Week 81 - "Never a Goodbye, Just a See ya Later"

Hey Y'all 

See ya soon IdaHOME!!!

I don't think it has hit me yet that I've been on a mission for 18 months. It's even more obscure to say, but I am more than thrilled to have spent every second of those months with the people of Oklahoma. I have grown to love this place with all my heart, and it hurts to leave behind what you have loved for so long. But I know it's never a good bye, always a see you later! 

When people ask me what I look forward to each morning I wake up, I always say, "To see the miraculous change in people as they come closer to their Savior." I can't even describe what it does to my heart to see those I love sacrifice everything for the Gospel. Even the smallest things. That is true conversion, and the Spirit manifests the truthfulness of this Gospel each time my companion and I witness this.

It amazes me that a book, The Book of Mormon,  just by reading its pages and seeking for its truth, can soften and transform a heart. The simplest acts of the Gospel truly changes lives. 

Not only have I seen people like Stephanie give up old habits so she can one day be sealed to her family in the temple, I have seen a family witness the blessings of the Priesthood and gospel in their home for the first time. When the gospel is true, parent's hearts are softened, and they let their children be baptized and make those sacred promises with their Heavenly Father. 

I know this gospel is true because I have been changed because of it. Coming from a fearful mindset of messing up, and not being all my Savior and Heavenly Father wants me to be, I have come to recognize the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. It has been a transforming event. I have no doubt that I have a Savior who loves me, and because of his infinite love he sacrificed his life for me, and all of you. I know as Elder Holland said, "No one can fall lower than the light of Christ shines." 

I know the Book of Mormon is true. It's not just a book we are told to read, it's a life changing record of ancient prophets and individuals facing trials we may face every day. Experiences on how they came closer to their Savior. They fell many times and were able to get back up again. We have examples like Nephi who we all want to be as strong as. But then there's Alma, who persecuted the church, and then had a mighty change of heart, and became a missionary to lead many to Jesus Christ. Moroni did all he could to preserve the record and truth of the Gospel despite the crazy world around him. I don't know about you, but I can apply those things to today. But ultimately the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ, another divine gift God has given us as a guide in these last days. 

I know Joseph Smith is a prophet called of God. He fulfilled his mission on Earth with all his heart, might, mind and strength, so that we can have the joy of the Gospel in our lives. He is just one of those I will thank in the next life for his enduring sacrifice. 

I know we have a prophet today, President Russel M. Nelson who is always on the Lord's errand to lead us in these last days. I have so much confidence that he will never lead us down the wrong path. This new guidance given to us is from the Lord himself. 

I am so excited to continue on this path of discipleship, continuously changing and seeking the Lord's will. I'm still reminded of this every day, but know His will is the way, and the path to our conversion. Ultimately returning back to him and becoming as he is. 

I have loved every second of this journey and I'm so excited and anxious for the adventure ahead.

Oh! And for your final challenge, I encourage you to read your Patriarchal Blessing, and seek to know the path God wants you to be on, and then pray to know:)  Ultimately, seek to know where God wants you to be today. 

I love you all!! Thank you for your support and prayers, the last year and a half, and for the people here. They each were needed and so much appreciated. Have a great week and I'll see y'all soon! 

Love, Sister Walker 

   Hermana Pulsipher & Sis. Walker    

    I'm so glad we got to serve in the 

                  Same mission!! 

        Love this cousin of mine 

Bowling and P-day with these awesome Sisters!!!

We were so glad we got to say goodbye to out Favorite people!!
Stephanie, Michelle, Nevaeh, and Chels!!

"HEY! Geronimo..." 

He needed to smile ;) 

The Rockwoods!

Tah We!!

My Best Friend Oscar
" well, I turn 89 in 2 weeks,
and I'm still young!"
Y'all we need to have this attitude 

Especially going to miss this little family. I love them so much!!
Aaron, Ralfina and Sage Boreggo

We love The Shoenmakers!

The Underwoods...

This is them to a "T". 

I will miss them the most!

Breakfast Club!!

The Buckner Fam!!
promise the little one in Bishop's arms has a diaper on...lol

Forever Friends with this amazing Sister! Sister Bish!!

Week 80 - Learning to Listen to the Spirit

Hey Y'all!

My cute Comp:)
Sister Geddes

So we were in Book of Mormon class Wednesday and half way into the lesson, Ransom (someone the sisters taught months ago) walked in casually, sat down and said "where are we reading sisters"... We were so excited to see him!! And a little shocked. But the unusual happens often here. We encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and to do as Moroni directs in chapter 10. He was so willing and interested! We are going to his study group on Thursday at his church, to do a church swap! I love church swaps! 

We had exchanges this week and 24 hours quickly turned into 72 Here is the short version of this story...

After district council in Lawton on Thursday, we headed 45 min to Altus with the sisters. We were splitting their area. Friday was great! And we got work done! But that afternoon one of the members told us a storm was supposed to hit the south of OK bad, and rain snow, and ice was supposed to happen Saturday. We still had some exchanges left, so we decided not to leave. We, even later, had a feeling and prayed about it to know if we should head out. Sister Geddes felt we should head that night, but it was raining in Altus and I worried we would hit ice in the cold. It was the conflict of the night, and I learned some valuable lessons...

 1) Always listen to your companion, and the feelings she is having. If you both don't feel the same way, pray till you do. 

 2) No justifying. ITS NOT ABOUT YOU. 

 3) What's in the past is in the past, learn from it and move on :)

 4) Practice recognizing and listening to how the Spirit speaks to you. I am still learning this daily. 

We ended up staying in Altus another night and planned on leaving in the morning. Well.......The next morning Lawton texted us and told us it was snowing hard, and there was ice too. If that's the case, rules are...cars are grounded. So we called Sister Mansell and she said the storm was not leaving till that night and then it would be ice till Sunday Morning. In other words, we couldn't go anywhere. Church was at 10, and I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. Regretfully realizing we should've left Friday, I beat myself up bad. We all grew spiritually Saturday, and everything that happened was to grow and learn. I'm so grateful for that. So I had to stop feeling bad, forget the past and move on with the present. 

WE GOT LOST AND FOUND THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!

Sunday Morning we got up ready to go to church with Altus, and Lawton texted and said the roads were clear. We were relieved!  Remember, church is at 10, so we leave at 8:30....get lost because of construction and a detour, realize we have 10 miles before we run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and then rely on prayer till we roll in to a gas station 2 miles till we were out. Its 10:15 when we leave the gas station and we are 30 min away from Anadarko. Sister Geddes is awesome and gets us there 15 min to 11.  We walk into sacrament meeting fashionably late, just in time for me to give the talk I wrote in the car talk about stress. But we are safe and everything worked out. Don't worry be happy has been my song since ;) 

I learned a lot over all of this, and also the Spirit doesn't leave you, even if you fall. As long as you keep striving to get back up over and over again he will stay by your side. He even helped me give my talk. Not perfect...but the Spirit was there. 

I challenge you to find the ways the Spirit speaks to you. How can you use the Spirit in your life to just be happy?

I love y'all so much! 

Oh and BTW It hit me yesterday that I have a week and a half left of my whole mission. That was CRAZY and I have mixed feelings of excitement, nervousness and all of the above. These past 18 months in Oklahoma have been the greatest, life changing, spiritual, inspirational, and converting months of my life, and I can't wait to have more! 

Have a great, miracle filled week! 

Jesus Loves You

 Sister Walker 

The Low family! I will miss them a lot

I LOVE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!

Week 79 - Faith Precedes the Miracle

Hey Y'all!!

Cowboy Church round 2!!

Coolest thing happened this week! So remember John and how he helped me fix my bike and then agreed to meet with us the next week? Well the lesson was so cool!! Come to find out, he has met with missionaries before, and they never brought up the Book of Mormon! When we asked him if he would like to read another Testament of Jesus Christ, he got super excited! Especially when we told him it was about his Native American Ancestors. He said he would read this for sure! We can't wait to see what he thinks! Also, on that same street we met John. We were walking up to this door when a man in a truck pulled up and motioned us over. He told us it was not a good idea to knock this one because the lady had just lost her husband. He exclaimed she probably wasn't looking for faith right now. Well just to respect him we moved on, but two days later we knocked on the door   The spirit was telling us so strongly to go there and it got stronger after the guy told us not to. Well we met Anna Marie:) She invited us in and we talked for 2 hours!! She had a daughter that was a member of the church, and the daughter she is living with just lost her husband, and several other family members. We testified of the Plan of Salvation and the hope God has given us through this plan. She loved this and the company and invited us back anytime. Now that was a miracle! Also we are hoping to meet her daughter soon:) 

We went on Exchanges this week with the Altus Sisters. I was so excited to be with Sister Cronin again! She is amazing and has grown so much from when we were in Bartlesville! Also, I found a long lost 7th cousin! Sister Pulsipher from St. George Utah!  We both descend from Zera Pulsipher! Pretty cool to have two cousins on the mission with me!:) Oh and Especially when your 1st cousin is here too!!   Love you Aubrey (Hermana Pulsipher)

Exchanges!!!
Me, Sister Geddes,
Sister Cronin, & Sister Pulsipher

I love this time of the year! It is my absolute Favorite!! I Hope Y'all have been participating in the #LightTheWorld initiative this year! Sister Geddes and I have been having so much fun sharing this message with the people here in Anadarko. The message is life changing. Sister J, in District Council explained it like this: Week 1 starts out broad and as the weeks go by you focus In closer to your own testimony of the Savior. Each one, World, Community, family, and your own faith has one center focus. It's the Savior and his divine example to "Give as He Gave". I hope you implement this this Christmas Season. It can change your life and so many others

I loved the Christmas Presidency devotional that was given last night. If you haven't watched it yet, please watch it. It is so inspiring! 

I loved Sister Ubanks talk about how Christ loves pure light. How can we bring the Light of Christ more into our lives this Christmas?

Then our Prophet's message about the 4 gifts Christ has given us, helped me evaluate my life and how much I use and appreciate these gifts. His solution to receive them is so simple but so important. To make and keep sacred covenants is the answer. 

Your challenge this week is to watch the devotional if you haven't already done so, and consider the questions and invitations these leaders have given us. I know they are inspired from the Lord. https://www.lds.org/church/events/2018-first-presidencys-christmas-devotional?lang=eng

I Hope you have a great week! GO LIGHT THE WORLD!!

LOVE, Sister Walker

Sister Pulsipher (Yeah! another cousin!)

There was a fire in Anadarko!
The whole place is consumed in smoke:(
Hopefully no one was hurt.

Sister Pulsipher & Sister Geddes

The ZONE!!!

Week 78 - Thanksgiving & Testimonies

Hey Y'all!

Hope Y'all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Love, Sister Walker and Geddes <3 

I hope you had a Turkey, family and gratitude filled Thanksgiving! We did :D turkey filled especially! We were invited to 2 dinners and 2 homes for dessert and one of them turned into another dinner! We were rollin' out of the last one for sure  we were so grateful for the families that had us over. They just adopted us in and made us feel like we were with our own:)

We had Zone Conference this week, and you know those times when you feel the spirit so strong and can't describe it?

My testimony grew so much in one day about the power of our Savior,  Jesus Christ's Atonement and the Book of Mormon. We watched a powerful video with the testimonies of Elder Holland and President Eyring and their witness of their Lord and Savior's sacrifice for them. I had a glimpse on how the Lord had impacted my life over the last several months, and how I have come to know and love Him. He is my Savior and Redeemer and he has allowed me and all of us to grow, learn, change, and become more converted to Him and His Gospel. If there wasn't this chance in this life, we would not find hope or peace anywhere. He is the Prince of Peace, and the Shepherd who will go out and find us one by one to bring us home. I love Him with all of my heart, and don't have enough words to thank Him for all He has done for me.

My comp & I <3

President Mansell gave us an inspired training about how the Book of Mormon is being attacked in these last days, and how we cannot be fooled by the cunning, and deceptive words of the world. He showed us a prime example of one that has blown up on social media, The CES letter. It broke our hearts as we heard the arguments of this letter against the Book of Mormon. To be honest, sadly some of it may sound (without any further research of facts) convincing. But isn't that how Satan works? He is cunning, deceptive, he is flattering with words, and he rejoices in those who attack a book that has changed Billions of people Worldwide. However, the one point that our Mission President stresses to us is that the man who wrote this, and many others who try and prove the Book of Mormon wrong, have their hearts and minds Closed to the Spirit. The one thing that Satan tries to get us to ignore is the Spirit and the positive power and influence it has in us.  When I read the Book of Mormon I am not uplifted by the facts of how, when, and where it came from. This may draw on my interest from time to time, but I am more so paying attention to the spiritual feelings I have when I read these beautiful doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how many people in this book changed their lives to come closer to their Savior. The Anti-Nephi Lehi's did just this as they laid down  their weapons of war and buried them deep in the Earth to turn their Hearts more fully to the Lord. They sacrificed so much to show the Lord their love for Him. The true experiences of many Prophets, like Abinadi, and missionaries like Ammon have strengthened my testimony of the Savior. 

#LightTheWorld Y'all!! 

Sister Geddes and I were talking last night about just this, and we thought; a regular book written by just anyone can inspire people for sure, but a unique and rare book such as the Book of Mormon can and has literally changed billions and have brought each of them, who will open their hearts to the Spirit, closer to their Savior. Moroni was not just suggesting that we pray about the words in this book, He was making a Bold declaration of what would happen if we would read and ponder these words in out hearts (Moroni 10: 3-5). We will know it's true, and that a book this powerful could not have been simply made up and written by a man named Joseph Smith, it was translated by him by the Power of God. There is no other way.

THANKSGIVING!!

I know this book is true, and I know Joseph Smith was the prophet called by God to translate the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon has guided decisions in my life, brought me hope, and ultimately has helped me feel the love my Savior has for me and all of His Father's Children. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, I challenge you to read it, and pray as Moroni asks us in Moroni 10: 3-5 to know if this book is true. Pay attention to the way you feel when you read it because most of the time the spirit speaks to us in simple ways, such as a good feeling. You may have "aha" moments, but however you feel it, I can promise you will come to know it is true.

For those of you who have read it. Read it again and apply Moroni's Promise. 

I love this small part to our prophet, President Russel M. Nelson's testimony of the Book of Mormon. He states;

"I testify that Joseph Smith was and is the prophet of this last dispensation. It was he who, through the gift and power of God, translated this holy book. This is the book that will help to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.

I testify that Jesus Christ is the literal and living Son of our living God. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our great Exemplar, and our Advocate with the Father. He was the promised Messiah, the mortal Messiah, and will be the millennial Messiah. I testify with my whole soul that in a most miraculous and singular way, the Book of Mormon teaches us of Jesus Christ and His gospel." 

The full talk is incredible, I encourage you to read it (see link:)

I love y'all and hope you have a great week! 

 Sister Walker 

The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like Without It?

By: President Russel M. Nelson 

https://www.lds.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/the-book-of-mormon-what-would-your-life-be-like-without-it?lang=eng#p35

We got cake boxes in
Zone Conference from
 Sister Mansells training to show
us how we need to have a
chemical change in our lives t
hat can't turn back
into its previous self:)

We both have a sweet tooth
 which is not good...!