Dear Family,
What a great week! Heavenly Father continues to bless us with a measure of success despite my imperfections. I feel so weak and so mediocre at times, but yet He trusts me enough to watch over His little flock here in Joplin, Missouri. And guess what? That will continue for at least another 6 weeks! We received transfer calls on Saturday night and Elder Nordine is getting shipped off to Willard, Missouri. Can you believe that I'm still here in Joplin? We're thinking that the Lord is keeping me here because there must be something I haven't quite gotten right yet. Haha I still have so much to learn!
Saturday was definitely a rough day. Elder Nordine and I have been
together for 3 transfers and we just weren't quite ready to be done with
each other. The whole day I could just feel the weight of the pending
call that would come that night. We were in a sort of funk, I guess. I
thought for sure that I was leaving and I was bracing myself for the
inevitable. We visited a few people, including Kim and Bri (who are
doing just great ever since their baptism. They can't wait for the ward
Christmas party). We had dinner with Bro. Groesbeck at Moe's (comparable
to Cafe Rio or Costa Vida. Delish!) and then headed out to Galena
afterward to see Dawn and Jason. Right as we arrived at their apartment,
they informed us that they were at the hospital in Pittsburg and
couldn't meet with us. Great, a wasted trip to Galena. At least that's
what I thought.
As we got back into Bro. Groesbeck's Audi (he's a wealthy
businessman), he started driving into the heart of Galena. My surprise
was soon answered as he said that he felt there were some streets that
we needed to tract out sometime that he wanted to show to us. We soon
pulled up to a house and he looked at me and said, "I feel that we need
to knock on this house." I looked towards the house and instantly
smiled. It was the McDonalds - an active family in the ward. Assuming
that Bro. Groesbeck was playing a joke on us, I agreed and headed toward
the front door. I tried to hide my laughter. Is he serious? We knocked a
couple of times with no answer. I finally turned to Elder Nordine and
Bro. Groesbeck. "Well, maybe y'all should try by another time. I feel
strongly about this." It was then that I realized he had no idea who
lived there. I then told him that it was the McDonalds. He was like,
"Are you kidding me??" We had a good laugh about that one. I was so
surprised that out of all of the doors in Galena, he knocked on one of
the only members' doors. As we got back into the car, Bro. Groesbeck
turned to us and said, "Elders, while that was pretty funny, I do feel
like we were led to this street and that you need to find someone here.
The Spirit is stronger on this street because there are members of the
church. Someone is being prepared for you right here." I then realized
that Bro. Groesbeck really was inspired. It was no coincidence that we
knocked on the McDonald's door and there's no denying the promptings
that Bro. Groesbeck felt. You can bet a million bucks that we're going
back to that street in Galena. Someone needs the gospel :)
We then drove back to his house in Joplin where our car was. We sat
inside for just a few minutes and chatted with him and his wife before
we went home. Right as we were about to leave, Bro. Groesbeck asked us
if he could play something on his guitar for us. We both said yes and
then he went upstairs. As he was tuning his guitar, we chatted a little
bit more with Sis. Groesbeck (who is adorable, by the way. She reminds
me of you, Mom). Then Bro. Groesbeck started to play. I was instantly
surprised to hear both a good singing voice and excellent guitar
playing. I had no idea! Here's the dean of the business college at MSSU
who doesn't seem to have an ounce of musical skill just strumming like a
pro. And I mean PRO. He played 2 songs for us that he wrote himself.
They both were very mellow songs that talked about holding Christ's hand
and loving your brother. As I sat there on the couch, I felt such a
peace in my heart. I had been so worried about transfer calls, so
worried about our investigators (they all have so many problems, it's
frightening), and so worried about myself. Here I'm supposed to be
feeling the joy of Christmas, yet I'm all wound up about stuff. I know
this might sound really cheesy, but Bro. Groesbeck's simple tunes calmed
me right on down. That's the power of music! Sometimes music will speak
to us more clear than any words could. Mom, I'm sure that you can
understand how I feel, having gone to that concert in the conference
center.
So anyways. Basically I was fine for the rest of the night. We got
the transfer calls and I found out that I would be getting Elder
Richards. I know nothing about him except that he replaced me in
Springdale way back in the day. Elder Nordine is super bummed to have to
move a little over a month before the end of his mission, but he'll get
over it. Most of all we're just sad that we're not companions anymore.
Who knew that I could be such good pals with a theater nerd from Vegas??
Oh well, that's the power of the gospel.
Ruben and Erin are doing
good..... Kinda. Spiritually? Great! Temporally? Not so good. They are
behind on bills, Ruben might have to head out on the road for Christmas
to earn money, and they have the constant drama of false charges to deal
with (long story). They good news is that many friends and aquaintances
are on their side with the court cases and such, including the social
workers and foster parents that are taking care of their son, Joey. Both
Ruben and Erin came to church yesterday and LOVED it. They both know
it's true, and Erin loves the power of the priesthood. She called us at
6:31 this morning because she wanted a blessing to help her get the week
started right. They have a big court date on the 14th looming, so she's
trying to not have a breakdown. Add on top of that the Word of Wisdom,
which takes away her precious coffee and we have a major meltdown just
waiting to happen :) Ruben has expressed that he still wants to get
baptized on the 29th if things pan out the way they want to. And Erin
has accepted the invitation to be baptized if we can't locate her
records in the church's database. All of us know that a miracle can and
will happen if Ruben and Erin are faithful, and Erin was promised in a
previous blessing that Joey would be home for Christmas if they trust
the Lord and follow him. Gosh, I would do anything to help Erin and
Ruben stay strong and put the gospel first. Lots of prayers...
This week I also got to go caroling with all of the zone leaders in
Tulsa in the neighborhood of the mission home. We got one lady to cry
:) And guess who else is surprisingly musically talented? President
Shumway - also a businessman. It was a blast! We had one house where the
people looked at us out their windows like we were crazy and walked
away. Awkward. Elder Nordine and I also went caroling with the youth in
our ward on Wednesday and we handed out a few "Joy to the World" DVDs.
Just spreadin' the Christmas joy like champs, that's all.
Well, if I had more time I'd tell you about the frozen fish that I
gave Elder Staley as a white elephant gift, the lesson we had with a
less active member who reminds me of Mr. Kruger on the movie, teaching
Dawn and Jason about God and who he is, and much more. Things are going
well here and I feel happy today. What a blessing.
Love, Elder Atkin
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