Dear Family,
Thanks so much for the picture of the Wellsville
Mountains! That, my friends, is the definition of a tender mercy :) It's
hard for me to believe that mountains even exist anymore. The tallest
things around here are water towers. You know how in Utah every town on
the bench has it's high school's initials painted onto the mountain
side? They do that same thing here, but on the water towers. I just
think it's kind of funny.
Speaking of tender mercies, Elder Nordine and I had a huge miracle
this week. Remember Ashley? And remember how she basically dropped us?
We're teaching her again. Surprise, surprise! We had told Ashley that we
were going to back off and that if she needed anything to call us, but I
thought that was the end of it. She was just reading way too much anti
and she didn't really have a desire to learn from us. I thought it was
over. But out of nowhere, on Monday she gave us a call right before we
left to go to Tulsa for ZLC. I answered the phone, mostly expecting her
to quote something from the Journal of Discourses or something. But
instead she informed me that due to much thought and prayer recently,
she had come to the conclusion that she needed to make a decision and
stick to it. When I asked her what her decision was, she simply replied,
"I pick you guys." After about a whole minute of whoopin' and
hollerin', I was able to calm myself down enough to chat with her and
ask why she had made that decision. She didn't give me a straight up
answer, but she told me that despite our differences in opinion, no
other church had ever reached out to her in the same way we did. Ashley
simply couldn't get over the fact that no matter where she was at, we'd
be there for her and we cared about her. She was amazed that we wouldn't
give up on her. I couldn't help but feel really good about myself at
that moment. Aren't we so awesome!?? Or rather, isn't the church we
belong to so awesome!?? It's only fitting that Christ's true church has
50,000+ missionaries that not only teach about the Gospel, but reach out
and befriend individuals who are struggling. Let's not forget the
general populous of members, though. Y'all can give yourselves a pat on
the back for engaging in such acts as Visiting and Home Teaching, as
well as donating offerings to help those who are in need. The overall
help that we give to the world is absolutely unmatched. These are the
moments when I start humming the tune of "I Belong to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" to myself.
So yeah, Ashley's back on the radar. She admitted to us that she had
only half-heartedly investigated the church (as well as other churches)
over the past few months. She knew she needed to change, but she wasn't
really sticking to something. She mentioned to me over the phone that
she couldn't stop thinking about what I had told her before she dropped
us. I said quite bluntly that if ours wasn't the true church of Jesus
Christ, that she needed to keep on looking for the rest of her life. I
was serious! If ours is not it, then she needs to move on and make it a
life quest to find it. Because it's here. And the scriptures say that
too many times to deny it. Anyway, she agreed to meet us on Friday and
talk about things. I ended up taking Elder Park with me because we were
on exchanges. We had an amazing lesson with Ashley as we helped her
understand some of our doctrines and why we believe what we believe. At
the end of the lesson, we committed her to have a sort of "trial run"
with us for the next 3 weeks. I told her that if she studied and prayed
daily, attended church with us, didn't look at any anti, and kept our
commitments for 3 weeks, she'd find an answer and know if it all was
true or not. She accepted the challenge. So here we are now, 3 days
later and still right on track. Ashley came to Stake Conference
yesterday (she thought it was boring, but good) and we had a lesson at
the church afterward. We were very surprised when she informed us that
she wanted to pay tithing and receive of those promised blessings
(Malachi 3). After we taught her about that principle, we gave her a
priesthood blessing to help her overcome her smoking addiction. She
really liked the blessing that we gave her, and she promised to try her
best to quit. Elder Nordine and I are going to meet with her tomorrow
and see where she's at. I can tell that the Spirit is really softening
her heart! Please pray for Ashley! I know she can quit.
Besides Ashley, our area is slowly gaining momentum. We met with Kim
Still for the first time in a couple of months on Wednesday. This is
the 2nd miracle of the week. Get this - we show up, expecting to teach
just her and her son Branden. As we walked up to the front porch, we
were greeted by 5 people (3 of which I'd never met). I reached for my
backpack, expecting a Bible Bash to commence, but soon relaxed as I
noticed Gospel Principle manuals, Book of Mormons, and Bibles scattered
across the table. Elder Nordine and I joined the circle of people around
the table. We started the usual small-talk, but Kim quickly cut us off.
She then looked me in the eyes and exclaimed, "I want to be baptized
and go to the temple. So does Branden. So does Dustin, my boyfriend. I'm
not sure about Pete and Bree here, but that's the plan. And I know that
I need to marry Dustin first and he needs to quit smoking (Dustin nods
in agreement), but we can do that. I just want to get baptized!" My jaw
hit the ground. Bree then piped in and said she wanted to be baptized
too. My head started spinning. We asked Pete if that was his plan also,
but he said not yet. He did say that he wanted to learn, though. Isn't
that crazy!? Elder Nordine and I then fumbled through a quick
Restoration lesson, but everyone already knew the answers. Kim then told
us that they'd been watching the "Mormon Channel" for years and they
study out of the Gospel Principles manual daily as a group. I about
fainted! Here were a bunch of people that I had barely met before and
thought weren't interested. Now they want to go to the new church in
Joplin and be a forever family. I was blown away. I'll be sure to update
you on that one in the future.
Guess what? I just finished the Book of Mormon again this morning!
I've been reading it kind of slow over the past few months because I'm
reading a lot of other things, but either way it feels good to finish it
again. Our zone has set a goal to read the Book of Mormon all at the
same time in 3 months (2 transfers), so that'll be good. Oh yeah, we had
transfer calls on Saturday. I'm staying in Joplin for at least another
transfer with Elder Nordine! Golly, didn't that come quick?? Time is
really flying by...
Have a great week, everyone! Go hike a mountain for me :)
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. I heard about the BYU-Utah game. Sad day :( Oh well. Go Cougars!
P.P.S. We received a referral the other day for a lady who found out
she's a direct descendant of David Whitmer and she's never read the Book
of Mormon. We went over to her house and she's super nice! Hopefully we
can start teaching her as well.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
September 10, 2012 - Short Week
Dear Family,
Holy Hannah, it feels like I just sat at this computer a few hours ago to email you! Well, I guess it really was a short week since I last emailed you. That and this week just smoked right on past. Time flies when you're having fun.
We had a baptism on Saturday!! It was incredible. You know those days in life that are just absolutely amazing and you want them to last forever? Saturday was like that. It was all-around the perfect day. Earlier in the day the Carthage elders had a baptism in the same building and so we attended that and just stayed afterward to prepare for ours. Their investigator who was getting baptized was a really nice Hispanic lady named Sonia. The coolest part about it was that her baptism would complete her little family because her husband was already a member. I guess the story is that he (the husband) has had a really hard life and has struggled with many addictions. At one point in his life, some members of the church in Carthage took him in and tried to help him become better. He eventually joined the church, turned his life around, and then finally met Sonia a few years ago. He still struggles with some Word of Wisdom problems, but he's working on it so they can go to the temple in the future and be sealed as a family. Everyone in attendance cried during the whole thing. The Spirit was so strong! I can't wait until they can be sealed together forever :)
I have to admit I was a little worried about Alexis' baptism. Carthage had a lot of people show up and everything went so smoothly. I was a little bit intimidated and I felt unprepared for some reason. I was suddenly worried that not very many people would show up. I was about to panic, but then I remembered that I could pray. This may sound very simple and kind of funny, but hey - sometimes I forget! I quickly said a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the opportunity to have the baptism, and I asked that everything would go well and that Alexis would feel loved. Immediately afterward I felt at peace and I knew all would be well. And guess what? It did go well... and then some! Many people from the Webb City ward showed up to support Alexis, even though they didn't know her. We were able to get the program finished and everything ready just in time. What a miracle! The baptism went very well, and I was so happy to see Alexis' cousin do his very first baptism as a priest.
When we finally got home late Saturday night, Elder Nordine and I collapsed from exhaustion. It was go go go all day, and when we finally could relax, we were DONE. I sure had a good sleep that night. There's nothing more satisfying than being exhausted after a long day as a missionary. Heck, we helped someone move the morning of the baptism. We even had time to proselyte. It's amazing what you can do in one day!
Heavenly Father has been blessing Elder Nordine and I so much lately. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve all of the blessings and miracles we receive each day. We were so discouraged to see many of our investigators - including Ashley - drop us recently. I felt hopeless, especially with Alexis soon getting baptized. We wouldn't have anyone to teach afterward! But suddenly Kim called us the day of the baptism and told us that she wanted to meet with us again. We dropped by the Henleys for the millionth time and they answered! They're still interested! We picked up a new investigator by visiting a less-active family. We're teaching him on Thursday. His last name? Adkins! We received a media referral today for a woman who's a descendant of David Whitmer. So many miracles!!!
I love the Gospel and I love this work. I can honestly say that I'm getting "lost" in it. It's part of me. It's who I am. It's all I want to do. I hope and pray that it can stay that way. I don't ever want it to end :)
I'm out of time. Have a great week! You should send me a picture of the Wellsvilles with all of the changing colors.
Love, Elder Atkin
Holy Hannah, it feels like I just sat at this computer a few hours ago to email you! Well, I guess it really was a short week since I last emailed you. That and this week just smoked right on past. Time flies when you're having fun.
We had a baptism on Saturday!! It was incredible. You know those days in life that are just absolutely amazing and you want them to last forever? Saturday was like that. It was all-around the perfect day. Earlier in the day the Carthage elders had a baptism in the same building and so we attended that and just stayed afterward to prepare for ours. Their investigator who was getting baptized was a really nice Hispanic lady named Sonia. The coolest part about it was that her baptism would complete her little family because her husband was already a member. I guess the story is that he (the husband) has had a really hard life and has struggled with many addictions. At one point in his life, some members of the church in Carthage took him in and tried to help him become better. He eventually joined the church, turned his life around, and then finally met Sonia a few years ago. He still struggles with some Word of Wisdom problems, but he's working on it so they can go to the temple in the future and be sealed as a family. Everyone in attendance cried during the whole thing. The Spirit was so strong! I can't wait until they can be sealed together forever :)
I have to admit I was a little worried about Alexis' baptism. Carthage had a lot of people show up and everything went so smoothly. I was a little bit intimidated and I felt unprepared for some reason. I was suddenly worried that not very many people would show up. I was about to panic, but then I remembered that I could pray. This may sound very simple and kind of funny, but hey - sometimes I forget! I quickly said a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the opportunity to have the baptism, and I asked that everything would go well and that Alexis would feel loved. Immediately afterward I felt at peace and I knew all would be well. And guess what? It did go well... and then some! Many people from the Webb City ward showed up to support Alexis, even though they didn't know her. We were able to get the program finished and everything ready just in time. What a miracle! The baptism went very well, and I was so happy to see Alexis' cousin do his very first baptism as a priest.
When we finally got home late Saturday night, Elder Nordine and I collapsed from exhaustion. It was go go go all day, and when we finally could relax, we were DONE. I sure had a good sleep that night. There's nothing more satisfying than being exhausted after a long day as a missionary. Heck, we helped someone move the morning of the baptism. We even had time to proselyte. It's amazing what you can do in one day!
Heavenly Father has been blessing Elder Nordine and I so much lately. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve all of the blessings and miracles we receive each day. We were so discouraged to see many of our investigators - including Ashley - drop us recently. I felt hopeless, especially with Alexis soon getting baptized. We wouldn't have anyone to teach afterward! But suddenly Kim called us the day of the baptism and told us that she wanted to meet with us again. We dropped by the Henleys for the millionth time and they answered! They're still interested! We picked up a new investigator by visiting a less-active family. We're teaching him on Thursday. His last name? Adkins! We received a media referral today for a woman who's a descendant of David Whitmer. So many miracles!!!
I love the Gospel and I love this work. I can honestly say that I'm getting "lost" in it. It's part of me. It's who I am. It's all I want to do. I hope and pray that it can stay that way. I don't ever want it to end :)
I'm out of time. Have a great week! You should send me a picture of the Wellsvilles with all of the changing colors.
Love, Elder Atkin
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
September 5, 2012
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!
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!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
August 27, 2012 - Lots o' rain
Dear Family,
Howdy, y'all! It's Monday again! I'm here in the library on campus at Missouri Southern State University. School just started last week and so there's TONS of people in here. I feel like I'm in college all over again. And to be quite honest, I miss school. I never thought I'd say that, but I really do miss going to classes, hanging out in the library, taking tests... It's kind of weird.
But anyway. This week was a good week. Lots of our appointments and plans fell through, but hey, that's missionary life. We still got a lot done and we had a good time working. Elder Nordine is already one of my favorite companions so it makes life a lot easier. We didn't get to work as hard as I wanted to because I've been battling a random cold, but things are still great... Well, sort of... I'll explain in a bit.
Before I tell you anything else though, I want to share a little experience I had on Saturday. Elder Nordine and I had just finished our weekly planning that morning (it's supposed to happen on Thursday, but things got in the way), and Elder Nordine went and checked the mail. When he came back, I was surprised to see that I had some mail. Usually I only get a letter from April and from Dad each week and I had already received them. When I looked on the back of the letter I saw that it was from Carolyn Hanna in Owasso. Remember Sis. Hanna? At first I was really worried to open it because I thought she was sending me a letter getting mad at me because I haven't replied to her letter she sent a month ago. Yeah, yeah, so I'm bad at writing letters, okay?! But either way I opened the letter to read what she had to say. I was quickly relieved as I read the first paragraph. She wasn't mad at me! She told me that she knew that I was busy and didn't have time to write. I continued to read. Similarly to the first letter she sent me, she thanked me for being there for her and for helping her quit smoking. I was overcome with joy as she explained that she was almost five months smoke-free thanks to me and my daily phone calls at 9 a.m. But I really wasn't prepared for the next part. Sis. Hanna then said that she was baptized a member of the Lord's Church on the 18th of August 2012. You can only imagine the look of shock on my face. I couldn't hold back the tears as she expressed her feelings of complete happiness and satisfaction of being re-baptized after so long of a wait. She never thought that she'd make it. But with the help of some of the leaders in the Elm Creek ward she finally did it. At the end of the letter she thanked me again and told me that she loved me. Saturday was a great day :)
To be honest, I never thought Sis. Hanna would make it. I remember going over for the first time with Elder Jensen and meeting someone who was desperate for a friend and going crazy. She literally hadn't seen a person for 2 months. I didn't want to go back. But for some reason we kept on meeting with Sis. Hanna and helping her. We taught her the discussions. We would come and just talk. Sometimes I just got so tired of Sis. Hanna, but we kept going back. We helped her quit smoking, but I didn't think it would last. As I left Owasso, I was sad that I wasn't able to see Sis. Hanna come back into the church. Looking back at my time in Owasso, sometimes I felt like a failure. 6 months with no baptisms or anything to show that I was even there. It was all selfish really. I wanted success for the wrong reasons. I wanted the ward to remember me. Heck, I still struggle with my selfish desires, but it's letters like these that really put things in perspective for me. I'm so happy right now! I cannot even describe how big of a boost that was for me on Saturday. Golly, the Lord is really good at sending periodic reminders for me to work hard and remember how much he loves me. I can't wait to write Sis. Hanna back and congratulate her! I miss my crazy friend from Owasso :)
Having that happen on Saturday really helped me deal with what happened on Sunday. Ashley came to church as planned even though she was a bit late. Sacrament Meeting went well, and there were some really good speakers who talked about the Sermon on the Mount. Afterward, we went to Gospel Principles where Bro. Blake gave us a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I thought it was awesome and I thought everything was going well. As we were getting up to leave to go to Priesthood, Ashley stopped me. With a look of sadness on her face, she told me that she had to leave and never come back. She said that she had to follow Christ and her own heart, which was telling her that everything we teach is a bunch of lies. We went out into the hall with Bro. Blake and tried to answer her questions and see what was wrong, but she wouldn't have any of it. To make a long story short, she's been reading too much anti and too little Book of Mormon. She thinks that our church is run by Satan himself. Noooooooo!!!!! The conversation lasted for about an hour, but I was barely able to even speak because of how sad I was. I just watched as Bro. Blake and Elder Nordine talked to her and tried their best. We were able to at least schedule an appointment with her on Tuesday, but I have no idea what we're going to say. Please pray that it goes well! I don't want to lose Ashley!
Alexis is still set to be baptized on the 8th, but we have to teach her a bunch of lessons before then. Hopefully we can make it happen! I'm not worried. It will totally happen. Teaching Alexis tonight will help me get my thoughts off of Ashley.
Well, my time's up. Have a great week family! I love you and miss you.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Thanks for the package! What a pleasant surprise :) There's nothing like getting a surprise in the mail from those that you love. And the shirt that you sent is awesome! Here's a picture of me wearing it. Y'all do a great job at making me BYU-trunky...
Howdy, y'all! It's Monday again! I'm here in the library on campus at Missouri Southern State University. School just started last week and so there's TONS of people in here. I feel like I'm in college all over again. And to be quite honest, I miss school. I never thought I'd say that, but I really do miss going to classes, hanging out in the library, taking tests... It's kind of weird.
But anyway. This week was a good week. Lots of our appointments and plans fell through, but hey, that's missionary life. We still got a lot done and we had a good time working. Elder Nordine is already one of my favorite companions so it makes life a lot easier. We didn't get to work as hard as I wanted to because I've been battling a random cold, but things are still great... Well, sort of... I'll explain in a bit.
Before I tell you anything else though, I want to share a little experience I had on Saturday. Elder Nordine and I had just finished our weekly planning that morning (it's supposed to happen on Thursday, but things got in the way), and Elder Nordine went and checked the mail. When he came back, I was surprised to see that I had some mail. Usually I only get a letter from April and from Dad each week and I had already received them. When I looked on the back of the letter I saw that it was from Carolyn Hanna in Owasso. Remember Sis. Hanna? At first I was really worried to open it because I thought she was sending me a letter getting mad at me because I haven't replied to her letter she sent a month ago. Yeah, yeah, so I'm bad at writing letters, okay?! But either way I opened the letter to read what she had to say. I was quickly relieved as I read the first paragraph. She wasn't mad at me! She told me that she knew that I was busy and didn't have time to write. I continued to read. Similarly to the first letter she sent me, she thanked me for being there for her and for helping her quit smoking. I was overcome with joy as she explained that she was almost five months smoke-free thanks to me and my daily phone calls at 9 a.m. But I really wasn't prepared for the next part. Sis. Hanna then said that she was baptized a member of the Lord's Church on the 18th of August 2012. You can only imagine the look of shock on my face. I couldn't hold back the tears as she expressed her feelings of complete happiness and satisfaction of being re-baptized after so long of a wait. She never thought that she'd make it. But with the help of some of the leaders in the Elm Creek ward she finally did it. At the end of the letter she thanked me again and told me that she loved me. Saturday was a great day :)
To be honest, I never thought Sis. Hanna would make it. I remember going over for the first time with Elder Jensen and meeting someone who was desperate for a friend and going crazy. She literally hadn't seen a person for 2 months. I didn't want to go back. But for some reason we kept on meeting with Sis. Hanna and helping her. We taught her the discussions. We would come and just talk. Sometimes I just got so tired of Sis. Hanna, but we kept going back. We helped her quit smoking, but I didn't think it would last. As I left Owasso, I was sad that I wasn't able to see Sis. Hanna come back into the church. Looking back at my time in Owasso, sometimes I felt like a failure. 6 months with no baptisms or anything to show that I was even there. It was all selfish really. I wanted success for the wrong reasons. I wanted the ward to remember me. Heck, I still struggle with my selfish desires, but it's letters like these that really put things in perspective for me. I'm so happy right now! I cannot even describe how big of a boost that was for me on Saturday. Golly, the Lord is really good at sending periodic reminders for me to work hard and remember how much he loves me. I can't wait to write Sis. Hanna back and congratulate her! I miss my crazy friend from Owasso :)
Having that happen on Saturday really helped me deal with what happened on Sunday. Ashley came to church as planned even though she was a bit late. Sacrament Meeting went well, and there were some really good speakers who talked about the Sermon on the Mount. Afterward, we went to Gospel Principles where Bro. Blake gave us a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I thought it was awesome and I thought everything was going well. As we were getting up to leave to go to Priesthood, Ashley stopped me. With a look of sadness on her face, she told me that she had to leave and never come back. She said that she had to follow Christ and her own heart, which was telling her that everything we teach is a bunch of lies. We went out into the hall with Bro. Blake and tried to answer her questions and see what was wrong, but she wouldn't have any of it. To make a long story short, she's been reading too much anti and too little Book of Mormon. She thinks that our church is run by Satan himself. Noooooooo!!!!! The conversation lasted for about an hour, but I was barely able to even speak because of how sad I was. I just watched as Bro. Blake and Elder Nordine talked to her and tried their best. We were able to at least schedule an appointment with her on Tuesday, but I have no idea what we're going to say. Please pray that it goes well! I don't want to lose Ashley!
Alexis is still set to be baptized on the 8th, but we have to teach her a bunch of lessons before then. Hopefully we can make it happen! I'm not worried. It will totally happen. Teaching Alexis tonight will help me get my thoughts off of Ashley.
Well, my time's up. Have a great week family! I love you and miss you.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Thanks for the package! What a pleasant surprise :) There's nothing like getting a surprise in the mail from those that you love. And the shirt that you sent is awesome! Here's a picture of me wearing it. Y'all do a great job at making me BYU-trunky...
Monday, August 20, 2012
August 20, 2012 - The life of a zone leader...
Dear Family,
You're not going to like me saying this, but I really don't know what to say in today's email. Sure, a lot of things happened this week, but I'm pullin' up a blank right now. Hopefully the more I type in the next hour, the more it'll flow. I think one of the problems is that even though I was busy busy busy, we didn't teach that many lessons. I guess that's the life of a zone leader. We're always preparing for instruction in district meetings and zone meetings and exchanges and such. Don't get me wrong, I like preparing for stuff like that, but it can really take a chunk out of our proselyting at times.
Though we didn't teach a lot this week, there is some exciting news I guess. Remember that new investigator I told you about who just fell into our laps? Yeah, she's awesome! We taught Alexis the Restoration on Friday and then had a dinner lesson on Sunday, in which we taught the Plan of Salvation. Talk about perfect lessons! She accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 8th of September on Friday, and yesterday we were already discussing the details of the baptism. She's so excited to get baptized! The coolest part of everything though, is the way she feels about things. She doesn't have a solid foundation of understanding like other people might have, but she likes the way she feels when she goes to church and to youth activities. Gosh, it's such an advantage when investigators already recognize the promptings of the Spirit. And that's exactly how Alexis is. It's such a perfect situation. She has an excellent support system with her aunt and uncle and cousins, and it certainly helps that her mom is coming back to church after 8 years of inactivity. Hooray for families!
Random news of the week: I got my toenail removed! Yeah, I totally went in to get my in-grown toenail checked out, and they were like, "It's pretty infected, so we're just going to take the whole thing off." It kind of freaked me out, but everything went okay. Even awesomer is the fact that I won't have to pay a dime! And neither will you. Dr. Richins (a member) told me that if you get a bill in the mail from a foot clinic in Joplin, you can tear it up and not worry about it. I love members :) I know you're tired of hearing about my toe, but I just thought I'd update you. It's been kind of a big deal for a while now, but I'm okay now. Not to freak you out or anything, but Bro. Richins was worried that the bone might get infected. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Heck, I could've got sent home! But no worries - it's taken care of and it's healing nicely. Just know that your son is in good hands. Mom, just like you I'm thankful for doctors.
Surprising news of the week is that Ashley came to church! Yay! We met with her on Thursday and had a lesson on why we needed the Restoration of the Gospel. It was a refreshingly positive lesson, as compared to lessons in the past (anti, doubt, etc.). Ashley informed us that she's still struggling with smoking and so we talked about how we could help her quit in the future. I had kind of an "aha" moment as she told us this. I remembered the words of companions and leaders in the past and promised Ashley right then and there that if she quit smoking (or at least tried), the Lord would give her an answer about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon sooner than later. We helped her understand that the addiction to smoking could be dulling her sensitivity to the Spirit of the Lord. I figure that's part of the reason why she's been so negative and has been doubting everything we say. The more we talked about it, the more it made sense to her. She agreed to quit smoking (with our help) and to keep coming to church and learning from us. So, that was kind of a miracle when I think about it. And for the 2nd time now, Ashley came to church and absolutely enjoyed it. She loves the fellowship and the feeling that she gets. I think that slowly, but surely Ashley will come around, even if I'm not here in Joplin. And when she does, she'll be rock solid. Cool beans :)
Well, Elder Nordine and I finally have a good open week to just spend time on ourselves. I'm excited to finally hit the pavement after what seems like a long time of different things coming up - transfers, planning, meetings, my toe, etc. Wish me luck!
Have a good one, fam. I sure love y'all so much.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Ooh, I almost forgot! We ate dinner with the Eberhardts the other day and made a most astonishing discovery. They lived in Flagstaff like 40 years ago. They told me this and said they knew a man with the same last name as me. My heart skipped a beat and I asked them if they knew more about this man, because that's where my grandparents are from. They couldn't remember much, but they remembered that he was a high counselor in the church and was a professor at NAU and taught Japanese. I about flipped out and exclaimed, "That's my grandpa, I'm sure of it!" Thus we had a nice conversation about the Atkin family. We live in a VERY small world, folks. And I love making connections :)
You're not going to like me saying this, but I really don't know what to say in today's email. Sure, a lot of things happened this week, but I'm pullin' up a blank right now. Hopefully the more I type in the next hour, the more it'll flow. I think one of the problems is that even though I was busy busy busy, we didn't teach that many lessons. I guess that's the life of a zone leader. We're always preparing for instruction in district meetings and zone meetings and exchanges and such. Don't get me wrong, I like preparing for stuff like that, but it can really take a chunk out of our proselyting at times.
Though we didn't teach a lot this week, there is some exciting news I guess. Remember that new investigator I told you about who just fell into our laps? Yeah, she's awesome! We taught Alexis the Restoration on Friday and then had a dinner lesson on Sunday, in which we taught the Plan of Salvation. Talk about perfect lessons! She accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 8th of September on Friday, and yesterday we were already discussing the details of the baptism. She's so excited to get baptized! The coolest part of everything though, is the way she feels about things. She doesn't have a solid foundation of understanding like other people might have, but she likes the way she feels when she goes to church and to youth activities. Gosh, it's such an advantage when investigators already recognize the promptings of the Spirit. And that's exactly how Alexis is. It's such a perfect situation. She has an excellent support system with her aunt and uncle and cousins, and it certainly helps that her mom is coming back to church after 8 years of inactivity. Hooray for families!
Random news of the week: I got my toenail removed! Yeah, I totally went in to get my in-grown toenail checked out, and they were like, "It's pretty infected, so we're just going to take the whole thing off." It kind of freaked me out, but everything went okay. Even awesomer is the fact that I won't have to pay a dime! And neither will you. Dr. Richins (a member) told me that if you get a bill in the mail from a foot clinic in Joplin, you can tear it up and not worry about it. I love members :) I know you're tired of hearing about my toe, but I just thought I'd update you. It's been kind of a big deal for a while now, but I'm okay now. Not to freak you out or anything, but Bro. Richins was worried that the bone might get infected. Yeah, it was pretty bad. Heck, I could've got sent home! But no worries - it's taken care of and it's healing nicely. Just know that your son is in good hands. Mom, just like you I'm thankful for doctors.
Surprising news of the week is that Ashley came to church! Yay! We met with her on Thursday and had a lesson on why we needed the Restoration of the Gospel. It was a refreshingly positive lesson, as compared to lessons in the past (anti, doubt, etc.). Ashley informed us that she's still struggling with smoking and so we talked about how we could help her quit in the future. I had kind of an "aha" moment as she told us this. I remembered the words of companions and leaders in the past and promised Ashley right then and there that if she quit smoking (or at least tried), the Lord would give her an answer about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon sooner than later. We helped her understand that the addiction to smoking could be dulling her sensitivity to the Spirit of the Lord. I figure that's part of the reason why she's been so negative and has been doubting everything we say. The more we talked about it, the more it made sense to her. She agreed to quit smoking (with our help) and to keep coming to church and learning from us. So, that was kind of a miracle when I think about it. And for the 2nd time now, Ashley came to church and absolutely enjoyed it. She loves the fellowship and the feeling that she gets. I think that slowly, but surely Ashley will come around, even if I'm not here in Joplin. And when she does, she'll be rock solid. Cool beans :)
Well, Elder Nordine and I finally have a good open week to just spend time on ourselves. I'm excited to finally hit the pavement after what seems like a long time of different things coming up - transfers, planning, meetings, my toe, etc. Wish me luck!
Have a good one, fam. I sure love y'all so much.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Ooh, I almost forgot! We ate dinner with the Eberhardts the other day and made a most astonishing discovery. They lived in Flagstaff like 40 years ago. They told me this and said they knew a man with the same last name as me. My heart skipped a beat and I asked them if they knew more about this man, because that's where my grandparents are from. They couldn't remember much, but they remembered that he was a high counselor in the church and was a professor at NAU and taught Japanese. I about flipped out and exclaimed, "That's my grandpa, I'm sure of it!" Thus we had a nice conversation about the Atkin family. We live in a VERY small world, folks. And I love making connections :)
Monday, August 13, 2012
August 13, 2012 - New Comp
Dear Family,
Miracle of the week: the temperature has been so much cooler here lately. So much cooler, in fact, that it's just plain ridiculous! It's been in the 70's and the 80's for most of the past week now and I'm just loving it. There's nothing like a cool breeze and cloud cover after weeks of 100+ degree days.
Good news: Elder Nordine is so awesome! He's very very very different from me, but we're already really good friends. He's from Las Vegas, so I was kind of jealous when ward members would "ooh" and "ahh" at church when they found out he wasn't from Utah. Gosh, I'm sick of people hating on Utah! I can't help but feel embarrassed that I grew up there sometimes. I just think it would be so cool to say that I'm from Vegas. But anyways, Elder Nordine has one younger brother and he was born and raised in the church. He's been out on his mission for almost 19 months now, so he doesn't have too much longer left. This is his first time being a zone leader too. He's was really into theater back home, and he was even a theater major at Dixie State. We get along great because we both like to laugh and joke around a lot. We're definitely going to have a good time.
Sad to say that this week was sort of a slow one. Having transfers shouldn't be any excuse to have a slow week, but that's sorta what happened. The day before Elder Quinn left he made sure to say goodbye to all of his favorite members and friends. I really wanted to work, but I didn't want to ruin the good feelings between us. Thus I let him just do his thing. But hey, I can't complain about the 5 meal appointments that we had on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I gained 100 pounds that day. Man, there's some really good BBQ here in Joplin. It was sad to see Elder Quinn go, but I knew we'd see each other at ZLC and such. Change is just hard sometimes, ya know what I mean? Even if it's a good change and I get a sweet companion, it just kind of throws me off. I'm in this weird funk right now. Hopefully it doesn't last long...
2nd Miracle of the week: Elder Nordine and I were at church yesterday and the Joplin 1st ward had just finished its meetings. We found our way through the crowd back to the chapel because the Webb City ward's sacrament meeting had just ended and we wanted to find Bishop Westwood. As we were walking up to the door, a lady walked out and stopped us. She asked, "are you our missionaries?" We replied in the affirmative. She then said, "Good. I'm Sis. Decker and I have a niece that's 16 and has been attending church with us for a few weeks now. She wants to take the discussions and get baptized." After picking up our jaws off the ground, we proceeded to follow Sis. Decker back into the chapel where we met Alexis, her niece. Suddenly it clicked in my mind. A few weeks previous, Sis. Decker's husband called us out of nowhere and informed us of the same thing, just without the details of her wanting to be baptized. All we knew was that they had a niece that might be interested. They said they'd try to set something up and they'd call us in the next week. Well, that never happened, and we totally forgot about it. But lo and behold, Alexis plopped right into our laps. Even cooler is the fact that her mother is returning to church after 8 years of inactivity. That's the reason why Alexis never got baptized in the first place. But either way, Alexis is stoked to learn about the Gospel and set a date with us. And it will be super easy because she's already been attending church regularly. Ka-ching! So yeah, the Lord is truly blessing us. If we hadn't been looking for Bishop Westwood, we wouldn't have talked to Sis. Decker. I'm sure they would've eventually got things lined up and called us, but it just made everything 10 times easier to meet her there, give Alexis a Book of Mormon and a homework assignment, and set up a time this Tuesday.
I've told you a bit about Rachel and Dakota previously. Well, Rachel is our other investigator with a date set for the 8th. We couldn't get a hold of them this week, so we're going to try real hard and teach her this week a couple times. We're a bit worried about Rachel making it to the 8th because they haven't come to church 2 weeks in a row now. I'm sure she's still interested, but I really just wanted it to happen soon. Gosh, I'm so impatient sometimes. But I'm really praying that things work out and we can keep the fire lit. Pray that Rachel will progress!
Sadly, Ashley couldn't make it to church either. She's really been struggling with her beliefs lately, which doesn't help. She absolutely loves the ward and loves our meetings, but she told us (before Elder Quinn left) that she doesn't believe that this is the true church. She claims that her beliefs most align with that of "Messianic Jews." It's okay if she doesn't believe that the church is true (yet), but I just get frustrated because she hasn't put in enough effort to find out if the BOM is true and such. When we met with her on Wednesday, we had somewhat of a "bash" with her and it got us nowhere. She's just so confused! I just wish she would get an answer that it's all true. But I know it won't come if she doesn't have "real intent." I'm sad to say that I kinda lost my cool in our lesson with her. I told her that if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not the Kingdom of God established on the earth, and if she's knows that with a perfect knowledge, then she should look elsewhere. I told her that she should search her whole life, no matter how long it took, to find Christ's true church. If this isn't it, then don't waste your time attending ours! If we don't have the truth, then we're just another one of those bajillions of nice Christian churches out there. I had to repent after that one... But we're meeting with her on Thursday, so at least she's still seeing us. Just pray that your son doesn't lose his cool again.
Well, all in all life is good here in Joplin. I can't wait for the stake center to be finished, and I'm excited for autumn to come. Elder Nordine and I are going to work our tails off, so I'm happy. I know I'm at my peak of happiness when I'm workin' hard. Have a great week, family. I sure miss you a lot sometimes. Dad, the pictures you sent me were absolutely beautiful. I miss the mountains! I miss fly fishing! Golly, you know how to make Elder Atkin homesick. But don't worry, it's a good homesick. I just love y'all so much :)
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Here's some pics. First one is of Elder Quinn and I lookin' like champs in the car. The second is of a $40 steak I had the day before Elder Quinn left. It has bleu cheese crumbles on top and it was served on a 500 degree plate. Isn't that awesome?! And thirdly is of Elder Nordine posing all awkward-like. I love this guy :) Hooray!
P.P.S. I'm totally jealous that you get to go to education week. Do you know what I miss? BYU. I miss it so much that it hurts. No matter how bad I did my first year of college there, I just ache to be there.
Miracle of the week: the temperature has been so much cooler here lately. So much cooler, in fact, that it's just plain ridiculous! It's been in the 70's and the 80's for most of the past week now and I'm just loving it. There's nothing like a cool breeze and cloud cover after weeks of 100+ degree days.
Good news: Elder Nordine is so awesome! He's very very very different from me, but we're already really good friends. He's from Las Vegas, so I was kind of jealous when ward members would "ooh" and "ahh" at church when they found out he wasn't from Utah. Gosh, I'm sick of people hating on Utah! I can't help but feel embarrassed that I grew up there sometimes. I just think it would be so cool to say that I'm from Vegas. But anyways, Elder Nordine has one younger brother and he was born and raised in the church. He's been out on his mission for almost 19 months now, so he doesn't have too much longer left. This is his first time being a zone leader too. He's was really into theater back home, and he was even a theater major at Dixie State. We get along great because we both like to laugh and joke around a lot. We're definitely going to have a good time.
Sad to say that this week was sort of a slow one. Having transfers shouldn't be any excuse to have a slow week, but that's sorta what happened. The day before Elder Quinn left he made sure to say goodbye to all of his favorite members and friends. I really wanted to work, but I didn't want to ruin the good feelings between us. Thus I let him just do his thing. But hey, I can't complain about the 5 meal appointments that we had on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I gained 100 pounds that day. Man, there's some really good BBQ here in Joplin. It was sad to see Elder Quinn go, but I knew we'd see each other at ZLC and such. Change is just hard sometimes, ya know what I mean? Even if it's a good change and I get a sweet companion, it just kind of throws me off. I'm in this weird funk right now. Hopefully it doesn't last long...
2nd Miracle of the week: Elder Nordine and I were at church yesterday and the Joplin 1st ward had just finished its meetings. We found our way through the crowd back to the chapel because the Webb City ward's sacrament meeting had just ended and we wanted to find Bishop Westwood. As we were walking up to the door, a lady walked out and stopped us. She asked, "are you our missionaries?" We replied in the affirmative. She then said, "Good. I'm Sis. Decker and I have a niece that's 16 and has been attending church with us for a few weeks now. She wants to take the discussions and get baptized." After picking up our jaws off the ground, we proceeded to follow Sis. Decker back into the chapel where we met Alexis, her niece. Suddenly it clicked in my mind. A few weeks previous, Sis. Decker's husband called us out of nowhere and informed us of the same thing, just without the details of her wanting to be baptized. All we knew was that they had a niece that might be interested. They said they'd try to set something up and they'd call us in the next week. Well, that never happened, and we totally forgot about it. But lo and behold, Alexis plopped right into our laps. Even cooler is the fact that her mother is returning to church after 8 years of inactivity. That's the reason why Alexis never got baptized in the first place. But either way, Alexis is stoked to learn about the Gospel and set a date with us. And it will be super easy because she's already been attending church regularly. Ka-ching! So yeah, the Lord is truly blessing us. If we hadn't been looking for Bishop Westwood, we wouldn't have talked to Sis. Decker. I'm sure they would've eventually got things lined up and called us, but it just made everything 10 times easier to meet her there, give Alexis a Book of Mormon and a homework assignment, and set up a time this Tuesday.
I've told you a bit about Rachel and Dakota previously. Well, Rachel is our other investigator with a date set for the 8th. We couldn't get a hold of them this week, so we're going to try real hard and teach her this week a couple times. We're a bit worried about Rachel making it to the 8th because they haven't come to church 2 weeks in a row now. I'm sure she's still interested, but I really just wanted it to happen soon. Gosh, I'm so impatient sometimes. But I'm really praying that things work out and we can keep the fire lit. Pray that Rachel will progress!
Sadly, Ashley couldn't make it to church either. She's really been struggling with her beliefs lately, which doesn't help. She absolutely loves the ward and loves our meetings, but she told us (before Elder Quinn left) that she doesn't believe that this is the true church. She claims that her beliefs most align with that of "Messianic Jews." It's okay if she doesn't believe that the church is true (yet), but I just get frustrated because she hasn't put in enough effort to find out if the BOM is true and such. When we met with her on Wednesday, we had somewhat of a "bash" with her and it got us nowhere. She's just so confused! I just wish she would get an answer that it's all true. But I know it won't come if she doesn't have "real intent." I'm sad to say that I kinda lost my cool in our lesson with her. I told her that if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not the Kingdom of God established on the earth, and if she's knows that with a perfect knowledge, then she should look elsewhere. I told her that she should search her whole life, no matter how long it took, to find Christ's true church. If this isn't it, then don't waste your time attending ours! If we don't have the truth, then we're just another one of those bajillions of nice Christian churches out there. I had to repent after that one... But we're meeting with her on Thursday, so at least she's still seeing us. Just pray that your son doesn't lose his cool again.
Well, all in all life is good here in Joplin. I can't wait for the stake center to be finished, and I'm excited for autumn to come. Elder Nordine and I are going to work our tails off, so I'm happy. I know I'm at my peak of happiness when I'm workin' hard. Have a great week, family. I sure miss you a lot sometimes. Dad, the pictures you sent me were absolutely beautiful. I miss the mountains! I miss fly fishing! Golly, you know how to make Elder Atkin homesick. But don't worry, it's a good homesick. I just love y'all so much :)
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Here's some pics. First one is of Elder Quinn and I lookin' like champs in the car. The second is of a $40 steak I had the day before Elder Quinn left. It has bleu cheese crumbles on top and it was served on a 500 degree plate. Isn't that awesome?! And thirdly is of Elder Nordine posing all awkward-like. I love this guy :) Hooray!
P.P.S. I'm totally jealous that you get to go to education week. Do you know what I miss? BYU. I miss it so much that it hurts. No matter how bad I did my first year of college there, I just ache to be there.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
August 6, 2012 - Lots of Stuff
Dear Family,
Why yes, Mom. The weeks sure are flying by! It's like we always say
as missionaries: the days are long (very very VERY long), but the weeks
are short. Gosh, it's seems like I just got to Joplin, but there are
some days that just last forever. We had one of those the other day. We
had a lot of good plans and even backup plans, but in the end nobody was
home. I mean NOBODY. Our plans and backup plans quickly went out the
window so we tried by less actives on the ward list. Still nothing. In
the end the only option we had left was to tract, but we decided that it
wouldn't be good for me to walk too much because of my in-grown
toenail. Yes, I have another in-grown toenail. Darn it! I know y'all are
probably disgusted, but it happens. Especially to missionaries, because
we walk a lot. I'm so sick of in-grown toenails!!! But I'm getting it
taken care of so things should be okay.
Anyways. Before I tell you about the baptism, I need to update you
on transfers. Boy did that come quickly! After the baptism on Saturday
night we had two appointments with investigators at 8:00. Luckily we had
the 2nd ward elders with us, so we just split up - Elder Quinn taught
David and I taught Rachel. Rachel is our new investigator who's married
to a recent convert named Dakota. They showed up at church out of
nowhere last Sunday and Bro. Blake set up an appointment with them on
Tuesday night. We taught the Restoration and invited her to be baptized
if she came to know that what we were teaching was true. We left her
with Alma 32 to read and the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. When
Elder Pope and I walked into their house on Saturday night, I was
pleasantly surprised to see that not only had Rachel read the chapter,
she had taken notes and written down questions. Now how often does that
happen!? We then commenced with a discussion about faith, being "poor in
spirit", and such. It was totally awesome and she was soaking it up
like a sponge. After about 15 minutes, the discussion slowed down a bit.
I was about to go right on into our lesson on the Word of Wisdom (they
requested that we teach the Word of Wisdom after our lesson on Tuesday).
Suddenly Dakota raised his hand and said in a quiet voice, "Hey. We
should start with a prayer." I about keeled over and died. How had I
forgotten to open with a prayer?! Totally not cool! But at the same time
it was flippin' awesome that Dakota would even think of it. Man, was I
humbled. Even though Dakota is kind of less-active and struggles with
smoking, he knew the power that prayer has. After that, we taught an
excellent lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Both Dakota and Rachel are
breaking the Word of Wisdom, but after discussing D&C 89, they were
able to see the blessings from obeying the Lord's commandments. With a
bit of reluctance, they agreed to live the Word of Wisdom for a week and
see what would come of it. I specifically promised them that if they
lived the Word of Wisdom for a week, they'd gain a testimony of it and
that Rachel's prayers regarding the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith
would be answered. Before we left, we set a baptismal date for the 8th
of September. Legit! Meanwhile, in Webb City, Elder Quinn had a
fantastic lesson with David. It's the first time in over month that
we've been able to see him, and Elder Quinn was able to set a date with
him for the 1st of September. Even more legit! Gosh, it was a night of
miracles, I'm telling you. I had no idea that we'd have such success
right after a baptism! The Lord is truly blessing us.
Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about transfers! As we were
driving back up to Webb City to pick up Elder Quinn and Elder Lund, I
got a call from the Mission Home. I looked at the time and realized that
it was after 9 - transfer call time! I started freaking out, but I
calmly answered the phone. It was Elder Treasure, the assistant. He
informed me that Elder Quinn would be getting transferred to St. Robert
to be a zone leader with Elder Urban (who was in my MTC district). My
heart immediately sunk. Elder Quinn would be leaving :( Elder Treasure
then told me that my new companion is Elder Nordine. Crazy! Just when
Elder Quinn and I were becoming the best of friends, he has to leave :(
You see, Elder Quinn and I have been pretty good friends for these past 2
transfers, but it seemed like there was something missing. A couple of
weeks ago I realized that the missing puzzle piece was trust. We just
simply didn't trust each other! No matter how good of friends you are
with someone, it doesn't matter if you don't completely trust each
other. That's why Elder Quinn would take over in lessons and
instruction. He didn't trust me. And the same goes for me - I didn't
trust him. The lack of trust was really building up and the pressure was
increasing more and more until it finally exploded and then we were pals again. And man was it a
good week! And now I'm totally gonna miss the guy! Doesn't that stink??
Wow, the life of a missionary...
So I don't know much about Elder
Nordine, but I've heard good things. Either way we're going to work our
tails off. Nothing gets me pumped to work like a baptism. Oh yeah, the
baptism!! It was awesome :) Shelby's family came and we had a few
members of the ward council show up. I was a little disappointed with
the turnout, but it still went well. The Spirit was so strong as Cody
immersed her in the water. I looked over at Shelby's Mom and she was
crying. I knew that she felt the Spirit touch her heart. It was just too
perfect! Haha it was funny - Shelby's dad looked really up-tight and
nervous at the beginning of the baptism, but by the end he looked happy
and satisfied. I think he was expecting those crazy Mormons to do
something to his daughter :) We were joking afterwards that it would've
been hilarious if Bishop got up and said something like, "Alright.
Present the sacrifice!" Yeah, we're a little irreverent sometimes. But
there was nothing irreverent about fast and testimony meeting yesterday.
Cody confirmed Shelby and she also bore her testimony in front of her
family. She gave the most heartfelt testimony about the "gift" that the
Hoffman family has given her. I couldn't help but cry. No... I wept. Men
don't cry, they weep ;)
It was just an amazing week, that's all. I love being a missionary
more and more each day and I can't wait to teach more lessons and set
more baptismal dates. If I had more time, I would've told you about our
lessons with Ashley and with Ladonna. Let's just say that the Lord is
preparing some really cool people.
Have a great week and stay cool! Guess what?? It's rained a few times lately!! Everyone is super happy 'round here.
Love, Elder Atkin
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