Feb. 21, 2012

Hey family,
Today I had an experience which shamed and humbled me. Sister Kunz has a watch and the battery died several weeks ago. We've been to Walmart several times to try and get it fixed but every time we went something didn't work out. They refused to fix it, they didn't have the battery, and several other things. Today we went to buy a new watch. As we got in the car and were driving away, the battery in the new watch didn't work. I was livid. Fuming even. We turned around and went back to demand that they change the battery or exchange the watch. I walked very purposefully through the store to the jewelry counter and explained the situation to women we had tried to work with before. They said once again that they couldn't change the battery and I very shortly told them that yes, they could. The poor lady I was talking to turned to her supervisor who told her to try it, but if it was too hard to give us our money back. The supervisor looked at me and said, "You're a Christian." All the fire in me disappeared in an instant leaving behind guilt and shame of my behavior. I responded that I was trying to be, but I was pretty frustrated. She said, "I know." And then turned away from me. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I let this thing build up into something that is not very Christlike. I wear His name every day, people know that I profess to follow Him, but I didn't do a very good job of it today. We are humans and we make mistakes, but as Christians we should aim to live the higher law and truly love people as Christ would instead of being proud, holier than thou.

Another sad experience, but for a different reason is that we are losing two of our senior couples this week. They've finished their missions and are leaving sunny San Diego. It is so sad to see them go. Sorry family, but I cried more at their leaving than when I entered the MTC. These couples have been so incredible and have really helped me through a lot. They're loving and patient, kind and caring. They have saved me from myself many times and I love them so much. My heart hurts at thinking that they won't be here anymore. I hope that I can love the new senior couples and help them feel welcomed even when missing the Brenchleys and Woodburys.

It's been a humbling few days. Randy came to church on Sunday (he's one of our investigators with a date). He's doing really well! People so often catch me by surprise and I'm glad he's one of them. He is very dependable and I'm excited for him.

 We're having Elder Zwick from the 70 come speak to us tomorrow for Zone Conference. It should be really good. He stopped by last night and checked out some of our apartments. We weren't prepared, but fortunately our apartment passed the inspection. I found out that my friend Sister Young thinks I'm a clean freak, which I'll take as a compliment.

 I hope you're well family. I love you all! Have a good week.

 Love, Sister Johnson

Feb. 14, 2012

Bueno Familia! Como estan ustedes? Espero que bien.

Pues, este semana fue tan bien! On Sunday we had a really neat experience. We had visited a less active last week and taught the Plan of Salvation. She told us she was feeling, "solidily terrestial." My heart broke! But as we talked about the Celestial kingdom and the importance of being together forever, she committed to coming to church. I was so excited! Sunday rolled around and we stopped by her house to show her the way, then we had to stop by an investigator's house to help the fellowshipper give her a ride. It was raining, church was about to start, the carseat wasn't the right fit for the child, it was stressful. But it all went well! And she came to church! Two of our other investigators came to church too. The feeling of joy that came into my heart is hard to describe. As I walked into the chapel (yes, a few minutes late) and saw how many people we had helped come to church that week, sitting in the pews singing, my heart burst a little bit. I couldn't stop grinning (I'm sure I looked a little bit like a mad woman). But all the moments when people rejected us, turned us down, buffed us, lied to us... all those moments fell into oblivion because there were people in church, feeling the Spirit and doing their part. This is what it's all about! The talks were perfectly given about convenant keeping and then later in class about service. It could not have been a better day. Oh man, it was so great!

Saturday night was a pretty cool moment too. We were trying to contact a less active whose records have recently been moved to our ward. He wasn't home, but on our way out of the complex we were walking behind a woman. I was not about to open my mouth, I was sure her body language was screaming, "don't talk to me!" but Sister Kunz was on top of it and called out to her. We chatted for awhile and found out that she is really open and really cool. She told us that she could see that hand of God in our talking to her. There is not much more lifting to a missionary than hearing those words from a street contact. She couldn't come to church, but she is very open to us stopping by again. I love when that happens!

The Battalion is still going well. We're losing two of our senior couples, the Woodburys and the Brenchleys, next week. Noooo! We're going to miss them soooo much! They are just part of the deal, Battalion = Brenchleys, Woodburys, Stallings and Seegmillers. I don't want them to leave, but unfortunately, it happens. I'm sure the next couples will be great, but it's not fun to say goodbye to people you love.

Elder Zwick is going to be coming to the mission for some good zone conferences and training. It'll be a great experience to hear what he has to teach us.

Other than that, we don't have much else happening out of the ordinary. I'm glad you all survived the climbing trip and had a good time. I love you all and happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Sister Johnson

Feb. 7, 2012

Hi mom/ family,

So this week was the first week of the transfer. We have 2 people with a baptismal date, one of which is moving today- but we're passing him on to the other missionaries. He's so great! I'm going to miss him. The other one with the date, we met with her last night to talk about prophets. I'd been nervous about that lesson, I'm not sure why. But it went well and we watched a little bit of President Monson's talk from October Sunday morning session. It's interesting to see the actual progress of investigators. My whole mission so far I've had a really hard time getting investigators to commit and read and come to church, but we finally have people doing those things. They're not ready for baptism this weekend, but they're still making great steps. I look at how different it is right now and I keep thinking about how Heavenly Father really is doing everything. I am out there, opening my mouth and talking to people, I take the steps and try my best to be a good teacher, but I continuously fall short. Any progression or miracles are definitely gifts from Heavenly Father.

I'm still with Sister Kunz, which is a great blessing. She teaches me humility and patience. We're currently helping an investigator quit smoking. I'm really excited for him! Before my mission, the smell of smoke was gross but I could deal with it. Now, the smell makes me sick and I've learned a whole new dislike for it because of what it symbolizes. It makes me so mad to think that Satan has a hold on these people through a stupid addiction like smoking, or drinking, or even the bigger ones like breaking the law of chastity. But I do know that as people choose to follow Christ and use His Atonement, they can and are released from those chains. It's liberating, the freedom and joy that comes from following Christ.

I've also started realizing how skewed my perception of things is as a missionary. I'll see women with skirts at the length of their knees and be in complete shock at their immodesty, but then I realize that I'm being really judgemental. Or when members come through the Battalion and I'm aghast that they aren't sharing the gospel with everyone they meet and inviting them to meet with the missionaries. I think real life is a very different place than I realized before.

I'm almost finished with Jesus the Christ, I only have one more chapter left. When I started reading it I thought I'd gain an entirely new insight on Christ and finally know exactly who He is. I realized however, that only reading about Christ doesn't do the trick. Jesus the Christ has strengthened my testimony on things I already knew and once again confirmed to me that this is the restored Gospel, but I've come to the conclusion that the only way to get to know Christ is through applying His Atonement and praying for that relationship. I still have a long way to go before I can say that I know Christ. I am grateful, however, that I'm on the right path and following Him.

I love you family. I pray for you all the time and I hope you know how much Heavenly Father blesses you, loves you and guides you. I know He does the same for me and I pray He does even more for you. Thank you for helping me and supporting me through this phase of my life. I love you!

Love, Sister Johnson

January 31, 2012

Hi mom and family, I love hearing about the goings on. It's good to know what's going on at home. This week is the last week in the transfer. Tomorrow we know what happens. I think I'll stay in Spring Valley with Sister Kunz, but we never know. The funny thing about transfers is that when we're told who we're with we think, "I never would have guessed but it's so perfect!". Transfers are happy and sad. I'm still always so grateful for the Battalion and the love and sisterhood we have. One of the sisters had something really hard happen to her family last week. And it was really cool to see how all the sisters came together and were unified in pouring out our love to her. It was the most charitable and heart warming moment I've had. We wept with her, and for one of the first times I didn't cry because I would be sad for myself. I cried for her. It was wonderful to know that the Lord blesses us with true love and charity as we serve each other. There is such an incredible support system in the Battalion. I have been working on loving people that I don't like. It's not always fun, but Sister Kunz is really good at helping me. We served them anonymously this morning and it was really fun. I want to love them so that I can really be like Christ, but also so I don't regret wasting this time on disliking people. We've taught some really fun people this last week. We've dropped a lot of people who won't commit or change, but we've found a lot of people who are ready. We had investigators come to church yesterday! And they liked it. I love humble people. They're so nice to be around. One man we're teaching is hilarious. He is loving the Book of Mormon and likes to recap each reading assigment we give him and tell us the story. Some details aren't correct, but at least he's reading and enjoying it. He has turkeys, chickens, ducks, and a rooster. He's raising them to help him have a healthier life, especially after some hard things he's been through. He's taking little baby steps toward the gospel. It's not quite as quick as we'd like, but we're constantly reminded that things are on the Lord's timeline, no matter how much we sometimes wish it were on our own. Our ward mission leader is great. We have a really good ward council. Sometimes I have to remind myself to be patient with their humanity, but I'm learning. Humility is a hard pill to swallow. There isn't really that much to tell about this last week. I haven't learned any life lessons other than just keep going and doing the work. Yesterday I woke up in a funk. I was not feeling it and I didn't want to do anything. It was like that until almost noon when we taught a former whom we've been trying to work with. He is so great! He's humble, open, has the cutest little family, and really understood what we taught him. It was a great lesson. His kids are 4 and 2 and I imagine they're how Cambrie and Kooks are. He wants some space to read and study on his own before we come back. Which is hard, but if we trust in the Lord, I know he and his family will accept the gosepl- some day. I love you all. Thanks for writing me! Have a good week, Love, Sister Johnson