where will you run?

October 29th, 2015

every other transfer, we have a p-day de hermanas. all of the sisters of the mission get together and we do something. usually it's play sports in one of the church buildings and eat food. but today, we decided to go to the temple.

 hermana gaitan is the only one "dying" (finishing her mission) at the end of this transfer so we wanted to do something really special. we were all supposed to be at the temple at 8 am which means we needed to leave by 6, take a bus to the train station, take the train and then another bus. and it's about the same distance for all of the sisters. we all waited outside until about 8:30 for hermana gaitan and her companion (hermana sprenz). we decided to go inside because it was getting late and saw them walk in a little later. afterwards, when we were all outside again, hermana gaitan explained to us what had happened that made them late and it was something she said that hit me so deeply. in the mornings, there are obviously a lot of people going to and from work. they missed a couple buses because they were so full and the bus from the train to the temple wasn't coming fast enough so they decided to run. hermana gaitan said as they were running, they ran past some college students that were also running. she said " what a contrast. we were running to the temple and they to class." now this is not to say that running or going to college is a bad thing. obviously it's a great thing and completely necessary for our lives. but what about eternal life? what are we doing to achieve it? where are we running? the temple is where we go to recieve spiritual enlightenment, peace, tranquility, comfort and answers to our prayers. it's where we go to be in the House of the Lord and be closer to Him. i encourage you that you can make it a goal to go to the temple often. to live in a way that you can recieve the promised blessings found within.

highlights from this week:

    -woldy decimis. he's from haiti and has a baptismal date for november 15! he is so prepared to recieve the gospel. he speaks spanish, french, creole (what they speak in haiti) and portugese. he's 22 years old and has recently moved to chile to live with his sister, junie. junie dones't speak hardly any spanish but we've been working with her and she has a book of mormon in french to help compare the words when we read. 

   -alejandra cornejo. i love this woman to death. she is just such a spunky lady! she's 30 and recently coming back to church. we had a family home evening with her and her family (her mom and her brother-both baptized but inactive) and each read a scripture story or just one. her mom hasn't been to church in many years simply for the reason that she doesn't get along with the members. alejandra told her in the lesson, "mom, that's pride. the Lord made a commandment to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, not for the people, but for Him" my mouth was open the whole time, i'm sure. and you know what her mom said? "tomorrow, i will go to church." and you know what, SHE DID. there she was, hermana brenda, in church at 10 am Sunday morning. can you see the miracles? 

   i hope you are seeing the miracles in your daily lives. thank you for your support. the letters, the emails. all of them help so much. have a great week! 

love, hermana walker

hermana cabrera and i after divisiones yesterday in our zone conference

hermana hidalgo and i

those who have been companions with hermana gaitan. (hermana lesh, me, hermana ross, hermana sprenz)

all of the sisters from la misión chile santiago sur.

 las viajitas (the oldies) hermana williamson, hermana ross, hermana goodwin, me, hermana moreno and hermana nicoll

a picture

October 29th, 2015

​the district: elder marrero (puerto rico), elder jones (boise, idaho..woo!), elder hanni (utah), elder webb (texas), hermana hidalgo, and i 

a change of beds and a change of heart

October 7, 2015

another transfer has ended and i am no longer in chena. i changed beds and am now in san bernardo. let me explain. we live with the sisters who are serving in chena. have two sets of bunkbeds and i have moved from the bed in the right corner to the bed in the left. haha i am now with hermana hidalgo from peru! i miss hermana henrikson dearly but it's not so bad due to the fact that we still live in the same house and i didn't have to go through the drama of packing my suitcases. i have been called as a sister training leader which means i'll most likely be staying here in san bernardo for a while. i will also be going on lots of divisions and getting to know the sisters (nicoll and silva, allison and silva, cabrera and williamson, balladares and henrikson and ross and arias) all of these sweet young women are incredible missionaries and extraordinary examples. i know they will change my heart and teach me more than i could ever imagine. what gems they truly are. 

i'm going to tell you today about 2 very special people. xaviera and cristina. xaviera is 14 and her dad isn't a member along with being (as most dads) very protective. she is an amazing young woman with such strong desires to serve a mission and follow the Savior. she told us a story of the other day when her parents got in an argument. she said she strated to cry and got down on her knees, asking Heavenly Father to help her parents forgive one another and that she could know what to do. that night, they had gotten home late from singing for las fiestas patrias and her mom said that she was ready to move out of the house. xaviera went to bed at 4 am and set her alarm to get ready for church the next day. when it went off, she said she prayed and decided to go to church, stayed for all the meetings and ran home to see how everything was at home. to her relief, her parents had resolved everything. she said it was then that she received a real testimony that the Lord answers prayers. she and her mom were inactive earlier this year. these changes are made possible only through the Spirit working in their lives and their change of heart to follow the commandments that our Father in Heaven has given us. the second, cristina. i think i've talked about her once or twice before. she is a woman burdened with many health problems and a very humble life but is one of THE HAPPIEST people i have ever known. we went to her house on monday night and talked about general conference because she wasn't able to go due to more health issues. we talked about the many talks that expressed our divine nature as children of God. she said something that hit me hard. she said "me siento importante cuando me habla así" (i feel important when you say that) isn't that how we all should feel? important to the Lord in every moment? yes it is. we are important to Him. He wants to hear from us. He wants us to feel important and that we are His.

one phrase that i loved from conference was "the light always penetrates the darkness" how true this is. and what is that light? Christ. our Savior and Redeemer. please remember your importance to the Lord and our Heavenly Father and live with the faith of cristina and xaviera. live with the faith to follow what He asks of us. 

i hope you all have a wonderful week. 

love, hermana walker 

​

my new comp, hermana hidalgo! 

goodbye selfies with hermana henrikson