May 27, 2014

So I'll start off with the craziest story. Yesterday we ate at a barbecue at a member's home for Memorial Day. They are the Blotter family. I'm not sure if that's the most correct spelling but oh well. Anyways, Grandpa Blotter and I were talking and he mentioned that he served his mission in Switzerland. I said hey a lot of my family are from Switzerland and have the name Bartschi! And he's all, really no kidding? I know a Jeff Bartschi in Bear Lake really well. So I said funny story, I'm probably related to him. So then Grandpa Blotter calls up Jeff Bartschi, has me talk to him on the phone. Long story short, he's the son of the brother of my great grandpa, and is the same age and grew up with my Uncle Hal. Crazy small world.

Another funny story. Elder Ambrose and I are now the proud owners of a sword. Pretty cool right??? We were doing service for a family and moving a bunch of old plywood and things in their yard, it was super hot and it took forever. So the father of the family felt bad, and said "I want you elders to have this. If you say no, it's going to the DI, so take it now free or buy it later." And then, he handed us a real legit sword. So crazy! Today we are gonna get some rust remover and clean it up, but it's still so cool. I will send some more pictures of it later next week. For some reason none of the computers at the library have SD card slots, so until we email somewhere else I can't really send anything off my camera.

That cardboard cutout of me is soooo creepy looking haha. I didn't even recognize myself. Really weird, especially to see myself with honors cords, because sheesh I was nowhere near getting honors for anything!

Ahhhh that's about all I have. Sorry. Not much to say this week. Honestly I'm really tired. We've been doing a lot of service outside in the hot hot heat and my body is really worn out. I will try to write more next week. I love you all, even when you're poopy and don't write me letters!!!

-Elder Walker

Jacob 6:12

Elder Ambrose took this picture of me being abnormally excited to answer emails. Hope you are all feeling fantastic!

PS

Sorry mother... I never followed up on my ankle. So here's the situation. There's a physical therapist couple in my area who has checked me out and given me some good advice and help. I now walk, and most likely will walk for the foreseeable future with a slight limp.

It's not super noticeable but it for sure is there, at least I can feel it. It's really easy to get sore still. I can do a lot more physical activity now, like sports and things. However, it's only for short amounts, usually 15-20 minutes. So I try and get as much activity on it as possible to build up the muscle again, because it basically got destroyed. By the end of the night when we go to bed I am always really sore and it's definitely painful. But, it's not bad enough that I can't walk or work. It's still usable and good enough.

It's just really frustrating and annoying. I wish it hadn't happened for sure, but I'm trying to just make it work and ignore it. It's the type of injury that I will be dealing with honestly for the entirety of my mission, and probably after as well, which sucks but oh well!

The harder I work the less it hurts