We'll love one another and never dissemble, but cease to do evil ande ever be one:)

We got back from vacation this evening so I am sending this along, a little late, as her next p-day is tomorrow. (Well, actually today, as I notice the time!) As usual she is as bold as ever! Thank you for you love and support of her. Dawn

September 9, 2013

Hello!!

Everyone sounds so busy with school back in session and such! Time means nothing to me here, haha. Especially since the past few weeks have been the hottest it's been since I got here. We just need our DFE (daily fan exposure). After running every morning, we just lay in our dirty floor in front of the fan. #best10minutesoftheday

GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK MICAH! OBVI, I AM THERE IN SPIRIT! [Note from Dawn: Micah's Senior Recital was Saturday night.] 

Lets see this week was a good one!

We went on 3 exchanges, so that was nuts. But I got to be with Sister Barney (my trainer)!! It was so fun to catch up and see how much we've grown in the past few months. Oh my gosh, I just realized today is my 8 month mark. Can time respect me? Oh. I say "can you respect..." all the time now. Sister Jones' Korean companion said it, so now she says it, and now I say it, and now our whole branch says it. Like if you accidentally drop the Book of Mormon you're carrying you say "can you respect the word of God?" or when sister Jones got sick yesterday I asked "Can you respect your health?" I know, I'm nuts. Also, I have so many people in this mission saying merciful, mercy, and nuts. Haha, I think I'm done with my lingo binge.

I went to two bike areas this week! My butt, excuse me, booty, hurt so bad. It was awful. I totes got honked at. I almost yelled "Can you respect the share the road signs?" but then I remembered Christ's name was on my chest. [Note from Dawn: her name badge says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on it] So not my best. Bikes are actually fun because you get to talk to more people. But lets just say Heavenly Father knows my lack of balance well enough to not send me to a bike area (fingers crossed).

On one of the exchanges I got proposed to by this old man. Obviously I told him yes. He gave us these teddy bears he had as a sign of his gratitude (he had a garage sale on Saturday). I put it in my backpack. The next day I opened my backpack at the library and Sister Jones was like "what is that awful smell?" We then realized the fumes were coming from my backpack! *cue typical Ali reaction* The bear smelled like skunk. I accidentally left it in there for our district meeting. We had to give a training, so obviously I apologized to everyone for smelling like skunk. Naturally the elders informed me that some drugs smell exactly like that and that I should throw the bear away asap. Welcome to my life. :) But we got that man (aka my future husband) to commit to a baptismal date, so I count it all as a giant win.

The other bike exchange also produced a hilarious story. The sister I was with had to stop at a restaurant to use the bathroom at night. We were locking our bikes up to a street sign when this 20 yr old Hispanic kid approached us. His boxers were very much exposed and his shirt was very much off and he was very much intoxicated. He couldn't remember his number or address. He practically gave us his wallet. Not his best. It was hilarious though. My true sassy side came out. Like no reservations sassy side. #itfeltright "Kevin. If you throw up in my bike, I will kill you." "Kevin. Drinking is stupid. Do you feel stupid?" "Yes." "Are you going to do this again?" "No" "If you get drunk like this again, I will come find you in heaven and ask you why you were stupid." Don't worry, we only talked to him long enough to give him a picture of Jesus and point him to the closest bus stop.

Exchanges are great! Love my sisters. We have sisters from all over! (even Fiji and the Marshall Islands---one of them, her family doesn't even know she's on a mission). It's such a neat opportunity to serve and learn from the other sisters. They are all so different with very unique circumstances. But it helps me realize how aware of the individual Heavenly Father really is. I still struggle with not being able to help people the way I want to. But I recognize that I can't save everyone. These are His kids, so it'll be okay.

Sad news---Sidney's parents did not react well...at all...to her baptism. And she decided to not get baptized yesterday. We haven't seen her since she told her parents :(

We got lots of referrals this week from members. #righton

The work is moving along surely enough. Sister Jones got sick the past day and a half, so I probably made 200 phone calls and texts at least and caught up on the past month. But we have lots of appointments with new people this week, so that's good!

We got zapped again this week with a new way to change and to progress the way we work. I realized I have spent a lot of my mission trying to pull some people along--trying to force them to meet with us, devoting so much time to them, trying to change. I am now developing the faith to drop those who aren't ready right now to find those who are prepared now. In Doctrine and Covenants 29:7, it talks about how we are called to gather the elect, or those who are prepared. The elect will hear the message and act on it. We have changed our way of contacting. If people aren't sketchy fools and try to schedule an appointment with us a week later (they are never there a week later), then we drop them. We now say "We will meet tomorrow. What works best for you: morning, afternoon, or night". We have a no potentials rule. Either our street contact is a new investigator (they have to have a set return appointment) or we give them a card, testify, and give them back to the Lord. It is insane how different our contacting is now. Even when I was in a wealthier, non-multicultural area on exchanges, we found 4 new investigators in 2 hours. With the mind set of, this is their only chance to accept it (because we won't call them later), my testifying becomes even more bold and passionate. It has been hard to drop people, but Sister Jones told me we are just turning them back to the Lord. Oh, hang on one second. Some lady just yelled at my companion about using her computer [they are at the library]. Bless her heart. She got her flight plans for when she goes home today and she's sick and people are nuts. Mercy. Okay I'm back. Anyways, I finally feel like we are working effectively. I just want to see the fruits of the past 8 months effort, but I need to not be so selfish and impatient :) I'm very happy where I am. I pray for you all! I love you all! make it a great week!

All my love,

Sister Atkinson