Well, this week has been pretty great--

Well, this week has been pretty great--

On Christmas Eve, we went downtown and caroled as a Zone. It was the best. Seriously. I loved it. People's hearts are a lot softer this time of year. And singing of our savior and his birth really brought the spirit- there we're some people there that really needed that. It was really beautiful to just see some of them melt when they felt the love and the spirit :) it was a really amazing experience that's probably a highlight of my mission :) I wish I could put it more into words, but just know it was so sweet.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Hermana Buys and I ran around dropping Christmas gifts off to investigators and less actives that we had gotten. It was another rally good and fun experience. While we were doing that, I met a white guy from Africa who was a Muslim. Thought that was cool! 

It felt really good to just focus on giving this year. I really liked that :) and it helped others feel of their heavenly fathers love for them which is really  beautiful

Awkward language moment of the week: we got lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and I was ordering from the lady, and didn't hear what she had said, so I was just like, "¿cómo?"... I didn't notice for a minute or two until I saw hermana Whitney laughing at me. Language identity crisis at its finest.

Last PDay, I spent two hours cleaning our shower- that poor thing hadn't been cleaned in a really long time, and I finally had the time to just boss it out with some good ol elbow grease and bleach. It looks like a shower from Kolob now :) and today, hermana buys and I cleaned the refrigerator. We are confident it won't smell funny anymore :)  It feels good to just do a good long hard cleaning job like that :)

Our area is a little slow right now- we've been really trying to spend a lot of time on our Area book this week. The area book for this area is really big. So we have been spending time in the past week to work on inputting all the data from our actual Area book and putting it onto the iPad. It's boring. But it needs to happen with the iPad switchover. :P so we have been working on that. We listen to talks and stuff while we do it so that's cool :) 

We got a lot of goodies and candy and snacks for Christmas :) yay! And hermana buys and I lost all self control this week... Well, for like 3 days. Then we decided to stop being fat. So that's been good, we're eating more healthy after pigging out this week :)  Good news- I can do 3 sets of 12 regular man push ups without too much difficulty :) I've been working on that...

I have been pretty tired this week...

We had a cool lesson with a less active about the atonement! Man the atonement is so cool. It is amazing how perfectly and intimately it applies to everyone. Every single time. I love it :) and I learn more about it every single time!

This week reading the book of mormon was awesome! I learned way more from the first 91 pages than I ever have before, I ate it up. :) there's so much mind-blowing stuff in there! Explanations, doctrine, commentary on Isaiah, prophecies that have been fulfilled, prophecies that will be revealed, and prophecies that are currently being revealed. It's really neat :) The Book of Mormon is so stinking true... And anyone that uses the comeback that the Book of Mormon is of the devil? That's the lamest excuse ever. Seriously. All it does is talk about Christ and ask us to follow his commandments and stuff. That's the purpose of the whole book!  It's the best :) 

Yeah, I can't believe this year is already over.. So crazy. I love it :) the mission has been flying by! New year, nine months left, and I'm still not in Brazil! But as long as I'm Spanish speaking, I'm happy with not getting my visa :) I actually have my fingers crossed that I won't get it for another few weeks at least, so I can get a more solid Spanish foundation. I love it :) 

I wish I had a more spiritual email for y. I wish I could explain more about my Book of Mormon reading and experiences this week, and   caroling.. But there's only so much I can try to explain and it just doesn't work :P but I love being here. I know the church is true. I know for a fact that the Book of Mormon is true. It is so true. It's great. I love being a part of this work. I love being here. I love meeting all sorts of interesting people and learning Spanish and wearing my purple sleeping bag coat :) 

Love you all!! :)

Hermana walton 

Funny thing about missions- they are awkward

Well as far as Christmas goes, I'm not really homesick. I dunno, I never really have struggled with homesickness, and I keep busy out here, and I figure I'll have plenty of time to bug you when I get home,so.... Yeah, good stuff :) not a problem here. I'll miss you, for sure, but... That's not gonna be a problem :) plus I feel like I have a lot of "home away from home"s here.

This week was another really awesome week. One day we had 4 lessons planned-- they all canceled. The next day we had 3 lessons planned -- they all canceled. But on sunday night, we had 3 surprise lessons! So it made up for it :) 

Friday, we had our little temple/Christmas Day. We went as a zone to do a temple session in the morning, which was really nice (as always). I always just feel so spiritually recharged and ready to go, which helps a lot :) then afterwards, we went to the Woodburys for a Christmas dinner for lunch (delicious) and a little devotional and story telling and singing and white elephant (I originally got cologne, but traded it with an elder for a chocolate orange) and some spiritual thoughts from the Woodburys. (And elder ray dressed up like Santa again) The Woodburys are so awesome- they really are like your parents on the mission. And I always feel so much love and support from  them, which is really awesome :)  president Woodbury gave us all a challenge to read the Book of Mormon, starting now, by April general conference, and mark all references to Jesus Christ, and all references to his atonement. I'm super excited for it :) 

Yeah, I don't really have much else to say other than that I just loved it. I love the Woodburys, I love the temple, I love food and Christmas. Hna buys left on a total spiritual high :) I can't even put it into words, so I'll stop trying. :P

To make Friday even better, we got packages and we finally got my bus pass in the mail :) BEST DAY EVERRRRR....

Hna buys and I got Ecuadorian food this week, which included some random thing called guata, which we ate... It's cow stomach. Check that off the bucket list!

I haven't had too many weird things on the mission, but let me just share one thing- if you don't know what it is, the only weird part is really just the texture. Other than that, it's fine :)

We had a lesson this week with an active member In the ward. Hermana buys shared Ether 12:27 about weakness becoming strength, and we had kind of a cool experience. There's a quote that says something like, "I always know I am under the influence of the Holy Ghost because I learn something from what I said". After hermana buys shared the scripture and her thoughts, I said a couple things about how we have weakness so we can have  the blessing of seeing and experiencing the power of the atonement in our lives. I dunno,I thought it was kinda cool :) and it was something that definitely didn't come from me because I'd never really thought of that before, and I learned from it :) 

Funny thing about missions- they are awkward. I spent the first few weeks trying to NOT be awkward or socially weird, but it's impossible if you want to be a good missionary. Walking up to random people and talking to them about Jesus or god is weird. Wearing long skirts is generally socially unacceptable. Being Bold and telling people to repent is kind of absurd.... Etc. 

but it's something we gotta do :) we constantly are crossing boundaries and being pushed out of comfort zones. 

Sister graham talked about how her name tag gave her the permission to be socially unacceptable. It was the best.

Then I started thinking about the bible and the Book of Mormon. Ha it's never really been 'hip' to believe In Christ. It wasn't socially acceptable for Noah to build an ark. It was weird and kind of absurd for Moses to lift up a staff with a serpent and tell people to look and be healed. It was never 'cool' for Nephi to be righteous. Abinadi preached even when the whole city hated him. Captain Moroni very powerfully told his enemy very bluntly that The Lord would deliver him into his hands. It wasn't ok for Paul to sail and travel around telling people of their false traditions. Jesus Christ was hated and plotted against and killed for saying things contrary to what the people wanted to believe. It wasn't socially acceptable for Joseph Smith to testify that He saw God the father and his son Jesus Christ. It's weird when you leave the party because of drugs or alcohol. ETC

ha long story short... Being a representative of Jesus Christ, or following him, has never been cool or socially acceptable. And... It never will be. Being righteous has a history of going against the grain. You can't live with the world and live with Christ. Doesn't work like that. Chose one and stick with it. Ha it's kinda funny how that works. I hope that came across in writing the way I've been thinking and feeling about it. If not,oh well :) 

Wel, Christmas time again.. I'm excited for it :) Hna buys and i have Christmas presents for people were going to be visiting in the next couple days- got loooots of people to visit. But it will be fun :) I'm grateful for my raw and simple Christmas that is focused on service and others, and the birth of our savior. It's a beautiful thing :)  

Thanks to those who sent packages and cards- I really appreciate all of them :) and sorry I've been so lousy at writing people cards and letters the past couple weeks.i promise I'll try to get better. But know that I love you all and am so grateful for each and every one of you :)

Tell liv I thought of her on her birthday, and I'm sorry I didn't get a postcard off to her. Sorry I haven't sent you Christmas presents. I'm working on it :) I kind of forgot about Christmas until last week, so you'll probably get more of an awkward mid-January present package. It's the thought that counts, right? :) and I kind of have an excuse... Kind of... 

Love you all so much!! 

¡Feliz Navidad!

Hermana walton

Well, I don't know where I am, but I absolutely love it here.

Well, I don't know where I am, but I absolutely love it here.

I am not sure where I am, but I love it!

I pretty much feel like I'm back in Midway, back in the city kind of and I'm back in Spanish speaking and oh man, it just feels like coming home here. I've missed Spanish speaking and the city and everything.

This area is super similar to midway, but it's also SO much more diverse. Just in my walking around in it this week, I saw Korean, Japanese, Moroccan, Mexican, Egyptian, Indian, Ecuadorian, and Israeli places. All sorts of people are living here and I get to see and associate with a lot of them like every day! Who knew that when The Lord said, "go ye into all the world" that I could literally do that in my little area?? :) but I can't tell you how much I love it here- I've always loved traveling and learning about other cultures and other parts of the world and it's fascinating doing that here in my little piece of Chicago :)

I am here finishing training Hermana Buys- this has been her area the whole 7 weeks that she's been here so far :) so she knows her way around pretty good- we only got lost once. She's super great- she is from Florida and spent some time at BYU before the mission, and we just have a blast together :) her dad actually went to sunset high school (that's where you went, mom right? I think her dad is like 2 years older than you- his name is Dale Buys).  

Hermana Buys and Me

Oh and when Scott and I dressed up like batman and superman on campus and crashed humanities and stats class, hermana buys was there! She was in stats. So... I guess you could say we knew each other before the mission? :) ha but she's awesome and her Spanish is super good, so that's cool

We walk everywhere here. Hermana buys old companion accidentally took my bus pass with her. Hopefully we get that this week, but it's not too bad walking around.

Things I've worn everyday this week:

- my purple sleeping bag coat

- my gloves

- my scarf

- my boots

- my fleece lined tights

- either a hat or my flower headband things  

My Purple Sleeping Bag Coat

Ha oh man, luckily enough, I am one happy camper! It's nice and cozy with all that stuff so that's good :)

The ward seems really awesome- I'm still trying to get to know everyone, but they are so sweet and nice. W had the ward Christmas party this week- Noche de Jerusalén. It was so awesome! I loved it a lot- they set it all up like Jerusalem and served Mediterranean food and the primary kids did the nativity and hermana buys sang a solo  

Ward Christmas Party

We spent a lot of time this week trying to just find people. At one point we had a little extra time and started tracting by the church. W knocked on the door of this Filipino/Japanese guy. We asked him if he'd heard of the church before and invited him to come join with us! He stuck his finger at us and told us how we are polygamists and we hate Christ and we are going to hell. Then he talked our ears off for like a half hour and told us we had no right to tell him his religion was false (totally didn't even say that) because he's 80 and were 20 and have no experience In life. Ha it actually wasn't that bad, but that's what happened. Anyways... We had to get going, so as we were turning to leave, this man (willie) was like, "ladies I want you to do yourselves a favor. Tonight, pray and ask God if what your doing is really right, or if this devil church is just using you." I opened my mouth and took a breath in to say something, but the spirit told me to wait. So I did. And a second later, hermana buys turns around, looks him in the eye, and said- "actually, sir, I asked God last night if what I'm doing is right. And he told me that it is. I know that this is his true church" (BAM). The guy took a step back- he was kind of shocked. I was too a little bit- usually hermana buys is kinda shy in those situations. But it was awesome. Talk about testifying with the spirit- so proud of her :) we wished willie well and went to  the church for the activity.

It's been truly amazing throughout the course of my mission to see the power of a testimony, and to see the power of receiving a personal witness that this message is true. The spirit comes stronger in that instant than any amount of teaching or fact reading ever will. I love it :)  

Our Little Tree

One of the things that I was worried about when I came back Spanish speaking this transfer was whether or not I would be able to speak and understand. I've been focusing on Portuguese for the past month and I was worried I would lose my Spanish. But I've been blessed in two ways. First, hermana buys speaks awesome Spanish- I hardly have to do things for her- she is way better than she thinks she is, and way better than I thought a 6-week missionary would be. Second, honestly, my Spanish isn't lost at all. I've understood, and I've been able to speak. I'm kind of amazed. And incredibly grateful. I know The Lord has helped me a lot with that- there's no other way I would be able to speak and understand Spanish as good as I do now without his help. I love it :)

Hermana Buys and I went to the city today- our first time :)  we took cheesy pictures by the bean and went shopping.

Reflection in the Bean

We visited the Christmas market and I took a picture with human statues :) I loved being down there. I love Chicago with all it's character and humor and diversity.

Another picture by the Bean

I miss the mountains and the plains and the beautiful areas of Colorado and Utah, but Chicago has it's own city beauty, and I've grown to love it.

Well that's it for now- time to get back to work!! I love you all, sorry I've not been good at writing people lately, but know that I love you all and have an amazing holiday season. And a special happy birthday to Olivia!! I will be going to the temple that day,so I'll remember her birthday for sure :) 

Love you all- remember that Jesus is the reason for the season, and celebrate accordingly! :)

Love 

Hermana Walton

The Bean

Human Statues in Downtown Chicago

It's time to brush the dust off of my Hermana tags...

Well, mission update!

Mom, it was kind of funny that you mentioned that sometimes I may feel like I'm on more of a "wild goose chase" than a mission, because that is totally true.

Especially because we got transfer calls Saturday night and President Woodbury told me it's time to brush the dust off of my Hermana tags...

Every single time something comes up, I swear that I've thought of every possible thing that could happen.

I'm pretty sure the good Lord gets a kick out of STILL finding ways to surprise me.

President Woodbury said that since the past few transfers have been so crazy with the number of new missionaries coming in, he is going to try really hard this transfer to change as little as he possibly can, because there's not going to be very many missionaries coming in (comparatively).  And the goal is to have the trainer and the trainee be together for 12 weeks.  So I figured me and Sister Graham would be together for at least another transfer! A change otherwise would've felt premature to me.

But, alas, the Lord likes to keep me on my toes... That seems to be the theme of my mission.

So here's the update: Sister Graham (6 weeks old in the mission) is going to be picking up a brand-new fresh-off-the-plane greenie tomorrow to bring back here to good ol LV 2 to train! 

Lake Villa 2 Ward Missionaries (Hayley is in Pink)

 I will be returning to spanish-speaking, and will finish training a hermana who has been out for as long as Sister Graham (6 weeks). I'm moving out to Wilmette to Chicago 5. And if my sources tell me correctly, that is where my good ol friend Elder Ray is serving! HR POWER!!!

Funny story: I'm pretty sure the greenie I'm going to finish training knows about as much spanish as I do at this point. This'll be fun.. :P haha

During the call, President Woodbury said that he was really surprised that this ended up happening this way (Sister Graham and I as well). He expected us to be together for at least another transfer! But he said that as they were doing the transfer stuff, they found a spot where they really needed another hermana, and he told me that the Spirit told him very strongly that that's where I needed to be. 

Ha I don't really know how I feel about the whole thing, I guess I'm still in shock a little bit. I'm really really sad about leaving Sister Graham- she's still mi hija! still a baby in the mission! Have I really taught her everything she needs to know? :P And we're still trying to get a hold on the area- I feel like I've just barely gotten my bearings around here, and I'm leaving. I guess the theme there is that it feels kind of pre-mature to leave, and I'm kinda bummed out about that one.  But at the same time, I am so so happy to be returning spanish-speaking. I've been wanting to serve and learn spanish, and in Midway when I would practice spanish, it occupied the part of my brain that wants to go to Brazil, so I could focus more on the work. When I got called out of spanish-speaking last transfer, I was really sad, but I'm really happy to be returning :)  I will really be relying on the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues and my companion and the ward and everything. I'll need as much help as I can get! Hope it all comes back fast :) I'm excited but kind of nervous. 

Luckily the Lord qualifies the called, right? He helps us and He prepares a way for us to accomplish the things He asks us to when we are on His errand. 

Good to know, sometimes hard to remember.  But yeah, good stuff.

Ha but really, I'm just feeling annoyed that I have to pack up again :P Oh well. A new adventure lies ahead! :)   And luckily I will be going back to comida mexicana. Oh I've missed it. Tengo una boca de fuego!

Our District with our Christmas Animals

*****

The holiday season makes it kind of hard on missionary work- everyone is out doing other things and is busy and stressed and schedules go super crazy. So it's been kind of hard to really teach very much this week. But we had a couple really solid lessons still, which is nice :) 

*****

We had one lesson with a less active named Stefanie. She's great :) It's been a really long time since she's been to church. Sister Graham and I went over for our first lesson with her.

She opened the door and literally, nicely, kind of looked like death. Her face was pale, eyes were dark, really upset, tired, crying, smelling like a fresh cigarette, etc. 

We weren't sure she was going to let us in, but she did.

She talked to us for a couple minutes. She is kind of struggling through the holiday season for a bunch of different reasons. Most of it was that she's had a LOT of family pass away in the past couple years. And with so many of them gone in the holiday season, she was taking it kind of hard.

That was a moment where we ditched the lesson we had planned and taught something else.

Sister Graham shared 3 separate scriptures with her. We talked about finding hope and happiness through Christ. We talked about how she is of infinite worth to a loving father in heaven. We talked about how Satan tries to bind us down and make us miserable. We talked about fighting that and turning to our Savior for peace and strength.

The Spirit was so thick in that room. It was incredible. 

At the end of the lesson, there was a light in her eyes, color had returned to her face, she was definitely happier and cheery. And at one point she started trying to literally just kick us out so she could get back to the Book of Mormon and start reading it on her own.

I love when we get out of lessons and we leave people that much better than we found them. Literally, it was a night and day difference.

And the thing that did that was the Savior, the Book of Mormon, and testimony. What power!

And as a side note, halfway through that lesson, I had an image come to my mind. It was kind of like a day dream. But I saw Stefanie sometime in the near future. She was cleaned up, had a calling in the Relief Society, and was helping people in the church. She was a constant source of strength and comfort for others who were struggling. A sister came up to her and expressed that she was struggling for whatever reason. Stefanie looked at her and told her about how she remembered a time when she had been in the lowest of the low. She then shared testimony of her Savior and the Book of Mormon. 

Cool stuff. Really humbling. 

There are a lot of people who are in pits. They just are. They have crappy lives for whatever reasons. But there is hope for them, and they have an incredible amount of strength and potential. They just need the love of the gospel, and someone to support and lift them. They need someone to look past the situation or the living conditions or addictions to help them find their Savior again to help them out of the pit.

*****

I think it was Monday night when we were doing some less-active stop by's in our area. We stopped by a home with an address that had turned out to be really wrong, and the lady we found was definitely not interested in the message. Sweet. 

We went back into the car and started driving to the next place.

As I was looking at the list, a name caught my eye. I don't remember why. 

I felt like I should call the number listed. 

I don't really like making phone calls. especially since the people we've been calling have had wrong numbers or whatever.

But it kept intriguing me so I called it just to see what would happen.

The less active (Amy) answered.

I told her we were the new sister missionaries in the ward and were trying to meet with all the sisters in the RS. I asked if there was a time we could stop by.

She told me now really wasn't the time and asked if I could call back in a couple days. I couldn't really tell what was going on, and I felt weird asking. But I was under the impression that a family member had maybe died. I told her we would call back in a few days, wished her the best, and hung up.

On Friday, Sister Graham called back. 

Long story short, her daughter was in the hospital for some pretty scary stuff, and I had called in the exact moment that she was there, stressed out, waiting for results. 

She expressed to Sister Graham that she thought her home teacher had asked us to call her.

Not only did her home teacher NOT tell us, but he didn't even know about it!

Weird, right?

Yeah, it's kind of funny how the Lord knows things sometimes.

I didn't even realize at the time that I was receiving a spiritual impression to call her. But... I did. 

The Lord has a way of watching out for his children. Oftentimes, it's through another person. 

*****

I think that's kind of it for me. 

I'm kind of exhausted right now- I'm surprised how long and how well this email turned out. That's nice :) 

I dont' really have anything else to add. 

I'm so grateful for the time that I've been able to have here with Sister Graham and with the LV2 Ward. I've had the privilege of being in contact with some incredible people, and I'm so grateful for each and every one of them :) 

I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. And for the Bible. And for the prophet Joseph Smith- He truly is the prophet of this dispensation, and a man of God. 

I love this work. Even if it wears me out. :P 

I love you all- have an awesome week :) 

Sister-turned-back-Hermana Walton

I'm still here in Chicago!!

Well, this week has been pretty good! With the holiday season, it was kind of hard to teach people, but it was still fun :) 

This week, the Lindermans took us out for Mexican food at a place called Lomeli's-- I walked in and felt like I'd time-warped back to Midway! The music, the atmosphere, the people, the language, everything. And the food was delicious- It really makes my day when I have a legit straight mexican meal every now and then :) 

Our District at a Thanksgiving Lunch

*****

Thanksgiving was great and rather uneventful compared to our normal festivities, but I still loved it :) We had dinner at the Werner's house- they are lovely! Sis Werner is the only lds member of her family- we ate with her, her husband, and her daughter. It was awesome! They told us all about their African safari and we had some great conversation (including a hilarious story about how their cat got stuck in the dishwasher. Sister Graham and I died laughing over that one). 

Then we went to the church and weekly planned  

Then we went to the McLane's later that evening and had a Thanksgiving leftover dinner and it was fun to be with them for a little bit :) They are an awesome family!

*****

This week, we visited a less-active sister in the ward who has been less active for a really long time. She hardly knows anything about the church- she was baptized a really long time ago, doesn't remember much, and says she only got baptized because the people were nice. We've been meeting with her more and trying to re-teach her basically from Ground 0. Her Visiting teacher has been trying for a long time to go in and meet her, but schedules haven't worked out and it's been hard for that to happen, so she's been writing her letters every month for years. But it finally worked out! We had this sweet sister come meet her visiting teachee, and it was such a great lesson. This sister taught this less-active sister about the Book of Mormon, and answered her questions with so much love and testimony. It was such a sweet experience to see, and Sister Graham and I were so impressed with her. The members really don't realize how much power they have in just sharing a heartfelt testimony of the things that they know are true! It was a great lesson, and we really appreciated this sister coming with us :) 

*****

Sister Graham and I taught Gospel Principles and one of the people had a seizure in the middle of class. It was a rather interesting experience. It was only a minor one, so it wasn't a big deal, but Sister Graham and I didn't know what the heck was going on or what to do, so we just kind of watched as one of the other members of the class came over and helped him. 

I don't think I'd ever seen a seizure before. But it was rather educational- I'm glad that member was calm and knew what to do! The guy ended up being just fine. :) 

*****

On Friday night/Saturday day, we had exchanges! I went and spent a day with Sister McCarrey in downtown Chicago. It was really fun- in the morning for exercise, we went and ran on the beach, and it was kind of nice being back in a city atmosphere :) We contacted a lot and found some really great people who are ready and interested to hear our message. We get turned down a lot, but we have the privilege of meeting a lot of really stellar individuals. :)

The Sisters on Splits

*****

There was another really sweet experience we had this week-

There is a less active sister we met named Cathy, who we've only met like twice briefly. We had an appointment to visit her, but she got sick and had to cancel. A couple days after that, she called us and said she has a friend who really needed some food- she was short on money and wasn't getting her paycheck for another week. Cathy told us she really wanted to help her friend, but she was short of money herself, so she couldn't! She called us asking to see if we could do something.

We called the Relief Society President for ideas, and she more than willingly gave us 3 bags of food from her food storage. Another member in the ward gives us and the elders a bag of bread every week, so we just decided to give our bag to her this week. 

We followed Cathy over to her friend BJ's house later that evening to bring her the food.

When BJ saw the food we had brought, she was so touched. First off, that her friend Cathy recognized her need and tried so hard to help her. Second off, that people she didn't even know had helped by giving her food.

The Spirit was definitely there as BJ shared her experiences and how blessed she felt to be Cathy's friend, and how much the food would mean to her family who was far away and unable to help. Sister Graham and I felt inspired to share a verse in the Book of Mormon. When we did, the verse, combined with the service we had done, touched BJ's heart so much that she literally begged us to give her a Book of Mormon, promising that she would start reading it the minute we left. 

It was a really beautiful experience. Cathy has the sweetest heart and most sincere desire to help others, and the Relief Society President for so willingly helping us help someone she didn't even know. And for BJ and her sweet spirit of gratitude. It was a really touching experience :) 

*****

I read through the David and Goliath story this week- I spent two days studying it and it was really cool. There are so many parallels and concepts that I was able to draw from it, and so many connections between other stories like Paul, Peter, Nephi, the 2,000 Warriors and Joseph Smith. I really enjoyed that study, and I have so many notes and ideas off of it, but there's too many to share. Maybe another day. But yeah, I really liked it.

Also, I have a running theory with Sister Graham that Nephi is a good example for EVERYTHING. Everything. That's probably why he ended up at the beginning- because very rarely do people actually champion through to the end, and because he IS such a good example for everything, it was important to have that where everyone would read it :)

That theory has stood for almost 2 months and hasn't been proven wrong yet. 

*****

Well, that's kind of it for now! Every once in a while lately, I've been feeling really bummed that I'm not in Brazil. Don't get me wrong, I love Chicago and I love serving here! But  I'm reaching the halfway point in my mission and I'm still not there :P I go through my mission with the realization that I could be gone any day, or I could be here for another 8 months. Sometimes that gets kinda hard. But there are two things I've noticed from it-

1) the "Forget yourself and go to work" principle really does work. The only times I get bummed about not being in Brazil is during language study, and when I give myself time to wander and not think about this work here in Chicago. But the 'feeling bad-ness' about not being in Brazil goes away the minute we really get to work and worry about our members and investigators and the work. Ha it's really nice, actually :)  

2) I've really learned how to rely on my testimony. When I start feeling like the Lord has just ditched me here in Chicago for the heck of it, or when I start getting frustrated that 'the Lord has the power to get me to Brazil now- why doesn't He??', I just need to remember.

 I've been blessed to have several experiences, especially within the past year or two, that have proved Absolutely that the Lord's hand is in my life, and it may not work out the way I want it to, but ultimately, it will work out in the way that's best for me. I know my Heavenly Father doeth nothing except it be for my benefit. Even when it's hard. 

So when I start to feel bad, I just go back to what I know- I go back to the fact that the Lord has proved Himself to me time and time again, and there's no reason for me to doubt or question. I know it will all work out for what's best :) 

The work continues to move forward and progress! I love it. I feel so much more love for the people here. It's weird, but I do. I feel more and more every day of the reality of this work. My testimony and understanding of the scriptures grows every day and it's a real blessing and privilege. I'm grateful for the Spirit, and for the power of the Book of Mormon. No matter what people try to say or do or think, the book is true. That is a fact. I give people every day the opportunity to repent and come unto Christ. Sometimes they take it, sometimes they don't, but I know everytime that I am giving them the opportunity to have better lives, to have Christ more actively in their lives, to prepare to meet God. I know the blessings I've received from this gospel- I'm not out here to discredit or disrespect or remove other religions in peoples lives. The message that we have can only add to the faith and understanding people already have of Christ. I love the scriptures. Read them- it changes your life :) 

Love you all, have a great holiday season! :) 

Sister Walton