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...
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...
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