I'm not in Provo anymore...

Dear Awesome Family,

I don't have a lot of time today (we have so much to do today! P-days are nuts!), and I get to talk to you on Sunday (yipee!!), so this won't be super long.

I'm doing wonderfully! I finally conquered my flu. It took a few days, and I had a few very frustrated moments that I wasn't better as fast I as I would like, but we're through that now. I'm back on all normal foods (as of Sunday) so we're good to go. I am staying warm, and I do wear my suit jackets sometimes. They are nice. Thank you. :)

I love Christmas time! I'm just having so much fun out here. I am definitely feeling the Christmas spirit. The Winterlight CD that arrived last Thursday definitely helps. :) Thank you so much mom! All of my packages have arrived. They came early this week, so in plenty of time. No stress. I LOVE the pictures of everyone with their letters. We hung whatever-you-call-that above our little Christmas tree. I just love it! It makes me so happy. Everyone was telling me what a cute idea that was, and that I must have an adorable mom. Yep. :) It's funny because all of my Christmas memories and our Christmas traditions are coming to mind, but it is making me happy, not homesick. I have been so blessed! And I am still happy to be out here, even on Christmas. One of the new sisters is really homesick, so we're all trying to help her have a good Christmas.

I'm so excited to talk to you on Sunday! I'm not sure how everything will work out with timing, but it will be between probably be after you call Willie. We will drop a text or a short call to figure out timing on Saturday night. We have three families we are going to see on Sunday, and it depends when our dinner is - she hasn't decided yet. So I will let you know.

I love the pictures of my little nephews! Little Eli has grown so much! I love his red hair and his eyes are such a cool color. Ethan is adorable as always. I loved how he's screaming in his picture with the "R". Hilarious. Best thing ever.

Okay, this week hasn't been super eventful. Little things have happened, but the probably most memorable thing happened on Monday morning. On Mondays we have early morning sports at 6 at the stake center with the other missionaries. So we were leaving our apartment at 6 in the morning, having just rolled out of bed. I lost my key a while ago, so while Sister Dodd was locking the door, I turned around to go open the outside door. See, the front door of our apartment is inside of a building. It's a tiny building, and our door is in a tiny hallway, right across from some other sisters. There are two apartments upstairs and that's it. So our little hallway downstairs has just our two doors, and connects the outside doors on either side. Anyway, so while she was locking the door, I turned around to go open the outside door for her. And there, laying in our little hallway was a homeless man dead asleep with his bike. I wasn't all the way awake yet, and he was right there, so I assumed Sister Dodd had seen him. I jumped, and just stepped back staring at him. Then 5 seconds later she turned around stepped forward, and jumped back gasping. We just stared at him, with his filthy hand flopped out to the side, completely unconscious on the floor.

Not knowing what else to do, we just left out of the door he wasn't blocking and went to sports. I guess we just hoped he would be gone by the time we got back. He wasn't. So we ran into our apartment and locked the door. Sister Dodd called the Zone Leaders as a first option because we didn't really know what to do. We were not freaking out, but we figured we should do something. Meanwhile, I got in the shower. They are very protective, so their response was "We'll be there in two minutes". They really aren't supposed to come to sisters' apartments. Sketchy. Right when they got there, they saw the man get on his bike and ride away. They came down to talk to Sister Dodd. I had just gotten out of the shower, so she quickly knocked on the door to warn me to not come out. So I was standing in the bathroom in a towel, and the Zone Leaders and two other elders (so there were 4 of them) talked to Sister Dodd just for about 30 seconds and left (still sketchy). We were laughing about the whole thing when the Zone Leaders called again and said that they had seen the guy on the road riding his bike, so they stopped to talk to him. One of the elders got out of the car and told him to never sleep there again. The homeless guy was kinda drunk and said his mom used to live there, so he felt comfortable there, or something. Anyway, he said he wouldn't come back.

So that was our adventure of the week. Nothing too exciting, but it was really funny. It's something to remember, anyway. "Remember that one time a homeless man slept in front of our door?" "Yeah, that was hilarious."

We did find a family this week. I'm not really sure it will go anywhere, but we found them. It's funny, because we were looking through the ward directory and didn't recognize the name, so we decided to drop by. It turned out to be the home of two sisters. One has 8 kids and one has 1, and there doesn't seem to be any male head of the home. They also have at least 5 dogs, one of which is a pit bull that was abused when it was younger, so it has a lot of anger for anyone not family. So we didn't go inside. One of the sisters is Methodist, and one is Jehovah's Witness, and neither of them know anything about the church. Only one of them is down as a member (the Methodist), and I am just confused out of my mind how that happened. "I knew a guy named Elder once in your church," she said. And she doesn't really know what the Book of Mormon is. The one sister is newly Jehovah's Witness, which was obvious in how nice she was to us. She actually was the one that wanted to hear more about our church. She was fine taking a pamphlet, which makes it clear she's still learning about being a JW (apparently they aren't allowed to take any materials from other churches). So I'm excited to meet with them again and hear what all that is about. 2 moms, 9 kids, 5 dogs = madness. I don't think either of them have a job, and when we stopped by and the moms weren't home, the oldest sister was very suspicious of us. I think she was afraid we were some government people or child protection people. All of the kids looked filthy. She shut the door quickly and told everyone to stay inside. It was strange.

Anyway, that's my week. I'm sure I forgot something, but I will tell you about it on Sunday.

I have the best family ever!

Love you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.

~Sister April Atkin

P.S. I also received a package from "Erilyn H. Jessica B. et. al." and it made me very happy. :)

Mission=Roller Coaster

Dearest Family,

What a week! I love being a missionary sooooooo much! I am just so happy here!! I can't even express it. Alma 26.

Where to begin. Well, last Thursday was transfers, so all of the new sisters are here. I love them so much! I have so many friends here. It is so nice to not be the new one anymore. It was also an amazing opportunity to look back and see how much I've grown in just 6 weeks! I'm so much more confident and really I am much more myself than I was when I started. I belong here, and already I wouldn't trade this for the world.

This Sunday was a crazy good one. It was invitation Sunday, so we were really excited for our investigators to come. Lyric and Selene both came!! I think they enjoyed it. I think it was a little overwhelming, but I think that is inevitable the first time. The lessons and the talks were perfect, and the members were all so friendly. I love our ward.

In Relief Society the lesson was on judgement and exaltation, which is pretty scary, but the teacher decided to just teach the plan of Salvation. She taught the whole second lesson, basically, with a diagram on the board and everything. It was the next step for both Lyric and Selene, really, and it was wonderfully taught! What a blessing! They both seemed to take it well, so it was good.

Right as she introduced the Celestial Kingdom, the Fire Alarm went off, just to add to the craziness of the day. In the chaos, I lost Sister Dodd for a minute, but it all worked out, and we were back in class within five minutes to wrap everything up quickly. Selene promised to come next week, too. :) We left church totally exhausted from juggling investigators, introducing, being friendly, and keeping everyone happy, but it was such a good Sunday. SOOO good. :) Our work is finally paying off.

As far as Tammy's family goes, they didn't show for their appointment, so they might be avoiding us, which is pretty normal. You win some and lose some. We'll keep trying. And Lyric canceled her appointment with us this week, which was really hard on us, but we'll keep trying. We love her so much!

The main events of the week started Tuesday night. There is a family in our ward that is basically falling apart. The mom is what holds everyone together. Her step dad, his girl friend, her brother, his girlfriend, her husband, and her son all lived in the same house. She's the only one to hold a job (she has two and works over time), and everyone else (except her son, Boby) have emotional and mental problems. They are all pretty messed up (I think I told you about them before). It was little Boby's birthday this week, but her family is completely in pieces. Everyone except her step dad moved out in the last week, and Boby is feeling a little abandoned, right before his 4th birthday. So his mom tried to make it special, putting in even more hours to afford Chuck-E-Cheese, and doing everything she can for him. He loves the VC, the missionaries, the temple, and especially the Christus, so she signed up to bring us dinner at the VC for his birthday. We made him cupcakes and helped make it a big deal for him. It was so cute and so worth it. :)

The dinner they broght was Church's Chicken, which is KFC basically. It didn't look really good, but I was really hungry.

The next morning, I woke up at 4 am, very hot, with a huuugge pain in my gut. My stomach has been hurting (pain more than nasuea) for about a week now, and I think fried chicken was enough to push me over the edge. I don't think I got food poisoning, but I was very very sick. I emptied my stomach and went back to bed, hoping it would be gone in the morning. I got sick again right after we woke up at 6:30, but I still didn't tell Sister Dodd (because I'm stubborn) right up until we were walking out the door. Why? Because Wednesday was my first ever Zone Conference! I didn't want to miss it! And I really thought I would get better. The sisters who had had Zone Conference the day before mentioned how amazing it was. I was excited. (by the way, Zone Conference messed up the whole VC schedule, and that is why our P-day is today).

So we went to Zone Conference. They had a big breakfast, which I skipped, and then headed right into things. Honestly, I don't remember much of the day. We had to run out of two of the classes for me to make it to the bathroom. but it was worth it! Really, it was a miracle that I got to stay the whole day. I did manage to drink some water. One of the new sisters wasn't feeling well either, so we all stuck together. It really cheered me up.

As a part of Zone Conference, they give everyone a topic to prepare a five minute talk on, and then randomly pick 2 missionaries of the roughly 80 to give their talks. We aren't allowed to bring any materials up with us, and we have to include one memorized scripture. The topic was the Birth of Our Savior. I had thrown up about 15 minutes before this meeting, but was stubbornly there. None of the leaders knew, though, so of course, they picked me to give it. Somehow I knew they would ask me to give it. Beforehand, Sister Dodd said she would go up for me if they called on me, but I was feeling well enough (in the eye of the storm), that I got up and gave it. I shared 3 Nephi 18:24 and talked about the signs of the savior's birth having to do with light. It went really well (even if that sounds really disjointed right there). I didn't feel sick at all when I was standing up there in front of everyone.

President Keyes liked it enough that he stood up and expounded on my talk. I know it's bad, but I was proud. It made me feel really good to have done well on such a hard day.

The Zone Conference ended at 4ish. I was totally drained. Sister Dodd dropped me off at the VC and took another sister out with her to our area (the nice thing about having the VC). We set up a cot in the guide's room and I slept. I tried to eat two crackers, but they didn't stay down.

Then yesterday, I felt well enough to go to our area! I managed to eat half a bowl of soup (minestrone - no meat and little pasta) and a small cheese sandwich. :) I'm improving. So I'm still not 100%, but I'm doing sooo much better. It makes me so grateful to be healthy! I'm working on adding foods back into my diet. Rich foods, sugars, and meat might not be for a while, but I'm doing so well. I don't feel sick at all, just a little fragile, so I'm trying to take care of myself.

Really, I learned a lot from being sick. First of all, I learned that I could be taking a lot better care of my body. I'm going to watch my diet much more carefully now. If I don't, then I won't be able to be a good missionary. Second of all, you would not believe how excited I was to go to our area the next day! I was still weak, but so excited and we tore it up as far as numbers and lessons go! It was a wonderful day! I do need a nap today. :)

Oh, have Rachel tell you the story of the new sister that I got to cheer up. :) That's a good story.

I loved your email, mom, and I loved your letter dad! Thank you so much for being amazing and for writing me! I've gotten Christmas cards from some families in the ward - the Kellys and the Christensens. So sweet.

 

I'm out of time, but I do love you! Make sure Rachel has a wonderful birthday!!

Love,

Sister April Atkin

The end of my first transfer

Dearest Family,

In the mission field, time is measured in transfers, not in months. A transfer is 6 weeks, as I'm sure you know. Well, I just finished my first transfer, which means I'm officially not a newbie anymore (although I am technically not finished being trained until the end of this transfer). We got a load of new missionaries this morning. I was so excited to meet them! I kept telling Sister Dodd that it was like waiting to meet my new best friends, because I know they will be. We got 7 new VC sisters, and 4 of them are starting at the VC with us, so I will get to know them well. It is SO nice to not be the only new one anymore.

Okay. Last Friday was my miracle day (although, it extended to Monday night). I see miracles every day of my mission (I've told you how I write a "miracle of the day" in my journal, right?), but these were extra big miracles.

Okay, our area has been a little hard recently. We love teaching Lyric, but she was the only investigator we had that we were consistently teaching, and she is moving very slowly. So we had to work hard to not get discouraged, especially with so little time in our area every day. Well, last last Monday Sister Dodd called the number of a potential investigator in our Area Book (our area book has probably 100 potential investigators. We are slowly wading through them). Her name was Tammy, and she not only answered the phone, she said, "sure, you can come over. How's Friday?" We were shocked. That doesn't happen. I almost worried that she had mistaken us for someone else.

So we went over Friday, and she was ready for us, two bibles in hand, and a notebook to take notes. Then I really started wondering if she thought we were someone else. So we explained who we are, and she was like, "yeah, I know. I've met missionaries before. They came over once a few months ago." Sweet! She pulled her oldest two daughters in because she really wants them to know Christ and to have faith. Her daughters are 15 and 17 and they are awesome. Their names are Dommanaiy and D'ashai (did I mention that they are African American? Amy, maybe you should edit names. I dunno. What do you think?). The 17 year old really loves Jesus for reals. She was super nice and I felt like we really connected with her. She asked about youth programs because she thinks it is really important to have faith with other youth. Perfect!

So we taught them the 1st lesson. It went off perfectly, like they do in the MTC or on training movies. They didn't have any problems with anything we said. They are nondenominational Christians, and really love the Bible. They had no problem with our concept of the trinity, or with the idea of a restoration being necessary. They liked it. We gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon, and they seemed excited about it, especially Dommanaiy (the 17 year old). In fact, she asked if she could have an extra copy to give to her friend. We were like, "um. YES. Let us go get another from the car." :) She said that one time at school she decided that she wanted to call herself Mormon, but one of her friends made fun of her saying that that meant she was a polygamist. We told her that wasn't true, and in fact, we are pretty normal people. We wear dresses as missionaries, but we are pretty mainstream otherwise. And yes, we do date, just not on missions.

The other crazy thing was that we could tell this was a whole family. The dad didn't participate in the lesson, but he was home, and they had 4 kids together. They seemed like a happy family that loved each other. We never see that. There was a whiff of smoke in the air, but that isn't unusual. But can I say GOLDEN. I felt like I had been given a present from God, all pretty with a bow on top. We are meeting with them tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. They seemed cool with the idea of coming to church, so hopefully they will come this Sunday.

We got into our car when we left, a little in shock. We didn't know what to say besides, "WOW."

Then I decided to call a referral we got from Liberty Jail of a lady dating a member (the church texts referrals out to the local missionaries). I called, and she picked up. Her name is Selene (Sell-an- A). I asked if she would like to meet with us. She said, "Oh, yes. I'm excited to meet with you and talk about what I've been reading in the Book of Mormon". She seemed genuinely really excited to meet with us. "Oh, and I am coming to church this Sunday. Is that okay?" Whaaatt??? yes. That is okay. We told her it was stake conference, so she decided to not go, but she is still excited to come next week with us.

The call ended, and I was like, holy cow. We go through a dry spell, then we get 4 new investigators not only in one day, but in about 1 hour? Okay. We'll take it. It really is an amazing opportunity to be doing the Lord's work. He is in control, and the blessings we recieve are from Him. We can't really take any credit, no matter how hard we work. Hard work brings blessings, but those blessings are from Him. We drove home in shock. I think I babbled a bit about how happy I was, but as Alma says, "I cannot say the smallest part of which I feel" (Alma 26:16. In fact, I get that whole chapter now. He's super excited and joyful because of the missionary work he's done. He glories in the Lord).

But, the miracle continues. On Tuesday we went to meet Selene for the first time. We planned to just teach her the first lesson. We buzzed at the front door so she would let us into the apartment building. The door wouldn't open, so she came down to open it for us. As soon as she opened the door, my jaw dropped. "Oh! Hello!!" I had taken her on tour at the VC 2 or 3 weeks ago! Me! The rest of the story unfolded. She had gone to the Liberty Jail VC, and really had a good time, so she self referred, and just happens to be in my area, so now I get to teach her the lessons! The cool thing is, I already basically taught her the first lesson when she came to the VC!!! She's read all the way through Alma and is in Helaman now.

The lesson went wonderfully (well, it was a little scattered because she talked a lot, but it was good because we got to understand her religious background better). She's been searching religiously for a while now, and is excited that what she's learning here fits things that she's come to believe wonderfully. She was raised Baptist, but has kind of left that now. She's dating a member, and he was there. He's solid. He has a deep understanding of the gospel and how to explain it. They fit each other perfectly, but she understands that he won't get married outside of the temple. But she emphasized several times that she is not going to convert for him. She will only convert if it is right. So that's good. Wow. She's wonderful. And we hit it off right away because she already knew me.

In fact, she mentioned that she didn't understand why everyone was asking her what she felt when she went to the VCs. She said she didn't feel anything. Her boyfriend, Orson, corrected her. So she qualified that and said that the one thing she did feel was love. She said that the other sister and I both radiated love to her, and she really enjoyed that. And now I get to teach her. :) She made my day.

So this Sunday, Lyric is coming to church for sure (she has a ride, and she isn't the type to flake ever), Selene is coming for sure, and maybe we can get Tammy's family to come. And this Sunday is Invitation Sunday (they do that outside of Utah every quarter or so. It is a special sunday where members are encouraged to bring their friends to church. All of the talks and lessons are made with nonmembers in mind. So good). So it's perfect! Blessings blessings. :)

In response to your email, we have copies of "Daughters in My Kingdom" here. They made sure all of the sisters had a copy. :) The ward can get me one if I need one.

I LOVE your gingerbread house, mom. It is beautiful. I love the little gingerbread men! You decorated it perfectly. Mom, you have a real talent. Sister Dodd was impressed, too.

The VC is all lit up. They had a lighting ceremony the other week. It was pretty cool. The trees aren't as crazy, though. They just loop lights around the ousides, but it looks good. We have a beautiful tree inside. I'll have to send you a picture. We also found a christmas tree in the closet of our apartment, so we set that up. It's pre lit, and very pretty, about 2 or 3 feet tall. Love it. :) Sister Dodd's mom sent us presents to open every day in December (little things like Pez candy with the scripture about opening our mouths, and stickers and stuff), so they are under the tree. It looks very nice.

We did get to see the Christmas devotional at the VC. SO good. I loved the clip of the new movie! It is so different from what they have done before, and I really like it. I'm excited to see more of those clips. :) Good luck with your Christmas preparations! We are starting to share a lot of Christmas messages, and I really like it. It suddenly has gotten really cold here, so I'm wearing my boots every day. Thanks dad! I love them!

So that's about it.

I love you family. :)

Love,

Sister April Atkin

P.S. I would really love to get a cardigan for Christmas. Just a simple one, in some color. I can't find my purple one, and I really need some more. I haven't had time to go shopping for them yet.

So, updated Christmas list (well, ideas)

1 cardigan

2 garment tops

1 bag with a shoulder strap (a bigger bag, probably)

maybe some scarves

some of the EFY music laying around the house

and I can't remember anything else.

P.P.S. Next week my P Day will be on Friday, so look for my email then.

Eventful week of happiness. :)

Dearest Family!

I love reading all of your emails so much! You make me soooo happy! This Thanksgiving, I was grateful for my family very most of all. One of the main things that we show in the VC is a presentation called God's Plan for His Family about eternal families and temples. You may have seen it before, but they updated it this summer, so you should see it again if you are ever near a Visitors' Center. It reminds me of how blessed I am to be with my family forever! The sister in the movie really really looks like me, everyone says, and her little brother is a red head, so the movie has special significance. But just all around, the temple is amazing! I love that I can be will all of you forever!

Speaking of temples, we have the news about the Kansas City Temple. It will be finished March 1st, and the open house is all of the month of April. The dedication will be in May. We are all getting really excited! I have no idea where I will be then, but I could still be here (our mission president keeps people in the same place for a long time. Sister Dodd has been here for 7 months). Who knows. But I hope I can be a part of the open house and dedication!

My Thanksgiving was a good one, and an interesting one. We had it with Keara's family. I brought a pumpkin crumb cake. It was so different from any other Thanksgiving I have ever been to! I think if they hadn't noticed our pause, they wouldn't have even blessed the food. They would have just dug in and started eating. People ate wherever they wanted in the house (watching Avatar or Lord of the Rings), and there was no really family togetherness. But they were really nice to us. Keara's dad was a little drunk, so he was very friendly. Everything was happy and funny to him. Her family were hesitant at first, but really were kind about us coming. I think it was good to show them that we are nice, normal people, and that Keara is in good hands. Beer was going round, but it was still a good Thanksgiving (except they didn't have rolls. I miss rolls! :) You know me. )

How are my investigators? The only one that is progressing is Lyric, but I just love her to pieces!! She is amazing. She knows what is right, and so now we are just building her desire to do it. On Sunday we had a lesson with her where we brought a member so that she could meet a convert to our church. Mary Kay is very friendly, and kind of loud, so we hoped it would go well. In the end, we kinda lost control of the lesson, but it turned out okay. I learned that I really need to have faith that this is the Lord's work, and if I'm not in control sometimes, He still is. See, Mary Kay dumped Sabbath observance, the 3 hour block Tithing, the Word of Wisdom, and blacks in the church almost all in one breath. We hadn't told Lyric about any of those things -- she's moving slowly. We didn't get to say almost anything the whole time. In an hour and a half, I just remember bearing testimony of church attendance (that was our goal -- to get her to church). Mary Kay also told her that we would tell her to live more strictly than she actually had to. That was frustrating.

So we left the lesson and I was very frustrated. I'm not very good at hiding that, either. I felt justified in being frustrated. Sister Dodd didn't say anything about it, though, so I didn't either. We went to dinner with members, and then headed back to the VC. I had calmed down, so on the way back, I started talking about the lesson, and all of the things that I thought had gone wrong and how frustrated I was about it. Then Sister Dodd said kindly, perfectly, "You just have to be careful to not let Mary Kay or Lyric see. We are the face of the church." And I sat back, and thought about it. I had felt justified in being frustrated, and showing my frustration because any normal person would have in that situation.

But the thing is, I'm not a normal person right now. I'm a missionary, and I represent the church and the Lord. And even if I wasn't, I've been given so much in my life that I can't ever be justified in something like that because a normal person would. I am not a normal person. I'm a member of the Lord's church. I know the truth. And I know better.

So, the Lord is working with me. I'm learning that I can change things about myself that I thought I couldn't. I thought they were things that are "just the way I am". But that is a horrible excuse, and the Lord is showing me how I could be better. It was a really big learning experience, and I won't make that mistake again. I am changing in a good way out here in Missouri. More than I thought was possible. I'm learning to not underestimate the Lord. He always proves me wrong. It's good. :)

Then on Tuesday we had exchanges with the Sister Leaders (they have those, by the way). We didn't know who was being exchanged with whom. So I told Sister Dodd that I would be fine with anything except taking over the area for a day with the Sister Leader's companion. But the call came, and that is exactly what happened. I was super nervous. A day in our area without Sister Dodd, and with a sister that was expecting me to be in charge. I didn't feel ready! And I thought that the people in our area would be disappointed that Sister Dodd wasn't coming. They love her, so I was nervouse to go without her. And I didn't know the sister that was coming with me very well. She is very nice, but a little awkward. So I was nervous.

In the morning we were in the VC together, so it didn't even feel like we were on exchanges. But then the afternoon came and Sister Dodd left. We did comp study, which went well. Then we headed out to our area. We had some confusion over where some car keys were, so we were running late to our dinner. So I called our dinner to tell them we were going to be late. The member said, "Oh, do we have you for dinner tonight?" I freaked out. I thought Sister Dodd had called them to remind them the day before! So I told a white lie that I was looking at the wrong day. Then I went all sorts of awkward, stuttering and stumbling over my words. I made it sound like it was our fault but then said I didn't know what day they did have us, showing my white lie. I told them to not worry about it and hung up. I felt so stupid. I felt like it was my fault - that I should have called them. I shouldn't have assumed that Sister Dodd would! A few embarassed tears leaked out.

But Sister Rupper (the sister I was with) was optimistic and said, "Look at it this way, we get more time in your area." So we went to work. It turned out that we skipped dinner that night because there wasn't any place to eat near where we were. I cheered up, and we went to work.

Then we had an appointment with Lyric. I brought her my cookies, which are her favorites. She says that I should move in and just make her cookies every day. :)

But the lesson went WONDERFULLY. So well. It was almost good to go there without Sister Dodd so that I could build a relationship of my own with Lyric. She's been reading the Book of Mormon (a chapter a day), and I was just there to read a chapter with her. But we did so much more than that.  At the very beginning, she look at me and said, "Oh, I just love your face! It makes me so happy! I was lookin at you the other day and thought, 'I bet she doesn't even know she's gorgeous. You're gorgeous!" And laughed at my discomfort. She laughs a lot. It's good. :) Then we talked about what happiness is. Lyric doesn't think she's ever felt true happiness. She's 70, and bothered by the fact that she hasn't found her life's passion yet. She looks at us and sees that we are happy. She doesn't beleive that we have ever been unhappy. Then we started reading with her, and (an answer to a very specific prayer of mine earlier that day) she was on 1 Nephi chapter 8!! It was a miracle! I had asked for that very chapter earlier, but didn't think she could make it that far. She had read three chapters the day before to get there to answer my prayer that I hadn't even made yet!! We took turns reading, and it was her turn when we got to verse 10 "and it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desireable to make one happy." She paused and chuckled. "Happy. That's what we were just talking about!" We read the whole chapter, and with no explanation, she got it. She guessed that the fruit was salvation, and was shocked to be right. She thought about the people that were ashamed of the fruit, and reflected (on her own) that sometimes some people might be afraid of saying that they were mormon. She felt guilty for saying that, but she is right. Some people are ashamed.

Then we discussed prayer, the atonement's ability to clean her of 70 years of life, prayer, Kingdoms of Glory, prayer, desire, prayer, the Word of Wisdom, prayer, happiness, and prayer. She is having a really hard time praying, and she connected everything we said back to prayer on her own (in a frustrated way). She knows she needs to do it. She just doesn't want to. She knows she should quit smoking and drinking coffee and tea, but she doesn't want to. We talked about how God knows her potential, and He knows how happy she could be. That's why He asks her to do things. Just like a dad would tell his kids to stay out of the street because he knows they will be happier if they don't get hit by a car. But running in the street looks so fun! The spirit was there so strong, and I just felt so much love for her. And I think she loves me, too. :)

Then Sister Rupper asked Lyric hat she was expecting when she prayed. "I want a burning bush!! I'm not joking!!" Then she paused, "I know when you pray, you are supposed to be reverant and close your eyes, but when we pray I'm watching your faces. I want to feel the joy I see in your faces when you pray." wow. I... wow. We couldn't have planned that. She's not feeling answers to her prayers, or so she thinks. But she is happy when we are there! So we pray for her every day.

You better believe I am studying prayer and desire this week. Pray for Lyric! I can't even describe how much I love this woman. I just want to keep her forever. I think even after I get transferred I will write to her. And you know, I can imagine her being baptized now. I couldn't at first, but she is growing. I can see it. And I want her to have that happiness!!

I'm running out of time, but I am very happy here. Things are wonderful! I see miracles every day! You could, too, if you look for it. :) Good luck with your gingerbread house, school, families, and everything. I love you.

 

Love,

Sister April Atkin

 

P.S. We chatted with someone and brought the spirit into his home! He thanked us for the spirit we brought. He thought that there was no way the atonement could clean him of what he's done or that he could change. He felt loved. He's meeting with missionaries already. It was wonderful!