Dear Family,
Sorry you didn't get an email from me on Monday. I'm
sure by now you've figured out that we couldn't email because it was
Labor Day. We also couldn't email yesterday because we had a zone
conference down in Arkansas. I wasn't too sad because we had Elder Choi
of the 70 come and instruct us. The perks of being a missionary :)
The zone conference - or "mission tour" - was combined with the
Rogers zone so that's why it was in Arkansas. We left early in the
morning so we could get there by 9:00. It was so awesome! It didn't
really hit me until I walked in the Rogers stake center that we were
going to be instructed by a General Authority. It ended up being one of
the best zone conferences of my mission. I was expecting Elder Choi to
be very serious and intimidating, but he was actually very funny,
loving, and spiritually uplifting. Him and his wife didn't bring any
notes so I could tell that they were just teaching us by the spirit.
Though it was hard to understand Elder Choi at times (he's from Korea),
the Spirit was so strong. He talked to us about faith and how the Gospel
is "delicious" (Alma 32). He also instructed us on planning for the
future and how we should be ready to turn our plans over to the Lord's
plans. He related his own experiences with schooling and business and
that each of those plans ended up preparing him for accepting the Lord's
plans in callings and service. Being a successful businessman prepared
him for later taking care of church finances. My favorite quote from the
whole entire meeting was this: "These two years are the best time of
your life to prepare to be trusted." It's Elder Choi's hope that we
prepare to be trusted by our friends, families, spouses, and ultimately
our Heavenly Father. Am I learning how to be trusted after my mission?
It's a great question.
As I mentioned, Elder and Sister Choi were very funny. At random
intervals throughout the meeting, Elder Choi would call his wife up to
stand next to him and speak. The first time he asked her to stand up and
tell us why she picked him for a husband. It was hilarious! She said
that the only reason why she picked him wasn't for his looks, but for
his work-ethic and his testimony. She then said that after all these
years he's finally somewhat handsome :) Haha they were just so cute
together. I just loved sitting there in the chapel and taking notes for
most of the day. They had so many good things to say. As I've said in
the past, there's nothing like a zone meeting to get me pumped to share
the gospel! Elder and Sister Choi repeatedly mentioned how "shiny" we
all were. They told us that we had light in our eyes and that we glowed
with brightness. They also told us to never let that light diminish.
People will see the light in our eyes and our shiny countenances. I felt
super special... and shiny :) I was thinking about it afterward and I
came to the conclusion that as members of the Lord's church, we all are
entitled to that light in our eyes and the shining faces. We shouldn't
ever do anything that would take that light away from us.
Recently I've been reading in Mormon and in Ether in the Book of
Mormon. It's been interesting to read about how quickly people forgot
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The book of 4 Nephi is a short one, but it
perfectly shows how a group of people fall into apostasy. While it is
sad to read about people rejecting the prophets and the "pride cycle,"
it's taught me a lot about staying strong in the midst of wickedness.
There's no way to beat around the bush on this one, folks: we live in a
wicked world that is increasingly "dwindling in unbelief." We shouldn't
get all depressed about it, but it's important that we stay sharp. Sharp
like Mormon and his son, Moroni. Moroni was all alone with
blood-thirsty Lamanites constantly battling each other and trying to
hunt him down. And yet he was still able to put together the last few
books in the Book of Mormon and teach us some awesome principles. I
always feel so sad for Moroni. He must've been so lonely :( But he knew
what was true and it gave him strength. As we live in these latter-days,
we may feel lonely ourselves. There's much to be afraid about. But it's
becoming more and more clear to me what strength the Gospel and the
Book of Mormon provides. That's why it's SO important! There's my sermon
for the day...
Gosh, I didn't leave much time to talk about our area. Things are
going well. Alexis is ready for this Saturday and we couldn't be
happier! Her cousin is baptizing her for his very first time as a
priest. Cool stuff :) Ashley had to cancel on us this last week, but
we're meeting with her tomorrow. I'm anxious to see what happens. We've
been doing a lot more finding lately, and we sure have a lot of
potential investigators, so I'm excited to see things pick up around
here. We've been in somewhat of a dry spell lately. But not when it
comes to actual rain (haha). It's dumped rain within the past 2 weeks.
Everything is green once again.
Have a great week! Thanks for your support and your emails. I love you!
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Go Cougars!
No comments:
Post a Comment