First Week in Cape Verde

Kiana in Cape Verde

Houses in Cape Verde

Baptism


ola familia and amigos

the first week in the mission... it was great! my trainer is amazing. she said she was just like me when she came out on the mission so we relate well to a lot of things. 

my biggest problem right now tho... THE LANGUAGE.... This stuff is sooooo  not portuguese. i am in Santo antao, porto novo area and they speak creole here more than any other area... i have no idea what is going on... i thought creole would be super similar but it really is not. it is completely different. so i am trying to be super patient and positive. this way i wont know what anyone is saying for a while but once i get portuguese down i can understand creole and not have problems later in the mission if i get transferred to a place of much creole.

so i have needed to rely on the spirit a lot here.

the first thing i would say i need to improve on is that i need to be more direct with the baptism invite. i have invited a few people in all our lessons and i notice they look at me and either don´t understand what i am saying or do not realize it was actually a question for them to answer. sister zimberman then has to step in and help me out. but i think the highlight of my week was yesterday when we taught a menos ativo and her family. she has 8 children but only 3 or 4 live with her. there were 3 of her kids there last night and 1 friend of the older boy. they were speaking so much creole i did not get anything out of it. but after a few minutes i realized sister zimberman said something about scriptures to the mom and about reading just a verse everyday. so i thought to share a scripture with them and ask them how they felt. it took me a few moments to have the courage to actually say something. i was going to keep my mouth shut and wait until i really knew what was going on... but then i knew i would regret it if i didnt say anything. so i did and after we read the scripture, ether 12:4, we asked them how they felt. and they all said good. the one little boy said he felt something in his heart. and my comp asked if it was good or bad. and he said good. he had tears in his eyes and i was amazed at the strong spirit.  we asked them to describe that feeling and we talked about the holy ghost. i think paulina (the menos ativo) realized that she can just read a verse a day and still feel the spirit. she does not have to read the whole book of mormon in one day to feel the spirit. so i think that was good. even though i had no idea what was being said i know they felt the holy ghost like i did.

Church yesterday was good... i think it was amazing. i mean i felt the spirit even when i didnt understand much. but i was asked to bare my testimony so i did and i mostly expressed my love for the people. i really do love them. these people are so strong and have strong spirits. they are soooo humble, but confident in what they have. 

basically everyone looks like me... so i thought they would all assume i was cabo verdian... well i was wrong. they all know i am american or something else. i do not know how. they must know once i start speaking that i am not from there.

but the people are great. a lot of members are willing to go out with us. they are all so young. the average age of members here is super young. i think it is in the 20s. 

so what are some cools things about cabo verde... they have cobblestone streets everywhere so it is super hard for me to walk. so running in the mornings outside is out of the picture. but we walk to the chapel and run around the little parking lot. that is pretty fun. the food... not like the mtc but i am getting used to cereal.. haha.. and spaghetti... umm what else? yes it is africa, but it is not the normal africa. people have concrete houses and keep them nice. the funny thing is they build their houses and if they do not have enough money to finish them they just do not finish them... so there are a lot of houses, a lot a lot a lot of houses, that aren´t finished and just sit there waiting to be finished. but i think it makes this place beautiful. 

in the area i am in we can see the mountains and the ocean at all times. it is super cool. and we can see the other island across the way. right now it is 11 almost 12 o clock so idk what that means the time difference is. 5 hours maybe?

Well that is about it. i love it here. i just need to be patient with the language and love the people and serve them. i think i am still in that new missionary daze that people get into. i have this glazed over look in my eyes i know it... but all is well. the lord is on my side and this is what keeps me going. read the scriptures, even one verse can change peoples lives

i love you all so so much

tchao!

Sister johnson

Made it!

ola familia.

I made it to praia last night and what a day. We got through the airport... a couple of them didnt get bag but i got my bag. i have gotten my companion and the area i am going to. I am going to santa antao island and porto novo city. My comp is Sister Zimberman i think it is spelled like that. She is from Utah..

i will fly to sao vincente and then i will take a boat to my island. look it up... haha it is cool. i am very excited. very tired right now but cant wait to get to work

we are at the pres house. 

talk to you on pday~

love you

On her way to Cape Verde!

Dear Family and Friends,

It is the time! Can you believe it?? I leave for Cabo Verde tomorrow!!!!! My excitement is off the roof.... Wow. I am going from winter to summer in just a few hours. 

So I am excited for that. I know it will be a long flight but that means I have a long time to practice my missionary skills and talk to everyone. I can't wait to talk to people... real people. Not just missionaries. 

Well... now that i think about it... i have talked to one real person while here at the MTC. She is a lady named Leah. She comes to the MTC to get taught. She is so amazing. I will send a picture hopefully. But she is not of our faith. But it has been amazing talking with her and seeing the similarities that we have and what we believe in together. 

This last week was great. I expected it to be not great because everyone was so ready to leave and not "enduring to the end." But surprisingly we really did a good job of learning all we could until the last second... I am still trying to learn all i can. :) 

We had a last testimony meeting as a District on Sunday before people started departing. And I didn't really know what to say... I was just listening and taking it all in and then all of the sudden it was my turn to stand up. I usually think about what I am going to say before hand... But this time i didn't. I was a little nervous but then it just came to me. I then bore my testimony on the truth that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. In all honesty i think that testimony was for me more than it was for anyone else. The promise that your testimony grows when you share it is truly real.

The first week in my mission i remember listening to general conference and hearing how important it will be to gain our own strong testimony of Joseph Smith as a profet. I got a little discouraged because i thought to myself that i didn't feel i had a rock solid testimony about it. And i felt bad that i will be going to Cape Verde... and Telling all people about the message of the restauration and i don't have a sure testimony of joseph smith. So my goal for the MTC was to gain one. And finally on the last sunday i stood up and i bore testimony of it. And i think that is when it finally clicked. I referenced Doctrine and Covenants 6:22. The one that talks about casting your mind upon the night when you knew for a surety that something was true. Doubts will come... But i need to always remember the times in my life when the spirit was soooo strong i couldn't deny that This church has the fullness of the gospel. And that made it clear to me that i already knew joseph smith was a true profet... I knew... I just needed to remind myself and stand up and bare testimony of it with a strong firm statement. And so i bare my testimony to you all now that i know Joseph smith was a true profet. He restored Christ's church again upon the earth. he gave his whole life to this church and this gospel and i know he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the grove of trees. I know all this to be true.

I know this gospel is true. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ upon this earth. I love it. So much. And tomorrow i will be in the world and i will be a representative of him among so many people. I hope i can live up to this calling. I am so grateful for the opportunity to declare this gospel. 

I love you all so so so so much. Sorry this email isn't so detailed. I had a great week. Next week will be full of crazy adventures i am sure. 

Love

Sister Johnson.

Last week in MTC!

Ola Familia e amigos,

Ok so what a week. I feel like i say this every week but it is true. What a week. Ok so at the beginning of this week we... well i had a tough time. Sister Megan Eliason went home for medical reasons. WE haven't heard from her yet but i hope to hear from her this week. I mean it all just happened so fast. All of the sudden it was night time and we find out she was leaving at 4 in the morning. What an emotional rollarcoaster. And also that day we find out an elder in our district was also going home. Complete surprise. It was family issues. But i really had to take a step back and think about why i am here. What is my purpose. As a district we went to the top floor of our building and looked out at the Provo Temple. Temples are the goal WE want ALL families to be together for eternity and that is why i am here. Days are tough but it is all for a bigger purpose. I am so grateful for Dad and how he sent a quote "This life was designed to be a test-- a test to determine if we want to be a part of the kingdom of God more than we want anything else." That was by Sheri Dew. Speaking of her she came this week with Sister Nelson (Russell M Nelson's wife). Sister Nelson spoke to us. But Sheri Dew let us sing a new hymn that was created. It was so beautiful!!!

But anyway our purpose is to invite others to come unto christ. That is it... right there. Speaking of devotionals we had Rosemary M. Wixom talk to us last week. EEkk super cool. her main question was "What think ye of Christ." From Matthew 22:42. she then gave us 3 subquestions... a) how do i know Him. b) How do i follow him. c) how do i love others like he loved. And i really think about How i know my savior. I have been studying his life lately. Mainly his last week before he was crucified. Because i want my last week in the MTC to be like his. He never ever stopped teaching and loving and ministering even when he knew it was almost over. Our Savior is the PERFECT example. I want to dedicate all my time to His work. It can be hard sometimes . We have to give up our personal fishing nets. Like Peter did... 

I love elder Hollands words as he described what the Savior might have said to Peter and the Disciples. "I need Disciples, and i Need them Forever." How are we being disciples of Christ? May i suggest one way to help those of you at home. Sister Nelson mentioned dedicating our life to HIm. IN everything we do... haha even our sleep! She also said dedicating our time on Mobile Devices to him. and all electronics. If we dedicate our time on technology to him it is the best filter that we can have. All our time is God's. So if we are spending too much time playing games or watching pointless videos maybe we can change that and do things that will uplift and inspire others. All we do should be to progress the kingdom of God here on Earth... Just a suggestion but invite all of you to try it this week especially. Try only going on social media to dedicate that time to God and uplift and inspire. 

So for me i thought about how i can change one thing in my life to better serve my Savior? I thought about it and i think the hardest thing for me is probably the thing i need to work on first. I have noticed a have problems getting frustrated and impatient very easily. I just want to say out loud "Get thee hence Satan." But then I just get even more mad that i am even mad... It is a struggle. But i have realized this frustration stems from one thing... it is pride. Let me explain.

When i think of a lesson or a scripture or a good idea, I get really happy and excited for the lesson. But when, say my companion or someone else thinks of an idea i look for ways to change it and find things about it i don't like. I don't know why i do this. I am like Tamone off of Lion King... always trying to change Pumba's ideas... haha But in all honesty it needs to stop. I find it hard for my to compliment others on their successes or spiritual growth. idk.. It isn't good though. So i have decided to try and be better. Not get so jealous or angry when someone thinks of a better idea than me. It isn't because the spirit wasn't working with me, we just are both growing together. So yeah... i need to be more sincere and complimentive and swallow my pride!

In closing i learned in 3 Nephi 15 something cool about personal revelation and recieiving and understanding what the Spirit is trying to teach us. REad it. the people in jerusalem didn't understand what the Lord was telling them about other sheep because of their unbelief and iniquity. Believing and having faith are two things i have been trying to study because i have encountered an investigator who struggles with the concept of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is so important. and blessed are those who believe and have not seen! More blessed are they even... that is a scripture i just don't know where.... sorry i am learning. Love you all!

OHHHH and I AM GOING TO CABO VERDE NEXT TUESDAY. I will send you the flight plans mom and dad. But i got my visa all is good to go and i am out of here next week. I am beyond pumped. :) 

Love 

Sister Johnson