Dearest Family,
Man, I just love being a
missionary so much. I love what I am doing. The work is truly being
hastened and it is amazing to be a part of it!
First of all,
Sister Aldous is so amazing. I just love her! She is a great missionary
and will do great things out here. She pushes me to be better and allows
me to push her to be better. We work very well together.
We were able to reconnect with two of our investigators this week,
so we now are working with three awesome part member families. They
might be longer term projects, but we love them so much and I just know
that all of them will be baptized at some point. They all want it, we
just have a few hurdles to overcome beforehand.
First is Kylee. She really wants this. She works on Sundays,
though, and knows that she wants to be rid of her bad habits of smoking
and coffee before she joins. It is just going to be hard, and she
doesn't feel ready to make that inevitable battle. I really enjoy
teaching her.
Then there is Toni, who avoided us for a bit, but loved the Plan of
Salvation when we were able to teach her. She just has to be willing to
act when we aren't there. She wants to be baptized, but doesn't keep
appointments, read, or come to church. We're working on that.
Then there is Cece. She wants it. Her husband tells us that she
doesn't, but she stood up for herself and us when we were last over
there. She has started coming to church activities by herself. (He's an
active member. Long story) I love her so much! If she wasn't married to
him, she could be baptized in a week. But the church doesn't encourage
breaking up families, so we will figure this out...
Also, at the Visitors' Center this week we took a group of
nonmembers through that were great. Well, kinda. So here's the story.
One (not a member) of them had been through the center before with a
member friend and loved it. So she brough back her whole family from
Lincoln, Nebraska to show them the Visitors' Center and visit other
sights in Kansas City. She told them excitedly about the history part
and God's Plan for His Family. It was great! We started taking them
through and she was eating it up. The problem was that her neice (10
years old?) was less excited. She constantly was complaining about being
bored, asking questions, touching everything, and being flat out rude.
She didn't listen or allow anyone else to listen. It was so frustrating.
But we pushed through and invited them to have missionaries at the end.
Before the excited one could say anything, her sister (the kid's mom)
said no. So the excited one didn't say anything. rats!
So we took them upstairs to show them a few more things and while
the annoying girl and her mom were in the bathroom, we talked to the
excited one, and managed to give everyone in the group a copy of the
Book of Mormon, and got her phone number so that we can call her next
week, and hopefully convince her to allow missionaries to come over
later. I love it when nonmembers love the church so much that they do
missionary work! It was so great.
Wow. I don't even know how to tell you about everything and how I
am feeling. I just love being here so much. I am just pretending I am
never going home. When people ask me how long I have been out I say "Oh,
Over a year." I always laughed at missionaries that did that, but now I
totally understand. The other day someone asked, and Sister
Aldous said, "Oh, she's been out 18 months." Aaah! Not true! She now
knows not to say that. But really, she's great. Sometimes I feel selfish
with how happy I am with her.
There are a lot of changes happening in our mission right now. That
is probably true all around the world, but it is fun to see it here.
Today President Keyes called me with a new puzzle to solve, and he said,
"Sister Atkin, right now you have the most knowledge and experience in
the mission on this. Pretty soon all of that knowledge and experience is
going home. So I need you to figure this out for me." I don't even know
if he realizes how much it means for me to to hear him say that. I
actually had a rough day yesterday. Sometimes Satan just works on us
hard. He was trying to convince me that I haven't made a difference in
this ward because we haven't baptized (except Sandy, but she would have
happened anyway). But Sister Aldous continues to build me up, and
President Keyes never says too much, but he says enough to help me feel
appreciated, loved, and important, while still staying humble. I love
him. I have made a difference here. I started this area, and I have
built the foundation so that the work can continue to grow here. I just
need to remember that. And it isn't about me anyway.
I wish I had more to say, but just know that I love you. I know
that this work is true! This is the Lord's Kingdom on earth, and He
wants everyone to have a chance to be a part of it. I love this work!
I love you!
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Atkin
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