Dear Family and Friends,
Back surgery went well. I
was so nervous.... I am terrified of needles and an epiderral didn't
sound too exciting. I was so lucky to be put in a place that had all the
doctors I needed to get my back fixed. We went in on Tuesday and when
they took me to my hospital room they made sister baird go wait in the
waiting room and it was one of the weirdest feelings to not have someone
with me for 15 minutes until the nurses came in and prepped me for
surgery. I was a little nervous and was awake for the whole surgery... I
almost passed out once the doctor stuck the 6 inch needle into my
back.... Not because of the pain but because I was scared of the needle.
I think sister baird was a little disappointed I wasn't more drugged up
afterwards. I survived my first epiderral... Now just recovering. Still
sore from the surgery and I can't stand for more than 10 minutes at a
time or bike for the rest of my mission but then again that isn't such a
bad thing.
This week in sacrament we had a member talk about how
much she loves blood and guts. It was pretty entertaining to hear her
talk. One of the members sitting behind us said if she mentioned blood
and guts one more time he was going to leave... We were trying not to
laugh.... Who knew you could tie blood, guts, and scary movies into the
atonement.
This week was a tender moment. I realized how glad I am
that I have gotten to serve The Lord for the past 9 months. It is crazy
how fast it flies by and how much you learn. This week was extremely
rough but one thing I learned as I was reading "our heritage" this week I
read about Zion's camp and how they faced so much adversity I
learned that sometimes the lord puts us through the refiners fire
because he knows what we can become. He sees our potential and through
the challenges and hard times he shapes us into who he knows we can be. A
mission has not been easy but I am so grateful about who it has helped
me become. I've finally learned the meaning that you find yourself only
by losing yourself in the service of others. When you focus on others
you will never regret it.
I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve and I
can't wait to see what the next 9 months brings. I love you all and
hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Hermana Larissa Johnson