I kept wondering who could have sent us these mysterious angel groceries? I was pondering it for over an hour.

Last week when Sister Northridge was deathly ill of food poisoning, we got a surprise delivery of groceries! (I forgot to write about this last week) In Korea, home delivery here is stellar. They have

people deliver your groceries to you! So last week we got a mystery delivery of groceries. There was TONS of stuff in it. I seriously thought angels had sent us this food! We didn't have much food in the fridge.. and we were low on money. I kept wondering who could have sent us these mysterious angel groceries? I was pondering it for over an hour. I was super happy and thankful that we had gotten the groceries. I kept thinking, "God is real. God is good." I kept thinking, "Is this a mistake? Or a miracle?" An hour later the delivery guy came back and was really sorry because he delivered the groceries to the wrong house. Sad. But hey at least I was really happy for an hour. Haha I know I'm ridiculous.

We went to the zoo this week! What was my favorite part? The lions of course! It was really cool cause there were about ten lions that started roaring like crazy. Amazing. After the zoo, we went to eat some delicious chicken 닭갈비 and it little did we know that it was superrrrr spicy. It was sooo good, but we were all basically crying while eating it. I swear I also blacked out a little bit. Either that or my eyes were going crazy from all that spice!

The other day Sister Northridge thought she got out area down and decided that she was going to lead us back home. We were actually really close to our house so I let her do it! She was so pumped and totally thought she knew where she was going. She's great. We laugh. A lot.

Sister Northridge: "The spirit tells me to turn left!!!"

Me: "No."

We also went to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's a big thing in Korea. All the trees are beautifully filled with cherry blossoms! It was really fun, but it was way too crowded and I can see lots of trees with flowers everywhere..

Okay CONFERENCE though. Did anyone else feel like most of the talks were centered on marriage and families? Super great, but kind of awkward as a missionary. Especially when watching conference in a small room with the elders in our district. Anyway, I still really loved conference! Just taking notes for the future(;

Things that I loved!

"Families go back before this earth was, and will go forward into the eternities." -Elder L. Tom Perry

"I can teach you to dance, but you need to hear the music. We learn the dance steps with our minds, but hear the music in our hearts. Dance steps require discipline, but joy only comes as we hear the music. As teachers (missionaries), we must expand our curriculum by teaching more than just the dance steps." -Elder Wilford W. Andersen

We have to teach investigators more than just the lessons! Teach people, not lessons.

"Saint- a sinner who keeps on trying. God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming, not who we used to be. No failure need be final. If we don't try, we're just Latter Day Sinners. If we don't endure, we're just Latter Day Quitters. If we don't allow others to do the same, then we're Latter Day Hypocrites." -Elder Dale G. Renlund

"Heavenly Father knows you're a successful missionary. What else matters? The service that counts the most is recognized by God." -Elder Michael T. Ringwood

"The artist knows what he wants to accomplish. Even though we cannot see the ending product, the artist knows. God knows! We cannot see our finished product, but with faith, we know that we can be made beautiful." -Elder Rafael E. Pino

Sorry these are probably not the exact quotes, they're my notes, but I love them! There isn't a whole lot to share this week, but conference was amazing. Cherry Blossom Festival was fun. My companion is great. Korea is warm. Life is good. God is good.

Have a great week!

Sister April Johnson

PICS: THE ZOO! And three out of six of my companions!

The first thing she did was take the Book of Mormon right out of our hands and ask if she could have it.

This week is full of crazy events so I'll go day by day.

Monday:

A member decided it would be fun to take me to "my dad's restaurant." A.K.A Papa Johns[on]. He thought it was the funniest thing. Our entire meal appointment he kept asking "how does it feel to be eating at your dad's place??" haha members..

Tuesday:  Appointments. Nothing too special.

Wednesday:

I GOT MY GREENIE! She's the greatest! Her name is Sister Northrigde and she's from LOGAN, UTAH. She'll be going to Utah State after the mission too. So automatically BFF's, right? Haha she has greenie power FOR SURE. She's so willing to work and do everything I say! It's great cause it keeps me motivated to be the best trainer for her! She's also SOOO ready for that Gang nam Style life!

Thursday:

Sister Northridge got food poisoning. Poor girl. Her first actual day in country and she spent it in bed/puking. Sorry TMI. I felt so bad for her. What a memorable experience that is!

Friday:

We have this potential investigator that the elders met and referred to us. So we've been trying to meet with her this entire transfer, but she always cancelled on us last minute. So we FINALLY got to meet with her and she was GOLDEN. The first thing she did was take the Book of Mormon right out of our hands and ask if she could have it. She was soaking up everything we were telling her! Later on she told us that her dad is actually a member and apparently she got baptized? I asked her if she got baptized when she was 9 (American age 8) and she said she got baptized at age 6 or 7? That's not right.. So we'll look more into it. BUT we may have found a less active on our hands!

We also went to the Gang nam Style sign on the big Gang nam street and ran into some members visiting from Chicago! They said that the little kids were praying to find the missionaries in Korea. And there we were(: Super cool!

Saturday:

We definitely saw a famous guy. He's really big here in Korea. He's on all the Paris Baguette, Tous Les Jours (bread shops), and other things. He's a famous actor. Well there was a huge crowd on Gang nam Dae ro. We walked back & forth few times to see what was going on, but the 50 million body guards kept telling people to keep walking. The last time we decided to walk by, we totally saw him! I don't even know anything about Korean famous people, but I was definitely star struck.. Haha for the .5 seconds that I saw him in the crowd of tons of people. That was fun though! 

His name is 김수현 I think.

Sunday:

We had regular church because we don't get to watch conference until next week. So I hope everyone had fun watching it.. Gotta wait for next week. Translations.. BUT I did get some Cadburry eggs from a German member(: I can't go an Easter without Cadburry eggs!

Due to it being Easter, we made Easter eggs with a scripture on it so we could visit less actives and tell them "Happy Easter!" but no one was home. The scripture we shared is one of my favorites.

Mosiah 16:6-9

6 And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.

7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

8 BUT THERE IS A RESURRECTION, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! (I think it's still happening in the US, right?) I love you all and always remember #BecauseHeLives.  

 Sister April Johnson

So what did we do with our leftover chili? We didn't have any food trash bags and so the Elders thought it would be a good idea to bury our rice chili in the garden

 Whelp. I'm training! I get my new companion on Wednesday and I'm just praying that my greenie won't hate me!  I definitely don't think I'm cut out for this, but all I can do is rely on the Lord, love my companion and do my best! Training is such a critical part of missionary work, in my opinion. The trainer shapes that trainee's missionary life from the very beginning! I don't know how great of a trainer I'll be, but I do have a favor to ask, PRAY FOR ME! 

 When we got the calls, we found out Sister McNatt was leaving the area and I immediately knew they were going to tell me that I was training. Thanks dad, you jinxed it! (he had a feeling that I was going to train..bumb) These next two transfers should be interesting, especially within all the craziness of Gang nam. But I'm determined to go into it with my head up! Not even letting giant cockroaches get me down.

Other than that, we went biking along the Han River with my district and Sister Gooch's district! It was a blast, but afterwards I think we all had a hard time sitting down at times. Not biking for a year and going all out is not a good idea! Super fun though! We biked to the graffiti tunnel (:

And also I got some chili packets for Christmas and we decided to eat it together with the district before district meeting while on exchanges with the STL. I had accidentally put too much water into the mixture and so it was pretty soupy chili. How did we fix it? We just made rice to eat with our soupy chili! That was another bad idea.. The chili was.. Umm.. Not so good. A few of the missionaries were able to finish their meal, but a few could not. 

So what did we do with our leftover chili? We didn't have any food trash bags and so the Elders thought it would be a good idea to bury our rice chili in the garden of the church. Which we did. That was probably the funniest day of my mission!  It might sound a little strange, but we're missionaries and we gotta make our own fun, right? 

Haha and to make the day even better, at the end of our exchange there was just soooo much drama with some of the english class members and LA.(Less active)  To say the least, it was a very interesting day! I love missionary life!

Have a wonderful Easter this week! Love you all and check this video out(: www.mormon.org/easter

Sister April Johnson

Pics: Biking in the graffiti tunnel and our chili..

I can't even count how many times I've sung as a missionary. It's fun though!

We met with our investigator that LOVES alcohol. In fact, she drank for cans of beer right before we came. Sooo. She was a little tipsy to say the least. We actually got to talk a lot about the gospel though and as I kept digging around, we found out that the reason why she started drinking is because she hates her husband. We found the source! So now we just have to find a way for her to be able to love her husband and stop her drinking addiction. It was a very interesting lesson, that's for sure.

Our house is infested with cockroaches. HELP. Okay not infested, we only found two. But when there's one, you know there's more!

In Gang nam, the Han River is in our area! So we explored it this week(: We can go on the bridge that takes you to Seoul Mission, but we can go about halfway before we're breaking the rules!  There's also a cool graffiti tunnel where the city allows graffiti to be done during the late hours of the night. Every time you go, there are different designs!

Stake conference was this weekend and our ward was in charge of doing the special musical numbers! We sang a few songs and I can't even count how many times I've sung as a missionary. It's fun though!

 I got to meet more of the Korean Sign Language members in Korea! After stake conference, they came up to me and talked for a long time! I tried to guess hand signals and things, but it was hard so we resorted to writing on a piece of paper. One was writing in Korean cursive and it's really hard to read it and I was having a difficult time so sometimes he'd resort to English. I found out that they knew my mom from youth conference and how my mom did a Kung fu show for everyone?!? MOM?!? That was quite the surprise. It was cool getting to talk with them though. I want to learn Korean Sign Language now. But maybe I should just focus on learning Korean.

 Have a great week! 

 Sister April Johnson

It's amazing that there are missionaries in Korea that are starting to learn KSL ( Korean sign language) & teaching deaf people!

A member invited us to a golf expo this week, but he had to leave early for another appointment so he left us. Four missionaries. In the convention center. A lot of golf booths. Free food. He had already paid for us to go in so we took it as a time to proselyte and look around. We got free samples and even met a famous person! I didn't know he was famous at the time, I just assumed he was cause he had a cardboard cutout of himself and there were random people wanting pictures with him. We met him and he was super nice so Elder Knapp got a picture with him.

 I thought about it, but if this guy wasn't actually famous, I didn't want a picture with a random person! Now I totally wish I got a picture with him. There is this HUGE tv show that has a lot of foreigners from around the world that are really good at Korean and they kind of act like the UN. It's a big hit and the guy that we met was one of the stars! Alberto from Italy. The Italian Stallion. Just kidding. That's just what we call him. 

But I DID get to meet someone famous in Gang nam! We showed some members the picture of the Elder and the famous guy and they were all freaking out! Now I really regret not taking a picture with him, haha!

Sister McNatt had an investigator that moved above the river (Seoul Mission) just before I moved to Gang nam. So we got extra special permission from the head honcho, Elder Ringwood, to go to her baptism! We went to the baptism and I got to meet my younger MTC group! Sister Ness! And found out that that ward was one of my Korean MTC group's homeward too! It was awesome getting to go there and be on enemies' grounds.. hahaha the baptism was beautiful and it was an adventure getting to go there and see some familiar faces(:

We also had this stake relief society meeting this week and a Korean sign language(deaf) member came up to me with one of the KSL missionaries and asked me who my parents were, if my mom was from Gwangju, and if my dad was named Matt. I said yes and the guy knows my parents! 

He came up to me and automatically knew that they were my parents. It's also amazing that there are missionaries in Korea that are starting to learn KSL and teaching deaf people! I was just amazed that he knew my parents! I started crying like a baby in front of him... It was just a cool experience to be able to communicate with him and realize we had a connection.

Anyway, random things have happened this week. 

 Have a great week!

  Sister April Johnson

The LA (Less active) realized the lady was listening and invited the lady to come sit and talk with us.

This week we had a miracle! We met with a less active that is from China and we decided to have dinner together and go eat at KFC. As we were eating, I asked her about her conversion story and she proudly shared it, explaining how if she had never come to Korea, she would have never found the church. During the 30 minutes of her telling is the story, I could  see a lady in the corner of my eye intently listening to us. She was listening to our less active's conversion story this whole time! 

The LA (Less active) realized the lady was listening and invited the lady to come sit and talk with us. The lady politely declined, but the LA was persistent and eventually got the lady to come sit with us and talk. As we started talking more, the lady had so many questions for us. She told us she attended a church close by and my first thought was that she was going to try and convert us to her church. Luckily, that was not the case! She had more questions; especially about the Book of Mormon.

We ended up staying at KFC for a while as we taught her many of the gospel principles. We were also able to pick her up as an investigator! Not only was that an awesome missionary moment for us, but for our less active as well! Who would have known that a simple less active lesson was going to turn into a member present lesson?? I love the Lord's little surprises and blessings He has in store for us(:

Then there was English flyer guy. I guess I forget all the time that I'm Asian and don't realize how strange it is for me to be speaking pretty fluent English on the streets of Korea. Sister McNatt and I were taking the subway back home one night and were discussing our awkward attempts at trying to find new investigators when this guy sitting next to me kept looking at us. I didn't really think anything of it cause we're missionaries and everyone gives us weird looks like that. Well we continue talking and Sister McNatt randomly hands me an English flyer. I didn't know what she was trying to do, so I just held it. 

The guy next to me then asks me if he could possibly have the flyer and continues to tell me that it was just really interesting to see a Korean speaking English so fast and that he wanted to speak like I did.. Hahaha.. I then told him I was actually one of the teachers and I think he was really bummed out. I think he thought that if he came to our English class, then he would be able to speak like me. Anyway, he said he'd still try to come to our class! But then he never showed up the next day... :( But my companion did say that she's now going to use me as bait and tell everyone if they come to our English class, they can become as good as me! Not such a great idea... haha

This week was fun. I hope your week was great! Happy spring!!

Sister Johnson

We also had our investigator pray at the end of our lesson this week. Guess what she prayed for?

I have been a missionary for over a year! I never thought that day would come. Mostly cause I thought I was going to die before then.. Haha but here I am! For pday, my MTC group will be going to Suwon and climb the castle wall! I'm excited to see everyone(:

We went sticker boarding this week at Gangnam Daero. It's the HUGE street that "Gangnam Style" talks about. It's jam packed with people and really expensive brand name stores. Sticker boarding there was like nothing I've ever seen! we literally just stood there and people CAME to us wanting to put stickers on. In Suwon, we basically had to follow people down the street for them to finally put a sticker on! I like Gangnam(:

We also had our investigator pray at the end of our lesson this week. Guess what she prayed for? She prayed so that Sister McNatt and I would be able to find our Prince Charming when we go back to America.. haha not the most ideal prayer we want our investigator to do, but hey it works, right??

This week we met with another potential investigator and she LOVES alcohol. Okay that's and understatement. She told us that her dying wish is to drink the most expensive alcoholic drink in the world. Her job is drinking, her hobbies are drinking, her whole life is drinking. She told us that she stopped drinking that one day for us when we met with her. So that just means we have to meet with her every day so she'll stop drinking, right? How do we help someone with that critical condition? Any ideas?

I also got to meet with my cousins again! They live in the area right next to us! We had a great time and shared a message about prayer. At the end, the mom told me that we can come whenever and do missionary work at her house. Meaning praying and teaching lessons! I think maybe that's why I was sent to Gangnam. To help with their interest in the church!

We met with another potential investigator and we went to go meet with another guy that wanted to learn English.. We ended up accidentally going across Han River... The boundaries for the Seoul mission. Oops! We were freaking out and didn't know how to tell our investigator that we couldn't go anymore.. It was quite the adventure! We ended up having to go to the other guys' house and introduce the correct missionary's number.

That was my week!  Hope everyone has a great week(:  

 Sister Johnson