Hermana Thompson and Johnson with the Assist!

This week has been a little unusual. With the holidays most of our members and investigators were busy. We had two delicious thanksgiving dinners so don't worry, we definitely got fed. The first one was at our second councilors house. He had TONS of family over with tables filled with turkey and casseroles and treats. Sound familiar? I felt right at home! Sounds like you all had an awesome thanksgiving! I missed my annual nap on grandma's couch after Thanksgiving dinner, so hopefully somebody took my place and got a good siesta in. 

We started this week by getting dropped by our two most promising families that we were teaching. Both of them dropped us because the husband didn't want the family to get baptized. lame. And then we finished our week with transfer news where we found out that Sis T and I will be together another transfer, BUT our area is getting split. The elders are getting our investigators who are getting baptized this month, all of the less actives we were working with, and all of our potentials. SO we are basically starting from scratch. We have the south half our area still but there hasn't been much work done down there. Heavenly Father knows that there are people who are ready down there, so he's forcing us to hit the pavement with this big change!

It was kind of hard to lose all of the work we've done. We are excited for the elders because they are going to have a few people to baptize who we have taught, but it's kind of sad to not be able to finish our work. And the English elders are baptizing a family we taught because SUPRISE they actually want to go to the English ward! Haha.... All in all, Heavenly Father has a plan. And people are getting baptized! That's the goal! We might not get to be there but in the long run it doesn't matter even a little bit. 

SO for an update on the investigators we get to keep! 

-G is a Jehova's Witness but is really interested in our church. We taught him the first lesson at the church about a half hour before a 17 year old kid was getting baptized. G felt the spirit in the lesson and committed to be baptized...but wait...in THREE YEARS! I guess that is the tradition in his religion....so we will have to work with what we got. After we went to the baptism with him. He liked it but was a little offended that the kid being baptized had only seen the missionaries for two weeks before his baptism. I guess I never realized how awesome it is that people can be baptized basically as soon as they want. A lot of people believe baptism is the end goal, but really it is just the first step! It's the beginning of our journey to become more like God!

-D has been seeing the missionaries for over three years! He's awesome, but he lives with his fiance and baby. He has to get married before he gets baptized...so that has been his obstacle all of this time. Last week when we saw him his whole life was falling apart. His job, his relationship, his finances, he started smoking for the first time...literally everything. Then we got a call a few days later that his baby was in the hospital with something that could be fatal! So scary. We sent the second councilor in our ward to go give him and his family blessings at the hospital. Daniel called us the next day and said they got discharged because the baby was healed! We went over to his house and from the moment we walked in there was a completley different feeling. D told us that he told God that if his baby is healed, he would be baptized. Him and his fiance had been fighting lately under the stress so we talked with them about their marriage doubts and all kinds of stuff....by the time we left they had told each other how much they loved each other and committed to get married and baptized this December!!! So excited for them!

-C is one of my favorite people ever. He is so sassy and he calls me hot donna from that 70's show. HAH.  We are sadly losing him to the elders because of the split..but it will probably be good in the long run. We had had a hard time getting ahold of him this week so we were wondering if he was taking us seriously. Finally on friday we were walking out of a training about how to better invite people to be baptized. As we walked out we saw C walking down the street! We literally ran. We finally caught up to him, asked him if he wants to be baptized, and he said yes!!! He was smiling ear to ear! Ah such a great moment.

Update on Hermana Borja:

We had dinner with her last night and she told us her story. When she was young her father left her, her mother, and her little siblings. They came to El Paso from Mexico to try and escape the poverty. She ended quitting school at age 12, going back to Mexico and working in a factory to help her mom make ends meet. Her biggest priority was finding shoes for all the kids to wear so they could go to school. She quit the factory and started cleaning houses which paid a little better. They went back to El Paso where her siblings finished school and she continued working. She has been working full time since she was 12 and knows that it is because of Heavenly Father that she has had a job to put food on the table and shoes on feet. We were so humbled that she fed us, knowing she didn't have much to offer. Her story was a really great reminder that we have so much to be thankful for! She is one of the most grateful people I have ever met, and she shows that gratitude by getting up at 3 am to read, praying, paying her tithing, and serving the missionaries. Wow, I wouldn't be suprised if I talk about this woman every week for the rest of my mission. Her testimony has changed me!

Other things that happened:

-I gave my first sacrament meeting talk in Spanish

-Found a lot of less actives who we are excited to work with

-Ate a whole jalepeno and almost died hehe

We are excited to get the new elders here and get started with our area in the South. Sometimes the Lord has to cut us down before we can be built back up. As frustrating as it is to feel like we are always prepping people for other missionaries, we know that the Lord has a plan. More than anything he wants us to be humble and willing to do what ever he asks. 

Anyway, sorry this e-mail is kind of lame. It really is all over the place.... I'm sending pics from the past three weeks to make up for it. 

LOVE YOU!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

This week has been unbelievable. Filled with so many miracles that I won't be able to share them all!!

We Goofed 

Last week Hrn. Thompson and I thought we got 31 lessons, which we sent to the President in our weekly report. He texted us and said that this has never been done in the history of our mission. We were super stoked but also wanted to double check....turns out we only got 29. It's still a record but barely, and we felt bad that President was misinformed. We told the Zone Leaders and they told us not to worry about it, but then at Zone Conference President Guffey announced that "Rumor has it, a companionship hit over 30 lessons!" YIKES! Turns out it really is a rumor....that WE started....Then he told everyone that we shouldn't be surprised when he starts holding the whole mission to a standard of 30! AHHHH we felt so bad. So, this week we decided to hit 30 lessons, just to feel better about ourselves and make sure it's actually possible. Thankfully we did and today we are going to let P. Guffey know that we goofed. Ha....

Kind of funny....but really it's not about the numbers at all. Our 30th lesson was one of our best ones this week. It isn't about getting a ton, it's about being determined to strengthen as many people as possible in the time that we have. What we really wish we had was 30 baptisms! hahahaha....kidding but not....

La Hermana Borja

First of all, we went back to that member who went and knocked doors with us. Her name is Herman Borja. So, just to refresh your memories, Hermana Borja asked us if we would help her meet her neighbors two weeks ago. She was really nervous, but the first door we knocked on was a woman who lives alone with her son. Herman Borja, with no fear, opened her mouth and introduced herself. "Hi I'm your neighbor! I came because I have something that makes me really happy and I want to share it with you!" 

The woman, Max, said, "Hold on, I have a Blue Bible by my bed." 

Max came back to the door holding a Book of Mormon. As we left her home Hermana Borja broke into tears and told us how much she loves her father in heaven.

We went back to Hermana Bora's house this week to go visit Max. Max was busy, so Hrn. Borja asked if we would help her knock the rest of her block (Missionary dream come true). This woman, even though she was scared and didn't know what to do or say, was so courageous because she has a desire to serve her Father and Heaven. Behind the doors of her neighbors we found a total of 5 people who received us and agreed to take the discussions. That's more people than we find in a whole day of tracting most days. 

We went back into Hermana Borja's home and talked about her faith. She opened up to us that she is a single mom of three, she is working full time and doing school full time, and her family is on food stamps right now. They don't  have very much furniature or any nice things from what we could see. She said that every morning she wakes up at 3 in the morning because that is the only time she has to study her scriptures. Then she juggles school, work, kids, and trying to put food on the table for the rest of the day. This week she has a list of sick and lonely people she will try to visit if she has time. She has two free hours every Tuesday night so she invites us over because she wants to serve the Lord. As she told us this you can imagine my heart was melting. Her desires are truly to live the gospel. This woman is converted....she doesn't look at herself and think of her many struggles, she calls the missionaries and asks us to help her find people who need the happiness and peace she has. It is rare to experience someone with such incredible faith. My heart was so touched....I will honestly never be the same because I know Hermana Borja.

It was pretty late when we left her house. We had definitely overstayed and wanted to give her the time she needed to finish her homework and get to bed because she has to get up at 3am. But as we left she asked if we had somewhere to be. We said we were going to go knock a little more, so she said "Great let's finish this street".

Mensajeros De Dios

We went on splits with the other sisters this week to try and knock as many doors in our area as possible. Hermana Bosch and I started at one end of the road and Hermana Thompson and Hermana March started at the other end. Hrn. T and I picked this particular road because we knew there was a potential on this street, but we didn't know where and we needed to knock every door to find her. We prayed about it and knew that this was for sure the street to be on. Me and hna Bosch found the potential pretty quickly so we were super happy, but on the other end of the road something even more incredible was happening. 

Hrn. T and M knocked on a door that didn't open for the longest time. They were walking away when a woman named Nancy finally opened it. The sisters told her that they were messengers from God and Nancy invited them in right away! Nancy is on bed-rest because she has been trying to have kids with her husband for 9 years and finally found out that she is pregnant last week! Better yet, she is having twins! She has been taking it easy by staying in bed and said she is terrified to be home alone. In-fact, she never opens the door for anyone but when the sisters knocked something told her that it was messengers from God so she hurried and threw on some clothes and came to the door. 

Hermana Thompson and I came back later that day and taught her the first lesson that we teach about how the true Church of Jesus Christ is restored on the earth today. She kept emphasizing that she NEVER opens the door, and that she knows we bring the truth. She has been looking for a church...she goes to several different churches and just wants to be able to feel that "good feeling" about what ever religion she is practicing. She said she will pray to know if this is the true church, and if it is she for sure wants to be baptized.

Miembros Misioneros

This week we have been trying to tell every member about our experience with Hermana Borja. We want everyone to get on board with the missionary work. When I got here our binder was filled with investigators who love the missionaries, who have seen them from everywhere from 1-6  years. We have gone to each person and explained our purpose and turns out, not many people understood that we were there to help them get baptized and be in the Church, or they understood and really just didn't want to. That explains why there wasn't a baptism here for 7 months (until Ruben)! So we revived a few investigators, and dropped a lot. We have been doing a lot of finding and trying to focus on those who want the gospel, like Nancy or Hermana Borja's neighbors. We know that the best way to find people is through the members. Neighbors, family, co-workers....who ever it is it helps SO much when they already have a relationship with the church that they can trust. 

We were supposed to speak in sacrament, but an area authority showed up so we didn't have to speak. Better yet, this authority- Elder Torres, gave the most powerful talk on missionary work in the world. He explained that if we have faith, we need to act on it. We need to share it! He had us stand up and told everyone that the sisters are here to help them do what God has already asked of them. He gave the ward three things: 1- Pray for missionary experiences, 2- Give a name to the missionaries 3- Go to the temple regularly. Then he announced, "The sisters will be standing at the doors of the chapel to take your referrals down. Everyone is to give them a referral." He promised that the ward would be blessed beyond belief if they do this. 

I stood at the door with tears rolling down my face while people gave me name after name. They weren't just any names....people referred us to their parents, siblings, nieces/ nephews, and children. Not everyone gave us a name, but as the day went on we received phone calls from members giving us names. So crazy!!!

The Savior asked, after he was resurrected, for us to preach his gospel. Not just the missionaries, but every follower of Christ. Everyone who feels peace from the Book of Mormon, everyone who has or wants and eternal family, everyone who feels the comfort that the truth brings, EVERYONE who knows about the restored gospel is called to share it. I know that Heavenly Father will bless us for doing so.

Thanks for all of the e-mails and letters from you all! You are the best family EVER! Hope you have the best thanks giving evvvaaaaaaaa. I wish I could sit around at grandmas and hear about all of your blessings this year. If anyone asks, I'm grateful for every single one of you...and I'm REALLY grateful for the gospel. Don't forget how much you have to be grateful for. And don't take what you have for granted! If you need a reminder...come to El Paso. hehe.

Sureeeee love you!!! xoxoxoxox

Pizza and a 2 liter

HOLA!

It's been another awesome week here in El Paso.

On the Border

Kind of a crazy week for the world. The day we found out about the election we visited a lot of our investigators. It was heart breaking to be in some of the homes of our people. A lot of them don't have papers so they were making plans (planning for the worst) and trying to figure out what they will do. Most people are scared even though they do have papers! I don't know who the right president would have been, or if anything bad really will happen, and I'm not even supposed to comment on politics, but it was just heartbreaking to see people afraid. Luckily everything has stayed pretty calm down here...not a lot of violence that we know of. All we can do is pray on! 

Faith

This week we have been trying to find people who are ready for the gospel. We have talked to so many people who's hearts are completely closed to any type of faith. One guy says that "right now we are victims of the world and if there is a God we will find out after we're dead and He looks us in the face."  Another guy said that he's read every religious book out there and has decided that God is "our own thoughts". And everyone we talk to who says these kinds of things admits that something in their lives is missing. They literally say that they don't feel any kind of peace! When we explain that they can find that peace by reading the Book of Mormon, they refuse. They "already know it all". This probably sounds like a really general experience, but it's a common pattern that we have seen 4 or 5 times this week alone! It's so sad because if someone doesn't have a desire to look for something greater, we can't help them, no matter how hard we try. We can't force someone to have faith and act on it...they have to want it. 

Because we have had lessons with these kinds of people over and over we have been focusing a lot on faith. It is the first principle of the gospel for a reason! We have been studying faith like crazy and really when it comes down to it, faith is a simple desire to believe in something you don't have a perfect knowledge of.

On Saturday night we were having a lesson with one of our really tough investigators, Emerita. She comes to church every week and want's to know the church is true, but she kind of wants us to prove it to her. So, because we had been studying faith all week, we shared with her what we learned. We opened to Alma 32 and taught her about "planting the seed", "experimenting on the word" and simply having a "desire to believe." Her countenance changed, and her heart opened. She finally was starting to get it.

We were so happy, and wanted to keep the spirit, so we sang "How Great Thou Art" for her and the member who was with us. Then I did something really...childish. I thought I heard someone...pass gas (is that the missionary way to say it? I don't know). I was certain it was my companion  and I was gonna start dying laughing. I honestly couldn't hold it in. I stopped singing and bit my lip trying so hard not to laugh....leaving Sis. T alone to keep the song going. I kept trying to come back in but my voice would shake and then I'd have to bite my tongue so hard to not laugh. Literally I was acting like a 5 year old boy. Toots should not be that funny! Anyway....so then I realize that everyone else in the room is crying. They thought that I was CRYING not LAUGHING! So because they THOUGHT I was crying from the spirit they felt the spirit and started crying too. So I jumped on that opportunity I bore my testimony, and Emerita listened intently for the first time. The spirit was stronger than ever before... it's like someone passed gas and the spirit came out instead. I told H. Thompson afterward that I was actually laughing and she couldn't believe it...it literally looked like I was crying! and also she didn't boof...she just accidentally moved her shoe on the tile or something. bummer. 

Members and Missionaries

This week we are really trying to get our members to unite in purpose with us. People don't understand that the ward should have a real Mission Plan that everyone is aware of and working toward, and the missionaries help them execute it. There are SO many reasons why members are so crucial to the work.

-The members are examples to family and friends, preparing others to be interested int the gospel. 

-They have personal stories to share that other people can relate to.

-They are on the inside of the church and have the power to help others feel welcome.

-They can be a good friend, example, or a listening ear to an investigator when the missionaries can't be.

-They can help recent converts to change their lives and stay solid in the gospel.

There are a million more reasons but I feel like I'm kind of ranting about it right now. It's crazy to me how influencial a member can be, but how unaware the members are of their role!

For example, Ruben (our recent convert) has a long way to go before he feels comfortable at church. He doesn't have church clothes so he just wears jeans, he's scared to get the priesthood, and he needs support with some of the commandments that are difficult for him. We had to do a lot of work to explain to the bishop, the young men's president, the YSA, and other fellowshipers that we can't just baptize people and expect they are gonna figure it all out on their own! We were so relieved on Sunday when our efforts paid off. The second councilor brought him to church and helped Ruben find appropriate clothes. Then the bishop invited him into his office to talk about the priesthood and temples. Some of the YSA came and took him to priesthood, and then the guy who baptized him drove him home. SUCCESS! Honestly without the support of the ward we wouldn't be able to do the work. It would be impossible.

Another example is having members in lessons. We want to have a member in every lesson possible, but that's really hard to pull off. People are busy, scared to come, confused on why we need them, or just don't think it's important. The people who do come out with us, though, are the converts who LOVE the missionaries and want to do anything they can to bring more people to Christ. So I'm not complaining, we have some AWESOME member missionaries. I'm just saying it's hard to get as many involved as we need. This week we had some awesome experiences with members, and some not-so-awesome ones.

The best member-present lesson was with the family from last week (the one where we met the dad walking his dog, and then he invited us over and the mom loves us and wants her son to be Mormon). We took a member with us to sit down in the lesson and she fulfilled her purpose perfectly! She got to know the family, related to the mom about things like raising kids and other mom stuff, and then turned the time over to us. We taught a brief lesson and then invited the member to share her brief testimony/experience. It was AWESOME. Then the member invited them to church and activities and they got so excited! They can't wait to come to church! And they already have a friend who they can sit with when the come this week. 

The less than awesome member-present happened with Juan y Sidumy. We took a member to them and I guess the member wasn't on the same page as us. We thought we had given her enough background, but after a super spiritual moment with this family (who has only had half of the very first lesson) our member decided to bear her testimony on why polygamy isn't a concern and baptisms for the dead. So ya. Huge bummer...kinda funny....but a bummer.

We also go to members homes to eat with them and help them with their missionary goals. It is so fun...I love the people in our ward. They are the greatest in the world! Last night we were talking to a 9 year old while her mom was in the other room. She was asking all about missions...what we wear, what we drive, who we teach...and then she says "Will you tell me how you know when you get a baby in you?"

......

.....

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I <3 Missions

Anyway... most of the time members are awesome. And my mission isn't the only one that needs people to come out with the missionaries and fellowship people who want to come to church! They all need the members to be missionaries! If any of you out there are interested in helping out the missionaries, read D&C 84: 106-110 and then call your ward mission leader! He probably has a plan that you can be a part of!

So ya, that was basically my week. Lot's of crazy stuff going on in the world, but don't worry we are super safe here in El Paso. I love the work out here! Every day is a blast with Hermana Thomson. She's the

best trainer. OH and she asked me to train her (like personal training) in the mornings. Lol she was actually serious! So thats what we do now. I work-out train her in the mornings and she does the missionary training for the rest of the day. It's pretty funny!

Thanks so much for the prayers, the letters, the packages....you are the best family ever. I'm always praying for you! I know there are a lot of changes going on in both the Warner Family and the Johnson Family....just know you are always in my prayers and I'm working hard for you! 

SUUUREEEE LOVE YA!

xoxoxo

P.S. The pictures were taken the same day...we started out with my per-usual green smothie...and then at the end of a really discouraging day Hrn. Thomson broke me down and we got a pizza and soda to eat in the car. I haven't had a soda in FOREVER. HAHA my eyes were watering from the carbonation (zoom in lol) hahaha lol. good times.

Another week in Texas

Hello everyone!!!!

We've had another great week here in Texas (still can't believe I wound up in Texas....). I love it here. We are right on the border of Mexico so most of the people we meet came from Mexico. It's awesome. Everyone has cool stories and an awesome culture. 

What we get a new president tomorrow??? I'm out of the loop. When people bring up politics I just say "Don't worry, my uncle is a congressman so we will be fine." Haha....I think I just confuse people more than anything when I say that, but it makes me smile. #shoutouttoraul

Life in El Paso is awesome. It's not too hot right now because we are getting closer to winter, and the food is really great. I really love it here...the only thing I really miss is music. Every week we do service at a food bank where they play normal music, so that's a tender mercy. Oh and they also play music at our apartment gym! Side note- we have to split the gym time with the elders but for some reason they get 4 of the 6 days and we only get 2. The feminist in me gets really ticked off about that....the normal person in me doesn't really care....and the Christian in me says "They steal one of your gym days, give them two of your days." I guess I'm not a real missionary yet cause I think the feminist in me is still winning. 

This week started out pretty rough...we had a tragedy with one of the people we teach and it really shook us up. But no worries we are back on track! We focused on weeding out our investigators who aren't progressing and finding new people to teach. It was really hard to say goodbye to people, but once we did the Lord blessed us with SIX NEW PEOPLE! And they are all totally prepared and ready. My favorite finding experience this week was when Hermana Thompson and I were praying to find someone who was prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel. We felt prompted to go to a specific street. We parked the car and got out and just stood there. We looked at each other with blank faces...."which house?"..."I don't know".... none of the houses were right. So we started walking and walked right into a man walking his dog. He was so excited to meet us and invited us back to meet his wife and son the next day! We met with them last night and we couldn't get through the first two points in lesson 1 because the whole time the wife and husband were, for lack of a better word, rejoicing that servants of the Lord were in their house. Seriously these people kept cutting us off and freaking about our work as missionaries. They kept yelling at their 17 year old son (poor kid)  that we are his examples and he needs to be better. The mom kept telling us to tell him not to drink or do drugs. Then she asked us our ages. She said to her son "you will marry one of them or someone like them." This poor kid has no agency! HAH! It was so awesome...they seriously are so prepared. They have faith in the Bible so we explained that our church is the same Church of Christ from the Bible with the same authority of Jesus Christ on the earth today. That sealed the deal! Our member present invited them to church and other activities and they happily accepted.

We knocked on some awesome doors this week. Every person we talked to came out their houses happy and relieved to see us. We had a guy invite us back because "he really needs to talk to people like Jesus" and another guy invite us back because he knows that "God has more for him". Actually, that same guy was my favorite contact this week. He told us that he reads the Bible and feels that God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost have to be different people. YES! And that God is merciful, so why would he send people to infierno (hell). YES! And that God doesn't want him to sleep around and drink because we can't just 'accept Jesus' and then keep sinning. YES YES YES. His favorite parts of the Bible are the teachings of Jesus. We showed him the Book of Mormon and explained that Christ visited the people in America, too. He said he can't wait to read it! Seriously this 20 year old kid was so excited to get his own copy of the Book of Mormon and read about Jesus Christ. How cool is that? 

I know that the Lord is preparing people to receive the Gospel. It is amazing to see His hand leading us to people every day!

I also had some embarrassing moments...shocking I know. The worst was one night we were trying to find a former investigator. We got to the house and the street was really dark but the door of the house was wide open and there were lights and noise blaring from the house. We figured out that the were watching the Cubs play...sounded like a real party. Hermana T and I stood on the sidewalk for a minute contemplating what we should do. Finally...classic me....I say "Let's go!". I started marching up to the door with way too much enthusiasm, hrn. T way behind me by now, and I literally step into the house and knock on the wide open door. Basically it was just a few 20 something mexicanas sitting around with beers in their hands watching the game. So I say (way to loud and excited) "HOLA! COMO ESTA LA JUNTA?!" They all looked at me so confused. Saying nothing. Just me...crazy white girl inside the house of a bunch of drunk mexicanas...My companion quickly said something to them and they weren't interested so we walked out. Hermana Thompson asked me, "Hermana, what was that word you said?"

Me, "la junta!" 

Hrn T. "That means MEETING.....I think you just walked into someones house and shouted 'Hey how's the meeting?'"

Me (dying laughing) "ohhh I meant JUGO!"

Hrn. T. "That means juice....did you mean juego (sport)."

Me "yep"

Anyway....sorry if nobody gets how funny that was. Just trust me....it was a highlight. 

Basically this week has been amazing. I have come to love the gospel more and more each day. I especially am growing my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is SO powerful. All of the answers to our spiritual and temporal questions are found in that book. The words are literally from God sent to us. I want to invite everyone who hasn't read it, or who has read it but hasn't prayed about it sincerely to give it a try. All we are asked to do is to try it for ourselves, and if we do read and pray with a sincere heart then God will show us all the things that we must do.

Love you all so much!!! Thanks for keeping me updated on everything back in Idaho. So fun to hear about all of the horse back riding adventures etc. Someone give my horse a hug for me! 

Hermana Johsnon

In the Field

This week has been THE BEST! Thanks for all of the support and love<3 I think I will just share some of the most miraculous things that happened this week...sorry if I talk too much, this is for my records too. I want to have this stuff in writing! So here goes. 

Our African Encounter

On Tuesday Hna Thompson and I were putting mail in the box and we heard a lady behind us say "Are you students?" Hna Thomson turned around and said, "What?" She couldn't understand the woman. The lady asked again "Are you students?" Hna T still couldn't understand. I hadn't even looked up at this point but I yelled over my shoulder "SHE SAID ARE YOU STUDENTS!" Then I realized the problem....the lady was speaking in a super thick West-African accent and that's why I could understand and Hna T couldn't. I literally ran over there, so excited, and started talking to the lady. Turns out she is from Nigeria! I whipped out my African accent and explained that we are missionaries. She lit up and said "Preach to me sistah! Preach to me about your god!" Hermana T and I were a little surprised, so she said again, "Preach to me! Who is your God! Give me your books! Tell me your gospel!" HA so African. Right there, we shared the whole first lesson in like 10 min. She was so excited and easy to teach. Basically the conversation escalated so much that I shouted the first vision at her with so much excitement and emotion. And she was so revved up...just shouting and saying "IS IT TRUE! IS IT TRUE!" It was so funny...and soooo awesome. I love those people and their faith! The craziest part was that she lives far away and doesn't have a phone...she just happened to be sitting out in the courtyard of our apartment. I don't think we will ever see her again! But she has a Book of Mormon and knows where church is so she will do just fine. 

That's how I wish every lesson went. If people understood the miracle of what we were saying, like my African friend, every person who hears our message would be yelling "IS IT TRUE IS IT TRUE!" It just takes a little humility and desire to know!

The Time We Told A Hindu About Jesus

Later that week the ward had a Halloween party. We took Ruben, which was quite funny. He has epilepsy and few social problems so he doesn't get social cues super well. So he walked up to this great dane, attacked the dogs face with hugs and kisses, and the HUGE dog attacked him. yikes....it was so awkward and we felt so bad for ruben. (He wasn't hurt don't worry) Anyway...Ruben was so mad. Then we were talking to this other lady with a tiny pug and Ruben did the same thing (mauled it with kisses and hugs) and the pug full on attacked him too! At that point we were just dying laughing....that boy needs a dog that he can just love on. 

What happens next was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. So later on in the night Ruben was sitting with us and started telling Hna T that he has been kind of sad and was worrying about his baptism. She started giving him an awesome pep-talk in Spanish. She spent the night testifying to him of the comforting power of the scriptures.

 An Indian man came and sit down next to me, his name is Hermano Gupta. I found out that he is married to a Hispanic lady in our ward, but he is Hindu. He started talking to me about Karma. He believes that people do bad things and bad things come back to them. He said "have you ever wondered why babies are born with problems? Well it's because they did something bad in their life before this!" He was excited to prove his theory to me...and of course I was just biting my tongue. He finally asked, "is that what you believe?" I explained that we believe in being judged for our actions after this life, but the life before this was much different. Basically, after giving a lot of background about our religion, I could explain that those born with problems probably were the best of the best in the pre-eternal...that God trusted them with these challenges. That they are PURE and GOOD souls. 

He was amazed. He asked how it was possible...to be good and have challenges. I explained how God lets us have challenges to mold and shape us. That good people have hard times so we can learn to look to God for help. We need to learn to exercise faith in him.

By now he was so interested in our beliefs. (keep in mind this guy has whiskers on his face and cat ears on his head and we are sitting in the middle of a costume party shouting over the noise).  He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that bad things don't always have to be because of Karma. He asked about people who are good but get cheated on, or get in a car crash when it wasn't there fault...those kind of things. I explained again how trials help us to grow into stronger people. I wish I could write out everything we discussed, but I could feel it was building into something powerful. 

I shared with him about how I grew up with a mom who was sick, and that I learned all sorts of things like cooking, cleaning, being independent, having faith ect. because of that trial. I was able to grow. He stopped me.."THAT'S IT! I see how you grew, but your mother... With all due respect, she must have done something in the past life to deserve the sickness." 

I had to remove my own emotions because the human side of me wanted to punch him in the face. (Don't worry mom I got you<3) It really was the perfect illustration though because I shared how she has blessed so many others. Others get strength from her daily. She agreed to this challenge in the previous life because she was SO pure and SO strong that God knew she could handle it, and he needed someone to take on her challenge and bless others. (SORRY MOM FOR USING YOU AS AN EXAMPLE! I LOVE YOU!)

At that moment I broke it down really clear for him. We talked about the pre-earth life, coming to earth, our purpose on earth...everything. I taught him the law of justice, something he really understood. I explained the role of Jesus Christ. How he died for us and offered mercy. We talked about the atonement in so much detail...how Jesus Christ suffered for every affliction and every sin. And how all we have to do is come to him and he will give us mercy.

His countenance softened, and he opened up to me about what was driving this whole conversation. His mother, who was an amazing lady who raised five boys, is really old and sick...but his other four brothers never call or do anything to help her. 

I asked him, "Have you thought all this time that your mother must have been a bad person in the last life to deserve this mistreatment?" He said yes. 

My heart broke....I testified that his mother was a pure and good soul, and that his brothers are using their agency poorly, and that Jesus Christ will take her pain. He asked how he can apply mercy into his life, so I explained prayer. He wanted to know exactly how prayer works...how he needs to do it, and if I could pray for him. I even told him he could get a blessing. He wanted me to point out everyone who has this "Amazing power to act for God" (the priesthood) in the gazebo. I pointed to most of the men at the party! He was so amazed that God sent a son to do this for him.

I asked him to read Matthew in the bible, and think about the role of the Savior. We left and my heart was breaking that he had never known Jesus Christ. He had been living in a world of justice, without mercy, his whole life. HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE HAS A SAVIOR! His wife (who has been an active Mormon for her whole life, and married to him for 30 years) told us he wants us to come back and teach him more. I imagine they never have talked religion for fear of messing up their marriage, totally understandable. But we are excited to teach him more.

Last night, the story took an unexpected turn. Hermano Gupta's mother passed away. We haven't had a chance to talk to him, but keep him in your prayers. I am still in shock, just 3 days ago he learned that his mother might not be a bad person after all and that there is a plan of mercy for the both of them. 

Good and Bad Times

God is good and loves every single person on this earth, and he wants us all to have the truth. We have had too many crazy experiences to count this week. We taught the plan of salvation to a ten year old who survived cancer, the love of God to a man who is married to a Mormon but doesn't want to join the church, the healing power of the atonement to a recovering alcoholic, and we talked to a girl who just got used and thrown away by a jerk and told her that she is a daughter of a King! Honestly, who knows if any of that will go anywhere...but Sam, Mojo, and Katie I just want to say you are very blessed to be in the gospel. Don't take it for granted!

 Last night we had to leave an old woman who has been investigating the church for SIX YEARS steadily. We sat their and heard her say she knows it is all true and that her salvation depends on it, but that she needs a sign. We were all crying, testifying of what she needed to do. But she won't. The goodbye was literally tragic....Hermana T is SO close to this lady. I guess this life just isn't her time. 

RUBEN IS BAPTIZED!!!!

but not confirmed...lol....he got sick and couldn't come to church the next day...lame. But he will be don't worry.

Okay, let me rewind to the baptism. We showed up and there were 2 other wards there when we had booked the font, so it was a little stressful. Then Ruben was a half hour late, and showed up with tons of doubts and questions about the commandments. Satan was really working on him. He kept saying "I know it's true and I want to be baptized, I just figure out the reason behind the commandments." We talked him through it all and some how my companion gave a killer pep-talk (in Spanish) and he calmed down and remembered his testimony. 45 minutes later (the ward sat in the room waiting the whole time...yikes) Ruben was baptized. After he came out of the water he was SO happy. It was a roller coaster of a day, but turned out to be amazing!

This week has been incredible...full of miracles. I am doing super well, me and my comp laugh 100 times a day and love eachother so much. I really am so so so happy! Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! Thanks for reading!

The field is brown and crusty and looks like Texas

FAMILIA!!! As Katie just said to me in an e-mail...I'm a real deal missionary!!! Here are my updates....

First and foremost, I have never been happier. I know that sounds cliché because every missionary says that but it's true. The combination of KNOWING that Christ lives, having a desire toa change/repent, being committed to living the gospel, always having the spirit guide and comfort me, and helping others feel the same is enough to make me the happiest person on the planet. Anyone can have this, you don't have to be a missionary!

Leaving the MTC was kind of sad. I had so many awesome experiences there and met the coolest people. My district was soooo hard to leave but elder mongkeya and faber came to NM so its all good. 

Getting to the field was soooo awesome. I was dead tired and most if the first day went in one ear and out the other, but that night I had one of those experiences when you know the church is true with every part of you. We were driving and the sun was setting over all of ABQ. (look up ABQ NM sunsets...they are gorgeous)...and I couldn't help but think about how real God is. I have always felt closest to him when I am near his creations, and this was no exception. I felt so comforted, and so "at-home". It's hard to describe but I know God loves the people of NM just by seeing that gorgeous sunset. It is evidence of His love for all of His children, and His desire to bless us. And I have a desire to help the people here to be able to look to God and feel the love he has for them. It is as simple as just looking up and seeing the sunset that has been there all along. 

The second day I got assigned to El Paso TX and met my companion. She is THE BEST!!! She is way good friends with John and Lincoln (my cousins) and we figured out I have actually met her before!!! (Side note to Brandon Turner: remember that random music thing at my cousins house? Ya we literally sat right next to my future trainer. Whoa.) 

Hermana Thomson is my soul sister. She has only been out 12 weeks and apparently was so stressed to train, but she is doing a killer job. She is a great example of obedience and faith. Every day we have to rely on the spirit SO much because she is new to Spanish and I am really really new to Spanish. I have grown so much in my testimony of prayer and following inspiration. It is so beautiful and humbling to see the work going forward when we both are so new to this. (Honestly though you would think Hna T has been training her whole life. She rocks.)

My first day in the field we decided to go tracting. We prayed, got out of the car, and she asked me where I felt we should knock. I think God was trying to build my confidence a little bit because there was an amazing family behind the first door we knocked. The spirit was so strong when we talked to them. It was awesome. And I could share a billion other experiences like that just from this first week! It is so cool to be stumbling over Spanish....or even not know what to share about the church, and then have the spirit take over and all of the sudden the gospel is being talked about in Spanish and I don't even know what's going on. It's awesome.

Two awesome highlights to share:

WE HAVE A BAPTISM!! Fist in our area for over 3 transfers. This guy, Ruben, walked into the church a couple days before I got the field yelling "does anyone speak Spanish?" Hna T and her comp just happened to be there and were able to talk to him! I showed up and he had already had his first lesson, but I have helped with the second and beyond. He has epilepsy and a few other problems that make it hard for him to have a job or go to school (he's 22), but he lives with his mom and just enjoys life. He has such a sweet spirit and a huge willingness to learn and follow God's plan. He is so prepared and so excited to be baptized, and we are so excited for him! 29th of OCT!!! 

But last night Ruben got a little to happy about the gospel message and tried to kiss me.....he got me on the cheek. So I have some repenting to do....and tonight when we teach law of chastity we are also going to sneak in some mission rules. Anyway...that's a memory for the books for sure.

THE DAY OF MIRACLES: We call last Thursday the day of miracles because sooo many cool things happened. We started the day with two great lessons and I don't have time to explain those, but they were awesome. Then we went to the church to meet a referral Luis but he didn't show. So we sat down on the grass, next to a fence, to do our language study. I felt the spirit whisper to me that I needed to pray for someone to approach us...so I did. And right as I closed my prayer a head popped over the fence. CHA-CHING. I was blown away. My companinon had to do all of the talking cause I was still dumb-struck. Turns out he is the father of a boy that used to be taught and he wants to missionaries to come back into their lives. DONE.

After that we had a couple more appointments where again, the spirit was so strong. After leaving a baby shower for Emirita (our investigator who just moved into town...the ward threw her a baby shower....it was awesome) we decided to try by Cynthia's house even though she is never home. She had only had the first lesson because she was found right before I got here, but apparently she was interested. So as we got out of the car Hna. T grabbed a Libro De Mormon....even though she had already given them one. She said she had a feeling we would need it. 

Well as we walked in we ran into Cynthia's boyfriend. He said he was leaving but would come right back in a few minutes. So we went in and got to know Cynthia and her son. Her son was hard to talk to because he is 10 and has ADHD...can't focus super well. But all of the sudden I started sharing the story of the stripling warriors and he was attentive the whole time. He loved it! Pretty soon the boyfriend came back and he was super interested. We taught the whole first lesson and they were all so engaged. At the end I invited them to be baptized and the boyfriend (Adrian) said....."this is all true, I don't see why not!" HA missions are awesome.

Oh then at church on sunday the guy who stood us up, Luis, came shuffling in to sacrament meeting with his walker! The guy is like 80 years old and decided to get up at 8:30 and come check us out. Whoo!

Anyway...I keep pinching myself because I'm so happy. I still wake up every day a little confused....trying to figure out if dad is making breakfast yet or if Braden, Cole, Seth, and Tanner are coming over... and then I'm like WAIT I'M ON A MISSION! Haha...it makes me laugh every morning. lol. 

Anyway...that was super long and I got to go.....but that's my update! I love this area soooo much...our ward is awesome...everything is great. Just want to say that none of this would be happening if the gospel wasn't true...so if you don't know, you can find out!

LOVE YOU ALL

Hermana Jo

(P.S. I saw Spencer Smith! He seems good and happy!)

Dad just hit me with a bunch of questions....so here is a P.S. for the group e-mail.

My apartment is sweeeettt. We have the classiest yellow chair and indian print sofa. I get green smoothies every morning so you could say I'm a happy girl. The trip from the MTC to the field isn't important. it was long..tiring...I got drenched in the rain....and I got to call the fam. Also....ya my comp is awesome...just have to say that again. We are best friends already. Ummmm if anyone wants to send me healthy nature snacks I wouldn't complain...missionaries can't afford my usual over-priced organic crap. and I realllllllyyyyy love getting letters (COUGH COUGH SAM AND MOLLY HOW DARE YOU GO TWO WEEKS WITHOUT TELLING ME ABOUT YOUR LIVES) 

oh and PPS shout out to the Rhotons for their AWESOME letters. that was so fun. Mitch and I opened them together at the MTC!

Best Six Weeks of My Life...No Sarcasm

Hello family!!! I have SIX DAYS LEFT in the MTC. Wow things are getting real. I will really really miss it here. The spirit is soooo strong. I literally have been living in Zion's Training Camp. I LOVE my district and my teachers so much. My district has become really really close. It's a really great thing, until our inside jokes make us bust up laughing in the middle of class every 5 seconds. I have not laughed as much in my whole life as I did this week. A day with my district is easily as entertaining as a day with my Hillsdale Homies (shout out...miss you guys<3). Yesterday in particular I got elder Faber laughing so hard that he was doubled over and had to grab a trash can because he thought he was going to puke. I don't even remember what I said...but I guarantee it wasn't THAT funny. But being cooped up in a classroom for 9 hours a day makes anything hilarious. On top of my district making me laugh, Katie won the dear elder competition this week. That girl is hilarious....We read all of her letters out loud and died at all of the random things she says. If you don't know my sister....bummer for you. She's awesome. 

This week, one of our teachers left to go get married (so selfish) and we have really been missing him. His name is brother Workman and he is more than likely one of the three Nephites. He is the nicest, most caring teacher in the world. He has changed the lives of all of us, just by being who he is. He is so centered on Christ and humbly represents Him in everything he does. It has been so amazing to have him as a teacher....just remember this e-mail when you hear Jared Workman get called as a general authority in 60 years. It's going to happen.

Being centered on Christ brings me to my main learning theme of this week. Christ said "Come unto me all ye heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Of all of His commandments, that is the command he gives that makes the most sense. Sometimes we get so caught up in all of the aspects of the gospel. There is so much to learn to do, improve on, and perfect. It can get really overwhelming at times. But what is this gospel really about? It's about Jesus Christ. It is a MIRACLE that He was able to save us from our sins. If you think about it, how perfect and just God is/has to be, we should be lost and fallen forever. But by some miracle God created a way for mercy to overcome justice so that we can be clean and return to live with him again! That way is Jesus Christ! He suffered for all of our sins, and afflictions. It truly is a miracle. BUT that doesn't get rid of our personal responsibility to be good. Because how do miracles happen? Through faith. (Ether 12 haha...<3) So we have to have faith in Him and take that step to go to Him! He knows that we will make mistakes, but what does he ask? "Come unto me" and what does he promise? "I will give you rest." His arms are out-stretched in mercy ALL OF THE TIME. He is just waiting for us to come to Him. He doesn't care if we have never made a mistake in our lives or if we are the worst sinners in the world, He just wants us in his arms. (hah..side note: I realize every day how many mistakes I made. Even when I thought I was doing good, I was missing the mark. For example: People come up to me all of the time and say "Sister Johnson!"... like they know me and are excited to see me. Turns out basically my entire YSA ward is here and I don't recognize/know ANY of them. How is it that they all know me and can remember my sunday school classes/talks/testimonies in detail but I don't even recognize them!!! This has happened more than 8 times....I'M TERRIBLE! I was missing the mark big time. Teaching about Jesus and not caring about anyone I was teaching? ew...I am the worst. Thank goodness for repentance am I right?) Anyways...back to the point. Christ doesn't want us to sin or to stray from the path, but he would never punish us for trying to get back on the path. He just wants us in His arms. And I KNOW, because of the miracle of his atonement, he will get us back to live with Father in Heaven again. And he will make our journey to get back so sweet, happy, and peaceful. 

SO this is my advice to myself this week as all of the crazy mission stuff is unfolding. Trying to figure out how to be a better teacher, companion, sister training leader, friend, sister...I truly believe that the answer will always be Jesus Christ. If you want to be better, be like Him. If you don't know where to go next? Go to Him. If you don't know what you should be doing? Do what He did. Just look at his example and try to follow it. I know that as we try to follow Him, even if it is just by smiling at someone or being a friend to someone, He will bless us for walking in His footsteps. 

Thanks for all of the love and support! And especially for all of the e-mails about conference!!! I forgot to say this but it was SO FUN to spot Natalie and Katie out in the crowd. And I got to see Nick and Nat at my temple walk this week!<3 So awesome!

I love you all! And I loveeeee being a missionary!

Hermana Jo

P.S. Said goodbye to Bobby Hinkley this week! He was headed to Taiwan! And GUESS. WHAT. He is companions with Zack Johnson the best cousin evvvaaaaa (that's just a saying I <3 all of you equally. Had to clarify because I'm pretty sure that out of the 150 people that get this e-mail my cousins make up more than half HA) Anyway Robert is the MAN. I remember in his farewell talk he said "Thank you all for getting me to where I am today...but don't take too much pride in that." Lol...funny kid. GOOD LUCK ELDERS JOHNSON AND HINKLEY! 

"AUSTIN CHAMBERLAIN IN THE HAOUSE!"

"a photo collage of what happens when we decide to get REALLY productive and test all of the filters on my camera with a mini photo shoot. You're welcome"

"Cool filter right?"

"Jackhijo and Johnhijo"