Hopefully
I can write a better email to y'all this week because I'm not as tired
(though I still did work just as hard this last week) and a lot of great
things have happened. Besides, Rachel let me know that she prayed that I
would write a better email so it's got to be better, right?
First
of all, transfer calls were on Saturday. Elder Heindel and I were
hoping to stay together for another one and our wish was granted. I'm
staying in Willard for at least another 6 weeks. Hooray! That means that
after this coming transfer I'll have 2 transfers left. Of course, I
have hopes that for those 2 transfers I'll be training my one and only
"son," but let's not get ahead of ourselves. :) I should be grateful for
what the Lord has already done for me so far and for my answered
prayers. I've been truly blessed to be in the areas with the companions
that I needed all throughout my mission. Sometimes in the moment I've
wondered if I was in the right place with the right elder, but looking
back I know that each situation has been just perfect for me to learn
and grow. Missions are so great! Certain experiences that I've had have
built up the appreciation that I have for Elder Heindel and my area that
I wouldn't have otherwise. Does that make sense? Basically I'm just
happy where I am and I know that the Lord knows what he's doing. Cool
stuff.
This
week was a good finding week. We've found some pretty neat people
through tracting. People that are obviously prepared to receive the
Gospel, whether they know it or not. On Tuesday Elder Heindel and I ran
out of things to do. We went through our plans and realized that we only
had a few options: tracting or....tracting (haha). There was Robberson
St. in downtown Willard - one which we previously had prayerfully
selected on a map, or we could tract somewhere else. We had been putting
of Robberson for the longest time (a few weeks) because we doubted that
we would be successful there. It's in downtown Willard and we figured
that it had been tracted a million times. But as we were praying and
trying to decide what to do, we couldn't get Robberson out of our minds.
Finally, we decided to go for it. Time to quit fearing man more than
God.
The
first 10 doors were either not home or not interested. Surely our fears
were coming to pass. But as we knocked on the 11th, a really nice lady
stepped out of her house. She didn't seem too interested, but kindly
listened to our approach and said, "What, you want me to read your
book?" We smiled and explained that this book helps us draw closer to
God and Jesus Christ. We then talked about modern prophets and apostles.
As we spoke she began to show more and more interest. I asked her if
she had felt the Spirit before. Expecting the normal
emphatically-Christian YES, she surprised us by saying, "You know what, I
haven't. I know that God's there, but I've always expected to feel the
Spirit at church and stuff. That hasn't happened to me." We chatted some
more and promised that she would feel the Spirit in a way only she
could understand if she read the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, and
learned more from us. We found out her name is Crystal and she said we
could come back. Hopefully we can start teaching her this week.
The
miracle continued through the next 2 houses where we met Graham - a
nice guy that's not sure about his faith - and another man who teaches
religion at Pitt State in Kansas. I don't remember his name, but he's
very open-minded and said we could come back any time. I'm not sure how
interested he is, but he's fascinated by anything to do with religion,
theology, etc. He already has a couple of Book of Mormons. So, moral to
the story is NEVER doubt a prompting! We had been impressed to tract
Robberson for the longest time, but we just kept scaring ourselves away.
Stupid Elder Atkin!! Why did I doubt?
Besides that, we
found another lady named Jennifer who is the most dry Mormon I have
ever met. And we also found an older man named James who's starting to
question his purpose and wondering where he's going after this life.
He's realized how close to death he really is and he's searching for the
truth. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, thus answering some of his
burning questions, but he's still looking for more. We'll go over
Tuesday or Wednesday and share the Restoration. That'll get him :)
So
yeah, life is good (I know I say that a lot. sorry). We're teaching a
lot of lessons, even with a big ice storm on Wednesday night that shut
everything down for a bit. I was actually stuck in Aurora for a couple
of days, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Have a great week! Be safe, be courageous, have integrity, and show someone your love today. It's a beautiful day to be alive.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S.
Bro. McKinnon and Bro. White are both still doing well. They were both
sustained to receive the priesthood and the office of a priest. Bro.
McKinnon also received a calling to be the building clean-up director.
He'll love that calling.
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