Salt Lake City Mission - 2012 Week 4

Dear family and friends,

My 3 month mark was January 12^th.  Time is just flying by and I haven't even gotten to Spain yet!  I wish my 18 months would restart when I get there someday.

Monday (16^th) – We got to borrow a car!  We went grocery shopping on our own without trying to find a ride.  (It snowed like crazy the night before!)  We had a great lesson with Beverly.

At night Hermana Magdaleno and I were biking home as fast as we could because we had to get into the house before 9:30 PM. I was leading the way.  It was kind of icy on the sidewalk but not too bad on the street.  As I turned onto our street and headed toward the house, (haha) my bike slipped out from under me and the asphalt was like an ice skating rink so I slid for 2 or 3 feet on my back (hahaha) didn't hurt at all --- funny!  Hermana Magdaleno saw this all happen and didn't have time to avoid the ice and thinking about my head, pushed her bike far away and landed on her leg and kicked my head with her boot.  I had a hood, helmet, ear warmers and a scarf on.  So I was fine.  Poor Hermana Magdaleno now has a bruised leg.  We were laughing sooo hard that I couldn't get up.  It was so slippery. Finally, I did....luckily no other falls the rest of the week!

Tuesday (17^th) – We knocked on some apartment doors and had some good conversations. People from all over the world live in these apts. It was interesting to hear about different countries.

Had a great lesson with a lady named Sarahi. She's from Mexico and has 3 adorable little kids. We have been teaching her for a short time and it's been great. We read 2 Nephi 31 together and the Spirit was strong.  We read my favorite verses about the Atonement in Alma 7:11-13 and I bore testimony to her about Christ's sacrifice for her individually.  She set a date to be baptized on February 11.  :)

We met an 8 year old girl named Maya whose grandmother is active, but not her mother.  We were talking about popcorn and I mentioned how much I love it. Now the grandma always has a pot of popcorn fresh off the stove for me when we visit --- nicest lady ever with the strongest testimony.  (She had a good experience with the elders who taught and baptized her in 1998 when she lived in Chula Vista).  Anyway, Maya doesn't know anything about the church. We talked about what the word "prophet" meant. We talked about who Jesus Christ is and taught her how to pray. We talked about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and gave her kids a Book of Mormon. It's been incredible teaching her and being able to simplify it at a child's level and not have adult concerns and doubts that always come up.  It was a sweet experience.

Wednesday (18^th) – We had one of the best workouts today.  We biked for a while trying to find where our area ends at the south side and the west side. We always stay in certain areas and Hermana Harris and I have been talking about branching out and "exploring uncharted territory”.  So we biked to North Temple over the freeway to find that our area ends at 200 South which is the freeway entrance/exit.  We got to the other side to find 400 South.  Then we turned around and biked back over the freeway. We tried going down to the southwest side past the trailer park underneath the freeway, but no houses over there oh well.

We had an appointment with our investigator Francisco and it went really well. He still doesn't want to get baptized yet because he feels a lot of pressure. He seemed a lot happier though, and was really into Lehi's dream.  He made a lot of comments too, and someone is fellowshipping him in the Ward, which is great!  I have a feeling he's going to gain a testimony soon.  Hermana Marshall and I went to help prepare Beverly for baptism. She seems to be ready, but her kids are not --- 11 and 12 year old rebellious boys. It's been a challenge to try and teach them.  Later on, Sister Winn came and talked to them, which was good.

Later we saw a man working on his car outside and I felt I needed to talk to him.  I didn't want to go out and get wet, but I couldn't ignore the prompting.  We went out and I started talking to him in English. He told me he couldn't speak English very well. So I started speaking in Spanish, then he smiled.  His name is Eduardo and we talked about his car and where he's from. We remembered President Winn's advice to make sure to tell people that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. I told him and we asked if we could come back (he's from Cuba; moved to Florida lived there for 4 years and then moved to these apartments, just 4 days ago).  We tried going back to teach him --- twice, but no luck. Then, Hermana Magdaleno and Hermana Marshall went last night.  He said he had been praying that we would come back.  He was crying.  They taught him Lesson 1: the Restoration, about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and about the church.  He believes it all. He said I was the kindest person he met since moving to that apartment.  So he prayed that we would come back to talk to him.  He wants to get baptized next month.  Guess it was worth getting soaking wet in the rain to talk to him!

Thursday (19^th) – Saw Maya and Beverly, they're doing great.

Friday (20^th) – Thank goodness for Elder Montgomery (an elder from another area). He's really great talking to kids. He met Jason and Walter (Beverly's boys) and they enjoyed him and his magic tricks and his goofiness. We were there for 3 hours! The boys decided to get baptized!

Saturday (21^st) – After a changed baptism date 2 or 3 times, MIRACLE! Beverly and her boys got baptized. Amazing and one of the best days so far!!  Even heard Walter pray for the first time in his life --- another miracle!  We made cookies for them. We had a mini snowball fight.  We have a car for 5 days –truly a tender mercy from Heavenly Father especially after the heavy snow fall.

Sunday (22^nd) – We made the standard of excellence as a zone!  Each companionship got the right amount of numbers for everything – plus people came to church!  Truly an amazing week.

Today-Monday (23^rd) – New week: We have interviews with mission president on Thursday.  Sister Mayberry's baptism on Saturday!  And someone will be playing the piano! (Really different not having very many piano players around)...

Thanks for all your love and support.  I love being a missionary.

Love you all.

Hermana Johnson

January SLC Mission Pics - 01

Salt Lake City Mission - 2012 Week 3

Hi!

So, I am still here!! No word about the visas. But it's been great.

These are the things I am especially grateful for:

1.            Protection from the Lord for his servants (me!)

2.            No uphill or downhill in my area. Definitely all flat-great!!

3.            Bikes

4.            My big longer snow jacket that I almost didn't pack back in October but I got a little thought to pack it...good thing I did!!!

5.            The opportunity to be here-to meet these people and to learn to love them.

6.            Sometimes being with a non-native speaking companion. Then we are forced to speak.

7.            President and Sister Winn and ZONE CONFERENCE

8.            Priesthood blessings

9.            Hand Warmers

10.        Knowing how to play the piano

11.        Having a decent singing voice

12.        Dinners every night

13.        Sister Anderson-the lady we live with-she's great!!

14.        My bed

15.        My PJs

16.        Being able to wear sweats under my skirt and under my tall boots

17.        Young Women from my ward and their great letters

18.        All of the wonderful letters I have received and even some GREAT HOMEMADE COOKIES (from a friend who's at the U right now)

19.        Being friends with my companions

20.        Singing while riding the bikes in below 20 degree weather!

MONDAY (9th) – P-day. We had dinner with the Young Women's President in our ward. She's from Bolivia. Love her... She always exaggerates her expressions. "Oh Hermaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanas" "Que leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenda (linda)" "Que boneeeeeeeeeeeeeeta (bonita)" Best ever. Also Hermana Sanabria and her husband are very supportive of us as they both are RMs themselves. It's great to have their support.

TUESDAY (10th) – Love Sister Mayberry. She is doing well and she always gives us a big kiss on the cheek. She is very honest about her feelings. We ask her if she knows Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet.  She said she wasn't sure because she hasn't received an answer yet. We asked her what she was expecting. We asked her about her feelings. She opened up to us a lot. We were able to resolve her concerns and the Spirit was strong. She's SO excited to get baptized on the 28th. :)

HAHA...So funny story...We went back to this house for a return appointment and we can see Miguel in the window...so we were like okay good he's home. We ring the doorbell, he looks and sees that it's us and then he crawls and hides under the kitchen table!! Hahaha... We were like..seriously? He's probably around 30 years old. So then we knocked and he slowly crawled out then swiftly ran to the back room...hahaha...Really wish people would just tell us they are not interested and tell us not to come back...we are super grateful for the straight up honest and kind of people that quickly shut the door. At least we don't waste our time and come back to them.  Really grateful for companions that we can laugh it off and move on from those experiences.

WEDNESDAY (11th) – ZONE CONFERENCE! (from 8:15am-4:30pm) It was wonderful. Our companionship really needed the boost. We are best friends and in lessons work together really well...just struggle staying on task in our studies and certain other parts of the day. Also we have quite a few people lined up to get baptized this last Saturday and they all fell through...So we have been struggling a bit.  Zone Conference really helped boost our spirits. Gave us so much confidence and encouragement and good advice about how we might be wasting our time and how we can better improve our time. It's been better since then.

THURSDAY (12th) – Had a lot of plans for today and a lot of things fell through. We are in a rebuilding stage and it can be tough to knock on a lot of doors and not get much. Also the 4 of us have been up and down concerning our health. No one stayed home this week (unlike last week) but it's still been a little rough because at least one of us in each companionship (4 sisters-split up into 2 and then rotate companions every other day). It's tough when the other is feeling a little sick to get work done and to have energy. Went to Mayberry's-she's great :)

FRIDAY (13th) – Always see this lady in the street walking her dog.  I have talked to her before but not about the church. I had this feeling that we had to. So Hermana Harris and I talked to her. Connie started telling us all about her life...she was abused by her dad, ran away from home, got into selling drugs, turned herself in and went to jail, had a few husbands...finally is back together with one of them. She's been sober for 2 years except is still smoking, lost all of her kids in a house fire...yup..crazy life. I talked to her about the Plan of Salvation, gave her a pamphlet. We gave her a hug. We gave her a Book of Mormon. She shared some interesting comments about Joseph Smith... Left her a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read and she said she would. We left her our phone number and then left. It felt great. That's what missionary work is like. :)

We went to this trailer park and met a family that has 3 or 4 other trailers with other relatives in it. We envisioned all of them in white. I think it's going to happen. We have a return appointment with them this week. :)  We went to a baptism to support the Elders and to bring a couple of our investigators. I am so glad that I can play "I am a Child of God" so well. I played the piano for that baptism too. The last song was a little rough but it worked out. Our investigators liked it. :)

SATURDAY (14th) – Wow. What a day. It was definitely super eventful. Someday I will have to tell the story about the trailer park...someone remind me...because it's a good one... It’s too long, not enough time now. I was lucky and got to see Sister Mayberry all week this week. (We meet with her Tues., Thurs. and Sat.). It's always a comfort to go there and feel her love for the Savior and feel the Savior's love for her. One thing President Winn reminded us to do is tell people that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. Often I haven't been saying this and it makes me sad when I realize that I haven't I NEED TO! It's a great calling.

Beverly is doing great. She poured her coffee down the drain...her whole supply! Definitely got her sons Jason and Walter to get over their fear of being baptized this weekend! :) And Beverly might get married to this guy! It will be good. I love Beverly so much. I pray every night that I will be here until this Saturday to see her baptism (who knows...anything can happen). We went to my favorite family-the Arbizu's house. :(  They are not keeping their commitments and we need to "set them aside" (instead of saying drop). We are doing it on Wednesday. I am so sad. I love them so much. I will have to let you know how it goes.

SUNDAY (15th) – Hermana Magdaleno and I gave talks in the English ward. :) I love giving talks. And then a Tongan Elder going to Canada speaking Chinese gave his farewell talk :)

Love you all!! Love this gospel and the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. SO grateful for all the support and love. :)

Pray as a family!

Love,

Hermana Laura Johnson

Salt Lake City Mission - 2012 Week 2

Family and Friends,

Monday – I was sick at night so I had to stay home and missed a few hours of work :(

Tuesday – Taught a lady named Sister Mayberry. She lives in a senior housing area. She has a lot of faith and really a strong desire to learn more.  It's incredible the desire she has.  It's a great example to me. It makes me ask myself do I have the desire to learn more and if I don't, why don't I?  It's been neat explaining things to her.  We teach her in English.  When we receive sister referrals we are allowed to teach English...but normally it's only Spanish speakers. So when we are tracting, if we come across English speakers we give them over to the Elders and they do the same for us.  We are getting referrals all the time.  The few exceptions are when people only want the sisters to teach-those are sister referrals.  So Sister Mayberry was a sister referral.  After talking to her a lot and resolving her concerns, she finally decided to be baptized on Jan. 28th.  She has been going to church and FHE in her Senior Housing area for at least a month now.

We had a great dinner with our sweet investigators the Arbizu family (formally thought it was spelled Arviso...ha). They are the ones from Guatemala.  It was so nice of them and we were so happy to eat Spanish food (we have been assigned to eat dinner with the English wards ever since I got here!  It's a rotating schedule...).  They are praying, but not reading and they still can't believe the Joseph Smith story. So we made them a calendar/reading/praying chart and presented it to them so they can mark off every day that they've read.  We suggested some scriptures for them to read.  They will read sometimes.  It's just so hard because we have grown to love them so much. We decided to start a fast after dinnertime. The 4 of us sisters fasted and then Hermana Arbizu fasted (Hermano Arbizu couldn't because of health reasons).

Wednesday – Fasting was definitely a little harder when we were on our bikes and going all over town. But honestly, we felt the Spirit so much stronger throughout the day. I felt like someone was helping me and pushing my bike. One great thing about this area is that there are no hills!  So biking is not as bad as it could be.

We went back to the Arbizu's house and Hermana Arbizu was doing well. She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to make it until dinnertime but she did great. She didn't just fast for them-receiving an answer if Joseph Smith was a prophet, if the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and if la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias is the true church on the earth today, but also how she could help her family more.  It was good and it went well, but still having challenges progressing.

We are still teaching Beverly from Honduras.  At first it was hard to get a hold of her and she wouldn't answer her door, but she has been touched. She knows the church is true. She has a desire to start reading the Book of Mormon.  She wants her sons to serve missions!!! (They are 11 and 12).

We met this lady named Sarahi. She's from Mexico.  She said that she never let any missionaries into her home ever before. (She was a member referral). She has 3 adorable kids (2 of baptism age). She doesn't talk much but she is a great listener. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and read the Introduction together she said she would read the rest of the intro and pray about the book. It was great. I taught her how to pray and asked her to say the closing prayer. She was willing to do it!  While she was saying it, she started crying really hard...she asked Heavenly Father to bless her 16 year old daughter who ran away from home. Hermana Magdaleno and I had no idea about this. It just showed me that Heavenly Father knows everyone personally and places certain people during certain times of our lives to bless us in certain ways. He is very aware of our needs. Sarahi is ready and now willing to hear the lessons from the missionaries whereas she was never willing before. It's incredible how much Heavenly Father loves us and knows us.

Thursday – Today while we visited Beverly, she told us about a dream she had which was very intense.  She said she was swimming across a river and she came up to a wall blocking her way. She started to swim under the wall and right as she went under it the wall started crashing down...but it didn't harm her at all.  She came up out of the water and found herself on the other side and there was a crowd of people with big smiles and welcoming her with open arms. She said she felt more joy than ever before.  She asked us what it meant.  We asked her what she thought it meant.  She said she thought it meant that it was her preparing for baptism (her date is on the 21st) and then after she is baptized...we smiled and said that it was definitely a possibility.  It was so neat! Then we told her that there was a prophet in the Book of Mormon who had a dream too. His name was Lehi. We told her about Lehi's dream and used her son Jason's picture Book of Mormon.  Beverly pointed to the Tree from Lehi's dream.  She said that tree was in her dream.

It was so incredible. She wants to get baptized so badly.  It's been great teaching her.  I am so happy for her. :)

Friday – We visited the Arbizu family again today. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. They seemed to really understand it.   Maybe it's not their time just yet to accept the gospel.  We will see.  We invited them to church and they said they didn't want to be pressured into going and that they want to start going when they want to...I don't know how many more times we will be visiting them :( :(

Saturday – Was a long day. For the first time since I've been here, it snowed a ton. We couldn't ride our bikes because they didn't clear the sidewalks and the streets were icy. So I got my hand warmers and my 5 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of leggings on and we headed out.  I forgot how nice it was to walk. Hermana Magdaleno and I made a goal to talk to everyone we walked passed on the street. It was great!  We met some amazing people.  We taught a lot of lessons on the street and who knows, we probably planted a seed in someone's heart.

We visited our investigator, Digna.  She knows the church is true, she has a strong testimony, but she doesn't think she's strong enough to change this certain thing in her life that is preventing her from getting baptized this weekend.  We are trying hard to work with her and her daughters.  

Beverly is doing so well!  Just a couple weeks ago it was opposite. Her friend Digna was doing great and Beverly was trying to ignore us and now it's switched.  Interesting how things happen.

Sunday – Fast Sunday:  It started out rough!  Hermana Harris and I got to Digna and Beverly's house at around 8:15 A.M.  The snow and ice were all over Digna's car.  Beverly was ready for church.

Digna was still sleeping.  We started scraping the ice off her car so it would be all ready to go for her and her girls. They don't own an ice scraper so Hermana Harris and I scraped with Hermana Harris' old cards...it was rough to say the least.  At 9:00 the ice was almost scraped off and we were practically out of breath!

Long story short (running out of time).  Beverly and her 11 year old son Jason, and Digna's 4 year old son Steven came to church, but not in the car that we had been working on for the past hour...we got to church at 9:30.  We missed the sacrament. The sacrament has been so special and significant to me lately-now more than ever before. I was prompted to bear my testimony.  1 Nephi 11:17.  We don't know the reason for all things that happen in our life, but we do know that God loves us.  Sometimes this knowledge is enough.

I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary.  I love the Lord and am growing to love the people here so much.

Have a good week. Please pray and read scriptures together as a family. It brings power.

Love,

Hermana Laura Johnson

P.S. Found out today 4 sisters got their visas for Spain and are at the airport right now!  I almost forgot about Spain!!!  CRAZY!  I have no idea when I will get mine...hopefully sooner than I think?

Salt Lake City Mission - 2012 Week 1

I cannot believe it is a New Year already!  It's already 2012!!   WOW!   Time goes by so fast!    Happy New Year!

I am doing well.

Tuesday- Hermana Marshall and I got to go out on our own.  It was so good just trying to make it.  We taught a great lesson with an older man named Francisco Felix.  He is doing really well and has a baptismal date set for Jan 14th.  We knocked on some doors and had some interesting conversations and some fun rejections...haha.... We have learned not to take them personally.  We had dinner with the Pyle family.  Their daughter Kristina was the very first new missionary I hosted in the MTC!!!   She said she was from Salt Lake.  It was such a coincidence that her family signed up to feed the missionaries and Hermana Marshall and I went by ourselves.  It was so interesting being at their house and talking about their daughter.  I had just received a card from Hermana Pyle (who's still in the MTC) last Friday so it was neat telling them how she's doing and everything.  I was so grateful to be there and I felt inspired to share a few scriptures with their family because they are really struggling and are forced to find somewhere else to live.  I was able to tell them about dearelder.com that's free!  (while Hermana Pyle is still in the MTC.)   I felt like I was able to be an answer to someone's prayers.  Her parents promised they would send her a dearelder that night after we left...hopefully it worked out.  But, it was just neat to be a part of that and feel like I hopefully made a difference.

Later on, Hermana Picuasi and I met up and went to Temple Square with our investigators, Digna and her 4 children, and Beverly and her 2 sons.  It was cold and super crowded!!   But it was neat just to be in that atmosphere and the kids really loved it. (Oftentimes I was chasing after them while Hermana Picuasi was teaching Digna and Beverly-haha).  But afterwards, Digna and Beverly said they really felt the Spirit and really LOVED seeing the temple.

Wednesday- TRANSFERS!  Hermana Picuasi's feelings were correct.  She left and went to Magna, Utah and we got a new senior companion named Hermana Magdaleno from Fresno, CA (…born in Mexico.)  She's great!   All 4 of us get along well.  She's super funny but also really personable.  She is very fluent in Spanish and easy to understand.  She just got baptized 3 years ago...the missionaries knocked on her door.  She is the only member of the church in her family and been out for 10 months on her mission.

Today we visited recent converts and leaders in our ward so she could meet them.  Then we all got to bear our testimonies to our investigators and we told them our purpose as missionaries and what we do for them and then expressed what they need to do individually. 

When we were visiting Andy this 12 yr old boy, (only nonmember in his family besides his little siblings...... had a baptismal date but it didn’t work out.)....anyway, we taught him a short lesson.  Hermana Magdaleno asked the questions---was super direct with the mom.   And then out of the blue the mom said..."So, Andy's ready?" and we were like "YES" and she said "Okay, can he be baptized on Saturday?"   Basically we wanted to be a Hallelujah chorus haha....

Also we visited with Beverly.  She's got a strong testimony she just needs to take a leap of faith and say yes to the baptismal invitation!

Thursday- Went to a recent convert's house- the Garcia family.  Julia is the best cook ever. She's from El Salvador and her husband is from Honduras.  We helped her and her daughter (who's in Young Women's) prepare their testimonies so they could share them at church on Sunday (too bad we ended up not having fast and testimony meeting...).

Then Hermana Magdaleno and I visited Andy and reviewed the baptismal interview questions with him.   He was super surprised and pleased with himself that he was able to answer all the questions.  Then the elders came and interviewed him, which he did well.   We were so happy for him. :)   There's this family that I love SO MUCH.  Their last name is Arviso and they're from Guatemala.  They have been living here for 5 years now.  The parents are still trying to learn English, (so I help them every once in a while and they help me with my Spanish).  I taught the Hermano Arviso how to play a church song on the piano, and the daughter, Maria (11 years old) I gave her some tips that I learned from my voice lessons I took growing up (she really wants to be a singer).  Nelson Jr. (the 7 year old) I gave him a picture book Book of Mormon.  Their family is great.

But are struggling with Joseph Smith... :( they know everything about our church...they've talked to missionaries in Guatemala and quite a few since they've lived here...it's been heart wrenching for me to hear them and their concerns. They need some sort of bigger answer to their prayers...They pray perfectly, they feel good.  But that's not enough for them.  Feelings aren't enough. I don't know...we'll see how it goes...we are all fasting together Wednesday...their family and the 4 of us.

Friday-Did a lot of stuff.  We had an AMAZING lesson with Beverly.  She committed to a baptismal date.  She was hesitant but the Spirit was SO strong (especially after teaching about the Plan of Salvation.  She had a baptismal date before with other missionaries but I guess it didn't work out...).  She even asked what her sons had to do to prepare for missions someday.  Her date is Jan. 28th! :)

Saturday- Andy's baptism! :)  Amazing!  I played the piano again.  It was a lot better this time because it was "I am a Child of God" and that was fine with me because I played that all the time for Bryanna :) And then Hermana Marshall finally said she would help me and so she played "Families Can Be Together Forever."    Andy was crying.  I know he felt good. It was neat. :)

That night......we had a Mission Party!!  Super fun!

Sunday-Busy...hard to get people to church but we got them! :)

Today- Salt Lake Temple-live session!!  Best ever!

Families...are you praying together?  If you're not, please do it!  Such power!

I love this work.  I love my family SO much.  I love being a missionary.  I love this gospel.  I love my Savior.  I LOVE having the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.

Happy New Year!

Love,

Hermana Johnson