Alicia! 12-16-13 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

Man! I was a bit trunky last Monday... That is the rollercoaster of life, I think. One minute you feel not so great. Then you have a good cry and everything turns out ok. Tuesday morning, I just got it all out. I wasn't sure I could go out and work but I did it anyways. The amazing thing- everyone we talked to was super nice. We taught some great lessons. Especially this one girl named Kelly. She was going to come to church yesterday- but she accidentally went to the wrong church :( But she said us coming to her was an answer to a prayer! She really seems amazing. We are excited. There are blessings that come from tracting in the cold! 

Plus, this week we had a baptism!!! Liz got baptized on Saturday morning. It was seriously the most beautiful baptism I have ever seen. I have not met anyone so prepared. I don't know if you remember- but when I was set apart, President Hanks talked about me coming to Tennessee for one very specific person. I know it is Liz. She is amazing. She was born June 1991 so we are only about 10 or so days apart. Her grandparents live in Brigham City Utah. She is looking at programs at Utah State and wants to move out there. Pretty much she is guaranteed to be a part of my life forever. And that is why I think she is it. Plus, she is just amazing. I love her sweet children. I just love her!!! She got baptized in a white dress and seriously looked like an angel. Her little 2 year old was throwing a fit... So after coming out, she was dripping wet, carrying her little girl and smiling at herself in the mirror. It was the most beautiful thing... I just can't believe that I got to be apart of it... Unfortunately, though, she got really sick Saturday night and couldn't get confirmed on Sunday. So we are going over there Tuesday to have her be confirmed and then she is headed to upstate New York where home is for the holidays. AND while she is on her trip she is going to visit Palmyra! I am really glad I got to go right before I came out. I could let her know how AWESOME it is there!!! Gosh, I just love her.... I feel so blessed. 

So you are probably wanting to know about transfers... Well... ok. I am staying here for another 6 weeks with Sister Roberts! Happy sad! I do love trying new areas and this area is pretty challenging- but we are finally getting the flow of it. Miracles are happening. And so it will be nice to finish some work here. It will also be nice to stay where we know some people for the holidays. That would be ten times more difficult to be with a new companion in a new area. But I will be blessed to be with people I have grown to love. So that is good. AND we have a place to skype on Christmas. Our mission president wanted us to do it during dinner so it will probably be within the time-frame of 4:00-6:00pm. We will talk to the members and figure out for sure times and I will let you know next week. :)

I promise I am not trunky today! It is getting really weird though... I only have three transfers left. We had a zone breakfast this morning and I was the oldest missionary other than those that are leaving this transfer... weird!!! It is ok though :) It doesn't really feel real so that's good! HEY!! Hopefully we are getting a car this week! Did I tell you how many layers I wear so I don't die?! I wear, hem hem, my underclothing (obviously), an undershirt, another shirt, a sweater, a puffy coat, my long coat, tights, leggings, socks, boots, a hat, a scarf (sometimes two) and gloves!! I despise humid cold.... grrrr...... But I am going to keep going! And drink lots of orange juice and airborne so I don't get sick! 

Saturday and Sunday evening I had a really neat opportunity. And Thursday too :) I was invited to do a special musical number for Christmas Zone Conference on Thursday. I stood up there, all by myself and sang Oh Holy Night acapella! Then, I had the opportunity for half an hour on Saturday and half an hour on Sunday to sing and play the piano at an event called the Festival of the Nativity. It was really really really fun. I think I love performing and singing and stuff! My companion got some of it recorded so I will try to attach it at some point. 

Missionary work is great! I love it :) It is also the hardest thing I have ever done- but I am growing and that is what matters. I love you all so much!!! 

You know what, I have a really good feeling about staying at home for the summer. I think I am going to do that. I would love to do the job that Zach has for me and I will see if there are other things I can do as well. I would be happy to do all sorts of random things really. Babysitting, painting, piano lessons, something! I think something great will happen! I don't know what though haha :) It just feels better than the BarT5. I will pray on it though. 

I love you all so much! Oh, last thing- I got your Christmas package! I love you!

Love, Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 12-9-13 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

Ok, so to start.... oh life! Thanks for finding out all that info about school and work and housing and stuff. I don't have any requests as far as roommates... luck of the draw this first semester back. Yay! If it is possible, request an upper level apt (no basement) and not the buildings on the bottom- they are in a different ward. So it would be the buildings that are closer to campus. 

As far as job stuff goes, I think doing afterschool stuff would be awesome! I just need a place to stay... If you could, ask Zach to talk to his friend and see what the process is like to nanny. Last summer I was looking into it as well and they did have some openings for nannies in Logan- so that might be a possibility as well. I just don't really know what would happen with paying for somewhere to live? I think a good nanny job mostly has to do with networking and knowing who you are dealing with. If it means a set job I will do the Bar T5. Let me know what you find out! Please and thank you :)

What else...? Why does my brain think I am coming home tomorrow...? We are on the last week of the transfer. It has been a pretty trying week. It is really interesting because at the beginning of my mission I told myself that the fire would never die! I would want to do this forever and ever! Well... After tracting in ice and freezing cold weather, I was reconsidering that this week. It has been a tricky week to keep my mind and heart excited to go knock doors again. 

I need to continue to count my blessings though. Liz is rocking and ready to get baptized! We are planning and preparing for that this coming Saturday. We have our second Family Home Evening on post tonight. We had a miracle day with 12 lessons on Tuesday! But the rest of the week was kind of weird. 

The weather started to get really bad on Thursday evening. Friday we stayed in all day due to ice rain. Saturday I was fighting really hard about tracting so we got to do service on post instead- which was awesome! We are finally starting to see progress in some of the investigators that we have had to find on our own. But things are good. I just don't really like the cold... and I think it is very largely impacting my mood :(

We are getting excited for Christmas activities though. We have a Christmas Zone Conference on Thursday. They asked me to do a musical number. I am excited about that :) We also get to do white elephant! No set times about calling home for Christmas yet. Let me know your schedule when you can so we can start figuring that out as well. 

Well, life is humming along. Still moving forward and doing the best I can. Keep me in your prayers.... My heart and mind need some kicking to get back into gear. Maybe transfers will help with that? Guess we will know by Saturday. 

I sure love you all! Have a great week :)

LOVE Always,

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 12-2-13 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

Hey there! 

I am always so happy to hear from you all every week! You are just the best and I love you all dearly! This week I have had a LOT of emails to respond to- so I hope that this email is good. 

I can hardly believe that it is December already. I have been out for over a year... and i will be home in about 5 months. I can hardly believe it. The sign in Walmart said that Christmas is only 23 days away!?! WHAT?! I love Christmas!!! Speaking of which- I listen to those Christmas CDs all the time! I love them immensely. Thank you so much for sending them! And I DID get the boots finally! They are great! I wore them once and it wasn't a super cold day all of sudden so they made my feet EXTRA toasty! So now they are special occasion, cold and wet weather boots :)

Congrats with the new job Mom! We don't know much about Christmas yet. Usually they let us work around our family so I don't think we will have any problems getting it all worked out :) No stress! Just let me know what times will work for you and we will get it figured out. 

They got news about the car today... They are totaling it :( I ruined it... :( Our bodies are fine. No major repercussions. Walking around too much carrying my bag kind of wears on my back, but I do stretches everyday and that helps a lot. We should be getting a new car soonish though hopefully.

I am glad that Thanksgiving was fun for you all! This was an interesting Thanksgiving for us here. Being on post is so different! We were supposed to do member visits all day but because we didn't have a car and we have to be with members at all times on post, we kept getting stuck places and weren't overly productive. We walked an hour to go see a member in Oak Grove... and didn't make it before our ride picked us up for lunch. I love turkey though :) And pumpkin pie :) So we had about 4 lessons that day. Not as good as Christmas last year... 

So to make up for it, the next day we set a goal of teaching 10 lessons. We taught 11! We tracted all. Day. Long. It was a bit exhausting. But we did see many miracles from our efforts. We taught a hispanic man and his two daughters. They gave us Mexican food and horchata! That was a miracle :) Plus, the gospel is really going to help them. We were happy to find him. 

Yesterday was absolutely amazing. It started off kind of rough. I was just frustrated and being dumb. So I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to find the good in this area and find a reason to stay at it and love it. While sitting in sacrament meeting, a family walked in and the Spirit poured over me. I wanted to cry. I DO love the people here. And I am starting to build relationships and make attachments to them. 

I also had a cool insight during gospel principles. We were talking about temples and family history. The Spirit washed over me again and I realized that every effort we make is being watched by those on the other side of the veil. As a missionary on earth, the lessons and people we teach, impacts the work that is being done on the other side. I had never realized that before.

Last night, we had a lesson with Liz. Liz is our miracle investigator. We met her about a week ago when we decided to do a member visit. This member happens to be moving in about two weeks and she said she felt like Liz needed to meet us. We went over to her home and taught her about the Atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong. We set a return appointment and invited her to our FHE. We a Family Home Evening on post! It was very successful! We had 4 active families, a less-active family, a part-member family and an investigator there! It was cool. We made hand-turkeys and did fun kid stuff :) Anyways, Liz came to that and had a great time. She also came to church. Then we had our second lesson with her. 

She told us that she has been searching for a way to have more peace in her life. She wanted to know how to do it. We taught her, more in-depth, about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the role of the Holy Ghost. We then shifted gears and taught her the Restoration. After we had finished teaching, we paused. I asked her, "Liz, do you believe that this is true?" She said, "Yes, yes I do." Then she proceeded to tell us that after we left the first time, she had said something aloud- like a prayer to God. She said she felt a hand on her shoulder and peace filled her. We all started to cry. I asked, "Liz, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" She nodded. We sat in silence as the Spirit filled the room with an extraterrestrial force. God loves Liz SO much! She is VERY special. A choice spirit and daughter of our Heavenly Father. We set a baptismal date with her for December 14th. We will be having a white Christmas this year. 

I am so grateful for the opportunities that Heavenly Father has given me on my mission. I have been pondering about all of the lives that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of. I was thinking last night of all of their names and faces. I could see them all dressed in white, standing together in the bright hallways of heaven. Liz, Cheryl, James, Jon, Jenn, Briana, Corey, Denisa, Hal, Cindy, Sister Phelps, Sister Lawrence, the Driskills, Sister Brewer, the Leckies, Kevin, Miranda, the Brocks, all of my family, all of my friends... they are all numbered and counted in heaven. All of them are known. Every single person that I have been able to meet has been sent here for a purpose. God's purposes are great. I am so grateful. So grateful. 

The work of salvation is a beautiful thing. I hope that I never forget. I hope that none of us forget. This is what life is all about. 

I love you all so much. I am very grateful for you. 

Love you always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 11-25-13 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

It is COLD here too!! I did get your packages :) I got the one for Joe and an Ensign from Dad! I haven't seen the boots yet :( But since I bought some, I have been ok. Thanks for the socks and the warm tight things though! I have been layering up like CRAZY! If you don't, you die. It is super cold and humid!!! Worst thing ever... I would take the humid heat ANY day over the humid cold. Guh. It is ok though. We just have to tough the weather out a lot more since we don't have a car for a few weeks. I think Heavenly Father is teaching me to be stronger. Once you get moving, the cold isn't as bad anyways :)

It truly is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass. I really have this love-hate relationship with cars. Getting in a car wreck has forced us to get out and walk and talk to people WAY more. Not that we weren't doing it before, but it is more a test of faith when you have no other means of transportation. It takes us about an hour to walk to the areas where most of our investigators live. So during the day, we have made this walk several times. And once you are there, you HAVE to plan on staying and working the area. It would be useless to walk there and walk back.

So... we have tracted a lot this week.

MIRACLE #1: Yesterday we had a member drive us home from church. We tried an investigator on the way who bonked her appointment and didn't answer the door. While we were in the area, I saw a door. The Spirit prompted me to go over there and knock. I didn't listen... we got back into the member's car and drove back to our apartment. Well, I couldn't shake the feeling that we needed to knock that door. So we repented and started the 45 minute walk back to that area. On the way, we found a five dollar bill. We walked by a door with a family looking out at us. We talked to them and they invited us to come back. We arrived at the door that I had felted prompted to knock. I felt the Spirit strongly- although the man said that they were all drunk. They were partyers- that was their lifestyle and we shouldn't come back. Interesting. We decided to knock their neighbors door. A young lady named Emily answered the door. She was SO sincere and you could just feel that she is prepared! It was incredible! We were able to follow the prompting and much good came out of it.

MIRACLE #2: We did a tracting roleplay at one of our meetings. That prepared us as we had to actually go out and tract. We have run out of Book of Mormons so we have only been able to give pamphlets away. We were trying to find a former investigator. We knocked on a door of a house all decorated for Christmas. The man let us right in. They gave us some juice and we shared our message about the Restoration. After we had clearly explained prophets, he seemed to really understand. The Spirit was there and we invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! It was AWESOME! That doesn't happen very often- people don't just let you right in. Unless you listen to the Spirit. Then miracles happen.

MIRACLE #3: Working on post is a lot different. You have to stay with members all the time. And setting up appointments is ALWAYS tricky. We had dinner with a member. She was driving us around trying to find someone to visit. We decided to try an active member. This family is AWESOME! Both are return missionaries. They have been working with their friend who has family that is LDS. We were able to go next door and meet her and share a message about the Atonement. The Spirit was strong. She is SO prepared!!! She has been going through some very difficult circumstances. She is very young... My age and she has two kids. Crazy. She really needed us and the Lord helped it all to work out! She is coming to an FHE that we are having tonight. YAY!

Miracles are happening! I love this work so much! It is challenging and yet so rewarding. Learning to listen to the Spirit is truly so important. And I am grateful that the Lord is giving me faith-building experiences to learn and grow from. This week is Thanksgiving! We are excited about that :) The members are going to try and fatten us up... They will probably be successful.

I love you all so much!! Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!

LOVE ALWAYS!

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 11-18-13 Oak Grove/Ft Campbell, KY

My dear family,

I am really sad for the Meldrum family... I am in shock about all the deaths since I have been out. There have been so many! And so many family and friends.... I am grateful to know that God has a plan for each of His children. I have been feeling that over and over. And I am overwhelmed with the comfort of the Spirit at this time... I don't know why things like this happen. I do know that our loving Heavenly Father has a purpose in all things. I was reading President Monson's general conference address this morning. I loved this poem: 

"Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.

The further the sky, the greater the length. 

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow, 

In trees and men good timbers grow."

I know that through Christ's Atonement we can be strengthened in all things. It seems like the trials just keep coming. But as we rely upon Him, He will strengthen us to endure. 

Yesterday, it was raining and storming pretty severely. We were driving to church and the GPS was struggling a bit. I was doing my best to follow it without getting us crazy lost. We finally were about 1 block away from the church. We stopped at a stop sign. I thought it was a four way and felt sure that I had looked both ways.... And as I drove into the intersection we T-boned the car passing through.... The lady's car smacked into the truck that was at the stop at the other side. So the three of us had our cars pretty messed up. It happened way fast. I don't even remember seeing anything. It was a giant blur and then it was over. We pulled over. I got out to see if everyone was ok. I got completely drenched in the rain. The lady's car door wouldn't open so I pulled it open and we all waited for the police. 

Meanwhile, half the members of the ward drove by and saw us standing out in the pouring rain. No one was injured.. although I am feeling repercussions from it today. My body is pretty sore and I am really tired with a headache. 

This is one of those things where I know that we were protected and there must be a reason for this. I don't know what. Like any challenge or trial we are given, we must continue to be grateful for the Lord's hand in it. 

We were able to drive the car to the church, dragging the front bumper. The members fixed it up as best they could. We tried driving it home and made it about halfway when the temperature shot straight up so we pulled over and waited for someone to get us. We made it back safely and have had the help of many members. All is well in Zion. 

Another interesting series of events for this missionary. Don't really know what to think is next haha. First the ER. Second a companion going home. Third a car wreck. All within a few months. Gosh. I need to be wearing a helmet all the time or something! What's next- a tornado?? Missions really help you endure all types of trials. Emotional, mental, physical, spiritual- you name it, we endure it. But I know that this time is a great gift. I feel blessed and protected regardless of the craziness. There are angels all around and I know that angels will be with the Meldrum family and with all of you at this tough time. 

As far as the work goes, it was a pretty great week. The work here is starting to take off. We have great members that want to be involved and we are teaching nearly all the time. There are families that are ready to come back- and it is neat to see the Lord giving us the tools to help them. 

My companion and I are starting to get into the swing of things. Interesting about Uncle Orange :) There was another Seely in our ward yesterday! Small world. 

Mom, that package hasn't come yet... Maybe they are holding it in the mission office? I don't know. When did you send it? I hope it makes it ok. 

I love you all very much. I pray that you will all be safe and happy. I know that the Lord is watching over you. 

I love you always!

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 11-11-13 Oak Grove/Ft Campbell, KY

HEY!!!! How are you all?!?

Wow! New adventures all the time! They can never quite tell me where I am going until I get there ;) Turns out I am not in Clarksville at all. We live on the State Line in Kentucky. We basically have responsibility over two wards. We cover Oak Grove- which is the Hopkinsville Ward- and we cover Fort Campbell- the military branch. So at church yesterday we were there for 6 hours with all of our meetings. Pretty awesome! We rolled in on Tuesday and have been doing our best to get our bearings and get this area figured out.

A miracle happened on Monday! So after I emailed you, a few hours later we received a phone call from the Assistants. Something had happened to Sister Munafo's ticket and she couldn't fly out until Tuesday!!! So we got to spend one more blissful night together, teaching and laughing and catching up. It was great! And not so great... we didn't really go to bed on time... Which I had to suffer with the rest of the week. But hey! I am still here :) And not so sleep deprived anymore ;)

My new companion's name is Sister Roberts. She is from Orangeville Utah. Never heard of it? Me neither. She is really a very sweet girl. And she is out here for the right reasons. She is very prepared and ready to work which is the greatest blessing! Heavenly Father just keeps blessing me with awesome companions :) She has the greenie fire!!! So we are going to see miracles!

Ok, so my area is a military base. It is the craziest area yet! We cannot proselyte on base. We can't drive onto post without a member and we have to be with a member at all times. We can't wear our tags on post. And half our branch gets deployed and we have no priesthood holders to hold leadership positions. And yet... somehow work is still getting done :) The list of less-active members is HUGE and their are many part-member families that have a lot of potential. So our teaching pool consists primarily of less-actives and part-members. It is so different! I like it though. As tough as it is- and with how often we get stranded at homes without a ride ;)- I really, really like it. I don't even know why. Missionary mantle probably. It is neat too though because I am starting to get a feel for what Jare is doing and what military life consists of. So if he ever gets deployed, my dearest sister-in-law, Taryn, I will be able to relate with you and help you out. I have already met a lot of members with husbands that are deployed. It is a challenge, and yet the greatest blessing is the assistance from the church. The woman all band together and help each other out. I am starting to learn military lingo too! They use a lot of acronyms... 

Anyways, so that is the new area in a nutshell. It is a different world out here. My head is still spinning a little bit trying to get it all figured out. It is going to be great though. I am excited. 

What else? Just everyday stuff- do you think you could email me my account balance info once a week or every other week? I am never sure how much is in there and I worry that I spend it all without realizing it. I need to invest in some boots today... I can't stand this darn cold a moment longer! I need to fatten up or something... I hate being cold!! The humidity is the worst in the cold. Give me humid heat! I can do that. Humid cold- not a chance...

Dad! It was cool to hear about your missionary opportunity! Don't feel bad... I think one of the best ways to be prepared for any opportunities is to have a pass-along card available. If you are actively praying for opportunities and you have something in your hand to show the Lord you are ready, you won't miss the next one. Promise! I like the Finding Faith in Christ card and the Salt Lake Temple one. 

Mom, sounds like the family is doing well. It is crazy that Russell is back already! Time flies doesn't it? It will be good to see everyone again when the time comes. 

I love you all dearest family! Thanks for your support, love and encouragement! Hurrah for Israel!!

Love you always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 11-4-13 Clarksville, TN

One crazy transfer... Can I just say, I am tired? I am physically worn due to silly daylight savings! (I have already been waking up early- silly body! Thinks I wake up at 5:30!) This morning I woke up at what used to be 5:30 but now is 4:30... Fun! Haha! I am not complaining. That is just the life around transfers.

 

My heart is breaking a little bit. I received a call Saturday morning. I am training a new missionary and leaving Bellevue. We are whitewashing an area at the Northern part of Tennessee- Clarksville. They told me Clarksville YSA but they also have Fort Campbell (the military base) responsibilities AND I think the Oak Grove ward responsibilities. So... basically I am covering like three areas. Cool! I don't want to say I am nervous... But I am just a little bit? I have never loved an area the way I love Bellevue... I really feel like I am home here. Saying goodbye was really rough. But I know I did my best and that somehow the Lord allowed me to have an impact. There were a lot of tears at church yesterday. Oh my beloved Bellevue!

 

So I got put back into Bellevue on Friday. I was in Green Hills with Sister Hulme (who is absolutely a fantastic missionary! We had a blast together!) for about a week and half. President knew that I would be leaving so he made sure I got to go back and say goodbye to everyone. We have had an eventful week. I can't even think straight- there is so much going on all the time. We had an exchange and a long district meeting and a training meeting and Halloween! Halloween was a weird day! Haha! It was SUPER stormy and we didn't have the car. So we started walking from the library to the apartment. We were DRENCHED! It was SO fun! When do you ever do crazy things like that? Only as a missioanary! We got back and started writing letters for the evening... then the power went out! We are in the basement of a members home so it was PITCH black. Couldn't even see my hand. We couldn't find any flashlights so we were using the cell phone until that died too :) In the morning we found a lantern and got ready in the dark. It was a party and half! I loved that day :)

 

The weather has been getting colder. It hasn't snowed- but it has been a bit rainy here and there. The trees are amazing! Nashville is beautiful.

 

So today when we were taking Sister Hadfield to the mission office to fly home the Lord gave me another tender mercy... My sweet Sister Munafo got her visa!! She is flying out probably right now to Brazil! I just love her more than I can bear... She has been such a blessing to me and seeing her at the end of this transfer right before she leaves the states was a literal miracle for me. I love her a lot. I am going to miss her.

 

I am off tomorrow for new adventures. Hitting the year mark pretty quick here too! Man, time flies. I love my mission more than anything. I have met so many wonderful people! Members, investigators, missionaries... I have been changed and impacted by them. Especially sweet President and Sister Andersen. Please keep them in your prayers. You have NO idea how much they have helped me this transfer. If it weren't for them I would be a wreck.

 

I love you all so much. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. I am so grateful for that knowledge. I know that God lives. I know He loves us. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I love Him. I am so blessed.

 

I love you all so much. I pray you have a blessed week. And not too much snow. :)

 

Love always,

Sister Alicia Johnson

 

Oh! I have been released from my responsibilities as a Sister-Training-Leader. That will be a blessing so I can focus on my area and my new companion. Crazy! Back to Hopkinsville Zone!