Sept. 25, 2012

Dear Family,

I think I've officially gone crazy. My brain capacity has increased in some ways but seriously decreased in others. I can't keep track of most things anymore and I'm feeling a little senile. It's a good thing I have a daily planner or I'd never be able to remember anything. That being said, I'm pretty sure this last week was a good one- from what I can remember so far :) We didn't have as many lessons, but every lesson we had was with a member from the ward present, and they were all solid lessons. Hashem is making some really progress and is showing his faith by following through with the commitments we leave him even though he is really busy all the time. It's fun to see when people actually try to learn about and live the gospel. I was a little worried about Beto because he'd been invited to church activities at a different Christian church by a friend and bailed on us a few times, but come Sunday he totally surprised us by sitting down behind us in the chapel. I was so glad to see him!

We had a lot of training meetings and we learned some really good things that we can apply to the work like working with members and asking everyone for referrals. I feel like I'm finally getting in the habit of doing that, which is neat. I really want to be the kind of member that missionaries love to take out with them and I want to help the missionaries out after my mission. I know I really appreciate those kinds of members.

Sister Brown is so wonderful. She's a riot and loves to work hard- we are practically running each day to get things accomplished. I'm so grateful for her dedication and for the things she teaches me every day. She is the best companion I could have for these next two transfers and I'm grateful that Heavenly Father put me with her in this area.

I've been reading the Book of Mormon (obviously) and thinking a lot about how it really does correlate with these last days. I'm in Alma ch. 5 and the pride of the people in the Church, the vain and foolish imaginations of people's hearts, the wickedness of so many people, it's all happening today. I'm really looking forward to General Conference and to hear what they have to say to guide us these next six months. Last General Conference was about the Plan of Salvation, but also the Gospel. Almost every talk was in some way based around the basic gospel principles- faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It was fun to be able to hear those talks and be able to directly relate them to the work I'm doing here.

That's great about Chann and Natalie. I haven't heard from Chantelle for about a year, but I'm glad she's finally able to go on her mission. She's been waiting a long time. I wrote Nat a letter, but haven't sent it due to my lack of sufficient stamps. And that doesn't surprise me one bit that Cam named his son Maverik. Tell everyone I love them all and I am so glad that you're all happy. I have a really dumb idea in my head that everything will be too completely different when I get home that we won't have fun anymore, but I remind myself that's unrealistic and that we'll always have fun... right? I'm grateful that our family has been so blessed while I've been here so that even if I'm not with you all, I still know you're all ok.

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson

Sept. 18, 2012

Dad, just a word of caution- don't ever email a missionary saying you're emailing from the hospital waiting room. You gave me a heart attack! Mom, I hope you recover well and quickly.

 

Well family, another week has come and gone and oh my have we seen miracles!!!!! Last Tuesday we met Beto. He had met the sisters at the Temple but lives in our area so they gave him to us and man he is solid! He came to institute after the dinner on Wednesdays and we had another teaching appointment, but he stayed for the Book of Mormon class anyway and became friends with some of our members instantly. They've all done really well in fellowshipping him. He came to church on Sunday and had to leave after the Sacrament, but he said he liked it and liked the change. I am so excited to teach him because he actually wants to learn and be involved. Nolan came to church too. He's been really hesitant with us, he won't accept what we teach, but we got a member to our last lesson and that member picked him up for church, sat with him the whole time and helped him meet people. Mind you that the member we took was baptized four weeks ago and is pretty new to all of this too, but he is so pure in heart. Nolan was really resistant during the first two hours of church (one of the talks in Sacrament Meeting was on the law of chastity and not a great welcome to church kind of talk either). But after church we had "mingles", which is basically an excuse to eat an ice cream and wander around talking to everyone in the ward. Nolan really liked that and is willing to keep meeting with us.

Last Saturday our ward mission leader Ed and the relief society president Jenny (yes, they're dating and will soon be married which means I'll have to come back to San Diego right after I get home) fed us dinner and let us practice teaching them. Ed is a convert, and they both served missions and have recently gotten home. It was such a good experience and we got really great feedback from them. I love return missionaries. You can tell the missionaries who let their experiences change them and I hope to be like them.

So many things are happening and I don't feel like I can keep track of 90% of everything, but Heavenly Father is helping us and making sure this work goes forward. Sister Brown is really good about applying the things we learn to our teaching situations and she is such a blessing. She is so dedicated. She also keeps me on the right path. Last Wednesday we were teaching Hashem (who has been taught by missionaries a lot before). We'd invited him to pray, to come to church, to read his scriptures and he'd agreed after some nudging. Sister Brown looked at me and whispered, "We have to invite everybody." Well, she was right- we do have to invite everyone to be baptized so I looked at Hashem and invited him. Sister Brown is really good about inviting people the first time we meet them because that's what we've been taught to do. She is a fearless woman! There are so many times when because of my "experience" I think something won't work out, or someone won't be interested. I'm learning that greenyfire really makes a difference. I don't stop her when she wants to invite someone to do something I don't think they'll do, or when she wants to talk to someone, or apply a principle. We've seen some serious miracles when we literally do everything in our power to invite others to come unto Christ. I've never put myself in so many awkward situations or said things that I've been too scared to say, but it's been really fun and I am starting to enjoy it. I'm more focused now than ever before. Sister Brown is wonderful.

I love you all and hope you're having a great week! Be faithful and true in all things you do. I just made that up, but it rhymes and I like it. By the way, I don't know if you've seen this yet, but it's wonderful
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#patterns-of-light-discerning-light

Get ready for General Conference everyone! It's better than Christmas and we even get it two times a year with a total of five days!!!!! (Including the Relief Society broadcast).

Love, Sister Johnson

Sep. 11, 2012

Dear Family,

 

The time is really running by so quickly- especially since I've refocused my efforts and I'm trying really hard not to think about home or plan our return trip to San Diego after my mission... but just so you know that when it does happen, I know exactly who we're going to visit and we'll have to be here for at least two Sundays... just saying.

We've finally added some investigators and one has agreed to be baptized in October. He's been taught by missionaries since 2006 and has been offended in church before so I'm a little skeptical, but Sister Brown is full of faith and confidence so I just keep thinking to myself that maybe this will be the time when he acts on the message. Greeny fire is the best because they are so brave and ready to take on the world. It's good to have a companion with that fire.

We got a new senior couple in the Battalion and I tell ya what, Heavenly Father knows what He's doing. This couple is amazing and I love them with my whole heart already! We've had a substitute couple filling in while the Stallings have been away, and I'm sad they're going too. I wish we could just keep all of them!

I still love working with the YSAs. There are some really incredible people in my ward and everyone is willing to help us when we need them. This ward is solid.

Today for Pday we got to go to the temple. It closes next week and it was our last chance for awhile. I love the temple and I'm so grateful that we get to go through so often (compared to other missions). I was counting today and I have been through 5 times so far and I know I'll get to go through one more time for departure activities. I'm excited to show all of you the temple and go through with you. You're going to love it!

Mom, I got the package. Thank you! I love the skirts they look so comfy. I should have told you last week, but I forgot- I'm on my last pair of contacts and will need some soon.

Funny-ish story. So for the past week I kept finding little black spots on top of my bed. I'd sweep them off, but by the evening they'd be back. I looked at them, tried to squish them, and I just could not figure out what they were. They weren't bed bugs, and they didn't squish. On the ceiling above my bed is a hook and a hole where a hook had previously been. I finally realized that since nothing was crawling on my bed leaving them behind, they must be falling from the ceiling. I took a q-tip and cleaned out the hole, successfully finding a ton more little black dots. So I'm still not sure if they were eggs of some sort that are waiting to hatch or not (I assume they are), but I'm glad I solved the mystery. So San Diego may not be Guatemala, but it definitely has its own bug adventures. I received a letter from a friend serving in Guat right now and she was telling me how she's been bathing out of a bucket her entire mission- I feel so wimpy compared to her, but I'm ok with that as long as I get my shower :)

We've been doing a lot of street contacting for the first time in my mission and it's actually been a lot of fun. We find more referrals for other people than for ourselves, but it's really good and I feel like a real missionary. Sister Brown is so driven and she does the things we learn and are supposed to apply. I love it. Pues, familia I love you all. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Johnson

Sept 4, 2012- San Diego State University

Well family, this transfer is a lot bigger news than any of the others. I'm training, which we all expected but I'm training in English in a YSA ward. Whitewash training as they call it. It's funny because I hadn't wanted to do any of those three things (train, English or YSA), but now that I'm here I love it and I know that this is exactly what Heavenly Father knew I needed (even though I didn't know). My new companion is Sister Brown from Midway, UT. She's going to school to be a nurse and she's really fun. We get along great, for which I am hugely grateful! I was so worried that it would be a rough companionship, but it's been great. I love this sister already with so much of my heart! How is that even possible? Oh wait, Heavenly Father is on my side so all things are possible.

 

So our area is the YSA ward in the San Diego East Stake and we meet at an institute building near the SDSU campus (I kind of want to buy some Aztec student gear :). We're the 1st ward, and the YSA 2nd ward from the San Diego stake meets in the same building. We work really closely with all of them and there are some definitely blurry lines as far as people going to the wrong ward. We had break the fast on Sunday :) which is always good, and every Wednesday night the institute provides a dinner before the classes, not to mention FHE on Mondays and general awesomeness from all the YSAs. I was really worried about being called to serve in a singles ward, but I know that now is the right time because I have learned so much and have become so focused in my desire to be dedicated to the Lord that I'm ok being the missionary and not being one of the young adults. I actually like this role a lot better because I get to meet everyone and serve a lot more. Our RS president, EQ president, ward mission leader and Bishop are all incredible. The senior couples we get to work with are wonderful too, and we have received so much support from everyone in the ward. They are all really glad to have sister missionaries in the ward again. The elders had been covering both wards, but this transfer they got booted to only the 2nd ward and we've taken over their responsibilities of the 1st ward. We have so many members who are excited to come out with us and to work with us, and everyone just has their heads on straight. I am so happy to be here!

Linda Vista is now closed to Battalion sisters, but the elders will continue to work in that area. It was really heartbreaking at first when I realized that no sisters would replace us, but I know that the elders will do a good job and that Heavenly Father has everything in control.

Sister Brown is super pumped to do missionary work and she has embraced everything like a champion. She is willing to practice for companionship study, she will talk to people and make phone calls, she is willing to try again when something doesn't work out- I am really impressed with her. She came pretrained and really my only job is to help her learn where we are in San Diego. She isn't a trainee, she is in every way just as qualified as the rest of us- and I love working with her. Our first day in our area she wanted to go street contacting so badly (that's one of her favorite things) so we did. We found an area, walked around and talked to people and we found Nolan. He's not an investigator yet, but he agreed to letting us come back this coming Friday to teach him more. I really hope that we can add him because he seems legit! We need some new investigators- we came in and our area was kind of dead without much to work with. Fortunately all of the elders in our zone of rallied forth to help us find people. I've never received so many referrals before in my whole mission and all of them want to help us succeed. I love being a sister missionary! And I love when the elders and sisters can work so well together. We really are an army of God.

Another person that I've come to love is Rachel Boaz. Our first night was Wednesday so we went to the dinner to meet people. When Rachel came all the senior couples and teachers at the institute (aka Center for Young Adults so if I say the center, it's the same thing) introduced her to us as the goalie for the SDSU soccer team. She was really embarrassed and let us know that there is more to her than that, which is true. She is one solid human being and she is ready and willing to share the gospel with some of her teammates, she wants to serve a mission and she wants to come teaching with us whenever she can. Besides being the goalie and a great missionary, she is a super down to earth person. I think she's someone I will definitely want to keep in contact with after the mission. I may even transfer down to SDSU to finish school here :) ok, probably not, but I will come back and visit.

I love you all and I know that this gospel blesses lives. I realized that even more in my personal study this morning- I was studying about prayer in a Principles of the Gospel book. It said something along the lines of when you pray your will becomes more in line with Heavenly Father's. It struck me how true that is and I've seen how as I live the gospel I want to be a better person, and I want some very good and very specific things for the rest of my life. It didn't happen overnight though, which is why I hadn't noticed that I was following His will. It's taken my whole mission and it's been a very slow and gentle promise. It kind of like when you're out at night laying under the stars and they're moving, but you don't really notice it. When you stop and think about how much the stars move between night and day, but how gently they do it you see the difference, but you don't see they change while they're moving. Then suddenly it's sunrise and you see the light even more. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's the thought process in my head. I've changed so much, but it's taken awhile and it's been slow to see. I'm just glad that I have changed and that I am becoming more like Heavenly Father. Family, please don't let me forget the things I've learned! That would be the biggest tragedy!

You're incredible and I hope that Lotoja, school, kids, work, gardening, letter writing (to a certain sister in San Diego) and all other endeavors pass well. Stay close to Heavenly Father because there really is no other place to be. Love you!

Love, Sister Johnson