My 3 month mark was January 12th. 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 (16th) – 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 (17th) – 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 (18th) – 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 (19th) – Saw Maya and Beverly, they're doing great.
Friday (20th) – 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 (21st) – 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 (22nd) – 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 (23rd) – 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
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