Dear Family,
Whew! What a busy week! It seems like Elder Nordine
and I just haven't been able to catch a break. I'm so tired nowadays. It
seems like I'm always in need of a good nap. You'd think that today
would be a good day to catch up on rest, but it hasn't been. We had a
zone activity where we played flour ball (you throw nylons filled with
flour at each other) for a few hours. But it was really a lot of fun, so
I can't complain. Haha the weird things that us missionaries do to
entertain ourselves :)
This week was actually a really good week. We taught double-digit
lessons, picked up a new part-member family named the Hernandezes (super
prepared!), and we were able to get Kim and Bri to church after a few
weeks of absence. They really enjoyed church, despite the fact that
Kim's been really struggling lately because of the rough things that
they've been going through. The good news is that their testimonies are
just as strong as ever, but it's just hard to see them both really sad
and down, especially in church when everyone else is so happy :(
Sometimes I just wish I could make everything better for my
investigators! I just wish I could take their pains and trials away. But
I know that they're being tested for a reason. It's really making them
stronger, even if they don't quite realize it yet. I just hope that we
can make it to the 24th okay. Yesterday I promised Kim that her baptism
would be a very fulfilling experience that would help lighten the
burdens that she is currently bearing. I felt like I was inspired in the
comforting words that I said, but I really really hope that I'm right.
It's just that I know that baptism and confirmation can do that for
people. It's not just a fun little experience where people feel the
Spirit. It's an opportunity to know of God's love, be cleansed of sin,
and to feel the atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't wait! It's about
time.
The Coxes are still doing pretty well, but we're now entering crunch
time before their baptisms on the 1st of December. They still haven't
kicked their addictions to smoking and chewing tobacco, so we're praying
for a miracle to happen. They want to quit so bad, but the temptation
is so great at times. I was a little bit frustrated this week because
last week Will promised that his current can of chew would be his last,
but it didn't end up happening. We showed up for a lesson earlier this
week and I found out from Vicki that he went and bought more. I was
really depressed that night, but surprisingly since then I've felt an
assurance and hope that things would work out. Both of them know that
this Saturday is the day that they need to be tobacco-free by. They good
thing is that the Coxes really trust us, so it's not awkward when we
ask them about their addictions and see how their doing. In the past, I
was a little worried that we were too good of friends with them (we
really are like best friends. Will and I are going to go extreme
cat-fishing after my mission with you, Dad. It'll be the 3 Wills
Hahaha!), but recently it's really helped because the Coxes trust us and
know that we'll help them in any way we can. Once again, I can't wait
for this family to get baptized :)
Funny story of the week: So on Monday morning before we went to ZLC
last week, Elder Nordine came to me and asked if I could trim up his
hair a little bit. You see, I happen to have some hair clippers of my
own that I inherited from the apartment in Springdale at the beginning
of my mission. I've actually gotten really good at giving myself
haircuts, which saves me a lot of money. Sometimes other elders will ask
me for a haircut, which I gladly give them. But I admit that sometimes I
don't give the best haircuts. Such was the case this last Monday :)
Elder Nordine didn't really want a full-on haircut, but he did want me
to shave off the scraggly hairs on the back of his neck. It would only
take a few seconds, so I agreed and we went into his bathroom. I asked
him how high up on his neck he wanted me to shave and he showed me by
marking it with his finger. I then grabbed the razor, cut straight into
his hair, and shaved downward. No problem.
Later that day, we traveled to Tulsa for our ZLC meetings. As we
were sitting in the mission home waiting for dinner to start, I couldn't
help but look over at my companion as he talked to other missionaries. I
immediately almost died of laughter. Elder Nordine looked so
ridiculous! I had done exactly what he asked me to do, but his hair
looked absolutely horrible. Imagine an L-shape on the back of his head
because I shaved directly into the back and then down. It's kinda hard
to explain, but either way it looked ridiculous. To make a long story
short, Elder Nordine was super mad at me (kinda) and he's still in need
of a haircut. On Wednesday at our zone training meeting, I pointed it
out to our zone and he punched me in the face! He was planning on just a
little tap to the cheek, but I accidentally leaned into the punch and
he made full contact. He was super embarrassed, but I only laughed and
so did the whole zone. The zone's joke now is that if you do anything
wrong at all, Nordine will punch you in the face in front of the zone.
Good times :)
Well, I'm already out of time, but I love you! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Atkin
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