Training? Okay!

Dear Family!!!

First of all, today is the first day of the new transfer and...I'm training! Crazy, huh? I just finished the 12 week program to be trained last week, and now I'm starting it all over again with a new sister. Somehow I just felt it coming. Then we got the call from the APs last week, and it was official. I wasn't nervous at all.

Then I was talking to one of the sisters and she told me how she had a special experience how she knew that she was training and which sister she was training just by reading her name in the Harvester (our mission newsletter). So she told me to go read the names of the new sisters and see if any of them stood out to me. So I did. And I didn't get a burning bosom experience, but I thought, "you know, I think I'll train Sister Lewis". It sounded just like the rest of my thoughts, but I went with it and joked around with the other sisters that I thought I knew who I was training. Then the phone call came to tell me who I was training, and guess what? I'm training Sisiter Lewis! As soon as I knew her name for sure, I got a littler nervous. But now I've met her, and it's gonna be good.

She's from Highland, and she's really excited to go and work hard. She's tall and blond (Another one?? haha, jk. She is beautiful, though. I'll send you a picture in the mail). It's crazy because Sister Dodd is gone :(, but I am excited for this next transfer. It will be a good one.

Sister Dodd got transferred to Hutchinson, Kansas. She's excited to serve full pros again, but I really will miss her. She's amazing!!! I'm really sad that she had to leave. But that is mission life.

The other exciting thing that happened this week was a text we got from Selene. It said, "Sisters, the last of my concerns were laid to rest last night. I have peace and am ready to be baptized on February 25 or thereafter." YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!! I literally grinned until my eyes were squeezed shut and jumped up and down. I am so happy for her! She's aiming for February 25, which is a long time away, but we'll do it. We'll work towards  it. I'm so happy I can't even tell you!!! "My heart is full of happiness," she said. :D I love her so much and I know this will make her so happy! She will be my first baptism, and I hope to be friends with her forever. I could explode with happiness!

So my week has been crazy, but so good! I'm still growing so much and having the best experiences ever, even though it is really hard. I can't imagine having not gone on a mission. I would be a totally different person! I'm soooo grateful that I got to do this! Thank you for helping me be out here! I know that by supporting me on my mission you are gaining some of the blessings, too. You are a huge part of my mission. Thank you!!

By the way, Selene has the LDS app downloaded on her phone, so she has everything. No worries there. Didn't I tell you that she's been studying Preach My Gospel? Yep. She worried that we were jipping her on the lessons, so she went and studied them herself. She reads the ensign, and they gave her a relief society manual in church on Sunday. We had dinner with her at the Bishop's house and it went wonderfully.

As for sending me stuff for my other investigators, it's okay. The mission office has pretty much everything. Just know that I spent a little money this week to buy a Book of Mormon stories book for one of our investigators. I don't think she knows that we have to buy that kind of thing to give it to her, but that's okay. We won't tell her.

Lyric keeps canceling appointments with us. She still loves us, but I think that she's fizzled out. It makes me super sad, but that's mission life for you.

Really I don't have any stories this week that I want to share beyond those ones. We talked to some crazies, and a less active tried to get our approval for her to be cheating on her husband, but nothing that I probably should email home about. Sorry.

So I'm going to tell you about some of the stuff I've learned this week.

First of all, I was rereading 2 Nephi 4 (Nephi's Psalm), and I noticed that Nephi, when he is lamenting about being a sinner, his main sins are getting mad at his brothers and feeling bad for himself because of his afflictions. And I had a moment where I realized that I have a lot in common with Nephi. I was born of goodly parents (even my patriarchal blessing talks about that), and I've really always know the truth. I always try to do the right thing, and I love the gospel. My biggest fault is that I get frustrated with others easily. I set high expectations for myself, then I expect others to live up to them, too. And when others don't live as well as I think they are capable of, I get frustrated with them. Nephi totally did that with his brothers. He was supposed to be their ruler and teacher, and really, I know that one of my gifts is leading and teaching, but he got "angry because of his enemy". I do the same thing. So I just need to learn to have Nephi's attitude of relying on the Lord. Because that is how he overcomes his weaknesses. He trusts in the Lord.

The second thing I learned was from the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi. I usually have a hard time with those, just like everyone, but this time a verse jumped out at me. I don't know if I am misinterpreting it, but what I learned from it is still true. It is from 2 Nephi 8:9. It says. "Awake, awake! Put on strenth, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient daysl Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?" And what I read that to mean was, wake up! Remember who you are! Remember -- you were one of the people who fought against Satan in the War in Heaven! We beat him there, and we can win again! We've already been in the armies to fight against him and defeat him! Remember what you have already done! You can do it again! We were part of the great armies on Christ's side in Heaven. We were the noble and great ones--and we still are! It was a good pep talk.

I'm sorry that I don't have more exciting stories this week. I'm sure I will soon, though. We have a lesson tonight that will determine a lot about our other investigator, Marquita. Pray that she has read the Book of Mormon! And also pray that I will figure out how to teach with Sisiter Lewis (and that I will know how to train!).

I love you all!

"Have a blessed day, everybody." ~ Keara

~Sister April Atkin