Houston 5 Week 9

Hey! Much love comin from down here in Houston!

This week was a pretty fun one, full of a lot of fun activities. First off, Monday night I got a call in the middle of a lesson we were having from Obispo Marin's phone, I didn't answer it because it's in the middle of the lesson. I listen to the voice mail later that night and I hear dad's voice. I listened to it a few times, and it jerked some tears out of me. It's amazing what just hearin s voice can do to you. (Jim had a business meeting in Houston and had dinner at the Bishop of the ward Nic is serving in) 

Then Tuesday we had half a mission conference with Elder Packer. It was really cool to hear  what he had to say to help us. It was also cool because I got to meet an Apostle's son. He had a lot of really cool stories about football, and he related them to missionary work. A theme of that conference was "when you can't do what you want to do, you can only do what you need to do". It was interesting to see how we can try right now to do what we need to do, and then get blessed for doing what the Lord wants us to do.

For lunch I sat with some of the ASL missionaries, and learned some sign language. One of the ASL missionaries is deaf, and he is a really cool kid. I want to learn some sign language just to talk with him, and all the other deaf people. That night, when we got home, Obispo Marin was waiting with this giant box filled with goodies from dad. There was a lot of food, I don't know how I will eat it all, I shared some muffins with the district on Friday for district meeting. Not gonna lie, I was kinda jealous of the Marin family for having been able to see/talk with dad. 

The rest of the week went by normally, nothing too over the top. We had really good lessons with all he investigators. We actually have set a new date with another guy we are teaching. He is already in 2 Nephi chapter 20. He came to church as well, so he's pretty on fire right now. I love seeing when people are doin the things necessary to change their lives, and seeing them be inspired from that.

On Friday we had a Thanksgiving party with the ward were we had a little spiritual program beforehand. So I, knowing how to play the piano, was elected to do a solo for the program, and play for a missionary choir. I only practiced the song I would do for the solo a few times, luckily it was easier, and I could pull it off like that. We got some good turkey and classic thanksgiving dinner with a Hispanic twist, they added rice.

That was the week, and it was pretty fun. This Thursday, Thanksgiving, we are scheduled to have about three dinners, so I should be getting really fat, yay! 

For Christmas, maybe a knife would be nice, a little extra backup for the dogs, if you know what I mean.
I love you so much, I'm off to ball, like any other pday! (I did NOT know what he meant about a knife.... I know he has a fear of dogs, but a knife??  I did find out he has his pepper spray but he is afraid it won't work on the big dogs.  I plan to send him a mini baseball bat instead and give him some pointers on how handle a dog situation if it arises.  Silly guy....a missionary with a knife in downtown Houston?? )

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Houston 5 Week 8

What's up mother?!

I'm really glad you enjoyed your tough week on the cruise. I imagine it was extremely draining to do it all, all the fun, all the food, and what not. All the pictures look really pretty, and I loved the video of you eating whatever you did. The buttery garlic sounded good. From what it looks like you all had a great time. 

This week was a lot of fun. On Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Bonzo, he is the district leader for our district right now. It was a lot of fun because he is in a bike area, so I got to ride a bike and be a stereotypical Mormon missionary. While we were riding around, I found a Mexican flag, so I picked it up and took it with me. It was a lot of fun to get that exercise on the bike. It was also cool to meet the people that they are teaching. It's always fun meeting all of the cool people. 

The rest of the week wasn't anything too different, teaching people, and trying to find people. The one guy with the member wife is doing great, he still says he hasn't gotten an answer yet, but he knows all the doctrine and stuff, so his baptism is probably gonna be pushed back a little bit. He is doing really great though. This Tuesday we will be eating wings with them, so it should be fun. There is another guy we are teaching who is already in 2 Nephi and we've only been teaching him for 2 weeks, which is really good. The very intellectual one is the same, he just goes off into random rants in the middle of the lesson, so it's hard to teach him. His most recent fascinations are the Giants and how fallen angels are their fathers. 

This week we had two people come to church, and there were some there that we will probably begin teaching sometime soon. So all in all it was a great week, oh my belt broke one day as I put it on...😵 I must be getting pretty fat (I double checked if this was a joke or not, he was teasing. :). I have another belt, but it is brown and kinda more a work belt. I know you always ask if there is anything I need, so would you be able to put a belt in the package you are sending? Thanks!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Houston 5 Week 7

Mommy!

I can tell that it is the voice recognition, every one's names are spelled wrong. I guess everyone just has weird, not normal, spelling of names in our family. 

I'm jealous that you get to go to Puerto Rico, it would be fun to use my language skills that I have acquired. That and a cruise would be fun, bien relajado. But later we will go on one.

As always it is fun to hear who the sibs are doing, I hope they don't go crazy with Lexie in charge of them. It will be really fun for them. And you and dad with Dennis and Jannea, it is a recipe for disaster, well the dad and Dennis part, maybe not you and Jannea as much. 

My week went by really well, but there has been a strange tendency that has been going on here in the mission. It only rains on Saturdays, and for the past three Saturday's it has rained. So my nice warm socks came in handy again this week. Again, I'm so thankful that I'm not on bikes. I would be so wet.

The part member investigator we have is doing great. He came to church and the temple tours that happened yesterday. He is doing so well, and he is really trying to get an answer before he gets baptized which is the best thing he can do, because that will be better in the long run for him. The intellectual investigator is doing OK. He doesn't really want to read the Book of Mormon without too much of an incentive, so it is something we are trying to help him out with. 

We have been doing good with getting to know the ward, but yet another thing happened that caused not normal Sunday meetings. We had a regional conference, so it was a motley of people. The people I do know have been really cool, and they are really nice. I think I am good on clothes, and I can't think of anything for Christmas.

Love y'all a ton, and enjoy your cruise!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Houston 5 Week 6

Whats up mommy?!?

I think it's cool that Arielle invited her friends to church, I hope they enjoyed the fast Sunday testimonies. 

This week went by really fast, though I didn't do anything all that interesting on Halloween. Last night, we got transfer calls, and nothing new is happening with my companionship, but from what I hear, the districts are getting changed up in the zone, and now there are two district leaders in the same district, so I don't know what is going on there, either me or the other guy is getting released as a district leader. 

The week wasn't too bad, although we did get a ton of rain on Saturday again. some flooding, so again the socks came in handy, SUPER SOCKS!!!! Teaching is going pretty good, I didn't have to do district meeting this week because it was a zone meeting, which was a nice little break. 

Lets see, oh we got a new bishopric, so Obispo Marin is no longer with us, It's sad to see him go, but the new bishop looks like he will do a good job. Oh, also on Sunday, the investigator married to a member came to church, and stayed the whole time! it was awesome, and I think that he enjoyed himself. He is doing really good, and I'm happy to see that he is taking so well to everything that we are teaching him.  For dinner on Sunday we went to eat with Obispo Marin and his family, kinda a good bye thing for him. At the end of that, he gave us all a bag of candy. The super smart investigator is kinda hard to teach, because of all the tangents that he goes on, but hopefully, little by little we will help him understand the Gospel and the Book of Mormon. No one really that new that we are teaching, just the same old same old for the rest of the week. 

On Friday I went on an exchange up to H6 with one of the Elders there, and it was really fun. One awkward thing though, was that while I was up there I had to go with an English elder to teach someone who spoke Spanish. It was awkward because, I just talked with the lady in Spanish, and nobody else really knew what was going on... soo it went pretty good, I think. 

 I ate two habanero peppers and I was on fire for a bit (I told him I accidentally ate a jalapeno and was dying). I guess the culture has latched onto me. I really hope to bring some of the Hispanic foods that I eat home.

Well it is done my letter (that is a Spanish way of speaking!), so I'll just want to say that I love y'all, and hope the best for y'all!

Have a great week!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Houston 5 Week 5

What's up mom?

 I think I'm good for stuff, I don't need anything right now. I can't think of anything that I would like for Christmas. 

Oh the warm socks are great. I got home one night and had cold feet from the rain, and they warmed them right up. It was nice, thanks! 

This week went by pretty good, even with all the rain. The funny thing is that the day before in district meeting I challenged everyone to go out finding at a time, and during that time, it rained. The whole time. It was lovely, but I got really wet. Also because of the rain, people had a hard time getting to church. Not many came, it almost looked like a branch with how many there were. 

Saturday night we went to an autumn party with the ward. It was fun, and really nice to get out of the rain. On Sunday night we had a mission residents fireside, and so it was a blast. Always fun to go and sing for that, and see all the missionaries. 

On Thursday, I had interviews with president Mortensen, which was scary, but also a really good learning experience. It's scary just because you you don't really know if he's gonna tear you apart to build you up, or its just gonna be a quick little interview. It was a good interview we had, he helped me understand the importance of being a leader, and how to be a better leader. It was really constructive. Well, I always enjoy hearing about the week from y'all, and all the funny stories that you share with me. I love hearing how productive everyone is being, and seeing how they grow.

Elder Atkinson (Nic)