Another Great Week!

This week has yet again been fantastic! But of course, when you serve here it always is :)

 Mon we had a fun saint patty’s day, we played murder in the dark with a bunch of other missionaries. I also got a haircut!  It’s not too different, just layers... and I’m getting highlights today... so I’ll send a picture next week :) we've had some really great lessons this week as well.

We were hoping to put J* on date, but his mom won't let him get baptized quite yet. He’s so ready, but being a 13 year old boy, he going to act up sometimes. He's going to do better.

Wed morning we had a New Missionary Training, where mostly they did a training on how to use the pamphlets some and it was great to see missionary friends! Sister Hornburger and her trainees were there so I told them to tell everyone in my area hi for me and that I love them :) There was something in my last area that was an issue, don't know all the issues, but Sis* was Emergency Transferred to Layton, so I hope she is doing well :) but I trust that everything in my last area is doing well. I trust that the Lord will take care of my people.

We had dinner with the Pearson’s this week as well which was fun. M* is doing well and his mom, M*, is a new ward missionary so she gave us rides on wed night. The T* family is great! :)

Aaand I was asked to do a piano/violin duet with Elder Baier (the DL's companion) and we are practicing and playing that on wed this week, which is Zone Conference... should be great! It’s sounding good so far... I think... :P

We visited with T*, and her daughter and son were there, and they are both prepping for missions, its awesome! T* just counted as reactivated yesterday, so it rocks! She had just been missing church because she is going through chemo and radiation for cancer... but she is the most awesome lady ever!

We went visiting some people on Saturday with the chamberlains (WML and his wife) because there are new houses being built and they don't know who lives there :0

Yesterday was a busy Sunday, as always. We both gave 20 minute talks. Sister Latham’s was on Service and mine was on Obedience. I think they went really well, Brother van komen said he recorded it, but hopefully it "accidentally" gets deleted :P haha AND in the middle of one of the sacrament meetings the fire alarm went off. THATS A FIRST! They were able to turn the sound off but for the whole rest of the meeting and after church the lights were flashing. It was quite funny, good story. At least it didn't happen during my talk! Also, I got letters from the YW! It was so great, it made me SOOOOO HAPPY! :D keep it up, it made my week!

Love you and talk to you next week! Keep the faith ♥

Sister Johnson

p.s. sorry for the short letter, busy day ahead of us, but loves yous! :P

Week 3 in in Stansbury Park Stake

I love pdays because we get to breathe. Literally we are always in the Go-Go-GO! mode.

but we had the temple last week and only got a little lost on the way home... :) of course, you know how TERRIBLE I am with directions. But not AS bad as when we went down for Elder Ballard. 

Monday night we taught a FHE about the 10 Commandments to an active family, but it helps get integrated and get to know more members, which is always good! This week we were able to help C*make girl scout cookie poster boards for her daughters cookie stands. The B*’s are an Investigator family, they started investigating a year ago and are ready to get baptized, but her husband’s brother is coming over in July (from England) to baptize them. They rock! :)

J* is also progressing really well. On Tuesday we had a lesson with him about Joseph Smith and gave him the Restoration video to watch as homework and we had a kneeling prayer where he prayed to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. It was awesome!  we went back on Thursday and he said he watched the movie...like four times... :) cause he loved it! He is super ready and I think this week we're going to be able to put him on date... with permission from Patrick of course (his half-brother/guardian) :) they are all awesome though. We met M* as well! he is 9 and is an investigator. His whole family is reactivated and is awesome. smart kid, just a little busy...like Ella :P

Wed we had the Restoration lesson with G*, which was incredible!  she is an awesome person and already believes in the bible, prayer, God, etc. basic Christian beliefs, now the book of Mormon will just add to her incredible faith!

We had lunch with Sister Chamberlain (ward mission leaders wife) and a less active girl, a return missionary, and prospective Sister missionary! it was awesome... and the food was great. REALLY GOOD Italian food :) everyone here is really good cooks, it’s always really hearty home cooked meals and not too many casseroles! we did have shepherd’s pie last night and jello a couple times, but it’s been good! :)

N* is another less active lady we are working with and go and read with her and Sister Pearson every week and are eating dinner with her on Wednesday which should be fun! :)

They are adding/changing a few things concerning how we are teaching. No more visual aid like restoration cups or plan of salvation kit... but they are really going to focus on the pamphlets and we'll do quicker lessons and be able to teach more people. It’s really inspired and I’m excited, even though I don't know exactly how it’s going to work yet.

We had an awesome district meeting on Friday about our personal conversions and how we need to constantly be growing our own testimonies and becoming reconverted... which is completely true, and this whole week it’s been something I have been pondering on as well as Sister Latham. She really is an incredible missionary and tries so hard to do her best and be awesome, and she is already amazing!  Plus, everyone loves her awesome accent and we play around with accents all the time. I do a pretty good Scottish one and she does a hilarious southern one :) I love being here in Lakepoint and Stansbury Park. It’s beautiful and the weather here has been in the high 50's and the sunshine is amazing! it’s like early summer... and besides random snow and hail and rain (which I love and miss) it’s all awesome!

 Love you all and keep on keepin on! Thank you for the prayers and the love sent my way, I feel it :) OH! And I think we're going to name our car Moroni...or Ammon...  cause they're all bosses! :P ♥

SISTER JOHNSON :D

Sis. Johnson.... Feeding HIS sheep!

Sis. Latham

Sis. Johnson in their home.

A Week of Improvement :)

This week has been much better than the last week... easier and full of fun surprises! 

Monday was our first Pday and we were sooo busy... as always. But we got lots done and had lots of fun! 

Tuesday we had this awesome experience where we all got together as a mission... and Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke to us! It was an incredible experience. We also brought Bill Marriot (yes the super successful person over all of the Marriot stuff!) it was an incredible experience. Some of the things Elder Ballard talked about were how we must KNOW the doctrine and how conversion ONLY starts when you feel something. He also talked about how we must have a vision for the people we are helping and one good quote I liked was, "you never plow a field by turning it over in your mind" :) This is the Lords work. Period. It was great there and the spirit was awesome. It was also great because I got to see Sister Taylor and Sister Weber... and I didn't cry! Aren’t you proud of me?! :P haha well I teared up while no one was looking... but thats ok :) we had some lessons that night as well. Our first week in the area we added two investigators. 

This week we added another one, Ginger. :) J* is 13 and his older half-brother and sister were baptized in sept of last year (I think) and are super strong in the gospel. P*'s (the older brother) conversion story is actually going to be featured in the sept ensign I think, which is cool! :) but he is really progressing just in the first two weeks and has tons of family and ward support. O* is the daughter of bro M*. He is a convert who has lived here for a long while and she just moved here from Hawai'i and is letting us teach her the lessons! She is awesome as well. 

So this week we had been sharing a car with the other set of sisters in the stake, which made things really difficult when you didn’t have a car and wanted to see those people in the trailer park on the opposite end of Lake point and its about 3 miles there and three miles back. We got a ride down and were walking back when someone pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride... I said yes of course :) (Yes, her mama emailed her back about safety!) haha the weather has been super nice here though. Sister Latham is an awesome missionary, she has such a strong desire to learn and grow and progress herself as a missionary, she tries really hard and is dedicated to the work and to being obedient... which rocks!!! :D but going back to the car bit, we finally got our own!! Thursday the office called us up and said they had a car on its way down for us and we were so happy! Our prayers are answered!! It SUPER nice too. A 2014 Toyota Corolla. Still smells like new car and everything :) when we got it, it had just over 200 miles on it. SHWEET! Such a blessing from the lord. Seriously. But still working on a name. And this week because we know a little more about what we were doing, the number of total lessons we taught jumped from 13, which is under the SOE, to 19, which is above it! yay! and the members are absolutely fantastic! 

I think one of the best surprises of all though happened on Sunday and today. Sister Steadman (her son Rhett Steadman served in our ward) told us to come to the Stansbury ward because there was a surprise there for us. So we did, and to my joyful surprise, there standing in the door is Jessi and Sister Rutter! Elder Steadman was one of Jessi's missionaries so she was down to visit and attending temples. It was great to see them and completely made my day! I asked if they had gone to the SLC temple yet and they said they were going to day... and so were we!! so all of us were at the temple together, even Elder Bickley :P is was quite fun, really. It was nice to see her and I’m still not homesick, which is great! 

I continue to pray for friends, family, and people in my last area and today I just found out that Sister K* finally will be getting baptized on March 29! I’m so happy for her and just hope I am able to go down and attend her baptism, because it would be absolutely amazing! 

Our ward mission leaders rock and they are all on board and happy to help. Everything is going much better, and I can feel the prayers from everyone, so thank you. I really appreciate it. and it was nice to get a postcard from the Websters this week! a little bit of home :) 

Oh! and I finally had a doughnut with bacon on top... not too bad! :P our zone is great and our zone leaders are amazing as well. willing to help and support in any way they can and super close with the spirit. we've met most of the people on our progress record now, not everyone, but making progress! I’m really happy in this area and know this is where the Lord needs me to be, because if I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to see Sister Rutter and Jessi, who is going to be a fantastic missionary. 

Week three in Stansbury Park Stake, here I come. Ready to share the gospel and the complete and utter joy it brings me. I know this church is true and that there is nothing better I could be doing with my life right now. I’m glad people are doing well at home and happy for those on the right path. 

Love you and talk to you next week! :) ♥

With Sis. Rutter in Stansbury Park Ward

Anacortes Missionaries and Sis. Rutter outside of the Salt Lake City Temple

With their companions:

Sis. Latham, Sis. Johnson, Elder Bickley and his companion

Sis. Johnson and Hermana Weitl

CRAZY. thats all i can say

Monday was a really hard day. We had to say goodbye to a lot of the people we love and will miss a lot, and there were some people we didn't get to say goodbye to. Makes me sad, but I know Sister Weber, Hornburger, and the trainee will take good care of them all. Hopefully if the investigators we work set a baptismal date, I will be able to attend their baptism :) I would love to go to R’s, or go through the temple with T* or Tr* when they get to go. Then we taught a first lesson and then we went home and may or may not have been up till almost 2 in the morning packing.

Emotions continued through the next day, Sister Hollingshead (pres. Hollingshead’s wife) came by to say goodbye and I hate crying, but it just wouldn't stop! urg, I was getting mad, thinking, "when am I going to run out of tears!!??" :( I still have plenty. but we went to transfers and I kept crying of course. And then some elders started moving stuff out of our car and my whole food box just disappeared, which means some lucky missionary got peppermint marshmallows, hash browns,  :'( , and all the food I wanted to eat and get fat off of! They are still looking for it though.

Throughout the day we waited for our trainee's and were trained by the AP's, and when I got my trainee, I was super happy! Her name is Sister Latham, and she is from Norfolk, England. Her accent is adorable and we get along really well. She is a great missionary and is so happy to be here... by here, I mean in the mission and in America in general, she's been in the country for almost a week now! :)

Stansbury park is much different than Centerville. Its country. So actually, we cover two towns(ish): Stansbury park (part of it) and Lakepoint, which is so small it’s not on the map :) its cute. lots of spread out homes with fields (cows, horses, chickens, etc.). we share the stake here with Sisters Jamison and Pointivet. They are great missionaries, Sister Pointivet came out of the MTC with me.

When we first got to our area, we had about fifteen minutes to unpack the car, meet Sister cox (the member we live with), and then head over to dinner and our three lessons we were teaching that night. we had NO idea what we were doing. and the area book... not very much useful information. There are a lot of less active member they worked with but no records for teaching them, etc. It’s slightly frazzling. We've met with all the ward mission leaders and working on meeting with Bishops. Oh, and we share a car with the Sisters we share the Stake with. So we have it every other day (tues, thurs, and sat, we share on mon) but there was a request put in for us to get our own car. We have a lot of square mileage (I think from one end to the other its 6 miles?) but the ward members are super willing to help and we love them :) We added two new investigators this week, J* and O*. Oh! and the Leavitt’s relative (I think her name is Sister Schaeffer or something?) just came out into the field! She is so sweet and remembers me (we met in Anacortes)! also in this stake, there are some elders that have served in Anacortes! EX-Elder Durrant and his companion Elder Steadman! It’s weird to refer to them as Rhett and Blair though :P haha But Sister Steadman wants us to come over, apparently Elder Steadman ate over here a lot and loved our family... at least we left a good impression! :D Anyways, we have some exciting things going on this week and you'll hear more about it next week, something to look forward to! And our temple day is a week from Tuesday, so exciting!!! wish us luck and love yous! 

SISTER JOHNSON who has no idea what she is doing! :D

Lots of photos of Hannah with some of the many loved people from her Centerville Area.  Her poor little face is pink from tears. She truly loves those she serves! We all have prayed for these friends and pray that they continue to grow in the Gospel!

Her new area... Stansbury/Lakepoint. You can see The Great Salt Lake in the background.

Selfie with Sis. Latham

Hannah loves her sweet accent!