1st letter from Kortrijk, Belgium - Week 54 & 55

Mother's Day Skype Call.  Best present ever!

 

Good morning everyone and Happy Mothers Day to all of those amazing mothers out there.

 

Life is great down here in Belgium! haha, yes I'm back down in this amazing place.  I'm down in the city of Kortrijk which is really close to the French border actually.  And it is also the lowest point in the mission. 

 

My companion, Elder McBride is an art major from Seattle and is amazing.  We have been seeing a ton of miracles this last transfer and I'm in a branch right now that is awesome.  They are truly a family and they are very passionate about missionary work so its amazing.

 

I'm happy and healthy, God is amazing and I'm so glad I get to serve him every day.

 

Sorry I cannot write anything longer today, I have to use a French keyboard that takes me forever to type on because all of the keys are in weird places so like that is lame, but I love all of you lovely people and I hope you are all happy and have a wonderful week with lots of Sunshine!!

 

- Elder Walker 

10th & final letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 53

Hey there lovely people!!

The baptism this weekend was awesome!  It is super awesome to see someone make those changes in there lives! 

Also we went to the temple and Keukenhof last week, which was super super cool!  haha pictures will come,  promise!   But let's see, I have learned a lot!  Like a ton and I have grown a lot so like a year down and another year to go!  So that is super cool, but let's see I have a bit of news for you all!  

I am getting transferred from Groningen (which is at the top of the Netherlands) down to the very very bottom of the mission, to the city of Kortrijk in Belgium! 

haha, so that is super cool and I'm excited to be back down in Belgium! 

I love you all and life is great, I will let you know what's going on with this beautiful new city!  I love you all and have an amazing week!

- Elder Walker  

Elder Walker & Elder Jardine

Rows and rows of Tulip Fields....beautiful!

Elder Walker, Elder Crowson & Elder Jardine

On the way to the Temple

LDS Temple in Den Haag, Netherlands

The Devoted House of the Lord

9th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 51 & 52 (1 YEAR MARK!!)

Hey everyone it's Elder Walker!

Sorry this update has to be super quick, but I'm doing really well.  God has taught me so much and honestly I feel more at peace right now than I think I have in my entire life.

The work is really picking up here in Groningen, like we are seeing lots and lots of miracles so it's just great and we have an investigator that is getting baptized this week!  Intense, it's so cool! haha

This truly is the Lords work!  I get transfer calls this Saturday so I'll let you all know whats going on there.  I love you all!

- Elder Walker

Here are some pictures he sent.  Not sure exactly where he's at or what's going on in some of the pics, but enjoy!  Also all the missionaries got to go to the Temple and then to the Keukenhof Gardens for the day.  Keukenhof is the worlds largest spring garden with more than seven million bulbs.  It is a beautiful place and hopefully we'll get more pictures of Jerricks' trip there next week.  Fingers crossed! These first two are from the Caldwells. :-) 

The two northern zones.  This is 1/3rd of the mission. (Jerrick is on the right, back row)



Elder Walker & President Bunnell

More cool street art.  Translation "Nothing beats Groningen"

Conference week

Elder Walker

More silly shenanigans :-) 

Elder Walker & Elder Crowson



8th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 50

Elder Walker didn't have a lot of time to write this week, but I thought I'd share some things he had to say.  He has the strongest testimony and the biggest heart. And still keeps that sense of humor too.  ;-)  

haha yes!  It is truly a blessing to be here with the Caldwells again, they are truly amazing.   General Conference was amazing, haha it seemed like the conference was made for me and it was just an answer to my prayers.  I look forward to going back and studying all of the talks later!  I'm so grateful to have a Prophet here on the earth. 

And btw,  hey duck faces are sometimes needed mmmmkay. (referring to the picture above)  Mom being here serving the Lord has been the best choice I have ever made.  It has brought me so much closer to my Savior and I know without a doubt that this is the Church of God on earth. 

I loved the talks about peace and where we actually find it. haha I think we all can use a bit more peace in this stormy world. I love you and I'm sorry I cant write more this week, I just don't have the time, but I'm good, the work is going good and I'm loving life as a missionary.  Have an amazing week and I will talk to you soon!

- Elder Walker 

Also I wanted to share some wonderful things the Senior missionary couple, the Caldwell's had to say about Jerrick.  They are truly amazing people and I'm blessed that Jerrick has been able to serve with them more than once.  :-)  
Dear Walkers,

We are thrilled to be back serving with your amazing son.  Now, of course, he is our district leader.  He still throws himself into the work with tireless energy, but now he has the polish of a seasoned leader.  It is truly a blessing for us to be able to work with him again.

He has great maturity and judgement.  He is extraordinary at bringing out the strengths in others.  He is a very effective trainer.

We had this picture snapped at the Church today after watching the taped Saturday afternoon session of conference.

Thanks again for sending such a well-prepared missionary to serve in the mission.

Elder and Sister Caldwell

7th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 49

Wooden Shoe Factory to purchase some shoes customized w/his mission info on the back :-)

Leeuwarden province where the first baptisms were performed in the Netherlands.  (left to right: The Caldwells, Elder Crowson & Walker, Zusters Duncan & Wilkinson)

Pulling the weeds to help keep the monument looking great

Good morning Everyone! 

It's Elder Walker here!!  Almost 12 months into the best two years of my life, haha, and I'm still loving every second of it!  Man this last week shot by like a blur, we are teaching some amazing people right now!  Man it's cool to see how much the Lord prepares people. 

We are working with an amazing man now named Maurice and he's just amazing and so humble.  It's just awesome he has been investigating with the help of a member friend for the last 6 months or so and he's honestly just ready, so we picked a baptismal date with him on the 23 of April which is super awesome! 

It's so cool to see how the gospel truly change's people. haha and it's even more amazing to think about at this very special time of the year, so I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter surrounded by loved ones, that you also took some time to remember what Easter is all about and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

This last  week I have been thinking a lot about Christ.  Firstly,  the atonement and what that means for us.  The fact that because of his sacrifice and his perfect example we can all learn and grow and live as families forever in eternal peace and happiness.  I mean amazing right?  

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he gave his only begotten son so that we may live with him again.  And Christ has so much love for us that he was willing to go through all of the pain, sorrows and everything just for us.  It's amazing to look at the example that he gave us while he was alive.  That man truly gave when there was nothing else to give through his hardest time's, where any of us would have said he deserved a well earned rest, he just kept on serving.  He took time to succor anyone who was in need of succoring.  

One of my favorite examples of this is actually in the Garden of Gethsemane right after he performed the atonement and Judas brought down the guards to arrest Christ.  Peter raises up his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the guards.  Instead of allowing a fight to break out and fleeing he stops Peter from killing the man and heals the man's cut off ear, knowing full well that he was walking into the hands of those who would crucify him.

I'm so grateful to have such an amazing example to look towards.   So I would challenge you all to take a look around you and see who you can serve. Forgive, maybe just smile at someone this upcoming week and in doing so remember him our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

I can promise you that in doing so you will find peace and joy.  For his yoke is easy and his burden is light. 

I love all of you so much and I'm truly grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here on a mission and to serve these amazing people.  i say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I hope you all have an amazing week and enjoy the amazing spring weather! Till next week! oy oy!

- Elder Walker

6th letter from Groningen, Netherlands - Week 48

Hey Everyone.  Elder Walker didn't really give us much of an update this week, but to say that he's happy and safe and that he'll update us all next week!  :-D  So I thought I'd share some old pictures that he recently sent me from his first area in Leuven, Belgium.  

In lieu of  the terrorist attacks that occurred today in Brussels, Belgium, please send prayers to our missionaries serving in the Belgium/Netherlands mission and those also serving in the surrounding missions.  There were 3 missionaries in the Paris, France mission that were injured and hospitalized today.  :-(  

Please keep the people of Belgium, France  and the Netherlands in your prayers as they get through this horrible tragedy that has occurred.  

The Church is doing everything they can to keep our missionaries safe from harm and keeping us all updated.  

First Area, Leuven, Belgium.  He was a greenie then, now he's almost a year into his mission! Time flies!

In honor of Jerrick's missionary companion in the MTC, Elder Drinkwater :-) 

Touring an old church (somewhere in Belgium)

Street art in Belgium.  I know Jerrick would appreciate this.  :-) 

This is a current pic of Jerrick from the Senior missionaries, the Caldwell's.  They served in Leuven, Jerrick's first area and are now serving in Groningen with him!  This is what they said.  "That evening we had dinner with the Gouts and met our beloved Elder Walker again.  Leuven was his first city in the mission and we enjoyed working together.  He is now our district leader in Groningen.  It was certainly a joyous reunion."