Thursday Jan. 31st- Wed. Feb. 6th

Weekly Report 

Thursday January 31st - Wednesday February 6th

 

Updates:

As I mentioned last week we are opening a new area in Westchester. We are taking the Northern part of the Westchester 2nd Branch which includes: Sleepy Hallow, Tarrytown, Irvington, some of Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry and Hasting on Hudson! 

 

Funny Story:  At this past transfer meeting our mission president was telling us about his birthday experience (January 25th). 

The whole mission surprised him (thank goodness for smart leaders: assistants to the president and senior couples who work in the office) with two things.  The one the Assistants thought up was to tell our whole mission to each write a letter to president and send it to his house. It was to include birthday wishes and our commitment to lock in truth and lock out the world (something president Morgan has been asking us to do). Therefore, he received about 120-140 letters in the mail! The other surprise one of the senior couples put together. We were to write a message in an email wishing him a happy birthday and mentioning Locking in truth. Then Sister Denison printed them out and all the emails were put inside helium balloons and then locked inside his car!  I was not there but he was very surprised. He and some others popped all the balloons to get the messages out.  During our transfer meeting he shared what one of the ASL elders had wrote. "Happy Birthday President Morgan! You are now one year closer to living in the presence of your Heavenly Father!" hahaha  

 

Pretty much everything changed after I emailed last week.  We are way more connected to the Branch and our area. I still rely on the GPS a great deal lol but that will come in time.

 

Thursday Jan. 31st:

We got lost a few times haha. We drove to our area to check out Tarrytown and Sleepy Hallow! They are darling towns that are right next to the Hudson River.  Seeing our area helped us be excited for the work! Before it was somewhat abstract and not tangible to us, but actually seeing our area was awesome!  That night we had dinner with our new branch mission leader.  His wife is from Mesa! They have a darling daughter named Sydney and are expecting another girl in May.  The Nelson family lives near to us and they have been a great help as we dive in.

 

Friday Feb. 1st:

We went to the mission office to get some English proselyting materials. It's weird because it's not where I would expect the office to be located haha. It's a suite within a bigger office complex but it's right next to a Banana Republic and some other nice stores. When we first got there and were looking for it I was definitely confused!  I also found out a lot of important information about the car we were driving! For example we've been going through the EzPass things without a pass... =P

And we're suppose to be recording our miles in this booklet, and some other minor details which no one explained to me on Wednesday when they just gave me the keys! haha anyways I'm proud to say now that I am no longer ignorant in those areas I have not made the same mistakes.  We took longer at the mission office then originally we anticipated because of the education I received about the car policies from Elder Denison. 

We then went to our area where some of the elders where helping us find people.  We got one referral that we're still trying to get in touch with.  We ate dinner at an expensive pizza place (everything in Tarrytown is expensive). Sister Awerkamp has Celiac so we got a gluten free veggie pizza with chicken.  After we ate we ended up talking to a family who was there for dinner and taught them a little bit about the restored gospel.  The wife spent 15 years in Arizona. She actually went to Gilbert High when it first opened so that was cool. What I've found so far in that area is that even if people aren't interested they are still pretty nice about it, which is not the case for the missionaries in South Manhattan!

 

Saturday Feb. 2nd:

We went to the mission office because President Morgan wanted to have an interview with Sister Awerkamp.  He didn't get a chance to talk with everyone when they were at the mission home so the few others he's been calling in.  I think it's awesome that he is talking to all the new missionaries to help them get settled in.  I remember that's what I thought would happen with President Smith when I first started my mission.  For whatever reason President Smith didn't interview our group.  My first time talking to him one on one was three months after I had already been in the field.  I think it would have been a smoother transition if I had the opportunity to sit down with him.  Anyhow when we went to the office I had a letter from Tristan and a parcel my mom forwarded me from home that a friend from London sent me.  It's funny being near the mission office and having some of the office couples living in your apartment because you get office mail more frequent.  The majority of the day we spent with the Nelson family (branch mission leader and his wife). Brother Nelson does an excellent job at magnifying his calling! He is really on top of it =) Sister Nelson works with the young women and they helped us identify some of the ward members, their situations and ways we could help, including part member families.  I am so grateful they have help us grab a hold of what we are doing here.  It was great to talk about our goals and how we hope to help the branch.  When we were leaving I mentioned how much I love a certain kind of pen (yes those of you who know me know how much I LOVE OFFICE SUPPLIES!) and also how I needed to get some more of the pencils they had. I may have asked if I could borrow the pencil I had been using when I was there and they said I could have it! Brother Nelson let me take a few mechanical pens and he gave me a ton of my favorite pens!!! I know that sounds dumb but that is like my dream come true! Especially with how expensive pens and pencils are to buy on a missionary budget. Anyways I knew that we were going to make a great team! hahah

That night we had dinner with the Matthews family and they are darling as well!  I am thankful Elder McCullum and Elder Aagard have been keeping us in the loop for dinners!

 

Sunday Feb. 3rd:

We went to Branch council first thing in the morning.  Our branch is located in a really random space and it's part of an industrial office.  The address I had didn't have the suite number so it was really weird to find.  Eventually though, after calling Brother Nelson, we found it =)  The branch council is great and President Fillmore is really on top of everything. They are excited we're here and there is plenty of work for us to do!  We counted about 45 people total at church including nursery-adults! It's small but it is an awesome group who love the Lord. There are plenty of spaces for us to come in and lift.  I am grateful that there is so much that needs to be done for this branch because it makes it really easy for us to be wrapped up and fully engaged in this work.  A few people told us that having Sisters in the branch is an answer to their prayers. That makes you feel good! haha

Truly though a lot of the work that needs to be done here to strengthen the branch involves single sisters(young and old) and single moms, thus it is a lot of work that the elders can't particularly do because of rules the mission has about having another male present.  Plus we all know Sisters have a special way of touching hearts! =) 

It was great getting connected to the branch and we made a lot of appointments to visit people during the week.  After church they had our first choir rehearsal! We stayed to be apart of that.

Sister Fillmore told us about a couple in our ward who are wonderful! She explained how they have a really stong desire to go through the temple and how she wants to help them with temple prep.  Unfortunately the times they are free is when she's in the middle of dinner and homework with her family, plus she lives quite far from where they are.  She asked us about the possibility of us teaching them the temple preparation course. That was perfect because we are 100% flexible to the schedule of others and we're looking for ways to fill our time.  She was overcome with joy and her eyes teared up as she talked about what a positive impact we are going to have on this branch.

After we came home from church we ended up stopping by the Denison's apartment in our building because we wanted to say hello.  We stayed and chatted with them for a little while and it was lovely.  They are a wonderful senior couple who I got to serve with when I was in the Bronx.  They invited us to stay for dinner =) While Sister Denison prepared a few things Elder Denison helped us take the air conditioner out of our wall because it was letting in a draft and freezing Sister Awerkamp! It's nicer than in the cities because they have a slot where you can put the AC unit where as in the city you just stick it in your window! hah.  It was a delicious meal, wonderful company, and we ended the evening by sharing my testimony of Mosiah 4:10-12 and how that scripture taught me how we can experience a remission of our sins and retain that wonderful feeling!

 

Monday Feb. 4th:

It was a busy day!  We went to our first District Meeting in this area at the Scarsdale chapel.  Afterwards we all went to eat at the mall. It was fun to sit and chat with the Sister's we share an apartment with. I love both of them! Sister Dalley (who was in one of Sam's core classes at Paul Mitchell) and Sister Keanini from Hawaii who is like a Hawaiian version of Sister Ortega to me =P

Afterwards we had an appointment with a woman from the branch who Sister Fillmore said could use some spiritual support and strength right now.  It was such a joy to visit her and her family.  Later at night we visited the couple who wants to go to the temple.  They are living in humble circumstances and you can't help but feel the spirit there.  They joined the church in Giana and are both working to save up money for their son and his wife to come to NY to be sealed in the temple. We are going to start meeting with them twice a week in the evenings! They only live about ten minutes from us so it'll be easy to work with their late schedules.

 

Tuesday Feb. 5th:

We visited the Relief Society President, Sister Skousen, to talk about how we can help her and the sisters in our branch.  She is such a wonderful woman and her family has written some scholarly books about the church.

We also visited two other wonderful people from the branch! Our schedules are getting busier now that we have a sense of direction =)

 

Wednesday Feb. 6th:

As for today it is somewhat crazy. We did our laundry after some hassel with tracting down a card to load money on to.  There is a lot we want to get done today and so little time. That being said I need to wrap up this email.

 

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Emily A. Johnson

 

Upcoming:

I've heard that one of my very best friends Jillian Bacigalupo is getting baptized this Saturday!!! Which is awesome!!! Jill send me some pictures! =D

Saturday Feb. 9th is Brendan's baptism! I will be speaking and I am so excited to see him take the step closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Sunday Feb. 10th I'm giving a talk in chuch based off of Elder Uchtdorf's last CES Fireside "What Is Truth"

Pictures

• Sister Awerkamp and I always joke with members as they try to learn her name. I say, not your camp, but Arrr (our) camp! lol

• I got a care package from the Elliot Ward Miamaids! Which was awesome!!! I'm planning on writing them thank yous! Hopefully I do that soon.
• Sister Awerkamp by our car! It was really weird driving again after 11 months!
• The four girls in our apartment (Hermana Dalley, Hermana Keanini, Sister Awerkamp and Me)
• Elder denison helping us not have a freezing cold room! haha

I have a lot of updates

I'm sorry I didn't not get a chance to email you yesterday.  A lot of CHANGES were made in the mission and a lot of those changes impacted me!

I am in a opening a new area and training! I am in the Westerchester 2nd Branch with Sister Awerkamp from St. George Utah.  She is awesome! I love her already.  She is very prepared and we're tackling all the changes together.  We also get to drive a car! Yesterday after the upstate transfers I was THRILLED to be in our car! It was so bizarre because I haven't driven in 11 months! I am the designated driver so I will be doing a lot of driving.  The GPS knows the area better than we do! hahah
We had ten new sisters come into the mission yesterday.  
Our mission president said that the 17 missionaries are just the first of the 89 that will arrive in the next 11 weeks!!! Talk about being a part of church history lol  We also live in the same apartment building as two of the senior couple missionaries and the traveling sisters! We've got support all around us. 

It's funny training in a new area because I keep having to answer all of Sister Awerkamp's questions, "Well in the city..." I told her we will figure it out together and I know she's excited to get to work.  The dynamics of being out of the city are completely different than in the city.  At this point it feels like a car is more of a hassle than the trains and buses were, but I'm trying to remember they are different. One is not necessarily better but there are pros and cons to both.  I'm excited to meet the branch here.  It sounds like a great group of people.

At transfers a lot of other missionaries kept telling my new companion how amazing I am and how she's going to have so much fun. She heard comments like she'll have to keep up with me and your companion is crazy! hahaha it was really cool though to see what my beloved fellow missionaries said to her because it made me feel really good. It's an honor to realize they think so highly of me. Which is exactly how I feel about them.  

We're emailing today so you know we're alive, or rather so her family knows she's alive :)
Today we're going to drive to our area which covers Sleepy Hallow, Tarrytown, Irvington, and half of Elmsford
Last night we had dinner with two of the elders and our old branch mission leader.  Tonight we are going to have dinner with the elders and our new branch mission leader. This is the first time english speaking sisters have left the city.  There is our area and an area in Connecticut.  I'm excited to work hard and build up this area. I know the Lord called us here for a reason and we have very deep faith that he will show us what He needs us to do.

President Morgan also gave us permission to return to the city for Brendan's baptism next week! I'm very excited about that =)
I don't remember much about what happened this past week.  
I found out I was leaving and white washing (opening a new area) last Thursday. From Thursday-Tuesday we had a few scheduled appointments and I did a lot of packing. That Thursday everyone in my apartment found out they were training!
Sister Lavaki is training in Harlem, Sister Broderick is training in the East Side, Sister Woo is training and returning to Chinatown, and I'm training and opening a new area at the same time.

Friday we had a meeting for those who would be training and we focused on some key things that would impact our effectiveness as a trainer.  Thus far I feel I have been able to implement that into our companionship.  I have also felt the spirit in rich abundance as we've talked and shared with one another, especailly with different aspects of the work.
Last night when we were driving to our old branch mission leaders place it was dark and rainy. I decided I do not like driving in those conditions in a new area that I don't know at all! haaha.
Anyhow, please keep us in your prayers. We will need the Lord's help in everything that we do. I feel peace however because I know like Nephi the Lord will provide a way...even when I don't understand, I can be led by the spirit.

1 Nephi 3
 7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

1 Nephi 4
 6 And I was ^aled by the Spirit, not ^bknowing beforehand the things which I should do.

I love you very much! Thank you for your support at this time in my life.

Sincerely,
Sister Emily Johnson

Thursday January 17th - Wednesday January 23rd

Thursday January 17th - Wednesday January 23rd

Recap: Shortly after Christmas there was a poem I wanted to email but I forgot it.  I have it with me today and I think it is especially helpful now that the season has passed. 

I invite you to read this poem and reflect on how you can let the spirit of Christmas work in your life this year (2013).

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry.

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart."

-Dr. Howard Thurman

I absolutely love this poem.  It reminds me that the work of what we celebrate each Christmas season is really the spirit would should have with us all year long.  Decembers are especially meaningful if we do the work of Christmas during the whole year. <3

Weekly Report:

NEWS:

IT'S FREEZING!!! The wind/air eats away at my skin! haha but seriously!

Thursday Jan. 17th:

It was a busy day! We did our weekly planning and finished in a timely manner! That's always exciting.  We went the church for our lesson with Brendan (teaching Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and the Law of Chastity) From there we went to visit Yassmin who I knew from the Bronx.  Directly after that we ran to have dinner with Tempestt Turman.  She is a member in our ward who I am best friends with! We took pictures with our backpacks.  She took us to a place called Roti Roll and it was actually really good! It's like Indian food in a wrap and I got one with mild spices and I loved it! I want to go there again.  We ended the night by going to visit a former investigator from before the holidays.  

This past week or two I have been especially surprised by how quickly Wednesday comes!

Friday Jan. 18th:

We had a Mission Leadership Training that took up the majority of the day.  It was really great.  A lot of information and spiritual thoughts from the Sister's Conference were repeated but I didn't mind because it gave me a second chance to soak it in.  The message of which was focused on our purpose as a missionary, what standard we are to live up to as an official representative of the church and how we made a promise to the prophet to leave all other things behind as we seek to do the Lord's work.  There's nothing quite like the reminder that you made a promise to the prophet that really kicks my focus into gear! haha, well and the fact that I made a promise to the Lord. It's wonderful though because I'm seeing how quickly the end of my mission is approaching as I draw nearer to my year mark.  Plus with all the incoming missionaries the missionaries who have been out for a while are loosing a week from each transfer to adjust to the surge.  Due to this I could be finishing my mission July 31st.  It's just too close to the end for me to tolerate loosing focus.  We had dinner that night with Ash Coleman at this cool French sandwich place.  I had a Mr. Otto sandwich which included roast beef, pickled pears and tickled cheddar.  The pears were sweet and added a nice balance to the sandwich.

Sunday Jan. 20th:

We had three investigators at church and one at church in Virginia. After church we had a meeting with our ward mission leader and the ward missionaries.  It was exciting to bring us all together and everyone reported back on news they had. It was empowering and exciting to realize when you get great minds together, set goals and delegate tasks great things can happen.  Our ward has a lot of support with missionary work.  We're planning a dinner with our Bishop's family so they can get to know our investigators better.  Ever since one of our recent converts has struggled in the ward I realized our investigators need to have a good relationship with the Bishop. 

Tuesday Jan. 22nd:

We had two member present lessons! One of the members (Michael Brandley) joined us for both lessons.  He served in the New York South Mission.  We taught Brendan about tithing and fast offerings.  He's become so humble and accepting of the things we teach.  I have learned so much from Brendan.  He has really seen the spiritual strength come into his life since we've been meeting with him and he knows the Lord will continue to guide him even when he doesn't fully understand every detail right now.  Then we taught Dana with Michael and Dakota and it was great. We discussed Dana's concerns. We had an idea of the points that are holding him back from feeling confident about baptism. It was great to here it from him though.  He has a baptismal date for February 15th that he is preparing for.  He said he's been praying about baptism and he feels better about it now than he has before but he's still not sure. He is one his way =)  I love seeing people resolve their concerns and progress in the blessings of this gospel. 

We made our way to visit a less active member and her mom. It was freezing cold!!!!! This was when it started getting really bad!!! It's suppose to snow a few days from now and then it'll warm up supposedly.  After that we had correlation with our ward mission leader.

Then Sister Lavaki made a delicious meal with some groceries I had bought.  It was team work lol.

Wednesday Jan. 23rd:

Today! I love getting laundry done lol.  Sister Lavaki made us pancakes for breakfast. After I finish emailing we're going to play games with the elders from our district.  

Upcoming:

I should know today or tomorrow if I will be training.   

Thursday Jan. 24th  There is supposedly going to be a training meeting for all those who will be training.

Wednesday Jan. 31st  TRANSFERS and we have no idea what is going to happen! This transfer is going to be a big deal! There will be six new English sisters coming in.  Right now there are eight of us haha so I'm 80% confident I will be training. I'm really excited about the idea.  I think I'd be a fun trainer lol

February 9th Brendan is getting baptized!  He asked me to be one of the speakers.

Well my loved ones...

I love you.  I hope you can feel the Lord blessing you and guiding you each day. 

My time is being spent. All I can do is appreciate each day and count my blessings.

I add my testimony to that of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf from this last General Conference's talk Of Regrets and Resolution,

"It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret¹¹ and remove the burden of our sins.¹²His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart,¹³ and a determination to do better and especially to become better...

The path toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that eternal path today; we cannot take for granted one single day. I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I love the blessings available to use through the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Peace and Blessings

Peace and Blessin's

Sincerely,

Sister Johnson

Pictures:

Tempestt and us

After we taught Brendan on Thursday

Dakota, Me, Sister Lavaki and Dana

Michael who joined our lessons 

It's cold!!!
It's Burrr here for sure! 

Lego picture

bulletin board in the primary room in Harlem

sister Lavaki's pancake lol

 

Highlights Weekly Report

Highlights Weekly Report 

Thursday January 10th - Wednesday January 16th

Thursday Jan. 10th

We had our Sister's Conference which was wonderful! All of the sisters in the mission, including senior sisters came together to hear from: the traveling sisters, the assistants to the president, and the mission president and his wife.  Each one spoke on a different topic and left us with a lot to ponder and reflect.

I was spiritually uplifted and it helped me refocus on what Heavenly Father needs me to do to improve.  Overall one of the things that I took away from the conference is that I made a promise to the prophet that I would maintain the highest standards, leave behind all other personal affairs, and be an official representative of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I left the conference committed to be more disciplined in the way I keep my focus, in tune with the spirit, and professional in my personal conduct. I am here to represent the Lord.  In otherwords I need to remember to loose myself in the service of my heavenly father.

I have already seen the difference in the measure of the spirit I feel.  I am excited to see how I continue to grow in these last 6 months.  I'm determined this is the only real way to do the Lord's work.  I feel edified and ready to give my very best.  I apologize  if I am not very good at writing letters or getting back to individuals.  I just know that the time I have left to serve the Lord is quickly ending and I want to invest all my energy and efforts here. 

After the conference we had a lesson with Dana. He is someone that the sisters started teaching but then he got passed to the elders because they taught closer to where he lives. He lives in the Bronx now so he wants us to teach him now.  He is awesome! I love seeing how reading the Book of Mormon really guides us to Jesus Christ.  He has so much potential and I'm excited to get to know him better.

We had a dinner appointment that night with a member who is roommates with the Barlow girl (Seth you know their family).  Their apartment is so cute! I look forward to decorating my own place one day!

Friday Jan. 11th

We had another APF (area prosylting focus) at the same spot as last week.  Again we gave away about 40 copies of the Book of Mormon.  Sister Lancaster gave me apackage from Tristan! Thanks Tristan =)  After we finished there we went to the church to have a lesson with Brendan! It was a wonderful lesson!  At the very beginning he told us that he had read the whole chapter of Alma 32 and loved it.  He knew he needed to be baptized because verse 16 really hit him.   It talks about being baptized without stubbornness of heart.  He was so happy. I love how the scriptures can help us receive personal revelation!  He's a truly wonderful person and he's been one of the most proactive in his learning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our dinner calendar is picking up a lot! It was slow for a while in the fall but now we started getting fed every night. It's awesome! I definitely don't have any complaints about that.

We had another dinner appointment and we're trying to help members recognize opportunities to share the gospel with people who are already in their life. 

Saturday Jan. 12th

We had two appointments with elderly individuals from the family ward.  On Saturdays we go with the elders in the Harlem 1st Ward to go see Brother Keitt and Sister Dickey.  They are both characters! They truly look forward to the missionaries visiting all week.  Any missionary who comes through this area knows who they are =)

Sunday Jan. 13th

It was a lovely day! We had a few investigators at church and a few new faces that our potential investigators! It was busy but wonderful.  We stayed after church because Brendan wanted to see the baptismal font! We had dinner with Nick Knutson and then headed to the CES Fireside!  We met up with Dana and his friend Dakota who is a member.  We all went to the broadcast together! Dakota works at Levain Bakery and he brought us some delicious cookies!!!  Pretty much all Sister Lavaki and I ate Sunday was sweets haha. We started the day with brownies that Sister Woo made.  At church the Relief Society won a contest against the Elders Quorum about who could have a higher reporting average for visiting and home teaching. Not necessarily a higher number of who did their teaching, but simply reporting.  Since we won Jon Burgen had made cookies, brownies, and truffels! Delicious! Then our dinner was the cookies from Levain Bakery.  If anyone has easy healthy recipes I would love copies! haha I don't intend to always eat sweets.  Oh and I thought the CES Fireside/broadcast was amazing! If you missed it check it out!  

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/ces-devotionals/2013/01?lang=eng

Monday Jan. 14th

We went to District meeting at the Inwood chapel.  Elder Conlon, my district leader gave a wonderful training on how significant prayer, scripture study, and church attendance can be in our lives and especially as we prepare for all the changes in the mission.

After District Meeting we came back to our chapel.  We were suppose to be meeting with a referral from the spanish sisters but he didn't show. We ended up contacting individuals and giving away copies of the Book of Mormon outside the chapel with Elder Witbeck and Elder World (from Sandy Ut). Sister Lavaki even gave a copy of the Book of Mormon to a Cop =D  It was really cold! The weather is so back and forth. Recently though it has started being very cold again!  It is fun to work together as missionaries.  They joined us for a lesson with a man Sister Lavaki had contacted on the street a few days prior who has since denounced Christianity.  He was open to hearing our message.  I'm not sure how well he absorbed what we shared but I am very grateful the elders joined our lesson because Elder Witbeck was able to keep up with him on all his intense knowledge about the history and background of the bible! lol

Tuesday Jan. 15th

What a busy day!  We had two lessons, one with Brendan and the other with Dana.  They are both great! I know I keep saying that but I mean it =)  Brendan didn't have any big questions for us like he normally does.  He's been feeling a lot of peace and feeling that he doesn't have to worry because the missing pieces will come in time. He has starting telling his friends and family about his baptism!  As for Dana he committed to prepare to be baptized on February 15th.  He still has concerns but we talked about the importance of having a goal to work towards and how it shows Heavenly Father we are willing to act on the answers we want to receive in our prayers.

We had a meeting with Bishop Blair and Alex Kim to discus the work and follow up from our last meeting about how we can help the bishop.  It was really good to be able to report on what we've tried to do since our meeting at the end of November.  It's really neat to work hand in hand with the bishop because he has the keys and stewardship over the work in this area.  If we are doing what he would like us to all is well =)

Wednesday Jan. 16th

Today we went to Target to exchange a fitness ball I bought last week for one that wasn't missing the pump.  Then we came to the Harlem Chapel to email.  After this we are going up to Inwood to place games with our zone at the chapel on Riverside Dr.  Following that we have an appointment with a member for dinner.  Life is going well!  Sister Lavaki is crazy and as a result we are crazy together!  I have no ideas what President Morgan is going to do this upcoming transfer (January 30th).  I think I could be training in this area but it's hard to say for sure.  By April they will have opened 3-5 areas for English speaking sisters upstate.  Right now the only places English sisters serve are various parts in Manhattan and the Bronx.  I'm looking forward to the leadership training tomorrow!

The next few weeks are going to be very crazy! I am excited and focused.  This is my time to let my light so shine and allow others to see my good works and glorify my father in heaven!

I love you and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Sister Johnson

president morgan and myself

all the sisters and these numbers are doubling

Some of the sisters with Sister Morgan. They gave us all different scarfs for us to remember to get "wrapped up" in the work.

Thursday Jan. 3rd - Wednesday Jan. 9th

It's always good for me to sit down and write about the week because I'm able to think,

 "What did I do this week?"

Haha I know many of us have to confront our memory as we recall previous memories.

 

Weekly Report:

 

Thursday January 3rd:

We taught two lessons and had dinner with one of our members.

Our lessons where with Brendan and Jeff.  They are always a blast to teach!  I love preparing to teach investigators because it allows me to ponder the doctrine and what questions or concerns the person we're teaching might have that I don't have.  Both were some what long lessons as we addressed their needs in depth. Plus it was Sister Lavaki's first time meeting them, so it was a tough way to jump in and get to know them lol, but she did great =)

 

Friday January 4th:

The APF (Area Prosylting Focus) was in our area.  That's when our zone comes together to help one companionship with a consentrated effort in one area.  It used to be called a Blitz.  We followed through with an idea I had one night when I was pondering something Elder Rasband (a general authority) had said about when he was a mission president.  In one area the only thing the missionaries could do was stand on the corner and give out copies of the Book of Mormon.  Although the missionaries didn't know how their efforts would impact that area Elder Rasband did get to see a baptism come forward from their efforts a few years earlier.  So I got thinking, "Why not tell people we're giving out free copies of the Book of Mormon? We do that anyways, but if they know that up front maybe they'll be more inclined to take one.  Plus people who are more interested will be filtered faster. "  I felt good about this idea. I really wanted to give it a shot.  Our companionship brought 20 copies and the elders had about 10 and we set up a table by the 96th station of the 1,2,3 train.  The first five minutes were a little weird and we got two negative responses. However, after that it really picked up! There were all kinds of people coming through there and we were able to put it out there. We gave away 30 copies of the Book of Mormon and some in Spanish within an hour and a half.  It was a joy to give out copies of the Book of Mormon! Some people who took it had never heard of the it so some times they would stop and let us share more.  Others who didn't have time could simply take the book and go.  One guy I talked to said no at first but turned back before crossing the street and said, "Why not?"  I made a point to put a card with our information inside the ones we brought and I'd include a copy of the restoration pamplet when people took a copy =)

With the presidential elections, the Book of Mormon musical, and various news on the church I think people are more aware overall about the church or at least have heard of it. It's a great time to share the gospel because people have questions =)  

The only down side to Friday is that it was freezing cold!!! I was wearing a huge coat and gloves but my fingers felt like they did when I took a fall snowboarding a month before the mission and Tristan had to warm my hands up. It's the kind of cold where I feel I can come really close to crying! I eventually took a break inside the train station.  After a little while we ended the APF and got hot chocolate at 7/11.

 

Saturday January 5th:

Our whole mission had the opportunity to serve one more time in Queens.  We were put in groups according to our district or zone and then we combined with some of the NY South Missionaries.  We were there to help them finish up with the work orders that had been received because of the storm.  From what I've heard most of the groups didn't have very much work to do.  Our group was lucky though because we were able to help a guy strip out a lot of his mom's house.  He was happy to see the damaged things get removed. His gratitude is the greatest thank you he could give us.  Afterwards there was a time when we were waiting for our ride (the south missionaries had taken the Canadian people who came down to help back to the train station. We stayed behind to finish the clean up. On the way back to pick us up they got lost. The two south missionaries didn't have a GPS and it wasn't their area lol. They were lost for two hours!) so we went to the beach near by. It was fun to sit at the shore.

 

Sunday January 6th:

I was sick =( I was sick a few days ago with sinus nonsense or a cold. I think it got worse because of Saturday's service. However, it was great going to church and having half of our ward back in town =) In the afternoon we had our inspections where older missionaries come and make sure everything is well with our apartment. The two senior sisters that come to check our apartment are so adorable! I love them =)  We went on a split so Sister Lavaki and Sister Broderick could go to a dinner appointment.  I stayed home with Sister Woo for dinner and we had a deep conversation analyzing what it means to be open with others. It was really interesting.  After the mission I'd like to research some studies and see if there are similar conclusions that have been made.

 

Monday January 7th:

It was a weird day. However, we did get to teach a lesson with the APs (Assistant to the President) and it was lovely.  We met a crazy lady on the bus! It's pretty normal but this one was especially crazy because she didn't really understand who Jesus was. But she "believes in Isaiah". She was entertaining if nothing else. 

Earlier in the day we met a cool artsy girl that was super nice. She wasn't very interested in learning but she told me about a lot of great art galleries to check out. Sister Lavaki thinks we'd be great friends =)

 

Tuesday January 8th:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I was able to talk to my Dr. in AZ on the phone. That was cool, plus it shows me I've been out for another six months.  Time is so bizarre, that's why we need to use it well.  Later we had lunch with a member and his roommate who are comedians here in NY. They are very funny =)

Following that we had a lesson with Yassmin! She is a recent convert from the Bronx when I was there. She is living in Harlem now and it was great to see her again.

We met with another investigator and read from the Book of Mormon with him. Earlier we read the first two chapters with him. This time we read chapter 3 and verse 7 really impacted him.  It has given him the desire to search the scriptures and read more.  I love how the scriptures and the spirit can touch us in a deeper way than we can often explain.

Sister Lavaki was very bold with him about our purpose and trying to find out what he wants to learn about and how he has to be willing to put in the time.  At first I was really nervous about what she was saying because I know the investigator a little better but by the end I felt really good about what she said and how really it's how the Lord will bless him.

 

TODAY:

Wednesday January 9th

Yesterday was my eleven month mark for reporting to the M.T.C.!  How crazy is that =P

We have a few more things to get done today.

 

UPCOMING:

• Thursday January 10th  Sister's Conference
• Sunday, Jan. 13th CES Firesdie (Elder Uchtdorf)
• Friday, January 18th  Mission Leadership Training

I love you!

Remember to take time each day to...

• pray and talk with Heavenly Father
• study the scriptures
• go to church (once a week at least)

I know if you do these small and simple things with an open heart Heavenly Father's love and spirit will be with you in rich abundance!

Alma teaches,

"6 Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

I add my witness to Alma's that small and simple things will indeed bring about great things! That's like my life story right now! Both for myself and for the people I am serving here in New York City.

 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Emily Johnson

pictures for this week

I was jumping on the damp mattress we rolled up. It was a lot of fun!