Happy (late) 4th of July

July 6, 2015

Look everyone I can make a fire work.... I bet your all so proud! hahaha!!!

This week was pretty chill. 

Monday : We really just spent a ton of time trying to find more people, we didn't find any. That's how Monday went ...

Tuesday: We had our district meeting with a new district. I miss my old district but the people in my new one are pretty cool too. 

Wednesday: We went out again, to find new people. Didn't find any.

Thursday: We got to meet our new Mission president. I was really sad to see President Riggs go home and at our last transfer meeting it was hard to say goodbye to him and his wife. But I know that President Huntsman is suppose to be here. He has already given us some great advice. He came to visit our zone on his second day out in Virginia  and mind you we had been finding all week and we weren't having any luck. So he starts talking and he introduces his family and then he mentions Abinadi from the Book of Mormon. He went on to explain why he liked Abinadi, and  how he was the greatest example of a missionary. Abinadi went out and taught and taught and taught. He did not convert even one person. But eventually Alma, whom Abinadi taught, converted. Alma went on to convert a multitude.
President Huntsman said something really encouraging. He said that he knows that we were supposed to be where we are and even if it seems we aren't doing well or succeeding, we are helping someone. It was super uplifting. After we met President Huntsman we had a zone lunch with President Bush, the Stake President. It was fun and uplifting. We talked about goals for our stake and this transfer. Following, we had a meeting with our newly called ward mission leader. We were trying to get a feel for what his ward mission plan is and everything. After all this, we went home and ate. After we ate, we had a meeting with the Bishop to see what he wanted done this transfer. Finally, we went home and slept. 

Friday: We planned for the next week.

Saturday:  Our District Leader and his companion came by and gave us some chocolate. Then very hesitantly asked if we could go to a meeting. We asked when, they said in 30 minutes, which the church is 25 minutes away. We said yes.  After the meeting (It was just our District) the elders invited us to a 4th of July party. We asked President Huntsman for permission. When he heard that 8 elders were going, he said it was fine. 

We hurried home and made some food. Then we went to the party. We played board games all night. It was tons of fun. We actually had the opportunity to stay out till 12.

Sunday: It was so hard to wake up!!! ugh.. But .... Church was GREAT!!!

Other things that happened this week...

I named a bird that I have been feeding. His name is Jack because he is a Sparrow.
Jack Sparrow ... I hope it makes you laugh, because it makes me laugh.

I had a guy propose to me this week. I haven't called him back and I am passing him off to the elders...

 I hope everyone had a good 4th of July and  had fun. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Thought for the Week...

President Heber J. Grant 

“From my childhood days I have understood that we believe absolutely that the Constitution of our country is an inspired instrument, and that God directed those who created it and those who defended the independence of this nation. Concerning this matter it is my frequent pleasure to quote the statement by Joseph Smith, regarding the Constitution: ‘The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is, to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a weary and thirsty land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun.’ [TPJS 147]. And such the Constitution of the United States must be to every faithful Latter-day Saint who lives under its protection.”

February 1940

“Lincoln and Law.” Improvement Era (Feb 1940) 43:73, 127.  

Goodbye President Riggs, Hello President Huntsman

Hola a Todos !!!

June 29, 2015

Como estan? Espero que todo este bien con ustedes! But seriously I hope everyone is doing well. 

So to leave off from last week I was having  a rough time. I think I got 5 emails from people that were concerned. First, thank you all so much! Now for whats important, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Stress makes you think weird things. It makes happy moments seem bleak. I have learned that when you start thinking about happy thoughts and even more, thinking about the savior the bad days seem to disappear. 

So this week was transfer week, Hermana Evans and I are still together... 3 transfers is a long time with someone.  I am grateful that we get along.

As all heard last week I broke my iPad. I thought a lot about my iPad on Tuesday. As we started our studies, I was still thinking about the iPad.. We were preparing for a lesson with a recent converted family. They are waiting for their daughter to be sealed with them. We thought that patience would be good for them. As I started to read, it occurred to me that it wasn't them that needed that lesson it was me.

I have worked hard this week on my patience.  I have noticed that I can see the good things in life, instead of the bad. Yes I still get upset. I still get irritated, but less often. When my mind isn't consumed about things that make me irritated, I can focus more on the spirit. It is actually quite liberating. I can see why they say a mission helps you become a better parent. 

Things that happened this week !!!

I received a package .. Hermana Evans' mom sent me a package and it was super cute. 

Hermana Evans left  the gas stove top on accident. We were sitting on the porch and there was a huge spider..... so we ran downstairs and asked some of the elders to help us. Of course they just  started laughing and laughing. They finally decided they could help us. They came back with a Lighter and some Sunscreen. Luckily, we remembered about the gas, since our house was filled with gas. We caught them in time. They ended up just smooshing it. 

We pranked the elders this week we put dish soap all over their car..... then it rained. They came to our district meeting, said the rain did miracles. Our car is so clean.... complete and utter fail.....

We had another crazy storm. Entire trees were blown down.  

Wednesday I picked my iPad up ...

Thursday - Mission Conference and transfer's! Transfer meetings are filled with mixed emotions. Missionaries coming and going. It is heartbreaking to see the Missionaries, that you have become close to, Leave. On the other hand, it is exciting to meet new Missionaries. This transfer is unique. President Riggs and his family are leaving. I love them and will miss them. But .... I am really excited to meet the Huntsman Family.

Friday = Planning Day. 

Saturday - I locked us out of our apartment. Of course it was also raining like crazy. That was an exciting adventure. 

Sunday - I was sick.

Well .... I hope all of you have a GREAT 4th of July. 

I Love All of You, Till Next Week

Hermana Atkinson

An Eventful Week ...

June 22, 2015

My Weekly Report ...

So for this weekly report. 

Monday was normal going out and teaching ... 

Tuesday, Eddy got his baptismal interview..... it was amazing. After the interviews, we went home. I was checking my e-mail and a huge bug landed on my arm. I screamed and dropped everything in my hands.... which was my iPad. Yep the whole screen is shattered. 

Wednesday, first thing we headed to the Apple Store in the mall. The Apple store just wanted me to buy a new iPad, not fix the one I have. Afterwards, we got a call saying Eddy might not be able to be baptized. My stress level was pretty high at the moment. I swear I have lost half of my hair this past week. Thankfully Wednesday night was stress-free. We went to a member's house and made some really cool stuffed pork. It was delicious.

Thursday we had a District Meeting. It was long, but as always, very inspiring. We also had to start getting ready for Diana (Hermana DeBry's Investigator) baptism. We made some really awesome programs for her baptism. On our way to dinner we caught got in a crazy storm. The storm quickly passed. After dinner and the storm, we went out tracting. We found a few potentials. Thursday was a good day.

Friday, Diana's Baptism, We had so much to do !!!! Without detailing everything, we went to the church and started preparing.  The baptism was GREAT and the spirit was STRONG !!! After the Baptism, the ward had a Father's Day Party. The party was fun and a perfect ending to the day.

Saturday, Eddy's Baptism, simple amazing. The spirit was just as strong as the day before. I was able to sing at the Baptism, "I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me".  After Eddy's baptism, we decided to go the the Elder's baptism. That's when the night got exciting. About half way through the baptism, we received a Tornado Warning. We were literally trapped in the Church for a Half Hour. Tornado Warning are always fun ... NOT

Sunday we went to Church, after there was a Fireside. The testimonies were amazing, and again, the spirit was so strong. I was also able to sing at the Fireside.

Monday, P DAY !!!! Back to the mall to drop off my iPad, It should be fixed tomorrow. YIPPEE !!!!

It has been a wonderful and tiring week. I am emotionally worn out, physically worn out, mentally crazy, and still spiritually growing.

To all those who have served a mission, 

tell me how did you survive!

To all those who are on their missions, 

What keeps you going?

To all those who are thinking about serving,

 I want you to know that this is a tiring job. 

It never ends,

 We get calls at midnight when people have problems. 

This is the hardest thing I have ever gone through.

Most of the time I go home at night,

fall on my bed,

 and either cry or just sit.

 I second guess myself a lot about being out here.

 BUT .........

 When those times come,

When I feel like giving up.

 I look back and I think about the My Savior, Jesus Christ.

 He was alone.

 He didn't want to go through all he did,

 But, he did it for us. 

Because he did all of that for me,

I can make it 9 more months. 

I will survive everything. 

Whatever you are going through in life right now,

remember that there is always someone who wants to help you.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week !!!

Hermana Atkinson

In A Trio, Again !!!!

June 15, 2015

Hello Beautiful People ...

How is life in the real world? This week has been interesting. It started out normal.

We had a great time with Tara, who is 17, and filled with drama. Literally I feel like I am back in high school when we talk with her.... Except it's worse.

On Tuesday, we had zone conference. 

We talked about respecting our leaders and how our mission has troubles. In one of our activities, everyone was put into groups. I was in a group with about 8 people, 2 of which were my Zone Leaders, one of which was my Mission Presidents wife. Besides her I was the only girl...  So it was slightly awkward. The group was discussing why we should respect our leaders and how it isn't that hard. I said "It is hard to respect someone that doesn't have faith in what you are capable of."  I mean, I truly get that we need to respect out leaders. They have earned and rightfully deserve their callings. I really just said this to bring up the other side of the story, to make it a fair debate. I don't have any problems with my leaders.  It was honestly just brought up for the debate. Now everyone in my zone is saying it, I feel awkward that they all care that much.  After the Zone Conference we went to eat some BBQ. The restaurant is called Red, Hot and Blue.... It is the best. If you are ever in this area, you have to try it.

We had a meeting with President Riggs this week, just Hermana Evans and I. President Riggs is so cool. I am sad that he is leaving. On the other hand, I am excited to see what my new Mission President, President Huntsman, does differently.

On Friday we get a call, Hermana DeBry is going to be our companion. We are a Trio, again !!! Unfortunately, Hermana Craner has to go home for surgery. This left Hermana DeBry all by herself, which is why we get a trio. Needless to say, We had to go home and rearrange our room so another bed would fit.  

Saturday was a sad day. All of us went to the Mission office to say goodbye to Hermana Craner. We are keeping her in our prayers and look forward to the day she returns. 

 Hermana Debry is now in a trio with us and we are covering both of the areas... Woooo hoooo. Lots of hard work ahead for us! After saying our "Goodbyes", we went home and dropped off Hermana DeBry's belongings. Then we headed off to a service project for the Police and Fireman games. This is a International Olympics for Police and Fireman. Our job was helping get the the beginning preparation stuff together. Lots of FUN... We were doing assembly lines and I was between Elder Page and Elder Courn, they went boy, girl, boy, girl in the assembly line. Standing there for 3 hours you really get to know these guys. I like that my companions are girls and are normal.... Boys are weird and have cooties.

Anyway, after that we went to 2 Baptism's, Fatima and Axel. Fatima is the lady that got married last week, her son is Axel. Ramon, her husband, is a member. They also have an adorable little girl, Tiffany. I just love this family so much, they are so cute! 
No funny food stories this week. We just ate some quinoa salad which was awesome. Can't forget the gelato, which is so addicting. We also ate Chick-Fil-a at the service project..... It was yummy. 
Totally Random Story ... I met this guy and he was a street contact. I talked to him, gave him our number, and a Book of Mormon. He seemed a little interested and I completely forgot to get his number. Two days later we get a random call and he said he just wanted us to have his number. He would like us to come back when he isn't working.
We went to the Holocaust museum today. What a humbling experience. It is hard for me to comprehend the persecution that they faced. Beautiful sons and daughters of God, slaughtered because of their beliefs. I hope and pray that all of us can love, unconditionally. No matter our differences, our beliefs, our color,etc... I am grateful that I have the knowledge, that God loves me. 

I Love all of you, Till Next week,

Hermana Atkinson

P.S.   I just love this quote and decided to share it.

What Mormons Really Believe ...

!Hola amados míos¡

June 8, 2015

How is every thing? This past week was pretty slow, but the weekend was CRAZY !!! 

Friday we went to a wedding, Saturday we had a baptism of a little 8 year old girl. We helped decorate and did the programs. The decorations were very pretty,  it was like a wedding in many ways. A bunch of Return Missionaries stayed at the Moms house. We went over there 3 days in a row and helped her cook for everyone. 
Btw I am getting good at cooking Mexican food. Speaking of food I ate cow tongue. It tasted awesome. It was in tacos and she had this really good green tomato salsa. It was amazing. I could eat it everyday. Although it looked a little weird when she went to go cut it up. And amazingly enough it wasn't even a weird texture. Yeah it was good. Oh but the sad part was I had an allergic reaction to something so we had to spend the rest of the night at home. Which was sad but I got these cool outlines done for some lessons and then we caught 5 more fireflies. They are named Doug, Dave, Danny, Steve and Louis. Three of them are good little fireflies, the other two are escape artists...... But seriously Dave is on our wall right now. 

Today we had a house inspection. We went through our house and got rid of everything from Missionaries that have gone home. We shampooed our carpets and scrubbed the fridge. That took all of our Wednesday.  

On Monday, after I sent this email, we went to a recent converts house. I really thought she didn't like us. We were slightly nervous, but felt inspired to share a book with them. The girl started crying and she said it was exactly what she needed. It was a very spiritual moment. On Sunday she came and sat next to me and just started talking to me and all that. It was awesome.

We went to McDonalds to eat one day. A guy walked past us, bought his food and sat down at a table across from us. Not that strange, I mean we were in McDonalds. We finished eating and got up to throw our trash away. He looked at us, said "Oh, you guys must have a fun job". I started to explain that we are Missionaries. He said that he would love to listen to what we had to say. In my head I had a feeling that we should leave. But the other part of me knew that I am struggling talking to people, we decided to talk to him. We started off with
the normal get to know you questions. Then asked if we could share a video. Well ... all of a sudden he starts to argue doctrine with us. I finally told him to let me talk, we showed him the, "Because He Lives" video. He told us that is not what Mormons believe. Really!!!!! you are going to tell me what I believe????  But amazingly enough Hermana Evans and I kept in our tempers. We didn't argue and had a civilized conversation where we told him what we believed. He said that was great, but my Jesus was the wrong Jesus. He proceeded to tell us that we were going to Hell. So there you have it folks....... No just kidding.

 I know without a doubt in my mind that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on the earth today. I will die before I ever deny that. I am not out here on my mission to put others down or condemn other people. I am sorry if I have ever made anyone else feel that way. If there is one thing I have learned on my mission it is that everyone is different there are a lot of different cultures, but not one is better then the other. Bolivia, Peru and El Salvador are all different. But the people are so similiar, they are kind. They are all looking for happiness, even though they come from different walks of life. They get along and find something they have in common. 

Before my mission I was quick to judge, I would judge a lot of people at first sight. I now realize that God loves us all. He loves me enough to answer my silly prayers, that are please just let me have a letter today or let there be fireflies out tonight. He loves me enough to answer those silly little things and also the big things like forgiveness. In 3 Nephi 14:9-11 it says" or what man is there among you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" He loves all of us enough.

Other then that today is my 8 month mark..... 10 more to go!
Well love you all and hope your week is amazing!

Hermana Atkinson

Pet Fireflies

June 1, 2015

Hello Beautiful Family and Friends. 

How is everything going with you all today and this past week?  It hasn't been very long since my last email, so not a lot of things have happened. 

Thursday our car had a recall. We took the car to the dealership, our Zone Leaders picked us up. There were able to help us get our Area Book online. We were also able to work on some other stuff. Our car was actually done early :)  They took us back to our car, we went home and tried to get some weekly planning done. We did not accomplish as much as we had hoped. We had to be on our way and help Hermana Rodriguez clean her house. The Elder's are coming to paint her house on Saturday. Cleaning actually took forever, but we had lots of fun. 

On Friday we went to our TIWI meeting in Centreville and we got the TIWI installed in our car. It yells at you if you drive to fast, stop to fast, start too fast, etc.  So if you are a bad driver, it rats you out and reports you to Salt Lake. If you get too many reports, they tell your Mission President that your license should be taken away. Yep that's fun. It has only gotten mad at me once but luckily it gives you warnings when you start to speed. Everyone in my district has a competition to see who lasts the longest without getting their license pulled. All of us think Elder Mortimer will lose it first... Any way after that we went to go eat dinner with Hermana Salinas. she is from Peru and she made baby chicken.... mmmm yummy. Not really, it is actually really gross and kinda sad. She claimed they were the biggest babies she could find. After eating, we went to correlation with Hermana Gonzalas. Between the TIWI and correlation meeting. I was tired of meetings and tired of sitting.

Saturday we went to the Temple Visitor Center with Hermana Bozo and Her husband Fernando. It was awesome. we went through and watched like 10 videos. Their favorite video was about Return Missionaries and it was in English...They are weird.... hahahaha. After, They took us to eat salteñas, which is just about the yummiest food ever. It is a dish from Bolivia and I love it. I cant really describe it, it reminds me of a calzone,but it isn't a pizza. It  has juice, chicken, eggs, potatoes and some yummy seasonings. The best part of the day ... They both loved the Temple and made an appointment to go and watch more videos.

Sunday ... Of course we went to church. Sister Rodriguez came and told us that the Elder's did not finish painting her house. She needed help finishing up. The baptism was going to be on Tuesday, she had people staying at her house and really needed it done. It was Sunday, but we felt that helping this Sister was the right thing to do. We ended up painting her whole kitchen including the cutting. Mom and Terry, you would have been so proud of me. Terry, you would have laughed when you saw my face after she told me I also needed to paint the ceiling. Yep,  3 maybe 4 hours later we finished. We were completely exhausted but it was still only like 7. We decided to go and see a less active member. While talking to her, a firefly came out. Hermana Evans stopped talking, and went to catch it. Within minutes all three of us were out catching Fireflies.  It was lots of fun, it also gave us a chance to calm down and relax. 

We now 5 Fireflies living with us and they all have names. Ray, Fred, Biggie, Smalls and Jorge (he

is a Spanish Firefly) hahaha.

Till Next Week ... 

Love,

Hermana Atkinson