Sister Walker-- Serving Wherever the Oklahoma Wind Takes Her: Week 46

"I'M IN LOVE WITH PAWHUSKA!"

Alright, so I have decided that I am in love with this area so much!! I am for sure missing Noble, and Sister Jenkins, and singing together, but I LOVE that I am getting to serve in this cute amazing town! Pawhuska is a cute little town and is the home of the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond), and I guess she's pretty big over here. She has a Mercantile in the middle of town, and I'm so excited to try her food sometime! Just waiting on MSF (the funds). Because of her mercantile there are so many tourists that pass through here! It's the coolest thing because we will walk down town and meet so many people from all over the country, and then see members occasionally.

Oh and side note, they have an old 1800's piano in the middle of town that anyone can play!! So you know where we go

we've made friends with the shop owners down there by the piano. We just have to convince them that their country music is too loud when you can hear it a mile or so down the street 😂

Sister Walker & Sister Sampson

But I haven't even started at the beginning. Sister Sampson is my new companion and I know we have been put together for a reason. We are absolutely crazy together! We were at transfers and getting ready to start the 2 1/2 hours to Pawhuska. We were pulling out of the mission office parking lot, and there was this cop behind me so I made a conscious decision to be super careful pulling out. By the way we have a truck! A little red Nissan truck and I'm definitely not use to driving a truck. In fact this is probably my first time ever driving one, so yeah it's really fun! Anyways, I pull out kind of fast, maybe a little too fast, and start heading to the 77. This cop also turns out and gets behind me. Well all of a sudden he turns his lights on! I'm like, what am I doing wrong!?! I check my speed, it's fine, even below! I'm thinking it's probably the bike rack. Oh and then I'm trying to find a place to pull over because there is no shoulder. Luckily we saw a gas station a couple hundred feet in front of us so we just pulled in there. Sister Sampson and I are freaking out. Ahhhh I've never gotten a ticket before either! 😒. Well the officer gets out of his car pretty quick, which never happens, we roll down the window, and ask, "officer?" He asked us how we were doing and then said something I never even anticipated him saying, he told us we weren't in trouble, but he saw our phone fly off our car when I made that sharp left turn

Oh my gosh I don't think we ever felt so relieved to hear that and so terrified at the same time! He said he would escort us back to the middle lane where it landed and get it for us. By the way, our District Leaders were getting gas and watched the whole thing. We said a quick prayer that the phone would be ok, and followed the officer to the middle lane. Our phone only had a small crack in the screen, and other than that it was perfectly fine! We were so grateful!! Not only for our phone being ok, but also not getting a ticket, and having someone nice enough to pull us over to tell us our phone flew off our car. We were so appreciative for that officer! The Lord even gave us a miracle the first day!! We said a grateful prayer immediately.

Snapping Turtles! He didn't like
Sister Sampson trying to get the l
eeches off of his back😬

We finally got on our way to Pawhuska, and my companion is a crazy driver! Needless to say we almost ran into a pole trying to find the entrance to the freeway. But we didn't and all is well. We made it safely:)

I think one of my favorite parts about this new change is my companion! I love love love SISTER SAMPSON! We were in the same district together in OKC! And she is awesome!! She works so hard and always has an attitude of missionary work. She has already taught me so much in a week! Fun fact: She speaks fluent Navajo! She is half Navajo and part Polynesian.

Also, I think the Lord had seen how much weight I've gained on my mission so far and put me with a runner and a crazy athlete! We run most mornings, and bike up and down hills everyday! And when I say hills I mean STRAIGHT UP! It's insane! I sometimes walk, but man I want the endurance she has!

We are in a branch, and I love it so much, and how unified and small it is! There's about 45 people, and it's made up of 5 senior missionary couples. They are so great! The Giauques and Titmuses are from the Boise area too! Our Branch President doesn't like being called President Hendren, so we call him Marty, and his Brother Bruce. They are hilarious and incredibly stalwart in their testimonies! They both support us so much, and love missionary work!

Bruce and his wife Sharon own our little home (which is the cutest little house) and saved us when are heater pilot light went out. The other morning we woke up freezing! Bruce came to the rescue, and taught us how to work our heaters😁 Love them! We have a swinging bridge right next to our house! It is terrifying! Sister Sampson rides her bike over it. I refuse! I will go the long way. (Note: Sister Walker has walked her bike across it which was terrifying. We will see if she gets used to it and rides her bike across:) It's an extra mile the long way)

"Rainy Days are for Miracles"
Sister Sampson, Cat & Trevor, Sister Walker
Thanks Sister Mansell for posting on Facebook!

Yesterday at church we had such a great sacrament meeting! We had Cat and Trevor come to church, our new investigators! The sisters found them on the Saturday of General Conference at the Church. They were outside playing Pokemon Go. I guess the Church building is a huge "Poke stop". That is actually pretty smart on their part! We might get more investigators running through the Church parking lot😉 They gave Cat a pamphlet, and she and her boyfriend came back the next day and said that she believed everything it said, and she wants to learn more! They pulled them both into the Sunday session of conference, and they loved it! The light is glowing in their eyes, and they just grasp onto what the spirit teaches them. They are so incredible, and we love them so much!

We have a few more investigators that are on fire right now. They are progressing so well!

Sister Giaque took us to Costco😄

We have been running into several families lately, and we keep hearing about something called a "teacher walk out" where all the teachers go to the capital in OKC and petition for more funding for education. The kids don't have school during this, and it went from the week of spring break to 2 weeks Into April. A group from Tulsa even walked 2 hours to OKC to prove a point. Its been hard not to get into political talk because everyone wants to get our stance on it, even though we have none. Pretty crazy, but it allowed us to teach several families all together that week!

Overall it has been such a great week!

I love seeing Aubrey (oops Hermana Pulsipher:))
I never know what to call her.

Your Challenge:

I want you to open your Book of Mormon and read Alma ch. 17. (If you don't have a Book of Mormon there is an app called "Gospel Library" and its free!) It talks about missionary work, and how the Sons of Mosiah were called to a land they knew nothing about, but they had faith and went. This chapter is so motivating! Then I want you to think of some ways you can help the missionaries this week to further the work of the Lord. You are so vital in missionary work. Your testimonies matter to so many, and the missionaries need you. The Lord needs you to help further this great work.

I love y'all! Have such a great week!!

Sister Walker