Week 39 - Faith Over Fear

Yeah, We are staying together
 for another transfer!

First off, exciting news! I’m staying in Noble, fourth transfer, I’m so excited. Lets go!!!  We’ve been waiting for a few days for TDOCS (transfer documents) and usually they come on Saturday night but the District Leader Elders said they didn’t come this time. So, we were on the edge of our seats and then they finally told us they were messing with us and that I was staying in Noble and with Sister Jenkins! So this music proselyting is still happening. This place has my heart and I hope I never leave, but we’ll see about that.

Sister Walker & Gentry sprinting
 after someone to talk to
 in the ice storm

"When it starts freezing rain so they shut down campus and 8 missionaries
 get stuck at OU because President grounded cars"
At Normon LDS Institute  (Thanks Ruth for the text!!!)

I have a question?  Have you ever wondered what an ice storm is like? What it looks like? and what you do when it happens?  We were in an ice storm starting last Tuesday and ended the beginning of Thursday so our cars were grounded for almost 3 days. We could go places in the mornings when there was nothing on the roads but when it started raining and snowing or ice storming (I don’t even know what to call itJ) we couldn’t do anything. I think it was just slush falling from the sky and then it would freeze when it landed on things. So pretty much the whole entire state of Oklahoma got this and was covered in ice. The trees and bushes were solid ice. You could brush your hand across it and it was just an icicle. The roads were absolutely horrible and we had a couple of days that we had to walk or do productive things in our apartment. The farthest we could walk was the neighborhood right next door and Walmart which is right there & our apartment complex. So we had some fun with these days. We have some members that live in our complex so our goal was to go and try to visit them. Every single school including OU campus was closed. We were on exchanges on OU campus, making 8 missionaries, when we got the text that grounded our cars. It was quite the adventure to try and split campus with absolutely no one on campus.  We wish there had been a weather prediction before we scheduled exchanges. So we brainstormed and decided that there were people somewhere on campus and we were going to find them. Sister Gentry and I had a lesson but the other sisters found people in the Student Union Building and started talking and actually got some phone numbers for return appointments. Talk about miracles. So Sister Gentry and I went out and fast walked after a guy about 100 yards away until we caught up with him. He was literally the only one out. He was a super awesome guy and we got to talk to him. We thought it was really funny that we were so desperate that we were sprinting after one specific guy, not creepy at all. We had a great conversation about Jesus Christ and it turned out to be one of my favorite exchanges and also one of the craziest days of my life.

Sister Gentry, Lewis, Jenkins, & Walker

So the next day the rain stopped but it was just super icy and we decided we had to get back to our apartment or we’d be stuck on campus for a few days because we knew another storm was coming in. We went back to our apartment and did what we could, did some visits in the apartment complex. The next morning , Pres. Mansell texted us that we could go out in the morning but we weren’t to go out after the storm hit. When it started raining we had to get back to our apartments and cars were grounded.  We were supposed to have interviews in Edmond that day and they were cancelled. We got home after our follow up lesson and it was a downpour of not rain, but ice. It was so scary! All the trees were caked with ice. We ended up walking to Walmart for someone who couldn’t drive (we did some service).  We took that opportunity to talk to a lot of people in Walmart because a lot of people were getting stuff to prepare for the ice storm.

Luckily, a member happened to be there and decided to take us home so we didn’t have to walk back with all of our stuff. That was so nice of them. The next day wasn’t quite dry yet, and  it was supposed to storm all night and into the next day, so our Mission President texted us and we had a mission wide cleaning day. We deep cleaned our whole entire apartment and didn’t even get through it because it was so bad. Believe it or not it was bad!  Finally, on Friday we were able to go out again and we happily made lots of visits. So that’s the life of a missionary during an ice storm.

SOLID Iced Car!!
 Photo bombed by the Ward Mission leader 

We didn’t necessarily find anyone to teach this week but we did see amazing miracles and we even got 2 church swaps going. We went to go see a potential, and actually met her husband, Vance, and when we went back we met Drinda. She commented that we should really come to their church and we said, “that would be so much fun, you should come to ours.” So we decided to do a church swap in the next couple of weeks. We’re so excited and hope we can plant some seeds there with her. We also texted our investigator Sharon and asked her if we could do a church swap and she would love to, so she’s excited to come to church next week and we’re excited to go to her church.  She goes to a church called Life Church. In Oklahoma, in the bible belt, there is literally a church on every corner and this church is huge. Not a cathedral but it is humongous. It’s a little different than our services and we are nervously excited to go.  We’ve heard both good things and bad but we are excited especially for Sharon to be able to come to church with us. She wants to know truth really bad and is not sure where to find it.  She’s still questioning things, like we all do.  Is the Book of Mormon true?  Was Joseph Smith a prophet of God. But, she wants to know. She just has to make an effort to read and pray. Hopefully this Sunday it will be really awesome to see her change as she feels the Spirit at Church. We’re excited for her to go.

My awesome district

This week I have been really focusing on having more faith than fear, and I think I have done this so many times on my mission. I find myself fearing more than I’m having faith in the Lord that everything will be OK. As a missionary we’re trying to bring others closer to Jesus Christ.  That is our ultimate purpose. In Oklahoma a lot of people have Jesus Christ in their lives but we’re introducing and helping them see an amazing side to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, more importantly. So I’ve had to have a lot of faith in sharing the gospel the past couple of weeks. This week as we’ve had a couple of days grounded, I’ve been really focusing on how I am going to improve having more faith. I‘ve spent a good amount of time on my knees, praying to my Heavenly Father to know how I’m going to do that. Some times it’s scary when you go up to a door and it looks sketchy, and you don’t know what you are going to say when they open the door. My goal is to be a lot more confident in it and oh my goodness, Satan just knows how to get to me.  I was reading a talk yesterday that really motivated me to read my scriptures more and be more positive, and you get all pumped up and then Satan throws something at you and you begin to have doubts about wanting to go out today, or maybe I don’t want to read the scriptures today. Satan knows exactly when you go through trials because he targets you and tries to get you to doubt your purpose. My purpose right now is being a missionary. You guys have a different purpose right now. Know your purpose and have the faith that Heavenly Father can help you fulfill it because Satan is right there ready to take that and turn it into a fear, something negative, because he doesn’t want happiness ruling the earth. He doesn’t want anything good and of God ruling the earth. He wants to take all of that away. 

I think that would be my CHALLENGE to you:  develop greater faith in Christ so that you can overcome and kick out that fear that Satan throws at you.

Thanks Jodi Callister for takingthe time to
see me and take Sister Jenkins and I to lunch.
Love you so much!

I had an experience this week where I had to really have faith that I would be able to get and answer from the Spirit because it was something that was really, really hard for me to do. We were trying to make a decision about one of our investigators and in the back of my mind I knew exactly what needed to happen but in the front I had developed such a love for this person and I didn’t want to say anything or do anything that would ruin that. I truly was the only one holding out after 3 others felt the same as what was in the back of my mind. Then as I was praying the Lord rebuked me and asked me if I really wanted to know or did I just have my own opinion about it. I had to come to know that I just had an opinion about it and what these other 3 missionaries were proposing was the best thing for this investigator. So I prayed that night and I truly saw myself give my will to the Lord, just like Christ said, “Thy will be done.”  It is the Lord’s will in everything that we do and I’ve realized that because you see so many good things come about once you give up your stubbornness and give it to the Lord and say, “OK help me. Give me an answer. You take over now, I’m going to listen.”  So once I got the answer that it was supposed to happen, we prayed and prayed and prayed and then we approached the situation and it went so well and I felt peace. I can’t describe how good it felt, but I was so peaceful and it just comes to show that the Lord’s way is the right way and I am going to work this week on always listening to the Spirit and doing it.  Even though I may not want to do that one thing because it’s scary, or I have an opinion about it, or it may seem better my way, it’s always the Lords way that is the right way. You just have to listen to the Spirit and He will guide you. Sometimes you might have to do something uncomfortable for it to happen, but it ends up turning out truly amazing and you see the blessings from it and see other’s lives be blessed from it. I’ve seen that this week, and it’s been so rewarding spiritually.

So this letter has been way too long. I hope you have a wonderful week!.  I love you all and thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. I love getting your letters and emails and hearing about the experiences you have been having in life, how you are being able to come closer to Christ. I’d love to hear how ya’ll are doing that. You are all so amazing!

Love, Sister Walker

Paint balling as a zone.  I didn't get too many bruises😁