Here it is!!!!

Hello friends and family! It's finally here!

Tomorrow I enter the MTC and will thus begin my two year adventure serving the people of Oklahoma (and Kansas and Arkansas and Missouri...). I'm extremely nervous, but I seriously can't wait. I get set apart tonight at 7:00.

So. Regarding this blog... The Road to Tulsa has gone very well so far, as we are nearing the 1,000 mile mark. Woohoo! We plan on racking up the miles until I leave the MTC, and hopefully by then we will have walked/biked/read the over 1,200 miles. If we don't make it, I blame this all on my parents, as it was their idea. It has been super fun to wake up every morning and exercise with my family. We had many great conversations while we walked/ran, and it helped me so I didn't get too fat this summer :)

If you were to look at our progress, you might notice that some people (I won't say who, but it's pretty obvious haha) did better than others at keeping track of their miles and updating the blog. I'm sure we could've already reached the milestone, but I'm not complaining because we had a good time anyway. That's the point, right? Especially when we make up how many miles reading scriptures, attending the temple, and a daily schedule are worth. We could've easily had made it to 5,000 miles if everything were worth more, right? Overall, it was a great success and there were a lot of experiences that I'll cherish forever.

One of those cherished experiences was my first time going to the temple. Words cannot describe the peace and burning spirit I felt there! It was a lot to take in the very first time, but as I attended more and more these past couple months, the more I felt that I was absolutely doing the right thing. There is nothing more complete and joyous as the temple, and I can't think of a better place of learning than within its walls. What an amazing blessing the temple is, and I'm excited to teach of it's importance in the mission field.

This summer has been so fun, and it couldn't have ended in a better way than an epic 4th of July weekend. The fireworks, the food, the family.... It was one of those moments that just stood still :) I'm going to miss my family so much, but I know that this is what I need to do. Yesterday, we had a BBQ and cooked some kabobs on the grill. I told my mom that I want to do the same exact thing when I get back home, just as if I had never left. But only this time I'll have a lot of experiences to share.

Oh boy I just don't even know what to say... I'm just so so so sooooooooooo excited to start tomorrow!! Wow. My dreams are coming true :)

Thank you one and all for supporting me, and hopefully you can find some sort of joy, entertainment, enlightenment, or inspiration from my letters being posted on this blog. Or if you are just bored and you're on here because you have nothing better to do, that works too! I'm not much of a letter-writer, but we'll see if I can change that. Thanks again!

God be with you 'til we meet again.

Sincerely,
Elder Atkin