Hello! Hello! Hello!
Man, last p-day feels like a month ago. This week was a rollercoaster to be honest.
I had my first real mission breakdown, haha. I have to say for a sister missionary, 4 1/2 months without one is pretty good. We got really disappointing news from one of our investigators and I just couldn't hold it in anymore, haha. Poor Sister Oldham just patiently sat with me in the car. (Love her lots). I can't believe I have been in this area almost 4 months. I look back and Satan lets me think, what have I accomplished? Why am I here? What's the point of all this work if these people that I love so much just don't stinking get it? Notice how selfish those sentences are? Get thee hence Satan, haha. (I promise this email will get a lot happier.. I just think these emails should be as genuine as possible. Otherwise, they'd be boring! :) )
When we focus on our own agendas and our own to-do lists, we get frustrated. When I have patience and remember that this is NOT MY work, but the Lord's then things are much easier. Do I want all of Los Angeles to be baptized? "Welllll...obviously...." But this is the Lord's work and these are His children. I didn't leave normal life for 18 months to accomplish something for myself. I'm here to do whatever the Lord asks of me. Once I get over myself, I can be an instrument in His hands. So we pray hard. Laugh hard. And move forward, with hope, with faith, and with a smile. It is so easier to forget all of the little miracles I witness everyday. There is a reason The Book of Mormon tells us over and over and over again to remember the hand of the Lord in our lives. :)
ELDER COOK. AN APOSTLE AND SPECIAL WITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST, CAME TO OUR MISSION ON SATURDAY. He is so cool. His wife is a boss as well. The whole mission got together at 7am Saturday (luckily we live 1 minute from the building we met in). We all shook their hands. And then they spoke to us. He said he never prepares what he will say to missionaries so that it will be guided by the Spirit. And that he did! He talked about the surge in missionary work of course. He talked about how inspired each mission call is. He talked about being on the board that put together Preach My Gospel. [Note from Dawn: Preach My Gospel is the teaching guidebook used by all missionaries, world wide] (That was super cool). He said to work with our members. He emphasized leaving commitments with everyone we meet. He said to have an increase in faith in the work (Sister Oldham and I always talk about this). And realize that you can't take away people's agency or the ability to choose for themselves (agency and I have a love-hate relationship No invitation=no opportunity to change. And then this was the coolest part---he talked about how Los Angeles is a great place. But also a very worldly difficult place, haha. He said sometimes we will think "What I could be doing at home could be so much more beneficial to the Lord and to friends and family" He then said something to the effect of "I leave you with a blessing with an understanding of what you are doing right now will bless everyone you love (family, friends, future generations, future spouse, etc.) I bless you that you see through the rejection and disappointment to see a vision of what you are doing. No matter if there's a baptism or not, be assured that what you're doing is building the Lord's kingdom. I leave you with the appreciation of the Savior on his behalf." I'M SORRY. BUT CAN ANYONE SAY APOSTLE OF THE LORD?! My whole soul was filled with the love of my Father in Heaven. The Spirit testified to me so strongly that Elder Cook was so inspired to say what he said, that he is called to be a special witness of Jesus Christ. Pray about it. Ask God for yourself. There is a prophet on the earth today. Speaking of, so sad to hear about Sister Monson! [Note from Dawn: Sister Frances Monson, beloved wife of the leader of our Church, passed away at age 86] We've been praying a lot for President Monson. So I got to conduct the music at the devotional with Elder Cook. I stood in front of our whole mission to lead the closing song. Elders in the back started standing up which was a ripple effect. It was so powerful to heard over 200 voices stand and sing "Hope of Israel". We really are Zion's army.
Anyways! This week was great! It really was. We are working so hard.
OH OH OH OH MICAH. EVERYONE. We parked last night and were walking back to our apartment. We said hello to the two people on the street corner as usual. And then I did a double take. Me to Sis. Oldham "That is Mrs. Matthews from Boy Meets World...We are turning around" " No we're not." " Oh yes we are" I MET MRS. MATTHEWS FROM BOY MEETS WORLD. YOU BETTER BELIEVE I GOT MY PIC WITH HER. LIFE MADE. STILL STOKED ABOUT IT.
Also, I got a blender this week. I have gotten over my berry hatred since my mission. I still cringe when trying to eat some of them, but I eat them all the time (Californians love feeding us their fruit). Anyways, we make spinach fruit smoothies every morning. Look at me being healthy. And I got a haircuit. Bueno all around. We went to a Spanish neighborhood yesterday and I swear I was not in the United States. It was awesome. Also, I very much apologize to everyone who has written me letters. We have been having a lot of zone activities which hasn't left us anytime to write letters. I'll catch up soon! Sorry! LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Atkinson
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