Dearest Family,
I am just so happy I don't even know how to tell you about it.
First
of all, Sister Aldous is awesome. She makes me laugh and she's good at
talking and listening. We have a grand time together and life is never
boring. So much has happened since last week, I hope to fit it all in.
First of all, last P-Day we lost our phone. It was our no car day,
so we didn't have a phone or a car. We had set up one ride out to our
area, but we couldn't set up any of the other rides we needed (including
the one home) because we didn't have a phone. It was crazy. So when our
member picked us up, we used her phone to make some calls. When we
called our investigator to let her know we were running late she told us
that a car wash had called her on our phone to tell her that they had
it. It had fallen out when we were vacuuming the car. So that was
embarrassing, but at least we knew where our phone was. We weren't able
to recover it until the next day. It was quite the adventure.
But the thing is, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Because we
didn't have our phone, we didn't have a team up set up for our lesson.
So last minute we asked our ride if she would just stay and teach with
us and give us another ride after the lesson (super demanding, and we
would have never asked if we hadn't been put in such a situation). She
at first wasn't excited about it, but agreed. It turned out perfect.
She really hit it off with our investigator and now she wants to come
with us to every lesson with her. It helped our investigator feel
comfortable talking about quitting smoking. So perfect!
Then we were late to our dinner and they were mad until they found
out that we didn't have a phone or a car, so they forgave us. Then the
lady that gave us a ride home (back to Independence from the area, about
20 minutes) was a crazy old lady. I just thought she was a nice lady,
but she grumbled the whole way and told us horror stories of bad things
that happened to missionaries, in addition to the fact that she was a
horrible driver. She drove so slow that we missed our ride home from the
Visitors' Center (and we still didn't have a phone). But some sisters
came back for us and it all worked out. I almost cried when we finally
made it home, but it was all worth it. We did get our phone back the
next day.
The other miracle about that is that the morning of the day we lost
our phone, we took a picture of ourselves on a whim and made it the
background of our phone. When the car wash found it, they saw our name
tags in the picture and recognized that it was the missionaries, so they
knew who to keep it for.
Then last Wednesday was interviews with the mission president. It
was a great day. I learned a lot and was uplifted. I was upset because
the elders made me bear my testimony because I am going home soon, and
so I was a mess. Of course I cried. How do you capture a mission and a
testimony in 2 minutes? You can't. Then I had to clean up real quick to
be interviewed.
President Keyes didn't have very much to say. "This is our last
interview, isn't it," he said. "Well, know that you have been an
extraordinary missionary. Not just a good missionary, but an
extraordinary one. You will leave a real hole in the mission."
And that was basically all we had to say. I joked about how I would
ask to stay but I know he needs my spot for all of the new missionaries
coming out. I cried for a bit, but I cleaned up and moved forward and
kept working hard that day.
Another crazy thing happened, though. Ever since Sister Aldous came
out, I felt like she had real potential, and could even possibly train
after I leave--after just 5 weeks. We had conversations about it a few
times. Only one missionary has trained after one transfer--6 weeks--ever
in this mission, but I still felt like she could do it. I felt it
pretty strongly, actually. It was all speculation, of course.
Well, Sister Aldous was the last person to be interviewed, and they
had gone long so everyone else was gone. While she was being
interviewed, President Keyes stepped out and asked me to join them. He
told me that he was talking to Sister Aldous about an impression that he
had received that she could train after 5 weeks. I think he was waiting
for us to tell him he was crazy, but I wasn't surprised because I had
received that same impression. He asked me about it, and we told him we
had already talked about it.
So President Keyes has asked me to train Sister Aldous in just 5
weeks. He's given us permission to have 3 hours of companion study a day
(similar to having language study on top of training), and he wants us
to finish the 12 week training program in 5. It is still not for sure
that it will happen because he hasn't finished praying about it, but he
has asked us to prepare. We aren't supposed to tell anyone in the
mission, so it is a secret. Don't tell anyone that could leak it to the
other missionaries here.
Anyway, I love how the Lord is giving me one last project to really
sprint to the finish. I am having so much fun teaching her. She is
learning fast, and I am just pouring everything I know into her.
It
is neat because I can feel that everything I have learned has prepared
me for this day to teach her. She is just soaking it up. I know the Lord
is mindful, and he is taking care of us. Things that I have learned in
the scriptures have come out and been meaningful to her.
The other thing is that (this is another secret) they are making
this a full proselyting area next transfer, so Sister Aldous won't be in
the Visitors' Center anymore. Full proselyting is very different from
Part time Proselyting, so I am trying to teach her how to plan really
well. What a cool thing she will do!
To top that off, President Keyes is considering putting 9 or 10
sets of missionaries in the Visitors' Center instead of 8 (another
secret). So he has asked me and Sister Sant, the other Sister Trainer,
to pilot schedules for more sisters allowing them to have full
proselyting days. Another project. I love projects!
It has been a crazy fun week.
I feel a little bad because
I haven't been as focused on taking presentations at the Visitors'
Center because I have so much else to do, but I think the Lord knows
that I am having to prioritize.
Other cool story: the other night Sister Aldous and I only had
about a half an hour and we decided to tract. We had faith, and we found
two awesome women! I am way better at teaching women than men. It was a
real miracle. We were able to hit our weekly goal!
Last night we visited a Part Member Family. The dad is totally
active and is a temple worker, but his wife is not super open. We've
been working on her for a while. Sometime when we come over, she'll just
scoot on her wheel chair and hide. Last night, she stayed and laughed
and talked and really enjoyed herself. It was the most open she's ever
been! She even let us share a scripture about prayer and pray with her!
Sister Aldous is allergic to cats, and their apartment reeks of cat and
dog, so she is still fighting allergies today, but it was worth it.
Oh!! And yesterday, I got a letter from Selene!!! I hadn't heard
from her since June, and it was a pretty sad letter and she moved right
after she sent it, so I couldn't write and I had no idea how she was
doing. I worried that she had gone inactive and that I had lost her. So I
just had to shelf it, and leave her to God to take care of. I couldn't
spend time fretting, so I just trusted it to God. Well, she's still
active and she's doing great! Life isn't perfect, but she is handling it
and is planning on going to the temple soon!! Next week is her year
mark. If she goes soon, I might get to go with her through the temple
before I go home. I cried when I got her letter. All of our prayers
worked.
I am just so happy right now. I feel myself still growing and I am
not trunky at all. I realize that I am going home soon and I accept
that, but I have a lot of work left to do in between here and there. I
love what I am doing and I am busy. This is the best work ever!
Well, That's all, folks!
I love you!
Love,
Sister Atkin
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