Dear Family,
It rained this week! From what I hear, pretty much every state in the country has been in desperate need of rain. I've always found it quite interesting and touching when people pray for rain in church, in lessons, at dinner, etc. It didn't rain for days and days, but it was enough to lift peoples' spirits here in Missouri. It has been getting so hot! But because of the rain, today is a bit cooler. What a nice break from the heat. Too bad it won't last forever...
I love the article you sent me, Mom. Every time I hear about the subject of Mormonism being brought up on a national stage it makes me giddy with excitement. Any news is good news! Sure, there are a lot of negative views on our church out there, but that just causes people to ask questions. We aren't teaching like crazy here in Joplin (though we will be next week), but people sure are asking questions. Walmart, gas stations, Subway... You name it, we get asked some pretty good questions. Some of them are quite funny :) Do you REALLY believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers?!?! Why yes, I do. hahahaha! So yes, Mom, I love those kinds of articles. Anything else going on in the world that has to do with the church? I'd love to hear what's going on.
It's been another good week. Elder Quinn was sick again for a couple of days, but we still taught some great lessons. Gosh, I worry about the guy's health sometimes... Luckily, he was healthy enough when it was game-time though. We had a really fun 4th of July in which we spent most of the day golfing and then doing service. We did a little bit of proselyting, but as I've said before, nobody really likes to see us on holidays. President Merkley would always tell us that it's a great opportunity to meet families and teach a lot of lessons, but from my experience holidays are some of the worst days to knock on a door. But don't worry, that doesn't stop us. We just try to be more effective and smart in our work on holidays. Service is definitely one of those ways. We helped some people move into their new house and in return they took us to get some BBQ. Score! Golfing was a lot of fun, but we definitely weren't very good. Bro. Kartchner and Bro. Tucker were nice enough to invite us to the Briarbrook Community 4th of July Scramble (if you don't know what a scramble is, google it), but in the end I think they were expecting us to be a little better than we were. It's okay though, we all had fun, but we sure didn't win the competition.
On Friday, we met President Shumway and his wife for the first time in Springfield. We were all wondering beforehand we he was going to be like. Some elders were worried that he was going to be a stickler for the rules. Isn't that ridiculously funny and ironic?? But as zone conference started and the both of them spoke, I instantly was a big fan of the Shumways. I thought that I was going to be comparing him to President Merkley the whole time, but in the end there was no comparison at all. There didn't need to be! P Merk and P Shum are two totally different people, but both are powerful and spiritually in-tune. I already trust President Shumway with all I've got. He's quite the intense guy, if you ask me. He laid down the law on obedience and such, but he touched our hearts with his testimony of the Savior and of this work. One minute he'd blaze our eyebrows right off, and the next he'd have us tearing up with feelings that come through the Spirit. What a man! He's got me even more pumped to just hit it hard every single day from 10am to 9:30pm. Here are some of my favorite quotes from President Shumway already:
-"Be fanatically obedient. Irritate your companion with your obedience!"
-"Nobody likes a dull, disillusioned cry baby."
-"Praise Allah. You bet. I'm ready" <--- This one's probably my fave. This was taken from when he was talking about how he wants us to put him to work as a mission president. He wants us to set up appointments at universities, clubs, events, etc. for him to talk about our faith and to answer questions. Isn't that legit?! He's utterly brilliant, I can tell. Somebody mentioned something about him going to a mosque or something, and that's when he said that quote. Hahahaha
So, yeah. I like the new guy. You can tell that Sis. Shumway is totally a greenie, but hey, she reminds me of Mom with her kindness and happiness.
This week we taught Shelby twice in Bishop Hoffman's home. Both lessons were fantastic! She is so so so ready to be baptized. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and everything just clicked into place. She always thought that there was more than just Heaven and Hell, so the kindoms of glory were no problem. Last night we ate dinner with the Hoffmans and then taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so perfect! Sis. Hoffman was able to bear her testimony and Shelby totally cried. She knows it's true :) Just imagine a super classy and attractive woman breaking down into tears because of a simple testimony. Gosh, I love the Gospel! The coolest part of the lesson for me though, came near the end as I was bearing my testimony. I suddenly had the strongest confirmation in my heart that our family could be forever. It was so short and so simple, but it was so strong. I know that I already have a testimony, but it was right there in that happy moment with Shelby and the Hoffmans that I knew without a doubt that I could never ever deny this Gospel. It's kind of intimidating to think about the consequences of that, but at the same time it was very satisfying to know that I've come to that point in my life where I just simply can't deny it. Hot diggety!!!
We picked up a new family this week named the Loftons. They should be pretty solid in the future because they were so nice and have a ton of questions. Yessssssss (Kip fist pump). We also had an excellent lesson with Ashley (who I mentioned texted us out of nowhere and wanted to meet. 40-day fast miracle!). She'd been anti'd recently, but we helped resolve her concerns and she said she's come to church. Bingo!!!
Golly, I'm sure loving Joplin right now. I can't wait to tell you more stories from this week. We're going to work harder than ever! And this week we don't have to worry about zone conferences and such. Hopefully Elder Quinn doesn't get sick again... Have a good one, y'all!
Love, Elder Atkin
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