When I said goodbye, she kept saying how sad she was and she even cried! I really hope I will be able to come back for her baptism!

So It's official. I spent six months in Gokbanjeong. And now I'm going to THE BIGGEST CITY. GANGNAM. Yeah never thought that was going to happen... Going from the start of my mission from the most country to the city! I hope it's not a huge shock..

We got the call Sunday morning and I didn't want to come to terms with the fact that I was leaving the best ward ever! I got really sad, and I seriously have no idea what Gangnam will be like.. It'll for sure be an adventure! I spoke in church on Sunday for my "last talk" and all I could feel was love. I had so much love for these people. I got to know them really well and I really felt like a part of the ward.

 It's sad thinking that I'll leave them, but I know they'll still be an amazing ward without me! Everyone kept telling me that Gangnam was awesome and that I'll eat a lot of really yummy food. So I'm excited for that! I'm always down for food! The members here are awesome though and I felt so much love from them! I really have learned so much being here.

Saying goodbye wasn't easy. Especially to our one investigator that is progressing super fast! When I said goodbye, she kept saying how sad she was and she even cried! I really hope I will be able to come back for her baptism! Another young woman told me not to leave, I said I didn't want to and she said, "Then don't go!" Haha I only wish.. The Elder's investigator even wrote me a note. I want to share it cause it applies to my entire mission! SO MUCH SARANG! [love]

Goodbye is not forever.

Goodbye is not the end.

It simply means I'll miss you

Until we meet again.

Anyway, enough sadness about leaving this area! This week was still amazing! We gave our little girl investigators little chap-sticks that said "Choose Happiness." The little girl put it on her lips and said "행복해졌어요!" (I became HAPPY!) It was adorable..

We also learned how to make gimbab (california roll type things) and jabchae! (vegetable noodle things) If you have ever eaten Korean food with my parents, you know what I'm talking about! Super super fun!

I had so many other things I wanted to write.. But my mind is going crazy. We have 11 appointments with members and investigators in three days and we still have to ship my luggage and stuff! AHH. NO PDAY. Okay have a great week! Love you all!!! 

Sister April Johnson

Our little investigator played the violin in Sacrament for us while the district sang "I am a Child of God" and it was really amazing because she had MEMORIZED the song on the violin! She's 7 years old! I just love her(:

I caught a nasty cold this week so I had to rest a lot, but we STILL managed to get our ten lessons! I don't know how we did it! We are seeing a lot of progress in our one investigator. I don't know if I ever told the story about her, but when Sister Driscoll was in 금천 a member gave her a referral that was her sister. Long story short, Sister Driscoll basically sent herself a referral from her old are to her new one! And that's who this investigator is. We met with her once a few months ago and she wasn't really interested in learning about the church. She was actually really awkward when she met with is, but she wanted to come to our worship service cause she said her son has a bad personality and she was told that going to church would fix it... 

She wants her sons to grow up to have the same standards and focus as us missionaries! So for the next four weeks she came to church, but we couldn't grab an appointment with her! So she was coming to church but she wasn't even an investigator yet! We worked really hard trying to set up an appointment, and one week she finally said yes. From then on, she was such a different person! I think those weeks of coming to church she really came to trust us. We started meeting with us and she literally keeps ALL of her commitments. She knows a lot about the church already and she is seriously the golden investigator! She says she wants to take everything slow, but she's our most progressing investigator! 

Her sons also LOVE church and are excited every Sunday to come! I think it's awesome that she's coming to church for her family! She's great!

This week we also went and got MEXICAN FOOD! In Korea! It was the best almost real fake Mexican food I have ever eaten... I really miss not Korean food sometimes..

In our lessons we've also received a lot of interesting reactions to our teachings this week. Like learning that Jesus went to the Americas and how before this life we lived with Heavenly Father in the Pre-earth life.. I had no idea that these were really strange... Not strange, but different. Probably because I grew up learning these things! It's a good thing I know that they're true(:

Also Sunday was the best day ever! Our little investigator played the violin in Sacrament for us while the district sang "I am a Child of God" and it was really amazing because she had MEMORIZED the song on the violin! She's 7 years old! I just love her(: 

We also helped a recent convert with his talk this week and he gave it in Sacrament meeting and he rocked it! I was like a proud mother(:

I also recently got a letter/talk that I fell in love with! Danny Q Humphrey sent this letter to a missionary in the MTC just preparing him for the mission field. And it is GOLD. Here's a little part I want to share:

"CS Lewis said, 'We can say we believe in Christ as we believe in the sin at noon day, not that we can see it, by that by it, we can see everything else.' The things you will witness on your mission, is what makes you a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as I write this, I am looking out my kitchen window, I see the trees swaying, I see the grass and flowers, but I don't see the sun. However, it is the light of the sun that allows me to see what I see, and that is how I know the sun exists. The existence of the Son of God has that same value to us, as CS Lewis put it so well, it is because we can see at all that we know Christ lives."

It is so true. Christ is our LIGHT and through Him we can see everything. Through Him, I have seen the truth and that is why I am serving a mission. I am so glad to have this opportunity to truly testify of Him.

Have a great week and DON'T GET SICK!  

 Sister April Johnson

He asked Sister Driscoll "You're American right? Isn't it a custom to kiss people on the cheeks when you greet goodbye?

So first off, I just want to say how awesome it is serving in Korea. Not only in Korea, but in the mission my parents served in. Not only that, but also being able to serve in the same zone where they first met. Suwon. Being in Suwon has been amazing. I have met sooo many people that knew my parents and many of those people have looked up to them. I'm not saying this to brag, but as I hear about my parents' mission days and how hard they worked, it makes me want to work even HARDER to be even close to what my parents were. At least weekly I run into people who knew my parents. It's been so cool to be able to work with these people that worked with my parents.

This week I bought a primary children's songbook for our investigator's daughter. She's been learning the violin and I thought it would be good to get some good solid church music for her to play! I bought it and I'm going to put my testimony in the front cover so that when she gets older, she'll be able to remember the missionaries and understand more about the gospel. She's too young to really understand now, and honestly at this rate, I don't think her family is going to convert, but I just wanted to do that little thing for her! I hope it means something to her in the future.

We went to the temple this week and on the way home, we started talking to this guy. He seemed really nice, talking with us and stuff, but it turns out he was just really drunk and he wanted to get our phone numbers so we just lied and said we didn't have a phone cause we were missionaries... haha the conversation lasted a good fifteen minutes until it was our subway stop. 

He asked Sister Driscoll "You're American right? Isn't it a custom to kiss people on the cheeks when you greet goodbye?" haha I hurried and said "No that's Europe!!!" and ran off the subway just in time! haha nice timing. We also had a lesson and Sister Driscoll was trying to say something like "Did you pray  about Joseph Smith?" And our investigator got a really worried look on her face. She thought Sister Driscoll had said "Did you pray TO Joseph Smith?" haha Korean...

We also had another lesson with an investigator that is strictly friend interest. She has no gospel interest and so it's been hard bringing up the gospel with her. But the day before we met with her, she texted us apologizing because she was probably going to be in a bad mood. I was prepared for the worst. We met and she poured out her soul. She knew she had all these trials and she just wanted a way to overcome them. I was actually able to connect with her really well through my experiences and I took that as an opportunity to bear my testimony and tell her that Heavenly Father knows us and he is always with us no matter what. I told her of my hard experiences in life and told her that Heavenly Father wouldn't give her anything she couldn't handle. We asked her to pray and she said that she would. 

It was really sad to see her at a time of struggle, but honestly, Sister Driscoll and I were thankful for it, because it gave us a chance to share our testimonies and help her through this hard time. Sister Driscoll and I also listen to this particular song every morning and I just wanted to share it. 

"There's a God above who's full of love

Who knows your name and wants to give you freedom.

He's not ashamed of who you are, where you've been or just how far you've run.

The Lord hears your prayers if you'll let Him.

God knows your name, He is your kind friend."

Anyway, have a great week everyone! We've been so busy that we don't even get a full P-day today! Too many appointments... WHAT?? Haha I don't know how it's happening...

LOVE YOU! 사랑해요!

Sister Johnson 존슨 자매 ^^

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