Closer to Christmas!!!

Monday December 10, 2012

A WEEK CLOSER TO CRHISTMAS!! We made our little christmas chain this week for me and my companion and the elders in our ward. On every little paper circle every day we have something to do that is christmassy like hug your companion sing himno number whatever and have a snow ball fight with paper. I am not 100% sure the elders understood the idea of the activity, but we are having fun with my companion. The elders had 2 BAPTISMS this weekend, so basically the misisonaries running around with their heads cut off for two days (whats new). with smiles from ear to ear. They were two brothers one that has 11 years and the other that is 15. The testimony of the younger is so strong and his feelings after he was baptized was JUST SO POWERFULL! it was like he was givng a talk in church, dear sisters and brothers I know GOd loves every one of us and when we do what HE says he blesses us with happiness!! A testimony so BIG in a kid so small. Really sweet baptism. 

This week I have really learned the importance of our relation personal with God. It is the basis for everything that follows in the gospel. If we love God we want to go to church and keep the commandments, and love our neighbor. and when we understand We are his children we act differently and serve others and have a personal dignity that is divinely attained through our conversations from God. This it is so critical to pray and read every day because how can we have a personal relation with God if we don´t talk to him or listen to the respuestas through his sacred scriptures. When we have this relation with God EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!! I learned this in a lessson in English this week where I tried to pray in english and wow.....ya fui ya. The joven we are teaching is really good and really intelligent but doesn´t believe he can have a personal relation with God. its really sad, but he is progressing when I got here in Magdalena almost six months ago he said he didn´t even believe in God. some people progress little by litte and others in leaps and bounds J defintiely is little by little! 

We have planned for the 29th a baptism of a young boy whose dad just got baptized last month after 15 years of invetstigating the church. M will be baptized by his dad the end of this month we are so excited!! He is so funny we always look forward to teaching him. and in general people who are excited about learnimg the gospel. 

Had lasagna with a family the other night and I was just so happy it wasn´t CHICKEN OR RICE!! YAY!! 

Excited to talk for christmas we have permission to talk the 26th for phone but I think really any day with skype. so just let me know what day is best for you all. 

Love you tons have a week full of prayer, scriptures, and get to know God better! 

Love your SISTER ATKINSON, awesome. 

Navidad!!!

So my companion is learning english. And she REALLY LOVES CHRISTMAS!! She is learning to sing jingle bells in english What an adventure....it's great fun to hear her try to pronounce the words in english.. maybe it would have been better if we started with I am a child of god.but she really loves christmas (to illustrate this point picture two very awesome and powerful sister misionaries walking down the street, book of mormon in hand and ready to share the gospel with every creature that moves. The scene is very wonderful and powerful like a classic black and white movie very serene and respectable. Just as Hermana Pardo sees lights and something green and colorfull off to the left....and begins to squeal and dance and ¨¨oh my goodness NAVIDAD!!¨ and all of a sudden our serene powerful moment turns into an anime cartoon with sister atkinson and her palm to her forehead and one of those sigh signs above her head and sister P prancing around happy with the life emitting cartoon images of hearts and christmas trees and presents and st. nicholas all over the place......¨Sister this is the fiftieth tree you have seen today THEY ARE ALL THE SAME!! but i really love my companion) She really never has had a christmas in her house (she was always working with her mom in their store selling toys all hours of the night) so this is the first christmas she can celebrate as A REAL CHRISTMAS. So i just have to smile every five minutes when she sees another christmas tree. but felizmente we are going to pass christmas together!!! BLESSINGS!!! 

Everyone has their tree up, in our house we usually put up the tree the last week of december but here it is a sin to not have your tree up the first day of december. pretty sure its a law. Its quite funny to count how many trees are in the apartment buildings of 18 floors. Ba ha ha. But the work is just moving right along we actually have people to teach and this is exciting. But they really are having problems attending church. if you could pray for R who's hija is sick, and R with his health and the wife our president of our mission. She has returned to the USA to have a surgury and is really passing for a hard time. We are without our MISSION MOM!! AHHHHHH!! Everthing may just fall apart. just keep her in your prayers and Hermana L in the ward had an attack in her brain and now is paralyzed she is 86 and was baptized just last year. Please keep these children of God in your prayers

But a funny time we had this week was when we were teaching an older lady very catholic and she invited us to her house. JUST IN TIME TO DECORATE HER HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS! my companion was feliz with the vida!! over the moon happy. she was content to help a lady we just met decorate her house with the nativity and put up her lights and just little things she even gave us our first christmas gift!! Little doilies that she had hand stitched!! wow! God really blesses us with the greatest randomest blessings! but it meant the world for my companion who has never decorated her house or a tree! How misericordioso is our God. 

We are really hoping that the trials that our investigators are going through will pass and they can accomplish their baptisms. All is a trial of faith just keep the faith and do the work. all will be fine. 

Love you all have a GREAT MONTH OF DECEMBER and always remember the Why of christmas that Jesus was born with a great work to do. He accomplished the impossible so that we can have our families for eternity!! I think every month should be christmas in that we remember that christ died for us and we review our actions all the month and put new goals for what we can do better in the next month or year. 

sister atkinson, 

PS. remember those light shiny things you sent for halowween?? we totally took off the haloween part and wrapped them in thin wrapping paper and now they are our CHIRSTMAS lights and we found the smallest christmas tree in our room and tinsel!! we are hard core christmas in our room! so awesome we are so excited to work hard all this month sharing the gospel of christ! and singing christmas hymns! 

Gracias por su amor y caridad, ps I hope derick is still living and tasha and dia...and 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANDIS B. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SORRY I dont have your emai! but I hope all is well in the boy pool and that your studies are just rolling right along!! HAPPY 22!! WOOT love ya!  Hermana Atkinson

Sunday will come!

This sunday was just incredible!!! We had a man who has a teaching record of at least 10 missonaries come to church and tell us he wanted to be baptized this saturday. AT LAST. His member wife and daughter were all smiles and just so amazing! Then he can baptize his son in a few weeks when he recieves the priesthood!! Basically we work hard and God just brings the people to us. Literally Saturday was a hard day with knocking doors cus all our appointments fell through, but just like the atonement SUNDAY WILL COME. We all pass through nights where we think we have given our all in vain and that maybe we will never pass this trial and things seem bad, just like Christ talk about the WORST night and the following day in the HISTORY of the world!!How great was His truimph three days later!! The fight was all worth it when the glory and his victory came. In that all His brothers and sisters can live with him eternally again! Just keep fighting, when things are the hardest is when God and the blessings are the closest! . 

We also learned a bit about this when we hiked to the waterfall this weekend. after many weeks of not alot of exercise in the mornings.....ahem gordita hermana atkinson was basically a tub of butter climbing a mountian STRAIGHT UP! We really just had to look at what we had accomplished and not what we had left to climb. Our leaders in our district were there to help us along, but wow it was a long way up there and my companion didn´t think she could make it. Our leaders were there every step of the way encouraging her and helping her along. We all made it to the end together. We had accomplished something great! But I am so sore OUCH! But a really great experience for our preperation day. 

Ok gottta run! love you all tons.

Sister atkinson!

the other pics are when we baked cake with members (the members who are in charge of EFY in peru!! so cool) 

and the other.....um i think its hermana pardo and me at the temple in peru!

We went to Chosica!!! Basically utah in the mountians  to hike up to the waterfall!! I was just so happy to get out of the city. We had a trade in companions cuz my companion can´t hike and the other sister felt ill. So at 5 am we got on a 2 hour bus to Matucana!! Woot! Waterfall. 

One is the big road close to our house called the Avenido BRASIL.no not the country but at 5 am is very empty so why not take photos?? 

My companion and I found this awesome car in Jocky Plaza which is like their mall here. Of course we needed to take pictures in the cars!! 

His work and glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man.

Ok I figured Photos speak a thousand words so I will send a short letter and a bunch of photos!! YAY! if these send one is of Hermana S and hermana C and our awesome halloween festival in their house when I was with them for just about a week while my companera was in the hospital. They are so funny and these few days were the funniest happiest just loving knoking on doors and talking with everyone in Las brisas. Translated means the breezes. Well named because one street smells like one thing and the next moment smells totally different. Its amazing how different streets smell.....for the good and the bad. But just a week of pure laughter and adventrues while my companion was in the hospital. Needless to say we REALLY enjoyed the halloween package and the cookies and the Elders loved the skittles and almond joys!! I may have eaten all the cookies almost all by myself!! AW chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies HOW I HAVE MISSED THEEEEEE!!

My companion is better now that she has rested for a few days in the hospital with some heavy antibiotics to help her body heal. We are taking it slow we try to walk slow so her foot won´t swell up again and she is taking pills to help her foot not swell so we keep marching on. I am SO GLAD I DON¨T have health problems!! I was thinking about it and never in my life have I been in the hospital or really sick that I can really remember!! Count your many blessings name them one by one! But the miracle is that when my companion was in the hospital and I was in another sector we couldn´t visit our investigator with a baptism date. Needless to say we were both praying like NADA MAS that God could watch out for him when we couldn´t. I tried to call him every day to see if he was progressing but couldn´t get a hold of him or nothing. But as I was praying in the morning thrusday for God to give me a sign that my faith wasn´t in vain I ended my prayer and JUST LIKE THE MOVIE best two years the phone started to ring and it was Roberto and he asked Hermanas when will you visit me my baptism is this saturday!! So when my companion got out of the hospital that afternoon we vistited him he had his interview friday and saturday in the morning was baptized and sunday confirmed a memeber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! God is always listening to every prayer and we basically did nothing. Roberto is His convert we were only tools in his hands to do the basic stuff and God prepared him when we weren´t even in our sector! God really watches out for every single one of us and is constantlly preparing us for the day when we will talk with him face to face. My testimony of the work of God really grew in a LEAP and a bound this week that Even when things are worse than bad that God is in control and He can´t loose, its his work and his glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man!

In the name of My brother and savior Jesus Christ amen.

With all my love sister atkinson.

This isn't possible!

Wow hardly any time to write today!! Don't´know where time escaped to. yes escdaped. This week started out really good we got lost in the center of Lima and bought awesome new wrap skirts in an Indian store and a member who works in an ice creme store there invited us to ice creme!! The people here are so amazingly kind. We even exercised this week a bit. but then my companions foot swell up huge like it has been doing for the past few months and she can´t walk and the doctors don´t really know what´s wrong. She does not have diabetics or riniones or NADA!! She is so healthy it´s shocking. So we tried to visit a few people this week when she felt that the pain in her foot that looks like a basketball was less and we had one family who we have been teaching just drop us. She answered the door and gave us her book of Mormon and said that she can´t change her religion...and slammed the door.....This week has just been a roller coaster ride of CRAZINESS! So Friday we went to see what the doctor says other than ¨no more monkies jumping on the bed¨. We were thinking he was going to give her more pills and such but he decided to put her in the hospital to give her strong antibiotics to her veins to help her heal some sores that popped out on her legs due to her swollen foot. So i am temporarily working in a sector called the Brisas with sister C and the new sister S. They are really nice and even let me borrow pajamas. I am working with them and they are really fun. but its a bit odd to be separated from your companion. 

This week i have really seen how hard Satan can work when he knows how powerful we can be as companions to push forward the work of God with his children. All i can think is THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!! Just makes me laugh a little bit like that no good horrible awful very bad book. Where everything that can go wrong does and we are just ready to burst out laughing cuz its pretty ironic and a bus could probably run us over right now and ya normal. Its really just an adventure we have to pass through in order to make even better things happen! I am really missing working in my sector we finally have a baptism this weekend and can´t visit our investigators cuz we are´t there, but the BEST THING is GOD can´t loose. This is his work and really it is moving along really well. He is the ultimate victor so COME WHAT MAAAAY!! God will love us and we can just grin at the devil because he is loosing and we know we are the victors!! but a week normal in the life of a missionary ba ha ha! 

God just really knows me  perfectly its mostly hilarious because I was put with the sisters here JUST IN Time to help them move from one house to another........I take this as a very strong sign that God knows how much I love to clean, move, organize ect ect!! I am so loved. Thanks for your awesome letter and know all is well here jsut fighting for the right. sounds like your week was crazy too! 

love you tons sigan adelante!! love sis Atkinson

Future Missionaries

Happy birthday FUTURE MISSIONARIES MATI, BROCK and FUTURE MISSIONARY (for two years) CONNER!!! Woot fiesta!!

Oh boy did we ever watch general conference!! We were just so happy and things really are just super charged and spiritually overflowing with happiness! After the Sunday session we had the GREATEST lessons in the world! We just held on as the spirit literally gave the lessons through us and the feeling that the investigators were really receiving the personalized message they needed to hear. At times as missionaries we teach the same thing so many times it becomes automatic and fails to meet the individual needs of each recipient. But like a speaker said in conference we need to learn how to teach the gospel like Christ would have taught it. With the needs of the investigators in mind and what they need in their lives. WE may teach about the restoration but we could focus in so many different points that it could actually turn out as a lesson about prayer (like Joseph Smith) or about the life of Christ and the atonement or baptism, or we could focus on the authority to be healed is again restored to the earth, or focus on how we are children of God and he knows each of us personally. Really the lessons aren´t set or memorized, but free flowing with the spirit to reach the hearts and inner most problems and desires of our investigators! Needless to say general conference is just MIND BLOWINGLY AMAZING!! I may have more or less literally called the whole world on Friday to invite pretty much EVERY SINGLE investigator to come and listen to at least ONE SESSION. How disappointing that not one could make it. Something happened with every single one so they couldn´t make it.....WE work hard but the world works just as hard to distract us from what will help us most in our lives sadly enough sometimes we win and sometimes the world wins, but we can´t stop fighting every day to repent and like another talk said live in the world but not of the world.

This week we were teaching our GOLDEN family and they currently are looking for a job but are very humble and just prepared and accept everything we teach them. They have a burning desire to have a remission of their sins through the waters of baptism. With a good desire we can DO ANYTHING!! God lives and loves us so much! Never forget we are so precious in his eyes and general conference is a time to remember how individually we are loved!

Love you all and thank you for all your support everyone!! LOVE SISTER ATKINSON.

Mati and Brock missions!! WOOT How amazing!!

Ah the things that happen the the mission!

We have a phrase here in the mission, goes like this, ¨Ah the things that happen in the misison!!¨. PROFOUND!!! i know. But really just the things that happen at times we just have to sit back and laugh. This weekend was a bit rough and stressed with an AMAZING baptism for the elders and so the sisters hunted down the keys for the font and we were filling it up, but didnt´now how to plug up the bottom so the water would stop running out.... Turns out there was a valve outside the church that needed to be turned, but we only realized this after we had filled the baptismal font two times and kept wondering where all the water was going....and after we had called our leader missional like five times to try to explain the problem and at what time was the baptism and we needed other keys than the keys we borrowed from the stake president (WE live behind the stake presidents house HOW COOL!! they are always worried for us and give us food and its just a great family!!). All in all the baptismal font was full and we went to look for our appointments and EVERY SINGLE ONE THIS WEEKEND FELL THROUGH!! Every single one. I think they are all somewhere together cuz ouch. But the bueno is that we were able to attend the baptism. and this young man is of GOLD! He saw the example of a co'worker who is a member and she didnt´smoke or drink in the meetings. which lead him to ask why and then started coming to church and BANG baptism! His testimony was just so wonderful and i think everyone in the room could feel the spirit reminding us of our own baptisms, just that spirit of peace, comfort, a newness and purity. In a way the same way we feel during sacrament meeting when we renew our covenants. The baptism was just perfect and then after we were able to go to the relief society session of confrence. Yes in spanish. then as the 6 sisters in our zone we went out for PIZZA!! Woot just like home. THen came Sunday (for my family who wonders exaclty what i was doing when they were eating dinner). In the morning calling all sorts of people even the ancient investigators to at least have one at church today. (turns out not everyone is awake at eight in the morning like the missionaries...) but I called everyone possible and we ran to find the family we were teaching and they weren´t home even when we called fifteen minutes earlier and she said we could pass by to come get her. So we came to church thinking we had failed the world. But we were blessed with 5 investigators in the church that day. The class for priciples of the gospel was just what our sister who we went looking for needed to progress to baptism hopefully this month and another man came all on his own. Till we had a mother come with her two children to do a project and talk specifically with the missionaries to know more about our religion and why all are so different. It was a really cool project they had to interview every church to see what they believed and why. WE were more than happy to oblige!! Taught about the restoracion and i think it made a REALLY good impression and the spirit was so strong there!  This was all before one in the afternoon! Then after lunch at about 4 taught a lesson to a man who magically contacted us this week who had a date for baptism with elders six years ago and he invited us to his house and presented his wife and everything! We have lots of hope for him and his progression! just a great little family. Then we came back to the church at about 6 o clock to have correlation missional and there was a woman and a man who were having financial problems due to a loss of a job and came looking in desperation for spiritual guidance and just happened to get to the curch in time for mission meeting. HOW PERFECT! God really plans things so well. The elders were able to give them a blessing of comfort and we were able to give them books of mormon and invite them to read ether 12 about the faith. and the husband isn´t a big believer in faith but we were albe to see his change as we were talking with him and he was able to feel the spirit and accept our teachings. They are so wonderful! This lasted to about seven o clock and then had a short meeting to coordinate the members helping us out this week and we helped the bishop clean the church and booked it to a lesson with our leader missional. We taught the man who came to church all by himself about the plan of salvation and invited him to baptism!! 

Needless to say after all the trials and a really rough weekend GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS. At times amidst the waves and winds and what seems to be the biggest storm of our lives and we think Christ has abandoned us then comes the light and we realize that Christ has been the whole time with us in the boat and he comes to calm the storm and deliver the promised blessings to strengthen our faith. WE look back at the waves and winds and realize that God was just growing us a bit and streatching us to our limits to mold us into who he needs us to be.   

JUST A WEEKEND TO NEVER FORGET ONE OF THE STARS OF THE MISSION!!!

Love you all! Just keep moving right along because Christ is with you always and just keep plugging (dont try to translate that phrase in spanish) and know He will never abandon us.

LOVE SISTER ATKINSON!

Happy birthday TALYSA AND DAD! hope you passed an aweome day and that there are a million smiles in your day!

Knocked 100 doors.

 We knocked alot of doors this week cuz we had NO ONE TO TEACH And the people here are SO tough they won´t even open the door to talk to us we talk through windows and doors. I actually really like knocking on doors and trying my hardest to convince the people that they need my message! The weirdest part is all this crappy stuff is happening and i am really happy with myself. i know i am doing all that is possible and in the Time of God i will find the people he wants me to find. I hope my faith will last till i can see the blessings. i pray for you all SO MUCH and am thinking of yo always love you all hope all is well at home sorry short time and i LOVED MY PACKAGE! T SHIRT NUTELLA! ATE IT ALMOST ALL GONE IN ONE WEEK AND THE HAIR STUFF AND BIRTHDAY STUFF AND MY ZONE LOVE THE PIXIE STIXS"!!! THANK YOU FROM MY ZONE AND FOR EVERYTHING LOVE YOU ALL MOM DAD MATI BROCK CONNER AND CAT! LOVE SISTER ATKINSON

Spiritually charged!!

WOOSH This week was spiritually charged!! We had the temple this week and we are preparing to have Elder Christopher son sometime this next month! Talk about exciting! The temple always makes me SO happy, just smiling the rest of the day and then the next day too! Everyone in the zone just couldn't stop smiling! It was magical! WE also were preparing a young girl of nine years old for her baptism this weekend! I really feel like this family is a part of our family. We draw together and she was so excited about her baptism she read ALL her pamphlets and was even practicing the santa cena with cake and water. She reminds me of myself. Her mom and her little sister are just so wonderful and we are one big family. The spirit in her baptism was different than all the others. All her family came (which is a miracle cuz basically they are all inactive) but they all made sacrifices to come and see her get baptized. We tried so hard to heat water for the font, because there is only cold water, and it failed miserably the elder who baptized her said he definitely could not feel his toes or his legs, but she was so brave and was baptized anyways and she didn´t complain or cry. She was so brave. I think the spirit was definitely with her to brave the cold water and follow the example of Jesus Christ!

And it really is a benefit to share a sector with the elders in the offices! They brought me my package!!!!! SO AWESOME! We were SO HAPPY for the popcorn my companion just about cried! And I almost ate ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER with a spoon last night I was in heaven! The jump rope and skirt! (woot the skirt just in time cuz the zipper broke in one and I am not fitting in the other so it was just-in time!)

But the BEST PART WAS THE PICTURES!! Kandis now has at least four elders who want to write her and Meagan too. I just loved sharing ALL the pictures with all the missionaries and WOW TALK ABOUT GREAT PICTURES!! So wonderful! They were all in awe at Zions park and we all laughed at Brock and Conner's don't feed the wildlife and they think that the squirrel is our pet.....yep I have a pet squirrel! And the hand written letters and CANDY! Wow DERICK and Mati thanks a million! and Crystal too for the pictures! I am so behind in sending and writing letters but I hope to for the least send the ones I have this week...BA ha ha. But hey, always remember how much God loves every single one of you! Even if times are hard or sad or trying more than we think we can handle, God is always at our side telling us we can do it and that everything will be OK. Just trust in His judgment and it wont be easy but it will be possible!

Love ya TONS! SISTER ATKINSON of PERU!

Water Park!!

Hello everyone long time no see!

And long time I havent´written. This week in the mission has been very crazy! I can´t even believe how fast things move when there is something to go and do. We had the opportunity to go to a
WATER PARK!! Stop, yes I can imagine you are all thinking swiming suits and water slides, but this water park is more like a museum with different pieces of art that have to do with water and a show where they project the pictures and videos on the water of the cultural dances of peru, bolivia and districts of peru like cuzco y piura. It was really cool (literally) because of course there was interactive water spouts and running through water all day!! So excellent! And of course I got soaked in my shorts and t- shirt and winter in Peru everyone thought I was crazy and they kept telling me I was going to get sick. Ha!! A Utah girl? Not possible! And I didn´t get sick at all. We got wet then watched the water show and just had a BLAST!! So excellent. But we were very tired the next day. Then we had another invasion where we go to another district and all the zone knock doors to bring refrences for the misionaries in that district. That was great fun we ran into a VERY active evangelico who bascally told us to rip up all of our pictures of Christ because if we were truely christian we wouldn´t represent Christ in any form. How sad. There is a huge difference in worshiping pictures of Chirst and having them as a spiritual boost to help us remember him. We Don't worship pictures of Christ we live every day with him at our side. These photos we have are to help us remember he is always with us and we can talk to him at anytime cuz he is so near. We could only smile at this man and walk away with heavy hearts knowing what he had rejected. We had a multizone with presient Borg and sister Borg. We actually got to see alot of them this week my companion had an inverview to see if she wants to stay two more weeks than normal and we got to see them at the baptism of the Elders of Chakra Rios. President Borg got to perform his first baptism in the mission! We sang as missionaries a special number of Come Thou Fount to the words of another hymn and so cool! Elder Perez de Mexico is the coolest person in the world and has a marvellos voice! I couldn´t believe. To give our achievements of the week at times he sings us his songs of Mexico and oosh! So cool!

There is so much more to tell you but OOSH out of time like always! Tell Mary Gray, thank, you thank you thank you for her colorful letter! I just loved telling everyone how much my ward and relief society loves me! I feel so much support! Thank you thank you!

Love Hermana Atkinson.

Free Book

HEY EVERYBODY!!

This week we were able to walk the ocean for pday with my companion and WOW so AMAZING! We can forgive the ocean for giving us Super cold breezes all the rest of the week when we walk by the waves and can just really relax! So excellent! We have been working hard knocking doors and really getting the two step BIG TIME! Always the excuses are the same, Ï am occupied I am catholic, I am in the kitchen cooking, I don´t have time never ever in my week to visit with you. It is true the peruvian people are ALWAYS working and have the hardest jobs and work work work, but I can ony imagine how If Christ was knocking on the door (which more or less he is through us his representatives) and they would say sorry I am occupied, not interested or busy. It is just so sad for them that they don´t want to let the message in their lives. We really can only invite them and it really is all in Gods time that they will know and possibly accept the gospel. but God always shows us his hand in our days when all morning we are knocking doors and they won't even accept a book of mormon. This was so strange to me its a FREE BOOK!! People don't want a free book, so odd. but little by little we are working with the ward to activate the less active and ITS WORKING! We had more than 5 inactives come to church sunday and WHOOSH the miracles!

Also me and my companion made hamburgers this week and they were HUGE!! We put cheese and cucumber and onion and tomato and guacamole and aji and potato chips and basically had a banquet! My companion and I are are really CHEFS! We are so good we can't even fit in our skirts we are eating so much not to mention our pensionista always gives us a MACHU PICHU of food! She has six brothers and always gives serving sizes for six in one plate and we tried to explain that we were Sisters not elders, but to no avail. She is so wonderful and her food is so good!! It is a pleasure to eat it all but to walk after......hmmm a bit more difficult. ba ha ha. I may need three seats on the plane home for my bulk......ha ha ha yes that is a fat joke Natasha Chandler.

I have been reading the talks of general confrence this week (which we got in english POR FIN just before the next confrence) about sacrifice and how we can conquor our problems in life by forgetting ourselves and serving others! I really enjoyed the talk given by Elder Oaks about how the ultimate sacrifice was given by Jesus Christ and how when we sacrifice our time in service or to help others and sacrifice for our families we are learning how to be like Christ. Learning to serve and sacrifice is the school and entrance to the heavans, As said by Robert D. Hales, ¨WE become converted and spiritually self reliant as we prayerfully live our covenants, through worthily partaking of the sacrament being worthy of temple reccomends and sacrificing to serve others¨ How wonderful it is to be able to forget ourselves and go to work. we have the promise that when we serve others our own burdens are lifted and we are more greatful for the things we have and the blessings just keep comming!

Stay awesome! con amor Hermana Atkinson

New Area Magdalena

Hey family!!  My new area is Magdalena!   It is very close to the Mar (aka ocean) so it is very windy always cloudy and there is a virgin here that is HUGE!! she is called Magdalena del mar.   Apparently there is technically only one Mary mother of Christ right? yet she is called different names depending on where her shrine is, so this virgin is about a third the size of the statue of liberty and she is above the beach and even has her HUGE rosary that sways in the ocean breeze. Very beautiful but wow I thought my other sector in Salamanca was big, THIS IS ENORMOUS!! WE get to walk for half an hour just to get to the church house. We don´t really have investigators because of the split of the sector with elders and it just so happens that all the investigators the sisters had before fell in the sector of the elders. So we are basically beginning anew in a new sector looking for people to teach.  A bit rough but what an opportunity to look for the people God has prepared for us! We have really seen miracles when we really put in our work to find people.  WE ran into a family who in three days feels like we have known them for months.  They are really humble which is incredible because in the first day in my new area.   I saw a McDonald's, a limousine, a city of apartment buildings with sixteen floors each and five or six rooms per floor (its basically a small city of tall buildings they have their own shopping center and hospital and everything!!) not to mentions gringos out the WAZOO!   Its really weird to see white people (especially when i look in the mirror EEEP!) This new area has definitely been challenging cuz it is a VERY RICH AREA. Needless to say. We are working hard to have new people to teach and our little miracle family are really so sweet and knowing the gospel can change their lives just gives us so much faith and hope.  Whoosh I am still adjusting to a new area and I cannot even believe that we have had the craziest things happen this week! The family we live above are on vacation and of course the water in the house stops working. We live on the third floor and it is pretty HUGE! but the stairs to get there are oooh boy very interesting to climb.....ba ha ha. very small and interesting. So thankfully a spigot in the garage works and we use buckets to carry all our water to the third floor to flush the toilet, wash the dishes, and bathe..(ah who bathes)..  It is an adventure EVERY DAY!!   It really is just like Snow white I got to this house and there was dirt everywhere and who knows what disorganization but I really love cleaning things fixing drapes and yes bringing the water up in buckets just like drawing water from a well!! WOOT! But we are really just learning to be happy and when I got the changes to go to Magdalena I just had this wonderful peace and the feeling that God needs me here. I don´t know why, but  I just know that I am here for a specific reason to touch the lives that maybe I can only touch. All this opposition is to give me experience and get me ready for the rest of my life!!   So always remember that our trials are for a reason and God has specifically prepared us for them!   Have a great week!   love you tons,  Sister Atkisnon 

Transfers

Hola todos!

A funny story. my companion and I are super worried about an investigator who was going to have his baptism this weekend but he has problems with word of wisdom. WE were so focused in his progression and how we can help him that we TOTALLY forgot about transfers!! WE had a long day and made a whole package of pasta and we ate the whole thing with garlic bread and were sleeping tranquilo and the phone rings about 11:30 at night. nos Espantamos! Who is calling us at this time of night!!! We answered and IT WAS TRANSFERS and leaders of zona! Oye!!! We were so sure we were both going to have a lot of time here in Salamanca because we are both very new and only have had six weeks here and with a new president we were hoping not a lot of things were going to change the first transfers, BOY WAS I WRONG!! So I am leaving my beloved Salamanca and as of now I have no idea where my new sector will be. WHOOSH! Not to mention an new companion. So far I have had a new companion for every transfer!

This week we really have had adventures. we were invited to a birthday party for a young going to be missionary (he is turning three) his mom did the house in balloon animals of rabbits (huge) a motorcycle, a bee, a panda,an octopus!! Just amazing and they had jello and popcorn and the BEST RICE pudding of my life with marzamora and we provided the games and I just love this family it will be so hard to leave them, but wow for a limited budget this mom works wonders for her kids!!

WE also had interviews with the president and his wife! They really are so special and caring for everyone! How wonderful their spirit is. We had a party today because our beloved leader of the zone is headed home. I have never seen a missionary with more Power than Elder B he will be a memb of the seventy one day! Mind blowing service and spirit and buen animos!

Hope you all are having a fabulous summer and I love you all! It is amazing how fast we come to love people we come to know. God puts people in our lives for a reason. Derick has a great testimony of this, when we are the most comfortable God yanks it all out from under us! When we are comfortable we aren't learning so I am going to be more taught and more refined by a new sector and zone and companion! How much I have learned and how much I still have to learn. God is slowly shaping me and preparing me for the rest of my life!

Love love love forever! HERMANA ATKINSON!

Welcome to the agenda of missionaies.

Buenas DIAS or is it tardes I am always confused with this..... but BIENVENIDOS A LA AGENDA DE UN MISSIONERA!! (Welcome to the agenda of missionaries). I am going to try to write my week moment for moment for everyone to get a feel for all the crazy stuff we got to do this week!

Empeza!!

Monday. We had to move p day to Tuesday because we got to go to the temple! Yah! So Monday we went for an area that is VERY RICH to plan our invasion for Saturday...see Saturday.... this area is a thriving hive of Catholics and beautiful parks with virgins everywhere and a huge beautiful park with tons of roses and a statue of the pope! Where is my camera!! DOH!! We went with a member to know the houses of less actives. Then went running to the other extreme of our sector for an appointment with a investigator who when we got there, (half an hour walk) wasn't home. Ba ha ha ha. so is the work.

TUESDAY was day at the temple and WOOSH spiritual revitalization!! Just the pure love that we felt just walking within the outer gates was amazing! Then had a family home evening in the house of a recent convert. The grandma and her three grand-kids were baptized in may. They are so strong in the church and have amazing faith. The mom of the kids and the two youngest kids were there also and wow reminds me of family reunions, small kids running everywhere and everyone is talking and laughing and having a great time! and Camilla who has four years is pulling my hair and nose and jumping off the bed. This great family who is so humble and doesn't have much is always feeding us coca cola and piccarones and marzamora (which is like jam but the consistency of snot....)

WEDNESDAY was a GREAT. Lunch as always with the family Tovar. They are always making us laugh till the amazing soup hermana Tovar cooks comes out our nose.(every day we laugh so hard it hurts) and we also had COWSA!! A beautiful plate of Peru!, shredded chicken with mayonnaise wrapped in potato! oh my love. where have you been all my life'' very fattening but oh so good! and fried bananas of the islands. Not good to eat solo they are an orange color, but fried are the best things I have ever had in my life! It was good that lunch was great because the rest of the day all of our appointments fell through and we were running for all the extremes to have the people not be there. We did have the opportunity to run into an inactive woman (doesn't live in our area darn) but she was baptized at 8 and really hasn't been to church since. Gave her a book of Mormon and really bore our testimonies on how the church has strengthened our lives. She said she would go back to church this week.

Thursday: We got to teach a young man and his mom. he is very quiet and it is very funny cuz he is 30 something and still lives with his mom and his mom the whole lesson was you need to repent and wash your hair and don't put your shoes there and why this shirt and listen to these two young women because they are very good and very important and this message is true! WE could hardly believe our ears! She was very receptive and listened and READ The book of Mormon the whole introduction, and when Jose Smith saw angel Moroni, she is catholic but WOW she really is accepting the veracidad (truth)of the gospel and can really see the logic of what we are teaching and is amazing to actually have someone accept the gospel like this and read the book of Mormon with this kind of gusto!! Her questions are straight out of the GOLDEN INVESTIGATORS handbook....(disclaimer there really isn't an official golden investigators handbook....) dinner consisted of mac n cheese three days old at ten thirty at night right before we passed out in our beds ( and we all thought I slept like a rock before....BA ha ha that was practice)

FRIDAY!! was normal walking and talking with people lots of appointments lost this day too I have no idea what happened this week , but no one was there when they said they would be. Yet a miracle was that we ran into a young student who is studying hard and really wants to be baptized but doesn't have the time for the lessons but we had been looking for her for two weeks and finally have her cell phone. Woot!

Saturday: DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN!! Had our INVASION!! Basically all the other elders and sisters in our zone come to our area and knock doors for us. We get references! So in two hours we knocked doors with twelve people, ten missionaries and the Tovar brothers (ex missionaries). It was a bit stressful cuz no one was on time and a sister in the ward who came to help was really late and we had already started and she couldn't find a pair of missionaries to help....and she gave up some important things in her house to be there. oye I was just glad when it was over. But then we went to help out with a pollada.. ( POLLADA=basically a fundraiser like a bake sale but with chicken). So they make rich rich rich food with potatoes yams, lettuce sauces and the biggest piece of chicken in my life! I half expected it to BOK at me! Then people come and buy them and eat them and raise money for uniforms for their kids. WE had six missionaries five children the mom and the grandma all in one room and three people eating their polladas. All in one room screaming and eating and working hard to have the food done quick for all the people waiting of course the missionaries bought some for us and WOOSH so rich was the food! Then we went to work walking and delivering polladas and teacing for the rest of the day we can't even explain how tired we are but happy.

SUNDAY: WE had to bring our investigator who has his baptism this week to church we passed for his house at 8.30 but he said he had to get ready and eat breakfast and to pass back by in 40 minutes!! I said ten and really it ended up being twenty five. Oye but now he can have his baptism this Saturday if all goes well in his interview. Then the two young boys we baptized in may were moving houses and WOOT SERVICE AGAIN!!! We helped them move all their things to a new cleaner happier house of many colors bright green orange and bright blue! I Love this house! It was so fun and we got to know the mom and dad better! Then went to work contacting all the references we received from the invasion. not to mention it was the festival of the virgin maria in the street marginal and lots of music and people and of course the virgin... very interesting and cultural.

Got to run wow long one today love you tons! hermana Atkinson. 

I just love the temple

The work is a bit slow. I would have never thought in my life that I would have to teach the law of chastity or the word of wisdom to people twice my age and I am just a youngster...it's pretty funny but the work is moving slower than I would like but I think this next month my companion and I will begin to have great success and baptisms. Is it cooler there? YES!! holy cow!! like spring in Utah we leave the house in sweaters and coats and its warm and sunny, then the next day forget our sweaters and its not freezing but brisk! Never thought I would need a sweater in Peru!!

I introduced my companion to the wonders of mac n cheese (she is now hooked not to mention I showed her how to make french toast and she makes it every night now BA ha ha the influence of American culture ) and the gravy is whoosh! The best! I did find out that here they do have Quaker oatmeal but they pronounce it Coo A CUR. So I was definitely confused for the longest time until I bought Quaker oatmeal and realized what it was; not to mention their pronunciation of ALL English words are HORRENDUS my companion was looking for Ketchup the other day in the store and asked if i had seen where the kasup was......I was totally lost...what the HECK IS KASUP''' she found it and I said oh KATCHUP she said ya kasup.....no Ketchup,....companion no kasup....at times Spanish is so odd..

We had the opportunity to go to the temple today for p day (sorry for the day late letter but had to change our p day to Tuesday this week to go to the temple) and MAN I JUST LOVE THE temple and always I can feel the family so close there and how blessed we are to have the covenants and blessings of the temple with us always!! I am just so happy after the temple its kinda scary!! But wow to be able to go with our zone was just beautiful just like having our cup filled with fresh cool spirit juice!! Tell Mati Brock and Conner I love them and press forward with steadfastness in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope a love of god and all men!! Please send love to Alyssa and tell her I read her little card of 10 things for a successful missionary every day.

Love, Sister Atkinson

My new companion comes with a new language

ORALE PUES! 

My new companion speaks some very interesting new words.... we were walking and looking for my new favorite kind of cheese queso fresco (once upon a time was in a soup we had for Natalie's wedding ooh so good) anyways looking for cheese and it came to pass that I was asking a question about the cheese and my companion said, ´munde¨and I thought she was talking about cheese.....but actually munde means"What" in Mexico. So I will soon be speaking like a Peruvian and una mexicana OJALA!!! 

Last week for p-day we got to go to the catacombs in the central of Peru!! WOOT my life is fulfilled! The bones and the architecture are really cool, a whole ceiling of wooden puzzle pieces and a room full of old old books, but wow the spirit is definitely lacking in this place. it was interesting to learn about another religion., it was very pretty and I got to eat the BEST CURRO OF MY LIFE! Hot and sugary and filled with custard! oh baby we make good popcorn! And this week we had our final meeting with President Tyler and his wife! It was so spiritually recharging and wonderful! That day of proselyting was THE BEST!! WE were on fire and had the desire to teach everyone and WOW just the happiest day of my life! But as always a good day and a bad day, Sunday was stressful with hardly none of our investigators coming to church when we called them all that morning to be sure they remembered and somehow got lost on the way to the capilla (chapel)?? oye!! if I can be in a different country and a different language and can get to church SO CAN YOU!! for only one hour in your whole week! So a little frustrating but aumented by the opportunity to cook for the family Tovar. The parents are in Colombia with their son to meet his investigators of his mission! So we had spaghetti and they had never known garlic bread so i gratefully introduced them ,9 with fruit salad. woot awesome! thanks mom for teaching me so good! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! 50 AND LOVING IT AND NOT LOOKING IT!! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH HAVE A HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY AND EAT LOTS OF CAKE IN A CONE FOR ME!! LOVE SISTER ATKINSON. 

Saftey for the soul

WOW the last two weeks have been GREAT FOR EMAILS and letters!! Dear elders are so GREAT!! Two from Sammie Krohn, and two DE DERITO!! you are lo Maxi mo!! 

So a lot of changes in a little time, but what happened is my sector didn't close and they replaced the elders with two new elders in our zone an elder Pittam DE salt lake and elder Cruz DE Trujillo. T Hey are so great! always making jokes and reading great hilarious scriptures! So my and my companion have only our sector which is good because it is huge and we have a lot of work to do in our own sector. Whoosh last minute changes but all is fabulous now! my companion is very sweet and we are always laughing about great missionary stories of her past companion. and the time when we were teaching the first lesson in a park and i was given a gift of the palomos right on my jacket. yes a bird dedicated on me during a lesson. Needless to say this past week has just been very happy and always an adventure. We have gotten lost many times (I am so glad to have a patient companion I know parts of our sector well and others not so well) but in the end we always end up smiling and meeting new people and seeing miracles. We went looking for a members house and we knew the street but the number we were given didn't exist, so we started knocking doors and her neighbor came out to help us and we got to talking and bam a new investigator! she is so wonderful and takes care of her mother who is 88 and has Alzheimer s! Such an amazing example of service and faith. 

Weeks are flying by and we are trying to keep time, but wow. so much to do in so little time! 

Another great experience this week is realizing how important this work is. As missionaries we are the spiritual 911 of our whole sector!! People call us and say they need to talk and we grab our bags and hop to it! Through the authority and power of God we invite people to be spiritually saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ. WE are resuscitating the faith of all the people and every time we share a message we are administering medicine for their souls!! How great is this calling! But just like a doctor or EMT we need to be prepared with scriptures and the word of God to help people in their trials and problems. All problems can be solved in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith repentance baptism and the gift of the holy ghost and persevering to the end! 

God is listening always and we are here in this earth to have the peace and joy and love of GOD every day in every moment especially in times of trial. keep your heads up and look for HIM because he is sitting with you in every low point!! I have learned a lot about this this week! Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me, oh how wonderful wonderful to me! 

love you forever! have an inspirational week! I am praying for ya!

love hermana Atkinson. :)

Happy Fahters Day

FELIZ DIA DE LA PADRE!!! (Happy Fathers Day!) I am so grateful for the example my father is for me in serving a mission and always serving others and doing all things to help me in my life!! I am eternally grateful! I was thinking today how much Fathers love us. Our mortal fathers and our father in heaven, our fathers replicate our father in heaven by loving us eternally and wanting the best for us and showing us the way and guiding us. T Hanks Dad for always being there for me and guiding me in the ways of truth and light with your example!! 

AWWWWWWWW!!! OK down to the nitty gritty, in a very short time, as in the morning of transfers everything changed! I am now only in my zone with my companion and they have new elders in the other sector! Woosh a miraculous week! With lots of changes still. We had four elders and one sister leave our zone so many changes but I am so glad to be here. 

It's so nice to have a companion who is from Mexico and we have a lot in common with being in a new country far from our own, she is very happy and says really long prayers but wow she is great! She has six months this Tuesday and I currently have three months so we are relatively new together! It's a great learning experience for both!! Our new zone is great and was a week of miracles finding new people to teach one girl actually came running up to us and said I have a friend for you to teach and we went running to find a daughter of god truly ready for the gospel! I LOVE MISSIONARIES!! love you all until next week! 

PS enjoy your summer

love hermana Atkinson! 

Cambios

CAMBIOS (Changes) are this week!!! AHHHHHHH

LETS JUST SAY I KNOW GOD HAS PREPARED ME FOR GREAT THINGS. OK lets start at the beginning, I have three months in the mission, two of which I have been actually in Peru, one of which have actually been in the field. My first companion has taught me so much about how to serve and teach and love the people and what to do in hard situations and how to lead. She is headed home to Bolivia on Tuesday morning. really sad I have come to love her as a sister and it has only been six weeks!!

Entonces CAMBIOS!(Then Changes) WE are receiving less missionaries than are leaving so many sectors are closing (closing in that there aren't enough missionaries to go around so some sectors are now encompassing two sectors. This is what is happening to Salamanca. In our ward in Salamanca we have two sets of missionaries sister Quiroga and I and two elders. The elders are being transferred and I am receiving a new companion and the elders sector and all their investigators are now mine and my new companions. (Don't worry I wont be getting a greenie or anything, but my new companion will still be training me) It is what is called leading the sector. I need to know where all the houses of investigators are and how to get to point A to point B without being ran over by crazy drivers, in time and in the safest places of my sector and the totally new to me sector of the elders with a new companion. WOO HOO!!

When the president called my companion he said, ¨How is Sister Atkinson progressing?¨ Never a good sign. and ¨How is her Spanish¨. Then he said, ¨She has been prepared for this¨and BOOM cambios(changes). So This week is really going to be eye opening and Exciting and adventurous! It really is a blessing that I feel calm and ready for this. I am really excited to know a new sector with a CERRO!! (hill of houses!)) WOOT I have always wanted to proselyte on a hill! Aka: lots of stairs and lots of people and lots of houses on houses with houses in houses! Truly I am so excited to be able to work hard and I know that I have learned Spanish so quick and feel ready only because God has truly prepared me for this. My testimony is strengthened this week in knowing that every trial God gives us he has also prepared us. He will never command us to do anything save he shall prepare a way for them to not only achieve the goal but to have success!! Never the less pray for the new sector this week and thank you for you love and support always!

PS tell Brock I need pictures of CHINA!! WOOT and congrats Kaylea on the new one and ANDREA AND TJ best of luck you two will be great in Arizona! Grammy and Grampy Hi also!

EXITOS AND AMOR! (successes & love)

Love Sister Atkinson!

Talk about my element

My week has been relatively eventful we were able to help our pensionist this week with her house. Her son unexpectedly was coming home earlier than she thought and the new room was not ready at all. She was very down and sad.  

Entonces after consoling her and sending her to bed with some pills we rolled up our sleeves and GOT TO WORK!! We went out and bought rice and stuff for lunch and made ¨what we will call ¨american Chinese food¨ of ham fried rice and top ramen. Cooking up a storm and doing laundry. I was happier than a tornado in a trailer park!!! TALK ABOUT MY ELEMENT!! Not an air bender or a fire bender but a clean the house and love it bender!! After lunch and cleaning the whole kitchen we began organizing!! WOOT my favorite! Their new room in the back needed cleaned and the mountain of clothes in the parents room moved out to the cabinet in the new room and all the beds moved and re-compiled. Needless to say lots of heavy stuff to move and organize and clean!! I have never been happier in my life!! I just loved every second of it. I felt kinda disobedient that we didn´t get any proselyting done that day (yes all you missionaries can picture reporting our numbers for the day back to our district leader that night of one lesson in the street and none in houses or with members...) BUT then I thought what would Jesus have done? Would he have said, oh sorry sheepie, I know right now you are hanging over a cliff with despair and are burdened with a backpack full of rocks but wait right here for a little bit I have other people who need me elsewhere....NO he would give all to help the one. I learned alot about charity that day. 

WE worked hard ALL DAY! from eleven in the morning to eight o clock at night! But by the time we were done all the stuff for the returning elder was in the new room and everything was clean laundry done and beds made and whew! Talk about some tired missionaries, but i had never been so happy in my life to be able to serve the family that is basically like home for us here. Always they are going above and beyond to aid us as missionaries and daughters of God. What a blessing to be able to use my talents to help them and serve them! 

I firmly believe God prepared me and gave me these talents and sent me here in this moment to be able to help this family with their specific needs and wow. God knows best! I know I am here in Peru for specific people who have been prepared to hear the gospel from me and it may be that I am sent here to learn things from specific people (companion) to aid me for the rest of my life! I wouldn´t change coming on a mission for anything!! I have learned so much in the past month it is insane! and I still have 15 months to learn and grow and WOW! God knows all and is directing us to the people we need in our lives! 

This is my testimony of missionary work and I share it in the name of our savior Jesus Christ amen! 

Love you all keep your heads up and be happy.....why not? 

Love love love Sister Atkinson! 

Out of this World Miraculous week!

HELLO EVERYONE!!

OK so it has been an (OUT OF THIS WORLD MIRACULOUS WEEK!)

So we fasted as a zone this week for our goal of baptisms this month, can I just say it really works!! wow! We met three young men who we are teaching and one is preparing for baptism this weekend! Another young man who only needed to attend church one more time made it all by himself this week! We have been working with a less active family and they made it to church this week and brought their brother and his non member wife! WOOT! Needless to say Sunday was a busy day up at 6 for an early appointment then got home way late visiting many people that day. Whoosh talk about a week of hard work.

Also this week I have really came to realize that Cinderella was right! A dream is a wish your heart makes when you´re fast asleep you will loose your heartache whatever you wish for come TRUE! No matter how your heart is (something) if you keep on believing the things that you wish will come true (insert picture of Cinderella here). It is like faith when we have faith we do all that we possibly can to do the things God wants then we have to give it all to God saying here it is I did all I could possibly do and now it is in your hands. Then stop worrying about it and if it happens then hallelujah and Amen and if not maybe it is meant to be that way. God knows all and through faith we can be lifted of the burden of worldly things. Way to go Cinderella.

Last Monday for P day we went to the beach!! WOO HOO (in the words of Hermana Quiroga) WE played soccer (as always) and found crabs and rocks lots of rocks. They don't have sand on the beach only rocks. Thus I couldn't help but start singing pebble and the penguin and looking for THE PERFECT rock.....ya my companion gave me funny looks...but how awesome!

WE also got to have one of our investigators watch a baptism this week! So awesome he had to many questions and we are hoping for his baptism this weekend as well. Another revelation this week is that people here have a fear of water! They have never gone swimming before! So for them to enter water up to their waist and go totally under the water is VERY new and scary. They baptized a family and it took a lot of times for each baptism because always a head or arm came up and the young girls were very scared, but they all had the courage and were totally submersed! A miracle!

Got to run but love you all and dad how was North Dakota! Wow lucky you! Fixing blenders in North Dakota who knew! :) you are so talented°! Tell grandma Roxie and the Thrashers I love them tons and I will try to write letters this week. LOVE LOVE LOVE Sister Atkinson

PS lotr scripture DyC 43:18 just picture it like helms deep.

Skype friend or foe

Hola!!

Wow Skype makes me so frustrated its a love hate relationship. But To see and hear my family ( most of the time) was the greatest blessing! My companion said I totally changed after. I was happy and my Spanish was better and I wouldn't stop speaking Spanish and it was great! WOW!! The rest of the evening was just out of this world happy. Totally worth it to know I have such a great force of people behind me!

Felizidades ANDREA AND TJ!! Congrats!

PS, some things I forgot to mention yesterday in my email

Everyone loves our family picture!! They laugh at Conner being the baby and the tallest (yes Brock sorry) and they love Mati and think it's funny shes so short and they are amazed my parents are SO YOUNG! Translated; JOVENCITOS!! The family Tovar was so excited for me to talk to my family and be able to see you and everyone says my parents look so very young!! (Mom if you could put up our family picture on the blog)

And we do get to eat out here! We ate at burger king last Saturday and KFC the other day and a member fed us PIZZA DE Peru and WOW I can never go back- seven different kinds of meat and olives the size of small cows and always Inca cola (they don't have root beer here) only orange Inca cola or coca cola...ew....but I do like coca cola. and we do eat. I am definitely not starving. Its crazy because we walk from utter poverty across a freeway and there is the largest grandest mall of MY LIFE!! so crazy the culture shock just about kills me! People with no sinks and live in one room with all their family to bigger than university mall all in about ten to fifteen minutes walk!! CRAZY! just blew me away!

So glad to be able to see and talk with my family and wow I love and think about you all a lot!!! G-ma and G-pa Thrasher and G-ma and G-pa Atkinson and Kandis and Meagan and Janae and Aleesha and Shalece and Jain and Alyssa and Saje and Mati and Brock and Conner and Cathy quilter Sammie Krohn ! Wow so many people every day that I remember or something reminds me of them and wow I am so blessed to have such great examples!!

Gracias por todo!!

Love you all!! Remember always that God loves you more than we can ever imagine! He loves you so much he gave his son for us. Through all the pain and agony it is amazing I can't even describe somehow it is more than love because we are HIS!! Love Sister Atkinson!!

I am a real Missionary!!!

LOOK MOM I AM A REAL MISSIONARY!!!!! I am so excited to be here! Day 2
and LOVING IT! We have already gone to work teaching two families last
night and having a district meeting today! My companera is AMAZING
Hermana Q. She only has one month and a half left to her
mission! I am so blessed to have her she is an amazing teacher and the
BEST missionary anyone could ask for!! I love her so much and I have
only known her for two days!! She always says, ¨Si usted nececita
alguin, DIGAME! verdad?: She is always looking for ways to better
train me and have me know all I need to know in the next six weeks! I
am so excited to teach with her for this short time she just blows me
out of the water every lesson. yesterday we taught about Noche de
Hogar. Mi primero vez!!! It was so cool she knows all these great
games to play with families and it was a SO cool missionary lesson about
prayer and family home evening! CHEVRE!! ( she always says chevre or
cool) I am really so blessed to have her! I can't believe I am
actually here most of the time. Our apartment is great it has a little
pointy metal gate and the green stairs lead up to our two room one
bath (no stove but a microwave and a fridge) apartment. We even have a
little terrace outside for exercise..... gracias.
I can't wait until I can understand and know the schedule. My
companion just knows all the names of past investigators off the top
of her head and WOW I cannot wait to be just like her! but patiencia(patience)
and line upon line precept by precept. They presented us yesterday to
the whole zone and we got up and they told a little about us PS trying
to explain lacrosse to Latinos is the best experience ever! They just
imagine it like hockey (PS Squid Bocanegra! I totally have an elder
here with your same last name!! Thinking of you!)
Anyway so we all got introduced and met our companions and got
doughnuts and the best guacamole of my life that morning in all our
meetings and wow so much in two days it feels like a year!
But thank you for your emails and I am kinda sad I missed out on
women s conference always is so fun and animados! I cant wait to come
back and go to the sessions in Spanish ;) me and Jessica all the way!!
and Derick......BA ha ha. Anyways glad Brock went to prom! Aw my
little kid is growing up!
T Hank you you are all the best cuidense!! Love you tons!!
I get to write you Monday I believe is my next p day so woot) more info then!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Sister Atkinson!

Best Day Ever!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

OK so best day ever! I totally got my package and at an amazingly fast rate!! WOW!! The sugar cookies were gone in two minutes all the Latina sisters loved them!! The elders were so excited and green as can be of jealousy!! I loved it! It just made me feel so close to home to read the funnies in my bunk bed here! So great!

So pretty much proselyting this past Saturday was rough. We actually didn't proselyte we looked for less active members in RIMAC, the poorest part of Lima. AKA the hill of houses! Crazy! So many dogs and people everywhere. We got to go with two young women in the ward they are so amazing!! The only rough part was none of the less active members were home or had moved or disappeared and the one man we did talk to said he had a problem with his bishop and never wanted to hear from us again. My first experience of almost literally having a door shut in my face. It's rough work, but after we got to go talk to some member families and their testimonies are impenetrable! Someone once talked about our testimonies being a wall of shields and we need to keep each shield and each part of our testimonies strong so we don't have any weak links or spots where the devil can get us. These people had the strongest testimonies I had ever seen! I was really humbled to be able to hear them and they always shared their drinks with us. Just so awesome!

PS. why does Conner feel like a cowboy. That is what I am really going to miss this fall is the garden, but here they have amazing vegetables!! Great cucumbers huge grapes, comote Spanish for yam, and great beets!!! I am so happy for food all the time. and in a week it will all change! So crazy I get more nervous for the field with every passing day but more wanting to just dig in and go. I just hope my Spanish is more up to par than I think it is.

OH YA HUGE PLUS THIS WEEK!! Other than ice creme! was MY mission president came to speak at a devotional! It was crazy awesome and Derick was right he has an almost comedic low voice and sounds like he could be a cartoon! Wild! Loved it and his wife was so sweet and out going and they are just fabulous and we got to talk with them , Hermana Capunay and I! WOW best part of the week I was just beaming with smiles and it was great!! Then we got ice creme after! I said to the mission president of the CCM “meet my mission president and ice creme all in one day BEST DAY EVER!” He just laughed at me but wow, time goes so fast!

Love you all Sister Atkinson

Ice Cream and Real bones!

OK, so this week has been insane. we went on tour last week and I bought an awesome orange soccer shirt I have no idea what team it is.....all good it's orange can't get much better! We totally went to Pizza Hut after an awesome trip to the NATIONAL museum where they had lots of artifacts about Peru and its people! TALK ABOUT SISTER ATKINSON IN A CANDY SHOP!!!! I even got to see REAL BONES and I tried to date the skulls how cool No?

The other thing this week that was awesome was SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM Bones and ice cream all in one week I am as happy as a clam!! I am kinda getting field hungry. When we have been here so long and practiced so much there is not much else that is too exciting. except the new elders let the sisters play futbol with them! Yay! There are a ton more elders and sisters this time! Over 100 in total! Lunches and Dinners are insane!! My new companera is going to my mission along with a TON of elders! and Hermana Kajec who actually lived in Idaho for two years her story is quite awesome!! A lot of the elders and sisters here, their parents are converts and they are here on missions!! That just blows me away! How could I have ever doubted for one second about going on a mission.  I have had it my whole life and so have my parents and my grandparents and almost all the way to great grandparents as well! I am so blessed to be raised in a family where we are just born into a great heritage of worthy and loving and down right awesome people! I am so glad to have had the examples I have had. Almost no one here can say both their parents and one set of grandparents served missions! They are simply blown away! I am so blessed! I can't wait to meet people I can share the gospel with ! Just let me out there! I am hopping ready and waiting! Yes, it will be scary and hard to go from our ¨Garden of Eden¨here to the big huge world and not be in school anymore and only really have me and my companion, but man I am so hungry for teaching real people! Almost at my two month mark!! Where does time go!!

Ps. I don't think dear elders are getting through we think they are simply throwing all our mail out the window of the plane on the way over here or something. We never get mail here and at this point they ask you just start sending stuff to the mission home!! ) Only two more weeks! Woot!

BUT I did get an AMAZING DEAR ELDER from Terina that made my day! Rain or shine do not whine through and through tuff and true TERINAS mail ALWAYS GETS THROUGH!! :) Gracias! I hung your letter below my mirror and it uplifts me every day PACE!! positive attitude changes everything!! LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week! Enjoy the pics! love you family! Write you this week!

What's a Rama?

WOW where does time go??????

First of all our branch is called RAMA ABUNDANCIA so when ever they call over the intercom and say Rama abundancia porfavor encontran en la capilla en tres minutos. I think RAMA!! WHAT}s a RAMA? from forever strong. BA ha ha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROCK!! <i am so glad you have awesome friends that make your life awesomely happy and early in the morning and embarrassing for you birthday"! Thank them for me!°

We played soccer with just the No rte Americas district this week and i totally biffed it on the turf....not fun but soccer was great even our grammar teacher was able to play with us!! yes in his Sunday shoes and pants. ;) we have the coolest teacher ever!! Hermano Lazo is just so amazing and uplifting and short AH!! So great! WE change teachers for the next three weeks because we are now known as ADVANCADO norte Americana missioneras! Woot! doesn't mean anything just that we have been here for six weeks and still not in the mission field due to our Spanish speech impediments! ;)

 

So Saturday was the big day when we went out for proselytismo!!! YES BIG CITY HERE I COME!! So mediocre bus ride to my mission! So cool! Lots of houses and they gave us tons of literature and folletos and set us loose. yes me and my companera did have a teacher proselytize with us. My Latina companion (i will try for pictures next week.....sorry) is very tiny a pixie! So knocking doors was pretty much hysterical! huge white chick with no Spanish and a tiny Latina ;) but it was awesome. We entered four houses that day and gave two book of Mormons (books of Mormon??) whatever libro DE Mormon. The first house we went into was a house of a seventh day Adventist! Oh boy... and of course I begin the lesson with the first vision and howI know that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restored gospel. The spirit was so strong and fabulous! Then my companera goes to share a scripture from the bible and the father in the family goes off about how the book of Mormon can't be scripture!!  We bible bashed for what felt like forever!! crazy! I just keep smiling and looking around like WHAT IS GOING ON?? They are talking really fast and the spirit is gone and I just taught the first vision in an Adventists home and all sorts of other various thoughts. then the mom came down the stairs to see a gringa on her couch. we started talking and through her we were able to give her a book of Mormon to read. she said she would read it and was very open to our message even though she only got the last half!. OH the miracles of GOD!! she talked to me although I didn't know much Spanish and we were able to return the spirit to the house of this awesome family. So many miracles during that day!! So many great people. PS, Ian what do 7th day Evangelists believe in ? and what do materialists believe in? (ya that door was interesting I only understood Machu Pichu and you are from the USA and I hate the USA....good times good times)

After it was all done we just felt so fulfilled and my companera and i just loved it!! i didn't talk much but what i could say brought the spirit.

Thank you all for the letters sorry I will try to write more in a hand written letter I only have two stamps left.

You could send me pens I have gone through so many have stopped working.

My new companera came in yesterday and Hermana Seversons at midnight last night their Spanish is very clear and I understand most things my Spanish is better and better! OK got to go love ya!!

General Confrence was great.

Hello family and everyone!

Sorry not much time today they watch the clock here like a hawk!!

Dear Tasha thank you for your email and picture. sorry i cannot look at the website but i did get the picture!! MUCHAS FELIZIDADES!!! Oh your baby is so cute! General conference here is great! we got to sit all day and listen to ENGLISH how much better can it get. Sorry Mati could´t go to St. George with everyone, but school is good.

We loved conference and received a lot of inspiration I really loved the talk about are we the fish in the tank that don´t say thank you when God feeds us. I am trying to be more positive. Me more positive impossible!! but serio. I realized I need to start writing a gratitude page again. Just one or two things daily. WE really have it so well here good food three times a day air conditioned classes, volleyballs footballs. I get to go proselyting this Saturday with my Latina companion and some of the places are REALLY poor or really rich. I am so blessed to be here and to be able to serve! It is the opportunity of a lifetime! I am so happy to get Ian and Dia´s emails and know there is life outside the CCM! Its so crazy to think I have been here for almost three weeks and with any luck next week when we get a whole new set of Latina missionaries for 3 more weeks hermana C will be with them!

Dia I totally understand your emails very well now that I am a missionary. The heartbreak when an investigator doesn't commit and the lessons you teach and the hard times, but i am so glad to know WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, bringing people unto CHRIST!!

WE watched a movie in a fireside after general conference about a train of people. this train was going really fast and the conductor realizes it is going to crash due to a malfunction on the track his only son ( a young kid only about eight) dives under the train to save all the people (smokers, sinners, lost souls) in saving the train the young boy gives his life away. The father can only stand in horror while the train passes by in anguish. All the people on the train have no idea his son just died to save their lives! Only one girl on the train sees his anguish. Later the father sees this young mother who had previously been an alcoholic. The father sees her in the train station and she is happily married and has a child.

If you shall bring but one soul unto to me how great will be your happiness?

Please remember always that god loves you and because he loves you he gave his only begotten son to die for us. Don´t just ride the train of the atonement and take it for granted. Actively participate in the Santa Cena and remember why it is so important. I am here to be able to teach others about how they can use the atonement and return to live with god. I love you all so much and really am so glad to have you as a part of my life!! What great examples!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU! have a happy Easter and just love everyone!!

Hermana Atkinson!

love you! have a good Easter and happy b-day Brock!

Hola ( use your pirates of the carribean Jack voice)

Hello EVERYONE!!! In <peru it is HOLA!!! ( picture pirates of the caribean jack saying it)

so pretty much it has been GREAT! The first day was wild and crazy and it{s still wild and crazy! The culture down here is so funny! they have a scheldule kinda like the MTC in provo, but it randomly changes. WE discover the  rules only after we already broke them! :0 OOPs. and they change important meetings and such one hour before just as you get into the shower. it has been an interesting week for sure. They don}t really have rules but they are very strict about those rules that you don{t know. <pero esta bien. ( i say esta bien every three seconds here :) but my companera says comparatively i have really good spanish for the most part. So that{s good.

The food.....IS SO GOOD!!!! Oh my wow! it is said Peru is up there with culinary mastery countries like France! Their desserts are so crazy good!! We had no joke jello cake with multiple colors of jello and donuts and a cake that looked like cheesecake but was actually bread cake with honey! ian would love it here! meat for every meal! rice and meat for lunch and sometimes for breakfast. they have great thing called cafe con leche which tastes I think something like cofee( i have never had coffee) and it is my FAVORITE!! The meals are really good going in, but it totallly goes through me like a straw! (small children and those with nervous disorders and weak stomachs stop reading here) it is not fun, but the food is so good i must keep eating! i just ask for smaller portions now and peptomismal is my new best friend. I am gaining appreciation for gluten free diets and when you get gluten contaminated though! :) woot! THey ( the americans who have been here for three weeks say it gets better). 

Sorry the keyboard in spanish is really throwing me off.

today is PDAY!! and we got to go to the temple. They basically let you out of the compound (no joke really high walls and you can{t see past a huge blocking thing outside your window. we were starting to wonder if there really was life out there! its pathetic when we run to the wall to hear dogs bark on the other side.) Basicallly they put you on the sidewalk outside and say find your way to the temple. so we catch a bus. crazy full of people LOVED IT! they call mormons this is your stop in english. the temple in spanish is FABULOUS so pretty and really petite. very small. pequenito. Then we got to go SHOPPING! cookies ehre are so good. anything processed like american food at this point is great! Then we caught a cab back to the CCM.

My companeras are great! we spent a little time not understanding one another and thought they hated us for a while but they thought we hated them so it has been kinda rough but my companeras sister taught english on her mission to bolivia so with Hermana Vargas (she is only about four feet tall! saje would fit in well here! es un chiste!) her english is very good she knows lots of words. so between her and me we can usually understand one another it is fun learning new words all the time.

DERICK!! Hermana AVA MORENO is one of my miestras!! She was asking if  you are married and why not and why don{t you have a girlfriend!! :) She loves you ! my teachers are all really cool! two for language and one hermano Lazo for grammer ( he is intense!)

All the time for today but the best way for me to get letters is pouch mail and dear elder! They reccomend not sending packages to the Peru ccm is not eeasy and costs alot. but dear elders get here in a week! woot and i can send regular letters from here with us stamps. i gave away majority of my stamps to my hermana.