Have Faith

Dear Pals,

Well, it keeps looking up here in IJmuiden as Sister Goodman and I have one spiritual experience after another. Here's a quick update on our people:

   M.: She's a member, and she's super cool, and we just gotta get her back to church!

   C.: She accepted the invitation to be baptized! Sister Adams (my sister training leader) and I taught her and M. the Restoration, and it went fantastically. She's looking really positive.

   J.: We taught her about the sabbath day, haha and she absolutely loves the idea of a day where you just do nothing! Still haven't got her church though, so hopefully this week.

    E.: Didn't have a lesson this week; fell through.

    L.: Still looking for her!!!

We spent a lot of time with members this week, which I think will actually really help with the missionary work. If we can just get the members here to have faith in the potential of the Church here and believe that miracles can really happen, even in the Netherlands, I think the growth will be excellently exponential. They are such good people and so dedicated to the Lord, they just need to exercise their faith so that they can see the amazing results of it.

Funny moment of the week: Goodman and I were out street contacting one night, and we stopped these two young men and asked them why they think we're here on earth. The reply of the first: "To party!!" Haha so I asked what he thinks happens after this life. "Continue with the partying!" Ah the young Dutch generation. :) But then we had an awesome conversation and it was probably one of my favorite contacts yet! Ah so fun being a missionary.

Yay February! Happy Groundhog Day! I hope spring is coming very very soon. Love you all!

Liefs,

Zuster Johanson

Elder Silva (with cookie), Crowson (in back), Wombeldorf (new district leader), Nielsen (old district leader), Reynolds (old district leader), Bonney (zone leader), Shaw (Haarlem with us), Hunter, Price, Goody Goodman and I, and Elder Pouwer (old zone leader)

I'm Not Here for the Glamour

Dear Pals,

Last week of January! It's Always so nice when January is almost over. It was not my most favorite week, as I don't feel like we really accomplished much because so many of our appointments fell through, but we still saw some pretty neat things.

Updates of the People:

   L.-Still haven't found her. Been on a scavenger hunt that just leads from one place to the next.

   J.-Didn't get her to church, only had one lesson, hopefully this week we can solidify her understanding of some commandments

   E.-She wants to be baptized! But church is too early (haha the plight of our mission)

   T.-Our miracle of the week! She basically just handed her soul to us. She sat next to us while we waited for a train, mentioned the biting cold, and we began talking about the weather. (ha it works!) Somehow, that gracefully led into an intense gospel discussion that lasted through the entire train ride! She is a beautiful person, and when we got to the station, she gave us her information and said we could come by next Tuesday to talk some more. Woo hoo! Sister Goodman and I just happy laughed for the rest of the night.

   M. (and daughter)-We were supposed to have an appointment, but she forgot and we caught her on her way out. She told us to go on in and chat with her daughter a bit, so we did, and long enough so that M. came back. Guess what. We think she was actually baptized 40 years ago! Where has this woman been hiding!? So we have another appointment this week, and her 28-year old daughter said she's going listen in as well. Yay people!

I don't think I've ever smelled so much like smoke as I have this week. But someone (general authority?) once said that he wished that the entire sacrament meeting smelled like smoke, because that means there are sinners in church who are making a change. So I can tolerate a little smoke smell on my coat if that means that someone is coming closer to Christ.

   Another realization this week, as I was reading PMG, it tells us that all God asks of us missionaries is that we "ask, seek, and knock." This is of course figuratively, referring to the numerous times in the scriptures that we are instructed to do these things, but as a missionary, how literal this is too! All we do is ask people to come to Christ, we seek them out, and we actually knock on their doors. We are dressed in such a way that we don't stand out in the fashion world, we live humbly with only what is absolutely necessary, and we spend all our time trying (oh we are not perfect at this) to help other people. We are literally representing Christ. We are trying to do His work the way that He would; it's not glamorous or cool, it's very simple and humble. That's why missionaries have to be pure and clean before they come. You can't represent Christ if you can't emmanate His spirit.

  Anyway, thoughts from a third-transfer missionary. :) Hope all is well with you, and that the spirit is strong in your lives.

Much love from Nederland,

Zuster Johanson

My Apartment

Haarlem

Sister Clement and I on my first day

Bikes. Normal site here

My old district

Heaven Smiled on IJmuiden

Heya Pals!

And suddenly, there are actually things to tell.

After an entire transfer of knocking doors and having 1 1/2 investigators which weren't even in our city, things are finally happening in IJmuiden!

We met this woman, Gerde, while knocking doors a couple weeks back, and this week, we taught her and her husband the first lesson. They are great investigators, and super interested in The Book of Mormon and what we believe. Her husband, Richard, is incredibly smart and has studied religion extensively. He actually started telling us about the great apostasy and translation of the bible! They are busy and hard to make appointments with, but we plan to keep working with them, and hopefully their three teenagers as well. Baptizin families, oh ya.

Frank is our miracle referral. One day, we knocked out a couple Streets, and left with little "success." The following p-day, I got an email from the AP's, which was a forward of an email from this young man Frank. He said that two young women had knocked on his door, and he had sent them away, but thinking about it later, he wondered what they could offer him and was interested in learning more. Holy cats! When we went to look him up, we did not even recognize him. He told us that he hadn't even accepted a card, he had just sent us away. Then he asked if there was something he could read to learn more or something, so wham, we whipped a BVM and made an appointment with him this week! Who knew that knocking doors actually works? Even with the grumpy ones! :D

Lindsey no longer lives with Jenny, and that is tragic, and we have no contact with her. I am determined to find her this week. She can not get lost.

However, now Jenny is much more responsive and happy and so we are hoping to seriously start teaching her. We will see how that goes this week.

Eli keeps falling through with appointments. Darngit.

Transfers came and went and I'm still in IJmuiden with Sister Goodman. Luckily, we really like each other and it's not even raining today, so we like IJmuiden pretty well too. I can't even imagine what's in store for this transfer, but I guess I have hopeful anticipation and will just work on my patience a bit.

Hope January is treating you all well! January Always seemed so long and tiresome and you just try to stay motivated and get through winter. Hang in there, it's almost February.

Love and peace from the Netherlands,

Zuster Johanson

Just Get the Holidays Outta Here and On With the Work

Hello! Greetings, from IJmuiden in 2015.

New Years here is crazy. Us missionaries had to stay inside our apartment from 4pm on. Fireworks. They are everywhere, they are big, and they are scary. But also really cool. So that was interesting. We bought earplugs so we could actually sleep on New Years Eve. One of our better ideas yet.

We ate with dear Sister Sunrise, a lovely funny little Thai woman, on New Years day. She was so excited to make us Thai food, because Elder Shaw told her that he grew up on Thai food and loves it. So the rest of us got to experience the fiery sensations of sticky rice and Thai salad for an entire evening. You eat it with your fingers, and oh snap, is it spicy. Haha missionary eating adventures.

I'm actually glad the holidays are over so that missionary work can be normal again!

Speaking of which, I don't know precisely what it seems that I do out here, but I'm concerned the perception may be slightly skewed. This isn't The District, and it's not The Best Two Years, and it's not a stateside mission or a South American mission. It is Europe, and it is entirely different from any other mission in ways that I never expected. We were watching a bit of The District this week, and I was looking at those missionaries in total awe. It's nothing like my mission haha! We don't even look like that! They make sister missionaries seem so perfect and put together, and the elders seem so solemn and mature. Not so in Nederland! Our hair is Always windblown and our cheeks are red and we often look 20 pounds overweight with all our layers. We knock lots and lots of doors because we don't have investigators, and sometimes I don't even get halfway through my sentence before the door shuts. We work with Elders frequently, and our relationsips with each other are fun and friendly. We are still young kids, and sometimes it is very evident in our behavior, and many of us are often ridiculously immature. Our mission is somewhat chill, compared to stateside, but it's because we are obedient missionaries and our mission hasn't had many problems with it's missionaries. We spend a crazy amount of time travelling, whether on bikes or buses or trains, because there just isn't enough work in one concentrated area. Teaching in another language just isn't the same as teaching in English, and lessons are often quite scattered and incontinuous.

But, this is my mission. And I love it. Each mission has it's struggles and unique trials that it puts missionaries through, but they are all amazing. I guess I just don't want everyone thinking that I'm the perfectly put together, pretty, peppy sister missionary that is so often portratyed by other sisters in other missions. I'm really just my normal self, and the work here is pretty slow. But that doesn't make me any less of a missionary or my mission any less of a mission. I may only bring one person to Christ, and that person may be myself, but if I can even accomplish that, then this is worth it. A mission is so worth it.

I am really excited that this is my only full year as a missionary. There are so many things to look forward to, and I have absolutely no idea what is in store for me. It is both terrifying and thrilling. :) I hope you all have solid new year resolutions that the Lord can use to help you become who He wants you to be and to bring you closer to Him. That is Always the most important (as I am beginning to see as one of His missionaries). I love you and am so grateful for your support. It means the world to me.

Liefs,

Sister Johanson

This was almost like a pep talk to myself...sorry bout that. Go missionary work!

Snow Biking!

Lieve Family!

Yay Christmas! It was very nice. Christmas is more chill here, in fact, some people don't even know why they have it, but nonetheless, it was fun. Us missionaries went and caroled in the big centrum in Haarlem and some of us handed out cards and talked to people. It was fun times. And skyping of course was wonderful. I love everybody!

It snowed the day After Christmas. Man, so close. Biking in the snow is almost funnier than biking in the rain. It is nicer though, because it is a different sort of wet and cold, so I do not mind too much.

L. didn't come to church, so now we have to move her baptism date. But it's okay, because the other day we were teaching about the Atonement, but we had to back up because she didn't even know the story of Jesus' birth, let alone His life and atoning sacrifice. She didn't know the Christmas story. That was so foreign to me. So I think she may need some more time so she can truly understand things, which is important. God knows her well and what she needs, so it will all be done in His timing.

Sister Goodman and I were realizing the other day how ridiculously happy we are! I feel like I shouldn't be this happy yet... Last transfer was wonderful, and I didn't see how it could get any better. But this transfer is a blast! I feel like you don't have this much fun until the end of your mission, when you figure out how to not stress so much. I feel like I'm truly learning about the virtue of having fun, and it is a beautiful blessing. Things should be so hard right now! It's my second transfer, we are both greenies, it's Christmas, it's cold, we don't know Dutch, we are barely teaching anyone, but we are so happy! Being friends with the other missionaries helps, and I think a lot of the fun of this transfer is due to working so much with the Haarlem elders. They remind us that missions are supposed to be fun, and that reminds me that God wants me to be happy, even when I'm working hard. It makes me kinda nervous for when things do get super hard...so I'm going to enjoy this bliss for as long as possible.

I love being a missionary. :)

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a wonderful new year! Much love and blessings to you all!

Love,

Sister Johanson

Prettige Kerstdagen

Dearest Loved Ones,

I don't know how it's working, but it is! Sister Goodman is awesome and lovely and we have grand times together. The highlight of our week was her bike getting stolen while we were in an appointment. We were so shocked, we kinda just walked around laughing for a bit, and I thought "nobody trained me for this sort of thing!" Bikes are very necessary here. We didn't feel quite right about buying a new bike, and both the bike shops in town were closed anyway. I kept saying, "Sister, I don't know how, but I really just feel like a bike is going to come our way." So we inconveniently used public transportation for a couple days and continued praying. It was amazing! Somehow, even though we had to run for a couple trains and buses, we were never late for an appointment. In missionary life in Nederland, that never happens!  And one time while we were waiting for a bus, we knocked the door of this man, and had a 45 minute conversation with him. It was great! We gave him a Book of Mormon and will go after the holidays.

At zone training a couple days later, I was talking to Elder Hunter about our week, and he said, "Wait, so do you guys need a bike? Because Elder Cooper left his when he went home." And then a bike fell from the sky! It was amazing.God takes care of His silly little missionaries, even when they forget to lock their bikes.

Lindsey and Jenny are still investigating well, though they didn't come to church this week. Our lessons are a little crazy, because we don't speak much Dutch and they don't speak English, but somehow God gets His work done using teenage kids, so we are still able to have great lessons. We sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer"for them in Dutch this week, and it was really powerful, and they both said that they have a testimony of Joseph Smith. Miracles never cease.

Holidays re busy and people have a hard time committing to other things. So hopefully we can get a bunch of new people after the holidays.

Christmas is beautiful and wonderful and such a comforting time of the year. I hope you are all truly enjoying it and feeling the special spirit of the season. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of the missionaries, I am confident that they often save us.

So much love,

Sister Johanson

Is it really December?

Howdy Friends

So, my new companion is a darling little redhead from Colorado. She understands Dutch pretty well, which is great! Because I can speak okay, but sometimes understanding is harder for me. Good team. We have done lots of contacting and proselyting, which is Always...nice. :) Guess who's getting baptized! Lindsey!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! Our one investigator! Well, Jenni is still investigating. But Lindsey wants to get baptized in January, and she wants it so badly. We are very thrilled, obviously, and we just pray that she wiill stay the course and that we will understand enough Dutch to be able to answer all her questions. They Always say to you "oh well everyone speaks English in the Netherlands." Jenni and Lindsey don't really speak English. Ha wham! Training and no English speaking investigators. Adventures never cease. Fortunately, neither do miracles.

I didn't know that next week was Christmas. That is weird. I hope that it is nice.

I think that is really all that has happened this week. Pretty typical week, nothing over-the-top exciting to share. Hope all is well in America! I thank you for your prayers and I pray for you as well.

Tot ziens!

Love,

Sister Johanson

(Thanks Zuster Clement for the pictures!!)