Hello Family,
whew. this week. where to start.
Well, first of all, Dad, I hope you had a great Father's Day! I thought of you! Several people asked if we got to call you, too, but we don't. I'm sorry it's not very fair. I do love you, though, and I hope that you got my card and letter. You are the best. I hope you enjoyed your strawberry pie. I actually had some lemon meringue pie last night, which I don't like nearly as much, but it was still pie so I thought of you.
Well, family, I hate to disappoint, but I don't really have much to talk about this week. It was kind of a rough week. I am feeling pretty upbeat, so don't worry about me. It just was a rough week. We were on bikes for most of it, and most of our investigators don't want to see us very often, forgot, or are out of town or something. We also had a member ride forget us, leaving us sitting at the stake center for an hour, missing an appointment. *shrug* life happens. Wednesday I was feeling pretty stressed, but we pray and we move forward. Most of the stress came from worrying about other people, really. An elder from my MTC district wrote me, and it sounds like he might go home. He's discouraged and disobedient (they usually go together). So I was worrying about him. Then another elder in our zone talked to Sister Hodson and I about his personal struggles (similar, but less extreme situation), and then I'm a trainer so I was worrying about Sister Hodson having the experience she needs to be the kind of missionary she can be. So, yeah. I guess I'm related to you, mom, after all. :)
So to be honest, we spent most of the last week riding our bikes around, getting really sweaty and not accomplishing very much. We did have a few small miracles. One day all of our lessons fell through, but somehow my stubborn fire came out, and we taught 3 member present lessons anyway. That was a good day.
One of our investigators won't set appointments, but is always happy when we drop by. The hard thing is bringing in the gospel to his scattered conversation as he paces and tinkers with stuff in his garage. Sister Hodson surprised me by, with no introduction, jumping in and teaching him the plan of salvation because she wanted to. I was super impressed. :) He was, too. His favorite part was the spirit world. It made sense to him. So we're making slow progress. Maybe someday we'll pin down this self employed man for an appointment. We have what he needs!
Flower did come to church, which was great. One of the speakers was weird, but she didn't seem bothered by it. Or by the fact that we sang about heavenly mother in the song "O My Father". I'm grateful that the Lord is in control of this work, because there are some things that are definitely out of our control. haha. :) She asks great questions like, "So why do we have to eat Christ's body and drink His blood? I get that it is just symbolic, but isn't that a little morbid?" So I answer her questions the best I can. How would you answer that? I turned to what I learned in Jesus the Christ and said that I always think about how when you eat something, it becomes a part of you. I want Christ to be a part of who I am. I'm taking His name upon me, right?
We also spent some time calling a ton of numbers in the Area Book one of the bike days. It actually was a really good thing. One of them came to church and is excited to meet with us again. She's a former investigator. She knows a family in the ward very well, so they will help us. We hope that goes somewhere. She was adopted from Korea by a lesbian couple, which is interesting, but she really loves this somewhat perfect family in our ward.
In answer to your question mom, we haven't talked to that mean guy. We won't. In my weekly letter to the mission president I told him about it, and he wrote me back to say that this man was not ready for the gospel, and to not try to see him again. He pointed me to a verse in Alma about softening our hearts and how the hard hearted can't learn. I'm so glad that we didn't go see him, either.
Good luck with the Napolis! I'm so excited to hear how that goes. They are really the perfect kind of investigator. As a missionary, I would dream of teaching them, especially with the wonderful neighbors who befriended them in on the lesson. You should read the lessons in Preach My Gospel to help you prepare for the right moment to share the gospel with them.
Actually, I'm sure you already know this story, but one of the Book of Mormon stories that Sister Hodson and I looked at this week is the one of Ammon and the father of King Lamoni. It applies to this situation. Let's start where Lamoni invites Ammon to go with him to meet his father. Then the Lord tells Ammon to not go, because the father of King Lamoni would kill Ammon, and besides, his brethren were in prison and needed Ammon's help to get out. King Lamoni is like, "great! I'll come along. I know you got this, because with the Lord's help you can do anything, but I can help and make it easier because I know that king." So they start traveling to go get his brethren out of prison. And guess who they run into. King Lamoni's father. The one who was going to kill Ammon.
So they start talking, and king Lamoni's father is mad at Lamoni for not coming to his feast, so he goes to kill him. Ammon stops him, so the father says, "that's right! You are the real problem! You prevented him from coming! I will kill you instead!" So they have a little fight, and Ammon wins. All Ammon demands in exchange for the king's life is that his brethren will be set free, and that he will not be mad at Lamoni and will give Lamoni the right to rule his kingdom on his own. King Lamoni's father is so impressed that he gives the demands, and also wants to meet with missionaries.
So the thing about this story is that it was in the Lord's will all along that King Lamoni's father run into Ammon and hear about the gospel. It just had to happen in the right way or it would be a bad experience for everyone. So Ammon listened to the spirit, and the missionary moment came in the right way (even if that was a little scary at first with the swords and stuff, it was the right way).
So what I am saying is that you should just pray for the spirit to guide you to know the right opportunity to introduce the Napolis to the gospel, and how you can help them have all of the many blessings you have. Sorry that was a long story.
Anyway, I love you all! Have an amazing week! I will, too, so my email will be more exciting next week. :)
Love,
Sister April Atkin
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Life never is normal, is it?
Dearest Family,
I love you so much!! This week has been another crazy one. We'll see what I can fit into this email. I think going chronologically will work for the most part for this email. I hope I don't forget something.
First of all, last Monday some members in the Stanley ward invited us over for their FHE. They know that Sister Hodson is new, and they really love and have adopted both of us. They are my favorites. I feel like I can be myself in their home. Anyway, they invited us over so that Sister Hodson could practice teaching on them. The grandparents, parents, and four children were there. Eight people. She taught them the first lesson, and it was nothing like an investigator lesson, but it was exactly what she needed. It wasn't perfect, but it was a learning experience for everyone. She has blossomed since then. They gave some amazing feedback, and we were all very happy. The father calls us his adopted daughters ("hey, where did my two other daughters go?" he said). He reminds me of dad in some ways. They are struggling a little with their intellectual daughter, and I totally understand her and suddenly she looks up to us. So I think we will be able to help them, too. We are teaching their niece right now.
Then we had some normal missionary days (tracting, street contacting, talking to random people, dinners with members that are great or not, and so on). Then one night when I was not feeling well, we decided to visit a former investigator. She met with missionaries last December, but then she was out of the country for a few months visiting her family in China. They haven't been able to reconnect since then. We rung her door bell, and when she answered she said, "Oh hi! Yes! I wanted to go to church this Sunday. What time is it at?" Bingo! We were so happy. So we answered her questions and set up a return appointment. She did come to church. :) Also that night we started texting another former investigator that has avoided missionaries for two months (since I got here). She quit her second job, so she has more free time and wants "to be very involved in the church". Both in one day! We were very very happy.
On Saturday we had a less happy experience. Really, it started on Thursday, but I'm going to tell it all in one piece. We got a referral from temple square, and it said to call first. We figure now that this man must have called one of the 1-800 numbers the church has and talked to a sister there. Well, I called. He answered and expressed that he had some questions about how a person could progress after they died. He listed a bunch of beliefs he has in common with us, but immediately expressed that he "didn't buy this 'I think, I feel' junk". He doesn't believe the spirit speaks to us today. He said if I could prove our doctrine to him out of the scriptures, he would change. He asked that I would do the same. I very simply stated that I do believe in the Holy Ghost, and I will always rely on it to teach me truth. He didn't go anywhere against that, but he did tell me I was unteachable.
He did have some questions, so we got him to agree to allow us to come over to answer his questions in person rather than over the phone. We were late to an appointment, so we had to go. We set up a time. He was very rude through the whole conversation. Later when we were thinking and praying about it, we felt very strongly that we should bring a member with us to back us up and protect us. A person came strongly to mind, but when we called him, he wasn't available at the time we set up. So we decided to move the appointment to another day so that he could come.
We called this man back to reschedule the appointment. When we requested to move it, he immediately got irritated and angry. He said that we had lied to him and we hadn't kept our commitment, and that we lied because we now wanted to bring someone with us. He would not allow us to reschedule, apologize, or answer his questions. We had blown it, in his mind. He went into a rage. He told me that I had sinned before God and that I needed to go to him to ask for forgiveness. It sounds silly when I type it like this, but when a man is yelling in a deep voice at you over the phone, quoting bible verses and calling you to repentance, it doesn't feel silly. I apologized again, but he would not have it. I hate to admit it, but he got to me, a little bit. I just asked him to show a little charity, and follow the second great commandment and forgive me. Clearly a BAD IDEA. He blew up even more. I had given the church a bad image, he informed me. He asked if we had someone that supervised us as missionaries. He wanted to give them a call and let them know how badly we had behaved. Sister Hodson unwisely told him we were responsible to ourselves. He just kept yelling and ranting, so we eventually had to talk loudly over him (because he would interrupt us) to say, "This conversation isn't going anywhere. If you have any questions let us know. Have a great day." and hang up.
A few minutes later he called us from a different number to tell us he had someone on a mormon.org line who had informed him that we had a mission president. He told us he was the wrong person to have made angry, and that he would call up the line until someone listened to him about how bad we were. I hate to admit it, but I got a little sassy (which equals failure as a missionary) I told him to tell President Keyes hi for us.
Anyway, so that was my bad experience of the week. I have been anti-ed so many times on my mission that I would have thought that I could handle this guy. But I failed. I was not Christlike, and I did not show or feel love towards him. I didn't represent the Lord well. I cried. It kinda threw me off for the rest of the day. But, the best thing in the whole church is the sacrament. I just have to let you know that I have a huge testimony of the sacrament now. I need it. It recharges me spiritually when I am drained every week. I needed it very badly this week. I love it. I know that the ordinance performed in the sacrament is of God. It is done by His authority according to his will and his pattern. It's not just something we do. The promises in it are real.
The other thing is that they asked me to give a talk in church on Loving your Fellow Men. It was funny after the experience we had had the day before. I really felt the Lord speaking through me in that talk. Moroni 7 is it. We must pray for this love--Charity. It is the only way we will be perfect, pure, and be like Christ when he comes. It is in all of our covenants. I am going to keep praying.
Yesterday we met with one of our investigators, the niece of the family, and she moved back her baptism date. I was sad about it, but she will be baptized. Just not yet.
As far as my studies go, this week they were awesome. I read Alma 8-15 (I think?) about Alma and Amulek. I love their companionship. They are the perfect examples. I read it in the light of Alma being the senior companion, the trainer. He does so well! It changed my whole perspective. I really want to be more like Alma.
Well, I'm out of time. But I love you!
I love you all!
~Sister April Atkin
I love you so much!! This week has been another crazy one. We'll see what I can fit into this email. I think going chronologically will work for the most part for this email. I hope I don't forget something.
First of all, last Monday some members in the Stanley ward invited us over for their FHE. They know that Sister Hodson is new, and they really love and have adopted both of us. They are my favorites. I feel like I can be myself in their home. Anyway, they invited us over so that Sister Hodson could practice teaching on them. The grandparents, parents, and four children were there. Eight people. She taught them the first lesson, and it was nothing like an investigator lesson, but it was exactly what she needed. It wasn't perfect, but it was a learning experience for everyone. She has blossomed since then. They gave some amazing feedback, and we were all very happy. The father calls us his adopted daughters ("hey, where did my two other daughters go?" he said). He reminds me of dad in some ways. They are struggling a little with their intellectual daughter, and I totally understand her and suddenly she looks up to us. So I think we will be able to help them, too. We are teaching their niece right now.
Then we had some normal missionary days (tracting, street contacting, talking to random people, dinners with members that are great or not, and so on). Then one night when I was not feeling well, we decided to visit a former investigator. She met with missionaries last December, but then she was out of the country for a few months visiting her family in China. They haven't been able to reconnect since then. We rung her door bell, and when she answered she said, "Oh hi! Yes! I wanted to go to church this Sunday. What time is it at?" Bingo! We were so happy. So we answered her questions and set up a return appointment. She did come to church. :) Also that night we started texting another former investigator that has avoided missionaries for two months (since I got here). She quit her second job, so she has more free time and wants "to be very involved in the church". Both in one day! We were very very happy.
On Saturday we had a less happy experience. Really, it started on Thursday, but I'm going to tell it all in one piece. We got a referral from temple square, and it said to call first. We figure now that this man must have called one of the 1-800 numbers the church has and talked to a sister there. Well, I called. He answered and expressed that he had some questions about how a person could progress after they died. He listed a bunch of beliefs he has in common with us, but immediately expressed that he "didn't buy this 'I think, I feel' junk". He doesn't believe the spirit speaks to us today. He said if I could prove our doctrine to him out of the scriptures, he would change. He asked that I would do the same. I very simply stated that I do believe in the Holy Ghost, and I will always rely on it to teach me truth. He didn't go anywhere against that, but he did tell me I was unteachable.
He did have some questions, so we got him to agree to allow us to come over to answer his questions in person rather than over the phone. We were late to an appointment, so we had to go. We set up a time. He was very rude through the whole conversation. Later when we were thinking and praying about it, we felt very strongly that we should bring a member with us to back us up and protect us. A person came strongly to mind, but when we called him, he wasn't available at the time we set up. So we decided to move the appointment to another day so that he could come.
We called this man back to reschedule the appointment. When we requested to move it, he immediately got irritated and angry. He said that we had lied to him and we hadn't kept our commitment, and that we lied because we now wanted to bring someone with us. He would not allow us to reschedule, apologize, or answer his questions. We had blown it, in his mind. He went into a rage. He told me that I had sinned before God and that I needed to go to him to ask for forgiveness. It sounds silly when I type it like this, but when a man is yelling in a deep voice at you over the phone, quoting bible verses and calling you to repentance, it doesn't feel silly. I apologized again, but he would not have it. I hate to admit it, but he got to me, a little bit. I just asked him to show a little charity, and follow the second great commandment and forgive me. Clearly a BAD IDEA. He blew up even more. I had given the church a bad image, he informed me. He asked if we had someone that supervised us as missionaries. He wanted to give them a call and let them know how badly we had behaved. Sister Hodson unwisely told him we were responsible to ourselves. He just kept yelling and ranting, so we eventually had to talk loudly over him (because he would interrupt us) to say, "This conversation isn't going anywhere. If you have any questions let us know. Have a great day." and hang up.
A few minutes later he called us from a different number to tell us he had someone on a mormon.org line who had informed him that we had a mission president. He told us he was the wrong person to have made angry, and that he would call up the line until someone listened to him about how bad we were. I hate to admit it, but I got a little sassy (which equals failure as a missionary) I told him to tell President Keyes hi for us.
Anyway, so that was my bad experience of the week. I have been anti-ed so many times on my mission that I would have thought that I could handle this guy. But I failed. I was not Christlike, and I did not show or feel love towards him. I didn't represent the Lord well. I cried. It kinda threw me off for the rest of the day. But, the best thing in the whole church is the sacrament. I just have to let you know that I have a huge testimony of the sacrament now. I need it. It recharges me spiritually when I am drained every week. I needed it very badly this week. I love it. I know that the ordinance performed in the sacrament is of God. It is done by His authority according to his will and his pattern. It's not just something we do. The promises in it are real.
The other thing is that they asked me to give a talk in church on Loving your Fellow Men. It was funny after the experience we had had the day before. I really felt the Lord speaking through me in that talk. Moroni 7 is it. We must pray for this love--Charity. It is the only way we will be perfect, pure, and be like Christ when he comes. It is in all of our covenants. I am going to keep praying.
Yesterday we met with one of our investigators, the niece of the family, and she moved back her baptism date. I was sad about it, but she will be baptized. Just not yet.
As far as my studies go, this week they were awesome. I read Alma 8-15 (I think?) about Alma and Amulek. I love their companionship. They are the perfect examples. I read it in the light of Alma being the senior companion, the trainer. He does so well! It changed my whole perspective. I really want to be more like Alma.
Well, I'm out of time. But I love you!
I love you all!
~Sister April Atkin
Monday, June 4, 2012
Biking in Kansas
Dear Family,
The Lord really does look out for His missionaries. This week we were mostly on bikes, which was really hard. It was probably the longest bike week of my whole mission (and it isn't over yet). My arms are getting brown. Poor Sister Hodson. Every night when we get home we plan (which feels like the hardest thing in the world to do, but we do it anyway), and then crash into our beds as soon as possible, still encrusted with salt from the sweaty day. I will wash my sheets more often these days. But the blessing is, every day since we gave up the car on Wednesday has been unusually cool. We still get hot and sweaty, but the sun has been hiding behind clouds and there has been a cool breeze basically since last Wednesday almost exactly. What a huge blessing.
Yesterday at church, I was extra emotional because I was so tired. You know how I am--I don't deal with being tired very well. So everything was extra happy or sad or whatever yesterday. It's a good thing that Sister Hodson is so chill. We get along very well. She helped me stay stable yesterday on the brink of exhaustion until today when we get to slow down for a few hours. And I'm training her! She really is great.
So a little more about Sister Hodson (in response to Mom and Rachel). She is from Pleasant Grove Utah and went to BYU-I for two years. She is just barely 21. She is the 2nd oldest of 7 kids. She wants to do something in the medical field, maybe a nurse. She was a CNA at an assisted living place before her mission. She was a swimmer in high school. I really like her. Like I said, she is really chill, which I like. She works hard, and is willing to try anything. She is quiet, but she isn't not confident. She just doesn't have a lot of experience teaching (well, except swim lessons) but that will come. She will do very well as a missionary.
It's been fun to try out different ways of teaching her. I've gotten to try out different teaching methods on her to help her learn, and it is helping me learn how to be a teacher, if that makes sense. There are some approaches, like just talking at her about how to be a good teacher that just don't work. Usually asking probing, thought provoking questions, or asking her to summarize or put things in her own words works best. Which is exactly what works with investigators and in my future classroom! This is cool.
We are teaching a sweet girl that is 17. Her goal is to be baptized before she is 18 in three months. This week we got to hear her life's story, which was one of the craziest, most heart-breaking stories I have ever heard. It's not really my place to retell it, but basically, she should be scarred for life.
But somehow, she is this beautiful, kind, loving, happy, optimistic, pure girl. I just don't get it. It's like her whole house got hit by a bomb, and there standing in the midst of the rubble is a beautiful porcelain doll. Untouched. The Lord must have put a force field around her. By all means she should be bitter and broken. But she is giving and wonderful. I feel so lucky to teach her. The Lord preserved and prepared her for the gospel. I'm sure she has a great future ahead of her. She is definitely one of the noble and great ones.
If you remember the Mendez family (the Part member family, where the dad decided to come back to church after 20 years) we aren't teaching them anymore. They are still golden, but we handed them over to the Spanish Elders. They feel guilty taking them, but really it will meet their needs better than we ever could. We are all on the same team. We invited them to go out to church yesterday, and we really didn't think they would go. We had invited them to go to the Spanish branch just for a Sunday, and we wouldn't even be there to talk to them. But they went! All on their own! And stayed all three hours!! They met the elders there, and the rest is history. When we talked to the elders about it, and decided that it would be best if they took them, I felt the hugest sense of peace. I just felt so happy. We had done something good in helping them reconnect with the church and go out to church, and now our piece is over. I just know that the right thing and the best thing happened. We did all of the right things. :)
We also street contacted a guy that looked like he would never be interested in the gospel--he had a mohawk (a legit one) and was covered in scars. He had led a rough life. Turns out, his dad went to BYU (we don't know if he was a member at the time, but he isn't anymore). We talked to him about the church, and he has some strange ideas about God, but he was excited to read the Book of Mormon. He was stunned that I would just give him one. So hopefully that goes somewhere. He looked scarier than he actually was.
Last Monday we went to a member's big surprise Birthday Party for our dinner. We accidentally ended up sitting with all of their nonmember neighbors. It was awesome! They said we could stop by. The Lord is so kind. :)
Oh, and Wednesday was Zone Conference. I love those. It was so good. I got to see Sister Thorne again. I think we will be roommates when we get home. :) I lover her SO much. I played the piano on no notice, and, you know, I think I play better than I ever have in my entire life. My mission is blessing my singing and playing abilities.
Sorry, this is a short email, but I think I have run out of things to say. I am just so tired that I can't even think straight to tell you more interesting things. I think I'm going to take a nap today.
I love you all and I pray for you. You are amazing. :) I'm glad the trip to NC went so well. I miss those boys! And Annie and Neal of course! And Amy and Marc and their boys! And Rachel! and of course you, MOM and DAD! I miss you, but I am happy.
Love,
Sister April Atkin
The Lord really does look out for His missionaries. This week we were mostly on bikes, which was really hard. It was probably the longest bike week of my whole mission (and it isn't over yet). My arms are getting brown. Poor Sister Hodson. Every night when we get home we plan (which feels like the hardest thing in the world to do, but we do it anyway), and then crash into our beds as soon as possible, still encrusted with salt from the sweaty day. I will wash my sheets more often these days. But the blessing is, every day since we gave up the car on Wednesday has been unusually cool. We still get hot and sweaty, but the sun has been hiding behind clouds and there has been a cool breeze basically since last Wednesday almost exactly. What a huge blessing.
Yesterday at church, I was extra emotional because I was so tired. You know how I am--I don't deal with being tired very well. So everything was extra happy or sad or whatever yesterday. It's a good thing that Sister Hodson is so chill. We get along very well. She helped me stay stable yesterday on the brink of exhaustion until today when we get to slow down for a few hours. And I'm training her! She really is great.
So a little more about Sister Hodson (in response to Mom and Rachel). She is from Pleasant Grove Utah and went to BYU-I for two years. She is just barely 21. She is the 2nd oldest of 7 kids. She wants to do something in the medical field, maybe a nurse. She was a CNA at an assisted living place before her mission. She was a swimmer in high school. I really like her. Like I said, she is really chill, which I like. She works hard, and is willing to try anything. She is quiet, but she isn't not confident. She just doesn't have a lot of experience teaching (well, except swim lessons) but that will come. She will do very well as a missionary.
It's been fun to try out different ways of teaching her. I've gotten to try out different teaching methods on her to help her learn, and it is helping me learn how to be a teacher, if that makes sense. There are some approaches, like just talking at her about how to be a good teacher that just don't work. Usually asking probing, thought provoking questions, or asking her to summarize or put things in her own words works best. Which is exactly what works with investigators and in my future classroom! This is cool.
We are teaching a sweet girl that is 17. Her goal is to be baptized before she is 18 in three months. This week we got to hear her life's story, which was one of the craziest, most heart-breaking stories I have ever heard. It's not really my place to retell it, but basically, she should be scarred for life.
But somehow, she is this beautiful, kind, loving, happy, optimistic, pure girl. I just don't get it. It's like her whole house got hit by a bomb, and there standing in the midst of the rubble is a beautiful porcelain doll. Untouched. The Lord must have put a force field around her. By all means she should be bitter and broken. But she is giving and wonderful. I feel so lucky to teach her. The Lord preserved and prepared her for the gospel. I'm sure she has a great future ahead of her. She is definitely one of the noble and great ones.
If you remember the Mendez family (the Part member family, where the dad decided to come back to church after 20 years) we aren't teaching them anymore. They are still golden, but we handed them over to the Spanish Elders. They feel guilty taking them, but really it will meet their needs better than we ever could. We are all on the same team. We invited them to go out to church yesterday, and we really didn't think they would go. We had invited them to go to the Spanish branch just for a Sunday, and we wouldn't even be there to talk to them. But they went! All on their own! And stayed all three hours!! They met the elders there, and the rest is history. When we talked to the elders about it, and decided that it would be best if they took them, I felt the hugest sense of peace. I just felt so happy. We had done something good in helping them reconnect with the church and go out to church, and now our piece is over. I just know that the right thing and the best thing happened. We did all of the right things. :)
We also street contacted a guy that looked like he would never be interested in the gospel--he had a mohawk (a legit one) and was covered in scars. He had led a rough life. Turns out, his dad went to BYU (we don't know if he was a member at the time, but he isn't anymore). We talked to him about the church, and he has some strange ideas about God, but he was excited to read the Book of Mormon. He was stunned that I would just give him one. So hopefully that goes somewhere. He looked scarier than he actually was.
Last Monday we went to a member's big surprise Birthday Party for our dinner. We accidentally ended up sitting with all of their nonmember neighbors. It was awesome! They said we could stop by. The Lord is so kind. :)
Oh, and Wednesday was Zone Conference. I love those. It was so good. I got to see Sister Thorne again. I think we will be roommates when we get home. :) I lover her SO much. I played the piano on no notice, and, you know, I think I play better than I ever have in my entire life. My mission is blessing my singing and playing abilities.
Sorry, this is a short email, but I think I have run out of things to say. I am just so tired that I can't even think straight to tell you more interesting things. I think I'm going to take a nap today.
I love you all and I pray for you. You are amazing. :) I'm glad the trip to NC went so well. I miss those boys! And Annie and Neal of course! And Amy and Marc and their boys! And Rachel! and of course you, MOM and DAD! I miss you, but I am happy.
Love,
Sister April Atkin
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
First Week of Summer
Dear Family,
I didn't get to write yesterday because of the holiday, but we have permission to write today. It just means that it will maybe be shorter. Which is so sad because so much has happened this week!
First of all, on Tuesday night Transfer Calls came. I am training Sister Kerby Hodson from Pleasant Grove, Utah.
I only had a couple of days left with Sister Hinckley and we made them good ones. I really do love her. She was really sad to leave, but her family will be glad to see her. She has a happy life ahead of her. It wasn't always an easy companionship, but once I learned a little more patience, I was able to see how much good and how much love were in her. She really was a sweet sister. I wish her well.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I had meetings in Independence at 7:20 am (and it is a 40 minute drive away). A lady from Salt Lake came to train all of the VC sisters, so I got to drive out and be trained even though I am not in the centers right now. I got really emotional. I was suddenly very homesick for the VC. I miss it so much!! But the training was amazing. I love being a VC sister more than I could have ever imagined. What an amazing opportunity to be the face of the church!
Then on Thursday was Transfers. Again, we had to be in Independence by 7:30. We were so sleep deprived. Sister Hinckley really cried when she left, which was sad. But she will do well once she adjusts back to being home.
Then I got to meet Sister Hodson! She's a little quieter, but I love her so much already! Our senses of humor really are similar, so we laugh a lot. I really like her. She's really jumped in with both feet, and isn't really afraid of anything. I am working on giving her more chances to talk more, because she is quiet, but she has great things to say, and she really belongs here. Sometimes I forget that she is a new missionary. She really doesn't act like one. With a little practice, she's going to do well.
Once Sister Hodson got here, our area exploded with work to do. I don't know what happened, but we found 4 golden new investigators, and 1 golden for someone else's area. Everything has been a miracle! I don't have a lot of time, so here is a list of stuff that has happened recently.
What a crazy week! Summer has officially started (by the temperature anyway) this week. It is hot and humid. We played ultimate with the elders yesterday, and I think I over did it a little bit. I am tired. Oh, well. Even running at 6:30 in the morning is hot. I am kind of dreading being on bikes later this week, but the word on the street is that our full time car is on the way, so that will be very nice. I've seen my first fireflies! They aren't just a fairy tale! That was so cool. :) I haven't gotten any chigger bites yet, so that is nice, too. Did you know that ticks are normal out here? One of our members had Limes disease, so that is real. Gross. Good thing I'm in the city here.
Anyhoo, I think that is everything! I love you and will have more time next week! (And I will send pictures next week, too!)
Love,
Sister April Atkin
I didn't get to write yesterday because of the holiday, but we have permission to write today. It just means that it will maybe be shorter. Which is so sad because so much has happened this week!
First of all, on Tuesday night Transfer Calls came. I am training Sister Kerby Hodson from Pleasant Grove, Utah.
I only had a couple of days left with Sister Hinckley and we made them good ones. I really do love her. She was really sad to leave, but her family will be glad to see her. She has a happy life ahead of her. It wasn't always an easy companionship, but once I learned a little more patience, I was able to see how much good and how much love were in her. She really was a sweet sister. I wish her well.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I had meetings in Independence at 7:20 am (and it is a 40 minute drive away). A lady from Salt Lake came to train all of the VC sisters, so I got to drive out and be trained even though I am not in the centers right now. I got really emotional. I was suddenly very homesick for the VC. I miss it so much!! But the training was amazing. I love being a VC sister more than I could have ever imagined. What an amazing opportunity to be the face of the church!
Then on Thursday was Transfers. Again, we had to be in Independence by 7:30. We were so sleep deprived. Sister Hinckley really cried when she left, which was sad. But she will do well once she adjusts back to being home.
Then I got to meet Sister Hodson! She's a little quieter, but I love her so much already! Our senses of humor really are similar, so we laugh a lot. I really like her. She's really jumped in with both feet, and isn't really afraid of anything. I am working on giving her more chances to talk more, because she is quiet, but she has great things to say, and she really belongs here. Sometimes I forget that she is a new missionary. She really doesn't act like one. With a little practice, she's going to do well.
Once Sister Hodson got here, our area exploded with work to do. I don't know what happened, but we found 4 golden new investigators, and 1 golden for someone else's area. Everything has been a miracle! I don't have a lot of time, so here is a list of stuff that has happened recently.
- two elders in my mission got into a serious car accident. One of them was life flighted to another hospital. President Keyes had to spend the whole night with them. We were all praying for them. The next evening, he drove them back to their apartment in their area for them to rest up and go back to work. Neither of them had any broken bones, and neither of them had to go home. It was a miracle. The doctors said they had never seen someone walk out of the hospital so soon after needing to be life flighted. That's all I know about it, but we are so grateful for the miracle!
- We contacted another Temple Open house referral named Donna. She's amazing! We connected right away. She told us everything she was stressing about and we all got emotional. I think she sees how she needs the gospel for her and for her kids.
- We also contacted another referral of a Part Member Family in the ward. As soon as we walked in, the dad said he hasn't been to church in 20 years (he's the member), but he wants to turn his life around and have his girlfriend and kids baptized. He also informed us he wanted us to come over 2-3 times a week to teach his kids. He also told us he wasn't married to his girl friend, but he knew that had to change. Amazing.
- We had another family in the ward approach us and tell us that their niece wants to meet with us. She's been attending church with them for a while, and her goal is to be baptized before she is 18, which is in 3 months. She's super excited to meet with us, and is a wonderful girl. She was in the Cultural Celebration for the temple.
- Jasmine was baptized this week! This should have been sooner on the list! She didn't count for our numbers, but we don't care. We love her. We got there and it turned out that there was no jump suit for her to wear, so we had to wait for a nearby member to bring her a temple dress to wear. It only started 15 minutes late. The Area 70, Stake President, Bishop, and 30 singles all came, as well as Jasmine's parents. I gave the Holy Ghost talk, which went well. The dress went see-through, but we got her out of the water and gave her a towel, so it was fine. Her parents were both visibly moved (to tears), and her mom is very supportive. We hope to teach them soon.
- Like I mentioned earlier, our members had us teach their coworker in their home. He was very interested and shocked that Joseph Smith was so young. "And he translated the Book of Mormon? Wow." he said. He said if he knew it was true that he would be baptized. That was Sister Hodson's first first lesson. Amazing. It went really well.
- Then we were the key note speakers for a fireside for the youth in the ward, and we were late! aahh! I was stressed. But it worked out. We ran in, ran to the front (it was in a member's home, so less of a big deal) and started. It went really well. The youth in this area are amazing. Two nonmember youth came, and they got to hear about what missionary work is about and what it is like. They asked the most questions. It was fun.
What a crazy week! Summer has officially started (by the temperature anyway) this week. It is hot and humid. We played ultimate with the elders yesterday, and I think I over did it a little bit. I am tired. Oh, well. Even running at 6:30 in the morning is hot. I am kind of dreading being on bikes later this week, but the word on the street is that our full time car is on the way, so that will be very nice. I've seen my first fireflies! They aren't just a fairy tale! That was so cool. :) I haven't gotten any chigger bites yet, so that is nice, too. Did you know that ticks are normal out here? One of our members had Limes disease, so that is real. Gross. Good thing I'm in the city here.
Anyhoo, I think that is everything! I love you and will have more time next week! (And I will send pictures next week, too!)
Love,
Sister April Atkin
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
More Big News
Hi Family!
So life is good in Kansas! If you remember, our transfers out here are a week later than Willie's. We just get our call on a Tuesday, and then our moved on Thursday, so that is a little different. So anyway, our calls come tomorrow night. But I don't have to wait for the calls to know some of the big news.
I'm training again.
Yep, I'm training again! I'm so excited! Training was the hardest best thing I've ever done, and I get to do it again! I just feel so honored that the Lord and my mission president trust me enough to train again so quickly. Of the first 7 transfers in my mission, I am going to be in the training program for 6 of them. I just had one transfer (6 week) break, and I'm back to training. I'm so excited! I'm just going to love her to pieces. Both of the sisters who are coming out are from Utah, so that's about all I know about her. And she is a full proselyting sister, so she wasn't called the Visitors' Centers. Which is extra cool that they are trusting me to train someone full-pros when I have been full-pros for only 6 weeks!
When someone trains, they have a meeting for them the Saturday before transfers to train them on training. So we went to that on Saturday (and Sister Hinckley got to come along as my companion). At the meeting they told us the process by which they picked trainers. Well, first of all, they have a transfers board that has the pictures of all 200 missionaries. Then they pick out the missionaries that are eligible to be trainers, and would probably make good trainers. They pick about twice as many as they actually need. Then the mission president and the Assistants pick out the missionaries that they would want to train their little brother or little sister. And that is how they pick trainers. President Keyes told us, "So know that we prayed you here. We chose you because we could trust you with our younger brother or sister." I feel the weight of the responsibility, because a trainer impacts the rest of their mission. But I'm so excited. :)
There are some things I wish I had done differently with Sister Lewis, but I was a younger missionary then. I can do things better this time. I get a second chance! I plan on just loving this new sister to death. I love her already. I'm just so excited! I have always felt, from the very beginning of my mission that part of my mission calling was to be a trainer. I have felt very strongly about that. And then Sister Lewis came along. And now my new sister this week. It is coming true. I am so happy. :) It's a challenge to be a better and better missionary. :)
Anyway, enough about that. This week wasn't very eventful. Jasmine is still on track to be baptized this Saturday. She's excited, and so is her mom. Her mom has been very supportive, and even drove all of us to Liberty Jail in her Lexus. It was a good experience.
Side Note: and I saw the Whitney's! Random! I was walking up to Liberty Jail and I heard someone yell, "April!" I halfway turned my head, but then though, "no, that's not my name. It must be for someone else," and kept walking. But then Sister Whitney yelled, "Sister Atkin!" so I turned around. There they were, filming me! It was crazy to run into someone from our neighborhood again! They took pictures, too, so you'll have to see those. I love them. :)
Anyway, so life is good. Jasmine and her mom both loved the devotional of new convert's testimonies at the Liberty Jail. They do that every month at the Jail and the VC, and it is such a good idea. We hope that her mom will want to learn from us soon. She is coming to the baptism, so we'll see!
Bikes are going well, too. I'm getting brown and buff. I haven't been in this good of shape for a long time, and it feels really good. We played Ultimate with the elders today, and they wore out before I did (not to brag. :) ). So I'm doing very well. I'm learning to really love the bikes because we get to talk to people on the streets, and I feel good.
Sister Hinckley is going home this week, which is really hard. She really doesn't want to go. Suddenly, everything that anyone talks about that is for a day after she is gone has become very painful for her. I feel bad. I know that I will feel the same way when I get there, but I don't want to think about it. I'm staying in Kansas forever. :) I'm trying to help her stay cheerful for her last week. Hopefully we can make it an extra good one. She's missing Jasmine's baptism, which is hard, but we really wanted Jasmine's family to come, so that comes first. I'll send her pictures.
So I have a lot of things to look forward to this week. Tomorrow there is a meeting in Independence for all of the VC sisters to train us on how to use the centers better. President Keyes will be there, as well as some people from Salt Lake. I'm excited to see all of the sisters and to be trained. :) Then on Thursday is transfers, so I will get my new sister. I'm excited to meet her! Then on Saturday is Jasmine's baptism. Too many things to look forward to! I might explode with happiness!
So that is life.
Love,
Sister April Atkin
So life is good in Kansas! If you remember, our transfers out here are a week later than Willie's. We just get our call on a Tuesday, and then our moved on Thursday, so that is a little different. So anyway, our calls come tomorrow night. But I don't have to wait for the calls to know some of the big news.
I'm training again.
Yep, I'm training again! I'm so excited! Training was the hardest best thing I've ever done, and I get to do it again! I just feel so honored that the Lord and my mission president trust me enough to train again so quickly. Of the first 7 transfers in my mission, I am going to be in the training program for 6 of them. I just had one transfer (6 week) break, and I'm back to training. I'm so excited! I'm just going to love her to pieces. Both of the sisters who are coming out are from Utah, so that's about all I know about her. And she is a full proselyting sister, so she wasn't called the Visitors' Centers. Which is extra cool that they are trusting me to train someone full-pros when I have been full-pros for only 6 weeks!
When someone trains, they have a meeting for them the Saturday before transfers to train them on training. So we went to that on Saturday (and Sister Hinckley got to come along as my companion). At the meeting they told us the process by which they picked trainers. Well, first of all, they have a transfers board that has the pictures of all 200 missionaries. Then they pick out the missionaries that are eligible to be trainers, and would probably make good trainers. They pick about twice as many as they actually need. Then the mission president and the Assistants pick out the missionaries that they would want to train their little brother or little sister. And that is how they pick trainers. President Keyes told us, "So know that we prayed you here. We chose you because we could trust you with our younger brother or sister." I feel the weight of the responsibility, because a trainer impacts the rest of their mission. But I'm so excited. :)
There are some things I wish I had done differently with Sister Lewis, but I was a younger missionary then. I can do things better this time. I get a second chance! I plan on just loving this new sister to death. I love her already. I'm just so excited! I have always felt, from the very beginning of my mission that part of my mission calling was to be a trainer. I have felt very strongly about that. And then Sister Lewis came along. And now my new sister this week. It is coming true. I am so happy. :) It's a challenge to be a better and better missionary. :)
Anyway, enough about that. This week wasn't very eventful. Jasmine is still on track to be baptized this Saturday. She's excited, and so is her mom. Her mom has been very supportive, and even drove all of us to Liberty Jail in her Lexus. It was a good experience.
Side Note: and I saw the Whitney's! Random! I was walking up to Liberty Jail and I heard someone yell, "April!" I halfway turned my head, but then though, "no, that's not my name. It must be for someone else," and kept walking. But then Sister Whitney yelled, "Sister Atkin!" so I turned around. There they were, filming me! It was crazy to run into someone from our neighborhood again! They took pictures, too, so you'll have to see those. I love them. :)
Anyway, so life is good. Jasmine and her mom both loved the devotional of new convert's testimonies at the Liberty Jail. They do that every month at the Jail and the VC, and it is such a good idea. We hope that her mom will want to learn from us soon. She is coming to the baptism, so we'll see!
Bikes are going well, too. I'm getting brown and buff. I haven't been in this good of shape for a long time, and it feels really good. We played Ultimate with the elders today, and they wore out before I did (not to brag. :) ). So I'm doing very well. I'm learning to really love the bikes because we get to talk to people on the streets, and I feel good.
Sister Hinckley is going home this week, which is really hard. She really doesn't want to go. Suddenly, everything that anyone talks about that is for a day after she is gone has become very painful for her. I feel bad. I know that I will feel the same way when I get there, but I don't want to think about it. I'm staying in Kansas forever. :) I'm trying to help her stay cheerful for her last week. Hopefully we can make it an extra good one. She's missing Jasmine's baptism, which is hard, but we really wanted Jasmine's family to come, so that comes first. I'll send her pictures.
So I have a lot of things to look forward to this week. Tomorrow there is a meeting in Independence for all of the VC sisters to train us on how to use the centers better. President Keyes will be there, as well as some people from Salt Lake. I'm excited to see all of the sisters and to be trained. :) Then on Thursday is transfers, so I will get my new sister. I'm excited to meet her! Then on Saturday is Jasmine's baptism. Too many things to look forward to! I might explode with happiness!
So that is life.
Love,
Sister April Atkin
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Day After Mother's Day
Family,
I just talked to you yesterday! So I don't have that much to talk about either. This will be a shorter letter, and it probably will repeat some stuff for the sake of those that weren't in the phone call yesterday. If you have questions, ask mom or dad. We chatted just yesterday.
First of all, skyping was so fun! Thanks for being willing to skype so early in the morning! It made our schedule for the day so much easier. It was good to see you. I felt like we talked just yesterday and will talk again tomorrow. I thought it would phase me more than it did, but it really didn't phase me at all. I guess I love being out here too much to be homesick. And we email and write so much that you don't feel far away at all. :)
Adventures of the week: We taught a lesson in spanish. It was no bueno. They knew about 5 words in English, and we knew about 5 words in Spanish, so it was about a half an hour of the four of us gesturing widely, talking slowly, and looking confused. but happy. At the end he said something that, if I understood him correctly, meant, "we didn't communicate well at all, but you both look very happy and are very nice." We sent the elders over, and we'll see how it goes for them. They loved the temple openhouse, and that is why missionaries are going over there.
The other thing is that Jasmine is doing wonderfully. She went to FHE last week, a dance on Saturday, church on Sunday, is going to FHE tonight, and we are all going to the VC tomorrow. She really wants it. We are just nervous that she is doing it for social acceptance and not because she is converted. So we are working on that. The hard thing is that the singles ward is outside of our Zone, which means we don't have permission to call the elders in her ward, or anyone in her ward. So we can only send messages through our Zone Leaders and hope all goes well. We will probably call the APs for permission to call them to get the baptism planned. Craziness. I think they are sad we are teaching her. oops.
Today we went bowling with the elders. Elders are CRAZY. Sometimes I just forget. I'm pretty stubborn about the White Handbook rules, so I wore a skirt (with my leggings underneath) because I could. (the white hand book says to wear proselyting clothes in public whenever possible. So I did.) Everyone else wore jeans. Anyway, I bowled at 116, which is a personal record, and beat most of the elders. ha. It was fun.
We also had exchanges this week, which were really good. I had to take over the area for a day, which was hard because I still don't know anyone or my way around at all, but it was good. It showed me how I need to be better at planning, and how miracles happen when you work hard. We decided to tract a street because we ran out of other things to do, and it turned out to be the best part of our day, even though we didn't get any new investigators from it. One woman, after we chatted for 10 minutes gave us a big hug and said she loved us. The next woman was very grateful for the prayer we said on her porch for her and her husband, who is in the last stages of Alzheimer's. We also talked to Red (who used to have red hair. He's bald now), and his great niece, April. She was adorable. He asked for our advice about his landscaping. It was an amazing street. :)
So there is life. It is wonderful. :)
I love you all!
Love,
Sister April Atkin
I just talked to you yesterday! So I don't have that much to talk about either. This will be a shorter letter, and it probably will repeat some stuff for the sake of those that weren't in the phone call yesterday. If you have questions, ask mom or dad. We chatted just yesterday.
First of all, skyping was so fun! Thanks for being willing to skype so early in the morning! It made our schedule for the day so much easier. It was good to see you. I felt like we talked just yesterday and will talk again tomorrow. I thought it would phase me more than it did, but it really didn't phase me at all. I guess I love being out here too much to be homesick. And we email and write so much that you don't feel far away at all. :)
Adventures of the week: We taught a lesson in spanish. It was no bueno. They knew about 5 words in English, and we knew about 5 words in Spanish, so it was about a half an hour of the four of us gesturing widely, talking slowly, and looking confused. but happy. At the end he said something that, if I understood him correctly, meant, "we didn't communicate well at all, but you both look very happy and are very nice." We sent the elders over, and we'll see how it goes for them. They loved the temple openhouse, and that is why missionaries are going over there.
The other thing is that Jasmine is doing wonderfully. She went to FHE last week, a dance on Saturday, church on Sunday, is going to FHE tonight, and we are all going to the VC tomorrow. She really wants it. We are just nervous that she is doing it for social acceptance and not because she is converted. So we are working on that. The hard thing is that the singles ward is outside of our Zone, which means we don't have permission to call the elders in her ward, or anyone in her ward. So we can only send messages through our Zone Leaders and hope all goes well. We will probably call the APs for permission to call them to get the baptism planned. Craziness. I think they are sad we are teaching her. oops.
Today we went bowling with the elders. Elders are CRAZY. Sometimes I just forget. I'm pretty stubborn about the White Handbook rules, so I wore a skirt (with my leggings underneath) because I could. (the white hand book says to wear proselyting clothes in public whenever possible. So I did.) Everyone else wore jeans. Anyway, I bowled at 116, which is a personal record, and beat most of the elders. ha. It was fun.
We also had exchanges this week, which were really good. I had to take over the area for a day, which was hard because I still don't know anyone or my way around at all, but it was good. It showed me how I need to be better at planning, and how miracles happen when you work hard. We decided to tract a street because we ran out of other things to do, and it turned out to be the best part of our day, even though we didn't get any new investigators from it. One woman, after we chatted for 10 minutes gave us a big hug and said she loved us. The next woman was very grateful for the prayer we said on her porch for her and her husband, who is in the last stages of Alzheimer's. We also talked to Red (who used to have red hair. He's bald now), and his great niece, April. She was adorable. He asked for our advice about his landscaping. It was an amazing street. :)
So there is life. It is wonderful. :)
I love you all!
Love,
Sister April Atkin
A Week of Miracles
Dearest Family!
I have so much to write about! I hope I remember it all!
So I'm going to try to go chronologically, so we'll see how it goes.
First of all, this weeks was on bikes which was killer. It got pretty hot (although everyone laughed and told me to just wait), and I have never sweated so much in my life. It's a good thing that the gospel is true, because I'm sure we were a sight to see, bright red and literally dripping with sweat. I'm going to be in good shape this summer, though, and my quads are already looking nicer. :)
I am covered in scratches and bruises, though. I guess I'm failing at this bike thing. We haven't wrecked at all, and we wear helmets, but somehow my legs get attacked by the bike. I dunno how. One time we stopped to make sure we were going to the right address, and I propped my bike up on its kick-stand. Sister Hinckley accidentally knocked it over, and I think it was the peddle that landed on my foot. I dripped some blood around, but the cuts really aren't that bad. It was swollen for a few days, and the bruise is pretty big, but all is well. It really hasn't bothered me too much, and now the bruise is mainly at the base of my toes and on the outer edge of my foot. Oh, the adventures of riding a bike.
Then, we got a golden investigator last week! Her name is Jasmine and she is my age. It's complicated because she lives in our area, but she wants to attend the singles' ward, which is in another zone, but I think they will let us keep teaching her. She set a date and loves everything we have to say. She's eating up the Book of Mormon. What happened is that she and her mom know the Deshlers. He is the Area 70 here. The Deshlers invited them to the temple open house and Jasmine LOVED it. She's so perfect!! I'm just really happy for her. She's basically mormon already. And the fellowship has been great.
The other thing is that I finally met my mission goal! My whole mission I have wanted to get up to 10 lessons a week. That may sound low to you, especially after hearing about Willie's 20, but it was a miracle for me. When I was in the VC, we simply did not have time to teach that many lessons, unless we spent every minute in our area teaching (literally every minute), which is impossible as we all know. Then I got to Overland Park, which honestly was struggling as an area. It has a bad reputation as being a super hard area to find people to teach. But this week we did! And we taught 11 lessons so I met my goal! Next goal: 15 lessons a week. Here it goes!! Miracles!
We also got two new investigators that are super excited about Family History. It seemed to be the theme of the week.
Oh, and my District is awesome. These elders know how to be just friends with Sisters and not have it be too much or anything. They are super cool. Our District Leader, Elder Clair, really reminds me of Willie. Like SO MUCH. It kills me. I miss you Willie! I'm excited to talk next Sunday! The other day we didn't answer our phone for a few hours because we were on bikes, and we missed like 20 calls from him. He wondered if we died. He left us 5 voice mails (we do have 2 phones, by the way, so on both phones), and they were all pretty strange. One was of him singing a Tarzan song. So I really thought of Willie. All 4 of the elders in my district are chill. It's good.
Then on Saturday was the Cultural Celebration. We thought that we would be hanging out in the back until our part, but then they actually got us seats so we got to see the whole thing! We were in the nosebleeds, but it actually made it cool because then we could see the big picture. There were thousands of youth in the event. It was awesome. The theme was 'Of One Heart in the Heartland'. Each segment had a theme like "Shining Hearts" or "Sharing Hearts" or "Inspired Hearts".
Of course it had some cultural parts because there are large groups of polynesians and hispanics, so they did dances that were pretty cool. The most touching part was the youth from Joplin, Missouri, who are in the temple district. Their part was "Broken Hearts" and was about the devastation from the tornado. The floor was covered in debris and what looked like the frames of houses (this was in a basketball arena in downtown KCMO, by the way). The dancers stood around with their heads down while the big screen had images and narration about the destruction. They had a family of actors run together on the floor, as if they were being reunited after the tornado, happy to find each other alive. I cried. It was so beautiful. Then they showed the youth clean up the floor, bring blankets, supplies, and rebuild the homes while wearing helping hands T-shirts. Like I said, it was beautiful and full of hope. I loved it.
Our part was near the end. We were part of "Sharing Hearts". The youth sang parts of missionary primary songs. Then we all started singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth" which we started marching onto the floor, all 200+ missionaries, in ranks. We sang the first verse and the chorus twice. When we all were on the floor, we turned and sung toward the prophet (did I mention that Thomas S. Monson was there? He was). It was powerful. All of the youth on the floor knelt down, and everyone in the stadium stood up, including President Monson. I felt so honored to be there, singing for the prophet, representing the missionaries in all of the world. We sang our hearts out.
And then it was over so fast, and we marched right off of the floor again, and went back to our seats. Wow. It was so amazing. Our mission president and his wife just cried. They said that there were some camera men in the vans putting together the life video feed to broadcast it the stake centers, and they were so overwhelmed by the sight of all of the missionaries that they all cried and had difficulty doing their job because they were so touched by the sight of the missionaries.
What a place to be! I am so blessed! I can't believe that I got to be here for this!!! This is definitely something I will remember forever. President Keyes said he is getting all of the missionaries copies of the DVD recording of the celebration. I will get that in a couple of months. Yay!
Then yesterday was the dedication of the temple. There was no church, and they had three sessions in the stake centers. We went to the 9 am session, and got to see the cornerstone sealing (we were watching in the stake center). The dedication was amazing. President Monson was there, as well as Jeffry R. Holland, and Donald Hallstrom, and of course the temple presidency. It was really good. The sad thing was that there were technical difficulties with the broadcast, so we missed most of President Monson's remarks, and the first part of the prayer. Sister Hinckley really wanted to go back to another session, but we needed to be missionaries, so we didn't. Hopefully we can get a copy of the published dedicatory prayer and read it later.
Then when we got home, we had plans to be out all day yesterday on our bikes. We didn't have a dinner or anything. But things kept coming up. We had to do this one thing, then call all of these people, and then something else happened, and then we decided to just eat dinner before we headed out. It was kind of a stormy day, but we are missionaries rain and shine, so we planned on heading out. When we finally got everything together to go out, Sister Anderson (who we lived with) basically ran in and told us we couldn't go out. She had been taking a nap when she suddenly jolted awake and told her husband to turn on the TV. He did, and then they found out that Johnson county (here) was under tornado watch and we needed to head to the basement. So she ran and caught us right before we went out on our bikes in the rain.
So we spent our evening in their basement. We read scriptures and just kind of hung out. We tried to make some calls, but we didn't have reception down there. Then when the tornado watch ended, there was a severe lightning storm warning, so we still had to stay inside. She made us a yummy late snack, and we did some paperwork while watching the show. The storm was awesome. It rained about 4" in one day. Not like Utah.
And I really feel so protected. The Lord made sure that we weren't out in the storm. He worked a way so that we were safe. So parents, rest safe that the Lord is watching out for me. And so are the Andersons. :) It really was a blessing from heaven that we were inside last night.
So that was my week!
Love,
Sister Atkin
I have so much to write about! I hope I remember it all!
So I'm going to try to go chronologically, so we'll see how it goes.
First of all, this weeks was on bikes which was killer. It got pretty hot (although everyone laughed and told me to just wait), and I have never sweated so much in my life. It's a good thing that the gospel is true, because I'm sure we were a sight to see, bright red and literally dripping with sweat. I'm going to be in good shape this summer, though, and my quads are already looking nicer. :)
I am covered in scratches and bruises, though. I guess I'm failing at this bike thing. We haven't wrecked at all, and we wear helmets, but somehow my legs get attacked by the bike. I dunno how. One time we stopped to make sure we were going to the right address, and I propped my bike up on its kick-stand. Sister Hinckley accidentally knocked it over, and I think it was the peddle that landed on my foot. I dripped some blood around, but the cuts really aren't that bad. It was swollen for a few days, and the bruise is pretty big, but all is well. It really hasn't bothered me too much, and now the bruise is mainly at the base of my toes and on the outer edge of my foot. Oh, the adventures of riding a bike.
Then, we got a golden investigator last week! Her name is Jasmine and she is my age. It's complicated because she lives in our area, but she wants to attend the singles' ward, which is in another zone, but I think they will let us keep teaching her. She set a date and loves everything we have to say. She's eating up the Book of Mormon. What happened is that she and her mom know the Deshlers. He is the Area 70 here. The Deshlers invited them to the temple open house and Jasmine LOVED it. She's so perfect!! I'm just really happy for her. She's basically mormon already. And the fellowship has been great.
The other thing is that I finally met my mission goal! My whole mission I have wanted to get up to 10 lessons a week. That may sound low to you, especially after hearing about Willie's 20, but it was a miracle for me. When I was in the VC, we simply did not have time to teach that many lessons, unless we spent every minute in our area teaching (literally every minute), which is impossible as we all know. Then I got to Overland Park, which honestly was struggling as an area. It has a bad reputation as being a super hard area to find people to teach. But this week we did! And we taught 11 lessons so I met my goal! Next goal: 15 lessons a week. Here it goes!! Miracles!
We also got two new investigators that are super excited about Family History. It seemed to be the theme of the week.
Oh, and my District is awesome. These elders know how to be just friends with Sisters and not have it be too much or anything. They are super cool. Our District Leader, Elder Clair, really reminds me of Willie. Like SO MUCH. It kills me. I miss you Willie! I'm excited to talk next Sunday! The other day we didn't answer our phone for a few hours because we were on bikes, and we missed like 20 calls from him. He wondered if we died. He left us 5 voice mails (we do have 2 phones, by the way, so on both phones), and they were all pretty strange. One was of him singing a Tarzan song. So I really thought of Willie. All 4 of the elders in my district are chill. It's good.
Then on Saturday was the Cultural Celebration. We thought that we would be hanging out in the back until our part, but then they actually got us seats so we got to see the whole thing! We were in the nosebleeds, but it actually made it cool because then we could see the big picture. There were thousands of youth in the event. It was awesome. The theme was 'Of One Heart in the Heartland'. Each segment had a theme like "Shining Hearts" or "Sharing Hearts" or "Inspired Hearts".
Of course it had some cultural parts because there are large groups of polynesians and hispanics, so they did dances that were pretty cool. The most touching part was the youth from Joplin, Missouri, who are in the temple district. Their part was "Broken Hearts" and was about the devastation from the tornado. The floor was covered in debris and what looked like the frames of houses (this was in a basketball arena in downtown KCMO, by the way). The dancers stood around with their heads down while the big screen had images and narration about the destruction. They had a family of actors run together on the floor, as if they were being reunited after the tornado, happy to find each other alive. I cried. It was so beautiful. Then they showed the youth clean up the floor, bring blankets, supplies, and rebuild the homes while wearing helping hands T-shirts. Like I said, it was beautiful and full of hope. I loved it.
Our part was near the end. We were part of "Sharing Hearts". The youth sang parts of missionary primary songs. Then we all started singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth" which we started marching onto the floor, all 200+ missionaries, in ranks. We sang the first verse and the chorus twice. When we all were on the floor, we turned and sung toward the prophet (did I mention that Thomas S. Monson was there? He was). It was powerful. All of the youth on the floor knelt down, and everyone in the stadium stood up, including President Monson. I felt so honored to be there, singing for the prophet, representing the missionaries in all of the world. We sang our hearts out.
And then it was over so fast, and we marched right off of the floor again, and went back to our seats. Wow. It was so amazing. Our mission president and his wife just cried. They said that there were some camera men in the vans putting together the life video feed to broadcast it the stake centers, and they were so overwhelmed by the sight of all of the missionaries that they all cried and had difficulty doing their job because they were so touched by the sight of the missionaries.
What a place to be! I am so blessed! I can't believe that I got to be here for this!!! This is definitely something I will remember forever. President Keyes said he is getting all of the missionaries copies of the DVD recording of the celebration. I will get that in a couple of months. Yay!
Then yesterday was the dedication of the temple. There was no church, and they had three sessions in the stake centers. We went to the 9 am session, and got to see the cornerstone sealing (we were watching in the stake center). The dedication was amazing. President Monson was there, as well as Jeffry R. Holland, and Donald Hallstrom, and of course the temple presidency. It was really good. The sad thing was that there were technical difficulties with the broadcast, so we missed most of President Monson's remarks, and the first part of the prayer. Sister Hinckley really wanted to go back to another session, but we needed to be missionaries, so we didn't. Hopefully we can get a copy of the published dedicatory prayer and read it later.
Then when we got home, we had plans to be out all day yesterday on our bikes. We didn't have a dinner or anything. But things kept coming up. We had to do this one thing, then call all of these people, and then something else happened, and then we decided to just eat dinner before we headed out. It was kind of a stormy day, but we are missionaries rain and shine, so we planned on heading out. When we finally got everything together to go out, Sister Anderson (who we lived with) basically ran in and told us we couldn't go out. She had been taking a nap when she suddenly jolted awake and told her husband to turn on the TV. He did, and then they found out that Johnson county (here) was under tornado watch and we needed to head to the basement. So she ran and caught us right before we went out on our bikes in the rain.
So we spent our evening in their basement. We read scriptures and just kind of hung out. We tried to make some calls, but we didn't have reception down there. Then when the tornado watch ended, there was a severe lightning storm warning, so we still had to stay inside. She made us a yummy late snack, and we did some paperwork while watching the show. The storm was awesome. It rained about 4" in one day. Not like Utah.
And I really feel so protected. The Lord made sure that we weren't out in the storm. He worked a way so that we were safe. So parents, rest safe that the Lord is watching out for me. And so are the Andersons. :) It really was a blessing from heaven that we were inside last night.
So that was my week!
Love,
Sister Atkin
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