Monday, March 9, 2015

March 9, 2015 And the New Miss Atexcac is... Hermana Estrada

Hey everyone!

Haha, yeah yeah I know, my subject line is really lame...I apologize, I just can´t think of anything to put haha so I took the old "Miss America" route haha :)

Well, our numbers weren´t all that great this week...because we had changes and also there was like no one home when we went to their houses...so that was a little hard, but other than that my first week with my new companion was really awesome! She came so prepared spiritually! She has a great testimony and she loves learning about the gospel and sharing her testimony and she is super excited to serve and work hard so I am really excited to see the success that we are going to have during these three months together :) My companion´s name is Hermana Estrada (That´s right Hermana Estrada! Tengo una compañera con su mismo nombre! Que genial, ¿verdad?) oh...well for everyone else, Emilee Estrada was one of my teachers in the MTC so her name there was Hermana Estrada...and now my daughter´s name is also Hermana Estrada so that´s pretty cool :)  She is from Durango Mexico.  All of my Latina companions have been from the North.

Oh yeah, I also got semi-bit by a dog on Saturday morning haha! We were walking towards the house of an investigator and I knew that there were a bunch of dogs in this little street (it´s like a little dirt road) but like, I´m not afraid of dogs and nothing had ever happened to me before either but when we walked down the street toward the house all the dogs came out from around the corner and they were barking and all that, just like normal, but one of them was like a little bit crazy and he scratched me with his tooth and either like ran into my leg really powerfully or really did kind of bite me on the leg...because I have a tooth scratch and a big ol bruise on my calf haha. It´s really lovely ;) It actually wasn´t even that bad so don´t worry mom! The Relief Society President´s little son gave me a sling shot so I am all set to defend myself the next time ;) I just need to practice using it haha because...I always hit myself on the hand or my fingers since I don´t know how to use it haha....

We found a new investigator this week who can be baptized for April 11th!! We are super excited! But we need to actually put the baptismal date with him and he actually needs to accept it and come to church every Sunday, but it´s definitely possible that he can be baptized this day so keep him in your prayers! He is a 16 year old who is the son of less actives but he never got baptized... His name is Porfirio :) We have a lot of hope and faith in this kid :) Most of our work in the Pueblo is actually going to be with the less-actives because we have a ton here....and the wards all want that the less-actives can be re-activated...but we also really want to have baptisms and invite others to make sacred covenants with God and to open their door to salvation...slowly we will find out how we can accomplish all of this more productively :) But for now we are still trying to figure out who the members are and where they live haha. there are a LOT of names to learn haha :) 

Well, I am learning a ton here in the mission and also just in my first week training. It is amazing how reviewing "the first 12 weeks" can bring new perspective...the things that I learned this week are really simple but I think that sometimes we overlook the simple things in search for something more complicated because we second-guess the simple things. We think that it can´t possibly be an answer because it is too simple...but the simple things and the simple answers are actually the most helpful a lot of the time haha. I won´t go into all the details of the simple things that I learned because they apply more to the life of a full-time missionary haha but also, I have been reading more things about the second coming of the Savior and I remembered how when I was younger this topic kind of scared me and I remember thinking that it might happen in my lifetime and that I didn´t want it to happen because I was scared...but now, I don´t know, it´s weird because I am actually excited haha! It´s not something scary anymore but something to look forward to and I think my attitude has changed because now I am a lot more prepared than when I was younger and I understand the gospel better now. I mean, I still have a lot to do and a lot to improve on haha but I am glad that I am no longer scared or like dreading this day, instead I can learn about it and think about it with joy and excitement :) I am amazed at how close it really is! I was reading in true to the faith and it like breaks down the signs that lead up to the second coming in bullet points and I was looking over them and realized that we only have like two or three of the bullet points left...right now we are in the process of preaching the gospel in all parts of the world, and while we are doing this the world is also becoming more and more evil...and there are individual cases of apostasy....and this is one of the signs of the second coming of our Savior. It´s really close! But it is a really interesting topic to learn about :) And this morning I felt excited to teach my children to be fiel and prepared for this time because for the righteous and prepared it will be a great day but for the wicked it will be a terrible day...and I really just thought of the importance of our life here on earth, because here, right now, is the time that men should prepare to meet God. Right now is our chance to repent and to make the changes that we need to in order to wax confidently in the presence of God. Now is the time to obtain knowledge of spiritual and earthly things. Now is the time to prepare oil for our lamps and to wait with excitement the coming of the bridegroom so that we can enter the wedding with him and not get locked outside of the doors. I don´t know, I am really excited and I love reading more about this topic and I just want to invite you guys to think about the things that you lack and to only focus on strengthening one of those things this week (since I know we all lack a lot of things and I don´t want you to overwhelm yourselves with your imperfection. Heavenly Father doesn´t want that either) I just want to invite you to think of one thing that you lack this week and work to perfect it. Repent of the things that have stained you during this week or maybe during this month, and give them to the Savior, who can and will wash you perfectly clean. And I want you to do this every week so that you can be preparing yourselves weekly for the time that you will be standing in front of God and the Savior. But I want that we can all stand with confidence in their presence and not with embarrassment. Use the atonement of the Savior this week to your full advantage. Think on a higher plain, have pure thoughts, then, as the scriptures say, will your confidence wax strong in the presence of God.

I know that this gospel is true and that it was restored by a living prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the Lord speaks to his servants here on the earth and that they receive inspired revelation to guide us in the paths of the Father. I know that God had given us the map to return to live with him and that we can find his path with ease as we pray and read the scriptures daily, as we have Family Home Evenings and strive to strengthen our families and as we nourish our fatih and testimonies. He loves us. He lives, as does his Son. I know that we are in the only true church here on the earth and that there is no other church that has the full and restored gospel here on the earth. 

I hope that you all have a great week and that you can keep preparing yourselves for the day in which you will meet with the Father and the Son face to face. !¡¡Échale ganitas!! Les amo mucho!!

Love always,
Hermana Walker

Here are some photos :) 

Me, Hermna Estrada, and my Trainer Hermna Kraczek at transfers


Me and Hermana Estrada - Happy in the Rain!

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