You're a Member? (Week 35)

This week was good but also strange at the same time. As soon as you think you've adjusted to the work it changes on ya, but that's how you grow as a missionary. Really this week has been great, with lots of miracles mostly with less-active members. In the past two weeks we have found 4 new less actives that were not on our roster. Three of them we found from knocking on doors.

Last Week

It was crazy so the first one we found was when we went over to visit Mx~. We were waiting for Mx~ to answer the door but he didn't answer, so we waited a little longer. The door right next to Mx~'s apartment opened and a bigger man stuck his head out the window. We noticed he kept glancing over at us. After a couple more minutes of waiting (Mx~ is in a wheelchair) we began to walk away, when we heard "WAIT!" We turned around and sure enough the man next door started walking towards us. He asked us if we were Mormons and we told him yes, and then he simply said, "ME TOO! My name is W~. I haven't been to church since I lived in Delaware, which was 20 years ago. I use to have a quad scriptures but, I lost them in a move. Where's the nearest church?" We were shocked haha. We introduced ourselves and gave him information about the church's where-abouts, and he asked us to come by sometime in the next week.

This Week

We went over to W~'s house, and he invited us in and introduced us to his girlfriend, and while we were talking we asked her if she had ever talked to Mormon missionaries. She then simply told us "Yeah, I'm a member I was baptized in California when I was 20." W~ whirled around and said, "Your a member?!... huh I didn't know that." It was nuts. We taught them a lesson on the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, and they loved it. W~ asked us "where could I get a Book of Mormon?" ... Uh from my backpack haha, it was great. They both expressed there desires to come back to church. They don't have a car at the moment so we discussed with them about getting them a ride with a member.

Yesterday (Sunday) during branch council we talked to the Branch President about all of the less-actives that we have recently found in Sulphur. We discussed setting up a monthly sacrament meeting in Sulphur, either at a members house or in a rented room. It's going to awesome once we get everything set up.

This letter is so out of order but oh well. I should also tell you about the other less-active member we found. Earlier in the week we helped brother Fz out with some service. We helped him carry and store a bunch of hospice equipment in a storage unit for his work. When we got to the building the equipment was being first stored in we met this lady that was talking to brother Fz. We were dressed in service clothes completely unrecognized as missionaries other than our name tags (in fact I don't know if all of us were wearing them... oops) and the first thing she said when she saw us was "oh you brought some strong Mormon boys to help."

Wait Whaa?

We talked to her while we carried equipment and she was very familiar with the church. We didn't get to talk to her to much during the service project. However, later we talked to brother Fz and he told us he found out she is a recent convert that was baptized in Ardmore, but she hasn't been to church since she moved to Sulphur. We are going to try to set up something and meet with her this coming week.

We didn't get to teach to many lessons this week, but the lord has blessed us with guidance to find all of these lost members. This next week is going to be good and we have been working with our two most solid investigators, "Em" (Bro B's daughters friend who is 10 years old) and sister Caster's Mom, "Be". We taught the restoration to both of them right after church in the primary class room, and Em and Be both loved it. We are working toward a baptism date in June, still flexible.

The Gospel is great and the work is hastening in Sulphur.

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

 Fractures
 

Norman Stake Fair with recent convert T~
 

Norman Stake Fair

Mother's Day (Week 34)

It was great being able to see you guys! I'm so greatful for amazing parents that taught me and raised me in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not know where I would be with out them. Thank you so much for everything Mom. It's crazy how much you all have grown in 8 months. Cali, Jessie, and Gracie you all look so different. I was happy that I was able to skype and see Grandma and Grandpa as well.

This week has been good. We found two new investigators, A~ an older lady who is an inactive Methodist, and Mx~ who is the referral we got from Brother H~. We had an awesome lesson with Mx~. We taught him the restoration and he enjoyed it. It was hard for him to remember what the missionaries taught him when he lived in Idaho; because of all of the medication he had to take, but as we taught he started to remember things and his eyes would start to glow. We are going to teach him again this week and we are going to get him started on reading the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday we went over to the Fz home and gave them the picture of the Salt Lake Temple. We kept it gift wrapped so they could be surprised. It was funny Brother Fz (B~) couldn't tell what it was. Sister Fz (J~) opened it and almost started to cry. She was so happy she loved it. She said that she is going to find a space for it right away. We shared with her the scripture in Alma about the stripling warriors, and talked about a Mothers sacred responsibility to nurture and teach her children. Sister Fz was so happy and closed the visit with a prayer in tears. She is awesome!

This coming week looks really promising with all of the new potentials that we found in Davis. One of them is Y~ she is so solid. We are so excited to teach her this coming Wednesday. Also we are going to start teaching a young couple D~ and S~ on Tuesday. The Lord is providing and the work is picking up it should be a great week!

Thank you for all of your letters and e-mails. I love you all!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Riding in Brother's C's Bronco

The 1978 Ford Bronco

Wynnewood Oil Refinery

Doodles

Oh and a poisonous Brown Recluse we found in our apartment last night...

TRIO (Week 33)

We are now officially in a trio companionship again. Elder Durham has joined the crew. He is from Springfield Illinois and he will be serving in Fortaleza Brazil once he gets his visa. He was the
missionary that took my place with Elder Jenkins when I left Shawnee. It's pretty crazy we all served in Shawnee, I took Elder Memmott's place when he left and Elder Durham took mine when I left, and now we are all companions! Crazy stuff!

This week has been a pretty slow one and a lot of crazy stuff happened. First Sister R~'s boyfriend turned out to be a con man and emptied all of the money in her bank accounts and ran off with her
car. Crazy stuff. The good news is that they found the car untouched and on Sunday after church we gave her a blessing of peace and comfort. She is a trooper! She has trying so hard to do missionary
work but every time she gets knocked down, but continues and endures anyways. She is awesome, and later that same day we got a voicemail from her saying that she talked to her friend's 10 year old daughter, E~ (she has come to church twice with another girl her age) who said that she wants to become a member of the church and be baptized. So on Friday we are going to Sis R~'s home to eat dinner and teach E~ a restoration lesson. Sis R~ is also fellow shipping with more of her friends that drop off their kids at her daycare.

We are still teaching M~ the former investigator that we found. It has been hard to help him progress and read the Book of Mormon on his own. He also has a really bad alcohol problem. He is a very smart guy and knows the scriptures really well. He just lacks the motivation and self reliance. He's got potential and he wants to change. We are going to get him started on the 12 step program this week.

This week has been hard with teaching lessons. We have mostly been knocking doors looking for new families to teach. It's been really hard in Sulphur (people this week have been pretty mean) but Davis seems to be the place for nice young families. We have found a lot of new potentials that we are going to start teaching this week.

One miracle that we had this week was getting a solid referral from one of our less active members in Sulphur. His name is M~ and he was almost baptized 20 years ago. He is super interested in meeting with the missionaries and we will be teaching him this week. Also in the process of finding him we found a long lost inactive member from Delaware that lived right next door to M~. Crazy stuff combo!

This letter is getting long... I'll have more things to say next week! Keep me posted I love you all!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Chickasaw Cultural Center (Lamanite Village) 

 

Biking through downtown Sulphur

  Sunsets

 

Broken Glass

 

I caught my first fish on the mish. A little Blue Gill

 

 

Chickasaw Warrior

 

 

Chillin

B~ and J~'s Baptism! (Week 32)

This week has been awesome. B~ and J~ got baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Tons of people showed up to the baptism, and even the mission president came! For the baptismal service J~ asked Sister Boger to give a talk on Baptism. It was awesome, she even gave B~ a True to the Faith book (which he was wanting to get). It was pretty amazing! B~ was baptized first by Elder Memmott and then I baptized J~. The spirit was so strong you could just feel joy fill the room as they came up from the water. Their desire to follow the Savior is so strong. After they were baptized we listened to Brother Pletcher give a talk on the gift of Holy Ghost and then Elder Linam and Elder Zeyer confirmed the gift of the Holy Ghost on them. It was awesome, right after they were confirmed I had a mini flash back of their progress. They have grown so much and this is just the beginning, they are going to bless so many people's lives as members. After the branch gave special welcomes, B~ and J~ bore their testimonies. So powerful. J's testimony of the restored gospel is so strong. B~ talked about the blessings he has experienced as he has investigated the gospel and he also told the story of how we door knocked into them while he was blasting his country music (He loves telling the story). I don't know if I said it already but they are going to make amazing members.

 (L to R) Elder Zayer, Elder Memmott, D~, B~, C~, J~, Elder Watkins, Elder Linam

Now we are just helping their two boys gain testimonies of their own.

Other than the amazing baptism, this week has been good. We are beginning to work with two solid investigators who are part member teaching situations. One is the mother of a member in Sulphur who has had a hard time with health problems. She came to church this week and loved it. Her daughter Sister C~ is the primary president and all of the primary kids helped her get around the building. Every time we saw her she had a huge smile on her face. The other investigator is the new boyfriend of Sister R~ and has been to church twice. The more we talk to him the more interested in the gospel he sounds. We haven't taught him yet because he lives out in Elmore City (the outskirts of our area) but we are teaching him this week on Wednesday!

In other news, we got word that on Wednesday we are going to be a trio again! No more mega desk :( and no more apartment space :/. His name is Elder Durham and no one knows much about him so I guess we will find out more about him on Wednesday.

This branch has grown so much since I got here it's crazy, the branch has had 10 baptisms just in this month. Seven baptisms is good for the branch for a year. At this rate this branch will be a ward in two more months, maybe less. We just gotta keep the ball rolling. Miracles are afoot. This next week is going to be great! Trio! Yuh! I love you all, keep me posted!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

He Still Lives (Week 31)

This week has been wonderful and Easter Sunday ended it off perfectly. Me and my companion Elder Memmott were privileged to speak in sacrament meeting. Elder Memmott's talk covered Jesus Christ's mortal ministry and His church. Both of our talks focused on the Atonement and the resurrection. My talk focused on the Book of Mormon and that it is another Testament that Jesus is the Christ; and the prophecies of Jesus Christ's Atonement. One of my favorite prophecies is Alma 34:8-10. Christ completed that final sacrifice, that infinite sacrifice. Jesus Christ paid the debt for all of our sins and mistakes, and made it possible to live again with Him and our Heavenly Father. In my talk I also talked about Christ's appearance in the ancient Americas, and what He taught the Nephites and Lamanites while He visited them. Sacrament meeting was a little backwards because the branch ran out of sacrament cups, so we gave our talks first while a member made an emergency run to the next closest church building to get more. Me and my companion both felt inspired to extend some bold commitments to the congregation during our talks. As you take the sacrament, focus on the Savior and close your eyes. Ponder on His love, example, and the sacrifice He made for you and I promise that you will feel the power of Christ's infinite atonement wash over you. After our talks the sacrament was blessed and passed. The spirit was so strong. I am so grateful for our savior Jesus Christ and what He did for us. 

B~ and J~ are getting baptized this Wednesday, April 23rd! We are teaching them their last lesson before they are baptized. We are going to talk about the Priesthood and church callings. We are also going to introduce Family Home Evening and get them started on doing that every Monday. I have been so blessed to be able to teach this family. It shows me that there are people out there that are prepared to receive the gospel and they can be found from knocking doors. Who would have thought that the most solid family in the mission would be found from tracting. I feel like they're the family I have been sent to Oklahoma to find. Watching their testimonies grow has strengthened mine, and I can't wait for Wednesday to watch them take this leap of faith. They are going to make amazing members! 

This week we had a cool finding experience. We were trying to visit C~ a potential investigator, and when we knocked on the door a man answered. He was nice and introduced himself as M~. He told us that C~ is his girlfriend and actually used to meet with missionaries, Elder Robb and Jenkins (my last companion in Shawnee). He said that he moved and didn't see them again. He told us he was struggling with alcohol and wants to quit. We told him our message would help him, and we set up a time to visit with him. It was pretty cool! When we got back to the apartment we looked for his teaching record and it was the first one in the area book, pretty crazy. We are going to be teaching him and C~ this week, yeah! yeah! 

Once again the work is hastening and this week is gonna be good! Keep me posted! 

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

Castles and Snakes (Week 30)

This week has been good. We have been finding a ton of new people to teach, Davis and Sulphur are full of work! We found a new family in Davis that are really solid, A~ and C~. We found them quite a while ago and it was really hard to catch them at a good time, but this week we taught them a restoration lesson on their porch. Me and my companion are both teaching with the new method of using the teaching pamphlets. It was awesome C~, the father was listening and focusing the whole time we were there. C~ has a lot of things in common with B~, so once B~ is baptized we will take him over there teaching with us.

Things are going really good for B~'s family. This week we taught them the law of tithing and earlier that day before we had even taught them the lesson B~ texted us and asked us if we could go over tithing and that he has a check ready to pay. It was crazy we hadn't told him anything about what we were going to teach them this week. It was an inspired lesson. We ate dinner at their house and then later the Carters came over for the lesson. It went really well in fact after the lesson B~ and J~ both got into a big casual conversation with Brother and Sister Carter (on taxes, haha me and my companion just sat and listened, most of it went over our heads. I am not excited to be a home owner..). It was good though and they are becoming good friends with all of the members. At the end of the lesson we talked about their baptism date and we told them that we feel prompted to make it sooner because they are ready, so B~ and J~ we be baptized on April 23rd, 2014. They are excited and so am I. J~ wants me to baptize her and B~ hasn't decided yet.

Other news: We did some work in Doughtry (a far away town of 100 people in the middle of the Arbuckle Hills). It's a really pretty area, but there isn't a lot of work to be done. We tried a couple of potentials and got stuck in a one-way conversation with an old man about horses. After we had left Doughtry we found a castle. It was pretty cool and we checked it out, then we found a big snake and ran off. Crazy Oklahoma stuff.  

Tornado season has officially started. Yesterday we got hit with a big thunder storm. It was pretty crazy stuff, but don't worry the tornadoes didn't touch down until the storm reached Ardmore and no one was hurt. This next week I will be in Ardmore for a couple of exchanges (last week we didn't get to do one), so hopefully the tornadoes are done with Ardmore for a while.

Anyways, sorry this letter isn't very long. Things look good for next week and we are all looking forward for April 23rd. I love you all! Keep me posted!

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

 The Castle (you can see Elder Memmott in the background lol)

Tornado season is here

"The Churches of Paul's Valley welcome you" 

Brother Hill showing us his crazy stamp collection.

Goodbye Elder and Sister Fairborne we are going to miss you! 

Elder and Sister Reed are the new branch senior missionaries.

 Inside the Castle.

Bold Sauce! (Week 29)

General Conference was awesome! Where do I start? Elder Holland’s testimony was probably the highlight of the whole thing. Filled with Conviction and power Elder Holland's testimony pierced everyone to the core. Bold Sauce! My favorite talk had to be L. Tom Perry's Sunday Afternoon talk on Obedience and Faith. I loved when told the story of Abraham and Issac and went in to detail of all of the things Abraham had to go through to take his only son up the mountain to be sacrificed. I cannot imagine the pain our Heavenly Father felt to watch his only begotten son be crucified. I love the promise Elder Perry left us, that through our sacrifices and our faith the Lord will save us in his time. We all face difficult trials as we journey on the path back to our Father in heaven but through Christ's infinite Atonement he will lift us up and make our burdens light.

All of general conference was awesome! On Saturday we met B~, J~, and K~ at the church to watch the afternoon session. Me and my Companion sat in the back and watched. Every once and a while I could see J~ look over at B~ when something stood out to her. It was pretty cool, they really enjoyed it and learned a lot. After the afternoon session we went to Braum's and got banana splits (Hey dad B~ and J~ said Thank you!) We had a great time, while we were eating our ice cream B~ told us that He might be getting his shift changed soon so he can come to church. YEAH! and B~ and K~ even came to the Sunday Afternoon session! J~ was out of town and D~ was at a dress rehearsal for a school play (that we are going to on Tuesday). B~ and J~'s baptism date will most likely be on April 30th due to work complications. I'll keep ya posted.

Yesterday we finally made contact with a former investigator family J~ and T~. They loved the missionaries that use to visit with them, but it's pretty sad because the old missionaries mostly just hung out with them. In the rain on their porch we taught them a short restoration lesson and they loved it. It will be hard to meet with them because Sunday evening is the only time they can meet because they work long hours.

Things are going good here and this next week is going to be awesome! Love you all! Keep me posted.

Sincerely, Elder Watkins

 Stubborn Mailbox

 Massive chicken fried steak sandwich...