I Know it's True :)

Hello Family!

We had a wonderful Christmas full of miracles and Christmas cheer! What a wonderful year this has been:) 2017, my complete year of full-time missionary service, is coming to a close. I am so grateful for this last year and a half and all the things I have learned and experienced. I have had so much joy being a missionary here in New York City. I love running around the city serving people all day, being squished in the busy subways, talking to people on the buses and trains, and the diversity of God's children and His love for them. I loved seeing people change, and I have loved learning more about my Savior and being able to change through Him:)

I know with all my heart that this gospel is true. Living the gospel more fully and sharing it with others has brought me so much peace, happiness, and understanding about our Heavenly Father's love and His plan for us. I know He has a perfect plan. I am grateful for the gift of agency, even though it can sometimes be hard. Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us choose, and he has provided everything we need to make the right choices, and everything we need to correct the wrong ones. I have felt the Spirit testify to me again and again that the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith happened. I know it did. I know it. I know that Joseph Smith's humble prayer was answered and that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We have the fulness of the gospel, and because of that I have great reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ.

The whole point of the gospel is to progress. I know that even though my full-time missionary service may be coming to an end, there is so much more ahead. My mission has been a springboard for the rest of my life, the fine tuning that I needed to become the best God has intended me to become. I know that as I, and as you, apply the simple truths of the gospel that I have taught for the last year and a half, and that have sunk deep into my heart, we can become so much more! We can progress and ultimately make it back to our Heavenly Father:) That is His goal, and that is my goal. 

I love my Heavenly Father, and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for this time I have had to be a representative of Jesus Christ, and to wear his name on my chest. What a blessing it has been and what a blessing it will continue to be for the rest of my life. I love this church, I love the Lord, and I love His work.

Thank you for all your love and support:) 

Love, Sister Johnson

Merry Christmas!!

Hello Family!!

Merry Christmas! We are in full Christmas swing here in the NYNYN Mission, and seriously so much has happened this week, so here we go!:) We had our Mission Christmas Devotional on Friday and me and Sister Westover were able to play a duet of Away in a Manger and play Silent Night while all the missionaries sang in their mission language. It went really well and it was so fun! The Spirit was so amazing in our devotional, especially as we watched a slideshow of all the baptism pictures from 2017. So many people have come into the fold of God and entered the waters of baptism in the last year and half I have been here which is so humbling and amazing to see the success of my brethren and sisters. After all, we're all on the same team when it comes to the work of the Lord:)

We had our ward Christmas Party this weekend which was amazing!! Our gym looked beautiful! Like a wedding reception! We had a yummy Bethlehem dinner and live music performances. Jennifer and Luke came and they loved it! We also had one of our new investigators, Joy, there and she really enjoyed it as well! The next day we had our ward Christmas Program which went so well! Luke and Jennifer were able to participate and they read verses from Luke 2 about the angels and the shepherds. Joy came to that as well and they all loved it. Our flute and violin duet went really well for that as well:)

This week we have been running around like crazy helping members which has been so fun! We helped two members who were moving. That's my favorite thing about being a missionary, is that our schedule is so flexible and we're able to run around to help people whenever they need it all the time! I feel like that's what Christ would do. Always serving and helping those who need it.

For the missionaries departing soon we all went to the temple yesterday. It was such a special experience to be there in the temple with President and Sister Smith and with missionaries that I have been serving with for the last year and a half. I had an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude for the experiences I have had, the success that I have seen, and the success that together as a mission we have achieved. I know that this is the work of the Lord. And where we were, in the temple of the Lord, is the goal for everything. For us, for our converts, for our families. If you haven't been able to attend them temple in a while, I encourage you to go:) There's so much peace and guidance you can receive when you go.

I love being a missionary! I have loved learning more about myself, others, and the Lord. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I love him, and I'm grateful for this time I have had to represent him here in New York. I am grateful for this Christmas Season to focus on Christ and help others recognize the light and love of Christ in their lives. I love you lots! 

Thanks for everything! Make it a great week, and Merry Christmas!

Love, Sister Johnson

Mission Christmas Devotional/Lunch. Me and Sister Westover with SANTA!!!! (William Smith😉)

Me and Sister Muhlestein after the temple. Sisters from beginning to end:)

The Statue of Liberty

Christmas music for days :)

Hi Family!

We are just wrapping up our Book of Mormon reading challenge as a mission this week. I have loved reading as a mission, and we will finish tomorrow! This week I was reading in Ether 2&3 and I loved the story of the Brother of Jared. After making the barges like the Lord said, he went to the Lord asking how to light them. Then comes my favorite part. The Lord tells him what not to do, and then in verse 23 says, "What will ye that I should do that he may have light in your vessels?" Basically, 'you tell me! What do you want me to do? Go ahead, be creative and let me know when you have an idea.' I love that about our Heavenly Father. He gave us a brain and the gift of agency to act and to choose! We can change and we can be agents for change!

That ties into another thought I was pondering about this week. I came to the conclusion that the gospel is all about change. Everything! Our purpose on earth, our purpose as missionaries, our purpose as friends, parents, and members to help others change and grow. That's what I feel the gospel of Jesus Christ is centered around. Changing for the good to be more like Christ and receive the Holy Ghost or to then change/improve to keep it with us! We had our Zone Conference yesterday which focused a lot on changing and repenting as well. It's amazing. The power to change?! That is so cool! Repentance is cool:) And it's only through and because of Jesus Christ's Atonement that we can do that.

Jennifer and Luke are doing well. Jennifer came to a fun wreath making party we had for the relief society and loved it! Jennifer has been having some medical issues lately, but they're still going strong and they're excited for our ward Christmas Party this weekend. 

Me and Sister Westover have enjoyed being companions. The other night we played Christmas hymns on our flute and violin outside of the Lincoln Square Chapel downtown while missionaries handed out hot chocolate to people walking by. We will also play in our Ward Christmas Program as well as our Mission Christmas devotional this weekend! We love it and I'm glad I get to serve with her:)

Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson 

After freezing our fingers off while playing Christmas hymns in front of the Lincoln Square chapel! So worth it though:)

You can't see the top of it super well, but these are the Book of Mormon Musical ads that travel all over the city on little taxi toppers. Had to get a picture with one! Even though it's not from us, we get excited when we see them and we use the Book of Mormon Musical to our advantage quite a bit because everyone has heard about it!

Me and Sister Westover in front of the temple

This is our wreath on our door

 Our wreath making Relief Society activity!

This is Jennifer's wreath on her door:)

Baptism of Jennifer and Luke :)

Hello Family!

JENNIFER AND LUKE WERE BAPTIZED!!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers for them. This has been the most amazing experience of my mission, to see from beginning to baptism the conversion of Jennifer and Luke. I've never seen firsthand how much the gospel can truly change someone, but it's real! It's so real and it's powerful:) 

It's amazing that just two months ago Jennifer was searching for something. She shared this in her testimony at the baptism and said that she was in the hospital praying to God for help and a mormon.org ad came up on facebook. She kept scrolling and it popped up again. She kept ignoring it, but finally after about the fifth time she clicked on it cause she knew that that was her sign. Instead of just getting a Book of Mormon, she got two missionaries and a Book of Mormon! And ever since then it's been amazing to see the changes that she has made in order to reach this goal of baptism this weekend. They did it! Luke and Jennifer are now members of the Church, and they are so so happy!:)

The baptism went great and the members were so supportive and helpful. Lots of members came and were involved in the program. They have all welcomed and loved Jennifer and Luke with open arms. The baptism program was wonderful and the Spirit there was so great:) It was amazing to see their excitement and to see them enter the waters of baptism. The talks were great, me and Sister Randall were able to teach the Restoration, and both Jennifer and Luke bore their testimony. Luke is pretty quiet, but he still got up and talked about how much he loves the people and loves coming to church:) Their confirmation on Sunday was wonderful as well! 

This week we have also started doing a lot for Light The World. It has been so much fun so far, and I'm excited for the rest of this month and the Spirit of Christ we'll be able to feel and share this season. On Saturday night after the baptism we were able to help out at the Lincoln Square Chapel (temple building) with our Stake's Carols on Columbus Christmas concert. There were two concerts and between both about 1400 people were in the building! There is some amazing musical talent in our stake so it was fun to be there and see many members that I've served with in other wards. I love Manhattan:)

I know the gospel is true! I have seen the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my own life and in the lives of Jennifer and Luke. He is the reason for the season:) I am so grateful for the experience I have had to see Jennifer and Luke change because of the gospel. I love the gospel and I love being a missionary! Keep lighting the world with His light:)

Love, Sister Johnson 

It was such an amazing baptism with so much love and support:)

1-2. Carols on Columbus

 3. I LOVE MY MOM!!!

4. We had to fish out the plug for the baptism font

5. Macy's at Christmas time

6. Rockefeller Christmas tree

Transfers, Baptism plans and Service!

Hello Family!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Our district enjoyed some service at a senior center in the morning packing Thanksgiving dinners to be sent out as meals on wheels. Then me and Sister Randall delivered a pass along card and little treats to those who were working and lonely on Thanksgiving. That was something so simple but it was so happy and exciting to see their faces light up and see the joy that it brought them. They loved it! One doorman we gave one to was like "Oh wow, thank you so much! Can I give you a hug?" So we were like "actually you can't... but we can shake your hand!" and then we explained why haha! We had a nice dinner with one of our sweet older members, Sister Harris, so it was a great day!

Jennifer and Luke are getting baptized on Saturday!!! They both passed their baptism interviews last night, so we're just scheduling the program and which members will do what! Our ward is so great and so excited for them! On Sunday they announced it a lot in church and in our classes, so lots of people talked to them and congratulated them. We were able to meet with them five times this week, and every lesson we were amazed by how willing and understanding they were of everything! Even the big commandments that we were a little nervous about, they happily took upon themselves to live! I've never seen someone so excited about tithing and fast offerings:) So they are amazing and so prepared! Thank you for your prayers for them:) Things can definitely be difficult the week before a baptism, but Jennifer and Luke are staying strong. They are so determined and it's amazing to see their true desire to be baptized and better their lives through Christ:)

We had transfers yesterday, so I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Westover and she is from Portland, Oregon. She is so sweet and I am excited to serve with her! She is so genuine and layed back, but a hard working and loving missionary:) Sister Randall went up to Stamford, Connecticut, so it was sad to see her go but she'll do great and she's excited! I cannot believe how fast the last transfer went, but I've been amazed by the changes we were able to see in Jennifer and Luke as they learned and accepted the gospel in just 6 weeks. I'm excited for this new transfer ahead and for the many miracles that are coming forth in this Christmas season here in the NYNYN Mission! 

Make sure you visit mormon.org to see all the Light the World videos and ways to serve! Doing one little act of service is so good, doing it for 25 days is even better, and multiplying that by each one of us is the best!! Wahoo! And remember "there is no such thing as a small act of kindness." - Sister Hinckley. It may seem small to you, but it may mean the world to someone else! So go #LightTheWorld!

Love, Sister Johnson 

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Hello Family!

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! 🦃 I am so thankful for all of your love and support:) I was pondering last night on all the reasons I'm grateful for my mission, and my goodness! This mission has changed my eternities! It's changed the way I think, the way I serve, the way I spend my time, the way I view others, my testimony of Jesus Christ, my love for the Book of Mormon, my vision of what I can do and become, and so much more!

We had a great week with Jennifer and Luke:) On Saturday night we had our legendary Manhattan 2nd Ward Pie Night! Everyone brings a pie (classified as anything with a crust - pizza pies, meat pies, dessert pies) and there's a contest and prizes. It was super fun and both Jennifer and Luke came. They loved it and were able to meet tons of members and eat tons of pie:)

At church on Sunday Jennifer, Luke, and Heather all came! It was a great service and Sister Randall spoke in Sacrament:) Sadly Luke didn't feel too well, so after sacrament they left. But he came even though he felt sick so that was awesome! Heather stayed the whole time and really enjoyed it! She asked for a Doctrine and Convenants and a Pearl of Great Price this week, so she is just reading away with everything!

Last night we had a lesson with Jennifer and Luke and two priesthood holders from the ward that they know, Brother Strong and Brother Ingersoll, came to give her a priesthood blessing. It was such an amazing experience and a perfect blessing for her. She's been going through a lot of medical problems in the last year and also just the changes she is making in her life are challenging at times! So she was able to receive a blessing of healing, but also of comfort, strength, and guidance which was just what she needed. We could feel the Spirit so strong and she could as well. She absolutely loved it, and they are still pushing through strong for their December 2nd baptism date:)

Exciting missionary news from this week is that the Lord is continuing to hasten his work. We received Smartphones! No more old slidey phones for us:) It's very exciting, also very different, but humbling as well. Right now it's an area phone, but in the near future missionaries will just come out with a phone instead of a tablet. Quite exciting! It's been amazing to only use technology to do missionary work. It helps give you a different perspective on technology use:) 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for this time I have to share the glad tidings of the gospel with others! What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?:)

Love, Sister Johnson  

1-2. I had to send these pigeon pictures because I thought they were so funny! There are so many pigeons in New York! Sometimes they're gross and annoying, but sometimes it's so funny to watch them. I just thought they sparatic flying pigeons was a perfect capture of what it's like with them all around.

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Who are you thankful for and why?:) Thanksgiving activity we did this week in Central Park.

New York city at night with all the lights is my favorite:) This doesn't truly capture the beauty of it, so you will just have to come experience it some day!

Our new Smartphone update!

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Seeing New Doors Open :)

Hello Family!

We had a great week! Jennifer is doing so well! She was at the hospital for a few days so she missed church, but she took her Book of Mormon with her and has been reading:) After telling her the promise from President Monson about how as we read the Book of Mormon daily will "we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives" she's been making it a priority to read every day! So instead of being on her phone in the morning or on the train she reads the Book of Mormon! She's up to 1 Nephi 14 and it's amazing to see how happy she is! 

We had a lesson with her last night and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were talking about how she's already been showing faith and she's been repenting as she changes and she thought that was so cool! She caught right on to our mission motto of Repentance is Cool! As we talked about baptism and the Holy Ghost and how it washes away all out sins and we can have the Spirit with us always she was basically jumping in her seat and she said "Oh my goodness I'm so excited already! Stop talking about it!" We set a baptism date with one of her sons as well who came to church with her and also went to mutual this week. We are so excited for them and it's been truly amazing to see how the Gospel is changing her and to see the amazing amount of joy it is bringing her! 

She saw a recent convert in the ward receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on her first Sunday at church so we asked her about her feelings. As she explained it she said, "it was like he had a new purpose and a new life that day. It's like the saying when one door closes another door opens, and I feel like that moment is when the door opened for him. I wanted that for me but I didn't tell you that, but now that I can have that, I'm so excited!" Thank you for all the prayers for her, they are definitely blessing her:) 

The funny of the week comes from our Art Tours at the Lincoln Square Chapel. As we were going along we got to the painting "Come Forth" about the Title of Liberty. I said "This is a painting of Captain America. . . I mean Captain Moroni!!" I don't know why, but Captain America just came out of my mouth instead of Captain Moroni! Haha! Luckily we were giving the tour to a member so he just laughed and said "Captain Moroni is just as cool as Captain America!" Oh boy;)

Miracles are happening, and the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ really can and does change lives! I'm seeing it now and it's amazing:)

Love, Sister Johnson 

1. On our way to zone conference:)

2. This elevator had a bench! What?! I've never seen that in my whole life, but it was so nice:)

3-4. We got to do service with a bunch of missionaries and members raking leaves in Central Park! Such a fun day and memory:)

5. Family History APF

6-8. Today for our Preparation day adventure we went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Oh my goodness it was amazing! So touching to see all that happened and see how united everyone was and how quick people were in responding to these tragic attacks. I love New York and america:)

9. World trade Center

On our way to zone conference:)

This elevator had a bench! What?! I've never seen that in my whole life, but it was so nice:)

We got to do service with a bunch of missionaries and members raking leaves in Central Park! Such a fun day and memory:)

Today for our Preparation day adventure we went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Oh my goodness it was amazing! So touching to see all that happened and see how united everyone was and how quick people were in responding to these tragic attacks. I love New York and america:)

World trade center

 

 Family History APF

Overcome with the Spirit

Hello Family!

We had a wonderful week, and it all started with us setting a baptism date for Jennifer!!! Wahoo! We had a super great lesson, and we could really feel the Spirit. We extended the baptism date for December 2nd and Jennifer was so excited!! She couldn't stop smiling and the way she described it to us was that she felt like she was eating a sourpatch kid. Her jaw hurt from smiling so much haha! It was so cute:) (Please keep Jennifer in your prayers!)

And THEN (it gets better), she came to church on Sunday and brought her 14 year old son! They got to Sacrament a little late but right in time for the last speaker. He started speaking and it was literally the most perfect talk for Jennifer! It was about why we go to church and the Spirit was so strong it made her cry. Then while adjusting the microphone he said "Sorry Brothers and Sisters, I don't feel very good." and then he PASSED OUT which made Jennifer cry even more!! The Bishopric caught him and laid him down, and 5 or 6 nurses from the ward ran up. He was fine and we sang a song while he recovered, and then he finished his talk sitting down haha! It was terrifying in the moment, but pretty funny afterwards:) The member of the bishopric made a little comment to all visitors that this doesn't normally happen, but sometimes the Spirit is so strong that people are just overcome with the Spirit;)

We are seeing amazing miracles in our mission and in our zone! As a mission and zone we have a goal for every companionship to have a White Christmas! Last month the zone I am now in had 11 baptisms! So we're excited for these next two months of the year with the baptism dates we have:) The Lord is truly blessing us as a mission and it's so humbling and special to serve the Lord in this great work at this time! I love you all! Thanks for your support and prayers:)

Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson

p.s. funny story. We just got back to our apartment and the subway was seriously packed!! We had to squeeze ourselves in and I was stuck under someone's arm. I had to keep my head bent down so I could fit under his arm so my head was basically on Sister Randall's shoulder. It was so funny! At no other time can you be so close to complete strangers and it's fine. Only in the subways is that normal and socially okay haha!

Nuts 4 Nuts. This is literally the best thing ever. Cinnamon roasted nuts, and when you buy them they are nice and warm! They have them on lots of street corners so they're perfect for a little treat as you go:)

For Halloween we thought we would dress up as each other... ;) 

We buy our groceries and then have to carry them home on the trains and buses. City life is so different! I love it:)

At The MET

This is at our ward Halloween Party!

Book of Mormon Art Tours

Hello Family!

I'm back to the sore feet days in the city, and it's great! Here's a funny from the week. The other night as we were leaving a building I was looking at our schedule on my tablet to see what was next and I ran straight into a glass window next to the door hahaha!! Also in the city there are air grates along the sidewalk that go to the subways. So when a subway whooshes by, air comes rushing out. So we as sister missionaries in skirts try to avoid those haha!

We have a really sweet investigator named Jennifer! She's a media referral which is so cool! We have a cool piloting program with media referrals in our mission where there are ads specified for individuals who search anything relating to God, the purpose of life, and other religious things like that. So we are getting tons of referrals here in the New York New York North Mission which is amazing! Anyways, she saw an ad on facebook and now we're meeting with her! She's wonderful and accepted an invitation to baptism so we're excited to keep teaching her!

One of my new favorite things that we do here is Art Tours at the Manhattan Temple/Lincoln Square chapel. As you know, half of the building is a temple while the other half is a church, so it's very unique! We have 14 original paintings of Walter Rane's depiction of Book of Mormon stories there on display. Walter Rane is a local New York painter who was actually in the bishopric in my Harlem Ward, so it's fun to know him personally. We offer free art tours of these original paintings and are able to teach about the Book of Mormon through pictures. I love it!! You all need to Google Walter Rane's art if you haven't seen it before and look at his beautiful paintings! (Shoot me a little email and tell me about your favorite one and why!)

The reason we have this Visitors Center type thing with the sisters giving art tours is because in the last 6 months we have had two baptisms in our mission from people just walking in to the building out of curiosity and missionaries happened to be there. So we're trying to keep missionaries available there as much as possible:) Many miracles in the NYNYN Mission and many to come! #whitechristmas (white as in baptism clothes) 👼🏻 That's our goal:)

I hope you all enjoy your week! I love you lots!

Love, Sister Johnson

My first Shake Shack shake at Grand Central Station!

BYU in New York??;) (It's for Yale)

New York Public library