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!
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