Dear Family,
It's sure good to hear from
you. I'm so grateful that I have a family back home to write to and
receive emails/letters from. Heck, I'm so grateful that I even have a
place to call "home." Today is one of those Mondays where I just wish I
could see your faces and spend some time with you. I often feel like
Ammon did in the end of Alma 26 when he referrs to him and his brethren
as "wanderers in a strange land." I've met some of the greatest people
here in the OTM, and yet at times I feel so detatched and so foreign. I
don't think I've ever been more at home, but far from home at the same
time! Friendships and becoming "part of the family" can only go so far
when I'm just temporarily in an area doing the work of the Lord.
Missionary life is so weird.
I'm not going to sugar-coat it.
This week was a rough one. I haven't taught so few lessons in almost a
year and a half. It's been very humbling to come into the YSA branch and
try to find people to teach. I'm used to knocking on any door and being
able to teach that person. Such is not the case here. Everyone we've
found so far we've referred to the surrounding family wards. I can at
least find joy in giving our zone referrals. Elder H (it's Hironymous,
Mom) and I joke with each other that we're going to be the favorite
missionaries in the Rogers Zone because we find people to teach for
everyone. We're hoping that what goes around, comes around. As we give
everyone potentials, maybe we'll get potentials back?
The good news is that my son is
doing well. He's a natural complainer, but he's doing okay. He doesn't
let things get him down. I've been doing my best to help him know that
not every area is like this. But I've also helped him understand that
with sufficient faith, we can do anything. I've told him once and I'll
tell him again that he should never let anyone tell him how something
will turn out. For example, if a missionary says, "Oh, that stinks.
You're going to a dead area." This is exactly what expectation Satan
wants a missionary to be instilled with when he goes to a new area.
Sadly, this is the expectation I was given at the beginning of my
mission. It's taken almost 2 years for me to learn that I should never
let a missionary tell me how it is. I want Elder H to start off right
and be able to go into each area with full faith and trust in God.
So we've been trying to listen
to the Spirit. I've been teaching Elder H how to pray over a map and
find certain streets. We've done it a few times and each time without
fail we've found a potential investigator on that street. Granted, we
don't ever get to teach them ourselves, but it's been neat to see the
Lord guide us. I sure hope the other missionaries take care of those
referrals! And right now, as I'm typing, I've realized another miracle:
we haven't met anyone rude yet. Not even one single person has yelled at
us or slammed the door or anything like unto it. I don't care if people
are rude to us (in fact I love it), but I think it's a miracle because
it's helped Elder H open up in his teaching/door approaches. He's very
nervous when it comes to teaching the Gospel. I feel bad because the
other day I threw him under the bus in the Milewski's (counselor in the
branch presidency and his wife) when I asked them to give a shy
missionary advice. He was a little embarrassed, but they gave some good
counsel. At least the branch loves having a new missionary :) Every
morning in comp. study I have Elder H practice his door approach with
me. Fun times.
Crazy story of the week:
Yesterday we went and ate dinner with Wes, a 25-year-old guy who moved
here from Utah about the same time we got here. He's out here selling
pest control door-to-door. He joined the church 4 years ago and he's
awesome! Anyway, as we were chatting he was like, "So you said you're
from Logan?" I answered in the affirmative. He then said, "Hey do you
know someone named Stuart Edgington?" I about flipped out. "Yeah, I know
Stuart Edgington! In fact, his little brother Stephen was one of my
good friends back home!" Y'all remember "Edge," right? Come to find out,
Wes was roommates with Stuart at about the time I was going to BYU. I
guess Stuart is a big deal nowadays because of some videos he made that
have gone viral on the internet. He's even been on national television.
Cool stuff! I know a famous guy. Small world.
We expect this next week to be
better than the last. We have a few potentials and we have some great
activities that we're planning. Though things may be tough now, I'm
excited to do some fun stuff with the YSA branch. Opportunities will
open up that I couldn't have done in a normal area. Should be fun!
Man, I already feel so much
better from just emailing you. Also, guess what I found out? Just like I
predicted, Willard is exploding! They have 7 with a date, one of which
is Tom. What a miracle! I just wish I could've been there when they set
it. So all my efforts weren't wasted. Gosh, it feels good!
Hope y'all have a great week! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of my heart. It keeps me going.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Yep, we got a lot of rain
this last week. There was one night where we go like 5 inches of rain!
The tornado sirens were going on and off all night, but it was no big
deal. We have a little closet under the stairs we can hide in.
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