Going to Inwood!

Hello Family!!

Talking to you yesterday was the best Christmas present I ever could have asked for!! It was so nice to see my favorite familiar faces and hear your voices:) Thanks for the laughs and smiles and love! 

I'm getting transferred to Inwood which is just the neighboring area right above Harlem:) My new companion will be Sister Nielson who is actually one of the other sisters in my MTC district! So it will be fun, 6 months later, to be with each other again!:) Since I leave tomorrow, most of my day so far has included packing and eating Christmas candy... Also, Sister Israelsen has been called to be a trainer:) I'm excited for her and know she will do an amazing job. She and her new companion will take good care of Harlem I'm sure:)

So crazy miracle story! Back up to last sunday... Jacob was ordained a deacon and received the priesthood! Wahoo!!! Then after church his stomach hurt really bad and they took him to the hospital and he ended up having appendicitis!! We let our bishop know, and he and two other men from the ward went up to the hospital to give Jacob a priesthood blessing. Their reaction time was so fast! Our ward is seriously amazing:) They gave Jacob a blessing on the way in to the surgery, and the surgery went well! We visited them in the hospital the next day and he was doing great with high spirits and a smile:) This Christmas Sunday, Jacob was able to use his priesthood to bless the ward as he helped pass the sacrament for the first time. It was so wonderful and he loved it! I felt like a proud parent and couldn't stop smiling:)

We have done lots of service projects lately and I love it! On Tuesday we went to Central Park with a ton of other missionaries, and we racked leaves for 3 hours! It was so much fun and I loved it!! We bagged so many leaves it was insane! We also handed out free school supplies later that day and sung Christmas songs on the street corner. On Friday I was on a split with Hermana Nelson and we did the best service ever!! We visited a random investigator we've just taught a few times and when we got there and she had a paint brush in her hand! So after a bit of asking and pretty much begging, she finally agreed to let us help her clean and paint! So I fulfilled all my missionary dreams of being able to help someone paint! It was a Christmas miracle:)

Christmas Day was wonderful:) We woke up early and made waffles and opened presents! Then we did our studies and went to church:) I love my Harlem 1st Ward! We spent most of the day visiting members, less actives, and others who we felt could use a Christmas visit. It was so nice to run around the city brightening others day! We had lots of cookies, treats, and candy that we handed out to random people. For a little bit we went with some Elders and went caroling back and forth on the Subway train. That's what made it a true Christmas in the city;) I was in heaven and seriously had so much fun singing, smiling, and giving out pass along cards to people on the train!

I am so grateful for my Savior, and I'm grateful for the life that he both lived and gave for each one of us. We celebrate his birth because of his life. He is our perfect example and he is our friend. I know Christ is always there to lift us up when we need it:) I'm grateful for the silent and Holy night when Christ was born. I'm grateful for the angels that sang praises at his birth. I'm grateful for the humble shepherds who were there to welcome Christ into the world. And I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father that he gave us the precious gift of our Savior - the Light and Life of the World!!

I love you all and hope you had a Merry Christmas!:)

Love, Sister Johnson

Me and my cute companion and roommates!:)

Me and my cute companion

Helping our friend paint!:)

Helping our friend paint!:)

Helping our friend paint!:)

Christmas morning:)

Christmas morning:)

Surprise! :)

Hello Family!!

SURPRISE!! Our Preparation Day is now on Monday! Crazy huh! 

We had our mission wide Christmas Devotional on Friday which was wonderful! It was so fun to see missionary friends and companions and roommates:) It was upstate in Ossining which was beautiful:) The spirit of Christmas is absolutely wonderful:) I felt so much peace and joy during our meeting. I am grateful for this time that we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came so humbly and simply. He gave everything he had and expected nothing in return. And that's what Christmas is really about! It's about giving of ourselves and giving to others! Giving is the best feeling:) 

What stuck out to me the most in all the Christmas hymns we sang is that so many are about angels singing and praising the birth of Christ! And guess who those angels in heaven were when Christ was born?? We were! That was us singing up there in heaven when our Savior was born because we knew God's plan and we knew that little baby Jesus was born to be our Savior and friend:) Realizing that in a room of powerful missionaries singing was amazing! We were singing then and we're singing now! Enjoy this happy time of year where we can listen to Christmas music because it's the best ever!! We had a big Christmas lunch with everyone in the mission and we took some pictures:) It was so amazing and so fun to be there with everyone. I sure am lucky to be here on a mission!

We had real snow! It's already melted again... but waking up to snow was so magical! I hope it snows lots more this week!!:)

I'm so glad I have this time to be in New York during Christmas:) What a magical place to be during Christmas! We've already seen some amazing Christmas miracles! One is that a less active member who we have taught for a long time has changed so much! She actually WANTED to come to church and she brought her daughter! Its been amazing to see how much the gospel has changed her. She really wasn't super happy with us at first, and going was sometimes tough, but she has opened up so much more, likes having us come, and came to church! Miracle! Jacob also received the priesthood! Wahoo! And we received a MEMBER REFERRAL which has been one of our goals this whole time me and Sister Israelsen have been together. And it's from a member who isn't even in our ward anymore (they moved to Brooklyn) but who visit occasionally! It's amazing how Heavenly Father works and how sometimes blessings really do come in different ways then we expect it:) 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and friend. I am grateful for His love and for the love our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. They know us and love us individually:) Continue to love and serve! As you give of yourself you'll be able to feel the Christmas spirit even more! Make it a magical week and go find your Christmas miracle:) 

Love, Sister Johnson

ps Here are pictures of the Rockefeller Center, Giant Tree, and Ice Skating Rink:)

Baptism!!

Hello Family!

Straight to the good stuff - JACOB AND SAMANTHA WERE BAPTIZED!!! Saturday was the happiest and best day of my life! Everything in our program went perfectly, our wonderful ward was very supportive, I got to play my flute which was so nice, and I really felt so much love and joy during the service:) Seeing a baptism is always so magical to me, and especially with these two it was a special moment. I'll never forget the image of all the little ward kids gathered around the font, me and Sister Israelsen sitting on both sides of Daisy watching, and just the quiet reverence and sound of the water as they went down and came back up clean and brand new. I could feel the spirit as they were baptized and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them so much and are so proud of them for taking this step. 

We helped them afterwards and when we opened the baptism door Samantha was shivering a ton because she said the water was freezing haha! Oops! We didn't even check the temperature, we just assumed it was warm haha;) But there's always some sort of funny story at baptisms right;) And even through the shivers they were so happy and couldnt stop smiling!:) As a family they went up to bear their sweet and simple testimonies about how they're grateful for the church, their family, and everyone that came. What touched me the most was what Daisy said. She said that the best way to describe her feelings is that "we're finally home." They're home. Tears filled my eyes as I heard her say that:) This gospel is true and this is where we can truly feel God's love. I feel so blessed to have helped them come home and now be a part of their family forever. Singing Families Can Be Together Forever with them at the end was special too, knowing that we are all part of God's family and we can all live together forever because of Jesus Christ. I love this sweet family, I love my Savior, I love the joy this gospel brings and the peace we can feel, and I love my Heavenly Father:)

Saturday night we had our ward Christmas party which was AMAZING! We had a little nativity put on by the primary which was adorable:) Samantha was the angel. Then we went upstairs and ate delicious food as always. They made around 600 homemade empanadas! What?! They were so good and they gave us tons of extras to take home:) I love my ward so much! We have the most amazing members who are so willing to serve, go the extra mile, and I want to be their friends forever!:)

Now for the rest of the week... on Friday we helped a less active member redecorate her tree (her husband tried but she didn't like it so we redid it haha;) ) and it meant the world to her! She was so so happy, so I would like to thank Mom for teaching me how to nicely decorate a Christmas tree haha! Then on Sunday, oh boy. First of all they received the Gift of the Holy Ghost so that was super wonderful! Yay! But Sunday night we were just riding on the bus and I was standing in front of a little family talking to them, and then all of a sudden the little girl threw up on me!! Haha what?! I thought it was kind of hilarious. Super nasty and I felt so bad for the poor little girl, but I still keep laughing about it haha! Her mom felt terrible and got wipes to wipe me down and clean my coat. But yeah, that was crazy. And I washed my coat today so no worries:)

We helped a cute new family move in to our ward on Monday which was so much fun! Service is the best! Keep finding ways to Light the World, because really it just ends up lighting your world and making you feel better!!:) Also we had our first little bit of snow Sunday night, but it wasn't enough to stick!

I'm so grateful for this time to serve as a missionary:) The joy I've felt especially from Jacob and Samantha's baptism, that pure joy that is so great and full, doesn't even compare to the joy and love that Heavenly Father feels and has for each one of us when we take steps to come closer to Him. He loves us and has made it possible for us all to live with Him again. I know it's true, I love Him, and I love His plan!

I love you all! Thanks for the prayers and love:) Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson

1-4 Baptism Pictures!:)

5-6 Christmas Party Nativity

 Helping the new family move in!

I love my family!

Hello Family!:)

Happy December!! Isn't that so weird? It's extra weird/way nice cause it's December and we still haven't had snow! Which is fine by me:) I know I talk about the weather a lot... but the weather is still pretty nice here! Not too cold yet:) 

On Thursday we had zone conference which was amazing as always:) One cool thing I liked was about prayer and goals. When we have goals we need to tell Heavenly Father about it in prayer so he has something to help us with. Also we have today to change someone's eternity! (#LightTheWorld).

Updates on our sweet family we are teaching! Jacob and Samantha are getting baptized on Saturday so we're just 3 days away from the best day of my life!!:) They had their baptism interview last night and everything went great! They're so cute and ready to take this step as a family:) Daisy is so supportive and so excited! She wants this for her and her family so bad. I love them so much! Today we actually just got back from going to the Natural History Museum with them which was so fun! They're going to be our best friends/family forever!:)

Jacob is 12 and he's so prepared. He's smart and wants to understand everything:) He asks great questions and he quietly soaks it all in. Whenever we ask him to say the prayer he will sit and think about it for a second like he's preparing himself to pray and then he says he will do it:) He's going to be a wonderful little priesthood holder:)

Samantha is 10 and she is so sweet and full of love. She is willing to do anything she is supposed to do:) She loves primary and loves reading the Book of Mormon. She always gives us hugs and always has a smile on her face:) She always wants to read, and volunteers to say every prayer we have!

Sweet little Julian is 7 years old. He's full of energy and loves pictures and reading the scriptures:) The highlight of our lesson on Monday was that HE SAID HIS FIRST PRAYER!! Since the first time we taught them, our goal has secretly been to get Julian to pray. Usually he says no, but on Monday he decided to do it! We didn't even ask him he just said "I'll do it." We were all shocked! He said the prayer and I couldn't stop smiling! I don't know if I've ever felt that much pure joy:) I felt like a proud parent and he's not even my kid haha! So I can only imagine how happy Heavenly Father was to hear sweet little Julian say a prayer:)

I'm so grateful for this miracle and opportunity I've had to see this sweet family take these steps towards becoming an eternal family! The gospel is simple and we all need it. Families are central to God's plan, and I'm so grateful for this family, my family, and my Heavenly family:)

I love you all! Make it a great week:)

Love, Sister Johnson

Light The World :)

Hello Family!!

This week was the best week ever! So many miracles and exciting things are happening!! Rewind back to Thanksgiving which seems like forever ago! We did an amazing service project in the morning. There's a lady named Sister Mary, and every year she spends hours and days creating a huge fancy meal to give away to people. 35 years ago or so, she fed 8 people Thanksgiving dinner. This Thanksgiving she prepared food for 2200 people! We helped serve and get to know people on the streets of Harlem, New York as they waited in line to get their fancy Thanksgiving dinner. It was an amazing experience and such a cool way to spend my first Thanksgiving in NY! Then we went to the senior couple missionaries in our ward and ate dinner with them and some of their family which was really fun! They gave us tons of left overs, and a week later we're still eating them haha! We really are living in Thanksgiving daily;)

The most exciting news is that Jacob (12) and Samantha (10), 2 of the 3 kids we're working with that are kids of our less active member Daisy, will be baptized on December 10!!! I love them so much:) We're so lucky and so excited to be working with them:) It really is my little Harlem miracle to have this family be led to us since just two and a half weeks ago she showed up at church for the first time.

Family Home Evening is the best! I appreciate it even more now as a missionary:) On Monday we had FHE with two families and both were a miracle:) We really wanted to get members involved in it, and for one fhe we texted 4 different families and no one could do it. But then Monday morning the first member we texted texted back and said she could do it! Wahoo!! So our first Family Home Evening was with the Nieves family! (Daisy and her kids). We picked them up and walked two blocks to a members house. We had a lesson on the 10 commandments and learned all the finger signs to help them remember and played a game with it! We sang songs and ate treats and it was the best family home evening ever! Then our second family was the Marks. They're less active as well and they loved the commandment hand signs and treats too:) The member who came with us lives right down the street from them and they loved meeting her so it was perfect!:)

Tomorrow, December 1 (I can't even believe it's already December!!), is the official first day of the Christmas Initiative to #LightTheWorld! If you haven't watched the video, go watch it - mormon.org - and do what it challenges! We can be like Jesus Christ in so many simple ways! It's not as hard as it seems to be like Him, so this Christmas season, commit to serve someone every day like Christ did!:) It takes 21 days to create a habit, so do it for 25! I promise as you find ways to serve and be like Christ, it will strengthen your faith and change your life forever!!

I love you all! Continue to pray, and pray for ways you can serve those around you:) There's power in asking, so ask for a missionary experience or service opportunity! We learned in church that asking doesn't change His mind, it opens the door to giving us all the blessings that He wants to give us. So simply ask and be believing, and miracles will happen! Now get out there and #LightTheWorld;)

Love, Sister Johnson

Straight outta Harlem :)

Thanksgiving with the Dransfields and their family. This is on top of their building.