Christmas in Texas

Hello all,
So because all of the libraries and what not are closed today (No
idea why) I am typing this on an ipad. Just thought I might as well
say that. Well I had a fabulous Christmas! The Christmas Spirit Was
just aplenty in Texas. The days coming up to Christmas sure didn't
feel like it. Not a lot of people put up lights and what not. It just
felt weird, not to mention it was like 70 on the 23rd. It was weird.
But then Christmas came and BOOM Christmas came. It was so sweet!!
We had an opportunity to go caroling on Christmas eve outside the
Alamo. Besides it being the first time in recent memory where people
were clapping after I had just sung, it truly was an incredible
spiritual moment that brought a great meaning to my calling and to the
calling to every missionary. I am so grateful for the opportunity I
have to be amongst the people of San Antonio and I am so lucky and
blessed to be here and to meet with all of these incredible people. To
be sharing with them something that means everything to me. Then to
find someone who loves that message just as much as you do. There is
nothing that brings me more joy. I'm so grateful.
A lot of people we have been working with were all out of town so
it has been real tough to teach and help those people progress. But we
have had a ton of bright spots and it feels so good to find the Albert
Garzas and la familia Duarte and everyone I speak to for that matter
that makes this work worth all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I
am grateful for these people and for their spirits and personalities.

Elder Walter

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Nothing beats Christmas! Maybe the NFL draft... Just kidding. I am so grateful to be a missionary this Christmas! It truly is such a privilege to wear Christ's name on my name-tag. It definitely makes me think a lot more about what I really have been given on the day our Savior was born. I couldn't begin to make a list, it is so many. However, I would like to touch on one more valuable than most and that is the miracle of a changed or softened heart. As a missionary this process and the actual magnitude of this miracle has definitely been magnified by 1000. The process of conversion is intricate and delicate. As a missionary my job is to find out my part in the conversion of everyone I speak to. At times that is a simple wave, a testimony, a smile, or a laugh. It truly is one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The miracle is, that our Father in Heaven has prepared everyone so carefully and lovingly to receive this. And because of His careful planning, they can be at the right place at the right time to feel the Spirit testify to them that Christ is our Savior and the gospel has been restored to help people receive the fullness of God's love for them. That these can happen and then the person choose to follow those promptings and to receive happiness. I am grateful to be a missionary this Christmas to help others experience what could be their greatest gift. I love these people as I love you all! Take care and have a fantastic Christmas!

Quickly some people that we are working with...

Joey and Vanessa are a young married couple that has shown interest and is excited for baptism.

Jennifer Morgan is super intelligent and really wants to change and is working very hard to do so!!

Margrate is a single mother and she is a great mom! And she knows that this Gospel would help her family.

Sorry I am out of time!!

Elder Walter

More Pictures!

The great San Anotone!

Companions! Elder Walter and Elder Morales

The famous Miss Eunice Jones! (far right)

Tommy's birthday with Trisha and son!

The Hurricane

The lineage (from right to left): Elder Berntson-Grandfather, Elder Walter-Father, Elder Morales-Son

Gotta love that boy!

Elder Walter and Elder Berntson

First door knocked. Rejected politely.

Tommy and Elder Bramhall

Good Week (28th Week!)

Merry Christmas!!,

Well the weather has yet to figure out it is indeed Christmas... It is 70 degrees out right now. But I can't complain ;) This week was a good one! Elder Morales and I are looking to turn the corner now and make a very good start to the new year. We have a bunch of just incredible people right now!! I feel like sometimes I just want to stand back and just be taught from them haha. Leticia Muniz is crawling but moving, I think she is just about to sprint though!! She is just storing her energy then... BOOM! She will run right past me haha. She is sooo sweet!! Then we ran into this other mother!! Her name is Margaret and she just flat out wants to be baptized, good thing Elder Morales was with me otherwise I would have just stood there speechless. Haha he laid down a very spiritual invitation to be baptized and she was very excited in accepting!! Then we are working with Jennifer and Heather Morgan!! They are twins of 23 years old, and their father has always been a member but their mother was just recently baptized. Now the girls do too!! Hahah talk about COOL BEANS!! Man that is such a sweet family. I feel like I learn so much from them as we read the Book of Mormon together!! They are very great!!

Life is going real great! I am so grateful for so many things!! Something I realized today actually is that I am most grateful for my testimony of MySavior Jesus Christ. In Matthew 16, Simon Peter bears His testimony of Christ, to Christ himself. I am grateful everyday to know that I have this testimony and that everyday I can bear my testimony to others. I know that as we ourselves bear our testimony of Our Beloved Savior daily to our family and friends, that when the time comes that we are standing in front of Him, that He will welcome us and it will be then that we will be able to bear testimony that He truly is Our Lord and Redeemer. I know that we can show our love of Jesus Christ by sharing this testimony with others that they too can know of the happiness of that day. Our love is manifest for how well we ourselves love Christ and our brothers and sisters. I couldn't think of a better way to show love to others, than by sharing with them what I am most grateful for. I know Jesus Christ lives. That He is our Savior and that He loves and cares for us. He is the light and the life of the world. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

- Elder Walter

6 Months Down!

This is an email to Tommy's mom but I think we can all enjoy it :)

Mom,

Hope all is well on the Home front just letting you know how transfers went....I am staying here!!!! I was so happy!! It has been great!! I just didn't feel accomplished or finished in this area... One of my biggest struggles in the mission is knowing I have given my all even if the results might not show that. But having said that, I just didn't feel accomplished yet. I hope to after this last transfer here. One of those things is Spanish... I have kind of hit a wall and I can do a pretty good job but I just want to be great! I know that with Elder Morales it can be!! We just need to go on an "English speaking fast" haha. Only Spanish! For the first time on my mission, I taught more lessons in Spanish than English last week!! It was pretty sweet!! So yeah I want y'all to be impressed when I get back ;) I want to be your Mexican son!! hahah!!

Hope all is well for all y'all. I sure am enjoying things over here!! What a fabulous experience!! This work only assures my testimony of the truthfulness of this church! I love this gospel sooo much!!

So I love you all so much!! PS, Do you think you can get me Isaac Wilson's Mongolia mailing address?... Something else cool too!! I am going to be writing a letter to my home ward so it can be read aloud in church. All the missionaries do it the Sunday before Christmas! So if you wanted to walk to church on the 19th at 1:00 PM you are most certainly invited!! I will be calling on Christmas! So just so you know. I don't have any other details other than that... I know I'm super helpful! Sorry!! I will let you know ASAP!!

Love ya,

Elder Tommy Walter

Q&A

This week Tommy answered a few questions that I had asked. You'll have to excuse me if my questions seem a bit ignorant. We are all learning together. His answers are in Wildcat Blue. See, he does respond!

So how are you doing? I get emails forwarded from Jeron Giles. He has had a cold lately so he isn't feeling the best. He also talks about some challenges he has with people. Must be like passer-bys or whatever. He mentions how angry he gets. Do you get that kind of abuse?

As far as abuse or any problems with people... Texas is really nice in general! You will of course find your fair share of people who are rude, or talk and talk and are rude some more, but every time they say those things, they are so far from the truth it isn't funny. So we smile, say we're sorry if we had hurt them and continue on with the work. The thing I think that has helped is really the first and one of the most important principles of the gospel; God is our loving Heavenly Father. He loves every single one of us as much as the next. You actually gave me some of the greatest advice on the first week of my mission when you had said that a lot of people didn't choose to be in the position they are in. They definitely could have made decisions that would have been harder, but better in their life. That is why I am a missionary. To invite everyone to have the opportunity to come unto Christ by repenting which is simply turning from their old ways to instead follow the way Christ lived. So to some this up, yes I have seen my fair share of nay-sayers, but who am I to keep them from making a decision to better their situation.

What is the hardest thing about the mission experience? I think your work with the missionaries here must have helped you a lot. Especially not knowing that life at all.

The biggest struggle on my mission... Really has been to really become a missionary by giving all of my heart, might, mind and strength. You can take that as literal as you want as a missionary. There is no denying though that the great missionaries are the ones who take that to heart. The ones who relinquish their thoughts or sorrows of home, who keep the rules, who work until they hit the bed, who study and apply what they learn, these are the great missionaries. There is no big secret other than that. ALL of your heart, might, mind, and strength!! I am so grateful for that opportunity. I would say that that goal is definitely far from accomplished but in progress. It demonstrates self-control and builds useful and important habits for the future.

I haven't heard from Cortney. I am sure you have and I hope all is going well with her. (cutest person on the planet!)

As far as Cortney goes, she is doing great! She has decided to go to Jerusalem next fall for a couple months! Pretty sweet! She has a ton of stuff that are going to becoming up this next week for finals but all seems well! I told her to call all y'all. That should be coming soon!! (she did, thanks Cortney!)

I went to see Harry Potter last night. Good movie. . It is a good movie though and you'll have to do a marathon when you get back.

And yes I will have a Harry Potter Marathon when I get back!!! That sounds perfect!!! I am so stoked!!

But right now you have work to do! You sound so good and I know you are really happy. I hope you had a great thanksgiving and if you gained a few pounds, you'll even make that look good!

Thanksgiving was great... two dinners... nearly died on the spot... So yeah it was great!! But that was the start of 3 days in a row of 40 degrees... I did love the 80 degrees so much haha. I am spoiled!! It is like 70 today, not bad ;)

Love,

Elder Tommy Walter

Busy Time!

Well HEY,

Well Sunday was the perfect way to end a great week! During the week we had kind of a roller coaster! It was crazy! Awesome! We had found some way sweet families and it was just so great to see! Then on Sunday, more than at any other time on my mission, I felt a greater understanding of my purpose as a missionary. I was blessed to confer the Aaronic Priesthood to Gwlyn. Tricia Williams then was called to be a primary teacher. And Sister Eunice Jones went out to a lesson with some other missionaries and helped them invite their investigator to be baptized, of which was accepted. As I was sitting there and all the talks were on the theme of President Uchtdorf April Conference talk, "You are my Hands", I realized how small I was in their eternal progression. Maybe important, but small. That they now have been called in various ways to serve the Lord. That they have an opportunity to "be His hands". With the fulfillment of the prophetic call to all missionaries, the Lord can then fulfill the work and the glory of the Father. Gwlyn will serve his family and others as he holds worthily to the Priesthood. Tricia as a primary teacher will influence the next and rising generation to be even better than the last. And Sister Jones is helping others come closer to the Savior as through baptism by the Priesthood and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The best part of this is that this is service that can be done also outside of a full-time mission. I never want to forget what it feels like to be out here. It gives me more hope and has made me desire to be better and to always strive to do so. I am so grateful to be in San Antonio. It is numbered as one of my greatest blessings.

Phillip Settles and Phillip Settles Jr. are very awesome people!! They are very excited to be baptized on the 5th of December!! They saw the baptism of another person this Sunday and they have just gotten more excited!! Phillip the older is 50 and Phillip Jr. is 8.

Leticia is a great woman!!! She loves the gospel and has been reading and knows it is true!! We missed her at church but she is very motivated to do it for the family!! Angelica and Brianna are her two youngest daughters and Angelica is 15. They are set for the 12th of December.

Then there is Johnathan who is set to be baptized on the 19th of December ;). He is so sweet!! We met him last night and he was very excited to be baptized and follow in the footsteps of our Savior!!

Well we are working hard and will continue to do so!! Love all y'all!!

Elder Tommy Walter

Good Week!

To all,

This week has been a good week!!! We baptized Alfredo this week and it is looking that will end the streak of salvation... It was such a sweet baptism though! It was weird in spanish, and pretty tough to understand all of it, but it was the sweetest experience. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony, and I learned that it is the same testimony haha. Just in another language. It was a sweet experience!! I am so grateful to have the opportunity to learn a language! It is very cool that God can help all of His children and that he wants to! I am not the greatest at spanish, pues, I am very very far from that haha, but God still can help those He needs to. Lets just say that I am grateful Elder Morales is here with me. He is such an asset to this area. We have seen our efforts in the Spanish branch grow bastante because of that gift. We are definitely going to continue to magnify that!

People have been hard to come by in these last couple weeks. But there have been some sweet miracles!! We are teaching a few people who can really progress soon if they remember the Spirit that touched them in their readings and in the lessons! So we are definitely excited for the week to come!!!

Antionette is one of those people! She is awesome! She is younger, like 20ish, but she really is super excited to continue and said she would love the opportunity to be baptized! So we are going to continue to teach her, and set her with a date hopefully for the first weekend in December! That would be awesome!!

The next one is Leticia. She really enjoyed the message of the Restoration! She too said that she would like the opportunity to be baptized! She said she wants a solid backing for her kids. I truly know that there is no better backing than to have that gospel! I think the Spirit was able to testify that to her.

Because of some circumstances, we will be unable to baptize Ruben, aun que haiga a change in the circumstances. So we will be working with him still. He is a great person and is really changing. He can come to church still and it is our job to encourage him to do so.

The Pearce's left... They were the senior couple missionaries that reactivated soooo many families!! The ward will miss them and so will we...

Thanks for your love and prayers! I love you all and hope all is well!!

Elder Walter

Roller Coaster Week

Hey all!!!

Wow this week was just a roller coaster!!! Of awesomeness!!!! Elder Morales and I are having so much fun and we have some super awesome ideas for the area. The area that I have been working has been worked pretty hard, and our teaching pool is getting smaller and smaller. So we are moving north in our area!!! Haha that doesn't sound like much, and to be honest it isn't really, but Elder Morales and I are making it huge haha. We are so excited for the work that is going to be happening!! On Tuesday, we had a zone conference where Elder Maines of the Seventy came and spoke and blew my mind!! I love it when the Spirit gets you pumped up. I learned, or rather relearned, we can always be more obedient, more prayerful, more efficient, having more faith, planning better, setting better, clearer goals, more and better everything. That that progression depends on the diligence that we put forth. That God has designed all to experience unlimited joy, pending on the effort we put forth to receive it. Using our agency, or choosing to act and work for that joy. Diligence will bring forth joy in the fruits of our labor. Yesterday, Elder Morales confirmed Eunice Jones a member of the church and conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost and baptized Gwlyn Slaughter!! We were overjoyed!! These two are exemplary people added into the fold of God! It is so sweet to work with them and truly humbling it was to witness the love and pure faith they had in our Savior. Therein lies the joyous fruits of our labor. The humbling witness of the Holy Ghost. The testimony of truth and the love of God! So next week, Alfredo Ramirez is to be baptized!! We are excited and so is he!! I will also have the sweet opportunity to confirm Gwlyn a member of the church and the 6 missionaries are doing a musical number in sacrament haha!! I know that threw all of y'all a late breaking slider!! I am so excited!!

Alfredo is getting baptized this week! He is very excited and it should be way fun, he is getting baptized with his cousin!! My first Spanish baptism!!

Tony is a man that we just set to be baptized the 5th of December!! The Holy Ghost worked just flawlessly as his heart was softened and opened to the truth!! It was a true miracle!!

Ruben came out to church with us this week and said that he was going to come back next week! He is set to be baptized of the 21st, pending a court date for the 10th. Our prayers are with him.

Thank you all for you prayers and love!! I love you all so much!! Take care and hope all is well!!

Elder Walter

Elder Walter the Trainer!

Hey to all!!

So on transfers I thought that I would be training...I never thought I was the one to be trained haha. Elder Morales is the new missionary and he is just incredible!! A very natural teacher oh and PS, he is from Mexico, so our Spanish outreach will be enhanced un poco. I am so excited to be his trainer! He is very go get-em. He loves to get after it and he basically just goes and loves to work! I have tried to whip him into shape, but it didn't take more than a day for him to desire to really be involved in the work. He is really into planning, allowing us the opportunity to really teach to the needs of that specific investigator! I love it! We will continue to be prayerful, obedient and hard working.

This Halloween was especially special! Sister Eunice Jones was baptized! It was quite the turnout and it really was special! She bore her testimony and it was perfect! I really liked it! What a special opportunity. And I feel awful because I didn't take one picture haha. We were of course a little late to our own baptism with it all being hectic in the Spanish branch and the font took forever but alas they had just barely started as we arrived and then after I couldn't take pictures because Daniel Reyes and Jacob Fisher were getting the Melchizedek Priesthood and I was asked to be apart of the circle. It was awesome but yeah, we will take much more at her home.

Also, Elder Ashton Jessup completed his two year service as a full-time missionary. He was one of the best missionaries ever. He was basically my example and it truly was so great to serve right next to him! Gosh I learned so much from him and I could have never asked for such a good friend. He is basically awesome!

Right now we are working with...

Glenn Slaughter- He is a machine and is getting baptized on Sunday! He has a heart of pure gold and just wants to be happy. I have never taught anyone who better understands the doctrines of Christ. He truly is a sponge, almost robot-like, he applies the things the Spirit downloads on his hard drive! He is incredible, he told us the other day that he doesn't want to just be a member who goes to church on Sunday, but he wants to be an active member. I told him those are the people we like to baptize haha.

Alfredo Ramirez is a little Spanish boy who is nine and his father asked us to teach him. So we are and it is fun, but I can't speak Spanish that a kid would best understand... I am still working on that haha, thank goodness for Elder Morales.

Also keep in your prayers, Ruben Martinez and Manuel Lopez.

-Elder Walter

Big News!!!

Hey all!!!!

THIS WAS THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!! I can't believe it!!! Number one the Lord has blessed San Antonio with the most beautiful weather!!! 90-87 light breeze and sunny!!! Wow!! It was nuts!!! I have seen so many blessings!!!! So YES!!! Tricia Williams was baptized on my BIRTHDAY!!! It was incredible. Elder Berntson baptized her on Saturday and on Sunday I confirmed her. Elder Berntson baptized her because Sister Jones is being baptized the 31st and we thought he would be transfered before then, which he is (more on that later!!!). But it was the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to or been apart of haha. She is just such a special person and the night before the baptism she even gave me a cake!! She is just the best ever!!! She will do great things for the ward and will be great for her family. So sorry if that is kind of just confusing, what matters most is Tricia is now celestially inherant haha!!! Gosh I am so happy for her!!!!!!!!!!!! She is just the best!!!

Then so the news... We got "the" phone call... The transfer call... Elder Berntson is being transfered... And I...am... TRAINING!!!!

GAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I am so happy!!! I just finished my first two training transfers, now I am training!!!! I am so grateful for this!!! So grateful for this calling!!!! I am so humbled and excited for it!!!! I meet him fresh out of the MTC this Thursday hahah!! It seems like only yesterday that I was just there!! There will be some difficulties especially with the the language... Haha there will be a lot of prayer involved. But man am I stoked!!! So yeah that is the bg news and he will be apart of two baptisims in his first 11 days in the mission!! Sister Jones and then Glenn!! I am so stoked and I really couldn't be more excited to learn all I can from this experience and all at the same time helping others come unto the gospel!! I am so grateful!!!

So Tricia had the sweetest baptism ever!!! We will see her as time goes on to follow up on the new member lessons.

Sister Jones had her interview and she is set to be baptized this Sunday!! She is such a trooper!! She has worked so hard to get herself prepared for baptism.

Glenn is just the best, he has kept every commitment we have left him and Has accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 6th of November!!! We are so excited for him!!!

Thank you all for your birthday wishes!!! I hope all is well for you and your families!!

Love,

Elder Walter

Hey,

So wow this week was great! Different than most, but I was able to see some fantastic miracles!!

Sister Trisha Williams is a sweetheart! So we had committed her to have her baptismal interview this past Sunday which was a pretty big hurdle. A great step of faith for her, she almost had to back out of it, but we made it work for her and she came. At about 20 til' the top of the hour she left sacrament meeting to be interviewed by our zone leaders. She came back at the end of sacrament meeting. We went up to her and asked how it was, she said it went well and continued to ask how the primary program went and such (SUPER CUTE), and we just kept talking as if she wanted to avoid the subject. She asked me what I had planned on the 23rd for my birthday. We had said that the only thing is that Elder Berntson and I would take our hour dinner at 8 and come home so he can make me dinner. She then said that we now had different plans and proceeded to invite us a baptisim she would be having for herself on my birthday...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just started jumping and laughing, mind you this was outside the chapel. I was so happy for her!! This was such a big step for her and her family!!! She will be forever blessed and her husband will feel that!! They will have an eternity together!! She is just soooooo great!!! I am so excited!! Best of all, she is so excited!!

So if that wasn't enough, on Saturday was one of the most spiritual baptisms I have ever witnessed. What was better is that we had sister Jones with us... So Saturday was a high stress day, we had told Sister Jones of the baptism only 2 days previous and told her we would get her a ride. Well after a few people fell through on the ride, we were going to have to call her and let her know that unfortuately we didn't have a ride and we already had so much we had to do, but she actually called us first and asked if we had found her a ride and that she really wants to go... When an investigator calls and says that she wants a ride to a baptism, YOU GET THEM A RIDE!! Especially an investigator who about a week earlier told us that she isn't ready and that she wants to go back to her baptist church!! So we called the whole ward, then the stake... eventually people from Louisiana to give this poor woman a ride the baptism! Finally we found someone who happened to be going that lived down the block!!! Everyone else was either sick, out of town, or whatever!! We made so many calls! But we got one, and that isn't even the miracle!!! We met her at the baptism, her second one, and we sat next to her and listened to the wonderful program!! Then the baptism was performed and on the way back I pulled her aside and we just talked and at the end, we asked her what she was waiting for? She said that she didn't know but that this baptism was just a feeling that she couldn't describe. She looked awestruck and then Elder Berntson bore a powerful message and said that God is talking to you right now that this is your answer! And she said, "I think it is. I will be baptized on the 31st." Wow... I was just stunned at the way the Holy Ghost took that. Haha He know what He is doing!! Then she came to church and said for the first time that her mom was excited for her and that just by the glow she had that this was something she needed to do.

I have a testimony of the Holy Ghost. That He is very real. That there is nothing on this planet that creates faith besides His witness. That everything that is genuine and good in our lives, depends on obtaining and keeping His presence. The blessings of the Spirit come when we need it most as we work to fulfill the work of the Father. As we heed these promptings, we too can know of our Savior just as Sister Jones and Trisha experienced. That happiness lies in that still small voice and first recieving that gift! I pray that we can all have an added portion of the Spirit in our lives as we follow the commandments! I love each and every one of you! Thank you so much!

-Elder Tommy Walter