CHRISTMAS

 Hola y'all! 

Y'all will probably notice that this email is from Christmas...a month ago...but here we are...

On Monday morning we went to Walmart to get our groceries and that is when I discovered Blue Bell’s Mardi Gras King Cake Ice Cream! It's Mardi Gras season baby! That was pretty exciting jaja. We had a pretty chill p-day (preparation day), I got to call my family, my Dad is in quarantine again (just got back from England), Ethan was spending the day with his girlfriend, Aidan is learning Japanese and the house is decorated for Christmas (my Mom said she did it all by herself since I am on my mission and am usually the one who helps out ). My family also informed me about the Christmas star that I needed to look at that night, it was pretty cool. After our p-day time, we did the usual; read with Brother Larimer, called some people and did some Facebook. I even had Chip cookie and King Cake ice cream that night - it was pretty good.

Tuesday morning I got to eat some Kringle (basically a giant Danish pastry thing that comes out during Christmas time) for breakfast, my family sent me an ENTIRE Kringle all for myself (I did share with Sister Lynch though jaja). Then we went and visited a family in the ward, the Millard family. Sister Millard was so sweet and they have 2 little kids that loved talking to us! We showed them one of the Bible videos and Sister Millard did a great job explaining it to her kids, applying it to their lives and helping them understand. They even gave us Christmas presents! Why is everyone so sweet?! Later that afternoon we had a lesson fall through...but really what’s new? However we were able to read with Brother Laraimer as always and go visit with the Partins, a family in our ward. Brother and Sister Partin are cool, we even got their daughter, Melanie to open up a little bit and read one of the scriptures for us. I even remembered all 8 of their dogs' names!

On Wednesday we had district council over Zoom because our entire district has COVID except for Sister Lynch and I...awkward...but we're holding strong as 2 of 12 and don't plan on getting COVID! Later that afternoon we went to the church building to film a video for Facebook of Sister Lynch playing a Christmas song on the piano. We also read with Brother Larimer and passed off some more of Sister Lynch’s training. Later that night there was a storm with a lot of lightning and a tornado warning, but it's okay, we survived plus it was really cool to watch!

Thursday was Christmas Eve!! With the holiday it gave us lots of time for studies, weekly planning outside in the 40 degree weather (didn't even know Lousiisna got that cold…jaja), calling Brother Larimer and messaging people on Facebook. We also sent out the Christ child video to EVERY SINGLE member of our ward! That was fun, but seriously it's so awesome and everyone should go check it out, it's not in English but it depicts Christ's birth so well and is so touching! Then we went to the Britt’s (member family in our ward) that night for Christmas Eve dinner! On the way there I explained to Sister Lynch my dreams of being a race car driver, thanks to Tiwi (our little driving coach system that doesn't let you speed over 6 or 7 mph over the speed limit) that won’t be happening for a while. Anyways the Britt’s are awesome and Sister Brit made us authentic enchiladas! But I don’t recommend eating onions and then wearing a mask afterwards...they may have thought I was just feeling the spirit a little extra when we shared our spiritual thought as my eyes got watery from the onions. I really can't handle onions man! Then we came home and I put on some of my new Christmas socks. Then Sister Bolyan came over and gave us each a Christmas present, she is so sweet! We even made cookies to put out for Santa Claus and of course with some carrots for the reindeer and a glass of milk.   

  

Friday was Christmas!!! We took a short walk in the morning, it was freezing outside but we got to see some frost. This will be Sister Lynch’s first green Christmas since she's always been in Utah. That morning we drove to Leesville because they were finally out of COVID quarantine! Sister Murdoch made us all German pancakes and homemade buttermilk syrup. So good! We even had hot cocoa, one of my favorite Christmas morning traditions! Then all 6 of us played Skipbo. It was so much fun to finally hang out with them in person and on Christmas! Sister Lynch even got Sister Zook, a licensed cosmetologist, to cut her some bangs. That was pretty crazy but they are so cute. Then we came home and we got to call our families. I got to open my presents in front of them and my brothers showed me what they got. Then I got to join a Zoom call with my mom’s side of the family. They are all hilarious, a little sad that they weren’t able to meet up for Christmas this year but I was excited to see them all! We even opened cousin presents over video just like we would have in person! I also got to be in the Zoom call for my dad’s side of the family and talk to my Grandma, my aunts and uncles and some of my cousins! I can’t wait to see them all next Christmas in person!! That night we went over to the Gunoe’s (member family in our ward) house for Christmas dinner. Sister Gunoe made pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls and brussel sprouts that tasted like bacon! 5 year old Dean even helped put together a special drink of Ginger Ale, white grape juice and raspberries - delicious! We shared a Christmas video with them and then their 3 kids showed us their new bikes they got for Christmas. Afterwards we came home, finished up our studies and watched a missionary Christmas devotional. It was a pretty great Christmas!

On Saturday afternoon, after finishing up our studies, we went and visited Brother Landan. Man that guy can talk, but we found out that he has been really involved in missionary work in his past wards, which is awesome. We ended up sharing Helaman 5:12 that says "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." with him and he was like, “I knew you were going to share that with me when you came over.” Let’s just say it wasn’t part of our initial plan but the spirit works in mysterious ways.  

Sunday morning we did our studies and then went to a Pentecoastal church. We have been messaging the pastor of that church for a while and he really wanted us to come...so we did. I've been there once before Laura, but the hurricane had wrecked their building so they were meeting in a smaller building in town. When we walked in there were only 2 other families...just a little awkward...I love going to other churches to see their perspective on things, but I did think it was interesting when he said we are not children of God…Then we came home, finished up our studies and got to watch the Sunday live devotional on Facebook. Then we went over and had the sacrament at Brother Landan’s house and invited Sister Bolyan. Brother Landan was awesome and had a whole Sunday School lesson planned for the 4 of us! Sister Bolyan shared the strongest testimony that was so sweet! It was about how important the gospel is for families and her love of Jesus Christ. Then we came home and had a meeting with some of the church leaders from our area to talk about missionary work. Later that night we called Brother Larimer and got to talk to him about faith. For my language study I decided to mix it up and only talk in Spanish for the entire hour. It was really cool and Sister Lynch knows a little bit of Spanish, but there were still a lot of charades going on jajaja.

This was a good week. It was so cool to be spending Christmas on the mission and as a missionary. It was the most Christ-centered Christmas I've ever had and really it should always be centered on Jesus Christ, we're celebrating His birth for crying out loud! But as with most holidays on the mission, I am just so grateful for eternal families and the promise of being able to live with my family forever if I do the things God has asked of me. I just love my family so much! This Christmas I've also felt a lot closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of everything, I can do all things because of Him and I can have eternal peace and joy because of all He's done for me!!

Have a blessed week! 

Smile because God loves you and remember that I love, love, love y'all too!

Love, 

Sister Johnson

December Bug Bite Count: 12 bites

November Bug Bite Count: 18 bites

October Bug Bite Count: 39 bites

September Bike Mileage: 0.0 miles

August Bike Mileage: 46.9 miles 

July Bike Mileage: 161.0 miles

June Bike Mileage: 61.6 miles

Pictures!!!
1. Sister Lynch and I outside with the Christmas star!
2. Our district in quarantine over Zoom for district council
3. Sister Lynch and I with our plate of stuff for Santa!
4. Christmas morning frost! 
5. Christmas german pancakes for breakfast with the Leesville sisters 
6. Our family Christmas selfie
7. Our family matching Christmas pajamas selfie

Staying In DeRidder

Hola y'all! 

Let's just get right into this whole emailing thing!

So on Tuesday we had our preparation day since it was transfers this week. I'm staying in DeRidder, finishing out training Sister Lynch! Whoop whoop! That morning the maintenance guy came over to put some shelves and rods in our closets and fix our fan light, just the usual apartment being broken stuff. That afternoon we made a trip up to Leesville to say goodbye to Sister Cave since we didn’t get to see her at district council (meeting with missionaries in our general area) on Friday. We decided to meet at the basketball courts at their apartment complex because they were going to get tested for COVID that day, don’t worry though we were outside, stayed very far apart and wore our masks! Also took some advice from my mom and didn’t stand down wind jaja. Sister Lynch made them cookies and that was when we realized they couldn’t taste them...awkward. After that we came home and I got to talk some more to my family. Then p-day was over, so we called a bunch of people, had our daily reading with Brother Larimer and did some Facebook work.

Wednesday morning we went over to God’s Food Box to help out.  It's a little food bank in town and we were able to reorganize their inventory since it was still a mess since Laura. It was very satisfying to organize all the boxes and get them in place though! That afternoon we had a lesson fall through...sadness, but were able to call some people so that is always good. We were finally able to finish  all of our studies late afternoon and Sister Lynch even passed off some of her training stuff! Then we called some more people, read with Brother Larimer and went over to the Jackson’s home. Sadly we knocked on the door and Janaya sent us a text to cancel. So we came home, had dinner, did some Facebook work and had another lesson fall through...oof welcome to the life of a missionary; rejection jaja.  

On Thursday we did our usual morning studies and I had some questions about the plan of salvation (God's plan of happiness for us, explaining where we come from, why we're here and where we're going) ...let’s just say we got stuck in a hole about what happens after we die, but oh well jaja. Sadly our Plan of Salvation lesson with Robert and Darlene (we've only had one lesson with this couple, but they believed everything we said was true) fell through, but they seemed genuinely sorry, so that was nice! Then we did some weekly planning, called one of our active members, went for a walk, did some more weekly planning, called Brother Larimer, and had dinner. Then Darlene called us back that night and they just wanted to explain to us that they aren’t door slammers but said "you've got us! We are sold!” They are so sweet and they even talked to Brother and Sister Pemberton! Bonding!!

Friday we had district council (meeting with missionaries in our general area or Stake) over Zoom because the Leesville sisters have COVID. The Nachitoches elders were also pretty sick... Our district is just falling apart, but don’t fear Sister Lynch and I are still here - nice and healthy! Then we made homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Yum :). After lunch we met a new member that just moved in, Sister Karasawa over Zoom. Oh the wonders of technology. Then we went over to help Ray clean up his yard. While we were there Sister Lynch almost set him on fire (pouring gas into his 4 wheeler with him on it)...that was fun...he still holds that against her jaja. He was a little mad, but he let us take a selfie with him and he asked if we could say a prayer before we left! He said we could even read some stuff with him next time AND that he would have a scripture memorized for us next time! I told him I already had a nice short scripture for him to memorize; Alma 15:8 that says "If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed." One of my personal favorites! Then we came home, a lesson fell through but we still had our call with Brother Larimer. We were able to call some people and do some Facebook work. We had pie and ice cream for dessert that night thanks to Sister Bolyan :)

On Saturday morning we had a mission wide vehicle training meeting. We even did a Kahoot and our companionship got into the top 5! (That was a real throwback to high school Kahoots jaja) The rest of the day we had our studies, lunch, another lesson fell through and then Bishop and his wife came over to dedicate our apartment (basically Bishop said a prayer to bless our apartment). Then while they were over, they invited us to their home to learn how to make gumbo! Since our lesson with Sonja canceled we went over the Baesler’s home and learned how to make authentic Cajun gumbo! At their house we got to meet their kids, their dogs, drink some Cock n' Bull (a super strong ginger drink), made some gumbo and played a game of Codenames while we waited for the gumbo to cook. It was really nice and their less active son even stayed for the first 5 minutes of our spiritual thought! MIRACLE! 

Sunday morning we visited Grace church, but due to COVID everyone showed up in their cars where the Pastor preached up on a podium and he was broadcast on a radio station. It was also Sister Lynch’s first experience at a different church, so that is always cool! I thought it was interesting that he explained God as being reckless…Anyways the rest of the day we did our studies, watched the live Sunday devotional on Facebook and called a bunch of people. Then we went over to Brother Eastwood’s again and had the sacrament. He absolutely loved having the sacrament, he said he felt like he had been cleansed and like a burden had been lifted from him! By the end of it he asked if we could just hang out together, he just really needs a friend! Then we came home, read with Brother Larimer and our lesson with Sonja fell through again...for the third time...oof.

T'was a good week right before Christmas :) I just want to say how much I love reading from the scriptures. From the Bible and the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ I learn so much about our Savior and God's plan for me. I don't even know what I would do if I didn't have the word of God to study. I know that scriptures are one of the many ways Heavenly Father speaks to His children here on earth and I am so grateful for them in my life. 

Have a blessed week!

Smile because God loves you and remember that I love, love, love y'all too!

Love, 

Sister Johnson

December Bug Bite Count: 10 bites

November Bug Bite Count: 18 bites

October Bug Bite Count: 39 bites

September Bike Mileage: 0.0 miles

August Bike Mileage: 46.9 miles 

July Bike Mileage: 161.0 miles

June Bike Mileage: 61.6 miles

Pictures!!!
1. Sister Lynch and I eating some s'mores! 
2. Our selfie with Ray! 
3. Eating our gumbo leftovers! Delicious! 
4. We eat so many s'mores...

Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission Leadership Assignment

Dear Sister Megan Elizabeth Johnson:

Thank you for accepting the assignment to serve as a Trainer in the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. This is a position of great trust, responsibility, and influence.

As part of your assignment, you will have a sacred stewardship to:

1. Set an example for each missionary in the mission by planning for and achieving your weekly Key Indicator goals, having effective study of the scriptures and the gospel, being obedient, working hard, always improving your proselyting skills, and in all other aspects of missionary work.



2. Carry a full proselyting load in your area and work with faith and diligence to accomplish your purpose as a missionary (see Preach My Gospel, chapter 1).



3. Work with, train and inspire the new missionary in your care with love, patience, charity, and empathy.

4. Respect the contributions and insights of the new missionary as an equal companion.

5. Spend additional training time each day in companion study (see the LBRM I Can Statements for Becoming Disciples of Jesus Christ and Preach My Gospel).



6. Study the Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ with your companion daily.

7. Train the new missionary on topics found in the Safeguards for Using Technology and Adjusting to Missionary Liferesources.



8. Look after the well-being of the missionary in your care and ensure that you and all missionaries live in strict compliance with the standards regarding conduct with members of the opposite sex (see Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ).

9. Demonstrate how to work with local ward leaders and members to coordinate missionary efforts.

Please report any concerns you have to your district leader. If these concerns are confidential or urgent, please report them directly to me.

The assistants, zone leadership and I will help train you about your duties. However, please recognize that you also have a responsibility to learn your duty and magnify your assignment (see Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100; 88:80; 58:26). Answers to most of your questions will be found in the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and the Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ.

You are a standard bearer and a servant to the new missionary in your care. You represent the Savior and the mission president. This is a great trust.

As you know, assignments in the Church come and go. There will be a time when your assignment will be changed. Please magnify this stewardship while it is in your charge.

I am grateful for your help in loving, serving, and watching over our new missionary. Sister Amos and I love and support you.

With much love,

President John D. Amos

Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission Office

25367 Riverton Drive

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70726

225-664-1178



cc: Parents

The Lord Prepares His People

Hola y'all! 

Heyo I know this was like a month ago, but this was a pretty awesome week full of some pretty BOMB miracles y'all!!

Monday was Zone (big area of missionaries) pday (preparation), Sister Lynch’s first ever Zone pday. After getting our groceries we went straight to Alexandria and we were the first ones there! Don’t worry though the Elders got there a few minutes after us and we decided to go get lunch at the obvious choice - Cane’s. We picked up our Cane’s and brought it back to the church building and ate it with everyone. Then we got a game of volleyball started, luckily I was on Sister Lynch’s team, she is awesome! Then I called my family. My dad was in England for work but my mom spilled the tea about what was going on with everyone at home...Ethan has a girlfriend and Aidan plays a lot of Minecraft jajaja. Afterwards we came home, made some pizza, did some planning and did some Facebook work before bed.

On Tuesday we had our Zone conference, mission tour with Elder Martino of the Seventy (group of church leaders). We woke up early and drove to Alexandria (on comped miles….oh yeah!). We set up a Zoom meeting in the chapel with half the mission! First Sister Amos spoke about being disciples of Jesus Christ, then President Amos spoke and gave us some pretty cool statistics about the missionaries in our mission and our goals. Then Sister Martino spoke, she was super hopeful and talked about the importance of smiling and got Elder Martino to share a mission story about one of his companions - he is hilarious! Then Elder Martino spoke and called on each Zone...he asked us questions and asked us for our REAL opinions and ideas, giving us very straight up HONEST feedback. I don’t know what I expected from a member of the Seventy, but he was very bold and fairly normal. Who would've guessed?! After the call we went and grabbed Wendy’s for lunch before our next call with all the language learners and reassigned missionaries. That call was a lot different than I thought it would be...Elder Martino has served in a couple of Spanish speaking areas and basically only talked about Spanish speaking people...which was great for me, but not for the non-Spanish speaking reassigned missionaries...oof. Sadly he didn’t give us any updates about going back to our originally assigned areas, but that's ok. After all these meetings, we drove home and had an appointment with a less active member, Brother Eastwood. It was our first time meeting him and man do people open up to the missionaries. He basically shared everything with us...but I was able to share one of my favorite scriptures with him in 3 Nephi 11: 14 when Jesus Christ is speaking to the people in the Americas after His resurrection saying "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world." and I shared one of my favorite quotes from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that says "Pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you." I mean look at His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and all He suffered for us! Just because Jesus suffered, doesn't mean Heavenly Father didn't love Him. And that applies to us too. Then we went to the Jackson’s right after, but sadly no one answered the door and Janaya texted us to cancel...sadness... But we came home and were able to get in some personal study.   

Wednesday was moving day! We started with some daily planning. We tried calling one of our members but apparently had the wrong number - that was the first time Sister Lynch ever witnessed getting cussed out over the phone on the mission, but not the worst time I've ever been cussed out before...oof. After we planned we went into full on moving mode. We started cleaning and packing up EVERYTHING in our old apartment. After a couple hours we went over to get the keys from the apartment manager, but she wasn’t ready….so we went back to pack some more. Then the Leesville sisters (Sister Murdoch, Sister Hansen, Sister Zook, Sister Cave) came over to help us. Bless their souls. They helped us move everything over in 2 hours. We even got the help of a couple trucks, what a MIRACLE man!! There were 2 different guys in 2 different trucks that saw us moving and volunteered to help, it was so nice. MIRACLES! By 1:30pm we had everything in our apartment and it was a mess...so we broke for lunch jaja. We went and picked up some Sonic and brought it back and ate it as the first meal in our new apartment. Then we unpacked and organized everything, the Leesville sisters were pretty excited to redecorate the place jaja. After a couple of hours, the Leesville sisters left and we cleaned EVERYTHING. We had a call with Brother Larimer reading the Book of Mormon before heading over to the Woolley’s for dinner. It was just Brother Woolley, his son and adopted daughter, McKayla, and her boyfriend and their baby. Sadly only Brother Wooley stayed for the spiritual thought, but that is okay, we will get them next time ;) On the way home from the Woolley’s we saw an armadillo at our apartment complex. This was Sister Lynch’s first armadillo, so we quickly parked the car and chased it! It was awesome. We then finished cleaning and unpacking our stuff. We even squeezed in some personal study time. :)

On Thursday morning we went to the Jones's house to help them unpack since his wife had just moved in. We helped Sister Jones’ unpack ALL of her things...and there was a lot! Let’s just say, she is big into cosmetology and anime. Then we came home and had lunch. I tried making my own alfredo pasta sauce and it turned out good, not as good as Sister Earl’s, but still pretty good. After lunch we had the maintenance guy come over and try to fix our dryer...apparently the apartment complex uses 2 different types of outlets, so our dryer needed a different cord to fit into the outlet in our new apartment. It still didn’t work….but they're working on it...After they left, we did some personal study. Then we got a surprise call from President Amos, that usually doesn’t happen...but he encouraged us to have district council over Zoom...wack! Then we called Brother Larimer, had some companionship study, and went out to dinner with one of our members, Sister Bolyan. She bought us Subway and a pie - she is so sweet. Then we went to our lesson with the Jackson’s, we invited Sister Pemberton and she even gave us dinner (we saved it for later). Sadly AJ was busy doing homework, so he didn’t join us for the lesson. But Janaya is trying really hard to get Sundays off to come to church with us. Ja'Ron had a lot of questions and Sister Pemberton did awesome explaining it and applying it to their lives. That family really trusts God man!   

Friday morning we were still trying to get the dryer situation figured out...some lady walked into our apartment and tried to fix it, but she couldn’t….oof. Eventually we were able to get it figured out though. After our morning studies, we had district council (meeting with 10 other missionaries in our general area) over Zoom. It was good. After district council, we had Sister Pemberton's leftovers for lunch, it was some delicious chicken! The rest of the day we did our studies, called Brother Larimer, planned for the week and had dinner. That night we also set up a lesson with our referrals, Darlene and Robert. We frantically were calling members to find someone to bring to our lesson the next day. After many calls we decided to call the Pembertons because their name kept coming to my mind, even though we have asked them for A LOT recently, but they said “yes”! MIRACLE!

Saturday we did our usual morning studies and went over to Brother Eastwood’s again. This time we brought the Bishop and they already knew each other. It was awesome! Brother Eastwood even started reading the Book of Mormon and he loves it. Bishop Baeslee was even able to give him a priesthood blessing (blessing of comfort given by the authority of God). It made Brother Eastwood so excited and seemed like it was exactly what he needed. When we talked outside and asked him how he felt, he said he couldn’t describe the feeling but knew it was the spirit. We were able to share Matthew 11:28-30 about coming unto Christ to have Him lift our burdens. Then we booked it over to our lesson with Darlene and Robert and the Pembertons. On the way there Darlene left us a voice mail...we were so worried that they were going to cancel on us again...but they didn’t! They were just calling to say they were going to be a little late. The Pembertons were super excited to meet them. When Darlene and Robert arrived there was an instant connection between them and Brother and Sister Pemberton. As soon as we walked into the church, the men broke off and the women broke off and they started bonding. Darlene and Robert connected so well with the Pembertons. Robert was hesitant to believe us 20 year old girls at first, but by the end of the lesson, and with the Pembertons help, he knew the message of the Restoration was true. We asked him to pray about it and he said he already believed all of it. WOAH! The Pembertons even took it upon themselves to invite them to watch Stake Conference (church meeting over Zoom for the Alexandria area) at their house the next day. They exchanged phone numbers and everything!! Then we came home, ate some lunch and went over to Ray's to help him fill out some documents since he has a hard time writing. He even trusted us enough to ask a favor from us. He just wanted us to mail a gift to his 2 granddaughters for him. It was so sweet. AND before we left he asked us to pray with him. T'was a good day that ended with some more studies and a pancake breakfast for dinner! My favorite! :) 

On Sunday we went over to the Pembertons in the morning to watch Stake Conference. They gave us breakfast bagels and everything! Sadly Darlene and Robert had to cancel though. But the Pembertons even fed us lunch. This yummy chicken and rice soup. Then we came home, watched the Sunday live devotional on Facebook and went to visit Ms. Judy who I taught way back in August. We talked about the Book of Mormon, but I think she's more interested in having company that talks about Jesus than in our message of the Restoration of Christ's gospel...but her ex-boyfriend, Ricky, was there too and we got to talk to him. After Hurricane Laura the missionaries even gave him a Book of Mormon after cleaning up his property. What a coincidence! Then we went over to visit Pete (less active member) and his girlfriend, Brinda. They had read 3 chapters in the Book of Mormon. Brinda even said she prayed about it and just couldn't stop reading it because she felt the spirit so strongly. MIRACLE! We were able to explain where it came from a little more and Pete even helped out a little. They're so sweet and just loving hearing the word of God. Then we had to go so I could go to a Trainer meeting since next transfer I'll continue to be training Sister Lynch. :) Afterwards we had a meeting with the ward, ate some leftovers for dinner and had a 3-way companionship study with 2 sets of Sisters under the direction of Sister Farris to help us with the training program. It was so nice to see her, even just for a bit (she goes home this week).

Monday was a full proselyting day since transfers were on Wednesday. We had a pretty normal day, studies in the morning, then we went to send Ray's letter to his granddaughters, called some folks, read the Book of Mormon with Brother Larimer and visited Brother Eastwood. We brought Brother Baesler with us to his lesson and they connected so well. They're at the same stage in life, have had some of the same life experiences and Brother Baesler was really able to share the light of the gospel with him!! It was awesome! They even exchanged phone numbers and Brother Baesler said that Brother Eastwood could give him a call anytime. That's exactly what he needed; a friend! MIRACLE! Then we came home, had dinner and watched the "Social Sing and Serve" event by the Church with christmas songs and service ideas. So cool! 

Basically this week I saw how the Lord prepares all of His people. The people we start teaching, the members we bring to lessons and ourselves as missionaries. When God asks us to do something, He prepares a way for it to happen according to His will and timing. Sometimes that's really hard, but in the end Heavenly Father is always there for us, in the details. And He WILL magnify our efforts!

Have a blessed week! 

Smile because God loves you and remember that I love, love, love y'all too!

Love, 

Sister Johnson

December Bug Bite Count: 7 bites

November Bug Bite Count: 18 bites

October Bug Bite Count: 39 bites

September Bike Mileage: 0.0 miles

August Bike Mileage: 46.9 miles 

July Bike Mileage: 161.0 miles

June Bike Mileage: 61.6 miles

Pictures!!!

1. The Leesville DeRidder squad redecorating our new apartment

2. The squad moving selfie part 1

3. The squad moving selfie part 2

4. Our "Jesus Wall" in our new living room :) 

Christmas Zone Conference

Hola y'all!  

Y'all I'm starting to catch up on my emails! This was a fun week full of miracles and all that good stuff! 

Monday we had pday in Many! Only the Many Elders and Leesville quad of Sisters came though because the Elders in the Nachitoches quad had to do service and had no miles (we get a certain mileage allotment per car per month). Sister Lynch, Sister Cave and Sister Hansen practiced for their musical number for Zone Conference on Thursday while we played this card game called "Ramen Fury" it was wack, but fun. We didn't get to stay in Many very long until we had to head back 1 hour and 10 minutes to DeRidder. At home we ate some Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner, called some members and did some Facebook work. Then after 9pm Sister Lynch held a tree lighting ceremony for the lights on our little 3 foot Christmas tree.

On Tuesday we went out for exercise time and it was like 27 degrees.  I seriously didn't think it got that cold in Louisiana man! After our usual morning studies we went to meet Mr. Tony. We have been trying to help him clean up his yard for a while and went over there to help out, but he was too tired, at least we finally got to meet him in person, he was nice. Since we were already in our service clothes we went to “For the Critters.” We helped Ms. Debbie clean up her thrift store for a while. Later that night we met a member in our ward, Brother Landan. He was super cool and talked a lot and knows a lot about history and fed us cookies :). Then we went to dinner with the Bergs, we went to this Mexican restaurant in town and it was pretty good. Brother Berg is a recent covert and will be going to the temple soon, which is awesome - I love the temple (House of the Lord on earth)! 

Wednesday morning we went to the church building so that Sister Lynch could practice the piano for her musical number. She practiced the piano with Sister Cave on the violin and Sister Hansen singing. They are going to do great! Then we called a facebook referral in the car, she was nice and we handed her off to the elders so she could meet them in person since she lived outside our area.  After that we went to Ray’s house. He was pretty interested in what we had to say about the Book of Mormon! We asked why he wanted a Book of Mormon in the first place, he asked us a lot of questions about Joseph Smith, faith, our Heavenly Mother, etc. Still not sure how he feels about God though…Then we finally came home and had lunch at 3:45! Afterward we packed up and drove to Baton Rouge for Zone Conference. 3.5 hours later we made it to the Cane’s (classic Southern fast food place) in Baton Rouge and brought it home for dinner...we stayed with the LSU sisters, they are cool. 

On Thursday we had Zone Conference.  We got there early so Sister Lynch could practice her musical number. They are going to kill it! We went and helped Sister Amos in the kitchen to prepare the hamburger stuff for lunch. Man oh man I am bad with onions, I was tearing up all over the place! Jajaja Then we went to the chapel and started our Christmas Zone Conference. Sister Amos gave an awesome presentation about being disciples of Christ and President Amos gave a presentation on goal setting that blew our minds. Then we took a bayou break. When we came back we started the Christmas stuff. We had talks and musical numbers from a bunch of missionaries from all four (out of 10) Zones that are part of our mission. For lunch we had burgers, hot dogs, salad and chips with everyone in our fun Christmas sweaters. Back in the chapel the missionaries going home bore their final testimony for everyone in the mission. Elder Mickelson (one of the assistants to the Mission President) even shared a cool miracle about planning to barbeque for lunch, but President Amos said it would rain and to find a back up plan. Elder Mickelson told President Amos that he said a prayer and it would be fine. And guess what it all worked out. God answers prayers! After the conference we had pie and ice cream. Yum. Then we took a million and one photos before heading back to DeRidder. 

On Friday morning we went to get an oil change for our car. Since it is freezing outside we filled our water bottles with hot chocolate and put on a bazillion layers. We were at that car place for 4 hours.  During that time we went to the park for a couple of hours and then sat in the lobby for 2 hours.  It was crazy! Sadly our lesson got cancelled but we had lots of time for weekly planning. During weekly planning we got a call from our bishop...we are going back to phase 1 and church is cancelled. That was super sad for us to hear especially because Michael and the Jacksons had said they would come to church! So that night we watched the Christ child movie as a post 9 pm missionary movie night to cheer us up. That video is so awesome and depicts the birth of Christ in such a cool way (they don't even speak English).

Saturday morning we called Mr. Lawrence, one of our referrals. We taught him how to use Facebook Messenger - that was fun jaja. Then we went to a less active member’s home with Brother Beardsley. I shared one of my favorite scriptures about Jesus Christ and his girlfriend Brinda asked for a Book of Mormon and said they would read it together that night.  It was awesome! That afternoon our other lesson got cancelled, but that gave us time to write our number on a lot of pass along cards (basically a Jesus card with our phone number on the back) for the Nachitoches Christmas Lights tonight. The Britts, a family in our ward, was so nice and gave us a ride all the way to Nachitoches! MIRACLE! (we had only asked them the day of, when we found out our district was in charge of a booth there). When we got there our whole zone of missionaries was there. We walked around Front Street, talking to people, handing out pass along cards and setting up a free Hot Cocoa booth. It was so fun and the people loved our free Hot Cocoa. Then we got to stay for the firework show! So much fun! Then the Britts drove us back to Leesville. Then we drove back home to DeRidder and ate some ice cream - it was a good day :)

Sunday we had a church service planned for Michael since church got cancelled, we made it at 10 am just like regular church and a member showed up thinking church was still going on...oof. But since Michael never showed up, we were able to have sacrament with the Gunoes and Sister Boaryan. Afterwards, we came home and did our studies. We had some meetings and then after dinner I was able to call my mom for her Birthday! We also watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional - it was amazing! 10/10 recommend! A great end to a great week.

This week I got to finally see the Baton Rouge temple, the only temple in our mission. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but nonetheless beautiful! I love how I can feel peace even when I'm not inside the temple and that I can feel His presence at all times, but especially around the temple. I feel so close to heaven when I'm there and it reassures me that God is always looking out for us. One of my favorite scriptures about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us is in the Book of Mormon in Alma 7:11-12 that says 

"11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

Although there is uncertainty throughout the world, I can find peace that Jesus Christ knows how to help me, is there for me and knows me individually.

Have a blessed week! 

Smile because God loves you and remember that I love, love, love y'all too!

Love, 

Sister Johnson

November Bug Bite Count: 18 bites

October Bug Bite Count: 39 bites

September Bike Mileage: 0.0 miles

August Bike Mileage: 46.9 miles 

July Bike Mileage: 161.0 miles

June Bike Mileage: 61.6 miles

Pictures!!!

1. One of my best friends Mira sent me Chip Cookie for my birthday!

2. Our faces when it's 27 degrees outside jaja

3. Companion Christmas Zone Conference picture

4. Eating lunch at Zone Conference 

5. District picture

6. Zone picture

7. Zone Conference (with FOUR Zones) picture

8. Companion pic outside the temple

9. Sister Lynch and I in a sled at the Nachitoches Christmas lights! 

10. Sister Lynch and I holding one of our "Free Hot Cocoa" signs!