Permission to Leave Mission Boundries... ALL OF THEM :P

explanation of title later :)

this week has been crazy as ever, but really good of course- lets see what i can remember :)

Monday we had a super fun sisters p-day- badminton, flew kites, played apples to apples, fooseball, air hockey, vollyball- SO GOOD! :) all in all, it was an awesome day except for the fact that all our appointments cancelled- so we tried to visit some people, which is hard on mon nights, but then we had exchanges with Sister Holbrook and Hay, and man was that fun!

I got to spend all of Tuesday with sister holbrook who is an absolutely amazing missionary- but she just happened to have a doctors appointment in Sandy that day... so, i have officially been in all of the Salt Lake Missions (passing through, dr. appts, etc.)... while still on my mission. Welcome to my life- now how many missionaries can say that? :P 

Also, we had interviews that morning! I love President and Sister Spendlove, they are absolutely amazing- and i may do this for their name instead because its shorter and awesome: $♥

I love interviews. the end. super helpful, like therapy :)

We then had to take the car to the dealership and instead of telling us how long we were supposed to wait, we sat in the waiting room for 3-4 hours and no one came and said anything... and then when we asked they still hadn't even looked for it.  we definitely needed a car, so we were able to get a temporary one. And then she was just feeling really sick and i was grateful it was me with her. She and her comp are both awesome and tearing up their area (in a good way) :) Also, it was St. Patricks day... didn't do anything special.

Thur we did weekly planning, had a super great District Meeting. Murphy's Law applies again in my mission- anything that can go wrong, will go wrong- and its usually all at the same time in many aspects of life. For example, when something happens to one sister, all the other ones start falling apart. But i'm just grateful that we're able to help them in any way we can :)   

We got to go to a mission call opening of a girl who we take on splits with us and i think it was the first one since i opened my own- which was over 18 months ago... crazy! But of course, they had a place to guess and i guessed WA state- she got called to the WA Tacoma mission- lucky girl ;) not nearly as awesome as the USCLM though :D haha!

OK, for real- march is going waaaay too fast. hit my 16 month mark this last week and i LITERALLY never thought i'd get to this point. i don't like it.

We also went on exchanges this week with sister Scanlan and Stratton, which was fun! Sis Scanlan is Samoan and from Anchorage, super sweet sister! we got to teach R* and D* and they are doing awesome! Slowly getting their answer, they just need to seek more actively. 

Also, this weekend we had Stake Conference in the NSL stake, and it was really good- President and Sister $♥ were there and spoke and called us out (in a good way i guess) encouraging the members to help us and find us more work. Elder Bourne was presiding and he's really awesome- he spoke at our Christmas Devotional about A Christmas Story- super good, super spiritual :) 

Next day, our High Councilman asked if we wanted us to sit with him and his wife, so we did... and they happened to be sitting with sister Bednar as well (her husband was in Mississippi) and so we sat next to Sister Bednar- and man, she is just SO super sweet. :) 

AND YESTERDAY WE FINALLY HAD AN INVESTIGATOR COME TO CHURCH! and it was the one who just had triplets, so it was a big deal. We were so happy. seriously, it had been a few weeks.

Also, funny thing. Somehow we get roped into dumb stuff sometimes... we already had dinners set with members but somehow investigators roped us into eating with them as well ahead of time, and WML's sometimes get sassy if we cancel with members... so twice this week we had two dinners- and they weren't that tiny. and members took us out to eat a ton this week. Satan is trying to foil our plan of eating healthier and losing weight. Curse him. BOO :( 

all in all, not too crazy of a week. the weather has been beautiful and we had rain today! :D

Hope all is good and have a great week! 

also, pics: monday nights diner (delicious!!) sister holbrook at the end of a VERY long day, our prayer duck :), and bountiful at night, ipsy eye stuff, my hair today :)

LOVE YOU AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK! ♥

SISTER JOHNSON :)

Week of MORE Craziness... and Miracles :)

(Letter Dated March 16, 2015)

This week has been the DEFINITION of crazy. Literally. Mon was fun, pretty chill- we had Sister Hay with us all day because her companion went home, so it was fun to temporarily be in a trio again :) Cool experience on Monday evening! We have a couple that are soon-to-be mission president and wife in the Omaha Nebraska mission (the Gardiners) and they wanted us to come role-play teach the restoration with them- and it was great! after they were talking about how they want to teach with us more and asked if we knew Jeffrey and Venus... 

back track a bit- the elders street contacted someone a few days earlier who was completely ready to come back to church and has a husband/fiance who wants to learn more. the elders set up an appt with them to pass them to us which was the next day... and yes, their names are Venus and Jeffrey! same people! so we taught them the next night and Sister Gardiner came to the lesson and it was awesome! 

Tuesday was transfers, which was crazy as usual! Apartment checks in the morning, getting lost of the highway and accidentally taking a detour to Centerville, you know me- terrible with directions :P We helped lots of sisters get settled and moved in and spent a chunk of time planning for the transfer and how we want to help the sisters. we had three lessons that night as well, which is really good! Including our awesome african friends Rozanne and Delroy and the Recent Convert Ian. 

Wednesday we had a really good Leadership Meeting with President Spendlove and all the mission leadership. President and Sister Spendlove are doing a really good job leading this mission so far, they're dedicated, humble, and ready to work hard :)

So, now that we cover 7 companionships of sisters, we have to try to juggle 3 district meetings (2 in a completely different zone), 2 pday activities (although today will be a sisters pday, everyone together- girls only!) and working with two zones of leadership. And we individually visit each companionship this week to get goals and schedule exchanges- our sisters are great! But there wasn't one night this week (besides last night) that we were in bed before like11pm almost. We were super exhausted...

Its been really good to get our teaching back up this week- people cancel a lot and its so up and down, obviously the more you teach the better you feel as a missionary :) But we've found new people this week, seen lots of miracles and coincidences/TOTALLY not coincidences, and just had lots of fun :) 

OK, funniness :) Delroy's dad is also from Zimbabwe and his birthday was monday... so we got him a super random funny gift that included a hot pink hula hoop and turban and toy car, ducky slippers, etc. he said he's going to get revenge :D

We are starting something new in our zone where we have a short training meeting to help us improve our mad skills and not be awkward when we talk to people. so we spent lots of the day walking around as much as we could because we're trying to talk to more people... Welcome to Davis County- literally everyone we talked to was an active member... but the next day we had 4 NM/LA contacts! we built trust with Heavenly Father! :) 

BTW- weather has been SUPER nice here. like awesome. high 60's low 70's. today's supposed to be like 76 :)

Our week was full of miracles. we finally had lessons set up with people we either had been trying to meet or had cancelled a TON, got a solid referral over txt (hey, these people want to meet with you kind of thing) and getting SUPER pumped for the new Easter video thats going to be coming out soon- Because He Lives- we got a sneak peak because we ate dinner with a member who helped produce it- its legit (not released yet) 

Other than that, these next few weeks we will be crazy STL's all over the place doing exchanges and helping sisters- and we have interviews with President tomorrow- yay! have a great week and enjoy life! Go out and be the answer to someone's prayer :)

Peace out Girl Scout- by the way, i gotta go buy some GS cookies today... :) 

LOVE YA!

SISTER JOHNSON ♥

Sis Hamblin got duct tape stuck on her arm

fun at "The FIZ" :)

Facil's birthday :P

also, my talk on the book of alma (my notes are hardly legible, but mom wants to ready my talks, so here you go :P)

Hannah's talk notes... what a treat!

No Coincidences With God :)

(Letter dated March March 9, 2012)

This has been a crazy week, but really good too. Ups, downs, miracles, and HILARIOUS stuff. Lets start from the top :) 

Pday was relaxing and crazy at the same time- we made it an us day :) Emailed, then went shopping for a few things, went to the Fizz (which is like a soda place, they do fun flavors and stuff), we got haircuts, ate taco bell, all in all the pday part. Then, it hit. And when i say IT, i mean the freak beginning of March snow storm. We literally got like 6 inches and we had to miss one of our appointments because we couldn't get up the hill. Welcome to North Salt Lake. Literally everything went wrong that night and poor Sister Hamblin was getting SUPER frustrated and upset, but all in all- it was actually pretty fun :) 

We had a really good lesson with Rozanne and Delroy (the africans) this week. We went and they had some leftover Gizzard from the night before, so guess who dared their companion to eat some? ME :) haha and i got it on video, i'll definitely put it on Facebook when i get home :) haha her reaction is hilarious and it almost made her throw up. And then Delroy's dad, Facil, danced white moves for us (he used to be the #1 MJ look alike, so his moves are pretty good :P haha) it was a blast. And we talked about the importance of the BofM and they committed to read it and pray about it as well. 

I forgot my planner, so it will be a shorter letter...so, ya. 

We also had MLC this week which President Spendlove presided and he and Sister Spendlove are really AWESOME. we're super excited to have them.

Oh, and you probably want transfer news :) SO. Sisters in the mission took a HUGE dive- we only have around 60 now, so STL's had to take a cut too. and with new Mission Pres and everything... i stayed an STL with Sister Hamblin. But, we now cover ALL the sisters in Farmington and half in Bountiful. So, i went from 3 to 4 to 5 to 7!! Its literally going to be crazy, but i DEFINITELY think it will help me not think about going home AT ALL. I'm not trunkey in the LEAST bit- but it does make me sad on occasion. 

So, also funny stuff! When i got to this area i talked to a sister who had just returned from the NJ mission spanish speaking and she just happened to know Sister Stone! Saturday we took another Siser who just came back out with us and she returned from the DC south mission- and she just HAPPENED to know Sister Quinton! Then, we spoke in the 11th ward and a sister came up and hugged us, just got back this week from the Alabama Birmingham mission and JUST HAPPENED to know Sister Crandall and Elder Jordan. You literally find MILLIONS of connections when you serve in UT, because everyone knows everyone :P hahaha

Also, after speaking in the 11th ward an older sister came up to us and confirmed that i was from Anacortes and asked if i knew someone. I said, yes, and turns out one of my friends from church and high school is living in the ward (and not going to church) so i get to go visit them and see what i can do to help :) THERE ARE LITERALLY NO COINCIDENCES IN THE GOSPEL. nope. 

Well, all in all its been a pretty simple week, but great things are coming and this transfer is definitely going to be interesting...

LOVE YOU AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON :)

Time Stops for NO Missionary :)

(Letter dated March 2, 2012)

Another great week here in NSL and bountiful, its been going really well- even though i think people may cancel here more than Rose Park O.o sometimes, agency is the bane of my existence- then again, its the greatest gift- right? :)

Monday was fun- one of the sisters had their departing temple day, so her companion Sister Hay was with us for most of the day. Ok, coolest thing- i finished "The Infinite Atonement"! its such an amazing book and i've learned so much from it about the Savior and his Atonement. We had a pretty fun pday, one of the elders in the district got his visa to Taiwan, so we had a bit of a going away party for him at a members home (in the basement) played games, had snacks, the usual just hang out kinda thing- it was good though :) i've been feeling better- not so sick, which is really good. stuffy nose is all :) OK, MIRACLE! middle of our pday activity DELROY and ROZANNE txt us (the africans from zimbabwe) and ASKED us if we could come over that night and teach the first lesson!... FINE, we'll do it! :P haha it was a really good lesson too! Delroy has a really good background and agrees with everything we believe (so far) and he's taking it really seriously because he understands the importance of knowing truth. he and rozanne had all the right answers! :)

Tuesday was an AMAZING zone conference, the last time we'd see President Hansen- which was sad, but we know we'll see him again- actually he said if we don't keep in contact he'll hunt us down, so, no escaping him! :D but we had amazing trainings on Faith, Diligence, and Obedience and we did a Role Play/Training on Diligence- we were with the Cannon Zone (Glendale) and so i got to see Sister Latham, which was so fun! :) she's such a great sister. Also, for a portion of the meeting all stake leaders/ward representatives were invited and we discussed Hastening the Work through Retention and it was so good to have them all there and be on the same page- communication is definitely something that can be improved in one of our stakes. We were taken out to dinner after that (Joy Luck- Chinese-YUM!) and then another MIRACLE! we went to contact a referral of a new move in that ASKED us to come teach her and her son- and she was home, and she's awesome! her name is K* and she's a single mom, and loves crafty stuff- making old things new, etc. she's thought about being baptized before but never really decided, so she wants to take lessons to finally decide- YES! :D

Wed we got to go on another exchange and i was with Sister Panuve (from Tonga) and it was a great exchange. Its so sad when you teach someone though and they are so stuck in their ways that they literally wont let themselves receive an answer from the spirit because they're already decided in their head and in their heart that what we teach can't possibly be true. lets just say, i got a bit emotional after... and during... the lesson. im really bad at holding myself together :P but all in all it was really good and she is a super great, super hard working sister :) 

Thursday we didn't have district meeting because of ZC on tue, but we did do weekly planning, which went well. pretty chill day.

Friday it started off being ONE of THOSE days. i didn't even want to shower- but i did! you would be proud... we finally found someone in NSL who is going to let us do service next week- super exciting! she is LA and has lots of health issues, but is super nice and loves us coming over- so we're gonna help her clean :) 

OK, funniest contact ever: we knocked on this door and a guy opens it and says his name is I*, from Missouri. He seemed to know a bit about the church and told us a few things he appreciates about our religion, but said there was one thing he didn't agree with. "you guys believe in, like, a schitzoc Jesus- right?" we almost laughed out loud SO BAD! we were like, "well, no... we believe in the same Jesus everyone else believes in..." he was like, "Oh, alright!" he said he'd read anything we give him, so we're going to take him back a Book of Mormon and invite him to Ward Basketball :) super exciting- you don't have as many experiences like that in Bountiful haha. 

February flew by and we're already into march- cant believe it!! We found a new LA lady to teach this week, missionaries had visited her often but kinda got lost in translation- reasons why updated area books are important! also, previous sisters had mostly just hung out and done service with her, so we're hoping to be able to help her come back to church :) 

OK, so the crazy experience on Sunday- we had appointments with WML's, and helping wards out- so we found ONE window where we could take the sacrament before one of our meetings- and it was in the same ward that Sister Nelson and Sheri Dew are in. So we sit down in the front of the overflow and i point them out to sister hamblin and then i look up and who is sitting on the stand? Elder Nelson. of course. I'm pretty sure i could see him staring into my soul from up there. and then we left right after sacrament, but i've had my first experience now with apostles in sacrament meeting- not terribly uncommon in NSL though. normal, actually!

well, that sums up my week pretty well, transfers next week and i have NO idea what's going to happen. I'd really love to train again before i go hoe, but i have no idea whats going to happen and i know that with President Spendlove here now that things are going to continue on the path they were/ I'm excited to work with him and have a new mission mom, i love and will miss President Hansen but excited for what they will bring as well- and he has hair- wierd!! :P hahaha

love you and hope you have a great week- Go out and be the answer to someone's prayers (-Sister Hansen), and as President would say- "Don't Slack Off!"- Steven W. Hansen :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON :) 

On The Mend :)

(Letter dated Feb 23, 2015)

honestly, this week was just completely exhausting. we had so much to do and not enough time to do it, and in addition i was really sick for half of it- but i'll start from the beginning of the week :)

monday we did a pretty fun pday activity- it was a sisters pday, no elders allowed :P haha we went to the Gardiners home (recently called to be the new mission president/wife for the Omaha mission)- and of course, we find the connection- sister gardiners mom was sister mccombers moms mission companion! :P the gospel creates such a SMALL WORLD- especially when you serve a mission in UT :) and my crocheting is getting lots better too! we were also able to teach Gavin (a RC) that night and Austin, a last lesson before his baptismal interview :)

Tuesday, i was simply not feeling so hot, but i pushed through it kind of thing. Sister Lwin had her birthday, so we took her a small gift :) we had a pretty empty day, so just tried to contact people. but dinner was with a family who moved from my last area to here, about the same time i was transferred- so we ate with them and it was just one of those tender mercies :) but because of some confusion, we had a SUPER packed night and were going non-stop. i thought i was going to pass out... but i didn't! :D heavenly father looking out for me. 

i also got a call from sister pearson saying that C* was going to the temple for baptisms wed morning. and i forgot to write about it last week, but we'd had it all scheduled, i woke up at 5 in the morning on friday and was ready, and they text and said that she didn't have her temple recommend... awkward... but i got everything ready, ride, stayed the night with a set of sisters. and i prayed that i would feel better in the morning so i would feel well enough to go in the morning and not be miserable. and it was ok! Wed morning i woke up at 4:30 and Sister McConkie from Rose Park came and picked me up, went and picked up C* and the sisters, and then headed to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms! it was amazing to be there- we are so blessed in this mission to be able to do that, because baptism really is the first step, and we always shepherd them towards the temple. she had such a good time too :)

Got back, and we made cinnamon rolls for ALL 18 of our Ward Mission Leaders, to build love and trust. they were delicious... but apparantely everyone in Utah calls them Sweet Rolls- silly gooses :P we also got an oil change and tires rotated that day, had a lesson with the S*'s, and did a member visit- and their son served in Sister Hamblin's hometown thats SUPER tiny- but most everyone seems to know where it is- she calls it the biggest small town- everyone knows someone from Snowflake (which is like an hour from where she lives)

Wed night, it begun. i was up most of the night coughing, and in the morning i had a fever, aches, chills, couldn't swallow/breathe, had a super bad cough, and i was just miserable. didn't get better for any of the day really, and i still had to go to District Meeting, go to a lesson, man. it was not fun. i called the mission nurse later that night cause i felt like crud, and she said it was probably the flu (even though i didn't feel nauseous or anything). so the next day... we had exchanges. i still had the major bad congestion, but it was bearable. went to the store and got some Robitussen DM (never taking that again, it was DISGUSTING!) and i spent the day with sister warren, who goes home in two weeks. She's from Hawai'i (and all over). We did a member visit in the morning, ate lunch with a Ward Mission Leader in the NSL stake (went well!) and then we FINALLY were able to do service!! people here never let sisters serve, which is super annoying. since they just moved in, there was a lot of deep cleaning to do so we helped shop-vac and clean. i love wearing pday clothes- but skirts have definitely grown on me too :) we had a lesson with R*, and she said she was good to come to M* and R* baptism, so i'd be able to go! member visit, cancellations, normal day- but super busy! Austin also had his interview and passed with flying colors! he's one of the cutest 9 year-olds ever! :P

Saturday i was feeling not so hot again- we had a baptism to get ready, records online to update, and i tried to hours to find a split for sister hamblin and a ride for me and Rylee to the baptism. And i got it all set! but literally an hour before, Rylee cancelled, so i wasn't able to go, which was bummer- but Austin's baptism went really well! no hiccups, which was a really nice change! but as soon as the baptism was over- i felt like crud again and thought we were going to pass out (sister hamblin's tummy wasn't feeling well either). we we went home and rested a bit, ate dinner, tried to contact people, and had a power hour with some sisters that night. we got home, planned, and crashed. 

Sunday, woke up, feeling at least up to going the normal things. had a meeting with the stake presidency of the Orchard Stake, austins confirmation (yay!), went home and wrote our talks for the next ward (we'd had no time in the previous week, obviously...), spoke, went to more church, rested, met with a bishop, coordination, dinner, planned (because i was sick on planning day), and slept! sunday in a nutshell...

So, my talk. the subject was "Finding Peace Through the Storms of Life Through the Temple". it ended up being really good too! i love random/specific subjects like that :) i told a really cool analogy about the Breakwater that's out in the ocean by our house. its like the Savior and the Atonement. He already took and felt the brunt of everything, and he protects us from taking the full force of the consequences of our choices just like the breakwater protects the island from the raging waves and storms. we can find more of that peace and safety as we attend the temple and invite him into our life. i love the savior and the blessings that come from the temple- thats one of the biggest things i've learned from president and sister hansen, the importance of the temple. 

this week is going to be better, i'm on the mend and there are good things to come :) 

love you, and have a great week! :)

go out and be the the answer to someones prayers! :)

♥SISTER JOHNSON

p.s. i hit 15 months this last week! O.o really depressing...

email selfies! :P haha

A Crazy Valentine's Week

(Letter from Feb 16, 2015)

SO, another great week here in NSL and Bountiful! :)

last pday was so boring, i dont even want to talk about it... but we're going to do a fun sisters pday today, so that should be super fun!! :) we also went shopping to look for skirts with no avail, but then had IHOP for lunch, so that was really good! :D

Tuesday we had a leadership meeting which was really good, i love being trained in those kind of settings. we talked about Elder Katcher's training again that he gave about a month ago, focusing on Diligence, Faith, and Obedience. We also got to go that evening to do family history with one of the recent converts, it was so cool- we were able to find him a connection and he was super excited and said, "when can we go again?" it was so exciting, the spirit was totally there- and his daughter is adorable too, her name is Gracie :) 

Wed we got to go on a short exchange because sister hamblin went to the temple with a recent convert. so i got to be with Sister Weber! so fun, and she only has 9 weeks left, so it was good to be able to spend time with her as well :)

we've been teaching Austin this week, he's getting baptized this week on sat, so he's doing well! he's done all of it on his own, and is such a cool kid! 

We've been trying REALLY hard this week to work with members, bishops, and Ward Mission Leaders more, because especially here, its one of the only ways to get missionary work done. not that its a bad thing, it just takes a LOT of coordination and orginization, which i don't have as much of... but things are going well- i just miss rose park a lot- but marta and raydeen should be getting baptized saturday too, and im excited to be able to go! :)

Friday we got to be on exchanges and i had lots of fun with Sister Mitchell, her companion is from Africa, and they're serving in Woods Cross. But we worked hard all day and played air hockey during lunch, contacted all day, walked around in the beautiful sunlight. 

SPEAKING of which, the weather here has been GORGEOUS! definitely skipped over the end of winter AND the beginning of spring... talk about beautiful! its been almost in the 70's, with light breezes :) #whereisthesnow!? :P

VALENTINES DAY WAS A BLAST, probably the best one ever! we didn't have a dinner, so we told all the sisters that if they didn't have a dinner we'd have them over- sister mitchell and nyundo joined us, we had red tablecloths, flowers, candlelight, and crepes! it was fantastic :P haha

and sunday we bore our testimonies in one ward and spoke in another- the first ward we went to (Austins ward) and Jerry's girlfriend was there (from Rose Park), and snapchatted jerry while i was bearing my testimony :P it was good to see her, #RPCONNECTIONS! 

I spoke on how Choices Effect our Lives, and its made me ponder how the small and big choices effect our lives, whether thats to study something in school or go on a mission, you never know what your choice will lead to, it can effect generations. 

love you and hope you have a great week, go out and be the answers to someone's prayers! ♥

♥ SISTER JOHNSON :)