Survived Another Transfer

Hey all!!
This was a great week!! Good news too is that, Elder Andreve and I will be together again for another transfer! We are excited because there are a lot of people that we are teaching that are preparing themselves to be baptized. Also Genny Suarez who I was teaching for a month in St. Cloud C is now baptized and has the Gift of the Holy Ghost!! It is awesome!! A lot of great things have been happening and we are real excited to continue to work with them...
Just a few short notes of the people we are teaching:
Julie Aldana came to church this week and she heard the plan of Salvation and the plan God has for children with down syndrome which meant a lot to her because of her youngest son. She is soooo happy!!! I love it!!
Ben Countryman... That's right Brother Countryman. He is a gently giant, we invited him to be baptized and there was a 5 minute silence of him pondering, then he said he was unsure and that he wanted to read and pray. Jaja perfect!! He too came to church and loved it!! We will be passing by on Tuesday.
The Garcia family: Juan said he knew this was true and this is what he wanted to do, and Roci is still praying about it. They have so much desire, now they just have to align that with their actions. Super family!!
Joann Carreon is actually in an interesting situation. She lives in St. Cloud C's area, weird, but she comes all the way over here to go to church with her boyfriend. She was a referral and the first thing she told us was that the Book of Mormon is true and she wants to be baptized... That wasn't too hard ;) It will just come down to working through her situation.
Bobby Burge can finally come to church to find out for himself that it is true. I am so excited for this opportunity!!
We found an older woman named Lucy Hernandez who we taught the plan of Salvation and when we asked her to be baptized she answered, "if you can do it... I do want to go to the Paradise jaja." So she is awesome and will come to church next week.
I love you all and hope you all have a great week.!!
Elder Walter

(from other email)
On Sunday it was great. Every ward has a position called the ward mission leader. They are in charge of coordinating the needs of the missionaries with the ward and visa versa (sp?). Well Brian Montelongo is our ward mission leader in the 5th ward. He just got home from his mission from Arcadia, California. For the last three transfers I have been senior companion and I will be for the rest of my mission. Elder Berntson was the only senior companion I have ever had. So I feel like perhaps there are aspects of missionary work that I am missing out on... But He really has been like the senior companion to the senior companion jaja. He really helped me out with a lot of concerns I had had and helped me to see how I can become even better. It was great.

So Many Blessings

Hello to all,

There were some great things that happened this week!! First though, Gwlyn Slaughter, who Elder Morales I taught and baptized on November 7th, passed away this last Wednesday. I got a call on Thursday from the Elders in the area he had recently moved to, that had said he had passed away from a sickness that was affecting his breathing. At first it was tough for me. But talking to Elder Morales was great. He really helped me to have faith in the Plan of Salvation. It was perfect timing. He was baptized, confirmed, and received the priesthood and endured for the rest of the time he had left on the earth. He is an incredible person. He was close to the Spirit. He was so reliant upon God and His love. When we found him he was walking just up Farragut st. and he told us he wanted to change his life. He was jobless, without a car, phone, bike, away from his family and was about to be evicted from his apartment. As we taught him, he went to the apartment manager and offered to do some work around the apartments to lower his debt, as well he walked and sold cans to afford bus fare to go to the churches employment service. Which he took 3 times a week until he got a job working the overnight custodial shift for a car dealership about a 2 hour bus ride away. All in the mean time, reading the Book of Mormon faithfully every night, praying on his knees every morning and night, and going to church every week... Gwlyn Slaughter was faith. By the time he had passed he was supporting his family of 4 and happily following the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith precedes every blessing and miracle from God. Faith in God and His plan for each of us will bring happiness. Gwlyn's family is currently being taught by the missionaries and are progressing to baptism. As I was calling Gylwn after his move, he had always asked for me not to forget him because it was only fair as he would never forget me haha. I will never forget Gylwn and his love for our Savior and look forward to the day where I can introduce you all to him.

Other than that news, Julie and her daughter have been doing just great!! They are excited for their baptism in March. As well as this family we actually found on Monday. Juan and Roci Garcia. They are awesome and they are looking to change their life to be closer as a family. The first question Juan had asked is how can he communicate with God. And they took to prayer very quickly. And they are reading the Book of Mormon and are really coming to know God and Jesus Christ through those two. It is great!!

I love being a missionary. It is an honor to be the instrument of God's power to these people. I glory in our God and in His matchless love for these people (Alma 26). I love you all. Take care and have a great week.

Elder Walter

Valentines Day

A todo,

This week we had the sweetest miracle!! As we were planning there was someone who we had been teaching and we had a time that we wanted to pass by, but we didn't know if she would be home when we passed by because of her work, but with faith we kept her there and were excited to meet with her. Sure enough... No estaba... Well we had planned to knock that street as a back-up anyways. Two houses later we met this woman who was looking for some help in finding a religion but one with the fullness of truth... So we came in and explained to her a little bit of our purpose and set up another time to pass-by on Friday... Well we go by and explain to her the Restoration and she says "sweet so when can I be baptized?"... hahahaha Well we said the 6th of March. And when she came to a baptism of some other Elders, and she said to the baptismee, "yay maybe you can come to my baptism!!" Hahaha her name is Julie Aldana!!! She is soooo nice!!! She is very sweet and has a good smile!! It was so nice!! She is a fabulous blessing in the area. And she has five children, one of which is baptismal age.

With that, Bobby Burge is looking for his answer but is looking and doing everything he needs too!! He is so sweet! I love going over and talking to him haha he is full of knowledge and just wants more. Elizabeth is still progressing she just has a few things that she has to overcome and it will be a little bit, but she is great and really funny! It is fun!!

Things are going great!! Thanks for your support!!! I love you all!!!

Elder Walter

Snow in San Antonio

Everyone!!!

So just when you think that the heat of San Antonio is all you have to battle, you go to bed after a cold day and wake up to a half an inch of snow everywhere. No one told me about that! Hahaha for the third time in San Antonio's history there has been a layer of snow on the ground, and the first since 1986. I would like to know the longest it has ever stayed because it was all gone by 3 that same day haha. But the whole city kind of started the weekend early and everything was shut down and closed. I am very glad I live in my area this transfer because President Jones said that we weren't to drive until the further notice... Apparently there were a lot of accidents. So Elder Andreve and I went out and knocked. y'all know what they say, when life gives you lemons, go out and knock because everyone is home in their houses because of the snow with their families who need the gospel. Ok so the saying isn't quite like that but it definitely fits in this situation.

So because of the weather it was a little crazy around the San Antonio area, but it was one of those times where it is the most fun to be a missionary because you can really see the blessings and miracles that follow your faith. God will bless you equal to your sacrifice. The more we are willing to sacrifice the more our Heavenly Father can bless us. I know that is true. Faith precedes every miracle. I know that that principle is true. If we put in the effort and the sacrifice to complete the work and glory of our beloved Father in Heaven, we will be blessed. It was a great day to be a missionary.

We found a couple of great blessings this week! We had a great zone meeting on Wednesday which we were then able to apply on a referral we contacted that same day. His name is Bobby Burge. He is very very nice and when it comes down to it, he just wants to know what he can do to know more about God. He reads, prays, asks questions, and everything. It is so helpful as a missionary! He is great and we set him with a date to be baptized on the 27th. We are going to work very hard for that goal to be realized.

We also met two families that are very interested in coming to church and being baptized they just have a few concerns to work over.

Elizabeth is great and the earliest she will be baptized is in March but she is awesome!!

and Jonathan is sick with the flu and so he is resting right now before he gets back at school and TWO sports... wow. But yeah, things are looking great. We will work hard to see what more the Lord can do. Love y'all!! Take care.

Elder Walter

Working the New Area

Hello to all,

This week was a good one. A lot of great success as well as some... I will call them choice learning experiences haha. I love my companion Elder Andreve. He is so funny and down to earth. I think I can drive him up the wall sometimes, but he puts up with me haha. We work very well together and at times when I am frustrated with the work or something I did or whatever he is great at calming me down. This is at times sooo stressful and that isn't Spirit conducive. Elder Andreve has made me very calm and it always is a very fun environment. So yeah it is fun.

Jonathan was out of town for most of this week so it was tough for us to kind of meet with him... But we are working!! Victor and Elizabeth are progressing right along, they are working on just a few things but otherwise are solid for baptism. We met with the Hernandez family today!! Sooooo sweet!! They are an incredible family!! So ready!! Gary, the husband/father, recently has found God as he has gone through a ton of different life experiences. They are great!! Then we got this other referral, Named Bobby Burge. I gave him a call and he has read all of first Nephi and I called and he told me that it is very similar to the teachings of Isaiah and that he loves it. Well he sure is in for a surprise when he gets to 2 Nephi!! It is so sweet we are meeting with him on Wednesday!!

Well things are definitely moving over here. We are working out our kinks to help the work even more. Happy birthday to my mom on Wednesday and to everyone else happy groundhog day!!! But remember my mother!!!

Love, Elder Walter