Sister Sarah Johnson: 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