Sister Johnson goes to Arkansas!

  Guys, let me tell you about my week. God is a God of miracles. He leads us to people we can help or leads them to us, and it is humbling to watch. We started teaching 4 people this week, all through their member friends. Aw, it makes my heart happy.  Last Sunday in ward council, our ward was all excited about a lady named Helen. She had just moved in and used to meet with missionaries in the past. We knew nothing about her, so we talked to some other sisters and Buck was a hero and got us on a video call with past missionaries and friends that met with her before. One of her member friends set up an appointment for us, and we went over to meet her. She is really sweet and says she wants to get baptized but isn't ready to commit to anything. But God's hand was definitely in all of this because Helen just moved in with her niece Michele. Michele is going through a lot-- way a lot. She is a strong women. We started talking and connected hard. The Spirit was there. She said sh...

  Guys, going home from your mission is dumb. I'm flying home in 11 days! (I'm speaking in church on the 28th if anyone wants to come 😊 ). I've started saying goodbye to people, and it breaks my heart.  That being said, the theme of my week (and probably the theme of my life) is that I trust God. I trust Him so much and will follow Him anywhere-- even home. I know He has a plan for me.  It brings me so much joy to see people I love showing their trust in God through their actions. Let me tell you about some I saw this week.:) Brittany is so brave and has such faith. We've been teaching her for a while, but she actually lives closer to Fayetteville, so we had to introduce her to the elders there. We had SUCH a good lesson together and read in the Book of Mormon and had a tour of the church. When we get to the chapel, the Spirit was strong and we talked about the sacrament. Brittany has a little bit of social anxiety, but we invited her to church there with the eld...

  My heart is so full. There is nothing better than helping people come closer to Christ. Let me tell you about a couple moments this week that were priceless.  Brittany - it feels right Friday afternoon Sister Yates and I did a zoom call with Brittany, and we taught her about God's pattern of reaching out to His children throughout time and that He's reaching out still. A huge evidence of this is the Book of Mormon. Brittany hasn't read much at all in the Book of Mormon and it's pretty new to her, and we weren't quite sure what she thought of it. But we promised her when she reads it she will feel peace and God's love. She told us she's already felt it-- it doesn't quite make sense to her, but reading the Book of Mormon feels right. We're meeting her in person on Wednesday!  Val - it makes perfect sense Sister Hess and I taught Val about what happens after we die, and he had a reaction I'd never seen before. He has had dreams about the S...

  Hello, hello! The theme of my week is that I LOVE Jesus Christ so much and I love being part of His work. His gospel is so good, and seeing people come closer to Him and feeling myself come closer to Him is my favorite thing ever.    Jen showed us how to make the yummiest guacamole this week! She is so kind. Afterwards we were talking about what she's been reading in the Book of Mormon, and we started talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). We asked her if she wants to be baptized, and she said YES! She has a lot of physical challenges that will make baptism difficult, but she's shooting for June 5th. There was such a good Spirit there as we were talking. I'm so grateful I can be part of her journey as she moves closer to Christ.    Saturday we had dinner at the Kincades house, and they invited Val to come too. Wow, that was guided by God. Brother Kincade and Val hit it off hard! We re...

  I watched a devotional this week by Elder Gong. In it, he told a parable that has taught me a lot-- the parable of the pearl and the box. The story is, a merchant travelled so far and came back with a perfect, beautiful pearl. He wanted everyone to see it, so he hired someone to make a beautiful box to put it in, and he set it on display. Lots of people came to see, but the merchant was sad. He realized that the people weren't looking at the pearl-- they were focused on the box.  I've been pondering this parable a lot this week. I don't want to be guilty of paying more attention to the box than the pearl. I want to center my life on what matters most.  My "box" has been changing a lot this week. It's been wild! Sister Maxfield got all packed up and flew home to Utah on Friday! Aw, I will miss her!!! Now I have Sister Barlow, and she is good. She has a lot to offer and will be just what this area needs. Also, it has been COLD. Right now it is 5°, feels li...

  Missions are hard. You give your whole self every single day for a long time. You have to do scary things like talk to people you don't really know and have major changes in your life every 6 weeks and tedious things like create workshops plan. Yesterday, Sister Maxfield and I were both hangry and trying to plan a lesson and just started laughing at ourselves cause we were struggling so hard! But there are also times of complete, full joy that I can't even describe that makes everything else so worth it.  Cindy got baptized Saturday morning, and it was one of the most wonderful things I've ever been a part of. She's gone through a lot to get to where she is now and has a lot of hard things yet to come, but she is truly converted to Jesus Christ and cares more about following Him then anything else. There is such a light about her! After the baptism, she said she felt this weight lifted off her that she didn't even know was there. In church, she bore her testim...

What a week it has been! I love living in Arkansas. I am surrounded by such great people, and it is gorgeous here! We had lots of meetings this week, I went to 3 birthday parties, and I went to a cello concert!!  I have some funny stories that happened to me yesterday I wanted to tell you about.:) We were at Joanna's house for a Book of Mormon study, and she asked us to help her with a few things. So we took her trash out to the dumpster. When we were walking back, I stepped on this metal grate, and it tilted out from under me, and my leg fell into this pit up to my knee! I thought I was going to fall into an underground sewer and be stuck forever... but instead I just bruised my knee. The Book of Mormon study was really cool though. They are such sweet ladies and they recognize the Lord's hand in their lives. Joanna was asking all these questions about how we got the Book of Mormon and seemed excited to read it. I'm excited for her and her mom to read more. Reading the B...