MTC - Week 6 - December 7, 2016

We are now the oldest district in our zone! Our zone has gotten really small because everyone is leaving :( But only 3 more weeks in the MTC!! nothing too exciting happened this week.. we do the same things all day every day here so it's cool.

We've been teaching more and more lessons with our investigators. We are starting to get a little better at teaching and have learned so much! Sister Cahoon and I got to teach the Law of Chastity this week so that's neat. It's a good thing I don't really know Chinese.. because I didn't really know what was going on so it wasn't awkward! Cahoon and I have gotten really good at nodding and smiling when we have no idea what they said.

We had our first Skype TRC (we teach a member over skype) on Monday. Sister Cahoon and I actually taught this cute old lady who lives in MELBOURNE!! It was soo exciting! When we told her that we are coming to Melbourne in a couple weeks she was so excited! She started going off and talking soo fast! She is so cute and she told us that when we get there, she is going to find us and feed us. Wow I already love her so much! I honestly can't wait to get to Australia! In our lesson we talked about the Atonement and we all just sobbed. The Spirit was sooo strong!! It was amazing because she bore her testimony, and through the Spirit I was actually able to understand it all! Such a great feeling and it got me soo pumped to get to Australia!

I still don't understand how it is possible for me to feel every single emotion, every single day?!?! The days are so long and it is honestly a roller coaster. It also doesn't help being with someone 24/7 because our emotions rub off on each other so it makes it even worse.. oh gosh :) but I love my companion more than ever. I am beyond blessed to have Sister Cahoon as my companion. She has taught me so much and has become one of my best friends! 

So every Sunday night you get to watch a church film or church talks.. and the last 3 Sundays Sister Cahoon and I have watched Meet the Mormons 2. Yup 3 WEEKS IN A ROW!  That probably doesn’t help the feeling of Groundhog Day – doing the same thing day after day. I don't even know how we managed to watch it every Sunday but I can now quote the entire movie so there's that. But it's a good one, so everyone should watch it :)

Also, a couple weeks ago, I let an Asian girl in my district (Sister Lim) use my rice bag... You know those bags that you heat up in the microwave and they are super hot? Yeah so I let her borrow it, and I don't know how, but somehow she COOKED THE RICE THAT WAS INSIDE THE BAG!! I don't think I have laughed so hard! so now we all have this joke in our district that SHE IS SO ASIAN THAT SHE COOKED MY RICE BAG!!  She is the first to call herself so Asian – so I’m not being disrespectfully, just in case you are worried about that, Mom.  haha I love her and her Asian ways.. :)   But I really love my district! They are my family here in the MTC! We are super close and it's been such a blessing to have them and to rely on them when times are hard. They are the best!

So yeah not a lot happened this week, but I have learned a lot. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission and to serve the Lord for the next year and a half. It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. The Spirit that I feel every day is so worth it. 

Thanks for the emails, letters, and prayers this week! They help so much. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

xoxo, 

Sister Johnson

Christmas Stocking from my Nana Morris

A break from the classroom

Back in the classroom - "Look we are learning Mandarin"

(look at the conversation bubbles)

Home away from Home - We love the Temple

MTC - Week 5 - November 30, 2016

We hit a month this week! I've been gone a month so that means I only have 17 left Mom!

This week has had its ups and downs, but overall it's been a pretty good week!

Thanksgiving was on Thursday and it was pretty good! We started the day with a devotional from Elder Neil L Anderson from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles so that was cool! He did a really good job and was soo nice! Then we had our Thanksgiving Lunch and it wasn't too bad.. nothing like Thanksgiving dinner at home.. but not too bad. After lunch, since Sister Cahoon and I were were station leaders for the service project, we had to go help set up the stations. Then we had an afternoon devotional about service. Finally, we got to do the service project! I was bummed because I really wanted to actually help with the service project, but we were quality control so we just had to walk around and help people if they needed it.. and so we didn't get to help at all. But it was fun going around and talking to everyone! Then we had our peanut butter and jelly sack dinners in our classrooms..lol..but after we got to watch Ephraim's Rescue! I love that movie!! Then we had our evening devotional and it was incredible! It was so fun! At the end of the day, we all got to go outside and walk around like the middle of the MTC and they had all the Christmas lights on!! It was like a small temple square!! SO pretty and fun! Our zone all got in a circle and were singing Christmas songs (more like yelling singing.. but it was sooo fun!!) I love my Zone! It got me sooo excited for Christmas :) Great day!

On Friday, Sister Cahoon and I taught our investigator and we taught her about the Atonement! I love the Atonement so I was really excited! I learned how to share my story of my family's accident, when I lost my 2 older sisters. It was so cool! I had been praying the entire lesson that the Spirit would be with us and help me teach. As I started telling my story, the spirit was overwhelming! I felt like I was getting a giant hug! It was sooo powerful. After the lesson Sister Cahoon and I were talking about it and she told me that when I was sharing my story, she was saying a silent prayer in her heart that Alexis and Amanda could be with us. She said she felt the spirit so strong and the thought "we are here" came to her mind! I was blown away. I know that Alexis and Amanda were with us during that lesson and were helping me!! I am so grateful to have help from both sides of the veil and to know that Lexie and Manda are with me helping me every step of the way on my mission...I am so blessed!!

Also we got a new assignment on Sunday!  Sister Cahoon and I are now Sister Training Leaders:) So yeah we are no longer the music cordinators! But we are excited to serve and to be chosen to do this!  So we are STL's and that means that we have to go to meetings now, and we get a phone!.. I mean we don't use it hardly at all but we get one! we also do interviews every Saturday night with each of the girls.  One on one interviews to make sure all is well and that it’s going good. So the district that is leaving leaves in a week.. and so we will be over our district and the other, and then we will get new missionaries! So we get to welcome in new missionaries into the zone next Wednesday when they come! We also, on the new people's first day, we get to do a welcome devo thing with them. We did it our first day here, but the stls and zl (zone leaders) gather with all the new people and we do get-to-know-you games and then give them a little tour of the campus and tell them about the MTC. I am excited because I remember when I first arrived at the MTC and the nice STL helped me so much; I am so pumped to help the new sisters – because the MTC can be scary and a bit weird at first – but we will make sure they are loving it and having fun.

On Monday in class, our teachers all went to different rooms and we had to practice "door knocking". It was soo hard but also really cool. We had to try and teach them and tell them about the Gospel so quick! We tried our best, and hahaha they did slam the door in our face a couple times so that's cool. We did well with some of the doors, but others were a train wreck. I guess that is how it is in the mission field though, so we learned a lot! 

It started snowing this week! I love the snow! But it does make it kind of miserable during the Temple Walk and walking outside because it is so cold.. but it is super pretty so its ok :)

Being on a mission has taught me so much! I have only been gone a month, but I have grown so much already. I am forever grateful for this opportunity to serve as a representative of the Lord for the next 18 (now 17!) months! I love this Gospel so much!

Thank you sooo much for the letters and emails this week! And thank you for the prayers as well! They help so much! I love you all so much & I am praying for you! Have a great week!!

xoxo

Sister Johnson

Also, everyone needs to go watch the new Light the World videos that the Church put out! They are soo good!!

At the Provo Temple on a cold morning

Service Project on Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Sack Dinner in the classroom

Wow that's a lot of missionaries to feed

MTC - Week 4 - November 23, 2016

On Thursday I was shaving, and my leg was on the wall and slipped. I sliced my dumb leg and it was bleeding everywhere!! Hey but don't worry mom--in our room we have an EMT, a lifeguard, and a CNA so we took care of it! So we didn't really have the right supplies so we ended up using a stack of napkins and taping it to my leg with scotch tape, haha nice.  SO DUMB. But hey, it is good to know that we know what to do now in time of crisis. But yeah the same day I stained my favorite skirt too.. so it was a bummer. Rough day..haha

So this week, we got a challenge from one of our teachers to go into our lessons without notes anymore! We just go in with our Book of Mormon and teach our lessons. It was super scary at first, but we have been able to teach a couple times now without notes and it is so special! We really have to rely on the Spirit and pay attention. I always pray so hard that I will be able to understand and be able to speak well enough for our investigator to understand. It is awesome! During one of our lessons we were talking about the Book of Mormon, and our investigator was asking so many questions!! One question led to another and soon we were talking about the Great Apostasy.

It was so crazy. We hadn't planned on talking about that or anything but through the Gift of Tongues and the Spirit, we were able to help her understand and answer her questions!! It was such a blessing and I felt so amazing after! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Also this week we had a sleepover with some sisters from our zone! It was so fun :) they pulled in some mattresses to our room and we stayed up so late talking and laughing. I am so grateful because Heavenly Father honestly knew that I needed to meet these sisters on my mission. They have helped me soo much and I have learned so much from them too!

Umm yeah so mom ever since the like second night here, I sometimes talk in my sleep.. and the weirdest part is that I usually sleep talk in CHINESE! hahah crazy because I can't speak Chinese when I am awake so I have no idea how I speak when I am asleep??  

So yeah tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am actually super pumped for it! I think it will be super cool :) I'm mostly excited because we don't have classes! YES!! But it's going to be so special because the whole MTC is going to make around 320,000 meals for the homeless shelters in Utah! How cool! Sister Cahoon and I were actually chosen to be station leaders for the service project! So for the service project there are leaders for each table to make sure the missionaries are making the bags of food correctly. They are going to be there to help guide the missionaries on what to do and be there if they need help. 

Sister Cahoon and I are "supervisors" over the table leaders...haha Yeah it will be really cool :) But the coolest part is that we get to hear from a general authority tomorrow! We don't know who is coming, but it will be so special whoever it is! They are going to be here during the service project too, just walking around so I am so excited! But this year will be the first time that I am not looking forward to Thanksgiving because of the food...because we get to have a sack dinner in our classroom...I mean we don't spend enough time in our classroom already??...lol.

I really love being a missionary! This week I have learned a lot about Faith in Jesus Christ and my testimony has grown sooo much. I have learned that prayers are always answered but they are answered in the Lord's time, not my time. I have learned that in hard times we need to have faith & know that we are never alone. I know that Jesus Christ knows me, loves me and wants to help me. All I have to do is ask. 

love you all

xoxo,

Sister Johnson

Gangsta Class

Shaving accident - nice first aid job

"Family" photo.  Not allowed to touch Elders, 

hence quad and hovering hands.

Halloween Costume - Flower Patch