Sulphur (Week 21)

SULPHUR! YEAH! I'm loving my new area. It is the coolest small town in the South. In my new area we cover 4 small towns in a Branch located in Paul's Valley. I'm serving in a trio right now with E. Linam and E. Zeyer. There aren't a lot of members out here so a lot of our missionary work will be done through tracting/knocking doors. 

When I first got here it was a little rough going from 11 investigators in Shawnee to 5 investigators in Sulphur, but last night we experienced an amazing miracle. We had been knocking doors in Davis the day before. We were walking past a house that was blasting country music and we all stopped and thought if we should knock it. We weren't sure if he would even hear our knock. We went up and knocked it anyways. On the second knock the door swung open. A man in his mid 30s stood in the doorway, B~ greeted us and we asked him if we could say a prayer with him to bless his family. He said sure and invited us in (the first person to invite up in all day). We said a prayer with him and set up a return appointment with him and his family of four for the next day (Sunday). 

Sunday morning we had basically been dropped by our most solid investigator, so our hopes for success were low. Later that night after church we went over to B~'s house for the appointment. We knocked the door and his wife let us in. B~ went and got his kids (which rarely happens in a lesson) and we taught them a lesson on the Restoration. It was one of the best Restorations I've taught thus far on my mission. Everyone one was listening and participating. At the close of the lesson we set up a return appointment for the next lesson, and the wife said we could come back next Sunday. Then B~ said "Why wait so long until Sunday? Why not have them come back on Wednesday?" Haha AW YEAH! They are so solid, we are going to see them again on Wednesday.

This transfer is going to be sweet. This branch is going to be a ward before I leave, I can see it. More next week. Love you all.

My new address: 

1826 W. Muskogee Apt 7

Sulphur OK, 73086

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Week 20

W~ IS ALIVE! SHE ISN'T DEAD!

Craziness over here in Shawnee. 2 weeks ago W was admitted to the hospital for double pneumonia. She was there for about 5 days until the hospital released her. We called her the day she got back home and she did not sound good. We asked her who was with her to watch over her, she said her dogs and her Lord. Me and Elder Jenkins were both really worried about her. The next day her phone went straight to voice mail. Over the week we continued to try and make contact with her. Eventually a week and a half passed by, and we became really concerned. We were outside her house when we were about to call the police station and tell them about the situation, when a police car pulled around the corner. We waved him down and told him about the situation and he scoped the house from the outside. Her dogs were going nuts inside and her mail box had 2 weeks worth of mail in it. We continued to pray for her and the police to find out where she was and that she was still alive. A week passed after that when we were studying and I felt prompted to call her. The phone didn't go straight to voice mail, in fact W~ picked up the phone! Me and Elder Jenkins were so happy to hear from her. It turned out her brother took her to the Tulsa hospital and they discovered she still had a little bit pneumonia left in her lungs from after she got released from the hospital in Shawnee. On the phone she told me she had completely given up smoking and had finally said a prayer for herself to get help. The power of prayer is real my friends.

This week has been pretty slow for us. Yesterday I found out I'll be getting transferred to Paul's Valley (South), I'll be in a trio with two companions, Elder Linam and Elder Zyer. I'm super pumped!

BC Rogers gave me his ancient typewriter as a going away gift

Typical

On Saturday we (Zone Leaders and us) set up an activity for the Shawnee ward. We played 17 miracles on the projector in the gym. We turned it into a missionary work experience where members could invite their friends. It turned out alright and a ton of less actives showed up. 

17 Miracles

The Waddells

It's sad to leave Shawnee but I'm super excited to serve in Paul's Valley.

The planner cover I made for Elder Cutler

Sorry this Email is so short, more next week.

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Time Is Flying By (Week 19)

It feels like I've been here in Shawnee for only a month and it’s almost been four. This week has been pretty busy and the work has been good. My guess is that this will be my last full week in Shawnee, since transfers are on the 5th of February.

Early Morning Studies

This week we had a dang good lesson with our recently new investigators T~ and K~ that we ran into right after our investigator Kev (Navy boy) dropped us. T~ and his friends pulled up into the duplex's driveway and got out of the car with brown bags (alcohol) in their hands. They came up and started talking to us, we started to teach and answered their questions on his porch. We would have taught them a full lesson right there if they weren't "Fixin' to get drunk". 

T~ sounded really interested in our message, so we set up a time to come back. Since then we have met with him and his girlfriend K~ a couple of times. T~ is in his 20’s and just recently got released from prison, he's a humble guy. Each time we have taught him we would take up about 45 minutes of just answering questions. We have only really gotten to teach him a Restoration. This week we taught him the Doctrine of Christ which contains the 5 key steps in using Christ’s Atonement; Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. We read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about why Christ was baptized and why he traveled miles on foot to be baptized by John. Just by reading the Book of Mormon, all of T~’s questions were answered. It was great, he would stop reading and ask a question, and then we would tell him to keep reading and once he would finish the verse he would have an Ah HA moment. After we had finished reading the chapter he stated that now he understands why we've wanted him to read. Everything fell into place, just from him reading. We are going to be teaching him again tomorrow.

Together

We also had a solid lesson at the library with J~ on the Doctrine of Christ. He loved the message and was attentive the whole time. He asked good questions and of course the "speaking in tongues question," which is a common belief among Pentecostal church; which means that when you feel the Holy Ghost you yell in tongue (gibberish that no one can understand). We explained that in Acts on the day of Pentecost, the apostles spoke in cloven tongue (cloven means 2), which meant that the Galileans and the Jews could understand and hear them in their own tongue. We talked and focused on the priesthood and that baptism is a saving ordinance and must be performed with the authority of God. J~ is truly seeking to find the truth, and wants be baptized as soon as he prays to know if the Book of Mormon is true.

Sadly Elder Moore will be going home at the end of this transfer, and will be beginning his journey to find an eternal companion. (We have been teasing him about it.) It has been a privilege to serve around the zone leaders. This week has been good and so will the next.

E-mailing at the Family History Center

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

C~ and R~ (Week 18)

This week started slow, but we have seen some pretty amazing miracles.

Towards the end of the week on Friday me and Elder Jenkins finally got in and taught one of our potentials that Elder Bushman originally found on exchanges. Elder Bushman first met C~ almost 3 months ago at a bus stop, and she was super excited to meet with us and knew a lot about Mormons. We tried meeting with her over the months and had no luck at catching her at a good time. We were basically about to drop her as a contact when one day me and Elder Cutler, on exchanges felt inspired to try her one last time. We walked to her house and there was a man with a NY Yankees hat sitting on the porch smoking. We walked up to him and introduced ourselves and sparked up a conversation with him. He told us his name was R~, and found out he was C~’s recently married husband. We told him we would love to come by another time and share a message with him and his family and he agreed.

Later this week on Friday night we knocked their door. R~ let us in and we sat down with him and C~ and their 8 year old daughter. We asked C~ if she had met with missionaries before and she told us she was Mormon. We were shocked at first and eventually she explained that her mother was Mormon and she had grown up Mormon but had never been baptized. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel and she loved it. She told us she really wants to get back into church and be baptized. R~ was quiet at the beginning of the lesson but we slowly got him more involved. It was crazy, I'm so glad we listened to the spirit and knocked their door one last time. Who knows how long it would have taken for the next set of missionaries to find them. We are teaching them again on Tuesday night.

This week our zone fasted on Saturday for investigators to come to church. Unfortunately we didn't have any investigators at church, BUT a very less active couple that we did service for came to church. It was really unexpected. They only came to sacrament meeting but they looked like they had a wonderful time.

W~ is in the hospital right now for double pneumonia. She is doing well though and she has basically quit smoking because of it. She told us she was so fed up of smoking and she is going to do everything she can to be baptized on Feb 8th.

Things are well and miracles are being brought to pass every day!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

 

New Investigators (Week 17)

This week has been legit, the Lord has blessed us with tons of new investigators and potentials! Things are so good in the hood. This week has showed me the amazing guidance of the spirit and how it works through effective and prayerful planning, that if we listen to it and follow its instructions, we will find those who are prepared to receive the gospel. We got 6 new investigators this week!

 

Submerge

One of the investigators we have started teach is C. He is a senior who is doing school from home. We originally made contact with him at church. He was starting to date a Mormon girl and had become interested in what we believe. We later ran into him again while he was working at Braums, and asked him if he was interested in taking the lessons. He said yes and we set up a time to meet with him at the church building. We met with him right after Zone P-day and taught him a Restoration, it was a really good lesson and he asked some good questions, a couple of them were difficult to answer. One of them about speaking in tongues, a common Pentecostal belief that when you feel the Holy Ghost you start to yell out gibberish. Elder Jenkins politely explained what speaking in tongues meant and that when the apostles did speak in tongues, people of different languages could understand them. He is reading the Book of Mormon with his girlfriend and interested in finding out the truth. We committed him to continue to read and then pray to know if it's true. We are teaching him again today right after dinner.

 

Elder J and our desk

We also finally made contact with a referral that we could never get a hold of. We came by his house early in the morning right after studies and his car was there. We knocked his door and a big shirtless man in his 60s answered the door. He said, "Elders, Come on in!" We went in and he casually began to talk with us. He talked a lot and told us his life story, and showed us his sweet guitars. He apparently has been investigating the church on his own since he was 5 when he saw a temple for his first time. He has read practically every piece of church literature there is; the Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Mormon, D&C, and books written by the modern apostles. He told us he took an IQ test at OU and he has an IQ of 183 and I believe him. He could talk about 5 different things and tie them all together perfectly in 15 minutes. He is a former musician and was a local broadcaster. After talking to him for 2 hours about the church, we found out he's pretty much ready to be baptised. The only thing holding him back is his brother. His brother has done a lot for him, and he is worried about being disowned for joining the church. We helped inspire him to bear his testimony to his brother so he can understand why he is joining the church. We are going to be teaching him all the lessons this week, and get him baptized this month.

 

The Right Hand

We also made P an investigator and taught him a Restoration in his home. He is so funny and we enjoy talking to him and teaching him. We hope to see him again sometime this week. We have found so many more investigators and I wish I could write you about all of them, but I'm running out of time. I love you all!

 

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Gangsters (Week 16)

This week has been good and I'm grateful that the holidays have finally passed, now we can meet with people. We have found a ton of people to teach and its all starting to pick up again.

This was on a door by our apartments

We had a pretty interesting experience the other day while we were tracting in the south part of town (aka the "ghetto"). We were actually just heading back to our car after knocking a couple or doors when a black man in his 50s hollered at us from up the street. He ran up the lawn of the house we were walking in front of. "Hey, come knock dis' door wit' me." Me and my companion exchanged glances. We had never taken an investigator tracting, let alone a stranger. We followed him to the door. "Dis is my friend Lenard's house, he's a good man but he jus' won't get out of bed."


I reached out my hand and asked him what his name was, and he shook my hand and replied, "I'm a gangster."
"Gangster" knocks the door. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! "LENARD!"
From inside the house: "... WHAT?!"
"OPEN UP! I HAVE TWO FRIENDS HERE THAT WANT TO SEE YOU!"
"HUH?!" *Door opens* "UH UH!" *SLAM*
"COME ON, LENARD!" turns to us "Y'all got any literature?"
We hand him a book of Mormon "THEY HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU!"
KNOCK! KNOCK! "LENARD I'M GOING TO OPEN YOUR DOOR!" *creak* "WE WANT TO SAY A PRAYER WIT YOU!"
*Awkward silence*, then from the back of the house, "Alright, go ahead."
"Gangster" points to me and I nod and begin to pray.
It was so strange and hilarious at the same time. After I finished praying, the man closed Lenard's door. "TAKE CARE LENARD! GOD BLESS YOU!"
We talked to "Gangster" and he told us his name was P~. We had a small discussion with him about the Book of Mormon and once I handed him one, he gave me a hug. He thanked us for our service and said he looks up to us. He invited us to go back and visit him on a later day.

We have also started teaching a young man we tracted into while we were Christmas caroling last week. We taught him a first and he said he has never been part of a church and he seemed really interested in the Book of Mormon. We have 2 months to baptise him before he joins the navy. This next week is going to be legit. Sorry this letter is short.

Zone Leaders are always on the phone

I love you all and hope all is well! Happy New Year!

Crystal Beast

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Happy New Year! (Week 15)

This past week has been good, Christmas was wonderful. It was a little difficult to find people to visit with because we weren't allowed to tract or visit investigators without a set appointment, but we were able to meet with a bunch of members. On Christmas Eve night things got super slow, so we decided we would go Christmas caroling, -me, Elder Jenkins, and the Zone Leaders. It was a blast. We weren't the best carolers but we had a lot of fun. On one of the porches we sang ‘Away in a Manger’ to a family and we completely forgot the tune half-way through. Elder Moore could not stop laughing, he could not control himself. Almost every home we sang at Elder Moore would bust up laughing and we would all start to laugh. However, we got a lot better at singing towards the end of the night. At one door we sang Silent Night and you could just see on the family's face that they were feeling the Spirit.

This week we have been really working on getting our investigators to come to church, but things keep coming up where they can’t come or they're too lazy. The Sabbath is so important in the process to conversion; it is where the main fellow-shipping takes place. We as missionaries are only there in the ward for a certain amount of time and then we leave. If our investigators only have a relationship with us how are they supposed to stay active after we leave? This morning I was reading 3 Nephi 18, where Christ teaches the people to pray with their family, gather together for church, and pray for their fellow man and serve others. Our investigators and less-actives don't realize the blessings they are missing out on when they do not come to church and take the sacrament.

J~ is a new investigator we found this past week. We taught the restoration to him at the library and he enjoyed it. He is a father of two teenagers and he wants to clean up his life so he can be a good example to them. While we taught him the Restoration, we brought up priesthood authority, which really caught his attention. It was a pretty powerful lesson and the Spirit was really strong. We are going to teach him the Plan of Salvation this Wednesday. 

We also had a pretty cool experience out tracting while I was on exchanges with Elder Moore. We had just got done trying to knock a recent convert’s door, when I felt impressed to knock a door up the road and across the street. There was a man standing on the porch smoking; he looked at us and then went back inside. Elder Moore and I both looked at each other. We had Brother BC Rogers out with us (older man) and we didn't want to make him walk very far; but something kept telling me that we needed to knock the door so we did. It turned out the man was a member, a very inactive member. He invited us in and we talked with him. We got his information so we could later get his church records moved to the correct ward. He told us about his struggles and his two troubled teenage daughters. It’s amazing how the Spirit guided us to knock their door. Who knows how long it would have been for later missionaries to find them if we didn't follow the Spirit. 

Anyways, I hope all is well at home and that you guys aren't sick with the flu (it’s going around here). Thank you all for your Christmas letters I'm so grateful for all your love and support. I love you all and have a happy New Year!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins