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Detective Johnson


Good morning!!! I hope y'all are having a lovely day. This week has been quite exciting.

First, exciting story. This lady from Nevada (my home!...Las Vegas though) called the Harrison ward and asked if someone could do a welfare check on her aunt and uncle. She hadn't heard from them in over a month, which wasn't like them, and she was worried. Naturally, the ward thinks of Sister Kershaw and I. We tried to call them and they didn't answer, so we travel to the address to investigate. I felt like I was the guy on Psych. It was a huge house out in the country, and it was completely empty. Looking through the windows there wasn't furniture or anything. We report to the niece, and she asks us to see if the neighbors know anything. We went around to all the houses, and finally a guy was able to help us--he told us they had moved to Iowa. So, hopefully the missionaries in Iowa are as good of detectives as we are. :)

Besides being detectives, we've had a lot of other things not go as planned this week. For a couple days, everything fell through. The people we wanted to visit canceled or weren't home, service was short, our finding didn't work out. The hardest part of the week was last night when the baptism we have been planning for the 18th fell through. I was so, so sad. I know how much making that promise to follow Christ would bless his life, and it breaks my heart that it's not happening as soon as hoped. 
But I'm doing a lot better now. Studying the scriptures and something my grandma said has helped me a lot. My grandma has gone through a lot of hard things, but she told me that she is able to find joy anyway. She has family and loved ones and Jesus Christ. This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma 8. It talks about a missionary (like me!) who preached the gospel, and nothing worked out. He was rejected and kicked out of town. It says he was "weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people." 

Then, an angel appears to him and says, "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God." It's normal to be sad when things don't work out and people don't accept the incredible message I have to share, but God wants us to have joy! Because of Christ, we always have such a good reason to have joy. So, I'm doing alright. :) And, when all the things fell through, I guess the Lord had other plans for us. We got to help this incredible old lady from Texas get ready to go on a hot date. And we had a good visit with this old biker guy who hasn't been to church for a while. Good times. :)

I miss y'all! Email me at liberty.johnson@missionary.org. Have an incredible week!

Love,

Sister Liberty Johnson


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