Settled In

Hey Family!

Once again it is P-day, and this one came SO much faster than the last one. I think I am finally settled in here. :) I am very happy.

I will try to answer your questions (even though that is easier when I just reply, but whatever. :) ) Also, I don't think these computers will work with my camera and I forgot my camera cord, so you'll just have to wait for me to figure that out to get pictures in attachment form. I'll try to get pictures of all of those things. Also, we work with several sets of senior missionaries. I love them all. Working in the Visitors' Center is really fun because it is like being surrounded by family all of the time. The sisters here are amazing, and I love the senior couples like grandparents. The Andersons are planning a reunion in July 2013 in Canada, and they want us to all come visit them. I'm already excited.

The elders in the Independence Zone (our adopted Zone) are wonderful. I really like them a lot. We do play games with them, so we all have to be careful, but it makes it more fun. The food out here hasn't been that different so far. We get fed by members almost every night, which is nice. Even when we are in the Visitors' Center they drive the half an hour to bring us food! They are so nice! One lady did bring us ribs from a restaurant out here and they were amazing. I hope to have more BBQ next summer. The black preacher guy promised to invite us over when he makes some. On Thanksgiving the VC is closing at 4 - for the first time ever - and all of the sisters will be out in their areas. We all have at least one dinner appointment. Ours is with Keara and I'm really excited because I really like her. She makes good food, too. She has the missionaries over all the time for dinner. When we taught her a lesson after dinner this week, her whole nonmember family joined in and even participated! It was wonderful. We just talked about faith, and they were all on board. We are building a relationship there. Her dad puts out his cigarette when we walk in, which is super nice of him.

The gospel principles class is taught by the ward mission leader. This last week they actually had a ward member teach it (Ambroa) and it was really good. I'm glad she did it because she needed it, and her whole family is struggling, so they are in that class. I think it was good for them to hear it from her.

So this week. I can't even remember everything that happened this week. (don't worry, I write a lot in my journal.) So this will probably be out of order.

I finally got to give my first solo tour! I would have been comfortable doing it earlier, but there just weren't people coming in the VC. Then one night was randomly busy, and my turn came. My very first tour was 3 nonmembers from Florida. No pressure. haha. There was a guy and a girl that were dating, and their friend, another guy. They were in the area for a wedding, and the friend loves mormons so he dragged them to the VC because they had extra time. They walked in and immediately I saw the girl's eyes drawn to the Christus (I'll send you a picture. It's pretty amazing. The one in SLC is of Christ during the creation, and ours is of Him during the second coming. The mural behind him has the earth and the sun and it is awesome). I talked to them about what we had and asked what they wanted to see. The guy friend wanted to hear the history, but as we headed to the stairs, the girl kept looking at the Christus, so I offered to do that first. I got to know them a little, bore my testimony of Christ (they were all Christian), and played the narration. After it was over, we talked about it. With a lot of the members they hear it and aren't very impressed. When I ask their feelings no one wants to say anything. These three were entirely open to talking about it. I told them my favorite parts, and they told me theirs. When I was bearing my testimony about how much I love Him, I could see and feel them listening. Their hearts were open. It was amazing. They completely connected with me and agreed with me. The spirit was there. I guess sometimes I don't realize how much a shock it would be to be a nonmember and feel the spirit. I have the gift of the Holy Ghost, so it feels good, but I have it all of the time, like a fish in water. But they don't, so it has got to be amazing to walk into the Visitors' Center and feel it.

Then we walked downstairs so I could tell them the history of the Saints in Missouri. The friend knew a shocking amount of our history. As I went on I was more and more impressed. He knew about Adam-ondi-ohman, he knew who W. W. Phelps was, and he knows all of our hymns. But his friends didn't know anything, so it was a little tricky balancing that. I had him teaching them. So, I started at the beginning, with the first vision. Again, I could see the girl's heart being open. She was actually listening to me, learning. I don't know if she believed it, but she actually listened! As I recited the first vision (yay for memorizing!), the spirit was there again. I told them the history of the saints in Missouri, and the whole time they were right there with me. We were having a discussion, not a tour. They asked me questions the whole time, and I answered them. I told them my feelings, and they shared their thoughts. It was awesome. Absolutely amazing.

When we got to the end, I bore my testimony again. I was really hoping they would self refer, so I gave them referral cards. I called them comment cards, and explained that they could leave their comments about their experience, and if they wanted to know more, they could fill out their info. None of them did. But they did leave comments. They were all really nice, and all specifically complimented me. So I taped them in my journal. As we were walking back upstairs, the girl commented that she felt like she really understood our religion better, and she felt like all of her questions about Mormons were answered. The guy that knew so much about us told me that when he was in middle school he discovered MoTab, and has been hooked ever since. He's watched Music and the Spoken Word since then. Then he found out that all of the music from General Conference was archived online, so he downloaded all of it onto his iPod. They had been listening to it on their whole car trip.

Then we wandered around the kiosks upstairs. I kept chatting with him, and he knew so much about us I don't know how he isn't a member! The couple asked about the organization of the church, so I explained it to them. There were pictures on the wall, so I got to show them the apostles. The guy friend knew all of their names (including their middle names), and said his favorite was Boyd K. Packer. Crazy! How is this guy not Mormon?!! Then they had to go. They were all super nice, and left. As soon as they walked out the doors I was kicking myself for not offering them a Book of Mormon. *sigh*

So my first tour was awesome. The spirit was there, and we really connected. Man, I hope they convert someday. If not, they at least have a kind view of us now.

Later this week I had a tour that was almost the complete opposite. It was a man and his 3 sons from Belize (spelling?? -- in central America) and their friend from Texas. They were also in the area for a wedding. They were all members of the Restoration church (they broke off of ours when Joseph Smith died). It was a horrible tour, but there was nothing I could have done differently. I showed them God's Plan for His Family, and then the Christus. When I asked them questions, they wouldn't comment for a bit, and then they would but it would be kinda off topic. It was kinda annoying. Don't get me wrong, they were good people, we just didn't connect at all. I got the feeling that they didn't really want to listen to me. They were trying to teach me, not learn from me. The friend from Texas kept talking about how these guys were Lamanites, and said something like, "now you can say you have met a lamanite. That's something to remember." Maybe I'm prideful, but I wasn't really impressed. Amanda Bates in high school is half Native American, and Yeremy from BYU is from El Salvador, so this wasn't new to me. Actually I did say, "oh, yeah, I have a good friend from El Salvador". Maybe I shouldn't have.

Then I showed them the history part of the tour. Talking about Zion was really interesting with them. Okay, back up. As far as I can tell, they believe a lot of the same things we do, just ending with Joseph Smith. They believe in the Book of Mormon and everything. Anyway, so talking about Zion was interesting, because they do believe in Zion, and that it will be built in Independence. They kept talking about how the Lamanites would be the ones to build it, and how it might scare the locals to have Lamanites pouring in from Central and South America. They also believe that all of the churches that splintered from Joseph Smith will be reunited. I didn't really know what to say.

They also tried to teach me that reading the Book of Mormon was important. They said something like "some people testify this book is true, and they haven't even read it!" It felt directed at me. When I asked if they knew much about the history, the dad kinda chuckled and said, "Yes. I am a Seventy in our church, so I know the history." I don't know if I was supposed to be impressed by that, either, so I just moved on. Oops. The whole tour was just not good. When I tried to bear testimony and bring the spirit, they would make an off topic comment--something good, not bad--but distracting from what I was testifying of. It was annoying.

Then I asked if they knew the story of Mary Elizabeth and her sister. They didn't!! It is the story of the sisters rescuing the pages of the Book of Commandments and hiding in a corn field. I'm sure you know it. That happened here. So I told them the story, and really, that was the only time in the whole tour I felt them listening to me. The spirit came. It was good. Of course they immediately made some random comment about the Lamanites living with dirt floors now, but I had done my best.

The last video of the tour talks about the building of zion now and the growth of our church. It was kinda awkward to tell them that we have 14.5 million members and over 100 translations of the Book of Mormon--how many do you have? I need to work on my pride. But I ended by bearing my testimony of what we have in common. They agreed.

As we left, we talked a little about other church history sites. Kirtland came up, and the dad--the70--mentioned, "oh, yes. That is where I received a revelation for our people and wrote it down." This time he really looked at me, waiting for a reaction. I kinda ignored it. Oops.

So there are my two polar opposite, nonmember tours of the week. Interesting.

As for our area, we really haven't had that much time there this week. We visited 3 former investigators that sounded like they would be awesome, but we had to drop all of them. One of them was an intellectual that really wants to know truth, but doesn't really want to learn religion from anyone. He's on his own journey, and feels like he knows God. His family was adorable. The biggest stumbling block he has to learning is that he believes that everything is cyclical and unorganized religion is just as valid as organized religion--it's just another phase. He thinks Christ gained His authority from His relationship with God, so this guy has a relationship with God, and therefore, authority. He baptized himself. He kept comparing himself to Jesus. He does believe the Book of Mormon is true, but that doesn't do anything for him. I told him to read it straight through. Hopefully he'll see what it testifies of and come around someday.

Another lady will be a member in the afterlife. She expects her granddaughter (she has a lot in common with the Napoli's) to be mormon someday, and is okay with that. She just doesn't believe. Her daughter died a year ago, and it nearly destroyed her. I think she has rebuilt her life around her grand daughter and the belief that God exists, but doesn't answer prayers (she's agnostic). I think she is afraid that if she lets go of either of those things, her life will crumble again. Because how could a God that answers prayers take her daughter away? It was tragic to hear her talk about it. But really, she's a wonderful woman. If I wasn't on a mission, I would want to be friends with her. I could talk to her forever. But she won't progress, so we can't spend very much time with her.

That's pretty much my whole week. I've finished training most of the sisters here on chat, which is funny because I'm the greenie, *ahem*, new missionary. It's been fun getting to know them that way.

I love your letters. Thank you dad for your letter! Thank you mom for your email! Thank you Rachel for your prayers! Thank you Annie for your email! It's good to hear familiar voices, even on paper or a computer screen.

I love you all. :) Know that I am happy here in Missouri. I'm working hard and studying hard (wow! I'm learning a lot! I am 2/3 done with Jesus the Christ now!) and it is wonderful.

Have a fabulous week! I hope to hear from you soon!

 

your sister missionary,

Sister April Atkin

 

P.S. Willie, I sent this to you this week. Send me your family email, too! I will try to write you about missionary stuff, too. :) Love you loads!