The days are going by faster. I can't believe I am already starting week 3... I have had such neat experiences being here. It's been incredible. I can't imagine where else I would be right now. I know this is where I'm meant to be at this time. I can't imagine my life without serving a mission and having this incredible opportunity...
I love my family so much and am so grateful for them. I can feel your love and support and I often put your names in the temple when I go every Thursday morning. There is so much I want to tell you...yet only 30 minutes available...well now 22 from reading other e-mails.
I love getting Dear Elders thank you so much to those who have sent me some. :) dearelder.com then type in Laura Eve Johnson Spain Barcelona Mission (pretty sure that's how you do it...)
I have pictures that I am sending home to get scanned and then put up on the blog!! They are great.
Weeeelll....so we have to prepare a talk for every Sunday just in case we get called up to the pulpit. This last Sunday it was on baptism. I was really proud of my talk because I felt like I am getting better at writing in Spanish and that it made really good sense. I applied it to missionary work and our purpose...I ended up not getting called up to speak, but instead my companion did. She didn't finish her talk...so I let her use mine...everyone LOVED it. So apparently it was really good haha! We haven't told anyone the truth yet...
I talked my companion into joining the MTC choir with me. I am SO glad she agreed. We had practice on Sunday then performed on Tuesday night at the MTC Devotional. So the week before the speaker was Elder Richard G. Scott!!!! So cool to have an apostle of the Lord speak to us. This time it was Brother Hallstrom who is in the Presidency of the 70. His talk was so good! And the song we sang was "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" but a unique version of it. It was beautiful I was so excited to be in a choir again. I was even on the big screen and other friends told me later that they saw me. It was an incredible experience with the spirit so strong in the gym.
Speaking about the song, the choir director on Sunday told us about the meaning of it. He mentioned that it came from the book of Mark in the New Testament. The winds were raging and the boat was flooding and the Master was sleeping. Someone shouted "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" A cry for help. Us singing this song was a cry for help. It was beautiful. The story following the song following the meaning. It was very special. Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father know us by name. They do care about us and if we perish. This is evidenced in the story of the First Vision. One of the most important words that was said, was "Joseph." Heavenly Father called Joseph Smith by his name. He cares so much and is very aware of us.
Sunday night we have an MTC Fireside and then a film...we can choose which films to watch. The first Sunday we watched "The Legacy" and then this last Sunday we watched the newer version of the Joseph Smith movie. I loved it; it was my second time seeing it...But anyway at the fireside Brother Allen spoke who is the Missionary Director of the church...and he spoke about hymns. He spoke about the highs and lows that missionaries have...constantly...and he urged us to turn to our hymn books and look at the lyrics of our favorite hymns. He mentioned, "I am a Child of God" "As I Search the Holy Scriptures" and some others. He also mentioned that often times he wakes up in the morning with a random song stuck in his head. THAT TOTALLY HAPPENS TO ME...a lot. Anyway he believes that this can be inspiration...some personal revelation from our Heavenly Father. He recommended that we write down the song as soon as we wake up in our journal that should be next to our bed. It was so cool hearing that and I was so excited to take that advice and apply it to my life. So the next morning, I woke up with the song "Nearer my God to Thee." It was beautiful as I went over the lyrics in my head and wrote down my feelings about it in my journal....anyway, if any of you are like me and wake up with a song stuck in your head (hopefully a church song haha) then you should consider writing it down!! It's kind of amazing. Bro. Allen also said that we shouldn't be scared to sing songs and use the hymnbook more in our lessons. Even if we aren't good at singing it still has an amazing affect on the person we are teaching. Hermana Marshall and I were encouraged to do this before so we had already been using them in our lessons with our two "investigators" (our two teachers acting as investigators-real people that they taught on their missions). I think it's been a huge help because it really invites the Spirit in our lesson and we would ask them how they felt afterwards. Usually Hermana Marshall and I will sing and the investigator will follow along reading the words.
One thing that has helped me a TON has been reading el Libro de Mormon out loud for 5-30 minutes a day. This has really helped me to speak Spanish better and feel the Spirit more. I am finding that I am better understanding what I am reading as well. I highly recommend this to anyone who is trying to learn a language-it does miracles. :)
I am trying to figure out how to mark my scriptures like color coding and stuff. If you have any suggestions and think your technique is great, let me know!!
I got my travel plans a few days ago...they said I won't make it to the Madrid MTC because they don't have my Visa yet...(just read an e-mail from my mom that my application didn't get sent until Monday, October 17...) So I will most likely be here at the Provo MTC for the full nine weeks. I am just really grateful that I am in the intermediate Spanish class, and that I have a great companion who didn't get her visa either...
Today I got my Patriarchal Blessing shrunk and laminated at the copy center. I am so excited!!! I have always wanted to do it.
I got new roommates yesterday. One is from Georgia going on her mission to Salt Lake City speaking Spanish, and the other one is from Montana going on her mission to Riverside, CA speaking Spanish. It's cool because they are beginning level Spanish, my companion and I are intermediate, and our other roommates are advanced! We help each other out a lot. It's been great speaking Spanish. I LOVE IT.
I just finished memorizing Doctrine and Covenants 4 in Spanish and now I am working on memorizing the First Vision in Spanish. I will let you know how it goes!
My time is up. I love you so much. Thank you again for your support and prayers. This is an amazing work that I have the opportunity to be a part of. I am so lucky and blessed to be here. My heart is full of gratitude and love for my Savior and this work.
Con amor,
Hermana Johnson
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