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