Hello! Thank you so much for your emails!! You are all so amazing! And thank you for the birthday wishes and the birthday package :) My birthday felt pretty much the same as any other day- but it is weird that I can now tell people that I am 22. I loved my package! I haven't taken those shoes off since you sent them. They are AMAZING! And I feel like they may just last forever. Hallelujah!!! And the shirts are super cute too! They all fit great and I am excited to have more color in my wardrobe. Thank you so so much! I love you all! Oh! And the buffalo tooth necklace from Mel looks pretty fantastic as well ;)
So there have been a lot more changes happening around here. No surprise right! On Tuesday I got my new companion. Her name is Sister Daphne Munafo!!! She. Is. Amazing! We get along SO well and she is an incredible missionary! It is amazing how your attitude for life and missionary work can change depending on the attitude of the person you spend 24/7 with. She inspires me so much and we are working to make BIG changes happen in this area. We WILL see a baptism and the work is going to take off. I can feel it. I can see it. I love it!
She has only been in the field for a week now but you would never guess that. I feel in some ways that she is training me. We work together with a beautiful unity and we laugh and have fun at the same time. I am so grateful. It makes a big difference to have a good companion. And now I know how to truly appreciate good companions ;) I am praying that I get to keep her for at least two transfers. Unfortunately, she is a visa-waiter.... She was called to go to Brazil before issued the call to serve here. BUT we get to learn Portuguese together! So far I have learned two words- salvation and yes. Pretty good for a week! :)
Other crazy news: So you may be wondering (or not since yesterday was memorials day) why I am emailing today. Yesterday we had a mandatory, mission-wide, mystery meeting. We were imagining everything under the sun happening- the second coming, splitting the mission, an apostle.... Nope. None of that. President and Sister McKee have been released from their mission a year early..... :( We didn't see it coming! Sister McKee has undergone immense health challenges, but she is back! She has pretty much fully recovered and we thought we would have them until the end of their call. The Lord obviously has other plans. They are really sad about it, but they are doing as the Lord commands. They are leaving on July 1st when we will then receive our new mission president- President Andersen. He is from Ogden Utah. His wife and one of his kids went to Utah State. I think we will get along just fine :) It will be an interesting change. I am grateful though to know that as long as we are already being obedient and living the mission rules, a change in mission presidents probably won't change that much. I have great hopes for what this could mean for our mission. We are already experiencing miracles in a way that I could never imagine. The Lord is hastening his work!
Sister Munafo and I have been all over the place this week. We have so many investigators in about 4 different areas that we work. We continually have to adapt our teaching to the needs of those we come in contact with. One area we work is project housing. The people are all black and are very receptive to the message- they just have a hard time keeping commitments. There are also many that can't read or are generally less-educated. Another area is very well-to-do. The people there are very intellectual and will study it out but question every bit of it and don't want to change. They are wrapped up in their materialistic lives. The last area is more in the middle but they are lacking a great deal of faith. That seems to be the biggest problem in the work in this area. The people don't understand love and they don't understand faith. There are people who are non-denominational- and it is so sad because their belief is that God is love. God loves us no matter what we do. So it doesn't matter how we live because we will all be ok in the end. We were talking to a lady that said that this was her basic belief, but as far as Jesus Christ was concerned, she didn't understand his part in the plan....
We went to a non-denominational service and the doctrines and interpretations were heart-breaking. God does love us, but we need to exercise our faith. I am feeling that pressure more and more. Our faith needs to be increasing and we need to be working harder. Salvation is not a cheap experience! Only when we have the faith TO OBEY do we truly understand the sacrifice of our Savior. I can't even really explain the views of these people- many of them don't even believe the same things. They are so lost, it is depressing. And yet they think they are happy. They go to church, get their cup of coffee, listen to some Christian rock music and then hear a sermon that is based out of a modern-day translation of the bible. They don't read on their own. They don't study it out for themselves. They all believe different doctrines. And they don't understand Jesus Christ.
"A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." (2 Nephi 29) How often those words ring out in our ears here in the South! Do we truly understand what a gift and a blessing the Book of Mormon is?? Do we truly understand what our Savior did for us? Do we KNOW that this is God's kingdom once again established on the earth before the Second Coming of our Savior?? And if we do, why aren't we doing anything about it?! In Jacob 5:70-76, it refers to the laborers in the vineyard. And it says that there are few in these last days to try to bring as many back as possible. I wish, oh I WISH that people could feel this fire and understand the great importance of this work! It is so much larger than anything I have ever been a part of. It is so much more important than my greatest wishes and desires. It is truly a call to every single member to step forth and spread his word.
I know that God loves us and because he does he gave us a Savior to provide the way to return to him again. I know that we must exercise our faith in obedience to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God has provided help for us in these last days to accomplish ALL that he requires. This is HIS work. I am grateful that he has chosen me to be a part of it.
I love you so much. I am grateful for your example of love and service. I am truly blessed with a family that understands and lives the Atonement. That is the greatest message we can carry. I pray that you are all doing well and look forward to next weeks emails and adventures. I love you!!!
Love always,
Sister Alicia Johnson
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