Week 12 ~ July 29, 2013

well i am staying in the same area for this next transfer but we moved to a different house im excited for the change! i liked living on the farm before but it was so inconvenient!!! so now we moved more by the city so its a lot better. the lady that owns the house is in our ward our house still isnt in our ward but we are in her rental house in spokane. its like a block away from the library two away from walmart and the same amout out of our area as the last house so i will be much ahppier with this one! well i just got a video from tasia of family home evening last week and well i can tell you that my week wasnt that exciting! haha that sounds like you guys are having fun and doing great though! so last week there was a family in my ward who was moving to idaho and they have been packing up and getting things ready but me and my comp woudl go over there and help a lot but i lvoe this family so much! they just got baptized less than a year ago so they are all still pretty new to the whole mormon thing but their dad is def and so he would stay home and take care of the kids while the mom would work and so these kids have never been told to be quiet. and i will tell you what... these kids are CRAZY they got kicked out of their lastt church cause the kids were so insane! it is so funny i will send a picture i ahve with the family but i was so sad to see them leave! but i am training a girl that has been out for six weeks i pick her up tomorrow. pretty insane .... haha but i feel honored to be trusted with one of these new girls and i am super excited to meet her!! i am not nervous at all which is a little weird i might have a humbling experience soon haha but i hear she is nice and happy and bubbly person! this is going to be so much fun! we need to get this area progressing it hasnt had much going on for a while. its crazy how much i love my new companion and i dont even know who she is i havent seen her face yet :) its so exciting we got a new home a new comp a new start and we are going to work hard!! i love it! but other than that there hasnt been much going on this week! I am doing well and i am so greatful for the love and support from all of you!

Love sister Johnson

Week 11 ~ July 22, 2013

So it was another great week to be a missionary! we made goals and made them this week!!! that is always exciting! haha but we rode our bikes.... A LOT last week! like every day but honestly im not complaing cause i have gained SIX LBS since i got out here! super lame its not going to last! i make my comp ride all the time she probably hates it but she wont speak up and say she doesnt want to do it so im like welp if your not going to speak up then we are going to keep doing it. i love it though cause then we get to talk to a lot more people and then i dont feel so bad everytime i get a soda :/ haha we live right by a gas station so that is definitely becoming one of my weaknesses. i love root beer. i really want one right now but i wasnt going to get one today. anyway just so i can have the backs of the missionaries where ever you guys are, dont ever get mad and yell at them!! we had that happen to us and it seriously made me so sad!! me and my comp both were like torn apart from being yelled at by someone in our ward! we went over to their house to do service for them. so we knocked on their door no answer but they were expecting us and we could hear them inside so we rang the door bell and one of the kids let us in and i heard the kid go down the hallway and say that the sister missionaries were here so i just assumed it was to his mom. so we go in and the bathroom was right in the entry way so we changed our clothes really fast so that they wouldnt have to wait on us but then when we were done we stood there in the hallway like where the heck are the parents and then one of the kids wanted to show sister mcdonald a game he was playing and so she went over and was looking at it and i guess it was right by the parents doorway and then when the dad came out she was right there and was taken back i guess and so he was like rushing out the door and our car was parked in the way so we had to go out and move it and then after he leaves we go outside and start helping his wife and then he calls her and wants to talk to us and so we are on the phone have no idea what is going on but he is telling us that he feels like we invaded his privacy cause we just walked into his house without being invited in and then we stood right outside his door easdropping on his private conversation he was having with his wife (we didnt even know he was there we didnt hear anything) and then just went on and on and made us feel like crap! but it wasnt our fault so we were like what the heck! i wanted to argue with him so bad but i was just like no he already hates us we dont need to make it worse so i just let him talk all his anger out on us and then it sucked really bad! haha so lesson to this story... missionaries are fragile humans too dont be mean to them! so on saturday me and sister mcdonald got blessings and that really lifted our spirits back up. thank goodness for the priesthood!! i love it! haha but idk other than bike riding and getting yelled at that was about my week. we had a few lessons that went really great and i got tons of letters!! thanks guys! but umm idk it was a good week! anyway i love you all and appreciate everything you do for me!

Love Sister Tori Johnson

Week 10 ~ July 15, 2013

This was sort of a slow week but it was still a good one. we had a trainers meeting on thursday which was soooo good!!! i learned so much. i love going to meetings cause those are where you get spiritually uplifted and then the rest of the time week its like you use what you learned so much. then  on friday i had a doctors appointment. i have had strep throat which isnt really slowing me down too much i just have been more tired. which isnt really that fun and then so wait let me back up on thursday night president mullen callled us and said that sister McDonald's Grandfather passed away and that he was sorry and stuff and she was really close to her grandpa and so she was really sad and i didnt know what to do. Im not very good at being simpathetic so i tried my best and so then with my doctors appointment in the city on friday i had to pick up a perscription at walmart and when we got there it wasnt ready so i was like lets go out to dinner so we went to five guys cause it was just right there so i (well my dad) bought us some burgers and fries and then cold stone was just right there too so we went and i bought her ice cream too. thats kinda like the relief society bringing dinners right? well anyway i tried my best and thats all i knew how to do so i did it and so she was really greatful and i think it helped us bond a little more. she is a really sensitive person so i have to be SUPER careful what i say to her. but i think that showed her that i loved her. so we ate and she was smiling and laughing and then we went and got my prescription and so by the time we got back to our area it was like 6 because the doctors took so long and we were like ugh fine i guess we will get back to work! and then well it was good. my companion is doing really well. she doesnt seem like its bothering her too bad. im like walking on pins and needles everyday though. she is a trooper though. so only 2 more weeks of this transfer. i like have no idea what is going to happen next transfer. i am so scared to train although i feel like i had to train sister mcdonald this transfer. she knew very minimal things so i have had to try and help her without telling her how to be better cause everytime i do that she gets all butt hurt. haha anyway i am learning charity. which in my opinion is the hardest characteristic of christ to obtain but definitely the  most important!

I had to talk in church yesterday. My knees were shaking the whole time!! I hate talking in church! but anyway i read part of a talk by elder holland Because of your Faith. (really good talk) but i read the last part where he tells of when he served a mission and that he had to sell things and save up for a really long time because his was a really expensive mission and that when he got back his parents were leaving on their missions and that he was really worried cause he didnt know what to do. so anyway he goes to the local bank and asks how much money is in his account and the retailer says that all of it was in there that his parents paid for every bit of his mission and that elder holland had no idea that his folks were doing that. his dad had not bought any new shirts or ties for two years and his mom had picked up a job at a grocery store to help pay for it too. every time i think of that i think of the family i have back at home. You guys, and every sacrifice and inconvenience you are making for me and i really do appreciate it. never the less i was crying the whole time i was giving my talk and stuff... Lame!! but anyway i also spoke on the character of christ and how Jesus loves us so much! In the MTC i was able to go to a talk by pres. Bednar called the character of Christ.,... seriously best talk i have ever listened to and its an MTC exclusive... LAME!! but anyway it was so good cause he was just telling us that we need to look at other people and not even look at ourselves when it comes to needs. He said that Jesus always turned outward and that the natural man looks inward. what do i need what can i do to be happier. he says that we have to look outward. he said something like where when we are only focused on what others need is when we find ourselves. which he says it way more powerfully than i ever could but i really makes you take a step back and think like wo i need to be better. i need to be more like Jesus and stop being so self centered. I am working on Charity,, one step at a time :) haha but anyway i love you all so much and hope everything is going well. read elder hollands talk "because of your faith" its from me to you! Love you to the moon and stars!!

Love Sister Johnson

Week 9 ~ July 8, 2013

Hey guys!!

so this week has been much better!! we have been visiting lots and lots of active members! we had a training last friday that we have been using with our members a lot! we go and we tell them that they need to invite their friends and then i always show them the video of teren and brandon! :) it makes me smile every time i watch it and we watch it like 2 to 3 times a day :) i love it so much! i love where i came from and what we do there! brandon looks so cool in the video haha and then there is that big group picture of us all and im in there and i want to point myself out so bad but i just keep quiet. i do however tell them that thats my cousin teren and my friend brandon :) haha all of the members love it though. so we saw the most incredible most miraculous miracle i have ever seen! Okay so our area is pretty large. so we have our map of our area color coated. so we planned for yellow in the morning and blue in the evening and then we had specific people in those colors we were going to see. but things just kept happening where we like stalled time a lot and we still had yellow people to visit. so we were there in the evening as well. there was a former investigator who lived in yellow that we decided to go see. so we were heading down his road and i could you not we both had a stupper of thought and drove right past his house so we said okay we will try this other family real quick then head back. so we did. no answer. so we turn around and go back to the formers house his name is chris. so we drive up and him and his daughter are sitting on a deck thing upstairs and so they see us pull up and then they walk to the edge and tell us that their wife/mom is about to die from cancer and that they have been at the hospital all day and that they are just taking a breather and are about to go back. the whole time he was talking i just kept getting this thought share a scripture with them share a scripture with them. so i asked if we could jsut share a scripture really fast and they said yes they couldnt say no to that! so i was like crap what the heck am i suppose to share witht hem so i was panicing and then i got 2 nephi 4: 21 so i read that one and its about nephi and after his dad dies he says that he feels gods love upto the consuiming of my flesh so i am like okay perfect. so i share that one. and then the girl asks for one from the bible too. im like crap i dont know the bible at all!! thats next on my reading list btw but anyway so i knew i had some scriptures marked from seminary and so i was frantically looking through trying to find a highlighted one that would be good for them so i thought i had a decent one and then the girl asks me if my scriptures was only the BOM  and i was like oh no this half is the bible and this half is the book of mormon and guess what. Heavenly Father didnt want me to share that scripture cause i accidentally CLOSED the whole bible and lost the scripture and so then back to square one of frantically searching threw my bible for a scriptures and then i opened up to John 3 (or 4 i dont remember) Verse 16 thru 17 that says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son ........ and Chris says, "thats neat, i was just thinking of that scripture" oh man! my comp didnt help me out at all BTW she just left it up to me to try and figure something out! but i was like oh my gosh this is nuts so we left and so we were talking a little bit,  and he shared something that will always stick with me. i knew this before but it was such a testimony builder for me. he said something like that God will always be with us no matter what. and we can always feel his love. he said that when we dont feel his love its not because he isnt there its becasue we arent doing our part to feel his love and we arent reaching out to him. I loved that. they taught me way more than i  could have ever taught me cuase they are all so calm about her death. they knew that she was going to be alright and that things would be okay. i was so nervous cause i have never had anyone close to me die. well grandma bufa but she was old and ready to die so i dont really ahve much experience with it. but i do know that this life isnt the end and that God's plan for us is way more perfect and magnificent than we could ever understand. it was a good week. we had low numbers but that was a miracle that will always stick with me. and i know that God set our day up perfectly and put obsticals in our paths so that we would be there at that time in that moment. cause they werent at their house very long but we just happened to show up when they were just taking a breather. nope thats not me thats God right there!

Week 8 ~ July 1, 2013

Hi guys.

Another week of being a missionary!! Its been really slow in my area still. we are still trying to find people to teach. our ward mission leader insists that we go through all the members and share a quick message with each of them. so all the active and less active members we ahve seen a lot of. its nice though cause in kinda keeps us busy... but then our numbers are always really low!! which is alright i guess. im starting to like my comp more and more. it takes a lot of patience but i love her. ummm idk not much happened this week. we went to girls camp which was pretty fun. it switched things up and then we talked to a recent RM (girl) and she told some funny stories!! haha she went to brazil but she had to wait for her visa and so she served in salt lake for a while. she didnt really get along with her companion at all and they got in a big ol fight in the car and she threw something at her comp while they were driving and so then her comp called the mission president and she got to stay with them for a day and a half. no comp or nothing! she got to chill and hang out go to a family dinner and eat with everyone and just relax for a couple days. i was laughing so hard when she told me that. i loved it. i do have to admit i am quite impressed with myself. i have become quite the typer lately now that i am on a time limit as to how many people i can email in an hour and a half and so i have become very speedy :) but anyway umm i am learning a lot out here. i have been called unto repentance many times in the past week. i need to change and grow a lot before i can become what the lord wants me to be. i am trying my best though. i love serving and i love the people i meet. i just wish we had investigators to teach. that is the only bummer but we will get them if we keep working hard. the lord promises blessings with obedience and hard work and i am doing my very best and thats all he asks! but the church is true! the book of mormon is the word of God. if people would just read it they could know for themselves. i get frustrated really bad sometimes when people dont even give it a chance. its like come on! all we are doing is asking you to read it and ask God and they can know for themselves they dont have to believe us. they just have to believe God. But its not my work, its Gods work so I shouldnt get frustrated. haha I love all of you and hope you have a good week! Take care and dont forget to read and pray everynight ;)

Love Sister Johnson