Well is week has been crazy.

Well is week has been crazy. Ha I miss sister Bradley so much. But sister Nielsen is great! 

We helped a less active move out of her apartment this past Friday. I was actually super fun and I love when I can do random hard physical labor like that. Ah it felt so good! And it was fun to be there with the branch. Elder Berhow got stung pretty bad though by some kind of crazy bug when he was out loading the truck. Ha poor guy.

It's so humid here right now!  

We had a sweet lesson with Simone, and our investigator, Jacqui. Jacqui really relates to Simone, and Simone does such a great job at supporting her and answering questions. I love to see it!!

Sister Nielsen came down with some kind of sore throat, flu, headache, congestion deal Saturday. Ha she took a much-needed two and a half hour nap after church yesterday. She's still hanging in there, but luckily it seems to be getting better now? Apparently it's been going around the mission. Ha I've stayed clear of it, for the most part. I definitely haven't gotten it nearly as bad as her! But she's doing great- she's working so hard despite it, so I'm proud of her :)

Honestly that's kind of it for now, I think! Nothing super crazy new or exciting. There's a pretty sweet thunder storm outside right now. I love thunderstorms in the Midwest. Dang. 

Oh cool thing-- so, in the MTC, my MTC branch president committed us to finish the Book of Mormon during our six weeks there.well, I finished in six weeks and it was a killer way to kick off my mission. 

We have a seventy that's visiting in a couple weeks, and to prepare, pres Woodbury asked us to read the Book of Mormon and highlight the doctrine of Christ. 

I made a goal to finish my mission how I started it by reading the entire Book of Mormon in my last transfer (six weeks). And between Tuesday and today, im in 100 pages! :) which is actually kind of impressive. It'll be tricky to keep up with it, but I'm bound and determined. 

It's so cool though to see the real-life application we can find in the Book of Mormon. I feel like that's what the spirit has been teaching me this time around :) 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Walton 

He referred to me as "mademoiselle". Fancy!

There's a quote you sent me once that sis something like, "I always know when I am under the influence of the spirit when I learn something from what I said"... I love those moments on a mission. We were in a lesson with an investigator, and with Simone, and the investigator asked a question about repentance, and neither sister Bradley or I knew the answer, and Simone had the same question! We both thought for a minute, and without knowing what to do, I did the best I could to answer the question. But within the first sentence, I stumbled over my words. So I stopped. Paused. And then tried again. Ha and I totally learned from what I said! I dunno, it was just so cool, and i felt the spirit and I knew that what I had said was correct. And I learned from it! Yeah. Sweet.  

Sister Bradley and I were walking to walgreens to pick up a prescription of mine. We walked by this lady who stopped us, and was like, "can I ask you a question?!" We said yes, and she then asked if we were nuns. Haha we explained it, and she was so excited to hear about our missions and that we would (hopefully) be getting married when we get home and stuff. Ha it was a great and hilarious conversation. I love those. 

We got a group of missionaries together and went downtown to contact with some posters. Kind of like the "feeling gods love" table thing a week or two ago. It was so fun! Ha you meet so many unique people doing that...

I met this one guy named Peter.

He referred to me as "mademoiselle". Fancy! That's a new one haha yeah, but he wasn't into the whole 'faith' thing. It was an interesting conversation. Good thing were here to invite, not to convince. :)

We also ran into an LDS family where one of the girls goes to school with sister Bradley's cousin. Small world.

There was this homeless guy camped out at the intersection we were contacting at. He called sister Bradley over to ask about what we were doing. She explained a little and he asked for a Book of Mormon. He said, "the bible got me off of heroine and cocaine. I'm willing to give this Mormon book a try." Dang he was awesome. His name was Michael. He will do great things.

Every once in a while, you hear those missionary stories that only really ever happen in the Ensign... Not in real life. WELL, we had one of those.  

Two weeks ago, sister Bradley and I were booking it to the church with a plate of fresh-baked cookies for Haisu and Simone's baptism. A block away from the church, we walked past this guy dribbling a ball on the sidewalk. We said hi as he walked by and he said our cookies smelled good. We kept going. Ha we knew we should talk to him, but we didn't cause 'we had other things to do.' Pfffft. Anyways, we get to the church, and sister Bradley is like, "we need to go back and talk to him." I felt it too, so we made the long awkward walk back to talk to him specifically (this is why you follow the spirit the first time!!). We invited him to the baptism. He was hesitant, but we convinced him to come and promised cookies. 

Well, he showed up with a friend! The guys name was Brent. We were a little busy putting the baptism on, so we sent the elders over to talk to them (plus elder Berhow is a baller too). 

Well, he's been to church ever since. The elders told us yesterday Brent's side of that story.... He had been feeling like he needed to fix up his life. So he prayed and asked for guidance... The next day, he saw us walking and wanted to talk to us, but got nervous. So he didn't. But as we walked away, he promised he would talk to us next time he saw us... So... Five minutes later, we came back! He loves the gospel and what it's done for him. Now he's preparing to be baptized on September 6. Woaaaah! Those stories DO happen In real life! :) 

We went to the temple with Haisu and Simone this week to do baptisms. Best day ever. Wow what a great experience. They are amazing. 

Haisu leaves for china on Thursday. I'm going to cry. So sad. We will miss him so much. But it's a great excuse to go visit china! :) man, I can't even explain how amazing he is. He's going to do incredible things. I'm betting he's going to be the architect for the first temple in china ;) man those people are so ready for the gospel. 

I think that's it for now! I'm excited for what's ahead. Ha we have a lot of work to do, but I love it :) it's going great.

This gospel changes lives and I love seeing it every day.

Love you!!

Sister Walton 

Seriously- sister missionaries killing bugs in their apartment? So comical. Hahaha

Well this week has been nuts. I like don't even remember what happened really :P there's just so much packed into one week and it always goes so fast! And we have another zone activity today so I won't have a ton of time to write this all out haha  

Well the highlight of the week was Simone's lesson in gospel principles! She was called last week (right after her confirmation) to be the teacher, and she taught yesterday for the first time. It was SO AWESOME!! It was engaging and spirit-filled. She did such a great job teaching as a fresh convert the word of wisdom. Oh man. 

Haisu told us he is leaving for china on August 21, even sooner than we thought! But he's so excited to get the priesthood next Sunday, and he will be attending the temple with us (the whole branch) this Friday :D so exciting! 

Sis Bradley and I don't think it's a coincidence that he's leaving for china so quickly and so soon after his baptism... It's just how things have worked out. But I see more and more that out of all the people for The Lord to have that happen with, I can see why it was with Haisu. He's just so elect and so ready, and I feel like he's going to be a huuuuuge support to the people and the church in china as time goes on. He's so solid, he's going to do great things.

We taught him about temples again this week and showed him a video. At the end, the first thing he said was, "who designs the temples? They are beautiful. I want to do that." He just finished studying architectural engineering (if I remember that right) so he loooooves them. 

Wow seriously. These people are so elect. Where the heck did they come from?! They were and are both so prepared for this gospel, and it's so clear to see that The Lord has different, but specific and great plans for both of them.

We had zone meeting on Tuesday. Me and sister Bradley taught about teaching in unity by the spirit... And that's exactly what we did to teach it!... In unity by the spirit. Ha we think it went really well. 

Seriously- sister missionaries killing bugs in their apartment? So comical. Hahaha

We had transfer council yesterday with president. Basically, we go to the mission home, socialize with the other sister training leaders, eat a meal, and talk about how much we love the sisters and what they are doing and how we can help them be better. Yes. So lucky. 

Well that's pretty much it. I found a falafel mix at the local grocery store today. You add water, roll them into little patties and eat them! I got the spicy one. I can't even explain explain how ecstatic I am to eat and experiment with them this week. Yay Mediterranean food! :D

Well, I'm having a blast. I love the work. I love studying the scriptures (#mishnerd, right?!). I love my companion. It's going so well. The church is so true...

Have a great week! :)

Love you all!

Sister Walton 

Today was awesome!!

Today was awesome!! We just got back from going on an adventure downtown with sister Spackman and sister Olsen. We went to the navy pier and went on the Ferris wheel and shopped around and visited Garrett's popcorn. It was a blast :) 

This week was easily one of the best weeks of my entire mission. I just don't even understand how I ended up being so lucky. The Lord has blessed me far more than I could ever hope to deserve. 

Ha I just loved it so much!!

Simone and Haisu were both baptized on Saturday, on my birthday. That was awesome. I couldn't have asked for anything better! 

Simone had a really rough week this week, leading up to her baptism. Just in general. But to add to it, she told two of her closest friends that she was being baptized and they refused to support her. And they asked her a ton of random questions that Simone didn't know he answers to and she got a little flustered about it. Mostly Simone was just sad that her closest friends would react that way to something so dear to her.

She's been receiving answers that this is true, but somehow, doubts were making their way in and she began to question.

But ultimately, Simone knew what was right and she decided she'd just stick with it. God has told her it was right on many occasions, and he would never send her mixed signals. So she moved forward with her tiny seed of faith that has been being attacked all week. 

Right before the baptism, she started to cry. She was just so nervous and mostly sad that her friends weren't there to support her. 

But she kept putting one faithful footstep in front of the next. Rig into the baptismal font, where brother Judd, our institute teacher, baptized her. She came out and gave him such a big hug and then just started to cry. 

It took her a really long time to get changed.

We found out why when she came back out. 

She asked if she could share her testimony.

It was one of the sweetest, most heart-felt testimonies I've ever heard. She was SO HAPPY and she couldn't stop saying it the whole time! She shared her experience of coming to that point, and it was incredible. She told of all the trials she had faced that week, and how it was all so worth it and she was so happy because she just knew it was true!

After the services, three of her member friends gave her a quad that they had all pitched in and bought for her. So sweet.

Simone was just so incredibly happy and grateful and excited. She is a sincere seeker of truth, and she found it. And words will never be able to describe the feelings I had.

The next day (sunday), she was confirmed by elder Berhow, and it was an incredible sweet blessing that mentioned what a big impact she will have on the lives of others. I'm so humbled to have even been able to associate with her, much less, teach her!!

She was sustained with Haisu as one of the newest members of the branch. Then she sat down. Then she was immediately asked to stand again, where she was called and sustained as our new gospel principles teacher. YES. She will be amazing. She is a rock. So solid, so set, so strong. I admire her so much.

During the testimony meeting, she shared one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard. She's been through so much. But she fought her way to this point. Wow I'm so impressed and so humbled by her.

Haisu has pretty much been ready for us to baptize him since day one. 

He was contacted by a sister missionary on temple square (on a trip with his parents), and after teaching him the first three lessons (in Chinese over the phone), and realizing he was ready to progress and meet with his local missionaries, she referred him to us. When we taught him, he was just so ready. But we had to at least review the lessons in English. Ha he was just so ready.

Over time, he told us how he quit drinking and smoking after he was taught the word of wisdom. He had been clean for four weeks, cold turkey, no problem. His favorite thing about the gospel is the aspect of change and how we can become better

Haisu expressed to is after a while that he was having a hard time figuring whether he wanted to stay here and find a job or move back to china. He was really struggling with it, but we gave him some suggestions on receiving personal revelation and did hear too much of it again after.

We continued to teach him, and he progressed so much and loves the gospel so much. He reads and prepares and loves to learn and is always so excited about it!!

Well, the time came, and he had his baptismal interview (also with elder Berhow). He passed with flying colors! We met with him afterwards for a mini lesson, and he told us he had decided to move back to china at the beginning of September... What? Ha I almost cried, I was surprised! I realized how much I had grown to love him and how much I would miss him. Sister Bradley made the observation that it wasn't a coincidence that he was going back right after his baptism. We know that he fulfilled the lords purpose for being in the states. Now he's going to prepare to move back and continue on in his journey there in China. Man, he's going to accomplish amazing things there we are so excited for him.

Anyways, he was baptized Saturday. There was a physical difference we saw. He glowed. He was just so happy. It was awesome.

Then he was confirmed in church, and bore a powerful testimony about believing in God. My favorite part was near the end where he simply said, "I know this gospel is true"... Oh man! 

Then, an hour and a half after his baptism, we were in a lesson with him with a new investigator! She lives down he hall from him in his apartment building, and she is also Chinese. He invited us all to meet in his apartment, and he bore the best testimony ever about the Book of Mormon, and was able to speak to her in Chinese for us (sounds so cool!!) and explain to her about church. He did so great and he was so excited to be a missionary :) SO AWESOME!! And just the day earlier, HE was on the other side of that-- being taught. Now, not even two hours after his confirmation, he is teaching with us and bringing others to he happiness he has found.

I LOVE IT. I can't even describe in words how I feel about this whole experience. It's crazy. The Lord totally knows. He knows these people. He knows them because they are his children. I have participated in the conversion of some of the most incredible people I've met in my life. And I hardly did anything- they were so elect, so prepared. I just let the spirit guide. The Lord knew them and knew what they needed- I just needed to be humble enough to follow his guidance and counsel on their behalf. I'm so truly incredibly humbled by these incredible lives. I'm pretty sure they've done far more for me than I have for them!! Wow. They will accomplish incredible things- The Lord has so much prepared for them to do.

On exchanges Wednesday, we went contacting in the city :) it was so fun!

We went with our zone leaders, district leader, and another set of elders. Sis Buckmiller and I set up a table on the intersection of michigan and congress (if I remember correctly) right outside lolapalooza. And each companionship took a corner. On the table, sis Buckmiller and I had a big piece of butcher paper what we wrote the question "how do you feel gods love?" And invited people to sign it. It was so fun and so good. I'm incredibly lucky to be here!

One of our other investigators has not really been progressing lately. But idk what exactly changed this week- now she's doing so wonderfully and progressing great! She came to Haisu and Simone's baptism and loved it. Then she came to church the next day. She's feeling the spirit and the truthfulness of our message and is finally starting to act on it! I love to see it :D

We had a big sisters conference this past Thursday with all the sisters in the mission. It was so awesome. I loved it.

We got locked out of the baptismal jumpsuits closet and no one had the keys. Luckily the elders showed up for a cancelled appointment and two companionships of them broke in to the closet. So awesome and funny. They took the hinges off the closet door... And a whole bunch of other stuff haha :)

And for my birthday, we went to a Mexican restaurant downtown with Kyle and his grandma :)

That's pretty much it. I'm doing good and staying busy. Love you all!! :)

Sister Walton