November 26, 2012

 

 

November 26, 2012

Fam Fam,

Well its been another great week on the mission! Let me tell you all about my Thanksgiving because I know that's what you want to hear about. It was weekly planning (every Thursday we plan for about 3 hours) then we ate Thanksgiving dinner at 5 with princess and her family. They are Hatian. It was mostly American food with a few Hatian things such as rice, cakes, veggies and what not. Then we went to Santiago's later that night for dessert. It was a really great day and went by fast! I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary and really it just felt like we were eating a big meal. It didn't feel like a holiday. I know its just because I wasn't with the family!

We were blessed to have a baptism on Saturday! Tavon is 19 and he is a super funny guy! He is dating our last baptism (Shavelaney). We love them so so much and they have become some of my dearest friends. We had been praying all week that he would have time off work to be able to be baptized. We kept pushing forward and doing our best to stay in contact with him and help him prepare for baptism. Because Heavenly Father loves us SO much, we were able to see him Friday night (miracle #1) and see if he could get work off on Saturday to be baptized which he did (miracle #2) and then Friday night we put together his baptism and he was baptized on Friday and confirmed on Sunday! It was AMAZING! I will send pictures!

Friday night when we were driving home we passed the swap shop which is a place where you can buy stuff for cheap. They have everything there. Its a bunch of booth of people selling things. They also have 10 drive in theaters there. So... as we were driving by at night, we saw Twilight playing on all of the screens! haha it was a reality check. Sometimes I forget that real life is still happening. The moment I saw I felt like I should of been there opening night with Shine haha.That's okay I will watch it with her when I get home!
 

So, we are only able to listen to songs sung by the Mormon tabernacle choir. luckily they have some awesome Christmas music :) we've been listening to 'grown up Christmas list' everyday! its normally sung by amy grant so it makes me think of you every time mom. its on the amy grant cd that we always listen to around Christmas. We found a Christmas tree in the mission garage today and I will prob set it up this afternoon! Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a tree!! Because I love 'The Grinch' so much I committed Santiago to watch it for me! haha he went out and bought and said he would tell me all about it after he watched it! its as close as I get to doing the things I love to do around Christmas time!

Today for p-day we are going to the Sawgrass mill which is a super HUGE mall. it will be interesting! I'm still trying to catch up with writing all my friends back! They all wrote me at the same time! Kinzie and her husband and friends are all on a cruise right now. I remember when they booked it! its kinda weird to think how fast time is going! We have transfers coming up on the 6th so next week I wont email until Tues the 4th.
 

It sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family! I missed everyone so much! but I always do so it was just like every other day. I am happy to hear that grandpa reads and studies the book of Mormon during this time. Its so good to know that he is holding strong to the gospel and progressing!
 

Well, I hope this email finds you all well and happy! Hopefully I will have more interesting things to write next week. We do so much in one day here that I forget what to write because I cant remember everything that happened! I love you all so much! I'm excited to write next week!

love you with my whole heart,

sister johnson

 I LOVE YOU!

Missionaries, we were so close to our goal of 150. We finished with 131 baptisms for November!!! This month of December is a special month as we celebrate the Birth of our Savior. What better gift can we give the Savior than souls baptized unto repentance. What better way to have a “White Christmas” in South Florida, than to have God’s children dressed in white and be baptized in His Son’s name.

November 24, 2012

 

Dear Brother and Sister Johnson:

 

Hello! My name is Santiago Tovar. I'm a member in the Nova YSA Branch. How are you doing!?? I hope you are doing wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving!!! I wanted to send you this email and picture of your daughter! I too served a mission and know how concerned parents could be for their missionaries. I wanted you to know that she had a place to spend this holiday, a place were she was welcomed, a place were she is greatly appreciated for her service, an adopted home per say...

 

We love your daughter! We are so grateful for the sacrifice that you have made in order get her out here. I know how much parents give up, and I too know how much you have gained  and will gain through the Lord's blessings. I want you to know that she is a fantastic missionary, that she works very hard and honors your name by her actions. Im the Branch mission leader, so I have had the great opportunity to work closely with her and can say this with full confidence. Thank you for doing such a outstanding job raising her! We are taking care of your missionary and working hard to help them in the work as well. Sister Johnson has shared with me that her brother is putting his papers soon! Congratulations for that as well!

 

Let me know if you need anything and thank you again!

 

Sincerely,

 

Santiago Tovar

November 19, 2012

Johnson Clan,

Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday! I am so grateful for each one of you that I don't even know where to start! I am not sure yet what we are doing for Thanksgiving, we have had a few invites and so we are just trying to figure out what to do. I will let you know what we decided to do next week :) I wish I was at home with the family for the holidays! Know I will be there in spirit and love you all so much. I wanted to share a spiritual thought first due to the Thanksgiving holiday coming up this week. One of my favorite hymns is 193 it says, "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me...I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine...such mercy, such love and devotion can i forget? No, no, i will praise and adore at the mercy seat, until at the glorified throne, i kneel at his feet." Every time I read or sing this hymn, my heart is filled with gratitude as I reflect upon my life and all that I have been given. I know that it is through the tender mercies of my Savior, that I have been given so much. I owe him my life, my whole heart. I am humbled at this opportunity that I have to serve a mission and to share the gospel with others. I have the gospel, I know the truth, I have it all. There are so many people here who don't have anything, they have nothing because they are without the truth, without the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I am honored to be able to share that with them and help them find the happiness that I have found trough the gospel.

There is a senior couple in the mission that has a blog. its www.pierfamily.com. they post on it almost everyday. i am on there :) they post president weekly email, and pictures-they are always taking pictures! i hope you enjoy their blog! it looks really good! thank you mom and bri for sending the letters and drawings in the mail this week! that was a nice surprise! bris school picture turned out so good! shes such a pretty girl! :) I got a flu shot this week. i know you are so proud of me right? its still not my favorite thing ever but its better than getting the flu! did bri ever get my letter with the stickers and seashells? i sure hope so. I've been being super sneaky this week haha i don't know why but i have been pulling pranks and scaring everyone. its been a good time. I got my comp like 4 times this week. Sometimes on purpose other times not. We have this wooden candy box that has a fake mouse attached to the end of it. so when you open the box, the mouse comes up and hits your finger. I went up to my comp this week and was like, do you want some of these chocolates? I forgot we had them. and she yanked open the box, the mouse hit her finger, her food and fork went flying all over the kitchen, and she screamed bloody murder... it was pretty funny. we laugh about it all the time! I got devon and dom (the twins in our branch) with it too. SO SO SO funny! they both screamed and i loved it. I got em good. Sister Holyan and I saw a possum this week. They are ugly things. Just a giant rat, but it was cool to see one. I cant complain. I have been getting letters from all of my girl friends! its so nice to hear from them. they are all doing really well. thats fun that you got to see chey! im glad you run into my friends sometimes! :) I love Christmas and I love giving gifts!
 
We went and saw the mother of two less active YSA last night. She's that one that we made cookies with about a month ago. She had her house decorated very nice for the holidays. She had her tree up already and her apt is just really really nice. it felt  SO good to just sit in a nice home, where the spirit can be felt, and to talk with her and to look at the Christmas tree. I am grateful for times like that. She is a very very giving mother and I pray that her children will come around sometime soon. I told her that she will have to meet you mom. She said we are welcome any time :) I was wondering if and when you send the next package if you can send me my cardigans that are at the shop? I know there's a cream and black stripped one, a white one, a black one, and if there are any others if you could sent them please. We wear them a lot now sense its cooling off in the evening time and we wear them to church and baptisms and meetings. thank you for doing that for me :)
Today for p-day I just want to do nothing. haha. I am pretty tired. being senior comp is very challenging for me. i feel like everything lies on me. i am trying to do my best but it is hard. by the end of the week i am emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. I am learning a lot though and I am very grateful for this opportunity. I think we might go to the mall today though, and to target, and then just rest and write letters. It will be a great day!

Family, I hope that you all have an amazing week. Please know that I pray for you often. I am so grateful for you. There are no words that can express the gratitude that I feel. I love you and of course I miss you always! I look forward to writing you next week! Enjoy it for me and you :)

love love love, sister johnson
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

1. me smashing acorns - its prob one of my favorites things to do here

sorry theres not more pictures! they are not uploading today! i love you and will send more next week! take care! love you!

November 12, 2012

Dear Family,

Everything is going to amazing. We had a challenging week but we were blessed with so many miracles this weekend! God truly does watch over us and blesses us after our trials of faith! We had a big group of polys take us our for breakfast! That was a lot of fun! there was a couple from Star valley that came to church yesterday! the Bradshaws. They are going on a cruise and just came to the closest chapel! crazy huh? He came into the bank all the time to make deposits. I walked into the chapel and was like... that's a super familiar face! Who is that?! haha it was cool! well family! I hope you have a great week! I love you all so much! stay strong!  will write more next week!

xoxoxoxo sister johnson

November 5, 2012

Family,
How's it going?! So to answer your question yes I can skype on Christmas as long as there's a member here that lets me use their computer. (I'm sure there is)I was thinking you could just go over to Katie's and use her comp. because we aren't allowed to talk for too long. I know there is a time limit. Which is sad but  I will take what I can get :)
Thank you for sending the package! we love love love the cookies! those mixes are super easy to make and they taste SO good! tell Bri thank you for the soup! i am excited to make it too! i am sure it will be really yummy :) and as always thank you for the starburst and gummy bears- they are my favorite! i was thinking about the ward Christmas dinner last year and how Ben and i came up and surprised you for it! That was a lot of fun! I love thinking about good times like that because i know there is so many more ahead! I am glad you got to go to Utah mom! it sounds like you had a really good time! thank you for emailing a few pics! everyone looks the same for the most part, which is good! :) I miss eating at Kneaders- that place had the best breads ever (well Mrs Powells still makes awesome cinnamon rolls just saying) The angel Moroni was put on the temple last week! it looks amazing! its so beautiful! i will see if i can send i few pics sometime soon! on Halloween we had to be home by 8 instead of 9. so we had an extra hour that night to rest! haha. its going to be interesting to see what happens with elections this week. everyone is talking about it right now! we had a baptism fall through this week which was sad. hopefully she will get baptized next Sunday! last night we went to a pot luck at 6:30. it was a lot of fun! we had a few recent converts there so it was good helping them get to know more branch members. then right after there was a CES fireside that was really good as well! i really enjoyed last night! last Monday when we went to the beach we ate lunch at a pizza place right on the beach. Sister Holyan and I also got matching sweat pants! i wanted to buy something for everyone and sent it home! i will next year before i come home :) i love Sister Holyan! we get along so well and we have so much fun! we basically laugh all day! today for p-day I think we might go for a bike ride at a nature center! if we do i will def send pics next week! well family, thank you for always writing me and letting me know how you are doing! its the best thing ever to hear from you! especially when i get a letter or mail unexpected! it always makes my day! i love you all! i hit my 5 month mark tomorrow! yaya! time is going by so fast! i look forward to hearing from you next week! i love you!

love love love, sister johnson


xoxoxoxoxo