Week 2 - Halfway!

Editor's note (AKA Amy intervenes): Some of this email was business oriented, just info that her parents need, so I omitted it. It makes the email a lot shorter, but that is just the way it goes when you have limited email time as a missionary. 

Dear Mom and Family,

Today marks the halfway point of my MTC experience. I was going to send pictures today, I brought my camera and everything, and the computer will NOT let me upload them. So I'm sorry, but you might not get any of those until I'm in Missouri.

I'm so proud of you mom. You will give a wonderful lesson on temples. Because nonmembers need to know that everything in our church leads to temples. One reason for that is because the church is all about families. Everything is about families. Yesterday we had a devotional (every Tuesday), and Julie B. Beck spoke. She talked about how everything is about the family - the fall, the atonement, the creation, everything. It was wonderful. You will give a wonderful message. I have faith in you. :) Know that you have a missionary praying for you. :)

I had heard rumor about that pastor saying those things (about Mormons not being Christians), but I'm not worried. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and I really think that there is no such thing as bad publicity for the church (unless someone in it does something bad). This article will get people thinking about the church, and I think it will gain the church some support. I think hundreds of people will be going tomormon.org because of this. What a blessing! And if they believe him, no harm done because they probably believed it anyway. I think this will only do good for the church as people try to find out for themselves.

My district is pretty good. We actually had some district drama this week, but I guess these really are still 19 year old boys. A short version is that some of the elders were breaking rules, so the sisters corrected them (leaving their companion, going back to their room instead of class, etc.). They have been talking bad about us behind our backs ever since, and really ignore us a lot. The Zone Leaders talked to them (one of them was the District Leader), so things are improving. These boys have big hearts, but hard heads, so they will learn to get over that. Exact obedience is important. The DL finally started asking us to pray in class - the first time since our first two days here, so that's improvement. We'll take it. These boys have great potential.

I got a letter from Willie this week and it made my day. What a stud! I look up to him a lot, and these block heads will be lucky if they get him as a companion (I mean that in the nicest way. These boys have great potential, and I love them, it just is difficult sometimes).

We have some progressing investigators that are wonderful. One is Hely Meza, and she is so sweet. She could talk our ears off for hours and hours! The hard thing is getting a word in about the gospel! She asked us about our mothers, and I told her about you, mom. She seemed so impressed to hear us speak kindly of our mothers. She wants her daughter to meet with us. :) (these aren't real investigators, but it is still fun.) Another investigator is Janet, but I don't like her as much. It is frustrating because I am trying everything I know how to do, and I still feel like I am failing. We just can't reach her, even though we are praying our heads off and bearing testimony with our whole hearts. I reached my limit with her on Saturday and when she refused to pray, I said, "Janet, I can't do this for you." almost rudely. I felt awful at first, but it worked! She apparently needed me to be bold, borderline rude to act on anything we said. Anyway, I'm learning a lot.

Another investigator is Ben. We haven't figured out how to tell him he actually wasn't speaking in tongues in his church. We'll get there. He committed to baptism, though.

I'm trying even how to capture this week in an email, and I don't know how. So much has happened, but nothing has happened. It feels like one long day with naps. The days all blend together. I am very happy here. My companions have learned to laugh at my love of milk and how I love to run up stairs, and I am learning to talk less (sometimes I dominate the lessons. They don't mind, but it isn't good for any of us.)

I finally met a sister going to my mission! She is in a district will all Elders going to my mission too!! So we all leave the same day. I won't be flying alone. :) I am the only Visitor's Center sister, and that is why I am alone in my district. The three of us are the only VCs. I'm so excited.

Oh! And we joined the MTC choir! It is amazing. It is 3/4 men, but it sounds good. I'm singing alto. We sang where can I turn for Peace, and I loved it. What a release.

Anyway, I gotta go. I'll send you a letter later today.

I love you all! Thank you for your support! I am very happy here and have learned a lot. :)

Love,

Sister April Atkin

The First Week

Hello All!

I did it! I made it through the first week! It feels like forever since I left home, but it still isn't really real that I'm here at the MTC, and that I'm a missionary. Wow.

The first few days were really not easy, if I'm being honest. I was SOO tired. And I was a little frustrated, because I didn't feel like we were learning anything. The elders in my district seemed pretty immature.

BUT now its is awesome! We are progressing like crazy! I love my companions (it's fun to have a groupie wherever I go, and they are super sweet), and I have learned to love my district. They are like little brothers to me now, which is awesome because they are all going to Willie's mission! It's been so fun to see them learn and mature in one week. I will miss them when they leave us for our Visitor Center Training.

We have already started teaching investigators (well, actors, but you know), and we have shown a great learning curve. The very first lesson we taught bombed. We did horribly. But our most recent went great! And General Conference here was amazing!! I felt like every talk was about missionary work, and was for me. I liked how one guy said that we are learning the foreign language of the spirit. It made me feel better because sometimes I feel out of place speaking English when it feels like everyone else is speaking something else. But, learning the Spirit's language has been soo cool! It's very different here than it has ever been for me in my whole life, but it is so good. It really reminds me of the spirit I feel in the temple. I haven't really cried even though I feel the spirit all the time (you know how unusual that is for me). Chad Lewis came and gave a fireside on Sunday, and it was awesome. SOO good. I'm gonna let my greenie light shine. :)

Overall life, is good! Our roommates are great (not in our zone or anything), and make me laugh super hard. Our elders are goofs. The food is good, but too much, so I'm working on not eating everything they give me. I'm not surprised people get fat here. I'm still drinking a lot of milk. :) (actually, one day I totally dumped milk all over my dress. It was embarrassing. Oh, well. Mom, yes, it was on my flower belt that we wanted to keep clean. Oops.) Also, Sometimes I feel like the Elders think the sisters have a disease. We get ignored a lot. Well, a lot of doors are opened, but besides that and our district, very few guys talk to us. It's actually kinda funny. We are still learning the ropes here, but everything runs like a well oiled machine. It's good.

The other thing is that I LOVE gym time. It is my favorite. I have hated gym my whole life until now, and now it feels like a wonderful release. We have played bocce ball (yep. That's weird) and vollyball. We are making vollyball friends. It's fun. (one of them is 6' 10", so that is less fun unless he is on our team). Running around is amazing! As usual, I did get hit in the face by a ball, but that is normal for me, and I still love Vollyball. I really look forward to it.

This morning we went to the temple and it was soooo good. We were the only sisters, which was crazy, but fun.

I have seen so many people I know here! Amy Beck, Shane Feuz, people from my proofs class, and a bajillion other people. Katie Soh has been my favorite though. She's acted kinda like a big sister to me, giving me tips and advice and optimism. I love her to pieces! She is Sarah's second cousin, a friend from BYU, and is going to Milan Italy (she got me excited about having cod nuggets in the MTC, but that is another story. They are pretty good). Oh, one of the elders in my district is from Vernal and knows all of the Atkin family there, especially Derron and uncle Dennis. his name is Elder Wheeler.

Thank you for the mail! It means a lot. Aunt Laura sent me a package and made my day. :) She will be getting a letter from me soon.

I don't even know how to express everything I'm feeling here! I feel like a new person. I've never prayed so much in my life. Everyone here has gone through something hard and is so strong. I feel so inexperienced and weak sometimes, but I'm growing, so I'm not sad about it. I haven't been homesick yet, but that is not because I don't love you. Letting dad go at the MTC was really hard, but I'm doing the right thing! I know it!! The name tag seems second nature now. I'm lost when it isn't on me. I can't imagine coming home, so I won't worry about that until I have to.

Holy cow, family, the church is true. I can't believe that I've been trusted to be a part of this work! I pray for you, and I hope your missionary experiences are going great - you'll have to tell me about them. I'm praying for you.

I don't have my camera, but next week.

I can't wait to go to Missouri!

I gotta go, but I love you SOOOOO much!! To pieces! More than I can say!

Have an amazing week!

your missionary,

Sister April Atkin

First Letter: September 30, 2011

Dear Family,

Just so you know, I love you and I am fine.

My companions are Sister Denison and Sister Rasmussen. We're a Trio! They are from West Jordan and Murry. (Respectively)

Hey family! This fill in the blank letter thing didn't work out so well because I actually have two companions! They both seem super nice. Sister Denison is going to U of U and Sister Rasmussen is going to USU so with me going to BYU, we have quite the variety. It's fun so far, I love it! The first day is a little overwhelming and exhausting, but awesome.  In my district there is my trio, and six elders heading to -guess where- Tulsa, Oklahoma!!! One of them even knows Derron Atkin! I'll have to write Willie about these guys, he'll get to know some of them, for sure. My two companions are going to Cleveland, Ohio (Kirtland Visitors Center), so I'm the odd man out.
This is so unreal. It feels like a combo of EFY, 3rd grade, and awesomeness: meaning, there is a spectrum of people from overzealous to not so-much and we are clinging to our trio getting to know everyone (like an assigned table in 3rd grade), but I love it.
I'm sure that i will get lost on campus, but everyone is friendly. It really feels like a separate world, and not like Provo at all.
Anyway, I love you!
Love,
April
Sister Atkin