The SPIRIT

Hola y'all!!

This week was an interesting and exciting one! 

On Monday we had the first p-day of the new transfer!! Sister Farris made beignets with chocolate dipping sauce! They were so good, but apparently people here in the South put on like a POUND of powdered sugar because if you don't get the "don't suck in" (or you'll choke and die) warning it's not authentic jajaja. Later we had a lesson with Ms. Mary...but it didn't happen...so we tried our new Blue Bell flavor; Rocky Road, which was actually pretty good!

Tuesday morning we had an AMAZING lesson with Mr. Brian!! We were teaching the Restoration and brought Brother Shipman, a member in the ward, to the video call. It was so great and Mr. Brian said how he knows the Book of Mormon is true. As Brother Shipman was closing with his testimony, he started talking about his own baptism and I got these really strong spiritual feelings and wondered if I should invite Mr. Brian to be baptized. I had had this thought before  but this time it was different, the spirit was there so strongly. Then Sister Farris pretended to be cracking her back and whispered to me "invite him to be baptized" and that was the confirmation I needed. So I invited him to be baptized! It was a little rough since I only know it in Spanish, but he said YES. It was the best feeling ever!! We are so excited for him! Later we headed out on the bikes (13 miles that day) during the excessive heat warning...we took lots of water breaks...and on the way there I was doing pretty good, but Sister Farris turned to me when I was close behind her and said "can you tell your angels to push my bike?!" And I just died right there on my bike! Jajaja We had a lesson with Mr. David, but he didn't read so we read 1 Nephi 1 with him and recommitted him to read the next chapter. Then we headed to Ms. Jan's for a plan of salvation lesson where we brought Sister Nash from the ward. It went great! Ms. Jan loved our different perspective on things like the Fall being needed. She even said that she knows the Book of Mormon is true! Then we biked to Betty's for our usual cheeseburgers, cajun fries and butterscotch shakes. Yum! Then we biked to Mr. Cowboy's house for our first lesson. We got there a little early and knocked on the door...they were obviously home looking through the curtains but since the mom doesn't speak English they didn't open the door. So we waited for Mr. Cowboy to get home...all I heard from inside was "TODAVIA" which means "still" in Spanish, as in we were STILL outside their house...luckily Mr. Cowboy pulled up from work and let us in. We were speaking English at first but it wasn't really going well so I just decided to try to speak some Spanish. I couldn't think of anything to say so I decided to read a scripture in Spanish and then bear my testimony. It wasn't great, but they were listening! We even got a return appointment! MIRACLE! Then I closed by saying a prayer in Spanish! 

On Wednesday we had district counsel! I had to give the refining (where we practice what we learned from the discussion) and I was super nervous about it, but it ended up going great! I even gave them all homework assignments jajaja. We got Chick-fil-a for district lunch and Elder Davis decided to eat an entire pizza in one sitting! Then Elder Tauraa told us about the time he ate 6 whole pizzas in one hour! Crazy! Once we got home we walked over to have a lesson with Lea and Clifton. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and had a talk about keeping commitments. It was amazing! We even mentioned some commandments for baptism and discovered that they are living the law of chastity!! MIRACLE!! 

Thursday morning we had another great lesson with Mr. Brian about the gospel of Jesus Christ where he said that he knows "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church" what a powerful statement! It was great! He even accepted our invitation to a Sunday service! Later we biked to Ms. Jan's and talked about the points of Christ's New Testament Church...it was interesting to say the least...she believes that your denomination doesn't get you to heaven, your personal relationship with Christ does. That really made me think...but we tried to convince her of the need for a church, since she basically said she knows her church is wrong, but she doesn't seem very willing to change…then we biked to Ms. Alexis's apartment and met her 4 adorable girls! We gave them these little hot wheels cars and as I played with the girls, Sister Farris talked with Ms. Alexis. They were so nice and excited for us to come back! Then we biked to Mr. Cowboy's, this time with Sister Dukes, a member in the ward who speaks Spanish, to help me out. Sadly no one was home...we waited for like 30 minutes before deciding to head to our dinner appointment. Sister Dukes was so nice and even let us put our bikes in her car and drove us to meet Sister Ramirez, another Spanish speaker. Sister Dukes was amazing and introduced us in Spanish. Although Sister Ramirez ended up speaking great English! Thank goodness! She was hilarious and fed us this great Mexican food! Then we had to bike home as fast as we could to make it home before 9pm! Miraculously we made it home with 15 minute to spare! 

On Friday we took it easy with the biking and went around ON FOOT contacting outside. During this outside adventure, we knocked on Mr. Tony’s door and he let us in to meet his family! They were all so cute and we even met his wife, Ms. Venus, who totally opened up to us about her struggles and anger with God. We talked and set up a time to come again! At home we were preparing for a biking journey when Sister Russell cancelled our lesson...sadness. Then we left later on the bikes for a lesson with Ms. De’Neill...she wasn’t home...but her neighbors were! A couple was out on the porch with their 2 cute grandkids and they even sang the song “Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so!” It was wonderful! 

On Saturday Sister Farris and I went over to Ms. Pat’s to do some yard service and we SWEATED so much! It’s like her house just has this button that keeps the sweat coming nonstop!! Later we kept sweating as we biked to Hillsboro. We had a lesson with Mr. David and he only read 5 verses of the chapter, which is better than nothing, but we recommitted him AGAIN! Then we biked to Ms. Alexis and introduced the Book of Mormon. As we read the first chapter with her Sister Farris turned to distract her girls and left ME to keep going! I freaked out!! So I bore my testimony, asked a couple questions, read another verse and invited her to finish the chapter and pray about it. It was scary doing that by myself, but I DID IT! Whoop whoop! It's still rough, but it worked jajaja. Then we hurried and biked home for our dinner appointment with the Utsch family! We had black bean burgers, salad and fruit salad! Delicious! Their family is just so cute and so nice!!

On Sunday we had our Sunday service with Mr. Brian planned, but he had to cancel because his mom went to the ER, it was so sad but obviously we understood! We even got to drive to church today and have the sacrament, then we got to teach Ms. Amber about enduring to the end and church callings. We had a Sunday service with Ms. Lea planned and literally as we were at their door she cancelled...we were a little frustrated since she has always cancelled our Sunday services! So we walked home, studied, planned and made some fun pasta for dinner! 

This week was full of so many miracles. I saw so many blessings that came from listening to the spirit and trusting in the Lord at all times! I know that we truly can find peace in Christ and gain power through the spirit to help His children! Being a missionary is the best and I would encourage y'all to look for the tiny miracles that happen every single day because of Him! 

Have a blessed week!

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

Love, 

Sister Johnson

July Bike Mileage: 101.2 miles

June Bike Mileage: 61.6 miles

Pictures!!!
1. Last pday as Sister Farris and I ate some pizza!
2. Ms. Jan!
3. Sister Ramirez!
4. Sister Farris and I in front of this cool tank.
5. Me in front of the cool tank.

6. Ms. Pat!