Monday, January 27, 2014

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold :)


January 27,2014
Hello everyone!
    This week was such a good one!! I didn't really think about what I was going to say ahead of time so here are random highlights from the week!
    -Went to the bike store to buy a basket. Left and looked at the receipt later and realized they charged me $700....... they put the numbers in wrong. And they fixed it :)
    -This mean man at a door told us that young girls like us would have nothing to say to him that he didn't already know. A few hours later, we were listening to a sweet, righteous and humble mother talk about the lessons her young children have taught her. Such a strong contrast in my mind.
    -We run in to people with Mormon connections all the time. The doorman at a fancy apartment complex is less active, or we started to talk to random guy on the street---turns out he was baptized a few months ago and has been struggling or an investigator's friend chased us down the stairs to tell us he went to Weber State [college in Utah] and loves Mormons and wants to talk more about Jesus some time. I'm just so past thinking coincidences are just coincidences. Daily I have experiences that reminds me God is real and is so aware of our individual needs.
    -One man thought we were prostitutes when we asked if we could share a card with him. He was so pathetic, but it was so fascinating that I still wanted him so badly to accept the blessings His Heavenly Father is trying to give Him.
    -We saw a woman (as a pedestrian) get hit by a car. She seemed to be okay externally, but that was a little bit awful. I probably shouldn't send these types of things home, huh? Hopefully my posterity will appreciate it at least.
    - Never contact someone that you start to walk in the same direction as. Homeboy was not interested, but we were walking with him. SO then I asked well "what's your name" to at least make friendly conversation. He replied with a "non-applicable". #notetaken
    -Two leaders from the Missionary Department came. The title of my notes for that day read. "Fancy Leadership Meeting #where'smyipad" But no technology for our mission :( We talked a lot about ways to improve our teaching and helping people who accept baptismal dates actually make it to baptism, and it was super good. A highlight was when we talked about "Do you realize what you're offering? And who you're offering it to?" We are offering the gospel of Jesus Christ. AKA the way to access and use the gift of the Atonement in our lives. And we are offering to God's beloved children. #bestjobever
    -I just love my Sister Rackleff. Tomorrow is her birthday!! A year ago I was decorating our MTC classroom for her and now I'm decorating our living room :) #THEDREAM I love that girl. We can't believe transfers are next week. Meh. I have no idea what will happen, but I would love to stay here. SO MUCH IS HAPPENING. I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE HERE. I have never had so many investigators keep their commitments or just appear into my life. It's like God is hastening His work or something? :) I just love being a missionary. Really. Every day I just pray with so much gratitude that God lets me even be a part of this work.
    Guillame is incredible. He always texts us in His broken English about how much he loves meeting with us and talking about God. We printed off  Watching the Restoration and the Christus in French was super cool. AH! SO cool. Chris, Brandon, Peggy, Tiffany, Tracy, and Greg are some others that could really use some prayers :) We have incredible support from our members here. Miracles are seriously ever. Here's my favorite miracle of the week to finish off with:
    On Saturday, Margie (the recent convert) had a get together dinner party at her house so she could get to know members in the ward and introduce her non-member neighbors to us (I know, I know---she's awesome). She was freaking out about it though, so we went to help her set up the hour before. We set up for about 30 minutes and went to get something from our car. Some people came early and everything was set up (so our job was done) and it didn't start for another 30 minutes. We were on the doorstep about to walk in, when we both looked at each other and knew we couldn't go in. We knew it would be a complete waste of the Lord's time (and that time is something that I realize you just can't get back). So we told them we would be back at 5 when it would start. We just started walking. Literally who does God plop in to our paths? A new investigator. Ted is 59 and so prepared for the gospel. We taught him the Restoration last night and he accepted a baptismal date with quite the enthusiasm. The spirit was so strong in the lesson. Light clicked in his eyes as we talked. He talked how he can feel this is the beginning of a healing process that he has been looking for. He was so giddy when he talked about being part of our congregation?
    Who are these people? What is going on here? Every night I'm just amazed. This truly is the Lord's work. It either is all true or all a lie. And I have seen way too many evidences for it to be the latter.
I love each of you so much. Thank you for the prayers and updates on your lives! Make it a great week!
Sister Atkinson

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say rejoice!!


January 20, 2014
 
Hi everyone!
    All is well! I don't have much time today, so this will be an all over the place and fast update. I think I'll just tell random highlights from the week.
-I went on exchanges to BEVERLY HILLZ. Nuts business. Those homes were insane. We were talking to a less active and when we asked if there was anyone who was having a hard time, she suggested we knock on her neighbor's door. So we did (this one didn't have a gate like most). It is our tradition to knock three separate times (one for me, one for my companion, and one  for the Lord), before we leave the doorstep. We knocked three times and were turning around to leave when we heard someone come to the door. She asked who it was. "Missionaries! We're sharing a message about feeling God's love." "Now is not a good time." "Okay! have a good day!" We turned around and left..we were almost to the end of the walk when she opened the door. We turned around to see this beautiful, tall, blonde, total-model, Polish woman. She was crying. She explained that she just found out that her dad was dying and she was booking a flight to Poland. I know that she was crying out for help or pleading with God, and then we knocked on her door.
-People always bash tracting (knocking door-to-door) because it's not the most effective. But sometimes in some areas, it's what you do for a couple hours. And I actually don't mind it at all. Anyways, we tracted for about an hour and a half one day this week. The last door we knocked? Miracle man. His name is Greg. He's awesome. 60s. Gym teacher. Grew up Baptist (50% of the people we're teaching are black men :) ). Anyways, we came back the next day and taught him the Restoration. After I shared the First Vision verbatim he said to me with tears rolling down his face "I feel God's love when you look at me. You just don't fake that kind of thing." It was incredible.
-We met with Guillame and someone who served in France, on her mission in the YSA ward, joined us to translate some. He came to stake conference. He's awesome!!
-We have probably more investigators than I've had in a long time!! I'm praying that we meet with all of them once this week, set expectations, get a game plan going, and miracles will just flow. This area has so much potential right now. Thanks for all the prayers! We need as many as we can get!
-We had stake conference this weekend, which was awesome. I really think a huge reason for the influx of missionaries right now is so when we go home we will be 'boss member missionaries'. Sunday was broadcast from Salt Lake with Pres. Eyring, Elder Andersen, Sister Burton, and Elder Arnold. I am so grateful to have living prophets today!
-We have a secret leadership meeting this Friday with someone from the mission department. A few missions around us have ipads, just so you know.... I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED.
-Less active woman with dementia in our ward told me I looked like a model this week and then we went back and she said "nice to meet you". (I've seen her like 5 times before) and she said quite the opposite of my looks, hahaha. Bless her heart.
-Got this referral through the media system and we went to contact and found that his address was a business.  There was an apt complex with a different address a little bit away, so we decided to contact it (it was an open complex..) I asked the first guy who opened his door if he knew the person that we tried to contact (assuming he didn't live there. I just used it as an icebreaker). Turns out he actually did know him and he lived there. So we go talk to the guy. Turns out? Sister Rackleff ran into him on the street months ago. Missionaries in Northern California met him last week and then referred him through the system. And his ex-girlfriend is a member. Dude. WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD IS SAYING TO YOU. Listen. We referred him to the YSA missionaries, praying he listens this time. Yeesh people. THERE AREN'T COINCIDENCES WHEN IT COMES TO GOD, OKAY? OKAY.
-We got a really weird referral this week. This member subscribed her friend to the Ensign (church magazine) in Russian (obvi..she's Russian). The friend wasn't interested but the friend's mom read it all last year, every issue from cover to cover. She wanted to renew her subscription, but the member didn't give us her name.... and the mom doesn't speak any English....So we took our member who served in Russia with us to go hunt down this unknown referral. She lived in a locked apt complex, so we had to stealthily sneak in. Sister Rackleff was worried our member might think we were nuts for basically breaking in the building. Uhm no. Found out he literally like is Jason Bourne for the Bourne Identity movies. He is an ex-spy who used to hunt down human traffickers, narcotics dealers, and worked for some branch of the government I've never heard of. WHAT. He talked about being in one of Saddam's palaces shooting people when his wife called to tell him if they were having a boy or girl. WHAT. Also, turns out when they lived in D.C. they were Britt and Tristan's neighbors!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I've met them before! Such a small Mormon world. Also, DAN!! (my brother in law) I GOT YOUR NOTE FROM THE VISITOR'S CENTER! THANK YOU! It is so weird to have family in LA and not to see them. But it seriously made my day!! You're the best!
-For the Saturday session of stake conference they asked the missionaries to sing. We can't afford to take time away from our areas, so we just practiced once right before the conference. -_-. Lets just say the bass section had never looked a sheet of music before. It was hilarious. Our Relief Society president came up to us afterwards and said "You know I'm glad they're doing missionary work and not practicing singing." hahahaha
-I love this area! I love the ward! I love my companion!
-It feels like SUMMER right now. Nuts. I actually love biking, except two weeks ago, president asked us all to stop wearing backpacks. Which is fine except when we're biking it hurts a bit to wear my side purse all day with lots in it. #jackedupback but I'm getting a basket for my bike today, so hallelujah.
-Taught a less active at this housing complex for the mentally disabled homeless. I just love the experiences of being a missionary. Someone suggested to me this week to minor in non-profit management and I really think I'm going to look into it when I go home. :)
Okay, I think that's it for today. I love all of you! Thanks for everything! Make it a great week!
Sister Atkinson 

Monday, January 13, 2014

Oh how joyful it will be when our Savior we shall see!


Thank you all for your kind comments, thoughts and prayers for our Ali and our family We truly can feel your love and support at this time. And for those who are concerned we have our rain water cisterns so the 'water crisis' in Charleston did not affect us this time. But we have had our share of our own in the past when we have run out of water for more days than this. But glad the chemical leak has been taken care of and all of our friends are able to use the water now or will be soon. 

January 13, 2014
Hi everyone!!!
Thanks for all the love and support, especially the prayers for me and my family this week. I'm doing great. Being a missionary really is an incredible experience. I have felt the hand of the Lord guiding, strengthening, and comforting me. So do not worry about me one bit :) Let me try to update you from the past two weeks!
Our area is super super small. But we divided it up into three parts. If you are looking at the ocean, the left side is middle-lower class-ish. A lot of people under rent control or Section 8 housing. Or young families. Or nicer homes where older people live. The middle part of our area is mostly car dealerships, the promenade (outdoor mall and restaurants...3 blocks away from the ocean), super small but expensiveeeeee apartments, the pier, and tourist central. The area to the right is richrichrich houses---it borders Malibu. Stereotypically speaking, the richer you get the more Jewish and atheist you get. In case ya don't know as a missionary we aren't allowed to swim or get in the sand. But let's just say there is a less active member that lives literally on the beach. So we went down to the sidewalk on the beach to get there. And we biked on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) when the sun was setting on the ocean and we street contact by the pier all the time. Nuts business. People are much less receptive here than my last area, which is to be expected because of the demographic. It is a melting pot here. It's more eastern-european actually.
Everyone here has met someone famous, haha. Even the guy in our ward who owns a Rubber Stamp store claims Robert Downing Jr. as a customer. Our ward is just an eclectic group of people. I love it. Like I said before, lots of young families and people over the age of 70.  Our ward mission leader works for Amazon and also runs the largest Twilight Fan Club. I'm still working on getting a free #teamedward t-shirt. A less active texted us and told us he couldn't come to church because he was doing a photo shoot with Lance Bass. #hestillhasphotoshoots? #probablynotChristliketosaythat Another ward member is in advertising (most are), and talked about his photoshoot with Kobe Bryant and then we saw his billboard all over Santa Monica Blvd. Where am I?

We are building up our teaching pool with investigators, but we're just trying to help them progress and choose to be elect. #ugh #agency

We are trying to find those interested through less actives and part-member families, but we don't have a ton in our area (We share the ward with the elders. They have the other half of the ward. It is so weird to share a ward with other missionaries. It's much harder to get to know everyone which is very important to me.) We tract (knock on doors) quite a bit, because street contacting isn't as effective here. (Mostly tourists on the streets that are busy with people.) I actually love tracting. It is hilarious---you never know what is behind the door. Some of my favorite quotes or experiences---

In a very thick British woman accent "what do you want? you're bothering me. Does this have anything to do with religion?" In my kindest voice possible, "Yes! It does!" "Then get off my property."

"Our role as missionaries is to testify of Jesus Christ." "Well I'm Jewish and I think this is inappropriate." *cue slammed door*
One angry Jewish man (I promise most Jewish people are very polite!!) started to say really rude things about Mary and Joseph, so we cut him off to say he could check out mormon.org. Then we asked if he had any friends who needed God, etc., as always and he actually gave us a referral!! Nuts how people are so angry, but recognize who we are and that we can help people they love.

"Oh, we are more into nature." ....

One man opens the door and before we could even say hi he says the following, "I am a firm atheist and this is a waste of your time, but  I will say that it is awful that you all don't donate blood. I HAVE DONATED OVER 50 PINTS OF BLOOD. And one day you will need that blood." Once again in my kindest voice possible, "Oh okay! Well we better get going, but we hope you have a great day! And I have donated blood before." "How?!" "In school blood drives and such. Mormons don't believe you can't donate. Have a great day!" Like 20 minutes later and about 10 houses down the street, homeboy comes and finds us. He came and apologized for getting us confused with Jehovah's Witnesses! It was so humbling and so awesome.

I am pleased to announce that my relations with the homeless people of the city of Santa Monica are greatly improving. We gave one outside of our complex some hot chocolate and an extra blanket we had, the other night (we aren't allowed to give money, so we usually keep food in our car to give them). But then he camped outside of our window for a few days. #notmybestdecision He's gone now, so don't worry Mom :)
Oh my birds. So there is this a giant flock of crows that live near our house. Disgusting. Anyways we were getting out of our car the other day, and we seriously got ATTACKED by bird poop. I looked up and screamed INCOMINGGGGGGGGGG and Sister Rackleff barely missed some. Disgusting. (Was it secretly awesome that I saw it falling out of the sky and ran for cover like I was in WWII or something? Yes.) Reminded me of when a bird pooped on Micah's prom dress, hahahahaha.

Things with Sister Rackleff are great! She is a mixture of Kellie Javins (my friend) and Amy Fuller (spaztic comedian). One of my favorite quotes she said this week:
"How was your personal study?" -me
"Better than my personal life..." -her
Hahaha, it was super fun to spend our one year mark together!! NUTS!!! We celebrated and went out to lunch. I have less than 5 months left :( but I think the biggest thing is to not plateau my progression and work ethic. I'm excited to see the miracles! [Note from Dawn: Sister Rackleff and Ali received their mission calls the same day and entered the Mission Training Center the same day last January 9, 2013. And this Mom is excited that she only has 5 months left!!!!!!!!]

Remember Chris? My investigator from my last area?? Well I told you he works in my new area? Seriously that is NUTS. Anyways, because more missionaries got sick and had to go home, the YSA branch I was at won't have missionaries until the transfer. But that means we have permission to teach Chris!!! Super cool!!! He reset a baptismal date and is doing great. Highlight was watching the family video at the Visitor's Center with him this week. It was really powerful for me to testify that living with our families with God forever is the why of everything we do (I had lots of support from the other side of the veil on that one). The gospel of Jesus Christ is the how we get there.
We have other investigators that I don't have time to talk about, but I'd love your prayers for us and them!
We met someone from the Ivory Coast and we are teaching him! We don't have French -speaking missionaries here, so we are trying to do our best. I'll try my best to hone my inner-Mrs. Keller. :)
[Ali's high school French teacher] I should've paid more attention when Dad tried to translate in our Book of Mormon readings.
One of Margie's friends came to her baptism and told us she just saw the light in our eyes when we testified and wanted to be able to stand up and say she knew it was true like we did. It was one of the best compliments I have ever received. We are teaching her and her 16 yr old son that has high-functioning Autism (he seriously is one of the most pure people I have ever met.)
I'll finish with my favorite miracle of the week:
We got a referral for a woman named Peggy. She lives in a very busy part of town. We were walking to her locked apartment complex, just praying there would be some way to get in. We were still two blocks away and we were passing literally dozens and dozens of people. SIster Rackleff felt impressed to stop and talk to this woman. We start talking to her for a little bit before we realized... WHO WAS IT? PEGGY. It was insane!!!!! The chances of us passing her, let alone talking to her, were like 1 in 1000 at least.  And people say miracles have ceased? This is God's work. He is SO aware of us individually.
He loves you and He knows you by name. I love you! Thank you for everything! Make it a great week!!
Love,
Sister Ali Atkinson :)

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain. Be still my soul.


January 6, 2014
Hi everyone!
There is so much to say and not a lot of time. I have been thinking about and praying about what I am going to say in this email for days and still haven't found anything eloquent enough to say. So this will be all over the place, but bear with me.
Last Monday, when I got mom's email that grandma was in the hospital, I honestly thought she was going to be fine, just like she had pulled through multiple times before. But after I left emailing, Grandma was consistently in my thoughts which really concerned me. I'm usually really good about pushing people and things from home out of my thoughts if I need to, but Grandma was in my thoughts all week, so I knew something wasn't right. On Thursday, I got my mail. I got a Christmas card from Grandma. I was shocked to get something from her. It was very telling of her personality and is now one of my my most prized possessions--- "This is all I could do this year so Merry Christmas Ali. -Grandma" with $5 in it. As soon as I opened it I started to cry as I got a distinct impression that Grandma wouldn't make it until I come home this summer. A few hours later is when my mission president called. "Sister Atkinson, can I speak with you in private?" I knew. I started to cry. "President, is this about my grandma?" He reverently told me she passed away peacefully on Thursday. I talked with him for a few minutes through the sobs of course, pulled myself together and went contacting. We had our regular interviews with him on Saturday, so we talked more about it then. When Grandma Atkinson passed away, I felt impressed to tell lots of people and testify about the plan of salvation. For whatever reason, I have only felt so far to talk about it with my companion and President. But I still have noticed that same difference in my testifying.

I am overwhelmed by the emails and love I can feel from you all. This email session really has been overwhelming with peace and love. Please tell Jennifer I was really touched that she insisted my picture was displayed at the service. My companion, Sister Rackliff asked me about my family and she prays for James (since he was so close to Grandma) almost every prayer. Thank you so much to everyone. I am just so so so grateful for my family. I am especially grateful that my niece little McKinley Emma came this week as well!!!! You all are just in my thoughts and prayers so much.
On Saturday I wore my 50s style dress that reminds me of grandma and ate plenty of apple butter in honor of her. Mom sent me her talk from Grandma's funeral and I loved it. It reminded me so much of Grandma. It sounded like the service was so sweet and so perfect. Especially when John-Mark led the congregation in an enthusiastic closing song!! I'm sure she and Grandpa were joining in. She really is an incredible person. When I think of her I will always think of hard work and true love. I was thinking about how many qualities I have from her--we all know that's where my sassiness and height come from. I thought about the blankets she's made, the parties she's hosted, the shotguns she's shot to get the cats and pigeons out of her yard, how many deer she's fed, how much genealogy she's done, and when she came to my 1940s themed birthday party or one of my middle school volleyball games. I thought of every single one of my cousins and family members that adore her. I thought about her strength as a widow or attitude when a NASCAR race was on. I thought about cookouts and Christmas Eve or yelling at a doctor when I took her to an appointment. I thought about her stories and love for heritage. She simply loved West Virginia and she loved family and she loved us. She is an incredible human and I think we will all work so hard to keep that legacy.

When Grandma Atkinson passed away, immediately peace came. Thursday night when I learned about Grandma Gibson's passing that peace didn't come at first. I prayed for it all weekend. And then Sunday came. I love church. Every testimony or lesson was about temples, families, or the plan of salvation. The closing song in Relief Society was Families Can Be Together Forever. It was very touching for me.
 
I'm sorry about this email. It's all over the place but here is what the spirit has told me in the past 48 hours---
Grandma is no longer in physical pain. She is with Grandpa. I know how much she loved him. And how much she trusts him. I know how happy it will be for my Mom to be sealed to her parents in the temple in a year. I know how good my grandma is--pure goodness. I have studied a lot about hope this week and it is one of my favorite words. Sister Rackleff said something to me this Thursday night that has stuck with me "Your grandma is your Heavenly Father's daughter. He will do everything he possibly can to make her happy." I know that's true. I know she is being taken care of so well on the other side of the veil.  I know how glorious and eternal the priesthood power is in the temple. It's real and it's restored. I know it. I know that I was sent to a very specific family and very noble heritage. In a special blessing I have, it talks about my heritage. It says that all of those ancestors who have preceded me (which now includes all of my grandparents and many others) are very aware of my life and the decisions I make. I need to do my part to make my reunion with them glorious. And you better believe I will do my best. I think of them often and I feel very close to them, especially on a mission. I have prayed for angels this week to be with me and with you all and I can promise you they're there. And they're real. God is taking care of me and I know that He is taking care of you. I know that I need to be here. People need to know that they can be with their families forever---so I know Grandma would want me here too. I have been sad, but I have felt an incredible amount of strength. We have seen a TON of miracles this week and we have worked really hard. I am very happy. I am out of time, so I'm really sorry that I won't send the usual update home. I'll send it next week.
Sorry this is all over the place, but know how much I love you and pray for you. I know this gospel is true and is the only reason that I would be away from home right now. Before I left I made for Mom a little sign thing that says something like "missionaries leave their families for a short time, so others can be with theirs for eternity." It's worth it. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!
Make it a great week :)
Stay tuned for the adventures of Santa Monica in next week's email.
Love,
Sister Atkinson

Monday, January 6, 2014

Then sings my soul! My Savior God to thee -- how great thou art!

Written December 30, 2013
Hello everyone!
Okay, I've got to type super fast today. Can't wait for a new baby niece this week! And I'm super sad to hear about grandma! Please keep her in your prayers everyone. [Note from Dawn: Since Ali wrote this,  my mom, Ali's Grandma Gibson, passed away on Thursday, January 2, 2014, and Brittany had her baby girl, McKinley Emma Leavitt was born on December 31, 2013.]
We had a baptism in my new area for Margie! She is 52 and the sweetest person. She has been through a lot in her life and has made some very dramatic changes recently! The elders in our ward texted us to say "every time we see Margie she just seems more and more Mormon!" and it is so true. Her baptism was so sweet and then was confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. After her confirmation she was so radiant and practically bounced down the aisle back to her seat by us. She hugged us and then looked at her friend who introduced her the church and enthusiastically declared "I DID IT!" So happy.

On Sunday we got to head back to my beloved branch to see Joyce's baptism. It was incredible. The spirit was SO strong there. She just gets it, you know? Like she could be a general authority's wife. The decision she made to be baptized not only will effect her and her family now, but her ancestors, her future family, and countless others. It has been such a blessing to be apart of her process. (Did I ever tell you about how one night when she had a doubt she just went online and literally watched 5 hours of Mormon messages? or how she has read almost the entire book of Mormon? Seriously. She was so prepared and is so solid.)
I love my new area. I love my Sister Rackleff. Since the MTC, we never thought we'd be companions but it has been super happy. She has so many mannerisms of the one and only Kellie Javins, so that's super weird, haha.

I love my new area. We have a car since we are sister training leaders, but we bike most of the time. Which I actually love. The ward is mostly young couples and families and older people (a ton of widows). There is only one young woman and young man and they are siblings, so I would love to find 12-18 yr olds to baptize. Being in a family ward is very different (like we spent some time helping a woman in our ward in a nursing home glue Christmas bells together), but I really love it. And I realized that we are all kids. no one ever really grows up, haha.
Our area is the beach, so there are tons of tourists and Europeans. It's so different. There are also a ton of homeless people. I'm going to just spit off random stories and quotes for the rest of this email....
Here's my Christmas day:
Woke up at the usual 6:15 am. Went running in reindeer antlers and S. Rackleff wore a santa hat. Got lots of comments. Better believe we ran with the Christmas spirit!
Sister Rackleff felt bad taht she didn't have anything for me since we just got emergency transferred together, so she wrapped up stuff from my desk. I asked her "Where's my camera?!" so i could take a picture of all of the things she wrapped. "Oh... I think Santa brought it back to you." "The best gifts you can receive are the ones you already have!"
Our zone of missionaries went and sang Christmas carols at a nursing home. It was super precious. Except this one woman asked me to scratch her back. Which I did. And then she said, "Under the sweater." Oh I don't think I can do that. Then she gave me a kiss on the cheek. Which was precious, but
then she said, "Now give me your lips!" AHHHH. NO....
We stopped by sweet Margie's house and then we went to the Burrell's! They are the best. And no, I'm not just saying that because she googled me the first day I came and read my blog, so I know she will be reading this...They are the cutest young couple (he's a stand up comedian---follow his podcast! Sis. Burrell will comment with the link ;)) and took such good care of us for Christmas. We had a scrumptious dinner and then we skyped our families for 40 minutes...IT WAS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL!!!!! I'm sorry if I was awkward. I figured if I didn't talk much, then I wouldn't cry. So nailed that one. Britt told me I lost all my hick and ghetto in my voice and just sound like a Valley Girl now. UGH. LOVE YOU ALL.
We caroled at some less actives doors (one yelled at us in front of her young children...SO SO SO SAD. she even served a mission but has gone less active. broke my heart.). Then we went with the elders in our ward and caroled at the pier. So I spend my Christmas night at the beach caroling :) It was really cool. It might sound cheesy to say I felt like angels were singing with us, but it's true. I really did. Afterwards we gave a homeless man some candy. There was another homeless man a few feet from us sleeping, so I instinctively went to place some candy by his head (looking back, I recognize this was not my best decision to approach a sleeping homeless man... SORRY MOM). He woke up in a jump because I scared him. Then he threw the candy at me pretty hard and screamed some profane words and yelled "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Another homeless man didn't seemed phased that he was yelling at me, and he calmly came over and picked up the candy and stole it, haha. Then we were biking home. And there was this giant hill. Ugh. We were joking about it before we even got there. I just was too tired, and I walked up it. (I know have raised my bike seat up a few inches, and my thighs very much appreciate it...) But on the other side of the street there was a homeless man walking up the hill as well. He saw me get off and he yelled teh following across four lanes at me...I'll try my best to edit the language..."BULL HONKY. GET BACK ON THAT DANG BIKE. DON'T LET THIS HILL DEFEAT YOU. PUT THAT BIKE IN GEAR. LOOK. LOOK! IMMA BEAT YOU UP THIS HILL. BOTH OF YOU!" (he ran up teh hill and yes, he beat both me and sis rackleff [who was on a bike] up the hill) "YEAH. THAT'S RIGHT. I'M AN EX-PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER." we were DYING laughing. I thought he was kidding. We tried to yell Merry Christmas or what team did you play for? But he did not respond. He was not joking and he was not happy. HILARIOUS. Ahhh, and that was my Christmas! It seriously was one of the best. I felt so close to my Savior.
Other quotes of the week:
"I woke up to a knock at the door. My neighbor asked me to move my car off of her front lawn!" -A sweet woman with dementia in our ward telling us about her party years
"And I'm looking for a good Christian woman to be my wife, or even Mormon. so keep me in mind if you're single." -this homeless man that gave us his resume. He is an actor and his resume had a picture of him on the front of a TV guide. Sister Rackleff is a little gullible, so I had to explain that he Photoshopped it, hahaha
Another guy came out of a Jack-In-The-Box with a ton of ketchup packets in his pockets. He said he was starving and had to go home and eat but that he would come to the Visitor's Center with us that night. He gave us a legit address and phone number, so he wasn't homeless...just high. Guess what? He actually came to the VC! His phone died while he was there, so we didn't run in to him. I 80% believe him, so we'll see where that one goes.
In LA there are just random crosswalks with no stop signs or anything. But you just have to keep a look out and stop for pedestrians. Well one night we were driving home from teh Visitor's Center and this homeless man was pushing himself across the crosswalk one legged, backwards in a wheel chair. Sis. Rackleff didn't see him (he was blocked by another car), but I yelled and she slammed on her brakes. But in plenty of time... so no worries. But he still was mad, gave us the bird, and yelled another few bad words at us... I'm just not having a very good track record with the homeless people of Santa Monica...
Oh yeah, we saw 2 different men peeing into trash cans. One was homeless. One was not. WHAT. NASTY.
Remember my investigator Chris from my last area? His work is in my new area!! So i got to stop by and say hi! SO that's happy.
Oh and THE ENTIRE BYU MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM WAS AT OUR SACRAMENT MEETING YESTERDAY. I GUESS THEY'RE IN TOWN FOR GAME. Since I'm the new missonary, I gave the closing prayer in sacrament meeting and it took all I had not to stare at them. I mean the missionary phrase "lock your heart" had a whole new meaning for me yesterday.....
We're doing a lot of finding and a lot of less active work. So keep that in your prayers.
Oh and you know how I asked you to pray for our mission's baptisms for the month of December? We have prayed for it in every prayer and we have worked super hard andddddddddd we broke like a 5 year record! We had about 60 baptisms. Almost double our usual. Super happy. I just love this work!
Okay, I think that's it for now. I'm sorry this wasn't more spiritual. Basically, I just love the Savior. And some people completely miss the whole point of the gospel. It's all about progression. Because our Savior came, we can progress. We can overcome. We can change. This new year is going to be one of the best! I can just feel it!
LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MAKE IT A GREAT WEEK!
Sister Atkinson