Emma week 6

(Family and friends)

OH MY SWEET GOODNESS Y'ALL!!!!!!!!! I have had the most blessed week ever, tender mercies EVERYWHERE! I don't even know where to start, but I know that all of these blessings are from us learning how to be patient when we first got to the area and had to do a lot of cleanup with the area book instead of actual missionary work. But it's crazy to see how the Lord has placed people into our paths.

The first awesome thing that happened was about this members neighbor, who she was talking about the gospel with. He wasn't so sure about meeting the missionaries yet, but one day we went over to her house just to drop by real quick and he was there!!!! It was awesome that he was there because we got to talk to him, and he said he'll come to church next week!!

The person I am most excited for was a lady who was a bible referral. We brought her the bible and we talked to her and her mom, she was telling me how she just wants to come back to a church, and I told her about ours and that we would love to come back and teach her and she was so open and excited about it! Definitely a major blessing!

Funny Story:

After eating dinner at a members house we went out to our car to leave, I opened the door a little bit and turned around to look behind me and saw a HUGE SPIDER!!!! I turned to run inside the car but I ran right the door! I have a huge a goose egg on my forehead now and it hurts SOOO bad.

Funniest quote:

I asked one guy how he handles living in this heat and humidity and his response was, "People always ask me why I live here, I always tell them I know I'm going to H@$#, so I might as well get used to it!" I was trying my hardest not laugh, it was such a struggle!!!

Overall this week has been one of the best weeks yet! I wouldn't change a single thing! My take away from the week is that when life gets hard and frustrating, just keep going while putting all your faith into the Lord, and he will bless you in so many ways! I hope that all of y'all counted your blessings this week and had as good of an experience than I did.

I was reading in Mosiah 16 and I had started my studies off with a prayer and told Heavenly Father what I was struggling with at the moment. When I came across verse 9, I knew it was an answer to my prayer. I was struck with how fast my prayer was answered and how I needed to hear it. I love this gospel with my whole being and I know it is true! I have never been more grateful to represent my Savior in this work. God is so good!

Love y'all!!!!!!!

(Immediate family)

I am SOOOOOO JEALOUS y'all get to be in Utah and get to see little Ms. Paisley ALL the time! But don't worry I am doing great, I was homesick when I first saw her and it was a little hard knowing I wont be able to see her for another 17 months, but I'm doing great now. I just remembered my reason for being here and my duty to the Lord, once I realized that my heart was instantly filled with love and the heartache went away. I have felt our Heavenly Father and Saviors Love in so many ways this week, it has been amazing!!!!

I have seen so many blessings this week, it has been a wonderful week! My weekly email talks more about it, but it's crazy to see how many people the lord puts into our way!

I had one really sad experience this week that left me feeling really bad for this lady. So we were supposed to teach this one members Great grandson, but when we got there he wasn't there but she still made us dinner and she is really old too by the way. I was a little weary to eat the food, and once we were done we insisted on doing the dishes for her, so she went and sat down. I opened the dishwasher and there were cockroaches everywhere in there, crawling ALL OVER the dishes, I was trying my hardest not to puke and scream. I sucked up my disgust and got to work. The whole kitchen was covered with cockroaches and bugs, and her bathroom was even worse. It broke my heart to see this old woman living on her own in this condition. It was hard not being able to do more for her.

Overall this week has been great though, lots of blessings and lot's of unhealthy food eaten. I haven't weighed myself since I left but pretty positive I've gained some weight... Anyways keep sending pics through the shared folder, especially of Ms. Paisley!

LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

Sincerely, Your favorite person Ever!

Emma week 5

Ok I just have to put this out there.... I am most likely gonna be 30 pounds heavier when I come home! I have been fed SOOOOOO much this past week and they insist you eat more and I don't have the heart to say no and everything is fried so that doesn't help....

Anyways! This week has been pretty awesome!!! We finally got to do some tracting since we got our area book cleaned up, it was soooooo hot but I LOVED it anyways!!! We met 3 new people who want us to come back which is amazing!

We also have a person who wants to be baptized but he needs to work out a few things before he can, so we've been helping him with that. I have a good feeling about him though!!

If you are wondering what a danger noodle is, it means SNAKES!!! We went on a hike today as a district and there were snakes EVERYWHERE!!!! We saw sooooo many venomous ones, and ones we don't even know what they were. The scariest encounter was a copperhead....... The hike was so cool though! I held a frog which was terrifying but at least I can say that I did haha! There were also HUGE spiders everywhere and I am pretty positive that my whole district has headaches from my screams.

Overall this week has been amazing! The hardest part has been the heat, it gets over a hundred everyday here and the humidity makes it that much worse. But don't worry I am drinking a lof of water!

I have been doing something new this week where I write down all of the blessings I had seen through out the day when I write in my journal at night. I realized how blessed I am and have seen the Lords hand in my life more than ever. I encourage all of ya'll to try doing this and I promise you will draw closer to God in ways you never thought possible, it's amazing!!

Love all of you guys so much and grateful for all the support you show me and the encouraging words you send my way.

Love Sister Johnson!!!!

(Family and friends email)

I FINALLY PLACED MY FIRST BOOK OF MORMON!!!!! Granted the people I gave them to were drunk.... but still they said we could come back when they are sober! Oh and that was in Kentwood! It was cool going to the town where mom lived in for a couple years, don't be too jealous y'all! We finally also got to go tracting for the first time! But man was I dying from the extreme heat here, but I loved every minute of it!!

I am feeling 100x better than I was last week which has been a huge blessing. Now if I could only stop my hair from falling out haha.

I don't remember if I told you guys or not but since the Baton Rouge temple is reopening all the Sister Missionaries get to go help out with it, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I am sooooo pumped for that to happen!

There's one person who were teaching who wants to be baptized, Jamie, but he is having Word of Wisdom issues that we are trying to help him with, but I have a good feeling that he is gonna be able to get baptized soon. We also have been visiting this lady, her name is Ms. Willie Jean, and she doesn't want to be taught she only wants to be able to discuss. She told us that she doesn't believe that Adam and Eve were the first people and this earth and I didn't even know how to respond to that. She also brought up the Mountains Meadow Massacre which I am grateful I knew a lot about that because that helped me explain what actually happened. She's a really sweet lady but we don't see her progressing but we will just keep watering the seed.

Not much has happened this week, but one thing is for sure that it's a lot better than last week! One thing I have felt so strongly this week though is the power of the Atonement. I have continued to learn more of how it truly applies to me and to everyone I teach which has been amazing.

I love all of you guys so much! Also you don't have to send me emails through the week because I've realized that makes me homesick, once a week is great though! Anyways take care everyone!!

Love Sister Johnson

(Immediate family email)

Mama

I'm doing great! I feel 100x better than I did last week, I've been able to exercise which is much needed since I'm getting fed more than I can eat and it's all greasy. I'm working as hard as I can to keep the weight off but I'm not too sure how that's gonna work since people have told me they are gonna fatten me up....

Anyways I did get to go to Kentwood!!! While driving down highway 51 i kept looking at all the properties wondering if they were your old home. We did some tracting finallh and I'm pretty positive I was right by your old school, I tried taking a picture but it's not the best angle. On our way home I looked at the pic you sent me and realized that you lived by the vet and I remembered seeing that, so on the way home I kept a look out and I was looking on the other side of the road when we passed your old home!!! I was so mad at myself, but I did catch a glimpse! The good news is that we are most likely going back tomorrow and I'll take a pic then. I loved being in Kentwood, it just had a special spirit about it. It meant a lot to me to realize I was in the town where Grandma Susie last lived, I kept thinking she probably walked into that store or went into that school, etc. I can't wait to go back.

I am set into a routine now, I wake up at 6;30, exercise, shower, eat breakfast, study for a few hours then head out for the day. I don't mind waking up at 6:30 because it's nothing like having to wake up at 5 for dance....so I am just counting the blessings haha. I'm also really happy to hear Russell is trying to enter Ev into Kindergarten cause that kid needs it. I hope it works out, I'll make sure to pray for it.

I can't wait to hear when the baby is born! Let me know the moment you find out because my mission President might let me face time you that day. Don't tell me the name until I facetime you please, I want it to be a surprise and be able to actually see her when I hear it. Spread the word to the family and I'll keep you posted about that.

Anyways this week has been really good, a few stressful moments but that just comes with serving a mission. Also you don't need to send me emails everyday, one on like Thursday would be good, I didn't realize how home sick they would make me I thought they would help. I also wont be videotaping everyone today because it was just to hard on me to realize how much I'm missing out on. But I might Video chat you and dad later since it is your anniversary, CONGRATULATIONS BY THE WAY!!! 31 one years man you guys are old.

I'm not gonna be able to send dad his email until later cause we are gonna head out soon so don't let him be sad cause I haven't forgotten about him! Also I love hearing about your progress on the book of Mormon, KEEP IT UP!!!

I love you so much Mom, it hurts a little not having you hear with me but the Love Heavenly Father has for me has made my heart full, and keeps me going everyday!

Love Emma

Charlie's First Day of School, 1st Grade

Emma week 4

(family email)

Hey Family!!! I miss y'all a ton by the way! I'm not gonna lie this week has been the hardest week so far. Like I said in the Group email I caught a stomach flu, so I spent the first full day throwing up and having the runs so that was fun. The hard part has been that every morning I feel the same way minus the puking, so I struggle in the morning but once I can finally get myself to eat something around lunch I feel a lot better.

Anyways I got to try my first real JUMBALAYA!!! It was SOOOOO yummy, I though I would hate it but I actually loved it, it's probably cause they used sausage instead of seafood haha. I can already tell I'm going to come home 30 pounds heavier from all the unhealthy food I have been fed. The hardest part is I can't tell them no so I just keep eating everything they give me.

Sister Rowe and I haven't been able to go out tracting yet cause our area book was messed up because the Elders who were in the area before us didn't try very hard, especially since one was going home so he kinda just gave up. So it's been frustrating trying to pick up the slack, but we should be out knocking on doors this week!

The humidity here is so intense I feel like I'm going to die half the time! Oh also the people here are so nice! But some of them are a little crazy haha. But there's a lot of older women that we have gone and visited with that remind me SOOOOO much of Grandma Shirley, it makes me miss her a lot.

Overall this week has been like a rollercoaster, but everything always gets better once I remember my purpose and that I can do all things through Christ.

Also just a reminder I love to hear back from all of ya!! I can check my email anytime during the week, I just can't respond until Monday, it's really nice to have them through out the week..... Just some food for thought.

Love all of you guys so much, it's a little harder now that I'm in a different state but I put all my pics up on the wall so I look at each one of you every night before I go to bed... In a none creepy way. Always remember who we are as children of God, and remember to look for Christ in all the little details of life, because He IS there!!

Love Sister Johnson (The favorite Child and Sibling)

(friends and extended family email)

I made it to LOUISIANA!!!! And let me just tell y'all that it is no joke how HOT and HUMID it gets down here! I feel like I'm walking into a shower every time I step outside!

Anyways I am already in love with the south, the moment I walked off the plane I felt like I was finally home. My first day here was a little rough since I caught a stomach flu, so my missed all the first day orientation stuff and now I don't really know what's going on half the time haha! But once I got over that I got to meet my new trainer Sister Rowe!!! She is honestly SOOOO amazing! Leading up to this point I kept praying to be blessed with a trainer that is patient and thankfully she is patient and so much more!!

Ever since getting here we haven't been able to do too much because our area book was all messed up so we had to fix that. So we focused on meeting all the members especially all the inactive ones. Oh by the way my area is McComb  Mississippi, so I'm not even Louisiana lol. But cool story!!! My area covers a small part of Louisiana, AND THE TOWN IS WHERE MY MOM LIVED WHEN SHE WAS IN LOUISIANA!!!! It's Kentwood Louisiana, and when I told  my Mission President that he told me it was a conformation that we were supposed to be there because he was going back and forth because we would have to double out the Elders. So I'm SOOOOOO pumped to go see where my family lived when they were here.

Ok so funny story the first house we went to visit was a little run down and in a scary neighborhood. When we knocked on the door my first thought was what on earth did I get myself into!!! I was soooo terrified and I felt like I had no idea what I was doing here haha but don't worry things are good now and I have had lot's of confirmation that I am where I am supposed to be.

Oh and the stories of the bugs in the south is 100% true!!!! I have never seen so many bugs in my life, and they are HUGE too!!!! We found a HUGE cockroach in our apartment last night and lets just say there was a lot of screaming and jumping and that I'm surprised the neighbors didn't come yell at us!

Overall I am absolutely LOVING being in the South! People here are so kind and loving, southern hospitality is a real thing people!!

If you guys are looking for a spiritual uplight go read Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles by Elder Juan Pablo Villar. It is an AMAZING talk!! I also encourage y'all to read Alma 7 especially verses 11-13, these verses have reminded me that the Savior has given me so much and that 18 months of my life are nothing compared to his sacrifice for my sin.

Love all of you guys so much and miss ya too!!

Love Sister Johnson