Emma's empty room...Not anymore!

Something that I like to call a tender mercy.  A few months ago I felt that Charlie and Evan should have a place/bed of their own at our home.  When they would come every week Charlie would sleep on a pull out couch in my office and Evan would sleep on a mattress in Todd's office.  It always felt so temporary.

When I had the feeling there needed to be something they could call their own I had this thought of making them beds in the "tunnels" in Emma's room.  The "tunnels" are the space between the pony wall and the roof under the angled ceiling, about 45 inches wide, 25 inches at the shortest side and 53 inches at the highest side.  I decided once Emma left I would begin working on the beds.

The day Emma left I walked down to her room and instantly started crying as the emptiness of her room hit me.  It lacked life, it lacked her energy.  The next day I began to design and plan the room for the kids.  It was then I realized the tender mercy.  God knew I would struggle with her empty room and He also knew that I needed to be busy doing something to get my mind off of Emma being gone.

So, here are the  pictures from Emma's empty room....to not anymore!

Emma Week 3, On Her Way...

In one hour I'll be on the airplane!!! I have a layover in Dallas Texas, and then I'll officially be on my way to Louisiana!! I'm a little sad knowing I won't be back in Utah for 18 months, but it will totally be worth it!! My excitement is outweighing my nerves which is good. I CANT WAIT TO MEET MY MISSION PRESIDENT!!! anyways I'm just letting y'all know I made it safely to the airport, even though it was an adventure! I'll let y'all know when my play is when I find out!

Oh I also want to share a cool/ spiritual experience. The whole time while in the MTC I thought one of my teachers didn't like me because she never gave me feedback or came over to me during role plays. But last night she went around the circle and told each missionary individually what she admired/ thought of, and for me she told me that the reason she never gave me feedback was because anytime she gave us instructions I would take it and do it better than she would.  She said that the whole time she knew I was already a missionary and ready to head out to the field. When she told me that it made me feel so much better. This whole time I've felt like I am too inadequate to be a representative of the lord, so her saying that made me realize how the lord has helped me grown so much.  That I can do all things through Christ.  I still don't think I'm as ready as she made me seem but I am going to give these next 18 months my all so I don't regret anything!

Anyways love all of you SOOOOOO much and miss you tons. Always remember, God is good!!

Later in the day…

Last update, I made it safely to LOUISIANA!!! The moment I stepped off the plane I felt like I was home, it was such an amazing feeling! My mission president and his wife are absolutely AMAZING!!! I honestly love them soooooo much already! My area is called the Mccomb Mississippi, and GUESS WHAT!!! MY AREA COVERS KENTWOOD LOUISIANA TOO WHICH IS WHERE MOM LIVED!!! The moment I told President Varner he said it was completely inspired by the lord, and I feel so much peace from that! My mind is blown and I have a feeling that there is something waiting for me in that area, I cant wait to find out what. Since being here I have felt more inspired to serve the Lord than ever!!

My Pday is Monday so I'll talk to y'all then, love you guys with my whole soul!

Sister Johnson

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Emma Week 2

It's crazy I leave for Louisiana in less than a week! Time has definitely flown by! And I am enjoying every minute of it!!!

This week has been a little crazy, one guy in my district was sick and he's a pretty touchy guy so he spread the sickness to all but 3 Elders and even one of the sisters got sick! So in class there was only 5 people! Most of them are good now except for 2, and I have felt like there mom because I had to make sure they were taking medicine and sleeping. All the Sisters in my room call me the mom too cause I'm the emotional support for all of them haha. Oh I also forgot to mention last week that Sister Payne and I were made the STL's (Sister Training Leaders), so I'm also the mom to all the other Sisters in my Zone.

We invited one of our TRC's (people we teach), Britney, to be baptized and she said she wants to, but also wants to do a few more lessons first, so that was SUPER exciting! It made me realize why I'm here and my purpose in bringing others unto Christ. I can't wait to get out into the field! Oh my district also got to be hosts again to the new incoming missionaries, and it was insane! A lot of missionaries who were supposed to go to other MTC's couldn't get their Visa's in time so they were sent to the Provo MTC last minute. So there were over 740 missionaries that came in yesterday and it started raining really hard in the middle of it so we all got drenched but it was super fun! This was the largest intake of missionaries since the age change!!

My spiritual highlight of the week has been learning how strong the power of prayer is! I have felt so much strength and peace as I've poured my heart out to my Heavenly Father. I also felt the spirit so strongly as I testified of the power of prayer to those we taught. I encourage each of you to pray as often as you can, and I promise you that you will see the hand of the Lord in your life EVERYWHERE!! I have also loved studying Mosiah chapter 5 this week, it has helped me in so many ways! Y'all should go read it!

Oh and the biggest tender mercy happened today! My district was chosen to go and help clean the Provo Temple today, which was soooo awesome! When we were walking back to the MTC and while we were crossing the cross walk I looked out at the cars hoping that my family would just drive by and I saw a truck that looked like my dads. I looked away not thinking much about it until it started honking. Then I realized it was my DAD!!!! Luckily it was a red light so I ran over and was able to see him one last time before I head out for 18 months. It was such a blessing and made my day that much better! My whole district was a little shock that my dad was just drove by, and I was too! I promise I didn't plan for this to happen haha!

Enjoy all the random pics from this week!!

(Also one of the pics explains the gone but not forgotten part)