El amor de Dios

Hola!!

This week we found a couple new investigators, which was much needed so it was awesome! We found one of them in a Window and his name is Miguel. He is 23 and from Honduras and he just got here. He was going to be a professional soccer player until he hurt his back...so cool. Well not the back part. But he is super prepared and super awesome. He is reading the Book of Mormon and so far has liked it. So we are reeally excited about him!

Also in our English ward there is a less-active who we finally found after like 3 months of looking, and she is awesome! She essentially has lost her testimony, but is suuuper open to learning more and gaining it back and her husband said that he might want to start going to church even though he doesn't like organized religion! That family has a ton of potential and I am really excited to start working with them!

This week the thing I have learned a lot about the power of love and prayer. I have always had the desire to truly love people and it has always been something that I have strived to do. But this past week I was able to truly understand in a deeper way how much God loves us and understand more fully why God was able to sacrifice his only Begotten Son for us. I had a spiritual witness that the only way we will be able to receive the type of love that God has, is if we are consistently and persistently praying for it. So that is my challenge for you today, that you don't forget to consistently and persistently pray for love!

Sorry I don't have much time, but I love you all and I am praying for you!

Hermana Johnson

Woah

Hola!!

This week was absolutely fantastic. We have had a ton of success with the less-actives in our ward. There are a ton of them! But our investigator pool is beginning to dwindle, so that isn't quite as good! Iris moved to Santa Ana :( but we are working on setting her up with missionaries up there!
But these past 3 days have been amazing! We had the amazing opportunity to have a conference with Elder Niel L Andersen!! It was AWESOME!!! What was even cooler was that I had the opportunity, along with 8 other members of the mission, to sing for him and for all 400 other missionaries! I actually played the piano and we sang "Bright Beams", your song dad. It went super duper well. President Orgill said that he was blown away with how good it sounded. So AWESOME!! The actual meeting was amazing as well. He talked a lot about the power of bearing, a simple and true testimony. And how important honesty is as we bear that testimony. If we are bearing testimony of something that we don't actually fully believe then the spirit can't and won't come. But as we spend the time to gain a strong and powerful testimony and then bear it powerfully about the Atonement, then that is when the spirit will come and touch the lives of those around us. It was super awesome.
Then the next day was Easter. This was a really special Easter. We had a choir performance where we invited all of our investigators, less-actives, members and their friends to come and join us in celebrating the resurrection of the Savior. It was absolutely amazing. We sang 8 songs, but two of which were "This is the Christ" and "I Believe in Christ", the same versions that the Mormon Tabernacle choir sings. The spirit was so strong, possibly one of the strongest times that I have felt it. Many people came up to me afterwards expressing the impact that the night had on them. That night I received my own witness that God does answer prayers, that he knows us individually, and that he will grant unto us our desires as we pray persistently and with faith.

My testimony is grower stronger and stronger every day. I have a very strong testimony and knowledge that God loves each and every one of us individually and perfectly. That we too can feel that deep of love for all those around us as we pray and ask for it, as we serve those around us, and as we strive to live more and more like Christ. I love this gospel, I know it is true with all of my heart, and I absolutely love sharing it on a daily basis with those around me. One thing Elder Andersen urged us to do when he was here was to write down all the names of the apostles, then to write about what they talked about this past conference, and then to go back and restudy each of their talks, and then write what you are doing right now to follow the counsel that they gave us. That is my goal for these upcoming weeks, and I would urge you all to do the same. I love you!!

Hermana Johnson

El espiritu de sacrificio

HOLA!!!!!

This week was awesome. One of the highlights of the week was choir. I haven't talked about choir for a while, don't worry it has still been happening. This past week we had 2 performances that were really awesome. The first one was at Ragnar. So theres is this really famous race called the Ragnar that passes through here where hundreds-thousands of people run in teams from Huntington Beach down to San Diego. There are 15 people on a team (I think) and each one of them runs a certain amount and then they relay it off to the next person while the rest of the team drives to the next stopping point. Well one of the stopping points was one of the church buildings right next to where we live. When the team gets to the stopping point, they have about 30-45 minutes where they just sit around waiting until their runner arrives. So we went all out and turned it into a missionary opportunity. We had missionaries there giving tours of the building, giving out waterbottles with a bunch of info on it, and then they asked the choir to "be practicing" in the chapel so that the spirit would be really strong as the church tours were going on. It was really cool. I have no idea what kind of response came out of it because most of the people who came for the church tours aren't even from around here, but the spirit was soooo strong and I know that those who did the church tours felt the spirit. It built my testimony a ton, it is amazing the power that you feel as you watch 80 missionaries sing for an hour without talking and bearing their testimonies to those who came in.
Another really cool experience we had was last night. We were invited to sing at an interfaith conference in Irvine. We sang Called to Serve and oh boy was it powerful. I could hardly sing cause I was smiling so big. The room erupted (remember it is interfaith) into clapping and cheering afterwards. And I met one of Dad's friends (companions?) from his mission there! He is the stake president in Irvine and he gave a talk where he talked about his mission. As soon as he said where he served and when I was determined to talk to him, and sure enough they served in Santiago together! It was really cool!!

Enough about choir. This week we picked up an awesome new investigator! So her name is Rocio. We contacted a girl in the street and she told us where she lived and said we could stop by, so we did and it was a false address. But that's ok cause we ran into Rocio! She just came from Mexico a month ago and she just happened to have taken the missionary discussians down there for almost 3 years! She went to church and everything for a lot of it. But she didn't get baptized cause her husband lived in the US and she lived in Mexico and she didn't want to do it without his permission. Well, now they are living together. :) We have only had one lesson with her but we are super excited!!
Also Iris has been progressing pretty well. She wants to get baptized!! The only problem is that she needs to go to the singles ward...really its not a problem cause it is going to be so good for her, but we wont be teaching her anymore. But KEEP PRAYING for her because she is elect and is really struggling and she needs and wants the gospel in her life!

Oh yeah one more thing. I have been thinking and studying a lot about sacrifice lately and the power and spirit that come from it. The idea of sacrifice is to help us truly learn how to use the power of the Atonement to give up things that are difficult and rely heavily on the atonement. We have started a 40 day fast, where we (me and my companions) prayed and fasted about 10 things that we should give up and for these next 40 days we are not doing them. I am suuuper excited!! I know that through this the spirit will be stronger in our lessons, our testimonies will grow and miracles will happen. I challenge you all to sacrifice something in your life, to study the power that comes from the law of sacrifice and then sacrifice something that is "poking at your spirit", something that is stopping you from having the spirit more fully in your life. (one of the things I'm sacrificing is cracking my knuckles...so I may need some additional prayers, haha)

Anyways, I love you all, I miss you and I know that this gospel is true! Keep tuned next week for some excited news! :)

Les quiero!
Hermana Johnson

La conferencia!

HOLA!!

I love conference!! This year was really good! I wanted so badly for there to be another day, it always comes and goes so quickly. But my favorite talks were by President Monson and by President Uchtdorf. It really hit me a lot this conference about how much they talked about love and the importance of loving others with a Christ-like love and not a worldly love. And then in President Uchtdorf's talk about the importance of being a grateful person all the time whether or not things are going how you would want them to go. That is something that will change you! Something we have been doing a lot in our lessons with people is committing them to say a grateful prayer. We usually give them a life-saver and they have to put it in their mouths as they begin to pray and without biting on the life-saver they have to pray saying only things that they are grateful for until the life saver is gone. It is really cool, i did it and found that you literally feel a difference after the prayer is over than you did before, you are happier. So I invite you all to do the same. (you can pray for longer than the life-saver, it really isn't that long :D) I promise you, that if you say those types of prayers everyday then you will look at life differently, you will begin to develop that attitude of gratitude that President Uchtdorf was talking about!

Well transfers came and went! I stayed here as did Hermana Roos! And Hermana Velarde, the very first hermana that I trained, joined us in our companionship!! It has been really awesome, Hermana Velarde brought exactly what we needed into this companionship. And we have all gotten along really well. Luckily, Hermana Bullough is still in our ward, so we have seen her almost every single day since we have not been companions, haha. The joys of serving a spanish mission in Irvine, CA. I am really excited for this transfer, I am going to learn so much from the companionship!

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Iris this week about the Book of Mormon. She is really excited to read it and to see if this will help her out in her life! Oh and we also found a new awesome investigator this week named Evelyn. She was someone we contacted on the street who pretty much set up an appointment with us. When we went over there, we taught her the restoration and as we got to the first vision she began to cry. She said she felt something really strong in her chest that she had never felt before. She said that many missionaries from different churches had come over, but that she had never experienced this. We invited her to be baptized and at first she said that she wanted to learn more, that she had already been baptized, etc. But then we invited her to pray and ask God if she should get baptized, and she actually did it! In her prayer she asked the specific question, then we waited in silence for a while and at the end of the silence with tears in her eyes she said, "Yes, he said yes." It was CRAZY!!! Miracles do happen! I love this work, I love the gospel, I know it is true with all my heart, and I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve him full-time and to enjoy the blessings of the gospel in its fullest. Remember to do the grateful prayer and I would love to hear about everyone's studies as they talked about it general conference!! I love you all!!

Con amor,
La Hermana Johnson

Los Traslados...

Pues, transfers have come again! It is crazy how quickly time flies on the mission. I usually like transfers, but this time not so much. I am staying here, again!! This will be my 6th transfer here, which means I will have spent nearly half my mission in this area if I leave next transfer. But Hna Bullough is leaving. Luckily we are pretty sure she is going to be staying in our ward, which means we will see her about 3 times a week, if not more. But that is a lot different than 24/7. I don't know if I have told you about how amazing our companionship is right now. The relationship we have gained, all 3 of us, is unbelievable. I could not be more grateful for the friendships that we gained and for the many things I have learned from both of my companions. It's a good thing we are all going to live super close to each other after our missions, cause then you all can meet them too!!

I got everyone's letters!! They came on the perfect day, it made me soooo happy!! Clint I can't believe you are getting married so soon! Your wedding invitation was adorable!

We had a really cool experience this week. There is an Elder in our mission named Elder Tenefski. I don't actually know the whole story, but he is a convert-the first in his family. And just a couple days ago his dad got baptized!! And he, and his family, flew in from Nevada and Elder Tenefski got to baptize him! It was crazy, the spirit was so strong and there were sooo many people there. Me and my companions were invited to sing in an octet at the baptism so we were lucky and got to go. It was cool because his whole non-member family was there and afterwards Elder Tenefski bore a powerful testimony pleading for his family to take the missionary discussions. So cool.

As for our investigators: I don't remember if I told you about Iris or not. Just in case, she's awesome! We contacted her in the street and had a lesson with her this week. She is searching for the gospel right now. She needs a change in her life, she is going through some really hard things and has a true desire to come closer to god right now. Pray for her to be able to listen to conference and to be able to continue meeting with us!!!

Well, I love you all, again thank you for the package! Espero que todo este bien alli!!
Hermana Johnson

Benito Flores

HOLA!!!

This week was super good! It started out with St Patricks Day!! We definitely bought some xl lucky t-shirts and showed up to our zone activity with green mustaches that Hna Bullough's sister sent us. :) I'll send some pictures, it was really fun!

Then we also got to march in a parade this week as part of the mormon batallion!! All the sisters wore dresses and the elders got these cool mormon batallion shirt thingies, but somehow our zone didn't get the memo that the sisters were supposed to wear dresses.....so we dressed up like men!! It was really fun actually, I felt (and looked) like a little boy. Oh especially because we were one of the last groups there and the only sizes of shirts left were 3XL...it was awesome! The funny part is that me and my companions didn't actually end up marching in the parade. We got there, dressed up, took a bunch of pictures, practiced marching like men, realized that it was going to take way longer than we were thinking, and decided to leave. :) Haha, we got the pictures though, that was the most important part.

Ok, but the most important thing that happened this week was BENITO'S BAPTISM!!!!!!! I was sooo excited about that. If you are allowed to choose favorite investigators he would definitely be one of them. We taught him for about 4 or 5 months before we passed him off to the elders to teach. He was always laughing and smiling and I was so happy that he finally decided to get baptized.

Well I love you all and I hope that you are doing fantastic!! Transfers are coming up next week but I am pretty sure I will be staying here. I could infact stay here for the rest of my mission! :)

Con muchisimo amor,
La Hermana Johnson

Benito and the Elders that we passed him off to, and Jose Saavedra, his member friend that invited him to take the discussions. He is ALWAYS smiling and laughing like that.

The Sisters that taught him before his baptism. Classic Benito face.

Benito with Jose Saavedra, who baptized him.

Us 4 after his baptism.

Me and my companions after we sang at the women's conference with Sister Bonnie Parkins. We sang at the church right next to the temple so we got to take pictures afterwards!

Antonia's baptism with her two kids! So cute!!

St. Patty's Day!

Mormon Battalion Parade

Wahoo!!

ALOHA!!!!!

..........ANTONIA SE BAUTIZO!!!!! Wahoo!! It was a very good baptism. The spirit was strong and she really has changed and has a glow about her. She is already beginning to be a missionary and is reaching out to one of her friends who is struggling! She has been trying to get her to go to church for a while now. So exciting! Also we found out this week that Benito is going to be baptized for sure next Sunday at 6!!! That is super duper crazy cause he keeps disappearing before his baptismal date, but he is finally solid and he has changed as well!

You will never believe what happened. So I am sitting at MLC, a meeting for all the leaders in the mission, and we are spending some time discussing how we can improve our mission. As I am sitting in deep thought, the door in front of me opens and in pops a head full of red, curly hair. All of a sudden I see someone jumping up and down in soccer shorts and waving at me. AUTUMN AND KISER WERE IN IRVINE!!!!!!!!!! What?! I didn't even know they were coming to California, let alone, how did they find me?! That was one of the only days in the whole transfer that I would have been in Irvine at the mission office, and they happened to show up right when our meeting was ending. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw them, I really wish someone was videotaping it! I couldn't even focus the rest of the meeting! So after the meeting ended I went to go find them and as I was walking outside, I hear someone yell my name. Hermana Garner was in California too! (although I knew she was there) Then she parked and Tabby, my recent convert from the YSA Ward, starts sprinting towards me. So I am searching for Autumn, then Hna Garner and Tabby start running towards me, and then all of a sudden Sister Drinkwater spots Autumn and I start running towards her. It was crazy, it could have been put in a movie and erred in theaters. But yeah, then I got to talk to all of them all at the same time for about 30 minutes! It was soooo fun! I honestly think God wanted us to run into to eachother because that was way too coincidental.

This week the sisters in the choir sang at a Women's Conference in Newport where Sister Bonnie Parkins spoke to us. It was AMAZING!!! When we sang the spirit was sooo strong and I could feel the power of our callings pouring through us, and then after as we listened to Bonnie Parkins speak, the spirit was even stronger and stronger. in this meeting I received a strong desire to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. To be the person that he would have me be. I understood the importance of my calling and I can see all those that are dwindling in unbelief and I feel even deeper than I have before on my mission the importance of preaching the gospel to those who will receive it. I love my calling, and I hope to never stop preaching the gospel to those around me. I love you all and thank you for your support and prayers! Andre, I am SOOOOOOOOO excited for you!!! You are going to be soo awesome!! This is the best calling in the world.

Love,
Hermana Johnson