August 27, 2012 - Lots o' rain

Dear Family,

Howdy, y'all! It's Monday again! I'm here in the library on campus at Missouri Southern State University. School just started last week and so there's TONS of people in here. I feel like I'm in college all over again. And to be quite honest, I miss school. I never thought I'd say that, but I really do miss going to classes, hanging out in the library, taking tests... It's kind of weird.

But anyway. This week was a good week. Lots of our appointments and plans fell through, but hey, that's missionary life. We still got a lot done and we had a good time working. Elder Nordine is already one of my favorite companions so it makes life a lot easier. We didn't get to work as hard as I wanted to because I've been battling a random cold, but things are still great... Well, sort of... I'll explain in a bit.

Before I tell you anything else though, I want to share a little experience I had on Saturday. Elder Nordine and I had just finished our weekly planning that morning (it's supposed to happen on Thursday, but things got in the way), and Elder Nordine went and checked the mail. When he came back, I was surprised to see that I had some mail. Usually I only get a letter from April and from Dad each week and I had already received them. When I looked on the back of the letter I saw that it was from Carolyn Hanna in Owasso. Remember Sis. Hanna? At first I was really worried to open it because I thought she was sending me a letter getting mad at me because I haven't replied to her letter she sent a month ago. Yeah, yeah, so I'm bad at writing letters, okay?! But either way I opened the letter to read what she had to say. I was quickly relieved as I read the first paragraph. She wasn't mad at me! She told me that she knew that I was busy and didn't have time to write. I continued to read. Similarly to the first letter she sent me, she thanked me for being there for her and for helping her quit smoking. I was overcome with joy as she explained that she was almost five months smoke-free thanks to me and my daily phone calls at 9 a.m. But I really wasn't prepared for the next part. Sis. Hanna then said that she was baptized a member of the Lord's Church on the 18th of August 2012. You can only imagine the look of shock on my face. I couldn't hold back the tears as she expressed her feelings of complete happiness and satisfaction of being re-baptized after so long of a wait. She never thought that she'd make it. But with the help of some of the leaders in the Elm Creek ward she finally did it. At the end of the letter she thanked me again and told me that she loved me. Saturday was a great day :)

To be honest, I never thought Sis. Hanna would make it. I remember going over for the first time with Elder Jensen and meeting someone who was desperate for a friend and going crazy. She literally hadn't seen a person for 2 months. I didn't want to go back. But for some reason we kept on meeting with Sis. Hanna and helping her. We taught her the discussions. We would come and just talk. Sometimes I just got so tired of Sis. Hanna, but we kept going back. We helped her quit smoking, but I didn't think it would last. As I left Owasso, I was sad that I wasn't able to see Sis. Hanna come back into the church. Looking back at my time in Owasso, sometimes I felt like a failure. 6 months with no baptisms or anything to show that I was even there. It was all selfish really. I wanted success for the wrong reasons. I wanted the ward to remember me. Heck, I still struggle with my selfish desires, but it's letters like these that really put things in perspective for me. I'm so happy right now! I cannot even describe how big of a boost that was for me on Saturday. Golly, the Lord is really good at sending periodic reminders for me to work hard and remember how much he loves me. I can't wait to write Sis. Hanna back and congratulate her! I miss my crazy friend from Owasso :)

Having that happen on Saturday really helped me deal with what happened on Sunday. Ashley came to church as planned even though she was a bit late. Sacrament Meeting went well, and there were some really good speakers who talked about the Sermon on the Mount. Afterward, we went to Gospel Principles where Bro. Blake gave us a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I thought it was awesome and I thought everything was going well. As we were getting up to leave to go to Priesthood, Ashley stopped me. With a look of sadness on her face, she told me that she had to leave and never come back. She said that she had to follow Christ and her own heart, which was telling her that everything we teach is a bunch of lies. We went out into the hall with Bro. Blake and tried to answer her questions and see what was wrong, but she wouldn't have any of it. To make a long story short, she's been reading too much anti and too little Book of Mormon. She thinks that our church is run by Satan himself. Noooooooo!!!!! The conversation lasted for about an hour, but I was barely able to even speak because of how sad I was. I just watched as Bro. Blake and Elder Nordine talked to her and tried their best. We were able to at least schedule an appointment with her on Tuesday, but I have no idea what we're going to say. Please pray that it goes well! I don't want to lose Ashley!

Alexis is still set to be baptized on the 8th, but we have to teach her a bunch of lessons before then. Hopefully we can make it happen! I'm not worried. It will totally happen. Teaching Alexis tonight will help me get my thoughts off of Ashley.

Well, my time's up. Have a great week family! I love you and miss you.

Love, Elder Atkin

P.S. Thanks for the package! What a pleasant surprise :) There's nothing like getting a surprise in the mail from those that you love. And the shirt that you sent is awesome! Here's a picture of me wearing it. Y'all do a great job at making me BYU-trunky...

August 20, 2012 - The life of a zone leader...

Dear Family,

You're not going to like me saying this, but I really don't know what to say in today's email. Sure, a lot of things happened this week, but I'm pullin' up a blank right now. Hopefully the more I type in the next hour, the more it'll flow. I think one of the problems is that even though I was busy busy busy, we didn't teach that many lessons. I guess that's the life of a zone leader. We're always preparing for instruction in district meetings and zone meetings and exchanges and such. Don't get me wrong, I like preparing for stuff like that, but it can really take a chunk out of our proselyting at times.

Though we didn't teach a lot this week, there is some exciting news I guess. Remember that new investigator I told you about who just fell into our laps? Yeah, she's awesome! We taught Alexis the Restoration on Friday and then had a dinner lesson on Sunday, in which we taught the Plan of Salvation. Talk about perfect lessons! She accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 8th of September on Friday, and yesterday we were already discussing the details of the baptism. She's so excited to get baptized! The coolest part of everything though, is the way she feels about things. She doesn't have a solid foundation of understanding like other people might have, but she likes the way she feels when she goes to church and to youth activities. Gosh, it's such an advantage when investigators already recognize the promptings of the Spirit. And that's exactly how Alexis is. It's such a perfect situation. She has an excellent support system with her aunt and uncle and cousins, and it certainly helps that her mom is coming back to church after 8 years of inactivity. Hooray for families!

Random news of the week: I got my toenail removed! Yeah, I totally went in to get my in-grown toenail checked out, and they were like, "It's pretty infected, so we're just going to take the whole thing off." It kind of freaked me out, but everything went okay. Even awesomer is the fact that I won't have to pay a dime! And neither will you. Dr. Richins (a member) told me that if you get a bill in the mail from a foot clinic in Joplin, you can tear it up and not worry about it. I love members :) I know you're tired of hearing about my toe, but I just thought I'd update you. It's been kind of a big deal for a while now, but I'm okay now. Not to freak you out or anything, but Bro. Richins was worried that the bone might get infected. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Heck, I could've got sent home! But no worries - it's taken care of and it's healing nicely. Just know that your son is in good hands. Mom, just like you I'm thankful for doctors.

Surprising news of the week is that Ashley came to church! Yay! We met with her on Thursday and had a lesson on why we needed the Restoration of the Gospel. It was a refreshingly positive lesson, as compared to lessons in the past (anti, doubt, etc.). Ashley informed us that she's still struggling with smoking and so we talked about how we could help her quit in the future. I had kind of an "aha" moment as she told us this. I remembered the words of companions and leaders in the past and promised Ashley right then and there that if she quit smoking (or at least tried), the Lord would give her an answer about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon sooner than later. We helped her understand that the addiction to smoking could be dulling her sensitivity to the Spirit of the Lord. I figure that's part of the reason why she's been so negative and has been doubting everything we say. The more we talked about it, the more it made sense to her. She agreed to quit smoking (with our help) and to keep coming to church and learning from us. So, that was kind of a miracle when I think about it. And for the 2nd time now, Ashley came to church and absolutely enjoyed it. She loves the fellowship and the feeling that she gets. I think that slowly, but surely Ashley will come around, even if I'm not here in Joplin. And when she does, she'll be rock solid. Cool beans :)

Well, Elder Nordine and I finally have a good open week to just spend time on ourselves. I'm excited to finally hit the pavement after what seems like a long time of different things coming up - transfers, planning, meetings, my toe, etc. Wish me luck!

Have a good one, fam. I sure love y'all so much.

Love, Elder Atkin

P.S. Ooh, I almost forgot! We ate dinner with the Eberhardts the other day and made a most astonishing discovery. They lived in Flagstaff like 40 years ago. They told me this and said they knew a man with the same last name as me. My heart skipped a beat and I asked them if they knew more about this man, because that's where my grandparents are from. They couldn't remember much, but they remembered that he was a high counselor in the church and was a professor at NAU and taught Japanese. I about flipped out and exclaimed, "That's my grandpa, I'm sure of it!" Thus we had a nice conversation about the Atkin family. We live in a VERY small world, folks. And I love making connections :)

August 13, 2012 - New Comp

Dear Family,

Miracle of the week: the temperature has been so much cooler here lately. So much cooler, in fact, that it's just plain ridiculous! It's been in the 70's and the 80's for most of the past week now and I'm just loving it. There's nothing like a cool breeze and cloud cover after weeks of 100+ degree days.

Good news: Elder Nordine is so awesome! He's very very very different from me, but we're already really good friends. He's from Las Vegas, so I was kind of jealous when ward members would "ooh" and "ahh" at church when they found out he wasn't from Utah. Gosh, I'm sick of people hating on Utah! I can't help but feel embarrassed that I grew up there sometimes. I just think it would be so cool to say that I'm from Vegas. But anyways, Elder Nordine has one younger brother and he was born and raised in the church. He's been out on his mission for almost 19 months now, so he doesn't have too much longer left. This is his first time being a zone leader too. He's was really into theater back home, and he was even a theater major at Dixie State. We get along great because we both like to laugh and joke around a lot. We're definitely going to have a good time.

Sad to say that this week was sort of a slow one. Having transfers shouldn't be any excuse to have a slow week, but that's sorta what happened. The day before Elder Quinn left he made sure to say goodbye to all of his favorite members and friends. I really wanted to work, but I didn't want to ruin the good feelings between us. Thus I let him just do his thing. But hey, I can't complain about the 5 meal appointments that we had on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I gained 100 pounds that day. Man, there's some really good BBQ here in Joplin. It was sad to see Elder Quinn go, but I knew we'd see each other at ZLC and such. Change is just hard sometimes, ya know what I mean? Even if it's a good change and I get a sweet companion, it just kind of throws me off. I'm in this weird funk right now. Hopefully it doesn't last long...

2nd Miracle of the week: Elder Nordine and I were at church yesterday and the Joplin 1st ward had just finished its meetings. We found our way through the crowd back to the chapel because the Webb City ward's sacrament meeting had just ended and we wanted to find Bishop Westwood. As we were walking up to the door, a lady walked out and stopped us. She asked, "are you our missionaries?" We replied in the affirmative. She then said, "Good. I'm Sis. Decker and I have a niece that's 16 and has been attending church with us for a few weeks now. She wants to take the discussions and get baptized." After picking up our jaws off the ground, we proceeded to follow Sis. Decker back into the chapel where we met Alexis, her niece. Suddenly it clicked in my mind. A few weeks previous, Sis. Decker's husband called us out of nowhere and informed us of the same thing, just without the details of her wanting to be baptized. All we knew was that they had a niece that might be interested. They said they'd try to set something up and they'd call us in the next week. Well, that never happened, and we totally forgot about it. But lo and behold, Alexis plopped right into our laps. Even cooler is the fact that her mother is returning to church after 8 years of inactivity. That's the reason why Alexis never got baptized in the first place. But either way, Alexis is stoked to learn about the Gospel and set a date with us. And it will be super easy because she's already been attending church regularly. Ka-ching! So yeah, the Lord is truly blessing us. If we hadn't been looking for Bishop Westwood, we wouldn't have talked to Sis. Decker. I'm sure they would've eventually got things lined up and called us, but it just made everything 10 times easier to meet her there, give Alexis a Book of Mormon and a homework assignment, and set up a time this Tuesday.

I've told you a bit about Rachel and Dakota previously. Well, Rachel is our other investigator with a date set for the 8th. We couldn't get a hold of them this week, so we're going to try real hard and teach her this week a couple times. We're a bit worried about Rachel making it to the 8th because they haven't come to church 2 weeks in a row now. I'm sure she's still interested, but I really just wanted it to happen soon. Gosh, I'm so impatient sometimes. But I'm really praying that things work out and we can keep the fire lit. Pray that Rachel will progress!

Sadly, Ashley couldn't make it to church either. She's really been struggling with her beliefs lately, which doesn't help. She absolutely loves the ward and loves our meetings, but she told us (before Elder Quinn left) that she doesn't believe that this is the true church. She claims that her beliefs most align with that of "Messianic Jews." It's okay if she doesn't believe that the church is true (yet), but I just get frustrated because she hasn't put in enough effort to find out if the BOM is true and such. When we met with her on Wednesday, we had somewhat of a "bash" with her and it got us nowhere. She's just so confused! I just wish she would get an answer that it's all true. But I know it won't come if she doesn't have "real intent." I'm sad to say that I kinda lost my cool in our lesson with her. I told her that if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not the Kingdom of God established on the earth, and if she's knows that with a perfect knowledge, then she should look elsewhere. I told her that she should search her whole life, no matter how long it took, to find Christ's true church. If this isn't it, then don't waste your time attending ours! If we don't have the truth, then we're just another one of those bajillions of nice Christian churches out there. I had to repent after that one... But we're meeting with her on Thursday, so at least she's still seeing us. Just pray that your son doesn't lose his cool again.

Well, all in all life is good here in Joplin. I can't wait for the stake center to be finished, and I'm excited for autumn to come. Elder Nordine and I are going to work our tails off, so I'm happy. I know I'm at my peak of happiness when I'm workin' hard. Have a great week, family. I sure miss you a lot sometimes. Dad, the pictures you sent me were absolutely beautiful. I miss the mountains! I miss fly fishing! Golly, you know how to make Elder Atkin homesick. But don't worry, it's a good homesick. I just love y'all so much :)

Love, Elder Atkin

P.S. Here's some pics. First one is of Elder Quinn and I lookin' like champs in the car. The second is of a $40 steak I had the day before Elder Quinn left. It has bleu cheese crumbles on top and it was served on a 500 degree plate. Isn't that awesome?! And thirdly is of Elder Nordine posing all awkward-like. I love this guy :) Hooray!

P.P.S. I'm totally jealous that you get to go to education week. Do you know what I miss? BYU. I miss it so much that it hurts. No matter how bad I did my first year of college there, I just ache to be there.

 

August 6, 2012 - Lots of Stuff

Dear Family,

Why yes, Mom. The weeks sure are flying by! It's like we always say as missionaries: the days are long (very very VERY long), but the weeks are short. Gosh, it's seems like I just got to Joplin, but there are some days that just last forever. We had one of those the other day. We had a lot of good plans and even backup plans, but in the end nobody was home. I mean NOBODY. Our plans and backup plans quickly went out the window so we tried by less actives on the ward list. Still nothing. In the end the only option we had left was to tract, but we decided that it wouldn't be good for me to walk too much because of my in-grown toenail. Yes, I have another in-grown toenail. Darn it! I know y'all are probably disgusted, but it happens. Especially to missionaries, because we walk a lot. I'm so sick of in-grown toenails!!! But I'm getting it taken care of so things should be okay.

Anyways. Before I tell you about the baptism, I need to update you on transfers. Boy did that come quickly! After the baptism on Saturday night we had two appointments with investigators at 8:00. Luckily we had the 2nd ward elders with us, so we just split up - Elder Quinn taught David and I taught Rachel. Rachel is our new investigator who's married to a recent convert named Dakota. They showed up at church out of nowhere last Sunday and Bro. Blake set up an appointment with them on Tuesday night. We taught the Restoration and invited her to be baptized if she came to know that what we were teaching was true. We left her with Alma 32 to read and the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. When Elder Pope and I walked into their house on Saturday night, I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only had Rachel read the chapter, she had taken notes and written down questions. Now how often does that happen!? We then commenced with a discussion about faith, being "poor in spirit", and such. It was totally awesome and she was soaking it up like a sponge. After about 15 minutes, the discussion slowed down a bit. I was about to go right on into our lesson on the Word of Wisdom (they requested that we teach the Word of Wisdom after our lesson on Tuesday). Suddenly Dakota raised his hand and said in a quiet voice, "Hey. We should start with a prayer." I about keeled over and died. How had I forgotten to open with a prayer?! Totally not cool! But at the same time it was flippin' awesome that Dakota would even think of it. Man, was I humbled. Even though Dakota is kind of less-active and struggles with smoking, he knew the power that prayer has. After that, we taught an excellent lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Both Dakota and Rachel are breaking the Word of Wisdom, but after discussing D&C 89, they were able to see the blessings from obeying the Lord's commandments. With a bit of reluctance, they agreed to live the Word of Wisdom for a week and see what would come of it. I specifically promised them that if they lived the Word of Wisdom for a week, they'd gain a testimony of it and that Rachel's prayers regarding the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith would be answered. Before we left, we set a baptismal date for the 8th of September. Legit! Meanwhile, in Webb City, Elder Quinn had a fantastic lesson with David. It's the first time in over month that we've been able to see him, and Elder Quinn was able to set a date with him for the 1st of September. Even more legit! Gosh, it was a night of miracles, I'm telling you. I had no idea that we'd have such success right after a baptism! The Lord is truly blessing us.

Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about transfers! As we were driving back up to Webb City to pick up Elder Quinn and Elder Lund, I got a call from the Mission Home. I looked at the time and realized that it was after 9 - transfer call time! I started freaking out, but I calmly answered the phone. It was Elder Treasure, the assistant. He informed me that Elder Quinn would be getting transferred to St. Robert to be a zone leader with Elder Urban (who was in my MTC district). My heart immediately sunk. Elder Quinn would be leaving :( Elder Treasure then told me that my new companion is Elder Nordine. Crazy! Just when Elder Quinn and I were becoming the best of friends, he has to leave :( You see, Elder Quinn and I have been pretty good friends for these past 2 transfers, but it seemed like there was something missing. A couple of weeks ago I realized that the missing puzzle piece was trust. We just simply didn't trust each other! No matter how good of friends you are with someone, it doesn't matter if you don't completely trust each other. That's why Elder Quinn would take over in lessons and instruction. He didn't trust me. And the same goes for me - I didn't trust him. The lack of trust was really building up and the pressure was increasing more and more until it finally exploded and then we were pals again. And man was it a good week! And now I'm totally gonna miss the guy! Doesn't that stink?? Wow, the life of a missionary...

So I don't know much about Elder Nordine, but I've heard good things. Either way we're going to work our tails off. Nothing gets me pumped to work like a baptism. Oh yeah, the baptism!! It was awesome :) Shelby's family came and we had a few members of the ward council show up. I was a little disappointed with the turnout, but it still went well. The Spirit was so strong as Cody immersed her in the water. I looked over at Shelby's Mom and she was crying. I knew that she felt the Spirit touch her heart. It was just too perfect! Haha it was funny - Shelby's dad looked really up-tight and nervous at the beginning of the baptism, but by the end he looked happy and satisfied. I think he was expecting those crazy Mormons to do something to his daughter :) We were joking afterwards that it would've been hilarious if Bishop got up and said something like, "Alright. Present the sacrifice!" Yeah, we're a little irreverent sometimes. But there was nothing irreverent about fast and testimony meeting yesterday. Cody confirmed Shelby and she also bore her testimony in front of her family. She gave the most heartfelt testimony about the "gift" that the Hoffman family has given her. I couldn't help but cry. No... I wept. Men don't cry, they weep ;)

It was just an amazing week, that's all. I love being a missionary more and more each day and I can't wait to teach more lessons and set more baptismal dates. If I had more time, I would've told you about our lessons with Ashley and with Ladonna. Let's just say that the Lord is preparing some really cool people.

Have a great week and stay cool! Guess what?? It's rained a few times lately!! Everyone is super happy 'round here.

Love, Elder Atkin