5th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Weeks 46 & 47

March Zone Conference!  :) Rotterdam and Apeldoorn Zone (Jerrick is on the 2nd row up on the right side)

Jerrick on the left, in mid chew, talking to one of the Zusters.

Spring is in the air.  The flowers are already starting to bloom :)

 Hello Everyone!

It´s been a really good week! We have seen a lot of miracles actually and had the chance to see a man get Baptized on Saturday, which was a very special experience.  He was actually baptized by his Son, which was just amazing there was such a special spirit there and it was just super awesome to know how much that the choice he made would bless him and his family.  haha, he had a renewed light in his eyes that was amazing to see and I am so grateful to be a part of that process!  

Transfers were last week and I am staying in Groningen and my companion is Elder Crowson.  He is from all over the place originally from Wyoming, but has lived in Germany for the last two years before his mission and we are getting along great and we have seen a lot of miracles!  Honestly the last couple of weeks have been crazy! 

There has been a Facebook campaign going on offering the Lamb of God movie to people and it has been crazy successful. In the last two weeks there have been close to a thousand referrals so we have 14 of those to look up at this point, so yeah we are super busy.  But as I always say, it's better to be busy than to have nothing to do! haha, so yeah that's been awesome. 

This city is amazing, I love the atmosphere of the city and we have met some really cool people from all over the world!  So it's super awesome!  I love missionary work!!!  

okay so the scripture for the week is Psalms 8:7.  

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 

I love this scripture because it is very straight forward and has so much meaning behind it. If we give our hearts to God and put down our weapons, he will truly be our strength and shield, because honestly our heart and our will are the only things we can give to him, he has everything else. And what is cool about it is that when we make the choice to give our hearts unto him it allows him to shape us and help us to reach our full potential.  

I'm so grateful for everything that he has done for me, and I can testify that he knows each and every one of you personally and loves you more than you can ever imagine and as we come unto him, his burden truly is light.

- Love Elder Walker

4th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 45

Hey Everyone!

It's Elder Walker here!  Life is good here in the beautiful city of Groningen, haha flowers are starting to bloom everywhere and Spring is in the air, awesome that's all I have to say!!  haha I hope all of you lovely people are killing it back home and that you are all happy and healthy! 

So news, me and my companion Elder Jardine have the awesome experience of helping a man prepare to be baptized and its awesome!  He has been investigating the church for years and has been going to church every week for a really long time and he has made the decision to join the church and it's super awesome!  haha, it's cool to see how the Gospel has blessed his family and it is truly a blessing and an honor to help him make this awesome step. 

Just some food for thought, God has given every single one of us some amazing gifts because he loves us!  And we have the super awesome opportunity to develop and to grow these gifts so that's awesome, so think about what gifts you have and what you want to do with them and then make plans to do it!  

I promise that as you prayerfully do this you will find more joy and gratitude in your daily lives and more satisfaction as well.  

Whelp I love you all and have an amazing week!

- Elder Walker 

Last weeks P-Day in Groningen playing some sports.  :-)

3rd letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 44

No official update again, but he got his glasses ordered, his bike is ok and he's had a much better week!  Yay!  Not a lot of detail but he did send a lot of pictures from his time in Nijmegen when him and some other Elders went to the Open Air Museum located in Arnhem, Netherlands.  He says hello to everyone and he loves you all and keep writing him, he loves hearing from you!!  

Enjoy the pictures!  :-) 

The Netherlands Open Air Museum is an open air museum and park located near Arnhem with antique houses, farms and factories from different parts of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Open Air Museum is a national museum focusing on the culture associated with the everyday lives of ordinary people.

2nd letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 43 (10 MONTH MARK!)

There is no official update today, but last week was definitely an eventful one!  He got in a fight w/his bike.  The bike won.  ;-)  It destroyed his glasses, glad that's the only thing it destroyed.  A few scrapes but he'll be ok.  

He said to tell everyone hello and  he loves you all and he'll update us all next week!  His 3 man is down to a 2 man now, as Elder Gross will be heading to Leiden to be a financial Elder for 6 months.  

Hoping for a better week and that he's able to get some new glasses soon!! :-) 

Bike 1, Elder Walker 0

 

1st letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 41 & 42

 Hey everyone!

Sorry I have been such a slacker with the blog email, but anyways I'm doing great, I'm now in the city of Groningen.  It's the furthest point north on the mission and it is super awesome.  It is a big college city and has a very lively atmosphere with a lot of open people, which is just awesome, like I'm loving it.  

My companions are great, I am in a three man as of now and I'm serving with Elder Jardine, and Elder Gross.  Elder Jardine is from Pleasant Grove Utah and Elder Gross is from Orem Utah and both are great missionaries whom I get along super well with!  So it's awesome we are killing it here. 

The Ward here is super awesome and is pretty big with a lot of young people.  haha the mission is super good!  So next Monday is 10 months on the mission, like that is insane!!  It doesn't feel like I have been out that long but ya know so is life. 

uhm right now I'm really focusing on the peace, happiness, love and light that the Gospel brings into our lives.  Like it is amazing, I have experienced it in my life as well as the lives of others, like on the mission I have had experiences that I walk away from completely uplifted and I cannot stop smiling.  Now that is true happiness, I love the happiness that the Gospel brings.  It's definitely different than the temporal joy its just a great feeling and I'm grateful that I can be out here on a mission and offer people the chance to come unto the tree and taste of the fruit which is sweeter than all that is sweet. 

I love all of you and I would challenge you to all think about what brings you happiness, what brings you peace, and figure out what to do to invite more of that into your lives.  Have an amazing week and may God be with you till we meet again.

- Elder Walker