Sister Kellee Walker's Tucson, Arizona Mission - January 21, 2014

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Alma 38:5

"If you are tempted to give up: Stay yet a little longer."

Dieter F Uchtdorf

Hey there my beautiful wonderful family. Oh how I just adore you all so much. How grateful I am for your kind words of support & for your prayers. I felt them each and every moment of the day. Like you guessed, these past few weeks have been hard. That's all I can say about it. And I knew a mission would be hard, but never would I have imagined having such strong desires that I had never had before. It's been a challange for me to balance all of my wants and desires and dreams. But with the help of a loving President, I think I'm getting the hang of it & finally getting back into the swing of things! But seriously, thank you for all your love. What would I do without you all?

During studies the other day, I wanted to focus on understanding my purpose. So I focused on our mission theme which is Choose To Become. Choose means to decide and Become means to grow to be. And I was thinking about all the things I could become, so I made a list.
Things I can become:
Happy. Proud. Patient. Diligent. Obedient. Christlike. Kind. An Instrument to the Lord. A better daughter. A peacemaker. Prepared. Sensitive to promptings. A nurturer. Righteous. Faithful. Virtuous. Modest. An example. Honest. Respectful. Encouraging. Comforting. Thoughtful. Understanding. Loyal. A covenant Keeper. Responsible. Supportive. Humble. Worthy. Forgiving. A strong foundation. Loving. Kellee Jo Walker

There are so many things I can become but I can't become these things on my own. I NEED God's help & I can get His help as I turn to Him. I've learned a lot about humility and how to recognize gratefully my dependence on the Lord. And to know that I have a constant need for his support. My talents and abilities are gifts from God. And I've also learned a lot about the Grace of God. We can receive His Divine help and strength through the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ether 12:27)

I've also learned the the only way to REAL and LASTING happiness is to simply live the gospel; to keep the commandments, pray for strength, repent of sins, and to give meaningful service. And most importantly, I've learned how to face adversity with faith. And we accomplish that through TRUST. I have to trust God that when I give everything to him, all of my heart, then he will bless me.  God knows me perfectly and he wants me to be happy. All he asks is for me to submit cheerfully with patience to ALL his will. 

"Give me all. I want YOU. All of you. I don't want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will shall become your will. My heart shall become your heart." CS Lewis.

That was kind of a lot of things. But I'm going to be honest with you. I have learned more in these last 2 weeks, than I have my last 7 months here. I have learned how to rely on my Savior. And that Is soooooo important. I'm still learning, and I'm still growing. I'm not perfect & I still have desires that may not be the desires God has for me right now. So ultimately, I'm trusting Him and things will work out in His time, In His way.

Also, As you may have guessed, I didn't get transfered. BUT.. ......

President asked me to TRAIN!!
My new companions name is Sister Delap from Atlanta Georgia and she is actually a Visa waiter to go to Brazil.. But that doesn't make a difference to me. She is here for a reason and I love her to pieces. She is Asian & I think they are the cutest things ever! (: Also, she watched Avatar the Last Airbender & Adventure Time so I can geek out with her.) I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be training a brand new missionary and that God is trusting me to teach one of His precious daughters. 

Things are looking up, and I'm finding my happy place within this gospel. There are obviously things I still need to do here, or President wouldn't have asked me to train... I'm so excitedddddddddddd

Love you all.
Especially you Keaton (:
Thank you for your email. & Hopefully you like my little gift I bought you.
Love you love you love you.

Until next week!! God be with you