Week 44 - Spiritual Exhaustion: One of the Greatest Things Ever

I don’t even know where to begin with this week. It has been the most spiritually exhausting week of my life which is actually a good thing. Being spiritually exhausted is like one of the greatest things that you can ever be, because it means you are growing and learning and putting forth so much effort into strengthening your testimony. I’ve seen that in myself. I have grown so much and I am changing for the better. I am so grateful for all the people who have been able to push me and help me in this...my companion, Sis Jenkins can I just say how amazing she is. She pushes me and I’m so grateful that she has so much confidence in talking to people and I absolutely love her. I really hope that I don’t get transferred this next week because I would love to just stay one more transfer with her. 

Not just a BSU and BYU fan, but also an OU Fan!
(When in Oklahoma, do as the Okies do:)

We went on exchanges this week, which was a challenge for me because we went on OU campus. There are lots of people on campus and you only have a certain amount of time to get their attention, talk to them, and bring up the gospel before they head into class. So it was a huge challenge. I was with Sister Gentry and she is a go-getter, she is pushing me to the max and that is exactly what I needed. I just love her so much. By the end of this exchange I was sparking up conversations I didn’t even know I had in me. It was amazing to see the change in talking to people and coming out of myself to share the gospel and share my testimony. We got a few numbers from it and it was so cool, and I was so grateful that I had that experience to grow and stretch myself so much because I feel more confident. It’s just cool to see yourself grow and change. I think that can happen with anyone. If you’re weak in something, overcome it by doing what is holding you back, because when you do that the Lord is going to give you strength. If you pray first you’ll know how to overcome it. 

In General Conference Elder Larry Y. Wilson gave a talk about prayer and about how you have to pray with a solution, and say this is what I am going to do.  Then say "help me do this" but then go and do something about it.  You can’t just sit on your backside. I loved the story he gave of the sailor who didn’t just go and pray that the ship would be protected, but he prayed to know what he could do to help the ship to not sink in the storm. He found the solution and was able to save the whole ship because he listened to the Spirit. He wasn’t just expecting Heavenly Father to take care of it. He was going to listen to the Spirit and pray to know what to do. This is something I am still working on and something I really want to get good at one day. I have a testimony that I know if I pray with a solution and act upon the promptings from the Spirit, I will overcome/ accomplish what I need to.
If you'd like to listen to the talk here is a link :
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/media/session_4_talk_4/5761841027001?lang=eng

Sister Walker, Jenkins and Lona & Stephen Walker

Speaking of spiritually exhausting, we had Zone Conference this week and that was incredible because first of all, it was inspired. Any mission president is inspired for their mission; I have a testimony of that.  Pres. Mansell is definitely inspired for this mission and he knows exactly what we need. So he approached us the very first second of Zone Conference and told us it was going to be a ‘firehose of knowledge and information and growth. So get ready!’  This training, since there were a lot of new missionaries in the room, was from past trainings. So we got 15 minute segments of each training that they’ve done in the past because it’s really good training. We talked about part member families, and working with the members, and service, and what our purpose as a missionary is, and how to use the scriptures in teaching, and how to quickly bring up the gospel when you have 2 minutes on a campus. We talked so much about how we can be better missionaries and it was so cool. By the end of it we were all just so spiritually exhausted. It was crazy!

That is a little what it felt like for General Conference and can I just say that General Conference this weekend made my week. There was just so much that confirms that this Church is true, that we have a living prophet on the earth today, President Russel M Nelson, leading and guiding this church. Also, the Twelve Apostles and so many other leaders that are inspired to know what to teach us is a blessing. The whole overarching theme that I got from conference was UNITY. It all started when we all together sustained our beloved President Russell M Nelson as prophet, seer, and revelator. As every single person in the room stood up to sustain him, even in the small living room that Sister Jenkins and I were in, we could feel the Spirit and unity of the Church sustaining a prophet of God. That was Incredible!!!  I have absolutely no words to describe how incredible it felt. My testimony grew so much as I saw the unity of the 12 Apostles and also the counselors of the First Presidency – even just watching them on the stand you can tell they are so unified. One hundred percent unified together as priesthood leaders and you know that they hold the power of God. You could tell by their demeanor and their humility and the way they spoke. Each and every one of them sustained our prophet as they went up and spoke, I thought that was the coolest thing. I loved how also the theme of this conference was service and love, especially service – service in the church. And there were changes made in the priesthood organization and visiting teaching and home teaching. That is crazy that we don’t have home teaching and visiting teaching anymore, but I know it is inspired. It makes complete sense and I completely agree and sustain our prophet and the apostles in that revelation that was given to us. Ministering is just serving and loving each and every one of the members of this church. Sister Jenkins and I have been really talking about how we can involve the members more because there are a lot of people that don’t ever get visited and so I feel that this was very inspired. All of conference was just so incredible.

There were so many times that it was confirmed that the work is going forth to every nation. One of the biggest things that confirmed that was when Pres. Nelson announced the temples that are going to be built. I will not lie, when they said Russia, I just started tearing up thinking, this work is going among all nations and that is prophecy for when the Savior comes again. I think it’s so cool how we’re so close but we need to be so prepared for that great and amazing day. This conference was so inspiring. I learned something from Elder Bednar when he came to the mission, he told us that when you listen to anyone speak, especially when it’s the leaders of this church, don’t write down everything they say. He had us put our pens and papers away and only write down what the Spirit tells you. I have really taken that to heart and today I was able to get so much revelation for myself and for me as a missionary and for our companionship. It was really cool to see the potential that this work has for so many people. I loved Pres. Nelson’s talk about revelation and how we can receive our own revelation. That was just a confirmation that it’s so important to do the Lord’s will because He can see what we cannot see. He sees into our future and knows what is best for us. We just need to trust Him and that He knows.  And trust that He will provide a way, but we have to put our foot forward and have faith in Him and do His will. Sometimes that’s hard. Sometimes that’s scary. Sometimes we fear and sometimes we don’t have confidence. Sometimes we worry that we’re going to mess up. But if we do His will and are obedient, just like Pres. Nelson said, we will find joy and happiness in the end because the Lord knows our potential and we will get there if we just trust in Him. So that is some of the revelation I received for myself and this has been like an ongoing thing.

My CHALLENGE for you this week is to look at your notes and see what revelation you received for yourself and I want you to write that down.  Then ask yourself how you can apply it to your lives – in your prayers, in your scripture study, in your daily life activities, and how you can grow within your testimony.  All revelation given from the Spirit is because the Lord sees our future and knows exactly what we need. That is why the Spirit confirms to us truth and the revelation from the Lord to us. Each of us can receive our own and I am so grateful for that.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  I love you all.  Thank you for your prayers and your thoughts.  I am so happy I am out here on a mission and I might not be in Noble too much longer, but I am so grateful I’ve been able to grow in this area.

Sister Walker

Here is a link to all of the General Conference talks.  Listen and write down what inspires you.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference?cid=HP_SU-1-4-2018_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng