March 25, 2013

Dear Family,

I always love hearing about the talks that are being shared in church back home. It sounds like the story about the turkey wandering along the road must've been pretty funny :) And I'm sure April gave a really good talk in the Mendon 1st ward. I wish I could have heard it. You're right Mom, missions are an excellent opportunity to learn about the doctrines of the Gospel. While I'm really not that knowledgeable myself (I'm reminded of this every day as Elder Heindel corrects my crazy opinions on the spirit world, celestial glory, etc.), I can at least recognize that my understanding of Gospel principles has grown in the past couple of years. And judging by how intelligent April is I just know that her talks must be awesome!

One source of doctrine that I've gained the most knowledge from is - you guessed it - the Book of Mormon. I recently finished Mosiah and started Alma and it's been a blast to learn things that I never noticed in previous readings of the same book. As I started Alma chapter 1 I read about the people of the church who were "steadfast and immovable" and the priests who labored to "impart the word of God unto the people," but didn't do it for money. In verse 27 it mentions that the people helped each other out and imparted their substance to those in need. At the end of the verse it reads that "they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely." When I read that, I thought to myself that that perfectly describes members of the church. People who aren't too fancy or wild in their appearance, but a people who like to look neat and nice. My definition of "neat and comely" is this: righteously classy. Take for instance Deiter F. Uchtdorf. This man always has fantastic ties and has the most wonderful hair. He's not in-your-face with his style, but yet he is righteously classy. What a stallion of a man! Just a thought :)

Anyways, on to the work. This week was a good one for us. We picked up 5 new investigators (all from tracting) and we taught 23 lessons - the best since I've been here. We're still struggling to set baptismal dates with our investigators, but both Elder Heindel and I feel impressed that we'll be able to set 2 dates by the end of this coming week. Our zone is equally doing just as well. We reached 130 lessons, which breaks any previous record for the Springfield zone. It's about an average of 14-15 lessons per area, which is near the best in the mission. Sometimes I get so frustrated with the elders in our zone, but I'm happy to see that they're actually working hard for the most part. I think that our zone meeting this last Monday was a real help to everyone. We talked about being in the moment and trusting in the Lord that you won't fail. We reminded our elders that no effort is wasted. I know the Lord will continue to bless this zone if we are obedient and are working hard. And we've been able to see that as we've jumped from 55 to 130 in just a couple of months. Cool stuff!

I also know that numbers aren't everything. I still have my frustrations because I want to see real growth. The kind of growth that is seen in progressing investigators, baptismal dates, church attendance, and most of all - baptisms. Elder Heindel and I have about 50 potential investigators (no lie) from our diligent hard work, but it's a struggle to get them from point A to point Z. Sorry if I've said this same stuff before, but I want to see it improve. But I'm still positive. I try to "rejoice" in the little miracles that happen each day. One little miracle is that Bro. Gould is doing awesome. He'd the one that's married to a member, comes to church every week, says he'll be baptized, but doesn't want to be pushed. We've been trying not to push him too much, but I just want the guy to get baptized already!! While I'm not able to say that we set a date with him this week, I'm able to say that we've had some great lessons with him recently. Yesterday we had a little miracle in our Gospel Principles class as we watched "Safety for the Soul" by Jeffrey R. Holland. Bro. Gould seemed to really liked it and he even recognized the scripture 2 Nephi 33:10-11 about the words of Christ because we had read it with him previously. He really opened up to us and even kind of bore his testimony to us. Baby steps...

Other little miracles include really good exchanges with some of the priests in our ward. We have some awesome priests, but they seem a little disinterested sometimes. They don't realize what a crucial period of time it is right now. Most of them have girlfriends. A few of them talk about missions like it's an afterthought. But this week we went with Slade and Joe on separate occasions and they had a blast. I pray and pray every time that we'll get into doors and that they'll have a good experience and the Lord came through for us. Slade even got to see us teach a first lesson to Karissa and Todd. Joe came up to us at church and said that he wanted to go with us again this week. I've never seen that from him before. Little miracles!

So life is wonderful. It's been as cold as all get out this week and we've gotten tons of snow. I'm about ready for spring, but you know how I love the winter wasteland. I'm still working my guts out. I'm still loving my companion. What else could I ask for than this wonderful experience! I'm very blessed.

Love, Elder Atkin

March 19, 2013 - Positivity!

Dear Family,

Howdy howdy howdy!

Sorry about last weeks email. I really felt bad about typing such a negative email so I thought I chose a better option, even if it was really short. I just need to be more positive! Positive in my emails, positive in my area, positive with the zone in meetings... The Lord doesn't like negative people. In a talk I recently read by Elder Tad R. Callister he mentioned that consecrated missionaries always have a smile and a good attitude because no matter what happens, they have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There's no need for me to get down on everything. I should be happy that I've made it this far and that I'm blessed to be a part of this church. And how wonderful it is! Now that's something to be happy about. Word of advice from Elder Atkin this week: whenever you're frustrated/angry/sad/down, just remember who you are and what you have. Your problems will then seem tiny.

This week was definitely a finding week. I think that I must've tracted every single day. And I say that with all the gratitude and happiness that my soul can possess. Sadly, our weekly indicator for new investigators was a big fat 0, but man I had a blast. The Lord has definitely taught me a few lessons that I couldn't place a price on. 1) I know I've said this before, but I absolutely love meeting people. 2) God for sure loves each of his children, even when they have the biggest wad of chew dripping from their mouth or they answer the door with a beer in hand. 3) No effort is wasted. 4) I've met dozens and dozens of people that will someday be members of this church. Dead serious. 5) Tracting is NOT A WASTE OF TIME, as many missionaries like to say it is. If you do it right, don't set yourself up for failure, and show your love of the Gospel, you will have success. While we didn't have any new investigators, we have a list of potentials about a mile long. Now comes the struggle of just catching them at home. People sure are busy...

A few days ago we were out knocking doors in Ash Grove and we had a funny experience I thought y'all would appreciate. Elder Heindel and I were just finishing up a street before we headed back home for dinner when we came upon the last house. It was a small, run-down home that had a big sign on the fence that read: "WARNING: I'm a bitter gun owner clinging to my religion."  I'm usually not too scared when it comes to talking to people, but for some reason I just chickened out on this one. Ash Grove is a small town with strange people so I had every right to be. After a short pause I told Elder Heindel that we should probably skip this one and go back to the car. As I began to walk away my courageous companion grabbed my arm and said with a smile, "We're knocking on this door Elder." Oh great. I thought for sure I was going to get shot. Elder Heindel knocked on the door and I awaited my doom. But to my pleasant surprise, a nice old man named Frank answered the door. The same Frank that I previously mentioned had a gob of chew dripping out of the corner of his lips. *shudder* We told him who we were, what the Book of Mormon was, and asked him if we could come back. Once again to my surprise, he said, "Sure, why not." With the goofiest, toothless smile he wished us a good day and we were off. I guess it wasn't my time to die quite yet.

So yeah, Heavenly Father blesses us here and there in different ways that we don't expect. There's many other nice people we met this week that we hope to teach again in the future. Most of our investigators aren't really progressing right not, but they'll come around. I have the faith. Well, at least I hope I do... Either way, life is good and I'm happy.

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Atkin

March 11, 2013 - Another week in Paradise

Excerpt from Willie's letter:

Here's probably one of the greatest pictures of all time. Yesterday before church we found this intersection while hunting for good tracting spots. Can you believe it?? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I will forever remember where William Ave and Dennis St met - a place where the sun shines a little brighter :)

February 4, 2013 - New Transfer = New Opportunities

Dear Family,

So we finally get a new refrigerator after 25 years? Talk about bittersweet. Gosh, I feel like a part of me has died... Will I see our good ol' fridge in the next life? Haha I'm just kidding. You can make fun of me for saying this, but I'll miss that old tank of an appliance. It's all I've known! Well, life moves on.

Speaking of life moving on - I was reading the end of Jacob going into Enos this morning for personal study. As Jacob is finishing his account, he tells the story of one named Sherem - an anti-Christ who is convinced of his wrongdoing right before he dies. I haven't faced many anti-Christs on my mission, but I can sure relate to Jacob in the way that he gets extremely "anti'd" (aka religious bash, battle). But of course Jacob handles the situation like a champ by confounding Sherem in "all his words." He was simply able to do this because the Spirit of the Lord was within him. Just as the Doctrine and Covenants promises the Lord's missionaries repeatedly, Jacob was living right so that he was given what he should say in the very moment he needed it. Cool stuff! Anyway, Jacob ends his words by saying that "time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto a dream..." He also calls his people "wanderers" and a "lonesome and solemn people." As I was reading that I couldn't help but think about how life truly does pass away like a dream when we're living right and helping others come unto Christ. Jacob spent his whole life doing just that. Though we may feel "lonesome" or feel like "wanderers" in this strange world we live in, we can also be blessed like Jacob. Soon life will pass by like a dream and we will look back on the good times of helping people and serving God. Just a thought.

This week sure passed by like a dream. It was another hard working week where we experienced more of the extreme highs and lows of missionary work. Mom, as to answer you're question on how I deal with the roller coaster of the work - I simply pray, trust in the Lord, and move onward. It's not always easy. Heck, Crystal didn't seem as golden as we thought she was. Who knows, she might still be interested, but her husband got in the way. We dropped by this week and he answered the door. We explained that Crystal said we could come back. His response was this, "You know, we talk to God everyday... We're not going to be interested in what you have to share. My wife .... she's easily persuaded ..." Talk about a depressing walk back to the car. I feel like my heart's been broken so many times that I almost expect it sometimes. I always get my hopes up that they are "the one," only to find out later that they aren't.

Such is the case with Grahm (Crystal's neighbor). We've taught him twice now and he's so prepared for the Gospel that it's ridiculous. Both lessons were absolutely perfect and I can see how God has slowly led Grahm to eventually embrace the truth. It's almost too perfect. I can't help but get my hopes up for this one. He's fascinated by the Book of Mormon. He even asked us to show him which scriptures were most important for him to read to know that it's true. Both Elder Heindel and I about jumped out of our chairs to show him 3 Nephi 11, King Benjamin's address, 2 Nephi 31-33, etc. Man, if Grahm doesn't make it somebody might just have to piece my fragile heart back together! He's probably our most progressing investigator right now.

Despite the downfalls, there are wonderful things happening in our area. We taught 20 lessons and picked up 3 new investigators. 2 of them are a couple that we tracted into named Mark and Ashley. They are hard-core Pentecostal, but somewhat open-minded to the whole Book of Mormon thing. We taught a great lesson on the Restoration and afterward Mark asked us what our views were on speaking in tongues. We could tell that it was important to them. Haha Elder Heindel basically zipped his lips shut and looked at me to answer the question. In the most loving and respectful way I could I explained our church's view and the way I felt about it. I didn't want to flat out say that they were crazy. They accepted what I said, but I have a feeling that we'll be talking a lot more about it in the future. Hopefully they gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon before too long :) Good grief!

I hope y'all have a great week and a fun homecoming with April. Sure wish I could be there, but it can wait a few months. Take care, ya hear!

Love, Elder Atkin