MTC II

Pre-MTC: Saying farewell to puppies and (below) to siblings.

Hi Family!

Mom thanks so much for your email! And thanks Mel and Dad for writing me letters :) I really, really appreciate it. I finally understand why missionaries love mail so much. You see everyone else getting it and then you say, "Hey! Doesn't someone love me too...?" You know they do but seeing that letter in your hand with words of love is the best part of some days. So I really appreciate it :) Haha it sounds like everyone is doing great! Melanie is such a goober. You were really eating pizza with a numb mouth?! You are a silly girl! I'm glad you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was really great here too :) OH!!! And I absolutely ADORE the picture of Athena and Churro, Mom! Hahahaha! They are sooo adorable! I miss them almost as much as I miss my amazing family :)

So as per usual, I feel like I have to crank this baby out as fast as I can. Everything else will have to be responded too through snail-mail. Deep breath.... HERE WE GO! I'll start with Thanksgiving. It was a really great day. We did a service project, got to watch a movie and eat popcorn, we went to devotionals, we had an AWESOME turkey dinner and were otherwise VERY spoiled. The best part was the General Authority Devotional. Elder Holland adopted us as his own for the day. He made a great pseudo-dad. (I hope he writes me at Christmas like a good dad should). They put on a cute program with his grandchildren and then he stood up and pounded us with the Spirit. It was incredible. You know he is a prophet of God because all of his words hit you directly and you always find you want to change for the better after seeing him. But he also pours out an amazing spirit of love. I love him :)

The rest of the week has been full of learning and teaching. Sister Bauer and I have had some very powerful experiences. I had a rough night on Sunday (Sunday seems to be the hardest day for me. I always start to miss my family so much) because I was feeling inadequate and just wanted a hug from my parents. So I sat in a quiet room and read my Patriarchal blessing, cried and prayed. The Lord did bless me with peace and then he more than made up for my sadness these past couple of days. The first was on Monday. We teach a less-active member. From my journal:

"I had a very powerful experience today. Probably the most powerful yet. It was in the TRC. We had planned for a 19 year old investigator. We had prayed A LOT for guidance as we studies and we had been directed in two different directions. Then, it was time and "C" didn't show up. We had a new less-active member. We walked in. She was a sweet, older lady, Sister "A". EVERYTHING felt so easy and so natural. It was as if we were sitting with an old friend. She said she was looking for relief from feelings of pain and anger. She didn't know where to go anymore. The Spirit entered the room with such force. God filled the room. God's love filled the room. Everything we said was guided by the Spirit. Our planning had been guided by the Spirit. God loves her SO much! The power and enormity of God's love is so powerful that every time I put myself back in that room I'm filled with a buzz. A spiritual high. And the only reason I got there was because I was sent to such a humble, low place the night before. The Lord lets us sink to depths to help us reach a higher place. I love Him so much. I wish I could really explain what happened.. All I really know is that the Spirit was INCREDIBLE! And it carried into the other lessons we taught today too."

The amazing thing about this experience is that as much as I remember what happened, I couldn't tell you at the same time. And the Spirit was literally pouring through me like a waterfall. It was so intense that afterwards I was completely exhausted. God needed her to feel it. And he allowed us to be the instruments. The next day we had two more similar experiences with God's love pouring through us and the Spirit guiding our words. Both of our Tuesday investigators experienced something incredible and are ready to take the next step. "L", the hard lesson we had the week before, was one of them. She opened up about her life. She was in a shooting when she was younger and felt that God had spared her. She has cancer. She wants to be with her Mom, who was a drug-addict, again some day. Sister "B" picked up on this and the Spirit directed her to it. We determined what she needed and next thing we knew, her countenance had changed and she said she would do anything to be with her again. Wow.

I can't believe that I've really only been here for two weeks. It feels like I have grown so much already. The power of God's love says it all. There is nothing in the world like it- and I want to help everyone experience it. I love you all so much Mom, Dad, Melanie, Jaron and Zach. So much. When we talked about love in class, I realized how incredibly blessed I've been to have you there for me my entire life. Some people don't have that. That is why I'm here so that somehow God can touch their lives and their hearts with His magical, changing touch. The gospel is true. Jesus Christ lives. He loves us. He loves me. He loves you. I am praying for you. I pray for you a lot :) You say so many prayers here :) It's amazing. If you haven't talked to God in a while, you should. He wants to hear from you. I love you! Please have the best week and be safe. God loves you. If you don't know it, know that I do.

Love you so much!

Sister Alicia Johnson