Obedience

Kiana and her friend Megan at MTC together, called to serve in same mission!

Dear Familia e amigos,

First off sorry for all the photos... i had to get them all out. But i have lots more. And plus we can only send 3 photos each email. It is kind of rough...

Anyway to be honest this week was tough. Last tuesday i had withdrawals coming off the email. But don't worry i only stayed on for an hour. Exact obedience. 100 % obedience is a process. I though for sure i would come in the mission field and never even be tempted to break any rules or ever be late for anything. I was wrong. Just like everything in life, exact obedience takes practice. there is a no gum rule at the Mtc and i love gum. So i knew i would have to give that up... But it was hard when i knew i had bad breath while i was fasting and some elders (who will not be named) offered me some gum. Haha... I didn't take it. Even though it was hard. And also having a companion... it is hard to be on time. When one of you gets ready super early the other seems to always be running late. 

But as a districto we made a goal to be at the classroom at 7 and start with a song a the prayer. The past few days it has just been my companion and i and the two other sisters. So we sing sisters in zion and have a prayer. haha... hopefully the elders will catch on. At least we made the goal though. Now we must follow up.

Goal setting is also something i am learning a lot about. Its tough. We need to make specific and attainable goals. So during daily and weekly planning we try and put specifics on things. For example: my comp and i made a goal to learn 30 words a day and 10 phrases a day. and hopefully try and memorize a scripture every day. but that one has been a little hard and unrealistic. Because now we are teaching an investigator every day. Planning and setting goals is my hardest thing. I love to be organized but i have learned i am not as organized as i thought. It is hard sometimes to decide what you want to study and what you want to work on. There are only so many hours in one day!!!!!

This week i read in 3 nephi. I wanted to learn more about Christ and his attributes and how we can become more like him. In 3 nephi 11 i love how it points out how important it is for us to always be in situations to hear the lords voice. especially as missionaries. At first the people didn't understand the voice of the lord,. Why? Because they were "conversing" as it says in vs 2. But in vs 5 it says they opened thier "ears and their eyes were toward heaven." In vs 6 they understood the voice!!! That was amazing. As a missionary i am set apart to be in the world but not of the world. I am set apart from the vain and crude and vulgar things of the world as it says in PMG page 7 or so. If i am always conversing loudly or laughing with my fellow men aka my District... i won't be able to hear or understand the lord's voice when it speaks to me. I need to have time to ponder. And don't we all. Pondering and quiet personal study is what is getting me through the MTC. the opportunity i have to listen to the voice of the lord is truly amazing. 

the language is a process. Precept by precept. Last week we taught Lucus for the thrid time and hadn't even invited him to baptism. bad. So when we talked to him he told us he could feel the spirit when we were with him. But when we left he couldn't. I had an impression to tell him if he is baptized and receives the gift of the Holy ghost he can be worhty to hear it always. But we were planning on teaching him about faith... so i didn't tell him that. Plus i was scared about the language. That was not faith. And i repented. 

I know the lord is helping me and i can't do this without him. I need to be better at letting him in and not yielding to my selfish desires or even my fears of the language. 

I need to have full confiacia (trust) in him.

I love you all! Stay amazing. And I hope meet the Mormon's was a success. Go watch it.

Roll Tide'

Love Sister Johnson