March 26, 2012- Uhh.. No subject

Dear Family,

 

Hopefully the power doesn't go out again this week. That was kinda frustrating last week. But it is nice and sunny and beautiful today, so I'm not worried. But ya never know in Oklahoma! This past week we got so much rain. It just dumped and dumped until the latter part of the week. The ground is still soggy, but everything is really turning green. I love it! I have to enjoy it while I can, because I have a feeling that it's going to be another hot, humid, and ugly summer. Hooray!

 

Well, transfer calls are coming up this week again. Transfers are getting shorter and shorter. I seriously feel like I just got Elder Ivie yesterday. We've sure had a fun time. I'm so greatful to get a fun companion after Elder Jensen. As you all know I loved Elder Jensen to pieces. It would've been hard to get a companion that I didn't get along with. But not to brag or anything, I think I'm learning how to get along with most elders now. I've really learned how to just accept elders how they are and not let our differences get between us. It's such a short mission, ya know? I'm determined to not let companionship drama effect me in the future. It's sure easier said then done, though...

 

Sad news: That new investigator that I was so pumped about? Not so solid. I don't think Paige hates us, but we just haven't been able to get in contact with her. We've literally tried multiple times each day this last week. She might be avoiding us. I'm afraid she got anti'd! We had our appointment with her on Monday, in which the Mawbys agreed to go with us. You have to know that the Mawby family is that perfect cookie-cutter Mormon family that we always joke about. So when we showed up to Paige's ghetto apartment in old Owasso, I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw them tense up. We knocked on the front door, and Paige answered. Smoke immediately billowed out into our faces, and Paige greeted us with a beer in hand. A couple of her friends (including Jimmy - her child's father) were inside smoking and drinking. Paige was surprised that we came and claimed that she didn't think we'd come since it was raining. It was like, "Duh. Of course we're going to come. We have coats. This is about your salvation. It's that important." I didn't really say that, but I just get frustrated with excuses. Paige then said that it was a bad time because they were celebrating. Jimmy greeted us and about fell on top of me because of how drunk he was. To make a long story short, we said we'd call the next day to set up an appointment, and she hasn't answered since. I'm worried I did something wrong! Could it be that we scared her off by bringing members with us for our first appointment? We're still trying every day.

 

Good news: We met with Jim on Wednesday. He's not really progressing in the gospel right now, but I think he's been able to recognize the spirit prompting him to go to church for the first time in his decades of investigating. I'm still convinced that if he comes to sacrament meeting, he'll receive the confirmation he's been waiting for. He's told us a couple of times now that he's really been thinking about coming one of these days. Of course, so many people say "one of these days" all the time to my face, but I can tell that Jim's been pondering on it. He likes how we aren't pushing him like we have in the past, and I think that's been a big help. Ya know, sometimes you have to be bold and invite people. But sometimes you have to let the spirit do it's job and just encourage them. I'll keep you updated.

 

Bad news: We weren't able to meet with Tom & Belinda this week as planned. We want to teach them so bad! But it's not really that bad of news, because they just weren't home when we went over. They'd have us over any time. I just think it's bad because I love 'em to death. Also, David has been slipping a little bit as of late. He was doing so good! He missed church last week and he left early this week. I was so bummed. He might be having some of the same concerns/frustrations as in times past, but I hope he still has his goals for the temple and the priesthood. We're going to try and see him as much as we can. He can't stop now!

 

More good news: Have I told you about Sis. Hanna? I can't remember... I'll tell you anyways :) Sis. Hanna is a former member of the church that we've been working with. Yeah, you hear me right - former member. Years ago she removed her records because of pressure from her anti husband and such. She told everyone that she'd be back, but a lot of people forgot about her. She's in her 70's now, and she has a lot of emotional problems. She bawled her eyes out when Bro. Gaylord first referred her to us, but she's been doing a lot better since. We visit with her regularly and we made a deal with her that we'd call her every morning at 9:00 if she'd quit smoking and quit coffee. Well, I'm happy to report that she has! For 2 weeks now! She's been to church 2 times in a row now, and she doesn't plan on stopping. She wants to be re-baptized, but we all know that it won't be as easy this time. I'm still trying to get a hold of Bishop Carroll so I'll know what has to happen for her to be baptized again. I hope she can! She's one of my favorite people right now!

 

Well, it's good to hear from y'all and to hear about all the things happening back home. Mom, I totally want one of your famous cookies! (hint hint) haha jk :) That's so cool that someone knew me in Joplin! Boy, I wish I knew who that was. And that story about Frank's friend - awesome! The church is so true, my friends.

 

Have a great week and good luck in everything.

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. I am fascinated by skyscrapers and big cities. Tulsa isn't huge, and it doesn't have a ton of skyscrapers, but I still had to take the opportunity to take some pictures when we passed by the other day. Surprisingly, it's very quiet in downtown during the day. Not too much going on. Enjoy!

 

March 19, 2012- I'm swimming!

Dear Family,

 

Oh man, as of this past week, the weather has really warmed up and it's gotten really humid. I feel like I'm floating in water! Haha jk ;) Today it is raining and it kinda stinks outside. I don't really know why... Owasso doesn't usually stink quite like Springdale did. I'm sure I already told you this, but Springdale had quite the interesting smells because of all the Tyson and Cargill plants (chicken and turkey and such). What's funnier though, is that it would smell different for each of the 7 days of the week. One day it would be a good chicken smell - like fried chicken. But then the next it would smell like rotting chicken carcasses. Yuck.

 

Well anyways, it's been a great week! Mom, that positive, hard working spirit that you asked about is sure working hard and is positive (most of the time). I love the work and the people, and Owasso has become home for me. Of course, I don't always feel accepted, but that's all part of the job. You're right - our battles with Satan are more real than a lot of things. Satan will do anything to stop the work. But I love the quote by Joseph Smith, "The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work... the truth of God will go forth boldy, nobly, and independent..." I remember memorizing that in my mission prep class at BYU and I repeat to myself whenever times seem tough. Lucifer can do everything he can to stop the work from progressing, but it certainly will still progress. The Lord knows who's ready for His message.

 

We picked up a new investigator this week! Her name is Paige (I'm trying to remember if I've mentioned her to you before. She's friends with Chevi - who wanted us to bless her home) In the past we've helped Paige move into her apartment and we painted it too (I found out that I'm no good at painting. My clothes got absolutely covered in paint!) While we did service for her, she mentioned that she wanted to know Jesus Christ a little more. It seemed important to her. So Elder Ivie and I dropped by her place on Tuesday just to see how she was doing and to see if she was interested. We ended up having a really spiritual conversation about prayer and Heavenly Father's love for us. Paige is a single mom, so she has plenty of problems. But she is very prayerful. She loves the comfort that she feels and knows that God has always been there for her. I felt prompted to share 2 Ne. 32:8-9, which talks about the Spirit teaching us to pray and the Devil teaching us not to pray. Paige really identified with that scripture, and her curiosity in the Book of Mormon grew. She then asked us, "Do you guys, like, have a copy of the Book of Mormon I could have. For free?" And we were like, "Uh... YES." And she was like, "And can you come teach me about the Book of Mormon more in the future?" And we were like, "Uh... BIGGER YES." (haha we didn't really say that) We're meeting with Paige tonight at 7:00. Wish us luck!

 

Yesterday we brought Bro. Kennedy and his daughter over to meet Tom and Belinda. Bro. Kennedy felt that he should meet them because they sounded awesome and they were right down the street from him. As always, they were happy to let us in and they immediately love the Kennedys as well. Tom was sharing his usual riddles and puns (which I totally love. I almost literally DIE from laughter when we go over to their place), and we had some nice small-talk for a while. We were getting close to leaving when Bro. Kennedy piped up and asked them to come to one of our church services in the future. Tom said that eventually they might because of how nice we've been, but he started saying that we don't agree with some of the simple fundamentals of the gospel. He shared his usual scripture in 1 Timothy about God coming down in the flesh to save us all, and he asked us how we could believe in 3 seperate individuals (the Godhead). We tried to explain things, but were getting nowhere. But before things got heated, Bro. Kennedy decided to share with Tom and Belinda his conversion story. It was basically like, "We may believe in many different things than you, but let me tell you why I'm Mormon." Bro. Kennedy went on to share one of the most beautiful, spiritual conversion stories I've ever heard. The spirit was so strong that everyone was close to tears (well, Bro. Kennedy was already crying). The spirit was able to testify to me that what he was saying was true, and I know that Tom and Belinda felt it too. I looked at them afterwards, and they both looked like they had been hit in the face with a baseball bat. Afterwards, we talked as if nothing happened, but hopefully the big fat seeds we planted will grow.

Time out! I am now in Best Buy about an hour after the power went out in the library. All of the computers shut down and I only had like 10 minutes left. Lame! Right when I was getting to the good part in Tom and Belinda's story... Oh well, I'll tell you more later. I can't stay on here forever.

Have a great week! Hugs and kisses (okay maybe not kisses. Gross!)

Love, Elder Atkin

March 12, 2012 - Time to be BOLD!

Dear Family,

 

Less than 3 weeks until General Conference!! WOOHOO!!! I flippin' can't wait until I can hear from our prophet. I think that sometimes I forget that we actually have a prophet of God on the earth. It's like, "Yeah, yeah. Thomas S. Monson is the prophet. That's cool. Blah blah." But right now I'm like, "Holy catfish we have a prophet on the earth that not only recieves revelation for us, but for the whole world!!" So, yeah. I'm pumped.

 

Mom, I agree with you. When it comes to severe weather, I think I'm more worried about my stuff than myself. I know, that's horrible, but I really haven't faced anything yet to make me worried. We have a plan in place for all types of weather, so I feel safe. Besides, all of the crazy weather that has happened so far has come in the night when I'm asleep. And when I'm asleep, I'm ASLEEP. That's one thing I'm thankful for on my mission so far is that I can fall asleep in an instant and get a good night's rest. Elder Ivie is totally the opposite - even the littlest breeze against our window keeps him up. That, and I snore a little bit haha :)

 

So. Life is great! El Diablo is trying real hard to get me in a bad mood as of late, but I ain't lettin' him. The lack of investigators, referrals, appointments, etc. frustrates me, but I'm pretty much used to it now. It's kinda bad though, because I'm getting tempted to do dumb things to get investigators. I won't tell you the list, but don't worry - I wouldn't be breaking rules. Also, Elder Ivie is pretty much out of money for the month already, so he's kinda mooching off my food right now. We both can't figure out where it all went, but either way he's in trouble. The only thing I can do is let him eat my food so he doesn't starve. No more stops at QuikTrip for food until April. Well, at least for him...

 

No, we didn't get 20 lessons a week :( But hey, we got 16!! It's kinda funny how we complain if we don't make it to 20, yet 2 months ago 5 lessons was a great week. Not to brag or anything, but the whole Tulsa East Zone/Stake has caught onto Elder Jensen, Bishop, and I's idea. They are now collecting active member lessons (AMLs) as an indicator! Thank you, thank you *cheering**clapping*. Haha jk :) But really, our stake president believes that as we consistently get 20 (as a zone/stake), we'll get baptisms. Sorry, you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but it's the hot topic around here.

 

We met with Tom and Belinda again this week on Saturday. I went to Walmart and bought him a big Coke because I couldn't guess a riddle right (Tom loves puns and riddles) when we ate pizza the last Saturday. He wasn't expecting me to actually do it, so he was really surprised. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I told Tom that a deal's a deal, and that Elder Atkin always follows through, even if it was a joke. But on the bummer side of things, we weren't able to teach a lesson because Tom was really tired and really out of it. Belinda was there, and we had a great visit, but we were hoping to lay it all on the table and commit them to baptism. We'll get 'er done this week!

 

On Saturday, we met with Deb and Branden to reset his baptismal date and teach about the Plan of Salvation. Since Branden is young, we're breaking the lessons up into pieces and making sure he understands. We taught Branden part 1 of the P.O.S. (pre-earth life to earth life), and had Bro. Johnson share some of his thoughts as well. The good news is that we reset his date successfully to the 14th of April! But the bad news is that they didn't show up at church, despite us committing them like 4 times to come. Golly I just want to pull out my hair sometimes! We try so hard to get someone to church so they can feel the spirit and recieve revelation and meet members and be taught and and and..... They don't come because they "feel sick" or they have to go somewhere to see somebody and do something important. YOUR ETERNAL SALVATION IS IMPORTANT, DEB. It's pretty much impossible to get Branden to church without Deb, so that's what's frustrating. Branden's all for going to primary and being baptized, he just needs that support. Sheesh... I'm getting tired of Bro. Moe (gospel principles teacher) nagging us for not having an investigator at church. Well, Bro. Moe, give us a referral then.

 

Sorry if this email is dumb. I really don't beg members to give us a referral and such. I'm trying my hardest just to teach by the spirit and help members feel good about missionary work. It's a constant, epic battle.

 

But despite my frustrations, church was as good as always. I felt the spirit big time and my testimony meter was filled to the brim. It feels so stinkin' good!!

 

I know that the Gospel is true. The Plan of Redemption is very real and it is for everybody, young and old. I love the prophet Joseph Smith with all my heart and I feel the power of the first vision more and more each day. I love you so much! Have a great week!

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. Here's some pictures Mommy. The first one is of my main man Elder Ivie and I, sitting on the Mitchell's couch. The 2nd one is of a sweet planner cover I made out of an Arizona Mucho Mango drink. Thirdly, it's springtime in Owasso! Though I do wish I could see the beautiful Wellsville Mountains with their glistening snow...

 

Elder Ivie and Elder Atkin

Spring time in Owasso

March 6, 2012- Tornado Alley

Dear Family,

 

Did you hear about all of the tornados around my mission last Tuesday?! Crazy stuff! Nothing really happened around here, but I heard about tornados in Pittsburg, Kansas and Branson, Missouri. You probably know more than me because you watch the news, but I still get updates about tornados watches and warnings. Haha Elder Ivie and I were actually walking outside at around 8:30 PM when we heard that there was a tornado watch. I noticed that it was really windy, but I didn't think much of it. Don't worry, Mom - I know what to do in a tornado. The Mitchells have a nice bunker thing in their house anyway. But Elder Jensen did call me the next day and told me about the tornado in Pittsburg (where he is). Apparently there was a little bit of damage to houses and trees, so they've been doing a lot of service. As district leader, I'm supposed to call all of the areas in my district after such warnings/watches to make sure everyone is okay and report to the zone leaders.

 

Yes, I have been taking good care of Elder Ivie. I might've exaggerated a little bit in my last email, so I hope you don't think that he's a total dupe with no confidence. Elder Ivie is quite intelligent and funny. You just have to know him first :) But seriously, we're really getting along as the days go by. He's my new best pal. It's totally different from Elder Jensen though. Elder Ivie feels like my little brother. He's super hilarious and I can pretty much say anything I want around him. I feel 100% comfortable. Golly, I've been spoiled the past few months! Owasso is my favorite and so are my most recent companions. The only thing that would make life better is a bunch of new investigators. I'm still waiting on that one.

 

But I do have to say that we did get 2 new investigators this week! We went on splits with Taylor (an elder our age who can't go on a mission because of health problems) on Tuesday and visited a bunch of potentials from tracting. It was one of those days (that we have quite often) where all of our plans fall through because nobody is interested/home. The last potential we stopped by was a mid-aged couple named Tom and Belinda. When we first tracted into Tom, he let us right in and was very kind to us. Him and his wife are hard-core Southern Baptist, so they didn't seem too interested, but they really love the elders because they've met with some in the past.

 

I didn't think that there was much there, but I decided to drop by again with Taylor because I remembered how nice they were and we didn't have anyone else to see. Similarly to the first time, Tom answered the door and let us right in with a hearty greeting. We sat down and had a nice spiritual discussion (aka Bible study) for about an hour. Things seemed to be wrapping up, so I was getting ready to leave. Suddenly Taylor bears a powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon and how it helps him each day. I kinda panicked because I didn't want Taylor to ruin our budding friendship. I was thinking, "They're not interested in the Book of Mormon and they're going to start bashing and all will be lost!" Obviously you can see who was wrong. They listened intently and we were able to leave them with a prayer. When we got outside to the car, we all just sat there quietly until Taylor was like, "Fellas. There's a lot more to Tom and Belinda then you think." I knew he was right. I felt it as he bore his witness. To make a long story short, Tom invited us over for Pizza on Saturday and we were there for 3 hours. We're hoping to start teaching the discussions with them next visit.

 

I certainly learned a few lessons from that visit. And you can count on Taylor going out with us more in the future. What a spiritually in-tune guy!

 

Man, time sure ran out quickly today! I'll be sure to send you a better email next week. And once again, I forgot pictures :(

 

Have a great week, loved ones! I think about you and pray for you often.

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. Congrats on your calling, Mom! You'll do great :)

 

P.P.S. I can't wait for conference!