March 4, 2014

Querido familia:
Sorry for the late email... It has been the best week, topped off with
a trip out of the mission to the Chicago temple!!! Since the temple is
not open on Mondays our zones preparation day was moved to today.
I love being a missionary. We have received so many blessings this
week, I don't even know where to start.
The ward: I am beginning to understand the power of personal
conversion. As our ward continues the 21 day promise, we have received
Miracle as the missionaries in this area but also seen it effect many
of our members and less actives. As we encourage members to create a
study habit of Book of Mormon reading and praying, they are becoming
more converted; which in turn has a direct effect on our success. We
are hoping by the end of the 21 day we will have a few member
referrals in our areas to invite to learn more.
We received a very vague text last monday, from Alfredo, that said
"tengo una pregunta que quiero preguntarle más adelante." After a
period of waiting, on our drive home we called him up. With
anticipation he stated very humbly "quiero bautisarme... PERO, pero,
puedo escoger quien va a bautizarme?!" More than wanting to be
baptized he was concerned who could do it :) we laughed about that on
the way home. But it was one of those moments I won't soon forget. We
are so excited for his baptism this Saturday, Hermana Trimble is
working very diligently to have everything in place. I am learning so
much from her. We are really excited to see Alfredo take this step, he
had a very strong experience and knows that Book of Mormon is true. He
was reading and thinking a lot... He said he had a dream that night
and when he woke up he just felt so happy and knew he needed to get
baptized. He has made a lot of changes in his life and has been
identifying a lot of the blessings that have come since he met the
missionaries.
Also we got a surprise invite to dinner at president Fenns house on
Sunday. He invited about 10 of us sisters from close zones to join
them to break our fast. It was such a fun night... After dinner he
gave us permission to stick around and ask any questions we wanted. We
stayed till 9:00. He knows just about everything, we are so
privileged.
We have met so many people this week, seen a lot of miracles, gained a
lot of new investigators... So the work is moving forward.
Thanks for all the emails, photos and videos. Unfortunately I can't
watch the video because it's on YouTube, but I'm sure Alex's singing
was amazing!!, I'm so proud of you, I can't wait to hear it when I get
home. I'm sure your just the stud of the school now... Congrats for
soccer and good luck with basketball this week!!
I'm so proud of all the work you put into getting your eagle! I got
the invite and was so happy. Above everything else we do in our lives
the knowledge we gain about the gospel is what will carry us through.
I know this gospel is true and promise you will never regret the time
you give to the work of The Lord.
I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all so much!!! Thanks for everything.

Love Hermana Johnson