Week 4 - Smithfield Utah

Hey everyone!  My second week went super fast, I'm loving it here.  The people are amazing, and we now have so many people that we are teaching, that our week is almost totally booked, which is nice, but exhausting.  Wednesday I get to do my first exchange, and then the day after the Zone Leaders also want to do an exchange so I'll have to make sure I know my area well enough to be effective without Elder Wible.  I'm excited though.

We finally started having dinner appointments!  All the families that we've visited have the most adorable kids, and they are super hyper.  I've figured out how to entertain them though.  I was really bored one day, and while Elder Wible was entering numbers, I clicked on the photo booth app, and took a bunch of pictures that distorted my face.  Well, it turns out that kids love that,  and I've been able to win them over quite easily.  Mwahahahahaha!

I'm still trying to get used to covering 17 wards.  There are too many to attend all of them each Sunday, so we try to squeeze in at least 4 sacraments in each week, just so we can try and get to most of them at least once each month.  I feel like quite the sinner having to take sacrament four times haha.  The mail service here sucks, surprisingly.  I get my letters in a reasonable amount of time, but I still haven't seen the package that my parents sent to me over a week ago.... So....  Yeah.  I hope it didn't get lost.

I hope everything is going well back home, I miss you guys!  I've heard that there has been some sad news in the ward recently, so please let the families that have been affected know that I love them and that they are in my prayers.  I pray for all of you each night too, so don't go thinking that you're left out.

Anyway, I can read any emails I get throughout the week, so feel free to send them, I really enjoy hearing from you all.  My P-days are Tuesdays, so I write a lot of my drafts Monday night and then send them in the morning.

Love you guys!
Elder Walker

Making a list of investigators and their respective wards, to see which wards we need to work on  (My idea BTW) :)

Weekly Planning

 Sleepy Elder Wible

First Dinner Appointment

Week 3 - First Companion - Elder Wible

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to let you all know that the mission is going great, I'm loving it so far. I'm serving in the Smithfield South Stake, as well as the Smithfield YSA, so me and my companion cover 17 wards.  As a result, the work is going great here, we already have two baptismal commitments set and we are expecting to get 3 or 4 more this week.

So far, we haven't had a single dinner appointment, our Ward mission leaders are dropping the ball. But we survive, many of the local restaurants around here serve missionaries for free, or members sitting at other tables will pick up the bill.  Benefits of serving in Utah I guess.

I've also found out that missionaries are treated like rock stars here.  You just walk down the street and almost every car will honk at you and the family inside will wave excitedly.  We get mobbed by groups of kids all the time and so we teach them tricks and ask them which of their friends still need to be baptized.  They give great referrals.  My first day here I was tracting at USU with a temporary companion and we got mobbed by a group of EFY girls who said it was their goal to take a selfie with the Elders, so we stopped and took a few.

On Saturday we got to be a part of the parade in Hyde Park.  Everyone in Cache Valley comes and lines the street while we missionaries run down the sides of the street in the pouring rain, going crazy and high fiving everyone.  I'm pretty sure I managed to get the whole town, hopefully nobody video taped me, I was very energetic.  But yeah, it was awesome, everyone loves us here, it takes a while to get used to it.

So my trainer is pretty awesome, or should I say crazy.   He has a ton of energy and he is hilarious. His name is Elder Wible, like the Bible, and he is my father.  Surprise!  He's also from Oregon!  He lives in Portland, in West Lynn.  Anyway, we have a lot of fun, and we've had a lot of good luck so far.  He had someone videotape my birth, but I think it's too long to send in an email.  We got the Spanish missionaries truck because they were putting way too many miles on it, so a few of the pictures I send are selfies of "Linda" our Nissan Frontier.  I think today we're going to look for a big stuffed animal to Velcro to the bed.  We also blast Disney music while we drive, and rock versions of Primary songs and we sing along, quite loudly...

But anyway, I miss you all, I hope everything is going great back home. I'll attach some photos real quick.  I took some more on my camera that I'll send to my mom and she can put it on her blog thingy.

Love,
Elder Walker

P.S.  I almost forgot!  I went to a Muslim barbecue on Saturday as well.  It was awesome!  Quite a few interesting discussions though.

This is a Hippopotamus Sharpe, I've never seen one before.

Week 3 - Off to Logan! - Nathan Meets His Mission President

Nathan met his mission president and his wife, President and Sister Allred.

Week 2 - MTC Days

I head out tomorrow at five in the morning, I may be able to borrow someone's cell phone on the front runner to call you.  We've been given permission.  I am doing laundry right now, so when I actually go to email I will send you pictures.

My companion's name is Elder Peart, he's nice.  He's from Texas.  The first lesson we taught to a role play investigator was great.  That happened the second day we were here, but the teacher tracked us down today and said that it was the best lesson that she's ever been in, and said that she just had to let us know before we left.

The MTC has been great, but I'm glad that I finally get to leave this place.  I met someone who knows my mission president.

I've had the opportunity to give a few blessings withing the two weeks that I've been here and we are all going to give each other blessings tonight as we prepare to separate our district tomorrow morning.

I'll send pictures in a bit!

Love you guys!

Week 1 - MTC Days

The MTC is great, but this week has felt like eternity and they only let us email for one hour on P Day.  I feel like I'm already totally different.  I have been made district leader and I have to say that I love my district.  Within the first two days we began to feel like brothers and sisters.  We do everything together and we have spiritual discussions almost constantly.

They keep you busy here, class after class after role play after devotional and repeat.  Each day feels like a week.  Looking back I can hardly believe that I said goodbye only seven days ago.  I haven't been super homesick other than last night.  I was thinking about Ainsley and Colin's birthdays and I started getting a bit down.  I sang a quiet happy birthday to both of them after I finished writing in my journal.  I miss you guys but I also love the work, so it balances each other out.

Tonight I guess we get to hear from a general authority, although I don't know who.  we got to watch a talk from Elder Bednar that only gets shown in the MTC and it was life changing.  It was on the Character of Christ and it makes you see everything differently and makes you want to change everything that you do and how you see the world.

I have never prayed so much in my life, but I love it.  You and Dad would be proud.  I feel like a different person.

Anyway, tell all the kids that I love them and miss them.  Remind Jacob to hold my lizard every day, and to not be too afraid of him.  Also, give everyone else my email address and mailing address on my facebook.  I can read and write handwritten letters anytime I want here, when I have the time. Tell the Zooks that I was sad I missed game night on Thursday, but I hope it went well.

I'll send pictures once I'm out in the field, I forgot my camera in the dorm.

I love you guys so much!  Hope your week goes great :)

Love,
Elder Walker

Elder Topham