September 29, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
This
week has been a week of wonders from visiting with General Authorities to
getting our picture taken for an article in the Ensign, to the women's meeting,
and opportunities to share the gospel at the physical therapist, to setting a
baptismal date with Daisy and Luis, to having a less active family feel the
desire to come back to church. This week has been pretty great.
We have been teaching this investigator named Carla. She is amazing she asks
questions and has a sincere desire to learn... can't tell you how long it has
been since I have found somebody like that here in the south. She asked about
the plan of salvation before we even taught it. We are going back on Wednesday.
We got the Montes family back to church. After being less active for a few
years we went and talked to them at work and just as we showed them love and
talked with them Hermana Montes opened up and told us her concern is that she
feels unworthy to come back to church.. On Wednesday we explained to her that
she is a daughter of God and even though she feels unworthy to meet with us and
to come to church she is a daughter of God who has a divine potential and that
Christ is the greatest physician. He can heal her of all those mistakes and
guilt that comes from them. She said it just hit her on Friday that she needs
to start making changes in her life. Her and her husband closed their business
on Sunday and came to church and brought their whole family. It was such a
sweet experience and almost brought tears to my eyes as I got to see the Lord
help this family have that desire to come closer to him. Such a wonderful
experience that I will never forget.
We have a baptismal date with Luis and Daisy, a part-member family for October
11th. I am seriously so excited for them. After putting them on pause for a
little while Luis decided to make some changes in his life and we started
meeting with him again. we have been tag teaming them with the elders and It
seriously has been amazing to see. I can totally visualize this family getting
sealed in the temple and it makes all the hard work worth it.
One of the members in the English ward, Sister Culwell has been feeding the
missionaries every Wednesday night for the last 50 years. She has 4 sets of
missionaries come to dinner every week and some of her nonmember neighbors have
come every week for the past 10 years. It is amazing to see how willing this
woman is to serve. Anyways they decided to write an article in the Ensign and
they were taking pictures on Wednesday so we all might be in the Ensign.
We went to the physical therapist this week and everytime we go we turn it into
an opportunity to share the gospel. Hermana Warner talked to this guy while he
was waiting for his wife. Turns out his wife is a member who got offended and
she just told him that we can't let other people hold us back. Salvation is a
personal experience. We can't let other people's bad experiences affect our
salvation. I think that statement made him realize the truth. It is so neat how
many opportunities we get a day to share the gospel. Every week when we go to
physical therapy this therapist tells me I need to go home and
really should have my back looked at by a specialist. I tell him I am
staying until December and then he starts to get frustrated.
We are going back
this week and I am gonna tell that physical therapist exactly how it is... that
I am here until the end. That this work is the most important thing I can be
doing in my life right now and even though from a medical standpoint I
shouldn't be here I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that Christ is helping me
through this. He is alleviating a lot of the pain I should be feeling. He is
carrying me the rest of the way because this IS his work. I didn't get a chance
to share that with him but this week I AM DETERMINED to tell him why I am
deciding to stay on my mission and give him a Book of Mormon. We always have
opportunities to share the gospel but do we actually take them or just
ignore it and pull out our phone, or a book so that we don't have to talk
to the person next to us. That is one thing I learned from Sister Zwick
(the general Authorities wife) we should NEVER be afraid to share the gospel.
We may be the only chance these people get to hear the truth and if
we do not share it that will be on our heads at the day of judgment.
Not to scare yall but it is the truth.
We had a recent convert tell us he has been having suicidal
thoughts. When he told me this I honestly didn't know what to say but as I
relied on the spirit I said what I felt inspired to say... I cant remember
exactly what I said but a few days later when we were meeting with Elder
Zwick (a member of the 70) we got a text from this recent convert saying he was
reading his scriptures and he felt that although it would be so much easier
to end his life he got a reassurance that there are people
here on earth that only he can help. I KNOW that each of us has a divine
purpose and that when we feel the path is hard and difficult we
need to realize that the Lord is teaching us... he is putting us through that
fiery furnace of affliction to shape us into who he needs us to be.
At this meeting with Elder Zwick we learned to simplify and intensify our
teaching. We know how to teach but how often do our examples,
demonstrations, motivational thoughts, and personal experiences detract
from our overall message that we are trying to get across..... keep it
simple. We learned from President Wakolo that the gate to the
celestial kingdom is not only baptism but repentance. If people are
baptized but don't repcent they will not remain.... when it comes to the trial
of their faith they will not be converted with just baptism alone... they NEED
REPENTANCE. It is when we have that sincere desire to follow Christ
and are willing to act on that desire and make changes to come closer to
him..... that is what this work is about. Constantly making changes in our life
so that with Christ's help we can be worthy of exaltation. President
committed us all the read the BOM again in 9 weeks... right before I come
home... I just finished but this time I am going to read it all in Spanish...
in the 2 days of reading I have felt the gift of tongues and I can understand
what I am reading. It is incredible how powerful the BOM is.
With Sister Zwick she taught us to have that change of heart... Laman did
everything that he was asked to do... he went back to Jerusalem
multiple times and helped build the boat but what is the difference
between Laman and Nephi? Nephi had a change of heart. rather than seeing the
journey as something that's too hard and we are asked to do too much if we
truly develop those Christlike attributes we will have a change of heart and a
sincere desire to serve God. As we serve God with all of our hearts he will
expand our capacity more than we ever could. I have experienced that on my
mission.... I have been so out of my comfort zone but the Lord has helped me do
it and now I have a greater capacity to help others... he stretches us to help
us stand taller.
She shared an experience of how she felt inadequate they were
called to be mission president of a mission in South America and the first day
there she said she was about ready to pack her bags and go home... then her 9
year old son told her not to worry and that the Lord would help her get through
it. When we feel inadequate with a calling or challenge or in life in general
as we feel we are maxed to our capacity if we go to the Lord in faith and have
a desire to do his will then he will increase your capacity. He will help you
through it. We just need to trust in him. I have learned the meaning to serve
with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. I have been scared to death to
come home and not feel like I have purpose but I KNOW now that as I return home
I will have so many opportunities to increase my capacity and serve the Lord.
The work doesn't just stop after the mission but continues on even more so
afterwards. Elder Zwick told us the mission will get Ipads here pretty soon and
apostles are the ones wanting to put this greater tool into the hands of
missionaries sooner. But looks like we wont be getting them until after I leave
:(
That night we had an incredible devotional with all the ward councils and the
missionaries. The Zwicks taught us about the importance of Preach My Gospel and
something was shared that is too spiritual to write. Preach My Gospel is A
DIVINELY WRITTEN BOOK. The Lord's hand was definitely in the making of that
book and it brings tears to my eyes to know just exactly how much the Lord was
in the writing of that book.... THIS BOOK IS NOT JUST FOR MISSIONARIES.....
there is a chapter on members and missionaries working together. Everything about
that book is inspired. It came straight from the mouth of a 70 that
(EVERY MEMBER SHOULD HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK IN THEIR HOMES).
Sister
Zwick encourages everyone to have family home evening lessons from the
doctrines found in chapter 3. In Preach My Gospel the doctrine is written so
simply you cannot misinterpret it. If chapter 3 doesn't clear up any questions
then read TRUE TO THE FAITH on that topic and you will have an understanding of
that principle. I can't tell you how many things I didn't know or truly
understand until I read both Preach My Gospel and True to the Faith (Not that
you were bad teachers mom and dad but it was just something I had to learn on
my own to gain a testimony for myself).
We learned from Elder Zwick that our
homes are missionary training centers... we prepare our children to enter the
mission field or prepare for the temple. Our homes should constantly be the
place of continued learning of the gospel. I can't stress enough how important
this work is with the members and missionaries. 1/1000 people that the
misisonaries find on the street will be baptized but 1/3 people that are
brought to the missionaries by a member are baptized. I PROMISE YALL THAT THIS
WORK CANNOT BE DONE BY MISSIONARIES ALONE. Now is the time for members and
missionaries to work together. It will feel awful if we get to heaven and our
family members and friends aren't there because we didn't share the gospel with
them... how awful will you feel. Don't just think someone else will share it
with them.... I have heard in a talk that it said in this womans
patriarchal blessing that this woman would have gotten the gospel 20 years
earlier had the missionary who was supposed to share the gospel gone on his
mission. We are the ones who need to do this work. I KNOW this work is
important and I pray that we will all be work together to bring people
through those doors to the celestial kingdom... heaven will be empty if we do
not bring our friends and family with us.
Love y'all,
~Hermana Larissa
Johnson
