Purple Pony

September 7, 2015

Hello wonderful friends and family!
Let me tell you a little bit about my week. First off it wasn't all that different from every other week. We went out and did a lot of finding. After, we had a district meeting all about fear. After that meeting, Hermana Christensen and I thought it would be a good idea to go out and knock doors. We are both of it sometimes. So we prayed about a house and put it in the GPS. When we get to the house, we just sat and looked at it. I just kinda wanted to cry because it is huge.... Lol it was pretty fun. We did knock, but no one was home. We will have to try again. Oh other then that the elders asked if we had any chocolate chips one day. We replied that we didn't and then we asked if there was anything else we could do for them. They jokingly told us to take away agency, then they asked if we needed anything. I said I wanted a pony, they texted back and said a purple one or red one. I said purple!! Later that night there is a knock at the door, the Elders had a My Little Pony coloring kit..... I got a purple pony! I was beyond happy ... don't worry I took pictures of it.
Other then that we ate dinner with our Mission President and a member this week. It was so good, Mexican tacos made from all sorts of stuff. I love tacos. 
Oh and funniest thing happened Saturday. We went to help a member wash his car. The car wash was broken. So we waited for the owner to come and fix it. A Indian guy came to fix it and I went to go help clean the car. My companion started talking to this guy and I thought that they were just talking. Then I heard him ask if my ompanion could go out and drink. I was like time to go step in. So this guy was like 40 years old ,to say the least. He was trying so hard, it was hard not to augh at the guy. Lol so funny. Oh we also ate Mexican tamales this week. I love Mexican food.
 Other then that transfers aren't this week but next week. I don't want to leave this area !!!!!

Have a Great Week ... Hermana Atkinson

A Week to Remember ...

August 31, 2015

OOOOOOOKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

So the title was kinda a joke. Not a whole lot has changed, other then I am pretty sure at the end of this transfer I am going to be leaving this area. I am kinda scared to do so. I have been here since April, so in all honesty it has been a long time. Plus on top of it all I really struggled to connect with the people in this ward. I am really learning to love them and enjoy this area. It is sad that I will most likely be leaving. Really sad and also extremely hard. I started a list of all the people I need to write cards to. I have gone through my 4 box of cards on my mission and every box has 50 cards.... Guys I have gotten really good at writing in Spanish.

But yes so this week was really fun in so many ways. I love being with Hermana Christensen and I am really sad that we can't serve together for the rest of our missions. Because honestly she is amazing. She is an amazing teacher and has been a great example to me!

This week I went on exchanges, we went out finding and knocking doors.  I saw this little girl with a cute dog. The dog was running around being crazy, so I asked the little girl if she needed any help. She did, so we calmed the dog down and walked her home. Her mom was there and she was amazing. She so prepared, I can't wait until we get to teach her again. I have really found that it is the little things that are miraculous out here.

Other then that we had an activity for our ward this past Saturday and the missionaries prepared it all. It was a lot of work, from the lesson, the games, invitations, posters and food. It was so hard, but so gratifying to see everyone having so much fun. 

The next day was Sunday. We go into ward council,  the Bishop asks if we have everything prepared for primary today and all of us are like what?!? We threw together a quick primary lesson.  I was in charge of the music, which sounds easy, except none of the kids know the songs in English and I don't know them in Spanish.... awkward.... I really love my mission and I am kinda sad that I only have about 7 months left. It is going to be hard to say Goodbye to this place. I love it here so much!

I hope you all have a good week!

Hermana Atkinson

Frogs, to a Funeral, to the Doctors, to a Baptism and to DC !!!

August 24, 2015

Based on the title, I think you all can tell it was a crazy week!

To start, last week after I wrote, we went out to a lake and walked around it. We have a missionary out here from Mexico and she has never seen a frog. So we saw one and she wanted to hold it. I am sure we looked really funny in skirts trying to catch a frog. We eventually caught one and she was so excited to hold it. 

Any way then Tuesday rolls around and we are doing studies, we get a call and it was a missionary from the office. She asked to speak with me. She explained that a member had called and was doing a grave dedication that day. She wanted to know if a group of missionaries could sing at it. I was put in charge and even though we had a meeting that morning I got a musical number set up. Eight elders, my companion and I sang, "How Great Thou Art. It was an amazing experience. There was only one member at the grave dedication. It just felt good to be able to serve like that.  Yes, it was sad, but at the very end it was a little funny. The non-member mother, of the person who died. hugged all the elders and us. Each elders reaction was priceless....

That night, my companion didn't feel well. We went to the ER and they couldn't find out what was wrong. So this week has been in and out of different doctors. I told my companion that she should go see Doctor House. We have been in 4 different buildings and no one knows whats going on! It is insane.

Yesterday we went to a baptism in Bella Vista. It was just amazing. Today we went to D.C. and I got to see a returned missionary name Hermana Quinones, She is the best. So let me explain. I was trained by Hermana Debry, so she is my Mission Mom. She was trained by Hermana Quinones, so she is my Mission Grandma. Well everyone that Hermana Quinones trained and everyone they  trained met up in DC today and it was just fun.... Sorry this wasn't the most in depth email.

I love you all and hope you week is amazing!!!

Hermana Atkinson

Smelling the Roses ...

August 17, 2015

This title is in place thanks to TERRY THE GREAT.... I was emailing him today and I couldn't really think of anything to write about because we really just went finding this week. I expressed my want of change to Terry and this was his reply:

Change is the spice of life Karlie!  It is nice to get a new companion, but it is more of an adventure to get a new area.  A few more weeks and you will get moved, I am sure.  Work hard Kid!  and remember to smell lots of roses too!

So there are many aspects of this email that I love. Lets start at the beginning. Change is the spice of life. I love this because being in a Spanish  speaking mission I receive a lot of food that has different spices then I am used to eating. But honestly I have learned to love the taste of lime and pepper as much as I love lasagna ( for those of you who don't know me very well I love lasagna.... Especially my mom's it is amazing) But I made a salad this week to eat and it went like this: one tomato, hand full of lettuce, one avocado, some apple some eggs, cheese, ham, lime juice and seasoning salt. I Have just fallen in love with the food from Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia and Peru. When we go out to eat, we get Peruvian chicken. So that is why I like the spice comment.
But what is the spice of life? According to TERRY THE GREAT, it is change. On my mission I have changed a ton. How I speak is different how I dress is different. My friendships have changed. not saying that all my old friendships are gone but they have all changed. And all of these changes have made the way I think about life different. Before I was used to my life, which was a really good meal. I have now found other things in life that I love. Before my mission I would have laughed at you if you told me that I would want to go into the ghetto because I have friends there, but now it is true. I want to go in to places that before my mission would have scared me. I have learned the difficulty that a single mom has raising 4 kids. I have seen how drinking can tear a family apart. I have seen how words really do hurt people. But along with all those hard and sad things I have seen a mother cry at her sons baptism. I have seen how a simple game of soccer can fix most problems. How kids can go from angry to happy by kind words. How stumbling over my Spanish and having them correct me helps them feel better. How a simple act of service really changes everyone's perspective. Those are the roses. The roses that smell the sweetest in life are  the things that make you laugh. The things you look at and smile. I have seen a man and his pregnant wife look at each other and in uncertain circumstances trust, that together with The Lord, that they can make it. I have seen faith grow and most of all I have seen myself change. I cant explain it right now but I am changing and at time I don't like it because change hurts, on the other hand I love that I am becoming who the Lord wants me to be .

I love you all and I hope that the cheesy sentimental stuff is ok for this week.

Food story this week. So many Hispanics think that Americans are used to 5 course meals. We went to this members house and she gave us a huge bowl of soup. Knowing that more was coming, I ate quickly so I didn't have a lot of time to digest. Then Directly following that I waited for the next course and Hermana Christensen looks at me in distress and says... Are they giving us more?... I just laughed then ate a steak, ribs,rice, beets and onion salad. Then I drank an Inca Kola and called it a night. I was really full. By the way everyone needs to try Inca Kola. It is the best

Any way love you lots!

Hermana Karlie Atkinson