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!