12/01/2014

Okay. Hmmm where to start with my week?

My motto for the holiday season on the mission: "Go big or go home.... OR GO HOME BIG." #missionarylife #gohomebig #pieandcakeandcookies #hitthegym hahahahahahahaah oh man, are hashtags still big and rocking it??

YSA ward is still awesome. Still going strong. But it's also weird....
Can I just say how annoying/hilarious/weird/amusing it is to hear about who is dating who, who's engaged, all that jazz in the singles ward? two people walk in holding hands and everyone *gasp*... or there's drama between friends and they sit on opposite sides of the chapel. hahhahahahah oh man. So happy I am a missionary and none of this matters to me. The YSA's do worry me though... Many are stuck in the "YOLO" highschool phase or they're stuck in the "I don't care it's whatever" phase. even lots of return missionaries... makes me sad. Neither of these mind sets are right..... Now is the time to prepare to meet God!  We need to act! not react. We need to be creators of circumstance, not creature of circumstances. YSA's have it good-- they just don't know it. So a word of caution from Sister Johnson... If you are in a YSA ward: Do your home and visiting teaching. Exercise your priesthood. Go out with the missionaries.. If you are too busy to do that.. do it anyways. baahahahahaah. Invite the missionaries to teach you how to share the gospel with others. Stop gossipping. Stop judging others. Stop judging a book by it's cover. Get to know others in your ward! Be their shoulder to cry on! Go to the activities and support those who aer putting them on. Be the person you want to become and eventually it will stick... You must act. You must help usher in the return of the Savior. Stop growing beards. Stop dressing like a hobo. Be modest. Remember you are a spiritual life guard for those around you!!!! Walk tall. Remember who you are..... Don't wait until later... DO IT NOW.

Okay.. I'll stop ranting... YSA's you're awesome. You rock. you do more than you know. And I do recognize that. But don't get stuck. keep moving forward!!!! now is the time to act.

So! For Thanksgiving! That was a hard day to find things to do in the singles ward.... Usually we would make cookies and write cards and drop by and visit all the widows and old people who are underappreciated if we were in a family ward on a holiday.... BUT WE AREN'T. hahaha everyone had lives and things to do. So we had a thanksgiving lunch at the Fitisimanu family! they are Samoan. So cool!!!! Later on in the day we pulled over into a parking lot and prayed for a miracle and for someone to give our cookies we made to.... Then we looked up and saw a cute old random lady. So we got out of our car and gave her cookies and told her about the new He is the Gift video! Then later we were in a neighborhood and saw a guy walking that looked pretty sad, so we did the same fo him! twas pretty cool. I like talking to people, and what a special and humbling day for us. Heavenly Father truly does answer our prayers.

PS. HE IS THE GIFT VIDEO. WATCH IT NOW. go to
christmas.mormon.org

the church is going hard and advertising this video like crazy. Huge banners on Youtube will be promoting it. AND A HUGE bill board in Times Square for this whole month.

So... go ahead and share this video on FB and insta and Twitter and whatever the junk else social media there is. AND remember that Christmas is all about Christ. He is the gift!!! So.. IF I could make a request for Christmas. I'm not really in need of anything. Instead of gifts or whatever just sacrifice and give to Christ. Share the gospel. Share this video. Serve. Think of Christ often. And then for a wonderful little something, I would love if you all could write down your testimony and give it to me :) it would be something I would cherish forever!!! :) Thankkkk youuuuu. :)

I went on exchanges with Ssiter Fa'alolo this week!!! THIS TIME sister Smoot (my companion) went to the other area and I stayed in our area by myself without her!!! well not by myself, cause sister Fa'alolo was there... But let's be real. We got so lost. SO LOST. I am still praying for a sense of direction. Exchanges were fun though!!! Sis Fa'alolo and I were in the MTC at the same time, so we had a blast together. She is a great missionary. And her awesome Austrailian accent made me happy.

This Sunday Sister Smoot and I and Elder Kirkham spoke in Sacrament meeting. (Elder Kirkham and Elder Porter are our ward mates. They are Zone Leaders over a different Zone. BTW elder kirkham is from Wasilla AK! cool huh! yay for alaska!) I spoke on the Restoration, E Kirkham spoke on the Plan of Salvationa and Sis Smoot spoke on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, we teach those lessons every day. But it was a hard talk to prepare for... since I was talking to peeps my age. We wanted to apply everything we said to them and their lives.  I drew the inspiration form my talk from a fav quote of mine from Elder Anderson of the 12... He said "Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers."  That's one of the many things that the first vision can teach us... I also talked about the blessings of the restoration mentioned in True to the Faith, "As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you can receive blessings that were absent from the earth for almost 2,000 years." WHAT THE WHATTTTTT. anyways. We pretty much have complete access to eternal life because of the restoration of the gospel. Baptism, the holy ghost, the temples, family history, the scriptures, modern day revelation, the prophet, better understanding of the atonement. Alllllll because we have perfect and wonderful truths restored. YAYYAYAYA. We have everything we need to be guided and prepared for the second coming of the Savior. I'm so pumped about that.

After we spoke, this member in the audience came up to us sooooo excited. While we were speaking, she text her friend and asked her if she wanted to take the lesssons and her friend said yes!!!!! How cool. She this is a girl that is acting and making a difference. Sharing the gospel. Made me so happy!

I could go on and on. Good things happening everywhere. I didn't even get a chance to talk about the people we are teaching. HAHAHAHAHA woooopssssssss. ANYWAYS. I love you! Thank you all for the birthday wishes.  Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the love. HAVE A GOOD WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Sister Johnson

11/24/14

ictoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 11/24/14 3:22 PM
To:	Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com); Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com); Courtney Eyring (splotchee@gmail.com); Mallory LeSueur (mlesueur13@gmail.com); Emily Shepherd (emily.shep12@gmail.com); Sarah King (sbking6@gmail.com); Ashlyn Tryon (artryongirl@gmail.com); Brooke Bryson (ewbryson@gmail.com)

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This week we have thanksgiving dinner with a cute Return Missionary sister in our ward and her family. She just spoke in church this Sunday for her Homecoming talk and let me tell you, everything she said blew my mindddddd. so awesome. Everyone be sure to remember the missionaries in your ward this holiday season! They love the love from members!

 

 I am thankful for.... SOMETHING AWESOME. there is a TRADER JOES IN OUR AREA. man this place is heaven. We are going to TJ next week to do our shopping. I am so excited for coconut cookies and Mochi and delicious foooooods. HOLLLAAAAAAA.

 

So this guy here at the community center sitting next to me is watching some videos or something. Maybe SNL? AND he is CRACKING UP. so hard. Laughing his head off. It's hilarious. It's all quiet and he has his noise cancelling headphones and he is laughing so hard. hahahahaha  

 

this week we went on exchanges twice!

The first one-- I went to a different ward with Sister Vainuku and her comp went with sis Smoot. We biked the entire day. UP AND DOWN HILLS. let's not talk about how incredibly sore I was the next two days. But biking is sooooo fun! We had a blast together!

Another Exchange we went on this week: I went with Sister Otuafi and Sis Smoot went with her companion. Sis Otuafi is form Tonga as well! She is the sweeeeetestttttt everrrr. no joke. It was definitely meant for us to spend the day together and learn from each other. Her ward covers the "rich area" of Rancho Cucamonga.... perfect place for driving around and looking at houses! THEY WERE HUGE. After being in the cali-ghetto-desert for 7 months I forgot what beautiful houses look like. Don't worry, we didn't drive around and look at houses... we did the Lord's work instead.

It is a very humbling experience to be a Sister Training Leader.... It's insane how we are viewed and looked up to by the other sisters. I always feel like I am learning more from them than they are learning form me.... To be honest, I'm not really sure what I am doing or why I am an STL. I often feel inadequate and not capable of fulfilling this calling. But I know that since it has come from the Lord, I must go and do. And he will help me along the way! It's crazy weird and hard to try and keep up our own area as well as help other sisters with theirs... But it's way possible.

 

YSA life is fun! Who knew? hahahaha but really. Going to the activities and being friends with so many cool people is awesome.... Not in a "I get to party all the time and not do missionary work" kind of way. But instead, we get so many opportunities to serve the members and their friends that they bring to the activities!! Like legit, YSA age kids are so not afraid of bringing their friends to parties and FHE and Institute and CHHURCH.

 

For example, we met this girl Monica. She isn't a member, nor has she been taught before by missionaries. BUT last week she went to a family ward and this week she came to the YSA ward. All because of her bff who is on a mission and other friends who have been inviting her! And she loves it! she loves church! and she told us she feels so good, feels the spirit so strong, and wants to keep coming back. We are trying to teach her but her parents are kinda iffy... but I'll let ya know what happens!

Also, this recent convert in the ward brought her friend to church also! She lives in Texas though, so we'll be sending the missionaries to her.

AND! This other guy we have been trying to teach named Wes came to church for the second time... WHO DOES THAT? Who comes to church before we teach them? YSAs do. It's insane and so awesome. They have such open minds. They are looking for a searching for the truth.

     WElllllllll, except Idk if I would say Wes was looking for the truth... I think he is just looking to learn more about different religions.

 We were finally able to teach him the restoration after church yesterday. And the spirit was so powerful. But he, was only paying attention to the intellectual side of everything instead of recognizing the good lovey warm awesome peaceful promptings of the spirit telling him that what we were teaching was true. He was proof that if we do not humble ourselves and pay attention to the feelings of our hearts instead of the worldly knowledge in our head, answers will not come. It was really cool as we were able to testify to him that God only answers the prayers of those with real intent. If we do not intend to act on the answer we receive then God does not intend to answer our question. simple as that. BUT, if we truly want to change and bring our lives in harmony with God's teachings, if we truly want to act on whatever God tells us, then he will never fail to guide us onto the path. God will always show us the way BUT only when we are ready and willing.. Powerful stuffffffffff.

 

Can I tell you how cool it is that our ward covers Fontana... and that Fontana isn't in our mission... I feel like such a cool missionary when we get to go there. hahahahahahahah #missionarylife

 

 "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things." (D&C 59:6)

I am so good and happy and thankful right now. So many wonderful things filling my heart and mind. Let's be real, I could write a novel about all the wonderful things I am grateful for.. but the number one thing on my mind is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that we can change... that with every trial we have an opportunity to become better.

 I am grateful that we can repent.

 President Packer said "Repentance is they key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold the key within our hands, and agency is ours to use it."

I am grateful for Christ's infinite and eternal sacrifice. And because of that, I think it is only fitting that we sacrifice things in our life for him. "Thou shalt sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness.." (D&C 59:7) So! I have another little challenge for ya'll... sorry I am full of those. But It's something I try and do daily and weekly and monthly and transferly and quarterly and yearly. Anyways. Choose one thing that you want to sacrifice for the Lord. For example.... maybe junk food, or cussing, or thinking negatively about someone, or talking about people and how they annoy you, or listening to bad music, or staying up late, or texting and driving or whatever. And starting thanksgiving until Christmas sacrifice that thing in Thanksgiving to Him!!! Maybe after a week or so you can add another thing to your list of what you are sacrificing.. but moral of the story is, as you sacrifice your worldly desires for the Lord, you will be inviting the atonement into your life, and therefore you will be able to see the hand of the Lord molding you and shaping you into someone you were capable of becoming all along.  "Learn that he that doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come."

 

anyways! I could go on and on and on and on and on about how much I love this gospel and about how much I love being a missionary....

 

Love you! hope you have one stinking awesome thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!

te quiero! te amo! que tenga un buen dia y semana y thanksgiving!

 

Sister Johnson

    

11/17/14

This last week of the transfer with Sister Martinez was bomb awesome. We continued biking... and with that the wind blew even harder against us... Biking is probably the best thing everrrrrrr. I think I said that before. But I love it. Make me feel good being out and about talking to people. (And now I am sad to be transferred and back in a car....)

Anyways, back to this week. We found two new investigators!!! yeah man! This part member family we have been trying to work with, we finally took it back to basics and taught the Restoration with some hard core setting expectations and letting them know our purpose. and BAM new investigators, willing to learn and read and pray and come to church! And then they did come to church, just like that. Good things always happen right before we get transferred.

 

Also, Elder Golden, of the 70, came and did Zone Conference with us on Thursday. It was awesome. He talked and talked and talked and trained. And MY mind was BLOWN. We all walked out ready to face the world. In 9 months we've had 2 Apostles and one 70... who's next, the prophet?

 

Something Sis Mtz and I came in contact a lot with this past transfer was Jehovah Witnesses. They. are. hard. core. They go proselyting every week for their whole lives.

This is how our conversations with them go.

JW: "So how long are you a missionary for?"

Us: "18 months!"

JW: "Oh that's awesome! It's so funny because you do this for a year and a half, but we actually do this for our whole lives. when you are so passionate and so deeply rooted in your beliefs, you can't help but share it with others."

 

Okay that's some major sass. But they have a point. I know "every member a missionary." whatever. But we have to ask ourselves, "Is the gospel so firmly rooted in our lives that we can't help but share it with others for our whole lives?" Now, in now way shape or form am I saying that you should go door to door or set up a booth in front of the 99cent store like the JW's do. But-- guesss what. We have the cure for all sorrow. We have the cure for distress, family problems, feelings of being alone, self confidence issues. We know who we are and where we came from. We know how to be saved. We know how to find our way home. We know where to find the truth, joy, peace, comfort!!! It's like having the cure to cancer! WHY would we not run form door to door to share it???? WHY would we not tell our friends, breaking forth into joy? The adversary is real, and every time we don't open our mouths to share the gospel, we are giving in to him. There's my food for thought..........

 

We also have been doing family mission plans with some peeps in the ward. One family, we started a FMP with, is so adorable/my fav fam. So their kids were nervous about telling people that they are Mormon and inviting their friends to church, so we role played it with them. It was so cute to see them so excited to pretend to be their non-member friends and then their joy in acting out inviting them to church! Even their little one, who is like 4, practiced telling her friends about primary and what she learned there. DUDE!!!! why don't we all have the faith of little kids? they blow my mind. They have so much faith, so much willingness to do good, and so much excitement about doing missionary work.

it's amazing what happens when we humble ourselves like a little child and submit our will to the Lord.

 

This past week in Hesperia it was COLD YAYYYYY!!! yesterday it got to 45 degrees and the high was 55!!! But guess whatttttttt. No longer am I in the cool air of the high altitude.... :(

 

So. What happened at transfers you are asking???

 

I was trying to figure out how I could avoid telling everyone what happened with transfers, and keep it on the DL. But I know that is impossible. So I will go ahead and tell ya.

Well on Saturday morning I got a lovely call from the Assistants to the President. I don't even know how to talk about that. It's kinda crazy, but I am so very grateful and humbled for the opportunity to be..... a Sister Training Leader!!!!....?... In the Young Single Adult Ward in Rancho Cucamonga. SAY WHATTTTT. I've never even trained a new missionary before?? Idk, I got some hard core work to do and I am so nervous! 

 

Our area is HUGE. We cover the cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, and Upland. Funny because Fontana isn't even in our mission.... wish us luck that we don't get lost......

My companion's name is Sister Smoot. She is from Utah! She finishes her mission in February. I have actually served around her before, which is good we already knew each other! and she has been in this area for 6 weeks

So. Before anyone makes any jokes... let me be real. I am not going to find my husband on my mission. I am not in the YSA ward to get married. I am not here to flirt to convert. I am here to serve the Lord and to work with the future leaders of the church! I am here to work, here to serve, here to love, and here to teach about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so pumped to serve in a YSA ward, I think I have mentioned how it is a dream of mine to serve in one! #holla at that!

Man.. I know some of you guys (my parents and sister and brother included) probably have no idea what a STL (sister training leader) is... Well, Sister Smoot and I are over all the sisters in 3 zones in the mission. We go on exchanges with all of them once every transfer (so that's 9 companionships which equals 9 exchanges and a transfer is 6 weeks long). I'm not really sure what to do or how to do it.. Nor do I feel adequate. But I know the Lord trusts me and so does President Hobbs.... So I will fufill the assignment with a joyful heart.

but... In this ward the work is awesommmmme. We have FHE on Monday's, Tuesday is volleyball, Wednesday splits, Thursday is setting up a booth at the college and also institute at night, and then there's other stuff on the weekend that I have no idea about. WOOT WOOT, activities are the best tools for finding people in need of some joy. Thank goodness for YSA's bringing their friends!

 

Although, I would love some input and insight about working with YSA's... I don't really know anything since I stayed at the home ward before my mission. Anyone got any suggestions?

 

thanks for the love, the prayers, and the support!!!!

 

so if you want to send mail, letters, packages, please send to my mission office address-

Sister Victoria Johnson

6541 Woodruff Pl

Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701

unless I let you know what my apartment address is..... but for safety issues... that will probably only be given to my family.

 

Au Revoi

Je t'aime

(honestly have no idea what that means, but I copied it from my mom's email to sound more fancy.)

Love, Sister Johnson

    

11/03/14

Victoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 11/03/14 1:18 PM
To:	Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com); Allison Johnson (alliecatfm@aol.com); Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com)

Hola!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay so transfers are in two weeks on November 17. So, if you are desiring to send anything. Then please send it before then! So I'm not going to send my memory card home until after transfers I decided... Just in case I get transferred...... which is very likely.

It's November. Where did the year go? In one month I will be 20...... AHHHHHHHHHHHHH AH AH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyways. On October 31 IT GOT COLD. I'm talkin like 30 degrees colder than it has been. It went from 85-89 degrees in the day to 55 and freezing wind and rain. And now there is snow on the mountains! The winter here in the high desert is BRUTAL everyone says..... Because we are high altitude and lots of wind, it gets pretty bad..... BRING IT ON. I'm pretty sure it will get hot once again before it stays cool for good though.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME. Best night ever because I got an extra hour of sleep. But now it's the worst because the sun starts going down at like 4:30?!?!?!?!?! People hate opening their doors when it's cold and dark......... DUMB. Arizona is way cool for not doing daylight savings. I like it that way. Thanks AZ!

Sister Martinez and I are finally going to bike this week. So pray for us that we will not get run over. And that we will stay warm! I am so excited.... Crazy right? But biking is so cool because we get to talk to more people and also exercise at the same time! And then more people can see us and that we are sister missionaries. 

This week has been a struhhhhhh-gle. Not gonna lie to you. But it's okay. I love the hard times. We must experience the bad in order to recognize and appreciate the good. 

We also had some good miracles though! Did I tell you that our investigator Carol dropped us? Well we got back into her house to see her and found out she was just scared. scared of change and commitment... like we had thought she was. So she said she would come to our family home evening tonight at the church. We really hope she will! 

We also were able to get in and teach some less actives, the Lloyd family, for the first time EVER. No one had ever met this family before. That was a huge miracle in itself. And now we are bffs with them! Bro Lloyd has been in the hospital and sister Lloyd has been texting us updates about him every day and asking for our prayers. It's crazy how they just needed a little love and support. 

Yesterday we stopped by this crazy less active's house- he's usually pretty rude- but yesterday he was drunk! So, that might seem like a bad thing to you... but because he was drunk and happy that he had just won money from betting on the horse races, he gave us two referrals! hahahahaahaha good stuff. 

We also got into this house of a part-member family we have been trying forever. See, miracles still happen even when times are hard!!!! 

This weekend was Stake Conference! The adult session was of course focused on The Hastening of the Work (my favorite subject) which is the theme that was direct to us all by the first presidency. We sang in a missionary choir with all us missionaries from the stake. Guess what song we sang? You got it. Called to Serve! hahaha and I directed the choir? hahahah I didn't know what I was doing, but I made faces at the choir the whole time and had a blast while doing it! 

I was pretty sad that night though, because only a couple members of our ward were present at the adult session of stake conference. Legitimately.. we counted. there was 7. And the whole time they were talking about hastening the work and the members and missionaries being united! Which is what our ward needs.... So Sister Martinez and I had a pity party for a good two or three minutes and then got over it.. There is work to be done, and this work will continue to roll forth, unhindered, "until the Lord stretches for His hand and says 'the work is finished'." (The Prophet Joseph Smith said that). The Lord is the one hastening His work, it is not hastened by our participation. 

Something I have seen very clearly this week is how the adversary works alarmingly hard against the members to stop them from sharing the gospel. We have been working with members of the ward to encourage them, direct them, and help them share the gospel... But they still have their agency and Satan uses that to his advantage. 

So I had some thoughts about what was shared in stake conference in the Sunday Session. 

A member of the Redlands temple presidency and his wife spoke about the temple, President and Sister Tate. Sister Tate talked about the difference between attending the temple and worshiping in the temple. She said "The temple is a beacon to help us become." (my favorite word is become btw). She spoke very reverently and beautifully about the blessings of temple worship. She said we will still feel peace and guidance by attending the temple, but when we WORSHIP in the temple, we will leave the temple with LIFE-CHANGING blessings. woooo! Life changing. Life changing blessings are the kind of blessings that I desire for you all- my family and friends back at home. President Tate spoke about temple blessings as well. He said, "If you want blessings oured out upon your children, whether they are doing what they should or not, then attend the temple." That's a crazy awesome promise right there! He said that temple repetition equals daily blessings. That means regular temple attendance brings blessings. Why would any of us deny ourselves of that?? He also said, "This is a temporary world. The temple is the real world... Soon this temporary world will be gone." 

President Saunders, our stake president spoke about 6 ways to find joy. My favorite way he mentioned was #3, to live outside of ourselves. To serve. In his words, "Get off the back row and quite thinking of yourself." bahahahaha what a slap to the face. 

This week was also WAS HALLOWEEEEEENNNNN DUH. How could I forget? I knew there was some exciting things going down. We had a killer awesome Halloween party on Wednesday and tons and tons or less actives and non members attended! That's what ward activities are all about!!!! We had a chili cookoff.. and a legit chili-judge. This guy in our ward is a certified chili judge. He has a badge and everything. And trunk or treating was awesome. Sister Martinez and I helped a member make popcorn and cotton candy to pass out, and when we went around to see all the member's trunks we ended up with a lot of candy in our bags.... and now some of it is on our thighs and some of it I hid away in our apartment for me to never find again. Hahaha 

So there are some things I have learned or experienced this week.... 

1- pray always that ye may come off conqueror... and that you can escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work. 

2- living below your privileges and potential is a plague that is sweeping the members of the church. do not give into the temptation to sit back and watch others participate in the work of salvation

3- "Because Christ walked such a long, lonely path, utterly alone, we do not have to." Elder Holland

4- Becoming like Christ is part of a life-long process that requires consistent and persistent faith and action. And "Agency is your power to become."  

5- there was this couple sitting in front of us at stake conference that kept cuddling and kissing. Ew. Don't do that at church people. It's weirdy. 

6- "Reverence is more than just quietly sitting.... it's thinking of Father above... When I am reverent I know in my heart, Heavenly Father and Jesus are near." We can learn so much form this simple primary song. I am sad when others are irreverent and drive away the spirit. 

ANYWAYS. hey this was a long email. I am so excited! 

Have a good week. I love you, I pray for you, and I get really excited when you share your spiritual experiences with me. So feel free to tell me what you have been studying, who you have been sharing the gospel with, who you have been serving, and whatever else brings you joy!

Adios!

Sister Johnson

    

10/27/2014

Victoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 10/27/14 1:24 PM
To:	Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com); Courtney Eyring (splotchee@gmail.com); Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com); Emily Shepherd (emily.shep12@gmail.com); Mallory LeSueur (mlesueur13@gmail.com)

hahahahahahah woooo this week. so remember last week how I told ya'll that sister martinez said one of our companionship prayers and prayed for trials and we got them?????? And I prayed for patience and we got it!???  Well, I told President Hobbs that we prayed for trials and patience.... LOLLLLLLLLLLLL his response made me laugh. "Oh Sister Johnson we love and appreciate you. Never pray for trials. I promise they will come on their own as needed. You can pray for patience and faith. I know there are challenging times and lots of work to do." WHATEVER MAN, BRING ON THE TRIALS. hahahahaha just kidding. But really, the past few weeks have been so humbling, so rewarding, and so beneficial to helping me become who the Lord wants me to become. So, I wouldn't suggest praying for trials. But if you want to see and feel the hand of the Lord working in your life to change you, then DO IT. I know that trials really do bring us closer to God and really do help us use the enabling power of the atonement.... Yes, I am crazyyyyyyyyy.

 Do people still say cray-cray? that always bugged me. "Cray-cray", "totes", "fab", ect. Not real words...... except I really enjoy using "lol".... so maybe I should shut my mouth about things that aren't real words....

whatevs!  <----- hhhahhaahahahha not a real word too.

I am sitting right under the air vent thing at the library.... SO COLLLLLLD. My fingers are having a hard time typing. 

So, you are probably wondering about our investigators... welll along with praying for trials came the decline in our investigator pool. But that's chill because we are still working with what we've got!

Athen and Athena came to church though and they just want to get baptized so bad..... It's hard because they only can be taught by us when they are at church.... We asked them how they feel when they pray and Athen ( he is 9) said "I feel like Heavenly Father is sitting right here next to me listening." There was the cutest little twinkle in his eye and it made my heart happy! Oh the faith of the little ones. blows myyyy mind.

The Forget's are doing so well! I have mentioned this before I think.. but they are reading their scriptures together every evening at 5 and ITS AMAZINGGGGG. They are so cool. They are learning so much, and have been blessed so much. I can see their relationship improving as they are progressing in the gospel together. Family scripture study... DO IT. no matter your age. 

ALSO. Three less active families we have been working with came to church on Sunday. made my heart happy tooo. One being sister Bernal and her kiddos. We didn't expect her to be there because we didn't see her this week... but she WAS THERE AND SO HAPPY WHEN WE WALKED IN AND SAW HER. This is a lady that I loved visiting when I was in this ward back in May, and since I've been back we've tried to get into her house a million times. But the Lord blessed her with trials that brought her back to church. so she let us in her house, came to church, and now she is excited to bear her testimony. Holla at her! 

The Lord is blessing the work here in this ward. Slowly but surely AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING BECAUSE OF HIM. 

Something that has been so cool to experience and humbling to be a part of is promising blessings to people.... Idk how to explain it well. But Sister Martinez and I have been working on extending bold commitments, testifying boldly and promising blessings. And the most amazing thing is when we feel the spirit prompting us to promise a very specific blessing to the people we are talking to. It's legit. Being a representative of Jesus Christ is amazing..... I will forever keep my name tag painted on my heart. So anyways... we taught the lesson in young women this week. We of course taught them about sharing the gospel... :) that's a common theme for us. AND IT WAS AWESOME because when we were committing them and testifying to them at the end. The spirit prompted us to promise them that as they shared the gospel with their friends and those around them, their grades in school would improve. WHAT THE WHAT. I'm telling you, the Lord has very very specific promises in store for each one of us. WE HAVE to do what he asks though. 

We also have been working with four families/people on their family mission plans. I know that's what the Lord wants for this area right now. Missionary work cannot progress until the ward members are on board. It's cool to hear members say "We bring up the gospel and church in our conversations with people, but we don't really know what to do next to share more." AND I LOVE IT BECAUSE WE CAN HELP WITH THAT. I love Elder Nelson's talk a year or two ago where he said "Ask the missionaries." hahahaha to be honest we don't have the answers to everything. But Heavenly Father does, and as representatives of His Son, we can help others with recognizing what Heavenly Father wants. being a missionary is theeeeee besttttttttttttttttttt. 

We have been making Mexican food! I feel so cool now because I know how to make Horchata! We also make tomatillo/avacado salsa, tacos de papa, y agua de pina y agua de tamarindo! hahahaha sister Martinez doesn't know how to cook really, so we are learning how to make Mexican food together! :)

I think there was more I wanted to tell you. I can't remember though.....

To everyone--- feel free to write sister martinez a letter. She is better at responding to them than I am. And letters make her happy since her family is so far away. 

THANKSSSSSS 

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUU

que tenga un buen semana!

Sister Johnson

1o/2o/2o14

:	Victoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 10/20/14 1:03 PM
To:	Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com); Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com)

MAN THIS WEEK. WOOO

Okay so last week on Monday Sister Martinez said this really awesome prayer when we were leaving these other sister's apartment to go grocery shopping. and in that prayer she exercised her faith and prayed for trials and challenges. Then I recognized that  I needed to develop patience so I prayed for patience :) .......and ya know what.... Heavenly Father always answers our prayers. I know that for a fact. LOL. So we had one of those weeks that really rough......... But honestly, I love rough weeks. We know there must be opposition in all things. We must experience the hard in order to appreciate the wonderful. And the true test is to find joy within the hard times! Fortunately, it's easy to feel joy when we are in the service of our God.... So I am always happy :).........

 JUST KIDDING. always is definitely an overstatement. Sometimes I am mad or angry or frustrated or sad or want to cry or confused. But then I feel the spirit comforting me, and the angels God has sent to bear me up. 

For example. WWWOOOOO. So the past transfer and a half we have been putting so much time and effort into helping our ward, serving them, building relationships with them, helping them with their conversion, trying to promote unity, and trying to motivate them to do missionary work.... And we don't always see the fruits of our labors right away (see that's why I need patience).... So we went to ward council and things didn't go the way we hoped.. AT ALL. Our Ward Mission Leader is pumped and excited, but the other ward council members are not.... And that's okay, I know they have a lot on their plates with their lives and their callings. ---BUT GUYS THE LORD IS COMING AND WE NEED TO DO HIS WORK. TOGETHER. HAND IN HAND. M&Ms. Missionaries and Members.------ hahhahaha that is what I wanted to say. But I didn't. So we were pretty bummed. So things like that make me wonder why I am here in this ward and what I have to offer...... And although I don't know the answer to that question, I do have trust in the priesthood authority who assigned me here. I know that President Hobbs followed the spirit, direction straight from the Lord himself to send me to this ward. And that's what got me through those frustrating moments this week. I am grateful for the priesthood. I am grateful for revelation. I am grateful for the Lord and His guiding hand. 

Sister Martinez and I taught the lesson in Gospel Principals this week and the lesson was on the priesthood. And it made me SO GRATEFUL for my wonderful daddy and his righteous example in leading our family under the direction of Heavenly Father. I am grateful for all the father's blessings or comfort and healing and direction. I know the priesthood is the power of God given to man, and I know that the priesthood acts as an umbrella to help guard us from the evil influences of the adversary. So thank ya Pops.
 :)

This week I am grateful for the little miracles. One of those miracles being- we were able to get in to teach a lesson with an investigator Jen, whom we thought moved! But she in reality didn't... they were just out of town for 3 weeks. hahahaah so we taught them! AND MET HER HUSBAND, who we have never been able to meet before... and he is actually a super less-active member. Turns out he was a nice guy. 

In the middle of the week we came to the library to do Mormon.org time, and they had an earthquake drill. IT WAS HILARIOUS. they made us get under the tables and sit there for a couple minutes.. hahahahaah I feel so prepared for earthquakes now. 

We also did some service as a Zone for someone in another ward, and so I sent pics of that I think? 

It's awesome, because here in the cali desert, there is a lot of weeds. like forests of weeds. SO we have PLENTY of opportunities to serve others and help them with their yards. :) it's nice to be able to wear pants once in a while too.... 

So anyways. I know we were blessed with a hard week for a reason. And because of that THE FIRE IS BACK. Sis Martinez and I are pumped and full of the effects of the enabling power of the Atonement, ready to conquer the world.

Which of course we are already doing. 

LOVE YA LOVE YA LOVE YA

HAVE A GOOD DAYYYYYYYY 

QUE TENGA UN BUEN SEMANA. 

ADIOS

Sister Johnson

10/14/2014

	Victoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Tue 10/14/14 5:48 PM
To:	Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com); Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com); Courtney Eyring (splotchee@gmail.com); Emily Shepherd (emily.shep12@gmail.com); Mallory LeSueur (mlesueur13@gmail.com); Sarah King (sbking6@gmail.com)

This was a heartfelt week.... 

Tuesday, October 7, was a very special day for me and also for the ward here. I was Jakelle's birthday for one!!!! and My sweet companion told some other sisters in our zone to wear yellow, and I didn't even know it. So we showed up to district meeting all wearing yellow and it WAS AWESOME!!!!! It was sweet to be able to remember Jakelle all day, and wear her favorite color while at it :) Also, on Oct 7, a little girls named Emily in our ward passed away from leukemia. It was very powerful to participate in so much prayer and fasting in behalf of another little girl who held a place in so many people's heart. It's amazing that a tragedy can unite so many people, can remind us of what's truly important, and can cause us to rely wholeheartedly on our Savior. 

It of course took me back to those hard months when Jakelle was struggling in the hospital and then when she passed. I have so much love for that girl, and miss her dearly. I am so extremely grateful to have been able to have known her, and I am grateful for that experience. I am forever in debt to those who supported me, strengthened me, and sat on the curb to talk when I needed it. Those few months taught me the true meaning of comforting those that stand in need of comfort and lifting up the hands that helplessly hang down. I'm in awe of the Westergard family and their diligence in keeping their trust in God, even when the tempest was raging. 

I owe a lot to so many people..... I learn a lot from the examples of others... Man, I am so grateful for life lessons, for trials, for imperfections, and rough patches that bring us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives. I know His gospel is the solution to everything. I know that we can see those we love again. I know that simple trust in the Lord can get us through a lot.  And I know, without a doubt that families can be together forever.

GUESS WHATTTTT

Brother Forget got baptized! YEAHHHHH MAN. This is the first person that I have found, taught, and baptized all with myself and my companion. The other people that I have taught and baptized were found by other missionaries, or we passed off to other missionaries because they moved or some other random situation. N.E.WAYS. It was awesome. He changed, from the beginning to now, he has diligently sought out His Heavenly Father's guidance as he has developed a relationship with him. 

There's a couple recent converts in our ward, who are ON FIRE excited about life and the gospel. I know that is because they are reading their scriptures every day, praying daily, and keeping their covenants, NOT TO MENTION they are progressing equally with their spouse. Especially brother Forget-- he and his wife are reading their scriptures together and because of that their relationship is improving, they feel peace and comfort and guidance and love and AWESEOMENESSSSS. So the question is... why are sometimes us as members not as fired up about the gospel as the recent converts are?? I think the simple answer is because we stop to do the little things, which dims our fire a little, then we get comfortable and complacent, and we stop progressing...... BUT THAT CAN CHANGE. If we truly want to BECOME like Jesus Christ, we CAN. Then, as we feel the fire and excitement and joy of the gospel, WE CAN SHARE IT TOOOOO. 

hahahah I get so excited. 

ahh there were so many cool experiences with teaching the Bernals, the caudillos, sister espin, the langs, this lady we met at target named Rayanne, and more. not to mention church was awesome and testimony meeting at church was jam packed with the spirit. But, I have to go! 

So, yeah. It's been an awesome/hard/joyful/powerhouse week. I LOVE IT HERE. 

I love you!

Sister Johnson

PICS! 10/09/14

10/06/14 MY MOST FAVORITE EMAIL SO FAR!!! (yeah, they are all soo good, but this one is AMAZING!)

From:	Victoria Paige Johnson (victoria.johnson@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 10/06/14 2:33 PM
To:	Lexi Johnson (papaversatiny@hotmail.com); Robert Johnson (cars4play@gmail.com)

I'm sure you are wondering how everything is going?

WELLLLLLLLLL BRO FORGET IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY HOLLLAAAAAA. 

so excited for that. He is so ready. He came out of his baptismal interview beeeeaming. He told us that he was having doubts, that he was wondering if he was getting baptized for the right reasons. BUT after his self-evaluation he told us he is so ready, he knows it's true, and he knows this is the right time for him to be doing all of this. This man has come a long way! And his wife, who was less active, has come a long way too. She is receiving and acting on revelation, seeking help through the scriptures, and making necessary changes to bring her life in accordance with the teachings of the Savior.

We got 4 new investigators this week! A whole family! They are the Winklers. So coooooooool. And so gonna get baptized. They have been prepared to receive the gospel. They have members friends that called their elders to help the Winklers move, and then because of that, they referred the family to us and we were able to get in the door to teach them!! ALL BECAUSE OF MEMBERSSSSSS. So all the members out there that read this: TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE CHURCH, SERVE THEM, AND HELP THEMMMMM.

ALSO WE SAW THE MOVIE MEET THE MORMONS. IT WAS SO GOOD. ya'll will cry and love it. We watched it at the stake center with all the missionaries in this half of the mission. so INVITE EVERYONE. we missionaries are not allowed to use the movie as a proselyting tool. That means we can't knock on everyone's door and tell them to go see it. What it does mean though, is that all ya'll members out there CAN DO THAT. This movie is a tool for members to invite their friends to go see, to tell their neighbors, to bring their families, and to help everyone see how legitimately cool us Mormons are. And get to the movie on time because the beginning is hilarious. 

wow, conference was awesomeeeeeeeee. So awesome. They just pounded to the max how important it is to have a prophet on the earth today. WE ARE SO LUCKY. Sister Martinez and I prayed tons and tons that our families at home would watch conference and would find joy and guidance from watching it. Of course I knew you would watch it, but know we were praying for you anyways! I loved all that was said about REVELATION. man oh man, I just love revelation. Continuing revelation. We, as individuals can receive guidance direction from a supreme being, our Creator, our Father, our God. I have learned on my mission that we are entitled to revelation, but we will not get it if we do not move. Revelation comes to those who are on the move! I also loved in conference all that was said about conversion- doing the little things. This world is spiraling in a scary direction, but when we plant our feet firmly on Jesus Christ, we are promised that we will not fall. I ALSO LOVED ELDER HOLLANDS TALK. Man. It blew me away. I hope that I can dedicate my life to serving the Lord and God's children, seeking out to help the poor and the poor in spirit. 

I'm grateful for conference. I know we have a prophet on the earth today. I know that strict and exact obedience is necessary to entering into the kingdom of God. Do not pollute your minds with things of this world. It's not worth it. It's not worth the entertaining movie, the first pumping music. It's not worth the the degrading clothing, or spirit chasing language. It's not worth the little white lies, the lazy nature, the "I don't have time because I'm too busy" excuses. Forfeiting our Salvation is NOT WORTH anything this world has to offer. BUT gaining Salvation and relying on the Lord is worth everything we can offer. It's worth the sacrifices. It's worth the little things. 

Something a former missionary said hit me hard. He said--- once you get home everything is weird and different. You spent 18 mos or 2 years of your lives growing and improving and changing at an alarming rate. Then you come home and everyone is the same. Everyone is at the same place they were when you left. and you feel out of place. ----

I can testify to you that that doesn't have to be true. You can spend the next 9 months and rest of your life growing and changing and improving at exponential rates just like missionaries do IF you will rely on the Atonement of the Lord, consecrating your time and efforts to Him. I love you all, and I know what you are capable of. I know that you will have grown and changed and become who He wants you to become over the next months, because I know you love the Lord and strive to follow and become more like Him. Know that I pray for you all like crazy. Know that where much is expected, much is given. As you live up to the expectations of the Lord, he will cover you with His power, and change you, mold you, and shape you into what you can become. 

I LOVE YOU

Love Sister Johnson

PICTURES!!! 9/29/14