JOHNSON, MEGAN: The End

Hola y'all!

Monday was my very last pday as a missionary y'all! So crazy! I talked to my family and I'm gonna see them in person this week! Crazy! I kinda just thought I'd be a missionary forever and just see them through a screen jaja but I'm super excited to see them and my friends again! As a district we all went to the beach! The Gulf Coast is definitely not quite the same beach as back home in SoCal especially with Gulfport's fake man-made beach but it was still nice to walk in the sand, find hermit crabs and feel the water on my feet. Oh how I've missed being able to swim and just go to the beach. Anyways after we gathered all the hermit crabs into one pile and made them fight, we went to the church after getting some Wendy's and just chilled, signing each other's transfer journals. Then our quad went to Subway with the Elders for the last time. It was good. We also raced over there (remember that I can't go 6mph over the speed limit so I raced within what I had to work with jaja) and I totally won so that's always good. Then we dropped the other sisters off at a lesson, did some language study and picked them up again. Then I packed a little bit. Ahh!

Tuesday was my last full proselyting day y'all!! Ooooo y’all let me tell ya! I had one good personal study! So I've been really concerned with keeping up the habits I've learned on my mission when I go back home and I'm reading 2 Nephi 25 near the end in verses 23-26. I read "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" and had the thought that when we put in all that we can do, all our effort, God will make up for the rest and I know that to be true. I've experienced it on my mission being called to do things I never thought I could have done alone. But that's because God was right there with me and I know that He'll still be with me after my mission too. I know that it takes faith and obedience to receive blessings and that as it says in verse 26 "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ"- so Christ should be at the center of everything. That's what imma try to do after my mission too, center everything on Christ. And especially so "that [my future] children may know to what source they may look for" hope, joy and peace.” Reading this is my personal study just helped me realize that it's gonna be ok, God will still be with me and that God still answers my questions, even on my last full day as a missionary. Anyways after that we went about our day. We had 3 lessons scheduled and they all fell through so that was kinda a rip...we still did a good amount of contacting, Facebook work and studies though before English class. The senior couple, the Wests, came and we had 2 people that were totally new! This mom and her 9 year old daughter, Gabrielle! They were super sweet and the mom wasn't very confident in her English skills but hopefully we were able to help her out a bit. After that Sister Giuffria drove us to her house to help pack some more stuff and then took us out to Sonic for ice cream afterwards. Yum!

On Wednesday we had transfers in the morning. It was so weird to be leaving my missionary apartment and to not be going to a new one or receiving my transfer news about my new assignment. I guess my new assignment is to go home and be a member missionary. That morning I packed up my stuff, put on one of my favorite dresses and Sister Scrogham was even nice enough to offer to curl my hair for my last day! Then we drove on down to T-point and it was literally so fun to see everyone and all the past missionaries I’ve served around and past companions and all that. We took a TON of pictures with everyone saying goodbye before they all left for their next areas. Then Sister Lynch and I basically decided we’d be companions again to walk around and say hi to everyone since she is going home too (which is so weird that she served in the Kirtland Ohio historic sites and then came to the LBRM where I got to train her when she is literally at the same time spent on the mission as me…I guess I technically did extend my mission by a transfer but still…wack). But it was really nice to have a buddy since Sister Scrogham went off on her own with her new companion while the rest of the day I will be companionless. Then they gathered up all the missionaries who were going home, which oddly enough it was only sisters and no Elders since we all came out with the first group of COVID reassigned missionaries and all, and we piled in the van driven by the AP’s. We drove to the Baton Rouge Temple because it is the tradition that all of the missionaries going home get to go through the temple together on their last day. It was super special because I had never served around the temple and was too close to going home by the time the temple opened back up to ever go through, so while some of the other sisters had already been to the temple before, I had never. It was so cute and small and it was super sweet because President and Sister Amos were there too as we all did an endowment session together. It was literally so great and I was the very last one to go through and surprisingly I remembered everything after so long! It just made it all that much more personal for me and then to be able to sit in the celestial room and read the scriptures by myself. I was reading in the Book of Mormon and landed on the story of the vision of the tree of life and specifically noticed the verses about holding to the iron rod, the word of God, or the scriptures. I have been so worried about going home and that I’ll go inactive since I didn’t really do any of the gospel study that I do now before my mission, so those verses from my faith flip were exactly what I didn’t about how to stay active in the church and how to stay strong while not having specific time set aside for personal study, a companion to keep you accountable and the spirit with you CONSTANTLY and so strong everyday. It was just perfect! Then the AP’s drove us all to the mission home, where we’d be for the rest of our time in the LBRM. We were free to do whatever we wanted, so President Amos started doing go-home-interviews while we played games outside and stuff. Eventually it came time for my last interview with President Amos which I was SUPER excited for! He is literally THE BEST and probably one of the reasons I’m here in the LBRM. He is exactly what I needed during my time here and my last interview was no different. He was direct and made everything seem so much more simple. I told him about my worries of going inactive and he emphasized reading my scriptures and doing the small, simple things daily to stay close with Christ. He said to do what is doable for that specific day, whether that means reading one chapter or one verse, for 20 minutes or 5 minutes, and to remember that tomorrow is a new day and you have the opportunity to start over again. After hearing that it made everything a little less scary! Then Sister Amos gathered us up for another LBRM tradition of making Jambalaya for our last night. It was so much fun and it was so good!! Then we had a little testimony meeting and it was so crazy to see how far we’d all come. The whole night we’d been reminiscing about our first day arriving here and staying at the mission home together. I don’t think I ever would have imagined being able to strongly and confidently bear a testimony that is ALL MINE, based on experiences of my own and knowledge that I came to know for myself to be true.

Thursday morning we all got up and got ready to go to the airport. It was all ending so quickly! Once we got to the airport most of us were gonna be on the same plane to Houston, we said goodbye to the other sisters and then got on the plane. Since we had an odd number of us, everyone was sitting next to another sister missionary except for me, I would be sitting next to a complete stranger during our short flight less than 2 hours. At first I was sad about not sitting next to one of my missionary friends but then this really nice lady named Dayna sat next to me and we talked the ENTIRE time! And as we landed I was able to give her a Book of Mormon and exchange phone numbers! God really was looking out for me and showing me that I can still be a missionary even when I’m not in Louisiana with my companion! Then I had to say goodbye to everyone since they were all going to Utah and I was flying by myself back to San Diego. It was sad and crazy all at the same time. I didn’t have any super exciting conversations with anyone on my next flight but the family sitting next to me was speaking Spanish! All the skills I learned over the last 18 months were being put to the test! Then we landed in San Diego and I was SO nervous and excited to get to see my family again!! But as soon as I got on that escalator and saw them standing at the bottom, I was just overcome with pure joy.

I just want to finish out this last email with my testimony. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God written for our day, to help us now. It has already helped me so much with everything. I KNOW that having questions about the gospel does not mean you lack a testimony and that questions are how we learn and grow. I KNOW that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of His children. I KNOW that Jesus Christ lives and suffered the Atonement for us so that we can live with our Heavenly Father again as eternal families. I KNOW that Joseph Smith was a prophet, divinely inspired by God to restore His church in these latter days. I KNOW that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church on the earth again and I KNOW that it is true. And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a blessed week!

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

Oh and remember that "we did not come this far only to come this far"!

Love,

Hermana Johnson

October Bike Mileage: 0

Pictures!!!

1. My last companion selfie with Sister Scrogham at our apartment in Gulfport

2. Sister Lynch and I and Sister Amos at T-point

3. Literally all of the sisters at T-point

4. Me in front of the Temple!

5. Our entire group picture in front of the temple

6. Then the AP’s got a quick selfie at the temple too

7. A picture of Sister Ward and I recreating a picture when we first got to the mission home, Sister Solomon wasn’t going home with us so Sister Lynch was our stand-in Sister Solomon lol

8. A side-by-side of our recreation

9. Everyone in the kitchen cooking Jambalaya

10. Me putting the finishing touches on our Jambalaya

11. Sister Lynch and I with the final product

12. My picture with President and Sister Amos

13. All of the sisters going home on the stairs of the mission home

14. Me with the Baton Rouge sign at the airport

15. A fun little bathroom mirror selfie with some of the sisters at the airport

16. We found this cool map at the airport

17. Picture of the Mississippi River out the airplane window

18. Selfie with Hermana Hunt and Sister Lynch on the plane

19. My family waiting for me at the airport, they're so cute!