This mission is the best mission ever! We set a mission goal to get 100 baptisms by the end of July and we reached 102 baptisms by the 22nd. I know that as we are obedient and strive to do our best that the Lord will help us and pour out blessings upon us. This is proof! We also broke another record last Sunday for the mission and we had a total of 220 investigators at church last Sunday! yaya! The hard work pays off! So one of the members of the YSA ward opened his call the other night and we got to be there. He is going to South Africa! It reminded me of when I opened my call! Great times! And I also found out the Pres. Monson signature is real on my call letter. ha. so maybe you could laminate that for me mom :) just when you get the time. this is crazy to tell you this but... i already know what day i come home. its Dec 19. Just a heads up haha. Its on the transfer board and we always look at it when we go to the office. Sister Andrus and I have a huge white empty wall and so we have started putting all of our pictures up! Its looking pretty good!  I think about Blake all the time and I know that he is doing missionary work on the other side! He's amazing! I love and miss him! Well for my spiritual thought and something I learned this week.... Elder Georgino (from Italy) gave a talk in church on Sunday and this is the story that he shared. There was a man who had a vision and in this vision there was a long long table full of all the food you could ever want to eat. The people around it were skin and bone and looked like they hadn't eaten anything. They had huge forks in their hands. About 4ft forks and they would grab the food and try to eat it but they couldn't because the fork was too long. They were miserable and hungry. The angel told him this is what hell would be like. Then he took him to another place, Heaven, and it was the exact same scene. Long long tables full of any kind of delicious food you could eat everything of. They all had the 4ft fork. But they were healthy looking and it's because they would use the fork to feed one another. I know that as we serve others we will be blessed. I know that we will find great joy in helping others come unto Christ and in serving everyone we meet and know. I am forever in debt to my Savior. He is the way, the only. I owe him my life because he has sacrificed His for me. I know that I am here in Florida for others. Not for me, not for my benefit, not to just say I've been on a mission. I am here to find the elect that have been prepared to hear the gospel! and I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ. Family, I love you all so much! and I think about you everyday! I hope that everything is going well! its sounds like it from the emails and letters! Trust in the Lord! He is always there! I look forward to hearing from you! Just remember you have a daughter and sister in Florida who loves and misses you!  You are the best! until next week :)

all my love, Sister Johnson

July 16, 2012

So its been another great week on the mission! i am so happy and loving life as a missionary! the lord blesses me daily and gives me the strength to share his gospel! so this email i though i would answer the questions I've been getting and to clue you in on my life. I live at an apt complex called the Paragon and it is located in Plantation. If you look on a map, my area covers Davie, Plantation, Pembroke Pines, Weston, Hollywood, Hollidale and Fort Lauderdale. Its a fairly big area and we do a lot of driving. I am about 10-15 min away from the beach but... this week I saw the ocean and the beach for about 5 min! A recent convert lives on the beach pretty much. We can only listen to MOTAB in the car. And we have been listening to the Christmas one David Artchulta! its so great. We listen to it all day every day. mom you will have to let me know how his new cd is! i cant wait for you to get it! i can print pictures but its hard to get around to it on some pdays cuz we have a lot to get done. i cant print the emails that you send cuz we use the computers at a library... sorry. thank you so much for all of the fun packages that you have been sending!  Nothing like getting mail and packages on the mission! my friends are all doing so good!  What kind of bike did Jared get? Is it brand new? I need details ha. but thats awesome that he got a new bike! Exercising is so hard to do here! We bike for about 30 min in the morning! but its so hot here that its a killer ha. We get mail everyday but its goes to the office first and then to us so its kinda crazy and we randomly get things but everything does eventually get to us! i created a profile on mormon.org! so you can check that out if you want! its just under brooke, fort lauderdale florida. and then you will see my picture and info! we only have an hour to read and emial back. we first have to read presidents email and respond to him. then we can do family. so i usually have 30 min to read and write back to you.  I do miss the moutains. its so flat here! We don't ever eat dinner at members houses because we are in a YSA ward. and of course they are starving college students. so we always cook for ourselves. which is fine! i dont mind! i am slowly learning spanish from my lovely companion. i can bear testimony and carry a really small convo in spanish! kinda fun! i am now working on how to pray in spanish.... there are palm trees and tropical flowers every where. its crazy to think that this is where i will be living for 18 months! time is just flying though and i love being a missionary.

i love reading the BOM. i cant seem to put the book down. i am understanding a lot of what i read and becuase i read it everyday it is really like reading from a story book. i love it! dad thank you for the verses that you suggested to read. i actually just read all of ether 12 yesterday. i was studying about the grace of God and that all things are made possible through the atonement of Christ. i love ether 12! its an amazing chapter. i was actually in the MTC when the 110 new presidents were there! and i was in class when the apostales were teaching the new presidents! the day i left the MTC, L Tom Perry talked at the devotional that night and 10 of the apostales were sitting on the stand! i am so sad i missed that! but thats okay :) my first baptism, Madeline, is making so much progress. we went and read from the BOM with her the other day and the spirit was so strong. she offered the closing prayer and I started to cry. she said "thank you Lord for sending me my friends that have helped me changed my life." In that moment I was reminded of what I am doing here. i am making eternal friends and helping them follow the example of Christ. which helps them make changes in their lives. i love madeline. and her life is changed forever. she is an elect daughter of God and sister andrus and i feel blessed to be able to share the gospel with her. i know that this is where i am supposed to be. when i am having a bummer day i just think about when i was set apart and when pres allred said "for this purpose you were born" I know that I have been called by the prophet of God to share glad tiding with the people here in Florida. It is my honor to find those who the Lord has prepared! I hope you all have a great week! I look forward to hearing from you as always. I love you all so much that i dont even know how to express it in writing. enjoy going out on the boat for me please :) and sitting by the pool! all that fun stuff!!

love love love, sister Johnson

p.s. president includes things that we write him in his letter each week for all of the other missionaries to see. and when i got her my comp said to make it a goal to have on of my stories in presidents email! and ... this week, one of my stories was in him email!! yahoo! this is what pres included in his email....

“Earlier this week we went to an apartment complex to visit a person we had blessed. On the way to his apartment door we saw a guy walking by. And so I said hi and knew that my companion would stop him so that we could talk to him… he stopped and was just looking at us. As my companion and I looked up … we immediately walked over to him, got to know him a little bit and asked if we could bless him. The spirit was there and we invited him to be baptized. He said yes I will and he committed to July 15. He said that he had been talking with his friends about baptism and that it was something he had been wanting to do. I learned from that experience that we have to always be ready to approach someone. To drop whatever we are doing and run to the children that Heavenly Father has prepared for us to teach.”

also because our zone reached a goal that we had set, we get to go to native village today. So I will be holding an alligator! i am super excited!

pictures: i caught a lizzard. we went with the assistants to a brizilian grill. hannah a member of the ward came out with us one day and she showed us the beach. we open a coco nut and the milk is pretty good! until next week fam! i love you!

July 9, 2012

So the mail system here is terrible. If you wrote me a letter I will prob be getting it tomorrow. I'm going to start copying and pasting the email to my president on here and then added other stuff to it. It will make emailing a lot quicker and you still get all of the information. I hope you all had a great 4th of july! Sister Andrus and I went to a lunch bbq and a dinner bbq. It wasn't a very productive day but it was an enjoyable day and we got to visit with a lot of the recent converts which was much needed! I gave my first talk in church yesterday and I had my first two baptisms yesterday! It was an amazing Sunday! Sundays have always been my favorite but, mission sundays are really the best! So at FHE a week ago I had my first crazy experience. We were playing backwards charades. So one person had to guess what our whole group was acting out. Well my group was acting out a dance party. no big deal right? So I'm jumping up and down dancing haha and all of a sudden a guy member grabs my hands and starts trying to dance with my. I was trying to get away and he wouldnt let go of my hands.  I look at Sister Andrus and she is freaking out she almost ran up and pushed him away from me ha. It was so awkard because in real life thats not a big deal and I would of been like what ever. But as a missionary it felt so weird and I was freaking out. haha. I see him at all of the activities and just cant stand to look at him ha. He is weird too. At the evening bbq on the 4th he was there. and they were having a pool party. So of course everyone is swimming but us and the elders. great fun ha. and he was in the pool. and he has a tat. i very hilarious, rediculous tat. i will send a pic so you can see first hand what i saw. the elders were kind enough to get a pic for me. anways thats my story for the week. crazy single so not my type men trying to dance with me at FHE. love you! i hope that you got all the pictures that i sent! you will have to let me know what you think! and did you get the ones in my last emial? so not to scare you or anything but sister andrus and i harvest and work in the GETTO! people have grilz and talk getto talk. ha. the have gold teeth with stars and there initails and all that jazz. its crazy. but i love it. the lord knows the people who are ready to hear the gospel and so we just go where he tells us to. majority of the time we end up in the getto. ha. the entire missions goal this month is to get 100 baptisms! its going to be challenging but i know that we can do it! :) with the Lords help all things are possible! also mom could you tell tony and lani thanks for the email that they sent me. i will get around to writing them back, as you know i am just super busy! give lani a hug for me too! i have absolutly loved reading in the BOM. i am reading the best things ever! if you get the time ready alma 26. not only does it have my fav verse(12) in it but... its the best chapter! i love love love it. it has helped me a lot this week! so every night we do this thing called i love yous. after we are in bed we just say at least three reasons why we love our comp and one of the things we learned that day and one of the things we want to work on or do the next day. i know that this has strengthen mine and my comps relationship and i am sure it would work wonders on any marriage. its something so simple but so powerful. my companion has helped me to see my strength by the things that she loves me for. such as faith, being selfless and loving everyone with my whole heart. those are things that i feel like i always lack but because she pointed them out to me i feel more confident about those things. I am so grateful for the gospel. The mission is strengthing my relationship with my Heavenly Father daily and i know that i am experiencing a change of heart. and that i am becoming who he wants me to be! i am so grateful for all of you. i have the best family ever. and i realize that now that i am out here. The lord has blessed our family with so many things. We are a family forever. All of us are still one family. We are not split or broken. and that is such a great blessing. No one here has two parents or knows where their parents are. no one here has that blessing. stay strong! and keep up the great work family! i miss you all so much! and i look forward to hearing from you, as always! 

President,

     I am learning so much and I continue to grow daily. One of the things that I want to work on this week is putting all of my trust in the Lord. Not some of it or most of it but, all of it. Some of the ways I am going to do this is by praying and strengthening my person faith in the Savior and the power of the atonment. I am so grateful to be here but I have been mission home. I know that as I put all of my trust in Lord and focus on His work that I will not miss home. I will realize that this is home, this is where I am supposed to be. I absolutly love my companion. Sister Andrus is amazing and she has a powerful testimony. One that she desires to share with everyone. She is strengthening me and helping learn the importance of missionary work and why we are all here serving in Florida. One of the things I want to do this week to strengthen our companionship is to just get to know her better. I feel like this would help us feel even more comfortable with one another and help create an even stronger companionship. Also to just tell her how grateful I am for her as often as I think about it. Earlier this week we went to an apartment complex to visit a person we had blessed. On the way to his apartment door we saw a guy walking by. And so I said hi and knew that Sister Andrus would stop him so that we could talk to him. She too said hi, nice to meet you as she was putting her planner away. There was a lack of approaching him when we said hi. He could of easily kept walking because all we had done was said hi. But he stopped and was just looking at us. As Sister Andrus and i looked up from putting our planners away on not paying attention, we immediately walked over to him, got to know him a little bit and asked if we could bless him. The spirit was there and we invited him to be batized. He said yes i will and he committed to July 15. he said that he had been talking with his friends about baptism and that it was something he had been wanting to do. I learned from that experience that we have to always be ready to approach someone. To drop what ever we are doing and run to the children that Heavenly Father has prepared for us to teach. It breaks my heart to think that someone who has such strong desires could of easily kept walking just because i wasn't paying attention. He didn't make it to church on Sunday but I know that he will be baptized and that we just need to get a hold of him again. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the many ways that  I am being blessed. I want more than anything for every person that we talk to to be baptized so that they can receive those blessings and strengthen their relationship with their Heavenly Father. I know that harvesting works. It allows the Spirit pierce their hearts and to have the desire to do what ever it takes to always have that feeling and to strengthen their relationship with God. I feel so blessed to have been able to witness the two investigators that we found last week get baptized yesterday. I felt so much joy and I know that their lives have been changed forever. I look forward to this upcoming week and finding those that the Lord has prepared to hear and heed to his gospel!

with ALL my love, sister johnson 

PICTURES:

madeline baptism

david baptism

fourth of july fireworks

crazy guys tat

Photos from 7/2/2012

July 2, 2012

Hello my LOVELY family! 5

I made it here! and i absolutly love it! i feel like i have been here forever but, in reality i have only been here 7 short days! becuase i only get to check my mail on mondays for an hour i would love to get letters sent thoughout the week if you have time! even if they are typed letters-it would be awesome hearing from you. if you send a letter today i would get it friday. sooo... just if you have time please :). they did find my bike, it was never lost, there are just so many people over it and it was a miscommunication. I have so so so much  to tell you and i know that i would be able to remember it all but i will write what i can remember. Florida is beautiful. the humidity is crazy but we are in the car most of the time so it hasnt killed me yet. there are lizzards EVERYWHERE. i will be sending a lot of pics home and you can see them in the pictures. there are really just a lot of reptiles everywhere ha. i have seen lizzards, turtles, frogs, and a baby (huge) iguana. kidna cool. are area is fairly big and so we drive. this area is not a biking area so i will just use my bike for morning exersize. you will be getting my letter that talks about my first night here! it was amazing. i gave out three BOMs my first night. That def got me in the missionary mode. i wanted to talk to everyone that night! My comp is sister andrus and she went to BYUI shes from CALI and she is so great! we get along really well and are simular in so many ways! i am very grateful for her! We live with two other sisters one of them was Kristas comp. sister geest. us four have a great time! We do this amazing thing here called harvesting. i will let you know what it is in a bit but i will talk about it a lot throughout my mission becuase we do it ALL the time. we are over YSA so anyone that is not YSA that we find we have to pass but thats okay cuz we are always getting YSA passed to us as weel. so it works out great. i am just dying to share with you my amazing stories though so i will do that now.  Elders had been harvesting in this one apt comlex and they found this girl(we cant use names in email but i will write home too tell you names). she was passed to us on monday so before i was here. sense wed we have been stopping by at her house everyday so that we could meet her and teach her. she was never there. on friday her sister(who has kids, so not YSA) was home and we talked to her and offered them a blessing. then she said she would let her sister know we stopped by. we went back again on saturday and she was home! i was beyond excited! we invited her to be baptized and she said yes. she is getting baptized next sunday on july 8. she is amazing! she is so ready to hear the gospel. she came to church with us on suday and she bore her testimony. yeah this is real. she said that she has been to other churches and that she doesnt really like church. and then she said not only do i like this chruch, but i love it. i really jsut love it here. i wanted to jump right out of the benches i was so excited! i have already seen so many miracles and i just got here. she said she feels so good and happy and that her heart was racing inside and i said YES! thats the spirit talk to you! she is just so great and i will def send pics home of her after her baptism next week! so story number two.... we met this guy named david on saturday as well and he is and elect. hes been prepared to hear the gospel right now. he too came to church, bore his testimony about how the gospel is giving him strength and wisdom, and is getting baptized on july 8. i wish i could go into detail about him but i am running out of time. all i know is that this gospel is true! God really has prepared so many of his children to hear the gospel and he is just waiting for us to ask for guidance to find them! i cant wait for next sunday and for these two to be baptized!

dad, i have been reading in alma too! i love reading about alma and the sons of mosiah. they are incredible! the book of mormon is true and it def applies to us in these latter days! i think its awesome that we are about in the same spot. im about 20 chapters behind you though! i will try to catch up!! thats great that you are staying busy! thank you so much again for all the support that you are offering me in so many different ways!

Family i miss you all so much and i love you all with my whole heart! the mission is the best thing that has ever happend to me. i see the lords hand him my life through out each day. i am learning so much and my faith in increasing so much. i feel so blessed to be out here serving the people of Florida. There is no place that i would rather be right now. i just wanted to share one of my favorite scriptures with you real quick and then i got to go! its alma 26:12. i love how it says in the Lords strength we can do all things. most days i feel spirtually weak, like i dont know enough to be out hear and that my faith is somewhat weak. but if i trust in the lord i can do all things. i can know what to say, study, and share. i know that this is true. i know that in the lord strength i can serve him. i can find spirtual, physical, and emotional strength as i trust in him! and i know that he too can offer any of us strength if we just turn to him.

sorry i am out of time i will tell you about harvesting next email. i love you all so much. i cant tell you how grateful i am for each one of you! stay strong and keep having a great summer. i miss going out on the boat but there will be plenty of time for that when i get home!! send me pictues! mom thank you for checking on me, i dont think i need anything sent to me right now but i will let you know if i do! thanks for always being such a great example to me! you are such an amazing mom!

 

love love love you!  sister johnson

 

p.s. sad news, i have already gained weight as you will see in my pics. ha. oh well theres nothing i can do. the first pic is of my MTC district. my comp was the half african american. and my comp now is the one with the curly hair. i cant wait to tell you more next week xoxoxo