about silk worms before, but jolín these silk worms were terrifying. On Wednesday night we went to a noche de hogar at a member, Estafania's house. She got back from her mission last summer and invites over the missionaries and any investigators or people they're working with to have a spiritual thought and play some games. She's an awesome member missionary!

On Thursday morning we had weekly planning, then ate mediodía (noon meal) with a family of members who are AWESOME. Then we got to visit with Eva, who is a complete maquina (machine). The only problem is that she can't find a way to come to church more than once every month or two because of her work! After meeting with Eva we started going through some paper teaching records. There are a ton of people who the missionaries used to be teaching but for one reason or another stopped teaching, and we are hoping to be able to start teaching some of them again soon!

Friday was hermana Phillips' 20th birthday! I don't know why this keeps happening, she's the fourth companion I've been with for their birthday. But birthdays are fun, so it's good! We ate pancakes for breakfast to celebrate. In the afternoon we had correlation with our ward mission leader, then went to a relief society (the women's group in the church) noche de hogar at Sharon's house. It was really good and really spiritual and we were really glad that we got to be there.

On Saturday we tried passing by some people, but no one was home. Then we had a pretty weird cita with a member who's just a little interesting. I kind of think I know how Hansel and Gretel might have felt when they were hanging out in the witch's house. She really is a good lady, just a little strange. Let's just say that she introduced her ecuatorian neighbor to us as "a lamanite," and he definitely heard her. Also, she had three copies of the same picture in varying sizes and frames on the same bookshelf. When we got back to our piso afterwards, hermana Phillips and I both kind of felt like we just woke up from a weird dream.

On Sunday EVA CAME TO CHURCH!!! She stayed for all three hours and everyone was really welcoming to her and at the end she told us she liked it, so it was really good! On Sunday afternoon we visited with a recent convert to the church, Conchi. She is the funniest person I think I have ever met. She is the lady with the short hair in the attached picture.

All in all it's been a good week. I love being with Hermana Phillips, she's from hermana Moncayo's group so she just finished training and I'm only her second companion, and we're learning a lot from each other. No crazy parades this week, and tomorrow we have zone conference and on Wednesday and Thursday we have intercambios so it will be a full week! 

I've been re-reading a few of the talks from general conference. I loved the talk from Henry B. Eyring, about ministering to and serving others. There was one quote that I especially loved:

"The Father is at this moment aware of you, your feelings, and the spiritual and temporal needs of everyone around you... He has placed you in the way of other children of God to serve them for Him." 

I know that this is so true and am so grateful for the opportunity that I have and that all of us have to be God's hands, and serve His children. He knows what we need and He knows what those around us need, so if we listen to the inspiration that He gives us we will be able to serve and minister to those around us. I would like to invite you to search for and pray for ways to love and serve and minister to those around you!

Love, Hermana Walker