"Why should I feel discouraged when Jesus is my portion? A constant friend is He" :)

Here is this week's email. I have put a few explanations in [brackets] as usual, for those of you who may not know what she is referring to. Some of her email, of course, is just her way of talking and I have no idea what she is talking about! (such as the odd use of the number signs and pound signs that I learned about in typing class so many years ago) :) She also is including part of a talk she gave in last week's church meeting. It is what she would say to you all of us if we were having her explain to us what she is teaching. It is remarkable. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Dawn

Monday October 28, 2013

Hi everyone!

IT IS POURING THE RAIN OUTSIDE AND I AM SO HAPPY. And it's on a p-day so we don't have to contact in the rain, haha. Super happy.

This week was a rollercoaster but so good!!
The work is finally picking up! I got a bit discouraged by all the punks on the street whose lives I'm trying to change who wouldn't keep their return appointments this week, but God consecrated and we are now teaching a few members' friends! Which is super happy!!! One of them said he had been to West Virginia a few times with his band a few years back. "Oh cool! What instrument do you play?" "I scream." #screamoband #cameronclarke&coltonschilleshoutout YES. He's awesome though and said over and over "I'm just looking for truth." And he really appreciated that we just invite people, not impose on people.
Did I already tell you I'm teaching someone with a red kiss/lips tattoo on his neck? #thedream
Sister Perry cleaned out our nasty heater this week. She found over $6 of change in there...the quarters just kept appearing. Did I feel like I was in Goonies? YES. Did I go Babylon for like 10 minutes and quote Goonies non-stop?....don't worry, I repented after. When we told another sister missionary we found the money she was so excited we found laundry money. We admitted we went and got ice cream with it. #noshame
Sister Perry and I realized like 5 more places/events we had been at together growing up in WV. We KNOW we have met before. So fun. Don't you think Heavenly Father just giggles at the way He crosses people's paths?
We went out to eat with a member last week. And I kid you not, it was straight from a bad date scene in a movie. Only I had a companion there to enjoy how awful it was with me. Like we were done eating ready to go and he hadn't taken one bite...because he spent 45 minutes talking about himself. I can't accurately paint the picture for you without feeling guilty (Jesus Christ's name is literally written on a nametag on my chest right now), but the next day we had our bimonthly interviews with President. He asked me what else we could declutter in our mission and I couldn't help but say a few comments about member meals. Lets just say we had a mission announcement on Friday that we can't go out to restaurants, do drop offs, and have to have shorter member meals. #sorrynotsorry The bad date was HILARIOUS though...

I was being too hard on myself a little bit this week. I was just getting frustrated that we weren't seeing the type of success that I wanted to see. Here are a couple things that comforted me.

1. In my interview with President he felt impressed to tell me for a few minutes that I was doing a good job. He then said I can compliment you all day long, but you need to hear it from the Lord. He wants you to claim the blessing He has for you. (President Weidman had no idea that 'claim your blessing' had been a phrase I had been using for the past few weeks ever since the Relief Society Broadcast [our annual women's conference broadcast from Salt Lake] ... it is a unique phrase that means a lot to me. When he used it I knew that the Lord was speaking those words, not President Weidman. It was so cool to feel an overwhelming love from my Savior. :)

2. Alma 8:14-15. [from the Book of Mormon] This is right after Alma left the city of Ammonihah and was so disappointed in the people and in the work. An angel comes and tells him to go back to the city. "And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah...behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him saying: blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou has great cause to rejoice."

I spent a few minutes to go through my journal and reviewed experiences I have had since January. I have so much reason to rejoice. Really. That pep talk gave Alma the strength to go back to the city and SO many miracles happened. That pep talk helped me get over myself and my plans, and recognize the hand of the Lord in my daily life here. So happy :)

Something cool I can't remember if I've shared before from Elder Richards that we have been sharing with our less actives. Your level of happiness=your level of feeling the Spirit=the acts you take in faith. So if you want to be happier, take more acts in faith.

People get way into their Halloween decor here. It's awesome. Have a happy Halloween everyone! Love you all!! Make it a great week!
Love,

Sister Atkinson :)

P.S.

We got to speak in church last Sunday. I'm going to try and type parts of my talk out...sorry if it's all over the place. A lot of you ask me what I teach people on the street. The first lesson we teach is summed up in here. But it is addressed to people who are already members of our church. Just comment or email my mom if you have any questions! Or check out mormon.org/faq

My companion just spoke about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Our purpose as missionaries is to "invite others to come unto Christ", to access the blessings of the atonement that our Savior is so willing to give us. Jesus Christ taught us that He can't save us against our will. So how do we choose Christ or how do we come unto Christ?
The next line of our missionary purpose teaches us the how, "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel." Only through the gospel and church of Jesus Christ that is restored to the earth today, can we apply the atonement of Jesus Christ. Or in other words, without the restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel on the earth today, we would be completely lost. We would not be able to come unto Christ. This is our unique message to the world---the gospel, or the way to access the blessings of Jesus Christ's atonement, is restored to the earth!
Our missionary manual, Preach My Gospel, instructs us missionaries to refer to the Restoration of the gospel ASAP when we first meet someone. At the beginning of my mission, I was very hesitant to do this. I thought I would ease my way into the Joseph Smith story or the restoration. I thought it was weird enough to go talk to strangers. I thought it would be best to find common ground in our beliefs with the stranger first. But that is not my purpose. [as a missionary]
My purpose is to invite all of the sons and daughters of God I meet to come unto Christ. And they cannot fully do that unless they understand and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
So what is the gospel?
It all starts with God being our loving Heavenly Father. We are literally His children and His heirs. As God's children, we have the potential to become like Him. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He created a plan for us with our families to become like Him and therefore be able to live with Him forever. This plan is made possible by our Savior, Jesus Christ. To accept our Savior and become like our Father in Heaven, we must constantly follow this process:
1. have faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement
2. repent and change each day
3. make and keep covenants through priesthood ordinances such as baptism by someone who holds that priesthood authority from God
4. receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. endure to the end.
6. repeat. :)
That is the gospel, or teachings of Christ, that allow us to access the free gift of the atonement.

Since the beginning of time God has taught this gospel if we were willing to receive it . God would send us prophets to help us understand this gospel or path. These prophets were men called by God and given God's authority to teach us this one path and one gospel and one way to come unto Christ. God sent prophets like Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Noah when people were prepared to receive them and receive His gospel.
But over time, people always rejected the fullness of the gospel and rejected God's prophets.
Every dispensation, or time of the prophets, would end in apostasy, or a time of confusion and darkness. The authority to teach us God's path and the authority necessary to access the blessings of the atonement was lost. Even the dispensation of Jesus Christ and His apostles and His perfect church ended in rejection of the gospel and the killing of our Savior, Christ's prophet, Peter, and Christ's apostles. The world was once again in darkness. Remember that without the fullness of the gospel, people didn't know how to come unto Christ. They could not come unto Christ without Christ's authority and priesthood on the earth. Good people, often inspired by God, during this time tried to make sense of the truths left which eventually led to the emergence of many churches. It was so confusing. There is one atonement and there should be one way to access the blessings of that atonement of Jesus Christ.

When circumstances were right and when the world was ready for it, God promised to reach out in love and call a prophet again. He did. He called Joseph Smith to be a prophet.
In 1820, Joseph Smith was 14 yrs old living in upstate New York. He was a humble, uneducated farm boy and he was looking for truth. He didn't understand how there could be so many churches and so many paths. Even though many of these churches and paths were good, he knew there should be one truth, one path and one way to come unto God. He was reading in the Bible one day when James 1:5 stuck out to him. It said if you don't know what to do, don't ask man what is right, but ask your Father in Heaven with faith and He will answer you.
So this humble boy, full of faith decided to act and he decided to ask. He went into the grove of trees by his house. What happened is the 2nd most important thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind (2nd only to the atonement of Jesus Christ). In his own words He said,

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other - This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

This is the only time recorded that both our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ have visited one person. How miraculous! They knew him by name. They loved him. They wanted to answer his question. They love us. The know us perfectly. They are just dying to answer our questions.

"No one was with the boy Joseph Smith in [the grove of trees now called the Sacred Grove] in the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared. Yet even those who do not believe it happened may find it difficult to explain away. Too much has happened since it occurred to deny that it ever took place." - the late President James E. Faust

"After the appearance of the Father and the Son, other heavenly messengers, or angels, were sent to Joseph Smith and his associate Oliver Cowdery. John the Baptist appeared and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood, which includes the authority to perform the ordinance of baptism. Peter, James, and John (three of Christ's original apostles) appeared and conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, restoring the same authority give to Christ's Apostles anciently. With this priesthood authority, Joseph Smith was directed to organize the Church of Jesus Christ again on the earth. Through him, Jesus Christ called twelve apostles." - Preach My Gospel

Ah! No big deal!!! IT'S ON THE EARTH!

"Our church is the means by which men and women find our Savior and His gospel...when we seek our Savior it is important that we seek Him through His church. It is through His restored Church that we receive all the saving ordinances necessary to return to Him. The Lord, during His earthly ministry, recognized the need to have a structure in place to build faith in the hearts of the members of His church and to keep them growing in His gospel...It is necessary to have a centralized church government, under the direction of the Savior, that provides the necessary doctrines and ordinances for salvation and exaltation...So we declare to the world that the priesthood has been restored, God's government is on the earth, His pattern is established that will lead us back to His presence." - Elder L. Tom Perry.

After centuries of being lost, the original and complete church and gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth today. AKA We can come unto Christ! Today! Here are just some of the blessings we have from that simple statement. As I go through each of these ponder on how each blessing has impacted you, your family, your future, and the world. (I used branch members' names for each of the points...so I'll try to put in some of your names for each of these...)

-There is a worldwide organized and unified church. My friends serving a mission in Bolivia will be learning the same thing in Sunday School that we are today.

-There is a prophet and apostles on the earth today! Think of how that has changed Micah's life!

- There are more scriptures and a clearer understanding of doctrine. Think of how that has effected my Mom's life.

-The true nature and understanding of prayer. That has effected many lonely nights for each of us.

-The concept of personal revelation. God can talk to each of us, each of His children. Personally. Without that, I would not known to come on a mission.

-Temples!
-Eternal Marriage. My grandparents are reunited right now.

-An understanding of where we came from, our purpose in this life, and what the afterlife is like (there's a spirit world and different kingdoms)

-Think of the blessings that come to us from: word of wisdom [our health code]. tithing. fasting. the law of chastity.
-We understand our roles as women and as men in a very confused society.
-We can ask for priesthood blessings! We even have patriarchal blessings!

-We have the priesthood to perform baptisms, to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, to bless and pass the sacrament, and have temple ordinances

-We understand the Fall of Adam and Eve. We know the significance and blessings that come from that event. Most of the world does not.

-We recognize the nature of the Godhead. That we have a Heavenly Father, a Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost!

- We have a deeper knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and how His grace and mercy and atonement can heal, empower, and change us.

-We know we are literally children of God. We know our divine nature and individual worth and our potential to become like Him.

THERE ARE SO MANY MORE! All because God's gospel and church has been restored to the earth.

These are big claims that we testify are here in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is why we have the Book of Mormon. God brought forth this ancient record and scripture as evidence that His church has been restored. Elder Wirthlin pleads with us, "Please do not take the Book of Mormon for granted!" We must read it everyday. Every day. It is a gift from God.

This church is true. I love this church. Acts 5:38-39 [in the Bible] reads "if this...work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it."
When I was in the Missionary Training Center, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland came to visit (because God loves me). He testified that our day and dispensation or time of prophets is like none before. Every dispensation before us ended in apostasy or that rejection of the gospel and darkness. Elder Holland talked about how many of the prophets and missionaries in previous dispensations knew their time would end in apostasy. So what would have kept them going if they, Paul, Noah, Alma, Moroni, Peter, etc., [prophets from the Bible and the Book of Mormon] knew that their work would eventually end in apostasy? Why would Jonah, after just getting spit out of a whale go to Ninevah if in a couple hundred years none of them would believe anyway? Elder Holland said they saw our day. Our dispensation will not end in Apostasy. Our day will end in the second coming of our Messiah! Ah Jesus Christ will come again! And He will come soon. Ah! No big deal!!

Lehi saw this, which is why he said "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth." A missionary told me when I first came out to imagine every person I saw on the street as my best friend from home that I wanted so desperately to have the blessings of the gospel, and I had 90 seconds to tell them about the Restoration of the gospel. That mentality completely changed the way I street contacted and testified. We have to tell these people, let alone our dearest friends and family, that they cannot enjoy the blessing of the atonement and they essentially cannot come unto Christ without the restored gospel.

Okay, yes, the thought can be overwhelming. The sons of Mosiah [in the Book of Mormon] caught this vision which is why they said they were "desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human should should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."

Ah, yes it can be overwhelming. But luckily we have apostles of God who have told us it doesn't have to be hard. We can be missionaries in very simple ways.

-Be an example. Come to church on time. kKep the commandments. Read and pray everyday and your light of Christ will shine so bright that people will ask YOU questions about why you're so different.

-Talk about the gospel and the church in everyday conversation. "How was your weekend?" "Oh awesome, Sister Perry gave a bombsauce talk at church yesterday" [I have no idea what bombsauce is! Dawn]

-Follow the general authorities counsel to pray for the missionaries in your ward by name and their investigators by name every day.

-DO YOUR VISITING AND HOME TEACHING. Merciful.

- Pray for specific opportunities to talk about the gospel and invite people.

-Never ever come empty-handed to an activity or to church. INVITE less actives, invite the more shy people in your ward, or your nonmember friends to join you. If you can't think of people to invite, ask your missionaries. I know they have a long list of people who need personal invites.

-Don't ever sit by yourself or let others sit by themselves. At our baptism, we covenanted with God that we would stand as representatives as Jesus Christ at all times and in all things and in all places. And I know He would leave his usual seat and go sit with someone who was sitting by themselves, even if they came in late..
-Never leave a church activity without texting someone who wasn't there and telling them you missed them.

We cannot take this gospel lightly. It is humbling when we recognize how blessed we are to have it. It is our duty and privilege to share it.

"Knowing our religion to be true we ought to be the most devoted people on the face of the earth to the cause we have embraced." -President Lorenzo Snow." The end. [of her talk.]

I love this work! And I love each of you! All I'm gonna say is we started on time yesterday, no one was sitting by themselves (miracles for a singles ward), and we had 5 nonmember friends there. HOORAH FOR ISRAEL! LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Atkinson