Week 91 - The Work Continues

Hello Everyone!

This week was full of ups and downs, but definitely more ups! We started off the week by going on exchanges with the AP's. We got to spend the day up on USU street contacting and talking to students. I was definitely missing Preston by the end of the day.

We've had a pretty good week! We've been getting a lot of help from the members in our focus ward, so things are picking up! We were getting a bit down because we have been running out of ideas to find new people. We met with President Keller though, and asked him for suggestions and we had a really good talk and I think we have a pretty good idea on a new direction that we can take the area.

This week was Elder Remfrey's Birthday! He's 21 now, so that's awesome for him. He got some interesting birthday presents, including a roping dummy that one of his recent converts made for him. It's pretty fun, we're going to practice roping today! The Willard family had us over for a Birthday dinner and it was awesome! Super good stake and some awesome company :) We actually managed to do the dishes! People usually don't let us do them. So that made us happy.

We had "fake" church again at the Lowder home. I was assigned to give a talk on the spirit. It was super cool :) I think it helped their family out a lot too. It's awesome to see them come together in a

spiritual setting.

Today for P-Day we're going roller skating! I've done it like once in my life, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyways, I'm loving it up here in Preston. This really is the work of the Lord, we've been seeing miracles and I can't wait to see the miracles that come this week! I love you all and I hope you are doing well :)

Elder Walker

Week 90 - No Email (A Lot of Work and a Little Play)

Bowling with the Lowders

Week 89 - No Email

Week 88 - Miracles in Preston

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all have had a good week so far, this week has had a lot of miracles here in Preston.

First off, everyone managed to get transferred safely, quickly, and orderly, so we are now all set to go for this transfer. On Tuesday we were able to start up dinners in the Ward again. A while back, missionaries had decided that they didn't want dinners, and so this whole time I've been in Preston, we haven't been eating dinners with members. So we've finally worked something out with the Ward and now we get to meet with members and get to know them over dinner. Yes, I'm counting that as a miracle because the families around here cook way better than Elder Remfrey and I. Also, now we will be able to get to know the ward better.

On Wednesday, we drove out to Winder to visit with a family that has been very hard to schedule appointments with. We have been having a hard time catching them home, but Wednesday night we dropped by and everyone was there!  That night they were super happy to see us, and all twelve of their kids were going crazy trying to steal our name tags and iPads. We ended up compromising by taking selfies with them. Anyway, the Mom said we could start up lessons again starting on Monday, so we said okay and we were about to leave it at that, but then she's like, "Oh! Today is Wednesday! How about you come back tomorrow night? We can just start right away." Which leads us into Thursday's miracle!

Thursday night we came back over (the first time they haven't cancelled a lesson! For me at least) and they were super excited to see us again. They have been taught a few times by previous missionaries, and so we decided to review the Gospel of Jesus Christ by using stepping stones. That managed to keep the twelve kids somewhat focused. At the end, we extended the invitation to be baptized to 6 of the twelve children, and now they are all on Date to be baptized the 1st of April! And no, that is not an early April Fools joke. So now we just have to have a refresher of the lessons and help them get to church. We are super excited for all of them!

Last night was a super cool experience for me. We went to visit the Lowders and we were visiting for a bit and then their daughter decided that she wanted to have testimony meeting at home. So she set up a pulpit, equipped with her karaoke machine for a microphone, and we sang hymns, opened with a prayer and we all bore our testimonies. The spirit was so strong, and it was so amazing to hear the testimonies that the parents had. During the middle of the "service" a scripture popped into my head. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matt. 18:20. It was such a sweet experience and I just want to attest to the truthfulness of that scripture. I know without a doubt that our Savior is mindful of us, and cares about us. He wants to be with us, even if it's during an impromptu testimony meeting that at first we were calling "fake church". It doesn't matter, as long as we are worshipping him, he will be with us. I can testify of that in name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Anyway, it snowed again last night, so Elder Remfrey and I are going to go shovel driveways real quick. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Walker