Hello Family!

Hi!

This week was pretty boring. I couldn't do too much because of my back. Lame. I was getting pretty restless becasue I couldn't do normal things like I wanted too. But I am also very grateful because the recovery went a lot faster than expected. I am walking like normal now and sleep in a bed not the floor and most of the pain is gone. My physical therapist was very surprized at how fast it went. She said from the first visit she would have recommended at least a month of therapy with 3-4 visits a week. But then at the 3rd visit she said I didn't need to come back! That everything was as far fixed as therapy could bring it. Yay for Priesthood blessings and prayers. I could feel prayers being said for me to get better. I'm assuming you said them, so thank you. They worked. I am trying to remember to be diligent but not go faster then I have strength (thanks for your email Dad! It wasn't too lectureing, it is what I needed to hear) and not hurt my back anymore. Taking it easy is not one of my strong points.

But one possitive about huring my back was we had enough down time to really plan for the American Night activity. This was in the plans before I came back to Cottbus but nothing had been done to prepare or plan till the week before the activity so there was a lot to do. This picture is of decoration the hallways as the Walk of Fame. Chi-yu and Ameen came and helped decorate becasue I couldn't lift anything or bend down. So they and Sister Babbitt moved all the chairs, tables and all that. I cut the stars and other decorations out and baked. Thanks for the recipies Mom, everyone loved them! The cinnonmon rolls were a hit. We had a good time. I gave a little presentation on Mormon influences in America, from New York to California each state they touched and left a mark on. On the Walk of Fame stars we wrote famous Mormon Americans. All 16 Prophets, some Book of Mormon people, and people like Steve Young, Philo Farnsworth (who is the ward mission leaders uncle! -the man who made the TV-), Stephanie Meyers, and Donny Osmond. Sister Babbitt Taught a line dance, Ward Mission Leader Bro Farnsworth broke some steriotypes, and he and his wife played a song on the fiddle together. He was the bow and she did the fingering, it was cool.

This week we had interviews with President Kosak and he told me to start thinking about going home. I need to stop pushing those thoughts away and need to embrace them. He told me to plan for school, plan for work, plan for dating, and plan to marry. I now think I will be awkward when I get home because the last two points almost gave me a heart attack when he said them. Dang it.

 But let's plan for the first one first. School. Pres Kosak gave me permission to sign up for classes and such. I don't remember my BYU ID number or ID name or pass word. Can I please have that information? Everything I need to sign into BYU.edu please? Thanks.

I hope you have a great week! Love you!

Love, Sister Walker

Owww....

Hello Family!

I am very old and feel like a Grandma. My 15 month mark was on Friday. In one and a half weeks I will be the oldest Sister in my mission (transfer wise) and especially this week, I feel it.

Last Monday was a fun day with big adventures. There is a fun park (not quite a theme park but more than a normal park) by Cottbus called Teichland- Erlebnis Park. There is a hedge maze, zip line, alpine slide, bungee trampoline, ice cream, a huge tower and lots more things. Last winter the Dittrichs took Sister Neukomm and me there but all was closed. I was telling Sister Babbitt about it and she wanted to go so we asked for directions and a member, Schwester Leuschner, offered to lead us there on our bikes. She is about 84 years old so we figured it would be no problem. We had lunch at her house then off we rode! She whipped our tails. She was so fast and so full of engery that this was the first Oma (grandma) experience of the week. But it was fun! We did the hedge maze (I won because the hedge isn't too high yet and could see the path. Sister Babbitt was getting help from the people on the tower) and rode the Alpine Slide and ate ice cream. Sister Babbitt did the bungee trampoline. She was doing really well till she tried to do a double back flip. Then she landed on her face. But she said it didn't really hurt. Then we rode back and had family night with our Ward Mission Leader and an investigator.

But other than that, this week was rather a slow week. Tuesday we had a funeral from a Sister in the ward. She was 92 years old and so nice. She loved the missionaries. Do you remember me telling oyu about an eating appointment where Sister Neukomm and I had to eat so much food we could hardly move? That was with this sister. Her husband is still here and misses her so much. The funeral was good but very different than funerals in America. Way too serious and sad. At my funeral no one is allowed to wear black. Then we had study time and a few appointments and at night we had choir practice. The ward is happy to have my soprano back. They said I'm not allowed to leave untill after the Christmas concerts, which are on December 8th and 15th. (the one on the 8th is most important, it's in Cottbus. The 15th is in the city of Forst)

So Mom, I guess you have to come with Dad and pick me up then. And I have been thinking about it. If it would work out, you coming to pick me up would be fun. I don't want to really put it off saying we'll come back later and then we never do. I want to so you, Mom and Dad, andeveryone else for that matter, Germany. So if it works out, would you like to spend Thanksgiving and the first week-ish of December in Germany? :]

Wednesday we had District Meeting and then an Ausstellung in Bautzen. You should google Bautzen, it's gorgeous. Sister Babbitt and I decided to write www.mormon.org in chalk there too. It was going well till the police came. Turns out that it's against the law in Bautzen. Oh well. No ticket, just told to stop. So we sang instead. One of the Elders is profi violist and brought his viola and we sisters would take turns singing with him while the other talked to people. It went well. Bautzen is a little far from Cottbus so the rest of the day was spent getting back home.

Thursday Sister Babbitt was sick with a fever so we stayed home. Until that evening when we had Tausch with Eisenhüttenstadt. For Tausch we have 4 companionships, 3 in Berlin- Dhalem, Lankwitz and Neu Kölln, and then Eisenhüttenstadt. This Tausch Sister Babbitt stayed in the other city and I came back to Cottbus with Sister Bronson. (who has a friend in the Rome mission. Trey, do you know a Sorella Preston? If yes, say hi to her from Sister Bronson please)

Friday, my 15 month mark, I hurt my back. I don't know what I did but I could hardly walk. Since we were on tausch I didn't want to stay inside so we went out but ALL of our 6 appointments fell out! Lame. Our 7th though was still there, with Brother Graf. Then we had to get on the train and Tausch back.

Saturday I really couldn't walk or move or anything. Elder Baumann in Görlitz is a retired back sergon so we called him and he told me to lay on the ground and take ibuprophane. Sister Kosak wanted me to go right to the hospital. But I stayed laying down, got a blessing (where I was hoping it would not say "doctors" in, but it did.) and then Sunday morning went to the hospital. Yup. Missionaries did not go to church because I was in the ER. Should have just gone on Saturday, oh well. Sister Dittirch came and got us and was like a worried mom in the waiting room. (she says to give you all her love and tell you not to worry, she is taking care of me.) I layed on a stretcher in the hallway of the ER (yes hallway) for over 4 hours before the doctor came. He didn't believe me that I wasn't pregnant even though I told him multiple times and Sister Dittrich did  too. We laughed at that. But I took the blood test (which took 2 hours to come back negative) anyways and had a CT  scan where they saw (after another 2 hours wait) a nerve sticking out of my spinal chord and said I had an infection there too. While laying in the hallway again waiting for the CT scan to come back I had to go to the bathroom (I have now been in the hospital for about 8 hours) but they wouldn't let me get up becuase they wanted to see what was wrong with me first. They wanted me to use a bed pan. But I was on my period (another sign that I am not prego that they did not believe) and the nurse didn't want to have to help with that from a bed pan in the middle of the hallway. I didn't want that either. So I convinced them to let me use the toilet where two nurses helped me. It was a little embarrassing. But we did it. Then the results came back. They wanted me to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation. I didn't want that. When I said so, the doctor said, OK well let me give you a shot and then you can go. When I saw the size of the needle I almost wanted to stay. It was an huge epidural needle. They just stuck it in and shot, not an epidural, just something to calm the muscles while using the biggest needel they could find. Then Sister Dittrich took me back to her house (Sister Babbitt too of course) and fed me. (She and Sister Babbitt had gone back for lunch, they weren't there the whole time which was good.) It was now almost 3pm and I had left my appartment around 7:30. I was hungry. The food was yummy. Then we came home and studied and slept and all that fun stuff. There were two investigators at church though which was great!

Then this morning, Monday, I had a physical therapy appointment. It hurt but the good kind and now I can slowly walk! Yes! On the mend! It will get there. Hopefully I won't be Oma for too long. I am taking it easy, don't worry. Not carrying anything, going slowly, resting lots. Lame. But it will be OK. Don't worry!

I'm glad to hear the boys are all Scuba certified! Can I be next? :] Have a wonderful week! I love you!

Love, 

Sister Walker. 

Giant Schnitzel we ate (half of) on Tausch! This is Sister Clark from Neu Kölln

a very dangerous playground. Germany definatly does not have the safe safety codes as america, I was wearing a helmet playing on this thing. ( took it off for the picture, then put it back on)

Happy PDay

 Hello Family!

This week was pretty busy. I am very excited for the Elders to get here because we really aren't in Cottbus all too much. I feel bad. We do work when we are here. And it goes well, we see tons of miracles!

I can't remember if I told you this one or not already so I'll just tell this miracle again. My first day here I asked if we could use some time that was scheduled for doors for a different finding activity. (Let's be honest here, knocking on doors isn't very effective at all here.) The differnt activity I wanted to do was to take chalk and write "www.mormon.org" all over with it. We prayerfully considered a street and went there and chalked it up! We talked to people along the way and gave out cards, but no one really wanted to talk to us. Before we had to go to an appointment I though in passing that I wanted to write it one more time really big so people in the top floor of a hig rise building cuold read it. So we did. The letters were almost as tall as me, it was that big.  

Then we went to an appointment. It went well. Then we came home to plan. And then we got a phone call from the Office Elders and they said we had a referral from mormon.org and the address was the street that we had chalked up! 

Skip forward a few days- our fist lesson with this man, Melvin, was on Sunday last week. It went so well! He asked awesome questions and prayed at the end and he just has an amazing spirit. And then yesterday, he came to church! ( he is from Ghana and only speaks English. Members came up to him and talked in English that I didn't even know could speak English! Guess 9 months in one city isn't enough to learn everything.) We invited him to baptism our first lesson and again after church in our lesson. He is totally going to be a bishop one day! 

When we first met him though, something Dad wrote came to my mind. He said that I must not have found everyone I was supposed to find so now I have a second chance. Melvin first came to Cottbus in January when I was here and then left in February. I missed him there. But he got back the week before I did for this second round! Got him this time :] 

We had another investigator at Church yesterday too named Semyon. He is a cute 86 year old Russian grandpa. The ward fell in love with him, and a lot of our little old ladies commented that they feel like he is already family. 

We had an exchange this week in Neu Kölln in Berlin and I saw a baptism! At one point the man being baptized, David, asked to take a picture with all full time missionaries so I even got a photo with him. I love baptisms. We're going to have more here in Cottbus too! And Sister Hinkle sent me a text saying that one of our investigators in Bergedorf wants me to come for her baptism which is September 1st (happy birthday mom!) I can't go but I am so excited that she has a baptismal date! And the Spanish family there will also have a baptism coming up! I love baptisms :] But not because then I can say "yeah, on my mission this many of my investigators were baptised" because that is not the point. The point is now that these our brothers and Sisters are one step closer to coming back to Father in Heaven! There lives will be so much happier and blessed now that they have made this covenant with our God. Yay for Baptisms!! 

I hope you have a wonderful week! Kaden, did you get another college girl's number at EFY? hehe. How was scuba Cam and Cole? 

Pa, I'm praying for you that your surgery goes well! 

I love you all!

Love, 
Sister Walker 

Happy August

Hello Family!

Before I get to my week I forgot to answer some questions last time.

Mom- About the lady in going to San Diego, would it be possible to send her the number of the bishop down there? she did't have thaqt last I talked with her. That would help her. 

-About Jessie and her 'partner' coming down, I think that if you will be out of town then tell them no. If you don't  feel comfortable at all about it tell them sorry but no. I did tell them that since they're not married they wouldn't be able to stay together. So they know that. It wouldn't be a shock to tell them again. I don't know them very well, so I can't really give you advice. I taught them twice, the boyfriend is the son of a member and they were new investigators before I left. I planned on being able to teach them and get to know them more before they asked you so I could tell you more about them. Do let them know that I probably won't be at home. Both don't speak English so that may be a turn off of the idea. 

-about the money, I'm sorry I am spending so much. It is not for personal things though. The new cloths I have are pass down or trades with other Sisters. It goes to train tickets and groceries because the mission money doesn't always make it. I am being good with my money and keeping a record of how much personal I use for mission purposes and have a plan to pay myself back. I still haven't gotten the check register I asked for, could you send that with the shirts please? (thank you for those in advance!) I did get a package of Jell-o and Yorks a few weeks ago that I forgot to say thank you for. So thank you! :] 

-What do you mean you've been called to be missionaries for 6 months? That's so cool! That's 4/8 missionaries in the family at the same time! (called, everyone is a missionary) What will you do? Is it like ward missionaries? Will you be working with Brett Edwards? say hi for me, he didn't answer my last email.

Dad- You said in this week's email " If you stay there for four transfers you will have spent well over half your mission in the same area." But I have to burst a few bubbles. I don't have 4 transfers left, only 2. And with this transfer it is already most of my mission in Cottbus. Pretty cool though, huh? I'm OK with that! And that's cool that you served in your first city twice! I have realized that I don't know too much about your mission. Can you tell me about it when I come home? Thanks. 

-You were right, I was very sad that I missed Kimmie's wedding. I wanted to be there so badly. I got their announcement on the 2nd which was their wedding day so that made me feel a little included. It was nice of them to send me an announcement. Can you tell them thank you for me? 

-I'm also sorry to you that I am spending so much money.

Kaden- You sent me an email and I never responded, sorry. Thank you and I love you too! Have fun at EFY!! (don't get any college girls numbers this time though, you don't want to break their hearts :P)

Now to my email! How was my week in Cottbus? I didn't have one. here was my week:

Monday- Pday in Cottbus with our evening appointment a family night with two members and two investigators.

Tuesday- a day in the city of Hoyerswerda where Schwester Münch lives. visiting her and doing work there.

Wednesday- District meeting in Görlitz and then drove a train to Berlin for Tausch up in Berlin-Dhalem.

Thursday- A very fun Tausch in Dhalem. I was with Sister Schrade. Sister Babbitt also stayed in Dhalem with Sister Norton. It was fun. We went by on contacts, did finding and taught an awesome first lesson with a man named Harrold. Then we drove the train home.

Friday- Back up to Berlin for Leadership Council. Yes we could have stayed in Berlin Thursday night too, but we felt we needed to get back to Cottbus, so we did. Invited a few people to church and slept. Then back to Berlin bright and early.

Saturday- Finally a day to work in Cottbus! It has been so hot here. About 100°F and 100% humidity. I hate humidity. I can take hot temperatures but humitity is horrible. And there is no such thing as Air Conditioning in Germany except in 1st class on trains (where we don't sit), selected buses (which we never get) and in Banks. Maybe that't why I spend money, to go to a bank... hehe just kidding. We use ATMs outside. We went to a dorf ( alittle city) to teach an investogators where we invited to baptism for the umteenth time but she said this time she will pray and fast about it, which is better than a no! But because she lives in a baby city buses on weekends are lame andd don't drive. So we got to use a taxi. It was weird. We also tried to do doors there, but no one was interested. It was a big party day becasue school started the next monday (today) and no one wanted their parties interupted. But we came back to the city and contacted a referral, had a lesson with the new member and passed out a lot of cards.

Sunday- Because it's been so hot, and there is no AC in the church, Bishop made church only two hours so we didn't all die being in the same room together. I thought it was very strange but whatever, he's Bishop he decides. After we had a delicious eating appointment with the RS Pres (we ate Königs Berge Klopse- one of my favorite Grman dishes) and then had an appointment with the referral we contacted on Saturday. It was such a great first lesson! We sat in the shade of a park and it was very spiritual. He thanked us at the end and we will continue to meet with him! So cool! After him, we went to Lübbenau, one of the little cities in our area. We visitied a member family that is part less active. When we left them, I had a goal (that Sister Babbit shared) to find Michael. He is the one who was baptized last I was here and no missionary has had contact with him since I left pretty much. It was downpouring and thundering and lightninging like nothing I've ever seen before. Still so hot but buckets were coming down. We swam to his house almost and he want't there. His mom was not too happy to see us but said she would give him a note that we wrote. Then I was getting worried. His mom told us that his schooling in Leipzig (where his records are) finished a few months ago and he's been home this whole summer. Why didn't he come to church or answer the missionaroes? How could we find him in this city in the storm? We said a prayer and I thought of a place to look. He wasn't there but was acoss the street from it! When he first saw us it looked like he wanted to run away but probably because of the rain he just went under a covering. We were able to talk to him and he was excited that I was back. We found him!!! Miracle!!! We talked a little and will be meeting more.

That was my week. It was a good one. Hope this next one is too! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Walker

Oh, and PS- President told us that next transfer we are getting Elders in Cottbus too!! YAY!!! 4 missionaries in Cottbus! We need it especially since we are gone so much.