"To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Thanks but no"

This has been such an awesome week!!! I can't really even put it all to words, and I don't really have time anyway. But here it goes.

Here are the updates:

-Joel is still waiting to hear if he can get baptized. He's so excited. We meet at the park like every other day, but lately he hasn't had time cause he is too busy training the young men from the ward at the gym. HAHA. 

-Maria called us saying that she didn't sleep all night and that we need to go over. We went by and she handed us 3 letters. The envelopes were printed out and addressed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One for me, Garcia, and our Bishop lol. Freak I should have taken a picture. Inside she wrote the most formal letter saying she won't be getting baptized this weekend. She wrote like 3 paragraphs assuring the church that we have done our work well, and then she said she wants to go to her sisters church so she can build a relationship with her sister. WHAT. 

Pretty sure she is stressing about other things...so we will keep working on it. But it's a bummer. We picked out her white jumpsuit and everything :'(

-Blanca Jose Mayra and Angel!!!!

Okay so long story short, we got a referral from a member for her aunt Blanca. We went by and invited her to Pablo's baptism. She and her husband Jose came. They told us they want to be members so we were like...COOL you are talking to the right people!

We tried by Blanca's house a bunch but she was never there. We finally got her to come to a dinner with her niece's family (members) and their shared their coolest most POWERFUL conversion story. Blanca was like "cool lets do the baptism next week!" haha

We still could never find Blanca at home, but we got another referral for a girl named Mayra. We went by and Blanca, Jose, Mayra and her husband Angel were all there! Turns out they are always all together! So we have been going over every day to eat with them and teach. They all sit down on the couch together and listen so closely. I LOVE THEM . They were all struggling to pray, but the other day Angel was brave and got on his knees to say his first prayer. He sobbed through the whole thing. Then in the middle he stopped and looked up "is this normal?" I was like "yes shhhh keep going!" haha. Then after the prayer his CUTEST 3 year old son threw his arm's around Angels neck and said "it's okay daddy!"

-I had to give a talk in church yesterday...in Spanish...but it went okay! I am growing to love this ward SO MUCH! I feel as comfortable and at home with them as I did with the Eagle 9th ward!!! 

-We got invited to a special leadership conference up in Albequerque! It was so awesome. I learned soooo much and can't wait to take the work to the next level. But for real, the best part of all of it was seeing HERMANA MADDI THOMPSON!!!!! Oh my goodness it was like being reunited with my sister. ANNNDDD I saw elder SPECER SMITH! He's doing so awesome! Eagle represent!

-We are biking sooooo much! These pics are from biking to meetings at the church with the elders haha. Elder Sutton's head rarely makes the pic cause he's so tall.

-I sang at the funeral of one of my FAVORITE members. It was such a sweet service. Then after, another member (this crazy old lady who basically kidnapped us once...that's another story) asked me to sing at her funeral! HAHA she's like "I'll tell my son your info so someday he can find you and you can come back and sing at my funeral." 

lol....hopefully I don't bail on her. 

-That's about it!!! Life is good! The weather is warming up! And I'm still getting chubby on Mexican food!!! :) 

xoxoxoxxo

Hermana Johnson

"Look who I ran into at leadership conference!"

Spencer Smith, a friend from Eagle

"I found a pineapple bush"

"This is my favorite person in El Paso. He's basically Molly but brown and a boy. HE"S SO CHILL AND HE LET ME WEAR HIS HAT <3"

Bikes!

Hey Family!!

This week has been AWESOME! Just a few highlights:

Menos Activo- Misonero

So remember or recent convert Ruben? He was so awesome...and then withing 3 weeks went less active. We had been trying to meet with him like every day and then finally he told me and Hermana Thompson that we "Annoy him" and that the church annoys him too. WHAT! We were so bummed. 

THEN last week I got THE BEST PHONE CALL OF MY MISSION!!! Ruben was on the phone (in spanish) "Hermanita Johnson!!! Let's schedule a session!" 

I'm like...."WHAT? Okay for sure! What's the occasion?"

"I WANT TO GO ON A MISSION!!!" -Ruben. 

I was jumping up and down and freaking out! We met up with him the next day and he filled us in on his 180 change. He told us that he had been in Juarez Mexico staying with family for the past two months. Turns out, all of his cousins are returned missionaries! He had no idea!! They got him all pumped up about the gospel and a mission and everything! Ruben told us that as he thought and prayed about a mission, something came into his heart so strong. He said it was so warm and powerful in his chest! He was so eager to learn everything he could in a one hour appointment haha. He was asking, "How do I find people to teach? Where do I get the pamphlets? How do I know what to say?" 

He still needs to get the priesthood and go to the temple and stuff, but in the mean time he is a ward missionary! We were helping him practice for lessons and we said, "What would you say to someone who doesn't come to church, but has already been baptized?" 

He replied, "That's easy! Bro, I got baptized and was SOOOO LAZY. Don't be lazy. Just get out of bed and come to church!" hahahah

Milagros!

I had the craziest experience with Joel. He is the guy we found living above Pablo's house! He is so cool and ready to be baptized, so stay tuned for that. But we were teaching him about temples and baptisms for the dead. You could tell he was really pondering the whole concept of being able to help those who have already passed on receive a baptism. I had a paper in front of me so I drew a box, trying to illustrate what the little piece of paper that has the name of the person being baptized on it looks like. You know, the blue/pink slip that says the name and the birthdate and the bar code and stuff. Anyway, I drew the box and said "For example, you will get a piece of paper like this. It will have a random name like....." A name popped into my head and I wrote it. Gorge Neria. Joel freaked out. "How do you know Gorge!?" 

Turns out, Gorge Neria is his cousin who got murdured. He already had told us that he wanted to to a baptism for this cousin of his, but he never had told us the name. He had been thinking of Gorge the whole time we were talking, and somehow the spirit put the name onto the paper! 

Tell me the church isn't true! 

More Updates

We had so many other awesome lessons this week! We have a handfull of AMAZING children of God preparing to be baptized this month and next. I can't even express how amazing it feels to see lives change. It makes every minute worth it. 

Biking is super fun! That makes mission life SO MUCH better. I feel like I'm at home cruising around Hillsdale with my friends haha. Me and my comp are doing great! We got invited to a special leadership conference this week so we will go up to a few other missionaries and spend the night in Albuquerque this week for the conference. Super pumped!

Again Haha

Also, It happened again! A different ward asked me to come to their relief society where they were teaching a lesson about "Turning lemons to sweet lemonade" (mom's article). I sang Grande Eres Tu (how great thou art) again and the spirit was so strong. They asked me to share my testimony and then passed lemons and limes to certain ladies in the room and the came up and shared their stories on how they used the gospel to turn "lemons to lemonade". I thought the relief society room was going to get water damage from all of the tears! Such a powerful meeting. Thanks again mom!

Sure love ya! xoxox

Pablo Gonzalez (basically the El Paso version of the guy from UP)

All I want to talk about today is someone who has impacted my life a lot. Pablo Gonzalez!

GRUMPY

We met Pablo two months ago in his garage. We were walking up his road, trying to talk to anyone we could find. He happened to be standing in his garage fixing his car, so we asked if there was anything we could do to help. 

He seemed a little surprised, no words for a minute, and then he tried to shew us off. He said "I have a lot of cancer, and I'm very cold. I can't fix my car. I'm going inside."

Hermana Thompson pulled out a scripture about Jesus Christ's power to heal. He listened, thanked us, and then very grumpily reminded us that he has cancer and needs to go inside. 

We made a note of his name and then a mental note to not go back. 

Three or four days later we arrived to an appointment with another person on his street. The appointment canceled and we didn't know what to do. I felt very strongly that we should go back to Pablo (which sounded a little useless when I said it outloud to my companion) but we both agreed to try by and see if he knows anyone else who might be interested. I remember being a little nervous as we knocked on his door. I was scared the same grumpy, easily irritated man would be on the other side. But to our surprise, Pablo opened the door and invited us in with open arms! He almost looked relieved to see us!

Dios Por Que?

As we sat down he told us parts of his story. Pablo has almost died several times. Once in a car wreck, and 3 times from cancer. He didn't just "almost die", he actually saw the light, felt the peace, and then something pulled him back every time. The last time he actually fell off the bed and he snapped out of it! He can recount each of these experiences in detail (as he does often). He told us, through tears, that he just wants to know why. POR QUE? Why does God let him suffer? Why does he live with 12 painful tumors, several diseases, and all alone? 

We told him we can help him answer these questions. We know exactly why God has kept him on earth. He told us, again through tears, that he knows that we can help him. He said that when he saw us he thought we were angels. He said he was actually very confused. For a moment he thought that two angels were standing in his garage the night we met. Then he asked, in all seriousness, "are you angels?" 

"For they were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from everlasting destruction" Alma 27

That was one of the most humbling moments of my life! We taught him about God, about his devine potential in God's eyes, and about how God wants to hear from him through prayer.  

Pablo Prayers <3

He spread out a blanket on the floor and we all knelt in prayer. His prayer was so powerful. Pablo PLEADED with Heavenly Father for help, peace, purpose, healing, and love. He just kept asking "Dios, Por que? POR QUE tengo tanto sufrimiento?" (god, why? why do I have so much suffering?)  It was like he was kneeling at the feet of God himself. The spirit filled the room and I left wondering how we are going to be worthy to teach such an incredible person who is so close to God (even though he didn't know it, yet).

The Book Of Mormon

We came back the next day to find a Book of Mormon sitting on the table. "Pablo! Where did you get that?"

He received it from some "great young men in white shirts" more than 40 years ago in Las Vegas, and has kept it all this time. 

We told him that his answers were in that Book, and he said he already knew. He had never read it, never looked into the church, but he said out of the several religions he has looked into he always knew this one is right.

Our lessons continued to get better and better. He told every member we brought to his house about how he is convinced that we are angels. In every lesson his prayers continued to shake the earth. It is incredible. He bows his head and I feel that actual angels come and kneel beside us, the spirit fills the whole house, and we all feel like we are in heaven for a minute.

Dancing...King

As we got to know him better we learned about his incredible life. He has always been a major party planner. He loves to throw a classy evening with music and DANCING! Pablo LOVES to dance. He even made sure that he could dance and be a Mormon. HAHA. He has stories after stories about some insanely famous people, but to him the are just old friends. One of the most famous Mexican artists, Juan Gabriel, was one of his closest friends! He is like every famous person's hype-man. He used to live such a wild, fast paced life hosting fabulous dances and parties (imagine a Mexican Great Gatsby). I could listen to his stories all day! 

The day Hermana Thompson left, and also the day after Pablo went to church for the first time, he called and said he wants to give the book back, and that he won't be baptized. We went over there right away and he had somehow decided to not be baptized! His reason was because he has to work (host dance parties) on Sundays and he doesn't want to make a commitment to God that he can't keep. We testified of what the gospel will do for him if he has faith and then invited him to talk to Heavenly Father about it. He bowed his head, sincerely asked for help knowing if this is the right path for him, closed the prayer, and said "I will prepare to be baptized".

Eternal Marriage

Then when he turned 50 he found the perfect woman he had always been waiting for. They lived the perfect life. They went through good and bad times, but when they were together everything was magical! Nothing could get them down!

They lived in Las Vagas together for several years. Together, they always admired the big white church (temple) Pablo, as he told us about his wife and their love for the temple, told me that he wants to go inside before he dies. 

Turns out, Pablo knows nothing about the temple! It is just something beautiful that he and his wife have always loved. Before we could tell him the purpose of temples, he told us about what happened to his wife. 

Three years ago his wife fell in the kitchen, hit her head, and died in his arms. Hearing him tell this story first hand was about the saddest thing I have ever heard. He just melted, face in hands, sobbing. I couldn't stand to see him so broken anymore! So I reached out, took his hand, and told him about how him and his wife can be together forever in the temple. His face lit up, the spirit filled the room, and he said another incredible prayer giving thanks to God. 

Baptism, The First Step

When Pablo arrived to his baptism he was beaming! He wore the classiest metallic suit and had his brother and girlfriend (hehe) there to support him! He got all dressed in the white clothes and was so excited and nervous all at the same time. When he went under the water I swear the heavens opened!

As he changed, the elders in our ward shared the message of the Restoration in the chapel for the SEVERAL non members and investigators who were there. When they finished the room was so still. Right then Pablo walked in, absolutely glowing, and I sang "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti" because Pablo had asked me to. 

(then we did an awesome church tour for all the non-members...super fun)

The next day, after he got confirmed in the church, he stood up to get sustained. As he stood he waved to everyone and said "Gracias!". So sweet. Then just about every talk was directed toward Pablo. 

Change

Change is a miracle, but it is possible if we just put our trust in God. I think about the grumpy grumpy GRUMPY man that we met in the garage. He was depressed and so mad at God. His cancer pains were too much to be able to stand up well, let alone do is favorite thing in the world, dance. He was so depressed, missed his wife, and just felt alone. But, from the beginning he withstood the pain to be able to physically get on his knees, he sacrificed his dancing to come to church on Sundays, and he allowed himself to go through an uncomfortable repentance process. Now, if you ask him he will tell you that he has stopped asking "por que?" (why) and has started saying "gracias". His cancer pains hardly bother him any more and his depression and anxiety is healing! 

After he got confirmed he gave me a big hug. He thanked me for being his angel and then looked right at me and said, "I feel brand new". 

If I ever forget why I'm on a mission, just forward this email back to me. I mostly just wrote this story for me. I never want to forget the miracles we saw with Pablo!

P.S. Our recent convert (Ruben) called me and said he wants to serve a mission! We are helping him work it out right now! SO awesome!!!!

P.S.S. we are biking now so I'm pretty much the happiest girl ever

Knock on Wood!

Another incredible week! It has been so fun to be training! I love it!!! I feel like I'm a big sister again (which is something I miss every day!). It also can be stressful....I have never been so tired in my whole life! 

The Holy Ghost

I'm learning more and more about how ESSENTIAL the spirit is for us to learn ANYTHING. I've learned that if you want to have the spirit you gotta

- be worthy (repent often)

-be humble (the spirit always tells me i'm wrong...so I gotta be humble)

-seek it

-recognize it!

When I can't feel the spirit its usually one of these three things, and for our investigators it is exactly the same! For example, we are teaching a man named Armando. He reads the scriptures every day (like 2-3 chapters), prays, and comes to church. He's been doing this for months! Why hasn't he been baptized? He says he doesn't feel God could love him personally. The only way he will every know that God does love him is through the spirit. But, he says he doesn't feel the spirit! All he says he feels is a "peace and calm". Oh brother.  So we have been working with him like CRAZY to help him recognize that "peace and calm" is the spirit! We had a lesson the other day and of course the member started getting in his face about doctrine and talking over him. Things got so tense that finally I had to knock on the table and say, "sorry, but the spirit isn't here so we can't continue. If you would like we can sing a song and invite the spirit back". But nobody else was down so I had to remember the words to I am a Child of God in spanish all by myself. HAHA I really got myself in a hole there. But all worked out, the spirit came, and he definitely started to recognize the spirit!! Score!

So the other night, about an hour before we had to be home, we pulled up to a less actives house to drop in for a visit and I felt like we shouldn't go in. The weird thing is that I could see the family walking around inside...there was no reason to cancel! But we said a prayer asking for guidance on what we should do. I asked, "is there someone in this area who needs a lesson right now?" The spirit dropped a bomb on us! Someone in our area needed a lesson, and we had no idea who it was. We just started driving for home. I turned on a road where I knew a few people and that's when the spirit told us to stop...in front of the house of an active member from the english ward. WHAT? WHY? haha we knocked the door and inside was some relatives of theirs who just got in from MEXICO! We said, "We are here to teach you about your family's church". Sure enough, the family sat down and at the end of the lesson the mom said, "nothing will stop me from being baptized!". 

Knock on Wood!

PABLO IS GETTING BAPTIZED! okay...i'm jixing it. But, we announced it at church, and Pablo was there...so pretty sure he's down! The only thing is he has cancer really bad and he could get sick at any minute and miss his baptism this Saturday! Cancer sucks!!!! But, the coolest thing is that Pablo believes that God will help him figure out the purpose of his struggles if he gets baptized. So much faith!!!

We found a new woman named Maria! She is the cutest. We were trying to contact a referral when across the street we saw this lady saying goodbye to her grown-up kids. As the kids drove away we approached her. She was so surprised to see girl missionaries! After making friends for a minute she invited us in. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she said it seemed really interesting. 

We came back the next week and Maria welcomed us into her house with so much love!!! She asked if she could feed us anything and we said no. But she went to the kitchen anyway! So we agreed to quesadillas if she would show us how to do it. Long story short we wound up eating:

-4 quesadillas

-a giant bowl of gourmet guacamole

-3 fajitas

-some mexican sausage and egg thing

-pasta

-and nachos.

Not to mention she filled three bags of food for us and the elders, and she has never met them! (Dad...she is literally the girl version of you hahaha) 

 Guess what fam...i ate it all. All the flour, and pasta, and grease...I ate it. And I was so full I dreamed I was pregnant that night. BUT I did it for the GOSPEL!

After she tried to kill us by overfeeding us, we taught her the Restoration. I have never felt the power of the First Vision so strongly. She started CRYING! That has only happened a couple times on my mission! But Maria started crying. She said she hasn't cried over a thing in years, and she isn't even sad! She couldn't figure out what was happening. (cough cough...it's the Holy Gost)

She told us she KNOWS it is true and she will be baptized as soon as possible! We gave her a date for 3 weeks out and she asked if she could be baptized sooner! 

Maria came to church and all was well until....she signed her name on the food calendar. lol.

Joel is awesome. When we first met him he was way drunk and way depressed. He actually lives above Pablo (who ironically just kicked Joel out.) So Joel was about to be homeless when we met him and has about 1,000,000 problems that he will tell anyone about. But, this guy loves God. He has always done his best to keep the commandments and read the Bible. Long story short, he knows the church is true and he CAN'T WAIT to be baptized. The cool part about this story though is the members! Every day Joel sees a member. People have gone to help him find a new home (in our area), negotiate contracts, have a visit, give a blessing, teach about the church....a bunch of members even helped him move on Saturday. Get this- we as missionaries didn't ask for any of it! The members just saw a need, the word spread, and did it!!!

I have heard several times from our investigators "I know the church is true because the members are happy. They practice what they preach." I hope when I come home I can be a good member...I used to be so lame! But how powerful is it to just set a good example and serve. You never know how much of an impact you are having.

It Happened Again

Just thought I would throw in a follow up to last week. This week at church the Sunday School teacher asked me to sing. He had actually translated the entire article of mom's into spanish! So cool! He read the whole thing. And then he made the connection that "Hermana Johnson" is one of the kids from the article and had me sing. Mom I can't tell you how powerful it is! The whole room was in tears! Countless people have told me that the article has had an impact on them. Even my companion had read it before she met me! 

Honestly, these moments are some of the most powerful in my whole mission. I love my family and I miss them like crazy. How unique is it to sit in church and have the talk be about my mom? And then have the speaker look right at me and tell me that this all will be worth it? And then have the whole ward say a prayer for my mom? I feel soooo blessed. Not every missionary gets this. MOM YOU ARE AWESOME! KEEP BEING A MISSIONARY! You ROCK! Thank you for your faith and your willingness to share. If we keep this up, the whole El Paso stake is going to be praying for you!

Love you all!!! xoxox

P.S. Hermana Garcia is complaining that I talk in my sleep...buttt IT'S IN SPANISH! Heck ya. nothing to complain about. that is a straight up WIN

Faith

What a week. On Tuesday all of a sudden Hermana Thompson was gone, and Hermana Garcia was here and I had to be in charge and I was like WHOOAAA slow down. I first met Hermana Garcia at a church 45 min out of our area where I was supposed to pick her up. Turns out she speaks English! In fact....mostly english! She just knows spanish cause her DAD is from Guatemala. Anyway...I pick her up, I start driving/ trying to get to know her, and next thing I know we are accidentally driving through the mountains toward Mexico. OOPS lets just say it took us a couple hours of driving "scenic highways" to get back home. So that's pretty much who I am. I'm sure that story doesn't surprise anyone. That wasn't the only time I have goofed this week and it won't be the last. So I have been praying my GUTS OUT that Heavenly Father can some how make me a trainer even though I'm actually Annie Johnson. The only thing I do know how to do is work, so that's what we did as soon as we got home. I think Hermana Garcia has been worn out because we have seriously worked relentlessly! I CAN DO IT We have been working with J (one of our newer investigators) a ton. He has involved himself with the church so much right off the bat! He is at all of the meetings, service projects, and activities! He's sooo awesome...the only thing is that we need to teach him the things to know before he's baptized! Last night we taught him the word of wisdom. When we explained he needs to stop drinking he got very sad and serious. He explained that drinking is his only escape from how lonely he feels. We asked him to pray about it, and after the prayer he was just sobbing. He said he doesn't know if he can stop. Right then I had the prompting to get up and leave! I was like WHAT NO! But that was what the spirit said...so I said we needed to go and we got up and left. (Hna Garcia just followed me...perks of being the trainer?) He was still crying and looked so shocked. I told him to look up a video from Elder Holland and then we left. I felt so bad leaving him like that, but sure enough, ten minutes later, he texted us and said "I CAN DO IT!" I don't know what happened in those ten minutes...but my testimony of the Holy Ghost grew. And I was sure to tell Hrn Garcia that normally we shouldn't just walk out on them...ha. Miracle For the Greenie On Hermana Garcia's first day God gave us a miracle! After teaching what was Hermana G's first lesson ever we were walking back to the car, in the dark, reviewing how the lesson went. I opened what I thought was our car and it turned out to be THE WRONG CAR with a ton of fancy equipment and stuff in it. We shut the doors so fast and started walking to the other end of the block where we had ACTUALLY parked. (anybody who has ever gone anywhere with me has seen me try and get into the wrong car. This is something I really wish I could change about myself. Also I wish I didn't pocket dial people so much...I pocket dial several times a day and have even called President a few time. It's terrible. Anyway.) So we have almost made it down the road back to the car and this lady pops out of the darkness SO MAD. She was DEMANDING to know why we got into that car back there. She was so fired up and was yelling at us to call her daughter (the owner of the car) to verify that we didn't steal anything! I said "Of course, you can use our phone. Sorry it isn't that nice, we are missionaries so...." She stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh i'm so sorry I can't believe I..." And so she went on apologizing. I gave her a big hug to help her calm down. Really she was just a nervous mom! Within seconds she was telling us all about her struggles with life, and God, and purpose. She kept apologizing in between monologues of her life story. She kept saying "why am I telling you this? Why did I chase you?" So of course we told her exactly why....:) I don't know if anything will come of that, but I was SO THANKFUL that God gave hermana Garcia a miracle to get excited about. And I'm thankful that God can use people like me to do the work. Miracle For ME In this past week I have felt so many things change. I have so much more urgency and I'm exhausted all of the time. Above all I have felt my prayers change. I know I can't do this alone...and I know that there is only one person who can really help...so I've been talking to Him A LOT. At church I was sitting in sacrament with Hrn Garcia and J, watching the door for our other 5 investigators who committed to come, but nobody did. I was getting really discouraged. I really just wanted to chill. Just to see my family... and I had the weirdest desire to just sing for a sec! Overall I was kind of losing hope that anything that we are doing is making any difference. I was sitting there praying and searching the scriptures for answers...I felt dumb because I didn't even know what I was praying for! I just needed a boost! Then, one of the high councilmen (who is in our ward) came and pulled me aside. He said he would be speaking in another ward in the next hour and he wanted to use my mom's ensign article. He wanted my permission, and of course I said yes! He then asked if I could sing something so of course I said yes. I hate singing in front of people, and my throat was so sore I was barely talking... but I was pretty desperate for a change of pace, so I said yes. So we sat down in the front row of the meeting...Hermano Escobar (that's his name) began to talk about women of faith. He gave so many great stories and examples of keeping faith through trials. He was crying...everyone was crying...his words of faith were SO POWERFUL. Then he said he would like to close with a story that he read in the Ensign. He had translated Mom's story into Spanish so that he could share it with the ward. He began tearing up as he talked about Mom's faith. He said so many beautiful things about mom that I don't even remember (someone else recorded it so I'll translate it and tell y'all later). But really, it was awesome. It was exactly what I needed to feel close to my family and remember why I am out here working so hard. How did the Lord answer my prayer so perfectly? Then he started talking about the fruits of her faith, her 4 musical kids. My heart flipped upside down...I hadn't put two and two together but I knew he wanted me to sing right then...which meant It couldn't sound bad because he just read, out loud, the lie that my mom put a world wide church magazine about me being a "singer". He said, "One of those children is Hermana Johnson....and she will now sing." This sounds dumb, but standing up to sing was a HUGE spiritual experience for me. I had been sick all week...and I wasn't planning to sing...and I had never sung How Great Thou Art...let alone in Spanish. SO basically the odds were stacked. I did my usual and prayed my guts out. I always say in my head right before I sing "Fear is the opposite of faith". Then, when my heart miraculously stops POUNDING and something, somehow comes out of mouth, I know that Heavenly Father is there. My heart was still pounding as I got up to the first chorus and somehow I felt like God wouldn't help me hit the note...so I didn't haha. I literally pictured in my head the image of Peter sinking and reaching out to the Savior. I felt my self refocus on the Savior...and the whole world stopped! All of the sudden I was having more fun than I ever have had singing! And I didn't feel sick anymore! I felt like I was bearing my testimony! I had no fear! Everyone was crying and I felt like somehow everything that we go through to help people feel the spirit is worth it. But we can only do it through faith. Fear is the Opposite of Faith After I received that PERFECT tender mercy I asked myself, what will the title of my life be? Fear or Faith? I started out my day in fear. Fear that I'm not good enough, that our work isn't paying off, that my family isn't okay....but isn't that silly? I know that God can do ANYTHING. He has a plan! But how is he going to help us if we have fear that He can't do it? Who am I to be "afraid" that God can't bring miracles to the work? Why did Peter start sinking as he walked on the water? Cause He was afraid. If I sink in life it isn't because God wasn't standing right beside me, it's cause I wouldn't reach out in faith. I promise that faith WORKS. It can carry you through anything! Pretty soon we will all be looking back and have the chance to say, Wow...I did a lot of scary stuff. But it was WORTH it cause Heavenly Father did it WITH ME. Mom, don't you think it's worth it? Think of all the people you have helped! Some ward in El Paso was almost entirely moved to tears because of the example you have set! You have taught people all throughout the world how to have faith! What could be a more important calling in life? "And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles util after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God." -Ether 12:18 Love you all!! xoxoxox

Transfer News

Transfer News: Hermana Thompson will be going to Santa Fe in a trio, and Hermana Johnson will be TRAINING 

When I got the training call from the president I literally had to sit down. I am only THREE MONTHS OUT! I was like "are you sure you didn't mean to call Sister Johnson (because there is an english Johnson haha)" but he meant to. I just feel very humbled. There are 20 other qualified Hermanas in the mission and only one new Hermana coming in. Heavenly Father probably told president to give me the greenie cause I have a LOT to learn. Or maybe this is all a sick joke....I don't know. Whatever the reason is, I am SO excited to train. I literally don't know anything and my companion is from Guatamala (probably doesn't speak English) but its all good and soooo exciting. I'm mostly excited because I know that I will have to rely on the Lord a ton and that I will be able to grow my relationship with Him. 

This week has been SOOO awesome. Great way to end my time with Hermana Thompson. Here are the highlights:

-We showed up to D & M's (the couple who has been seeing the missionaries for over 3 years and still hasn't gotten married so they can be baptized) and we were determined to lay down the law. We were fully prepared to tell them that we can't teach them anymore. But then a miracle happened! Daniel told us that they are getting married on the 13th!!! So we threw down the requirements for baptism. We told him he needs to live the Word of Wisdom and do all this other stuff. He walked right outside and threw away his cigarettes...JUST LIKE THAT! It was awesome. He is having tons of withdrawls but has a ton of faith that he will get through it. SO SWEET

-We went to teach or investigator P who is 70 and has cancer. He wants to get baptized but just needs a little push. He also has been super sick so two awesome returned missionaries in our ward gave him a blessing. 

-We met this guy that lives above P. His name is Joel....this guy is AWESOME. Hes sooo buff and scary looking but in our first lesson he was sobbing. Literally doubled over. He has SUCH a hard life...just everything is falling apart. But he loves Heavenly Father and believes that the gospel will heal him. He came to church the next day and loved it. He also took 20 minutes to introduce himself in priesthood...and he always tries to hug us...but ya know. Just technical difficulties.

-Church was amazing. Picture this: on the back bench of the chapel was Joel, me, Pablo, Hermana T, then Armando. All three of our bomb investigators showed up and the best part is they are all neighbors! They didn't even know they were all meeting with the same missionaries! I literally felt like I was in one of those sweet missionary stories where they convert a whole village. But in our story it's just the corner of a random street...and it's just 3 old men. But STILL it was awesome!

-Hermana Thompson had to say goodbye to the ward. We both gave testimonies and everyone was crying. She really is so loved here. I'm going to miss her like crazy!!! We laugh alllll day. We show up to lessons laughing, teach together will all our energy, and then leave laughing. We have SUCH a good time and we have been working so hard. I feel like I've made a best friend but even stronger than that. I'm sure by how it sounds that you might think we are similar and natural friends...but we are actually very different. We have had to work at it at times but, it's working at it that made us so strong! I will miss the times like being in a lesson and knowing the spirit has something to say and then hearing the exact words come out of her mouth. She has taught me to get on my knees for everything. It's not uncommon to hear her crawl into bed after a half hour or hour of praying. I've also learned so much about showing love. She loves EVERYONE and shows so much compassion. I could go on forever, but i'll just say that we have grown to love and trust eachother completely.

-And on a sad note, Gibran moved. He started praying about his baptismal date (yesterday) and that night he got a job offer to go do tile for Denny's restaurants across America with his supppperrr bad influence brother. He thought that was his answer...but we know it was the enemy. He told us that he will "have" to drink in his new job, won't be able to go to church, and won't have time to read. He told us that he KNOWS that he needs to be baptized, but for now he needs to chose money over God. I asked him "could you say that to God's face?" He said no. Then hermana Thompson got really bold and explained that he was taking advantage of Christ's suffering by planning to repent later. Gibran had tears in his eyes. Then his Jehova's Witness brother walked in, who usually is undoing all of the progress we make with Gibran, and said "Gibran you were praying for answers and they knocked on your door. They are your answer. I don't care if you take the job with me...you need to do what's right. The only reason you can't confidently be baptized yet is because you haven't been reading and praying like they told you to. You need to pray again." The conversation went on for another hour. We gave it everything we had to try and help him. 

As we said goodbye you could see the pain in his eyes. It was so sad to see him allowing himself to make this choice. He asked "will God ever find me again?". We said, "That's not how the gospel works. The question is, will you ever find God again.". </3 (that's the best I can do for a heart break emoji)

So, the point is....don't mess with God's plan. Read the scriptures, come to church, and say your prayers like you are supposed to. If we get too far away from him we find ourselves in the midst of darkness, torn between temporary happiness and eternal happiness. That's a scary place to be!

Thanks for all of the love and support! I pray for you guys daily!!! Have an awesome week and enjoy the snoooowwwwww

xoxoxox

I Read The Book Of Mormon Yesterday!

I really did. Our mission President asked us to stay in all day and read the Book of Mormon front to back. It took 18.5 hours. 6:30am to 2:00am. We sat all day and read as fast as we could! I only got up to grab a snack and one other 15 minute break. But it was SO WORTH IT!

Honestly, if anyone wants to learn about God and how to find true, lasting happiness, just read it! A few of our investigators are SO CLOSE to baptism, and it is all thanks to the power of the Book of Mormon! Part of the reason why it is so powerful is because it takes action on our part to open and read. When we put for that action we are showing faith that God is there...we are inviting Him to teach us. I know, with everything in my heart, that whoever reads the Book of Mormon with full intention to act on it's words will receive an answer from the Spirit telling them that it is true. And when you feel that it is true, act on it's teachings! If you have anything hard, confusing, painful, incomplete, or difficult happening in your life I PROMISE that the Book of Mormon is better than any medicine, therapy, product, solution, compass, or vent session. I'm putting my name on that promise because I know that it is the truth. 

God wants to be in your life. He has a plan for YOU that will give you nothing but pure joy in this life and the life to come. I know that it is possible to feel like you are in the arms of Jesus Christ. I know what it feels like for Him to take away your guilt and give you a new start! And I know that all of this comes from action. Read it, pray about it, and don't give up or give in until your Father in Heaven tells you that it is true or false. I PROMISE that you will find what you are looking for!

This week really has been amazing. We worked SO hard on our investigators. 3 of them are supposed to get baptized this week and I honestly have never fought face to face with Satan so hard! They are all under attack like nothing I've ever seen before. Pray for Gibran, Daniel, and Pablo. These guys are so important to God. He NEEDS them in His kingdom. No wonder the enemy is working so hard on them! (If the gospel wasn't the way to be close to God, why would Satan care? Just another reason why I know that this is God's work.)

This week was full of growth for me. We had a couple exchanges and I learned a lot about being bold and listening to the spirit. I'm glad that missions are so long because I have SO FAR to go. 

This is potentially my last week with Hermana Thompson. Transfers are on Monday and I really have no idea what is going to happen! I'll more than likely get an AP call. (kidding) Stay tuned!!!

Hermana Johnson xoxox

PS. Read the Book of Mormon.