Last December Pics

My sweet friend from Russia: Sister Vailisa Fleginskaya (can't say her name)

I hosted her - Hermana Pyle from Salt Lake to Albuquerque

Us with Sis. Reynolds (the one who sewed in the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Dress" for us - Hermana Marshall's wearing it.)

Roommates - Left to Right: Me, Sora Sam (Ca to Romania), Sora Komar (Russia/Wa to Romania), Hermana Marshall)

Salt Lake City Mission - 2011 Week 2

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas! Ours was pretty good. Christmas Eve we studied in the morning just for a couple hours then we biked over to the Mota's house to make sure the kids and everyone was dressed and ready for Joaquin's baptism.  We helped his wife, Elizabeth prepare her talk on baptism.  Then we raced back to our house and grabbed a DVD to play while Joaquin would be getting changed. Then we raced over to the special baptismal font building near the Utah State Fair park grounds. We got there and took pictures which I will send!  Then the baptism happened. Not a lot of people came but it was still great. Joaquin was so happy. It was incredible to see the look on his face. The sister missionaries kept telling Hermana Marshall and I that we should've seen him when they first found him and his family. They said he looks like a COMPLETELY different person. AND after smoking for 20 years he does NOT SMOKE ANYMORE!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

He is so happy every time we see him. He often tears up nowadays when he's looking at his kids or looking at his wife.  It's incredible to see him so happy.  He helps around the house a lot and takes care of the kids and cooks these incredible meals for the family (and of course forces us to eat as well...SO good).  It's great.  Definitely the best part of my mission so far :)

So he was baptized and I played the music while we were waiting for him to change because the DVD player didn't work.  Randomly, the Tongan ward came in and baptized a little girl...then left....haha so random...I had no idea what was going on. Then Joaquin came back out and the sister missionaries sang a song acapella.  It was rough haha and then we closed and I played the closing song on the piano. That was rough --- one handed it, but it was worth it and because of the piano, the closing song was a lot better than the acapella opening song.  (Note to self: Practice the piano more.). It was great.  He's so happy.

We were fed at 4 different houses!!  We were just stopping by to say hi and do a little lesson to some recent convert families and less active families and they fed us.  We had some tacos, some soup, some pizza, and some tamales.  The main tradition from what I understand is that everyone makes tamales all day and eats Christmas Eve dinner at 7 or 8 with all the family and then they wait until midnight to open all the presents and dance the night/morning away.  So sounds like great fun except that that was Saturday night which meant all of our investigators slept in --- a lot.  Even though church was at 1:00 our investigators would NOT WAKE UP!  I banged on the door and finally woke up the kids.  They said their mom didn't get to sleep until at like 6am.  Crazy!  So it was tough.  We did get a lot at church though, so that's good-almost 10!

So all morning Hermana Picuasi and I were trying to get our investigators to church.  We made it to church and then after church we had a hard time trying find members with Skype so we could talk to our families.  We visited a recent convert family and went to dinner at a member's house who's in the English ward. Their last name was Krankendank or something. 6 girls 1 boy! (I thought 5 girls was a lot... haha).  They have a daughter who entered the MTC a week before me and I saw a picture and remembered seeing her around.  She is in the Mesa Arizona Temple visitors center.  So when we got there the last family member was finishing up talking to her on the phone.  We ate potatoes and fruit and ham.  It was pretty good.  Then a miracle happened.  We were stressing about the Skype situation and I thought just to mention it to this family.  Turns out they just installed a camera that morning!!!!!  They just downloaded Skype before we got there.  It was incredible how it worked out.  I Skyped and Hermana Marshall called her family at the same time.  Then the other two Hermanas went to another member's house to Skype & call on the phone.  It was perfect.

It was great talking to my family.  Something has been on my mind lately.  We visit these less active and recent convert families and even investigators and we encourage them to pray as families.  And we kneel and pray with them.  There is a special power in family prayers.  I felt that I wanted to pray with my family over Skype.  Luckily, they agreed :) and I said a prayer in Spanish with them.  It felt good.  I would encourage all of you PRAY IN YOUR FAMILIES!! PLEASE!!!!  Do it in the mornings before leaving for work.  Do it at night before the first person goes to bed.  Kneel down together and pray in your families!!!  There's power in it.  You feel more united.  You draw from each other's strengths and testimonies.  DO IT!!!  Add it to your 2012 family goals.

After talking to our families we went caroling (we also did that Christmas Eve as well).  We got a lot of referrals and we had a lot of special experiences. At one house the single mom started crying.  It was so sweet.  All of us sisters gave her a big hug.  It was very special.

So now here we are on P-day.  All day at Wal-Mart-crazy busy!  Tonight to Temple Square with a couple investigators and their families!!  Need to dress even warmer.

Transfers are this week!  We find out tomorrow who will be where.  One of our zone leaders is transferring.  Hermana Picuasi feels like she will be transferred.  Who knows?  We will see what will happen.  I think it's funny how EVERYONE talks about it and has their "feelings" about who will leave and who will stay.  I say whatever happens, happens.  No need for guessing and worrying about it.  Whatever happens is meant to be. :)

I love being a missionary.  It's been great doing this work and being a little part of people's lives.  These people are incredible and I know that the Lord is protecting me and watching over me.  I can feel His love and I can't wait until the day that I can better express His love to the people in Spanish.  It will be soon. :)

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  This is the last week of 2011 already!  I can't believe it!  Time is flying by.  I am excited for a new year to make new goals and improve myself. :)

The missionaries will be spending New Year’s Eve with the mission president (I am SO excited to wear jeans!!!)  I don't know yet what we're doing but I am very excited!  I will have to let you know.

Have a good week.  I love you all. Thank you so much for your support and letters and Christmas goodies.  I appreciate them very much!

Love,

Hermana. Laura Johnson

P.S. Pray with your families!

Feliz Navidad!

Salt Lake City Mission - 2011 Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Salt Lake City Utah. I am serving in the Rose Park area right near Redwood Road in the Riverside Stake. My mission president is President Winn and his wife (is amazing!). I don't know how long I will be here but I am grateful to be out in the field and getting experience. I got here last Tuesday December 13th so tomorrow will be a week. There are 8 sisters (including me) who are reassigned here waiting for their visas for Spain, plus 2 sisters waiting for their visas for Brazil, plus 10 elders waiting for their visas for Brazil. The Salt Lake City mission is very used to having "visa waiters." Because of the large amount of visa waiters (at least for the sisters) all the sisters in the Salt Lake City Mission North Zone are in companionships of 4! So Hermana Marshall (my comp from the MTC) and I were assigned to be with Hermana Linnea Harris from Vista, CA and Hermana Jennifer Picuasi from Ecuador.

We live near 500 N and 1400 W in a member's basement. We don't have a kitchen down there so she sometimes lets us come upstairs to use hers. We eat there for breakfast and lunch. The ceiling is low-I can't stretch my arms all the way up and I have to duck in the shower. There are 3 beds and 1 air mattress in one room-we kind of crawl over each other to get around. I do my morning study on my lap because there's not enough room on the table (and we can't do it on the floor or the beds). You can definitely tell the area would be ideal for one companionship.

The first 3 days Hermana Harris and I were companions and we tracted all day, while Hermana Marshall and Hermana Picuasi taught all of the progressing investigators. So, definitely didn't pack winter clothes...so the other day I wore 4 pairs of nylons, 3 sweaters and a scarf. Sister Winn gave me another pair of tights and some super nice gloves. It was a heaven inspired gift sent from my mom the day before I left the MTC-she sent me super tall boots. The first day I was here since the time I got off the bus to the mission home it was snowing. It snowed all that day.

Since our area (Rose Park, Spanish speaking) is the smallest area in the mission we don't have a car. We either walk or bike.  We are the first sister missionaries to be serving here for some years now. It can be kind of dangerous at night because it's kind of a ghetto area. Sometimes I feel like I'm in Mexico and not in Utah (until I see a street sign that says, Redwood Road. So we have to be careful and on the lookout.

The members here are not very well off but they are super sweet and we are guaranteed a dinner in a home every single night-which is incredible. A lot of times already there haven't been enough food for us and the family or enough chairs for us and the family to sit at the dinner table. They are very sweet and they don't mind us being there. They just want to give and to help us. Every night home cooked dinner! I can't believe it. Members mostly from the English ward and sometimes from the Spanish ward (but not very often at all).

The first three days I was here, I knocked on doors a lot. Hermana Harris and I walked around to a lot of apartments and I have learned to somehow tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke. We are encouraged to invite people to be baptized the first time we talk to them!!! It's crazy to think about it, but it helps so much because the person knows our intent and our purpose as missionaries and there are no surprises, plus we will know that we are not wasting our time with people who don't want to get baptized.

It's definitely been a humbling experience being here. I am very grateful for my family and for my testimony and knowledge of the gospel. I know that God is watching over me and He knows my needs --- all of them.

So badly I want to be fluent in Spanish. I can teach lessons, I can ask questions, I can bear my testimony, I can give talks, I can pray, I can understand---uuuhmm 80% of the time...but I can't have normal conversations with people...this is what I am working on. I just want to be able to talk to them about their jobs about their family about their life, their trials their feelings and I want to be able to respond like a normal person. It's been great having a native speaker as a companion, (though she does like to talk a LOT and to talk fast). I have been working up more courage on butting in more and trying to ask more questions. Sometimes I think I understand but then once I understand one thing, the person will change the topic randomly and I will have to try and follow.

I have been humbled many times. I have been able to rely on the Spirit many times. I have been guided by the Spirit and directed. Last night was a very special experience.  Joaquin is a progressing investigator.  His whole family has been baptized (except for the young kids not yet 8 years old). He is trying to quit smoking. He is trying to be a better father. His wife, Elizabeth, recently got baptized. They don't have a lot of money. He is out of a job. He takes care of the kids. She works from 5pm-5am packing bottles of vitamins (?)... and her hands are swollen. She worked about 58 hours this week!!!!!! Hermana Picuasi and I had originally gone over to see how Joaquin was doing quitting smoking. We were reading together in Mosiah 24 about Alma's people having these afflictions and burdens on their backs, but the Lord lightened them. Joaquin applied this to his life in regards to smoking. Elizabeth was quiet. Finally she burst out saying, "I don't understand...I just don't understand." She says she has enough faith she has been working so hard and doing everything right.  She doesn't understand why God lets bad things happen.  They found their 2nd youngest son yesterday morning with throw up all over him and the bed and some blood; took him to the hospital and he has a virus. Hermana Marshall and Harris were walking one night and randomly found a $20 bill on the ground. Hermana Marshall got a prompting to slip it in the door of Joaquin and Elizabeth. They found it and said it was a miracle that they could buy pampers for their children.  Then the hospital incident happened. The extra money turned out to be the perfect amount for the hospital costs.  It was amazing --- a miracle in and of itself.  Yet, now Elizabeth is worried about Pampers. She doesn't have money to buy more.

We taught them the law of tithing.  She pays it.  We promised blessings.  I was quiet most of the time because of my lack of Spanish speaking skills. Hermana Picuasi forced me to speak. I was guided by the Spirit as I said with tears in my eyes that sometimes we get hard trials because God knows that we can handle them and He wants us to be stretched so we could reach our full potential. Sometimes we can't understand that or see God's hands in our lives during the hard moments-but He is always there.  Always watching over us. He believes in us and is waiting for us to ask for His help. He wants to help us, so he puts trials in our path so we can grow and become better people.

I love this gospel. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for my testimony. I love you all. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Hermana Laura Johnson

P.S. We had a mission Christmas Devotional- Elder Dallin H. Oaks came with his wife. He spoke, then had dinner with us!! The Holladay North Stake served us wonderful dinners and we took a mission picture and we got a free engraved journal from President and Sister Winn saying "Merry Christmas to the Salt Lake City Mission." It's super nice.

Week 8 - Final MTC

Hi,

NOW WHAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR...

Last Thursday I got a letter saying they didn't receive my visa yet, so they would submit my name for a reassignment and contact me soon.  No word all week.

Today I checked the mailbox often....no letter.

I went to the Travel Office and asked.

Hermana Marshall and I and the 6 other girls waiting for their Spain visas have all been reassigned to labor temporarily (until our visas come) in the SALT LAKE CITY MISSION.

No North or South or Temple Square – just Salt Lake City.

We report to the Travel Office next Tuesday morning at 6am. Then we hop on a bus and ride up to the Salt Lake Mission office and we meet our new mission president: President Winns (…pretty sure that's his name), then I start a new adventure!

So, our roommate Hermana Smith is called to serve her mission there.  I looked through her call packet. It looks like the mission is in the Salt Lake City central area and spreads through Tooele County and as far as a little chunk in Nevada and down through western Utah County.  Then on the east side, it spreads out and actually takes in a large part of Wyoming.

So we'll see where I head to! Next p-day/next e-mail you receive from me, I will be in my area and settled.

We still don't really know if it's Spanish speaking or not.  I am assuming that it is.  Hermana Smith's call said Spanish speaking.  We've been studying Spanish.  Our nametags are in Spanish-so it most likely is Spanish speaking...guess I will find out.

As a missionary, I am the Lord's companion. I am companion with the apostles and the prophet Thomas S. Monson. I carry the Lord's name over my heart, oftentimes His thoughts are my thoughts because of this calling that I have. I am very blessed. I feel His hand in my life everyday; even in the small and simple things.

There's someone out there waiting for me in the Salt Lake Mission. They are waiting to hear something that I have to say. I will affect them in some way. I don't know who yet and I don't know where or what it will be like. But I do know that I am in the Lord's hands. I am literally His hands. His instrument. I want Him to trust me and use me however He needs to. That is why I have sacrificed school and other things for 18 months of my life. I don't want to complain or feel down because of this new assignment. That would just hurt His feelings and hinder opportunities for blessings and investigators. So, I know that I am His missionary and my purpose is to bring others to Him. I can do this. It will be great.

I am so grateful for this opportunity. I am so grateful for all of the support I have. I am grateful for this Christmas season and the chance I have to remember why we celebrate and how I can have this spirit in my heart. I am grateful for this gospel in my life and the joy and hope it brings me. I love it. I love my Savior. I love being a missionary. I love my life.

Con amor,

Hermana Laura Johnson

Week 8 Pictures

I searched and found an Elder Johnson - Finally... just to get a picture with him.  He's going somewhere state-side Spanish speaking.

I searched and found another Sister Johnson.  She's going to France - left this week.

...getting all my hair chopped off!

This is our classroom with Sister Rogers who is the wife of the first counselor in the Branch Presidency.  We love her!!  She brought us chips & salsa one night... Best Thing ever!

Week 7

Hi,

My departure date is set for Dec 13^th.

SO. I CANNOT BELIEVE I STARTED WEEK 8 YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!! The time is flying by soooo fast yet so slow at the same time!!! It's been quite the ride. This is such a great place to be! We are the "oldest" district on our floor now in the building where our classroom is at (so we've been here the longest). I can see how I have progressed but at the same time, I am pretty hard on myself and can tell that I can still progress a ton more. I love speaking Spanish. I wish my district was stricter and focused so we can try to go the whole day with speaking Spanish to each other.

Yesterday I got to be a host for the new sister missionaries coming in. It was incredible experience and I am so glad that I got that opportunity. While I was waiting for new sisters to arrive from the curb drop off, I was talking to other sister missionary hosts. I met a companionship one girl from Germany and from Sweden!!!! They were so funny and SO TALL. Then in their district I also met a companionship where both the sisters were from Russia. One was more outgoing and better at English than the other. I befriended the other sister. I have no clue how to pronounce her last name...it's spelt like Frankavo.....haha I don't know the rest (it's a really long last name with a lot of g's and k's). She was amazing. She was trying hard to learn English and she told me a little about her conversion story how the missionaries found her in Russia and how she joined the church. How she has a boyfriend who also served a mission. He's waiting for her. All of these girls are serving at Temple Square. They have only been here in the Provo MTC for a week and they are working on improving their English. It was just such an incredible experience for me to talk with them and really see the big picture of missionary work. The missionaries found Sis. F. at her house and helped her with her conversion into the church. That's across the world! Now she feels an obligation and duty and has a strong desire to serve as well...across the world learning a new language. That's what I am doing too! I am going across the world speaking a language different then my native and I am going to meet incredible people like her who are ready to hear the gospel-who the Lord is preparing right now as I am preparing myself. It's great to step back and look at the big picture.

The first girl I helped with her suitcases and things. Her name is Hermana Pyle from Salt Lake City going to Albuquerque, New Mexico speaking Spanish. She had tears in her eyes. I tried to be bubbly and bright and friendly. I gave her a tight hug and it was so great after that just getting to know her and giving her advice. She thanked me so much for helping her get settled and getting her books and dropping her off at her new classroom. The last thing I told her was, "Hermana!!! I will see you soon! My classroom is only 2 doors down from yours!" We were both excited when we found this out. Also, her teacher is great! He substituted our class the other day and he was amazing! I learned SO much from him in those 2 hours he was with us on that one day. Hermana Pyle is in good hands and I know she will love it here.

The second girl Hermana Marshall and I both helped.  Her name was Hermana Santos from Puerto Rico and she could not speak English or understand it. SWEET!!! We got to use our Spanish skills. Both Hermana Marshall and I noticed that we speak so much better Spanish when we are speaking with native than when we are speaking to ourselves. It was great. Hermana Santos looked scared and nervous (though when I asked her she denied it). We gave her a hug and left her...it was hard. I knew she was having a hard time because people kept trying to speak to her in English...so frustrating. It was a humbling experience for me to be a part of.

They turned on all the Christmas lights in a certain part of the MTC campus. It's beautiful. Hermana Marshall and I always go out of our way to walk through them. It's refreshing to have the spirit of Christmas in our hearts; though still kind of weird not knowing where we will be for Christmas. I know whatever happens will be great. The Lord is always with us. We wear His name close to our hearts. Whatever happens; happens for a reason. It's all meant to be.

I get my travel plans tonight!!!! We'll see if my visa went through or not. I will let you know where I will be in 2 weeks!

Love,

Hermana Laura Johnson