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
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
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
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
Monday, September 14, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
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
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
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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
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
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