Baptism of Water, Baptism of Fire

this week, of course has been really rough, we've seen miracles and the lords hand everywhere in the little things, bring miracles and tender mercies. but i'm grateful for all the trials, the tears, the changes- as hard as they are. There's so much to write and so little time, so i'll try to condense it as much as possible. 

We were doing companion study on thursday morning and all the sudden we hear crying or laughing from the living room where the other sisters study and we go out to see, and they are just sobbing on the floor, as as we go over to hug them and ask whats wrong, they say, "sister hansen died." we were so confused, but once we realized what had happened, we were just in tears together. Sister Carol Hansen is the wife of our mission president, and she passed away on Jan 21st. We'd seen her earlier that day (actually when we dropped the blanket off, tender mercy...) and she looked completely fine. but she was at the mission home that night and she'd just collapsed. thats all we know. its so hard on our mission, because she and president are the leaders and who we rely on for spiritual strength. and we just can't fathom her being gone. 

Miracles this week though! C* decided she's going to be baptized! we called  yesterday morning for her to come to church, and long story short, when she did she sat down next to me and said, "i want to be baptized!" so, feb 7th is the day we talked about! it makes me so happy, because i know in her heart she really does know that its true :) AAAND we saw m* and r* this week and they came to church, and they've BOTH decided to be baptized now, so they'll both the baptized on Feb 21st! :D So many miracles in the last week of my serving in Rose Park, because the news is- TRANSFERS! And they're kicking me out of the city and sending me up the hill to North Salt Lake! yes, where the apostles are, where its like 90% mormon, where i cover 28 WARDS!! but it will be a new challenge, and i'm really excited! :) i'm really sad to leave Rose Park though, i love it so much. 

Saturday morning we had a memorial service that was just for family and missionaries. everyone was really emotional, and of course it was the first time we'd seen president since, actually, the Monday before when we were supposed to have interviews. But we saw him, and he just looked so peaceful and happy. it made us cry even more. but he got up and spoke to us, and the first thing he did was show us his temple marriage certificate. he said, "some one asked me if i was ok. How can i not be ok? i'm married to carol hansen :)" aaaaaand the tears. one other thing he said that really stuck with me. as we got the initial call, he wanted us to know three things: 1) he loves us. this i know and feel on almost a daily basis. 2) we are busy missionaries- this is true, considering we are in Rose Park and there is so much work to do! 3) we can do hard things. I know this is true because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and what it made possible. i love my heavenly father and as i spoke in the 1st ward sacrament meeting i talked about these three points in relation to Him. He loves us, we have things to do in this life, and he knows we can get through hard things. I know President Hansen will still appreciate prayers, i've been able to feel the prayers and love too. Sister Hansen was an amazing woman and it was shown by the support at the funeral this morning- members of the 70, including the presidency of the 70, Elder arnold, elder Katcher, Elder Clayton, and Elder Oaks, who read a letter from the first presidency sent to president hansen. i'm excited for a new adventure and can't wait to see whats to come- three left, see you next week! :) love you!

♥ SISTER JOHNSON :)

p.s. i forgot to put about maombi's baptism! it was so good, the spirit was so strong, we even got a nonmember to play the piano for us! :) love you and have a great week- talk you you soon! and i don't need anything, im doing good. 

I (Hannah's mom) added this...

Sis. Holbrook wrote on her blog something important that Elder Oaks, an Apostle, said... this is from her blog:

At the end of the funeral today, Elder Oaks turned to the missionaries in the back - all 220 

of us - and said with great power, "GO and do thou likewise." 

Sister Hansen was a great example to these missionaries! Hannah is sad for her loss... and that her mission President will be released now. Sometime in the next few weeks they will get a new Pres. :(

At Sis. Hansen's Funeral (Thanks Jeni for the photo!)

D&C 4

this week was amazing, of course! a few crazy experiences as usual, i mean, we are in Rose Park! But it was a pretty chill week. Monday president was running super late in interviews, so we had to reschedule and we'll have them this Wednesday.LEADERSHIP PROBS ;P haha but pday was really chill, and it was raining and hailing and slushing- crazy utah weather :)

This week our days have definitely been getting a lot busier, and this next week is going to be psychotic crazy busy- we're scrambling to find time to teach everyone AND trying to find new people to teach- but wait, there's more! :P 

M* and R* are doing well, its just super hard because they have very LEGIT reasons to cancel and miss church, like a thrown out back, or throwing up. but we know its just the adversary!! But m* was able to come to a baptism this last saturday which was really good, because the spirit was so strong and at the beginning she said, "i'm glad i came because now i KNOW this is what i want to do" Miracles, ladies and gentlemen :)

Tuesday we had a really good leadership meeting with Elder Katcher of the 70 there (he talked in last conference) and he talked about Faith, Diligence, and Obedience. he and president Hansen are really good friends, perks of having your mission president be a emeritus member of the 70 (not sure i spelled that right...) but it was a good meeting! the mission is progressing and changing so much, i feel so blessed to be here :) and transfers are in 1 WEEK!! O.o crazy...

 Wed was the first day in a REALLY long time we didn't have any set appointments, but we did end up teaching m*- so here's what happened with her: on exchanges on saturday, i was gone last saturday) and i came back and sister pearson told me that she had basically dropped us, which was heart wrenching. we gave it a few days and stopped by one night, she looked happy to see us! the next day, G* AND Sister M* both called us saying that M* wanted to apologize and was just saying "forgive me!" so we had a lesson and she said since that day she wasn't happy and didn't have the spirit, and wa just down- so she's still on track for being baptized this saturday! YAYAYAY!! it was close, because she called Sunday morning and said she was sick (well, her translator...) but we weren't going to give  up that easy! we called the new WML in the 1st ward and he was able to come over with another member and give her a blessing and she came to church and then that night we reviewed the baptismal questions and she passed! so new we just have to finish teaching everything, have the actual interview, and figure out how to get her, her 1 year old, and her 94 year old aunt to the stake center on saturday for the baptism!! :D MISSIONARY PROBS. 

Wed night for mutual, one of the wards (2nd) went to temple square and we watched the "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" movie, and J*, our investigator came too. it was so good, i love watching that movie because you really can't deny the spirit when you do. its incredible :) and there was at least one youth who i KNOW got their testimony of the prophet that night, and it really helped j* too, He even asked some questions! :D

Thursday i got to have sister Fernandez with me on exchanges, and it was a SUPER busy day- and our WML hadn't set us up a dinner- so we ended up coming in, scrounging up whatever was around, and voila! Delicious veggie fried rice :P haha but we ahd a good time, she is a great sister and seems like she's been out longer (maybe cause she's a little older) but she's actually only been out 6 weeks longer than me! 

Saturday we were able to eat breakfast with bishop starr and his family and then go on visits with him. I'm so grateful for good ward leadership and members who are dedicated to the gospel and their callings, just serving others! it helps me see what to do and what not to do when i have callings and when i'm a member in a ward :)

Also, crazy! so the sister that went to the hospital for the concussion? she's fine- but her companion had to go to the hospital yesterday because they got out of church and sister avery said, "i can't feel my legs, or my arm or half of my face". she was completely numb by the time they got to the hospital. she's fine now, but she has to go see a neurologist, it was something about a migrane. weird, but she's good now! LEADERSHIP PROBS :P but we love our sisters and love seeing them grow and progress into even more incredible missionaries. our zone and mission has improved SOO much in just the last 6 months from what i've been able to see, it still has a ways to go, but its not so much leaps and bounds anymore, but normal walking :) 

The reason i titled my letter D&C 4, is because we had a stake youth fireside yesterday to kickoff the theme and to get the youth more involved in missionary work, and since it was partly our idea (the format anyway) we were asked to take a few minutes and speak. we just bore testimony about the blessings that come from living and sharing the gospel, because its so true! Matthew 5 is one of my favorite chapters too, about salt and light- read it :) and watch this video:

 

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/embark-in-the-service-of-god-2015-theme-song?lang=eng 

its good, and i love the music! :) but more the message. 

hope you all have a great week, keep the faith, and embark in the service of God- go out and share the good news! :)

♥ SISTER JOHNSON :) 

What Had Happened...

ok, so literally a CRAZY STRESSFUL EVERYTHING week. More Murphys law, but there were good things too!

Tuesday we had MLC and Elder Arnold (70) came back and did a follow-up from the mission tour he did in August, it was great! We also do a stewardship meeting with President with us and the Zone Leaders about the progress of the zone and individual missionaries which went well too. we've been teaching more after these holidays which is nice to be getting it back up.

Miracle #1: We went to visit a semi-LA man whose wife just left him and took all the kids because she got off her bipolar medications. it was really sad, but he's finding a lot of support and peace from the gospel. but we went bu to set up an appointment last week, and this week we came back and shared a mormon message and a prayer, talked to him, etc. as we were leaving, he was talking to the member about how he'd been praying and reading the scriptues and wondering if he would ever get his daughter back, when he felt peace and knew he would. then who knocks on his door, but the missionaries- US! it was amazing to hear that God really does place us in peoples paths that need us, and we'd just talked about the day before about being answers to peoples prayers :)

we've had some stress with sisters this week and worries, but tis the life of a sister training leader- its just so hard to be like the savior- correct as needed, but show the perfect amount of love! because if you don't correct, there will always be disobedience and never any blessings- and if you don't show love, the missionaries won't be happy or know that you do love them. its a hard balance, we're getting there- working more on the love part this week :)

Miracle #2: So, friday morning Marta gave us a call and earlier the week we had invited her to be baptized on feb 7th and she said, "wow. i got a hot flash but i don't know if its good or bad, so i'll pray about it". guess what? she prayed about it. "i got the warm feeling again, so i'm gonna do it!" it was amazing, and her back went out so she wasn't able to get to church, but we were just so happy we almost cried! R* is getting there, still praying and we've also met with her a little less and she's only been to church once- M* is in 2 nephi already! we're so happy we want to cry :)

Miracle #3: So, we had this referral from a few people in the area saying, "um, well, i think they're phillipino?" So we stopped by the neighbor who was a member to get more info and as soon as we left we see the woman outside, and her name is J*. Apparantely she is a LA member and has had such a hard life, but she's from Guatamala, and served a mission after she joined the church. But she literally needed us in that moment, she was just breaking down. God answers prayers thorough us, i testify that is true! :)

CRAZY STORY! O.o ok, so this is one i'll probably tell my kids (or cats) one day. We were in our zone meeting and had to leave the room for about 15-20 minutes to watch videos about the Gift of Tongues. After the meeting, we realized that 5 missionary bags had literally been STOLEN out of the church building!! they were just gone! two had personal credit cards, and when they called home to cancel them one had already been used... so, ya. bad people. welcome to ROSE PARK! :P haha but poor elder tauai, he's been out 4 weeks from samoa and had $2000 in his bag, and the bag was a gift from his father, and it was stolen!! money, cameras, personal credit cards, luckily sister pearson didn't have really anything personal stolen. stinks though! had to call the police and everything! :P my bag luckily was safe, they were taken really randomly. but it WAS amazing to see the reactions, obviously people were sad because of things stolen, but it really goes to show what is really important- we don't take any of those things with us when we die, and whoever took the things will be held accountable- on the other hand, blessings come from trials, so we are expecting to see a lot of miracles in Rose Park now :P haha

M* kinda dropped us, more on that next week, we're still trying to figure out the situation; we went on exchanges on saturday and it was yet another crazy day- not a good day exchanges, for future reference. But things really are going well, interviews today, two weeks left of the transfer, baptisms coming up (hopefully jan 31st for j* as well, maybe still the 24th for m*?)

I love the Lord, i love this work, great things are happening and hope all is well with everyone- 

LOVE YOU! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON

pics: funeral lunch after the crime scene investigation, chocolate, crime scene sketch by sister pearson, sister weber left again so we had a final pic:) , sister pearson realizing you can peel a grapefruit!! :P 

p.s. if you've never had jicima, repent and go eat come! its great :)

Word of the Week: INTERREGNUM

now you might say to yourself, what is that?! it sounds like some weird medical term! "im sorry, but we're going to have to preform an interregnum". Well, its actually the space of time after a prophet dies where the first presidency is dissolved and become the quorum of the twelve (well, more) apostles until a new prophet is called- isn't that interesting? :) food for thought!

this week has been crazy, miraculous, fun, and so much more- here is a bit of a snapshot :)

Monday we had a snowball fight as a zone, it was a blast! it reminded me of home and playing in the snow with my sisters and dad- mom would stay inside with the hot chocolate and wait for us to come in freezing ;P hahaha jk. but it was fun, and cold, and just a blast :) we also went to target and sister pearson found a good deal on boots and we got matching boots! they're cute! :) 

I also got to be on exchanges with sister Gonzales on tuesday, which was so fun! she's only been a member for 1 year and 5 months- she has a strong personality and testimony and is just the sweetest :) but it was good, we had a lot of lessons that day and only less than 50% flakiness rate! 

New Years was really fun too! yes, definitely crocheting up a storm :P haha we were FORCED to be in from 5-9 watching Disney movies (oh no...) which i didn't have TOO much of a problem with. we were GOING to watch Tangled, but they forget to ask for it- so we watched Finding Nemo, Mulan, and the first 30 minutes of Emperors New Groove. it was good, and the whole time we were crocheting and making headbands and stuff :) it was awesome!! and this week has been absolutely FREEZING!! it was like 10 degrees and we just broke 30, so the snow is starting to melt, but we'll have a bit of a warm spell this week, in the low 30's/40's. 

M* and Ra* are doing really well, as well as Mi! in M*'s lesson (R* was feeling not good, back problems) but in the lesson M* said they'd really been talking about baptism and they both feel like they will be really soon! they won't really accept a date, but once they decide, they'll want to be baptized ASAP :) and M* is understand and came to church again, and said she's ready- remember, this is the woman who was baptized probably a month and a half ago 7th Day Adventist- but she understands priesthood authority and it really happy when we come and teach, despite the fact that she doesn't understand whats going on in church or in lessons without a translator. 

And this week was Godelive, M*, Confiance, and Innocent's birthday the 31st and the 1st! so, naturally, we made a cake :) it was fun, Godelive turned 50- she is like another mother. and yesterday in Sacrament meeting she got up and bore her testimony and Claudine translated for her. She expressed immense gratitude for the gospel and said she was grateful for sister pearson and i staying by her through many of her hard times. it made me cry, but i just felt immense gratitute for Heavenly Father bringing her into my life, being able to teach her and see her grow in the gospel, we've taken her to M*'s lessons and also to another LA lady who was going through a rough time, and her english is getting a lot better too! she relies so much on God and just has so much love for him and others. She is just incredibly Christlike and strong :)

we were also able to FINALLY take our investigator J* to a baptism this week! we went on saturday and he really liked it and felt the spirit- and he's more solid on date for Jan 31st now :) our teaching took a dip these last few weeks because of the holidays, but they're definitely on their way back up now! :) 

well, its been a great week. halfway done with this transfer, and miracles will keep happening. this zone will keep seeing miracles and reaching goals and soaring higher and higher, as well as this mission :) love you all and have a fantastic week! :)

SISTER JOHNSON :)

Did I Hear Someone Say CHRISTMAS?! :) (dated 12/29/14)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

this week has been fantastic, with christmas eve and christmas. Teaching has been a bit slower, but we've still taught a lot. Finding has been hard. but still loving the "He is the Gift" initiative, its really great for members and street contacts. 

Basically, this week was great- and i learned how to Crochet!! :D yes indeed, i can officially be a grandma now- licensed and everything :P hahaha jk but its a great skill! 

last week we did a white elephant for pday and i got a nose flute- BEST. GIFT. EVER... :) haha

We also got to go on exchanges which was great, we went with sister stratton and avery and we found a new investigator in their area and helped them with the things they are working on- i love being a Sister Training Leader- its not the easiest job in the world, but you get to help a lot, which i love to do- speaking of helping, we got to take sister stratton back to the hospital in the east mission because her pupils have been dilated and she's had migrane's and been forgetful and scattered since her concussion- but apparantely, everything is fine- she just has to limit activity that raises her heart rate- which is basically ANYTHING. 

Christmas Eve Rundown: Breakfast at President Starrs house which was great, he's a really great stake president (his brother is the Bishop of the 2nd ward where i skyped from). Basically for a lot of the day we were going around and sharing messages, caroling to people, then we had dinner with the Boyds and then the Jones which was great! Then spent the remainder of the evening at the Lewis's home and watched their nativity slideshow.... then it was....

CHRISTMAS!!!!! :D and it snowed a boatload. it was great. we fasted and prayed a LOT for snow, not only for a white christmas but also because we need it if we aren't going to be in a drought this summer. But it was great! and its snowing a lot again today (and yesterday we got a lot). So of course, we opened our presents which was fun- even more fun when you live in an apartment with four sister missionaries :) Then we got ready, did studies, had breakfast with the Starrs in 2nd ward, then SKYPED HOME! :) it was so nice to see my family i love them so much... and of course Dad had to be a stinker and make me pray at the end resulting in the shedding of tears and puffy eyes and red face. so, ya. not so fun part- but i got to see their faces and talk with them! it was the third skype of my mission and i have one more to go- which will be like 2ish weeks before i go home... O.o eeek! After skyping we had brunch with the Davis's (Rhyan the RC) and we played "Settlers of Catan" which was fun! Visited people, ate dinner with Samoans in the 3rd ward (yes, poly food and it filled us up!) then spent some time at Godelives house with her girls, mostly claudine. We played sorry with her and Godelive made us eat MORE food- it was good, but we were stuffed full to the brim! :P

Ok, funny moment of the week: we were eating dinner last night with a family in the first ward who brought sister bugingo (whose name is actually sister mukamisha apparantely...) and in the middle of dinner she leans over and whispers something. Because of her accent and my bad hearing, i thought she said "there's a bun in the oven" and after some clarification, she actually was saying she left a chicken in the oven and went home to take it out- but it cracked me up :P haha

Funny moment #2: our investigator J* was supposed to come to a baptism and we had a ride set up and everything. We get there and the spanish sisters call and this is the conversation: "so, they brought the wrong person..." us: "what? who did they bring" them: "his name is herrardo, he's LA- he's his uncle- and he's drunk..." it was definitely comical. He didn't make it to the baptism but he did make it to church for the first time this sunday!! :) Mawombi also came to church for the first time (Godelive's sister) which was so exciting- she definitely felt the spirit really strong :) 

Well, hope this new years week is great, everyone set goals- and don't base them around more money and less fat- make goals that will actually make a difference in your life and others lives. TREASURES IN HEAVEN PEOPLE! :) \

ALSO...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! :) I ♥ YOU LOTS AND MISS YOUR FACE!

-L♥VE, Sister Johnson :)

Hannah's bitty stocking

And a big one probably from her companion's family. #momfail

I MISS HER FACE SO MUCH!!!

Such a Hannah face!

Merry Christmas!! :) p.s. MURPHYS LAW IS REAL. (dated 12/22/14)

Merry christmas and ndagukunda! :) this has been a crazy week, i'll just say some of the miracles and crazyness! :P haha

So, J* and A* (still not quite sure about their last names...) got baptized on saturday! Friday they had their interview and their mom dropped them off and said to call her when they were done- we told her there was paperwork and she said to come by that night to fill it out. then after the interview- she wouldn't pick up her phone. so we found them a member ride and went by later that night- and she wasn't home. So we get to the baptism on sat morning when they're supposed to be there- and they weren't there. so we went to track them down and then finally they got there WHEN the baptism was about to start- and their parents dropped them off and then LEFT! and the paperwork hadn't been signed or filled out, so there was no parental permission- so they couldn't get baptized! we tried calling and calling and FINALLY we got the dad to pick up and 30 minutes later he came and signed the papers and we started the baptism. it was so crazy and so stressful, we almost had a heart attack. but it happened! :) seriously a miracle...

That same day we were taking Godelive to the temple for the first time to do baptisms, it was so exciting! and the adversary DOESN'T want people, especially recent converts going to the temple. first, we were driving down the road and a dog literally ran into our car and sister pearson thought it was a child and we though it had died and we were freaking out. sister davis (Rhyans mom) was driving and she went to look for it crossing a busy road twice but no luck. we just prayed it was either ok or died quickly. it was so sad, i almost cried :( then Ines, the translator forgot her temple recommend in the car and we had to go look it up at the front of the temple. and it was a saturday afternoon- so the Salt Lake Temple was CRAZY BUSY!! but after waiting for quite a while Godelive got to do confirmations and watch baptisms- the spirit was so strong and she loved it! peace really does come after all the trials- once you get into the temple, its mostly good :P 

and at the second ward christmas party i played piano and sang a song- which probably wasn't very good because i started getting sick (its full blast now) and i sounded like a frog- but the spirit was there! :D and bishop starr read the REALLY long story about Stubby Pringle- its like 12-15 minutes long, but hey, its funny! haha

Another miracle! we had our dinner cancel yesterday and we really need to eat with members so we can help them do missionary work, so went into a church room and prayed that someone would offer us dinner- all t through church we kept waiting and finally after the last ward had finished someone offered! and they had their less-active son and non-member friend there! it was a real miracle and we definitely told God thank you :)

ANOTHER MIRACLE!! we set goals for the transfer and really want to work more with Less- Actives so we can reactivate more and strenthen the wards. So we prayed for it! That night we planned on stopping by a former (who is crazy... like really, he's crazy...) so we could show him He Is The Gift. So we went over and as we were sharing it with him and his vietnamese girlfriend, a car drives up and she says, 'i want to set up a lesson with you guys!" turns out her name is Monica and she was baptized in kerns with her husband almost a year ago and then moved to california, is separated and wants a divorce, and is 19 and a single mom with one on the way. and she really wants to come back to church, be active and have callings! :D its amazing how God literally just puts people RIGHT in your path when you ask for it!

we also started teaching Godelive's sister, M*- who speaks less english than she does, but she's super sweet and we're super excited!

WE HAD OUR MISSION CHRISTMAS PARTY!! it was so fun and the members here are so loving and generous, they donated presents for us! and WE GOT TO WATCH FROZEN. i cried. because A) it was a good movie and sad at a few parts. B) it was a disney movie and i missed it! :P haha

hope all is well, i love you lots and see you later this week! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON

Great photo of Sis. Johnson and Sis. Pearson... BEAUTIFUL Sisters!

She loved seeing Sis. Latham, her "daughter".

♥ ONTO TRANSFER #3 with SISTER PEARSON!! :D (dated 12/15/14)

yes, the good news is that we get to stay together in the same area!! i thought for sure i was leaving- but god was laughing at me and decided to let me stay instead, which is great! not super common to stay with a companion more than 2 transfers especially after a whitewash, but we are soooo excited and can't wait to keep working our booties off and baptize everyone!!

So this week was great! It was sister taylors last pday as a missionary so we emailed and then went to Rancheritos for lunch... it was pretty good :) other than that it was a pretty normal pday, little bit of phase 10, little bit of piano, the usual :) had a fun FHE with the jones and brandon to! lesson with Jerry, he's going to work on getting the priesthood after he quits smoking. So many people are progressing well here, we're excited we get to stay and see the fruits of all of our labors! :)

We've just been teaching a lot which is fantastic and keeps us REALLY busy. Tue we taught a lot of lessons and we helped an investigator and her mom (who became a NEW investigator) answer one of the questions they've had about the church for like their whole life about joseph smith! we went back three days later and they'd read and they had questions and are SOOO excited to keep learning and eventually get baptized. they won't accept a date yet, but said when they know its true they'll get baptized ASAP :) we also added a former investigator family from bosnia- they are muslim- but believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God... confusing? yes. the muslim is more of the culture and family thing. but there are 7 OF THEM that are baptism age, so we added 9 investigators in one day! O.o if the dad can just decide to get baptized, they will most likely ALL get baptized- exciting!! :D

We also made our investigators treats this week- we made white chocolate peppermint pretzels, which was so fun! we also had this really amazing miracle this week! So when sister pearson and i first got to the area we contacted a lady named G* who said her husband was a LA member of the Samoan ward and that she'd always wanted to go to Gospel Principles. we tried and tried to set up lessons and get her to church, but it just didn't happen. TWO Sundays ago she came to church, but she asked someone where to go and they said they didn't know... so she left because she felt out of place... but she found our number and called us! So we set up a Church Tour for Wednesday and we were scared it wasn't actually going to happen... but she came!! And the spirit there was SO strong and we invited her to be baptized on January 10th, which she accepted! we told her hard things would come up (because they always do) and that she needs to rely on the gospel to get her through. It was just amazing to see how the Lords timing really is perfect and his plan as well :) 

Friday we took Sister Taylor to the temple for the session with president and departing missionaries and it was sad- we realized that it would be a while till we saw each other again- but that we will, so we aren't too worried :) we've just been so busy teaching this week and feeling the spirit all the time- amidst all the crazy STL stuff, like sleepovers (with a purpose- sister taylor went home last night so her comp sister soelberg had to stay with us :P haha), power hours, weekly planning, emergency exchanges because of breakdowns- but hey, we still taught 26 lessons (not counting the few we couldn't get members to) and we'll be having two baptisms this saturday! :D

We're excited we get to stay for christmas and new years in this area and the members are really happy too :) for some reason... people like us. its really weird, but when our stake president said he called the mission president to ask if we could stay- we think he may have been serious... :P haha but love you all and we'll talk to you over email next week... and SKYPE! excited, love to all of everybody everwhere! :) SING CHRISTMAS FOR ME!! :D

♫ SISTER JOHNSON :) ♥ 

Beautiful Sister Missionaries!

"Every Smile is a Victory"- Sister Johnson (letter dated 12/8/14)

this was a quote from me this week. "Every Smile is a Victory" and no, im not depressed or anything, i promise :P my thought process mostly focused on the atonement and what kinds of things make us smile- think about it and it will make sense- at least, it makes me smile... ;P

this has been a pretty great week though! we taught 17 lessons with a member there to investigators and 9 lessons to Recent Converts and Less Active members- and we've been having less cancellations!! :D

last pday we got to play indoor sand vollyball which was fun- it was like being at the beach again!! i miss it- but i love this work so luckily i don't miss it too much ;P haha we also were able to teach lots of investigators that night- we are staying SO busy!

Tuesday was a great day- we had Zone Conference... and I LOVE ZONE CONFERENCE! it was cool, it was actually at the Centerville South Stake Center- my first area! and President Hollingshead was there (first stk president i got to work with) and sister taylor was there- it was weird- but a good weird :) We got to do a special musical number at the end of zone conference and it was lots of fun- i recorded it, so i promise to show you one day mom :) we also got to eat tongan food for dinner that night- which was interesting, to say the least...

Wed was awesome! we were on exchanges so i was in the Riverside area (the REAL sketchy Rose Park) and i got to be with Sister Avery- this is her third transfer out. she's a great sister and i could tell she just wants to get out there and work her booty off :P but it was fun, we talked to lots of people and did a lot of #SharetheGift :) (BTW, have you shared the gift yet? if not- GET ON IT!!) :)

aaaand..... wed was my official "i've been a missionary in UT for a whole year" mark- the one year anniversary since i got my first companion in the field- AAAAH! and they are changing transfers some- so i may actually come home on the 1st of June- it would make me sad though!! :( 

but things are going good! we are getting more referrals, things are going GREAT up here in Rose Park! i love it here and i know the work we are doing really IS GODS! :) 

ok, also yesterday was fast sunday... so in one of the wards this guy gets up there and in the middle of his testimony proceeds to call one of the youth out over the pulpit and accuse him of stealing his tithing money and telling him to confess- then says i love you have a merry christmas! we were all very appalled... one of the counselors in the bishopric got up and said the issue was being taken care of - but we felt so bad- thats so awkward and MEAN! O.o

and then in another ward... one of the Recent Converts we're teaching (i'm pretty sure they had a lesson about tithing...) got up and said, 'i know this church is true and that if you don't pay tithing you'll get burned at the last day. in the name of jesus christ amen"... it was hilarious- and true! :P hahaha 

The girls are doing well- C* is getting really close to her answer- the thing thats holding her back is she thinks her catholic ancestors (grandpa who was a bishop, etc.) will be upset with her if she gets baptized- but get this: she got up in sacrament meeting and bore her testimony saying she knows the church is true and that joseph smith is a prophet and that she loves YW :P it was so precious and the spirit was so strong- it will happen!! :)

but transfers are next week, i'll let you know what happens- i REALLY think im leaving, but i have no idea- i've been in Rose Park as the STL for 3 transfers now, so i could very possibly see it happening. but have a great week and KEEP THE FAITH! :)

Pres. Hansen

Her Trainer, Nat Taylor... her last pday in the field.

Trip to the East Mission Anyone? :P (letter dated 12/1/14)

the title i will explain later in the email... and then you'll laugh :) haha but its been a pretty good week- full of ups and downs, tears, and miracles. SO, HERE GOES NOTHING! :D

Monday after temple and emailing we taught lessons because Thanksgiving was made our proselyting day, we taught J* (who is doing really well!) and when we got there he was listening to the Book of Mormon... with a bowl of popcorn! it was so adorable! he's listening more now and starting to Slooowwwly get there, but he's going out of town for all of December, so we're super bummed about that :( we also had a lesson with V*. OK, miracles that come from fulfilling your calling: One of the members was just going around trying to recruit for scouting and invited two of the boys he ran into to come to church and scouts- we've gotten THREE new investigators from that and they are ALL on date for baptism! its so AWESOME!!! haha they're really sweet Young Men who are just trying to figure out life and what religion they should be a part of :)

Another miracle this month: Our zone reached our goal of 19 baptisms and 32 reactivations, which is amazing, considering our average for the last year was about 8 baptisms per month. a COMPLETE miracle!! we've had a problem in the zone (and mission), a struggle with keeping people on date for baptism but we only had 3 pushed back and they're getting baptized this saturday! we are so happy that the Lord was able to bring so many souls back to him this month and our zone is improving SO much in diligence and obedience- not perfect, but definitely getting LOADS better :)

Thanksgiving was fantastic! it was our pday so we spend lots of it blasting christmas music and cooking for the feast we were going to- well, sister pearson made pumpkin cupcakes and i cooked stuffing and made cheeseball- everyone loved it and the best part- Leftovers and it tasted like home!! :D We are with the Tuitupous and their whole family and then we went around sharing the "He is the Gift" message with families and its so good. if you haven't seen the video yet, go NOW! christmas.mormon.org, go to the site, watch the video, and #SharetheGift :)

Ok. Friday we had an adventure. we visited Sister Stratton and Avery's nightly planning to just check up on them and we heard the story of how sister stratton had done a barrell roll off her bike and hit her head and landed on her arm. So, obviously, we told her to call sister hansen. We get home, and at like 10:20ish we get a call. "Sister Stratton needs to go to the hospital." so, we proceed to drive her to the LDS IHC hospital in the Avenues... in the East Mission... and are there till 3 IN THE MORNING. yes, i was tired the next day... but it was definitely an adventure! she had to get xrays and cat scan or MRI, i cant remember... but she just has a mild concussion, which is good. we were starting to get loopy though, we all got to know each other really well :P haha 

i was not feeling good on saturday, possibly from lack of sleep, immune system down, i dont know. but we still worked! i checked the email for papers from the Assistants, and i saw the email from mom about Elder Leavitt... i was just in shock and immedietly started praying. we went to a baptism that night for Sister Stratton and Avery and took Jayna, one of our investigators. it was a great baptism, and even with all the little mess ups, the spirit was definitely still there! :)

Sunday i was fasting and praying and we sang in one of the sacrament meetings (for the 3rd ward) and we had ALL of Godelive's family there: her, her son I*, C*, E*, and C* :) and lots of LA came too! Sister Pearson and i sang "I know that my redeemer lives", the EFY version. I was more-nervous than usual, but hey- i got through it!

I love the gospel and this work! everythings is going well and prayer, fasting, and faith is real! :) love you all and have a great week! :)

♥ SISTER JOHNSON :)