Back to Waller Week 4

Mom!

Happy 4th of July!! It's weird to think that it is already July, I feel like June had just started... I'm not going to be doing any fireworks :( but I might see some tonight from our house, there is a place fairly close by that will light off big ones I think. We do have a Waller Freedom Festival going on right now, but I think for the most part I will be down with Hispanics or the district today, maybe doin a little BBQ, yummy. I did get your package, they are quite tasty the little chocolates, no they did not melt, so yay for me! 

This week was pretty Good, on Monday we had a nice hangout day out in Waller, we went bowling later that day with some people in the ward. I'm not the best bowler, but I got through mostly. My thumb was a little sore from throwing, but that's ok. That night for dinner I had a tasty  lasagna as well, it had a little bit of a kick to it but tasted delicious. The rest of the night was just a bunch of people not there for their lessons. That night, we exchanged our truck so it could get fixed, and we got to use a Toyota Tacoma, honestly I think it's the best car in the mission, and one that I've wanted to drive for a long time. 

Tuesday was a pretty fun day as well. We started out helping out Sam Arungwa, ya know, just a poquito of the service that gets done out here. Then we went to see Mike Ball, someone who was baptized last year when I was here, and he's doin pretty good. Upon finishing that, we went and did some contacting and visiting of people around Hempstead, and that was pretty fun, it was nice to be back up there, we hadn't been there in a while. Then came the English class, but no one showed :( I guess that's what happens when it rains, the Hispanics all hide. Then we went to go see Juan Alvarez and helped finish up preparing him for baptism.  Wednesday was also pretty good, we did some service with Bill that day, and that was pretty fun like usual. We helped clean out a barn, and then burned a ton of stuff. After the service he took us out to eat some delicious BBQ sandwiches. After that it was a day like normal. We saw some people, but nothing too exciting. We had Ward missionary correlation which was pretty good as usual. Thursday as well was a pretty good day, normal day though. We planned for the week and then went out to see the person we knocked into last week who had the dream about us the night before we knocked. Then we had dinner with the Bayles family, it was different because they are vegetarians and we had taco salad, but instead of hamburger meat we had quinoa. Then came English class and we saw Juan Alvarez that night. Then came Friday, we had zone meeting this Friday, and I realized that I was the oldest one there... By far. It was a good meeting, I learned a bit. After that I went on a exchange up to Conroe. I had a pretty fun time up there, Conroe is a nice place. There are more Hispanics there than Waller, but it's a little more city there. We did some knocking and helped move a family. We stayed up really late talking, but thus is the nature of exchanges.

Saturday came and I came back Waller. That day we did some knocking, and then prepared for the baptism of Juan Alvarez, it went really well. We had a lot of support from the branch, so that was super awesome. It was really cool because it was Elder Seller's first baptism. Then Sunday Juan got confirmed. Juan brought one of his friends to the baptism, and then to church so that was cool for him to have already thought about these things. 

After church Sunday was a normal day, had some delicious tacos and then went out knocking. We met some who just talked to us for an hour. It was a little annoying because we couldn't talk to more people, but he had a bunch of cool stories. Then we saw the Thomas family as well, and they are doing pretty well, I hope to help them out in this last little bit that I have left. Today will be parties galore, so I'm going to enjoy it!

Elder Atkinson

Back to Waller Week 3

Hello Mother!

I have had a great week this week, a bunch of cool miracles happened this week, Heavenly Father is definitely been helping me out a ton. To start from your questions, I just knock where ever hasn't been knocked recently, and that is mostly from what my companion tells me. And last week the little accident, we haven't gotten that all the way fixed up yet, we will lose the truck for a little bit, and get another one, but then she will be back.

Last Monday was a pretty good day, we basically just hung out with the other missionaries in our district just doing whatever. One of them tried to teach us to breakdance, don't know the success level with other missionaries, but I feel I didn't do to well, oh well. That night we went and taught Juan Nuñez, on of the Juans we are teaching and told him about English class and other activities during the week. So it was a pretty good lesson. Tuesday was a pretty good day. We had a little meeting with the other missionaries in the zone, focusing on what we can do to have more success as a zone. It was funny during that meeting because one of the Zone Leaders asked a question and nobody answered him, then he turned to me and said "Elder Atkinson, what do you think? I know you'll be honest with me." So I guess I'm the guy who speaks his mind. I thought it was kinda funny. 

After that meeting, we went out and did some door knocking and what not. We found some pretty cool people that day, one was another Juan, yay us! That night was English class and we had a pretty full class Juan Nuñez came, so that was cool. Wednesday, HUMP DAY! Lol. It was a pretty good day to go around and do stuff. We did some door knocking and all that fun stuff. That night we went to eat with the Smuin family, dinner wasn't quite ready, so we played some Mormon mouthful, don't really know how to explain it briefly, and I did pretty well.  We taught Juan Alvarez that night, and he is doing awesome, we taught him the next few days as well to help him prepare for baptism. That night we had Ward missionary correlation with the English Ward. 

Thursday was a normal day for me, wait jk we had to drive out to Houston to get our car checked for an estimate.  Other than that we just knocked doors, did some weekly planning, and then had the English class. Oh, we got a giant baked potato filled with all sorts of deliciousness, cheese butter carne to name a few. On Friday I was on an exchange with Elder Norton, you should recognize that name, I was with him a while back in H5. There is definitely something cool about going on an exchange with an ex companion. We had a blast that day, taught some good lessons. Oh how could I forget District meeting that morning, shame on me. It was a good district meeting, we discussed a lot about contacting and how to make it more meaningful. Saturday was a fun day. Started with Elder Norton, then switched back to Elder Sellers. That day was just a little bit of contacting and trying to see people to get them to church. We had a lesson with some that I had contacted with elder Norton, and it was a cool experience because she had prayed the night before we knocked her door for a sign. Later that evening, we went to a baptism for a child and Juan Alvarez came so he could see how it happens. 

Sunday came around, and we started out with church and all the meetings that come with that. I had to give a talk in the Spanish sacrament meeting, I forgot about it so I just had to wing it. I think I did pretty good. After the regular church hours, Juan Alvarez received his interview, and passed! He is gonna be baptized this Saturday! Wahoo! The rest of the Sunday was a normal Sunday trying to find people, teaching and seeing less actives. That sums up the week, and I had a great time. I would like to wish Bella and Arielle a happy birthday, Bella today and Arielle on Saturday this week!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Back to Waller Week 2

Hey mom!

So, I am enjoying myself greatly out in Waller again, always a bunch of fun to come back to a great area. It has been quite hot out here, I step out of the car and with in seconds sweat starts forming on my skin, and then you get back in the car and your are basically choking on heat, but it is fun. Over all the weather has been decent to us, not a ton of rain, which has its ups and downs, but nothin else really to special about the weather. 

To start of how the week went, after returning home on p-day, we went out and knocked on some doors for a little bit. Again it's something that has grown on me to start enjoying. It's been a little tough knocking doors, just because people are always rejecting you, but I know there are people out there that need to be taught. 

That night we talked with a family called Muñoz, they have questions and want to learn, but I don't know if it is just academic or if they are willing to let the spirit touch their lives. Tuesday was pretty good as well, just another normal Tuesday. I had a meeting to go to with one of the members of the English Ward to see how we can help him out, so we'll see where we go with that. This English member's name is Sam, and he is pretty funny. After that we went contacting and that is always a good time for me. Dinner came along and we had some Pizza Hut with a member, pretty yummy, and then we had to rush to English class. Sadly no one came, but our Ward mission leader was there, so we had correlation. After that we took Brother Ramirez (the WML) out to teach Juan Alvarez, our investigator, who is progressing a lot. 

Wednesday, we had another deal where we helped out Sam, still don't know 100% what exactly we are doing for him, but it's service, so it's fun. Then we headed down to Hockley to visit with a member down there, and then knock a little bit in that area. It was good, we found a few potentials, we'll see where we go with them. Then that night we went up to help someone clean out their house from the floods that happened, it was a nice change from the normal laborious labors of missionary work. 

Thursday was just a normal Thursday day. We took up a bit of time weekly planning, and got ourselves ready for this week. Then we ate a quick bite, and headed out to work, ya know just trying to bust down the doors and teach people about the gospel. That night was English class and afterwards we went to go see one of our investigators and invited him to the Father's Day party we had on Friday. Friday was fun. We had a good district meeting, and then ate out as a district. I love these little nuggets of time where I can socialize with the missionaries around me. After district meeting we went back to breaking down doors and trying to teach people. We got in with a less active, and she told us very directly why she doesn't go to church (she got offended). Once, while we were knocking, Elder Sellers was nipped by a dog. It wasn't serious, but I still thought it was funny. Then that night we had the Branch Fathers Day party. It was a blast, and I enjoyed myself greatly. It was great just partying with the members there. We did a bunch of fun little activities while we were there. Saturday was full of knocking and trying to see people before Sunday so as to help the get to church. We had some family history training, and then we came back to our area. We went out to teach Juan Alvarez, and while we were teaching him, someone hit our truck. It wasn't bad, mostly just a little bit of scrapes, but still we got hit. After that we went and tried seeing some people, but to no avail. We finally stopped by the Thomas family, recent converts from last year( I taught them), to see how they were doing and share a little thought with them to help them out. 

Sunday was a pretty normal day, a good Father's Day. One of the things I like about working the two wards is that I get the spoils from both on Father's Day, so double the treats for me! We had two of our investigators make it to church, Juan Alvarez and Juan Nuñez, yeah, we teach everyjuan we can, lol. After church, we went back to beating down doors and trying to help people out, still finding, still seeking the prepared. We had dinner with a pretty cool family, chicken and rice American style. One of the people I met there is headed to BYU in the fall, so I might see him there. At the end of the night we stopped by a less active family and shared a little message with them. Today is Monday and we will see what fun is in store for me!
I love y'all so much! Stay cool and stay fresh!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Back to Waller Week 1

What's up?

I am doing so great. I'm back in Waller, as you know, and I love it. I'm so happy to be back here. I love the people, and I love the area, time to go hard and finish strong. 

I've got a new companion, his name is Elder Sellers, he is from Denver, Colorado. I like him, we have quite a bit in common, he likes Brandon Sanderson, so we talk about that.  That's so cute what Lathen said about wanting to go to Texas. Monday was a good day, we hung out on p-day and did all that thing. After p-day ended , we went out and I said good bye to all of the people I needed to say bye to. I'm going to miss that Ward, there area lot of good people in it. 

Tuesday I went down to transfer meeting, and switched up everything and then got on my way down to Waller. That day we went out and did some door touching among other missionary work. It was good being back, I also get a truck, so that's fun. We taught English class and then went to see an investigator, it was pretty cool. Wednesday was fun, we drove all over the area that day, not that we were trying to, but that was how it ended up being. I met some of the people that we are teaching, and they are pretty cool, we'll see how far they go. We had Ward correlation with the English Ward because we work with them. Thursday was a normal Thursday, we went and did some weekly planning and everything that's fun that comes from that. We saw a less active after that and then came English class, so we taught that and it came out well. After that we went and saw the Contreras and it was really cool to see them and check up on them. 

Friday we had a pretty relaxing day, again we went everywhere, so we drove a ton. I didn't have to do district meeting, because I'm not one anymore. We continued seeing the people that we are teaching, we have some really cool people who we are teaching. Then on Saturday we went out to try and see people and get them to come to church. Sadly no one was able to come. We also had a training in family history with some others in the district. Other than that we did some more knocking which is fun. 

Sunday was especially fun for me. Church was so much fun with seeing everyone from everywhere. It was cool seeing things that have changed and the friends that haven't changed. It started thunder storming so we got a ride in a '56 Belair, and it was sick. The rest of the day we contacted and ate at a members house. I loved this week and am super excited for the weeks to come! 

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Back to Houston 5 Week 6

Hello!

Wow, it sounds like y'all had a busy week this week, which is awesome. I hope y'all have a quick busy filled weeks until summer comes. So, just to clarify, I have more than one transfer left, a little more, but still. And this transfer, I'm leaving. I think that I'm going out to Waller, president had talked with me about that a few weeks ago,
but tomorrow we will see for sure. 

We had a pretty good week, a great last week in H5. Monday we had a normal p-day, the only thing really special thing was going out to eat with a member. The member was pretty funny. That night we went and saw the Renteria family and a part member family that we have been trying to see.

Tuesday was a pretty good day as well, lots of rain throughout the week, but that day wasn't too bad.  We did some English class in the morning, and that was pretty fun. After that we spent the day just visiting with some random people, and doing some knocking. It's fun. That night we had splits and I went the Elders Quorum president, he is one of my favorite members. His name is Pablo Ramirez, and we had a good heart to heart in the car, lol. We saw the Renteria family, and a recent convert as well. 

Wednesday was a day where it dumped on us on and off the whole day. Again, it was a day filled with visiting people and knocking doors as well. It was pretty fun to be able to do all of that. That night we had a really good lesson with one of our recent converts. The spirit really inspired that one because she needed our help in that moment. 

Thursday was an awesome day for me. I had the opportunity to go to the temple, which is always the best. Again we got to do all the ordinances for our antepasados, so I got to go through the whole thing. A unique thing about this time around was that I baptized and confirmed my comp for his antepasado, and then he did the same for me. It was just a really cool neat experience that I had there. That night we went and visited with Eduardo Parra and talked with him for a bit.

Friday was awesome for me. We had zone meeting and it was just what I needed to help me to finish out strong. We focused a lot on how our time here is limited and how we need to remember our true purpose here. I feel like I've never been sharper, so that's awesome for me. 

Again we went knocking, and I tried to apply some of the principles I learned to see how I could get better. It went pretty well, I feel like I had more meaningful contacts. Other than that, we just visited other people. Saturday was a pretty fun day as well. We were going to have the barbecue, but it rained out, so that didn't happen. Instead we went to the pulga to try and talk with people there. All cool, it is definitely a place to go after the mission. Other than that, just visiting other people and doing our best to try and get people to church. 

We saw the Renteria family that night. Sunday was normal. We went to church, and even though the Renteria family said they would come to church, they didn't end up making it:(. After church we had a pretty cool lesson with a potential and then went to eat some taco stuff. That night we saw a part member family. The Mexico contra Uruguay game was on, and I was shocked when they turned it off so we could talk with them. We received the transfer calls hat night, and I learned I was leaving. Now where to...That's how it went down, I love y'all so much! Cuídense

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Back to Houston 5 Week 5

Hello mom!

Wow, it sounds like you had a really fun week this week. Camping amongst other things, so that must have been really fun. It sounds rainy, just like over here. The only day it was really bad was on Friday, but the day after, basically everything was clear. Houston has such weird weather habits. No, we don't have any memorial day stuff planned, just a normal p-day, i forgot it was memorial day until someone told me about it yesterday. 

My week was a pretty normal week in the mission. Honestly there isn't too much of variation between the weeks. On Monday, we had an interview for Arnold, a kid that we baptized on Saturday. After that we went to do a little family home evening with Eduardo and his family. It went pretty well, everything was well understood and we had a great time there. Tuesday, just another normal Tuesday, we taught English class in the morning, and that is always fun to do. Then we went out and saw a bunch of people, less actives, potentials and what not. We had some time to go knocking doors. I find that it doesn't bother me near as much as it used to, like its not something that I don't really want to do. In fact there are times where I'm like, "Lets just go knocking". 

Wednesday we were out and about doing our thing all day long. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened, just some visits and knocking and what not. That day we dedicated a bit of time to trying to find the referrals we have received, sadly some of them weren't there, or weren't interested. Oh well, we did our best to help them. For dinner one of the members bought us these giant baked potatoes, they were delicious and huge! 

Thursday was another normal Thursday for us. We went and taught some good ole English class, nothing new about that, and then came home to plan for the upcoming week. After all the planning was done we went and ate some delicious fried fish with rice and tamales. Then came The ward missionary correlation, i made some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, and everyone liked it.

Friday was a pretty good day. i went on an Exchange with Elder Aholelei, and we had a blast together. Honestly I have so much fun with him, i cant wait to hang out with him post mission. I made another loaf of banana bread for district meeting, and it was eaten up. That day we went to go and try to teach an investigator in the back of a trailer park, and we ended up wading through water up to about mid shin. it was a ton of water!

Saturday came, and i was back with Elder Tidwell, and we spent our time checking up on some investigators and less actives to make sure that they were coming to church. We also had the Baptism of Arnold, and it was awesome to be there. I was the one that actually got to baptize him, so that was fun. That evening we went to a graduation party of one of our recent converts, and had a fun time there.

Sunday came, and Sunday went. I spend over half my Sunday at church, and this week it touched the missionaries to give talks, YAY! I love talks! it wasn't too bad, and we all spoke on different aspects of the missionary work. After church we tried seeing some menos activos and other people that didn't come to church that day. At night we had dinner, just some good ole Mexican food, nachos, chicken, frijoles charros, and potato salad. It was a pretty fun day.

Today is just normal, nothing to interesting happening. We are going to go out to eat with a member, so that should be fun.

I love you So much! Keep on being great!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)

Back to Houston 5 Week 4

What up!

Wow, it sounds like you had a pretty busy week this week. Good to hear that everyone has been enjoying themselves and that Valerie made it home safely. Not gonna lie, was a little worried for her because we know how Europe is. But it sounds like everyone is having fun back at home. When do y'all get out of school, sometime in June? People here are getting out this week or he next. 

But anyway... I had a good week this week. It was weird, time flew by so fast, I can't believe that it is all just going by so fast. Last p-day was a chill day, and we chilled and did what we needed to do, laundry, grocery, haircut, etc. That night, we had the opportunity to go contacting, you know the good ole knocking on doors deal. It was pretty good, fun memories definitely come from knocking (more on that later). 

Tuesday was a bomb day. The first part and majority of the day I was in a zone conference. It was a bomb conference, and president taught us about more of the doctrine behind the plan of salvation. I definitely love how all those zone conferences open up my eyes more about the doctrine and what goes on there. Normally what we do at the end of zone conference is have the dying missionaries give there final testimony, so I was called to give mine that day. It was weird to do that because I still feel like I have forever, and because of all the
missionaries I've seen that have done that. It's weird to think that I'm an older missionary in the mission. 

Upon returning, I got to eat some delicious papusas, a salvadoreño food that is delicious. We visited a menos activo that night, one that I visited last time I was here. It was fun to seem them again, but not too much has changed with them. Wednesday we had an interesting lesson in the morning with a referral we got from Mormon.Org. He was an interesting guy, shared with us a lot of conspiracy theories that he has. It was an interesting lesson nonetheless, oh and the first time we saw him, he sung to us, so that gives an idea of who he is. 

The rest of the day was full of normal missionary work, nothing too overly exciting happened then. That night we ate some Whataburger, a fast food burger joint here that is a staple for Texas. I got a delicious burger called a Monterey Melt, don't know what it has on it, but it's good. Thursday was a pretty normal day as well. We taught English class that day which is always fun to do. It's fun to see how the people progress with their English. Then the Taco Thursday time, I got some delicious tacos de campechano, some meat mixture. I really want to learn how to cook the meat so I can make some really tacos. Then the weekly planning deal into eating with the Noreña family. So delicious carne con arroz. We almost got fed twice, but we asked if we could take the second food to go, don't worry we ate it later that night. At the end of the night we had Ward missionary correlation, and one of the hermanas brought star wars cookies, so we ate those. Friday was another normal day. District meeting in the morning and all the fun that comes from that. After district meeting we got Chick-Fil-A 😃, it is always so yummy. We taught some lessons later that night, you know just doing what missionaries usually do. We are teaching this girl named Deyrin, and she is doing pretty good. Hopefully she will be baptized within the next month or so. We had some spaghetti with meat balls for dinner that night, and they were yummy! 

Saturday was an awesome day for me, pues, for the companionship. We had a pretty good lesson with some investigators about church and the blessings that come from that. Sadly they were not able to make it to church on Sunday. But after them, we started up the font at the church to get ready for a baptism! Always so much fun to have those. A women named Viri Rodriguez was baptized, and this has been something she has been waiting for for a while, so we were happy to see her take this awesome step. After the baptism we ate some tortas that an hermana gave us. That night we went contacting and had a lesson with a recent convert named Raymundo. Everything went pretty well that day. Sunday was a pretty fun day. Church is always a fun time and today it touched me to play the piano, yay! I promise I'm getting better at it, I have more than my normal songs that I play.

I was able to give an interview for someone who will be baptized this Saturday. I love doing this because I get to see their excitement and feel their fire burning, so that's a special experience for me. Also at church, I saw John Marin (the old bishop from the ward I'm serving in), I've missed him a ton, he is a great guy. He is the one that sent you the photo. After church I had some funny contacting experiences, one was we were contacting and on one of the doors, at the end of our schpiel, the lady gave us a hug goodbye, it was funny because not everyone does that. Also later that night some drunk Mexicans invited us over to their tailgate. They
tried really hard to get us to drink, but we didn't. They did however make us eat some tostadas and drink some Coke  during the day we ate some sopes, another Mexican meal, and they were delicious. We taught Rocio, a recent convert, about patriarchal blessings. She is awesome because she wants to serve a mission real bad, and that's always fun to see hat desire. We also talked with a kid that should be getting baptized this Saturday, so I've been blessed to come into this area when I did. So yeah, I love y'all so much, keep up the good work and stay safe!

Elder Atkinson (Nic)