Feliz Navidad!

This week was incredible! 

So Yami is almost to her baptism! She is totally prepared and excited! She got introduced into Young Womens at new beginnings and she loved it. The only struggle is that she still gets headaches from no coffee. At our last lesson she said "My head hurts from all the Wisdom!" We were dying laughing but turns out...she was serious. She calls the word of wisdom "living with wisdom". LOVE IT. 

We found the best new investigator! His name is Luis and he's like 30. SUPER nice person. It's insane. He would be the best addition to our branch. He has a bunch of mormon friends who he respects a lot. And yesterday he spent the day reading the book of mormon for the first time. The only down fall is that one of his friends left the church and keeps telling him not to do it. So pray for Luis and that he can recognize the spirit!

We had a great miracle this week. We pulled up to some trailers to try a former and they weren't home. We felt like we should still be there so we got out of the car. I pointed to a trailer and thought that might be it. One of my comps said they knew that person already. They weren't interested at all. I felt that we should probably go anyway, and it wasn't long before  my comp felt the same. So we tried it and I basically said "I haven't met you before, and I heard you aren't interested in meeting with us at all! But we felt like we should come talk to you, so I'm guessing you know someone who does need to meet with us." And boom. just like that we got an appointment with her depressed friend and a referral to try her neighbor. I am SO  lucky to have comps who follow the spirit and SO grateful that we aren't in this work alone. If it weren't for the help of the holy ghost we would go nowhere. 

Also, it SNOWWEEED. SO MUCH. Like 9 inches. We woke up and the world was white. Way more snow than santa fe got all winter and it's april! It was crazy. We had to stay in because we have a dumb Malibu. (btw malibus are so high maintenance.) So we studied and organized stuff all day. And of course we took a break to build a snow investigator lol.

Finally, can I just say that I love my family? I got talking about my grandparents and the cousins and my siblings and I realized how awesome you all are and how LUCKY we are to have eachother. Isn't it amazing that we will ALWAYS have eachother? Traditions and things and fun memories and cool places come and go. Everything in life comes to an end. The only thing that we never have to lose is the eternal relationships that we are building. I when good times come to an end I never have to worry because i KNOW that I will always have the most important thing to me. I never have to lose you guys! That is the most precious thing in the whole entire world. Just think for a minute how sad it would be to lose your loved ones, and then realize that you NEVER WILL as long as we are keeping the commandments and the covenants we made in the temple. The gospel is SO beautiful!!!!

The best part of being a missionary is sharing this knowledge. The only way to have this kind of peace is through the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. So many people tell us "There is one God so who cares what church you go to?". Well if there is one God, wouldn't he have one gospel? And if all of the churches are teaching different things....which is right? Which one has all of the things that Jesus established in the Bible? If you don't know with surety which church is right, I encourage you to make finding out a top priority. There is a true gospel and it is directly from Jesus Christ. And it is only through Him that we can obtain salvation with our FAMILIES! Such a happy thing!

I love you all so much!!! 

xoxoxox

this is my comp hiding from our investigator who is in love with her. lol....don't worry president approved this. 

Also...that is me getting a bug out of my hair. Thought it summed Santa fe up pretty good.

Real Intent

Hello Family!!

This week FLEW by. Here are the highlights:

-We went to an english member's house to get hair cuts and turns out she is a convert from LA. And get this- SHE USED TO BE FRANK SINATRA'S MAKEUP ARTIST!!! how crazy is that? She like touched his face and then trimmed my split ends. Crazy. 

-WE FOUND A FAMILY! actually they found us. They called us on sunday because they had our card laying around there house (we can't remember where we talked to them, but they remember us.) They asked if we could come teach them and if they could come to our church! We have been meeting with them all week in their 8'x5' house- (that's 8 feet by 5 feet...and it's not an exaggeration. I'm probably even being a little generous). They are SO awesome and SO humble. They want to get baptized at the end of this month IF they find out that it's true. So basically, if they ask God with real intent, they will be baptized.

- I forgot to tell this story last week...but it made my whole mission. SO here goes. 

When Britney was getting baptized the member kept messing up the prayer. FINALLY he got it but her knee came up. I think the guy was embarassed or something so he decides to say "Britney SPEARS Salazar, yo te bautizo....." 

He finished the whole prayer and everyone is thinking he was joking, but he actually tried to dunk her! And the witnesses had a hay-day. They were SO MAD. HAHAHA it was the darnest thing. 

-Little Yami Repented! Yami is our 16 year old investigator who is getting baptized this next week! She is my BFF but has a hard time opening up about gospel stuff. But we got there last monday and she tells us this whole story about how she started feeling bad about her past and things kept building up, so she got on her knees and prayed. She prayed for a good hour! And then she got in the shower to see if the water would wash her sins, but it didn't so she is just looking forward to her actual baptism now. haha but seriously...HOW COOL IS THAT?

This week I have been thinking a lot about "real intent". We talk to A LOT of people every day. But very few accept Jesus's message in the end. The church is true, Jesus suffered for EVERYONES sins, God is the very literal FATHER of everyone we talk to, and the only way we get redeemed of our sins and feel all of the love God has for us is through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ....so why do people reject us? Why do people take the discussions for years and never have a baptism? Why do faithful members of the church leave? 

I think it boils down to just talking to God, trusting in what he says, and having intent to act on his message! He will never lead his children astray. But, we often know that his answer to us might not be what we want. Maybe it will prove us wrong, or change our path more drastically than we want. I know i've been there. I have been too prideful to ask god sincerely for answers many times. I cheat out of it with a quick prayer and then rely on my own reasoning to get me through trials or questions about faith. But I have also had moments where I realize that I have no idea what I'm doing and I NEED God to guide me. In those times I have felt his love so strong. I KNOW that anyone who asks God, through a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, with real intent to act on the answer WILL be given the answers they seek. It applies to every question we could possible have. But, it's easy said than done. It's scary, it takes a lot of humility, and a lot of faith. But everyone who I have seen ask God for answers with real intent, has received the strength to embrace the gospel. (Moroni 10 3-5)

LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

xoxox

Don't Drink Kids!

This week was INSANE. I'm gonna have to go day by day for this one. But first, let me just say I LOVE SANTA FE. 

MONDAY-THURSDAY

-We picked up 6 awesome new people! I am so excited to get a fresh pool of investigators in this area. One of them we taught starting on Monday and stopped on Thursday. He was SO frustrating to teach. Just an absolute train wreck when it came to listening/comprehension. We kept telling ourselves that God led us to him for a reason....but then on Thursday he got reeaallll in my face ranting about the bible. That's when I learned what beer smelled like. So the following dialogue went like this:

"David, we have to go right now."

    -Me

"Okay, well i'm busy on Friday but maybe we can meet on Saturday?"

     -David

"David, we aren't coming back until you call us and tell us that you are sober."

      -Me

"oooooooo how did you know I drink?"

      -David

"We would love to meet with you, just don't drink before next time okay?"

       -Me

"That's gonna be a problem. We probably won't meet anymore."

       -David

Then we left and made a commitment not to teach people who are drunk...we will teach people who drink, just not while they are wasted. We made that pact not a moment too soon....our week was FILLLED with craziness. 

-Friday we went to try by our invesitgator Daniel. He was like "i'd invite you in, but i'm drinking some stuff...but you can still come in if you want?" 

We passed and went to the next investigator who came out with the largest can I've ever seen! He was plastered so we told him we'd come back later...which made him cry ALOT. Then we went to dinner which was fantastic (love the members). After we went by my FAVORITE investigators Charlie and Juan, but sure enough Juan practically fell over the rail of his trailer-porch trying to shake our hands. He was flopping all over the place. We were like "yes, we are happy to see you, too, Juan....but we will come by tomorrow." And that's when he created our quote of the week. He literally just yells "GET IN!" pointing to the trailer. We were trying so hard not to laugh.

Other than all of the drunk people, we stayed busy teaching all of our new investigators and less actives. Time will tell who will accept the gospel, but in the mean time I love teaching and building relationships with the people!

SATURDAY = BAPTISMDAY

-Saturday life got a whoooolllleee lot more productive. We found two little girls who's mom has been less active for a while, but they are dying to get baptized and return to church! Their parents said yes so we started teaching them. I loooovvvvee them. They might be the only people in NM who think we are cool, and i love that. We are cool, hip missionaries. The youths just love us!

Then we had Britney's baptism!!!! One of the downfalls of being in a tiny branch of returning less-actives is that everyone with the priesthood is just learning how to use it again. SO after 3 attempts at baptizing Britney, the brother who was doing the ordinance decided to add some comic relief and start the ordinance by saying "Britney Spears Salazar". THEN HE KEPT GOING WITH THE PRAYER! HE WAS GOING TO BAPTIZE HER LIKE THAT! President was soooo mad hahahha. No worries though. 5th time was the charm. Britney is baptized!

Britney was on date before I got here, but it has been fun to help her prepare for her special day these past few weeks. As I got to know Britney I also got to know her cousin Yami. Yami is SUCH a punk which makes me love her that much more. While the sisters were working with Britney I would talk to Yami. She is learning a lot about the gospel and has a huge desire to be baptized! She even chose the exact day she wants to be baptized, so stay tuned!

That night we went over to Charlie and Juan's. Juan wasn't there but Charlie was! Charlie is way more put together than Juan. He has been sober from a super bad Heroine addiction for a month and wants to change his life so badly (he actually turned himself into jail and they let him go for good behavior). We had a great discussion about the restoration. When we invited him to be baptized he practically jumped out of his seat!!! He is so excited, and I am SO excited for him. He really truly wants to change his life, and he trusts that Jesus will be able to do that for him. 

SUNDAY 

On Sunday we went to church. Easter was such a beautiful day here in Santa Fe. Juan came to church and LOVED it. Everything around him wreaked of beer, but he was sober and so so so engaged. It was  a really great experience to sit on the bench with him and think about the atonement. It really is for EVERYONE. Jesus did not pick favorites....and we can't mess up enough to make Him love us less. He loves EVERYONE including Juan. I know he felt it because as Britney got confirmed he said to me "I'm next. Please please let me be next! I'm ready!"

Unfortunately that night we got to their house and Juan was super plastered, again. BUT we broke our rule and went in because we HAD to teach both he and Charlie the word of wisdom. Charlie was super ready to listen so Hermana Wallis tried to teach Juan on one end of the room, and me and Hermana Martin tagged teamed teaching Charlie. Charlie was so excited to learn about the word of wisdom. We made a list of goals including reading the Book of Mormon during withdrawls, and getting a dog to get him out of the house. I was so impressed with his desire and willingness to change. Meanwhile Juan was falling out of his seat....jumping on his seat....he was pretty much everywhere BUT his seat while Hna W was trying to teach him. He kept  yelling "CHURCH WAS SO SO SO GOOD!!!!" and then Hermana Wallis saying "Juan, beer is bad okay?" hahaha She really took one for the team. My comps ROCK. Now we can say we taught a drunk person the word of wisdom! (plus this morning Juan called us and said he had juice instead just like Hermana Wallis taught him. Looks like it wasn't all in vain!)

Well, that was my week. Don't be worried...we are super safe and we usually have members with us. Plus we are getting super street smart. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! xoxoxoxoxoxxo

Pics....not in order 

-two stray dogs that we tried to make sit next to eachother so it could be a lion and a lamb

-Me and my comps on easter sunday. My sister SENT ME THIS DRESS! how cool is she???

-BRITNEYS BAPTISM!!!!!!!

-A homeless friend we made. He built this bike himself!

-our cart today because I convinced my comps to only eat veggies.....super stoked....and super scared 

​​​

Final Days in El Paso Pics

These are the few families I actually got to say goodbye to. The one with the 4 kids is the Perez family. They are the less actives that we almost baptized and then found out that they were already members. They are my literal siblings. It was SO SAD to say goodbye.

One of the pics is a big family...that's the Vargas'. BEST FAMILY EVER. The little boy reminds me of Molly and Burke a little. I love him so much. He cried so much when I left and was so embarassed. He just hid behind his snap back :(

Then we got Angelo and Milana (the baby) angel and myra's kids. THey are gonna be great future missionaries!!!

Estoy en las Montanas!

I LOVE IT HERE IN SANTA FE!!!!! I don't have a ton of time, but I'll update you all with what I can.

People trash the north part of the mission so bad. They say it is impossible to baptize and all this stuff but I think that is a myth. We already found 9 new investigators this week! 

My new companions are AWESOME!!! Hermana Martin (the blonde one) is going home at the end of the transfer and Hermana Wallis has only been out one transfer! They are both so fun. 

Things I love about Santa Fe

-We are in the mountains

-SO many horses

-They recycle things

-Paper bags at the store

-Everybody lives in trailer parks (perfect for finding)

-We have an amazing branch president

-My companions love to RUN!!!!

-Most of our investigators are either always super high or deal drugs to get other people super high. Highly entertaining....but I now commit people at the end of lessons to be sober for the next time we come back. lol

The branch we are working in is so cool. They used to have about 100 active members and then they got a new branch president about 4 years ago. People got so offended by him that the branch got down to a total of 3 active adult members. INSANE. So this new president got called and the task is to reactivate and rebuild. We had 30 at church this week....including us....but the work is coming! I am so excited to see how much progress we can make! 

Saying goodbye to my El Paso family was SO SO sad. I basically just had to slip out of there without saying goodbye to anyone from church because transfers were so weird. Apparently at church everyone was asking what happened which straight up breaks my heart. I wish so badly that I could have said goodbye!

Last monday night Angel and Mayra asked us to come see their new home. We had dinner with them and their member cousins (who referred them). We basically went over their whole conversion and we were laughing our heads off about how uninterested they were at first. And then we talked about how quickly they turned around and now they are such faithful, active members. Angel and Mayra both bore their testimonies and thanked us way too much. It was such a special/rewarding moment for me as a missionary, but the truth is it was ALL Heavenly Father. We deserve zero credit for anything.  The gospel truly made all of their dreams come true. They are a happy FAMILY now! They never thought they would get that! And in less than a year their family will be sealed for all eternity. 

Saying goodbye to them was SO HARD. Mayra and Angel stood in the door hugging and crying and waving. I got in Blancas car and LOST IT. Worse than any break up for sure. I felt like my parents were sending me off to college x100. They stood in the door way until we were completley out of sight! it was a little dramatic haha. Then we drove off and Blanca quickly turned our tears to tears of laughter. She was like, "all of my friends are worried that i'm going to start polygamy and I told them that's only the mormons that WANT to. Plus the sister wives are mormon and famous and now i'm part of that!"

We were like "NOOOOOO WE DON'T DO POLYGAMY!!" hahahahhahaha i can't believe she got baptised thinking that we were polygamists lolololol. She said "well the spirit told me it was true so I just figured whatever weird things you do must be true too."  HAHA such a great lady. 

Then the next day I said goodbye to Ruben. Bless his heart...he is kindof active still but Nephi killing Laban really tested his testimony. Then we went to Pablo's and he gave me some pretty flowers and we all just cried alot. Then saying goodbye to Hermana Garcia was really really tough. She is my little greenie! We worked SO hard together. There is nothing like stretching yourself together to bring a companionship together. 

Man, I'm gonna miss El Paso. I learned SO MUCH in my time there. It is hard to put my experiences into words. We saw so many miracles. I learned that with faith in Jesus Christ, anything is possible. We saw faith change lives, heal relationships, cure depression, bring lasting peace, change hearts, fix addictions....i've even seen it cure cancer. It wasn't all easy, but it was worth it. 

I am going to miss those people so much. And i will definitely miss my cat and my bike....but Santa Fe has so much potential and I couldn't be happier to be here!

Have an amazing week!!!

-Hermana Johnson

Let me go. Far away. SANTA FE!

Email:

susannah.johnson@myldsmail.net 

New Address: 

6429 S. Meadows Rd. #1611

Santa Fe, NM

87507

Well I guess my time in Montwood is over. I spent a third of my mission in this awesome ward and I will never forget it!!!

So at the beginning of the week I was in a slump. Practically all of our recent converts moved out of the ward, all of our progressing investigators dropped us (one the DAY before his baptism). It was so sad and I felt like Montwood is starting from scratch! It was pretty much my bad attitude. So I prayed a lot, read more than half of the Book of Mormon, and payed SUPER close attention to conference. Then on Saturday night I found out that my mission in Montwood is over and I'm getting shipped alllllll the way to Santa Fe. I'm not totally sad and not totally happy...just a big mix of both of them. 

Because there wasn't church we went to the chapel to watch conference. Hna Garcia called everyone and told them I was leaving so a bunch of people came to say bye! It was so sweet. My heart felt so full! I would say that was one of the most rewarding moments of my mission. 

Pablo came to say bye. He was SO sad. TOO sad. He probably thinks we will never see each other again...and he might be right. But there is always the next life and he will find a lot of comfort in that. 

I didn't get to watch the second session of conference on Sunday because one of my best YSA friends showed up and needed advice. I slipped oiiut of the conference room and we talked in the lobby for a while. Honestly, the most rewarding moments of my missions have been helping the youth and YSA. We have seen people get outside themselves, search for testimonies, and we have even walked some right into the bishops office. It makes me realize that there are a lot of people who are in need, and it just takes one person to rescue them. I didn't need to be a missionary to learn that. I could have been a rescuer my whole life but I chose to focus on myself and seek rescuing. Learn from my mistakes and go out there and rescue someone! Doesn't matter if you get along, if you are the same age, if you have the same interests, if its cool, or if you have to give something up. If there are souls on the line, go out and get them. As was said in conference, "those who are hardest to love need the most love."

We sat around in the church with a whole group of us from the ward and talked and laughed for a while. Then we got on the bikes one last time and went to say goodbye to some members. Really I was just mourning my bike. I love that thing. I love the palm trees. I love riding with no hands. I love biking in 30mph winds and yelling for my companion to get behind me so I can block the rocks and trash (lol those times are fun LOOKING BACK...not in the moment). Then on the ride back I was mourning the members. My comp had never seen my cry and her trying to cheer me up made me laugh so hard. Something we do riding back every night...well that I do...is whistle a Poor Way Fairing Man of Grief. And last night she goes "Can you whistle all 7 verses?" HAHA so dorky...but so funny....and you better  believe i did it. 

Today we have dinner with all of our converts, the councilors in our ward, dessert with my favorite members, and visits to all the less actives. It's going to be crazy, but I'm excited!

When I got the news I fell asleep  wondering how I am going to leave all these awesome people and start over in a place with little spanish and in a trio. I opened my scriptures and this is what I read:

"O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God." -Mormon 9: 27-28

I feel like this applies to just about every situation, especially when we can't understand the plan perfectly. But as long as we believe and put forth the work the Lord will make our futures bright!

Have an awesome week! And welcome to the world tiny horse!!! I can not wait to meet that cutie!

Hermana  Jo

xoxox

"bye el paso"

"bye el paso"

"taco trucks and sun in my eyes"

"The great Pablo"

"Mis Hermanas"

"Helmet Hair"

"Dental Arc"

"When you force the district to go to IHOP with you"

YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN SALVATION? cool.

Hi everyone!! We had a great week this week! First...something dumb/funny I did. I was leading the music at church and could see the deacons waiting to pass the sacrament. They were all on their phones! They were all, but one, smart enough to put them away right before the sacrament started. When I passed them to go to my seat the sacrament prayer was about to start and one was still texting...so as i walked by I flicked him in the head. HAHA i think I scared him good. 

We watched the General Women's Session (SHOUT OUT TO KATIE FOR BEING ON SCREEN) at Mayra's (RC) house. Right before her niece texted to see if Mayra could do her hair for a party. Mayra was a little annoyed but said yes. Then during the conference one of the speakers talked about how sometimes little acts of service, like brushing someones hair, can bring holiness. Mayra was sitting RIGHT THERE brushing her nieces hair. Afterward Mayra told us that it struck her so hard and that she wants to be more holy. Then Angel comes in the door. He was supposed to be getting us snacks but he came back to tell us that he saw someone who's car broke down so he helped them. Then he ran into the elders who were racing home for something so he put their bikes in the truck and drove them home. He couldn't WAIT to come and tell us about his service. I have never seen him look so HAPPY. We were so proud of him!

We have been focusing a ton on families. Teaching a family is just TOO GOOD, so we are looking for more. We have been using this approach where we meet a mom or something and we tell them that we are out here trying to teach people about how Jesus can unite their family. Ususally that alone gets a return appointment! If they aren't interested we offer to do a FHE which has worked every time. And if they don't have a family we teach them about family history so they can find their family. It has been AWESOME. 

I decided to try out a new door technique this week. It might be a little too manipulative, but so far it is working. When people open the door and immediately say "Sorry we aren't interested" I say, acting really confused, "Not interested in what?" Then they get confused and say something like "What you are doing." And then I say "Wait, have you met us before? How did you know what we do?" And then they say "No....i'm just not interested." and then I say "in what?" and then they get awkward because they realize they have no idea....and then I act confused. Then I say "Well that makes sense if we haven't met, cause if you knew why we were here you would be VERY interested." I did it a couple times and it worked! People open right up and ask us what we are doing and we have great conversations. Plus it's funny....I'll keep you posted on if it is effective or not. 

Finally, stay tuned THIS FRIDAY for the new Easter Initiative to launch! The church made an AWESOME video that we got to see! It is so beautiful! Can you imagine if all 16 million members shared the video this friday? And if each of us referred a friend who liked the video to the missionaries? That probably wont happen...unless the members GET ON IT! I promise that if  you take advantage of this opportunities you could be part of a MIRACLE! Lets invite EVERYONE to learn about Jesus! #PrinceOfPeace

We are so excited about General Conference. We want to bike around the neighborhoods yelling "THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING" haha. Don't worry we won't. Hope you have a great week! xo

Hermana Johnson

"Our gps broke so we are rocking the paper maps now"

Exchanges