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 :)
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