If You Just Believe

Dearest of Friends,

Welcome! To another weekly letter from Sister Johanson the Old.

Miracles are everywhere, especially when you look for them, and especially especially when you've been waiting for them. We have begun teaching! I like teaching. We have taught several 1st lessons in the last two weeks, and they have all been to women. All of these women, except for one, have been moms with kids at home. I find that amazing. And each one is more positive than the last. It has been incredible to testify of Joseph Smith and the Restoration and of my Savior - some of my favorite topics :) - and see the potential for change for the better for these daughters of God and their families. If you would like to have some names to pray about this week, here you go: Inge, Ellen, Romela, Jannick, Samantha, Nathalie (not new, but still falls into this category).

Ann is still doing great. :) She is the cutest, sassiest little Asian, and does so much good. Baptism is still good for November 8, and everyone is getting excited for her.

Cool personal miracle of the week: 2 things you first need to know- 1. We never catch the tram 2.The crosswalk light is always red (usually causing us to miss the tram). We were going to walk to an appointment, because we didn't think we would make the tram Tuesday morning. But as we walked up to the crosswalk, the tram came. And then the light turned green. Yay! So we ran onto the tram. We sat down, and across the aisle, there was an open newspaper folded in half. It said "South Carolina" and had pictures of flooding. I know that place. I picked up the newspaper, and was able to read about Ali's area and what she is probably dealing with. I was so surprised, but felt at peace, knowing that God would watch over my sister missionary. I felt so loved knowing that God had made that all work out so that I could get an update on my favorite person and receive a reassurance that she's okay. Incredible. 

I hope things are okay, wherever you're at. I have so much love for you and am grateful for your faithful prayers. I pray for you too.

Much love,

Sister Johanson the 1st

They have bread vending machines here... what da heck

Uh, check out that super "Dressa face"  in case you were worried I changed..

We Listened to the Prophet's Voice

Dear Friends,

I would say that this week went well.

We were able to teach two awesome first lessons! And we set an appointment on the door to go back and teach another one this next week. All three of these are women with children at home, which I think is not coincidence. We need strong moms, and moms need the gospel.

Speaking of which, wasn't General Conference amazing? I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland's, because it made me cry and want to hug my mom fifty zillion times. And Elder Foster talked about dad's, and I just thought, wow, why was I so blessed to  have angels sent to me in the form of my parents? 

My theme for General Conference was "trust in God." That's something I'm trying to work on, and will obviously be a life long process.

Ann watched GC with us at the Schiltz, and we ate delicious Thai food. What a little wonder woman. We continue to help her prepare for baptism in November. 

I was a good citizen this week. Our tram was coming, and the light to cross the non-busy street turned red right as we got to it. At this serendipitous moment, a flock of small children with their teachers came walking down the street. Dilemma: Run across the street to catch our tram and set a bad example for the impressionable young people, or wait like good citizens and representatives of the Church and miss our tram? The teachers tested their children: "Can we cross the street?"  A chorus of chipper voices: "No!" "And why not?" responded the teacher, with a direct look at the sister missionaries. "It is red!" "Yes, and we must wait, even if there is a tram." Oh. Oh. We must spare the young people. Obviously we did not make that tram. We and the teachers had a good laugh together. :) 

Other fun times: When you are about to talk to someone on the street, they wave you away, and your comp says "oh, we just wanted to ask for directions. Do you know where this is?" They get very red and apologize and then help us. See, kindness is key. :) Missionaries are not so scary.

Also, we had a number of people talk to us first this week. An African man on a tram, who is actually an inactive member, a Russian guy on the street who recognized us as Mormons, and also some intimidating other-religion people.. But still, that is very convenient of them.

Happy birthday to Savy this week! And happy October to the rest of you! Yay for cold season. Stay healthy and happy and warm and blessed. :)

Love,

Sister Johanson

the one in Belgium

Sister Conference

Sister Harris and I reunited! with Sister Romney..haha

Sister Caldwell! Do you recognize her from St. G?

More sister conference

My hair always looks the worst...but that's Harris, Fredrickson, and I. We are bestest pals.

Zr Faa and Elder Holt

Aquarium! 

Aquarium

An iguana escaped..

Belgium. They do it right.

Antwerp street

Beautifulness outside Antwerp

A beautiful forest path

Snack break (much door knocking that day)

Sister Nuyens, such a sweetheart. Always gives us yummy snacks

Sister Faa and Sister Nuyens

A typical street corner in Antwerpen

Typical street in Antwerp

Go Hard or Go Home

Good Morning, Friends

I realize that sometimes (many times) my weekly emails are rather crumbly- I eat lots of delicious crunchy toast during the week and all I leave for you to see is the crumbs- and I apologize. I will try to write better ones. Sometimes. :)

Okay, so this week began great with family home evening with family Sariki! We adore them. They are from Africa and have 4 teenage kids. Having family home evening with them makes my mission feel worth it. Truly, there is so much love and the Spirit is strong and we have so much fun together. This week, we had them write a "thank you note" to the Savior. It was a lovely lesson. And then, as I am much accustomed to at house Johanson, we had our favorite part and that was enjoying many delicious treats. :)

We had zone training on Tuesday, and that is always uplifting and helpful. We are still focusing on ward members and how to use the scriptures effectively as well as making sure that we ourselves are personally converted. Important stuff.

We went back to our friend Piet this week, whose house is a museum and gives us golden spoons to eat our garnished ice cream with. He says we can't convert him, but he loves it when we sing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and says that we have to sing it every time we come. (haha I do not think he realizes fully that it is about Joseph Smith and the Restoration..) Evidence that the Spirit of the Restoration is powerful no matter who you are.

On Saturday we had sisters conference! I want you to know that the sisters in this mission are incredible. We are so blessed. Each sister is beautiful and bright and loving and hard working. There is no one to dread as a new companion. :)

Speaking of which, transfers came, and Sister Faa and I are staying! Phew, good.

Also, I had a dream that I came home, and my parents were disappointed in me for not being a good missionary. I wanted to argue back, but I knew in my heart that I wasn't a good missionary because I had given up and hadn't worked or helped like I could have. I didn't even have the "RM glow." I woke up realizing that I gotta go home with no regrets! Fellow missionaries, trust me, you don't want to go home with regrets and guilt and knowing that you didn't do your best. You don't have the Spirit with you, and it feels awful. Don't give up! Go hard or go home! We have got to do all we can, and we can do that, through Christ, which strengthens us.

Much love to you all :)

Love,

Sister Jo the old

Sisters Conference Pictures

Don't Run Faster Than You Have Strength

Dag vrienden

It goes slow here in Belgium, but good. This week I got to go on double exchanges because poor Sister Faa was sick. (she is better now) Ann has a baptismal date for November 8, and we couldn't be more excited for her. The ward here is just embracing her, and I think that it is good for them and for her. We could all use a little more unity in our wards and missionary efforts.

If you need inspiration for doing missionary work, watch on lds.org "The Lord of the Harvest: The Adams Family" and "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go." We are starting to share these with our ward.

I love you all a lot, and thank you for your prayers in all the missionaries behalf. We appreciate it.

Love,

Sister Johanson

the old one

A Year of Missionarying

Howdy Folks!

(is that a Dad line or what?)

Things come and go, like people and time and stress, and we are still missionaries here in Antwerpen. My favorite happening this week was probably the Mormon Arts Festival here at our church building. Mormon musicians and artists from all over Belgium and the Netherlands came to present their work and perform at a free event for everyone in the area. There was so much talent! I was incredibly impressed. Mormons are the coolest.

Zr. Faa had her bike stolen. That was sad. My bike was still sitting next to it, with her lock chain around it. Ha go figure. We will be taking many trams for a little while.

Ann, our dearest of dear investigators (and only..), continues to be wonderful. She is an incredible example of someone who takes the initiative to immerse herself in the gospel, and acts instead of being acted upon. We had dinner at the Schiltz yesterday with her, and for our spiritual thought, everyone wrote thank you letters to Jesus while I played the piano in the background. It was powerful. (highly recommended, fellow missionaries)

Well, this week I've been a missionary for a whole year now. I can't believe that I've been waking up at 6:30 every day for an entire year. But the next 6 months, rather than my "molding" period, I think will be more "refining" - I will be solidifying the person that I want to be when I go home. I have so many goals! As they say here in Dutch, "it comes good." 

I send much love and pleasant thoughts to you all. I hope wherever you are at is treating you well. Have a good week and tot ziens!

Love,

Sister Johanson Sr.

Turnhout (another city)

Ordering fancy-style at McDonalds :)

Zr. Faa and Steffi and I

Darling cafe! I could be a cafe goer, and live in a big city, I think

Antwerpen

Beautiful beautiful Antwerpen <3

More of Sister Faa's birthday

At Family Sariki's

Elders

Sister Young and Faa with sandwiches at our fave sandwich shop

Our favorite chocolate bar :) Oo sweet temptation

Sister Faa's birthday! :D

Make Your Own Weather

Good Morning America,

It´s gray in Belgium, but we've got enough sunshine in our souls to keep the rain at bay.

We had an investigator at church! Actually, we met her at church. She lived here before, then moved to Paris and was taught all the lessons, and now is back and ready to be baptized. We accepted. :) Ann is such a sweetheart, and we are excited to work with her.

We had an exciting day this week with an old gentleman named Piet, who is an avid collector of old things. We ate homemade pie with silver forks and ice cream with golden spoons. I kid you not. We gave him a Book of Mormon and are planning to return next week.

Zr. Faa turned 20 this week! We made cupcakes from a box from America and had a party with family Sariki. They are a fantastic African family with 4 teenagers and they are always ready to laugh with us. Mission birthdays are the best.

We continue the "finding efforts" and pray for missionary efforts. Hope you're all doing the same, you member missionaries you. ;) Love to you all.

Sister Jo the 1st