Alicia! 2-18-13 Bowling Green, KY

Dear Family,

You are going to be shocked about the news of this week.... I know because I am still in shock about the situation. I got a call on Tuesday night at 9pm from President McKee. "You are getting transferred to Bowling Green Kentucky tomorrow at 9 in the morning."

Wow! Ok... Man alive! So I have been out on my mission for a grand total of 9 weeks. This is my third area, third companion, and third zone. I had three weeks with Sister Hill opening Princeton. Now I am whitewashing an area with Sister Thulasidass. Sister Thulasidass is- you will never guess- from India! She is a Temple Square missionary. She has been serving her mission for 11 months. As part of the Temple Square sister's missions, they proselyte for three to four months. So... Lo and behold, I am with a new companion, in an area that is SO different from my last.

Do you remember when I thought I was going to serve my mission in India? I had an experience at Utah State where the Spirit powerfully witnessed to me that I needed to serve a mission and it was connected with India. Well, I didn't get called to India, but now I have an Indian companion 9 weeks into my mission. Chance? I think not. The Lord has been preparing this companionship for years. I am now just learning to cope with cultural differences, but thanks to that witness that I had years back, I know that there is some great importance in this call. I can only imagine what President McKee felt when he received that revelation... but he is so trusting in the Lord and he has truly been an anchor in this entire situation. It is amazing how the adversary likes to creep in and try to make you believe you can't do it. It hits me every morning. But I have found that the areas where I lacked in my last two areas have been strengthened immensely. Talking to people? Not a big deal. I thought I would never like tracting. It's a breeze. Teaching? Still needs work, but it is progressively getting better. Missionary work is difficult- when you rely upon your own capabilities. I am giving it to the Lord. I am trusting that He knows much better than I do.

We have already had an incredible experience. We had NO investigators when we got here. Not a one. We went to the Walmart on our first day- since we also didn't have any food. While there, a woman approached us. She has been taught by missionaries before and she is ready to be baptized. Four hours in the area! The Lord works in mysterious ways. We just need to teach her all of the lessons and actually commit her to a date. She even came to church yesterday and witnessed a baptism and confirmation. Miracle!

So a little bit about this area. It is a very culturally diverse area. We have 5 sets of missionaries here now and two wards. There is a set of senior missionaries, another sister set, a spanish speaking elder set and a swahili speaking elder set. Yes! Swahili! We have large groups of people that have immigrated from Tanzania or Swahili or something. There is a Hispanic community, a black community, Southern Baptist white community, muslims, rednecks- you name it, it's here! It is a pretty large city and there are people EVERYWHERE! We went to a find a less-active member the other night in an apartment complex and ended up with two new investigators that were walking outside.

What else can I tell you about? I smell delightful! (But not really...) My companion cooked onions the other day and the whole apartment reeked of them. From my last area, all of everything I own was permeated with the delightful smell of smoke from the neighbors who lived below us. And then the other day we went to a less-active members trailer home that had a delightful smell that also permeated my clothes! So the other night, I smelled like the delicious smell of smoke, onions, and dirty trailer. What a thrill! I hope it doesn't scare new investigators away...

Oh boy! I love my family dearly. I am so happy that everyone is doing well. Mel! My companion likes Indian food! You totally work at an Indian restaurant! Cool :) We have things in common :) How are the mission papers going? Any news yet? PS- My companion used to be Hindu. She is a convert of 5 years. There are 10,000 members of the church in India out of 14 billion people that live there. You should convert your boss, Johnny! It can be done. :)

Dad, I love your emails. :) You are so silly! I try calling you everyday and you never answer! You need to come here. It already feels like spring. And not even a little bit of snow! Pretty great. I am so jealous you get to do taxes. Gosh golly that sounds like SO much fun! Guess what? I love you MORE!!! You didn't send me any Valentines cards... but a 6 year old gave me a lollipop with a rose on it. Aw.... my Valentine!

Mom, I love the picture of Joe! You should mail him to me so that he can visit Kentucky. Oh the places Joe'll go! I like the pics of Jaron and Taryn too... CUTE! They are getting married... and stuff! (for Melanie- that one kid with the flavr savr that I can't think of his name. Jenni loves him. Bleached hair. Oh! Dan Curtis!)

Jaron, I am excited for you and Taryn! I sure love you both!

Zach, same story kid. I sure love you :) You like Indian food too!

Grandma Janet, thank you for your emails! I have been getting them and I love hearing from you. In the strength of the Lord we can do ALL things. What a beautiful blessing! And what a wonderful blessing we have the gospel and our families to strengthen us. I sure love you!

Well, I am about out of things to say. I love you all. I am truly very blessed to have so much love and support from God's greatest blessing- my wonderful family. It is so wonderfuly that I can testify of the love of God because of the love I feel from you. Thanks for your emails!! Have a fantastic, fun-filled, muddy week! God is good. :)

LOL (lots of love),

Sister Alicia Johnson of the Bowling Green Kentucky 2nd Ward in the Tennessee Nashville Mission

Alicia! 2-11-13 Princeton, KY

Hello! I love you! The computers have been having difficulty today and it took me half an hour to get on. But here I am! I am grateful I have some time to write you briefly each week. I love the spiritual, mental and physical support that I gain from my family and wonderful friends. I love you all.

This week has been so fast again! I don't even know what to say haha :) We have been tracting and teaching as much as possible. Some days you walk into every door, other days, it isn't until 7:30pm that you finally find someone. It can be very difficult. And exhausting. I am so grateful for the strength of the Lord. 

So I wrote Melanie about the guy who thinks I am his daughter. He obviously has some brain damage and some wires that are not connected. He called us on Saturday again thinking the same thing. It is like he just creates these connections in very strange ways. Well, he called and started rambling his story again. He said he thought that Sister Hill was my mother... ok... And then she stopped him and asked him to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and to call back after. We didn't answer. He has called four more times since then and left messages. The guy needs help- but we can't really be the ones to do that. We are going to work on getting his number blocked so he can't call anymore. 

Honestly though, I don't feel scared at all. This week I have done a lot of studying on exact obedience. In the 57th chapter of Alma there is this amazing story about 2000 young men who are sent to war. From verses 19-27 it tells about their experience and how they came to be preserved in a miraculous way. "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them.... Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." While in the process of studying faith, I learned that really I needed to study obedience. You see, when you are exactly obedient to what the Lord commands, He promises that you will increase in faith, testimony, wisdom, protection and freedom. Obedience strengthens our faith. Obedience gives us protection. We follow and live strictly the mission rules and keep our covenants to receive those promised blessings and to show our love for God. 

Obedience applies to everyone and every situation that people are going through. The Lord has commanded that we put our trust in Him, that we pray, that we read our scriptures, attend church, etc, etc. Usually if there is a problem with someone's relationship with God or extra stress in life it is directly related to obedience. Do we all look to truly keep our covenants with God? Do we understand what God has commanded? And do we understand why we obey? With investigators we run into this problem all of the time. And teaching it can be incredibly difficult... I know that as we are obedient we are blessed with strength and with miracles. 

The work is moving along. It feels slow... but I have to remember that we just opened this area and we are still trying to even find people to teach. After the trial of our faith comes the miracles. 

I am glad that there are so many exciting things happening at home. :) It is good to stay busy with life and family. I love that this gospel is so family-oriented :) It is eternal! That is amazing! I did get your package too! I love it :) Especially the fuzzy poster calendar haha! I dunno if I will ever have a second to think about coloring it but I love it! Oh and the Thor tat :) sweet!! I haven't gotten a bike yet. Still working on that one. It is cold and warm- kinda feels like spring here all of the time. I like it :) I have no idea if I answered all of your questions again... I feel like that is not really one of my strengths. Plus I really can't remember everything that happens around here because it feels like 7 days packed into one. I am turning into an old woman I think. 

I love you all. Please have the most amazing week and know that I love you very much! And remember, God is good :)

LOL (lots of love),

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 2-4-13 Princeton, KY

Hello Family! 

As always I am incredibly grateful for your love and support and wonderful emails :) I love you all very much! Not going to lie- this past week feels like a blur. We have been working so hard! We have really been working on exact obedience- so to the minute of our schedule to be starting studies and getting out the door. We are out ALL of the time. Very rarely do we even take the full hour for lunch because we have so many other things to take care of. It is crazy because I hit the bed hard and fall asleep instantly because I am SO tired! But because we are working so hard I also have so much energy! It truly is the Lord strengthening me and my companion. She is awesome! So hard working. The poor thing hasn't been sleeping too well this week and yet you would never know because she won't stop working! We are definitely being blessed for our efforts too. 

So I think I told you last time, but our area is really huge. We tried to visit as many people and the different cities as we could these past couple of weeks and we drove 750 miles- in two weeks! We only get 1250 for the month so things are definitely going to change soon. We don't have bikes yet... hopefully really soon. But we do have a really nice car! It is a brand new 2013 Ford Cruze. Yep! Brand new! I don't know if they completely thought that one through though- it is white, and we drive on muddy, dirt roads all of the time. Haha! Needless to say, it is filthy now. We are truly blessed to have it though. 

As far as teaching goes, we have been working our tails off to find new investigators. We try everyone we can on the ward list. And we have tracted probably a good 10 plus hours this week. I am definitely not as nervous about knocking  on random doors or about being rejected. You just expect it. We have a really cool technique that we use to get in homes though- they call it the harvesting technique. You knock and introduce yourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ that have been sent to their home to pray with their family. For how many Christians there are, you still get a lot of rejections, but it is powerful. You bring the spirit very strongly and then you can teach about the Restoration and Book of Mormon. We sure love prayer!

Oh what else... Here is one y'all will like :) We visited a less-active/part member family. They were the greatest ever! She was this little thing with, again, no teeth. She just was super spacey acting. She had a long braid, round glasses, and a patterned dress. We walked in. In her quiet little voice "Do you want to see my house?" Sure! So she shows us around her house. They got the linoleum waxed! They told us that like 12 times... Then she points up to the ceiling "Look we've got satellites!" (it's really a little sun-window). Then her husband, "I can't read and write, but I've got degrees! I've got a stack this high!" (gesturing about four inches). "I'm a fireman!" Oh my goodness! They were the most adorable people! Then we asked what she thought James 1:5 meant. "Exciting!" was her response. And then we asked how she came to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. "Relief Society" she answered. It was such a funny situation. We seem to be in a lot more funny situations in this area. I really love the people- they are just so different! It really is like I am in a different country all of a sudden. A lot of them come from really sad, humble situations. And yet, the hardest thing is that even in humble circumstances many don't even accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. And then there is the challenge of teaching to their understanding. Even within the branch, they seem to understand the gospel on such a different level than my companion and I do. 

Last night, we were in Cadiz. It is about 30 minutes away from Princeton and is where half of the active members live. We were looking up people on the less-active list. We stopped by a man who was born a member but now claims he is agnostic. We were able to talk about building a relationship with God and how to go about doing that. It is by small and simple means that something as "abstract" as God can be brought to a full understanding. Prayer and reading the scriptures. That is how it begins. We just have to trust and have hope that we will receive answers and feel that God is there. I know He manifests himself to those that ask through the power of the Holy Ghost. So many times I have felt the power of God wash over me and work through me because of the Book of Mormon and because of prayer. And amazingly enough, God is logical as well. He speaks to everyone in a way that each individual can understand. I know He is there. I love Him very much. We were able to share all this with this man, P, and we were able to pray with him. When we got back in the car, Sister Hill said that she felt that the Spirit restrained her from praying- that it needed to be me. I know I prayed that he and his family would be sealed together and that he would come to know that God is there for him. I am so grateful for opportunities like this everyday.

You know, life can be really, really hard. What a blessing it is to know that when we do as God commands that we will be much more able to handle whatever comes our way. God is bound by laws. We must be obedient to all He asks and the blessings are sure. I feel that everyday as I work to come closer to Him and work to serve His children. I love Princeton Kentucky. I love my mission. I love my family. I love the gospel. 

I pray that you all will have a wonderful week. God is good! 

I love you lots!

Sister Alicia Johnson

PS- The Assistants found my scriptures! I will be getting them back sometime this week :) Yay! Also, I remembered one more thing that I would love to have (the list is never-ending, I apologize). It is the gospel art book from the LDS distribution center. Thanks thanks! 

I am so excited that everything is going so well for everyone :) Jaron and Taryn! Getting married :) Sounds crazy busy to take care of all of that. Italy! YAY! Exercising! Work! Melanie working at the BART!! WHOOP WHOOP! I love y'all :)

Alicia! 1-28-13 Princeton, KY

Ok! Hello Everyone!

Again, I hope I can answer all of the questions and fill you in as much as possible on all of the goings on. It is absolutely crazy how many things there are to do and say! Crazy! And 26 minutes left! Here we go :)

So first, thank you for getting a package together for me! I would like to request a few more things since we are not near too many places to shop here and I would like to be riding a bike soon- I need more skirts... Long skirts. The members are working on getting bikes for us. So hopefully within the next week we will have those. I will look into a helmet from Walmart. :) Thanks! I can look at Walmart for skirts too- I am not sure how much money is on my card. I spent $100 on a gps (absolutely necessary). Ok, I think that's it! Thanks :)

Alright. So I am in Princeton Kentucky area! It is amazing! It is huge! We cover 5 counties from the top of Kentucky to the bottom. It is the greatest thing ever. Lots of country, small towns, and backwoods type of areas. We have a car but only have 1250 miles a month. It is 40 minutes from two of our most member populated areas. So we have the challenge of figuring out how best to reach everyone and get members involved, etc. There are about 50 active members in our branch. And they are great! The first night we got in our new apartment, about twelve of them came over with a bunch of furniture and food and stuff. They fixed us right up! They haven't had missionaries full-time for about 10 years- so they are SO excited to have us! And they are so grateful to have sisters :) Everyone loves us and it is such a blessing! They are gung-ho and fired up about missionary work. 

Everyone here is pretty much Baptist. You get turned away a lot of the time because of that. Other times, you really feel that Southern hospitality. Even if they don't want to listen, they tell you to be safe and that they are grateful for our efforts in spreading the good word. There are a lot of humble people in this area. Lots of missing teeth and overalls :) Ha! It is awesome! The grammar is the best too! "We was going over here. We was doing this and that.." It is hilarious! 

Transfers happened on Tuesday. We met in Franklin Tennessee (by the temple). I was also a part of a missionary choir for an interfaith meeting on Tuesday in Elkton Kentucky (another small town). So we drove there after transfers. That was a cool experience. Little tasty-taste of Baptist and Methodist music. I loved it! Wednesday, Sister Hill and I had our full day together. We spent the first few hours driving :) Sister Hill is AWESOME!!! I love her! We are laughing all of the time. She is bold and unafraid to knock doors and bear her testimony. We are just great friends already. I am so blessed to be serving with her :) She is from the middle of Oregon. Purdy cool! 

What else... so we don't really have a teaching pool. We have only a few names in the area book to start with. Fortunately there are a lot of part member families and things of that nature. There are a TON of less-actives however. In part due to the distance to and from the church building. We have a lot of work to do- a work that I adore and love. I haven't felt so happy my whole mission! The challenges and the rewards are so different and so great. It is like a fresh bed of snow and we are the first to walk through it. We have to tread lightly and carefully to set the stage for those who come after. What a blessing and privilege it is to have the trust of the Lord in this great endeavor. We are seeing miracles and we will be seeing a lot more. We have set a goal to have 12 new investigators this week. Through faith and a lot of tracting we are gonna make it happen! Baptize Everyone! Haha! I love missionary work :)

I am so happy to receive y'alls letters and emails :) I just love my family and friends and everyone who has supported me and helped me get here to this wonderful place. It is through faith in God and obedience to the little things that we begin to see our lives come to more fulfillment and feel more joy. Oh my goodness! We went to see a member's mother in a rehab nursing home last night. She was great! As we were walking out there was this adorable little old lady. She was just so sweet and glowing sittin there in her little wheelchair. We talked to her and gave her a Book of Mormon. We gave her a hug and in her sweet little voice she said, "Love you both!" She was darling! There are so many good people all around us. Never be blind to stopping for just a moment and glorying in God's love together. That is the best way to feel God's love- through others. And as a missionary we get that opportunity every day, every hour. It is such a blessing and a privilege. God is good!

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week! I can't wait to hear from you again :)

Love always,

Sister Alicia Johnson of the Princeton Kentucky mission area

Alicia! 1-21-13 Smyrna, TN

HELLOOOOO Family!! Guess what, guess what?!?! We got transfer calls this week!!! And I am now going to leave you in suspense :)

It has been an AMAZING week! We hit the ground running again- full-force missionary work. We had 31 lessons this week and we got 8 less-actives out to church! It was incredible! The Spirit is amazing. Missionary work is amazing! There are so many miracles every single day. We also had interviews with President McKee this week. He is such an amazing person and leader. He follows the Spirit with love and that is such a blessing as a missionary. 

Quick story: The first week I was here, Sister Thatcher brought up a name- C. As soon as she said her name, I knew she was ready to be baptized. It was so exciting! So that first Sunday, we extended the baptismal invitation. She did not commit. We still knew (and know) that she is ready. We have met with her a couple of times throughout the transfer, but she is always "too busy" to have regular meetings. Yesterday, however, we committed her to one more lesson before I was to be transferred. We have been teaching in her son's home with his family there. We knew we only had up to an hour to teach lesson two and bring the Spirit in full force. We walked in with purpose and the Spirit entered with great force. We powerfully taught the Plan of Salvation. We bore witness and C's family bore witness. She is stubborn (and openly says so) so she continues to not commit to a date. The Spirit directed me not to offer the baptismal invitation, but to suggest instead that she receive a priesthood blessing from her son. This would be her first experience with the priesthood. Her son, A, had tears in his eyes and said he would love to give her a blessing. As missionaries, we decided to let them have this experience as a family. We left. We know that C knows she will be baptized. Sister Thatcher will have a date and a baptism within the next transfer. :) What a miracle to see a family come together like that!

Thank you, as always for your emails! I am so happy that things are going so well for my amazing family! Jaron and Taryn getting married, dinner with Zach, Mel having blessings, and Mom and Dad just being amazing parents and loving and supporting all of us. :) GUESS WHAT!!! Mom! You have a birthday this week!!! Happy happy birthday! You are amazing Mom! Thank you so much for everything you do for all of us. Thank you for your support and love! I am going to send a birthday card out today (hopefully), but I just want you to know now that I love you so much :)

Dad, thanks for your email! I love hearing about your mission experiences. It is amazing how little moments like that remain with you. I feel the peace and love of God more than I ever have before. It is very present with me. And I determined exactly why I had been feeling so anxious- it boils down to exact obedience and repentance. When even just one little thing is off, it gives Satan more power and influence. As soon as I realized what I needed to change, I was able to repent. I studied repentance today and having been pondering about it for the past week. Repentance is one of the most beautiful gifts from God. And the sooner we make those changes to come closer to our Savior, the sooner we can heal. President McKee shared a story about Sister McKee with us. She has had a feeding tube in her stomach and in this past week they were able to remove it. It basically is like a cork that has to be pulled out of a hole that is smaller than the stopper. The easiest and best way to remove it, is to do it quickly with a lot of force. It causes A LOT of pain. When they removed it, the doctor did just that. He pulled quickly- and pulled it right out. She screamed in agony. It took her about two minutes to catch her breath- but after two minutes, the pain diminished and within a week, it was completely healed. That is how repentance is. We must remove any amount of sin as quickly as possible. It may cause a sharp pain- but it does not last. In fact, if we do it quickly, it heals much more rapidly as well. The alternative is having surgery, being numbed and allowing it to heal over several weeks. I have found in the last week, that as soon as I realize I have done something wrong, I must make amends immediately. Only then are our garments cleansed from all stain (Alma 5:21). Think about stains- it is the same way! The quicker we remove a stain, the less time is has to sit and our clothes are made more clean and spotless. No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven. I challenge you this week to truly dig deep inside yourself. Uproot any amount of sin that could potentially be holding you back from further progression and know that you can have more peace and happiness by doing so. I love the gospel. I love my Savior. What a blessing it is to come to know Him more every single day. 

Further thoughts and news- I keep forgetting but I really need some stuff sent my way :) I am almost out of vitamins from Advanced Health Clinic. They have helped me a ton- so more would be awesome. Also, those Airborne vitamin things are super great too! I think the combination of the two have helped me stay healthy and not get the flu. Also, I don't have a ton of time to cook but I don't have a real cookbook with like cookies and bread and things like that in it to give to people. I have a few out in the garage that might be good choices. I just need one though :) The memory card I got at Christmas didn't have music on it.... :( I would love more music! The Nashville Tribute stuff is awesome!! The only one I have right now is Joseph Smith. Trek is really great though and I would love to hear the missionary one. Also some variety of Mo-tab stuff- like their disney stuff maybe? :) Don't worry about it if it is too much to ask of course :) Vitamins are definitely more important. 

OH! I am so happy Sister Latu is going to write me!! I have so much catching up to do on letters... so I apologize if you don't get any this week either... I would love to hear from Michael too! I should have sent something before I left. Anyways are you ready for the transfer news?!..... Yes? Here is it!! I am getting transferred to Princeton Kentucky!!!!

I am opening the area with Sister Hill! :) :) I am so excited!! I am not training, but President said to be prepared to train at the next transfer :) This transfer is shorter too. It is only 5 weeks! So it is quite possible I will be moved again very soon. Man it is crazy how quick everything moves! I have loved serving in Rock Springs though :) What an amazing place full of amazing people! Princeton is very rural- farming community extraordinaire! We have only a branch- but some of the Elders have already given me some referrals and a family that another Elder baptized moved there so I will know one family already :) They are full of missionary-fire (is the word on the street) because every branch wants to be a ward. So be expecting some big miracles in the next 5 weeks!

Well family (and all others who are reading this), I love you so much!! Thank you for your love, your support and your prayers. Missionary work is amazing!! I am getting more and more saturated in the work- and the blessings are incredible. I am so happy!!! LOL [lots of (insert word: love, letters, laughter, lettuce, ligers)]! 

God is good! 

Love, 

The little Sister missionary in the Nashville Tennessee mission,

Sister Alicia Johnson (kittens, stars and rainbows!)

PS- I love you Dad! I love you Mom! I love you Zach! I love you Jaron! I love you Mel! I love you Grandparents!

PPS- I hope you have the happiest of birthdays, Mom!!

Alicia! 1-14-13 Smyrna, TN

I love you so much. I wish you could really know. If the Lord didn't send me any other support, having you as a family is enough. I wish I could express in words my love and gratitude for the wonderful people you are and the blessed gift you are in my life. I love you. Mom, Dad, Zach, Jaron, Melanie, Grandma Janet, Grandpa Ray, Grandma Lu, Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Don, Oupa and everyone else. You are the reason I am here. You are the reason the gospel is true. If I didn't have such a wonderful family to show the blessings of the Atonement and the power of God's love, I don't know if I would ever believe it. But I know. I know with the surest conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is again on the earth. It has been restored through a living prophet and there is a prophet leading God's people again. God is our Father. And Jesus Christ lives. I have seen Him in each of you. At some point or another, you have been the angels that minister in my life. I thank you with the sincerest gratitude for your love and prayers. I love you.

Thank you for your emails, for your letters, for your prayers and for your encouragement. I have made quite the journey in a week. And it has come to a building of my faith and a release of my will into God's will. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith. So I had to start a journey to build my faith to overcome my fear. I asked many people for help and everyone was guided by the Lord to help me get back on my feet. 

When you think about faith, what defines it? For me it is people's lives and experiences. I was reflecting upon my own faith this morning and I recalled several experiences that I had over the years regarding faith. While on my mission, I have had many more. While in the MTC, I specifically remember an experience with prayer. Sister Latu pulled me out of class to talk to me and to counsel me. She shared an experience with me about an answer to a prayer that she had received. Then, after talking a bit more, she invited me to have a vocal, kneeling prayer with her in that room. She invited me to pray for anything that my heart desired. I started out, a bit awkwardly with only the two of us in the room. Then, I really started to think about my Savior and the desires of my heart. At that moment, my family had become quite prevalent on my mind. I simply asked for one thing. It was as if the room shifted. I was alone with my Father pleading with Him. I know he heard my prayer. And by faith miracles are wrought. 

Prayer is the miracle and the gift that God gives us to use our agency to align our will with His. He allows us opportunities to discover our weaknesses within ourselves, then through prayer we allow the Lord to take our weaknesses and make them strengths. We work to overcome. We work in faith. Faith is an action word. We have to step out of our comfort zone to truly experience faith. We have to do something that seems silly sometimes, but if we really believe, that belief turns to knowledge. I know my Savior lives. I know that God is a God of miracles. I know He answers prayers. 

The other day, I woke up and got on my knees. I started to pray and for some odd reason, I prayed for the sun to be shining that day. That isn't something that I normally pray for, but the weather had not been good for a few days. When I walked into the other room to start studying, I pulled open the blinds. The sun was shining! It was magnificent and beautiful! We were able to go tracting that day. There were a lot of people out. We had a first discussion with a couple that told us that they normally wouldn't talk to missionaries. We placed a Book of Mormon. And this man, who was so prepared, quoted Alma 32! So we challenged him to read that chapter and read about the faith that swells within us when the seed is good. God is a God of miracles.

My wonderful family, I have seen a miracle every single day of my mission. God is aware of us. Another investigator asked a question that has been buzzing through my brain for a week. He asked, "If we pray and ask God for help, isn't that allowing Him to interfere with the choices we make?" I testify to you that it is not. By choosing to turn to God in prayer, by choosing to be obedient, the laws of heaven bind Him to pour His blessings upon us. They are ours for the reaching. Is it worth the effort?

I love you my wonderful family. I have learned so much this week. I have grown as a missionary and as a person. I know who I serve and why I serve Him. Thank you for your love and for your support. Man alive! I didn't even really talk about my week! Sister Thatcher had the flu so we were inside for two days. It was perfect for me to refocus my efforts. I am in a missionary choir that practices on p-days so I haven't had very much time to do any writing besides this email and the one to President McKee. So, next Monday (if I don't get transferred next week) I will have more time to write you back. Please accept my apologies in not being able to write sooner. Just know I love you. I pray for you. And I am excited to hear about the news in everyone's lives. Mel, you should probably go back to the Bar-T :) And Eli sounds like a gem... short, bald... charming ;) Sounds like a winner! Whatever happens in your life, I know it is part of God's plan for you. Jare, thanks for your letter! I will write you next week- but I am so happy that you and Taryn are so happy :) I expect to have a niece when I get home. Mom, I appreciate your writing me a letter and the positive affirmations. I feel like I can breath again! Don't hurt your hand too much for my sake please :) Zach, I am glad you have a good job and that school is well. I am glad you are happy :) And Daddy, I love you. I just love you more than you know. I love your letters and emails so much. Hang in there with work... Tell Grandma Janet I got her email. I love her so much too. And Grandma Lu sent me a nice letter too. She is very supportive. I love the words of encouragement she sends. 

I have to go. But if I have missed anyone, just know I love you so much. Have an amazing week- and let the Lord lead you. It is amazing how much peace you can find by allowing Him to be in charge. 

I love you! Love always,

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 1-7-13 Smyrna, TN

Hi Mom and Dad! 

Thank you for your emails this week. I always love getting your emails.

We are still seeing miracles. A miracle actually occurred yesterday. I felt a prompting to knock on a door a few weeks ago. Probably second day into the mission. The first time, some guy looked out the window, but didn't open. A week later, we tried again. They let us in. It was very brief and we weren't so sure about them. A week later, we tried again. We taught the Plan of Salvation to K, the man who didn't answer the door initially. Turns out he is awesome :) He is hilarious, he asks great questions and he is very open with us. We couldn't believe that we had actually got somewhere with him. Then, last night, we went to their house again. His wife and daughter sat in and we had a discussion about the Restoration. We talked about building their relationships with God. The lesson was going on longer than it was supposed to, but a peace came over me assuring me that we needed to stay. We kept discussing. Then, after our prayer, K kept talking and started talking about his Tai Kwan Doe instruction. He talked about the different things they teach and then proceeded to teach us some self-defense. And the Lord answered my prayer with not only an amazing family that I have come to absolutely love and trust, but a quick self-defense lesson. 

Mom and Dad, this mission is the most difficult thing I have ever done. I am so used to being able to run to my safe place and hide from the world. Now, I am in it. I am surrounded by people in circumstances that are depressing and scary. But the Lord is watching out for me. Even if it is just a quick self-defense lesson, I know He is there. He is real. He answers my prayers. Another miracle was the baptism of J family. They are the most amazing people. They have fully committed and the ward support is phenomenal. There were probably 50 people at the baptism. The ward really trusts us and they want to help with the work. That helps as well. Knowing we have such amazing members all around to support us.  I want to recommit to my purpose and push forward with faith. It is the only way.

I love you Mom and Dad. And Mel. And family. I'm praying for you. I hope everything is going well in your life and continues to go well. 

Love you lots,

Sister Alicia Johnson

PS~ I am still sending angels your way.