It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Dearest Family,
I am so happy today. :)
So the reason that I am emailing so late is because we had our first snow storm of the season last night! It started out as rain, but when we woke up, it was a blustery storm outside! It snowed 1-3 inches, depending on where you are, but it basically shut down our mission. We weren't allowed to drive. So we finally got permission to drive just to the VC to email, and that is probably the extent of our day. We did laundry in our complex, which was super expensive, but whatever. The snow is fun. :)
Actually, it was a big deal because today is transfer day, and they had to delay transfers because no one can drive, including the transfer bus! So everyone will stay where they are for at least one day. The new missionaries get to hang out at the mission home for a day, waiting. That sounds exciting. Poor President Keyes.
Well, I don't have too much news, but life is good around these parts. Transfers were this week and Sister Harding and I are staying together. I am so glad. I feel like I am not finished training her. We will use the next 6 weeks to finish everything up. We also are staying on Thursday P-Day, so look for my email next Thursday. Sister Hansen, my co-Sister Trainer was transferred to the Liberty Jail (we knew it was coming) so, the new Sister Trainer is Sister Sant. I was so nervous about who it would be, but the Lord always comes through. I am so grateful. She is so great! I don't have to worry about fighting her about everything! She is humble and learns fast, so we will work well together. We already basically finished the schedule for next transfer. yay. :)
The other news is that Sister Hodson is training! So I now have 3 daughters and 2 grand-daughters. I am just so proud I could burst. I love Sister Hodson so much. She wrote me and is a little nervous, but she is excited. She will do great. I am just so proud of how far she has come from the awkward and quiet sister she was when she came out. She'll be great. I met my grand daughter last night, and she seems really sweet.
Last Saturday was the Ward Christmas Party, which was a hit. So many people came! The food was great (they had ham catered, and the whole ward signed up to bring a million different kinds of mac and cheese. What a cool idea. And salads, rolls, and desserts. What else do you need?) The Primary did a huge nativity with everyone involved. There were about 15 shepherds, 20 angels, 1 Mary, 1 Joseph, 7 wise men, and 1 cow. It was awesome. There were kids who listened and did what they were told, but there were kids who were dancing in the middle of the stage. Best Christmas Party Ever. :)
This week the VC got three brand new 2013 Chevy Cruz's (I think that is how you spell it. I dunno). They are awesome. I love them so much! Man, if only I could buy this nice of a car after my mission. They drive like a dream.
Okay, I have some bad news. On Friday last week I was flossing. I was trying really hard to do a good job. But the floss got stuck, and I pulled...and my bottom retainer popped right off. oops. I was upset about it, but then looking closer, I am worried that I might have gotten a cavity under my retainer because it has been sitting there for 7 years. So I set up a dentist appointment for next week to get it checked out. I don't know what else to do. Our home insurance will have to pay for it. I'm sorry. I'll see if he is willing to glue my retainer back on (it is all in one piece and not bent and I kept it) or I might have to go see an orthodontist here. I just hope my teeth don't move first.
Last Friday we saw Kris again and taught him the Restoration officially, even though he already knew it. It went great. Every lesson with him is the best lesson ever. We used a 19 year old boy in the ward as a team up, and he was great. They hit it off right away.
But then, on Sunday, we called Josh (the team up) to double check that he was giving Kris a ride to church. Turned out that Kris had told him that he wasn't coming because of his work, but neither of them thought to tell us. We were upset. It was no fun to sit alone at church. Kris worked 15 hours at his job Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so he was too tired to come to church. I guess I kind of understand, but I was really sad. Then he didn't respond to anything for 3 days, which is eternity in missionary world. But now we have an appointment for tomorrow like nothing happened. Man, I don't think he realizes how much we care. We might have to move back his baptism date so that he has time to learn everything. And I would prefer for him to come to church more than twice. So we'll see.
On Tuesday I did an exchange with a new missionary. Going in she said, "Maybe you can help us crack these investigators. We've been seeing them forever, and they aren't really progressing." The first one we taught the Law of Chastity (which he previously had a ton of questions about) and the Plan of Salvation. It went great and he really loved it. All of his questions were answered, and he got really excited about the Celestial Kingdom. It was awesome.
Side note: recently I have tried a new way of teaching the Plan of Salvation. I explain it differently and more simply and draw the diagram --in color-- we have all seen before with a few of my own adaptations as we teach it. Then when we leave, I leave them with my drawing as a gift for them to study along with the pamphlet. Every time we do that, the lesson goes great and they really understand. Everyone has been excited to keep my drawing. We taught it to Sandy, our recent convert, yesterday, and she loved it. She said, "I vaguely remember the elders teaching me this, but it made no sense. This was SO much better." :)
Anyway, then we went to see their eternigator. As soon as we said the prayer he asked, "So, who is going to baptize me?" We explained who could, confused because baptism was a touchy subject. "I want the Bishop to baptize me. I want to be baptized before the beginning of the year as a new start. I am doing this for Jesus. He has done so much for me, so I am doing this for him." He had tears in his eyes. It was a miracle!!! We hadn't even started to teach him anything! Then he asked what the requirements were for him to be baptized. He had forgotten about the Word of Wisdom, but just hadn't felt like drinking coffee for the last 5 days, so he can still be baptized on the 29th before the end of the year even though it is less than 2 weeks away! Miracle!
Anyway, it has been a good week. I love you! Talk to you on Tuesday!
Love,
Sister Atkin

Christmas is Coming...

Family!

Guess what? I get to talk to you soon! I just realized that! Anyway, we'll talk about that next time.

Life is great. :)

Last Saturday we had some members set up a last minute lesson with their friend for us. We went and taught him and had no time, and it was actually pretty awkward. He's single and in his late 20's. We'll have the elders teach that one. But it was still cool that the members would make the effort and help out the missionary work--and were willing to share the gospel with their friend. Even though we are not the right fit for him, the spirit was in the lesson. It was good.

Kris, our miracle new investigator, forgot his appointment this weekend. He called us later and felt really bad--he had been at the movies with his 9 year old autistic niece. We couldn't be mad at him. But he came to church on Sunday in his best jeans and a shirt that had a collar and buttoned up. He even took out his earring! We were so proud. Everyone was so nice, and he had a great time. At first he looked a little anxious, but he calmed down and had a good time. He even participated in class, and apparently the bishop caught him the hall and had a chat with him after elders quorum. Twenty minutes after church, Kris called us just to say he had a great time and he was so excited about everything and thank you. It was awesome.

Then we saw him again yesterday and taught him the Plan of Salvation and the Word of Wisdom. It went great. He just really gets it and is super excited about it. He really glows. It is so weird because I never thought I would connect so quickly with a guy with tattoos and earrings, but we are friends. I can't even really describe it because he is just 25 (he looks 19), but we just can teach in a way he understands and I just feel the Saviors love for him.  It is funny because things were so awkward with the members' friend, but things are not awkward at all with Kris. He's awesome. You'll have to meet him someday when he's a member and we come to visit my mission. I just know that both Sister Harding and I together were the ones who were supposed to teach him.

Monday was another awesome day. We had an appointment with Kylee, our other investigator that is married to an inactive member. It was the best lesson we have ever had with her. The Plan of Salvation again--now one of my favorite things to teach. Before it was intimidating, but now it is my favorite.

Then we had dinner with members, and this member is awesome. She was doing anything she could to get any of her neighbors to meet us or come to dinner with us. Finally her neighbor just randomly called after she came home from a trip and agreed to come to dinner. Her name is Nebraska, and she is awesome. I think she is coming to the Ward Christmas party this week.

THEN, we went to contact a headquarters referral. It took us forever to find it, and then he didn't live there. But the lady that did live there pointed us across the street to a man by that name that used to live there.

When we knocked on the door, the man that answered looked super surprised to see us, but went to get Carl because he did indeed live there. Carl came out and he was definitely only wearing boxers. No joke. Big beer belly, too. He looked shocked to see us and stayed standing behind the couch for decency. His friend finally got him a jacket to put on, but he just left it hanging open. We didn't let it get to us, and taught him anyway. It turned out he lives here, but works in Lawrence Kansas and stays there half the week. Last week he ran into elders out in Lawrence when he was drunk, and they gave him their number on a card--he showed it to us. What a coincidence. But he didn't recognize the name of the person that sent the referral. A member had called it in to the mission office (not the elders), but he didn't know a Lorraine. So we don't know how we found him. But we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he was interested, so we invited him to the Ward Christmas Party and set up a return appointment. So I have now found a new investigator in his underwear. Cool.

This week is going to be a good one. Tonight we are doing our Secret Sister gift exchange, and I still have to buy mine. Oops. I drew Sister Godfrey, one of the senior couple missionaries. We also have the Visitors' Center sisters musical night tomorrow when we are preforming. It should be good. The Ward Christmas Party is on Saturday, and I already know that there are going to be a ton of nonmembers there, so we are excited.

Transfers are next week, and I am just praying that Sister Harding will stay! I don't feel finished training her! I think she will stay. We'll see. I am almost positive that I will stay. Probably for the rest of my mission. Next transfer the new Visitors' Center director comes out (like a new mission president) and I really want to help him transition (because my position is like Assistant to the President to the Visitors' Center Director and I will be able to help a lot). Exciting things!

Well, I am out of time, but I love you. Thanks for your short email, mom. :)

I will talk to you soon enough! And I will have Thursday P-Day next week unless I get transferred (not likely).

I looooooooooooove you!

Love,

Sister Atkin

Miracle Monday

Dear Family,

What a good week. I do have stories to tell!

First of all, dad, I forgot to tell you about my Thanksgiving. It was alright. We had it with a few people in our ward and some old people living in a retirement community. There wasn't room for us anywhere except at a table by ourselves, and then the elders sat by us. So we had an awkward Thanksgiving with the elders. but then we went to a family in the ward's house for pie, and that was nice. It was an okay day. It was our preparation day, which was weird.

Second of all, dad, I agree. I don't want you to pick me up out here. I just want to fly home at the end of my mission and rip that bandaid fast. We can tour my mission later with Willie or something (I would love to show you the historical sites, though!). It is strange that my release date is the 15th because my ministerial certificate expires on the 13th. Oh, well. So anyway, you can fill out the paperwork that you won't be picking me up.

So. This week.

Last Thursday was a good day. We taught our spanish speaking investigator finally, and just had her read the pamphlet in spanish. I want her to be baptized someday! Man...

On Friday we tried a former investigator from three years ago, and when we knocked on the door, she let us right in like she was expecting us and we were late. She's this awesome black lady named Ms. Karen (yes, she is married). Her reaction: "They finally sent me girls!!" Her Book of Mormon and all her pamphlets were still sitting in the middle of her coffee table next to her ash tray. It was awesome. I liked her right away, although we weren't able to really talk much. She used awesome phrases like, "It's jus that simple" "Jus keepin' it real" and "see wha I'm sayin'?" The best part was Sister Harding's reaction after we left. She's never met a real black person, I guess, let alone taught one. I love it. They are great people. She told us some awesome stories. She's really good at preachin'. I laughed so hard. We really wanted to teach her, but even though we called her two hours before church and she said she would come, she never did. It turns out that her daughter told us that we thought black people were animals and wouldn't give her a ride. Hopefully she comes this Sunday, but she's moving to Oklahoma soon. We'll send missionaries there once we get her new address.

Sunday was Fast Sunday. After thinking about it, I decided to fast to be able to find someone that was ready for baptism=a miracle. I know God can give us miracles if it is His will, and this wasn't a selfish request. I want to be able to help, and I felt like it was time. I later found out that Sister Harding was fasting for the same thing.

(oh, and the Christmas Devotional was great. :) )

So then Monday rolled around, the day after our fast. We headed out with a lot of energy. We had a former investigator that we felt really good about, but hadn't been able to find. So we called the elders so they could use their GPS to tell us where it was. We headed where they said, and it didn't exist. It was a beautiful day in the 70's, so we decided to try some doors. We met one man who wasn't interested, but when he found out that that new temple was ours, he said he wanted to check it out with his kids. We explained that he couldn't go in, but he still wants to go to the grounds and get a church tour. Sweet!

Then we tried some more doors, but no one answered. As we were leaving one door, there was a young man walking down the street. I just said hi, and when he turned to say hi, he looked excited to see us. He stopped in his tracks and stuck out his hand to shake ours. He was just coming home from work. He is a skinny white guy with a tattoo on his neck, some bling in his ear, and a flat brimmed hat, but with the light of Christ in his eyes as he was excited to see us. I asked if he had seen missionaries before, and he stared at my name tag for a second "uh... yeah!" He had met with missionaries before and even gone to church a few times, but had missed some appointments and then moved, so he had lost track of them. He wanted to come to church with us and start meeting with us again! He even still has his Gospel Principles manual. :)

I looked at him and said, "Kris, you know, you are an answer to my prayers. We know that the gospel has blessed us so much and made us so happy, and we just want people who will listen! We love sharing it! You are the answer to my prayers."

Then he said, "Yeah, you know, I was just thinking as I was walking how I wanted more religion again. In fact this last Sunday I was so deprived that I went down to that church," he said gesturing down the street with disgust. "Their bible study was just a bunch of men talking about current events."

We agreed that it was no coincidence that we had met him on the stree that day. And there was his house, across the street from us. The timing could not have been more perfect.

The spirit was prompting me to set him on a baptism date. We already had a return appointment with him in two days, but the spirit kept saying now. So I brought it up. "Did the other missionaries talk to you about baptism and what that means?"

"Oh yeah. That it isn't something you just do. There are steps you need to do to be ready for it."

"Would that be something you would be interested in?"

"Yeah, or else I wouldn't be talking to you." He was almost laughing at me.

"We are holding a baptismal service Dec. 29th. Would you prepare for that date?"

"Don't you kinda have control over when those things happen?"

"Yeah, but would you start working towards that day?"

"Yeah, sounds great."

He looked so happy. What a miracle! I wasn't there for our return appointment with him because I was on exchanges, but it sounds like it went well. He's coming to church this sunday. We are so excited!

We met some more people on that street that wanted us to come back (and one guy that was just hitting on me, but whatever. "here's a website." the end.)

Then we went to try a Part Member Family. They weren't home, but as we walked away, a dog ran up to us. It was cute so we said hi, and helped it go back to it's owner who was calling after it. It was a man named Tom. He has hit a real low in his life and realizes that he can't regain what he lost. He had a job, a wife, kids, a house, a car, and then he started using Meth, and he has lost it all. He is working on getting clean, but almost has lost hope that the future will be better. He was really humble and ready for some hope. The spirit was so strong. He asked us to pray for him, and as we did, I felt hope for him. He can do it. I am not afraid of him at all, and I really feel that he has been prepared. He's right, he will never regain what he had before, but if he turns to God, he can get something else good, and turn his life around. I believe it.

As we went home, we were both in shock about our miracle morning. The Lord answers fasts and prayers. He knows what he is doing and he loves us. When it is time for a miracle, it isn't bad to ask for one. He provides. It's His work anyway.

Tuesday I wasn't feeling so great. I almost wonder if I am reacting to my meds, so I am going to go off of them for a few days to see if it helps. Don't worry, I'm doing good.

Then yesterday we did an exchange with the full proselyting sisters in Odessa. It was a good day. They drive a truck and live in an ancient tiny house by themselve in a tiny town. It's awesome. We had a pretty good day. Except that they lost both of their progressing investigators. One is moving and the other got hit by a semi and broke his back and both legs. What a sad day!

So here we are on today. I am pretty worn out, so I am probably going to take a nap.

I love you all!

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Atkin

Another Good Week to be a Missionary!

Dearest Family,

Life is good. :)

Actually, not a lot has happened this week, but I am very happy. I am doing great. It is starting to get pretty cold, and last night my feet were frozen, but we made it through. We are going to start bundling up more.

I didn't get my release date, but I think I have known it my whole mission--I am going home March 14th, right? I did cry when I got Dad's letter about that, but I am not thinking about it too much. It will come fast enough whether or not I am thinking about it. So I won't. :)

Our life is good. Our area kind of suffered last week. We had Zone Conference, Thanksgiving, a no car day (=no proselyting day), and we had a big event at the Visitors' Center. We are hoping for a better week this week, but we are still struggling a bit. We feel so limited by the amount of time we have here!

Our main investigator we saw this week was Kylie. She is married to a member, and is super nice. She agreed to officially start investigating. We had another lesson with her this week, but it went really badly. They had a brand new kitten that was galloping all over the place, scratching the furniture, with their 5 year-old chasing it, yelling, all over the house. The 6 month old is scooting now and was trying to eat legos. The kitten thought it would be a cool idea to sneak up stairs, and then pretend to be a lion on the hunt as it galloped down the stairs and pounced, claws extended to kill the prey. Problem: I am not a very good catch. My arm is a bit scratched up. Our member team up also had to leave in the middle of the lesson, and we were still regaining the ability to breathe and think after leaving another home that had problems with cats (and a halfway naked, shedding dog). Needless to say, we were not able to teach her the Plan of Salvation. Hopefully next week.

Yesterday we got to our area to discover that we had forgotten the addresses of all of the places we wanted to go at home. So we went to a nice looking neighborhood and prayed for a miracle. We were able to talk to a ton of people last night, and we felt really led, even though we couldn't feel our feel. Sadly the only person willing to meet with us again is a less active, but we are excited about her. She needs the gospel again. None of her kids are members, so it could be really good.

The Visitors' Center is doing great. We are now in the super slow part of the year. Yesterday 2 people total came into the center, and one of them was some of the sisters' investigator that they had invited. It is hard to just sit for that long, knowing that the numbers in our area are pretty bad right now. It has been good to have time to try to teach Sister Harding. She is catching the vision of all of the things she wants to learn. I have been teasing her because some of the things I do drive her crazy, but she wants me to be her companion for the rest of her mission because she feels like she could learn a lot from me. We are pretty much exact opposites, but it has been good and we get along most of the time. Her overall stress levels have gone down a lot. I remember going through that.

I love my calling as a Trainer Sister because it keeps me a little busier. We were having some dress code problems (you can tell people before their missions to not bring skirts that are too short, but it doesn't mean that they will), so we brought it up again in our training meeting. One of the sisters that we have really been struggling with approached me a few days later to show off her modest skirt. I hadn't even talked to her personally--we just talked to everyone in general--but she said to me, "Did you see my skirt? I know that you were talking to me the other day. I was the problem. Look!" She was so proud to show me that she had pinned the slit closed and that it was long enough to cover her knees. It made her happy to be obedient. And that is what we want for her. I love it when we don't have to force the issue. It is a lot easier and more effective to teach correct principles and to let them govern themselves.

Today when we were doing our laundry, a man approached us. His personal hygiene wasn't the greatest, and he proceeded to tell us that not only was he 27 (He looked 62), he was cousins with the Osmonds, worked in the secret service to get corruption out of the police forces, and that he wanted to take us out. He was willing to find us in Utah (and he could because he is in the Secret Service), and we were beautiful ladies so he was willing to wait. Sister Harding has a nervous laugh, so she actually was laughing at him while he was there. I felt horrible. It is sad how some people live. I hope he finds happiness somewhere.

(Don't worry. We just told him that if he wanted to find our church here or in Missouri, he could go to mormon.org and we gave him a card for the website that doesn't have our number on it)

Well, I think that is the extent of our adventures this week. I hope to have more adventures soon to be able to tell you about them.

I love you!

Love,

Sister Atkin

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dearest Familia,
I love you very much. Today I am grateful for a lot of things, but you are definitely on that list. I am so grateful for you!
This week hasn't been very eventful, so hopefully I have something to say.
We did find a lot of new investigators last week. We were so excited! I broke my personal record! And you know how it happened? We talked to everyone. Preach My Gospel tells us that is what we need to do to find people, but I have never been very good at it. It is scary to approach people in parking lots and stuff. But, Sister Harding is amazing at it. She is pretty shy, but that doesn't scare her for some reason. Before I even notice someone around us, she's talking to them about the Book of Mormon. She's awesome. That's how we found so many new investigators last week. I am learning a lot from her. Hopefully she is learning from me, too. :)
One of the people we talked to was Angela. She has friends in New Jersey that are members, and they sent us to talk to her. We have tried a few times, but she hasn't been home. We went to try her this week, and her dad said she wasn't home again. We went to try a few houses in her neighborhood, and that didn't work, so we were wandering past her house again to get back to our car. She yelled out to us from her long driveway. We were impressed that she would even care enough to get our attention. Then she informed us that she wasn't interested--she's catholic and her daughters are taking their first communion soon. But she was still friendly, so we kept probing a little. It was strange how clear she wanted to be about us not coming back and that she wasn't interested while still wanting to have a conversation with us. Sister Harding asked her if she had a Book of Mormon from her friends. She had lost the copy they had given her, and was happy to accept a new one to replace her old one. Then she said, "If you come back, come in the evenings. It's usually better for me. Or you could call me--do you want my number? Call me this Friday after Thanksgiving." I was so confused. She did or didn't want us to come back? She then offhandedly mentioned that her parents that live with her don't like us coming by--so that is the real concern. We hope to start teaching her under the guise that "we won't come back" but we should this Friday... hm. People are strange.
On a similar note there is this family we have been trying to teach. We first met the dad, and then going back we met the daughter and her boyfriend that lives with her at her parents house. In the background we could hear the mom being very rude. "They have their own beliefs! Why are they talking to them?" (quiet mumbling from someone inside) "I don't WANT to be nice!!!" Oh dear. She sounded awful.
Well, when we went back by this week, she was the only one home. She barely cracked her door open to us and looked angry and suspicious. But as we asked her how she was doing and showed genuine interest in her, she started looking more surprised than angry, and then softer and softer. The door cracked open wider. We were able to bear our testimonies to her and teach her some of our unique message and she listened. She said we can come back Saturday. She still didn't seem to love us, and I am not sure it will go anywhere, but at least I think now she will allow us to talk to her daughter. It was amazing to see how her entire countenance changed as we talked to her. She felt the spirit, I know it.
Remember the lady that asked for a bible? Well, she wasn't home for her appointment, and she didn't respond to our text inviting her to church. A few days later, out of the blue we got a text from her saying that she was sorry--she had just gotten her phone back, and she would have come to church, but she will for sure come this week! We are so excited! We are tired of sitting by ourselves.
Tuesday was Zone Conference. It was awesome as always. I just love Zone Conference. I feel so spiritually fed. They announced the debut of our new Mission Song. It is awesome. It was written by an elder that came out with me that majored in music composition with an emphasis in theater music (I'm sure I mis-titled that, but you get the idea). He's been refining it in his spare time for about a year. President Keyes had him change some things, and now it is official. It's pretty cool. It definitely has a theater feel to it, but I like it. I will have to try to send you a copy of it.
Here are the lyrics:

In the Missouri Independence Mission
We are servants of the Lord.
Our challenge: To preach the Gospel
To all who'll hear it's word.
This Mission: A land of promise.
It's a sacred place of old,
A consecrated choice land.
It's destiny foretold.
We humbly seek for blessings
From God, our captain true.
The Gospel must be spread forth.
There's work enough to do.
We return to Jackson County
Where the early Saints have Trod.
As the eight and three before us,
we are witnesses for God.
As the eight and three before us,
We are witnesses for God.

I especially like the reference to the eight and three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. A lot of their graves are nearby in Richmond, Missouri (where Joseph rebuked the gaurds--remember?), so we have some monuments for them there. We are witnesses!
At Zone Conference they demoed an entire 30-45 minute Lesson 1. It was so beautiful and simple. I feel like I have lot to work on now. I love that feeling. As someone was speaking, the spirit really taught me that great missionaries aren't great because they are super talented and know just what to do. They are just as weak as everyone else. They just give God their hearts and He IS super talented and strong and ALWAYS knows what to do. HE is the great missionary. Who's on His team? They WIN.
President Keyes also gave a great farming analogy. The farmer plants seeds, and with God's help--the rain and sun, they grow. A farmer has a lot of different tools that he can pull behind his tractor to work the field. The disks can handle a lot, and so if he runs over a big rock or a piece of barbed wire, no big deal, it will be fine. The wire will wrap around the disks, and he'll just cut it off later.
But the harvester is a special piece of equipment. It is set apart and only does one job--harvest. If they run into a rock or a big piece of barbed wire, it could ruin the equipment, and there are a ton of places that the equipment could clog or fail. It is a special tool.
That is why missionaries have so many rules and why we are set apart from the world. We are doing a special job and things that aren't a sin for normal people are a sin for us because it could really hamper our ability to harvest. Movies or music that wouldn't harm a normal person and really aren't sinful for them could kill us. That is why we have to be so careful. We are different for now, set apart. It was a cool analogy.
The one other thing that he shared that I loved was about baptism. How special is is that we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The only other ordinance we use all three names for is the sealing. It is only used for the first and last ordinances--the book ends. How special is baptism! and Sealing!
Then last night we met with a part member family. They agreed to start formally meeting with us! Yay!
And yesterday I had an awesome presentation. It was a group of 6 or 7 people and none of them could hear. They were all deaf. But super nice. And none of the sisters in the center can sign. I actually met one of the men in the group when we had a booth in a fair in Olathe, and he is really nice. He had taught me how to say "physics teacher" in ASL, but I have forgotten. They really wanted a history presentation, so down we went.
One of the teenagers of the group was really good at lip reading, even though she couldn't hear either. So she translated for everyone else. She would watch my mouth closely and then say it in sign. She also had learned how to speak very well for not being able to hear herself. I could understand her, so she could voice everyone else's questions. It was awesome. They were some of the most friendly people I have ever met, and they had a lot of questions. I loved it. I know we all felt the spirit.
It turned out later that one of them had translated the Book of Mormon into ASL. They were a little disappointed that it wasn't in our display around the globe, and I was too. How cool would it be to have a DVD in our display of Book of Mormons?! I would have loved it.
Anyway, I think that is everything. I love y'all!
Love,
Sister Atkin

Miracles!

Dearest Family,

It has been a good and crazy week. CRAZY!

So last Thursday was transfer day. We weren't transferred, but I still had to do a lot personally to prepare the center for it. Little scheduling details to get everyone where they needed to go. It was a bit stressful, but it all worked out.

Then last Friday we gave a Friday morning training on women in the scriptures. We talked about 8 women from the scriptures and their gifts and had the sisters pick which they most related to, and talked about how they saw some of those qualities in the other sisters. It went well. The goal was to have the sisters think about their own gifts and what they have to offer in the center. They said I was most like Mother Eve. haha, maybe because I am the mom of the center (the old sister that runs the place. Or something). It was good, if a bit thrown together because of everything else going on in a matter of a few days.

So I mentioned to you last week that President Keyes closed a VC area so we are down to 14 sisters in the center. Well, Sister Hansen and I came up with a solution we thought would work. On Friday we sat down to actually make the schedule and see if it would work in action. We worked on that schedule for FIVE HOURS. It fried my brain. It was slow progress. Part of the problem is that we try to make everything fair so everyone has the same number of mornings and evenings in the center. It is a lot tricker when you are working with a prime number of sisters=7companionships. Pretty soon I was pulling out my problem solving skills I had learned in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. I am not even kidding. It wasn't a problem I would have ever seen in that class, but we were trying to come up with a formula that would be the best fit to the fairness graph using a matrix. Wrap your brain around that. Add that to Sister Hansen's background in accounting--her skills on Excell and her drive for perfection--and we were a dynamic duo. I know that the Lord put us there together for this time at the center. No other sisters had the background for that kind of problem solving, and no one else would have the drive to do it. Anyone else would have given up and written in random names with no care for fairness. But fairness is important because it affects 7 proselyting areas. We want to optimize the production of every area involved. Anyway, there is your nerd out moment for the day.

And we didn't really get anywhere on the actual schedule on Friday. We did get the formula worked out (kind of), but nothing else.

Then on Saturday, the Independence Stake asked Sister Hansen and I to do a class on missionary work at the Stake Young Women's Conference. They had a series of classes they went to, and ours was one of them. In light of the fact that we had been working on transfers, doing exchanges, preparing for our Friday Morning Training, and working on the schedule, we hadn't had a ton of time to work on what we would say. But the Lord took what we had, and he magnified it. It was a miracle. We were able to have a good time and a good experience. We asked how many of them were planning on serving missions and it was well over half. Crazy times!

Then we got back and had 3 hours to finish the schedule and a long list of to-do's. I told Sister Hansen it would take a miracle to get the schedule done in 3 hours. We knelt and prayed and asked for a miracle, and we got it done in 45 minutes. Wow. God expands our time and quickens our minds sometimes. It was a miracle.

Also, I can't even tell you about all of the other miracles that have happened recently. Over the last 4 days we have found 6 new investigators, which is more than I have ever found (I'm sure Willie has, but we are working on 3 hours a day here). One of them is a couple named Steve and Danielle. Our map is bad so it took us forever to find our way there, but it was meant to be. We brought Alaina with us--a 18 year old that joined the church a month ago. She is planning on going on a mission in a year. She is amazing. She knew Danielle, and we were able to teach an awesome short lesson on prayer and got Steve to kneel and pray for the first time ever. It was amazing. We woke him up the next day to take him on a church tour, which was another miracle. He is really interested and really nice, and so in Danielle. We hope to teach her tomorrow.

We also got a text referral for a woman who wanted a bible. We only got half of the text, so we didn't know she wanted a bible (and we didn't have one with us) but we were right in her neighborhood when we got it, so we were there 5 minutes later. She was excited when we told her there are 12 apostles today, and she took a Book of Mormon while she is waiting for us to get her her bible in a couple of days. Awesome! We have so many people we have invited to church! I am so excited!

So, I'm sorry that this is the abreviate version, but life is good. Miracles are happening. Things are turning out. God knows how much I have on my plate, and He is making impossible things possible. I don't know how else I handled everything that happened last weekend. Life is good.

I love you!

 

Love,

Sister Atkin

 

Kansas City, MO LDS Temple

 

Unexpected Baptism

Dearest Family,

What a happy week! Life never slows down as a missionary.

Last P-Day we took a ton of fun pictures. I will try to send you some. Maybe this week, but maybe next week. Also, mom, I gave a neat training at our VC sisters training meeting on building confidence and a true identity. I am attaching a copy (I wrote it on the VC computer, so I have a digital version). I put a lot of time into it, so hopefully you like it. DiMK stands for Daughters in My Kingdom. BD stands for Bible Dictionary. PMG stands for Preach My Gospel.

So last Thursday was a crazy one. We took a bunch of fun pictures. I will hopefully have time to send you some.

Then that night we had a lesson with a part member family--Cecelia, the one that doesn't really know english. Well, we didn't have a car that night, so we did some crazy stuff to get some rides. But the lesson went really well. We read from the Book of Mormon with her, and she really got a lot out of it. She read in Spanish, of course. After the lesson we saw we had a missed call from our Ward Mission Leader, but we didn't listen to the voicemail until much later--our mistake!

It turned out that Bishop Vance and Brother Hermann (Bishop and ward mission leader) went out together to visit some people. Then Bishop Vance got the impression that now was the time to go visit Sandy and invite her to be baptized (she is our investigator. Her husband joined in February. We have taught her twice since the elders turned her over to us, but we like her a lot). So our bishop in his street clothes headed over. When they were almost there, he called to let them know he was coming. They crawled out of bed to see him. When he knocked on the door, he said, "Sandy, you know why I am here."

"Yes, I do." She said. They both knew he was there to get her baptized.

So they started with an opening prayer to bring the spirit and read 2 Nephi 31 together. After they read it, Bishop Vance told Sandy that it was time for her to pray about baptism. She agreed. They knelt down, and she started to pray. In her prayer she said, "I am praying to know if I should be baptized...I already know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." They got up, and agreed that she should be baptized. Also, they didn't want to wait. She was ready NOW, and the elder that baptized her husband is going home this week, so if she wanted him to do it (he's an Assistant now), they had to do it that weekend (remember, this was Thursday).

So after a crazy amount of phone calls, everything was arranged. We met with her on Saturday to cover a couple of commandments, and then she was interviewed by our District Leader. It almost didn't happen because her grandson broke his shoulder really badly and she had to go to the hospital with him, but everyone was flexible, so it still happened. It was crazy because we randomly were at the church, where the lesson and interview were going to take place, a half an hour early (we were going to study there). Right as we pulled in she called to ask if we were there yet because of the whole situation with her grandson--she needed to meet with us NOW. So we did.

The night before our Relief Society President gave us a list of team ups we could invite to that lesson, and at the bottom of the list of 10 names was Sister Stewart. I just felt right about her. So did Sister Harding. We didn't even talk about it or stop to consider it was the spirit guiding us, we just did it because it was right. So we called her, and she could come.

Of course she was late to our moved up lesson, but she was able to share her story at the end of the lesson. Turns out she is a convert (we had never met her before, so we knew nothing about her), had been Methodist (Sandy was Methodist), and had followed her husband to baptism (so is Sandy). To top it off, they both are married to men named Jim and are about the same age. It was too coincidental to be accidental. That was a miracle. It was excactly what Sandy needed.

So the baptism happened Sunday morning before church. She was baptized at 9am and confirmed at 11 am. Elder Sanders--her original missionary--even got to do it. The baptism was packed. It was perfect.

I had a moment when I worried that we had rushed into it too much--we couldn't even personal vouch for the fact that she knew what the Word of Wisdom was--but then I thought back over all of the miracles that happened that made it possible, and I realized that if God hadn't wanted it to happen, He wouldn't have provided such a miraculous way.

So what a weekend. Everything was done on the fly, but no one but us and a few others knew. It was perfect.

Then on Sunday was President's Devotional and I got to hear the testimony of David Thacker from Overland Park. He bore his powerful testimony. It was amazing. He has truly been changed, and already is going out with the missionaries to teach. He gave me a hug, which was super awkward.

On Monday I did an exchange back to Lee's Summit! It was really fun to see that I still know my way around there. I was with Sister Wilson, a new missionary. She reminds me of myself and we taught really well together. We had a great day. Her companion is a lot like Sister Harding, so they had a great day, too. It was interesting to see that it would be easier for everyone of our companionships were switched, but we are learning so much more this way. It was still a fun day, and I was able to encourage Sister Wilson and help her see how well she is doing.

On Tuesday Sandy did baptisms for the dead! wow! How neat. :)

Yesterday we had another awesome night. We are flooded with referrals at the moment, and we were able to contact two yesterday.

The other big news is that transfer calls came this week, and of course, Sister Harding and I are staying. BUT, they closed a sister area in the VC, leaving us with only 14 sisters! That has never been done before, and I can't even start to explain to you how much that impacts scheduling. We had a meeting with the Assistants about it and how we would make it work, and they got to see the whole process of us digesting the news and processing all of the impacts it would have. They looked a bit in shock. They have no idea how much goes into scheduling the center. We are going to bring in a full-proselyting set of sisters to help on the weekends, and we literally are going to be short staffed for most of the rest of the week.

Honestly though, I am excited about it. It is a big challenge, but it is a chance for the sisters in the center to step it up and be better. We have to do better and be better this next transfer. We also had two of our really awesome sisters brought back into the center. Two of the three difficult sisters were transferred out. So I really think things will go well.

Well, I am out of time, but I love you. :)

 

Love,

Sister Atkin