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

Guess what... :) Transfer#12

Hello Family!

You'll never guess where I am right now... back in the CITY!!! I am serving in the Manhattan 2nd Ward which covers from 110th street to 34th street of Manhattan on the east side of Central Park. I was super surprised to be heading back to the city again, but I'm glad to be back:) I love Manhattan! My new companion is Sister Randall from St. George, Utah and I love her already! She is a dancer and the oldest of 5. I am so excited to serve with her here:)

I was pretty sad to leave my little New Paltz Branch. I love the faith and examples of the members there, and it felt too soon to leave them, but I promised I would come back. During my last week there we saw a lot of success! We had a Book of Mormon finding activity at the campus with our big Book of Mormon board. We would ask people if they had heard about the Book of Mormon before and it was amazing! One student walked right up to us and without us even asking said, "No, I've never heard of the Book of Mormon. Tell me about it." We taught Chris, met him the next day and had a great lesson, and then met him again on Monday! He is sincere and really has a desire to know more and know if this is true! 

Another was a girl named Amanda who has been so prepared. She has a lot of questions about Jesus Christ right now because she has been studying a lot of different religions. I asked if she ever wondered why there are so many churches on the earth and she said "No... (then after pondering for a while) why?!" I explained Christ coming, the Apostasy, and the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith and she was amazed! She was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and learn more. We got quite a few other potential investigators from that as well, so it was definitely a success! 

I know the Book of Mormon is true. It has the answers to all the questions we have if we sincerely study and ponder what it teaches. I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to be a prophet in these latter-days. We are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times, and what a blessing it is to share that with others!

Make it a great week!

Love, Sister Johnson

Beautiful Fall Hike at Mohonk

Walkway across the Hudson

In front of our New Paltz chapel

SUNNY New Paltz campus:)

Me and Sister Perkins at transfers

 We went to a super awesome museum about the city of New York and the transformation from when it was just a piece of wilderness land to now! Amazing:) My wonderful new companion, Sister Randall!:)

Our zone

 

Strengthened by the Lord.

Hello Family! 

We had a special experience during Sacrament this week in our little branch:) We have a member who is blind, Brother Krom. He plays the piano sometimes and after years and years of being a member he finally received the Aaronic Priesthood. For a long time he just didn't feel ready, but he got it two weeks ago and has been so excited! This last Sunday he helped pass the sacrament for the first time. One of our young men guided him as he passed the bread and water with his arm around him the whole time telling him when to go, turn, and stop. It was so special to think about how the very thing we were remembering, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, is what will someday restore him to perfect health. Jesus Christ himself caused the blind to see when he was on the earth, yet Brother Krom is still blind. Why do we have to deal with those things now? Why do bad and hard things have to happen to good people? It's hard for sure, no doubt about it, and we all have our share of imperfections and weaknesses in life, but I truly believe that they are all for our benefit if we let them be. If we draw closer to Him and trust him, he can help us:) 

Just like in Alma 2:28 with the Nephites and their weaknesses as they went up to battle, but "nevertheless, the Nephites being strengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, therefore the Lord did hear their cries, and did strengthen them, and the Lamanites and the Amlicites did fall before them." We can overcome our enemies (weaknesses and imperfections) in the strength of the Lord.

Three times so far we have used a Conference Talk that ended up being perfect for what someone needed! Keep reviewing them, they're amazing!:)

We had a busy day today with hiking this morning at Mohonk Resort and then with our district we walked over the Hudson River on the Walkway in Poughkeepsie! It was lots of fun and I'll send pictures:) Make it a great week! Love you:)

Love, Sister Johnson 

General Conference

Hello Family!

General Conference was amazing, wow! I love the encouragement, inspiration , and unity we can feel at General Conference and I know those who spoke to us were called by God and spoke His words:) I love General Conference!! And now that we've heard all these wonderful talks, what are we going to do about it? Therefore, what? Like Elder Anderson said, "There is a treasure chest of heavenly direction awaiting your discovery in the messages of general conference. The test for each of us is how we respond to what we hear, what we read, and what we feel." Is that not a wonderful and exciting promise? A TREASURE CHEST full of guidance, blessings, and help! So, what are we going to do?! These talks are like our modern day scriptures specific for the next six months of our lives. I encourage you to "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." Review the talks and act on the messages we have received because they really will tell you all things you should do in the next 6 months!:) 

We had a super great Missionary Finding activity at the SUNY Campus yesterday! We had one of the young women in our branch, Lizzie, paint a world map on the back of our Book of Mormon board up here! (Sounds familiar right? Flashback to the city!) She did a great job and we were able to talk to a lot of people about Family History work and introduce them to the restored gospel:) We found two new investigators and the Elders found one as well, which is already heading towards more than we have found in a while! It's been amazing as a mission to focus on individuals age 18-30. This is the decade of decisions always talked about, and this is an amazing time to change their life! We've been spending a lot more time at the campus, and it's been fun to act in faith and have cool little contacts with people.

We also did some fun service for a few members this week! We got to paint someone's room and we did some yard work cleaning and organizing so that was fun! 

Also it's Sister Perkins birthday today! Wahoo:) P-day B-day! Here's a funny story about her in honor of her birthday:) She grew up on a farm and the other night she told me how she would clean their chickens. In my head I was like, "aww they give their chickens a bath, how cute!" until the conversation turned to chopping their heads off... different kind of clean;) She's great though and I'm glad I get to be her companion:)

Make it a great week! 

Love, Sister Johnson 

1-2. Service!

3. Sister Perkins driving!

4-5. The world map Lizzie painted for us:)