THE PHONE NUMBER ON THE FLYER WAS WRONG. ALL THE INVESTIGATORS WE COULD HAVE HAD!

So this past week we dropped two investigators, but we also picked up FOUR!!! I don't know how that happened, but these past two transfers have been insane. I've never had so many investigators and referrals in my whole life!

On Saturday we went sticker boarding with the district by the entrance/exit of a subway. We had these nicely made flyers made by one of the elders and we put them to use! It was super busy and we were pretty popular, Sister Driscoll and I talked afterward and said that had been the most successful sticker boarding we had ever done! 

I had even had a great conversation with a lady about our English program and a little bit about our church. She was pretty interested so I gave her a flyer.. By the end, some people in dog costumes took over our area.. they were advertising their dog cafe (a cafe with dogs you can play with). So we called it quits but still felt pretty successful! 

Then on Sunday we were in Ward Mission Council and the elders brought up one small piece of information that was shocking. THE PHONE NUMBER ON THE FLYER WAS WRONG. The elder who had made it accidentally switched two of the numbers.. They called that number that was on the flyer and a lady answered telling them that she had received a lot of phone calls.. ALL THE INVESTIGATORS WE COULD HAVE HAD! 

Haha when we found out, I was in shock for ten minutes. I couldn't believe it! Our best sticker boarding ever. Wrong number. All those potential investigators.. WHY?!?! Haha we were all pretty upset/frustrated/confused, but in the end we'll all laugh about this, right? That just means we have to try harder the next time we do sticker boarding! 

And continually apologize to the person whose number is on our free English flyers..

That's all I really have to say this week! It's been a pretty slow week. A lot of our appointments cancelled this week. But I did find out I have to stay on this strict cabbage diet for my acid to go down.. Yay.. Cabbage..

Have a great week!!! And remember to EDIT things before you use it! haha

Sister Johnson

I'm sure she thought we were a little crazy...

"Time sure flies when you're having fun! And/or engaged in the work of the Lord."

I swear I was just in this PC room emailing everyone, but here I am again! This week we met with our miracle long lost member again and she is seriously the best! She has such a desire to come back to church and to have her son baptized and go on a mission! But I'm not really sure that's something he'd want... haha when she said that he was like "WHAT?!" He's 18 years old and is just now hearing about the church. His reaction was pretty funny.

We also went to the Korean Folk village with our investigator! She's so amazing and she's our Korean BFF. We also took her to a stake youth conference type thing and she loved that! I even got to see my 안성 members (last area: Anseong) and that was so fun! The sad thing is that our investigator has to drop us now.. She has to start studying hard for school since she needs to get into a good college and so she won't be able to meet us anymore:( But I'm praying that she'll have time after test season so she can meet with the missionaries again! Our other investigator goes to school in New Zealand and so we won't be able to meet with her anymore either.. Kind of a bummer. I hope she runs into the missionaries in New Zealand! That would be amazing.

We also tricked our other investigator to come to church.. She attends a different church because her daughter takes violin lessons from one of their members and teaches her extra lessons after church.. So I came up with the idea to have the missionaries sing in sacrament next week and to invite our investigator's daughter to play the violin while we sing! haha they said yes, but with a lot of hesitation. After we left their house, I felt really bad kind of bribing them into coming to church.. But as long as she gets there and feels the Spirit, that's all that matter, right?!

We had a lesson with our 14 year old investigator too and we asked her if she was able to read the pamphlet on the Restoration. She wasn't able to cause her mom threw it away so we just talked about it. (we've already given her three pamphlets) She surprisingly remembered EVERYTHING we had taught her from last time. Detail by detail. It was amazing. I wanted to point out a specific part in the pamphlet and so we pulled out another pamphlet and our investigator just bursts out laughing! She couldn't believe that we had SO many of those pamphlets! I'm sure she thought we were a little crazy... Okay this story was a lot more funnier in the moment..

It's been just another awesome week!

Have a great week!

Sister Johnson

It was just a growing experience that we are truly guided by the Spirit to know what to do and what to say!

OKAY more miracles!!! Remember that lady we met last week? She was at the bus stop and started freaking out when she saw that we were missionaries. We met with her yesterday and found out that she was baptized 25 years ago and was active for two years. She then moved to Seoul and lost contact with the church. She got married and her parent-in-laws were totally against churches and so she never spoke a word about it to them. But then 23 years later she finds us! FOR 23 YEARS SHE NEVER SAW A SINGLE MISSIONARY. And just we happened to casually run into her. 

She said it couldn't be more perfect timing. She said she wishes she could have seen us sooner but it's better now than never, right? 

She is an incredible woman and is seriously like our Korean mother. Except I guess I already have a Korean mother at home.. So she's my Korean mother in Korea! She has the coolest life; traveling the world, being an amazing artist, and her unbelievable kindness. Sister Driscoll and I kept asking ourselves, "Who is this woman?! And where did she come from?!" haha anyway, she wants to come to church again and she wants her son to learn the gospel too! COOL, RIGHT?! We found a long lost member..

This week we had a practice lesson with a member who was baptized not too long ago, but as we met with her we shared a message about faith. It's a quote from Elder Russell M. Nelson from April 2014 conference. "We might each ask ourselves, where is our faith? Is it in a team? Is it in a brand? Is it in a celebrity? Even the best teams can fail. Celebrities can fade. There is only One in whom your faith is always safe, and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you need to let your faith show!" As we shared that with her she told it was hard for her to do that. She said her friends and family all think the Mormon church is 이단 (crazy/cult). 

But as soon as she said that, Sister Driscoll and I both thought of the same message found in True to the Faith. It's in the Missionary Work section, "The most powerful missionary message you can send is your own example of living a happy Latter-day Saint life... If you are sincere in your friendship with them, they will be able to feel the spirit of your testimony and happiness." The member was mind-blown that we could find the answer she exactly needed in that book. She told us that she could be a great example and she is so strong because she still comes to church even with all the hatred she gets from close ones. But it was just a growing experience that we are truly guided by the Spirit to know what to do and what to say!

On Sunday it was two of our youth's farewells and they sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" with their families for the musical number. The parents of the soon-to-be missionaries couldn't even sing because they were crying so much. As soon as I saw that, I couldn't help but cry as well. The Spirit was so strong and by the end of the song, the whole congregation was crying. The lyrics and the circumstances were so powerful and by enlisting in God's army, we truly are telling Him, "I'll go where you want me to go.." Missionary work is the BEST!

I love this gospel. I love Korea. I love being a missionary!

Sister April Johnson

Pics: My lovely children BFF investigators & writing a wish on the wishing tree! It's 600 yrs old & you're supposed to write a wish & tie it to the tree! I'm a Mormon!

"Missionaries leave their families for a short time so others can be with their families forever"

With our recent converts, we got to visit with them and the whole family twice this week. And they are CHANGED people! They are so happy now and seeing their family all together was incredible. Their family is united an complete. Seeing them just made my heart so happy! They can now have an eternal family! "Missionaries leave their families for a short time so others can be with their families forever."

This week I was seriously depressed leaving the year 2014. I guess I was feeling like saying goodbye to 2014 meant that I was saying goodbye to all the experiences and memories of this year. I can always look back on everything I learned and experiences, but it's just not the same! But once we started 2015, I realized I kind of like it! We're still seeing miracles and I'm still learning! I can't stay in the past. But now that the new year has happened, I'm now 23 years old in Korea! We ate 떡국 and I guess after you eat that one new years day, you become a year older! Strange... But now I'm really old:(

We went to a Buddhist temple this week with an investigator and we even prayed in the temple! It was kind of different.. And I'm not gonna lie.. A little scary too.. But mostly cause I don't know what's going on. But instead of praying to Buddha, we prayed to Heavenly Father(: Haha that was fun!

Then on Sunday, we were going to visit some members but decided not to cause we had just seen them at church. So I decided we go proselyting in a certain area that I haven't really been to much. So we went down there and we weren't really having any luck. We were also starving because we were fasting so we decided to call it quits and head home. Then at the bus stop, I woman sees my name tag and starts freaking out! She then continues telling us that she attended our church 20 years ago and that she loved the missionaries but stopped coming to church because she got married! She also didn't know where our church was so she was asking us all these questions and she invited us over for lunch this week! She said she'd even come to church on Sunday! As she was writing down all of her information in my planner, my jaw dropped. Did that really happen? We were in an area that I NEVER go to and as soon as we decide to head home, we meet someone that was just visiting her mother-in-law. How was it possible that our paths crossed?! Of course the answer is Heavenly Father. 

He puts those who are prepared in our paths! We're not sure if she's a member or not, but the fact that she's gonna come to church is crazy! We didn't even invite her. She pretty much did all the talking while Sister Driscoll and I were in shock! SO COOL!

Also Sister Driscoll and I cut our hair.. I cut off 10 inches and NO ONE has noticed! haha it's been a full week and no one has said anything. Then I was wearing glasses on Sunday and people noticed that.. but not my hair. That's cool. I think I'm invisible!

This is a conversation with my favorite 7 year old:

Me: How are you?

Her: Happy!

Me: Why are you happy?

Her: I see you!

I almost died!

Oh and we got transfer calls on Sunday morning. I'm not leaving! YAY!!!!!! I was not ready to leave this area whatsoever! I could not be more happy!

Have a great week!

Sister Johnson

This week was incredible and I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas holiday(:

Monday:  Went to Gangnam and explore the streets! Honestly, not as cool as I thought it would be. BUT still pretty cool since I've only served in the more country areas.

Tuesday:  Mission Christmas Conference! We received a lot of training and also had a ton of fun(: It was so good to see everyone and also learn a lot. "our sacrifice is incredibly small compared to what we get in return.." I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday:  Ate with a member and tried this fish soup! It was pretty good until I found things that looked like brains and weird liver looking stuff... I asked the member what it was and she said they were eggs... I didn't believe her... haha it was disgusting!

Thursday:  CHRISTMAS! Opened presents and honestly I can say this Christmas was the best ever! I got so much love from the family and everything meant so much to me! It was the most meaningful AND I got to spend it in Korea proclaiming the gospel! Later we went to this traditional wall in Shin poong and caroled with our zone! GREAT CHRISTMAS.

Friday: SKYPING WITH THE FAMILY! I gotta say, I was pretty happy. I was really worrying that I wasn't going to be able to skype my family. We're not allowed to ask members if we can use their computers so we had to wait for someone to invite us and not most Koreans know that we can skype our family.. So we were freaking out, BUT my lovely family had connections and asked one of our members for us... Haha I love having connections! Anyway, skyping them felt so normal. It felt like it was a weekly thing. Still fun!

We had an appointment with our investigator who is 14 and we got there early so we were at the bus stop trying to figure out the bus system in that area. All of a sudden someone ran into me and grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and it was our 14 year old member! She's actually friends with our investigator! So she said, "what are you doing here?!?! Why aren't you at my friends house yet?!" so she dragged us to the appointment even though we were early! She stayed with us for the lesson even thought she didn't really participate much. That was crazy!

We had another appointment and one of our new investigator's dad wants his daughter to live with us for a few days so she can learn English... haha sorry that's not possible.. But she can come to our appointments with us!

Saturday:  Our investigators baptism interview with the mission president! The interview took an hour and a half and afterwards, the mission president, my comp and I did a lot of soul searching, praying and listening to the spirit. We weren't completely sure if they had enough faith and if it was too soon for them to get baptized. We did only meet them two and a half weeks ago. and only got to meet them a few times! But I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew they needed to be baptized. Sister Driscoll felt in the middle. 

She kept feeling knots in her heart about it and I asked her, "What if that's Satan?" and as soon as I said that, she said the knots were completely gone and she felt peace. She then immediately thought of the scripture D&C 6:23- which says, "did I not speak peace? What greater witness can you have than from God?" We had already received our answer that they needed to get baptized, we just needed to follow that prompting and not waver! So we did!

Sunday:  THE BOTH GOT BAPTIZED. We had to baptize the grandpa in a slightly different way. Since he is in a wheelchair and cannot bend backwards, they had to have three people in the font to help and lay him down completely in the water. It went so smoothly and it was a beautiful service! These people were just put in our hands by Heavenly Father and all we did was help Him. So amazing! Missionary work is the best!

This week was incredible and I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas holiday(:

Sister Johnson

Member referrals are the best!

Okay craziness of my life. This week has been so stressful and confusing. Trying to see if the baptism was going to happen or not. But the baptism is still on for the 28th! The husband in the wheelchair isn't getting baptized. Just the wife is! The husband still needs more time to accept and understand the gospel. Since he can only half listen, when we teach it's sometimes hard for him to understand. So when we continue to teach him, we'll have to do it with lots of pictures and speak slowly and simply. The wife had a few problems with keeping the commandments. 

She was worried about not being able to keep all of them and facing God's wrath. So I found the scripture Alma 26:35 with her and it says that He has all the power, all wisdom, and all understanding; He comprehendeth all things and is merciful. So we testified to her that as long as she tried her best, Heavenly Father would understand and that He would be merciful. He truly knows ALL things and He understands!

We also picked up a new investigator! It was a referral from the member that referred his parents to us and are now getting baptized. He called us one morning just thinking he was going to talk to us about his mother-in-law but instead he gave us ANOTHER referral! Member referrals are the best!

Got to go to my cousins? wedding this week! I got permission and got to see all of the aunts and uncles in Korea! That was pretty cool. I don't really know them very well but it was fun to see some familiar faces! Actually going to the wedding was a little insane. People I didn't even know came up to me and started grabbing my face.. Haha that was fun!

We also had our ward Christmas party which was a hit! So many people came we didn't have room for everyone! I wish that many people came to church on regular Sunday church meetings... haha but lots of less actives and nonmembers came so that was a success(:

We also had meal appointments back to back this week. One day we went to a buffet with members for lunch and then visited another member for a practice lesson and she gave us more food and then we had a dinner appointment with another member and I almost died. I felt so full I was literally going to throw up! On the walk to the bus stop I never had such a desire to throw up! I now know how American missionaries feel... I feel so bad for them! Mom, don't overfeed the missionaries cause they'll probably

explode! We also had another appointment with a member and we talked to her about having faith in Jesus Christ and she told us that she relies on Christ- for EVERYTHING. For learning the piano, to help make good food, etc.. But to realize that we truly can rely on Him for anything and everything was really cool. I need to really rely on Him like that as well. Even for the little things!

Well have a wonderful Christmas week! I'm so excited(:(: MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM KOREA!

Sister Johnson

Have I ever prayed to Heavenly Father & thanked Him for my belief in him?

This week we had interviews with the mission president and we were supposed to bear our testimonies of the Savior and His atonement so I shared 2 Nephi 26:25 with him. I love this scripture because it shows us how much Jesus loves us! Christ already paid the price for us so all we have to do is come unto Him. The gospel is free and so is our salvation! We just need to COME UNTO HIM!(:

Anyway.. This week may have been the craziest week of my life. We weren't quite able to reach our 10 lesson goal, but we did get 8! We got a huge curve ball thrown at us! A miracle, really. Last Sunday we had members in our ward refer their parents. The father had a stroke last year and cannot walk, speak or write. Because of that, they stopped drinking and smoking. Their kids(members) joked around with them saying that they were ready to become Mormons! And that's what got them really thinking about the church. They have a huge interest in temples and eternal families especially since the mom just had her sibling die. So having her grandchildren do baptisms for the dead for them really caught her interest. 

Anyway, we met them last Sunday and on Tuesday their kids called us and said that they want them to get baptized on Dec 28 because their kids are coming to Korea from Utah for the Christmas break so they want the boys to baptize their grandparents. That might have stressed us out a bit! Less than 3 weeks to teach them all the lessons and get their interview in?? I've only ever taught the first lesson and Sister Driscoll doesn't have much experience teaching further than that as well.. So we had the Elders come teach with us so we could really pound in all the lessons. 

This past week we've met them three times and they came to church! (First time I've actually had investigators come to church..) We taught them a lot, but not enough! So it's a bit stressful trying to do this in a very short amount of time. Their interview is coming up and I'm not really sure if they're completely ready. They have some things in the past that they need to figure out. This time limit is so stressful! But then again we've really been blessed! We are honestly doing nothing to make this happen. It truly is the Lord and we are His hands. So we may or may not have baptisms coming up but it's our goal and we are preparing them for this decision. 

This story is seriously so scrambled I'm sorry if no one understands. So much has happened this past week it's kind of hard to sum it all up!

ANYWAY. Our other investigator that is 14 kept her commitment to pray this week(: We invited her to pray at the end of our lesson too and it was the most sincere prayer I've ever heard from a 14 year old! In her prayer she thanked God for being able to meet with the missionaries, she asked Him to help her go to church every week, she said she was going to start praying more loyally and she thanked God for her belief in Him. The spirit was so strong and afterwards, Sister Driscoll and I were BEAMING! But it really made me think, have I ever prayed to Heavenly Father and thanked Him for my belief in Him?

Have a great week! Sorry for the strange and confusing email. LOVE YOU!!! 

 Sister Johnson