Two of our investigators!

May 26, 2014

they are hilarious!!! the one on the bike is Jose! Please pray for him he is trying to stop drinking coffee! and the one in green is 100 years old!! matias! he is HILARIOUS!!!!!!! and i usually cant understand him (he has all his teeth but he talks funny... haha) he finally accepted a fecha this week!!! most of his family are baptized (his grandson is Jhojan- he is getting baptized this next week!!!!) but he always says "soy catlico!" and that he has already been baptized! but this week we were teaching Jhojan lesson 3 about the gospel of Jesucristo and how we need to be baptized like he was, at an age where we know what we are doing, have a desire to repent and be clean from sin, and with lots of water! he slowly started realizing that he wasn't baptized with those things and he accepted fecha! but he needs prayers too cuz he has trouble waking up early to go to church! Dont we all! but he is 100...

Creepy Leaf Bug!

Attack of the Bugs!

Yes, I can Tan!!

Spider!

Coconut 'Sushi'

Well this week was eventful!

May 19, 2014

I never know where to start!! and my ability to spell gets worse every week ( and there is no english spell check) so i hope you can figure out what i am about to write!


Well we had divisions again this week (with the sister training leaders) and i got to stay in my area and work with hna. Boitel! she is so funny! she is from the domican republic and has the coolest accent! we had lots of fun and saw lots of miricles!


Oh but the sad news this week... our district leader was transfered and is now a zone leader in another area! he was great and as much as he drove us crazy we really loved him and missed him ots this week.


we had a Zone conference this week.. kind of... we were all eating waiting for President and then they told us it was cancled... which was sad cuz i was actually really excited. but then we had the chance to go visit a family that we havent seen in a long time and they were so happy to see us! thats been happening a lot.. our area is so big and we still havent figured out how to keep in contact with everyone every week and so when we finally go visit old investigators they always say "oh! what a miricle!" so thats a good sign right! haha


We saw lots of miricles this week but the best happened on tuesday.  We were walking to a cita and saw one of our less active members (he is so so nice!) and we confirmed our cita with him and then he said his nephew wants us to teach him! and asked if it would be okay if he could come to the lesson. of course we said yes and were thrilled! His name is Johan and he is 12. he is the smartest 12 year old i have ever met and he knows soooo much about the church already (hes been 8 times!). needless to say we had an amazing lesson with him and when we challenged him to baptisim he said yes and yes to a fecha! and his uncle said his mom already gave permission!!! it was incredible! and the next cita was awsome and he knew everything from the folleto by heart! and he said he prayed about the book of mormon and he knows its true! He told us he wants to go on a mission and when i asked him why he said its because he made a promise with Jesus. this young boy is amazing.  and of course he came to church on sunday and all the young men love him! oh and his uncle who was less active is so great to! he comes to church every week now and this week he wore a white shirt, tie and slacks!! and he got the aaronic priesthood! and when i told Johan that means his uncle can baptise him he smiled so big and you could just see the joy in his heart! This is why i am here! for people and families like them who are changing their lives for eternity! I am just so excited! and its all beacuse we met his uncle and he started coming back to church after like 9 years of inactivity!


Oh and with the same family! their dad/ grandpa is very catholic and i am pretty sure he is 100 years old... his licenes says 84 but his nieghboor told us that its a false birthday so that he can still drive... hahaha oh mexico. But he really doesnt seemlike he is 100. he is crazy and we love him and we gave him a book of mormon and a folleto about the plan of salvation and when we had our 2nd lesson with Johan we saw the book and folleto with the glasses of the grandpa on top! and the follet was open! he had been reading without us even reminding him! and he told us he read the whole thing and he was reading the BOM ch. we left him to read too! I hope he gets baptised cuz all his children are members but not him! he is hilarious too and i never understand a word he says hahaha.


We have another investigator (he is the nieghboor of the miricle family) (calle pios is just read to recive the word!) and he is also hilarious! he reminds me of uncle lee! and he LOVES us! but like daughters (unlike most of the men here...) so its awesome! and he is really into obedience and so the other day we taught his the word of wisdom cuz he sells cofee beans... and he is only worried cuz he knows it will be hard to stop but he wants to!! and he wants to get ride of his coffee and sell something else! because he knows that once you know about a commandment and then break it its way worse! he is amazing! please pray for him!


ahh this week was great and i love this gosple! i love and miss you all so much!


vayan con dios!
-Hermana Johnson

Lizard or Snake?

Out in the Wilderness!

Look for the Big White Church...

Pictures!

May 12, 2014

Too Rich for a Missionary!

Rain!

Where's Perry?

Alma 38-42

May 5, 2014

this week was normal... well normal for mexico! Nothing really exciting or life changing happened this week. I was sick (with who knows what... i had no energy and my whole body hurt.. but im okay now!) So i read a lot in alma and learned a lot!! Something i learned was in alma 38 when alma the younger is talking to his son about when the lord sent an angel to him to stop him from leading people away from the church and how he was in such agony suffering in his sins and as soon as he cried unto the lord Jesus Christ from mercy he felt peace in his soul. but not until he cried out for the Lord! He is ready and waiting for us we just have to turn to him and access his infinite atonement! Thats just so awesome! I love our Lord and his marvolous work! We are meant to be happy and have peace and joy in this life! and we can find all of that when we turn to the Savior! regardless of the situation we can always find peace in him.  He knows the way because he is the way! The more I come to know Him and understand his atonement the more i want to share it!



The elders gave me a blessing the second day of my mysteious illness and i prayed before the blessings for some specific answers (just like you do mom) and i think the fact that i understood the blessing (it was in spanish) was an answer in and of itself! the main thing was just to clear my head and DONT WORRY! haha so thats what i am trying to do. ive gotten a lot better at that. Mexico is one big slap in the face of perspective! but in a good way! I LOVE IT!


Well i really didnt have anything cool or crazy happen this week so i shall send lots of photos!


Con Mucho Amor!!
-hermana Johnson
p.s. okay this pic is from last week... we were walking and we see this woman with a lizard on here sweater just chillin on her shoulder and i make a double atke and say "es Suyo!?" (is it yours!?) and she turned in horror to see her hitchhicker! she had no idea!!! so naturally we took him off her and adopoted him for the afternoon. well me and hno noe. my companion was not too happy about our little friend haha.

Lizard from Last Week!

Baptism

My Mexican Grandma

Laundry

Mucho exito este semana!!

April 28, 2014

Well kind of... our "numbers" show lots of succes but you never know here haha. so we broke or record of 25 nuevos this week we had 27 news. and over 80 lessons taught in all! We had splits with the Sister Trainning Leaders this week on tuesday and i was really worried cuz i didnt feel like i could be without my companion/ dictionary... but i was pleseantly surprised when it happened to be one of my most favorite days in the mission!


Friday the elders (we share our ward with two elders) had a baptism! it was so wonderful! the spirit was so strong and it was reafirming to see exactly why we are here! we get to help people make convenents with God! OUR ETERNAL FATHER! there is nothing sweeter.


I had a cool experience saturday when we made a goal to contact 8 reference (people that other people tell us to go visit). Well i learned that if you plan your day around contacting references the Lord helps you to meet all your goals! we had the most succesful day ever all because of references! we didnt even find everyone we planned to contact but the Lord blessed us for doing everything in our power and we met our goal of 8 contacts spot on! it was crazy.


So after having one of if not the best week of my mission we had a rough day sunday.  Only 2 of the 10 or so people we invited and "commited" to come to church came and one of them is less active (which is awesome cuz he is changing and coming unto christ!) but it was a bit sad to only have one investigator in church when we tried to do all we could to have lots of people this week.  We gave talks in sacrament and it was terrifying but fun.  after everyone said they could understand everything i said and that it was beautiful! so thats a good sign! cuz sometimes i will be talking in spanish and a little kid will say "can you speak in spanish please i dont understand english" so there's that. haha but esta bien... the gift of tounges really is real. little by little things become more clear and the spirit is easier to recognize and i am able to speak. the interpretation of tounges... now that is a whole different story...  that is what i need haha.  We got premission to participate in the Stake chior (dad i wish you could have been there) and i had a blast with the bishops wife singing saprano... when we first got there there were about 10 altos and no sapranos... they all said USTED PUEDE! so for the first 10 mins i was terrified i would be singing the saprano line solo.. but no one is ever on time here so needless to say many more people arrived and i did not have to sing solo.


well our time outside the church was not so good and we had hardly any success and lots of rejection.  we ran into one of our investigators with two HUGE bottles of beer... that was cool. NOT. and by the end of the day i was not feeling all that great.  And after about 30 mins of letting myself feel like i wasnt doing any good and wo is me i had a thought about Joseph Smith and the early days of the church and what it was like for them. that striaghtened me right out and i mad the goal to be more positive and to try and truly recive all things with gratitude [d&c 79:19] so needless to say i am doing much better and i am excited for another wonderful week and another transfer in this area!


Con amor!
Hermana Johnson
Alma 37:40-46
2 Nephi 26:23-25

Level 7.2 earthqaukes, lots of rain and guamuchil!

March 21, 2014

well what a week! on friday we had an earthquake! that was exciting! so there we are in our house and my comp was about to share what she learned during her personal study and then the door was shaking and then the whole house and floor.. it was really weird. we stood up and my comp said a prayer and then it was over. we went to see if our nieghboors were okay or if they had electricity. they didnt and the informed us that the celular line was out.. then not 5 mins after the EQ we heard a knock on the door.. "QUIEN ES!?" and they said "santa claus" our loving ward mission leader... hno Noe. His mama (Sarai) was scared and of course she needed to know that her misioneras were okay.  all was well.  it was cool cuz it gave us something to talk about with the people in the streets and teach them about the goodness of God.  that day was sooo hot and at night it rained and stormed. so naturally my comp was terrified of the possibility that we might need to up and leave our house cuz of the storm... it was just rain and thunder and lightening ya know the normal stuff. but she said "hermana we are in mexico! we dont know!" so she stayed up and but on jeans and a sweater tenis shoes her name tag and all! and then packed caned food, first aid supplies, scriptures, water and who know what else in a backpack. I told her "we are going to have a lot of work to do in the morning putting all this stuff back away... needless to say nothing happened. i slept in pjs and she slept in her name tag... yep we are defs opposites in all things hahaha. it made for a funny night though so i guess it was worth the lack of sleep.


so earlier in the week we were with the bishops daughter (hna. Diana) and we found Guamuchil trees!  they are this weird fruit here and i dont know if i should w}be eating them straight off the trees but i havent gotten sick yet sooo pray for me! haha well we had a fun time trying to get the fruit and its not funny now but it was funny climbing up the dirt piles to reach the red fruit!


hmm i dont really know what else to talk about... yesterday at church the bishop was saying something about how it was a special day and then i looked at my comp and said "is today easter!?" welll then i got sad cuz i always make food for you all (family) on easter. i hope you survived without me. my class (i taught gosple priciples) was pretty awkward cuz we didnt have very many people there... (this week was sloooowww cuz its Semana Sena so everyone is on vacation!) but i surrvived... but only to get assigned a TALK!!! ugh please pray for me! i am speaking on La Obra Misional (missionary work) so that should be easy... oh wait its in spanish hahaha m vida! but its okay. im trying not to freak out.


Im still going strong in my little (not so little) area here in Chilpancingo! I love you and miss you and pray for you many times a day! Read Either 12!


con amor-
hermana Johnson

La vida de Mxico (gotta love it)

March 14, 2014

Well I don't really know where to start! i just read lots of emails and Hna. Tidwell wrote the perfect description of the public transportation here. "They like to drive as if they are in a real-life version of the game Grand Theft Auto. But then i realized that it is ok but they have tons of crosses and jesus stickers and signs that say ``Jesus protect us``. its kind of like car insurance..but cheaper"  i could not have said it better.  this is no exageration hahahaha.  and i love it!


Well this week on Wednesday we got a phone call from our district leader "Tomorrow you and your compaion are going to Cuernavaca" so thats what we did! we left thrusday night and then stayed in the mission office and had a big training with all the new missionaries and their trainers.  The night at the office was really fun and i talked to one of the office elders for a long time all in spanish! it was awesome! he knew some english so if i didnt know a word or how to congegate a word he could help me or he understood what i meant haha. but i was surprised at how fun and easy it was to have a normal conversation with someone in spanish! we talked about just random stuff and it was all spanish! these other native sisters talked with us to. they missionaries are so great here! they are all so loving and fun! the next day at the training meeting i got to see all my MTC sisters! (minus my comp LAKIN rockin it in MESA!!) the best part was riding in the taxi on our way back to the offices cuz our driver was soooo nice and we had such a nice talk with him about the church and the camandments of god! he loved us and gave his info so that the missionaries in cuer could teach him! The people here are so special! i love them all so much! people are always willing (almost always) to talk about God And JesuCristo.


well this week we saw lots of progress with our investigators! they are trusting us more and some are even our friends now! its great! the members are amazing and yesterday someone was always waiting to bear their testimony! so we didnt have to! hahaha cuz all the members did! the spirit was so strong and i understood almost everything! we had a good gosple principles class this week too! it was FULL of new members and investigators! it was great! my comp taught and i have to teach next week... pray for me! i am pretty nervous but i know the Bishops wife will help me and so will the other missionaries and our ward mission leader... so really i have no reason to be worried haha.


oh last week! i got to play a guitar!! it was awesome! but my fingers hurt after only 2 songs... im gonna have a lot of work to do when i get home.. oh well! Vale la pena! it was cool thought to sing and play guitar again.  everyone loves music here so i sing a lot.. the Bishops wife hna Sarai wants me to sing for her all the time hahaha


So some of the best moments are when we are working with our ward mission leader hno Noe! he is hilarious and has become our best friend. So last week he acompanied us after conference and i convinced them (him and my comp) to take a different rout around this big sports place and it was kind of sketchy but i convinced them to trust me... hahaha it was just really hilarious and we saw lots of cows and climbed over some rocks and tripped a lot and laughed even more haha.  we had a lesson with this old lady that is always outside on a certain street and i said something to her and she got this look on her face as if i came out of nowhere and she looked at me and said something about me being a gringa and my red hair and that i was beautiful.. haha i dont think old people understand me when i speak... i had two people tell me this week that its funny when i speak... hahaha oh well! im trying! oh so the funniest "cat call" of the week was this man who walked past us and in a hilarious mexican accent said (in english) "youre so beautiful baby" haha they always say stuff to me in english! oh and the other day this old man was drunk and sitting on the ground while we were trying to buy something and he was like "WHATS YOUR NAME WHATS YOUR NAME!" Chica escucha me!" haha Oh my gosh so yesterday we needed more contacts and so as a joke i challenged hno. Noe to contact someone with a pamphlet about tithing.... so what does he do.... he contacts a boy of about 11 years and teaches him about tithing! haha it was crazy and hilarious and super awkward but he did it! and then my comp taught this little boy (also 11 years old) about the law of chasity.  Hno Noe almost lost it and i had to try so hard not to laugh. but as funny as it was it was cool to see how you really can teach about any of gods commandments at any time and they all relate to the great love He has for us.


well on a serious note. this week during testimony meeting i felt the spirit tell me that i was important to the Lord and his work.. this touched me because i was feeling overwhelmed and like i couldn't do this.  we had just had a conference in cuer and i felt like a bad missionary because im not doing everything perfectly (which is crazy cuz that stuff takes time) but still i wasn't feeling all that important and the Lord let me know that i am. that he needs all his Children to come together to participate in the work of salvation! this work is not ours. its His. but he needs us to come forward with all we have and work to help save his children.  I love this work, i love being a missionary, i love serving here in mexico.  Thank you for everything. i love you all so much.


Until next week!
-Hermana Johnson

My Crazy District

The View

I Love the Doors Here!

My Hermanas

What My Days Look Like!

They Have Kinder Here!

No mucho tiempo hoy!

March 7, 2014

Familia y Amigos!


okay i dont have very much time today so i am printing your emails and reading them later and i will either write a letter during the week or just reply next week on email!


oh mom before i forget... YES i use the oils! i love them now!


so GC was incredible and i got to watch it all in english!!! i have so much i want to tell you but there just isnt time and i want to send pictures cuz this week i am actually on a good computer!


this week was good and it went by so quickly! im sorry i dont have much time cuz there is a lot i want to tell you but just know i am well and have many wonderful people around me here in chilpancingo.


okay as cool as my week was i just have time to tell you about conference cuz that was the best part of the week.


Well first i loved how Pres. Monson Talked about the gilbert temple!! that was awesome! then elder Hollands talk was perfect as always! I loved how he talked about taking upon ourselves the joyful burdan of disiplship. and our burdans are made joyous when we bare them together.  thats why we must bare one anothers burrdans! its the only way they can then be transformed into joy!


Siter reeves: for you mom.. "the only things in the home that need to be done everyday are family prayers and scripture study and FHE" thats it!! i love that! thats all that really matters! the rest is just extra.


Eyring: Never lose hope in your brothers.  people chose to follow christ and his plan before this life they can and will do it again.  If christ is the leader of our home things will always work out.


Cook: learn to do family history work so you can teach me when i get home!! hahaha


Anderson: amilies are the treasures of heaven.  Love ALL!!!!


Ballard: well this was cool cuz during the week i had the impression to tell you (my family) to read preach my gospel... and he invited every member to do just that!


Stevens: the gospel is not a weight that brings us down but it is the wings that carry us!


Bednar: I loved this talk!!! we need hard things to create spiritual traction to keep us going! there is definitly a lot of spiritual traction in the mission!


W. craig Zwick and Marcos a Aidukaitis spoke while i was in the mtc!!!


Uchtdorf: MY FAVORITE! im sure that comes as no surprise.... but really! AHHH Me ENCANTA! por qu before the mission i watched soooo many ted talks on gratitude and related them all to the gospel.  and now i have the ultimate talk! i loved "gratitude is the catalyst for ALL christ like attributes" and "sing dance and glory in the goodness o God" "Why ask for a rainbow before thanking god for the rain"


President Monson: I never want to miss the chance to be kind again... Im sorry for all the time i wasted before my mission speaking unkind words to the people i love and care for most.  I LOVE YOU!


Packer: There are things in life that can not be taught... only learned.  i feel like i am finally learning so many things i have been taught my whole life. its crazy.


corbridge: This made me think of our friends mom and dad... There will always be opposition where there is truth! if you dont know ask god for yourself.


Aidukaitis: "personal revelation is knowledge"


Monson: let us be better now after these messages than before. let us follow christ.


well that is just a little of what i learned! i took pages of notes but those are the most important.


I love you!!


- Hermana Johnson

Mas

Mexico

Contacting is So Much Fun!

President and Sister Gardner

The Zone of Chilpancio!!

Me and My Companion

Vacas!

Me encanta MEXICO!!!

March 31, 2014

I cant believe it is monday once again! this week flew by! I love this work and i love the people here in chilpancingo! I could not be happier! And my Companion is wonderful and loving and everything i could hope for in a companion and more!


This week was full of miricles and tender mercies. So the other night we had about an hour left to be out and only one contact.. it was a rough day.. but then in the combi on the way home we were able to contact five people!! and we taught a lesson! then when we were almost to our house with only 6 contacts we saw a FAMILY on our street!! and we talked with them and they loved us! and want us to come teach them! 5 people were in that family!! and yesterday again we had a only a few contacts and we were about to go home and hermana Lopez said okay we are going to find a family... and literaly a second later we turned around and saw a huge family walking up the street! i amost cried i couldnt believe it! it was amazing! and the next day at church on of the people from the combi came! the lord takes care of his missionaries! and he wants us to be contacting at least 10 people a day! and more! it is amazing. we find new people everyday. it is a bit overwhelming because we already have so many people to teach but im never goning to complain about having "Too many" investigators! there is soooo much work to be done here in chilpancingo centro and i love it!!
This week i also learned (and will continue to learn) that work is the best medicine! and this is the BEST work.


AHHHHH i cant believe i am in mexico... in an internet cafe listening to carrie underwood hhaha oh the life i live! okay so the little vans we ride in everywhere (combi's) are my favorite!!! they are so crazy and always full of people and i love it.  i love sitting in the front corner seat and leaning out the window and just thinking "you are in mexico!" sharing the gospel.  life is so so sweet.


so we have 25 new investigators from this past week.... i think i might die.  but in a good way. and then we have like 50 old investigators in our area book plus many many more! we always have people to tach and find and we spend a lot of time walking up dirt hills finding homes. the streets dont always have names here and they almost never have a sign with its name so we always ask people! but it is fun! and crazy!


food wide i havent had anything too crazy or too hot. the members never believe me when i say i like spicey food.  but i do!! haha and here the hotter it is the better!


So the general womens conference was so cool! and i understood almost all of it but i realized that i just miss the real voices! especially when pres. Erying spoke! that was so hard... but they might have it in english this weekend so pray for me!!! also it was so hard to sit there and think about mom watching it and not being there with her!! but its all worth it!


the people here are amazing i wish you could meet them all! i love love love the bishops amily and The bishops Wife is like our mom here! she is the best. she always points at me and then i say "YO PUEDO" and she makes me say it like 5 times hahaha. she is also making me learn how to whistle! and i am making progress! hahaha the little things here are such treasures.


I love it!! if there was one thing i could have in the future... like in a package possibly... (mom and dad) it would be a mini english hymn book. i meant to buy one in the mtc but i forgot! but it would be cool to have one but its not needed! Oh and dad i would love a post card! and you send it to the mission office! we get mail pretty frequently cuz the one leaders travel a lot.  but i havent gotten any mail yet but its okay! today when we were all playing volley ball together my comp and i left while most people were still there and we went to go eat and i got a phone call and it was one of our sisters and she was like "hey the zone leaders need to talk to you come back" she didnt know why so i was worried i did something wrong... so i go back and then i see Sister Gardener!!! (the wife of the 1st mission pres here!) and i freaked out and ran and gave her a big hug and all the missionaries laughed! they all asked me if they were family and i said no just friends! but it was so cool to see someone from home!! they were so happy they got to see me to! they said they prayed they would get to see me! they are soo sweet! o mom dont worry i have lots of motherly love here in mexico! but you are still my favorite!


well lots happens here everyday but i dont know what else to talk about!! just that i love you all so much!!


Nos Vamos!
 Mucho amor
- Hermana Johnson

Chilpancingo!!

March 24, 2014

Holla Familia!!!


wow what a week! a week ago i was in utah then gorgia and then mexico.... and in mexico i shall stay for 16 1/2 months!!


Warning i dont have spell check so bare with me please.


So i guess i will start rom the begining... nothing maing happened on the trip to mexico and if it did i dont remember... well except i did get to talk with Mom and dad and carlin and that was amazing... okay so when we got to mexico Preident and Hermana Kusch were there with their AP's (they  are funny.. and on is from AZ!) we went straight to the buses waiting outside to take us to Cuernavaca and our first meal in mexico was carls jr.... hahahaha that night i stayed in the house of the sister training leaders in cuernavaca. the next morning i showered with a bucket of water and ate a muffin with ants in it. it was great hahaha.  its crazy how much doesnt even phase me here.  i am happy to say i dont feel like i am suffering from culture shock in the least.  i have left my old life behind and this is the only life i have now so i might as well love it and love it well!


so the next day (tuesday) we had interviews, visa paper work, and trianing.  we met our trainers and got our assignments.  I am in Chilpancingo and i gues my area was closed for a while so there is a lot of work to be done here! my trainer is one of three hna lopez's here in our mission and she is from spain.  she is the sweetest person i have ever met and thankully she speaks a lot of english! it is a "comandment" in our mission to speak both spanish and english.  President says we should be better at english when we come home then when we arrived because it will mean that we helped someone learn english.  they are very serious about it.  so i speak more english then i ever thought i would! we try to only speak englih in the house but since i dont know any words outside the gosple i have to ask "como se dice" for everything.


So my first Real day was wednesday.  we had a zone meeting and a district meeting first thing and that was crazy.  i didnt understand what was going on but i did feel a lot of love from my zone and district!


we eat at 3 everyday with a member and its always delicious! the members are soooooo great here!


so for our first three days Hno Noe from our ward (he just got called to be ward mission leader!!) helped us get to know the area and took us to meet lots of people.  He is really nice and knows a good amount of english so that is also really great! We walk  lot and we ride these van like thins called combies. they are crazy but dont worry (mom) i am safe.


our house is pretty nice... at least we have water. i have not gotten sick and i dont plan to.  i want to send you pictures but i left my camera (along with lots of other things) at the mission office so i dont know when i will get it back... for sure in two weeks when we return to cuer for more training but it could be sooner.... but for sure in 2 weeks i will send pictures!!


well the people here are amazing. you shake hands with everyone and when you shake hands with a girl or woman you kiss her on the cheak.. im still getting used to that but its cool how loving everyone is!! and my ward... oh my goodness they are INCREDIBLE!!!! they are sooooo amazing. and so involved in missionary work! yesterday at church i had to talk to the Relief Society and intruduce myself and say why i was on a mission and the whole time the bishops wife (she is so great) was smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up when i said a big word and just silently cheering me on (: we also had ward concil and they all want to help us so much!! there are lots of women in the ward and they are all so strong.


we have lots of investigators already and one of them stoped to talk to us cuz he couldnt believe i was here and from the USA haha. the people here are so prepared!!! it is tough though cuz they have to go to church 5 times (not in a row.. thank goodness) before they can get baptized.  so we have two boys (teenagers) who are getting baptized hopefully in two weeks and many more to come!  we are teaching this one couple who are totally hipies/hipsters and they are so cool. we found several families this week as well and i cant wait to teach them! we have one family already commited to be baptized!


lessons are crazy cuz i barely know what is going on and then so strongly something will come to my mind and by the spirit i know i need to say it! it is crazy to learn what it means to rely on the spirit and the lord completley.  when i speak i need lots of help and thankfully my comp can translate the words i dont know or rephrase what i am saying to make more sense.  My comp, Noe, and Edwardo (a recent convert. he is amazing and wants to serve a mission!) have said tat they feel the spirit so strongly when i speak in lessons even though my spanish is broken.  Understanding people is probably the hardest cuz they all speak so fast and with their own accent... but this week in just 5 days i went from not understanding anything to being able to catch alot.  I LOVE THIS WORK!!!


i love this gosple.  I know it is true and i know i can not do this with out the help of the Lord. I know that the savior is with me and that he is helping me every step of the way.  i wouldnt be here if i didnt know that with my whole soul.  and i couldnt do thins without all the love i get from everyone! here in mexico and at home. thank you.


until next week!


p.s. read D&C 29:7


Con amor!!! Hermana Johnson

No Mucho Tiempo / Uno Mas Cosa

March 19, 2014

i don't have much time but i am writing to you to tell you i am safe and in mexico! i am in an area called Chilpancingo it is beautiful here and i love it already but i definitely need all the prayers i can get!!! thanks you for everything you do!!!


my companion is wonderful!!! she is from spain and speaks a decent amount of english! but not too much.  she is very loving and wants to make this the best transfer ever so she does all she can to help me feel loved. so i am in good hands!!!

Letter from the Mission Parents

March 19, 2014



Dear Johnson Family,



We are happy to let you know that your daughter has arrived safe and sound in the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission.  She has been assigned to serve in the Centro  Area in Chilpancingo.  Her trainer is Sister Lopez. We are grateful to be able to serve with her in the work of the Lord.

This will be a time of much service and work that will bring growth and learning for your daughter.  We hope that her experience here will strengthen her testimony and prepare her to be a good wife, mother and future leader in the church.  Her experiences in the mission field will contribute to her development as a faithful and righteous servant of the Lord.

Your love and support will do much to lift and bless your missionary.  We hope you will write her regularly, encouraging her to do her best.

Together with this letter you will find a picture that was taken the first day that Sister Johnson was with Sister Kusch and me.  

We thank you for the love and support that you will give to your daughter throughout her mission.  This is the work of the Lord and each day we see evidence of that in the lives of our missionaries and those they teach.  We know your family will be greatly blessed because of your daughters righteous missionary service.

Sincerely,



President Bruce C. Kusch

Mexico Cuernavaca Mission

Mi Familia!!

March 13, 2014

Cuatro Dias Mas!!!!!!! No Creo! my mind is blown when i think about my life en el CCM ending... it's weird i feel like this is all i have ever know! thats a bit dramatic but very true!! oh and last friday we got our travel plans!!! and we celebrated with the chips and salsa con caso! dad that package made my whole district sooo happy!! and there was tons of candy in it too!! they alll said "i love your dad" hahaha you are a district favorite!


okay so there is always soooo much to tell you but i either cant remember, dont have time or just dont know how to put it all into words... okay so yesterday in class after dinner we had a plan to do something hilarious in class so here is how it all played out....  we had these fuzzy orange and green mustaches and during language study our teacher was writing a big long thing on the board so we all put them on and Hna. Tidwell (the hilarious one from Az) said "Hermano Chatterly i mustache you a question" and he turns around and only saw Tidwell and Naut in their staches.... for those 5 seconds we thought we would be busted and that he wasnt amused... but then he turned to see we ALL had them and the look on his face was killer!!! i swear his eyes were watering and he said "this is the best thing that has ever happened to me" and then we all died laughing. im sorry if it doesnt come across as hilarious in email because it truly was the best thing ever.  


So we all have tribal names... it all started with Tidwell (everything great starts with her) and she is tiger lily my name is Blue duck and there are more but i will have to just send a picture of the list next week cuz i forgot to take one! but that was pretty great too.  Chatterly is "chief one cut" cuz he has this funny story with his hair and i am realizing that it wont make sense on email so yeah haha... trust me its hilarious.


well this week was great and it was full of many wonderful experiences.  one of my favorite things from this week was when we studied 3 Nephi 11 (mom thats your new reading assignment).  Christ  truly is the most wonderful and loving and compassionate person to have ever lived.  His mercy and grace astounds my more and more each day.  the scriptures really do come alive now when i read them.  i can never get enough of them!


ooh soo my cheap laundry soap gave me a rash all over soooo the other day i had to do an emergency load during gym time. okay so i was there with one of our sisters and we were practicing grammer and this guy started talking talking to us and he only spoke a little bit of english so we started talking to him in spanish!! it was great! and then these guys came in while we were talking and after the other guy left they asked us a few questions and they were like one word answer q's so we just replied in spanish without thinking and they were like umm "do you speak english?" hahahaha it was awesome! they could understand us cuz they served in brazil and speak Portuguese.  as horrible as i am at spanish i really do love it.  it is a funny language and a marvelous one!


so vulnerably moment... the other night i was saying my prayers and i was just filled with so much gratitude and humility because it just hit me so hard that i was speaking to my heavenly father in spanish.  i just started to cry right there in our little closet on  my knees cuz i couldnt believe just how blessed i am and just home much i love being a servant of the lord.  this work is all about love. i know this is sooo cheesy but love truly is the same in every language so i know that even though i still cant speak with words very well i can at least love the people i get to serve and nothing is more exciting and glorious than that.  every time i miss home and wish i could be with the people i love most i just have to remind myself that the lord has people waiting for me in mexico that he needs me to love just as much.



this truly is the lords work and i know that he will always provide away to make it all work out. I know that this gospel is true and that the lord loves his children.


Muchas Muchas gracias por todas las cosas!!!


Love- Hermana Johnson

Temple Day

Our Last Day with Hermana Pullan

We are friends with all the bus drivers!

Una semana y medio!!!

March 6, 2014

Well it is p-day once again and i feel like i don't have much to talk about! i would love to just send pictures but the computers here are weird so its not worth it!


Well the weeks are all basically the same but we are always learning new things.  the highlight of my week is always Sunday so i will tell you about that! Oh but first!! We got 6 new elders last week and they are all so great! Volleyball is even more fun with them and i am glad we don't have to watch them leave cuz we will be gone before them! that's so weird!! We didn't get any new missionaries this week and we don't have any leaving either. Our zone is really great and I love them so much!


Okay so Sunday!! I got to sing in sacrament! That was fun! Hna. Chen from the district ahead of us played for me and she is really great! She is from Taiwan! I sang How great thou art it was nice to share my testimony with the zone through music. Everyone really loved it and I was happy they did! That night I went to choir practice which is always fun! I always meet new people and make new friends! The devo was really cool! The speaker had people stand up and share why they would want to join the church if they were an investigator and his son went around and picked people to talk.  Then he had converts stand up. And the coolest part was when he asked people who had been members, then left the church, and then now came back, and why did they. soooo many missionaries stood up for that one and it was truly incredible. His talk was really to stress how important it is to involve everyone in the work.  That bringing people back to the church is just as, if not more, important than bringing in new members.  I love it!! ahh this work truly is so glorious and I can't believe I get to be a part of it.   And hey to all you at home reading this... if you want to help... talk to the missionaries!! Members are essential to the work so please work with the missionaries in your ward!


So the other cool part of my week was on Tuesday.  The choir director is so great and it is just a lot of fun to sing with so many missionaries twice a week! on Tuesday we practice on main campus and the director was upset at the MC missionaries cuz there were more WC missionaries in the whole choir!! hahah the hermanas are taking over!!! But seriously.  okay so we sang this song called faith of our fathers and it was soooo coool! the director told us all the stories about the faith of our fathers and how that faith is in us still! He told us stories of John Taylor and all these great missionaries during the time of Joseph Smith.  They had no idea what they were doing, no MTC, no determined time to come home, and very little instruction.  It's crazy.  I could not do that.  But I don't have to! I just need to do what I am doing and give it my all.  


I don't really have much  to say this week so i'm sorry this email is kind of lame... but I love you so much! I love hearing from anyone and everyone and dear elder really is a great way to send me stuff!! And for three more weeks I can get them the day you send it! So do it! Okay well thank you for all the love and support I couldn't do this with out you!


te amo!


- love -


Hermana Johnson

Half Way There!!

February 27, 2014

Well it is p-day once again and i feel like i don't have much to talk about! i would love to just send pictures but the computers here are weird so its not worth it!


Well the weeks are all basically the same but we are always learning new things.  the highlight of my week is always Sunday so i will tell you about that! Oh but first!! We got 6 new elders last week and they are all so great! Volleyball is even more fun with them and i am glad we don't have to watch them leave cuz we will be gone before them! that's so weird!! We didn't get any new missionaries this week and we don't have any leaving either. Our zone is really great and I love them so much!


Okay so Sunday!! I got to sing in sacrament! That was fun! Hna. Chen from the district ahead of us played for me and she is really great! She is from Taiwan! I sang How great thou art it was nice to share my testimony with the zone through music. Everyone really loved it and I was happy they did! That night I went to choir practice which is always fun! I always meet new people and make new friends! The devo was really cool! The speaker had people stand up and share why they would want to join the church if they were an investigator and his son went around and picked people to talk.  Then he had converts stand up. And the coolest part was when he asked people who had been members, then left the church, and then now came back, and why did they. soooo many missionaries stood up for that one and it was truly incredible. His talk was really to stress how important it is to involve everyone in the work.  That bringing people back to the church is just as, if not more, important than bringing in new members.  I love it!! ahh this work truly is so glorious and I can't believe I get to be a part of it.   And hey to all you at home reading this... if you want to help... talk to the missionaries!! Members are essential to the work so please work with the missionaries in your ward!


So the other cool part of my week was on Tuesday.  The choir director is so great and it is just a lot of fun to sing with so many missionaries twice a week! on Tuesday we practice on main campus and the director was upset at the MC missionaries cuz there were more WC missionaries in the whole choir!! hahah the hermanas are taking over!!! But seriously.  okay so we sang this song called faith of our fathers and it was soooo coool! the director told us all the stories about the faith of our fathers and how that faith is in us still! He told us stories of John Taylor and all these great missionaries during the time of Joseph Smith.  They had no idea what they were doing, no MTC, no determined time to come home, and very little instruction.  It's crazy.  I could not do that.  But I don't have to! I just need to do what I am doing and give it my all.  


I don't really have much  to say this week so i'm sorry this email is kind of lame... but I love you so much! I love hearing from anyone and everyone and dear elder really is a great way to send me stuff!! And for three more weeks I can get them the day you send it! So do it! Okay well thank you for all the love and support I couldn't do this with out you!


te amo!


- love -


Hermana Johnson

Provo Temple

Me and Hanna Knight!

Mexican Consul

The MTC is a time warp...

February 20, 2014

There is no way i have been here for 2 weeks... seriously it feels like years. 

Well this week was way better than last week i finally feel like I've got a handle on this whole mtc thing. it is seriously crazy here and we do almost the same thing every day. wake up eat study for 3 hours eat, go to gym, study for 3 hours, eat and then study.  we also check the mail twice a day which is always fun! but dear elders don't come till like four.  PLEASE WRITE on dear elder!! it is seriously the best!! Shout out to my amazing dad who sends me one every day.  i don't know what i would do with out those dad.  

since all we do is study and eat i will tell you about studying for 9 hours a day.  so we have two teachers... plot twist! our investigator "Andrea" from Argentina (i don't know if i told you about her... we taught her 5 lessons starting our 3 day... in only Spanish) well she is our teacher now! she is the cutest and sweetest person ever and i love her so much! she is from Utah but we all thought she was Latino... we were wrong haha. she served her mission in Argentina though! so we have class with her in the morning and then we teach her as an investigator.  She plays this 60 year old woman in the lessons when we teach her and she legit falls asleep during them!  it is super awkward but funny.   our other teacher served in Paraguay and he is super nice too. we have had him since day one.  we are teaching him now and he plays a less active teenage boy.  the lessons really do feel real. and in reality they are because our purpose as missionaries is to "invite others to come unto Christ" and the "others" are everyone so by teaching our teachers they can feel the spirit and come closer to him! how cool is that!?

we spend our other 3 hour study block doing person, companion, and language study. that is always tough to get through but we manage.  

things are still rough but they are getting better day by day.  we have the most amazing Sundays that make everything worth while.  this Sunday Matthew Holland spoke so naturally Elder Holland and his wife were there!!! Elder Holland spoke only for a few mins to introduce his son.  we also sang happy birthday to sis Holland! i sang in the choir! So Bro Holland spoke about Joseph Smith and his "path to Palmyra" it was seriously the best! it was exactly what i needed to hear. he talked all about how difficult the prophets life was and how he couldn't not have been who he needed to be if he did not suffer so much.  i think the biggest thing i have learned here is that hard times are so important because they are the perfect opportunity to grow closer to Christ.  I really do feel him with me everyday.  His promise to make our backs stronger to bare our burdens is 100% true. I know it with every part of me now.  Things aren't easier here, i still can barely speak Spanish, i still don't sleep well, and i still don't always feel like i want to be here. but I KNOW he has made me so much stronger so that i can now handle it all.  and I know this will all be worth it.  I love this work! but it is work. okay so back to Sunday... so Bro Holland had the UVU choir with him and they sang the first prayer (to the tune of come thou fount) in the middle of his talk. it was remarkable.  then when he got to the part of the prophets death a soloist sang a poor wayfaring man of grief.  and at the very end we sang with the UVU choir "praise to the man" the whole thing was so incredible and my testimony of Joseph Smith grew ten fold!  

At Tuesday night devo the talks were really great as well. I don't remember his name but i think he was from the 70.  He spoke on the attributes of Christ. With each one he talked about what we need to give up to then receive those attributes.  it was great.  

so the girls in my district are great (crazy but great) and one of the other AZ girls is so great! she is probably one of the funniest people i have ever met. she has the best stories! Her name is Hermana Tidwell.  On Tuesday someone said to her "do you have a name tag?" and she was all "no.. oh wait I DON'T!" hahah it was great. but we were waiting for the bus to take us to main campus so we couldn't go to the rooms to get it. luckily i had one on my scarf and one on my coat so i let her wear one for the night hahaha.  we figured having 2 Hermana Johnsons was believable enough.  But that night we had district meeting and the Presidents wife said bye to her and called her Hna. Johnson hahaha so... that's awkward haha.  

Oh before i forget!!! we sent off our favorite district on Monday ): but they had to call new leaders for things because they were leaving... so i was called to be Branch Music coordinator! which isn't that big of a deal but it is still really cool. i get to pick the songs for sacrament meeting and for priesthood! and i assign the musical numbers for sacrament! so i get to work with whichever district is leaving that week cuz they always do a special number. The 1st Counselor extended the calling to me and he was so sweet.  he said they immediately thought to call me and that they were so happy when they prayed and got it confirmed that yes i was the person the lord wanted them to call! it was definitely a tender mercy because it helps me to have a "job" and to feel like i am actually doing something for here and now not just for the mission field.  He also told me that i had one of the most beautiful voices he had ever heard and that i sing like an angel.  he is so tender and almost cried when he was talking to me! he reminds me of you dad so that is another tender mercy.  the whole presidency and their wives are just so amazing and sweet.  they all really want me to sing in sacrament. 

well i love you so much and i will talk to you again in one week! 

Paz y bendeciones!! 

- Hermana Johnson   

The Gang!

Valentine's Day Flowers from Mom!

The View Outside our Apartment
MTC North Campus

1st Preparation Day in the MTC!!

First, an editorial note - This is Mollie's dad and I am going to catch up on all of the posts that I should
have already done for Hermana Johnson! I guess I am like the barber with the bad haircut because I
do computers for a living, but this is the very first blog post I have ever created! My apologies to
Mollie for not doing this before now. :o)

Now, on to the posting!!

February 13, 2014

Family!!!!! and friends and to whoever else reads this!!! i cannot believe it is already p-day! and please feel free to ignore all my typos... i am a terrible typer and speller and i want to get as much down in my limited time as i possible can!!!

Okay yay i'm alive! the wait was pretty hard but p-day came and i made it through!! oh and i totally guessed it... i am in an ALL sister district! ha! 8 total.

Okay so i guess i will just go through each day and the highlights from them and then i will talk about the big stuff like class and my zone/ district and companion.  

Day 1

Alright so basically the first thing we did was get a giant bag FULL of books and stuff so that was scary... i am going to need to send home a lot of stuff haha.  okay and then we basically went right to class! ha! dad i just thought of you and how you said you doubted we would do that but we did and it was crazy! our teacher pretty much only spoke to us in Spanish the first day so i wanted to cry but it was okay.  

That night we had this meeting with all the new missionaries on west campus and it was like a giant missionary lesson with one investigator.  it felt so real and was just incredible to see everyone trying so hard to help the people with the troubles they were having, using the gospel.  the coolest part was in our last room (we worked with 3 different people) and he asked us how do we receive answers from God and we kept trying to explain it but it wasn't coming across so then finally he asked if we could say a prayer with him.  he asked this sweet little sister in the front and then everyone all at once got down on our knees to pray with this man.  it was so incredible and i was overwhelmed with love for the lords children.  

later that night we met our zone leaders and our sister training leader.  (they are great) and we just had a little get to know you meeting and then they took us on a mini campus tour.  One of the Hermanas took 4 years of German.... crazy right!! so she was really great to talk to and she helped me a lot. she leaves this coming Monday and i'm so sad to see the older district leave!! 

Day 2

things only got harder... but we had a district meeting with the Branch presidency and they are the sweetest!!! it really helped to lift me up and to remember that this is not about me and that i need to just remember that the Lord called me to do this work.  Also i learned that our worst days are actually some of our best because they give us the opportunity to come closer to Christ. 

Day 3 

okay so this was my break down day... after dinner we were all studying trying to plan a lesson for our investigator and i couldn't feel the spirit at all. i was so lost and confused and just really down. I felt like alll people said about the mtc was how close you come to the lord and i had been feeling the furthest from him then i ever had in my life.  so when i broke down mi hermanas tried to help me but they quickly realized i needed a priesthood blessing. so Hna. Naut went and got our Zone leaders and they took me into an empty room to get a blessing.  okay so these Elders have only been here for 4 weeks and the Zone leader is a convert of two years.  They were so sweet and kind to me and just listened to me and what i was feeling so they could give me a blessing.  The blessing was probably one of the best i have ever gotten. I knew it was the lord speaking to me through that elder. there was no doubt in my mind.  he assured me that i was doing all that i needed to be doing and that by being in the mtc i was proving myself worthy of my calling.  he answered all my fears and doubts.  it gave me the strength i needed to keep going. the next night i realized that the lord put me through that to teach me something.  So there is this talk called "Sunday will come" and i kept thinking about it because everyone says once you make it to Sunday all will be okay.  so you need to read the talk to get this because i don't have time to explain it all. but the lord set up a parallel with my experience and the experience of Christs apostles. so Christ was killed on a Friday and his apostles had there darkest hours that day and they had never felt so far from him. my break down was on a Friday.  and i still struggled through Saturday but when Sunday came everything was better. and when Sunday came for the apostles Christ was resurrected. now that may seem a bit of an extreme comparison BUT i know that the Lord did that on purpose. I NEEDED to know what that felt like (being cut off from the lord) even though it was only a few hours. I needed to feel that so i could better understand the people i meet who are far from him themselves.  it was really amazing and i will treasure that experience forever.  

Sunday

Sunday was amazing and i will have to hand-write a letter about all the amazing things i learned cuz time is short! 

Monday 

i realized that things really do work out! not when we expect and usually not when or how we want them to but they do!

Tuesday we had a normal day but we got to come to main campus for dinner and devotional! and i realized that i really do love our little west campus! it is so open and free and we get to walk a lot which is nice cuz it is so hard to sit in a class room for 9 hours a day!! 

Yesterday we finished teaching our investigator Andrea.  we taught her FIVE lessons in all Spanish... it is crazy here. and no i am not fluent yet and i know i wont be in 5 more weeks but it is coming! line upon line, slowly but surly.  it is shoking how much i can understand. i definitely understand more then i can speak.  but i just need to trust in the lord and his timing!!! 

okay so i'm sure you are dying to here about my companion! she is super adorable and she is from Utah! she is the only sis. in our district not going to Mexico Cuer.  she is going to.... SCOTTSDALE!!! say what!! you have to meet her!! how crazy right! she is awesome. we are total opposites which is good in a lot of ways but hard in others. but hey we cant learn if everything is just peachy all the time! our strengths definitely compliment each other so i know we are meant to be comps for this time in the mtc! 

my district is a bit crazy because putting 8 girls in a tiny class room for 9 hours each day is a bit much.  but i am learning a lot from them. 

we have gym time everyday after lunch and i thought i would hate it but i actually really love it!! we always play volleyball and it is actually really fun! it is definitely a much needed break during our long days of study!

meal time is kind of boring but that's okay. there is always plenty to each and the food is fine. it's not moms cooking but it will do. 

our zone is really great and a bunch of them are leaving this Monday so that is really sad but i know it will be our time to leave soon enough!! 

we laugh a lot and have lots of fun. but it is very hard. i didn't believe people when they said how hard this would be but i do now. i know that if i was doing this for myself or just because other people wanted me to i would have already came home. but this is not for me and it is not about me. i am so thankful for my conversion to the lord and to Christ. I love this gospel and i know it will get harder from here but i also know that the lord is on my side and that we literally can do all things through Christ! 

much love and Blessings-

Hermana Johnson

The Official Name Tag!

My District

Hermanas!