And thus it is

January 26
Sister Davenport was talking to a little boy who ate a huge meatball. He said, "I can eat big meatballs cause I have a big mouth." "When can I get a big mouth like you?" she responded. "When you turn 4." "When am I going to turn 4?" "Well...how old are you?" "21" "Hmmm...okay, you need to lose some pounds."

I lost my planner last Sunday. Ugh. Don’t ever do that the next time y’all are on a mission cause I’m telling you it’s awful. I felt like I was roaming around soulless and without purpose. Dramatic description you say? Oh no. A lost missionary planner is bad news. Luckily I found it Thursday during weekly planning. We had pulled all our books of the desk and they were scattered all over the floor. Sister Davenport kept telling me to pay attention as I rolled around aimlessly lamenting about the lost planner when suddenly there it was on the desk…I’d like to say that it was put there by an angel (probably an annoyed angel sick of hearing me complain about the planner), but I’m pretty sure it had just been buried under a bunch of books. There’s a lesson here…although I’m not quite sure what it is…

I’m starting to tell jokes that only involve gospel language. I’m not sure how I feel about it. But basically when all you think and say is scripture it starts becoming a part of your vocabulary and it’s a little weird…but I kinda like it.

I am also starting to talk with the typical missionary voice inflection that I swore I would not fall into. You know what I’m talking about? It’s where your voice inflection turns upward at the end of every phrase until you say your final point and the inflection turns downward. I don’t know how I started doing it cause Sister Davenport doesn’t do it, but some of the Elders do it. I must resist!

This week has been dramatic. No…the people who we are working with: their lives are dramatic and somehow we have become stuck in the middle of it, but it’s okay cause I love these people and I’m partial to a little drama. But man oh man. I have been blessed in my upbringing. Holy cow. Some of the things people have to go through…Wow.

Luckily there is no drama between Sister Davenport and I. We get along great. She’s funny and keeps things interesting, plus she knows all the good stories in the old testament. Talk about hours of fun…I’m dead serious…it’s hilarious. But it’s also really cool to talk with her about the scriptures. She’s smart and she knows a lot. One of my wishes has been to become a better scriptorian and I know that one of the reasons we were put together was so that she could help me grow in my knowledge of the scriptures. And you should see her with the minister. It’s awesome. They just go back and forth. He asks questions about our doctrine with scriptures and she answers them with scriptures. She’s not feisty and neither is he, its just a super interesting interaction and the scriptures are full of so much cool stuff. Its neat to make connections.

The minister is cool and I really think he honestly wants to find out more about this religion, but he loves to talk. I feel like I’m in one of his sermons every time we visit. But then when it’s our turn we quickly bear testimony and answer his questions before he starts his next monologue. It’s frustrating, but also interesting. I know a lot more about other Christian churches and their endeavors and it’s cool. He’s a good man. And it’s funny cause He counsels us on how more people would join our church if we alter some of our definitions and philosophies. But he doesn’t quite understand what we’re saying. Other Christian churches are led by good people who receive inspiration through the spirit from God. But our declaration is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints receives direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself. Carried out by mortals, but led directly by God. It’s a bold claim. Blasphemy? If it wasn’t true then yes, but it is true. And that’s a truth I won’t and I can’t ignore.

This next week should be interesting, but also really cool. I love Texas. People are nice. It’s still scary to talk to people, but I can feel myself becoming weirder and weirder which makes it easier to be bolder. I’m not exactly sure what I mean by that, but something’s changing inside of me. And I can feel that something great is going to happen in the next little bit.

The weather here is absolutely schizophrenic. It was eighty earlier this week and now it’s super cold. The humidity makes it feel just like it did when I left Utah. But I love it here. It smells like sixth grade. And thus it is. I am Sister Johnson, the missionary for the Cedar Park area.