Christmas

I have a busy week coming up. Today is P-day, Tuesday is our mission/christmas conference which I am suppossed to be singing in, but I have this really weird cough. The same one I had in Pleasanton. I think it's allergies. Anyways, that should be interesting. AFter Tuesday things get even crazier. Sister Kleisler gets to go home for Christmas, but then that leaves me without a companion for two weeks. So I am going into a trio. My new companions will be Sister Harward and Sister Christiansen. They're cool. President told us our new area will be Texas North. Hahaha. sigh. I serve in North San Antonio and they serve in Canyon lake which is even norther. And their area is huge, and my area is a decent size. So for two weeks we'll be covering both areas (Aka we don't get extra miles so I'll be delegating a lot of assignments to the Encino Park ward missionaries. For Christmas...well, I have no idea where I will be. oh well. Then we have transfers on January 8th and I'll get a new companion and go back to Encino Park. However, we won't have a place to live cause the Smiths need us to leave cause their son is coming home from his mission....So that's up in the air. I haven't finished packing or cleaning so I got to run, but here's some highlights:

I went to the Temple and I saw Sister Bonner (I lived in her house for 6 months back in Anderson Mill). Sister Liddiard (First Area's bishop's wife), Sister Dickson, and President Dickson (First area's former stake president), and then the Young couple (Brother young was Joshua's fellowshipper). It was super cool.

Gale and Theresa Skousen gave us three referrals. So far we've only been able to contact the Weich family. They were so sweet. We shared the Christmas story found in the Book of Mormon (Samuel's prophesy and the sign in the sky). They enjoyed it very much. They said they still had a Book of Mormon from when Gale and Theresa gave it to them almost ten years ago. After we shared our message they shared a little about their Catholic belief and then she gave each of us a rosary. It was really nice. So they probably wont be converting anytime soon, but they really appreciated our visit which was neat for us. Interestingly enough, when we reported this visit in PEC Brother Jones came up after and told us he knew the Weich family and he was actually planning on seeing them this next week, so he said he'd keep tabs on them for us. Cool.

Merry Christmas everyone

love,
sister johnson

My Motivation

12/14/2009

I have a testimony of prayer. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is the word of God and I find the guidance that I need to fulfill my purpose. I have a testimony of the first principles of the gospel of Christ. Those principles are the means through which we can apply the healing power of the atonement. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I know that because of the Book of Mormon. The Christ's priesthood power was restored by Joseph Smith and that power can turn promises into eternal binding covenants. Absolute truth does exist and even though we live in a relative and subjective reality clouded by social lenses, we have access to absolute truth through the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ is real and His power is real. Jesus Christ is the evidence of our Heavenly Father’s love.

This is why I'm on a mission. This knowledge has given me greater blessings than the blessings I invariably would have received had I not accepted the gospel. These greater blessings (being bound with family for eternity, entrance into the celestial kingdom to live with God forever, complete remission of my sins, the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, being made perfect through Jesus Christ) are available to all of God's children, but we are the only ones who know about it so we have to tell everybody. Every single person on this planet has been and will continue to be blessed by the atonement of Christ without condition, but there are some blessings that are too precious to force upon us. We have to receive them and we do that by showing God that we're willing to change and align our priorities with His and make whatever sacrifice is necessary to deserve it...and then is the gift given to us? No. Our best effort isn't good enough for eternal justice because we're little children, but it's good enough for Christ. So we have to petition for a greater portion of His grace (greater than the grace we already receive unconditionally). Christ teaches that we can't have these greater blessings without being healed/cleansed by Him (through baptism) and He wont force it upon us without our permission which we give by our faith, repentance, and endurance:
"And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end."

Knowing this, is it any wonder that Christ would command us to be baptized and live faithful to the covenant we make with him?

"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day." 3 Nephi 27:19-20

Why immersion in water? Why by the priesthood authority found in the restored church? Why must we do it this way? I could come up with all sorts of answers, but in all honesty I have no idea. But I know that the Book of Mormon is true because I have received a witness of it by the Holy Ghost. I know that the Prophets today receive direct revelation from God because I have received a witness of this from the Holy Ghost. Therefore I'll do whatever is necessary because I want to be with my family for eternity, I want to live with God again, I want all these greater blessings. And I'm on a mission because I want everyone else to have these blessings as well.

I love you all,
Sister Johnson

For those with questions go to mormon.org

The Dynamic Duo is Back

So I’ve been transferred and you’ll never guess who my new companion is…it’s Sister Kleisler again! Crazy! This is her last transfer on the mission and then she’ll go back home. The first time I saw Sister Kleisler was my first full day in Texas a year ago. A bunch of missionaries were on a bus driving to Austin and Sister Kleisler and her companion at the time sat in front of me. Sister Kleisler was talking and gabbing and talking like she normally does and then I remember her pointing to her companion who was about to go home and say, “And after I kill her off I’m going to— ”. ‘What in the world?’ I thought, ‘Who are these people? What is going on? Missionaries killing missionaries? What?’ I soon realized that she was using lingo to say that she, Sister Kleisler, would be her companion’s last companion before her companion, went home. Companion. I just wanted to see how many times I could use the word companion in one sentence, companion. Everyone says that a mission is like I mini life: you’re born leaving your old life behind, you fulfill your purpose, and then you die and go back home. So the first time I met sister Kleisler she was talking about how she was killing off her companion and now I will be the companion that kills her off. Haha. Yes, it’s a morbid analogy and I’m not sure why I perpetuate it. I guess I’ve just given up trying to fight missionary culture and instead embraced it.

So we’re up in North San Antonio in ward called Encino Park. On Thanksgiving we participated in the ward’s annual Turkey Trot to the Temple (the temple is real close to us…cool!). So we trotted to the temple and we were meeting a bunch of the ward members. Because we’re right by Fort Sam there’s a lot of military personnel in the area. Sister Kleisler mentioned that in our ward there were a lot of military doctors. Military doctors? I wonder if this is Gale and Theresa Skousen’s old ward. There are a ton of wards all over San Antonio so it was a slim chance, but I asked around and lo and behold this is the same ward that the Skousens were part of back however many years ago they lived here. Everyone that’s been here awhile remembers them and luckily for me the Skousens left a good impression so now they think I’m cool by nature of the fact that I know them. Blessings.

Here’s another cool connection. On Thanksgiving we were over at President and Sister Foote’s house for a Thanksgiving dinner (we actually had four Thanksgiving dinners which was awesome). So we were talking about how I knew the Skousens and then Sister Foote asked if I knew the family that was in a car accident on Thanksgiving years ago. Uh…yes, I replied, I’m the oldest daughter of that family. Come to find out she knew my mom in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Wiltbank and Peterson family were good friends in Fort Collins and two of the biggest families in the ward. Then they both moved to Texas. The Petersons moved to Bryan and the Wiltbanks to Beeville. What’s funny is that we realized that I had totally gone over and visited Sister Foote’s parents when I lived in Bryan 10 years ago. I didn’t remember the name Peterson, but I definitely remembered the names Lola and Delvar. So Jody Peterson Foote has a lot of connections with my family.

Here’s one more random connection. Brother and Sister Riding in this ward know Jill and Tracey Bellistan (I can’t spell it correctly but I can spell in phonetically). Jill was my young women’s president back in Lindon. Apparently they’re good friends.

It’s a small world, and the Mormon world is even smaller.

So the ‘Dynamic Duo’ is back! (That’s what the AP’s call us). It’s neat being Sister Kleisler’s companion again because we can just jump right in without having to go through the awkward first-week-as-companions thing. We teach really well together so it’s fun to be in lessons and just easily transition back and forth.

Oh, I forgot! I’m living with members again. Nancy and Jeff Smith are empty nesters for the time being so we’re living with them. They are awesome. Unfortunately for us their son is getting home from his mission soon which means we can no longer live here. So we’ll be moving out in January. Speaking of where I live, here’s my new address:

2210 Encino Cliff
San Antonio, TX 78259

Well, I love you all! Have a great day!
sj

just another roller coaster week

James got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! He got baptized on November 22 which is cool for me because that date has not always evoked the happiest memories. It’s a sad day for me because of what I lost, but now it can be a happy too because it will remind me of the rebirth that comes with binding yourself to Christ through baptism. He almost didn’t get baptized though. Of course the adversary had to have one last stab at James. We had an appointment with James the night before the baptism. He called us on his way home from Austin. He told us that he wasn’t going to make the appointment because they were going to be late getting back. Why? Because they were having to stop the car every ten minutes to let James run out and …how can I say this delicately…well, so he could be sick. Anyways, he had the worse flu bug ever. Fever, puking everything thing. Was he still going to get baptized? Well…he still wanted to. He didn’t want to postpone it and said he’d be fine. The next day ward told us to postpone the baptism because he was sick and we were starting to come to the same conclusion…however, we are missionaries and we know that postponing a baptism is usually a very, very bad idea except for extreme circumstances…I don’t have enough time to explain why, but just trust me. Well, we left it up to James and there was nothing stopping him. So we filled up the font, set up the chairs, printed out the programs, and then waited because during the middle of church James had to go home and sleep. And we waited….everyone was asking us what we were waiting for…oh, just James, the person getting baptized. We called him and he kept saying he had to grab random stuff. What was taking him so long? It was only 45 minutes…but that is a long time in that situation. Anyways, no one really cared because Pleasanton ward is awesome and the people just relish life as they live it and aren’t bothered by sudden changes in plan. Well, finally James came in. Everything was ready to go, everyone was there…except for one person. Charles Bray…James’ best friend and a recent convert himself who had since gone less active. The whole time we taught James he told us how he knew Charles would come to his baptism because he would know how important it was for him. Oh sad day. He started to step into the font when suddenly the door opened and in walked Charles!!!! Everyone gasped and smiled to see him since he hadn’t been to church for quite awhile. Sister Dodge and I were ecstatic. So James got baptized. It was quick and simple…nothing fancy or huge because ordinances are just a gate. Baptisms are not my favorite part of the mission…they are way too stressful. My favorite part as being a missionary is visiting my recent converts after baptism and seeing their testimonies grow and watching them come closer to Christ. Best experience ever.

And guess what! Anna-marie is getting baptized. We taught her last week and invited her to be baptized. She was hesitant so we talked awhile longer with her and then we asked her again…and she said yes! As soon as she did the entire room filled with the Spirit. It was cool…and of course she started crying and it was great. She told her mom and her bother back in Dallas after our appointment. Her brother was so excited about it as she read parts of the Book of Mormon to him over the phone. He asked if he could have a Book of Mormon too. So we sent the Dallas missionaries over to him and they talked to Anna-marie’s whole family and her brother for sure is now getting baptized and the rest of her family wants to learn more. Oh wow, oh wow. Sister Dodge and I are so glad we stopped to talk to her the time we did a month ago. It made the hundred billion times we talked to people who were not ready totally worth it.

So things in Pleasanton are going really well…the sad part is…I’m getting transferred…tomorrow. Sigh. I’m totally sad. I am going to miss Anna Hopp (my October recent convert sooooooooo much!) She is learning so much and she’s coming back to church now because she is finally healed enough from her surgery to come back. I am going to miss James and Anna-Marie. I’m going to miss Clarissa and Toby (other converts) and the Swaims, Partridges, and Mitchells. I know going to a new place will be good, but I was not prepared for how much I would have to say good bye on my mission. It’s awful. But I’ll hold tight because the Lord has never led me astray and I’m starting to trust that more and more.

farewell pleasanton

sj

visualize whirled peas

People keep asking us about our political views so I’ve decided that in this letter I will give it to you. This applies to all nations, cultures, and ethnicities regardless of time and space.

If you are worried that your social and economical and political stability is about to come crashing down follow these steps:

1. Examine and evaluate your own personal righteousness. Are you keeping God’s commandments? If not, repent. Do you know what God’s commandments are? If not, find out. Before you start judging others take a deep look within yourself.

2. Declare God’s commandments to those around you and lovingly encourage repentance.

3.Read Daily (Scriptures and accurate reports on current events)

4. Pray Frequently

5. Participate Regularly

6. Stand Firmly…but learn constantly

7. Ask yourself honestly, “Are my actions motivated by love for God and His children?”

That’s it. If your society is falling apart this is how you can save it. How do I know that? Because I have been studying a book that describes the rise and fall of civilizations and I have concluded from my studies that if you keep God’s commandments you will prosper in the land and if you don’t keep His commandments then society falls apart…Not necessarily because God is inflicting punishment, but because the natural consequence for breaking God’s commandments is destruction! He didn’t randomly pick a certain way of life and choose it to be His commandment and then attach a magical spell to it and those who live that lifestyle are magically happier and more successful than those who don’t. He knows what choices will naturally lead to the most happiness and those are the choices in which He commands us to make…but it’s still our choice. Choose you this day…

Well, shoot my chickens…my times almost up. Missionary work was soooooo awesome this week. Two people: James and Anna-marie. James is the son of a member. He has been around the church for 10 years, but never wanted to be a part of it. He was a teenager and wasn’t interested. But then he hears that the sister missionaries were going to teach one of his best friends who happens to be a less active member. So he randomly showed up for the appointment and this time it really hit him. He was ready to change…and three weeks later he’s decided to be baptized. Awesome!!!!

Anna-marie: we saw her walking down the street and felt a strong impression to go and talk to her, but because of where she was at it was really hard and awkward to go up and talk to her…but awkwardness defines our daily lives so we talked to her anyways…and guess what…she wanted to talk to us. She went to the relief society talent auction on tuedsay, had a lesson at the swaims on Thursday, and went to church with us on Sunday. After Pleasanton ward Sister Dodge and I got this crazy idea to bring Anna-Marie and James up to the singles ward (an hour drive away!) And even though they had already had 3 hours of church they totally came with us for 3 more hours!!! It was awesome. The singles branch was so excited to see two new investigators. It was awesome!

I love you all,
sj

crying-time's over

When Pleasanton started paving roads there were some trees that the people just couldn't bear to part with, so they build the roads around the trees. So as we drive through town there will often be huge oak trees growing strait up in the middle of the road. It's pretty cool. I'll send a picture home.

We started up New member lessons on Wednesday nights cause activity on Sunday increased when fellowshipping occured on wednesday nights as a result of the class.

A member gave us "Dramatized Church History." It's like a radio show that depicts church history. It was made back in the 50s or 60s. It's very interesting actually, but also extremely hilarious. The cheesy jokes and the fake laughing...it's almost too much for me to take. One of my favorite moments is when Lucy Mack Smith says goodbye to her husband and her son, Don Carlos, who were leaving on missions. As they rode off she cried and moaned a bit and lamented about being a woman in the gospel and after about 15 seconds she suddenly chippers up and cheerfully says, "Well, crying-time's over. Back to shelling peas!" Hahaha! oh my goodness, I almost died laughing. Well, sometimes that's what we have to do: pull up our boot straps and go back to shelling peas. So that's my motto this next week.

This week missionary was good next week will be better.

love,
sister johnson

we're not the only ones having a bad day

Once upon a time about four months ago Sister Johnson and Sister Kleisler were saying a prayer when Sister Johnson spotted a mouse darting across the room and in an instant the sisters were on the couch. The next day there were four mouse traps around the apartment, but the mouse was untraceable. We put cheese and peanut butter on the traps, but nothing. Not even a teeny nibble. Sister Kleisler began wondering if Sister Johnson was seeing things. Then Sister Johnson was in the kitchen one morning and she saw the mouse again dart across the kitchen floor and she was suddenly on the stove squealing. A few days later Sister Johnson walked into the kitchen and spotted the grey little devil again! But Sister Kleisler thought it was a little suspicious that Sister Johnson was the only one having these mouse sightings and she began commenting to Sister Johnson that the mouse sightings might more appropriately termed mouse visions. “I promise I saw a mouse!” Sister Johnson would cry, but she herself began wondering if she was in fact losing her mind. Then Sister Dodge came. The second day the sisters were together Sister Johnson saw the mouse again scamper across the kitchen floor. “Why am I the only one who sees this fury friend?” She wondered. Sigh. Well, then a few weeks later Sister Dodge was hungry and all day long she craved for nothing but “Cup-O-Noodles.” At last the sisters were home. Sister Dodge reached for the long awaited cup o noodles only to find a huge hole chewed out of it. “Ha! I’m not crazy!” Sister Johnson exclaimed. But the mouse didn’t show himself after that…until a few weeks later. During comp study the sisters stopped when they heard “Crunch-crunch-crunch.” It was unmistakable. Something was in our pantry chewing away our box of food…or chewing away at the food in the box, rather. He kept chewing and we were way too scared to remove the box of food so we took out our traps and set them with peanut butter and shoved them back by the end of the box. Then we shut the door and waited…but not for long. We were too grossed out that we cut comp study short and shot out the door. When we returned home…nothing. Not a nibble or scratch. The next day we checked again and you’ll never believe it. The peanut butter on one of the traps was completely gone! And the trap was still set! What kind of mouse is this?! Well, yesterday was a bad day. We had 6 people set to come to church and not a single one showed up. We had 3 baptismal dates set in the morning and by the afternoon they had all fallen through. It was awful. (I went back into first person without realizing it…whoops) Anyways, I was moaning and groaning and just feeling sorry for myself. I opened the pantry door and as I was looking for something to eat I began to monologue about the woes of missionary work when suddenly I looked down…..*HIGH PITCHED GASP!* I slammed the door and ran for the couch. “What?!” Sister Dodge exclaimed. “We’re not the only ones having a bad day!” Yes, that’s right. The mouse was unsuccessful in his attempt to acquire the peanut butter on the second trap. So we took a picture and needless to say, that photograph will soon find its way into Sister Kleisler’s mailbox.

As for the rest of the week…We were running out of miles so we dusted off the apartment bikes and rode around P-town on our sweet rides. Mine is a bike for a 13-year-old and sister Dodge rode a boy bike which doesn’t really make a difference unless you wear a skirt while you ride a bike. Who does that? Sister Missionaries! I think we are the only ones currently on the planet who participate in skirt bike riding. I won’t go any further into that aspect of a sister’s mission. Anyways, according to Sister Dodge, we got cat-called at twice. I didn’t notice because I was suffering from too much exercising. Later that night during district call our District Leader asked, “Why would any one cat-call at you guys? You’re like nuns!” ….Thanks Elder Finlayson. Later that night we went over to the Swaims (some members) and Sister Swaim asked, “We’re ya’ll riding bikes today?” She told us that her non-member sister-in-law called and asked, “Do your missionaries ride bikes?” Sister Swaim said she didn’t think so, “Rachelle, There are two girls riding bikes around Pleasanton in skirts! The have helmets and everything!” So the entire town of Pleasanton saw us. Partly because we had to ride through the High School football game to get to an appointment and everyone in town goes to the football games. And let me clarify…we didn’t ride through the football field…that would have been ridiculous.

We also had zone conference this week!!!! I love Zone Conference. The days leading up to the conference always make me feel like I’m crawling through a desert in search of water. “Just a few more days. Blah. I can make it…..” I love zone conference cause you get to see other missionaries, you get a lot of upliftment from the talks, and you get good food. This transfer we had a member of the seventy come visit, Elder Snow. He emphasized having faith enough to repent (aka change, become better). We often think of repentance as taking the bad and making the good. But it is also taking the good and making it better. He told us our job was not to increase the membership of the church, but our job was to help others come to Christ (which would increase our membership cause baptism is one of the greatest ways to come to Christ, but baptism is not the end…Christ is the end and the beginning and everything in between). He asked us to raise our hands if we were perfect and none of us did obviously, but then he read Moroni 10:32. He said that in God’s eyes, if we are continually having faith unto repentance and if we have been baptized, then we are perfect in Christ. I thought that was pretty neat. I forget that Christ’s atonement can be applied before entrance into the celestial kingdom. We are perfect today as long as we are living the four principles of the gospel: having faith in Christ (and therefore in ourselves and others), repenting (doing our best), and then reyling on our baptismal convenant and on the power of the holy Ghost.

I love the things I’m learning. It was a bad day yesterday, but it was also a good day. I love you all.

Love
Sister JOhnson

corn road

This week I have seen how anti-Mormon rhetoric helps my cause as a missionary. Once upon a time there was a man who kept hearing all this weird stuff about “the Mormons.” Something about multiple wives. So he and his wife looked it up on the internet and in the search they stumbled across mormon.org. They were interested by what they read that they decided to order a Bible and talk to the local representatives serving in their area…me and sister dodge. When we got the text from headquarters we rolled our eyes. Another person who wanted a bible. Don’t get me wrong, we want people to have the Bible. That’s why we give them away. The Bible is the main book of scripture that talks about the Savior. Even if they don’t accept the Book of Mormon, it’s better that they read at least the Bible than no scripture at all. But usually the people who want just Bibles aren’t really interested in talking about Christ’s restored gospel, and since our calling is the bring people unto Christ through His restored gospel, it’s a little disheartening. But we called to set up an appointment and John’s wife, Diane, answered. She said they had time that day and she told us that John was interested in finding out more about the Book of Mormon. Yay! (Another chip off the shell of pride that traps my soul. Someday I’ll be free of it—one chip at a time.)


So we drove to go and see John and Diane. We were warmly welcomed and we sat down at the kitchen table with everyone that was home: John, Diane, their 19 year old son, and their son-in-law. I can’t even tell you how rare that is for everyone, as opposed to just the person who ordered the item, to sit down and listen to us. I began the lesson by explaining that our most important and foundational believe is that we believe in God, we are His children, and He loves us. “Wait a minute please,” John said. He grabbed a notebook and so did his son-in-law. “Can we take notes?” he asked. “Umm….yeah,” I answered. First time anyone has ever taken notes during a lesson I was teaching. At this point we were a little scared. We were afraid that we had just walked into a trap. Sometimes people will bring us into their homes to correct our beliefs. It’s never happened to me, but it happened to Sister Dodge so we were scared. But our fears were unrealized. They sincerely wanted to take notes in order to remember what we taught. Everyone asked really great questions. And we answered all the anti that they had heard from other sources. During the lesson John asked what they would have to do to become a Mormon. It was an awesome lesson. And to top off the cake, their daughter walked in with a chocolate cake and we all got a piece. One of the coolest lessons ever.

We saw them a couple days later and taught the Plan of Salvation and it was another awesome lesson. Everyone asked really great questions. So basically this is a really cool family and of course we think they are going to get baptized. We are so happy to know them. They searched out the Church because of the weird things they had heard about us. Bad press is good press.

On Saturday we taught another lesson to a less active who invited two of his non-member friends. Sweet! (I tried so hard to keep the word “sweet” out of my vocabulary because it’s so missionary cliché, but to no avail.) Anyways, one of the friends was asking us all these questions about the anti she had heard. She wasn’t asking sincerely, but she was just trying to shake our faith or make us look stupid by revealing our ignorance…but we do this all day everyday so we patiently explained that we were aware of all the different arguments against the Church that she brought up and yet we still believed. We encourage people who are researching the Church to research whatever and wherever they feel inclined, but we always emphasize including a sincere and prayerful examination of the Book of Mormon in that research. Usually people against the Church aren’t willing to do that, which is fine; it’s their choice.

So while we were being grilled by this girl, the other non-member friend of the less-active was getting upset with her and he started sticking up for our beliefs and views. Wahoo! We have an appointment with him this Wednesday and Thursday.

One last story: Becky and her son had a baptismal date and they were supposed to go to church yesterday but we couldn’t get a hold of them for a like a week so we assumed they were not interested any more. Sad day. Crush. But just now we got a call from her saying her little boy had the swine flu, but he’s better now, but that’s why she hadn’t been available. Yay!-Not about the swine flu, but about how she’s still interested. Which leads me to this new thing I am learning. I have decided to assume everyone is going to get baptized. I am going to allow myself to raise my hopes because it’s worth the fall. As a missionary I get crushed over and over and over again, but it’s better to have high hopes than to live my life in a neutral pit. I’d rather be crushed over and over again because everyone deserves all the help they can get. I have to believe in everyone because I have faith in Christ that he can help them all despite whatever. It’s a scary lesson to learn, but I’ve learned that I can recover from big time blow when someone I love decides not to follow the path that I believe will make them the most happy. Their agency doesn’t have to affect my hope for them…so there’s my philosophical entry of the day.

Random: There is a road in our town called Coughran Road. Try pronouncing that name, Coughran. When I saw it, I pronounced it “Coog-ran,” but it is actually pronounced “Cough” (as in ‘I have a cough’) and “ran” (as in ‘I like to ran’ haha…sigh.) Coughran. So I thought that was a weird name, but what’s weirder is that the Pleasanton residents don’t even pronounce it Cough-ran. They instead call it Corn Road. So when they see “Coughran Road,” they say, “Corn road.” Why? Well, why not?

Love sister alyse johnson

no time cause we got a ride up to pday!!!! butterflies are everywhere cause i'm in the middle of the monarch butterfly migration trail, rebecca came to church, youth fireside, life is crazy/awesome/busy.
love sister johnson

the steady march

I AM STAYING IN PLEASANTON FOR ANOTHER SIX WEEKS! Yay! I was afraid I was going to be transferred this time, but nope. I get to stay which has made me very happy because I love it here. This week was very good. I went to the Temple on Saturday morning. Sister Swaim took us up and then she took us out to lunch. Sister Davenport (my trainer) and Sister Kleisler (my last companion) serve in the area where the Temple is so they joined us for lunch which was really fun. I love my companions so much. I miss Sister Denison. I haven’t seen her but once since we were together. Basically all my companions instantly become my best friends for life. Where it would usually take me about a year to become really good friends with someone, it now takes about 6 weeks with a companion because we spend every second together and we somehow really enjoy it. Even the hard times are fun. Rambling…I’m done

So this week started off blah. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t super amazing either. That’s how most days are. These kinds of days are the ones where you learn the most. They are days void of interesting stories, but they are the days where your true character is shaped. So basically it was boring and hard to keep going but you just keep going because you have to and you want to because, who knows…the next person might be ready to listen. Well, day after day after month and finally we have a day like yesterday. Yesterday was awesome. We taught Becky, Jared and Nicholas in the morning: Becky is a young single mom living with her two cute sons Jared (10 years old), and Nicholas (3 years old). She let us come in last week and we’ve been teaching them every day since then. Jared asks a million questions and I am letting him borrow my little kid Book of Mormon so he can read it with his mom. They are really sweet and as of right now they want to get baptized.

Then we saw Anna Hopp. She had her back surgery this last weekend. Everything went well and she was so excited to see us. She loves us and needs us and it makes me feel so good to feel loved and needed. We found out that her distant LDS family members are in fact RLDS, but she feels like she is where she needs to be. The ward is awesome. They are taking her dinners and she is loving it.

Then after Anna we went and taught Laura. We met Laura knocking on Saturday. It was raining and before we even introduced ourselves at the door she let us in, sat us down, and gave us some ginger ale. She’s really nice. She’s Baptist and her husband is a very catholic Catholic. She believes in Christ, but has been searching her whole life trying to find something to feel a void in her heart. Yesterday when we saw her for the second time she had read the Book of Mormon and had written down a bunch of questions. One of her questions was “what does the Holy Spirit feel like?” We explained that it was sometimes a peaceful warmth, or a stream of ideas, or a feeling that gave you goose bumps. She said she didn’t really know what that felt like, but she said that when we were over teaching her the day before and as she was reading the Book of Mormon and as she was talking to us right then she felt excited and could talk fast enough to ask all of her questions. She had so much excitement to learn more. She said this excited feeling was unusual for her because normally she was very calm and mellow. “That’s the Spirit,” we exclaimed. I like the way she put it because I’ve felt the Spirit like that. Since I’ve been on my mission, I feel like I’ve gotten better at recognizing the Spirit. I’m still not very good at it, but I’m a little better than I was before my mission. Anyways, back to Laura. So we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ AND the plan of Salvation and she was very touched by the things we said. Things were just clicking. Yes! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see someone have it click. Especially if all day long you are meeting amazing people who are not ready yet. Who don’t understand with their heart the things we are saying. It was awesome…and then Laura’s husband came it. “Are y’all Jehovah’s Witnesses?!” “no…,” we meekly replied (well kinda we are but in a different sense than he was asking). Then he grunted and stormed off. All I have to say is that I’ve never been more grateful not to be a Jehovah’s Witness than I did in that moment. Needless to say, her husband isn’t thrilled with us coming over so that will add some complications, but it just shows that he loves his family because he wants to protect them…I can respect that.

After Laura we taught a lesson to a woman named Monica. Sister Ashley has been inviting her friend, Monica, to church activities and last night she let us come over and start the lesson with her. Wahoo! It was awesome. It’s days like yesterday that get me through the drudgery of routine. Consistency is the greatest lesson I’ve learned while out here. And the reward isn’t necessarily the good/amazing days, but the reward is the person/people that me and my investigators are becoming because of the steady march.

I just wanted to say real quick how much I miss my family. I love all of you and I miss you a lot. I’m not trunky, but I do miss you guys just in case you thought I forgot about you.

Love, Sister Johnson

It's not worth it

You are not going to believe this. We had a baptism yesterday. Yep, Anna Hopp was baptized. I should probably tell you a little more about her since I’ve hardly mentioned her at all. Once upon a time about eight years ago Anna was having a rough time. She heard a knock on her door and suddenly she was being taught the doctrine of Christ to two Sister Missionaries. But it wasn’t time for her to be baptized yet.
Eight years later she found her self in Salt Lake City, Utah to visit family who had recently moved there. During her visit She was determined to achieve one of her dreams: to see the Mormon Church. She marched her husband and step son all around Temple Square taking pictures of the temple, the fountains, the flowers, the statues. One of her favorite experiences was taking a tour of Brigham’s house. At the end of the tour, two happy sister missionaries asked the crowd to take a card and fill out their names and addresses so a DVD about Jesus Christ could be sent to their homes. And what do you think happened? No one took a card…surprised? Not me, but Anna was. “How rude!” She thought to herself, “They just gave us a free tour of this huge house and no one was willing to take a card?” So she took a card. “They won’t be able to find me,” she warned, “because I live way out in the boonies.” But never fear! They sent the Pleasanton Sisters out to find her because out-in-the-boonies is our specialty.
So we found her and taught her a lesson about Joseph Smith, but she didn’t seem incredibly interested, however she agreed that we could come back and so we did. We taught her again and tried to get her to come to church for several weeks, but it never worked out. We had about given up on her three weeks ago after leaving a voice message on her phone inviting her to church just one more time. The next morning at 10am we sat waiting outside the church waiting for our prospective church attend-ers--the 15 minutes before church is a very nerve racking and often very depressing experience, but every week we stand out there waiting in hopeful anticipation. Suddenly we got a call. Rebecca? Janie? Henry? No, it’s Anna. Anna? To be quite honest we weren’t expecting her to call us back let alone come to church, she surprised us and asked if she could come to church even if she was late. Yes you may come and please do! So she came and loved it. The ward made her feel welcome. The next Thursday we drove all the way to Floresville, which is about a 45 minute trip, to teach her again. It was the end of the month and we were running low on miles, but we threw the miles to the wind and had faith that the miles would work themselves out. :) (Side note: the miles DID NOT work themselves out which testified to me once again that faith is principle of belief AND action, not just belief. Oh well. You live, you learn, and then you move on…and then you apply what you learned otherwise the experience is merely another declaration that, yes, that “boing” you keep hearing is wise counsel bouncing off my forehead…all right my theological rant is over.)
So we visited her the following Thursday and she had read the entire gospel principles manual which made for an interesting discussion about the second coming: Apparently Obama is the Anti-Christ? I have no comment. I love being completely oblivious to all news outside of my personal interactions with others. But don’t worry, all the really important news filters down to us: Michael Jackson’s death for instance. Anyways, I need to speed this story up. The next Sunday she came for the whole thing and loved it. We asked her to pray about being baptized next Sunday, she read more of the Book of Mormon, we went on a field trip to the San Antonio temple and sat in the waiting room with her which was Awesome!!! And then poof! She got baptized. Her testimony about the Book of Mormon was shaky and then it was solid as a rock when she had to defend it to her future son-in-law who thought it would be a good idea to pull out an anti-Book of Mormon Book two days before her baptism. It definitely had the opposite effect on her than he was expecting. She pulled out the bible and spent the whole night testifying to the truth and validity of the Book of Mormon. And then we heard Elder Holland’s talk the day of her baptism. Bam!
So her years of study finally flowered into the making of a simple covenant to follow Christ to the end. It was beautiful and she is determined to remain true to that covenant.
Comments on Conference: AMAZING! I don’t know if it’s just my perspective as a missionary, but we sure got a “talkin’ to.” You knew they weren’t messin’ around when the very first talk was Elder Scott’s talk. Bam! I loved Elder Christofferson’s (sp?) social commentary…it was awesome. I totally have fallen into the trap of relying on other people to tell me what is right and wrong instead of learning principles and then figuring it out for myself. I know that over the years I have dabbled a little too far into the “It’s all good” philosophy and have forgotten that my motto instead should be: We’re ALL children of God and because of that, no, it’s not ALL good. Respect the children, discern wisely, and have the courage to say, “It’s not worth it.”

every member a missionary

We have had the coolest P-days recently. Last week our zone came to our area for a BBQ at one of our member’s homes. They have a pond and the Elders caught a 20 lbs bass and a 14 lbs catfish. I don’t know what that means, but I guess it’s cool. The Brown’s house is like a hobbit hole; it’s covered with dirt so we hiked their house. Mostly it was fun to sit and talk with the missionaries about everything that is happening in our areas.
This P-day we had a Sister’s P-day! Wahoo. It was only the San Antonio sisters so the Austin and Border sisters didn’t get to come. We had it at Sister Cutler’s house (Mission president’s wife) and she made us lunch and we made key chains and talked and talked and had a clothing exchange. Yes! A sister missionary clothing exchange: it’s where you bring the old ugly sister missionary clothes that you are sick of wearing and exchange them for NEW old ugly sister missionary clothes from someone else! It’s awesome!
So we almost thought we lost Rebecca this week and we cried. Well, Sister Dodge cried and I laughed because everyone deals with tragedy differently. But we had an awesome lesson with her last night. She didn’t come to church this Sunday but it was because she was checking out the Presbyterian church in town because it’s where she used to go when she was a kid. We were so scared she would like it…and she did. She loved it. She felt comfortable and loved and needed…How do you tell someone to leave a place like that and come to a place like Pleasanton ward where she doesn’t feel as comfortable or as needed…but we know this is Christ’s church and we know this is where He wants her. We explained that we felt like it wasn’t an accident that the Lord placed her in the Presbyterian church when she was little. The Presbyterian religion taught her faith in Jesus Christ, it taught her to trust in God. It helped her turn to her Savior during the adversities of her life. We explained that by us asking her to leave the Presbyterian religion we weren’t asking her to abandon or forsake her childhood faith, but instead to build upon it by accepting further revealed truth. The Presbyterian religion will always be a part of her and it will have been an important vehicle to lead her back to God. But it’s still going to be a sacrifice to leave the comfort and the memories. I can’t undermine the sacrifice it will be to close that chapter of her life—and it will be a close—that’s the reality. I would never ask her to make this sacrifice and join the Church if I didn’t believe with my whole heart that this truly is Christ’s church. I believe that this church is an important branch of His work and he is soliciting all the help He can get. Call me brainwashed (many already have), call ignorant or discriminatory, call me heretical and narrow-minded—It’s a bold claim that this is Christ’s Gospel and this organization is actually headed by the Savior, but I can’t turn my back on the light that I have received. However, I can sympathize with how hard it will be for Rebecca to leave the religion of her forbearers. I can’t even imagine how hard that would be. We told her to call her LDS Brother who she hasn’t talked to for years. It will be interesting to hear his reaction.
Anna Hopp came to Church again this week! That’s twice now. She also went to the Relief Society Broadcast. What an awesome meeting: totally a call for repentance, but they did it in such a loving way that I think everyone left with a determination to do a little better. My favorite line was, “Your attendance at your Relief Society meeting on Sunday will bless YOU, but your participation in the work of Relief Society will bless the whole world!” Ouch. I felt that one, which leads me to my next tangent:
I have received several letters here and there from women who have expressed a little sadness at not having had the opportunity to serve a mission. Now, I’ll be honest. Serving a mission is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Never again will I have the opportunity to go up to a perfect stranger and dig into the depths of his or her faith to determine whether they are ready to accept Christ’s entire message available to the earth today. I will never be able to do that like I can now as a proselyting missionary. However, until now, I had no idea the importance of the home and visiting teaching programs. As official missionaries our job is to help people enter the gate of the road to exaltation, but the job of a visiting and home teacher is then to take that person’s hand and keep them on that road as they progress through conversion. We can baptize people, but they can walk right back out that gate as quickly as they walked in unless they are able to keep their testimonies nourished and growing. Missionaries help with the teeny-weeny first step, but the rest of the road is up to the convert and to their visiting and home teachers. I can’t tell you how nerve racking it is to leave an area and wonder if the visiting and home teachers are taking care of your babies. Are they giving them the spiritual and emotional nudges they need to continue the road that they started with you. It doesn’t matter if they were baptized at eight or at 38. Everyone is at some point in this road and none of us have reached exaltation yet. I have to go, but don’t worry if you didn’t go on a mission. There’s plenty of missionary work to do as a member. You're work you've already done is important. :)
love,
Sister Johnson

political without the tickle

Reality check…again. Sigh. You’d think I’d get used to this, but it’s still hard. Each day is a rollercoaster. We had some investigators fall through this week. We found a ton of new investigators the week before which is awesome. As the number of investigators increase the number of potential baptisms increases as well, however this increase also leads to an increase of the number of people we teach who will not be baptized. We knew some would fall off the map and we expected it, but we also lost two this week that we weren’t expecting to lose at all.
We met Janie doing drive-by EBP which is our mission lingo meaning that we pull our car over and get out anytime we see people outside. It’s quite annoying and probably very weird for the innocent by-stander, but not as weird as you would expect. Anyways, we met her and she said she could come back because she had a hunger to find answers to gospel questions. We came back and then met her son, Andrew. They are awesome. They told us that they’d been feeling like something great was coming, and then we showed up. They truly believed we were an answer to their prayers and they loved the Book of Mormon and decided they wanted to be baptized. So then it was time to get them to church. Usually that comes before the decision of baptism but not in this case. To make a long story short…her ex-husband doesn’t want her or his son to go to our church. Ugh. Why does an ex-husband have that kind of control over his ex-wife and his 20 year old son? That is also a long story, but the point is I’m mad. It’s one thing if our investigators drop us because they don’t want the gospel, but it’s is a much more difficult thing for me to deal with when the investigators want the gospel but can’t have it because of a chauvinistic and controlling male. Frustration!
Anyways, there’s nothing we can do about it so we have to walk away and pray that the ex-husband’s heart will be softened, but we know that’s not going to happen and in reality that’s not the biggest problem. Janie has the power to take control of her situation, but she doesn’t feel like she has control; she feels helpless even though she could easily have the upper hand if she wanted. We have to pray that Janie will find the strength to stand up for herself and her kids and kick this guy out of the picture…way easier said than done.
Other drama happened this week and I’m not sure how we get involved in it, because really we’re not supposed to be involved in drama at all, but we sure run into doosies as missionaries. I remember at the beginning of my mission I said that I liked a little drama in my life. I take it back. I don’t want any more drama! It’s not fun at all; it’s awful.!
On a good note, we had four people come to church! President Cutler (mission prez) spoke in our ward which was awesome possum. Rebecca came and she liked it, of course. However, she was quite interested to learn that only those who are married will enter the highest degree of the celestial kingdom (gospel principles class…sigh). Her philosophy on marriage is “I’ve been divorced twice, I’m not getting married ever again, so help me_____.” So Sister Dodge explained it a little more and assured her that she would not have to get married in this life if she didn’t want to and she for sure didn’t need to get married to be baptized.
Betty and Joe (names have been changed) came to church. Here’s the story: Joe’s oldest son was in the military and he became a member of the church. Then the son had cancer and he passed away. Joe and his other children were very sad obviously and Joe was looking for something to relieve his sorrow. He randomly ran into Elders and they taught the family and all the kids were baptized, but Joe was not because…well I’m not sure why he didn’t get baptized that first time. Anyways, they moved to Texas two weeks after the baptisms and went less active because they didn’t know where church was. Well, the Lord loves this family, so Joe randomly ran into missionaries again and they called the sisters and the sisters arranged to have his kids go to church. So for the past year the kids have been going to church by themselves with help from the members. The girls are 15 and 13 and the boys are 12 and 10. Sweetest kids ever! When the sisters first met the family Joe told them he wanted to be baptized, but he couldn’t because he was living with his girlfriend, but couldn’t get married because he hadn’t divorced his previous wife. They’d been separated for years and years and years. We run into this all the time. Very common problem. Divorce with kids is expensive and he’s not super rich. Plus his girlfriend, Betty, was not one bit interested in the church. Well, about three weeks ago Joe randomly calls us and asks if we could teach his girlfriend about the Book of Mormon. “Yes, yes we can,” we responded and then when we hung up the phone we jumped around our apartment in joy. So we’ve been teaching the two of them now and he knows it’s true and has already read the entire triple combination and Betty is reading the Book of Mormon and is growing in her testimony. Good news, but there’s still the divorce so marriage and baptism are not going to happen anytime soon. They have a child together and our Mission President has told us that if the parents want to be married and they have kids, it’s better to keep the family together and work towards marriage instead of splitting them up just so they can get baptized. Good counsel.
Anyways, I love being a missionary even though things aren’t always a fairytale. We met a little old man this week from South Africa with the coolest accent ever and he said his name was Polit: political without the tickle. That made the whole week worth it :)
I love you all!
Sister johnson

she's at an 8

I don’t even know where to start. Basically, right now is the happiest time of my entire mission, and in all reality, right now is the happiest time of my entire life. I can’t express how much I love being a missionary. Oh man, I’m tearing up in the library right now just thinking about it. Do you know what I am doing right now? I testify about Jesus Christ everyday. Before I left I had to give a talk on the atonement and I was completely puzzled by what the atonement was. I knew what it was but I didn’t really grasp what it was. I remember trying to piece together explanations from all the philosophies I had been taught in college. I tried to create an intellectual expression of the divine role of the Savior. I knew it, but I didn’t feel it. I think I understood the atonement a lot more as a 14-year-old than I did as a 22-year-old college grad when I left on my mission. So in college I created an intellectual framework of my testimony, but since I’ve been on my mission I feel like I am actually apply what I’ve learned and creating something much more substantial with in myself. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained in school and now I’m grateful for the chance to apply that knowledge.

A man who has wanted to get baptized for years but hasn’t been able to because he can’t get a divorce and because his girl friend has been very against the church just called us a while ago and asked if we could come and teach his girl friend about the Book of Mormon. We’ve taught her twice and she’s said that she’s not ready to be baptized yet, but that she probably will be once she learns more.

An older man in our ward who is a convert of 2 years told us that we should go see a women named Kristi. He is a wonderful man but he’s very intense and kind of pushy, doesn’t listen real well and we usually try and steer our investigators away from him because we’re afraid he’ll scare them away. But I’ll tell you what, this last week he a doctor’s appointment up in San Antonio and he had a neighbor take him up to it and the whole way he bore his soul to her about the gospel and the blessing that it is in his life. And then of course he told her to talk to missionaries and if she did talk to us then she would be forced to get baptized and that there was no turning back otherwise she would be cast off to outer darkness. Sigh. But guess what! She agreed to meet with us because she said that as this man was going off about the gospel she felt something warm inside of her. She said she got the goose chills. I love the Spirit! We try to offer the gospel on a china plate instead of flinging it in their face, but if we do our best the Spirit will make up for the rest. This man prayed for an opportunity to share the gospel and two days later he was presented with an opportunity and he took it and did the very best he could to share the convictions of his heart and Kristi felt something. Cool…

We are teaching a man named Luz. He’s not super interested but then his friend came to him asking questions and seeking answers about God. Luz let him borrow the Book of Mormon we had given to him and showed him the promise at the end of the book that says if you pray about the book you can know if it’s true. The friend, Jaime, started reading with a critical eye, but then decided to pray about it. He did and he received an answer that made him actually consider that this book could be from God. So then he called us and asked if we could teach him more. After recovering from severe shock we agreed to do so.

Then we met with Rebecca last night after church. Our last appointment had been talking about baptism and she didn’t really know how she felt about it. We called her before church and she was still deciding whether or not she wanted to go. She had mentioned that she wanted to go back to her other church that she went to10 years ago, “but it’s really weird. I can’t find any information about that church anywhere in the phone book.” We were silently thanking the Lord for that. She decided to go to church for the first hour. Lucky for us the Bishop was speaking and he devoted his entire talk to the 13 articles of faith. After that talk she decided to stay for the rest of church which was awesome! After Church Rebecca was asking Sister Dodge if she could replace Coffee with Big Red…we will have to talk to her more about the danger of addictions, but the fact that she is even considering given up coffee is so sweet! We celebrate every little victory. That night we had decided to back off on the baptism thing for a bit to give her some space, but I of course was dying to know what she was thinking about it so I asked, “On a scale from one to ten with one being you don’t want to get baptized and 10 being you do want to get baptized where would you fall?” She answered that before church she was at a four, but she learned so much about our beliefs and understood so much more about authority she now considered herself to be an 8. She’s and 8!!!!!! All night long we were dancing around the apartment. “She’s an 8, she’s an 8!” It’s still going to be quite a process before she’ll feel ready but she’s a lot closer!

I have tons more stories, but not enough time. Basically we have had so many miracles this week. I love it. How many of these miracles will make it to baptism? I’m rootin’ for all of them (I’ll always be a greenie at heart), but in reality I will only see one or two get baptized, but someday the others will probably join them! I love being a part of this work. I finally feel like I understand the importance of baptism. It’s not about changing churches, it’s the first promise that maps out the rest of eternity.

Love, sj

This week I traded my Sister Kleisler for a Sister Dodge. Sister Dodge is from Blaine (nest to Bellingham). She's got an awesome voice so companionship study in the morning is pretty fun cause we sing a lot. It stinks cause I have a cough right now and I'm pretty sure I'll have it the entire time I'm in Pleasanton since I have had it the entire time I've been here so I can't sing through a song without having to cough in the middle, but it just adds character to our performance. Sister Dodge graduated from Western Washington University in Audiology and Speech Pathology. She's very prim and proper, but then a ton of fun. She is completely different than Sister Kleisler which is funny cause Sister Dodge was Sister Kleisler's companion once. They have a lot of funny stories from when they were together. Sister Dodge is a really hard worker and very obedient, but we have sooooooo much fun. Sometimes as we are laughing we'll stop and say, "We're having way too much fun. What are we doing wrong?" But we are realizing that it is possible to have fun and work hard at the same time. Good times.

Rebecca went to church yesterday. I was worried sick at first because it was going to be fast and testimony meeting and in Pleasanton these meetings sometimes end up being more comical than spiritual. When we told the brethern in PEC we had someone coming to church they were very worried too. But in the end we were just faithless, because the testimony meeting yesterday ended up being so awesome!!! It was the perfect combination of real people with real quirks combined with heartfelt/unrehearsed declarations of belief that penetrated Rebecca's heart in just the way she needed. All three meetings were like that. They definitely weren't super flashy or entertaining meetings, but the Spirit was present and she felt it. It was so cool.

It's weird that I'm half way done with my mission. I'm not sure what to think of it yet...

Love you all!
sister johnson

We got the plates!

Transfers: I’m staying sister Kleisler’s leaving. We knew she was, but we’re still pretty sad about it.

Our mission was told about 2 years ago to double baptisms. At the time we were averaging about 50 baptisms a month. So our new goal was 100. For the last two years we haven’t hit that goal. One time they got 98 baptisms, but that wasn’t our goal. Well, the Lord worked miracles in August and I mean miracles. Sunday night we got a text from President, “We got the plates! 105 :) Well done Elders and Sisters! I knew we could do it. We need to all give a prayer of thanks tonight. We love you.” Later the next day we got another text “Alma 26:16 Have a great day! Love, President Cutler.” He’s so happy-and so are we. By the end of yesterday we had 108 baptisms. It’s been so cool. Sister Kleisler and I, of course, only contributed prayers instead of baptisms this month :)
At the beginning of the month our zone leaders told us that our zone goal was 18 baptisms. We thought they were crazy because normally we hit about 8-10 baptisms. But when they told us the goal we felt the Spirit confirm in our hearts that it was the Lord’s will to have that as our goal. Really, the Spirit washed over us, I’ve never felt the spirit that strong when making a goal. So right then we knew it was going to be a good month. Sunday night Sister Kleisler said, “I don’t think we made our goal. President would have told us by now.” I started thinking she was right, but then suddenly I was filled with the same Spirit as when we first set our zone goal at the beginning of the month, and a little while later we found out that we indeed had reached our goal. I don’t know why the Spirit was so strong in confirming the reality of this goal to me especially since I did little to achieve it besides praying for and encouraging others. It’s cool not because we hit a high number, but because a prophet of the Lord asked us to double baptisms, a task that seemed impossible without resorting to unethical behavior which would defeat the end goal: eternal life for everyone. Month after month we fell short. The last two or three zone conferences President told us that some missionaries said the goal wasn’t realistic and that we needed to set a more realistic goal. He kindly replied that until the Prophet gave him word, the goal would remain the same. He told us the story about Nephi and his brothers getting the plates. They failed and failed and then a way was prepared for them to accomplish the goal that the Lord had given them. So we got our brass plates. A way was prepared for us. A way was always prepared, but we had to have the diligence to keep trying. This month he whispered where to find those who were ready and then poured out His Spirit upon them so they could begin growing their testimony. The best part about this goal is that 108 people’s lives were blessed. I hate to sound like a number counter, but I guarantee that the 50 extra people we found in August aren’t complaining, because our goal helped them enter the gate and begin the greatest journey of their existence. Yeehaw.

It has been a great week. I went to the temple last Tuesday. I love going to the temple. It just feels so good. I don’t really know what to say other than it’s awesome! And then afterwards, the Swaims (member couple who drove us to the temple) took us to dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant for their anniversary dinner….yeah… I’m not sure how we pulled that one, but I got stuffed crab which was AMAZING!

We got 3 new investigators this week. One of them we met knocking. Her name is Brandy and she’s looking for a church for her kids. We met the other one in Poteet (quaint little name; dumpy little town-but nice people). We went to see a potential just because we had nothing else to do. It was a woman that we met at the park, but neither I nor Sister Kleisler could remember meeting her. We found the address and knocked and Jessica answered. Our potential wasn’t home, but Jessica said we could teach her. So we taught the restoration, the Spirit was strong which means that she was connecting with what we taught. Sister Kleisler and I are awesome teachers when we teach together…I know it sounds conceited, but it’s true. However, being an awesome teaching team is useless unless the Spirit is there. I can’t tell you how many beautifully crafted lessons we’ve had that are good for nothing in the end because the Spirit isn’t there. Usually the Spirit comes when we are personally worthy for it to be there and when our investigator is ready to understand and accept the message. She was locked onto to what we were saying even during my recitation of the first vision which was accompanied by her 5 year old daughter’s laughing and yelling. The Spirit needs a quiet place, but sometimes he makes exceptions for mothers of loud little kids when those mothers need to feel the Spirit. So we’re excited about her. Then we had a lesson with the Swaim’s friends. Margarita worked with Brother Swaim and she brought her parents who only speak Spanish. They were over for dinner. We asked if we could share a thought and they consented, and sister Kleisler felt like we needed to teach the restoration. She told them she would teach in Spanish and I would teach in English and Margarita would translate for me. We’ve taught like that before and it worked really well. Sister Kleisler began and she spoke beautifully. Her Spanish is alright, but she’s struggled with it her whole mission, but for this lesson she was given the gift of tongues…and then it was my turn. I don’t know very much Spanish, but I can understand quite a bit of churchy stuff. So I knew when she looked at me it was my turn to teach about the apostasy. I opened my mouth and I couldn’t speak. “Ummmm….uh…” Sister Kleisler whispered, “The church fell.” “Ummmm….the church fell. Uh…. Then…” I mentioned earlier that we were a really great teaching team; normally we transitioned between one another flawless so both Sister Kleisler and I were dumbfounded when I couldn’t talk. I looked back at her and we both knew in that moment that I was not supposed to help teach the lesson. So she started teaching in Spanish again and she felt the Spirit guide her words. She felt like she was supposed to direct her teaching entirely to the parents so it felt like the rest of us were just observers. Her Spanish was awesome, and we both knew that this lesson was according to the Lord’s will. Then she asked, “Quierre leer el libro de Mormon?” Without hesitation or thought the mother answered, “No.” Ouch! Sister Kleisler was crushed. Those lessons hurt. We get rejected all the time, but when you feel the Spirit and know it’s for the person you are teaching, rejection is heartbreaking. Oh well. We both left knowing that we did all we could, we followed the promptings, and no effort is wasted. The friends of the Swaims were touched that we shared with them even though they didn’t accept right then. I’ve never felt the Spirit shut my mouth before...it was interesting. Now I feel like I can relate to the lions in Daniel’s den.

Later that night we were knocking and Sister Kleisler spotted some guys playing electric guitar. We talk to everyone we see so we went and talked to them. We sat out in their front yard and talked about our beliefs. Luz was the one we talked to the most. Apparently he used to play basketball with the elders about 10 years ago. He told us all about his beliefs and we listened while drinking the water that he and his friends had provided. He kept talking and talking and then a miracle. When he and his two friends were present (they kept getting up and walking away during our conversation) a perfect moment came and I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. When I first started talking about it he said he wouldn’t read it, but by the end of the testimony he said he would take it and read it. Why? Because the Spirit was there. The Lord had shut my mouth earlier in the day and then a few hours later he opened it and His words came out. I love being a missionary!!!! Then Sister Kleisler told Luz that I could play the guitar so I turned it to acoustic and played the cowboy song and Sister Kleisler sang with me. It’s a Tim McGraw song, but I changed the last verse to make it about the Lord. Well, it was one of the best moments on my mission. I was sitting in a wooden rocking chair on a warm Texas summer evening surrounded by investigators (two) and I was playing the electric guitar and singing about God. Can life get any better than this? I submit that it can not! I love music because it brings such an incredible feeling. When we were done we all just smiled. “The Holy Spirit is present. That was anointed,” Luz said reverently. It was really cool.

One last thing. This week was Stake conference and it was so cool. Sister Kleisler and I and all the Pleasanton ward members sat together in the Stake center chapel. Only about 30 came, but I felt so united with them. I love Pleasanton!

I love you all too. Have a great day!
Sister Johnson

Last week we were knocking and I opened and walked through a gate in order to get to someone’s house. There was no “beware of dog” sign so I thought I was fine, but of course, once I was inside the yard I heard the jingling sound of a loose collar and I saw a black dog racing across the yard bearing the look of death. I screamed and ran back through the gate. Missionary work is dangerous. I could hear a conversation I had had with my dad years early. We were walking down the street and a friendly black dog came running up to lick me to and I flipped out. My dad asked, “I thought you liked dogs?” And I responded, “Not big, black ones!!!” So I guess I’ve never overcome that fear. Fortunately the dog I saw last week wasn’t the biggest black dog I’d ever seen. He was more like a medium black dog, but I don’t really like those either.
Then this week Sister Kleisler and I were knocking again and we walked up to someone’s house and under their big dodge truck was a big scary dog, unchained (because country folks are crazy), and ready to eat us. We slowly started backing away and then two more dogs ran up barking something terrible. There we were standing face to face with three missionary-eaters and all we could do was back up. We were trying to decide if we should run or just act casual. “Hey dogs, good to see ya, sorry we disturbed your nap, what fine fur you have, and what large teeth…” Needless to say, we made it back to our car in one piece which is lucky because our district leader got a pretty bad bite from a dog a few weeks ago.
I went on exchanges this week with Sister Dodge who was Sister Kleisler’s old companion. We had tons of fun. I went up to central San An which was nice. They share a ward with elders so we spent a lot of time with them. I love being with other missionaries! Sister Kleisler hardly ever get to see other missionaries which stinks. AS missionaries we are always a separate identity from everyone else. From the people we talk to everyday, to our investigators, even the members in our ward: we are just different. So it is so nice to be around missionaries who are the same…the same as people who aren’t different. Anyways, it was fun. We helped a member family move. One of the kids, an eight year old, was helping and by the time we got there he was dripping with sweat. The kids love the Elders so one of the missionaries started playing around with the eight year old and then jokingly asked pointing to a sweat bead, “Dude, what’s that?” The eight year old snapped back, “I HAVE SWEAT PROBLEMS, OKAY!!!!” I almost died laughing. It was hilarious. I don’t know what that kid’s medical history is like, but when you live in south Texas, everyone has sweat problems.
Yesterday was the best day this week. We didn’t have anyone at church. Bummer. But we did find a girl named, Alyssa. She had seen us before because everyone has seen us before. Because Pleasanton is so small I almost feel omnipresent. Anyways, we taught her and her friend the restoration. She liked it, her friend…not so much. But that was really cool for us. Then that night we taught Rebecca again (the science teacher). She’s so cool and we asked her about coming to church and she said she didn’t like to go to church because she always cried and it was embarrassing. “Hey! Our church is the perfect for people who cry a lot! Everyone cries.” We told her about the spirit and how sometimes you get overwhelmed by it and all you can do is cry and then she started to cry. It’s really sad that we were excited she cried. We don’t necessarily like it when people cry, but we do like it when they feel something as a result of the thing we teach. Booyah.
Thanks for your prayers and support. Have a great day!
~sister johnson

Mon, Aug 3, 2009

Have I told you about Fritz and Kline? I met them the first time we went running. I was running down the street thinking, “I love running! I love being a missionary! What a beautiful tree! La La La!” When suddenly from across the street I heard a rattling chain and Fritz comes tearing across his yard towards me: “Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff!” (Ruff’s are barked as eighth notes). Ahhh! I almost fell over. I stopped jogging and decided to walk very carefully while in sight of Fritz—But then suddenly I heard another rattling chain as Kline barreled right up to the chain link fence—the only thing standing in the way of me and the jaws of death: “Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff!” I started to do some breathing exercises and tried not to make eye contact with them as I passed by the fortress (a simple brick home on a two acre lot) that they guarded so well. So every morning we run past their home and keep running until the end of the street and then we turn around and run past the house of Fritz and Kline again. And every single stinking morning and every single stinking time we run in front of their house the same thing happens: the two German Shepherds come out to bark us out of their sight. You would think that after six weeks they’d lay off a bit, but no. Every morning they come running out with as much furry as they did the first day—they have a lot of pride for where they live and they know their duty. One day I was running back home with Sister Kleisler behind me. We had already been barked out of sight so I was waiting for round two. As I ran in front of their yard I saw Kline (alright. I actually don’t know which dog it was. And I don’t even know their real names, but I personally I believe Fritz and Kline should be their real names) licking and sniffing a cat. He was so distracted that he didn’t see me pass by. I thought it was hilarious and I almost called out, “Stop flirting with your girlfriend!” Of course I didn’t say that because I knew he would eat me. But he must have heard my thoughts because he all the sudden snapped out of lala land and came chasing after me. Ahhh! Gets me every time.
We ate over at the Scotts house this week. They are an older couple who have been in the ward forever and they know everything about everyone. While we were over there they had a sign on their wall that read: “When I die I want to be buried in the Wal-Mart parking lot so my wife will come and visit me every day.” Then they showed me another sign that they found. This sign was located underneath a handicapped parking sign. It read: “Stupidity is not considered to be a handicap. Park somewhere else!” Haha.
Then my favorite thing that happened this week was during testimony meeting. We had some investigators visiting so of course we were super paranoid about what is said during the church meetings. Someone in the ward went up and bore a beautiful testimony, and in the middle of it they testified of the importance of learning all different kinds of skills. “Who would have thought that learning how to belly dance could save someone’s life?” We heard “belly dance” and about fainted. Then the person recounted how one of their relatives was choking and they would have died if they had not been taught a belly dancing move that acted as a self Heimlich maneuver. So there you go. Belly dancing can save your life.
As far as missionary work goes, I don’t really know what to say. This has been one of the most memorable weeks of my entire mission. It was up then down then up then down. But we found a bunch of people to teach so it was all worth it!
Hope you have a great week! Talk to ya later!
Sister Johnson

Mon, Aug 10, 2009

Well, I forgot my planner so I can’t really remember what happened this week. Oh yeah! Zone Conference!!! That was good. We had to do role plays with President which was TERRIFYING! Role plays in and of themselves are no fun, but with President…We knocked on President’s door ( the pulpit in the chapel) and he answered it. Our objective was to get into the house. Afterwards he told us that sister’s are good teachers, but we’re not very bold door approachers…surprise, surprise. This week we tried to apply what we learned. So we started knocking and at the first door (where someone actually came to the door) we basically said, “We’re missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We’re sharing a message about Jesus Christ that brings a lot peace and happiness. Do you have time for us to come in (bad bad bad thing to ask, but don’t worry we recovered.” “Well, I’m leaving.” “This message is very important. Will you allow us to come into your home and share this message with you? It will take five minutes.” And then the miraculous happened…she said, “Alright” and then let us in. Okay, maybe that door approach seems lame to you and uncreative, but it works a ton better than us going on and on about what a prophet is and the history of the Book of Mormon. It’s weird how willing people are to let you into their home if you just ask. Sad it took me this long to learn that, but oh well.
Other things that happened this week…hmmmm…I got to see Sister Denison at Zone conference which was cool. She was transferred down to San Antonio. We played a song for President during our interviews. It’s a song all about Pleasanton and our inside jokes. Sister Kleisler came up with the ideas and I wrote the lyrics and played the guitar. She has a guitar so I get to play it. It’s fun.
I don’t have a whole lot to say this week so I guess I’ll sign off. Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all and I really appreciate all your support! Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa Johnson (on Friday)!!!!
~Sister Johnson

Hello wall

Tue, Jul 21, 2009
Transfer calls came yesterday: Sister Kleisler and I are staying in Pleasanton.
I got to go to the San Antonio temple for the first time on Tuesday! It was awesome. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Sigh. Wednesday was district meeting and a senior couple paid for us to eat out at a steak buffet. Yum. That night we taught Toby, Mallory, and Billy Boy. We painted prayer rocks and those boys ended up being quite the little Picasso’s…
Thursday: Sister Kleisler’s teeth have been hurting. I inspected her teeth and noticed that part of a filling had chipped off so there was a large hole in her tooth. So arrangements were made for her to go to the dentist. He took one look in her mouth and said, “That’s not a chipped filling, that’s a huge cavity.” Apparently her last dentist didn’t do a very good job so now she’s got a mouth full of cavities. The dentist filled some, and then prescribed her heavy pain pills to ease her mouth pain. The pills did a good job at getting rid of her pain, but she was a zombie. So we did splits with some sisters from the ward. Sister Kleisler laid on Sister Swaim’s couch while I went out with other sisters in the ward. I went with Sister Midget(a sweet 78 year old woman who loves people and loves to share her testimony) for half the day, then the second half of the was spent with Vanessa.
I have to tell you a little about Vanessa because she’s one of my favorite people in whole world. She’s been a member her whole life, but had a rough childhood which led to her falling away from the Church. She had some terrible, terrible things happened to her as a result of the choices she made while she was away from the church. Ten-ish years later she’s got two kids from one marriage and two from her current boyfriend. Last fall, she was in the depths of humility, I suppose, and she was super depressed standing outside her toaster (what she calls the trailer she lives in) when she saw two sister missionaries knocking door across the street. She prayed and reasoned with the Lord that she would go back to church if He would send those two missionaries to her door…So guess what happened??? They never showed up. Bad missionaries? nope. Vanessa’s awesome and she went to church anyways because she knew she was supposed to go and she didn’t need a sign to realize that. She walked into Church with her boyfriend and four kids and the sisters immediately ran over to them because here in Pleasanton new people are gold. So now 9 months later she is very active and her boyfriend wants to get baptized…as soon as they get married which can’t happen because…well that’s an incredibly long story that I won’t go into. I’ve learned a very important lesson from them. Even though they have sincerely repented of their sins and want nothing more than to live righteously now, they still have to suffer the consequences of their decisions. They can’t get out of it—these consequences will be stuck with them for their entire life. However, they are at peace. Vanessa is surrounded by chaos, but she is at peace because she knows now that she is on good terms with God so she can trust that he’ll help her out in the exact way the she and her family need. What's neat now is that we often get promptings to go see Vanessa right when she needs us. Even though the Lord didn't send the missionaries to Vanessa the first time she asked, He has since sent us several times. So she is the awesomest member to take with us to appointments because she has a tough life so she can relate to the people we teach (everyone who listens to us have very difficult lives) and when she bares her testimony you can feel her sincerity and her peace.
So Vanessa and I did splits for part of Thursday and part of Saturday. On Saturday we went knocking. Usually when we’re with members we take them to solid appointments, because finding people to teach is awkward for them, but our teaching pool has dried up so we have to find more people. Plus, the zone leaders wanted all of us to set someone with a baptism date before the 19th. Okay…that probably sounds weird, and it is. How can you have a goal that depends on another person’s agency? Well, the answer is that the “goals” are more like promises to the Lord that we will do everything in our power to bring people to Christ and then we trust that he will lead us to those people who are ready to make that step—cause we don’t know where they are! I wish we had radar that gave us coordinates to all those people who are ready to hear this message…and I guess in a way we do—the Spirit. But I’ve found that if we make no effort, no plans, and no goals, we don’t find anyone. It’s like God wants us to actually put forth as much effort as we can before he’ll help us out…weird. But with that said…sometimes we DO put forth all of our effort and we still don’t find anyone! But such is life—I have a feeling that something greater than my perception detects is going on here, but that’s just me.
Wow, today’s the letter of tangents. Anyways, on Saturday we weren’t teaching anyone who was ready to set a date to get baptized. But the zone leaders were praying, Sister Kleisler was praying, and I…well I was skeptical because we had three hours and I wasn’t in the mood to convince someone to get baptized just so I could turn in pretty numbers. So we were knocking and an older woman opened the door. She invited us to sit down on her front porch and we asked if she was interested in our message (after explaining for a couple minutes) and she said, “I have different beliefs than you.” She said she had been studying with the Jehova’s witnesses for several years which to us is a big red flag that she likes to learn, but doesn’t like to commit. At this point I normally would have said “thanks for your time” and then would take off down the road to find someone else, but for whatever reason, I decided to read out of the Book of Mormon. Partly because I can tell if people are ready by how strong the Spirit comes while we read from it. Well it came strong. Holy Moly. Wasn’t prepared for that at all—neither was she. Vanessa bore her testimony about the Book of Mormon and about the church and as she did so I got the impression to set her with a baptismal date. Of course I talked back to the thought in my mind, “Are you serious?” “Yes.” Well, I couldn’t argue with that. So I asked her if she wanted to be baptized. “You mean I can be baptized again?” So I explained priesthood and as I did she said, “I keep getting goose bumps while y’all are talking.” So were we. Anyways, we explained that we had a lot to teach her before she was baptized, and that we wouldn’t baptize her until she understood more of what she was getting into, but the feeling that she was getting right now was the Lord telling her that this road was good. Okay, disclosure: we didn’t push her, we didn’t manipulate…she wants to be a part of Christ’s Church—all we did was read from the Book of Mormon and she knew. I love that Book! Our meeting was 25 minutes long. We sat down, felt the spirit, and then we were gone. Sister Kleisler cam with me the next day to visit her to make sure she was legitimately interested and she agreed that Melrose (that’s the woman’s name) was ready to set a baptism date. She had already read 16 chapters in the Book of Mormon and told the Jehova’s Witnesses that she was going to try something new. So her baptisms set for Aug 30th. Whoa.
At church I walked in and saw a woman sitting by herself who I didn’t recognize. I figured out that she was a Methodist who just wanted to come to our church meeting. I asked her if she attended other religious meetings frequently and she said “No, just this one.” She said, “I came here a couple of weeks ago for a funeral (Brother Bishop had died) and the meeting truly touched me. You go to all these different place and don’t feel anything, I feel something when I am here. So I wanted to come again. I came last Sunday, but showed up at the wrong time, so I came again this Sunday.” …Well, I rambled off something like, “Yeah…cool.” But inside I was like, “Um….am I trapped inside an Ensign-Magazine-vortex or is this reality?” So I don’t know what’s going to happen there, but it was cool.
Okay one more story. A lady in our ward was telling us how her father would sometimes punish her and her siblings. I guess he would use the belt often (in a non-abusive way I’m assuming??), but on special occasions when the kids were being extra bad, he would make them talk to the wall. She said it happened when the other siblings were around so they could watch. He would start, “Alright…go to the wall.” “Daaaaaad…noooooo (said in a very whiney teenager voice)” “It’s the wall or the belt.” They shot to the wall.
“Repeat after me”
“Oh my gosh (rolled eyes)”
He starts in a deep, provoking voice, “Hello wall.”
“Hello wall,” the punished kid would say in a small, embarrassed voice.
He would then say, “It’s me again.”
“It’s me again” Meanwhile the other siblings are rolling around on the floor laughing.
Gruff-father-whose-having-way-too-much-fun voice: “I’m back…”
I-can’t-believe-I’m-doing-this voice:“I’m back”
Then the climax “Cause I’ve been Bad!!!”
Kid would sigh and in a little bitty itty voice, “Cause I’ve been bad…” Other kids would erupt into more laughter. He did it to them well into their teens, but she said they have a recording of her when she was only three.
“Hello Wall.”
“He-woa wah” (in a cute little guilty voice).
“It’s me again.” “It me again.”
“I’m back.”
“I back.”
“Cause I’ve been bad.”
“Cause I be bad.”
Well I love you all! Hope your having a fabulous day. Thanks for your prayers and support! Until next week.
sj

Mon, Jul 13, 2009
This week started off right with a quadruple-zone dodge ball tournament. I hate dodge ball, but I got to see my trainer Sister Davenport!!! So we talked for a bit and that was cool. We had a member from our ward drive us up there. Her name is Sister Partridge (Her son is Edward Partridge the 7th. If Edward Partridge the 1st was a king, then Edward Partridge the 7th would be his successor…hmmm, random analogy…but it really wasn’t an analogy, I was just trying to illustrate the direct lineage—okay, I ‘m done). She and her husband are very nice to us and help us out a lot. She is a recent convert of 4 years so she loves sister missionaries cause we were the ones who found her. I like being a missionary cause everything good that preceding missionaries have done gets passed down to you…on the other hand anything bad other missionaries do gets passed on as well).
On Tuesday we got a sad phone call from Corina who is a woman we found last week. We had an incredible lesson with her and she knew it was something she wanted in her life, but her husband came home later and was very offended that she had let us in. She called to tell us that because of her husband she doesn’t want to continue lessons. Sad day. But we have to respect her and her husband so all we can do is pray that someday her husband will be willing to listen.
On Wednesday we spent half the day driving around San Antonio after our district meeting to pay for Sister Kleisler’s ticket that she got last transfer. As a result of all that, I am now the driver to protect her from getting another ticket. Yay! I get to drive the big black truck! Well it’s actually a small gray pickup, but it’s still cool. We had our new member lessons that night with a bunch of recent converts and investigators in the ward. We had Brother Silvester give a lesson on prophets, but apparently the Spirit had other plans. Brother Silvester tried to talk about prophets, but he ended up talking mostly about the atonement of Christ. The things he taught that night were exactly what these converts and investigators needed to hear. He didn’t realize how perfect his teaching was cause he knew nothing about the challenges and struggles of the people in the room, but we did. As missionaries, people feel comfortable telling us all their life stories, so when we heard Brother Silvester say something we’d casually glance to the person we knew it would apply to. It was so cool.
On Thursday we planned an amazing lesson to get Toby excited about his baptism. He’s still sweet and kind, but we’ve been able to tell a difference in him since he talked to his mom about being baptized. He lost the fire. When we saw him for this lesson he had started reading the book of mormon again and so his light started to return. We had the lesson at the church. When they walked into the gym we had set up a bunch of play tents (from nursery) and we acted out the story of Ammon the missionary complete with costumes, weapons, stuffed animals, and of course a fake arm. Toby and his brothers loved it. It was fun and he seemed his normal, happy self when it was over.
Friday was a finding day…bleck. We didn’t find any one.
Saturday was another finding day…bleck. We contacted a referral, but that was it. I had this brillante idea to get in service clothes and drive around the town and find people who were doing yard work or who were moving and pull over and offer to help them out. It would have been a great idea except for the fact that it was 108 degrees with 3000% humidity! Okay the humidity is an exaggeration, but it was hot. No one in their right mind should have been outside on that Saturday afternoon. Well, we learned our lesson and wasted a bunch of miles. :) Then we had a lesson with Toby again to make final preparations for his baptism.
On Sunday…Toby got baptized!!!!! And Clarissa got confirmed!!!!! We actually didn’t get to watch his actual baptism cause…all spare you the details but just know that baptisms are crazy and something always has to go wrong…but the adversary can’t win!!! Even though it wasn’t picture perfect and stuff happened that we didn’t plan on, Toby still got baptized!!!!! Toby’s mom was there and she seemed pretty uncomfortable at first. She was annoyed that we told her she couldn’t take pictures of the actual baptism. But by the end she was smiling and happy for Toby. The ward was really awesome at fellowshipping her. Brother and Sister Silvester took her around the church on a tour and everyone was very complementary of Toby (cause he’s awesome) and they were complementary of her for raising such a fine young man. All in all, it ended up being an awesome baptism.
Clarissa loved her confirmation, but it was a sad day for her as well. Gary was supposed to come and be there for it, but he got drunk the night before and said a lot of things to her that hurt her feelings. She realized that he wasn’t ready to change yet and that she was going to have to move on in the gospel without him. She’s going to have to find an apartment and job and everything cause she knows they won’t get married for a while. As missionaries we get to watch things like this. We can’t counsel her on these kinds of matters, all we can do is tell her to pray and read scriptures and find out what the Lord wants her to do.
I was thinking about Gary and how sad it was that he’s given up on progressing in the gospel. We had some incredible spiritual experiences with him and his family. He witnessed spiritual expression that some people wait their whole life to receive, but don’t. How could he turn his back on those things? I have a living example now of Laman and Lemuel denying the faith after seeing an angel. Poor guy. But I realized that as cool as the experiences have been, they are pointless unless your heart understands their significance.
I’ve noticed that since I’ve been on a mission I’ve witnessed a lot more spiritual experiences. At first I thought that it was because of the work I’m involved in. I just thought that missionary has more spiritual stuff than other areas of life such as school, work, and family. But now I’m learning that that’s not true. The difference is not the work I am involved with. The difference is me. The Lord has been around this whole time leading and directing his children through Angels and the Spirit. It’s all around me all the time, but since I’ve been on my mission, I’ve paid more attention and caught more experiences that otherwise may have just passed by without notice. All the experiences I’ve had haven’t been huge fireworks and loud noises. They’ve been very subtle and quiet yet incredibly profound moments that come and go without pomp. I just notice now because I’m aware of the needs of these people and what their lives and challenges entail. I pray for this people a thousand times during the day. I am studying and searching for God’s hand in my life as well as in my investigators and now I’m seeing it. I can’t help but see it because I’m actually looking for it. My days are long and filled with drudgery and boredom and then suddenly a small speckle of light breaks through all of that and if I wasn’t consciously looking for it I’d miss it.
We meet a lot of return missionaries who have gone inactive or fallen away from the church. And since I’ve been out I’ve been trying to figure out how they could fall away after all the miracles I’m sure they had seen on their missions. But it’s probably because they stopped looking or they forgot how…or maybe something else, I don’t know.
Well, I’m done rambling. Thank you for your prayers and emails and letters! I love you all! Talk to ya later!
Sister Johnson

:)

Clarissa got baptized yesterday!!! She still has to be confirmed next week. They have the baptisms on Sunday right after church otherwise no one can come because the ward boundaries are so huge that it takes a lot of members 30-45 minutes to get to church. It was beautiful. My favorite part of baptisms (at least for the women) is meeting them in the bathroom right after the baptism while they’re still sopping wet and there’s still sparkles in their eyes from the water and tears, and then giving them a big huge wet hug. Ahhhhh……
Toby didn’t get baptized. It was really weird this week because everything leading up to the baptism was so awesome unlike other baptisms where the week leading up to it is chaos. But then the phone call came. “Toby’s mom changed her mind. She doesn’t want Toby to get baptized.” Sister Kleisler and I immediately got in our truck and drove all the way to her house to talk to her. But she was actually at the apartments where we live(That’s where Shaun—Toby’s Dad—lives). Anyways, we had just had an amazing day so we weren’t very stressed about it. Later Shaun called us and said that they had made an agreement and she, Toby’s mom, promised not to change her mind. The agreement was that Toby would get baptized next Sunday and Shaun couldn’t baptize him. Not sure what that’s about but I don’t care as long as he gets baptized. I’ve never met a ten-year-old that was so ready for that commitment. We’re always scared baptizing kids cause we don’t want to manipulate them into doing it, but this last week confirmed to us that he understood the commitment he was making and was committed to sticking with it.
We had so many experiences this week where the spirit led our path. The first was meeting Corina. She let us come in and teach her. We taught her the restoration and she was really interested and believed us. Then we asked her to pray and she said she didn’t know how. So we taught her and then she gave her first prayer and bawled the entire way through it. That’s not an exaggeration. It was beautiful. It was like she was connecting with a loved one that she had forgotten about—oh wait, that is what she was doing. Anyways, prayer is amazing. Sister Kleisler and I teach really well together, but our teaching is pointless unless we get them to read the Book of Mormon or pray. We can have the most eloquent and interesting lesson ever and it will be completely useless unless the Spirit is there to touch their hearts. We can’t manipulate when the Spirit comes either. We can pray really hard and work our hardest to create an environment for him to come. But in the end it’s up to the Spirit when he is going to come…And how he comes has everything to do with what the individual needs at that very time which is often a surprise to us. Anyways, the spirit touched her heart…now getting her to act on that is a different story…
Later in the day we had 20 minutes before an appointment. 20 minutes is not a huge chunk of time so we didn’t really know what to do. Sister Kleisler hates knocking, but for whatever reason, she decided we should knock. So we pull up to a street really close to our apartments. Go up to the first door we see and knock. A girl comes and says she already goes to church. I gave up on her and was ready to wrap things up, but then randomly Sister Kleisler asked about her family, then I asked about the challenges she was going through and I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but she let us come in for a lesson. Her ex-husband was hanging out there (there’s a lot of interesting family circumstances in this area). He had a friend who was mormon who talked about it a lot with him and even gave him a Book of Mormon, but they had lost track of each other. Anyways, amazing lesson and the spirit was there. Who knows if anything comes of it, but God was reaching out to them through us. I love that.
The next day we had knocking planned, but Sister Kleisler felt like we needed to see Clarissa. She felt really strongly about it. On the way out to our truck I felt like I needed to grab a talk that I had randomly had sister partridge print out for me the day before. So we went to Clarissa’s house and she wasn’t there. But then Sister Kleisler had a feeling to go to Clarissa’s friend’s, Vanessa, house. So we did and lo and behold there was Clarissa’s car. We went in having no idea why we were going there. Sister Keisler had me play guitar…I played that cowboy song. Haha. Sigh. I had to change the words to churchy words--which was interesting. Anyways, for whatever reason it brought the Spirit. And then sister Kleisler said some things that Clarissa needed. Then we were about to leave and suddenly Vanessa asked us a question that we had no idea how to answer, however the question had everything to do with the talk I brought. So I pulled it out and told her to read it and pray about it and she would receive her answer.
These experiences on paper aren’t anywhere near as powerful as they are in person. And the reason they are powerful in person is not because there’s lights, gushes of wind, or voices of angels. They’re powerful because we suddenly witness God’s hand in our lives. He cares about us and loves us enough to guide us in the smallest ways, and to speak to our hearts with that small voice. We had a baptism this week which was great—it’s our main goal. However, my favorite part of this mission thing is not the baptisms. They are actually super stressful. My favorite part is seeing the spirit work in these people’s lives and having the opportunity to sometimes be the vehicle that the spirit uses to touch others. I don’t know if the people we saw this week will get baptized. I hope they do, but it’s so wonderful to see how much God loves his people that he’ll go through the trouble of getting us into these people’s homes and then making up for whatever flaws we have in teaching by bearing powerful witness of the things we teach. These moments strengthen my testimony just as much as their’s. It’s also interesting because it seems like the spirit comes right after I have just been severely humbled. Right when I think, “Okay! I get it! I’m a prideful idiot. I’ll stop being selfish and I’ll listen to you.”—bam: blessing of the Spirit. The blessing doesn’t come as a result of self-degradation, but as a result of self-realization combined with the pleas to change my heart for the better.
Thank you for your prayers and letters. It means a lot. I love you all!
sister johnson