Dear family,
Man, I didn't realize that there
was ANOTHER holiday this week. I told you last time that I wouldn't
make it a habit of emailing you on Tuesdays. So much for that, thanks to
Martin Luther King Jr.! Haha it's not that bad, it just seems like I
keep on having to wait extra long to read your emails and stuff. No more
of that!
Well it sounds like you had a lot of fun in Arizona!
Thanks for sending pictures, the cousins all look so much older since
the last time I saw them... And yes, Eliza looks adorable :) That's
super funny that Grandpa is getting good at Angry Birds hahaha. I hear
that the Kindle is quite the hot item lately. A member of our ward took
us to Tulsa for a meeting yesterday and he showed us his new Kindle. He
thinks it's really popular because it can do 80-90% of what the iPad can
do for 1/3 the price. Man, I want one! I could have the whole gospel
library in one little device. Well, maybe in two years.
Mom, I totally understand what you mean when you
mentioned that you want to use your time better. It's always a constant
battle for missionaries too. Before my mission I thought that
missionaries were perfect and that it would be easy to set up
appointments and such. Not always true. Plans constantly fall through,
and it's hard to get appointments in the first place. Sometimes it's
hard to know what to do all the time. You can't always just tract if you
don't have things scheduled. Well, you can, but it's not always
effective if you're not excited about it and you have the right mindset.
And you have to remember - Tulsa is the belt buckle of the Bible belt.
You ever heard that? And Owasso? Owasso is the shiny glimmer of light
reflecting off that belt buckle. Anyways. Elder Jensen and I often pray
that we can make good use of our time and come up with effective plans.
Our focus lately has been filling up our schedule to the best of our
abilities so that we don't just slack off. There's always a good
balance, Mom. As you search for that balance prayerfully, cool things
can really happen. Maybe some of your projects can be service-oriented?
Hmmm...
This week has been a really good one. I mean awesome!!
No new investigators... BUT AWESOME! Haha :) I've mentioned in the past
that we have a really good Ward Mission Leader and Bishop, but this week
is when it really all came together. This is the sort of thing that
Elder Jensen and I have been praying for, so fasten your seatbelts. Last
week both Bro. Kennedy and the Bishop went to a ward mission leader
training with the stake president and other people. They both got some
really cool ideas and basically got the missionary fire lit within.
According to them, it was very spiritually uplifting and a lot of
amazing promises were made. Bishop Carroll had a one-on-one with the
Stake President, and he expressed his concerns with our goal of 12
baptisms for 2012 in Elm Creek (Did I mention that Elm Creek had 0 for
2011?). President Johnson assured him that if the ward helps the
missionaries acheive 20 lessons per week, we'll get our baptisms. Bishop
Carroll truly feels like it was inspired and he's determined to get us
teaching.
So that's basically it. We're going to start teaching
20 lessons a week, no matter what. Even if we have to teach active
members the discussions, we're going to get our 20. Of course, active
member lessons don't count in our weekly numbers that we report (key
indicators), but they sure count on the bishop's key indicators. Our
goal now is to start asking families if we can teach their families the
discussions for 1. practice and 2. to bring the spirit of missionary
work into their home. We're focusing on less-actives of course, but also
families with prospective missionaries and families that are
struggling. This all might sound kinda weird, but you don't know how
excited I am right now! It feels like we're doing something
groundbreaking in Owasso. The ward members are actually excited about
this! I really felt the spirit when we were discussing this with Bishop
and Bro. Kennedy, and I believe in the Stake President. We've already
started extending invitations and I look forward to updating you in the
future. Y'all should tell me what you think. Does it sound effective?
I'm excited for this new transfer. So many cool things happening. The
Lord will certainly bless us in many seen and unseen ways.
I hope all is well back home and that it's snowing
loads and loads. It was 75 degrees yesterday! I felt like it was summer.
Wow, what a lame winter. I want it to snow! Thanks for emailing me and
for your love. I love you too! The gospel's so true.
Love, Elder Atkin
P.S. Be sure to tell me how Frank's farewell goes. And wish him luck for me. What a man!
P.P.S. Sorry I forgot pictures again :(
P.P.P.S. I like being
District Leader so far. I already had 2 baptismal interviews on Sunday,
and they went great! Both of them are ready for baptism, and it was a
great experience for me too. Wish me luck with District Meeting this
week!
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