Sister Sarah Johnson: Fireflies :)

Hey Family!

I officially survived my first week in Harlem! Wahoo!

So remember when me, Crissy, and Dad went on a hike and they were sweating a lot and they asked how I wasn't sweating and I said "well I'm sweating a little around the edges" to make them feel better? Yeah... here I sweat a lot, everywhere, all the time, everyday! Haha! Some days aren't too bad, but I understand the whole humidity thing now:)

One exciting adventure of the week was that me and Sister Bongolto got STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR!!! Yeah. There was another lady there and the elevator door was going super slow so she pushed it and forced it shut and then it jammed... so we were stuck in there for a good ten minutes. The lady then kept pushing all the buttons and tried to force it open. My mind flashed to Tower of Terror at Disneyland and I was bracing myself for the drop seeing that we were on the 19TH FLOOR!! But then it magically started working and we were saved and all was well again:)

I had my first Sunday here which was so nice! Going to church felt like going home:) And I realized I'm at church the exact same time as you guys! I have it at 11:00 which is 9:00 for you:) So I felt like you were there with me singing the hymns and enjoying the sacrament like we always do:)

I had my first invitation to be baptized this week! Her name is Sheena and she has two cute little kids. She is so sweet and I'm so excited for her to be baptized! At the end of our lesson I was asking her the baptism question how we always practice, but all I was able to say was "Sheena, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by..." and then she said yes she wanted to be baptized! So we set a date for August 27! We'll be teaching her tomorrow so I'll keep you updated! I was so so happy that she wants to and I really felt like I was fulfilling my purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ:)

Another thing I learned this week is that there is no time for negative thoughts! That is Satan, so get him out of there! There's no time for Him. I learned this the first day with Willie last week when he told me to keep my faith strong and don't give up. Then I learned it the next night as we were walking home. It was only my second night in Harlem and we were heading home at the end of the night so it was kind of dark. I decided I didn't like night time in Harlem. I could like everything else about Harlem, but I didn't like night time. The second I decided that, Heavenly Father sent me a firefly:) And I LOVE fireflies!! The rest of the walk home I spotted lots of fireflies and I knew that was Heavenly Father's way of telling me to get those negative thoughts out of my head. I'm on His time not Satan's time or my time. There are still times when it's hard to stay positive and get those negative thoughts out, but it's possible because of our Savior and his Atonement:)

I'm grateful for this time I have to be on the Lord's time. There are ups and downs just like everyday life, but keep your chin up! Keep your faith strong and get those negative thoughts out of there!

I love you and the Lord loves you! Have a great day and don't forget to pray:)

Love, Sister Johnson