Special Moments :)

Hello Family!!

This week was wonderful:) We had Zone Conference on Thursday and Sister Balley, Sister Stark, and I did a musical number and then in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday Sister Balley and I were also able to do a musical number! So that was special and they both went really well!:)

I talked to one guy on the train on Friday and he saw the picture of Christ I had on my tablet case. He asked about it so we started talking and we told him about the Book of Mormon. He asked me what my favorite part of the Book was, so I told him that it's when Jesus Christ comes to visit the people of America after he was resurrected. He stopped me and said, wait Jesus Christ came to America?! No way! He was so surprised and so excited! We flipped to 3 Nephi 11, folded down the page, and had to run off at our train stop. Just the look on his face and his excitement made me so happy! Sometimes I forget how truly amazing the things we have and know are until there are people who hear and understand it for the first time! So that was special too:) I ❤ the Book of Mormon!

One night we were walking up a subway station tunnel to get to the elevator to go home. There was a homeless person we had seen there a few times, but when we walked past her this time we felt like we should talk to her. Her name was June and she had lost all of her family and the cousin she was living with was out of the country so she had no where to go. She was so sweet and it was so special to meet her. We sat down on the floor with her and said a prayer with her. By the end of the prayer she had tears running down her face. We sat and talked to her for a good while. We gave her a pamphlet, a Book of Mormon, and called an investigator we know who knows the ins and outs of street life after going through that herself so they could talk. At the end of us being there a kind man, after hundreds of people walking past us up and down the ramp, just one guy stopped and said "what can I do to help?" He then gave June some money and she was so surprised. She couldn't believe how kind he was to her! There really are good people in the world and it only takes one to make a difference:)

On Friday I was able to spend a day in the Bronx as a missionary while Sister Balley and another sister were at a going home meeting. It was so fun to see another area, and the Bronx was really nice! Then... the best part of the week is that I GOT TO GO TO HARLEM!!! I got to be on a split for a day with Sister Dismuke (from the MTC) in Harlem. It was heaven:) It didn't even feel weird or seem like I had been gone for a long time, it just felt like home. Harlem will always hold a special place in my heart. We were able to teach a few people I knew from when I was there:) We tried to visit the Nieves family (my little recent convert family). They weren't home and they haven't been at church for a little while which is sad, but I was able to leave a little note on their door to let them know I love them!!:)

It was definitely a special week full of good things to remember:) I hope you all have a special week and remember that you are special to Him! Love you!

Love, Sister Johnson 

1. 2 days worth of garbage from Alice! It was a mountain haha!

2. New York Library

 

4-5. We went to the Lego store and made little people. I made a sister missionary but left her there. The little saxophone player we got to keep because we did a little Lego scavenger hunt:)

6. We are currently sitting at a little table people watching:) It's so much fun in NY! So much is always going on.

Not enough time in NY ;)

Hello Family!!

I love you!! It was so nice to hear your voices and see your faces on Mother's Day:):)

So we have an investigator who is moving to Florida which is really sad:( So this week we started to help her pack. She needed some boxes but couldn't find any, so one night we walked into a little grocery store and asked them if they had boxes. They led us down to their little storage place and basically said have at it. We only had our hands, so we each grabbed three big boxes and carried them to the church haha! We were just walking down the street with giant folded up boxes and no one even thought it was weird haha! The next day when we went to take her the boxes it was raining (not as bad as last week though😊) so we took our fancy little Bronx Cart from Costco and took it to the church. We loaded it up with our boxes and put a garbage bag over it to keep it dry. Basically I'm just telling you all of this because it looked ridiculous haha! I'll include a picture of our cart;)

Service is just so much fun to do, especially as a missionary!! I love it! Every week we do service at a park raking leaves and digging dirt out of the gutters. This week we also did some service for a member and helped her deep clean her kitchen for three hours! It's the best feeling ever when you know you've made someone's day better and you did something for them they couldn't have done for themselves:) And something I've learned about doing service for others is that sometimes it comes when it's least convenient for us. But that's when it becomes true service right?:) When it's inconvenient for us, but needed for them:)

We've been busy today playing frisbee at Central Park, adventuring down the streets of New York, and trying all sorts of little bakeries. So sorry I don't have much to write:/ Time goes so fast! There's not enough time when you're in the city! Time just flies:) Unless you're playing frisbee in the humid hot sun for an hour and it's the longest hour ever! But so fun:) Anyways, I hope you all make it a wonderful week!! Keep having faith. Just trust Him:)

Love, Sister Johnson 

Our neighbor Alice:) Oh Alice...

Things at Rockefeller

Levain's - A famous little bakery with giant cookies

Our boxes with a bag that look suspicious...

Be a Doer!

Hey Family!!!

It's the middle of May and it's still pretty chilly here. It's on and off, but more on the cool side than not. Not the kind of spring almost summer weather I was expecting haha! We had a rainstorm to remember the other day. I love rain, and I love missionary work, and I love how nothing gets in the way of missionary work including rain:) With our rain jackets, umbrellas, rain boots, and a smile we headed out into the pouring rain. I have come to appreciate umbrellas so much as a missionary, and it's surprising how many broken umbrellas there are here! Anyways... so we were walking to a building to look up a few investigators and from the church to that building just a few blocks away, we were SOAKED!! Even with my wonderful new rain boots, rain managed to find its way into my shoes, mostly because I accidentally stepped into a giant puddle, so my feet were soaked! I pulled off my shoe when we got to the building, turned it over, and literally dumped rain out of my boot haha! That's what I will never forget! 😅 ☔🌧

One thing I love about New York and especially about our ward is that people here are doers. They are hard core go getters and that's what makes New York so exciting! I feel like no one just has dreams here, because they know how to make their dreams reality! If you want to do something, just do it! Right then! Just go for it, live your dreams! It's cool that we have those little glimpses of hope for the future when we have life dreams, and maybe it's Heavenly Father's way of giving us a little glimpse of our potential:) With His help you have no limits!:) Be a doer!

Our miracle day was Sunday:) President Smith promised us that if we have a clean area book and a clean apartment then we'll have more success. We put this promise to action this week and we were rewarded on Sunday! We got 3 new investigators within 45 minutes, 3 lessons right in a row! It was so amazing! And it was great because they were all teenager age girls, so we'll be able to talk to their family too! (We've since met with them all again, and one girl is still really interested, another her mom doesn't really want her to learn more which the girl was really sad about:(, and another girl's mom is now really interested because of the lesson we had with their family! So more good things to come for sure.) Part two of our miracle Sunday was that we met with one of our new investigators from last week, Armando, and he's awesome! He's pretty young too, about 15, but he was really involved in our restoration lesson and he then accepted the invitation to be baptized! 

Missionary work is great, and each one of us can be involved in it no matter where or who we are! Just pray for those opportunities and the ability to recognize it, and then act on those first promptings! They're straight from heaven!:) "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." I hope you all have a great week! I love you lots!!

I'm excited to talk to you on Mother's Day!!!:):):) ❤❤

Love, Sister Johnson

PS. Last night at our dinner with members, Sister Ballet brought up that I played flute in General Conference! They pulled it up and we watched it so that was super fun haha! They were so impressed:) It's fun to have lots of musical experience in this ward.

Transfer #8

Hello Family!!

Transfer Results: I'M STAYING IN INWOOD WITH SISTER BALLEY!!!! Wahoo!! I'm so glad I get to stay! I love it here and I love Sister Balley:)

We went to the temple today and it was beautiful and wonderful:) 

One crazy thing that happened this week is that randomly a pipe burst in our apartment complex right above our study room, so we came home one day and my desk was soaking wet... but it's okay! Sister Balley and Sister Egbert saved most of it (we were on a split) so only a few books got wet. And I actually love crinkly paper when it's warped and dried, so it's all good. We had to rearrange our room and we had a few bowls on the floor catching water haha! It's fixed now, but it was just a crazy 24 hours! 

Funnies of the week: 

- One night we were walking down the street and a guy was singing numbers at the tops of his lungs "Forty-fiivvveeee... Twenty-Twoooo..." We walked past and he said, You like my voice? Yeah!! Tell Jesus I say hi!!! Haha!

- Sister Balley basically got proposed to by an Egyptian man selling fruit.

So there's a quote in Preach My Gospel: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” This is 100% true! We have a wonderful, obedient, hardworking mission because President and Sister Smith teach us pure doctrine. They teach us the WHY (the doctrine) not just the HOW (the application). It definitely has changed our mission and changed us individually. And it's not a temporary change, it's a lasting change! So I've really realized how important it is to know the doctrine. Anyways, I realized that so often as humans when we want to improve we hammer ourselves with application. I need to do this and this and this. That's all the application, so even if I were to change my actions, I feel like it's more of a temporary change rather than a lasting change where we've changed our nature not just our behavior (take New Year's resolution goals for example. Most the time they are application goals which eventually fizzle out if you don't understand the why!). So, seeing where you are now and where you want to be, what doctrine of the Gospel, or what gospel truth do you need to better understand in order to get to that point? I hope this makes sense:) It's made a huge difference for me and in my studies!! I've been studying the gospel and the discussions as if it's just for me and Heavenly Father is the one teaching me! It's been so enlightening to learn from Him and learn His pure doctrine!:) Cause it's only with His help that I can get from where I am now to what He knows I'm capable of! 

I love you all! Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson 

Our district

Me and Sister Bongolto on a split

Crazy mismatched stairs

Our falling apart ceiling

Manhattan North Zone