Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-09 2012

Wow....It's been another great week and I have so much to tell you!  I am short on time, again.  I love being a Missionary, my companion, Zaragoza, the members and being busy. I love chasing after buses. haha..... I love life!

Tons of miracles have been happening. The work is booming and there are so many prepared people here. One miracle is a less active coming back to Church with her friend who now has a baptismal date. Her name is Angela and she is so prepared. Every time we teach her, there are tears in her eyes and she always gives us the tightest hugs. She loves us so much and Heavenly Father. She is excited to get baptized possibly on July 7th or sooner.

I love being with Hermana Reeder and we are on the same page for everything and we teach so well together. We are able to back each other up for everything and have really been working with the members to build good relationships.  I love her smile and she lets people know that she cares about them. This is something that I need to be better at.

Cleopatra, who is 22 years old and originally from Nicaragua, wants to be baptized on June 30.  She found out about the Church through her boyfriend/fiancé who has been a menos activo for a long time now. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and going to Church for the past few weeks or so, and is wonderful! The only frustration is...they are living together. They do want to get married but her boyfriend, Blass, just moved here last month and is trying to get his residency. We are working our hardest to help them out but they need to make some decisions.

Pius, originally from Nigeria, also wants to be baptized on June 30.  He doesn´t have a lot of time here in Spain and his wife and children live up near the Pamplona area. He came to Zaragoza to find work and doesn´t speak Spanish and is struggling here. He has strong desires to be baptized and receive help from God so he can find work. We teach him slowly because he does not read very well. But he wants to do what´s right and has strong faith in God.

Pascal, also from Nigeria, also wants to possibly be baptized on June 30!  He just moved here a month ago and lives in the same piso as Pius. His wife and little 18 month old baby girl live with him. He learns fast and at the end of the lesson he repeats the principles to us to make sure that he understands everything.  It´s incredible and we are so blessed to be teaching him

This last Sunday was Missionary Sunday.  Hermana Reeder and I gave a talk as well as our Mission Leader. Hermana Reeder played her violin and it was amazing! What made it more amazing was the reaction that the Branch President had to it. He loved it! It is his first time being in Church for a month and he shook Hermana Reeder´s hand and complimented her and it was wonderful! The future continues to be bright and I love that I am here to be a part of this great time.

I almost feel like I am back in Salt Lake City with all the work we have been doing and with all of the investigators we have and will have. I love inviting people to be baptized. We have seen so many miracles. Hermana Reeder says she has never been this busy ever before on her Mission (she´s been out a year). I told her that there was a reason I served in Salt Lake (well there are a lot of reasons, I believe) but another reason is so that I could have the experiences I had and feel what it was like to be so busy and know how to handle it! Hermana Reeder said she is glad I am keeping calm because it helps her and she doesn´t feel overwhelmed! Sometimes I feel overwhelmed because I am the one who knows the area so I have memorized/taken a lot of notes about the bus system. There are SO many buses here and if you take the wrong one, you lose time. We can´t waste the Lord´s time, so it is up to me to know where we are going, when, and what bus we need to get on and off of. I am proud to say that we have only been lost or taken the wrong bus a handful of times these past 2 weeks that I have been in charge...honestly though, it´s the Lord who's  in charge and I can feel His help OFTEN.

We are SO blessed. It is wonderful being here in Zaragoza at this time. Sometimes it can be challenging with these fechas, but I know that the future is bright and that Heavenly Father will be helping us every step of the way.

We had the opportunity to go to a medieval festival at El Pilar where I took some pictures and bought some goodies.

And, two great people, Abel and his amazing wife Maria Jesus took us on an hour road trip to a pueblo (village) in the middle of nowhere, (it seemed!) There were shoe factories there and everyone who lives in the town works in the shoe factories. We went to a shoe warehouse and I bought a nice pair of sandals (Mom you would like them...they kind of look like ones you would wear) they are comfortable and will last me the whole summer. Because it was at a factory they were half off! I got them for 20 euros.

Then we got the best napoiltana I have tasted so far (croissant with chocolate inside and chocolate sprinkles on top) and we ate them inside of a castle overlooking the village. (I am e-mailing pictures). Then we went to a house/warehouse type place and tried the best cherries I have eaten in my life (kind of a big deal because I really don't like cherries). The cherries taste like grapes with nuts in the middle. They are plump and juicy. Amazing! Abel bought us a carton full! As we were driving back to Zaragoza, they told us that they visited San Diego and took a trip to Vegas and then to Utah to visit ex Sister Missionaries. (Abel´s story is a long one...they still aren´t members of the Church but they befriended the Missionaries because of things that happened a long time ago. They´ve kept up with the Sister Missionaries who served back then and who are also new ones serving in Zaragoza...they´ve even been to General Conference!). Then we went to their house and had pizza and a salad.  It was a long day but amazing. This is why I am so late in e-mailing. Sorry. Hope you like the pictures.

I have dinner plans for my birthday this week.

Also we are going to Lleida again for our last Zone Conference with the Hinckley’s before they go home next week! We are driving there with Brother and Sister Church, the senior couple here. (I LOVE road trips.)  Our District is doing a musical number.

Time is going by so fast; I'll be back home before I know it.

Please read your scriptures, pray to Heavenly Father for He loves you SO much and cares SO much about you. Tell Him everything because He is always listening. Attend Church always for we are so blessed to be able to take the sacrament every week. Take advantage of that time.

Love,
Hermana Johnson

Laura with her District in Zaragoza

Laura & Hna. Reeder at El Pilar Medival Festival

"Random Bull" - saw on road trip

Shoe Factory Village - Abel, Maria, Laura and Hna. Reeder

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-08 2012

HI, I am doing so well! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! LIFE IS WONDERFUL!!! :) :) I can´t imagine being anywhere else right now. I love my companion, being in Zaragoza, the members, our investigators, and just love life.

I don´t have time to write separate so here is part of Presidents letter...sorry...

Dear President,

I love being here with Hermana Reeder!  She is wonderful and Zaragoza is booming with work!  We have been so busy this week running around Zaragoza from citas to citas.  We have visited and ate with some members and some less actives. We have been contacting all of the referrals we have received in the past little while and are trying to organize our lives better with the people we are seeing.

A miracle story this week, (there were many!), was when at Church a woman came up to us and asked if we can have a noche de hogar in her house that night.  We didn´t know much about her because I just  saw her for the first time last Sunday. We never found her on the Ward list. Then our Relief Society President called us and said she heard that we had a cita with this woman at her house. She told us about her and her family and the history with the Church that they had.  Apparently, Esther (her name) has a big family that used to all be active in the Church. Her parents, grandparents, and other family members all helped start the Church here in Zaragoza!  But things happened with different families in the Ward and among the leaders and now the parents are inactive. Sad stories go along with the process of inactivity.  But, Esther has hope that we, as Missionaries, can play a role in getting her family reactivated.  We came over for noche de hogar with a great message planned. Hermana Reeder and I prayed hard before going over there so we could be directed by the Spirit.  We met and talked to the parents for a short time. The Dad asked us if we had a message, which we did.  We sang "Families Can be Together Forever" and the parents barely sang along. Then we had a prayer and then read 3 Nephi 11:1-11, which tells about when Christ came to the Americas.  We bore our testimonies about Christ and his love for us individually.  We then had a short video to show them but the Mom immediately got up and said they were leaving to take the baby on a walk.  The Dad got up also, shook our hands and left.  We felt disappointed.  But the little miracle that I thought was that while they were leaving the Dad was whistling the song we just sang. :) That made me smile.  We have hope for the family.  The video was wonderful and Hermana Reeder played her violin and it was beautiful.  Esther started crying.  We asked what more we could do to help.  She said that she would try to set up more citas with us for the future.  She said that her husband asked her Dad to participate in their baby's blessing next month in Church. The Dad said he would think about it.  Esther does not doubt that her parents will come to the baby's blessing.  Anyway, it was an interesting visit and also a little miracle visit in my opinion.  I really feel so blessed to be in the position I am in, which is to be a representative of Jesus Christ and to have people rely on us to help them in their moments of need.

We have a fecha for the 30th of June!  She is wonderful and is so willing to learn and wants to be baptized so badly.  Her name is Cleopatra and is from Nicaragua. She has lived in Spain for 8 years.  Her Dad died when she was young and her Mom has had a pareja for many years now and says for some reason they have never gotten married. They live pretty close to our piso.  Cleopatra has a younger brother who also lives with them.  He is also a JAS.  Cleopatra is 22 and lives in a rented room in a different piso here.  She found the Church through her fiancé.  His name is Blass and he is from Nicaragua, also. He is 24 years old and has been inactive for 10 years or so.  His Mother who lives in Nicaragua is an active member.  Blass just moved here two months ago to be with Cleopatra.  He is really impressed with the Church here and the people. They feel really welcomed here.  Blass met with one of the counselors of the Branch Presidency and had an interview yesterday to get reactivated.  They want to be married in the temple and have great plans for their future.  Cleopatra loves reading the Book of Mormon.  She loves seeing us and loves feeling the Spirit.  She is always able to recognize the Spirit.  She said "I went to Church happy but I left Church so much happier."  She knows it´s true and wants to learn more.

 It has been wonderful visiting and getting to know the members here and building trusting relationships.  Everyone wants to feed us and I know we will get many referrals and see many miracles in the future. Things are really looking up and the future is bright!

Thank you for coming here and visiting Zaragoza and for you and your wife´s testimony.  It really helped all of the members and our investigators that came as well.  It was a wonderful meeting and we heard wonderful comments afterwards.  We will miss you so much!

Love,
Hermana Johnson

With a recent convert Obi from Africa

Eating with Zaragoza District at members house

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-07 2012

Dear President,

What a week we had last week and this week, both very eventful here in Zaragoza. Hermana Reeder and I haven´t had time the last couple of days to get on the internet because we have been running around the city getting things taken care of, so we apologize that this letter is a couple days late.
Zaragoza is booming. Hermana Stephenson and I had a lot of success last week, which was quite exciting. We were just starting the new week as a companionship with one large area here without the other two Sisters until the most recent change of companionship happened. We had several lessons last week with several people from "our" area and the "other Hermanas" area. It has been wonderful getting to know the north half of Zaragoza and the members that live there. We have had comida appointments to get to know them and we have just stopped by to say "hi" and share a quick message. Hermana Stephenson and I were really focusing on our relationships with the members. The members need to know who we are and we need to know them. This is what, in my opinion, is the most important thing we need to be working on here at this time.

We had an unexpected miracle happen on Sunday with 12 investigators showing up at Church! We attended both the Branches here in Zaragoza and the majority of the investigators showed up in the morning at the first Branch. The Elders introduced Hermana Stephenson and I to all of these new people who just so happened to live in our area. It´s incredible because each of them has an individual story of what got them to the Church that day. It was so exciting to see so many new faces and the chapel was so crowded that there were not enough seats for everyone! We got a lot of names, addresses, and phone numbers that Hermana Reeder and I are working hard on to contact.  We are so excited and I am so excited now to have Hermana Reeder here to help me. We have a plan to meet with President Gomez ASAP as we have quite a lot of things to discuss. I have high hopes and I know that the Lord will bless us. We will see miracles and we are working on obedience now more than ever before and we owe it to the Lord, the Branches, ourselves, and the people we are working with to receive the blessings that come from being obedient Missionaries. It's great to be in Zaragoza and I feel very blessed to be a part of the work here right now. I am very happy and have a lot of faith for the future. Every action we make as Missionaries will make a difference for the better, I'm sure.
Thank you for your encouragement always.

Love,
Hermana Johnson.

So first of all I am sorry that I am writing to you right now today (Tuesday) instead of on preparation day (Monday). Life just keeps getting crazier!! Family! Since Day 1 in the mission things have been crazy with all the changes and with all the moves in my life! I know that the Lord is SO aware of us and our needs.

So I actually don´t have a lot of time because I have  been traveling like crazy and have been to that train station here in Zaragoza so many times in the last little while. I don´t have a lot of time because I just got back into town and we have a dinner appointment in a half an hour with the amazing Wolfart family.
HERE´s the low down...

Last week: …best week of my mission life so far here in Spain!!!!  Monday we shopped some with Hermanas: Moulton and Wilson before they left Zaragoza. Hermana Stephenson and I dropped them off at the train station early Tuesday morning and said good bye to them and to our dear district mate, Elder Manotas. Then we met the new elder in our district Elder Reeder from Bountiful, Utah (he has about a year on the mission). Then Hermana Stephenson and I left back to our piso. We were sad and kind of nervous to be here in Zaragoza by ourselves, but I was secretly super excited because no more other distractions and we can just really get down to work. Tuesday was our preparation day (when I e-mailed you). The rest of the week is history. AMAZING HISTORY. It was almost like a week being back in Salt Lake City!!! We had over 20 lessons that week and we have so many investigators now. We are getting to know the members now. We had meals with some members. We had amazing lessons. The reason for the change is because now we are in all of Zaragoza. The Zaragoza 2nd branch just has us now. Now we can visit all the members and all the less actives and all the investigators in all of our one big area. IT¨S WONDERFUL!!! I was loving life!!! Not to mention...we had to go to the 1st branch meetings in the morning on Sunday and the 1st branch members love us and Sacrament meeting was packed and we had 12 investigators at church!!!!!!!!! That´s even better than Salt Lake! Just random people that we had never met before came to the church and the elders were running us around to make sure we met all of them. We have so many addresses and new contacts and citas (appointments) this last week and now this week. The work is booming!!! It´s INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting. Hermana Stephenson was so overwhelmed. I was loving life. We were literally running around the city getting on buses like crazy just trying to get to all the appointments we had. I LOVE BEING BUSY!!!!!!!!!!! It was sooooo great. FAMILY!!! It was so great.
Then we got a phone call...Sunday night the Hospitalet Hermanas were trying to call us and then we got a phone call from President Hinckley while we were sitting outside on a park bench (and my leg got eaten alive..I have crazy big bug bites just on one leg :(  ). President Hinckley then informed us that there was an emergency transfer and that our companionship was going to be affected. So less than 12 hours later Hermana Stephenson and I went back to the train station and got on the train and went to Barcelona so I could drop her off with her new companion Hermana Eyre (who was my comp in the Madrid MTC and those two are now serving in Hospitalet), and so I could meet my new companion, Hermana Reeder (she´s from Utah, has 1 year on the mission is going home in Oct.)....what a wild change right!!! Then 20 minutes after the switch Hermana Reeder and I got right back on that train and came back to Zaragoza...

A little side note, it was kind of neat because in the train station, a guy around our age approached us and started speaking English to us. Turns out he´s a leader of a study abroad group from UVU!!! It was so neat to see him and talk to him. They were studying abroad in Europe doing art history museums and such. Then they just finished and now they are backpacking around Europe in the cities they didn´t hit on their art history adventures. How neat is that! It was so great talking to someone from the states...
So Hermana Reeder is 24 years old from Utah graduated from BYU-I and she is gorgeous! At first, I was SO sad to have Hermana Stephenson leave...we were just figuring stuff out and we just had the BEST WEEK EVER. But the Lord knows best and I know Pres. Hinckley receives the revelation. So here is Hermana Reeder and I (included the picture...more to come). She is great! Our Spanish level is about the same and we had a blast in the 2 lessons that we have had together. It was a big change and a big shock. (…will tell you about the emergency transfer later). WE contact on the buses now and we are working hard. We get along so well so far (it´s only day 2). I love her already and I am SO happy she is here to contribute to the work here in Zaragoza. Everyone in the mission is looking to Zaragoza right now because of all this commotion. Everyone wants to be serving here (all the sisters-the sisters all call each other and tell each other the news). I am SO happy. Even more happy than before!!!!!! She will be able to help me save and restore the reputation of the sister missionaries in this branch-in this area. We are going to baptize all of Zaragoza just wait and see!!! :)

So then this morning we got on another train and went to Lleida for a zone "enfoque" (unofficial, without Pres. Hinckley, mini conference). Finally met our zone leaders (been talking to them on the phone often nowadays). Met our zone-so fun!!! WE have great elders and we are the only sisters. It was so good to be with all of them and to feel the Spirit and to receive instruction. Then we went to Domino´s Pizza.
Wow...I have sooo much to say and not enough time to say it....I neeeeed to write in my journal all of this information.

Anyway, got back on the train and now back in Zaragoza. FYI I found out the train was going about 300 km/h which is about 186 mph and the weather during the train ride outside was 25 degrees Celsius which was about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. (the other night it got over 40 degrees Celsius!!!!!!!!!!!) SOOOOO HOT here.
SO that´s my life for now. So grateful for the dueno...our hot water broke this morning and he is installing an air conditioner and the fridge door handle broke!! Wow what a life. He is great and we LOVE him SO much.

This week is going to be exciting. We are going to a pueblo tomorrow for dinner-which will be an adventure for sure). We are going to eat dinner now. Our branch has the first party that they´ve had in a while this Friday night!!! SO excited. Teaching English class is going well. WE have a blood drive at the church this Saturday and we are expecting a lot of nonmembers to come. We love the elders in our district. I love Hermana Reeder. I love getting mail.  I am just now having the time of my life. Keep praying for me.

Love,

Hermana Johnson

Inside the Zaragoza, Spain Bull fighting Ring

Laura with new companion: Hermana Reeder

Bull fighting Ring in Zaragoza, Spain

Barcelona Mission: (Zaragoza) Week-06 2012

HI,
SHOCKING NEWS ABOUT TRANSFERS. We all thought Hermana Stephenson would be transferred because she has been here the longest. But she is staying. Hermana Wilson went to Barcelona and Hermana Moulton went to Valencia to finish up her Mission there. This week has been a dramatic week to say the least and I am sorry my e-mail is so short, and a day late. I will make sure and fill you in on everything next week. They closed the other Sisters´ area and now Hermana Stephenson and I are in charge of both of the areas here in Zaragoza. An Elder from our District left as well. He is going to another area to be a District Leader. He is nervous to say the least. Our District is now...Hermana Stephenson and I, and our same District Leader Elder Galan from Andalucia and his comp., Elder Tirado from Utah, Elder Marcos and Elder Reeder (who is new) and the senior couple-Elder and Sister Church, also. It was SO sad saying goodbye to the other girls and now Hermana Stephenson and I have a LOT of work to do. We are going to be busy.  I got to talk to my dear friend Hermana Jorgenson, who is doing well. Our other close friend Hermana Nelson (from the Madrid MTC) went home.  I will probably be in Zaragoza for a long time.... It for sure has been a very busy week, trying to make this transition as smooth as possible. We will see how this week goes.

I am so grateful for the gospel and for this chance to be a Missionary. I know that I have a lot of influence in others´ lives and that I am a servant of the Lord. I am thankful to be out here. I love you all. I hope you´re doing well.

Love,
Hermana Johnson

Copied from my letter to the President.

Dear President,
This week was interesting with all of the changes that happened, but it went well. A little miracle was that we have been trying to get a hold of an investigator for a long time and she finally let us in!! We got to go to her work where she takes care of an older woman in her 90s and we sang songs to them and prayed with them. It was a short visit and a little thing that we did but it really touched her that we took time to do that. She can´t wait to see us again!

I'm lucky to have a calm companion, who is a good example that way.

In the past few weeks the most recent convert, John, took out his earrings, is preparing to receive the Priesthood, brought a friend to Church, and has been answering questions his friend has about the Book of Mormon! It is so exciting to see John so excited! He is doing well and we are happy to teach his friend, Pius, who has a strong desire to learn more.

We have plenty of things that we are repenting of. Little by little Hermana Stephenson and I are raising our standards. Now that the other Sisters are not here and that we have both our area and theirs, the bar has been raised and we are ready to get to work. We have a lot to work on individually, as a companionship, in our Ward, and in our area. This will be a tough transfer yet full of miracles. I know that we can make things happen for the better here. It is really all about obedience and relying on the Lord. We will be focusing most on these things this transfer and I am ready to get to work!

Love,
Hermana Johnson

Last time with District. A pancake breakfast at the Senior couple's piso.

At a quinicienera (sweet 16) party

At a garden in Zaragoza