Home Sweet DeRidder

 Hola y'all! 

 

What a week y'all! There were so many miracles that happened, you'll just have to read about it to find out ;)

Monday we had a pretty chill pday. We got ready in the morning and then went to Sister Barrow's house to help her continue packing for their move. We cleaned out 2 fridges and she let us have whatever food we wanted in there! It was so nice! So we took it all back to our new-ish apartment in DeRidder! Then we came home, I called my family and got updates on them all, opened a package from my mother (I got my ballot to vote! Ahhhhhh! Everyone should go vote because it's so cool I felt so official with my little voting envelope), had some leftover pizza for dinner and did some Facebook before calling it a day. 

On Tuesday we did our usual morning studies before lunch. I made a quesadilla, which I haven't made in a LONG time since I'm trying to become a cook, but it was good :) Then we went to the Leesville church building with Sister Christensen and Sister Murdoch so that Sister Teague and Sister Christensen could use the church computers to do this thing called MyPlan (a 6 week program preparing missionaries to go home and think about what's next in their lives). After that we dropped them off in Fort Polk for their lesson. Unfortunately it ended up being DEEP within the base and then we got lost on the way out and didn't leave base until 4pm...we had a member lesson at 3:30pm...so we had to cancel...then we came home, Sister Teague finished up her MyPlan stuff for this week and then we had dinner. Since I made a quesadilla for lunch I figured I would redeem myself by making a stuffed bell pepper for dinner:) Then we called a bunch of our peeps and took our last walk outside with the Leesville sisters before we move to DeRidder tomorrow.

Wednesday morning I woke up from an air mattress for, hopefully, the last time for a LONG while! Sister Teague and I packed up most of our stuff before District Council in Leesville. Our discussion was on baptism and covenants, which was super cool, then the refining (where we practice what we just learned in the discussion) was done in our mission language! So the Spanish speakers (6 of us) huddled up, the 2 Korean speakers grouped up, the 3 English speakers and then the 3 in the mixed language group (Portuguese, French, German). It was pretty cool to practice my Spanish and see where everyone else is at. Afterwards "Mama Hales" (a.k.a Elder Hales) brought cookies for lunch! Yum! Then we went and packed up all our stuff in Leesville and drove to DeRidder. We unloaded all our stuff and then went to the Woolley's house for dinner. Brother and Sister Woolley explained that they are what we call "less active"...they literally know they should be going to church, but don't ….oof. BUT their kind-of-adopted daughter, McKayla, was there at dinner and even joined our prayer before we left! Then we came home and did some more reorganizing of the apartment before bed. 

On Thursday I got to do all my studies at an actual desk! In my own apartment! It was awesome! After lunch we went to get all our groceries and called Christina, someone in our areabook who we helped after Laura. We asked her if we could come visit her and she said yes and then added like 3 people to our phone call and told us to call an Aaron about getting help for a family in need after Delta. When we called he immediately told us to write down the address, which was in Lake Charles, outside out mission boundaries...then he got on this rant about needing to "do our research" and using our "church phonebook to call the Bishop down there" when that doesn't exist...overall he basically just yelled at us about getting an emergency Bishop storehouse food order for that family and didn't believe us when we said that the closet Bishop Storehouse was in Baton Rouge because "that's just too far away" and "DeRidder has to have one" when DeRidder literally has nothing! Jajaja He then assured us that he is a "temple-endowed member of the church who lives 4 blocks away from Temple Square in Salt Lake" (basically missionary headquarters) and that he'd call back in a couple days "to make sure we're doing our job". So that was a fun phone call...we called our friends in Lake Charles and handed the situation off to them...then we got in the car and drove to Many for a dinner with Ms. Thompson who is on date to be baptized in Many! It was so cool to have the whole district and Christian from Leesville there at this barbecue to support her and her decision to be baptized. I think she really liked being around other members, especially us sisters! Also while we were there we had to say goodbye to Sister Newby because today she got the call that she's leaving for Germany on Monday! (She's originally assigned to the Alpine German speaking mission and is being quarantined for 2 weeks in the London MTC before going to Germany to get her visa) It was very bittersweet, sad that she's leaving but super happy that she's going to her mission! Then we drove home, saw a live armadillo for the first time ever (only ever seen them on the side of the road…) and were welcomed by Sister Farris and Sister Cave!! The Travelling Trainers were visiting us until Sunday! It was my dream come true! To see Sister Farris again! She even gave me a hug (and she's not even a hugger)! It was awesome! Then we got ready for bed and it felt just like old times back in El Dorado! 

So with the Travelling Trainers here we were doing a 3-day long exchange starting Friday. So I was companions with Sister Cave, since I've already been companions with Sister Farris BUT we got to daily plan all together as a quad which was cool. I did companion study with Sister Cave and got to know her better, she's pretty cool too. Then we all weekly planned a bit before lunch. I had chimichangas, a Sister Farris classic, while everyone else ate salads! Even Sister Farris! Sister Cave's got her on some health craze, it was wack jajaja! Then we went to the church to continue planning and make a video for our ward Facebook page. Then we split up! Sister Cave and I went to visit Sister Hancock and had a great lesson with her! She's so sweet and told us to "not give up on her" because her goal is to go to the temple and we're gonna help her with that! Then we all met back up and Sister Teague and I became companions again to go on Post and have our first in-person lesson with Michael! We met at Burger King and had a lesson about forgiving others through the Atonement of Jesus Christ because he's been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately. It seemed to really help him too and then he asked about some of our "rules" so we explained the Word of Wisdom to him. He was a little unsure about it, especially with being in the military and all...but we invited him to church and he said he'd come next week! Then we got Burger King for dinner, said goodbye to Sister Newby and drove home to find the Travelling Trainers left the spare key INSIDE the apartment so they had just been chilling out in their car the whole time! So we let them in and Sister Cave and I did our language study in ONLY Spanish because she was serving in Peru for like 7 months before being reassigned. It was stressful, but good. Then all 4 of us ate ice cream and Sister Farris showed me all her pictures since El Dorado, it was the best! :)

Saturday morning we all went over to Ray's house...we figured safety in numbers because he's kinda a convicted felon and is going to trial again (Ray isn't his real name) BUT he's old, missing his left leg and not exactly threatening. He really likes having us over to talk too since his wife (that wanted to join the church) died last year. He told us his life story again, to fill in Sister Farris and Sister Cave. We've been trying to decide if we should keep teaching him because he'll say things like "I'm not proud of what I've done, but I'm not ashamed of it" and then we ask him if he's willing to change and he'll say "if you'd have asked me a few weeks ago, I would've said no, but now I just don't know…" and he's telling his neighbors to "not hate God" and he REALLY values family...then it got a little bashing so we tried leaving, but he wanted to keep talking and asking us questions after we'd been there for 2 HOURS! But we finally escaped. We don't really know what to do with him yet jajaja. Then we came home, all a little confused about Ray, made some hot chocolate and had a vehicle training meeting with the mission over zoom. Then we went to the church for Eloise's baptism. She's this cute 8 year-old girl in the ward who is so smart, she's read the whole Book of Mormon and really understood the covenant (or promise) she was making with God! Then we went to get base passes for the Travelling Trainers where I was driving and Sister Farris was in the passenger seat (so Sister Teague could nap) and it was WACK! I never thought I would be driving Sister Farris around! It was cool! Then we got McDonald's for dinner because it's Sister Farris's favorite. Sister Cave and I had a lesson with Allison, one of our referrals but she never answered...then Sister Teague and Sister Farris came home from teaching Janaya, another referral  and ended up having an AMAZING lesson with her and her 2 teen boys! MIRACLE! 

On Sunday we all went to church together and almost 50 people were there! THE MOST I'VE EVER DONE SEEN! MIRACLE! It was awesome! After church we went to Brother Jones's house to have a lesson with him since he's been struggling spiritually a bit, with being in the military as a convert. We ended up being there for 3 HOURS and I think in total all 4 of us said like 20 words! He's just got a lot of questions and misconceptions about the church...He's a talker! We went from talking about the Native American belief of some sort of spirit world to his friend's suicide to the boogie man...It. Was. Wack. Then we came home and had lunch with Sister Farris and Sister Cave before helping them pack up and leave. It was so sad to say goodbye to Sister Farris! But she gave me a goodbye hug, made a remark about me liking long hugs jajaja and then left.  Afterwards we did our studies, Sister Teague made a full on parmesan chicken that was delicious for dinner, and we had a Zone Zoom call to end the night. 

Pretty good week this past week y'all. I'm so happy that I'm finally back in DeRidder permanently AND that I got to see Sister Farris! Literally there were so many miracles that happened this week and I KNOW that Heavenly Father is watching out for me. In the Book of Mormon in Alma 26:37 it says "God is mindful of every people" and it's so true. He is there looking out for each and every one of us and although we cannot see Him, I KNOW that He is there. I know that we are children of God and He loves us all. 

Have a blessed week! 

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

Love, 

Sister Johnson 

October Bug Bite Count: 30 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. Saying goodbye to Sister Newbs!

2. Sister Farris being cold in the mornings as per usual jajaja

3. Sister Cave and I with Sister Hancock!

4. Sister Cave and I on the couch

5. With Sister Farris on the way to Ray's 

6. Ray's house after Delta

7. The quad ready to go to church

8. Waiting for our lesson in the car after church

Where The Air Is Thick, The Sky Is Blue And The Trees Are Tall

Hola y'all! 

So this week was kind of all over the place, but I'm now back in Louisiana "where the air is thick, the sky is blue and the trees are tall"! (Quote from a Pentecostal Pastor we visited on Sunday, I think it accurately describes Louisiana jajaja)

On Monday I got to take an actual shower for the first time in a while. It was nice to not have to be terrified about flashing everyone as the curtain blows open. Also that day all the Sisters decided they wanted to go out for breakfast since it was pday. They're definitely different then the Sisters I've met so far...it took them like 30 minutes to decide where to eat jajaja. All 7 of us went to Huddle House in Pineville. I got pancakes, sausage and hashbrowns and it was delicious! We even got to talk to the waitress about our church! She was like "who are y'all?" so we got to explain the whole being a missionary thing. She was surprised when we told her that we PAID to be here for 18 months to talk to people about Jesus Christ. The Pineville sisters even got her phone number AND she invited them to come to her church! So exciting! Then we went to Walmart to get groceries and I discovered that Blue Bell (HUGE ice cream company in the South that's delicious!!!) has sherbet too! So I bought some Pineapple Sherbet to try :) Then we went to the Alexandria church building to join their district's pday activities. We played murder ball and spicy Uno. It was a lot of fun! Then we got a call saying Leesville got power back! So we packed up our stuff in Pineville, we drove around so Sister Teague could say goodbye to some people (Pineville was the previous area she served in) and then drove back to Leesville. The Leesville sisters staying in Lafayette were coming the next day since they were a far drive away, so we got to sleep on their mattresses that night. It was awesome to sleep on an actual mattress instead of my usual air mattress.

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling so good after sleeping on Sister Hansen's mattress! I kneeled on the ground and had just finished saying my morning prayer in the dark when everything went totally silent...the power went out! Sister Teague and I thought we were going to die! Luckily it turned back on about 5 minutes later jajaja and we were able to get ready like a normal day. We drove down to DeRidder and helped the Barrows in the ward pack for their move since Sister Barrow has been so stressed about doing it by herself. She even made us lunch! She made this bowl with ground beef, black beans, onions and bell peppers since she eats super healthy. Now the thing is, all her spices were already packed up, so she found this spice packet in her cabinets and threw that in...let's just say that my mouth was on FIRE! It was SO spicy, I thought I was gonna die, my nose was even sweating! After a while she and her husband even said it was hot and I can't handle ANY spice! But I ate the whole thing, only 2 water bottles later! Then we went to our new apartment in DeRidder (the one bedroom one they stuck us in until a 2 bedroom opens up) to move all of our big furniture from our old apartment to the new one. We even got all 6 Leesville sisters to come down and help us move. We moved a couch, dining table, 2 beds and bed frames, a microwave, 2 study desks and all of our other stuff that day, but we got it all out! Then we drove back to Leesville and had a lesson with Michael! It went so well! We introduced Sister Teague and she helped answer his questions and shared a really cool personal experience that he related to! He's so awesome that he even brought a notepad to take notes as we talked about the Book of Mormon! 

On Wednesday we did our usual studies and then went for a morning walk as we texted some of our peeps. Then we came back and I made myself some fancy pasta with vegetables for lunch :) I had some language study and then we drove to DeRidder to unpack and organize our apartment there, only to discover that there was no power...apparently the apartment complex didn't realize it was still off...so they're working on turning it back on soon...so we just organized everything as we sweated it out in our second floor apartment. By the time we finished we had one giant trash pile and a semi-organized apartment minus the kitchen because it was too dark jajaja. Then we drove back to Leesville, started making Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner, dropped the Leesville sisters off at their lesson, finished cooking the soup and cornbread for dinner and ATE IT (my favorite part)! It was delicious! Then we Facebooked and Sister Newby sewed my dress for the Zone Conference. 

Thursday we did our awesome morning studies (I say this a lot...and by this I mean an hour of personal study, an hour of companion study and an hour of language study) and by then it's noon so we ate lunch. I wasn't feeling too fancy so I microwaved some chimichangas:) Then we went to the Rosepine church building (our building) to film Sister Teague's video for the Facebook live devotional on Sunday. While we were there we got to meet the Pontiffs in our ward (or congregation) who are super nice, but over the age of 65, so we haven't seen them at church. Then we went to our new apartment in DeRidder and the power was on! We didn't have enough time to clean everything so we washed the car for Zone Conference (meeting for a bunch of missionaries in the Alexandria area) tomorrow and drove back home to Leesville. We had some leftover soup for dinner, Sister Teague planned out her "go home testimony" for tomorrow since she's going home this transfer and we all played Spicy Uno together after 9pm!

On Friday we had Zone Conference!! They decided to start having Zone Conference only be half the day instead of basically the whole day, so we can still do stuff that day. But we still woke up at 6am to drive all the way to Alexandria to be there by 8:30am and when we got there Elder Hales a.k.a Mama Hales brought cookies he made! They were delicious!! Zone Conference was super good and during the go home testimonies there was a surprise testimony thrown in there! Elder Teare! My district leader! We were all super confused because he only came out a transfer (6 weeks) before me! He shouldn't be going home! It turns out he's going to Portugal! That's his original assignment and he'll be leaving at the end of this transfer in November!! That's crazy! For the last activity the Zone leadership had invited a member from every ward or congregation, so Sister Britt came for us. We did some games with them and talked about involving the members in missionary work. It was super cool. Then we had lunch with them too! Pizza, salad and Klondike bars! Afterwards the members all left and we took pictures, the sisters had interviews with Sister Amos this time (instead of the usual President Amos) and started exchanges with the STL's. I was companions with Sister Hollingsworth from my first Zone in Monroe! She's awesome! And they live in a member's house on the second floor, so Brother Green had dinner ready when we came home! Beef stew! It was great! Then we meet up with the other 3 companionships of missionaries assigned to the Alexandria ward (they have NINE missionaries in their ward!) for smoothies. Yum! 

Saturday I woke up from sleeping in a KING SIZE BED at the Green's house! It was awesome! All five of us Sisters got ready and then went to a member in the Alexandria ward's house to help clean up after the flooding from Hurricane Delta. It was a huge mess! The water had come into their trailer with 2 feet of water INSIDE the trailer that is raised from the ground! I don't know how clean the house started out, but there was wet trash everywhere, so many cockroaches and spiders and brand new never-before-used kitchen appliances (victims of "it's such a good deal, I'll buy it). But with all 9 missionaries there, we were able to clean up a lot of stuff! I even killed 2 giant spiders (I'll admit one was on accident, but the other one was totally intentional since the Elders just wanted to poke it)! After that we went home to change, got lunch at Cane's and headed to the church to eat it and so Sister Teague could register for classes. We also had personal study and companionship study there too. Then we went back to the Green's and made flapjacks for dinner before heading back to Leesville. Boy did those Leesville sisters miss us! ;)

On Sunday we went to church for the first time this transfer! It was Sister Teague's first time at the Rosepine ward! And there were like 40 people there! The most I've ever seen!! We got to talk to a bunch of people after church too! Then we went to our DeRidder apartment to eat our chicken noodle soup leftovers and DEEP clean the apartment since everything is almost unpacked now. Then we watched the Sunday live, had lunch, cleaned up some more, personal studied and then went to Valorey's house! This was the first time we had gone over since we met them during service after hurricane Laura. Her husband, Bruce, was there too! They welcomed us in and were a true representation of Southern hospitality! They were so sweet and nice! We got to know them better and they even shared some of their own spiritual experiences with us and wanted to do a Bible study next time we come over! And she gave us cake as we left and they invited us to their church too when it comes back in November!! MIRACLE! Then we drove to Leesville to go to the First United Pentecostal church with one of their friends, Alexis. She loved that all 6 of us came too! Even the pastor came up to us after and thanked us for being there! We got to be involved in a real "Pentecostal experience" as the Pastor described. His whole sermon was about being proud to be a Pentecostal (little awkward for us…) and the strength that comes from that knowledge. There were people dancing, singing, clapping, running through the pews and even a lady who "received the Holy Ghost". It was really cool to watch as she spoke in tongues and the pastor came up to interpret it. I could feel the spirit, but it was different...I don't really know how to describe it, but I felt like I had the spirit with me however I couldn't necessarily feel the spirit in the room. It was wack. But then we got invited to a birthday celebration with the congregation afterwards and they gave us dinner and we got to talk to Alexis more! We had gumbo and potato salad, a classic Southern meal :) Alexis was super nice and curious about our religion and kept asking questions, it was awesome! I felt like I was back home talking with my friends about my beliefs, but this time I had 5 member friends who all have strong testimonies of their own. It was so cool! 

This week was a good one, we're back in Leesville doing our thing and hopefully we'll move into our temporary one bedroom apartment in DeRidder soon! It was awesome being in Pineville, having exchanges, Zone Conference and moving apartments! Getting to see so many missionaries really strengthens my testimony too! I know that if I keep moving forward with a steadfastness in Christ, I will get to where I want to be spiritually with time. But for now, I know that Heavenly Father loves me, is looking out for me and is helping me along the way. I know that Jesus Christ is right there beside me too, picking me up when it gets hard. I know that our Savior lives and loves each and every one of y'all!

Have a blessed week! 

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

Love, 

Sister Johnson

October Bug Bite Count: 29 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 Teague and I with the Lineville sisters at Zone Conference with the Ap's photo bombing us in the back!

2. District picture at Zone Conference!

3. Me falling asleep in the car on the way to service...I was tired man…

4. Sister Teague and I with the other 9 Alexandria ward missionaries doing service at the Spell's

5. Me holding the Green's cat, Chynna!

6. Me holding or more he Green's cat, 'Rona, lounging on me jajaja

7. Dinner at the Pentecostal church with Alexis!

Lived Through Another Hurricane: Delta

 Hola y'all!  

Well this was another interesting week thanks to hurricane Delta...

On Monday we spent pday in Leesville with the new district. Elder Teare had Uno Flip and that was super fun since I played Uno like everyday in middle school with my friends. Then we played this card game called Bang it was wack...then we played some volleyball, some more Uno Flip and then did some stuff on the computers at the church after pday was over. Then we went home and had a call with SISTER FARRIS! She and her companion, Sister Cave, were talking to us about them coming to DeRidder as Travelling Trainers because President Amos felt like they needed to come to our area. I am so excited for Sister Farris to come in the next couple weeks! Although I'll be companions with Sister Cave when they come since Sister Farris and I were past companions :'( but I'll still get to see her! After that we celebrated Sister Teague's 16 month mark with brownies! Yum!

Tuesday morning we did our studies and texted Michael after his wedding last month and the scripture we sent him really helped! Then for lunch I made a stuffed bell pepper and salad! Getting fancy as I try to become a chef! Jajaja then I had a really good talk with Sister Hansen and Sister Newby about the Book of Mormon which was super cool! Then we called a bunch of members, attempting to make our way through the list. For dinner I made a baked potato! It didn't quite turn out right though...a bit too chewy...oh well jajaja. 

On Wednesday I was driving us to Nachitoches for district council (an hour away from Leesville) when our district leader, Elder Teare, called and told the whole district that there is going to be a MISSION-WIDE evacuation for hurricane Delta!!! The ENTIRE mission of 240 missionaries was being evacuated! That's insane! President Amos was having a mission-wide Zoom call that night to explain more details. The whole time we were trying to guess where they were going to evacuate us to. Texas? Arkansas? Florida? Alabama? Who knows?? But we had an awesome district council, lunch at Chick-fil-a and drove back to Leesville, stocking up on water, new 72 hour kits and gas. Then that night we had the zoom call with President Amos. At first he told us how 4 hours prior to our call, we were supposed to be going to Pensacola, Florida with white sand beaches, 3 meals a day by the Relief Society and everything set up OUTSIDE our mission boundaries. Then he said that about an hour ago the plan changed...we'd all be staging INSIDE the mission somewhere and we'd find out sometime that night...so much for Pensacola! Right before bed the AP's (Assistants to the President) called and told us that we were going to Ocean Springs, Mississippi!

Thursday we finished packing everything up and left by 8:30am for our 5 hour drive to Mississippi! On the way, we stopped in Baton Rouge for lunch at Albasha's Greek and Lebanese restaurant that Sister Hansen recommended (she previously served in the Baton Rouge area). It was SO good! And my favorite thing was that they had…SHAWARMA! Now if anyone knows me and marvel movies they should know this reference. [Marvel sidenote: At the end of the first Avengers movie Tony Stark tells them about a shawarma place that he wants to try...so they go in the post-credit scene. I ate the same food as the Avengers!] It was awesome! Then we drove the rest of the way to Ocean Springs. When we got to the church building we realized that 6 Zones (areas of Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, New Orleans, Slidell and Gulfport) of Sisters were all staying there too! There were like 60 sisters all staying in one church building! Crazy! I got to meet so many people and see Sister Cottle from my first quad in El Dorado! It was such an awesome reunion! AND Sister Farris was there too!!! It was so cool! And the like 150 Elders were staying at a church building in Gulfport. AND the members brought us dinner! Lasagna and salad with root beer floats for dessert! They're so sweet! Then we had a little devotional with a talk from the Sisters and talked about General Conference before bed. 

On Friday we walked around a nearby neighborhood for exercise time. Then we had to figure out the showering situation...we had a showering schedule by each Zone and my Zone, Alexandria, was up first...the day before, the Elders helped build some showers outside. There were 6 shower stalls made of wood, tarps and nails out in the church parking lot. So there were 6 showers hooked up to the hose and then a little trapped hallway to put our stuff/change and give some more protection from just having one tarp between the shower and the outside world...not that it really helped...since it was put up by the Elders pretty fast, some of the tarp shower walls were nailed so that giant holes/slits were there, so no matter what, you were never fully covered while showering. AND on top of that the wind kept blowing open these "shower curtains" so our only hope was everyone keeping their eyes closed. But luckily the freezing cold hose water kept us all in there for a very brief period of time. But hey it's a shower! Then we had breakfast; muffins, cereal, yogurt and Sister Amos made sure we had some bananas! Then we did our studies before lunch where the members brought us pizza! Then Sister Teague took a nap because we were all exhausted from all the driving the previous day. Afterwards we played a fun speed dating group activity to get to know the sisters better. I even got to talk with Sister Farris! Then we had some outside time, so I walked around the church with Sister Newby while our companions took a nap. Then we worked our area by calling a bunch of people. But literally as we were on the phone talking to Ms. Kay her power went out!! So she had to go! I'm beginning to think I'll never get back to DeRidder! Then we had a ham dinner, I talked to Sister Farris and Sister Cottle some more, we had a Zone sister meeting and another nightly devotional on joy! 

Saturday we got to help with the Bishop's storehouse (where people in need basically send in their grocery orders and we gather up their food in bags in a shopping cart and then bring it out to their car). We helped unload the food in a semi truck, organize it in the church and then "go shopping" for people. It was some good service. Today we didn't get to shower until noon on the schedule...so while we waited, I was companions with Sister Hansen (so Sister Teague and Sister Newby could go on a run to the beach because there's no way I'm running! Jajaja) and we took a walk, played some basketball with other Sisters for exercise time and played volleyball. It was fun and I got to talk with Sister Farris again! Then we finally got to shower! And let me just say that the wind was crazy that day! I probably flashed so many Sisters with the wind blowing open the "shower curtain". But oh well! I was clean! Then we had sandwiches for lunch and I got to talk to Sister Amos about her life and kids and grandkids! She's so cool! Then we even stood guard so that she could take a shower! Then we did our studies and some Facebook finding before dinner. The members made us pulled pork sandwiches! After that we went outside and sang a song for a Facebook video. Then we had another Zone meeting and our devotional that night was a testimony meeting. Everyone had such cool testimonies and they even invited the Sisters in Mississippi who didn't evacuate, so I got to see Sister Earl! Then Sister Teague got a haircut from Sister Becker right before we all went crazy cleaning the whole church building! 

On Sunday everyone packed up their stuff by 8:00am, had whatever was left for breakfast and stayed for sacrament meeting. We even went up and sang "Love One Another" for the congregation! Then we finished saying our goodbyes to everyone and headed out! We made sure to stop by the beach and have whatever snacks we had for lunch too ;) Then we drove back to DeRidder! When we got to the DeRidder apartment y'all will never guess what we found! *drum roll please*...ANOTHER TREE on our building! So I guess we won't be staying there for a while...then we drove to Leesville to clean out both of their fridges because the power was out and the Leesville quad of Sisters were staying in Lafayette. Let's just say the 90 degree apartment's milk...wasn't quite milk anymore...it was gross...but their downstairs neighbor let us eat some of her fried chicken she made on the grill for dinner! She was so kind! THEN we drove to Alexandria to stay with the 5 Pineville sisters (the house the trio of sisters lives in got flooded) until the power comes back on. It was a lot of driving man, but we made it! 

Overall I had a nice weekend to see past friends and recover. I was so much more energized after being around SO many wonderful Sister missionaries! Their love for me and beautiful testimonies just strengthened my own and motivated me to continue on the path I'm on. Although things were crazy and I spent 3 days on my air mattress in the Young Women's room, I really needed it. Being with them, singing with them and serving others kind of reinvigorated all of us to keep on pushing, working and trying our best to fulfill our missionary purpose to help others come closer to Christ. I know that this hurricane was rough AGAIN for so many people, but we'll be there to help them, love them and serve them as Christ would. I KNOW that this church has been such a blessing in my life and that it really is Christ's restored church on the earth today. And I KNOW that this is where my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ want me to be :)

Have a blessed week! 

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

Love, 

Sister Johnson

October Bug Bite Count: 22 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 Teague and I on the way to Mississippi for Delta evacuation!
2. The six pack at Albasha's!
3. My plate of shawarma (basically just chicken) and gyros!
4. Sister Teague and I in front of the Mississippi sign
5. The six pack Mississippi sign selfie!
6. Our setup for sleeping in a church building
7. Getting ready for bed!
8. A turtle I found on our morning walk!
9. President and Sister Amos in front of our makeshift showers…
10. Breakfast day 1!
11. Mandatory outside time with Sister Amos 
12. President Amos after plunging all the toilets because the septic tank broke at the church...
13. Sister Teague and I taking pictures at sunset
14. Companion selfie at sunset!
15. Six pack selfie at sunset!
16. Selfie with Sister Farris!
17. Silly selfie with Sister Farris! 
18. Me in front of the pier in Ocean Springs  Mississippi 
19. The water is a little different down South…
20. Companion beach selfie!
21. Made it safely back to Louisiana!
22. What's left of our DeRidder apartment after tree #2...

6 Months

 Hola y'all! 

Alrighty so I'm sorry that my email last week was so depressing man jajaja. I'm doing SO much better and have loved the support I've gotten from everyone!

On Tuesday we had a Zone pday (preparation day). As in, the ENTIRE zone of missionaries came to pday in Alexandria!! It was so much fun! Sister Estes even agreed to get donuts on the way there at Shipley's! Just like when the El Dorado quad went down to Alexandria to meet President Amos for the first time! It was still just as good! At the Stake center with the Zone we played volleyball, ultimate frisbee, breaked for lunch then played SOCCER (Sisters versus Elders so y'all can only guess who won...the sisters basically crushed the Elders AND they even outnumbered us, it was awesome, so much fun) then murder ball (it's basically just free for all dodgeball where there are no teams and the gym is the boundaries). It was a fun day. I also talked with my family and they helped answer my questions and put my faith back on track :) Then we drove back to Leesville and stopped for burgers and cajun fries at Fatboy and Skinny's. They had some GOOD burgers man! Basically the rest of the night I helped Sister Estes pack up her stuff to be transferred to West Monroe and we prepared to get Sister Teague. 

Wednesday was transfers!! We woke up at 5:35am because although Sister Teague was just like an hour away in Alexandria, Sister Estes had to drop me off there and then drive to Hammond at transfer point before driving up to West Monroe. Luckily we met at a member's home and they fed us breakfast! It was great! I even tried Crawfish jelly...not the best thing in the world...pretty spicy, but I don't know what I was thinking, it's the South! Jajaja Then i said goodbye to Sister Estes and Sister Teague drove us back to Leesville, so we were home by 11:30am. Shortest. Transfer. Ever. Then we had personal study, bought groceries, had lunch and then when the other Sisters got home we stole their car (because we had NO miles left) and went to a member's home in DeRidder and helped them pack up their stuff because they're moving. They even fed us pizza!

On Thursday I hit my 6 month mark as a missionary! That means I'm literally ⅓ of the way done with my mission, that's so crazy! I feel like I got to the mission a few weeks ago! We did a lot of catching Sister Teague up on the area during studies and weekly planning. I realized that I really don't know the ward well and Sister Teague was pretty shocked at how bad it is. I don't think I really understood until now because to Sister Estes, who had been in DeRidder since March, treated it like it was normal, so I did too. So we've got a lot of work to do with our ward (that should really be a branch (smaller congregation)) alone! But to celebrate my 6 month mark we went to go get shakes during our dinner hour and I got to drive for the first time as the new designated driver!!! I LOVE driving, but I mostly hate having the SIM card (texting people). Sadly they were out of all ice cream products at the places we went...so I drove Sister Teague and I back home for our 2 lessons that night with the Partins and Deedee in the ward, it was my first time meeting them after serving in the area for 6 weeks...then after 9pm Sister Newby and Sister Hansen surprised me with Blue Bell ice cream for my 6 month mark! They had gone to Walmart and had got it for me to celebrate! They are so sweet!

Friday we had district council in Many for the first time with the new-ish district. The new people are: Sister Teague (my companion), Sister Christensen (Sister Murdoch's companion) and 2 Elders in Nachitoches, Elder Reck and Elder Coon. The rest of the district is the same! We have 12 missionaries (once Elder Teare's companion flies in next week on the wack transfer with 7 others). It was good though. Elder Hales a.k.a. "Mama Hales" made us all French bread pizza for district lunch! It was SO good! Man he can cook! Afterwards we drove back to Leesville and had a video call with the Britts in the ward and their kids. We played the 10 commandments charades which was cool and they invited us over for dinner on Sunday for General Conference! So nice! Then we had dinner. Now I'm trying to learn how to cook this transfer since it's the first time I'm buying groceries on my own on the mission, so for dinner I made myself a stuffed Bell pepper! It was actually really good and I just put chicken, cheese and spices (of course) in there! I was so proud! Then the rest of the night we called a million members, trying to get people to talk to us.

On Saturday we had General Conference (a big broadcast from our prophet and his apostles)!!! We went to the church and there was a baptism for a little 8 year old boy, Josiah, in the ward. It was a super cute little baptism with just his family, the Bishop and us, the missionaries! After that we stayed at the church and watched the first session with the Bishop. Then we drove to our DeRidder apartment and had some lunch. It was a little difficult though because they just started construction on the other half of our building. They were ripping out the floors, walls and EVERYTHING in hazmat suits! It was crazy! They even thought our apartment was vacant! But luckily they had put a dehumidifier in there to dry it up, sadly there was no water...We watched the next session of conference in the apartment, then Sister Teague and I made fajitas for dinner. They were bomb! Then we went to our appointment with Ray. We just talked to him for a while and he really opened up to us and he's a pretty interesting guy...Then we drove home to Leesville and called it a night.

Sunday morning we watched General Conference at the Leesville apartment, had some lunch and then drove to the Britt's home on base to watch the last session of Conference at their house. They were super nice and fed us chicken, asparagus, salad, cornbread and brownies! It was wonderful having a NICE meal! Then we went home and our appointment cancelled...

Overall this week was WAY better than last week and I am slowly strengthening my testimony more, little by little every single day. It's been really cool to see how as I read the Book of Mormon everyday since my "faith crisis" I have found an answer in what I'm reading EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's so cool! I KNOW that God answers prayers and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I KNOW that Jesus is the Christ and is the Son of God. And I am so excited to learn and grow more everyday in the mission field!

Have a blessed week! 

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

Love, 

Sister Johnson

October Bug Bite Count: 15 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. Shipley's donuts in a mask!

2. Shipley's donuts about to be eaten!!!

3. Picture with Sister Barrow after we helped her pack.

4. Cool pic of the Fort Polk sign.