Hello wonderful family!
This is another long email but I hope you will read it and feel the spirit as you do so.
I've decided to write a more personal/detailed email to just the family and then do a more general email to friends, just wanted to let you know. And if this email could be forwarded to extended family that would be great!
I don't know if you guys heard but there have been some changes to the missionary schedule, giving missionaries more agency when planning out their days which is great. I'll let you know about the main changes but not all of them. Daily planning is done in the morning instead of night now so you can go to bed anytime from 9:00-10:30 if you want (that's the times in the Toronto mission at least). We can also do companionship study anytime of the day to fit our schedules and it's 30-60 mins now (usually 30), and there is no companionship study on P-day so P-day technically begins at 8 am instead of 10. These changes to the schedule have been made to help missionaries feel less stressed and be more productive and to help them adjust better to post-mission life. Also, they have removed a couple of "Key Indicators" which only RM's know what that means. We only report on the 4 key indicators regarding to the investigators, this puts more emphasis on that type of work, although we still think about the other indicators. Overall I think the changes are really good and I'm grateful that I can have a longer P-day and more sleep even though we haven't gone to bed early yet.
This week we didn't have a ton of action with our 2 solid investigators: Cynthia and Hubert, because they were both out of town for a few days and couldn't be at church. We will keep working with them this week though and hopefully Cynthia will be ready to be baptized by March 4th! We did go tracting a couple of times not much though, and I felt right at home knocking on doors again just like my summer job. We found one lady is going to meet with the ward family history consultant because she needs help with her work, so she is potentially an investigator. We went contacting on Friday and the first person we talked to was a really cool guy in his early 40's. We had a wonderful conversation with him and gave him a Book of Mormon and our number and church address. I have a really good feeling about him so I'm praying that our paths will cross again because he seemed very interested while we talked. Giving out a Book of Mormon to him was my first time so that was really cool, the spirit was definitely strong!
I have gained a great appreciation and love for studying the scriptures since coming out on my mission. Before my mission I read the scriptures but I didn't have a desire to study them and receive personal revelation form the Holy Ghost. As I have been studying the Book of Mormon everyday I have attained great knowledge from every single verse, I can feel how the Holy Ghost enlightens my mind as I study, it's something I didn't experience or at least recognize before. I have grown to love and cherish the Book of Mormon so much more as I've delved into its pages. I have also experienced the power of the Holy Ghost to bring things to my remembrance. I will be teaching and then BOOM I remember a scripture I had read before and I pull it out and I teach from there. I also feel a greater capacity to remember names as well which is an important thing when getting to know the ward.
Being a missionary is a wonderful experience. It's been 2 weeks and I can't say I have had a bad day yet. Some days are slower than others, but every night in my journal I can only write "it was another great day" because I was doing the Work of Salvation. I know not everyday can be great my entire mission; I have a feeling that a very difficult trial will happen around the 6 month mark or something so I'm just going to enjoy working in this great area and with this great companion for now! I think the main reason I feel so great all day is because I have the spirit with me all the time. And as a representative of Christ and a missionary for him, a spiritual mantel has been given me to preach his gospel with power and bring the Spirit of God unto his children. The Holy Ghost truly is my greatest companion because through his influence I can feel the Savior's love and then share it with others and the Holy Ghost teaches me all things that I should do. We can do okay as humans, without the influence of the Holy Ghost; but, if we truly let him enter our minds and our hearts, our desires will be aligned with the Savior's (who's aligned with God) and it will cause us to do good works continually, and bring about much righteousness. I have a testimony of this, I have seen this first hand in these past couple of weeks and I have never been more happy in my life. Without the Holy Ghost, the Atonement could not change us and we could never become like our Savior. I have learned about what it means to be "saved". Being "saved" means changing from a morally weak or fallen state and becoming purified in Christ and ultimately becoming like him. Through his grace we can go through this life filled with trials and hardships and emerge triumphant, because our Savior overcame it all. Jesus lived a perfect life, God gave us this short time on earth so we could follow Christ's example and learn how to become like him and ultimately be "saved" if we so choose.
Scripture of the Week
Moroni 7:48 I added in a couple of personal insights:
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren (and sisters), pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with his love (charity), which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons (and daughters) of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope (faith); that we may be purified even as he is pure (through the power of the Holy Ghost). Amen."
I have a testimony of this scripture. I love my older brother Jesus Christ. I am striving everyday to live as he did, and as he lives now. I am striving to love like he does (Moroni 7:45): by being kind, and thinking no evil, seeking not my own and rejoicing not in iniquity. As Latter-Day Saints, it's so easy to forget our purpose for being here on earth while we live our busy lives in this crazy world. Believe me, I've been there. I think it's vital that we remember our eternal potential everyday. It's important that we remember our Savior and his sacrifice he made for us so that we can become like him. I love my Savior and I love this gospel. I love the Book of Mormon and I know the church is true!
Strive to have the Holy Ghost with you all the time and you will have a wonderful week I promise! Have a great week everyone!
Love,
Elder Johnson
Hello everyone!
To all the missionaries, I hope you are doing great and adjusting well to missionary life and to the MTC folks: "Your almost there!" The MTC was a wonderful experience for me and I miss my district and my teachers a lot but I'm happy to be on the mission and doing the work finally!
This week was a little less busy than last week but I did finally get to go tracting which was a great experience for me because I'm used to it! For those of you who don't know I spent this past summer doing a door-to-door sales job and I had a lot of success so I have no problem talking to strangers on the street and at the door. I gave out my first Book of Mormon this week while contacting and I really hope we meet again because he was quite interested and was just an awesome guy. The work is great in our ward and Bishop McFarlene has brought forth a revolutionary mission plan that is going to be awesome. He is so inspired! We are going to keep working with Cynthia this week as she prepares for her baptismal date on Mar. 4th which is exciting.
I love being a missionary and I love hearing from all the other missionaries! Trust in the Lord and keep up the good work! I love this gospel and I love my Savior so much!
Have an wonderful, awesome, beautiful week everybody!
Love,
Elder Johnson
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