You Know You're a Missionary in Utah When...

The guy sitting next to you in Gospel Principles name is Mohonri Moriancumer.

You get excited to go to the temple on monday 

You see your really good family friend (Joan Rudd) at the temple! :D

The bishop talks about missionary work in church and about how missionaries love food and people handing them money on the street... mostly elders though ;P

You get excited when you get to play "Signs" instead of Sports on P-day!

All the youth love you because you're awesome... :P haha jk... im still a dork...

and many other things... i'll keep thinking ;P hahaha

But this week was definitely great- and successful! we probably taught 30 lessons in total, 28 with a member there, which is amazing and a miracle!! especially in rose park when people cancel 24/7. And we've been able to find lots of new investigators- and not just semi-solid ones, but REALLY solid ones- like, they want to be baptized! 

Miracle #1: Finding Jessica. 

we had some cancellations and so we were trying to make visits... and we really had to pee. and we aren't supposed to visit members on monday nights (FHE) so we decided to knock on a random door... no one answered. Try one more random door! Someone was there and she let us in to use the bathroom! after that we asked if we could share a message and she said yes, we did, she said we could come back, boom! miracle! thats what happens. "keep my commandments and ye shall prosper in the land"- be diligent and ye shall find new people to teach who are prepared to hear the gospel!! :D 

Miracle #2: The Girls

Godelive's girls are still trying to decide on baptism, but they made leaps and bounds this week! before they were still caught up on the fact that they shouldn't be baptized again, but on exchanges (i wasn't there) they watched to Restoration movie and the spirit was so strong and they said they would pray about a date in December! THERE IS STILL HOPE! its so hard when you know people can feel the spirit and they know that what you are saying is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet, etc but they aren't making the connection in their head that the CHURCH IS TRUE! but they finally are, which is a COMPLETE miracle :) two of them came to church this last sunday, but the 30th they will all be there.

Miracle #3: Akira and Kino got baptized! :D

yes, it happened! and it was amazing. Kino was there just shining with a huge smile on his face, so excited. Akira came a little late and was really nervous, you could tell. But they both did it, got confirmed members of the church, we sang "Nearer My God to Thee" with sis pearson playing guitar, and we went up to akira after and asked her how she felt, she said "good." i asked, "does your stomach hurt anymore?" she said "no" :) the spirit there was amazing- and then we went to a Tongan Eating O.o... and it was literally like and HOUR before our dinner appt. #wearyourstretchyskirt :P

p.s. we are actually eating with ALL of their family for thanksgiving.. so this should be fun!!

We also got to teach a Stop Smoking Program to a LA this week, it went really well... and she gave us oranges!! yay! :P but really, it was awesome and you could just see how much she wanted to make changes and become better :)

Cultural experience: eating with Tongans, Eating LEGIT indian food (spicy... like i said, i'm slowly becoming desensitized...) :)

We also finally got to do some service and help sister davis paint! :D p.s. alex, apparently she has a son at BYU *wink wink* :P and he's SMART! hahaha jk, but for real...

well hope everyone has a fantastic thanksgiving and GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS!!! we've already had snow here a few times, just dustings- but its gonna dump soon! :) LOVE YOU!! ♥

:) SISTER JOHNSON ♫ 

If You Could HIKE to Kolob... oh wait, we DID! :P

interesting title? haha only in UT! we hiked ensign peak last monday and we looked at the top of the statue thingey and guess what it said?! KOLOB. i proceeded to announce: "Elders and Sisters, we Hie'd to Kolob." IT WAS LEGIT and awesome... little did i know that the cold, elevation, and intensity of the hike would make my exercise induced asthma kick in... but luckily, i didn't die :P hahaha

we were also able to have a really fun FHE with two of the Tuitopou families- we did 10 comm charades :) 

Tuesday was fun, we got to teach A* and rake leaves and also this happened:

there is a LA man named R*, and to cut the story REALLY short, he had been dodging us when we came over because there was a spirit in his home that would get mad everytime we came over or he prayed or anything. But he finally let us in and we found out and the Young Mens president came over and blessed the home. he was scared because he said the last time he went to church the next day he almost died in a car accident and so he attributed that to god, and we told him that things would happen and that he needed to attribute the good for god and the bad to the adversary... he said he was ready to come back and happy. THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG! well, day before our next lesson he got in another bad accident and almost died and told us not to come over and that he'd come back to church when he was ready. it goes to show that both satan AND GOD have real power and use it in our lives.

Weds i got to be on exchanges with sister Taylor again which made me SO happy, she goes home in 4 weeks so m going to miss her a lot and its going to be really sad, but we are LITERALLY going to be friends forever, we're stuck together :P haha

Thur was awesome- we got to go to the Temple with Rhyan and she did confirmations (she's scared of water) and we got to go watch, it was awesome and the spirit was SO strong, it felt so good to be in the temple again :) it was strange, afterwards we were close to the back entrance and were being ushered out fairly quickly when we realized it was because the first presidency and the quorom of the 12 were coming through- must have slipped my mind that thur mornings they all go to the temple... so, yes, we were out of there pretty quickly :) haha you could definitely FEEL it though, the spirit and power that they carry.

we also found a muslim family this week to teach, from Somalia and i don't know how active in muslim they are because we came in to share a message and they basically ASKED if they could come to church... it was cool, and they are open to learning more and being baptized!! 

Saturday was a cool experience- we did a mission-wide prayer for a "white" christmas (november, december, and coming months with 100+ baptisms!) we called it our MIGHTY PRAYER day/ Enos Day :)

Don't have too much more time to write so imma leave, but i'll write next monday! love you all and have a fantastic week! 

p.s. I'VE BEEN OUT ALMOST A YEAR!!! O.o eeeeek......

:)

♥Sister Johnson ♫

With Sis. Taylor

It was Ella's Bday... so Hannah got creative!!!

Us Crazy Mormons... :P haha

We've been told quite a few times this week how crazy we are, and how we are a cult and how joseph smith was crazy, etc. etc. etc. Each time we go through one of these experiences where people try to pull down our faith and tell us what we believe or what we are, we bear testimony, many times about how god is real and he loves them and we walk away with a smile on our face. i know the gospel has changed my life and so many others, and one day they will realize that-"Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess... that he is God;"

Anyways- this week was pretty good, we were able to stay pretty busy! still lots of cancellations, of course, but thats just Rose Park :P haha

Monday we went to Costco and were in line to buy the stuff and this really awesome member from Park City paid for our groceries- it was so nice! so yeay, mom- i still have my gift card :P haha

we also had a really fun FHE with Godereva and her girls that night at a members home and re-taught the restoration. the girls are slowly starting to understand more- they believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but aren't making the connection that if he was a prophet that this is the true church and they need to be baptized... *sigh*... but its good, they'll get there :)

Tuesday was Transfer day! we were crazy busy and had a HUGELY full night, but its amazing to see how much our zone has already changed in the first week and is becoming more obedient and loving, we have amazing zone leaders who are there to help and it makes us so happy we just want to cry!! :) and we are finding so many african families, its fantastic! most of our investigators are NOT white, which is just so AWEOSME!!! :D

We've had a few really good lessons with our 80 year old investigator this week. he is just so sweet and the least stubborn southern baptist i've EVER met :P haha he can't read well at all, so we got him the book of mormon on CD so he can listen to it and he's excited, its just super hard for him to go to church because of his health- he just takes it day by day... but he is adorable :)

We also had an AMAZING lesson at temple square this week with the T*'s. We took them through "Gods Plan for His Family" and the spirit was SUPER strong... and i was crying in front of people. lets leave it at that... but after we went up to the Christus and when you look out the window you can see the SLC temple lit up against the black sky and we committed the whole family (well both of them- the active and inactive family) to have the temple as their ultimate goal- and the mom who isn't a member said she'll want to get there someday... and her son is getting baptized on Nov. 22 so we're SUPER excited :) 

everything is going so well and we are seeing miracles daily. We'll probably get to go with Rhyan this week when she goes to the temple for the first time to do confirmations (still not a huge fan of water and baptisms) :P This area is just so amazing and people are popping out from all over the place willing and ready to hear the gospel. This is our door approach sometimes and how it goes-

GOOD: hi we're the missionaries blah blah whats your name? (they say name). state our purpose, we were wondering if we could share a message with your family about jesus christ and how his church has been restored through a prophet. africans: sure, come on in! white people: busy right now, can you come back another day? get their information, teach, etc. of course, it doesn't always go that well, but we've been able to see a lot of both this week. Miracles upon miracles and i just love the gospel! :) hope you all have a great week and can't wait to see what miracles the Lord has in store for us this week! :)

♥ SISTER JOHNSON :) ♫

Zone pic before transfers!

Tongan friends at Temple Square!

fall in UT!

Last Week of the Transfer- MIRACLE Baptism!

From her letter dated Nov. 3, 2014

to fully appreciate all the things that have been going on you would have to have been there for all of the prayers we offered, the fasts, the discussions, the planning- but so much was accomplished this week through the hand of the Lord and so many prayers were answered :)

We had a bunch of cancellations this week, which made this difficult. We plan and pray and prepare for these people and then they just say "im busy" or "i need to reschedule" or just aren't there. it stinks, but welcome to rose park :P but in the midst of all the cancellations and disappointment and hardship, we saw miracles and found really prepared people! :)

We found 8 new investigators this week, let me tell you a bit about them:

One is a 16 year old girl from Pakistan, she is Presbyterian and her mom is LDS, but not very active. She was an 8:45miracle, instead of just going in early we were diligent and continued working and found her! she said she is interested in learning more and has actually thought about getting baptized into the LDS church before- now how many times do you hear that on your mission? not too often, let me tell you :P haha

We also found this 13 year old boy. We knocked on his door looking for his brother and found him, and asked to share a message. his family is fairly catholic but not super active in the religion. We shared about the restoration and asked if he had any questions- he said he wanted to know if there was a heaven and hell, if he would see his family again after he died and if he needed to be cleansed from sin... needless to say, he is pretty prepared!! :) 

We also found a sudanese family of 6 who are open to taking lessons from us and open to baptism if they know its true! things are going really well and we are seeing miracles left and right! :)

Friday night we had dinner with Godereva (actually how you spell her name) and her daughters. it was so fun and i got to try MORE african food- stew and fufu! weird... but actually pretty good. AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME MOM?! :P haha

and saturday- we had two baptisms! Godereva and Rhyan got baptized and it was such a good day! everything went smoothly and the spirit was so strong. it just makes me so happy to see these daughters of God enter into that covenant (promise) with Him to follow Christ forever and take His name upon them and keep the commandments. they are incredible :) 

Also- one of our investigators came to the baptism and she came up to us after and said she wanted to change her baptism date from March 10 to... November 22!! :) we've been praying and praying and she finally said, through praying about it that she wants to get baptized earlier!! :) so many miracles this week and so much good- i cant even write it all! :)

Cultural experiences: i got to eat FuFu and Jilaf rice, food from africa (two different families) and it was cool- guess what?! i'm eating spicy food- you should be extra proud of me... ;P haha

Hope your week was fantastic, this new transfer is starting and we get to stay together in the same area and continue to work hard and see miracles- but i only have 5 transfers left!! O.o eeek! its just not enough time and its scary, but i'll keep working hard and being obedient :) love you and have a great week!! :)

SISTER JOHNSON ♥ ♫

Godereva and her daughters

Fufu and Stew. 

I always tell her that I miss her face... so she's good and sending me reminders.

Such a great big sister! Pepper turned 16 on Monday.

Another Great Week in Rose Park!! :)

From her letter dated Oct 27^, 2014

We started off having a lot of fun this week!! :) its been full of crazyness, cancellations, and miracles, of course!! :P haha

Monday we had lots of fun with the YSA sisters (Tranchina and Shields) and took fun fall pictures- it was a blast- to say the least :) we also biked around a ton and played frisbee and basketball

Tuesday we made cookies with Sister Verrill- one of the members who helps lots- to deliver to investigators and LA's and members. AND WE FOUND J*! he is our new investigator, he is from North Carolina and is in his 70's- he is so sweet!! He's Methodist but we walked about prophets and when we invited him to be baptized he said, "well, i dont know- but i think i'd want to follow the advice of a prophet!" it was ADORABLE!!

We also found S* this week! We were contacting a LA family and asked if they knew anyone we could stop by and share a message with and they said to go see the house on the corner- we did- and he said we could come back! he's separated from his wife, and living alone and used to be a preacher but he's willing to test out the gospel- its AWESOME!! :)

We also did a Q&A with the 2nd ward YW and it went really well- we talked about missionary work and the spirit was there the whole time. the youth are really excited to come out with us too, which is awesome! 

Thursdays we usually see a trend where the work is awesome- and it definitely was the trend this week! :D We had 12 set lessons- and half of them didn't go through- but we had 7 of them which is still awesome AND 4 of them were with investigators!! YAY! We also did a Power Hour with sister Stratton and Bennett. A power hour is when both sets split and are in one area so you are getting double work done- it was fun and we got so gauge what else we can help them with. 

G* is doing really well! its been a tough week for her- don't know if i mentioned this or not but last saturday she last really important documents (Social Security, I-94, etc) for her and her daughters- on the bus. So she's been looking all week and calling and praying but nothing yet- and she has had no peace or comfort and been really worried. we had multiple lessons last week with her in preparation for her baptism and last night when we saw her she was so unsettled and sad, so we called the fellowship and she got a blessing- it was amazing because even though she couldn't understand much of it at all i know the spirit spoke to her and comforted her through that Priesthood power and that everything will be OK. she was crying after the blessing :) and her girls are on the verge of deciding to be baptized- i  think the baptism on saturday will be a big turning point. 

and funny quote of the week from Akira, our 11 year old investigator who has taken lessons and FINALLY wants to be baptized: "no offense to the elders- but i think you guys were sent here for me because i like you better and you help me understand better" It was so funny. Not that Elders aren't great, but sisters were definitely needed here because the work is doubling-TRIPILING!! its great to see how far its come from when we were there the first week to now, LAST WEEK OF THE TRANSFER!!! We'd better both stay...

Sunday we were at church from 7am-4pm with all the meetings and everything. We had a youth talk last night as well with the 2nd ward as well and it was ALL about missionary work- that is the focus for the ward along with the youth, especially getting the YM on missions- ITS SO GREAT!!

Well, not TOO much else for this week- we keep finding, teaching, and the baptisms are coming! its amazing to see all of these children of God coming to Christ- Remind me next week to tell you about Alex's story- its awesome :) 

KEEP THE FAITH! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON ♫ ♪

fall pictures!!

making cookies!!

morning crepes! :) 

service project!

1st ward Halloween party!!