"Put his arms unfailing 'round you -- God be with you till we meet again."

     Well, everyone this is it. Her last email as a missionary! It made me cry....well actually I have been crying for 2 weeks! I am so excited to see my baby girl! If you want to come to the airport and be part of the welcoming committee she is due to arrive at Yeager Airport about 9:50 pm Wednesday, June 11th!, arriving from Atlanta. If the flight is on time they usually get in a little early from Atlanta so I am planning on being there at 9:30. But tis the season of scattered thunderstorms so hopefully weather won't be an issue. There will also be the welcome home party/concert on the lawn at our house on Saturday, June 21st at 6:00 pm. and she is speaking in church Sunday, June 22nd at 9:00 am (at the church in Sissonville). Our whole family will be together for one week beginning June 20th. This is one happy mom! I cannot thank you all enough for all of your love, prayers and support for her and me these past long months. Hope to see all of you soon!  Love, Dawn  

 

Hello everyone!!

 

    I just cannot believe that today is here. I really am not quite aware of anything that is going on around me. Everything is a blur...Like I have a ton of energy and I know soon enough I'll crash and it will all hit me sometime in the next 4 days, but I have no idea when. So until then I'll just keep running around smiling. I will do my best to say something coherent...

    So I've already had my last MLC, endowment session with the departing missionaries and President/Sister Weidman at the temple, my last interview with president, and my departing missionary fireside. I've said good-bye to all of my investigators/members/etc. except the two we will see tonight. Ah. In about 45 minutes, Sister Black and I get to go street contact for a few hours with the brand new missionaries that just got off the plane. Then we have a couple hours in our area tonight. First thing tomorrow morning, we are going to the transfer meeting where I will say good bye to all my missionaries that I love so much. I'll get to bear my testimony to the precious new missionaries and then we will spend the day in the temple doing initiatories and sealings. Then we will have a dinner with President and Sister Weidman and a final testimony meeting. Then I will sleep at the temple patron apts. Then we will fly off on Wednesday morning. I have a solid 4 hour layover in Atlanta (plenty of time to hand out pass along cards) and then I'm home. Like I said, it still hasn't really hit me.

    A few comments about the week:

-I got to go on exchanges with Sister Son (one of my past companions)!! She is now speaking Korean in Koreatown biking her little heart away, so YES I got to serve Korean speaking for 24 hours. Since you bow your head when you say hello to Koreans, I kept bowing my head when I said hi to people for a good 48 hours after I left Ktown. It was so fun to be with her. We haven't been companions for a year, and it was so special to see how much we've grown. I love her a lot. Plus, she took me to a Korean bbq place #holla. Oh and two men tried to kiss us. #nailedit

-I have prayed hard for miracles this week and they happened! Just a few of them include an investigator getting a very STRONG impression from the Spirit to "believe the sisters"!!!!! 3 formers wanting to meet with us again!!!!!!!!! Vicky passing her baptismal interview!!!!!!!!!!! Ted wearing a white shirt and tie to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And many more. It has been a very special week for me. Plus Sister Black is awesome.

-The temple was a sacred experience as always. It was interesting. The first part of it was really hard. I was exhausted and starving (long day) and just felt like I was working so hard (even though I was sitting, haha). I was sitting in a room and then I prayed to God. I went through the past year and a half. I went through each companion, each area, and many of the people I got to work with. Once again the weight and the exhaustion hit me. Then I got to go into my favorite room in the temple. I walked in and embraced Sister Weidman and shook hands with President Weidman (I love them so much..President said "I think it should be legal to hug sister missionaries in the temple" hahahaha). I hugged the other sister missionaries going home. One of them, a good friend, asked me how I felt. I felt light. I felt fulfilled. I felt peace. I felt so much love. She said "This just feels like a giant family reunion". I responded, "I think that is exactly what it's supposed to feel like...hey sister, I think God wants us to be happy that we're going home." I felt like the first part was working my way through my mission and the last part was how I'm supposed to feel about going home. It was really special and as always I can't convey it the way I want to. I then sat in the temple and read Doctrine and Covenants. I read in section 128 which is just where I was in reading it (I'm trying to finish it before I head home). It was amazing how much it answered so many of the questions I had for God. The following verses really hit home:

22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.

 23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!

    Shall I not go on in so great a cause? The back of my planner this transfer has a quote from President Uchtdorf, it says: "In His plan, there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." This is the work of salvation people. It is the happiest cause that I have ever devoted so much. And you better believe this is not the end. I'm just moving forward to the next stage. Praying for courage, haha.
    My last interview with President was really special as well. I love that man. The Spirit was so strong and was able to once again answer so many of my questions. But for a good 5 minutes of it he told me why I need to go into HR (he is one of the most influential CEO's in the world and the most humble one too). So I have no idea what I'm doing with my life.

    And then last night was my departing missionary fireside. It was really special for me to see so many of the people that I have been blessed to know the past year and a half (plus the surprise visit from my BYU/LA native friend, Heather, was so fun!). Just calling everyone to invite then was overwhelming enough. I just am so so so grateful. My testimony at the fireside meeting went something like this:

"Hello my friends!

God IS real. He is our loving Heavenly Father. He knows us perfectly and loves us individually. My whole life I have been overwhelmed by the way he has blessed me and given me so many gifts. So when I sacrificed a year and a half of my education, family, friends and life as I knew it, I thought I was finally able to give a gift back to God. But I was wrong and very naive. Because a year and a half later, especially as I look in to the faces of so many individuals who have changed my life, I know that my mission has been a gift from God to me.

This is the Lord's work, not mine. He could do a much better job of it than me. So why did He ask me to come? Why did He let me participate? Because He knew how the experiences I would have in Los Angeles would change my life. And they have.

The greatest gift God has ever given us is His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Through Him we can have eternal life. Not only do we have the opportunity to live with God, but we have the chance to be like Him!! But how do we accept this gift? We must have faith, we must repent, we must be baptized, we must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we must endure to the end. A complete understanding of these steps to accepting this gift and this path were gone from the earth for hundreds of years. But they have been restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith.

Do we realized what we have?!

The Church of Jesus Christ is back! The priesthood, the power of God, is back! Baptism, sacrament, temples, all of it is back! The path way home to our loving Heavenly Father is back! 

This is a big deal. And the evidence of that is in the Book of Mormon. We can read it and ask God if it is all real and true. It is. I know that. 

We must not let anything get in the way of us progressing on this path home to God. Don't let any substances, doubts, or fears get in your way. We must press forward with faith. We must repent daily. We must read the scriptures and pray every day. We must take the sacrament worthily every week. If you haven't been baptized yet, please please please follow the example of Jesus Christ. Come unto Him. This is the work of Jesus Christ and I know it's all true."

I am so overwhelmed by all the love and support I have received from all of you from home. I am sure that I could not have had these experiences in the past year and a half without you all. I am excited to be reunited with you! Love you all! make it the greatest week ever!!

Sister Atkinson

Onward, onward, youth oif Zion; Thy reward the victor's crown!

Just to let all of you know in advance - her arrival at Yeager Airport is scheduled for 9:50pm on Wednesday night, June 11th. ALL are invited to welcome her home if you wish. We will not have all of our family there because they all won't be here until June 20th. But you are considered family to us and I know she would be thrilled to see a welcoming party! AND also to let you know in advance, we will be having a welcome home gathering and  one of our annual live concerts on the lawn combination at our house (rain or shine),Saturday June 21st at 6:00pm. AND one more thing - she will be speaking in church, 9:00am Sunday morning, June 22nd. We would love to all of you there! Call if you have any questions! Thanks in advance for 8 more days of prayers and support! Love, Dawn

 

 

Hello hello hello!

I have done pretty well so far at keeping my emotions together, so I refuse to talk about how many days I have left to destroy that composure. :) (I really am still in denial, haha)

But since everyone has asked about my stress or emotional level, I would say I'm feeling what I'm supposed to be feeling---one hot mess. Just kidding, I'm actually doing really well.  I'm overall super grateful and full of awe that God lets me be here. But I'm often paralyzed in thought (never in lessons or on the street...just in my bed or in the car, haha). My mind is constantly racing of this and that. On exchanges this week in a YSA ward, we went to a member's home and I saw a friend from BYU. Can God stop reminding me that I'm going home? #theworst 

But one redeeming thing is that I feel like I get to have all my people back at the same time (at least virtually)---west virginia people, utah people, my LA people...so that keeps me comforted. (How in the world did anyone handled returning from a mission without facebook is beyond me).

This week was such a good week! ELDER M. RUSSELL BALLARD, AN APOSTLE AND SPECIAL WITNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, CAME TO OUR MISSION YESTERDAY. It was such a sacred few hours. President commented afterwards that Elder Ballard spoke to us as if we were old friends. I could feel that love. When he testified of the Savior and of Joseph Smith's first vision and of the Book of Mormon, the Spirit completely enveloped me. He was speaking pure truth. 

He told some stories of his own where as a mission president or missionary he would ask the person to ask God "are we true messengers from God?" As he said that over and over, the spirit made me ask, "Am I a true messenger from God?" There a few moments on my mission that I realize how special the calling of a missionary is. It just all hit me yesterday. We rode back with some other sisters, one of which is my good friend who is also going home this transfer. I asked her how it felt to hear Elder Ballard talk about the future of the California Los Angeles Mission and realize we wouldn't be here. She summed it up perfectly when she said "It stung". But sometimes God just calls us to something different. Onward, ever onward.

One thing he and the member of the 70 [another general authority of the church] that came with him talked about was the Savior's parable of the lost sheep. Our purpose as missionaries (well and everyones for that matter) is to invite others and help them to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. How great is our calling!!!!! We get to invite and help the lost lamb return home. When we are baptized we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and always represent Him. That's what we do as missionaries. Christ's name is literally written on my chest all day, everyday. We must be committed to that lost sheep. We must have a deep and invested love as we try to help them home. If it requires going in to the thickets and helping them on to our shoulders and carrying them miles back to the little flock, then we must do that. Last night, I sat across from an investigator that I have worked with for several months. I can tell you that some days I have thrown her on to my shoulders and had to go get her from spiritual thickets plenty of times, haha. But she. was. different. yesterday. She was glowing. She is getting baptized soon. She is a different person. The atonement is working inside of her and God let me be apart of it. I just sat and stared at her in awe. Moments like that are what this work is all about.

Our investigators are doing really well. Like this area is going to EXPLODE next transfer and I am so excited for it. One of our investigators I was so sure would get baptized this weekend before I left, but she smoked a cigarette this week, so we had to move it (just need to make sure you're off of it before you promise God when you're baptized that you'll never smoke again).Sister Black and I were sad of course that we would have to move her baptism. Then I realized I wouldn't be here for it. Then Sister Black asked me how I felt. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. It took all I had to say, "You know sister, experiences my whole mission have prepared me for a moment like this." 

What I mean by that is my whole mission I have struggled with a roller coaster of thoughts of "Am I baptizing enough?" "Am I giving my all?" "Is the Lord pleased?" "Am I satisfied with what I did in this area?" "Am I enough?" etc. etc. etc. That moment was a test to see if I really have learned deep in my heart what was important. Did Satan attack me in that weak moment? As always. But I really felt stronger than him. I probably am not explaining that well, but it was a special moment for me.

So I thought I better try to convey in this email my thoughts that I have learned, and I mean it all in the humblest way possible.

Now, do not get me wrong. Numbers are very very very important to me. They have helped me grow, pushed me to what I didn't know was possible, built my faith, and been the means of many miracles of my mission. However, I think looking back on my mission I can say I am just as satisfied in my transfers of "lower numbers" with my transfers of "higher numbers". Sure there might be some few differences between the two types of transfers that I had some control over, but pretty much overall my work ethic, faith, and desires have been consistent with what I was capable of the time. Of course I can look back on a day or an investigator or a transfer and say "What was I thinking. I would never do that now. There is something way more effective. Why didn't you help them this way! etc." But at the time I did what I could/thought was best and knew how to do. Every night I kneel down at my bed and pray and hand over my day to the Lord. I pray that He will forgive me for my weaknesses and my mistakes and help me be better tomorrow.

Elder Ballard (yes the same one I got to shake hands with yesterday #nobigdeal), asks a question to missionaries on one of the Preach My Gospel training dvds. He says something to the effect of "If the Lord came to your area and asked you 'How are you taking care of this part of my vineyard that I have trusted you with?' would you feel comfortable handing him your area book?" I really do think I could give my Savior any of my planners, ward lists, area books, etc. and say "Here Lord. I'm so sorry for all my mistakes, but I really have tried so hard." And I really do think I would feel fulfilled. I feel His love and gratitude often (I am praying so hard that I'll be able to feel it these next two weeks especially). Some people might look at my mission and say "Wow you had lots of baptisms" or some might say "Whoa you didn't have very many baptisms". But the thing is, if we are trying to do things the Lord's way, they aren't my numbers at all---they are His. 

If there has been one recurring theme of my mission it is this: This is the Lord's work, not mine. These are His people, not mine. It has had absolutely nothing to do with me. Sure I helped and sure there are many people that I felt a very special and predestined connection with, but it was God the entire time. It was His work when we had rejections and it was His work when we had success. Either way, He patiently let me participate because He knew how these experiences would change me.  I would never be bitter or disappointed in some of the harder times of my mission, because I am just so grateful that God has let me witness any of it in the first place. We must still have deep faith and high expectations. This is the time of the hastening of His work. Big things are going on. I came here to give my all to Him, and I certainly have tried hard to do that. It's a good thing, I have PLENTY of time left on my mission to still give Him all I got ;).

Not sure if any of that made sense. Thank you ALL so much for your endless love, support, and prayers. It has made all the difference. Make it a good week!!