MORABBIN - Week 44 - August 26, 2017

This week has been a hard one. 

Right now all of our investigators are so busy and no one can (or wants to) meet with us. Recently Sister Zhang and I have been doing A TON of finding and everyone that we find and start teaching (are all super keen!!!!!) but they don't live in our area so we have to refer them to other missionaries. it has been SO HARD to give up keen people and go back to having no one to teach. Talk about getting every door slammed in our faces :):)):)

This week we did have exchanges with our STLS. I got to serve in the city with my old companion Sister Li!! It was only a couple hours because of some unplanned things that came up, but it was still good to serve with Sister Li again! :)

This week one of the members from the English ward at our branch (the one and only Johnny O'Conner) found out that my birthday was two weeks ago and felt so bad that he missed it. He decided we were going to have another birthday party. I thought he was joking but he actually came to game night on Friday and decorated the tables with streamers and balloons and had bought me a cake! This is the birthday that never ends!

Even though this week has been a bit rough, we did have a miracle!! So a couple months back I met a girl on the street named Wing. We talked for a long time and she was super nice but didn't seem very interested in the church. BUT we exchanged contact information anyways. Well then she went back to China for holiday and I kinda forgot about her (yeah bad missionary moment...). UNTIL this past week she texted me asking about church! She texted me asking about our church and said she wants to come!!! So she came to church and we were able to meet with her and talk about our church! It turns out that she doesn't live in our area and we had to refer her to the Waverley Sisters.. Which is sad because she is super cute and has a lot of potential!! The Waverley sisters are going to teach her, but she might still come to the city sometimes for our activities so when she comes, we will meet with her and help teach her too! So team teaching? 

Well to be honest this past week we have felt that we are getting NO WHERE with any of our investigators or in finding new people. We have been a bit down but we know that things will get better. We know that Heavenly Father hears our constant prayers and that He will help us. Right now we are just learning to trust Him and trust in His timing.  

I know that missions are not meant to be easy and I really am grateful for the trials and hard times I have here on my mission. It helps me see just how much I have grown and learned so far. I know that the things I am learning now, will honestly help me for the rest of my life and for that I am forever grateful. 

I love you all and thanks for the prayers in my behalf. They help more than you know. 

Have a good week mates.

xoxo,

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

Birthday cake from Johnny.

Celebrating 10 month mark on her mission with Slurpees

Sister Johnson and Sister Zhang

MOORABBIN - Week 43 - August 23, 2017

wow what a week!!!

So to start off, last week I finally got to go to the Melbourne Aquarium! I have wanted to go ever since I got to Australia (I don't know why.. I just love aquariums..) but we went with 2 other sisters and it was so fun.

This week we met with our investigator Louis and had an amazing lesson. so last week we had an interview with the AP's and we talked a lot about teaching and really studying Preach My Gospel Chapter 3. They both testified that if we study PMG chapter 3 everyday, we will be able to know what we specifically need to teach in order to help our investigators. So the day of Louis' lesson we both felt in our personal study that we needed to go back and reteach faith and repentance from the third lesson. So we had our lesson and it was amazing. When we taught him that day, it was exactly what he needed to finally take the next step and (finally!!!!!) accept a baptismal date. He knows that he needs to change a lot before he can get baptized and that it won't be easy, BUT he is so excited and so ready. It was incredible!!! 

We also had a few miracles this past week and were able to get our weekly goal of 5 new investigators! All of our investos are pretty busy right now because mid term tests are coming up so that gave us heaps of time to find new prepared people to start teaching. :) Also, now we get tim tams from the zone leaders so YAY.

The past couple weeks I have kind of been in a rut. It really hit me that we do the same thing every single day and I felt that we were getting nowhere. I think I officially hit my "mid-mission crisis" haha. I had a lot of questions and didn't really feel like I knew what I was doing (even though I have been out for over 9 months..) BUT after many prayers I was able to get through it and things are starting to pick up again. I really have such a testimony of prayer and the power that comes with it. I know that Satan is always tyring to discourage and tear me down, especially as a missionary! He knows that I am trying to go about doing good and that is the exact opposite of what he is trying to do. I have come to know that the power of prayer and the power that comes from being a disciple of Jesus Christ will ALWAYS be stronger than Satan's influence. I am so blessed to have a Savior who will not only fight for me, but who will fight WITH me. 

We had our zone p-day yesterday and holy cow it was soo much fun. We did a zone road trip to the Great Ocean Road!! We left the city around 6 am and got back a little before 8pm. Our zone leaders had gotten permission to use the 2 big vans (a 13 seater and an 8 seater) from the office. Those vans were packed with missionaries :) If any of you have been to Hawaii, the Great Ocean Road is like the Road to Hana.. but worse. So on the way there I was in the very back of the 13 seater van and after the windy roads and the bouncy car I was pretty car sick. We stopped a couple times to see the ocean (and mostly to let us who felt sick out to get some fresh air). I was close to throwing up so I (along with a couple others) switched to the smaller van and sitting in the front of that car did the trick. I was able to feel so much better and actually enjoy the great ocean road. We took heaps of pictures and had so much fun. Unfortunately it was raining yesterday and it was really windy. The wind was making the rain worse so we all got soaked and it was a little cold, but it was a blast. I love my zone so much and I am so grateful for the amazing missionaries that I get to serve and have fun with.

I was listening to a MTC devotional from Elder Holland this week and it was incredible. He was talking about how to help convert our investigators. He was talking about what we need to do as missionaries and he said something like (not the exact words but along the lines of) "we (the missionaries) need to go where our investigator is in in their life. we need to know where they are and go there with them, and THEN we can invite them to come with us to the Sacred Grove, THEN we can invite them to come with us to Garden of Gethsemane and THEN, ultimately, we can invite them to come with us to Calvary." This really changed my perspective of teaching. Sometimes when we teach a lesson it is easy to just start teaching and go into overdrive. Then we start teaching a lesson that doesn't really mean anything to our investigator. When we are able to teach to their needs and teach to them personally, it actually makes it easier and makes it better and more fulfilling for everyone! 

Love you all. thanks for the support and love.

also I got all the birthday letters from my family and friends this week and oh my gosh they were perfect. thank you so much for all you do for me! I love you all so much!!! 

xoxo,

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

THE MELBOURNE AQUARIUM

Sister Johnson talking to their investigator on the phone (the phone is on
her nose for some reason??!!)

Cold and Rainy in Melbourne but Spring is just
around the corner

GREAT OCEAN ROAD THAT LEADS TO THE 

TWELVE APOSTLES PARK

Wrote our name in the sand

What do missionaries wear to the beach?  A coat and hat of course

Karate Kid - just a bit windy

What would a P-day outing be with some jumping pictures

Even the pelting rain couldn't stop them from jumping

MOORABBIN - Week 42 - August 15, 2017

First off, thank you soo much to everyone who wished me (and my comp) happy birthday this week! We had an awesome birthday and a great week :)

Our birthday was fun! Nothing too special and it honestly felt like a normal day, but it was fun to celebrate with Sister Zhang. For brekky I made Sister Zhang and I french toast (oh man I wish you were here Adam--you are so much better at making french toast than I am!! thought of you and all the times you made me french toast when I was home haha miss you bud) But we did our studies, had a few lessons and then had game night in the city. ALSO on our birthday we found a crepe shop, so that was a birthday miracle!!!! :)

We have been meeting with our investos and they are all doing great :) teaching them is going great and we are hoping that we will be able to start setting some baptismal dates soon!!! I love this work!

We had interviews with President this week which was great. It still amazes me that talking to him for 30 minutes can have such an impact and help soo much. He knows exactly what to say to calm me, help me and encourage me! I really am so blessed to know and serve with President Vidmar!!

This morning we had the Sisters Breakfast birthday thing with all the sisters that serve in the city! AND I MAY BE 20 NOW, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED BECAUSE JUST THIS MORNING I LOCKED THE KEYS TO OUR FLAT INSIDE OUR FLAT AGAIN!!!!!!!! Yeah I wish I was joking. We were running out the door this morning so we wouldn't be late to the breakfast, and when I shut the door behind us I realized that I wasn't holding the keys in my hand. So I tired to break into our house so we wouldn't have to tell anyone that it happened again (for the 6th time...) but turns out our house is REALLY SAFE and we weren't able to get in. No one answered our calls so we ended up walking to the nearest train station which was a 40 minute walk. (40 minutes to think about why I can never remember the keys hahah) We got on and after a little over an hour we made it to the City and our cute senior couple came and picked us up. I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY PROBLEM IS!!!!

OH so we have this friend Jody who lives Clayton. We see her everyday because she is always at the library and cafe that we teach at and such. She knows EVERYONE that lives in Clayton, I swear! So this week she said she wanted to give us a birthday present and asked if she could draw us. She took our picture and then on our birthday gave us the drawings........she is soo sweet but the drawings of us scare Sister Zhang!! I love the people I get to meet here! :)

ALSO we are doing our zone p-day next week and we are going to the great ocean road & 12 apostles (!!!!!!!look it up!!!!!!!!!) I am soo excited, but I will be emailing late so don't be worried (mom & dad) when I'm not on next week :)

have a good week! love and miss you all.

thanks for the birthday love!

xoxo

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

Selfie with a cat and dog facemask - just for you Dad!

Birthday Sisters turning the big 2 0

Birthday Crepe

STL's made us yummy Pavolva

Birthday Rainbow

Drawings done by our friend Jody

Finished drawing

A few of us sisters with a couple members in the City.
I love Britney's sweater!!

Hoping people will stop and talk to us and ask us
why we are taking a picture.

MOORABBIN - Week 41 - August 8, 2017

Good week here in Moorabbin! but sorry I don't have much time to write so this might be all over the place..

This past week we had our Zone Conference and holy cow it was soo good! We talked a ton about finding, our missionary purpose and about the Holy Ghost. Wow I learned soo much and I was able to get direct answers to so many of my personal prayers which was incredible. It helped strengthen my testimony that God truly does hear and answer every single one of our prayers!

I also haven't been sleeping very well recently which has been really strange. I am absolutely exhausted every single night, but when I get into bed I can't seem to fall asleep. Then when I finally do fall asleep, I wake up several times and just lay awake. It has been a long couple nights and I guess other people are starting to notice because a few of the elders in my zone ask why I always have "panda eyes".. so that is nice. BUT my companion said that if I sleep with oranges (yes the fruit!!) by my bed that I will be able to sleep better! So last night when I went into my room she had put heaps of oranges on my bed and I ACTUALLY SLEPT BETTER! I mean.. it was probably the placebo effect or something but hey.. I'll do what I gotta do! Also the senior couple that serve in the branch with us gave me a cute emoji pillow saying that it might help me sleep :) so yes I really am taken care of here!

This week while I was GQing, I had an interesting (and VERY long) 40 minute conversation with a guy. He came up to me and got very close to my face and asked "are you American?" when I said yes (I'm not sure how he knew I was American..) he then asked me, "are you a spy?" I thought that he was joking but turns out he was completely serious! He then started going off about Donald Trump, about how America rules the world and he just kept asking me "are you part of the CIA?!" well in the end, I finally convinced him that I am NOT a spy from the CIA but he left our conversation thinking I am KGB and asked me to spare him and not kill him? haha gotta love GQing!

We are still meeting with our investigators and they are all slowly progressing. They are honestly awesome. :) We also have been doing a ton of finding and everything in hopes to meet with new people and get new investigators! We have set up some lessons for this weekend and for next week and we are both super excited! So here is hoping!!!! 

Well I love you all and thanks for the support and love! 

Oh and thanks for all the birthday wishes I have already received!! I have the best friends and family. I am too blessed to be stressed!

have a good week

xoxo

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

Zone Conference 

Melbourne City

The sister on the far left is Britney (a recent convert)
She got the birthday cake for Sister Zhang and I (see below).
I love her sweater.

Chinese remedy to help me sleep better at night????

Frosting for the cupcakes we made
for Elder Mourino's Birthday.  Had to stir the food color in
with Chop Sticks (so Chinese)

I dropped the first batch as I was getting them out of the oven - oops.

Finished product.  Kind of sad looking cupcakes but the
Elders will still eat them.  We ran out of cupcakes (maybe because
of the batch I dropped) so we just had to write "Elder" on the pan.

Shrine of Rememberance 

A bit windy.

Birthday cake for Sister Zhang and I who share the same birthday.
Thanks Britney

MOORABBIN - Week 40 - August 1, 2017

So this past weekend we were asked last minute to help in yet ANOTHER mini mission. This one was actually out in Deer Park which was about an hour and a half drive away from our area. They needed more sister missionaries to help, and we were excited to do another one. This mini mission was AWESOME because we were in a Tongan ward!!! Man it was seriously so much fun. We were with 2 sisters and because they have really long and hard names to say they said we could call them Sister T#1 and Sister T#2. It was funny but really helpful because I couldn't even say their names so there was no way my poor companion could either! They were so sweet.

But we went out GQing with the mini's and oh my gosh it was soo windy. Like honestly the BIGGEST wind storm I have ever been in. BUT (because we were with the mini missionaries) that was no excuse to not get out and GQ. It was fun and we actually had success and found some keen and prepared people for the missionaries in that area!

After we went GQing, the Tongan ward we were serving in had a baptism and after a baptism in the ward they always have a HUGE feed. Wow I have never eaten like that before. I don't think I have ever eaten so much food. It was soo fun. Their ward is really close and it was so cool to see how they treat everyone like family. Before we ate, they gave a no joke, an 8 minute family prayer!!! Because it was all in tongan I thought they were blessing the food but it was actually just a family prayer! It  made me wish a little that I was serving my mission in Tonga!

Then as we were leaving to go back to the chapel to end the mini mission, the cutest lady gave me a huge basket of fruit. Everyone calls her Momma M something (forgot her name too) because she is the mom of the ward. I tried to say that I was alright because I was extremely full, but she insisted so we now have HEAPS of fruit!

As far as our investigators go, Sister Zhang and I have really been trying to figure out new ways to help the investigators in our area. When we did weekly planning this week it took a little over 6 hours (we had to do it on multiple days because it took so long haha) because the entire time during planning we were thinking of every single investigator we have one at a time. We would just look at their progress record and pray and pray and then pray some more to try and figure out what this particular investigator needs. We feel as though we have been hitting a brick wall the past couple weeks and can't seem to get over it. Most of our investigators right now are not progressing nor declining so we are just kind of at a standstill. We have been fasting, praying and constantly look for an answer of something to do in order to help our investigators start to make the steps forward and toward baptism.

As much as I would like to say that we have gotten an answer to our prayers on how to help our investigators.. we still feel that we haven't found an answer that will help us immediately. BUT Sister Zhang and I have thought of a couple different things that we are going to try and going to start doing. And the coolest part, is that I actually HAVE gotten an answer to my prayers. It was a different answer than I thought and definitely not something that I was expecting. HOWEVER, it did teach me a really important lesson. This really taught me about patience and trusting God. I know that it is selfish of me to want all of our investigators to start to progress rapidly and immediately. I have come to realize that I need to trust God and trust in HIS TIMING. I need to see my investigators through God's eyes. As my dad said (and I echo), "personally, I'm so grateful for God's patience with me. Sometimes I imagine Him shaking his head wondering if I'll ever "come willingly" and receive His many blessings, rather than what I sometimes do." So I know this is the same for my investigators. Even though sometimes I feel like our investigators are taking 2 steps forward and 2 steps back, if I can have patience and love for them, it will all work out. I know that in God's timing they will indeed get baptized and make those sacred covenants with Him.

This was a really special learning experience and growing time for me. I am so grateful for times like this when I get to learn and grow and become more like Jesus Christ. I mean sometimes I wish my mission were easier and we were able to see more success right away, but in the end I really am so grateful for the hard times that push me and allow me to grow. 

thanks for the constant love and support.
I am too blessed to be stressed. :)
love you all. have a good week!

xoxo

张姐妹
Sister Johnson

Mini Mission with Sister T#1 and Sister T#2
from the Tongan Ward

Big basket of fruit given to us by Momma M from
the Tongan Ward.

Teaching Sister Zhang how to make Fruit Pizza -
but all my fruit slid off

Twinners

A sign that reminded me of what my
zone leaders would do whenever they heard me
speaking English instead of Mandarin.