He is not here, He is risen!

Dear Family,

Well... 

Great week. haha this week i learned what hope means. I kind of failed to have hope this week. We are going through a rough patch on the mission right now. We are teaching really well i feel like the spirit is testifying of the truths of the gospel as we teach and then when that moment comes to invite... They reject! It is super annoying. I am starting to dread the invite but that should not be because we are here to INVITE others to come to Christ. So i am learning on how i need to hope for these things not seen. And that is faith... and also i need charity to have that faith. So little did i know setting a goal of having more hope this month i would be tested with my faith and also my charity... which for me is about patience. 

But for one thing.. Remember Flavio. The guy who didnt want to let us in and then let us in. Yeah well he was doing GREAT. Until we couldnt find him all week. Then we get a break up text on like thursday saying he loves us and the church but he cant continue. NO. Well we have both learned that we cant just let someone break it off with a text.. we had to go see him in person. But then he was avoiding us and we never saw him home. BUT do not fear. Yesterday we passed by and the door was open so we walked on in :) And we saw Flavio! It was a great conversation. he opened up about how his godparents from the catholic church are really giving him a hard time about being baptized in another church. So he said he cant do it. We talked a lot about faith... his preparation ... And in the end we told him he needs to read the book of mormon and know its true... because with that.. nothing can stop him.

I have a lot of HOPE he will come through this week and be baptized on the 26th.

So also a lot of other investigators have been avoiding us. And others have that great excuse of TIME. I know that if something really means something to us we will make the time for it. So we just have to keep testifying of how it really will change peoples lives. I am so grateful for this gospel and how it has changed my life. :) 

Another great surprise we had this week was on friday we hosted a cabo verdian sister who will go to serve in brasil. We went to get her from the airport and she stayed with us for a few hours. She did a great job of testifying. She was a lot of fun! She will be a great missionary.. she even made us cake.

I had a division with sister Lee. She is the one in the picture by sister kohlert. She is my granddaughter on the mission. She is great too. She speaks the language SO well. I was super impressed for her only being her 3 weeks. She is from Idaho and knows one of the missionaries i knew in the MTC. Super small world. haha

Next is that it is good to know our success is measured by our obedience, our love and if we are feeling the spirit. Because our numbers have struggled. I feel like we are passing through some difficulties because a lot of people are focused on the material side of christmas... they are worried about working enough so they can buy presents for their kids or to have a big christmas dinner. Instead of thinking of our savior jesus christ. Being a missionary i see this in a big way.. everyone just wants to talk after the holidays. But think.. this is the time to actually give our will to the Lord. He gave everything for us. I hope we can all remember, truly remember that christ died for us.. and as the scripture says "he is not here, he is risen" He LIVES. I know this is christs work and he is working hard during this season. Let us open our hearts even more to hear and understand better this great message. Knowledge is an attribute of God. Let us seek this knowledge and understanding this Christmas.

I love you all. 

Christmas tree out of trash bags

Doing laundry

Sister Johnson