Uplifting Week

Dear Family,

This has been a wonderful week. I don't have very much time to type today, but I thought I would drop a line and give you a few updates (two days late).

We ended up only having one person at church. Everyone bailed. By Sunday morning we had in narrowed down to three, and then two didn't show. Yay for Jesse, who is brought by his active member foster parents. He doesn't have a choice but to come to church.

We got to go to the temple this last week with Megan to do baptisms. It was a wonderful day. The Kansas City temple is beautiful. She loved it. Then we stayed to do a session with our favorite members. I loved it. I felt like I was going through for the first time again. I felt so much peace and I felt more relaxed than I have in weeks.

Last Wednesday was our day of miracles. We taught 6 lessons in one day, which is unheard of in this area. We had a guy we met on the street call us to tell us he had been reading the Book of Mormon, and could we come over tonight to answer some of his questions? Why yes, we can. We ended up teaching his parents, too (he was 20), and it was wonderful. 

We had Zone Conference this last week, too, and it went wonderfully. Halfway to Topeka we realized that there were sisters in Lawrence (which is half way to Topeka) that we could car pool with. So I ended up driving only 2 hours that day instead of 4 (and we had left over miles at the end of the month!)

It rained and rained on Friday, which was wonderful and very needed. I love the rain.

We went to Independence this last Sunday. It was great. We heard the testimony of a man who had been a drug dealer and was in and out of prison for years before he turned his life around. A lot of miracles happened while he was still in prison to help him know that this was the true church. He felt the spirit testify to him just from looking at the church's name on a pass along Bible (no footnotes or index) and he knew it was the right church. Crazy! He was baptized and is married to a member. They are going to be sealed next year. Turns out his experience in selling drugs actually has made him a great salesman and business man ("I had skills, they just weren't right."). The Atonement can reach anyone.

Yesterday I did an exchange to the Kaw River Ward, which is downtown KC, KS. It was an amazing day. Neither of us spoke Spanish (which is a problem), but we went to the black areas and made it work. We got a flat tire, so I got filthy laying on the ground to find a place to jack up the car. It turned out to be a miracle because we were right next to a less active's house that is good at that kind of thing, and happened to be sister to a lady we were trying to contact. It was a great day. They have cockroaches in their apartment, and it was SO HOT. But it was a great day. :) People actually talked to us! We saw miracles!

So anyway, I love you all, family. Sorry that this isn't longer. Next week's email will be much longer. We have some plans in the works that are going to be good. ;)

Love,

Sister Atkin

P.S. President Keyes is thinking about giving each ward their own missionaries. Wouldn't that be crazy?