Hello All!
I'M IN L.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all, BEAUTIFUL WEATHER. 70S
AND SUNNY ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.
So much to say! I can't believe I've only been
here a few days! Thanks to everyone who leaves comments on my blog/facebook! My
mom forwards them along to me. I get mail once a week (Thursday) from the
mission home but not allowed to read it until p-days, which is on Mondays, so sorry if it takes a while for me to
respond to letters and such. Thanks so much for all the mail and love! Love you
all!
Got the package Mom! YOU'RE THE BEST! It was full of green stuff because
I'm a "greenie" (what we call new missionaries in the mission field :) ).
Luckily my companion's mom is a super missionary mom like you, so she
understood. LOVE IT! THANKS!
Where do I even start?
My companion/trainer
is Sister Barney! Her first name is Jazzy and that perfectly sums up her
personality. She is a bubbly and athletic 21 yr old from Cedar City, Utah. She's
been out since mid-June. She was called to work in the LA Temple Visitor's Center, but
is now working full-field. Which leads me to our area. We are kind of opening an
area! We have the LA Singles Ward (18-31yr olds from ALL over LA--so our
boundaries are huge) and the UCLA Student Ward (some singles, mostly young
marrieds with kids). These two wards had missionaries in them before, but they
were Visitors Center sisters who only spend 6 hours a day not at the VC and had
one of these wards plus a big family ward. Sister Barney served in the UCLA
ward, a family ward, and the VC last transfer. So she knows some people in UCLA.
These two wards have never had full-time sisters and it's a big deal that they
do now! We had a meeting with the bishops and the mission president in which he
talked about this being a trial run. We are getting SO MANY more missionaries
soon and it sounds like he'll be putting them in areas like this if we do
well/our wards use us. No pressure. So it's all new to Sis. Barney too, but we
are ready to do this! We have spent the last few days working SO HARD organizing
and planning so our numbers were low, but we have already seen the blessings and
miracles from our hard work. I am here to work so hard on the Lord's time and
gratefully, so is Sister Barney. LETS DO THIS!
Our wards are AMAZING. We met
with the ward mission leaders on Saturday and then of course we had church
yesterday. The bishops announced the change in sacrament meeting, had us stand
up, etc. They realize the importance of missionary work and we are so grateful
to have them. Bishop Thomas (Young Single Adult ward) even quoted Elder Perry who said "A
bishop's top priority is the missionary work in his ward." Can we get any
luckier?
It's impossible to effectively tract at UCLA and the YSA ward
boundaries cover all of Beverly Hills, LA, West Hollywood, etc. so that is also
impossible. We are relying so heavily on members, and we are getting the ball
rolling.
The YSA ward is so unique and cool. We have people from all over the
world in it and from all walks of life. Students, fashion designers (one of them
is a guy and has sold stuff to actual big shots. WHADDUP), teachers, lawyers,
you name it. All in that ward. UCLA has such a fancy campus! I guess I'm a Bruin
fan now. :)
We got lost the other day in Beverly Hills and oh my lanta, the
money there. The man walking down the street just screamed billionaire. I have
met a lot of Athiests, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims.
Surprisingly, no Protestants. It is so interesting to hear all types of views
and find comfort that we rely on the Holy Spirit to testify of truth.
I can't
begin to tell you all the miracles I have witnessed this week as we have
recognized the hand of the Lord in our lives. Some favorite moments this week:
our investigator Ashley (bubbly freshman at UCLA) came to church!, talking to 3
Muslim guys from all over the middle east for 20 minutes on campus, and meeting
Kelly and Forough, two women who are so in tune with the Spirit, the VC
sisters brought them over to our ward for the last hour of Church. Hopefully we'll
meet with them this week :)
Oh, since we in a new area, we have a new car and
a super nice apartment (usually mission apartments are rough, haha). I'm so spoiled
and so blessed. We live a block from the L.A. temple which is HUGE and
beautiful. We meet in the ward building directly behind it and we run there in
the parking lot every morning. Seeing the sun rise on the temple is one of my
favorite moments of everyday.
Tell Mama Virgo (Heather's Mom) that Sister
Baker (mission president' wife) gave me a hug from her and that I greatly
appreciate it :)
Sorry if this was so scatterbrained, there is just so much
to say. All is well. Sister Barney is great. This is the Lord's work. It's great
to be a missionary. I have no dobut that I was called to L.A. at this time for
a reason. I get that confirmation each day as I talk to the unique people here
and testify of Jesus Christ. I still feel all of your love and prayers. Thank
you so much!
Make it a great and happy week!
All my love,
Sister
Atkinson
IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS ABOUT WORKING IN STUDENT/SINGLE WARDS PLEASE LET ME
KNOW!
Brittany, John-Mark, Micah, etc. So excited to be working with this
age group! I've always wanted to!
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