Service

Who am I?

My name is Lindsay Walker and I love service. 

Mohandas Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

 

 

I come from a very service oriented family.  My parents taught me at a young age that serving others was the key ingredient in finding happiness.  

 

 

My family 

Brother Jesse, Mom, Dad, Me and Brother Charlie

I am extremely close to my family.  I love spending time with them!  I especially love doing service with them.  I have a great relationship with my parents.  My parents are my best friends and I can talk to them about anything!  I also have a great relationship with my brothers.  We have fun times together.  My brothers are heavily involved in sports, and I am always their number one fan! 

At a young age, my parents had me serving in our neighborhood.  Our neighborhood gave me plenty opportunities to serve and be helpful in the community.  I would often find myself in my neighbor's yards.  I helped them mow the grass, cut the trees, or cleaned areas that hadn't been touched in a while.  My neighbors were always grateful for my service and that made me happy.  

One way that I was able to serve at a young age was through my church.  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The base of my religion is around serving others.  My church had

activities and events where I was able to serve.  I had the opportunity to serve in leadership

roles where I was an example to those in my group.  One event that I remember in particular was

when we went and served at the Road Home Shelter.   

The Road Home Shelter is a non-profit

organization that helped individuals and families whom experienced homelessness.  The main

goal of the Road Home Shelter is to help these individuals step out of homelessness and get

involved in their communities.  My church group was able to go and serve dinner to these

individuals.  It was a great experience for me as I saw the circumstances that these people were

living in.  Not only did I become more grateful for what I have, but I also learned to accept those

who are around me.  I was able to accept homeless people as individual through their unique

talents rather than characterizing them as someone who was homeless.

My Church Youth Group

Serving Dinner at the Road Home Shelter

My Brother and I Handing Out Cookies

 

 

  Now, I am twenty years old, and I have been able to have some experiences to serve with out my family or religious church group.  I have had the chances to go by myself and experience a new culture, people and way of life through serving others.  

My Humanitarian Trip to Fiji: 

 

While I was in Fiji, I grew to love the people that lived there.  I found a special connection to the Fijian people, especially the Fijian Children.

The purpose of my humanitarian trip was to build bathrooms in the A'milimili village.  The village that we went to had no flushing toilets.  They had only been using a hole in the ground.  We were able to build five outhouses which had a flushing toilet. The people were so grateful that we had come to do this for them.  I only was able to stay for three weeks but the outcome will last a life time. 

 

Out with the old...

 

In with the new...

My trip to China:

A couple of months after returning home from Fiji, I decided that I loved to travel!  I had such a wonderful experience in Fiji, so I signed up for another service oriented group to travel to China.  My trip to China would last six months.  I went to teach English in an Elementary school.

Going to China was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.  I would never change it for

anything.  I was surrounded by the loving Chinese

people and was brought in through their culture.  Life in China is extremely different from life

here in America.  I had to adjust my way of life, to the Chinese way of life.  I learned new things

each day and slowly began to accept the Chinese people and their culture.

 

 

My First Grade Class

 

The Chinese

children that I taught were great examples to me and accepted me for who I am.  They were only

five to six years old but they had a big impact on me.  I didn’t think that such young people

would change me as a person, but they did.    

  

Because of my incredible experience teaching in China, I have decided to become an Elementary School teacher.  Becoming an Elementary school teacher is one of the

best ways that I can think of to continue with service.  I am looking

forward to helping children grow and learn.  My main goal is to be a good example and role

model to the future generations of children.  I am looking forward to the opportunity in helping

shape children become the best people they can be.  Throughout my life, teachers have always

had a great influence on me.  It is now my turn.   I hope to be a great influence on someone else’s

life.    

I have found my passion in life...

 

and that is SERVICE!