Sister Johnson goes to Arkansas!

  Joseph Smith said that the last time he left Nauvoo. I feel that in my soul. I am in love with this part of the world and the wonderful people here. I was absolutely spoiled this week. On Christmas day I was fed 3 different Christmas feasts plus cinnamon rolls. I almost exploded but felt very pampered. 😊 Let me tell you some of the big highlights of the week.  CAROLING I've taken up violin caroling and it is a blast. We go to people's houses and I play Christmas songs on the violin, and it's so fun. We also went with the Eller family a few times and they'd sing while I played. I want to be their family when I grow up! We had a lot of sweet experiences with that. My favorite was on Christmas Eve. We went to this lady's house that I'd only talked to through messenger. She invited us in and introduced us to her fiance. I played and then we all talked forever about music and Christmas and their family and faith. They said we could come over after the holiday...

  MERRY CHRISTMAS (almost)! ❄❄❄ What a beautiful week. The highlight by far was our lesson with Cindy. Aww, I LOVE her! It's kinda crazy we've only known each other for a month-- I'm sure we'll be friends for life. Sister Beasley was visiting for the day, and we taught Cindy the plan of salvation. We asked her what she thinks her purpose in life is, and she said it is to know God and help others know God. Wow. It's amazing how simple the God's plan is-- all we need to do is bring Christ into our life through faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, and we can do exactly that. I know God loves Cindy so much and wants her to live with Him forever. She wants that too. I asked if she wants to be baptized, and she said YES!!! WOOHOO!!! I am so excited for her.  I love celebrating Christ's birth this Christmas season. He is who makes second chances and knowing God and this whole plan possible.  Merry Christmas!! Have so much fun c...

IT SNOWED!!!! In Arkansas! Crazy, I know. I feel like I'm back in Wells. It was coming down all day yesterday, and everyone at church was so excited. It hasn't snowed this much here for  years .  This week was amazing. I learned a lot about Jesus Christ and my relationship with Him and about how much He loves me and you and each of the people I'm working with. Guys, I love Him so much. Let me tell you about some of the experiences I had with Him this week.  The highlight of the week was decorating Christmas cookies with Bailey. Y'all, the light of Christ was  shining  through her. I'm working with 3 little boys who are so good but need a lot of love. When she heard about their situation, she invited them and another family with little boys (the Wilkins) over. We decorated Christmas cookies, and then all the boys played outside and watched a Christmas movie. The boys were all so happy. It melted my heart. The Wilkins want to start meeting with us and have the...

  Hello, hello! Guys, life is good. Arkansas is beautiful. People are kind. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and honestly, it's all that matters. My ward is legit incredible.  I have 4 stories for you.  First story, we have been trying to meet with this part-member family for a long time, but they were busy and scared of covid, so it wasn't working out. Yesterday, we finally had a video call with them. They are so committed to Jesus Christ and His church! They're practically members, but not. They have church in their home with the sacrament every week, and dear Rocio is preparing to go to the temple. AND, they have a friend who's preparing to go on a mission who is going to practice teaching them the missionary lessons. So, pretty much everyone's stealing our job, but I'm excited for them.  Second story, we've been calling this cute old lady named Gertrude for a few weeks, and we were able to go over and bring cookies to her and her husband last w...

3x the blessings!! I got to go to church three times this Sunday! All right in a row. :) Our ward is giant and so supportive, and it was awesome to meet so many of them. We have some people  on our team  who are going to help us out a lot! My favorite part though was taking the sacrament three times. It got me really thinking about what I was doing and what it means. When you take the sacrament, you are witnessing to God that you always remember Jesus Christ. Imagine how your life would change if you truly remembered Jesus Christ  always . I think that would help me more than just about anything. Too often I get focused on things that don't really matter. So I'm on a quest to remember Him more. Let me know if you have any wisdom on how to do that! ( liberty.johnson@missionary.org ) 2 Thanksgivings 🦃🥧 Best Thanksgiving ever!!! We were  stuffed.  Twice. Lunch was with the Williams. They got baptized about a month ago and are so sweet. They have such big hearts, ...

  God is so good.  I moved to Bentonville on Thursday. It was HARD to say goodbye. Springfield is my home, and I love the people there with all my heart. Before I left this week, Will told us he was ready to talk about baptism next time the missionaries came over! And Gloria led us in the most beautiful Bible study on forgiveness. And my good friend Tyler taped up my suitcase wheel for me even though he was positive it wouldn't help. And the Courseys took us out for the yummiest tacos. And Sister Salmons made me chocolate pancakes in the shape of a smiley face. Guys, I have such good friends!  It was hard to leave, and I was not about it. But I LOVE IT HERE!! Like, actually. How did God know? There are such awesome people here that I already feel a connection with.  My first full day here, we helped Angela fix a fence for her horses. Hyrum would have been so proud of me. It took us ages and Bishop Homer did more than any of us, but we made a dang good fence! An...

Good morning! My amazing companion, Sister Salmons, showed me a scripture this week (D&C 43:15-16) that I've been pondering alot. It says,  "Again I say, hearken ye elders of my church, whom I have appointed: Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach the children of men the things which  I have   put into your hands by the power of my Spirit ; And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken." Isn't that good? Email me any insights you have of what it means. :) God has put a lot of things in my hands. SUCH wonderful people for me to help and learn from. Let me tell you about some of them.  - I went on an exchange with an absolute legend on Wednesday. She taught me a lot about Jesus Christ. She has a lot going on in her life and really hard things happening with her family at home. But we went to a lesson, and the lady we were teaching opened up to us about super h...

  Good morning! Guys, God is so good. Let me tell you about some incredible things that happened this week.  We've been working with this dear lady for months. She's a member but hasn't gone to church in years. Last week we met her son, and he is so open. He loves Jesus Christ and His gospel and is an honest seeker of truth. We were teaching them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how the fulness of the gospel is in the Book of Mormon, and we promised them that as they read the Book of Mormon it would sharpen their minds and the Spirit would help them know the book is true and from God. Those promises are being fulfilled! They're both reading in the Book of Mormon every day. She came to church yesterday and was just beaming. Yesterday, we met with another lady in our ward who I LOVE. She hasn't gone to church in years and just gets so down on herself. Memories from her past and mistakes she makes every day haunt her and make her feel not eno...