Week 11

Hey mom :)
Okay. So listen. The emails won't be this lame for my whole mission. We have an hour only now... but I'll have an hour and a half later. Hopefully. Long story.
This week was LOCO. Tuesday- Temple; Wednesday- District Meeting; Thursday- Sister Training Meeting (for all the sisters); Friday- Weekly Planning; and Saturday- A suprise Road trip. I'll tell you about it later.....
So. K. first What happened friday cuz it's super funny. So we lock up our bikes every night. And Hermana Chavarria and I go out to work on Friday after planning. She realized she didn't have her bike helmet. She's like "Oh no, I probably left it on the bike" and her helmet is super ghetto... it looks like a transformer (I call it her Bumblebee helmet) ... so we go down to our bikes, and her helmet's still there! So we're like "man, what a safe neighborhood! Then Hermana C says "Hermana Johnson, look at your bike!" And I look... my seat was GONE! Like- not there at all! I had no bike seat. And we just laughed for like 5 minutes. Anyway, that was my little adventure on saturday. Goin to the store to get a new bike seat.

The missing bike seat

Sister Training meeting was SO GOOD. President Ashton and Sister Ashton taught us so much. Sister Ashton talked about how she used to be kinda a perfectionist and used to not make any decisions cuz she wanted a spiritual confirmation before she took action (... me) but she taught us how sometimes we just got to go and then the decisions will come. So good!
Uhm... okay story. Well, I have two. One. This week I want you to act on every like- idea to compliment someone ... just do it! I have seen little miracles from it this week. The power of a kind word can go so far. And if you think about it, that's how the Savior was. He always would tell people how grateful he was for them. I'm going to try to do better at that this week.

K. Two. GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS. Always. Siempre. Remember in the MTC and like every email was about how frustrated I was with my companion and how I would pray so so so so hard every night that we would get along and jut be friends? K. Mom. I saw Hermana Dorian in Walmart a few weeks ago and it was just like talking to my best friend in the world. I'm not even kidding. And she wrote me an email and a little note saying how she was sorry she was such a hard companion in the MTC (not gonna lie- I was too) and how she hopes we can be companions again sometime soon. I know it sounds weird, but I think about all those people who have kids that are falling away, or have desires that might not be fufilled in this life- like I KNOW and have a testimony of, the fact that the Lord answers prayers in His own due time. And when He does, it will be just as if the hard times never happend. So cool.
The world wide mission broadcast! Wasn't that aweome! It made me so pumped to do misisonary work. If the motivation is love then we have nothing to worry about! We don't have to worry about opening our mouths at all! I love it!
I love you I love you I love you! I promise my emails will be better in the future. Haha. Thank you so much mom, for who you are and everything you do. I'm so grateful for you and for your example. Thanks for taking the time to write every week, and for all your help and encouragement. Love you!!
Hermana Johnson

Jade and her companion

Week 10

Wow mom! What a crazy week you've been having

Thank you for telling me my emails are okay. I can feel your prayers and I hope every week that what I write can like- I don't know, help you know what's going on. Keep you informed. I hope camp went well for Brant. I love him so much. Oh my goodness, I was thinking about how we used to not get along at all and now he is my best friend. It's a miracle. I always always think about miracles. I've come to figure out how God works miracles in my life. I think He lets me experience miracles a little at a time. Mom, like- Spanish. It's not too hott right now. (Pues... that might be cuz my companion is a native speaker and I compare myself to her... but I'm not too great at it yet by any standards, Heck, I didn't know any spanish 2 months ago!!) But like- I think the Lord is letting me experience it a little at a time, so I can see all the little miracles. Just the little phrase I could say to someone, or the little conversations I'm able to understand. miracle. And like- it's only a little bit more I learn each day, but if it all came at once, I don't think I would see it, the miracle. You know? I think the Lord just works that way with me, so I don't ever doubt His hand in all things. There are too many little things that He's blessed me with.
Okay. Also. Mom. Hahaha. So... here's the deal. Hermana Chavarria (she's been out 11 months now :)) is like- super professional. She's very like... I don't know. Very dignified in the way she does things and the way she approaches people. Mom, I am NOT like that. I'm like- I feel like I don't have a professional bone in my body. So ... I don't know. It's weird like approaching people on the street and I'm just not very professional about it. I'm like "Hey, how's it goin? What are you doing? Awesome. I'm hermana Johnson..." etc. and like- Okay mom, this is my thing. I can't, I refuse to be anything but as genuine as I can. I'm trying to find the balance between clumsy me and like- an official representative of the Church. Kinda hard for me right now. And the whole "Country kinda-quirky girl" doesn't really seem professional. I'm sure there's a balance. Just gotta find it. I love (and wrote down) what the YW president said about girls camp. No complaining, contentment, or comparing. That is the best advise and it totally applies to missionary work. Comparing is like- not good! It's poison. I think comparing, discouragement, and fear are poisen to missionary work.
We got to go to the temple today! That's why my pday is tuesday. SOOOOooo pretty. I love it! The lady that took us had a daughter that lived in Roosevelt for 8 years. What? Roosevelt, Utah. So we chatted about the drive. Love it. Mom. I love the temple. I love what we learn there and I learn so much. I'm so grateful for such a loving Heavenly Father that wants us to have all that He has. And like- we are so fallen, but the wonderful thing is that He is doing all He can to help us overcome the fall. He is so loving. Literally our Father. I'm so grateful for Him and all He does for me every single day.
So sad about the Store! I'm so sad! I hope you find a good place. Keep me updated.
I love you I love you I love you! I'll probably write you more about some stuff ... but I gotta email President Ashton real quick... haha. Love you!
Hermana Johnson

Week 9

Jade and her Companion 

She says, "Don't worry, I'm not as tan as I look" 

Hey mom.

Weather. (since you asked) Uhm. Hot. haha. And humid. But I don't mind it too bad yet. I know it'll only get worse.

Our ward is completely in Spanish. I want to hit my head against a wall everytime I come home but oh well. Haha.

Hot in the house? Ugh. That would be hard. Yeah, It's so hot here too. Glad you know what I'm going through.


We have no time to shop. Like- ever. I don't have time to even write letters. P-days are crazy and probably the most stressful day of the week. We never have time to do anything.


K! So this week. Aaaah so much to say and so little time! This week has been amazing. Last Monday we went and saw a referral from Headquaters... so like a big deal. And his father in law answered the door... said he wasn't home. So we ended up teaching him the whole first discussion on the doorstep! It was awesome! Like- how much Spanish do I know? Nooothing. But Hermana Chavarria had me recite the first vision, cuz at least I know that. And like- it was crazy to see his countenance change and see the truth of what we were saying manifest in his eyes. The Spirit! So yeah, he invited us to come back! Soooo cool. Such a cool experience.


I think this week my epiphany was to act and not be acted upon like it says in 2 Nephi 2. Like- it's hard out here to feel like- well, almost like you're kind of on your own. My comp and I are completely new to the area and we don't know anyone. And I'm like "Once I feel like I belong here then I can help others." uhm... no. Doesn't work like that. So I just have tried this week to help others feel loved. And it's been awesome.


We went and had dinner at a member's house yesterday and She looked at me and said, "you know, you're lucky you're going Spanish speaking. Those English speaking people are great, but they don't love like we do. They don't need love like we do. This isn't our home. We're away from our families. We need to feel loved- feel really loved." And like- I almost started crying. Holy cow. Like- how alone must all these people feel? And I hope that God will help me use my talents, and help me develop my talents so that I can really LOVE these people and help them know that they are never alone.


Cool story number 3. We saw a referral from the ward yesterday, the most humble woman I ever met from Peru (everyone is from different countries here. haha) and we taught her the first lesson. I was freaking out cuz I don't know Spanish haha. but the spirit just comes to my mind saying "Don't worry about it, just love her." and so I didn't. And like all I said was: Our families can be together forever. Do you want that? "Claro." I know that through the Gospel it's possible.


And said the first vision and testified of it. And that's all I said, but like- the Atonement made up for the rest. I could see why we're sent two by two even though I feel like I don't have much to offer right now. The Lord made up for the rest and the Spirit taught her that day. She said "I have seen a lot of people teach about things of God with grand words, but when you two teach I can see how much it means to you and feel the love of God." Anyone can share the gospel. The Lord will make up the difference. All we need to do is open our mouths.


I'm so grateful for the gospel, so grateful for the opportunity to share this great message. It's the truth, and it's been the truth since the beginning and it will be the truth for all eternity. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation, for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that gives me the hope that I can be with my family forever. We are literally hopeless without Jesus Christ but with Him we can do anything. (That's why I think things are so hard sometimes. We wouldn't see the miracles if things were always easy.) I love you. I'm so grateful for you! Thank you for teaching me and raising me the way that you did. Thank you for making our home one of love and happiness and kindness and friendship. I pray for you every day. I love you I love you I love you. The church is true!!


Hermana Johnson

Week 8

Mom!So our apartment is Niiiiiiiice. We are the first one's there. Oh, PS I didn't tell you but we opened a new area. Yep. It's like everything I ever worried about before I got here "What if I open a new area? What if everyone speaks spanish and I never have any idea what's going on? What if I get a new apartment and there's no ketchup in the fridge? What if I have to ride bikes?" Naaaaah. Yeah it happened. haha. I'm so grateful for it though, and to be here and the people I've met even though the work is kinda slow right now. We are just busy finding people. Like I said, Hna Chavarria is like a champ at finding people. I'm good at saying hi. So we work together. I'm like "Hi, how are you? You have a nice yard." and then she takes it from there! Hahah. Then we're like "Have you heard of our church?" And they say "No, I'm catholic." And the next thing I know we're going to meet with them on saturday at 6. It's amazing. Hispanic people are so humble. I just love them, even though I don't understand a lot of what they're saying ever.So this week was a week of miracles. There's a verse in Ether 12 about how Ether proficied of all these great things and it said "The people didn't see them becasue they Saw them not." You could say that they didn't believe cuz they didn't see... which I'm sure happened. But I like to think that they didn't see them because they weren't looking. So I wrote down all the miracles that happened this week and my eyes were opened! Even if it was just the wind when I felt like I was dying of heat, or the fact that people still talked to us even though we were covered in sweat, or someone that accepted to learn more. Miracles are everywhere. And Hermana Chavarria learned to ride a bike! She's such a good example to me, like- totally wrecked on our way to a district meeting and she's got some great cuts to show it. I was looking for people to give us a ride home but she's like "No, we're getting back on the bikes." Amazing. (I feel like I need to be like that with the Spanish... haha. A lot of times I just want to be like - uhhh.. no hablo espanol. Haha.) But what was cool was when we went to go get some neosporin for her cuts ... they were like 7 bucks each. But this worker came up as we were getting some and he's like "Oh, that's on sale for $3.99 today" Miracle. It was awesome!Okay so I want to tell you about a less-active named Milagro. (That's "Miracle" in Spanish :) ) She's just like Aunt Stacy but older and Hispanic. haha. I just love her. She was baptised 7 years ago, and the only reason she's less active is cuz her mom has cancer and she can't leave her or find anyone to take care of her sundays. And she takes care of her grandkids. Literally the most amazing woman ever. And we gave a little lesson on faith, and I added my two cents in baby spanish and she was like "I like it when you speak spanish." K, like just a little compliment but it made my whole life. Haha. She didnt' even say I was good at it, but I just feel like people want to rip their ears out when I speak spanish to them. haha. So the little comment made my whole day. It'll come. Miracles after faith.I love you so much! I can feel the prayers clear over here. Seriously, it's like when you don't think you can do it anymore the angels are literally round about. And I know it's from your prayers, so thank you. Let me know how everything's going. I Love you!!! Oh mom, Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for the letters and the prayers. I thank Heavenly Father every day for you, and our family.Love you! Good luck!hermana Johnson

Houston!!

Houston!!
I'm here! The first day we all got interviews w/ President Ashton and he was all like "How's your spanish?" And I said "Uhm... not good." Mom. Why did I say that? I'll tell you why cuz I thought he would send me English speaking, you know, to ease my burden. But he's like "maybe we'll give you a native companion!" ...
Well, my comopanion is Hermana Chavarria from Bolivia. haha. She's lived in Florida since she was fifteen though. And get this: She's a temple square sister. She's been here in Houston for 3 weeks. She was in the welcome meeting with me and all the other thousands of missionaries that came in our group. Anyway. Yeah. So .. you can imagine my uhm... lack of spanish skills exaggerated because I have no idea what's going on 80 percent of the time. haha. But yeah. She's super great. Was an EFY counselor too! So yeah! We talk about that all the time.
I'm in Suburbia Houston. haha. Super middle-class, the houses are mas or menos nice and they're all the same size. The people are great! I love them even though I don't know what's happening a lot of the time! Our ward is huge. 500 people (well... like 250 come every week but still!) And the first week they talked about la obra misional. Missionary work. Ask me if I cried all through sacrament meeting. I cried. I cry like every day. Haha. Every personal study. Cuz I have never felt so weak in my life. Never in my life. And I've never been able to see the Lord's hand helping me so much. Ether 12:27. I really like the story in the Bible about the blind man and everyone's like "Why is he blind? whose fault is it?" And Jesus says: It's no one's fault. It's so that the works of God can be manifest in him. That's how I feel. That's what I hope at least, why I feel so weak. So I can see how much God will take my weaknesses and make them strenghths. So I can see the power of the Atonement work in my life. And so I can take that testimony and that experince that since I've experienced it first hand, I'll be able to bear a more powerful testimony of Christ and how His atonement has changed me. And it has already and I know it will even more.
K. So we're in a Biking area. hahaha! Yeah. Oh man. PS, my companion can't ride a bike. Haha. We went out and I tried to teach her, but she was like- not good at balancing at all. She's such a great example though, she was just laughing about it the whole time. And it made me realize that that's how I should be too, with the language, and even though I can't speak it yet I don't need to get frustrated, just do my best and say "well, I'll get it sometime". Same with teaching the gospel. Cuz I have no idea how to approach someone on the street and bear my testimony that's so close to my heart and invite them to come to Christ. I don't know how to do that yet. But I can lean, for now, on my companion and most of all on the Lord while I'm trying to learn how to "Ride my bike" I just got to do all I can and Have faith that the Lord will make up the rest.
Yeah so we walk everywhere! Haha. We have one progressing investigator, Kim, who's Buhdist and speaks, get this: ENGLISH. Tender Mercy! Love that. Love her. she's 19 and just a super sweet girl.
We have a lot more people we contacted this week and a lot of people that want to learn more. My trainer is awesome at everything and I'm trying hard to learn from her and not compare myself to her. Comparing leads to discouragement which leads to weakened faith.
Anyway, I love it here! I love you! Thank you for all you do!
Hermana Johnson