Alicia! 2/24/2014 Franklin, TN

I love my family!!

I just love you all so much!!! So much more than you can even realize!!! I can't wait to see what the house looks like when I get home! If you want to leave the painting until I get back- I will promise you some service hours to help out. That sounds like fun! I suppose it depends on how busy my life is. I don't really know what to anticipate at this point. But is it kind of freaking you out how close it is?!? This week we are starting week 5 of this transfer. That means I literally only have 8 weeks left. 8. 8 of them. That's it. We went to a Chinese restaurant this week. I partook of a fortune cookie and it told me that I would meet my goal in two months! Guess what day I ate that cookie...? Just guess. February 22nd. I am a believer. Your primary class sounds so cute and fun!!! I just love those little childrens. Haha! Daddy... Its fun making little projects for kids, huh? I will help you with your lessons when I get home! That would be fun too! Just like FHEs that we have had here :) That sounds like a cool video game that Zach created! How cool! I will have to try it out when I get home too :) Speaking of technology- we are getting ipads this Friday! I am really looking forward to it. All week we have been seeing ways that they could be useful. There are rumors also that once we end our missions we can pay a small price to keep our ipads! Cool! So I am going to come home 20lbs heavier (they feed us WAY too well in this area...) and more technologically advanced than I had anticipated :) Great!

The weather was beautiful this week. I hope that it stays that way forever. I love the sun. I need the sun. It makes EVERYTHING better.

We had a good week. We did a lot of tracting at the beginning of the week with much more success than we have been having previously. Like most areas, it is the level of economic status that effects our success in tracting. We went to the "poor" area of Franklin a couple days in a row and taught a bunch of lessons. It was nice. Weird how I kind of like tracting after all is said and done. Then, during the evenings we were able to enlist the help of many of the members and track down less-actives. We had a lot of success with that as well.

So funny that you grew up with Kevin Crouch. We had he and his wife come to a lesson with us this week! That was a crazy night. Sister Crouch has never been out with the missionaries and was not looking forward to it. Brother Crouch was calm and just funny. I like him. Quirky and funny. As we were driving the weather was looking pretty bad. As soon as we stepped into the investigators' home, the Tornado Warning started. It was scary! The winds were blowing really strong and the sirens were going off and the hail started hitting the window. And we were supposed to sit there calmly and teach a lesson!!! The lesson was interesting too... Brother Crouch connected with the wife and Sister Crouch with the husband. Haha! Man, another great missionary experience. I sure like the Crouches though. They are probably some of the most unique and interesting people I have ever met. We survived the night and have a return appointment for next week :)

We are still seeing the ups and downs of the work- people choosing not to come to church or read from the Book of Mormon, etc, etc. But we are talking to a LOT of people and trying very hard to help the work in this area. The ward is really excited by what we have been bringing to ward council and that is always a plus. We have gained the trust of the members and have a lot to report on. NOW if we could continue to find prepared people through them and have some progressing investigators! I know we can. We are just going to keep working and praying and working. It will be a miracle for this ward to have a baptism. It has been over a year and half since the last one. And that actually was one of my goals before I go home- to be a part of at least one more baptism. What would be more miraculous would be the baptism of a family!! They have to start coming to church first though... Ah blessed agency!

I guess that is all that I have to report on this week. I have a bit of cabin fever. I have been struggling to stay focused during studies because of the sun and the birds outside singing. It happens every spring. You can just feel the change in the air... It is a time for change. Things are changing rapidly. I hope that I will be prepared.

I love you all so much. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. I love being able to share my testimony of the love of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know they love each one of their children individually and personally. I am so grateful for that love. I pray that you have a blessed week. Talk to you next week!

Love you always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 2-17-2014 Franklin, TN

Hey there!

So another week gone! I can't decide if time is moving too fast or moving too slow. Mostly the days go slow and the weeks go fast. We are already on week four of the transfer... that means I have nine weeks left. I am ready but not. I told Mel- this past week I had a dream that I was home. It felt right but I was having a really hard time adjusting and I couldn't stop crying. Nonstop tears. Then all the family was sitting at the dinner table and I was making you all call me Sister and I wouldn't take off my name tag... sigh... Reality is going to smack me in the face here pretty quick.

 

Thank you so much for the package!!! I loved it so so so much!!!! My companion got flowers from her dad on Valentines Day and I was a little sad- but then the next day I got my package and I was all better! I love it all :) And I am using all of it! I am wearing the pretty scarf right now :)

 

This week was better because we had a car. But even with a car we ended up tracting a LOT with little to no success in actually teaching lessons or finding new investigators! I don't know what is up with that. This is just a different area for finding. We really are going to have to do all of our finding through the members. They just need to buck up and start inviting! I know that it is easier said than done. The Lord will help us though. Slowly things are starting to build.

 

Miracle though!!! Yesterday, we had two investigators at church!! We picked up two former investigators that are super solid! It is all about timing and the time is right for them. Very cool. J came to church. I love J. She is such a sweetheart. I feel so blessed to be able to work with her. We also had another investigator- S- come to church.

 

The former family we picked up is a husband and wife. The husband has read through the Book of Mormon twice now. He is very analytical and feels like he is ok without it all. But the wife is struggling with her relationship with God right now. So she is super open. The ward is really excited about these prospects and we are happy that we have a couple of consistent investigators that we can visit each week along with the millions of doors knocked.

 

Things are changing in the mission field though. Everyone is getting ipads! We are getting them on February 28th. I can't even begin to explain what that means for the work. Everything is changing... It makes me feel like an old lady though because I have NO idea what to even do with technology!

 

Hey so this is going to be a bit shorter this week. Limited time with the holiday. I love you all though. Please continue to pray that we will find people to teach that are prepared. President Andersen and other leaders want each of the companionships to be baptizing EVERY transfer- which is almost 1000 baptisms a year. We had 300 last year so they are aiming for almost 800. Crazy! I know that it can be done- especially with the emphasis changing. We will see!!

 

I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for all that you do for me. I know that this gospel changes lives. I pray you have a great week!!

 

Love you always,

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 2/10/14 Franklin, TN

Hello!

Thanks for your emails. :) I am glad that everyone had a good week! That is so fun that you were able to teach primary. I think that would be such a fun calling! And Mom! I quote (about Dad): "He's gotten cuter and sweeter. I think he's about ready to be a Grandpa." Are you hinting that someone's having triplets?!? Wow wow wow! That's great news! Can't wait to be an aunt ;). HAHA

Not gonna lie, a fried oreo sounds super good right now. Dang it.

Well, another week gone! They seem to be going pretty fast. It is always tricky once I get to Monday because I can never remember what happened throughout the rest of the week. Haha! Oh man... Alzheimers is kickin in super early these days. Turns out that the longer you are out on a mission, the older you become. You are born. You get old. Eventually you die. I can tell it is almost my time to go. "I can't even remember five minutes ago!" Name that quote: five points.

We did do something this week. We did some missionary work. We didn't have a car- so that was a pretty fun adventure. We visited a lot of members to try and get to know everyone and help inspire them to talk to their friends so we would have people to teach. Whenever we weren't able to get a ride somewhere we ended up tracting around our apartment complex. It is the "poor" part of Franklin. And most of the people don't speak English. That makes it a bit tricky. But we have found a couple of people here and there that are interested in learning.

Our neighbors really like us and love to have us over. Even though I have been on a mission for a long time now, we continue to run into situations that I have never been in before. Our neighbors have become investigators- but they have some very special circumstances. They are both special needs. They are both able to live on their own and they can grasp what we are telling them. When we go over the next day, they can relay the info we taught them the day before back to us. So we are not sure how severe the disabilities are (mentally) but man... they are the sweetest ladies ever. I love them immensely. And I worry about them all the time. One of them especially needs prayers. She is blind and her body is very fragile. And she just isn't living in the best circumstances right now. They have both been through a lot. It is interesting that this is happening now at the end of my mission. A few months back I had been wondering if I really was supposed to be in special education when I got home. There are just so many different directions life can go. Well, last night we learned more about these ladies' home lives and just everything they have been through up to this point. And this crazy something started burning within me. There are so many of these special spirits that are being mistreated. They need to be taken care of- and instead they are left to try and support themselves with little or no help at all. It brought me back to the sad situations we saw in Mexico and some of the things we learned about legislation and mistreatment of the special needs in my special education class in college. Oh, I am definitely going into special education. And I am going to help as many of these people as I can. For now, we will continue to do our best to teach and help these ladies. I know the gospel can help them. I saw in the special needs institute class the way the gospel helped those sweet kids. And they want to come to church so bad! So please pray for them. Please pray that somehow, they will be able to understand and the ward members will be able to understand and that their situations can be better.

Other than that, we are still working primarily on finding. The Elders left us one family that has some pretty good potential. The H family. The mom would probably already be a member if her husband was on board. So we have work to do there. The rest of the area book has been pretty much untouched for about a year so we are remedying that.

The ward wants to be involved, they just need some help learning how to help sisters. One cool thing the ward is doing is a youth missionary activity. They break the youth into trio-panionships and teach them the first lesson. Then, members have the youth in their homes to teach them the missionary lessons. The members are encouraged to have a nonmember in their home that night for dinner so that the youth have a legitimate teaching experience. Pretty cool. I am glad I am the full-time missionary- that would scare me pretty bad as a beehive.

Keep praying we will find people! I know that as we all do this that the Lord is going to provide miracles. The work will take off here. I just know it.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love you always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson

Hi Johnson Family!

I’m sure Sis. Johnson mentioned the groundbreaking last week for our new stake center?

Here is a pic of Sis. Johnson and her comp Sis. Gillespie.

They seem to work well together!!!  Hard workers seeking out all the less actives and looking for new investigators!

Sis. Johnson is inspiring!!!  She has memorized the “Vision of the South” from Pres. Kimball and I ask her to repeat it 

at every opportunity - it gives me chills!

So glad she is here to help us spread the gospel in Franklin!!!

She also has a beautiful voice!  

Such a talented young lady!

Thanks again for sharing her!

Vicky Scott

Alicia! 2-3-14 Franklin, TN

Hi Friends!

I love you!! Thanks for your emails this week :) I love them! It sounds like you had so many much adventures in paradise. Little fishie bites :) I am so glad you had fun! And how neat that you get to teach primary! That is the calling that I aspire to have. I don't think I can handle much more than the basics. We keep ending up in the gospel doctrine class and my brain can't handle it. I love the basics and gospel principles is SO basic! It is awesome. Primary is even better :) 

I know I shouldn't focus on this- but it feels like I am so close to the end! It is crazy... It is so bittersweet! We are almost down to 2 hands for how many weeks I have left. It is really good for me though. It is helping to push me at the end right when I need it. It is helping me to be more bold realizing that this time is not going to last forever. It also makes the challenges of whitewashing with a part-time car VERY bearable.

So this area has been open for years. BUT it has been elders for a really, really long time. There was an elder that was here over a year ago that did some amazing work here (Elder Barton), but since that time the elders hardly touched the area book and weren't even really working with investigators. The few that we have met so far are not even investigators! They straight up told us that they just liked having the company of the missionaries and wouldn't ever change or even read the Book of Mormon. That was a bit disheartening. So we are pretty much opening up this area. And we have another apartment to clean. Yay! Haha!

I feel very optimistic, however. The ward is really awesome. We just have some work to do to help them become more missionary-minded and available to help us. This week we don't have a car so that is going to be very interesting. Our area is really big and full of nice houses. Guess we will be tracting in some of the richest neighborhoods in Tennessee!

The other good thing is that I have an awesome companion. She is from Roosevelt Utah. She went to the University of Utah for a semester before she came out. She comes from a family of 8 kids and is the 7th missionary with a younger brother also preparing to go on a mission. VERY cool. Her head is on straight. She is willing to work. She knows the lessons. AND we get along!!! She prayed me to be her companion too :) She said she had prayed for a trainer who had been out for a while and knew what they were doing. Well, I don't know if I really know what I am doing but all the trainers at transfers have only been out for a little bit. I was the oldest trainer in the room. I looked around and wondered "what am I doing in here...?" Her prayer is the reason I am here. I am grateful for that. I am so blessed to be able to end my mission with her in the Nashville area again. It feels like coming home before I go home. I have already been able to see some of the members from the Bellevue area and we are around the office missionaries and President and Sister Andersen. It is awesome. I feel so blessed!

So- now we need to make miracles happen. This week we mostly got out and tried to meet the members. We received a bunch of referrals. But we need investigators! Will you please keep Sister Gillespie and I in your prayers and pray that we can find people to teach?? Please and thank you!!

I love you all! I am so grateful for this amazing work and for my opportunity to serve in Nashville Tennessee. I love my mission. It has changed me for the better. I have learned so much about life and people and prayer and the gospel and everything. I know that the Lord has a plan for everyone. I know He lives. I know He loves us. We are in a very special time when there are so many opportunities to share our knowledge of the gospel with those that we know and those we meet. And sharing the gospel brings so many blessings! I love it! I love this work.

I hope you have a great week! 

Love you always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 1-27-14 Franklin, TN

Here's the news:

So yesterday morning I woke up feeling pretty yucky. We went to church where I tried to tough it out- but I didn't make it through sacrament before I had to run to the bathroom and throw up. Yay. I am doing a bit better today but I haven't really been able to eat much.... It is really good timing (not) as I have to be at transfer meeting tomorrow. Hooray for the flu bug! Everyone has it!

That's right!!! Transfer meeting tomorrow! Can you guess what is happening?! Pretty much the same as every other transfer! I am training and whitewashing again! This is my 5th time opening or whitewashing and 5th time training as well. So it just makes sense to have the last two transfers be whitewashing and training. I am getting moved back to the Nashville Zone in the Franklin 1st ward. We will find out who the new comp is tomorrow :)

I feel really good about this change. It has been a peaceful ride these past few days and I feel like this is going to be a really good area for me. We are replacing elders- which is another plus. The members always seem to love the new sisters after elders leave. It feels like I am going home before I go home. I am also looking forward to the new missionary. I just hope that we get along. We will see, we will see. Another Sister Munafo?? A girl can dream can't she? :)

This week has been pretty good. Sister Roberts had the flu bug onThursday and she is still recovering from a cough. I have been pretty healthy other than yesterday and today. Lots of vitamin C. We also went on an exchange on Wednesday through Thursday so another interesting work week. Alas. Saturdayis probably when the most stuff happened. We taught the baptist preacher again. He still had the same concerns and wasn't going to budge. We felt impressed that he needed to experience the power of the priesthood so we invited him to an 8 year old baptism. He closed the book and told us he was done. We are no longer to come back. Kind of sad- but kind of expected it really. The interesting thing is the past two visits his wife and son sat in and listened. He son seems really receptive. We were able to leave a Book of Mormon with him. Seed planted. You never know right?

We also had another awesome lesson with a single soldier who has a father that was converted to LDS 5 years ago. He has been to church a couple of times and he also had a friend in basic training that was LDS and gave him the military set of standard works. He has been prepared. We taught him the restoration and also the plan of salvation. He loved it! We are expecting great things from him. :)

Well, here is the news. Only 3 months left and 2 transfers. Gonna make it great :) I sure love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Alicia Johnson

Photo sent by member from Franklin:

Alicia! 1-20-2014 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

Well hello there! How are you doing?! Are you not so happy that the sun has decided to shine a bit more these days?? Dad, I think you are totally right. I am greatly effected by the weather like you are... But the good news is that the weather changes all the time so those low moments don't last forever right?! I am seriously considering moving somewhere warm and sunny year round because that was a ROUGH couple of weeks. There are rumors of another arctic blast though this week.. grr... We are getting closer to summer though. YES! It was definitely a better week. Now that I have figured out the root of the issues (as I said last week) I mostly just had to fight with not getting frustrated and annoyed at the tiny little things all of the time. It helps when we have time with other missionaries. So we have started going into Clarksville everyTuesday and Thursday for what they call "skills". It is basically just extra roleplaying for an hour. It helps break up the monotony of having the same type of companion study everyday. We have been around missionaries a lot more and that is great! We are also having another exchange this week that will help a lot too. Plus- this is the last week of transfers! So we are expecting some changes. Very rarely do they keep trainers and trainees together for longer than two transfers. They have 16 new sister missionaries coming in this transfer and they have to open more areas. Sooo... perhaps I will be opening a new area next week. We will see, we will see. I am praying for a change- although I do finally feel like I have adjusted into the work in this area. We have built up some solid relationships with the members and investigators. It would be a bit challenging to walk away from the work that we have done since I feel like I have been doing most of the relationship building. That is what happens when your companion doesn't talk much. Sigh. Whatever happens though, I trust in the will of the Lord. If He needs me to stay, I will stay. If I need to go, that is fine too. Two more transfers left- who knows WHAT is in store.  Gosh I am jealous that you get to go to the islands this week! I hope that you have a TON of fun! Since I have been gone it has been party after party for you all! Mel and Disneyworld and Mom and Dad in Italy and Kauai! Jaron getting married. Zach just rockin' it in good ol' Utah! Unless I missed a trip somewhere? We better go to Disneyland when I get home!  I got to speak in church yesterday. It is funny how things that used to be really hard have become much easier. I also had to train two zones on Thursdayat Zone Conference. So hundred or so missionaries and an entire branch. Odd as it seems, I really enjoy speaking in front of a lot of people. This has got to be preparing me for something...  We had lots of fun teaching opportunities this week. Our baptist preacher friend, is considered progressing now :) He has been reading from the Book of Mormon and read all the way through first Nephi. He had a lot of questions though. His lessons are quite interesting. We started out talking about the Book of Mormon, then he got on his preacher soapbox and started hollering about Adam and Eve for like an hour... yep. An entire hour of our own personal sermon. What was frustrating was he acted like we didn't believe anything he was saying. In reality, we teach that stuff all the time. I just wanted to make him read 2 Nephi 2.... It summed it all up beautifully and much quicker than his sermon. Anyways, eventually he stopped to breath and we were able to bring it back to the Book of Mormon and what he read. His biggest issues lie in the whole idea of Priesthood authority. So we are going to do some research on all of that and help him see why it is important. The cool thing was eventually he told us that when he started reading the Book of Mormon, he wasn't sure about it. He didn't like it. He decided he would pray and his heart softened and he was able to give it a chance. Then he started thinking, "you know, maybe this is possible." So he hasn't decided yet where he stands. That is ok. We have a progressing investigator!!! :) Well, I love you all so much. I hope that you have a wonderful week full of island magic and fun! Can't wait to tell you about transfers! :) Love you! Sister Alicia Johnson

Alicia! 1-13-14 Oak Grove, TN/Ft Campbell, KY

The Miracle of Growth! 

You know something, I have learned a TON this week. It was kind of miserable at the beginning, but then it got exponentially better. I attest, the weather MAY be a huge factor... It was the coldest it has ever been for a long time on Sunday and Monday, but then the sun came out!! I love the SUN!!! 

I love you all very much. I have the best family. They have the best advice and support. You don't judge- you lend a listening ear (or reading eye) when I feel that all I can do is gripe and moan and cry. The long day is over for now. I am back :) This is what I learned:

Wednesday we had a Zone Meeting. Our Zone Leaders trained us on some very important things. One in particular focused on our personal struggles and recognizing that we are ALL struggling with something. And we need to love those around us and help them. It felt good to realize that I wasn't alone in my inward battles. I just have really wanted to find a solution. On Fast Sunday I prayed for help in understanding what was going on. 

After Zone Meeting, it finally came to me. I was able to go on an exchange with another Sister for two days. The instant we were together, I started talking it all out and rooting out the issues. I have been struggling with my relationship with my companion. And because we are together for 24/7, you don't have a lot of room to vent. I have been feeling a lot of stress and pressure because my companion and I are VERY different. And most of how we are different is social. So when it comes to being around others, I am generally the one approaching people and carrying on the conversations and the lessons. I had let all of this frustration build up inside of me- so much so that at the last transfer I wanted SO badly to be moved to a new area. I wasn't so I sent myself spiraling into this low, horrible, unhappy place. I couldn't stand how different we were. And we had a hard time connecting on a personal level. It just wasn't clicking. This made me turn a bit icy and unresponsive in situations that should have been fine and manageable. 

The Sister I was on exchange with has been having similar problems with communication with a brand new missionary who is very quiet as well. So as we were able to work together for a couple of days, I got my old spark and drive back for the work. I grew an attachment to everyone we visited and recognized how much good we were doing and had already done. 

Exchanges don't last forever. But my emotions were much more in check and I could now finally see what was truly going on. So (blessed companionship inventory....) we talked about why I was struggling. We talked about how she was struggling and we accepted that we are different. And things improved. 

I am learning something about life and missions. Life and missions are all about relationships with others. We are going to be around others who do not think the same as us. We must learn to communicate and work with others differences. Accept others for who they are. I think about my whole mission and EVERYTHING has been effected by my companion. My whole missionary experience has been about my companion. For real. Dealing with training and opening areas, anxiety, change, different levels of assertiveness, teaching styles, cultural differences, emotional needs, getting along just swimmingly, connecting on every level with only minor setbacks, differences in purpose and desire, social differences, and straight up different personalities. Good grief! It took me 14 months to figure that out! 

I am happy. I woke up today and felt this beautiful feeling of peace rather than the despair of the first three weeks. I'm back!! :D

We have done a lot of great work this week. One lesson in particular was pretty amazing. We have now visited and "taught" a baptist preacher on three different occasions. The first two visits were mostly him teaching us while we added our two cents and listened and agreed with his knowledge of doctrine. The third instance he wanted to know what we had to say. We shared with him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. We read Moroni 10:3-5 and something clicked with him. He said that just the other day he had been praying to be led to truth. He looked at us and asked if we were angels. If God had sent us because of his prayer. He then invited us to go on a "God walk" with him. We walked around his circle outside his house while he vocally spoke to God and expressed his love and desire to follow Him. He asked for truth and understanding with what we had shared. When we finished our walk (which was incredibly powerful- I could feel the Spirit burning within me) he told us that he would read. We have another appointment this coming Saturdaywith him. 

Miracles are occurring. Our vision becomes clouded during the low times, but if we continue to look forward and press forward with hope, the Lord clears away the darkness and lets the light in. I know that He is real. I know that He loves us. 

I love you all so much. I hope that you all have a blessed week. :) Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for me. I have been blessed SO much in my life. I look forward to seeing you 100 days :) (yes the countdown is on! 100 days left- I can hardly believe it!)

I love you!!! 

Love always, 

Sister Alicia Johnson