Week 61 - Busy Week of Meetings

Hey Ya'll!!! 

So this week was not the most normal week for a missionary. We had Meetings like crazy!! 

Owasso Zone P-day

First, Monday we drove down to Owasso to hang with all the missionaries in our Zone. Not a meeting, but we can count it Flour fights, Volleyball, and Carbonated fruit made it the Ultimate Pday! By the way carbonated Fruit is pretty fantastic

Meeting #2 was 2 hours away in Edmond. We had Greenie Follow-up for president to make sure his trainers haven't killed his new missionaries. Just kidding  But it was a lot of fun! Weird to think I was in that seat not too long ago, but fun to be the trainer this time:)

Meeting #3 was District Council. it was our last one as a whole district. Needless to say it was pretty powerful. The spirit taught all of us so much!

District Council

So that was most of our week, and it consisted of a lot of driving. I was pretty tired on the way back form Edmond and Sister O was pretty worried, but all was good:) 

We had a lesson with Marilyn this week that went great! We are helping her recognize the Spirit. She is so close! We are excited to see her make this decision in her life to follow her Savior! 

Miracle!!! members are amazing! especially our Branch President! He said he was at a metal shop down the street from his home. He started talking to this man who just moved here with his wife. He is looking for a church, and is super interested in the LDS Church! Marty sat there and talked to him for 2 hours sharing about the church! Then he said there are 2 sisters that would love to teach you! He said he would pull us over on our bikes sometime! We are so excited to meet this man! He seems awesome!!! Member missionary work is the best!!!

So Your Challenge this week is to...be a better member missionary than you have been, and I already know ya'll do an awesome job at sharing the gospel. But I want to hear about your experiences. I know that a simple testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will change a life and even a family. I just think of Stephanie's family:) 

I love you all and hope you have such a great week!!! See Miracles

Love, Sister Walker

We had a flour dodgeball fight!! I got socked in the face first  

Sister Larsen!!! (MTC) Sister Coates (photo bomb!)

So beautiful after a long day

"It was dead...but still."
The look on Sister Walker's face is priceless!

There are tracker Jackers in OK guys 

She's the cutest!
(Sister Ostergar)

Text from Sister Titmus (Senior couple sister)

"We took this blanket I made to a homelss man who moved into his sister's place. Come to find out, Sister Walker had been teaching this couple the gospel. Their last name was also Walker. Tender mercies, they still had the pamphlets and Book of Mormon your daughter gave them but his Catholic priest told him to stop reading that book."

Flashback with Sister Sampson

Week 60 - Jacob got baptized!!!

Hey Ya'll!!!

Sister Kuss & Sister Kresge

This week has been great!! We had Zone Conference, and it was everything we needed to hear! So our Mission President has decided the Whole mission is going to do ARP (Addiction recovery Program). First thought...I hope the missionaries aren't doing crazy things! But this program isn't just for drug addicts or alcoholics. It is for anyone who wants to change in order to come closer to Christ. There were some examples of missionaries who wanted to overcome the addiction of worrying of what others thought of them, or having a demeaning tone of voice when they talked. Just the day before I was praying to know how I can change and be better. Things became discouraging, and I was praying for a way I could overcome my pride. This was the answer, and I am so excited to do these 12 steps! 

We have a new investigator! His name is Courtney and he is Atheist. Not too many of them in Oklahoma  He used to be a devout Catholic, but because of some events in the war he has lost his faith completely. The cool thing is that when Sister Sampson and I met him a month ago he wasn't too interested but we didn't give up on him and now he wants to have lessons with us and learn more. He opened up quite a bit the other night and we both had the impression that he would never say he would want to develop his faith again but he definitely wants it because he keeps coming back. A member was there too, and boy was this brother bold with him, loving too:) The Spirit was so strong! Can't wait to tell you all how this goes!!!

Never forgetting this moment...
and you'll never know what happened

Marilyn is also doing so great! Yesterday she said she was laying in bed and debating on whether or not she should come to church. She said she just got this immediate answer that said "you know where you need to be this morning". That was enough for her and she made it for Sacrament meeting! She loved Sunday school and the talk in Sacrament meeting. Everything talked about, was for her. She told us the other day that now she is not sure if she should be baptized because of how big a commitment it is. She is so right! and we completely understand that, but we made sure we told her that she needed to take this to the Lord. All of church focused on receiving answers to prayers, and how powerfully the Spirit can testify. One of the stories shared was about their conversion to the gospel. Marilyn was crying and we knew she was feeling the Spirit. We hope and pray she recognized it:) 

We went on exchanges this week in Bartlesville! I Love Sister Lewis and Hermana Bell! It was a pretty crazy exchange. Hermana Bell got super sick the morning of the exchange:( so we had her go sleep at a members and then we trio'd! It was sad we were missing a sister but it was still fun. Its always an adventure on exchanges and nothing ever goes right haha

Jacobs Baptism!!!

This kid is a Character!

The Highlight of the week!!! JACOB got BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! He was glowing the whole day! Thanks mom for the CTR tie, he loved it alot!! It was also pretty special because 3 of his family members who aren't members came to support him. We got to talk with one of them, his mom, for a bit. She is so sweet! We hope to spend some time with them again:) 

Your Challenge!

I was reading Alma 32 this week about faith for a few of our investigators. I have never really read the beginning of the chapter in depth, just the analogy of the seed. It hit me that I tend to do that with a lot of scriptures, and chapters. I will read the popular and good part, but miss everything else. I want you to find a chapter like this or any book that you might not usually read. I can promise that if you are seeking for understanding you will find it in the Book of Mormon. So simply go find a book or chapter (in the Book of Mormon) you don't read and read it:) It will be for you

I Hope ya'll have such a great week!!!

Love, Sister Walker

Hey Sister O, I don't think were in
Oklahoma anymore!
(30 min from the border)

Sister Ostergar & Walker

There are at least 40 cats that live
on our block! This one Adopted us...

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Santuary

This is a beautiful Catholic Church with quite the history. The stained glass windows were created by Old World craftsmen in Germany.  The windows survived World War I in Europe, and after the war eventually made their way safely all the way to Oklahoma. Two of the windows depict members of the Osage tribe who were living at the time. They were installed in 1919.

The stained glass is from Germany
and absolutely beautiful!

The Osage Window

week 59 - "Sister O Challenge"

Hey Y'all!! 

I just want to thank you all for your prayers and love throughout my mission. Prayer is the most amazing thing because it opens the doors of Heaven. Oklahoma needs these blessings:) This place has my heart and I never want to leave! 

When we get a Book of Mormon referral,
my greenie took off and wouldn't stop!
I love her!!

Sister Ostergar has taught me the importance of being positive the last few days. She is the perfect example of this, and I am so grateful to have her as a companion. Even though things may be hard, there is always something to laugh and smile about. I like the quote "Even when it rains you can always find the rainbow." (not exact quote but jist of it). You can always find something to be positive about. Always:) 

Your challenge is called the "Sister O Challenge" 

 I want you to say 3 positive things, or 3 things you are grateful for each time something negative happens or when you say a negative thing. 3 for 1! Lets Goooooo (as our mission President would say :) !!! I promise you can defeat the negativity Satan throws at you when you are always looking for the good in life

I have a strong testimony of the influence of the Spirit. We have been studying about how to have it with us always, and to make sure we follow the small and quiet promptings he gives us. Those promptings are so important to follow. 

Sister O: "We got taught the funniest plan of
salvation lesson (yes, someone taught us!)
It was from an eight year old who we've been
teaching so he can get baptized. He literally
has the craziest imagination! It was all about
Jesus fighting death/ the grave...he used pieces
we had to explain the Plan of Salvation and it
was a pretty epic story!! We aren't sure if is all
ended up being a prank, or a dream, or a
dream about a prank..."

It can be as simple as offering to mow someone's lawn. Little did we know Marilyn had met with several missionaries before us in past years, and she had no desire to listen to the truth. But when Sister Sampson and I felt as if we needed to invest our efforts in helping her, and talking to her, we later realized this was the Spirit's guiding hand. From our first encounter with Marilyn it wasn't until 3-4 weeks later that we got a hold of her again. We immediately thought that she wasn't interested when she didn't show up to church and wouldn't answer her door for awhile, but we felt so pushed to knock one more time. She answered and invited us in! It was there that we found out that she had been super busy with family matters that she couldn't get away to meet with us or come to church, but she told us she bought 2 dresses because she truly wanted to be there! Lesson 1: The Lord can see what we cannot, so trust and have faith in him. Marilyn has now been meeting with us for 3 weeks and the other day she told us she would like to be Baptized!!! She explained to us that the Lord has been preparing her all this time to accept the truth. She needed to explore different religions for a few years so that she could see the fullness of the Gospel now. Her cousin, Susie, was also there and kept saying "Marilyn, I think this is calling to you" haha pretty cool when the cousin commits her to baptism! Baptism Date coming soon!! Now we need to get Susie on board:) 

Miracles are erupting in Pawhuska Oklahoma:) 

Crazy adventure with Sister O!

1) I was riding pretty quick down this hill, and wearing a long dress. NEVER EVER DO THAT! The dress got caught in the bag tire, and I screeched to a halt! Luckly I'm ok, and I think angles were helping my bike slow down quicker than it should have <3 I was so stuck for about forever it felt like. this hill never has cars on it...UNTIL that moment haha. Sister O and I were trying to get it untangled and this guy stops to help, we figured it out and he didnt say a word just stared at us, and then took off. Talk about embracing the aqward. in these moments you just have to laugh at yourself!! now this is the result LOL (see pic) 

I Hope you all have such a great week!! LOVE YA!!

Sister Walker

Week 58 - Pawhuska Welcomes Sister Ostergar

Hey all Y'all amazing Friends and Family!!

Welcome to Oklahoma Sister Ostergar!!!

This week was an amazing week!! I have my new Companion! She came straight out of the MTC and oh my goodness she is amazing!!! Sister Ostergar is her name but you can just call her Sister O if you're like me and can't get your greenies name 

The day of transfers we drove 2 and a half hours to Edmond for transfers, Longest drive of our lives especially for sister Sampson. Man I miss that Sister but she is doing amazing things at home!

When we walked into the room with all the new missionaries I sat next to a sister who found a back row seat. She looked nervous and I remembered the day I got to transfers from the MTC. Yes, it is so nerve racking cause you don't know who your trainer will be. Its also nerve racking for the trainer cause anyone of those sisters could be their greenie! Well I sat next to this sister cause she reminded me of Me:) President Mansell called me up and said "Well Sister Walker you can just go sit back down." haha I was like what?! Then I found out the new sister I was training was right next to me the whole time!!! I guess the spirit was trying to tell me something:) Sister O is the sweetest and loving person you will ever meet! The whole branch already loves her to death!! She is pretty much training me to just be positive about everything! You couldn't throw anything at her without her saying something positive about it:) 

Poor armadillo doesn't know
he's famous in Idaho now.

We got to Pawhuska late on the day on the 4th. There was this huge event down town being put on by the Pioneer Woman, but sadly we had no time to go. Although we saw the fire work show from our front porch! It was pretty awesome!! They were just welcoming Sister O to Pawhuska:) 

This whole week has been introducing her to Pawhuska! the Greatest place to start you mission!!! The second day here she talked to 6 of our Okie talkers, saw a bunch of road kill, and we biked a lot. I think she knows Oklahoma pretty well now:)  I am so excited for these next 2 transfers (cross your fingers) with this amazing Sista!

Best show from our porch!
Happy 4th of July!

Her first lesson she rocked! She totally followed the spirit and answered a concern of Marleyns'. It was so powerful!! Marelyn is even doing really well! We read 3 Nephi 27 about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a powerful scripture! That is your challenge this week! Go and read 3 Nephi. The teachings of Christ are all throughout this book. Just pic a chapter (like 11:) and study it. The Book of Mormon is the greatest way to strengthen your testimony of the Savior. 

I hope your week is so amazing!!! Love you all!!!

Love, Sister Walker

Aubrey!!!
I love seeing this cousin of mine!

Reunite with my MTC Companion Sister Edwards! 

              Guess where she is serving? 

             My first area OKC 7th ward!!!!

Sisters Ostergar, Edwards & Walker

Road Kill!
Common view from our bikes.