Week 43 - Advice from my wise Mission President...

District Meeting and Interviews with President Mansell

I never thought that I would be changing this much on a mission. I thought I would be a different person when I got home but I’m seeing it happen already. It hasn’t been easy and  easier said than done. We got to have interviews this week and it was the coolest experience. I’ve always liked interviews and talking with the Mission President and seeing what I could improve on and how the area is doing and just get his advice because he is so inspired by the Lord. He is called to be the mission president for a reason. I love my mission president so much. He’s always on top of it and can figure you out in like 5 minutes and I’m sure it is like that with all mission presidents because you’ve got to do that with your missionaries. He figured me out in 5 minutes. We were doing roll plays outside and he asked if I was scared of the role plays. “Yea, I’ve never felt comfortable doing role plays except with my companion, just ‘cause I don’t want lots of people watching me.” He said “Why are you scared of the role plays?” my reply was, “Because it is intimidating.”  And he said, “Get over it Sister Walker. It’s to help you.”

So it was good to get his blunt opinion on everything and at the same time super encouraging. He said I needed to work on confidence. No one is going to remember you. People mess up. You’re not perfect. He said I needed to forget myself and go to work. That was really good for me to hear, so that is my goal for however long it takes to be confident. He told Sister Jenkins to go up to a door and be completely silent and let Sister Walker take it over. We were standing at a door and this lady was on the phone and I apologized for catching her on the phone. Her reply was, “That’s OK but what do you want?”  My reply was “oh we’re missionaries and we’re out preaching the gospel.” It came out so weird and random and she ended up not wanting to hear the message which is fine but it was so awkward. I looked to Sister Jenkins for help and she just smiled. That has been one of the biggest things that I have been working on and I have seen even a difference, I’ve been talking more and having the Spirit testify through me, and there’s been some really cool experiences.

Singing at RS meeting
"Be Still My Soul, Be Thou Humble"

So one thing I’ve been working on is interrupting people, which I don’t like doing ‘cause it sounds so mean. That is what my Mission President had me practice in role plays. The AP’s or Zone Leaders or APL’s are sorta Okie talkers. They just go on forever on random tangents and we run into them all the time here. Some of the things they might say are, ‘did you know I died once and I came back ta life?  I say ‘really?’  They say, ‘ Let me tell ya about it.” Then they go into this super long story about how they died once and how the Lord helped them come back and all of this stuff. It’s hilarious to listen to but you have to get down to the purpose we’re there and so I’ve always struggled with interrupting them not wanting to make them feel bad. But I’ve learned they don’t even care. If you say something they’ll just go off of what you say. So that’s what I’ve been practicing and it’s been really funny because the last couple of days we’ve run into Okie talkers and I’ve had to figure out what to say.  It’s been a great learning experience.

Sister Jenkins & Walker

We ran into Lazara the other day and we haven’t seen her in a really long time so it was good to catch up with her and see how she was doing. We probably won’t be teaching her anymore. She’s been really busy and that’s really sad because she was doing really well. But I have hope that one day she’s gonna come back to the gospel and wanna learn more, and eventually make that promise to the Lord and be baptized. So right now she is just kinda occupied; she does plays. She’s really good and a great director and she’s working with these kids in a town that we cover over in Purcell. It’s really funny because there’s actually a lot of people from the church that are in this play so it’s fun to hear how everything’s goin and see how Lazara is doing even though we don’t get to see her. We definitely miss seeing her and hope and pray that she comes back some day.

Johnson Family
Jim, Ashley, Sister Walker,
Amy, and Taylor

So I had quite the surprise the other day from our recent convert, Stephanie.  She asked what we were doing at 9 o’clock?  She said a Jim Johnson wanted to meet us somewhere. It finally clicked that it is the Johnson family from our ward back home. So we met at the ward building and it was such a cool miracle to see them and see a familiar face from home. The whole family was pretty much there and I got to see one of my friends from Young Women, Ashley, and it was super awesome. A little tender mercy for this week. I’m so grateful that they were able to make the little trip out to Noble or Norman to see me. They were here to visit family so it was real kind of them to stop by and give me hugs from my family.

Marilyn's Baptism

Right before I saw the Johnson family we had the most amazing experience.  Marilyn got baptized on Saturday and it really made us excited. We gave her over to the Elders about a month ago and it was so great. That was something that just needed to happen so she could hear or experience something new that would help her to get on to that path of baptism. I’m so glad that she is baptized and made that promise with Heavenly Father. She received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday and she is just glowing. The whole baptism started a little late. They asked me to play the piano . . . it seems like I play piano for almost everything. . . don’t get any ideas when I get home but it’s been real fun. I don’t read music so it’s been quite the adventure to find and match the key so no one is singing too low or way too high. I played prelude for quite a while until the baptism was ready to start and then when it got time for the baptism they discovered that the water was boiling hot and so 30 minutes later they brought ice bags from 7-Eleven down the street and dumped them in the font.  It was quite hilarious as a brother got in and tried to mix the cold with the hot. What are the odds of this happening? But then she got baptized and it was an incredible experience and you could see the light in her eyes shine so bright. We are so proud of her for the decision she made with the Lord.

One pretty big thing that I have been able to study and along with interviews really think about, is how it’s always the Lord’s will in missionary work and in your life. Sometimes it’s hard because it might seem a little scary to do something that the Lord has been pushing you to do, ‘cause you don’t know what the outcome is going to be, but I can promise you the Lord sees the outcome. It just takes that faith and that action to get to that beautiful outcome. Sometimes it takes longer than other times but this week I’ve learned that the Lord knows, and I may be walking past this door and He knows I need to go knock on it. It might look a little sketchy and I might try to shrug it off thinking, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s just one house. But listening to that voice of the Spirit and knowing that something great can come from knocking that door [is what I must do] . . . and it goes for all aspects of life . . .  So your CHALLENGE FOR THIS WEEK is to pray to know God’s will for you.  I have no idea what is going on in all of your lives but you do and so I challenge you to think about those things you want to improve on and be better at and put God’s will first. Ask Him what He would have you do. We have learned about prayer this week and how we should pray sincerely to the Lord and that sometimes going to the Lord and giving Him a solution—like ‘this is what I’m going to do about this or that, is this the right path?  If it’s not the right path please help me feel real bad about it and please direct my thoughts in another way.’  Sometimes we go to the Lord in prayer and say, ‘OK, I’m struggling.  Fix it please.’ I’ve done this so many times it’s ridiculous. But we really should say, ‘You have a solution, could you help me have the faith that the solution will be the right solution.’ That’s just what the brother of Jared did in the Book of Mormon, he brought the stones to the Lord.  He said, “We need light for the boats to get across the sea.” And the Lord said, ‘As soon as you have a solution come to me and I will make it work.’  So he used his creativity and brought back stones and said, “Lord, I know these stones will give light to the boats. Please touch these stones that they will light up.” And that’s exactly what the Lord did, because the brother of Jared came to Him with a solution and the Lord supported it. If it wasn’t the right solution the Lord would have guided his thoughts otherwise but it was the right solution, and because of the Brother of Jared’s faith he saw the finger of the Lord, and then he saw the Lord Himself. We might not have exactly that experience but I can promise you that if we put the Lord first in all that we do and listen to His words, and walk with Him, and know that He knows what’s in the future, He will help us. If you put His will before yours. . . because sometimes we get stuck on thinking that looks scary, I’m not comfortable, etc.  but remember that the Lord knows better and He is gonna help you through that if you have faith in Him and if you act upon that faith, doing something about it. You can’t just sit there and say, give me something. You have to act. Bring those stones to the Lord. That is my challenge for you this week.  Pray about it and think about it and I’d love to hear how it goes for you guys. Hope you all have a great week. I love you. I can’t wait for this week because it is going to be awesome.

Sister Walker