April 23, 2012

Dear Family,

 

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey there, Fam! Here's a big shout out frum yer sun in Oooooooooooooklahoma!! I really think that the Okie in me is starting to surface. I recently bought a bag of sunflower seeds to munch on while I'm driving and I find myself saying y'all all the time. You may laugh at this, but I seriously change my language when I start talking to people who are lifetime Okies. It's natural. It feels good. They accept me :) I'll tell you what, there are so many things wearing off on to me. We meet with many people who are quite long-winded, if ya know what I mean. It used to drive me bonkers when I'd go into a lesson and get out 2 hours later after hearing someones life story for the 10th time. That isn't the case anymore. I'm not saying that I'm okay with staying in homes for 2 hours all the time, but sometimes ya just gotta let it flow. Everyone out here is long-winded. I mean EVERYONE. I myself am becoming long-winded. I could talk for hours! I'm trying to shorten my lessons instead of lengthen them. Just wait until I come home :)

 

A good example of my long-windedness comes from yesterday in sacrament meeting. Elder Ivie and I were asked to give talks a few days ago. I was assigned to talk on the 3rd Article of Faith and the significance of the Atonement, and Elder Ivie was assigned to talk on Jacob 4:14 (looking beyond the mark) and his thoughts on the Atonement. You can only imagine how prepared we were because of our busy missionary schedules. We started Saturday night! Luckily we were able to gather a few thoughts together (though Elder Ivie was about ready to kill himself with anxiety. Poor guy). I used some of Elder Holland's remarks in the March 2008 Liahona to help me explain the Atonement.

 

There were five speakers on Sunday with an intermediate hymn. 2 were youth speakers, then us, then the hymn, then the main speaker - Bro. Wing. We were asked to talk 5-10 minutes. The time came for Elder Ivie to give his talk. Despite his fears, tears, and dripping sweat, the champ delivered a great talk on not "looking beyond the mark" and becoming a follower of Christ. It was real short and to the point. As he ended, I wiped my sweaty palms and tried to calm my nerves as I walked to the pulpit. Luckily I didn't faint on my way up. But as I started to speak, my silent prayers were answered and I surprisingly felt very calm. Suddenly I felt such confidence and I began to speak with clarity and with conviction. Boy, it felt good! But on the other hand, I still wasn't quite prepared and I dived deeper and deeper into Elder Holland's thoughts and other points of deep doctrine, such as the law of restoration and such... I didn't realize that I was just blabbing on and on! As I began wrapping up my talk and began sharing my testimony, I looked up at the clock. Instant embarassment and panic entered my soul as I realized that I had talked for 20 minutes. AAHHH!! I quickly finished and sat down in a flustered, red-faced mess. It only got worse as Bro. Hagedorn got up and announced that there would be no intermediate hymn due to time constraints. I was not a happy camper. While I felt like the Lord helped me out, I still feel like I was boring and - you guessed it - very long-winded. I knew it was bad when people walked up to Elder Ivie and congratulated him on his talk profusely and then slowly turned to me, patted me on the shoulder, and quietly said that I gave a good talk. Sheesh.

 

But life goes on. And boy, does it ever! Two Sundays in a row now we've received calls from various people explaining that they want us to teach their friend, family member, etc. Tomorrow we have an appointment with Mikey Bliss and his wife, who is a non-member. Last week we taught a girl who was baptized when she was little, but doesn't know anything about the church and wants to know more. Sis. Mosdell might have a non-member in her home when we teach her a lesson this Thursday. Sis. Hanna's neighbor wants us to visit her as soon as possible. Ranch Creek is teaching a woman who will soon be referred to us because she lives in our area. Sis. Hakanson has a couple of teenagers who will be taking the discussions from us soon. Holy cow, where did this come from!!! I've been hoping and praying that this would happen for the longest time, and it finally is. I'm seriously going to be so sad if I receive a transfer call in 3 weeks saying that I'm moving to Missouri. And by the way things usually go, I'll probably get transferred this next time. Big ol' sad face :(

 

I guess that's the pain of missionary work. But I've been getting better at recognizing the tender mercies here and there. This week we had an amazing experience with an older couple who recently moved in. They haven't been coming to church because they're literally dying. They wanted us to come over so bad so that we could give them both a blessing. Their name is the Turners. I was devastated as they explained their various diagnosises, but they cheered me up with their mountainous faith. Bro. Turner has been told that he'll die in a few months. Cancer is taking over his body. Sis. Turner has so many problems that I can't even name one. She'll probably give up the ghost in her sleep any day. But they know where they're going. They are still deeply in love with each other. They believe in Jesus Christ.

 

Well, I gotta go. Thanks for the email and for your prayers and support! Have a great week!

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. Here's an awesome joke that I heard yesterday. I copied it from google.

 

Jesus and Satan have a discussion as to who is the better programmer. This goes on for a few hours until they come to an agreement to hold a contest, with God as the judge.

They sit themselves at their computers and begin. They type furiously, lines of code streaming up the screen, for several hours straight. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning strikes, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power is restored, and God announces that the contest is over.

He asks Satan to show what he has come up with. Satan is visibly upset, and cries, "I have nothing. I lost it all when the power went out."

"Very well, then," says God, "let us see if Jesus fared any better."

Jesus enters a command, and the screen comes to life in vivid display, the voices of an angelic choir pour forth from the speakers. Satan is astonished.

He stutters, "B-b-but how? I lost everything, yet Jesus' program is intact. How did he do it?"

God smiled all-knowingly, "Jesus saves."

April 16, 2012 How be ye?

Dear Family,

 

I'm glad that you enjoyed April and I's letters from last week. What an experience!! Pretty much everyone in my ward now totally loves April (Sister Atkin) to death. Bro. Braisted can't stop talking about it with me, and I can't get enough of it. The young women gave me a picture of them with April. Maybe I'll try to get a copy for y'all. I feel so refreshed! I feel like a brand new missionary! I want to tract all day (even though Elder Ivie doesn't want to). The opportunities are endless when you feel as good as I do.

 

Haha I'm glad you got the picture of Elder Ivie and I and the Ranch Creek elders. That picture is of us cleaning the Lovelace's bathroom. They're getting ready to move and they've had us come over twice now to paint and pack and move stuff and clean. I love service! Bro. Lovelace has a strange disease that made him lose 6 years of memory about 2 months ago. It's crazy!! He's pretty much normal now (besides a few seizures), but he's just beginning to accept that he has two extra children and he went to Japan a few years ago. I do not envy his situation. They're cool though. Bro. Lovelace swears like a sailor. The members out here a great :)

 

Right now we're in the process of waiting for a few people to take the discussions. Don't worry, we work still, we're not literally waiting. But a few different members now have a few people who have agreed to start meeting with us. How exciting is that! You have to understand that getting a single member referral out here is a huge deal. Like, I've been praying for this forever. Referrals are especially awesome because like I mentioned before, Elder Ivie is really quiet (except around people he knows) and can barely talk to random people on the street, let alone tracting. It's so hard for me to gain the confidence to spend time finding (and even teaching), when I know that it's all on me. Sometimes I try forcing Elder Ivie to share a spiritual thought or talk to somebody, but it's really not effective. Don't get me wrong, I love Elder Ivie to death, but he just needs to open his mouth. I can't teach an area on my own. That's partly why we haven't been finding too many new investigators lately. Would you want to go and tract all day by yourself? That's what it's like. But things are improving. We've talked about how we're going to try and give each other positive encouragement. We feel like it can help both of us be more confident in our efforts as ministers.

 

It's been a blessing for Elder Bennett (Ranch Creek) to get Elder Burr from the MTC. Elder Burr is excited just like any other greeny, but he's really smart too. He already seems like a seasoned veteran, and his confidence and go-get-'em attitude is really wearing off onto me. This whole past while I've been needing a kick-start, and so all these past events have really helped me out. Now that I know that God cares, I can do anything, right? We'll see.

 

Sorry this'll be cut short, but I was emailing April back and forth a little bit. She got transferred! I'm so excited for her to get to full proselyting. I'm excited to hear about her experiences in the "cliffside" of Kansas.

 

Have a great week! Love and peace, my homies!

 

Love, Elder Atkin

April 9, 2012 Easter Weekend

Dear Family,

 

What a wonderful Easter weekend! Yes Mom, I have been able to watch the Bible videos and I love them so much. They make the Atonement feel so real. Some excellent talks were given in church yesterday (one of which I'll tell you about in a bit), and it's been great to feel of the spirit and remember the Atonement and resurrection of the Savior lately. I got to teach Sis. Mitchell's primary class again yesterday, and we talked about the resurrection. I'm sure you've seen the glove analogy where your hand is the spirit and the glove is your body. The kids sure loved that one. They all think I'm the funniest person on earth, so life is good :)

 

Thanks for the Easter package! Elder Ivie and I were dancing around like children on Christmas when we both got our packages. Starburst jellybeans? DELISH. Thank you thank you thank you! And your cookies are amazing Mom! That's some serious talent right there. I traded candy with Elder Ivie, but I didn't share the cookies haha.

 

So I'm sure April will tell you all about this in her email, but I have an amazing experience to share with y'all. It's actually quite a miracle. I'm dying to hear what April has to say about this, but I'll tell you my end of the story anyways. Buckle your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen :)

 

I knew that the Kansas City temple open house was coming up soon. April had mentioned it a few times in her letters to me, and I was so jealous that I couldn't attend myself. Soon enough, I heard that a few people from our ward were going to be there and go through the visitors center as well. But I didn't really think much of it. Sis. Walker said she was going, and so I told her to look for Sister Atkin and say hi for me. Not going to lie, I kinda forgot about it all.

 

Sunday morning comes around, and we go to the church at 8:00 for MCM with the ward council. We're waiting for the bishop to show up, and we're just chatting with Bro. Kennedy. Bro. Kennedy tells me that his daughter Nichole went to the open house and met Sister Atkin! It was really exciting and I asked him a few questions, but soon our meeting started and I quickly forgot. I still hadn't made all the connections.

 

I'm in sacrament meeting now with Elder Ivie. The Elm Creek ward has put together an excellent program, and the chapel is more full than usual. What a wonderful Easter Sunday! We sing a few hymns, we partake of the sacrament, and the first speaker gets up. It's the Bettridge's daughter, Carolyn. She tells us that she has been asked to talk on her experience with the young women at the Kansas City temple open house. I still didn't get it. She relates her wonderful experience of going to Liberty Jail and other church sites, and eventually their tour of the visitors center. I sat up a little bit. Out of nowhere she mentions that they were able to meet Elder Atkin's sister and receive the tour from her. Through a series of miraculous events, they went to the visitors center right at the perfect time to have April give them the tour! The girls absolutely loved it and they all connected well with Sis. Atkin. Sis. Walker was able to give April a hug for me, and they all took pictures afterward. You can only imagine my emotions. I couldn't hold back the tears as I had a little moment in the corner of the chapel. I had no idea! Carolyn then got a little emotional as she explained that Sis. Atkin's influence made her think about going on a mission. She had never thought of it before, but because of April's testimony and example, she is seriously considering it. She then explained that Saturday was also Sister Atkin's birthday. I was basically swimming in tears.

 

After sacrament meeting, I talked to Bro. Braisted who was there with the young women. We both shed more tears as he shared his experience and the feelings he felt as Sister Atkin gave them the tour and shared her testimony. I just couldn't believe it! What are the chances!!! We both expressed to each other how we knew that the Lord's hand was in the whole thing. So many things could've happened that would've prevented them from meeting April. I knew right there and then that I had witnessed a miracle. I thanked everyone I could (who was there) for actually being there and being part of this experience. It means everything to me. In a way that I couldn't see coming, the Lord showed me that he loves me. I simply cannot type the words to express my feelings right now! I know that April and I are where we are supposed to be. I feel closer to her, and each of you, than since the beginning of my mission.

 

I'm excited to tell you more about this miracle when we talk to each other over the phone next month. I'm even getting choked up in the library! How embarrassing! All I can say is that I know God is mindful of us and that he cares. This experience was an answer to prayers for me in many ways. I try to always be happy, but sometimes it's SO hard. The work is tough and sometimes I feel alone. Elder Ivie's family is having issues back home, so he hasn't been 100%. I feel such a load sometimes that I just can't bear. Sometimes I have zero desire to work because of stress and anxiety. But I know without a doubt that God is there and that he loves me. That's all that matters!

 

I'm about out of time, but I hope you know that I love each one of you so much. April, I hope you find comfort in the fact that you touched many lives on Saturday. Your influence is worth more than most things that may seem important to these girls. God lives! His son, Jesus Christ lives! They love us immensely. I am a personal witness of their love and desire for us to be happy and successful. The gospel is true.

 

Have a great week! Sorry if this letter was crazy or confusing...

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. I love the pictures! I miss y'all so much.

 

(editors note: If you would like to read April's letter to get her side of the story go to  http://sunnyapostrophe.blogspot.com/)

 

April 2, 2012 - Transfer Calls

Dear Family,

 

Mom, I think that it would be beneficial for me to inform you that I copy/paste your emails into the email I'm composing so I can remember what was said and reply to your questions. But, sadly, I often fail at answering every question and keeping you 100% updated on my mission experience. You asked a lot of questions in the first paragraph of you email, so I'm just going to leave the questions in and answer them as I go.

 

Did you survive transfers?! Yes. It was quite uneventful actually... Where are you? I'm still in Elm Creek!! Yay!! I really would love to stay here forever. Do you have a new companion?! Nope. I still got my pal Elder Ivie :) What a champ. Did you just love conference?! Holy moley I LOVED every bit of conference! I'll tell you more about it in a bit. Did you see Frank and David Archuletta singing in the choir? I saw Frank and totally flipped out with excitement! And Elder Archuletta - what a man. I totes saw him too. How's all your clothes holding up? My clothes are still in great shape... Besides a couple of shirts... Don't worry, they're fixable. I just do stupid things like rip off my pocket on accident and such. No big deal :) Do you even get scared anymore about approaching people or big changes like transfers? I do have to admit that I still tense up a tiny bit when I approach people, but surely not as much as when I was green. Boy, was I green! I don't really get super nervous about transfer calls anymore either. They come quicker and quicker each time. But Elder Ivie, on the other hand, was kinda freakin out. Haha I love him so much! I loved the Christ like example that they talked about in conference when the Elder comforted his companion and the guy had a change of heart when he saw their example. I loved that too. That actually really hit me hard because I often laugh it off when someone's not interested. I guess it's my way with coping... I don't need to cry each time someone rejects me, but do I care enough about their salvation that I'm devastated when they don't accept our message? Big time lesson learned there. What's the biggest thing you learned this week? That was one big lesson I learned this week, but there were many others. Too many to narrow it down to one. Lets just say that conference changed my life. Again. What was your favorite conference talk? It was all so good! I really liked Henry B. Eyring's Saturday talk. I wish I had brought my notes to the library, darn it!!! Thanks for the pictures! You're welcome :) isn't Tulsa cool lookin'? How's your spirits? Is there anything I can do for you? Your Mom and Dad sure love you!!!! Don't worry, dear parents. I can feel your love from 1,200 miles away. There were times in conference where they briefly mentioned the support that missionaries have back home. It's in moments like these that I really feel connected to home and can just imagine y'all thinking about me as I think about you. My spirits are often all over the place, but they are always on a steady trend upward. Missions are good spiritual exercize. Boy, does it feel great! The most important thing you can do for me is to pray for my investigators and for Owasso. There are people that desperately need our message. Pray for me that I might be inspired to find them. I need the confidence to talk to everybody and anybody. I believe that prayer is powerful.

 

Well, as to inform you about my week, things have been going well. Sis. Hanna was able to attend conference with us at the Gaylord's home and she really loved it. She was so touched by the messages, and she felt that it was totally for her. Many of our leaders talked about returning to activity and the blessings of coming back into the fold. It is never too late for someone to return and receive the blessings of fellowship and the atonement. She desperately wants to return to church and be rebaptized. We all agree that she's still alive and sane (partly sane haha) because she needs to take that step of faith and rejoin the church. I've been wondering if she should really count as an investigator for us because of her interesting predicament, but that's not what really matters. She has the desire. She knows what's right. And she wants us (Elder Ivie and I) to help her get there. I love her so much! Nobody ever wants to see her more than once because she can talk your ear off, but she has such a sweet spirit. She wants me to baptize her when the time comes. Hopefully I'm still here.

 

I'm really beginning to love elderly people more and more. I'm so sad that Gladys Johnson died :( She was always so nice and sweet when I dropped off fast offerings to her. I can't help but get a little teary-eyed when I think about the little conversations we had each month. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but I appreciate it now. We meet regularly with older people. Some are active, some are less-active, and some are non-members. Some can't attend church because of their failing health. They wish so badly to be there, but they just simply cannot go. Martha is waiting to have another surgery pretty soon, and she looks very very tired when we go over sometimes. Bro. Butler is manfully fighting his Parkinson's, but he can barely talk. A couple of fast sundays ago he stood up out of his wheel chair and bore one of the most powerful testimonies I've heard. You could barely hear him, but there wasn't a dry eye in the congregation. There is something special about those whose mortal bodies are failing them. They are getting closer and closer to returning to "that God who gave them life," as referred to by Alma in chapter 40. Gladys Johnson is in a state of happiness and rest. She's returned home :)

 

The gospel is true! The Holy Ghost testifies of it's truthfulness to me each day. We were able to get Tom and Belinda over to the Mawby's for lunch yesterday. They didn't stay for conference, but we had a great lesson on charity and not casting the first stone with them. Tom helped us out. When I thought we were done, and as I was about to close with my testimony, Tom then fired the big guns at the Mawbys. "I believe that God and Jesus are the same person. What do you believe?" We were all taken off guard. Luckily, the spirit was still able to dwell with us as we shared our differences and bantered lightly. We were arguing in the Lord :) After all was said and done, Sis. Mawby bore a powerful witness about the gospel and the Restoration through Joseph Smith. The Spirit was almost tangible. I know that Tom and Belinda felt it. But once again, did they recognize it? Only time will tell.

 

I'm almost out of time again, but I hope you know that I love each one of you very much. I'm so greatful for our family relationships and for the gospel in our lives. Where would we be without it? Where would we look to in times such as these?

 

Have a great week!

 

Love, Elder Atkin

 

P.S. You can probably tell that I didn't nearly get to finish what I wanted to say, but that's okay. I could talk your collective ears off all day about General Conference. I will say this about it: Amen.