August 12, 2009

Wow! Awesome email! I finally know what's going on over there! Sounds like things are going really well. Things here are going awesome. It has been REALLY hot though. I dont know how hot. Somewhere in the 40s I think (celcius.) Definitely the hottest I have been since I got here. And its supposed to stay that way for the next couple weeks I think. The new companion is awesome. His name is Elder Dean. He has been out for a year. He just came from the Azores. He is from American Fork. He is so good at teaching! Amazing! And really good at the language (although he has a pretty heavy american accent.) Cool dude though. Yesterday was probably my most successful day on the mission. Our investigators are progressing so well. We had 4 lessons yesterday (which is kind of a lot) and they were are with our investigators. In 2 of the lessons, they brought friends, who really, really liked our message. So 2 new investigators. Elder Dean is a really hard worker who's gonna whip me into shape. Elder Markarian was too. But I think Elder Dean works even harder. The language is improving I think. We just had our Zone Conference, and I understood almost all of it (mostly because I understand all of the Elders, who speak slow and have American accents) But I think its slowly progressing. Patience. Im glad Grandma Walker is doing well. She is awesome. She keeps writing me letters. I got one of here letters at the mailbox at our home. So cool. Im glad Grandpa Sheril is doing good too. I cant believe Uncle Richard got cancer again. I hope he is ok. Its all up to the Lord though. That is really awesome about Leanna, Susan, and Lori. I had no idea any of them were trying out. Thats going to be so awesome if they make it in. Really awesome for mom. By the way, speaking of the Rymers. I heard Tyler got his call and has already left. Do you know anything about that? All I heard was that he got his call. Im dying to know where he went. Things are going awesome here in Sacavém. Its been a little difficult getting us around everywhere and remembering where everything is and all of the people we have been teaching, but I think Im finally getting the hang of things. The people here are still awesome. There are a lot of people that the Lord has prepared I think. These African people really are all very humble people. All of our investigators are African. I love em! Oscar is doing really well too. His wife, who didnt seem to be progressing finally got the courage up to ask her boss to get Sundays off work. So now she can come to church! And she realizes the blessing it is too. I think she is really excited now. Oscar is preparing to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood, and will recieve the Melchizedek pretty soon after. We are still going to have to find a way to teach their daughter Adicilsa. We are going to give her a blessing this Sunday. Oscar requested it. He has so much faith. Awesome guy. I still havent heard anything about Sonny. Do you know how he is doing? He has a blog. Maybe you could just tell me a little of whats going on. Anyways, it was really awesome hearing from y'all this week. Sounds like everything is pretty normal. Moms stressed about school, you guys are working on the house, Kaenan is starting some new thing. Yeah, pretty normal. What day exactly are Griffin and Gretchen getting married? I cant remember. Cant really think of anything else thats going on. Eu amo vocês! Fiquem fixe pás!!!
Elder Walker

P.S. I cant really think of very many things I need. They have a lot of good stuff here. Oh! Mapleine! They dont have that here! That would be awesome for making syrup. Also, supposedly the deodorant here is really bad. (By the smell of it, most people dont use it. Uggh!!!)I only have one stick left of american kind. Maybe you could send me some of that. I like the Old Spice Red Zone kind thats like the white gel stuff. Ask Griffin, I think he uses the same kind. Other than that I think Im ok. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. I could definitely use some more recipes too. Anything else you can think of to send will be awesome.

P.P.S. I will send some more pics

August 5, 2009

Então Família! Como estão?! Há transferências esta semana! Its crazy! 6 weeks is already up and transfers are tomorrow! Elder Markarian is leaving to be Zone Leader in Oeiras and I am staying here in Sacavém! I havent met my new companion yet, but I think his name is Elder Dean. I dont know anything about him. Hopefully he speaks the language well. Its gonna be really hard if he doesnt. Im basically going to be in charge of getting us around to all of the areas and remembering everyone we are teaching. I am probably going to have to do a lot more talking too. Its gonna be really hard but I suppose its meant to be. I will probably learn a lot this transfer. Transfers are a lot different this time, according to everyone that has been here longer than I have. I got here when our new Mission President got here, so nothing is new to me. But supposedly he has changed a lot of things. He is really awesome though, everyone loves him. How do we know him again? Didnt you say Uncle Richard knows him mom? I cant remember. Anyways, tomorrow I meet my new comp and then come back here and immediately start working. Its gonna be tough. As usual, the language still seems to be a big barrier. It has still been a little hard for me to be outgoing as well. Thats going to have to stop. Especially since my new companion wont know anybody here. This morning, I studied about the parable of the talents in Matthew, and then I also studied in D&C. God has given me talents. He has given me the ability to be able to speak well. But I havent opened my mouth. He says that if I dont use my talents, he will take away what I have. But if I use them, he will give me more. Im going to try really hard to speak a lot this transfer and be "greg"arious. I know the Lord will give me the Gift of the Interpretation of Tongues if I use what he has already given me. Everything has been going awesome though. About 2 weeks ago, we contacted this man on the street named Steven. He started speaking in English, saying he didnt speak Portuguese. So we started talking to him, and he said he is from Nigeria. So we got his number, and told him we wanted to meet him. We met him a couple times, but he didnt have enough time to hear our message both times. We met him again, and he told us he had some people he wanted us to meet. So we met these to women, Donya and Sahar. Donya is Sahar's mom. They told us they are from Iran, and neither of them speak Portuguese. Sahar speaks a little English, and Donya only speaks Persian. We knew they were Muslim, so we didnt want to teach them (we are not allowed to.) So we just showed them around our chapel and told them why we are here. They told us they are trying to get to Canada. But we didnt really know why they were here. So a couple days later, we met up with them again, and this time with Donya's husband, Sahar's dad Morteza. He told us all about why they are here. Supposedly the Iranian government is really bad right now, and they had thrown him in prison a couple times. He eventually ran from the government, not knowing where to go and eventually ended up here in Portugal with little money, not speaking a word of Portuguese. They are trying to get to Canada, where their son lives, but cant get their documents from Iran. They cant return there. We decided we can teach them, because they cant ever go back to Iran. They are all Muslim, but none of them like their religion. They are really interested in learning about Jesus Christ and they even came to church on Sunday. Both me and Elder Markarian have a feeling that they came here for a reason. They are really awesome people. Its hard to teach them. Morteza speaks very well but its hard for him to understand the gospel vocab. Plus, they have to translate to Donya. Hopefully, we can get them some things in their own language. Also, our investigator Colombo is progressing really well. We taught him the Word of Wisdom the other day, and he told us that he smoked. He doesnt smoke a lot, but I think he is addicted. Anyways, he has so much faith, and no doubt that he can quit, and that the Lord will bless him. He told us he was going to stop that day. Awesome guy. Very humble. He is marked to be baptized August 29th. So cool. This area is really awesome. I am glad I am staying. Im sad Elder Markarian is leaving. He has been an awesome influence for all these people. Also we are way good friends now. Things have been awesome lately. I learned so much this transfer from him. He is awesome. Things are awesome here. I love being on my mission. Obrigado todos!!!
Elder Walker

P.S. I finally sent some pictures. They are attached to the email. If you can figure it out mom, you should post some on my blog. You'll have to save them onto the computer and then post a new blog. There should be some button you can click to upload photos.

P.P.S. How are the wedding plans going?

July 15, 2009

Oi! How are y'all?! I'm doing really well still! Things are going awesome! Still struggling with the language of course. Still impossible to understand people, but I think I am gettting a little better. Not much I can do. Everyone tells me it just comes with time. But I think my speaking is improving. I really enjoy speaking it. Everyone tells me I speak well. I guess I just have a good ear, and can sort of immitate the accent. It's a way crazy accent here! I love it! But can't understand it. There are a few people who speak English. There are a lot of people from Africa, like I said, but not all of them are from the Portuguese colonies. Some are from Nigeria (where they supposedly have a lot of different languages, including English) and also Somalia, and all over really. So it's pretty cool to actually be able to converse with people. A lot of the younger people can speak English because they learn it in school. And some claim they learned the English they know from watching TV. Almost all of the TV here is American shows, with Portuguese subtitles. But they do have a few Brazilian, and Portuguese Soap Operas. LLLAAAMMMMEEEE! We are pretty lucky to have good TV in America! Ha ha. Everything is going really well with the Companion. He is a really cool guy, and we have fun. He is a little different. I don't think I have ever known anyone quite like him. He is pretty calm, but sometimes not. I can't explain him. He is cool though. He is really good at teaching, and a really good people's person. That's another I have been trying to overcome still, is talking to people. It's especially hard because I don't know the language. But I am trying to do better with that. I can imagine the heat in Utah right now. But it's actually pretty nice here. I never know the temperature here, but I'm guessing somewhere in the 70s and 80s, and rarely 90s. Really nice. Sometimes at night, it actually gets really cool and breezy. It's really nice here. Pretty humid. I think the humidity has been good on my asthma. I haven't really had any problems with it. I'm really jealous of the garden. I'm gonna miss all the fresh veggies. So good. That's so awesome how many visits you are getting at work dad! That's way more than we got when I was there. So awesome. Is Brennan still working there? How is he doing? Is he still going to go to school in the fall? How is Kaenan? Is he starting Kindergarten this year? How are his swimming lessons? Has he gotten any new obsessions? I'm guessing he is still into Pokemon. I'm also jealous you miss fishing. I miss doing that. But I don't miss getting up early and freezing to death at Scofield. Ha ha. But I really do like fishing. That's crazy you guys got new carpet! I can't even imagine it! Is mom redoing all of the rooms too? Is she gonna decorate them and stuff? I'm excited to get home and see. Congrats on your calling dad! That really is awesome. I know you're gonna do really good at it. I'm not surprised at all about Bailey. Especially with the new carpet. I could have seen that coming. I'm glad she's still around at least. I'm glad everything is going well at home. How are Megan and Spencer doing? Is Spencer liking his new job? What is Megan doing? Still cutting hair? Or is she going to school? Or both? How is Liz doing? What is she doing? Is she staying in Mesa? Or is she going to move down to Utah still? How are Tim and Amy? What new things are happening with them? How are Griff and Gretch doing with the wedding plans? Oh, by the way, if you want to give them all my email address, I am allowed to email family. Or maybe you are just posting on my blog mom, or forwarding my emails. I dunno. Whatever you want to do. I am going to try to send some pictures through this email if I end up having time. Again, I'm doing really well. We are teaching a lot of people. Really awesome people. We are still teaching Oscar, and his soon to be wife Albertina. There are getting married on the 24th, and then Oscar will be baptized the next day! Oscar really loves the gospel, and he can see the blessings is has brought into his life. He is excited to be baptized, and to receive the priesthood one day also. We are also teaching Maria still. We were teaching her family too, but they moved with their dad to England. Hopefully they can find the church there, I dunno. She is also marked for baptism now, and she is doing awesome! She is already living the way she needs to, but she says she doesn't feel quite ready for baptism. She is worried about what her family thinks. So she is marked to be baptized in September. We also have a new investigator named Turé. He is really awesome. We have only taught him twice, but he told us that he felt really,really good while we were teaching. We are teaching a guy from Brazil named Felipe. He is only 20, but seems a lot older. He is a really awesome, upbeat guy, but he is Evangelical, and believes every single word we say, so it will be hard to convince him that this is the ONLY true church. We are also teaching a guy from Brazil named Ronaldo, who is about 21 I think. He is awesome, and also agrees with a lot that we say. But he told us that he prayed, and that the Holy Ghost told him that the Catholic church is the right church. So we are a little bit stuck with him. He is an awesome guy. He is a nearly professional football (soccer) player. His team played against the Porto team, which is a professional team. They are the best team in Portugal, and have won the world cup recently I think. So Ronaldo is really good, and might soon get onto a professional team. Anyways, doing really well. We haven't had a lot of trouble finding new people to teach. It's been really awesome. How is Sonny doing? Do you know? I haven't heard about him or from him since he left the MTC about 9 weeks ago. Anyways, I love this work. I am excited to finally be able to speak the language some day. I know this is the true gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I have been reading it since I got into the MTC. I am in 3 Nephi now. I love it. I love reading the words of prophets and the stories of wicked people coming to Christ. I love applying the teachings in my life. I know this is the only true gospel and I have already seen it bless people's lives. I love this work. There is no place I would rather be now. If I had to come home, I would be devastated. I love you all! Fica fixe!!!
Elder Walker

P.S. Thanks for the perfect pancake recipe! I am totally making them tomorrow!

July 8, 2009

Olá Família! Portugal is still going awesome! I'm still loving it! It's really cool to be here in Europe. A lot of things are different. But I'm also surprised how many things are exactly the same. American culture has a lot of influence here. Pretty cool. I'm still struggling with the language, as usual. It's really, really hard to understand everyone. Especially the Africans, and the Brazilians. Especially the Brazilians. Brazilian Portuguese is way different than Portugal Portuguese. I heard they are even thinking about making it into 2 different languages. Our new Mission President arrived last week, and I had my first Zone Conference on Monday. As you know mom, his name is President Torgan, and he is from Brazil. He seems really awesome. Before he was called to be mission president here, he was about to be like, Vice Governer of some state in Brazil or something, pretty crazy. And he was also the leader of like 16,000 police or something like that. The reason I say he only seems awesome, is because he made a new rule that at all of the zone and district meetings, it will all be in Portuguese. And as I said, Brazilian Portuguese is way hard to understand for me. So, sadly, I didn't get much out of Zone Conference. But I am doing well with speaking, I think. I feel like I am improving. I just need to be able to understand other people, so that I can actually converse with them. I feel behing, but my companion tells me that I'm not. And he tells me I have a really good Portuguese accent. So I am doing well. Everything else is going great. I'm getting to know the area pretty well. The other day, Elder Markarian had to go give a baptismal interview, so I had to go on divisions with another missionary, who actually came here with us and is as new as I am. But he was already fluent in the language before he left for his mission. We had to go out and proselyte together! It was way scary! And it was my area, so I had to find our way around. But I did really well, and got on all of the right buses and stuff. Crazy. Thanks for the recipe mom! Tuna casserole is actually exactly what I had in mind! And they should have all the ingredients here. They have most of what we have in the states, I think. At least the same food. Not medicine. I am glad I bought all that stuff mom. They don't even have simple things here like ibuprofen, or tums. Crazy. Anyways, another really useful recipe would be Perfect Pancakes. Mmmm! I miss those! The only ingredient we wouldn't have for that, is Mapleine. They don't have maple syrup here! Or mapleine, so I can't even make it. But they have vanilla, so I can make vanilla syrup. Yeah, and any other recipes you can think of mom. Thanks! So my comp has a flea problem, which is crazy, because I haven't seen or felt any at all. Supposedly I was bit once, but didn't feel it, and it never itched. So his mom ended up sending him some flea bombs (they don't have anything for fleas here either.) So hopefully that will stop. That's crazy about Mike and Cam! I had no idea either of them were engaged! Crazy! And I'm way excited for Griffin and Gretchen! I could easily have another niece or nephew by the time I get back, eh? That's awesome you guys are going to Italy! Way soon! We will be using the same money at least. I don't know what else is similar. The socks are great mom. Thanks for sending them. I actually had way too many, so I gave a lot of my old ones away before I got here. I had to give quite a bit of stuff away so my bags wouldn't be too heavy. So far, the work is great here! Elder Markarian is awesome! We have 2 investigators marked for baptism, one on the way, and a few new investigators. Pretty cool. I don't do a whole lot in the lessons, other than testify. I can't exactly teach, and ask questions yet. But things are going good. I'm loving it. Sometimes it's stressful. Just the language usually. And we walk a lot. So I come home pretty exhausted at night. It's good though. I'm getting the best sleep of my life here! I don't have trouble falling asleep at all. Unlike at the MTC, or basically my whole life before the mission. It's awesome. It is a little loud around our house though. We live pretty close to the airport, so there are a lot of planes flying over all the time, and that's way loud. But I have gotten used to it. Also, there are TONS of dogs everywhere. Some stray, but mostly owned. So we here a lot of barking. It's crazy. Most of the dogs are mutts. Rarely do I see purebread. I haven't seen the same kind of dog twice. Crazy. I don't think I really need anything sent. I imagine it's pretty expensive anyway. Oh, by the way. You don't have my address yet. Ok, here's the deal. You can send stuff directly to our apartment, and supposedly the mail is reliable here. It's supposed to be really good. But it's best if you send it directly to the mission office. I will get it at the next transfer/zone conference. I will be in this area for at least another 4 weeks, unless I get transferred to a new area. So if you don't know, it will just be safe to send it to the mission office. If you are going to send a package, send it to the mission office, not the apartment address. Probably get stolen or something, I dunno. So here are my addresses.

This is our APARTMENT:

Rua Miraflores Lt. 496 R/C Dto
Bairro da Fraternidade
2695 São João de Talha
PORTUGAL

This is the OFFICE:

Rua Jorge Barradas 14C
1500-Lisboa
Portugal

I guess that's it. I'm doing great! Hope everyone is there too! Eu amo vocês! Fica fixe! (Stay cool)
Elder Walker