ONE AND DONE!!

thats what we call it when you are only in one area for 6 weeks!! which yes, means that i will be transferred! the cool part is... i'm not leaving apartments!! Ok, here is the situation:

Sister Pilling is getting transferred out to Tooele as an STL. My new companion is Sister Pearson and i are staying in Rose Park but we are switching areas with a set of elders, so we are going to the Rose Park North Stake!! its going to be so fun to white-wash again!! this week was SUPER crazy, crazy busy, crazy EVERYTHING!! 

We had a few super good experiences this week. On wed. night the YW had a back to camp night kind of thing (Camp Bash) and we had some Non-Members and LA girls come, and everyone just loved everyone- it was great! but the best part was there was a girl who came up to us right as we were about to leave and asked if she could ask us a few questions, and for her first one she said, "how do you repent, because i want to go to the temple". it touched our hearts so much, we testified of the power of the atonement and repentance and how much the bishop can help. It was incredible to see her pure heart and righteous desires to get to the temple, and at such a young age too (probably between 14-16). She was so courageous to come and talk to us and she wants to make changes because she see's how much happier it will make her. its amazing!!

It was also hard this week because i was giving a training in district meeting on a really confusing/difficult subject and as i was training (which i already wasn't feeling confident about) the AP's sat down and joined in on the District. after i just felt like i didn't do a good enough job (not because AP's or anything, i was just feeling inadequate), but i just have to trust that the Lord was able to convey through the spirit what He wanted those missionaries to learn :) i love the Lord.

Sorry for the shorter letter, but here is the last Hurrah for this area for me:

so yesterday we got to watch the Ogden Temple Re-dedication which was amazing. the spirit was totally there and it was amazing to hear prophets speak again and apostles. the spirit that was there in the chapel when it became an extension of the temple was amazing and it was such a blessing to be able to participate in the re-dedication and do the Hosanna shout as well :)

Christ is real, we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and the Gospel is true! keep the faith and do what is right! :) Love you and talk to you next week!! :)

SISTER JOHNSON ♥

spencer (a returned member) made us trees! super cool!!

lawn mowing :P

making tortillas :)

A CRAZY WEEK O.o (9/15/14)

we all expect to have those crazy weeks in the transfer, but even though there was lots of crazyness there was still plenty of good :)

sorry it will probably be a bit shorter this week though...

We had a leadership meeting (again) this week and it was cool to hear new ideas for missionary work, more on how to help those we teach! 

we also had to go up to bountiful a few times to pick up medicine for sisters. and we found out that sis pilling had bronchitis for a week! its been two now, she's slowly getting over it. 

we went on two exchanges this week, and both times i got to be on bike, which was lots of fun! hard work, bruises, and hot days, but a blast nonetheless! :)

This week was one of the first times i've had to do the hard STL stuff. there were two scenarios: one set of sisters got in a huge fight (while i was gone on exchanges) and we helped mediate a conversation later that night. it was tough because you can see both sides and i dont know... just rough! but i could feel God’s desire for them to resolve their issue and could feel the atonement working and Christ’s love for them :)

the other situation was slightly more of a chastisement- by that i mean that we had to remind of standards- which is hard for me because i don't like being very forward, or telling people that what they are doing is wrong, especially when they don't think they are or don't see the importance. 

Being in leadership, people will label or assume things a lot, and it can be hurtful, but i know that i'm trying to do what GOD wants me to do and what President wants me to do as well. I just need to represent them both well and be obedient, loving, and faithful. 

I got to do a training in District Meeting this week on...drumroll please... Lock Your Heart! its a talk that was given to missionaries and we were told to read it mission wide. no one was assuming anything was happening, but when you read the talk it just teaches that you need to actively make the decision to lock your heart and that it ALL starts with the little things... so be exactly obedient, follow all the rules, and stay with your companion! :) haha but it was a good discussion and the spirit was definitely there.

we were on exchanges on Saturday and it was really cool because i got to be with Sister Bennett all day! its so cool to see how far along she has come and how great of a missionary she is. she was a great sister before, but she's even better now! :) we made an apple pie for a member family that they had to cancel on (member visits) to continue to build trust... and it looked BEAUTIFUL!!! O.o ooohhh...i really wanted to eat it... :P hahaha

its just been a rough week personally and as a leader because we do have to deal with a lot of little things here and there and help missionaries... we definitely don't get enough sleep! :P haha

Hope everyone has a fantastic week, challenge: read and study the section in PMG about faith in ch 6 and read the bible dictionary definition of faith and tell me what you think! :) love you all and Keep The FAITH!!! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON :D

Answers to some of Mom’s questions…

• Is being an STL like being a mom?
• haha ya its a little like being a mom...i now have a better understanding of what it feels like when trust is broken, glad i didn't do it too often :) but sorry that i did...
• What else are you up to?
• ya, we're house sitting for two weeks. they are literally 2-3 times the size of our cats...fat wise... HUGE FAT CATS!! :P haha Bones and Weasel. 
• Tell us a little bit more about your companion.
• ok. Sister Pilling has been out a year, she is from canada (London Ontario), she does track (throwing) for college (if you google jessica pilling you can find pics of her throwing hammerthrow!) she is awesome and legit :)
• Can we call your companion “Thor” since she throws hammer?
• Yes… she said you could! LOL!
• Who else do you live with?
• we live with sis tranchina from spain and pearson from ohio. they are serving in Liberty and are STL's as well, we dont see them a lot but they are both super sweet... sis pearson was trained by sis taylor too :) 
• What is your geographic area?
• Our STL area covers all of Rose park-1700 N to 200 S and 5600 W to 400S, about... i'm still terrible with directions, getting better! :) 

A Great Week in Rose Park! :) (9/8/14)

Well, obviously this week started out great because i got to go out to lunch with lovely family people!! AND btw, saw the pics of Ella and Pepper and i can't believe how beautiful and grown up they are looking!! ITS SO CRAZY!!! O.o

Anyways, we had a pretty busy week, no lie. Tuesday we had an MLC, which is mission leadership council where we talked about mission goals, follow up from meetings, future meetings, etc. welcome to being an STL!! :P haha

We got to participate in a lot of service this week, which has been great!!

Brother Hawkins is the High Councilman over missionary work here in Rose Park Stake and he was pouring a concrete slab for his future shed this week, so we helped him dig up dirt and do the concrete which was lots of fun!! things you learn as a missionary! :) Sister pilling was also sick some of this week, so i got to help take care of her, which is one of my FAVORITE things to do, no lie :) i love helping people feel better :)

Other service we got to do: a LA lady's house caught on fire last week and one of her neighbors told us about it, so we went over and offered help. She called us this week!! WE GOT TO GO SERVE PEOPLE MORE!! :D haha it was a lot of washing walls and cleaning which was fun when you have a boatload of missionaries there like we did :P haha you could tell how much she appreciated the help and we loved helping too! :) we also got to go walk an elderly ladies dog (she recently had surgery) and when you serve people you can definitely feel the love the savior has for them :) 

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK! we got a call fri afternoon from one of our bishops who gave us a referral from temple square, a man named John had been visiting with sisters there and said missionaries could come by. So, we went by at 8:30 that night before we headed in and guess what? he was home and welcoming and open! he was excited to see us and guess when we scheduled our return appt for?! next morning 10am!! :P haha 

Another great experience this week: so we were on companion study practicing for one of our lessons and all of a sudden as i was trying to role play i literally just couldn't do it. could talk, teach, feel the spirit, ANYTHING. it was really weird and i just broke down crying because i didn't know why. it scared me and i was just trying to rack my brain as to WHY this was going on. i felt blocked.

one of the Sisters we are over as STL's called us later that day and said something seemed off and she was unsettled and so we took her to a place in Glendale called the Peace Gardens (fitting, right?) and just talked. I think what i went through (and what sis pilling went through earlier in the week that was a similar experience) was so we could feel what she would be feeling and be able to comfort her and know what to do to help her. She is an amazing sister who has a very strong testimony :) 

Two other amazing things this week: 

1) we had a regional conference which was awesome! elders Oaks and Hales spoke to the 12ish stakes in the region as well as other general authorities (it was at the conference center) and another great part? Tooele county is part of the Region so i got to see a bunch of the people i love there! It was great!! :D we also got to bring one of our investigators who is in a wheel chair and he had a great experience. 

2) we got to go to the temple today! we literally spent about 4 hours in the temple today which was SOOOOO nice. i could stay there all day. I felt more peace in the temple today than i have ever felt in the temple before, it was amazing and incredible to be able to feel that much peace and love :) ♥

Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! KEEP THE FAITH!!!! :)

:) SISTER JOHNSON ♥

LOVING ROSE PARK!

so i realized that when i do my weekly emails i often run out of time, so to be more efficient i'll share some of the highlights from the week in general. I'll try my best to give lots of good insights about mission life!! :)

MIRACLES HAPPEN!!

Earlier in the week we were walking a dog for the ward mission leader (Clausens) and were trying to contact people at the same time. across the street was this man and so we walked over and he pet the dog and we stroke up a conversation. we had a good talk and talked some about gospel, he brought it up more than we did (which actually is often the case, especially when its people that are telling us they don't want to hear it :P haha). but at the end of our conversation he told us that he wouldn't usually talk to missionaries but he did that day... because we had a cute dog with us!! haha

We've been able to add new investigators this week, which has been great! we usually have at least 1 per week but finding is definitely a struggle, which is weird because this area has a lot of potential but its just hard to move them from potentials to SOLID investigators...

anyways, we were at a lesson with a LA named Misty and we watched the movie "Finding Faith in Christ" and talked about the book of mormon. her daughter was there (not a member) and sat in on the lesson. we could FEEL that SHE was feeling something after talking about the savior, faith, and prayer, etc. we're excited to work with her, her name is K*. 

Another amazing thing this week: it’s hard to come into an area and have to go on exchanges and basically NOT know whats going on but have to do it for a whole day. But, i did do that! Testimony: NOT IMPOSSIBLE!! :P haha i wasn't too stressed for it, we just planned VERY thoroughly the night before :P I was with Sister Estrada for exchanges. She is one of the Spanish Sisters and is going home in just a few weeks. SO SAD! haha but we were out contacting referrals and we went to one and the lady in the apartment above started talking to us, she is a LA member (i think) and is moving in a while, but she was completely open to talking with us and said will gladly come to church and we have an appt to go see her again this week! its great, i love being a missionary and love miracles!

Another Miracle!! we had dinner one night with the high councilman over missionary work and talked about...well, misisonary work :P haha but when we left we both felt like instead of getting into the car to drive to the next appt we should walk, so we did! as we passed his FIRST neighbors house we said hello and chatted (we had talked before) he offered us vegetables out of his garden and as we were leaving from there, he also said, "Oh! and that lady across the street isn't a member and her house caught on fire today, she could probably use your help!" Hallelujah! we are seeing the members starting to love and trust us here and its awesome! we went over and talked to her and she said she would let us come and help her clean and stuff, we really want to teach her, she is super great and super sweet! :)

OK, a little fun though :) Saturday the District Leaders and us got together and baked cookies for every companionship in the zone to give to their Bishops to help us become closer with the members and have them trust and love us! i love baking cookies... and they were pretty delicious... :)

OK, last thing, and mom. you would be proud :) we both had talks in sacrament on sunday in the 9th ward and bishop was having us basically do the whole sacrament, so we decided to do a musical number too. Yes, sister johnson sang a SOLO in sacrament meeting. it was crazy, i didn't actually get too nervous, it OBVIOUSLY wasn't perfect, but sis pilling played the piano and i sang "The Olive Tree" and i think it turned out pretty good :) Heavenly Father had my back that day :P haha

LOVE YOU ALL!

of course, for one last highlight! got to eat lunch with Dad, Alex, and Uncle Greg today!!! it was good to see family and weird because, well, it didn't feel weird or like i'd been away for 9 months (which i have) and it wasn't hard to say goodbye :)

Have a great week and Keep the Faith! :)

SISTER HANNAH JOHNSON ♥

sis pilling on her 1year mark (i got her a card) :)

we went to walmart and got matching tshirts with superman on them!

With her sister that just returned from her mission... Alex

At lunch with Dad, sister and Uncle!

Happy family!.... Proud Papa too!