Elder Ryder Atkinson

kia ora whānau I've developed such a strong love for the Book of Mormon in these last several weeks and have found so much comfort and peace within the pages. My testimony and belief in it has grown more in the 42 days of my mission than in the last 18 years of my life, and that is one of the greatest blessings I've been able to see since I've been here. Only made it to 2 Nephi chapter 7 since I've been in the field and I've already found so many life-changing verses that I had never seen before! My favorite from this week was pretty short and sweet but I just hit me so hard... 1 Nephi 20:10 "For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Yous can do with that what you will, but I jumped out of my seat and started running around the flat when I read that. And since it was Māori Language last week, here it is in Te Reo Māori... 1 Nīwhai 20:10 "Nā, nana, nāku koe i whakapakari, nāku koe i whiriwhiri i roto i te ahi o...

Hey everyone!! So many big changes this week I don't even know where to start. I am officially one month (and some change) into the mission and so much has happened already, so I can't wait to see what will happen in the next 23 months! I was assigned to the Tūrangi/Lake Taupō area, so our district is pretty much just a massive circle around Lake Taupō, which is in the very center of the north island of NZ. When you get the chance, look up pictures of the lake, its absolutely gorgeous! Elder Watson is my trainer for the next 12 weeks and is this 6 foot 5 basketball player from Texas. He's super cool and will definitely get me into some good habits for the rest of the mission. When I met him I thought he was a native because he's already got the Kiwi accent and slang going. Since I don't have to learn another language I can just jump straight into teaching lessons, which has already brought so many awesome spiritual experiences. Like this one afternoon we were teachi...

Hey y'all, I'll keep this one short because I get shipped out to Hamilton in like 30 minutes. There were A TON of really powerful spiritual experiences this week but I feel like I really need to share this poem my teacher wrote and read to us. He wrote this when he returned home from his mission and was dealing with some mental health issues, so hopefully it touches y'all's hearts like it did mine... "To the world you look fine But In reality you're at constant war with your mind You hide it with a smile by wearing the latest style, and your soft spoken voice makes it seem there's no trial. The room gets darker as your thoughts change to black, Now you feel the world around you is starting to crumble and crack.  You reach out your hand as to say "I need you"  But you're greeted with darkness, now what do you do?  You're sinking lower and lower and feel theres no escape  Till a hero comes around, no sound does He make. His presence of light...

I promise these emails will get a lot more interesting once I'm actually in the field, which is in exactly 7 days. I have always felt that music is one of the best ways for me to feel the spirit and have found that more true with every day I've been here. The way these Tongan and Samoan elders sing is some of the most powerful music I have ever been apart of, and singing with them seems to make all of life's problems float into the air. A lot of the music we sing is in Tongan so I may not always know what I'm saying, but the spirit still grabs a hold of my heart. Belting the words to "Fanongo ko e 'Eiki 'oku Ui" surrounded by 60 Tongans is truly a feeling like no other. Y'all should try it sometime. Elder Brimley and I were able to teach a lesson on Sunday, which didn't go the way we hoped it would. Turns out when you teach a lesson on Christlike Attributes to a class full of English as a Second Language students, they don't understand a lo...

"If you want to talk to God; pray. If you want God to talk to you; read the scriptures." Apparently this quote is pretty well known, but when I heard it for the first time this week, it hit me like a truck. I don't know who needed to hear that, but it really helped me out this week so I hope it can do the same for y'all.  Nothing too crazy happened this week so there's not too much to write about. The mtc has been keeping us super busy and it's just been class after class after class, which is exhausting, but at least I don't have to learn a language!  I have officially finished my mission goal of learning how to play rugby, so I guess I can just come home now. I also currently hold the dorm handstand record of 14.95 seconds; no biggie.  My British running buddy, Elder Hughes, left for the mission field last night so I need to find someone willing to run with me. Any takers? My sister will pay for your flight. The testimony meeting last night with the outg...

Sorry y'all but I'm never leaving this island, I've only been here at the mtc for a week and I've already had so many great experiences and met so many great people. I might end up saying this a few hundred times over the next 2 years but Polynesians are some of the most innately nice people you will ever meet! There are around 100 missionaries here at the mtc and only 40 of them are Americans, so most of the people I meet and interact with are from either Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, New Guinea, or different parts of New Zealand. The Tongan and Samoans are terrifying when you first see them because they're so physically massive, but then they open their mouths and they're just giant teddy bears. Don't tell them I said that. My companion Elder Brimley and I have already been getting pretty good at teaching the restoration, which is what they have been teaching in the classes all week. I can also already feel myself getting sooooo much better at explaining and...