April 24, 2012

Hi family,

So this week has been really good. Mom, random request. I'm learning to play the violin as a fiddle for Cinco de Mayo and don't really know what I'm doing. Do we have any violin books from when I was in fourth grade? If we do, could you maybe fax some of the pages with the fingering for the notes? Our fax number is 6192983351. Elder Seegmiller is ok if you send it to the Battalion fax machine.

As always. We had something really neat happen to us last week in church. A member came up to us and asked if we'd be willing to teach his new wife, as if it was an inconvenient thing. Of course we will teach her!!! So we met her last Tuesday night and she's adorable. She's from Columbia and met with missionaries there but didn't get baptized because she wanted to do it here after she got married. She's so nice and is a teacher so she shouldn't have a hard time reading the Book of Mormon. She's already progressing and doing really well. It's funny how sometimes Heavenly Father just places people in your lap.

This week has been full of so many blessings. I was able to serve two times at the temple, and two times the week before that which makes a total of 4 in two weeks, which never happens. But I was able to meet some very wonderful people. Some people were not quite so friendly. We met with a girl who isn't a member, but is very active in her church. She was wearing very short shorts and was led into the temple by a friend who wanted to show her the grounds. The workers weren't very friendly apparently and the girl was very offended. While we were talking to her she kept grilling us and asking us all those hard questions. It was a little stressful, but I felt like I knew all the answers pretty well. She was so closed off that no matter what we said, she wasn't satisfied, she didn't have real intent. But I was grateful for Sister Lewis to help me be a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. What we say doesn't matter so much as the Spirit that accompanies our words. After the girl realized a little that she was being somewhat unreasonable, I was able to talk to her about keeping her faith strong, even when her friends weren't the best examples. That's when she opened up a little and became more relaxed and was able to agree with me. The gospel does apply to everyone, you just have to find the right application to help them understand.

That experience reminded me of a lot of people we talk to who have heard rumors and lies about the Book of Mormon and won't even try to understand what it is. The Book of Mormon does indeed testify of Christ. Mosiah 3:7-8, 11; Alma 7:11; 3 Nephi 11; plus nearly every single other page teaches about the Savior- how can this Book be false? It cannot and it is not. It does not replace the Bible, it supports the Bible. If the Book of Mormon is true, then the Bible is true. Both teach of Christ, both bring us closer to Him and to God. Both teach us about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We can, and do, learn something new every time we read it. God would not give us a book such as this, only to lead us astray. It is true. It is the word of God and His dealings with His children. He loves us, He loves them, and He has blessed the world with an incredible opportunity to know who He is and what is plan is for us. I do not understand how people are so closed that they will not let themselves see this. As we study it with real intent, with a real desire to know and act upon the precepts taught therein, we receive that witness that it is exactly what it proclaims to be and we understand more of the mysteries of God. I am so grateful for its clarifying and edifying words. I love the Book of Mormon so much! I am sad for those who do not have eyes to see or ears to hear, but they're lack of attention does not lessen my joy any as I rejoice in the pages of the Book of Mormon. Family, do you know what this means? Do you understand how blessed we are?! I hope you do. Because God has given us so much! He has given us the way we can return to be with Him and our families forever! This is amazing!

The Atonement does work. We've been working with a less active sister who hasn't been coming to church, we found out it was because she can't take the Sacrament. Last week we were able to listen to her well and help her feel the love of the Savior. We texted her a scripture every day and encouraged her to come to church. We called her the morning of and reminded her. The Sacrament came, and went and she wasn't there. My heart started breaking, but then she walked through the door and my heart soared! After church we had a lesson with her and the change in her countenance from the week before was remarkable. She had more light, she was happier, and she recognized the difference. It's amazing to see that change in people. That's what makes all the long days worth it. I'm here to help people come unto Christ, and when they do... it's indescribable.

Another boy we found a few weeks ago has a great story too. His name is Teddy and he's from Ethiopia. I don't remember if I've already shared part of his story, but it gets better. We were walking by and saw him sitting outside of house. Sister Lewis said, "I see you all the time just sitting there. It looks like you need something to read." So we gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read it. He did so and loved it! Unfortunately, he doesn't speak Spanish so we handed him off to the English singles ward sisters. We felt prompted to stop by a couple of weeks ago (the other sisters hadn't contacted him yet) and we found him. He'd been reading and was doing well. So we prayed with him, and immediately there after called the other sisters and told them they needed to stop by as soon as possible. Things worked out that they were able to stop by that afternoon and Teddy accepted a baptism date! He's been going to church and activities. His first Sunday in church a boy in the ward conveniently happened to have a copy of the Book of Mormon in Teddy's native language and gave it to him. Miracle? Yes! Then yesterday we dropped by to pass on a message from the other sisters about an appointment. The change in him was huge. He thanked us for talking to him that day and for sending the other sisters. He sees the difference and is so grateful for the gospel and the Atonement. It's amazing to see the fruits of our labors, but more importantly, it's amazing to see people accepting Christ and apply the Atonement in their lives and then seeing how blessed they truly are because of it. The gospel changes lives!!!

Transfers are tomorrow and it's crazy to think that I'm in my 7th transfer. I've seen so many miracles, I've met so many people and I don't understand why Heavenly Father loves us so much, all I know is that He does. I love you family. I hope your week has brought miracles of your own and that you have recognized the hand of God in your lives. Stay strong, be converted to the gospel, and do not let yourselves falter. We are a strong generation and we have the help from angels all around us. I was reading in Alma with all the war chapters and I realized how much we can learn from them. Moroni, Teancum, Lehi, Helaman... they were all strong men spiritually and were able to withstand the evils of Satan. We can too. We have many more resources and much more direction. Let us be humble enough to follow Christ and serve our fellowman so they can follow Him too. Love you all!

Love, Sister Johnson

April 17, 2012

Hey family,

So this week has been good. I know, I always say that. There have been some good things happening. One of which: a sister and I had a chance to go on an exhange (Sister Lewis is our group leader- kind of like a district leader so she has to do exhanges with all the sisters in the group). The sister I got to work with is one that I hadn't had the opportunity to learn to love yet. I didn't really know if I even liked her or not. But working with her, Heavenly Father blessed me significantly and blessed me with a great love for her. It's amazing how that happens! I can honestly say that I really do love every single sister who serves here at the Battalion.

On Sunday we had a Mission President's fireside and I got to sing in it with several other sisters. I had a solo and it went really well, I wasn't very nervous. It could be that Mexicans are usually tone deaf so they wouldn't know if I was flat or not. But the spirit was so strong. One of the most recent converts in our branch bore her testimony. It was a little rough, she's still not sure about the difference between a testimony and a prayer, but it was great and she said some beautiful, and simple things. I got to see a lot of the people I know from Logan Heights and it was fun to see them. There was a lot of hugging and chatting and I felt a lot of closure after how things turned out. Apparently they don't all think I was an awful missionary when I was there, only I thought that. That's a relief.

We've been teaching a man and he's doing really well. He's reading the Book of Mormon, and he doesn't buff our citas. Every time we call for another reason he says, "Are we still meeting tuesday at 8:00?" Wow! That is so fun and so great. It's nice when people actually want to learn. I've been learning a lot this week, and it hasn't been easy. I get easily frustrated at trying to help people when they don't want my help. I have to stop myself from thinking, "Well, since you don't want it, I'm not even going to offer it to you." When I type it out, it looks really silly and immature. In all reality though, it's been hard and I feel like I'm going through a mid-mission crisis. I need to refigure out why I'm here and I need to learn charity because without it, there is no point in being here. I've been wanting to pray for a famine in the land so people will be more humble and realize that praying to a saint on a candle isn't going to help them. Then I read Alma 31:5 and was lovingly chastised by Heavenly Father and reminded that I need to be more patient.

We did have a really neat experience with one of our less active members. She hasn't been coming to church for the past few weeks and we couldn't figure out why. We went to meet with her and I felt prompted to pray for help in listening. We starting with the lesson we had planned, but as we starting listening to her we found out why she wasn't coming to church. It was one of those, "wow" lessons. We were able to help her feel the Spirit, recognize what she needs to do, and we were able to help her feel of ours and Heavenly Father's love for her. The change in her countenance from when we first walked in the door to when we left was incredible. I'm grateful to have been there to see it.

Another super fuerte (strong) family in our branch is going through a really hard time. Last night we had planned to go to their house for an FHE with other less actives and investigators. Everyone buffed, but it worked out really well. We played scripture story charades and helped them feel the Spirit, laugh, and get out of their situation for even a few minutes. On the way home Sister Lewis commented that even the strong need to be strengthened and it's so true. It was a really great experience to share with them. I love this family so much and I'm grateful to know them.

Sister Haggerty had to go home today. It's been super sad and rough to see. She came out before me but has been having really bad chronic migranes and had to leave last fall. She came back to the field just in time for Christmas, but degenerated again. Last night we had a meeting and found out that she was leaving today at 4:30 in the morning. I love this sister so much! I'm just grateful that she'll be at USU so I can see her when I get home.

Today for preparation day we went to the temple. I love this temple so much and it is gorgeous! Family, you are going to come down here some day to see it. I love that we have the opportunity to attend 4 times a year and that we get to serve on the grounds every couple of weeks. I am such a spoiled missionary. There are two sides though. We're super spoiled, but we also have twice as much on our plates. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Annette, that's so inspiring that you ran the Boston! And I'm glad it was so hard for you and that you've learned some really good lessons from it. Lessons like these are the best because they'll always have some kind of application. Plus that is so neat that you ran such a famous marathon!

Ryan, I'm glad you enjoyed prom. I never actually had a great prom in Utah, so that's good you enjoyed yours. Mom, thanks for doing my taxes. That's sad that there isn't a refund, but I wasn't expecting much anyway.  Dad, your projects sound really great and I'm glad you're enjoying them. Putting a tracker in the truck wouldn't phase me though. We have GPS tracking systems called tiwi's in our cars and they get mad at you if you go even 1 mph over the speed limit. So one in the truck would make me feel like a missionary again.

Grandma J, have fun in Texas! What a great trip!  Grandma S, I haven't heard from you this week, but I hope it's a great one. Alan and Hannah, I don't think I've written you in far too long so the fault is completely mine. But I do love you and hope all is well.

Family, this work is so hard. Sometimes it's not worth it, but then there is always a huge blessing and everything makes sense. I'm just grateful that Heavenly Father is so patient with me while I'm impatient with myself. I'm grateful He always offers opportunities to repent and be better. He loves us all so much and I'm excited for the day when I understand that- even just a little bit better than I do now. I love you all so much. I can't believe Mother's Day is just around the corner. I hope this week brings for blessings for you all.

Love, Sister Johnson

April 10, 2012

Hi Family,

Didn't you just love Easter this year?! It's amazing every year, but I never realized it before. I can't even put into words how much I love my Savior and how important His Atonement is to me. And He lives!!!! That's the best part! Some day I'll be able to bow down at His feet, bathe them with my tears and try to say 'thank you'. He is our Savior, yesterday, tomorrow and today! Heavenly Father so loves the world that He sent His only begotten Son! It doesn't matter that people try to tell me every day that God doesn't exist, that Jesus isn't the Christ and that the Church is all a hoax. Because I know they're wrong and I know that God is our Father, Jesus is our Savior and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the restored Gospel in its fulness! I'm only sad that other people choose to reject this knowledge and live in darkness than have the joy that comes from knowing that there is definitely a plan laid out for us. WHAT WONDERFUL NEWS!!! So even though it's a little late, happy Easter everyone. I am so grateful that we can focus our thoughts and energy just a little bit better this one day every year to truly think about Christ. We're supposed to think about Him every day, but we're human and that doesn't always happen, so we are super blessed to have Easter.

It was a great day for us. The senior couples and our director made us all breakfast and lunch. We received some great Easter love from members and friends. We got to partake of the Sacrament! And we were able to be unified together for the cause of one of our beloved sisters who is having a hard time. The Spirit of the Lord was definitely with us.

Last week was very chaotic and this week is shaping out to be the same. There is not enough time to do everything we need to effectively. Even sleep isn't effective. There are too many people to find, too many meetings, too many lessons we can't have... it's really stressful and overwhelming a lot of the time. The only thing that helps is to keep our heads down and keep sprinting in the hopes that we'll be able to keep going and eventually figure things out.

Of course, there are always high lights to the days. Last preparation day we were in the Battalion that night and lo and behold, some of Ryan's frisbee team came in. They are really good kids! They love Ryan so much and told me that he is a really good frisbee player- he's fast and can jump really high. I already knew that from trying to outrun him when we would chase each other around the house. They are a solid group of guys. One of them told me how the swimteam kids aren't very nice, and that it was actually Ryan who got him interested in frisbee and out of swimming. That's pretty cool. I'm grateful to know that there are such good people in Sky View who really do want the best for him.

One really funny experience happened last Thursday. We were trying to find the house of an  investigator we have and we knocked on the door of what we thought was his house. A woman answered and when we asked for Marco Antonio she gave us a weird look and went inside. We stood
on the stoop high fiving each other and grinning, saying, "Yes! There is a woman here so we can go inside!" A few seconds later a small boy came to the door and the woman said, "This is Marco Antonio." Sister Lewis and I looked at him, looked at each other, looked at his mom and asked, "Is his dad Marco here?" The woman told us there was no other Marco beside her son and then asked if we were his teachers from school coming to teach him English. We busted out laughing and explained that we're missionaries and must have the wrong Marco, but that we could talk to him in English if she wanted us to. Needless to say, if you knock on a door and ask for Juan, Marco, Jesus, Maria or Guadalupe, the chances of somebody in the home having that name is 99.9%. Ya gotta love Hispanics.

Today we had a fun little retreat for all the sisters in the mission. We went to the Mission home, had lunch, talked about the Atonement, took pictures and spent time together. It was really nice and definitely a Relief Society type event. I love being part of such a unique group of women and having the opportunity to serve other sisters and all be unified in our love for the Lord. I helped fill up the water and it took me back to my catering days and I realized I really enjoyed catering. That's a good sign.

Our little branch is doing well. We didn't have quite the turnout for Easter that we had hoped, but we're working on that. We have some super fuerte members and they help us all the time. I am so grateful for people who are reliable, humble, and willing to help us even on short notice. I hope to be like that when I get home. And I hope you're all like that too because missionaries need all the help they can get. People think that missionaries always have things under control and that things run smoothly for them and that members always want to help. Not true. So very not true. We run into more drama and stress from members than investigators some times. So please, be good to the missionaries and do everything you can to help them. They need your help. Plus also, check out the Bible videos on lds.org or biblevideos.org. The Easter one is so powerful! I love them!

I love you all so much! Thanks for your prayers and support. We're doing well and learning to work well together. Have a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson

April 3, 2012

Hola todos!

La Conferencia General was so amazing! It's better than Christmas! I was so excited how much the Brethren talked about families and the gospel of Jesus Christ. As missionaries we've been learning and focusing a lot more on teaching the simplicity of the Gospel in every single aspect of each lesson. It's really interesting to see how much easier it makes teaching people, and how we can help them see that yes, there is a difference between us and every other Christian church. The others are nice, and yes they have faith, but it's not just about having faith. It's about obtaining salvation through the ordinances of the Priesthood which have been restored through modern and living prophets. And as far as I'm aware, this is the only church with those components.

The work is moving along. We're finding a lot of potential investigators and a few of them seem to have a lot of potential. It's really hard to see people's potential and expect so many blessings for them only to have them turn it all down. But that's the whole point of this work. Invite others to come unto Christ and realize their potential to repent and become an eternal family.

The Spanish is coming along as well. I'm becoming more fluent daily. I hope and pray that I'll be fluent by the time I go home and that I'll be able to keep it up after the mission. I've stressed over this so much that it would be a great disappointment to lose it. I'm also learning sign language right now- well, at least the tour in sign. I translated a whole tour last week for a couple of great ladies from Utah and Colorado. It wasn't done flawlessly, but it was really fun and they enjoyed it.

There is something interesting in the air at the Battalion. People seem a little discontented and we can't figure out why. Maybe because it's spring, or maybe because we're going to be getting busier. But things have definitely been calmer. I'm still so grateful to be able to serve here with all the other sisters though. I love them all so much.

I'm glad you all had a great conference weekend and I hope you all had the hearts to hear the council Heavenly Father had in line for you. Progress is uncomfortable, but it's necessary and worth it. Vale la pena. I love you all family! Thanks for the birthday wishes and love. Give everyone hugs and kisses for me.

Love, Sister Johnson