Angela set a date to be baptized! Elder Christman was really eager to set a baptism date with her last Friday and the week before. She decided to narrow down a goal of being baptized in 1 to 3 months and set a date for the First of March!
We all wanted Angela to be baptized for the right reasons. Her boyfriend Aaron is supportive but wants it to be her decision. During a lesson a month ago, we taught her about the Restoration then asked her to be baptized. She sat still for a while, sitting next to Aaron. Then she looked over at Aaron, kind of like, ‘well, what do you think?’ Aaron started laughing, and said, ‘Don’t look at me, I’ve been baptized!’
One thing is for sure, Angela understands the importance of her Baptism and what it really means. The other night we watched ‘Special Witnesses’ and heard Elder Scott speak about baptism. After we taught her she began to realize the importance of baptism. She told me in church that baptism wasn’t just joining the church. It is a way that we begin to apply the Atonement in our lives, by making a covenant with Heavenly Father. My favorite part on my mission so far is probably when people begin to realize what the Atonement really means for them.
We lost contact with Eric almost two months ago. He’s majoring in business at UNC and has a member girlfriend an hour south of Chapel Hill. Elder Roseman and Elder Christman were finally able to catch up with him this weekend! He was really busy with school. It is amazing how concerned we are about our investigators, and how much it hurts if we think we’ve lost them.
Cayce will be baptized this Saturday, February 2nd! She asked me to speak at her baptism. I’m pretty nervous because her family, who are nonmembers, will be there along with a lot of our ward and investigators. This has been three years in the making! I’m so excited for her to finally be able to make this commitment! Her entire family will be coming and her boyfriend, Martin, will be baptizing and confirming her!
We got a call last night telling us that President Hinckley passed away. It was such a weird feeling. I felt really peaceful, like Heavenly Father was still in control. I wasn’t worried at all-the One who leads The Church is still leading His Church. President Hinckley’s passing was fortunate in a few ways. He had lived an amazing life! He likely had more pains and fatigue than he let anyone know. I also remember him saying how much he missed his wife.
It is an amazing time to be a missionary. It was neat this morning to reread President Hinckley’s conference addresses and reflect on what the Lord had him focus on in his service. I am so thankful to be a missionary at this time. As the seventeenth of January passed by it was interesting to reflect back on the 17th of January, 2006, when I’d originally planned to fly to Brazil to serve a mission.
If things had gone as I’d originally sketched out, I’d be getting back from Brazil about now, and heading to BYU Idaho. The Lord had other plans for me! Two years ago nobody would have believed that the Lord would bless me in the ways He has. I learned about how much I love the gospel, my family, and friends during the 5 months in the hospital. I was blessed during my year at BYU with great support from my family, an amazing ward, a great group of close friends, and I was also able to get good grades.
And now, two years after the accident, through the direction of the Lord and the help of many priesthood leaders, family and friends I am on a mission. Our ward is amazing, my companions are supportive, my work is challenging and my health is steady. What more could I ask for?
Thank you for the support and letters!
Elder Walters
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Elder Walters Becomes a Trainer
We welcomed Elder Christman to Chapel Hill on Tuesday! He is from Soda Springs Idaho and enjoys all things outdoors, especially hunting. He describes himself as a ‘hick’ and is extremely excited about the work.
Elder Roseman and I had a great time learning at training meeting in Raleigh. It was really neat because it was my first time in the mission home. We met the six missionaries coming straight from the MTC; they are all so excited to be out here!
At transfer meeting we got to hear my trainer and first companion, Elder Kennah, bear his testimony. It was his last day in the mission. He flew back to Layton, Utah on Wednesday morning. It was a good experience for me to imagine what I would feel like at the end of my mission, and to realize some things I could change so I can go home with no regrets. It was kind of interesting . . . almost like how people re-evaluate their lives after someone close to them dies.
After Transfer Meeting, we then took Elder Christman straight to UNC campus to get him right into the work. We figured he would be kind of nervous, so I went to contact on my own and Elder Roseman was going to talk to people with Elder Christman. Elder Roseman’s phone rang and when he hung up, Elder Christman was already teaching somebody! We are trying to help him direct his energy in effective ways to accomplish his goals. He has a heart of gold and I am so glad to have his enthusiasm in our companionship!!!
Thank you for all of your letters, prayers and support.
Elder Walters
Elder Roseman and I had a great time learning at training meeting in Raleigh. It was really neat because it was my first time in the mission home. We met the six missionaries coming straight from the MTC; they are all so excited to be out here!
At transfer meeting we got to hear my trainer and first companion, Elder Kennah, bear his testimony. It was his last day in the mission. He flew back to Layton, Utah on Wednesday morning. It was a good experience for me to imagine what I would feel like at the end of my mission, and to realize some things I could change so I can go home with no regrets. It was kind of interesting . . . almost like how people re-evaluate their lives after someone close to them dies.
After Transfer Meeting, we then took Elder Christman straight to UNC campus to get him right into the work. We figured he would be kind of nervous, so I went to contact on my own and Elder Roseman was going to talk to people with Elder Christman. Elder Roseman’s phone rang and when he hung up, Elder Christman was already teaching somebody! We are trying to help him direct his energy in effective ways to accomplish his goals. He has a heart of gold and I am so glad to have his enthusiasm in our companionship!!!
Thank you for all of your letters, prayers and support.
Elder Walters
Monday, January 14, 2008
TEACHING ANGELA
January 14, 2008
Two new companions! I’ve been serving with Elder Roseman for about 3 months and with Elder Johnson for my whole mission, about 5 months so far! We found out on Saturday that Elder Johnson will be transferred on Tuesday to another area.
We are excited to find out who our next companion will be! All we know is that he’s just finished his two and a half weeks in the MTC, so Elder Roseman and I have the responsibility to train him! I’m pretty nervous about teaching and being a good example to him. Elder Roseman has trained before, so hopefully we’ll do it right and help him establish good habits for the rest of his mission. I’ll write about Elder ____ next week!
We were also able to welcome a new service missionary to the Institute at Chapel Hill, Sister Gwyn! She is SO full of energy! She has 7 daughters, about sixteen grandchildren, has served multiple service missions and knows President and Sister Wallis from Ohio. She will be at the Institute Monday through Friday from 8am to 9pm helping out in a LOT of great ways.
She’s making a “cookie of the day” in the morning and making the meals for a lunch we do for Institute students every week at Duke and UNC and contacting students on the phone and coming to Institute classes and being there during the day to keep the building open. I am really excited to share the little CES service missionary office with her. Hopefully some of her excess energy will rub off on me!!!
We are having a great time teaching Angela. She comes from a Catholic family and her boyfriend, Aaron is a member. She has a lot of great questions for us when we come over. We began just sharing spiritual thoughts with them when we went over for dinner. About two weeks ago, she asked to hear the missionary discussions, and we’ve had a lot of really neat, spiritual experiences with her as we read and reread certain scriptures, like Ether 12 about faith and Alma 32 about gaining faith as you would grow a seed.
I planned for Angela’s lesson on Saturday morning but I missed the lesson that night because I had a fever. Elder Roseman and Elder Johnson taught a part of the lesson by using dominoes. As they sat at a table, they put a domino within Angela’s reach and labeled it ‘a testimony of the Book of Mormon.’ Other dominoes followed like ‘a testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet’ and ‘knowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God’s Church on the earth today.’
As the dominoes stretched farther away from her reach, the questions became less crucial, like ‘are Mormons the only people that do baptisms for the dead’ or ‘what happens to kids born in the millennium’ or ‘what is Heavenly Mother’s role.’ The point was that no one could start at the end of the domino chain trying to work backwards and answer less important questions without first answering the simple questions like ‘is the Book of Mormon the word of God’ ‘is Christ our Savior’ ‘was Joseph Smith a true prophet’ ‘is the church true?’
Angela really opened up on Saturday night and shared some spiritual experiences she has had, some that we were even present for! She talked about how it feels when she reads the Book of Mormon, that it feels right, that certain parts stick out to her. She shared a particular verse in Alma 32:16: Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.
And Alma 32: 21: And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
Angela realized Saturday night that many of the times she has felt the spirit in the past were really the beginning of her testimony. It is really amazing to see the Spirit work on people, when they really see God communicate to them through the Holy Ghost.
Thank you for all of your letters and support! Sorry if I don’t respond quickly!
Elder Walters
Two new companions! I’ve been serving with Elder Roseman for about 3 months and with Elder Johnson for my whole mission, about 5 months so far! We found out on Saturday that Elder Johnson will be transferred on Tuesday to another area.
We are excited to find out who our next companion will be! All we know is that he’s just finished his two and a half weeks in the MTC, so Elder Roseman and I have the responsibility to train him! I’m pretty nervous about teaching and being a good example to him. Elder Roseman has trained before, so hopefully we’ll do it right and help him establish good habits for the rest of his mission. I’ll write about Elder ____ next week!
We were also able to welcome a new service missionary to the Institute at Chapel Hill, Sister Gwyn! She is SO full of energy! She has 7 daughters, about sixteen grandchildren, has served multiple service missions and knows President and Sister Wallis from Ohio. She will be at the Institute Monday through Friday from 8am to 9pm helping out in a LOT of great ways.
She’s making a “cookie of the day” in the morning and making the meals for a lunch we do for Institute students every week at Duke and UNC and contacting students on the phone and coming to Institute classes and being there during the day to keep the building open. I am really excited to share the little CES service missionary office with her. Hopefully some of her excess energy will rub off on me!!!
We are having a great time teaching Angela. She comes from a Catholic family and her boyfriend, Aaron is a member. She has a lot of great questions for us when we come over. We began just sharing spiritual thoughts with them when we went over for dinner. About two weeks ago, she asked to hear the missionary discussions, and we’ve had a lot of really neat, spiritual experiences with her as we read and reread certain scriptures, like Ether 12 about faith and Alma 32 about gaining faith as you would grow a seed.
I planned for Angela’s lesson on Saturday morning but I missed the lesson that night because I had a fever. Elder Roseman and Elder Johnson taught a part of the lesson by using dominoes. As they sat at a table, they put a domino within Angela’s reach and labeled it ‘a testimony of the Book of Mormon.’ Other dominoes followed like ‘a testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet’ and ‘knowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God’s Church on the earth today.’
As the dominoes stretched farther away from her reach, the questions became less crucial, like ‘are Mormons the only people that do baptisms for the dead’ or ‘what happens to kids born in the millennium’ or ‘what is Heavenly Mother’s role.’ The point was that no one could start at the end of the domino chain trying to work backwards and answer less important questions without first answering the simple questions like ‘is the Book of Mormon the word of God’ ‘is Christ our Savior’ ‘was Joseph Smith a true prophet’ ‘is the church true?’
Angela really opened up on Saturday night and shared some spiritual experiences she has had, some that we were even present for! She talked about how it feels when she reads the Book of Mormon, that it feels right, that certain parts stick out to her. She shared a particular verse in Alma 32:16: Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.
And Alma 32: 21: And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
Angela realized Saturday night that many of the times she has felt the spirit in the past were really the beginning of her testimony. It is really amazing to see the Spirit work on people, when they really see God communicate to them through the Holy Ghost.
Thank you for all of your letters and support! Sorry if I don’t respond quickly!
Elder Walters
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
GRADITUDE
We missed Elder Walter’s letter on Monday. Whenever I don’t hear from him on Monday, I call his health care provider to make sure he isn’t sick. Sue said Ryan was getting a quad rugby game together on his preparation day and that he was feeling GREAT! I don’t know if the other Elders were going to play with him or some of his team members from the Raleigh Sidewinders. I’m happy to sacrifice a letter knowing he is doing something he loves!
We wanted to let you know we enjoyed a wonderful phone call from Elder Walters on Christmas. Barry and I both commented afterwards what a nice call it was. Ryan is very peaceful and happy in his surroundings on his mission in North Carolina. He has developed meaningful relationships with his companions and Brother Nichols as well as the students in the Chapel Hill Ward. He adores President and Sister Wallis and his testimony has grown as he feels the love of our Savior in acts of service he witnesses on a daily basis.
Ryan spent Christmas Eve with his two companions at Brother and Sister Nichols' home and Christmas Day with four other Elders at a Bishop's home. After talking with him, Barry and I felt very content with where Ryan is and the work he is doing. Our lives have been blessed as he has put all of his effort into being a full-time missionary.
On our way to Aunt Kalle's and Uncle Paul's home for Christmas Eve, Barry, Kate and I stopped at Craig Hospital. Kaitlyn had made caramel and chocolate dipped pretzels for the patients and staff at Craig. It was nice to visit with the patients and staff. Each patient we talked with asked where Ryan was now . . . it was good to be able to reflect back on the last two years and realize the progress Ryan has made . . . spending five months at Craig and rehabilitating to the best of his ability, a year at BYU and more rehabilitation at Neuroworx and now serving his mission for the last six months. Ryan has been blessed with a beautiful spirit and we couldn't love him move. We are grateful everyday to have him in our family.
Thank you for the love you have shown to Ryan and to our family.
Love, Bridgette and Barry
We wanted to let you know we enjoyed a wonderful phone call from Elder Walters on Christmas. Barry and I both commented afterwards what a nice call it was. Ryan is very peaceful and happy in his surroundings on his mission in North Carolina. He has developed meaningful relationships with his companions and Brother Nichols as well as the students in the Chapel Hill Ward. He adores President and Sister Wallis and his testimony has grown as he feels the love of our Savior in acts of service he witnesses on a daily basis.
Ryan spent Christmas Eve with his two companions at Brother and Sister Nichols' home and Christmas Day with four other Elders at a Bishop's home. After talking with him, Barry and I felt very content with where Ryan is and the work he is doing. Our lives have been blessed as he has put all of his effort into being a full-time missionary.
On our way to Aunt Kalle's and Uncle Paul's home for Christmas Eve, Barry, Kate and I stopped at Craig Hospital. Kaitlyn had made caramel and chocolate dipped pretzels for the patients and staff at Craig. It was nice to visit with the patients and staff. Each patient we talked with asked where Ryan was now . . . it was good to be able to reflect back on the last two years and realize the progress Ryan has made . . . spending five months at Craig and rehabilitating to the best of his ability, a year at BYU and more rehabilitation at Neuroworx and now serving his mission for the last six months. Ryan has been blessed with a beautiful spirit and we couldn't love him move. We are grateful everyday to have him in our family.
Thank you for the love you have shown to Ryan and to our family.
Love, Bridgette and Barry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)