April 7, 2014
Press on enduring in the ways of Christ:)
Hello everyone!
Another week!
First off, general conference was AMAZING. Go watch it right now if you haven't on lds.org. They were just unapologetic in the way they denounced sin and advocated righteousness. A lot of you asked me what my favorite part was, but I really can't pick one! I think my favorite thing this time around was the power and renewal of energy I could feel. I could feel myself recommitting to my covenants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, whether it's by sharing about Him, defending Him, enduring for Him, witnessing of Him, learning of/from Him, following Him, building my faith in Him, hoping in Him, or rejoicing in Him. I simply love the Lord. I love His gospel. I love His church. I love His servants. I just love Him. And I love you. I could feel connected to many of you this weekend and I'm grateful for that.
This week was an interesting one. Basically, I promised myself a long time ago on my mission that I would only work with people who are ready to receive and act on answers from God. You'd think I get used to it, but this week was a little harder than others (not that I am complaining in the least bit. I am very grateful for all of the experiences I had this week.) It's just not every day you run in to a Ted on the street or a Chris shows up to church, but when we walk out the door every morning we have to have the faith that it will be one of those days. Elder Oaks has a quote in preach my gospel that I love (since Elder Ballard told us missionaries to share some of our studies with you ;) ),
Dallin Oaks Quote: "None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others. The same principle applies to missionaries, whom the Master called ‘fishers of men.’ A missionary’s line should drop into the fishing water the moment he or she leaves the apartment."
This is a principle that Sister Lopez and I have really tried to apply this week. We have talked to hundreds and hundreds of people, but we aren't getting many fish - let alone bites (well that's not true, we had 3 conversations this week that I will tell you about that were our tender mercies). But she is enthusiastic and optimistic and we both have just smiled our way through it (one thing about Santa Monica is that everyone is very honest. They know who we are and what we want. So they don't ever give us false hopes. It's nice because you don't often have people that make an appointment and don't show up, but you also get a lot more no's than I ever did in South Central, haha) So onward, ever onward this week! We are praying a lot and then getting on our feet and hitting the pavement, so miracles are all around and there are some pretty amazing ones around the corner, I just know it :)
Another week!
First off, general conference was AMAZING. Go watch it right now if you haven't on lds.org. They were just unapologetic in the way they denounced sin and advocated righteousness. A lot of you asked me what my favorite part was, but I really can't pick one! I think my favorite thing this time around was the power and renewal of energy I could feel. I could feel myself recommitting to my covenants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, whether it's by sharing about Him, defending Him, enduring for Him, witnessing of Him, learning of/from Him, following Him, building my faith in Him, hoping in Him, or rejoicing in Him. I simply love the Lord. I love His gospel. I love His church. I love His servants. I just love Him. And I love you. I could feel connected to many of you this weekend and I'm grateful for that.
This week was an interesting one. Basically, I promised myself a long time ago on my mission that I would only work with people who are ready to receive and act on answers from God. You'd think I get used to it, but this week was a little harder than others (not that I am complaining in the least bit. I am very grateful for all of the experiences I had this week.) It's just not every day you run in to a Ted on the street or a Chris shows up to church, but when we walk out the door every morning we have to have the faith that it will be one of those days. Elder Oaks has a quote in preach my gospel that I love (since Elder Ballard told us missionaries to share some of our studies with you ;) ),
Dallin Oaks Quote: "None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others. The same principle applies to missionaries, whom the Master called ‘fishers of men.’ A missionary’s line should drop into the fishing water the moment he or she leaves the apartment."
This is a principle that Sister Lopez and I have really tried to apply this week. We have talked to hundreds and hundreds of people, but we aren't getting many fish - let alone bites (well that's not true, we had 3 conversations this week that I will tell you about that were our tender mercies). But she is enthusiastic and optimistic and we both have just smiled our way through it (one thing about Santa Monica is that everyone is very honest. They know who we are and what we want. So they don't ever give us false hopes. It's nice because you don't often have people that make an appointment and don't show up, but you also get a lot more no's than I ever did in South Central, haha) So onward, ever onward this week! We are praying a lot and then getting on our feet and hitting the pavement, so miracles are all around and there are some pretty amazing ones around the corner, I just know it :)
-Conversation 2: [Note from Dawn: this one is a little difficult to follow with all of her hashtag thingies and her thoughts, so I will put those in brackets and then you will know the other comments are from the lady she met. Quite the story.] We were a little late to an appointment, but we really have promised God we will talk to everyone. A lady is walking towards us. My thought process=we're late... eh, just at least give her a card.... She accepts the card, looks at it, and just starts laughing. "I'm David Archuleta's manager!" {What?! YES PLEASE.} She goes on to tell us he just got home from his mission {#mominformedmetodayhaha}, she says if we ever see someone in the neighborhood that looks like him it probably is him because her office is around the corner {#pleasebless}, She told us that David goes out with the missionaries in Utah all the time {#goodboy}, Elder Ballard has given her books before {#howdoyouturndownElderBallard}, David just asked her the other day if she would be interested in meeting with missionaries and have you ever run into missionaries in Santa Monica? She told him she hadn't...{48 hours later... #BAM. THERE WE BE. Obvi, God is real.} She was still super hesitant to meet with us, but lets just say in heaven [Dawn says, I am not sure what she means by heaven here...], I'm watching the conversation she {the manager} had with David Archuleta minutes after the conversation we had. God is trying so hard on her right now. She'll come around :) It was satisfying to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, even if we won't get to see fruits of it.
-Conversation 3: Met a character named Tony on the street on Saturday. He had a coworker once who was Mormon and was always so impressed with the way he valued his family (everyone has a connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Like everyone!) He went to the visitor's center once because he was curious, but didn't want to learn more. Pretty adamant about it. Sunday comes and? We randomly knocked on homeboy's door!!! "Tony. This never happens. What do you think God is trying to tell you?!" He still had an attitude from the day before (although he read the Book of Mormon Saturday night after seeing us) so I said a silent prayer basically saying, "Heavenly Father. I know you wanted us to meet him again today. What do I say?" Then the words "Timing is everything Tony. Why did God want us to meet you right now? What is going on in your life that He is trying to help you with?" He opened up about a recent death in the family and being at a crossroads in his life and not knowing what his purpose is. WHAT. I silently said a prayer of gratitude. He then said "It is pretty crazy that we met again...maybe it is a sign" (#duh.) and started to open up more. He still was super reluctant to meet and the last thing I want to do is waste my time in trying to convince someone, but we have an appointment this Saturday and he said he would read the book of Mormon every day, praying before with a personal question he has for God and with the question "Is this true?" I really believe he'll do it. And if he does it, I'll get to watch God do his thing. So it will be interesting to see how this one pans out. Aka pray for tony!
No effort is wasted. I truly believe that.
Hardest moment this week: An investigator that we have been meeting with for a couple months randomly stopped responding to our calls/texts. We had an appointment scheduled, so we show up at his apartment. His roommate that is nice to us answers the door. He and his anti-mormon roommate are in the background in the kitchen cooking. Our investigator says he is busy cooking and can't come to the door (not like him. normally he is super friendly and gentleman-like). His anti roommate starts making fun of us and asking us to be his wives. We texted him after "Let us know if you would like to meet!" No response. Heart broken? Yes. Do I hate Satan? Yes. Will our investigator come around some day in the future? I truly hope so.
I wrote in a different investigator's teaching record that we stopped teaching her because she hadn't responded to us in a couple weeks. Literally within 5 minutes, she texted us and asked to meet this week. #you'rekillinmesmalls
So we have to play the game "homeless or not?" when we street contact. Santa Monica has to be the homeless capital of the world. Some millionaires dress grungy here and look homeless (then I notice how expensive their shoes are) and some homeless people look so...not homeless. Merciful.
I really am happy and doing well! Thanks for all the support! Make it a great week! Love you all!
Sister Atkinson
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