1 Month In The LBRM!!!

Hola y'all!

    Alrighty folks I had a pretty good week as per usual (I'm so sorry about how long it is though, I really try to not make it so long but I just have so much to say!) filled with lots of good stuff :)

    On Monday we had an interesting p-day...the other Sisters left on their bikes to get new dresses for Zone Conference on Tuesday, but when they came back they only had one bike...Sister Cottle had hit a rock on her bike (Doug) and the chain got all messed up, they barely made it to the store, but the store wouldn’t let them lock up their bikes, so Sister Utsch had to save us again by picking them up and trying to fix the bike at home. Then Sister Utsch came back for us in the afternoon to take us to Walmart to get groceries! We seriously have the best members ever! (so I’ve been told since I have never been in a different area) After p-day hours we got to have a lesson with sweet old Ms. Mary! She is the best, but it took 4 different phone calls to finish the lesson because she kept getting other calls BUT we got through the last half of the Restoration! (lesson #1) whoop whoop!

    Tuesday was ZONE CONFERENCE!!! This is where all the missionaries in our zone (3 districts of about 5 companionships) meet up in Monroe for the day to hear from President and Sister Varner (for the last time before President Amos gets here on Monday), the AP’s (assistants to the president), the technology specialists, Zone Leaders and STL’s (Sister Training Leaders). We got to take pictures before and recite the Restoration Proclamation in our best dresses and suits (because ya know Zone Conference...fancy). It was pretty funny how fast the Elders took off their fancy suit coats though as soon as the pictures were done jajaja. For lunch we all ate pizza in the cultural hall, with socially distant tables and chairs set up of course. They told us that there was enough pizza for all the Elders to have 3 slices and for all the Sisters to have 2 slices...clearly they don’t know how much Sister Farris can EAT! jajaja After Zone Conference we took more pictures with President and Sister Varner, saying our goodbyes to them. The STL’s were so nice and gave us a ride home (1.5 hour drive) since we still didn’t have our car and the Sister technology specialists had already driven up, past Monroe, to get us and drive us back down to Monroe for Zone Conference. Y’all everyone here is just so nice and sweet to us! 

    On Wednesday the whole quad woke up exhausted from Zone Conference and night #8 on the floor (for bed bugs). Ya know pretty classic missionary problems...and it gets better. We had FIVE whole lessons scheduled throughout the day...only one of them actually happened...however that lesson with Lea went really well! We taught the plan of salvation and she understood everything and it all made sense in her head about where we were before we came to earth, why we are here and where we are going (email me if you want to learn more). After that lesson we got stuck talking to Clifton’s (Lea’s fiancee) sister for 45 MINUTES! It was all about dogs (my speciality), but we had another appointment so we kept inching closer and closer to the door until we could finally escape. To end the day, the Nashes (ward mission leader) took us out for dinner (since our appointment they were coming with us to fell through) at the Black Cat mexican restaurant. It's in downtown El Dorado that we didn’t know existed, but it’s our new favorite place! It was so cute and there was a courthouse, civil war monuments, little phone booths, just adorable! We’ll have to go there to find people and make a p-day stop there sometime since apparently we live in the not-so-fancy part of El Dorado jajaja. 

    On Thursday we did lots of studying...I realized how a missionary in isolation might feel...oof. We started the day with some service!!!!! We got to go to the Adult Life group home and play some games, make letters and talk with the people there. They were all so nice and really liked having new people there with them. Later that day we had exchanges (where we switch companions with the STL’s for 24 hours so that they can see how we are doing and we can learn from them) but since we have bed bugs...we had virtual exchanges over Facebook messenger for 3 hours. It consisted of Sister Farris and I going into different rooms (wack) and having companion study with an STL, then teaching a lesson with Sister Farris to the STL’s and ending with roleplays of missionary situations with the STL as our companion again...it was a lot of studying and practicing jampacked into a few hours. After we had personal study, went outside and saw like 2 people, had my second language study of the day since I missed the one for Zone Conference and then we all watched the MTC devotional while eating cake and Blue Bell :)

    Friday was a pretty good day, it also marked one month since I got to the LBRM (Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission)! What better way to celebrate than with biking! We biked 7.5 miles as we biked to an appointment with Mr. Justin, but he wasn't home so we decided to bike to Ms. Elizabeth's but she wasn't home as usual so we left a note. So the backup plan for the backup plan was to bike to Mr. Richard's house. He greeted us with some side-hugs...not exactly allowed, but it's hard to explain that to someone who is very lovey so...we were there for an hour and he actually let us share MULTIPLE scriptures this time and share our testimonies instead of him just talking at us like the last 2 times we met with him. So we're still working on the whole talking stick thing and all of his we are "beautiful women" comments, but apparently Sister Farris says that's pretty normal. When we got home Sister Farris and I were hyping up our bike fixing skills after we got her bike fixed, so we decided to fix one of our member bikes and WE DID IT! We took off the back tire, replaced the tube and everything! We're pros now ;) For dinner we decided to get some BBQ ribs, ya know pretty Southern jajaja. Then our other appointment with Ms. Mary fell through so we decided to walk around outside in the rain where we scheduled a Bible study with a woman named Ms. Tiffany! Then on our way home we saw FIREFLYS!!!! They were so cool and looked like little Christmas lights flashing for 2 seconds, it was even Sister Farris's first time seeing them on the mission! 

    On Saturday we got to do some yard work for this lady named Ms. Pat who isn't interested in the gospel and was surprised at how hard we worked for free. Since she's pretty old and cautious about everything she asked that we wear long socks, long pants AND long sleeve shirts...I literally thought I was gonna die of heat with all that clothing covering me up! I know I've said this before, but this time for reals was the most I've ever sweated in my life!! On the bright side I felt like I was at the beach with the saltwater getting in my eyes. After that we hurried home, changed and went to our appointment with Ms. Tiffany...she wasn't home, but her son was outside, so we got to talk with him and give him the Book of Mormon and Bible. Whoot whoot! On our walk home Sister Farris's bag died...this was a tragic event because she carries around this ENORMOUS black shoulder bag (I don't know how she does it) and she says that she is defined by her "big bag, big journal (massive scrapbook-like journal) and big dreams" so it was a sad day. We tried duct taping it together but...it was pretty badly ripped. Then we got to teach Ms. Mary the first half of the Restoration, it was good but she talked most of the time (like most Southern people do) and she says that her cousin is a prophet...we'll work on that one...in more exciting news, our District leader called us that night to tell us that MISSIONARY WORK RESUMES AS NORMAL! This means that we can now go and knock on people's doors if we have talked to them before. It's very exciting stuff! 

    Sunday was pretty uneventful...we had sacrament meeting at the church with the Nashes and Brother Ricker, sadly Amber wasn't there but she was helping out her brother (so valid reason). The highlight of sacrament meeting though was when Brother Ricker tried to put the sacrament bread in his mouth with his mask still on jajaja. Since our Sunday service with Lea fell through we walked home, had the Sunday live, study time, weekly planning (major companion planning session to schedule the week) and made some bomb pasta for dinner. I even helped out with the sauce! 

    So basically it was a pretty good week other than the 13 nights we have spent on the floor because we haven't been sprayed for bed bugs yet...my testimony is growing so much every single day and my knowledge of the gospel is growing too and I am literally learning so much from all the missionaries around me. I just want to say that the mission is amazing and missionary work is the same no matter where you are doing it from. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior.  I know that there are so many blessings that can come from accepting Christ and aligning our will with God's. I say this a lot, but I'll say it again, this is a gospel of true, everlasting joy and I get a glimpse of that every day on the mission. 

Have a blessed week!

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

Love, 

     Sister Johnson

Things found in the street this week: (I'm gonna try something new)

-Clothing hanger 

-Armadillo

-Q-tip

-Snake

-Lots of cigarettes


Pictures!!!
1.     Sister Farris and I out street contacting being missionaries and all ;)
2.     Ruston district aka the best district in the mission!!
3.     Monroe Zone at Zone Conference!!
4.     Last picture with President and Sister Varner! 
5.     A huge dog we got to pe VID-19t and give a treat to outside the Black Ca
6.     Our version of church during CO

Bed Bugs...

Hola y'all! 

Alrighty so this week was ROUGH, but I found so many little joys throughout the week despite all of our crazy problems! Mission life is a roller coaster, but totally worth it!

On Monday Sister Earl found bed bug #2 on her leg that morning. And this one was HUGE! Apparently it was an adult bed bug and it was a lot bigger than I had imagined. Sister Earl caught it, put it in a plastic bag and we started calling people all over again. In better news, since our car is in the shop a member, Sister Utsch, offered to give us a ride to Walmart to get our groceries for the week, so we wouldn't have to go on our bikes. MIRACLE! Another miracle we had was during our paper area book (book full of past progress records and teaching records) calling when Ms. Elizabeth answered the phone. She was busy working, but asked US to explain how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together! We got her address and prayed it was within walking distance (since Sister Farris's bike was missing a tube) and it was 1.9 miles away! MIRACLE! Then one of our investigators, Ms. Mary, called us back and she is just amazing and can't wait to make us dinner of chicken and collard greens! 

On Tuesday guess what we found in the morning?!? Bed bug #3! Sister Earl found it on Sister Cottle's bed and this one was TINY! It was like 10 times smaller than Bed bug #2. So we called even more people and are getting the apartment sprayed (not by us this time) on Saturday morning. Thank goodness because it's a little freaky going to sleep with the thought of bugs in your bed eating you… Then later that day, it was my turn to find bed bug #4 on my shoe! It was just slightly bigger than bed bug #3 and Sister Farris crushed it right away! That was when we bagged all of our clothes and put our sheets in the dryer on high heat to hopefully kill anything on them. Then our STL's (Sister Training Leaders) drove all the way from Monroe to surprise us with bike stuff (for Sister Farris's bike), 2 air mattresses (since we only had 1) AND Blue Bell ice cream (classic Southern deliciousness). MIRACLE! Our lessons that day all fell through, but we made some Alfredo Pasta and had a sleepover in the living room on our 3 air mattresses (Sister Earl slept on the floor though because she is just that nice). 

On Wednesday we didn’t find any more bed bugs!!! Whoop whoop! I don’t know if that’s only because we weren’t actually sleeping on our beds though...so...but we had 4 lessons planned for today!! Our first one fell through...our second one happened! It was our first actual lesson with Lea AND we actually got to go INSIDE their apartment!! It went really well and Lea seems more interested in the gospel than Clifton (her recent convert fiance) did! She really likes the idea of having us as friends and a ward family (she has had a really hard life), she just completely lights up when we call her our friend!! :) Then we embarked on foot to Ms. Elizabeth's since Sister Farris's bike is still out of commission. When we got there Ms. Elizabeth's daughter answered the door and said that her mom was still at work… :( BUT we talked with her daughter for a while until Ms. Elizabeth got home! Unfortunately she was called back into work, so we set up a different time. She was really sad about it and even said that her daughter could join our discussion (since she's been into ouji boards lately...creepy…). So we are looking forward to that...Then we walked back home and our lesson with Ms. Mary fell through… :( But Sister Earl made us delicious fried chicken as our last meal before starting our fast (sacrificing 2 meals for a specific purpose) for President Varner and his heart (he just had surgery to get it back in rhythm). Then we had a quad sleepover on the air mattresses while watching The Testaments (church movie about the Bible)!

On Thursday we had district council over the phone since our car is STILL in the shop and won’t be done until Wednesday! It’s ok though, the Elders were super nice about it since we had already asked them to switch the day of district council, thinking we would have the car by now...We called a bunch of people through the paper area book and were even able to finally get a hold of Ms. Jan! She was still hesitant about meeting with us, but we will press forward! We had some outside time and we got to go out in our proselyting clothes for the first time! And we ate the rest of our Chip cookie supply while watching the MTC devotional! Good times! :)

On Friday we got our first member referral!! So after lunch we biked to the animal hospital and dropped off a Book of Mormon to the member to give to her friend! So cool! Then we biked to the church to do some paper area book calling and we realized that we forgot the church keys...so we sat outside like homeless people and called potential investigators. We biked back home and had some outside time, but there weren’t very many people outside...there were some cows though! After dinner, we had a lesson with Sister Russell and Sister Farris was just like “Sister Johnson will be leading this…” I think I died right then and there. Luckily it went ok...I hope...I’m slowly getting better and improving...I think…

Saturday morning the bug guys were supposed to come over and spray our apartment for bed bugs at 8am...so we got everything ready, off the floor, vacuumed and got ready with our bikes to spend the day at the church (with the church keys this time ;)). We waited...had a quad Book of Mormon read...waited...had Come Follow Me (weekly gospel discussion with specific readings) with our district...waited...walked to the apartment office, but it’s closed on Saturdays and Sundays AND they had a training session...so by then it was 10am and the bugs were still there! We will just have to wait until Monday. Later that day we biked to meet with Mr. Fred (who we met during another one of our bike rides) and was so nice, he even met us somewhere closer to where we live so we wouldn't have to bike as far! We even gave him a Book of Mormon! Then we biked to Ms. Elizabeth's to try again...she wasn't there. BUT her daughter, Shamilldriana was home! She told us how her mom still wasn't home and she couldn't talk because she had to walk the dog. That's when Sister Farris said "well is that a big chore for you? We can do it!" And this is surprising because Sister Farris does NOT like animals, so that was an amazing statement! And I GOT TO WALK THEIR DOG!! His name is Bear, a pitbull husky mix who was adorable, a little stinky but it was so fun! And it made me feel like I was back home walking my dog Ripley. :) It was some good service and then we biked back home, with a bike mileage of 6 miles that day. 

On Sunday we walked to church again and it was HUMID! Sister Farris said that meant a storm was brewing! whoop whoop! At church with Brother Ricker and Ms. Amber we discovered that I know Amber’s cousin Conner! They showed me a picture and at first I didn’t recognize him, but then I looked at the picture again and I was like, “that’s Elder Ricker!” He was in my online MTC district not too long ago! (But you have to realize that my MTC district never actually met in real life, so I only know what their blurry top halves look like over Zoom jajaja) What a small world! Then they told us some cool stories and we had a lesson about patriarchal blessings (a personal blessing given by a Patriarch in the church that declares your lineage, gives blessings and warnings for your life) since Amber is thinking about getting one! Then we walked home and got to call home for Father's Day! It was great to talk to my dad that day!!! Later Sister Utsch picked us up for my first ever dinner appointment INSIDE someone's house! It was lots of fun and made me think about when I was home and we had the missionaries come to our house for dinner...weird how the rules are now reversed jajaja. Although it was probably the healthiest dinner I'll ever eat on the mission. We had a chicken, pasta salad thing that was really good, some watermelon and then cake brownies things with ice cream for dessert. It was all delicious and the Utschs are soooo nice! On the way home we even saw like 10 deer! And there was a storm so we got to watch the lighting as it poured rain outside. Then the quad got a little crazy and we ran outside dancing in the rain which was so much fun! 

Ok I know this email just kinda made it sound like we're not doing missionary work, but it has been really hard to find people AND keep their appointments. I hear that's just the constant struggle of being a missionary though. I am hopeful that we will find more people next week and that our appointments will hold and that the few people we are teaching will progress!! I know that I am out here in Arkansas doing the Lord's work and that when we press forward with faith everything will work out the way it's supposed to :)

Have a blessed week!

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

Love y'all,

     Sister Johnson

Pictures!!

1.     Blue Bell galore!

2.     Bed bug #3 who is literally so small next to that nickel!

3.     Classic water towers that we see everywhere here in the South

4.     A cool path Sister Farris thought might look like Argentina :)

5.     We found some cows near our apartment

6.     I shared the Book of Mooormon with them! 

7.     Cute companion photo shoot with some pretty flowers

8.     Walking Bear!!

9.     Air mattress sleepover!

Smile! God Loves You!

Hola y'all!

     I hope everyone had a great week! For me this week seemed to go by pretty fast, but it was full of some really cool stuff!

     On Monday it was the busiest P-day of my life, sorry y'all for not being able to respond as much. We literally got ready, cleaned, planned and then we were off to Ruston (55 miles away) for DISTRICT PDAY!! Which is apparently super awesome in the life of a missionary. It was actually super fun though, we played volleyball, kickball, ate burgers and had cake and ice cream for Elder Tauraa's 20th birthday! AND we did this all in the pouring rain! We were all completely soaked!! But it was so much fun bonding with the district and seeing other missionaries since we live out here in banishment (what they call El Dorado since the closest missionaries are an hour away…). But district p-day definitely lived up to the hype from the quad. 

     On Tuesday...ok funny story time...so as missionaries we say at least 15 prayers a day (I counted) and that's a lot of prayers, so one morning during district devotional (short spiritual thought with the district every morning) one Elder was giving the prayer and said "please bless...uh...I don't know..." and I really felt that and wanted to share that with y'all. Also we had our second lesson with Ms. Jan and it went really well! She read the entire chapter we asked her to and really understood it! She was a little confused by the prophet Joseph Smith...but we're working on it. :) Then as we were calling people in the paper area book someone answered and asked how WE were doing! He remembered being taught by the missionaries, but their information got lost during transfers (when missionaries move to a different area) and he was so nice! Later that day during our outside time, Sister Farris and I were walking and deciding which road to turn down when a man started calling us to come over. His name is Mr. Tony and he was so nice, I shared a scripture with him and he told us that he was happy he called us over because he could tell there was something different about us "happy girls". I like to think that he saw the light of Christ through us, but that's just me ;) So many miracles! Then we taught the Bishopric how to use Facebook…let's just say that it took 15 minutes to talk them through accepting our friend request, so I'll let y'all imagine how the rest of it went jajaja.

     On Wednesday we had enough miles to actually drive to district council instead of calling in like last time! (Sister Farris was a little off on the mileage math so it worked out that we could go!) During district council the other Sisters were sharing an experience with Ms. Diane, who they are teaching, which was super cool. They were asking her if she knew of any ancient prophets (like Moses, Abraham, Noah) and she answered "No, I only know one prophet...prophet Nelson!" I think it just shows me how important those tiny miracles are :) Our district even helped us out with our bike situation by actually giving us their PERSONAL bike that was really nice! The Elders are always looking out for us! And when we got home, a member in the ward brought us 2 more bikes! So now we have a total of 5 bikes for 4 Sisters! MIRACLE! So that night we embarked on a making Shrimp Scampi adventure and it turned out pretty good, except that I was in charge of the garlic bread...Sister Cottle and I took hamburger buns and cut them into smaller slices, toasted them and then I was putting butter and garlic salt on them...let's just say they were a little soggy ;) jajaja

     On Thursday it was Sister Cottle's 9 month mark! In less exciting news, that morning Sister Farris was sitting on the couch and I was about to get on my language study call when guess what she found on her arm?!...A BED BUG! She immediately crushed it and some blood came out which meant that it had bit someone. Sister Farris said she felt it bite her leg and then crawl up her arm. We weren't sure if it was on some clothes a member gave us the night before, if it came from outside or if it was in my companion's bed since she stayed the night in Monroe to pick me up my first day and then we later discovered that they had bed bugs...but we made a bunch of calls and decided that 2 Sisters would bike to Walmart and get some bug killer stuff and we would de-bug the apartment ourselves just in case there was more than one. We took off all our sheets, checked for bed bugs/marks in the mattress seams and set up the 3 foggers. We had a lesson with Ms. Jan before leaving the apartment that also went pretty well, she even read 11 chapters in the Book of Mormon! The only thing is that she says she prayed asking to receive the Holy Ghost and says now she always has it...she then got baptized after...and only wants to go to her church...but we will keep talking and praying with her! After that we had to leave the apartment for a few hours while the foggers did their job. We biked to Lea and Clifton's to have an actual lesson with them after all the other appointments had fallen through. However we were there for AN HOUR and never actually got to talking about the gospel...Clifton mentioned they had just watched X-men and if you know me then you know how the rest of the time went…we built trust as we talked about X-Men (I tried connecting it to the gospel, but he just kept talking) Marvel, disney and then we got into PS4, videogames, youtubers and anime so that was when I just nodded and smiled since my companion didn't know about any of that stuff either. Then we had to bike to our appointment with Mr. Richard but that fell through. So we biked to the church to sit there until our apartment was clean. We even called Ms. Janice, who we've been trying to set up a lesson with, and on the phone she was like "sure I have time right now". So we hurried, found some scriptures to read and it was awesome! 

     On Friday we went to Sister Kyle's mom's property to clean up her huge yard area. We were there from 9am-3pm doing some solid manual labor (sidenote: "manual labor" is Sister Farris's favorite thing to do...me not so much jajaja but I just try to focus on the service behind it instead of my sore muscles jajaja). We raked a billion leaves, I got to use the leaf blower, we mowed the lawn and put everything in their burn pile. Sister Kyle even had 2 dogs on the property, but they were not like "pet dogs" they were super skinny, had cuts and infections on them and it was really sad. But I still pet them despite their matted fur and flies everywhere because I love dogs! They also had cats, again not "pet cats", but they were off limits because they had fleas so….fun. Then we got home and all collapsed because we were so tired! Then the rest of our lessons for the day fell through, so we ate some Chip cookie that my AMAZING family sent me because they're awesome! 

     On Saturday we were all so tired from the previous day's service, but we received some amazing new updates from President Varner (my mission president). So #1 Elders can now wear light blue shirts and no ties #2 we can go into "healthy homes" now and #3 WE CAN GET RIDES FROM MEMBERS!! I am most excited about #3 because right now our car is in the shop getting fixed and we don't have enough miles to drive anywhere and y'all know how much I like biking jajaja. We still had to bike to Brother Bates to do more yard work service for him though. Since we now have 5 bikes, I tried out one bike and then we realized it had a flat tire, so the second bike was needed and a secret blessing in disguise. So we did more service for Brother Bates and then collapsed with tiredness again that night. :)

     On Sunday we walked the 1.1 miles to church again and had a lesson with Ms. Amber, a recent convert. Then our lesson with Lea fell through again…so yeah. But the most amazing thing happened on our walk back home…we found a KITTEN! It was so small and cute, it had a raspy meow and Sister Earl just scooped him up and said "I think you should hold this" I just about died of excitement because y'all know how much I love animals (but not bugs, just cute furry animals). But don't worry I didn't hold him for very long, we said a prayer for him and then when we got home I washed my clothes to ensure no fleas. That night our lesson with Ms. Elizabeth fell through twice so Sister Earl made Peach Cobbler for dessert!

     This week went by so fast and I seriously love being a missionary! My testimony has grown so much, I am learning like 10 new things from my companion every day, the missionaries I live with are absolutely wonderful and my muscles are sore from biking and service, but that only means we are doing some good work! I know that I am out here in Arkansas doing the Lord's work and that this really is a gospel of true and everlasting joy!

Have a blessed week! 

Smile because God loves you and I love you! 

Love y'all, 

Sister Johnson

Pictures!!!

1. My district playing volleyball outside in the pouring rain, if you look closely you can see me in a light blue jacket in the back ;)

2. Our district celebrating Elder Tauraa's birthday!

3. A nice district photo 

4. Biking...when are we not biking…

5. My companion and I next to the leaf blower and leaf tarp at Sister Kyle's.

6. Sister Cottle and I by this shed at Sister Kyle's.

7. Sister Farris and I next to the giant burn pile.

8 The quad eating Chip and ice cream after a long day :)

9. Me in a state of pure joy holding the kitten

I'm Not A Biker...

Hola y'all!

     What a week man! We had so many miracles, bike rides and new people. I really am enjoying my time out here being a missionary in Arkansas :)

     

On Monday we had my first P-day (preparation day) in the mission! Let's just say that P-day is a BIG DAY in the mission. Sister Cottle was even excited on Sunday because it was P-day Eve jajaja.We basically just had the most efficient Walmart trip ever and then messaged people all day (but I spent most of the time figuring out emails on a phone jajaja). Everyone gets so excited about who they're gonna message and if it'll be a "good messaging day". It was fun to see everyone in the quad (4 Sister Missionaries in our apartment) talking to their families and get their last messages or "risky" messages sent out before 6pm when P-day ends and we go back into pros (proselyting) mood. :)

   

  Tuesday was a day of miracles! Whoop whoop! First, Sister Earl (the cook) made us gluten-free German pancakes which were bomb! Our lesson with Clifton (recent convert) and Lea (Clifton's fiancee) also fell through, but just wait for the miracle ;) During our outside time, where we pretend to be exercising so that we can talk to people, we met Mr. David sitting out on a rocking chair on his porch (extremely Southern by the way) on his phone. We started talking to him and eventually he got so invested in our conversation that he put down his phone, we even tried to leave but then he brought out his kids and kept talking to us, showing interest and we even got his phone number and info. MIRACLE! And it gets better! On the way home we saw Lea and Clifton! MIRACLE! We were able to set up another time to meet with them! (It ended up falling through too but it was still a miracle)

     

On Wednesday I had my first language study time with 3 other newly out of the MTC reassigned missionaries and 2 missionaries that spoke really good Spanish. Let me just say that it was ROUGH. I really need to practice my Spanish more! After that began our biking journeys for the week. We were biking to a service project at Sister Kyle's to mow her lawn (we only have 2 bikes so Sister Earl let me use her's). It was 2.8 miles and at first I was like "wow this is nice, I like biking" and then we got to our first uphill...let's just say that I am not a fan of biking over hills in the humid weather. I was a sweaty mess! And of course that's when a car pulled over to tell me I'm cute (I couldn't really understand much of what they were saying through their Southern accent, that I'm still trying to figure out). When we finally got to Sister Kyle's guess what? Her lawn was ALREADY MOWED! So we just talked for a while and then biked back home as I thought I would die. But it's fine, we got home, took a couple minutes to cool down and Sister Earl made us s'mores dip (peanut butter, chocolate and marshmallows cooked for a bit in a pan) for dessert!

     On Thursday we had district council (5 companionships in a district meet to discuss things like our goals) but we had to call in because we don't have the miles to drive 55 miles there. :( For lunch Sister Farris and Sister Cottle were super excited to make Spam Mubshis (kinda like sushi with rice on the bottom, fried spam on top, wrapped in seaweed). I was very hesitant at first but they were actually pretty good surprisingly. Then we embarked on biking journey #2! This journey was 3.7 miles and I know what you're thinking...that's not very far, but it felt FAR just to drop off a cute note for someone that was being taught by the missionaries jajaja. But on the bike ride over we met Mr. Richard who actually stopped us and wanted to talk. It sounded like the Elders used to teach him, but we couldn't quite tell if he was more interested in us or what we were saying...let's just say I didn't catch on to the one time we are supposed to lie as missionaries when Sister Farris said she had a boyfriend, but it still turned out ok because everyone deserves to hear of the gospel no matter what. Also I didn't realize how long we would be biking for and totally forgot to put on sunscreen both biking days and my arms turned into tomatoes. Luckily I just lathered them in Aloe Vera!

     On Friday we got a referral!! This was actually a miracle because we started with a blank area book (book with all the info of people being taught, used to be taught, not interested and members) and have literally already contacted everyone on the list  hence we are going through the old paper ones now. It was amazing! Speaking of the old paper area books, we were going through them and are already back in 2013 going through it, calling people when we called this one lady who actually answered the phone and told us how great her day was because the Lord had blessed her. Sister Farris and I were like "yes we finally got someone to answer AND they're interested!!!" Then we asked her if she would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ sometime...that's when she cussed us out and Sister Farris hung up the phone as fast as possible. It was a little scary and we just sat in silence for a while. But I guess that's just how missionary work goes sometimes, you get rejected a lot and then there's the rare person that is actually interested. Then we had a service project at Brother Bates again helping him with his yard and I got to use a power washer which was super fun. We even got to visit Mr. Richard again and give him a Bible since he already had a Book of Mormon. AND we found out he has a wife! (Sister Farris said wives are the best because he had definitely been drinking before we came over…) Then we had a nice end to our day with a storm! There were dark clouds, thunder, lightning and everything. IT WAS SO COOL!    

 

    On Saturday we had our biking journey #3 which was 4.4 miles. (Guys I know this sounds like nothing but that was a total of 21.8 miles in 3 days…) I was literally DRENCHED in a mix of sunscreen and sweat when we stopped for lunch, it was gross. But it was worth it because on the way we met Mr. Fred who hasn't been to any church and seemed interested and the referral, Ms. Jan, we went to visit was actually THE BEST. When we knocked she was like "are you the missionaries?" and just loved everything we talked to her about as we shared a scripture in the Book of Mormon and prayed with her. It was awesome and she's just so ready to hear our message. She even texted US right after to say how much she appreciated it! Then we finished the day with a service project for Brother Miskins. 

     On Sunday we walked to church in order to conserve miles and it was a bit farther than I thought it was so we were a little sweaty by the time we got there in our nice church clothes. The highlight of my day was during our companionship weekly planning session (where we plan and schedule out our week) when I felt like we should call Ms. Barabra since we hadn't in a while. When we called she said that it had been a rough week and she just completely opened up to us about everything, she even cried a little as she talked on the phone with us for 30 minutes. I just felt so much love for her and wanted to reach through the phone and give her a hug. I got very emotional and had an ugly cry moment so that was fun, but I just felt so much for this single mother struggling with feelings of loneliness like no one cared about her. It was intense but I just wanted to share with her how much God loves her, the plan He has for her involving Christ's sacrifice for HER to be able to understand all of her trials and problems and that we love her! 

     This week I have learned so much from my trainer Sister Farris and the other sisters in our quad. I'm still trying to push out of my comfort zone and talk to more people instead of letting Sister Farris do all the talking, but I'll get there eventually hopefully:) I just want to leave with my testimony that I know this gospel is one of true, everlasting joy. I know God loves y'all so much and I do too!!

Love, 

Sister Johnson

Pictures!!

1. Sister Farris killing another spider for me cuz she handles the bugs and I handle the dogs! 
2. Studying with my awesome companion on the couch!
3. Us being good missionaries outside with our masks on ;)
4. Biking journey #1
5. Sister cottle and I watching the storm and praying for a tornado and more lighting jajaja
6. Biking journey #2
7. Biking journey #3 where we stopped for lunch and ate our free burger and shakes by a member's store...we looked pretty homeless...
8. Pretty walk to church 
9. Fancy Sunday dinner outside!
10. Close up of dinner by Sister Earl