Change people's lives at home and around the world
January 2021
Austin Atkinson
Learning another language on a mission has its benefits.
When recent Law School grad Austin Atkinson first got involved with the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, he was asked to use his Russian language skills to communicate with international delegates at the center's annual on-campus symposium.
“I loved that,” says Atkinson. “It was a good opportunity for them to become more familiar with who we are as members of the Church and find common ground between our faiths.” Students like Atkinson not only help organize and plan many of the center’s events, but they also help with concierge-type services, ground transportation, report writing, and more.
Atkinson also used his language skills when he attended the G20 Interfaith Forum in Tokyo, Japan, where Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Sharon Eubank, director of Latter-day Saint Charities and first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, spoke.
In Tokyo, Atkinson saw how the Church has earned credibility among religious and governmental leaders for its far-reaching humanitarian, education, and self-reliance efforts around the world. “Having our faith’s leaders speaking on the same stage as other world leaders talking about issues like religious freedom, education, pollution, refugees, and things like that was amazing,” he says.
Union, justice, tranquility, defence [sic], welfare, and liberty are words in the preamble of the Constitution of the United States. Their meanings may seem clear to you today, but do you know how they were used in 1787 when the document was written? And does a change in meaning really matter?
For Sarah Johns, a 2L student from Huntington Beach, California, attending law school and participating in competitions has improved both her knowledge and her spirituality.
Three years ago, Christopher Melling had never written a legal brief or attended a religious service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Trained as a fighter pilot by the United States Marine Corps, Major Melling was ready to take the next step in his life.
