OUR MISSIONARIES: SISTER SARAH JOHNSON - 6/5

This week was kind of crazy!

Tuesday we got to hang out with the zone, and we played kickball and frisbee and signs, and it was fantastic. We have a really good zone. Tuesday night we stayed over at the YSA sisters' apartment :) they are the sweetest, and I'm pumped to get to see them more often. :)

Wednesday we had MLC, and Sister Cheney was there! She gave me a whole bunch of hugs from Sister Mitchell, it made me feel all special. It was good to see her, I've missed Moscow a lot. But MLC was really good too! We talked a lot about how we need to focus on having faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and figuring out what that means for us individually, as well as for our investigators. It was a really good council, and I really loved it. One of the elders going home gave a farewell testimony, and in it he quoted President Uchtdorf, "Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey", and it just stuck to my heart, and I realized I need to love the journey of learning to be better, and not just be frustrated that I haven't gotten there already.

THURSDAY WAS THE BEST THOUGH! Because Anastasia got baptized and confirmed! She was just glowing, she was so happy to be there and be baptized. We're grateful everything worked out so well. We just love her and her family. Also, sorry the baptism pics are blurry, we're going to try to hunt down the lady who took a pic on her phone so we can get that one someday.... But let me tell you, the Gospel is so, so true! It's amazing how it works, and it changes people. It's incredible to be able to see people make that jump into the Gospel, and see their whole life brighten up :). I last minute had to prepare a talk for her baptism, and I wrote it on the temple, and how to get there. It was an awesome experience, because it really felt like it wasn't my talk, it was totally the Spirit. I used this hiking analogy. Mountains are symbolic of the temple in the scriptures, and the 5 things in the gospel get us to the top (or to the temple). Faith=flashlight, that helps us see the path at least for a few paces, until the sun comes up and we can see more clearly. Repentance=a change of clothes (so wearing good shoes) so that we can be protected from the dangers on the hike, like bushes or animals. Baptism=water bottle, which keeps us rejuvenated (like taking the sacrament). The Gift of the Holy Ghost=a compass that helps you determine where you are and where you're going. Enduring to the End=having the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And then the most important part being he Atonement of Jesus Christ. Hiking is no fun if you get there and there's nobody to share it with, so don't forget to bring your friend, Jesus Christ, so that he can encourage you the whole hike, he can refill your water bottle and patch up your shoes. He can recharge your flashlight and your strength. And with Him, you can make it to the top of the mountain, where you can be with God. It was a really cool idea, and it was totally not mine. I learned so much from it.

Friday we got to go with Anastasia to her son's 4 year old graduation from his preschool. It was the cutest! We were helping her grill all the carne asada meat, and it was SOOOO GOOD! I'm excited to know how to make some really good carne asada now. It as worth smelling like a grill the rest of the day. :) Mmmm

Also on Friday we got to have dinner with the Morefields. They are seriously the cutest little elderly couple, and you can totally tell they are still so in love. That's my new goal, to be a friendly, sweet old couple that's still in love after 50 years, because it was just so fantastic and comfortable to be in their home. Brother Morefield told us all about his mission and how he met Sister Morefield, and they let us practice a lesson on Family History with them (So sister Latu can start practicing :) ), and they loved us. It was awesome :) I hope we have a good reason to go out and see them again soon.

On Sunday we got to go to the Idaho Falls Temple rededication at the Coeur d'Alene stake center! It was really cool to be able to go :). We actually got to go to 2 of the different broadcasts, because we didn't know Anastasia would be coming, so we went with her too! She loved it, and it was really awesome because all of the talks aimed at families and temples and how the Gospel can heal everything. She's aiming for the temple right now, and her husband is interested in taking the missionary discussions now too. So there's a lot of hope there for her, and we're excited about that :).

Anyways, today should be awesome! We're doing a double zone pday with the Hayden Lake zone, and that should be quite the riot. Also we're going on an exchange tonight with the YSA sisters, and I'm excited to show Sister Nance how fantastically crazy Plummer is. Haha

I love you all so much!!

Sister Johnson

Here are a couple of pics Sister Latu took of the drive to St. Maries for the baptism! It was gorgeous!