Called to Serve!: March 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

"help me find thy lambs who wander; help me bring them to thy keep" - hymn #281

Note from Dawn: Here is the current week's email. I am caught up and hope to post pictures later today!
March 25, 2013
HOLA EVERYONE!
Okay lets start with a guessing game.
What happened to Ali January 2011, February 2012, and March 2013........................................

AN ANKLE INJURY! WOOHOO! I know, right?! How does that happen? Hypermobility or whatever at its finest. Don't worry. It's no where near as bad as the past two years'. It's just a little sprain. I was running this morning and my left foot did a little dip between a cement crack and sprinkler head....if that makes sense. basically it's exactly what I did last year, only not as bad. Down I went on Santa Monica Boulevard. "Ouch." "NO. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." "NO. NO. NO." Sister Barney ran to get our car, and I had a moment to myself to freak out. (I think that's the first time I've been alone in 3 months, haha) All I could think was "I don't want to go home. Please don't send me home. Don't send me home." I was in shock and naturally only thought of my previous injuries. I said a prayer and I have felt very peaceful since. Within a couple hours and some ice, I've got my brace on and limping a bit. Within the hour, Sister Barney and I were laughing hysterically about it. I prayed for strength and I can most definitely feel it. The Lord's strength is physical, emotional, spiritual, etc. etc. etc. etc. I'm fine. I won't over do it. I hate my ankles though. Can't lie. Prayer works people. Just saying. But in April 2014, I will be EXTRA careful. Merciful.
"It's not your fault you have weakles that are ank." -Sister Barney sometimes struggles speaking words.
"Oh my gosh, I knew we should have turned back home when we saw that black cat!!" -me trying to blame my clumsiness on a black cat
"Dear Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the morning we've had.....*cue laughter*" -my habitual prayer to start to companionship study didn't seem to sound genuine. Wonder why. I really am grateful though.

Okay! Other fun thing of the week! Last night our investigator texted us and said we could meet at the visitor's center for her lesson (we are not visitor's center sisters, but we use the facility to meet people there to teach. the technology and spirit there is just not like their apartments, haha). Anyways, we got there a couple minutes early. I look up and who do I see? The Pingel family! (good family friends). They are in L.A. for spring break and decided to come to the temple. The senior sister missionary was just about to call us since we just live down the street and show up there all the time to teach people, haha. It was so fun to see them! Mom, they said they are impressed with your facebooking and blog skills. Gracias. They also said that I look different from when they saw me 6 months ago, haha. Justin said I had that "missionary mantle", hahaha. Who knows if that is a good thing.

Lets see, this week was great! We set our goals high, and somehow the Lord provided a way that we could accomplish almost all of them. Transfers are in a couple of weeks, and I am praying that we stay. Ah. Megan, Ashley, Kent, Dennis, et. al. are so close, but they need another month or two. And I love the less actives and ward members we work with. Obviously, I'll do whatever the Lord wants, but I just love my people. Dennis is our new investigator who we love! He is 20ish and grew up in Uzbekistan! He is very shy and has a sweet Russian accent. He is looking for friends and it has been so rewarding to take him under our wing. I'll keep you posted on that one.

I feel like I have said this plenty of times, but I feel like I always need to clarify. We have two wards, the UCLA one and the L.A. singles one. The singles ward covers an abnormally large boundary because it is for people 20-31 from all over the stake. Aka, we get from Westwood to Downtown. So fun. Anyways, this week we were driving to an appointment and looked over and saw the Hollywood stars on the ground! Like the ones with the handprints and stuff? Another appointment we looked out their window and realized we were across the street from the Staples Center downtown, haha.
This week we met some of the craziest people yet. Oh Los Angeles, how I love thee.
-We show up to this apartment complex to knock on a door of a referral. There are homeless people sleeping on the lawn outside. (And by lawn I mean like the 3 ft of grass between the sidewalk and street). Already we were thinking we were going to have a good story. Our referral wasn't home, but his manager came out to talk to us. She started to unlock and open the door to his apartment (we had to stop her). She was this little old woman named Vicki from Yugoslavia with some dementia. She asked us why the mail hadn't been coming. And then she told us her life story and started balling. We started to share a scripture with her when she got distracted by some noise in one of the apartments. She went right over and knocked on the door and said, "Hey! why are you yelling?! Come meet the pretty girls like you!" The lady opened the door as if she was used to her bizarre manager and took one look at us and said "I'm well aware of who was behind Proposition 8" and slammed the door. But Vicki took a Book of Mormon and we referred her to the family ward missionaries in her area, haha. Oh mercy.
-This old man was walking down the street slapping his leg. We started to talk to him and he freaked. "Who do you think you are goin around giving stuff out on the streets?! No I don't need any of your prayers. I go to the best church in town! What has this world coming to? When I was a kid, we only had to go to church on Easter!" Hilarious.
-Joel was a homeless man trying to fix his bike. He dressed like a hippy and had long curly hair. He is from Guatemala. "God is good. but then religion leads to wars and bloodshed. Religion is like sports." Got it. OK.
-And then my personal favorite: Sister Barney and I were getting in to our car when two guys approached us. They were clearly on something. Like so much more than pot. Like hallucinogens and alcohol. The one got in my face while the other leaned on the car. They were very uhm profane. And kept calling God bad names. And the spirit immediately left the situation. The conversation:
"What white man do you know that could have stood outside as long as Jesus did?"
"Oh I don't know sir, but Jesus wasn't white. He was Jewish." (me)
"No. no.. The Jews were the Jew-el makers for the Egyptians...Jesus was black!"
"Oh okay sir, we need to go."
"Jesus when through Chicago...Miami...and wherever else, and he ain't have no suntan lotion on!"
"Yup you're probably right, sir."
"Jesus was Egyptian. *showed us the Free Mason tattoo he had on his wrist and backed away."
"Oh okay, have a good day! God loves you!"

Kid you not. I just realized these stories make it sound like we're in bad neighborhoods. But we're not!! We are always super safe and I have never ever felt threatened. God protects us in the most literal sense. I promise. I just wanted to share some hilarious stories!
This week as always has been full of blessing and miracles. Spiritual note for the week? Learn to laugh. Elder Wirthlin (a latter-day apostle) once said, "The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable." It is so so so true.
I'm happy and well! I hope you all are too! Thanks for the prayers! Love you!!!
Love, Sister Atkinson

Monday, March 25, 2013

"Fear not, I am with thee oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aide. I'll strength thee, help thee and cause thee to stand."

Note from Dawn: This is last week's email. I am sorry I didn't get it posted. With my sudden and quick trip to Utah to move Grandma Atkinson out of her apartment and fly her home to live with us and all that involved I just didn't get this done. I will be posting the current week's email in the morning.

March 18, 2013
Hola everyone!
So glad anyone and everyone can email me now! I'll try to respond to the couple of you who did email me this week :) I'm so behind on the letters/cards, but I promise I will respond to everyone!
Shout out to Sydney---seriously, one of my favorite letters I have gotten. Love you so much! Will respond in the next couple weeks!
Congrats Camilla!!!!!! Roseville! My sister lives there! And I bet Amy is freaking out. Seriously, California missions are the best. Just saying. Ah, so happy for you!
Micah--email me. Congrats on Les Mis! Heard is was a great show! And thanks for cleaning out part of my room :D
Praying for Grandma and Dougarino. (Grandma's husband)

I can't believe it was only Wednesday when I emailed you last week. That feels like ages ago. Lets just say the past few days have seriously been a roller coaster...but! That's just part of being a missionary. And you just pray hard, have faith, find something to laugh about and keep working.

Ashley did not get baptized this weekend, but she said "I have a testimony. I will never deny that. I just can't do it this weekend." I have a lot of faith in her. Baptism is the first step. It's the gate. She just needs to make the decision on her own.
This week is finals week for UCLA and then it's spring break, so we'll probably be doing a lot of work in the Single's ward.
We did a ton of less active work this past week for both wards. Too many young adults leave home for school and realize that they don't have a testimony of their own and are going to church for the social aspect. When they stop coming, no one seems to sit down and just talk to them about their testimony. That is the core of it. While yes we should be inviting people to dodgeball nights and institute, we should be helping them recognize that they can gain their own testimony of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, of going to church to take the sacrament to renew the covenants we made at baptism, etc. We just sit down with these individuals (love them so much) and ask them one question about their relationship with God. Almost every time, Sister Barney and I just sit there and listen while that person opens up and tells us everything. We're not there to boost church statistics, we are there because we genuinely love them and want to help them figure it out for themselves. We are there as representatives of Jesus Christ to help them come unto Him. If we could all always have that attitude when we sit down with people and be genuine listeners...
"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." -President Packer
Preach My Gospel (our missionary manual) says "You should not become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit." Once again "fear not, I am with thee oh be not dismayed." :)

I feel like this email is going to be very scatterbrained with poor grammar. My bad.

-Tomato basil humus from Trader Joe's is my new favorite thing.
-Sister Barney asked if Michael McClean was a Mormon and I died. Oh Utah girls. (Note from Dawn: he is a very well known LDS musician)
-We took Megan to a baptism yesterday of an 82 year old woman (so precious). Megan made us journals. WHAT. LOVE HER.
-After the baptism we saw this man and knew we recognized him from tv. Sure enough, his name is Larry Bagby. He is LDS (whaddup). His mom is from West Virginia and is also LDS---Nancy Moore, I think? Anyone? Oh and yes, Mom that new sister missionary in my missiona is from Huntington. Small world! Oh right, back to Larry. He was the bass player in Walk the Line (Johnny Cash movie), was the guy who always asked for a smoke in Saints and Soldiers, and was an assistant coach in Forever Strong. We asked for one picture that turned into a 20 minute schpiel of going to his mini van ( I kid you not) so he could give us his business cards and free cds. Yes. This is my life. Just wait for the pictures. OH and Chelsea Hightower? She danced on So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars? Moved in to my ward. Gotta love Los Angeles. Except when you get a parking ticket....what.... -_-
-I realized I speak in 3rd person all the time. Only when I do a sassy or ghetto voice in front of Sister Barney though. But still. I think it helps me realize my name is "Sister Atkinson" instead of Ali. Then again I say "Sista Akkisehn."
-Satan is so dang real. He knows us so well and he makes me so so so mad when I can see him attacking the people that I love. But the Atonement is real. And Jesus Christ knows us even better. Someone said last week, "The game is already won, we just have to decide if we want to partake in the victory."
"The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and remove the burden of our sins. His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart, and a determination to do better and especially to become better." -President Uchtdorf
I testify that it's true! I witness this everyday! Say your prayers and make good choices. And email me. I love you all!
Love,
Sister Atkinson

Saturday, March 16, 2013

"I Stand All Amazed at the Love Jesus Offers Me"

Note from Dawn: This is late this week because for a couple of reasons. First, her p-day was not until Wednesday. Second Ali alludes to a situation with her Grandma Atkinson who lives in Utah. Grandma's husband has been diagosed with lung cancer and his wish is for her to move back to West Virginia as he will be unable to care for her. She has demetia and also falls alot. So since Tuesday evening I have been busy making arrangements for her to move in with us. I will be in Utah, Sunday evening and flying her back home on Tuesday. Next week's blog post may also be late. I hope to link the youtube video she references and post some pictures as well, soon. Thanks for your support of her, I know it means a lot to her. Dawn

March 13, 2013
Hello hello hello!
Wow! So much to say today!
First off NEW MISSION RULE WORLDWIDE!

The Church has recently issued the following policy update:

"Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Mission presidents should allow sufficient time on preparation day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the mission field, missionaries should receive authorization from the mission president before entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission boundaries (see Missionary Handbook, 36–37)."

This is from my mission president with rules specific to us:
1) You must follow the policy of obtaining my permission BEFORE writing to anyone inside the mission of the opposite gender.
2) As a general guideline, we have encouraged CLAM missionaries to spend no more than an hour writing emails weekly. This continues to be our guideline. You should be considerate of your companion and not spend long periods of time emailing as there are many other things that need to be accomplished on preparation days.
3) It is critical that each companion monitor and CORRECT the behavior of their companion if they are not following the guidelines in correctly using the computer.
4) This policy revision does not change the following: a) You should continue to use only your approved missionary email account for writing (do not access old personal email accounts). b) You should not enter ANY website that is not affiliated with the Church (ex: mormon.org, lds.org, etc) without my permission. c) Please remember to write the mission president each week to report your stewardship! d) Additional computer time may be used to become familiar with missionary materials found on mormon.org.

So! Anyone can email me and I can email anyone. However, I already have trouble trying to find time to use only an hour to email my family and my mission president, so there are no guarantees that I will be emailing a lot to my dear friends that write me :) But! I will print off your emails and try to respond via letter or email within a few weeks. I especially love pictures. So if you ever want to email me pictures...just saying. And I still LOVE letters...just saying. But! Beggars can't be choosers. any questions on this? ask my mom and I will try to respond. oh wait, you can email me. and i can try to respond. AH CRAZINESS. alexandra.atkinson7@myldsmail.net

CONGRATULATIONS JESSICA AND BRETT! My mom is a master creeper on facebook these days and she forwarded me a picture of beautiful Echo. I feel like an honorary aunt. I am so happy for you!!! She is a beautiful baby!

So is Grandma Atkinson now in West Virginia? I am so sad to hear about Doug. Please send him my love. He is in my prayers. Grandma is in my prayers. You all are in my prayers. I know this new transition will not be easy.

We got to go to the temple this morning! Which is why my P-day is on Wednesday this week. Next week it will be on Monday.

This week I am overwhelmed with gratitude. As I sat in the temple today, I was overcome with feelings that I have been having all week. I cannot deny that my Savior lives and love me. I know that He understands exactly how I feel. I think I always get emotional when I go to the temple because I feel like I am going home. I don't let myself sit and ponder about home while I'm in missionary mode. I am here to dedicate all my time and attention to serving the Lord. So work work work! But as I get the opportunity to sit and reflect in the Lord's House I ponder how one day I will return home to my Father in Heaven. How badly I want Him to say "Welcome home, my dear daughter. You have been faithful. Enter into my Kingdom and my rest." This week we discovered a newer Mormon Message entitled "Mountains to Climb". Youtube "mountains to climb eyring mormon message" and it will come up.

Everyone--please please please watch this and focus on how you feel. Give 5 minutes of your time to feel power and love from above. During good times and bad, our Savior is there. Build a foundation on Him, and you will find hope, peace, and perspective. This video has changed many people's lives this week. Let it brighten up your day. :)

Sister Barney's birthday was this past week! You know me. I really get into birthdays. So I had to get creative with what missionary means I had. aka: ga-hetto. I will send pictures home soon. Mom, thank you so much for the ankle braces and the new picture sd cards. I will send more pictures home! If you promise to send them back :)

Ashley passed her baptismal interview last night and then texted us a few hours later and said she wasn't being baptized. We have no idea what is going on. We are very stressed, but felt peace and comfort in the temple today. I will let you know on Monday if she actually was baptized! Sigh.

This week it felt good to help and serve some members in our wards. A lot of them are at hard places in their lives, trying to make difficult decisions. They love going out with us to lessons and always say "it is just what they needed".

So many miracles this week. So many. I'm already at 20 minutes left and have to email my mission president, so I will only talk about Megan.

One day Sister Barney looked through old records in our area book to find people we could call up, while I made some phone calls. (so much of missionary work is phone calls, planning, and paper work.) She found a former investigator that she felt prompted to call. We called her a few days later and said she would love to meet with us. WHAT. Unusual. Then she shows up to our lessons. I have never ever meet anyone more prepared to hear and accept the gospel than her. We taught her the first two lessons and she came to church. She is one of the most genuinely kind people I have ever met. She is 30, single, and an attorney. She met a Mormon friend in college and she has always been impressed by her "humble confidence" in her faith. She went to Salt Lake a year or so ago and had a very spiritual experience at Temple Square that has never left her. She is overcome with the Spirit during our lessons and cries as she feels God's love for her. She has had a lot of questions about things that she felt her faith never answered. As we teach her, her eyes widen as she is relieved that questions that she has had for years about her Savior, the afterlife, the world, the Fall of Adam, etc. are finally answered!! She takes notes during our lessons (what?!). She prays. She reads. She told the bishop on Sunday he would be seeing a lot more of her. WHAT IS HAPPENING!

I feel like I don't deserve the COUNTLESS blessings that I am receiving. I seriously don't understand why Heavenly Father is pouring out the blessings. I am trying to humble myself and work harder to try to feel more adequate. I love this Gospel. I love you all. I am so happy and so blessed. Pray for Ashley. Email me. ;) Watch that 5 minute video! Thanks for yours prayers!

All my love,

Sister Atkinson

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world..." Doctrine & Covenants 50:41

March 5, 2013

HELLO EVERYONE!
- First off--CONGRATS JOHN-MARK AND NATALIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nephew #4! He is to be born in July! I'm so happy for you two. (Ashley is having nephew #3 in April!)
- I don't know where to begin this week. So much has happened and I had so many mixed emotions this week.
-I survived transfer 1! Mom you should probably explain what that means. Sister Barney and I are staying in our area and we are so relieved! The work is progressing for these two wards and we are so excited to keep it going.

Note from Dawn: Transfers occur periodically, where Alexandra will be sent to serve in a new area of LA and would serve with a new companion. She is not moving this transfer period.
-I went on exchanges (swap companions and areas) this week for 2 days to Manhattan Beach. One of the days I was reunited with Sister Ostler (my MTC companion) so that was fun! Their area is so different. We mostly met with older less active women who are (to be blunt) miserable. It motivated me to come back to my area and help these young people make the right choices that affect the rest of their lives. What's that President Uchtdorf talk, that talks about when flying a plane if you get one degree off it makes a huge difference over time, to the point of crashing? It is so easy to get that one degree off. We must do the simple things each day--pray, serve, read our scriptures, etc. to stay on track. No one is ever exempt from that, myself 120% included.
Note from Dawn: Elder Deiter Uchtdorf Talk reference – “A Matter of a Few Degrees” delivered at April 2008 General Conference. If interested in reading this it can be found by searching his name & the title.
-Ashley Kwan is going to be baptized on March 16 and I could not be more excited or more proud of her. I wish I had time to give you all the details. "I'm just ready to take that leap of faith."
-Allan dropped us this past week after a really powerful lesson. There is nothing more depressing than to see someone deny what he has felt and walk away from the blessings you know that lies in wait for him. Sister Barney read to me Helaman 10:4-6 to me directly after. Nephi, a prophet and missionary, was comforted by the Lord because he had with "unwearyingness declared the word". I truly felt that we testified to Allan with all the energy of our hearts and I don't have any regrets. But the bittersweet beauty of the Gospel is that we each are given the gift of agency from our Father in Heaven, or that ability to choose for ourselves.
-I have learned that there are no coincidences. Like, it's insane. Heavenly Father has a hilarious sense of humor. Everyday there is something that makes me think "well that is too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence", but I will share three.
-Ashley sent us a text to say she was 100% going to be baptized and I was about to call her when Sister Barney looked up and saw her across campus. We ran to her and shouted for joy! Obviously.
-We knocked on a door of a less active member. His roommate answered the door to say that he has moved out, but he recognized us immediately. His Mom and sister are Mormon. His best friend is on a mission in Mississippi. He invited us in and let us share a message. Usually he would be at class at that time, but he got out early. He was going to stop going to a bible study with his friend that night but decided that he should go. Usually we don't have a 3rd female/member with us, but we came from another appointment so we could come into his apartment (we have to have a 3rd female with us if we are at a single guy's house/apartment). All a coincidence? I think not.
-And my personal favorite: we set up an appointment to go see a less active member in our ward who is the head fashion designer for the pop band LMFAO. We showed up and his cousin said he wasn't home and that he lost his phone in a taxi cab that morning. We left our member's car outside his apartment and gave her a ride to go visit some other people in that area. A few hours later we are driving back to drop off our member by her car, when Sister Barney says "LOOK!" Lo and behold a giant van decorated in zebra print with neon lettering that says "Party Rock Clothing Company". He was pulling in and parking. I jumped out of the car and chased it down as Sister Barney drove behind. 45 seconds, before or after, we would have missed him. It was hilarious. And we had a good 25 minute chat. He's great. And his van? Pics to come. I'm sending my SD card home today hopefully!
Almost out of time :( sorry I can't share more!
Heavenly Father loves you. Your Savior loves you. I love you.
Make it a great week,
Sister Atkinson

This is a picture of her Westwood Zone (missionaries in a certain geographic area). On the top row 3rd from the right is an Elder Ryan Satre who is also from WV. He actually used to live in the Charleston in the 1st Ward when he and Ali were small. They did not remember each other but he most recently was in the Morgantown Student Ward as a freshman last year and knows John-Mark!