GLEN WAVERLEY - Week 52 - October 26, 2017

So, we have been teaching some of our investigators and it has been so fun. I love teaching with Sister Cahoon again (and for all you who were in the MTC with us, our teaching HAS gotten so much better since then and we still may not know everything but at least now we know how to say "can we come in", we know how to say that we are going back to our "home" and not to our "foot", and we haven't told any of our investigators that they CAN participate in gay marriage again. so improvement?) oh man the MTC was awesome! But serving together now is even better.

It has also been so fun to be with Sister Cahoon because I have been able to see my improvement and to see how much I have grown and learned on my mission so far. She is a HUGE blessing to me in my life, especially on my mission.

It has been a blast being back in Waverley. They call me a boomerang because I was here, then I left and know I am back. haha its been awesome :) Also I love love love serving in a family ward again! Our ward is great!!

On Sunday we went to the Wilsons to dinner!!! (yes the family with the pet chickens!) you know how much I love them :) It was so fun to be back and be with them again. But oh man the food they give us for dinner still kills me. And you know, I love their pet cats - not. (I am trying to) BUT when I go to drink the rice milk that Sister Wilson made (already an interesting drink on its own) and find some cat hair in my mouth...it makes it a little harder to love the cats. But on the way home we always laugh and laugh. SO MANY MEMORIES.

So we had Zone Conference last week and it was awesome. It was so fun to see everyone and I learned a ton. I love President and Sister Vidmar so much. I am so blessed to serve with them.

This past week has also been a bit hard. I have been having so many questions and doubts that have come up that have really shaken me and shaken my testimony. I have never been so confused before and its been really scary. I know that Satan is working really hard to try and discourage, distract and hurt me. I have been praying constantly the past couple weeks, but it has been hard to refocus and accept that I don't know and understand everything. 

Even though I have had (and still do) have many questions, I do have a testimony that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that He lives and He loves us. I know that because He loves us, He sent His son Jesus Christ to save us and to help us. I know that Jesus Christ lives and is MY Savior and Redeemer. I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with Him. These are some of the truths that I know and will never be able to deny.

Love you all and I am grateful for your support.  Just know that even though times are hard, I am still so happy serving the Lord and what makes it easier, is that I have my best friend Cahoon by my side.

have a good week! cheers,

xoxo

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

Sister Cahoon and Sister Johnson

P-Day Fun

                                                                            

Cleaning the Temple - "Power washing the 

steeple was awesome"

Yummy Dinner with some fellow Sister Missionaries

"Sister Cahoon and I have read this quite a bit haha"

"Sister Brotherton took my feet and started massaging them

randomly at an activity.  I love her, she is the best.

She reminds me of Grandma Johnson."

Maroondah Zone

All the American Sisters serving in

the Chinese Speaking Program.

GLEN WAVERLEY - Week 51 - October 18, 2017

yes we had transfers this past week and I did not see this coming.

I AM BACK IN MY FIRST AREA GLEN WAVERLEY.

And even better news:::: I AM BACK WITH MY MTC COMPANION / HOMIE / SOUL SISTER / BFF SISTER CAHOON!!! yeah dreams really do come true :):)):)

To be honest, I am little (lot) bummed to have left the city branch, all my investigators, the members and the other missionaries. It was hard to say goodbye to the area I served 8 months in. BUT I know there is a reason I am back in Waverley and I am excited to be here.

President had plans for me to go to a different area this transfer, but as he was praying about it, he felt that I needed to come back to this area for some reason. So that is so exciting and really brings me peace.

Hardest part of moving was for sure leaving Sister Zhang. We served together for 3 transfers  (4 months) and even though we had our ups and downs, we really were super close. She became one of my closest friends and helped me SO MUCH. I loved serving with her and learning from her. I will be forever grateful.

Monday was a pretty sad as I said goodbye to everyone in the city. But I guess I really am so lucky to have people life that in my life, that make saying goodbye so hard. (ew that was cheesy. sorry) 

Other than that, it was a pretty good week of teaching and then packing and moving.

Also fun news, we now live in a house with 2 other sisters that are in the English program and they are hilarious. This transfer is going to be sweet!

Thanks for the prayers and the support.

I love you all!

xoxo,

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

Moving Day - Way too much stuff

All the Sisters in the Chinese Program

Melbourne Central Chinese Zone

Companion Sister Zhang
 (Alyssa wearing fake glasses for the fun of it)

Saying Goodbye to Elder and Sister Maughan

MOORABBIN - Week 50 - October 11, 2017

Sorry I am a day late sending my email, we had lessons in the morning and zone pday yesterday, so we didn't have time to email. 

All of our investigators on date are still doing great and progressing quickly towards baptism!! :):)):)

We had a lesson with our investigator Victor yesterday and it was incredible. (quick background: I met Victor on the street when I first got to this area and have been teaching him for about 7 months now, he's awesome).  So our entire lesson was lead by the Spirit and we were able to invite him to be baptized again (which was not in our plan!!) and he said yes! The entire lesson I felt that we needed to invite him and talk about baptism again. Sister Zhang and I were both nervous to invite him again because in the past he always said he wasn't ready and needed more time. BUT in our lesson yesterday, the Spirit was overwhelming and when we invited him to be baptized it was perfect. He is a huge miracle and blessing!

So I know that conference was forever ago, but we finally got to watch it this past weekend and holy cow it was AMAZING. I went into conference weekend with soo many questions on my mind, and in one way or another, every single question was answered. 

The entire time I was watching conference I felt like every talk was FOR ME and my situation. It is insane that so many people can listen to one talk and get so many different things out of it. The Holy Ghost is just incredible. 

One of the talks that I LOVED was by Elder Zwick about praying to have our eyes opened to see others the way God sees them. Serving with Sister Zhang has been awesome, but we have had our ups and downs. We have been together for 3 transfers (almost 5 months now) and have been through a lot. To be honest, it is pretty hard to live with someone/be with them 24/7, especially when it is someone with a completely different culture than you. (ps I'm sure Sister Zhang has felt the same way about having to live with me, because I know I am not the easiest or most patient person..haha) this talk really spoke right to me, because recently I have been praying like crazy to have more patience, love and understanding with my Chinese companions. 

I have had lots of companions on my mission that come from China, so I have been able to learn a ton about their culture and the way they do things. Being able to understand each other and continue to love and work together through the rough times is what has makes us close. When we pray to see others how God sees them, our eyes are truly open and we are able to see the good in everyone, no matter how different we feel we are. I love Sister Zhang so much and honestly I've learned soo much from her. I am forever grateful for her example, her friendship and the opportunity to serve with her for so long.

well that's it.  I am sooo sore and can't move because of zone p-day yesterday so that's cool. :):)

Also transfers are this weekend! President Vidmar has told me (and has told my companion) that I will be leaving Moorabbin. :( I am soo bummed to leave all of our investigators and this area, but I am excited to see what happens and for new opportunities. 

thanks for the love and support. love you all.

Remember what Bonnie L. Oscarson said in conference, "who needs me today?" :) go out and save someone today!

xoxo

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

P-DAY FUN

"I was gqing and someone bought me these chips. oooh yumm. thanks. hahaha eww.
Look at the flavor. Sound good to you?"

Someone at church gave her a bag of cookies. 

Waiting to get into the church for Conference.

MOORABBIN - Week 49 - October 3, 2017

A typical week of highs and lows, but this week had some extra special highs (and to balance, also had some extra special lows). BUT this week was FULL of miracles, so I guess I can't complain. :)

WING (the girl that we passed to the Waverley Sisters a couple weeks ago) got baptized this past week! Sister Zhang and I were able to attend the baptism and it was soo special. Being able to see her get baptized and then hear her testimony after, was incredible. But what was super special was after the baptism, when she came up to talk to me. She came up and said "Sister Johnson, if I didn't meet you I wouldn't have had this chance. That day that I saw you on the street, you just kept getting rejected and no one would stop and talk to you. (lol this is true) But then you said hi to me and you told me about the church!" And now just a couple months later she is baptized and has let the Gospel of Jesus Christ change her life.

Her baptism really changed my perspective and helped open my eyes. Seeing her get baptized and talking to her after, made all the hard times worth it. It made all the rejection, long days of GQing and times when people said rude things, WORTH IT. Her baptism was honestly such a blessing.

So this past week we were able to meet with heaps of our investigators and we were able to set 2 more baptismal dates! SO as of right now we have 5 baptismal dates!!! (HUGE MIRACLE!) & here is a quick overview on them all:

Louis: (Nov 4) he has been really sick recently so we didn't get to meet with his this past week. he has come to church a couple times and will pray and read the BOM (only when we ask him to read a specific part or when we remind him to read) but just doesn't have a testimony of the BOM yet. also he really doesn't like praying in public for some reason..  BUT he is headed in the right direction.

Timothy: (Oct 21) super solid investigator and is progressing soo quickly. taught him the word of wisdom this week and he was a little hesitant on not being able to drink tea. but after we explained why we have it, and the blessings that come from it and he said he is willing to try and not drink tea! he is awesome and so prepared. 

Simon: (Oct 28) we haven't been able to meet with him in foreverrr but we were finally able to have a lesson with him this week. we taught the Plan of Salvation and it was one of the most spiritual lessons ever. it was so cool because he told us that his mom passed away and we were both able to testify about the POS and that he will see his mom again. Writing about the lesson really doesn't do it justice. so just trust me when I say it was incredible.

Apple: (Nov 11) we met with her again this week and talked about baptism again. She has been so hesitant to accept a date because she feels like she doesn't know enough yet. BUT after our lesson this week she said 11/11 sounds good and now she just wants to talk to her parents about it. (scary!!!) so we are praying that her parents will support her decision.

Harry: (Oct 14) we are meeting with him again this week and will be pushing his date back until the end of October because he has a hard time coming to church and needs more time. :)

Hopefully this can give you an idea on maybe who to pray for (if you want to) :):)):)

Other than that, this week was pretty normal. We did a ton of finding and teaching, and everyday I'm learning a little bit more about the Chinese Culture. 

oh and I am soo excited to watch general conference this weekend! 

well thanks for the love, prayers and support.

love you all.

cheers,

xoxo

张姐妹

Sister Johnson

SPRING IS HERE!!!  So what do Sister Missionaries do - climb a tree

So happy for warmer weather

Wing - who Sister Johnson met while GQing on the street

All the Sister Missionaries who taught Wing

When I woke up from this little nap Sister Zhang said to me,
"your mom is not going to be happy to see that
you sleep instead of doing your study" 

Made some Banana Bread

Sister Zhang had some fun hats