"Why should I feel discouraged when Jesus is my portion? A constant friend is He" :)

Here is this week's email. I have put a few explanations in [brackets] as usual, for those of you who may not know what she is referring to. Some of her email, of course, is just her way of talking and I have no idea what she is talking about! (such as the odd use of the number signs and pound signs that I learned about in typing class so many years ago) :) She also is including part of a talk she gave in last week's church meeting. It is what she would say to you all of us if we were having her explain to us what she is teaching. It is remarkable. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Dawn

Monday October 28, 2013

Hi everyone!

IT IS POURING THE RAIN OUTSIDE AND I AM SO HAPPY. And it's on a p-day so we don't have to contact in the rain, haha. Super happy.

This week was a rollercoaster but so good!!
The work is finally picking up! I got a bit discouraged by all the punks on the street whose lives I'm trying to change who wouldn't keep their return appointments this week, but God consecrated and we are now teaching a few members' friends! Which is super happy!!! One of them said he had been to West Virginia a few times with his band a few years back. "Oh cool! What instrument do you play?" "I scream." #screamoband #cameronclarke&coltonschilleshoutout YES. He's awesome though and said over and over "I'm just looking for truth." And he really appreciated that we just invite people, not impose on people.
Did I already tell you I'm teaching someone with a red kiss/lips tattoo on his neck? #thedream
Sister Perry cleaned out our nasty heater this week. She found over $6 of change in there...the quarters just kept appearing. Did I feel like I was in Goonies? YES. Did I go Babylon for like 10 minutes and quote Goonies non-stop?....don't worry, I repented after. When we told another sister missionary we found the money she was so excited we found laundry money. We admitted we went and got ice cream with it. #noshame
Sister Perry and I realized like 5 more places/events we had been at together growing up in WV. We KNOW we have met before. So fun. Don't you think Heavenly Father just giggles at the way He crosses people's paths?
We went out to eat with a member last week. And I kid you not, it was straight from a bad date scene in a movie. Only I had a companion there to enjoy how awful it was with me. Like we were done eating ready to go and he hadn't taken one bite...because he spent 45 minutes talking about himself. I can't accurately paint the picture for you without feeling guilty (Jesus Christ's name is literally written on a nametag on my chest right now), but the next day we had our bimonthly interviews with President. He asked me what else we could declutter in our mission and I couldn't help but say a few comments about member meals. Lets just say we had a mission announcement on Friday that we can't go out to restaurants, do drop offs, and have to have shorter member meals. #sorrynotsorry The bad date was HILARIOUS though...

I was being too hard on myself a little bit this week. I was just getting frustrated that we weren't seeing the type of success that I wanted to see. Here are a couple things that comforted me.

1. In my interview with President he felt impressed to tell me for a few minutes that I was doing a good job. He then said I can compliment you all day long, but you need to hear it from the Lord. He wants you to claim the blessing He has for you. (President Weidman had no idea that 'claim your blessing' had been a phrase I had been using for the past few weeks ever since the Relief Society Broadcast [our annual women's conference broadcast from Salt Lake] ... it is a unique phrase that means a lot to me. When he used it I knew that the Lord was speaking those words, not President Weidman. It was so cool to feel an overwhelming love from my Savior. :)

2. Alma 8:14-15. [from the Book of Mormon] This is right after Alma left the city of Ammonihah and was so disappointed in the people and in the work. An angel comes and tells him to go back to the city. "And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah...behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him saying: blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou has great cause to rejoice."

I spent a few minutes to go through my journal and reviewed experiences I have had since January. I have so much reason to rejoice. Really. That pep talk gave Alma the strength to go back to the city and SO many miracles happened. That pep talk helped me get over myself and my plans, and recognize the hand of the Lord in my daily life here. So happy :)

Something cool I can't remember if I've shared before from Elder Richards that we have been sharing with our less actives. Your level of happiness=your level of feeling the Spirit=the acts you take in faith. So if you want to be happier, take more acts in faith.

People get way into their Halloween decor here. It's awesome. Have a happy Halloween everyone! Love you all!! Make it a great week!
Love,

Sister Atkinson :)

P.S.

We got to speak in church last Sunday. I'm going to try and type parts of my talk out...sorry if it's all over the place. A lot of you ask me what I teach people on the street. The first lesson we teach is summed up in here. But it is addressed to people who are already members of our church. Just comment or email my mom if you have any questions! Or check out mormon.org/faq

My companion just spoke about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Our purpose as missionaries is to "invite others to come unto Christ", to access the blessings of the atonement that our Savior is so willing to give us. Jesus Christ taught us that He can't save us against our will. So how do we choose Christ or how do we come unto Christ?
The next line of our missionary purpose teaches us the how, "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel." Only through the gospel and church of Jesus Christ that is restored to the earth today, can we apply the atonement of Jesus Christ. Or in other words, without the restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel on the earth today, we would be completely lost. We would not be able to come unto Christ. This is our unique message to the world---the gospel, or the way to access the blessings of Jesus Christ's atonement, is restored to the earth!
Our missionary manual, Preach My Gospel, instructs us missionaries to refer to the Restoration of the gospel ASAP when we first meet someone. At the beginning of my mission, I was very hesitant to do this. I thought I would ease my way into the Joseph Smith story or the restoration. I thought it was weird enough to go talk to strangers. I thought it would be best to find common ground in our beliefs with the stranger first. But that is not my purpose. [as a missionary]
My purpose is to invite all of the sons and daughters of God I meet to come unto Christ. And they cannot fully do that unless they understand and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
So what is the gospel?
It all starts with God being our loving Heavenly Father. We are literally His children and His heirs. As God's children, we have the potential to become like Him. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He created a plan for us with our families to become like Him and therefore be able to live with Him forever. This plan is made possible by our Savior, Jesus Christ. To accept our Savior and become like our Father in Heaven, we must constantly follow this process:
1. have faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement
2. repent and change each day
3. make and keep covenants through priesthood ordinances such as baptism by someone who holds that priesthood authority from God
4. receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. endure to the end.
6. repeat. :)
That is the gospel, or teachings of Christ, that allow us to access the free gift of the atonement.

Since the beginning of time God has taught this gospel if we were willing to receive it . God would send us prophets to help us understand this gospel or path. These prophets were men called by God and given God's authority to teach us this one path and one gospel and one way to come unto Christ. God sent prophets like Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Noah when people were prepared to receive them and receive His gospel.
But over time, people always rejected the fullness of the gospel and rejected God's prophets.
Every dispensation, or time of the prophets, would end in apostasy, or a time of confusion and darkness. The authority to teach us God's path and the authority necessary to access the blessings of the atonement was lost. Even the dispensation of Jesus Christ and His apostles and His perfect church ended in rejection of the gospel and the killing of our Savior, Christ's prophet, Peter, and Christ's apostles. The world was once again in darkness. Remember that without the fullness of the gospel, people didn't know how to come unto Christ. They could not come unto Christ without Christ's authority and priesthood on the earth. Good people, often inspired by God, during this time tried to make sense of the truths left which eventually led to the emergence of many churches. It was so confusing. There is one atonement and there should be one way to access the blessings of that atonement of Jesus Christ.

When circumstances were right and when the world was ready for it, God promised to reach out in love and call a prophet again. He did. He called Joseph Smith to be a prophet.
In 1820, Joseph Smith was 14 yrs old living in upstate New York. He was a humble, uneducated farm boy and he was looking for truth. He didn't understand how there could be so many churches and so many paths. Even though many of these churches and paths were good, he knew there should be one truth, one path and one way to come unto God. He was reading in the Bible one day when James 1:5 stuck out to him. It said if you don't know what to do, don't ask man what is right, but ask your Father in Heaven with faith and He will answer you.
So this humble boy, full of faith decided to act and he decided to ask. He went into the grove of trees by his house. What happened is the 2nd most important thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind (2nd only to the atonement of Jesus Christ). In his own words He said,

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other - This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

This is the only time recorded that both our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ have visited one person. How miraculous! They knew him by name. They loved him. They wanted to answer his question. They love us. The know us perfectly. They are just dying to answer our questions.

"No one was with the boy Joseph Smith in [the grove of trees now called the Sacred Grove] in the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared. Yet even those who do not believe it happened may find it difficult to explain away. Too much has happened since it occurred to deny that it ever took place." - the late President James E. Faust

"After the appearance of the Father and the Son, other heavenly messengers, or angels, were sent to Joseph Smith and his associate Oliver Cowdery. John the Baptist appeared and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood, which includes the authority to perform the ordinance of baptism. Peter, James, and John (three of Christ's original apostles) appeared and conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, restoring the same authority give to Christ's Apostles anciently. With this priesthood authority, Joseph Smith was directed to organize the Church of Jesus Christ again on the earth. Through him, Jesus Christ called twelve apostles." - Preach My Gospel

Ah! No big deal!!! IT'S ON THE EARTH!

"Our church is the means by which men and women find our Savior and His gospel...when we seek our Savior it is important that we seek Him through His church. It is through His restored Church that we receive all the saving ordinances necessary to return to Him. The Lord, during His earthly ministry, recognized the need to have a structure in place to build faith in the hearts of the members of His church and to keep them growing in His gospel...It is necessary to have a centralized church government, under the direction of the Savior, that provides the necessary doctrines and ordinances for salvation and exaltation...So we declare to the world that the priesthood has been restored, God's government is on the earth, His pattern is established that will lead us back to His presence." - Elder L. Tom Perry.

After centuries of being lost, the original and complete church and gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth today. AKA We can come unto Christ! Today! Here are just some of the blessings we have from that simple statement. As I go through each of these ponder on how each blessing has impacted you, your family, your future, and the world. (I used branch members' names for each of the points...so I'll try to put in some of your names for each of these...)

-There is a worldwide organized and unified church. My friends serving a mission in Bolivia will be learning the same thing in Sunday School that we are today.

-There is a prophet and apostles on the earth today! Think of how that has changed Micah's life!

- There are more scriptures and a clearer understanding of doctrine. Think of how that has effected my Mom's life.

-The true nature and understanding of prayer. That has effected many lonely nights for each of us.

-The concept of personal revelation. God can talk to each of us, each of His children. Personally. Without that, I would not known to come on a mission.

-Temples!
-Eternal Marriage. My grandparents are reunited right now.

-An understanding of where we came from, our purpose in this life, and what the afterlife is like (there's a spirit world and different kingdoms)

-Think of the blessings that come to us from: word of wisdom [our health code]. tithing. fasting. the law of chastity.
-We understand our roles as women and as men in a very confused society.
-We can ask for priesthood blessings! We even have patriarchal blessings!

-We have the priesthood to perform baptisms, to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, to bless and pass the sacrament, and have temple ordinances

-We understand the Fall of Adam and Eve. We know the significance and blessings that come from that event. Most of the world does not.

-We recognize the nature of the Godhead. That we have a Heavenly Father, a Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost!

- We have a deeper knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and how His grace and mercy and atonement can heal, empower, and change us.

-We know we are literally children of God. We know our divine nature and individual worth and our potential to become like Him.

THERE ARE SO MANY MORE! All because God's gospel and church has been restored to the earth.

These are big claims that we testify are here in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is why we have the Book of Mormon. God brought forth this ancient record and scripture as evidence that His church has been restored. Elder Wirthlin pleads with us, "Please do not take the Book of Mormon for granted!" We must read it everyday. Every day. It is a gift from God.

This church is true. I love this church. Acts 5:38-39 [in the Bible] reads "if this...work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it."
When I was in the Missionary Training Center, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came to visit (because God loves me). He testified that our day and dispensation or time of prophets is like none before. Every dispensation before us ended in apostasy or that rejection of the gospel and darkness. Elder Holland talked about how many of the prophets and missionaries in previous dispensations knew their time would end in apostasy. So what would have kept them going if they, Paul, Noah, Alma, Moroni, Peter, etc., [prophets from the Bible and the Book of Mormon] knew that their work would eventually end in apostasy? Why would Jonah, after just getting spit out of a whale go to Ninevah if in a couple hundred years none of them would believe anyway? Elder Holland said they saw our day. Our dispensation will not end in Apostasy. Our day will end in the second coming of our Messiah! Ah Jesus Christ will come again! And He will come soon. Ah! No big deal!!

Lehi saw this, which is why he said "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth." A missionary told me when I first came out to imagine every person I saw on the street as my best friend from home that I wanted so desperately to have the blessings of the gospel, and I had 90 seconds to tell them about the Restoration of the gospel. That mentality completely changed the way I street contacted and testified. We have to tell these people, let alone our dearest friends and family, that they cannot enjoy the blessing of the atonement and they essentially cannot come unto Christ without the restored gospel.

Okay, yes, the thought can be overwhelming. The sons of Mosiah [in the Book of Mormon] caught this vision which is why they said they were "desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human should should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."

Ah, yes it can be overwhelming. But luckily we have apostles of God who have told us it doesn't have to be hard. We can be missionaries in very simple ways.

-Be an example. Come to church on time. kKep the commandments. Read and pray everyday and your light of Christ will shine so bright that people will ask YOU questions about why you're so different.

-Talk about the gospel and the church in everyday conversation. "How was your weekend?" "Oh awesome, Sister Perry gave a bombsauce talk at church yesterday" [I have no idea what bombsauce is! Dawn]

-Follow the general authorities counsel to pray for the missionaries in your ward by name and their investigators by name every day.

-DO YOUR VISITING AND HOME TEACHING. Merciful.

- Pray for specific opportunities to talk about the gospel and invite people.

-Never ever come empty-handed to an activity or to church. INVITE less actives, invite the more shy people in your ward, or your nonmember friends to join you. If you can't think of people to invite, ask your missionaries. I know they have a long list of people who need personal invites.

-Don't ever sit by yourself or let others sit by themselves. At our baptism, we covenanted with God that we would stand as representatives as Jesus Christ at all times and in all things and in all places. And I know He would leave his usual seat and go sit with someone who was sitting by themselves, even if they came in late..
-Never leave a church activity without texting someone who wasn't there and telling them you missed them.

We cannot take this gospel lightly. It is humbling when we recognize how blessed we are to have it. It is our duty and privilege to share it.

"Knowing our religion to be true we ought to be the most devoted people on the face of the earth to the cause we have embraced." -President Lorenzo Snow." The end. [of her talk.]

I love this work! And I love each of you! All I'm gonna say is we started on time yesterday, no one was sitting by themselves (miracles for a singles ward), and we had 5 nonmember friends there. HOORAH FOR ISRAEL! LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Atkinson

"Oh make me thine indeed, Thou blessed Son!"

October 21, 2013

 

Hello everyone!

Whew, another week is gone! Ah!

Sister Perry is so great!! Seriously, all of my companionships on my mission have been so different, but equally hilarious and fun. My favorite quote of the week from her:
"What is your favorite gift you've ever been given?" -me
*without hesitation* "Pit." (the game) -S. Perry
"oh nice.. who gave it to you?"
"mmm maybe my mom.. no no I gave it to myself." hahahaha

I don't know really what to say this week. We went on 3 back to back exchanges! We were supposed to go on a 4th, but we rescheduled it. We were just so exhausted and needed some quality time in our area, haha. I got to be companions with two of my past companions (Sister Barney and Sister Jones) so that was fun!

Best moment of the week? I discovered South Central Los Angeles!! It is on the edge of our area and like I said last week, that half of our area hasn't really been worked before. But it is a gold mine! We will be spending most afternoons there if we can. I just loved testifying to kids there. I remember just looking at this one kid, Jose. He's 18 and looking for a job. His brother is in jail and his two sisters who are in their 20s are single moms. We talked about God's path and our potential as children of God. I could just see it in his eyes that he wanted a very different path then the one his siblings and friends were on. Another one, Rufino, has a baptismal date for November. So pray for Rufino; I really like him. (Every time I say his name I think of Hook's Rufio and say "RU-FI-NOOO!")

This week was quite a culture shock. I went from south central LA to exchanges in Westwood/Beverly Hills area and went in some of the nicest homes I've been in on my mission. Pre-mission I don't think I would have thought twice about being in those homes. But I was surprised by how much it effected me. Like I really think I was in shock for the first 10 minutes of being in those homes. Some days I don't think I've changed much on my mission, but that helped me realize how much I have changed, haha. I've just had a lot of humbling and growing experiences that I am so grateful for.

When I was with Sister Jones in Westwood, I had one of the coolest experiences so far on my mission. We went and met this woman---middle-aged, from New Zealand, wealthy to say the least, and referred herself to missionaries (not normal). She is a very influential businesswoman and has traveled the world and has had a lot of experiences. She just told us her unique experiences in the past few years with the Mormon church/individuals who are Mormon and it was incredible. Like incredible. "I've basically lived a Mormon lifestyle for the 5 years. I know it's right in my mind. I'm just ready to know it in my heart. So tell me what I need to do to know from God if your doctrine is correct." This is an awful explanation of it. I only met her once, but I just know that my path will cross hers again. It was just one of those moments where I knew God was SO aware of me and SO aware of her. I really felt His encompassing love.

Lots of talking and lots of walking this week and I loved every minute of it. I love this work and I love each of you! Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Atkinson :)

p.s. Sorry this is so short! I started to type out my talk I gave in church yesterday, but it took too long and I'm almost out of time. I'll finish it next week and email it then :) LOVE YOU ALL! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

"Rich blessings are in store; If I but learn to do his will, I 'll live with him once more."

Hi all,

We just returned from our New England vacation with Brittany's family and so sending this out a little late.

Dawn

October 14, 2013

 

Hiiiiiiiiiii everyone!!!!!

How are you all?! Just know how much I love each of you and how happy I am!

Last Monday was just a rough day until after we emailed. We ate some deliciously magical grapes and within 20 minutes, Sister Perry and I had so much energy and felt so much better. But really, we both looked at each other and could just tell that it was all the people we had emailed. We could feel the strength from your prayers literally. It was very special and very much appreciated. Thanks so much! Keep praying. Love you!

Sister Perry had her first bad bug experience in our apartment. I was on the phone when she literally jumped 4 feet out of the bathroom screaming, hahaha. There was another GIANT cockroach in our bathtub. (Just want to clarify that we don't have ants or normal cockroaches because of food. We just get the giant cockroaches from the plumbing we think and the ants because we live in a giant ant hill. And the spiders are just unavoidable.) Anyways, we filmed it's massacre. We used three cans of raid and there are plenty of screams for you to enjoy. Can't lie, it is a hilarious video. But you'll just have to wait until I get home to see it, because Mom is still working on getting pictures on the blog, let alone a video, hahaha. But I'm super grateful she updates this for me every week! Thanks Mom!!

We had our monthly mission leadership council thing this week with all the zone leaders and sister training leaders this week. We talked a lot about simplifying and de-cluttering our lives, so we can just focus on working and the Spirit. AKA we're getting rid of a lot of meetings and interviews and stuff, and I could not be happier.

We have been focusing on changing our teachings like Elder Richards asked the mission to a few weeks ago. It has been super hard, but super effective. We just state short simple truths, ask more questions, and listen more. Ah, I can't really describe it well, because if you would've told me this a month ago, I would've said I'm doing just that, haha. Someone said in MLC "we need to stop acting like we're trying to convince people. We don't have to convince anyone." Hit home with me. We don't have to convince anyone of anything! Truth is truth. The Spirit's job is to testify of that truth, so we just shouldn't get in the way of His job. Everything we say has to be 100% true for the Spirit to be there, so our analogies or object lessons or opinions get in the way. We can state truth, ask questions, and testify. Anyway, it's changed my teaching and my life. We taught a member's friend the Restoration this week (Kayla) with this mindset this week and it was one of the best lessons I've ever taught. She said "I was just mesmerized by that boy's story" (referring to Joseph Smith's First Vision) "and I just feel like I really need to find out if that's true." It was a happy moment.

We have obviously been working on finding our little young single adults who are ready. We're basically focusing on three areas...
1. through less actives. 2. through street contacting (like Elder Perry said in general conference, if you want to teach more people, you need to talk with more people) 3. through members

No one has ever worked with the west half of our area/stake (Huntington Park, Vernon, South Los Angeles, South Gate, etc). So we spent a few hours the past few days mapping out where all of our less actives in those areas (like 300 of em) into quadrants. SO! This week we're going to just go to a quadrant or two and see everyone and talk to as many people as possible in between of course. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it means we'll be doing more walking and less driving! So yay! Also, I'm excited to work in those cities. No offense to my cities of Downey and Bell Gardens, haha.

Our members are doing great. We're going to go on splits more and try to visit all of them with this cute little magnet thing we're going to make. The magnet list thing will have the three categories that Elder Perry has asked everyone to pray for EACH DAY:

1. The Missionaries and Investigators in your ward
(then we'll have lines under to put our names)

2. Opportunities to share the gospel each day

(write down specific places you'll be i.e. friend's party, school, work meeting, etc.---the more specific our prayers are, the more specific His answers will be)

3. Find at least one friend to meet with the missionaries by December
(list of friends to invite this week to meet with the missionaries)

Sister Perry finally got to meet everyone at the ol' branch this week! Hilarious as always. Just full of characters. But they've come a long way, I'm so proud of them :)

We found someone from North Carolina with a southern accent this week named Sarah. It was a huge tender mercy for us West Virginians, hahaha.

I can't believe I hit my 9-month mark! Ah! So weird. Obvi, I took a hilarious picture. IT RAINED THAT DAY. I almost cried from joy. I have prayed for rain like everyday I've been in L.A., haha. It has actually got kinda cold this week. Like I wear my sweatshirt every night. Like it's in the high 60s. Aka, people pull out their parkas here. Aka scarf season! Super happy.

Oh. Friday was a tumultuous day. We were on our way out the door to our first exchange (so we had Sister Perry's suitcase and pillow and stuf)f. I closed the main door before the screen door and then screamed. I realized I locked the keys to the apartment and to the car inside the apartment. #THEWORST. Our manager was like an hour away, so the zone leaders had to take us alllll the way to the mission home to get the spare key and back. But! When God closes one door (and locks it -_-), He opens another!! We left her stuff at our neighbor's house and went to see some people in the quadrant (obvi, quadrant has become one of my new favorite words) we live in. God plopped three new investigators and 4 referrals for the Spanish elders in our path in 45 minutes! It was super happy.

This week we have 4 exchanges back to back, so it will be nuts and I will barely see my companion, haha. But we're excited and it should be good! Miracles and the craziest things always happen on exchanges so I'll keep you posted.

One last thing from exchanges. The sister I was with told me an experience I thought I'd share. A man on the street started yelling at them and criticizing them. "How could your church teach so much about families and then rip you all away from your own parents with such little communication for such a long time? Isn't it a commandment to honor thy father and mother?" To which Sister Zollinger replied "I have never felt like I honored my parents more than when I have been here on my mission."

I feel the exact same way. I have so many imperfections and things to improve, but I can confidently say that I am trying my best to serve the Lord and to let Him shape me. It has brought me so much joy, and I hope it is bringing you all that joy as well.
Rely on Savior. He's got your back :)

MAKE IT THE GREATEST WEEK YET! LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Atkinson

I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

Here is her weekly email. AND she hits her half-way mark Wednesday! I am so excited about that. Thank you for your prayers in her behalf. Dawn

On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Alexandra Atkinson <alexandra.atkinson7@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello everyone!

Whew what a week!

I remembered that I still have to tell the legs buckling story, so I'll start with that. Like two weeks ago when we were in a trio and post-'man outside our apartment' we were coming home late at night. Always extra cautious at night, I was a little jumpy. As Sister Jones opened the door in front of me, she just stopped in her tracks and said "oh..no." I looked up and see our whiteboard off the wall and our apartment in disarray. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I was speechless and my legs straight up buckled in fear. I thought for sure we had been robbed and that my life was over, hahahaha. Then I realized that the stuff holding up the whiteboard had just given out and the mess in our living room was from us being in an emergency-transferred-trio and shoving three people's stuff onto 3 desks and such. -_-. Sister Jones just said 'oh no' because we would have to re-put-up the whiteboard. My thighs were numb for a good 15 minutes. I whimpered on my bed, while my companions pointed and laughed at me. Merciful.

Sister Perry is so great!!! West Virginian through and through. It's so funny that Heavenly Father put us together. She's a Marshall fan, so I think that pretty much sums up the differences between us, hahaha. Just kidding. She's still in a bit of shock from how different our area is (young single adults are just a whole different ball game). These are some of my favorite quotes she has said:

"I can't wait to tell my Mom I feel like I'm camping every night." (but I can't lie, it has been miraculous how many less bugs we have seen this week. God loves her. We are Sister Jones' sister training leaders so I still get to talk to her occasionally. Something she said this week "I have not seen a single bug since I have been here [she's in a richer Jewish area by the Visitor's Center], except of course for the fly buzzing around the poor Aussie's face today in General Conference." )

"It just smells here...all the time." :) #loveit #usedtoit #shouldn'tbeusedtoit

"Sister Atkinson..I want you to know how different your mission has been from most people's..." (hahaha, I love my ysa's.)

I think my humor and work ethic and the branch is a lot to take in right now, but we're doing great!

If people could respect the Lord, that'd be great, haha. We've had more rejection than usual his week, which I'm honestly not that used to. Our strongest investigator (one of my favorite people from my mission) dropped us on Wednesday and was baptized in her Mom's church on Friday. A less active was on his way out the door, so I asked if we could have 20 seconds to share a scripture. He said we could walk with him to his car. So obviously, I tried to start reading Helaman 5:12 to him. He then proceeded to BOOK it to his car. I tried to keep up but then realized how ridiculous I looked to his sister who was in the car waiting for him, and laughing at me. Can he respect me? Hilarious? Yes. Before yesterday, I had never had 4 chihuahuas try to attack me all at once, but there's a first time for everything.
But really, this week was great. Full of miracles as always. I'm so grateful to be where I am and I am SO grateful to be a missionary. I can't believe I hit my 9-month mark.[Note from Dawn - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] I get a little anxious thinking I haven't done enough, but I know that as I take it one day at a time and just give everything to Him with an eye single to His glory, it'll all be just fine. :)

We are focusing on finding through less actives right now. And basically just finding. We don't have anyone really who is choosing to be elect right now. But I have to respect people's agency or ability to choose for themselves. But! I am developing lots of faith to find right now, or at least trying to, so that's good. But if you want to send up some extra prayers for me, my companion, and us finding people who are prepared, I wouldn't reject that idea :) Prayer really is a powerful resource. I remember the first day as being a missionary thinking "why do i feel so strong today?" and then remembering how my siblings told me before I left "never again in your life, will you have this many people around the world praying for you." That is very true. Thank you so much for every prayer. Heavenly Father really lets me feel your love. :)

Oh I better tell you a super cool miracle that happened! We cover all the ysa's in a stake (or bigger area/multiple congregations). Sister Perry served the first 6 weeks in L.A. (which was over 6 months ago) in part of our stake in a place called South Gate. Since we cover such a big area, I had never really spent much time in that area before. But we had an appointment in South Gate, so we decided to stop by a less active down the street before going to the appointment. The less active wasn't home, so we headed back to our car. But there was one girl on the street and she even happened to be a ysa, so of course I talked to her! After a promising first few minutes I asked "Okay cool! Maddie, which house is yours?"

"Actually it's Pattie.." to which Sister Perry kinda yelled in joy "I knew it! I have met you before! You're Pattie!" She met her 6 months ago on the street. NOT NORMAL to run into the same people again on your mission. I mean there are tons of people in South Gate, and we are rarely there and we were going to only be there for a few minutes. Not to mention, Sister Perry says she can barely remember details about people's lives (which she remembered some things about Pattie), especially if she had met them for 5 minutes 6 months earlier and they apparently look very different. Patty said "I guess God is trying to tell me something". Obviously, we testified about how important our message is, how rare the situation was, and how important it was for her to meet with us. Sadly, she bailed on our return appointment, but we'll give her another chance. Either way, it was a cool experience for us :)

Okie dokie, I will close with some of my favorite thoughts from general conference [The semi-annual world-wide satellite broadcast from Salt Lake City]. IT WAS SO GOOD. Seriously, General Conference is a missionary holiday. I got so much revelation and comfort. I loved how specific a lot of the talks were (tithing, 3 hours, etc.). Here are some of my favorite thoughts:

-We all need ordinances and covenants. -Progress and change everyday. -"I gave him to you because I knew you could and would love him no matter what he chooses to do." - Don't compromise the Lord's way for your way or the world's way. - God should always be your first priority. - Become more meek and gentle and kind. - Speak what and how Christ would speak to the people who speak with. - The sacrament renews alllll of our covenants each week. - Doubt your doubts before you ever doubt your faith. - Be grateful for and utilize the power of the Priesthood in your life. - Remember your divine role as a woman. - Be patient, courageous, and diligent in the small things and you can get through anything. - It is a privilege to be a missionary, and every single member is a missionary. - We must center our homes on Christ for protection and peace. - Christ has said time and time again "I will not fail thee. I will not forsake thee." - Remember that Heavenly Father has been so so so good to you.

There are so many more things we could talk about. I'm just so humbled and grateful for the priesthood in my life, the knowledge we have of a prophet, the opportunity to live in this day, and obviously for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, haha. (seriously, so good this weekend). I really loved how they talked about how members and missionaries need to be equally-yoked. For all of those (even my people in Utah) who are wondering some ways we can do that:

-Get to know everyone on your ward list. Visit those who are less active even if you're not their home or visiting teacher. Include people in your social life. .
-Be more than a 15-minute-a-month visiting/home teacher. I met someone this week who said her visiting teacher came regularly for years and years, even leaving cookies in the mailbox, without any response from her. She was in a major car accident in 2007. That same visiting teacher called that same night as the crash and felt like she really needed to visit her. Through those experiences and because of the ministering of her visiting teacher, that woman hasn't missed a sacrament meeting since 2007 :)

-Never come alone to church or to a church activity. Always invite a less active, a nonmember, or a more shy active member.

-Ask for what you want. "Would you like to take some lessons from our missionaries?"

-If you invite always slip in a testimony.

-Use pass along cards. Leave them with your receipt at a restaurant or to your bus driver. Simply write a 2 sentence testimony on the back.

We live in such an exciting time. But we have to be apart of it. We can't exclude ourselves from our prophet's call to be a missionary.

I love you all so much! Make it a great week!

Sister Atkinson

OH MY GOSH. I FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE CRAZIEST PART OF MY WEEK.

death comes unexpectedly:
1. we turned left in the car because I HAD A GREEN ARROW and this car just charged at us, running his red light. seriously, I have no idea how we weren't t-boned.

2. we were going down the alley trying to find the car washing place (I passed it like 4 times....don't ask me how) and this car zoomed around the corner and was an inch from hitting us head on.
3. on the interstate I guess I was in a car's blind sight, because they decided to just merge right into our lane. once again, I seriously have no idea how we weren't completely side-swiped.
4. I drove down the wrong side of the street the other night (okay......this one was my fault..........)
I think this can accurately describe my week, hahaha.
Sister Perry said it was very much like the Knight bus from the Harry Potter movie. But for reals, Heavenly Father is very much protecting us, and I swear I'm being super careful. Love you all!!

Savior Redeemer of my soul...whose mighty hand hath made me whole:)

This is today's new email. I have faith that she is watched over and that she IS SAFE. Dawn

 

October 1, 2013

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So many updates from this week! I'll try to type fast and make it comprehendable. Oh apparently that's not a word, haha.
I'm choosing to tell you some stories because 1. I feel 100% safe now 2. It is hilarious and such good writing material 3. I don't have time to catch up on everything in my journal 4. I have good faith that you won't freak out mom! 5. I PROMISE WE ARE 150% SAFE.
Last Monday we drove home from family home evening with the branch and got home at 9pm like every night. Sister Pillar and Sister Jones got out of the car (we park our car in an alley and go through a back gate that is almost always locked to our apt/house thing). I'm still laughing about who knows what in the car while they are getting their stuff out of the trunk. As I get out of the car, they say in a strained voice "Yeah, I think we left something at the church." "Yeah, let's go back there." My nonchalant manner as always responded "Whattya mean we left something...*looks around our creepy alley* ohhh!" and get back in the car. A man was standing on the walk outside of our apt. behind a tree. He peered around the tree, stared at my companions, then went back, and then stared again. So obvi, we drove away and circled around the front of our group of apt/houses thing on the main road. I made eye contact with him as we drove past and he did not drop my gaze. CREEPO? YES. Of course we circled again (our zone leaders chastised us for doing that, haha) and saw him walk back in to our alley. He never came out. So obviously we did not return home! We just started driving to who knows where. Our zone leaders were a little freaked out when they saw they had 17 missed calls from us. Can they respect us? :) Luckily, Sister Pillar still had the keys to her empty apt (which was empty for the last two weeks of the transfer since we're in a trio), so we went and stayed there. Our zone leaders practically busted down the apt door to bring us a third mattress and bedding. We have been super cautious recently and our neighbor Pascual (aka my hero) is keeping an extra eye out for us. Oh it was hilarious, president sent a trio of elders over to our apt an hour and half after the incident to make sure no creepers were there. Not sure what they would have done if there was someone there. -_-.

I mean we are the only white people in our town, but Heavenly Father has very much protected us multiple times. We feel so so so safe. We love Bell Gardens (our town) and I would have balled my eyes out if they would have asked us to leave our nasty, yet dear to my heart, apartment and cute neighbors, but we prayed about it and feel super safe!
We had a few experiences where I felt so frustrated with people's choices. Then I caught a small glimpse into how Heavenly Father must feel. He must be so sad when we as His kids, just don't get it. He has given us everything, even His son Jesus Christ, to make it back home to Him and even become like Him, but all we have to do is reach out and grab those things. But we just more often than not, don't. Yet He still loves us and His arm is always still outstretched.
Fall! It finally started cooling down! Aka, we have been freezing in the low 70's in the mornings :) I do miss the color of the WV Hills. I can't believe it's October!!!!!!!! Ah!!!!!!
Ernest was confirmed on Sunday and was ordained to the Priesthood. SO HAPPY. He is so happy! We have a hilarious story with him this week. We were sitting at this park teaching him when all of a sudden this man on a bike and his girlfriend (also on a bike) came over to talk to us. He started asking us if we were having a Bible study and asking genuine questions about what differences our religion has (we thought he was golden for .5 seconds and then I realized his visit was very much premeditated), and then he started yelling at us about how wrong we were and tried to Bible bash with us. He figured out Ernest was a recent convert and started telling him how stupid he was and how deceived he was. We could barely say two words when he told us it was an abomination for us women to be preaching to a man. Just imagine my facial expression on that one. We told him very kindly we had to leave. All of a sudden, Ernest started testifying! it was awesome. Ernest told him how he was being so aggressive and how that's not how God works and how he couldn't feel the Spirit around him. YES. SO MUCH WIN. I told them we loved them as we left and made the "I love you" sign in sign language. He thought it was a devil horn sign. Merciful. Ernest then bought us churros. Did I think of Even Stevens? Yes. Was it a huge testimony to hear Ernest testify how He knew what is God's word and what is not? YES.
Sister Jones ran to the bathroom and threw up in the middle of one of our Spanish lessons this week. So that was nice.
We had some very special moments with Dayssi. It was a bit of a wake up call to me to know how black and white our choices are. There really are only two paths and they lead to very different types of happiness.
It was cool for us to be with Sister Pillar the past two weeks. She gained so much confidence in herself and boldness with her invitations. I think her area is going to have so much work next transfer. Pretty sure she thinks Sister Jones and I are completely nuts. Which we are. But we have all laughed SO hard the past couple weeks. One of my favorite things I realized this week; "my whole life I have always thought everyone around me was nuts. Then I came on a mission. And now I realize that I am the one that is completely psychotic."

Elder Richards of the Quorum of the 70 [a church leader] and his wife (she was on the Young Women board with Sis. Dalton, Tanner, and Beck for 5 years and totally reminds me of them. [they were church leaders for the teen-age girls] She was so cool) came and did a mission tour this past week. We had a few leadership meetings with him and a zone conference. Basically he humbled us as teachers. (We all thought we were good teachers...and then his training happened...) I'm going to focus on shorter statements and just simple truths. He said we should focus on the 4 essential truths of the gospel: 1. The Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. 2. The First Vision 3. The Book of Mormon is true 4. The priesthood has been restored.
He said he would only make one invitation of the conference. It was to write down each investigator and prayerfully decide which truth he/she does not understand and focus on it. IT will be interesting to see how our teaching changes.
A drunk homeless guy who looked like Sirius Black right out of Askaban blew a kiss at us as he crossed a crosswalk. When we drove around the corner he jumped off of the sidewalk and almost hit our car. He was hilarious.
The Relief Society broadcast was SO GOOD. It is interesting that everyone is focusing on the work of salvation, aka our ordinances and covenants. I'm so excited for general conference! [our semi-annual world wide church conference] I can't believe it has been a year since I decided to come on a mission. Watch general conference with a question and I promise it will be answered. Last year my question was "Heavenly Father, I have decided to not serve a mission. Is that what you want me to do?" The no I got from Him was pretty loud and clear, hahaha. There is a prophet on the earth today. He is speaking to the world. Aren't you curious to know what he has to say? What Heavenly Father wants us to know? Watch it this Saturday and Sunday on lds.org. It will change your life. It always changes mine. :)
Saturday night the assistants called. We knew that meant that one of us was going to be a trainer, so obviously we were super sad to call him back. I called him. "Can I talk to Sister Jones?" It hit me that we would be split up. so naturally, I yelled at my leader -_- 'NOOOO. YOU MAY NOT. YOU CAN'T TAKE HER AWAY FROM HERE.' Not my best. Obviously, it was more hilarious than anything. I'm super happy for her though. She is whitewash[meaning that both sister missionaries will be new in the area] training back at the Visitor's Center for her last transfer. Super happy. She is one of my best friends and changed the branch, so it is a little hard for everyone for her to leave, but I'm super excited for next transfer. I'm staying here, and I'm still a sister training leader. Sister Perry is coming here! She is one less transfer than me [came into the mission one transfer after me], but is Spanish speaking. Drum rollllll SHE IS FROM HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA and our parents know each other :) WIN. So that's super happy. [and quite unusual to be companions from the same home area]
For a few weeks I have felt like someone has been holding my head and I have been swinging punches. Sister Jones and I very much wanted to work 100%, but were never really given the opportunity. We just had to do a lot of preparation and problem solving in this area. I very much feel that right now that Heavenly Father wants me to work harder than I ever have before. So that is my promise. I am super excited. I have such a good feeling about it.

Love you all so much!

Make it a great week!
Love, Sister Atkinson
P.S--two more good stories in 3 minutes.

We were sitting in the dark church parking lot after the broadcast. We had just hung up a call with our assistants, so emotions were a little high and we were all sitting in the backseat from the phone call. All of a sudden we see this old man in sweat pants and crocs (#don'twearcrocs) coming towards our car. Scared, Sister Jones leaned up and locked the front door. We think he thought she unlocked it for him. All of a sudden, he tries to open our car door! He then yells through the door that he wants to know if people are still inside. 2 minutes later we leave. Sister Jones accidentally hit the button to make the windows roll down and, startled, Sister Pillar LOST IT. Never heard her scream so loud. Hilarious.
Oh dang it, remind me to tell the legs buckling story next week. I'm out of time. Love you all!