The 4th
4th of July was awesome! It was a regular proselyting day but we got to go up to a parade about 50 minutes north in a place called "White Rock". It's a tiny town and their main community parade is stationed at the church! They put on an awesome carnival with a bounce house and food! The firefighters and veterans come, they do a flag ceremony....and get this. One of the stake councilors RAN the flag from Santa Fe up to WHite Rock! 35 miles! He started at 3am and got it there by 8am for the flag ceremony! SO cool. And the best part was that there were about 100 less actives there and 500 non members.:)
Luis took us out to ice cream in the morning. He wanted to make sure we weren't alone on the fourth! And then ironically he spent the evening by himself because all of his old friends were drinking:( We didn't know or else we would have gone to visit. But I am consistently blown away by his testimony. He also asked us to teach his little sister!
Then all of our appointments bailed because half of our investigators wanted to celebrate the 4th and half of them wanted to drink and watch fire in the sky. Typical. But DOUGLAS came in clutch. From Honduras + Jehovah's Witness means that a holiday about America means nothing to him. So we all chatted about the Book of Mormon instead of celebrating.
We did eschanges with other Spanish sisters for a change...and guess who I got stuck with..... MY BESTEST BESTEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD HERMANA THOMPSON!!!!!! BEST DAY EVER! We went to her area and tore it up! We found them like 5 news and taught a bunch of lessons. It was too fun. I didn't want the exchange to end! But then I missed my other best friend Hermana Wallis and I was excited to get back to Santa Fe.
I <3 Weekends
On Saturday we met with Luis and his little sister. We taught her the plan of salvation by drawing pictures of it. We told her that if she followed the Gospel of Jesus Christ she can have a family that lasts for ever and ever. Luis and her turned and looked at eachother, their eyes got wide, and they looked back at us smiling. What a powerful truth. And what a hopeful gospel the Lord has given us.
We had the most incredible miracle on Saturday! We were driving to a less actives house and Wallis pointed to a trailer and said we needed to knock it. DONE. Love the spirit following. So we knocked and a young man answered. He got his mom and she invited us right in! We sat down and started to get to know her. Then we told her who we are and she about fell off her couch. She said "I'M MORMON TOO!". We say....YOU ARE? She said she reads the Book of Mormon every day. She has actually read it 5 times! She got baptized 9 years ago, has served in the primary for years on end, and moved here and couldn't find the church for the life of her! So she has just been chilling in her trailer reading the Book of Mormon day in and day out.
CHURCH WAS REALLY THE HIGHLIGHT!!!! The less active that we found came, two other less active who we didn't have addresses for just showed up, and Douglas Miguel and Abram came! Our gospel principles class was filled with less actives, investigators, and recent converts. I felt such a strong love for these people and I felt how strongly they love the Lord. It is a beautiful sight to see so many grown children of God humbly coming to learn more of the Savior.
In Sacrament meeting Luis blessed the sacrament! He was absolutely glowing after. He said he felt so good using his priesthood. Other quotes of post-baptized Luis include:
"I feel so happy. I just KNOW that the Holy Ghost is with me!"
"I used to get anxious when I drove, but now I have no fear. What is there to be worried about? I got the spirit!"
"I've been watching mormon channel recently and I really like that one couple that does karate. Do you know them?"
A Spiritual Thought and some weird fonts that I can't fix
I would like to share a bit of my testimony based off of the lesson in Gospel Principles this week about SACRIFICE:
6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the HolyMessiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. -2 Nephi 2
Heavenly Father sacrificed His Only Begotten so that we could each have joy, peace, and eternal life. Jesus Christ sacrifeced His life for us. In every way He gave it ALL so that we could return to live with them some day. But what does he ask of us? A broken heart and a contrite spirit.
We discused what that means as a class. The lds.org definition says it is a willingness to repent of sins and a desire to follow Jesus Christ and align one's life with His commandments.
When Aaron taught King Lamoni's dad about Jesus Christ and the concept of eternal life he taught,"14 And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.
And the king responded saying (15)... What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.
The king was willing to give up all of his worldly possesions for the joy of the gospel. He was willing to do anything to feel the love of God. This was his "Broken heart and contrite spirit." But the beauty of the plan is that God only asks sacrifices of us that will bring us more joy in the end.
16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.
We must begin our sacrifice with repentance. Sacrificing our pride and our sins to more fully align with the Savior, and the love we receive in return must drive us to continue to keep the commandments. We listed the commandments on the board and each person took a note card and decided on what "Sacrifice" they could more fully give in their lives. As they wrote a less active young man asked "Why did you walk away from all you had to serve a mission? Isn't this such a sacrifice? When did you find a desire to sacrifice?"
I thought about it for a bit. I was able to share that I wasn't perfect before my mission. I would argue that I didn't understand the gospel because I didn't understand my relationship with God. But I have ALWAYS loved my Savior. I had a great desire to do Him proud. I was one day reading and learning about him and I realized that to more fully feel His love I had to follow His commandments. Which meant I had to change. I began to study, pray, and attend church, but I still struggled with a desire to sacrifice. Finally, as I prepared to enter the field, I had a true desire to just be clean. I finally allowed my self to truly, truly repent. As I sincerely applied the atonement in my life I truly felt my spirit change. I felt the reality of Jesus Christ. I KNEW that he LIVES. I couldn't deny the reality of His atonement because I experienced it. And from that I felt a desire to sacrifice as much as possible for Him and for the incomprehensible gift he has given me. And I would add that any "Sacrifice" I have given has been drowned out by innumerable blessings.
I just wanted to share that testimony with all of you at home, and extend the same invitation to you as we did to our class: We invite you to take your paper with your sacrifice to the Lord. Find a time to get on your knees tonight and talk with Him. As Him if Jesus really did give his life for You. Commit to him that you will do the same if you can just experience the Atonement. And I promise that as we all do this, even daily, that we will too will "receive of hope which [we] desire."
I have felt true joy and peace in my life that I can't even explain. Sometimes I feel the spirit so strong that I can't sleep! It is always with me! I have seen other people learn of the Savior and they have reaped the same blessings and MORE! I know of the reality of the atonement and I pray every night that everyone can feel it.
Well I hope you all have a great week! I love you sooooo much!
-Hermana Johnson
XOXOXOX
These are a bunch of pointless pics with HERMANA T. Man I've missed that girl. We actually found an investigator through this tiny picture shoot...so don't judge. No time was wasted lol
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