Monday, October 20, 2014

SISTER JOHNSON'S OCTOBER 20, 2014 E-MAIL




"It felt like my spirit got jumped by a gang of angels."




Hello Mother!

Last week, we had a conference with Elder Hamula of the Seventy! He came to our stake conference and he also spoke at General Conference (his talk was about the Sacrament and it was SOO good!!!!!!! Do you remember that one?!?) Well anyway, basically, it was the coolest conference of my life!!!!!! Seriously though- he said things that blew my mind. I wish I could share it all with you but I can't type out the 10 pages of notes I took. He talked first about how to receive revelation. Now it may not seem like that great, but the way he explained everything and the steps to receive revelation he told us completely opened my eyes. He said that what he told us is how the General authorities receive revelation. Here are the points he made:

We receive revelation by these 3 steps:
1) All revelation starts with a specific question.
2) The question has to come from a deep desire to know the truth.
3) The sincerity of the desire is determined by your willingness to act on what you receive.
Then, Heavenly Father answers back in 3 main ways:
1) Through His servants.
2) Through the scriptures.
3) Directly by His spirit.

Again, seems so simple and obvious, right? But there is so much more to it than just that! He dove into the scriptures and took us on a doctrinal journey like no other. He also gave us the opportunity to ask whatever questions we wanted and the answers he gave were even more mind-blowing! He also talked about in order to really talk with people, we must be focused on asking inspired questions. I have learned about inspired questions my whole mission but the way he explained it just helped to solidify it all in my mind better. It's not enough to just throw doctrine at people and hope something sticks, but instead we need to ask them questions that will help them search their souls. And then we respond with doctrinal truths. When you ask an inspired question, something is revealed about them to you, then them to them. President Meredith also gave an amazing talk on how to become a more consecrated missionary and the steps we need to take; that it's a continual process and used a lot of great examples from the scriptures. I just wish I could tell you everything I learned!!! Also Sister Meredith and Sister Hamula spoke. They spoke about diligence and becoming a disciple of Christ. All of their talks were amazing and the spirit was almost tangible because of truths they bore and how they unfolded the truths in such deep yet clear as crystal ways. By the end it felt like my spirit got jumped by a gang of angels- it was that good! 

What is also cool, even though it didn't end up happening haha, is that we were asked by our zone leaders if Elder and Sister Hamula could come with us the evening after the conference to a lesson! We were like, sure! That would be amazing! So we were told Monday night that both of them would come. Then the next day we were told that only Sister Hamula would be coming and Elder Hamula would be going with another set of missionaries. So we had planned on this all week, right? Well 30 minutes before the lesson the ZL's called and said Sister Hamula couldn't come! So we were bummed, but also a little relieved because some pressure was taken off haha (although it would have been awesome for her to have come with us). We ended up having a great lesson though with Brother and Sister Graves about the Priesthood and Brother Hilton from our ward came. So, that was Thursday! Great day. :)

We've also had some neat miracles in the Visitor's Center! A few weeks ago, a guy named R*** (from India) came in with his member friend who lives in Colorado. He recently moved to Texas to finish a pilot program. Long story short, his friend felt like she should take him here. He ended up having a great experience a the VC and is really interested in learning!!  We are all spiritually connected! 

Also, a few weeks back we met a Chinese couple at the VC. Sister Wang taught them a little at the Visitor's Center and the woman was really interested. The man had to go back to China shortly after but she is staying until Christmas. So Sister Wang got her information and has been teaching her over the phone ever since! At first she only wanted Sister Wang to teach her over the phone but has accepted to have other sisters come and teacher her where she is living. But, Sister Wang has done amazing at teaching her and she wants to be baptized! She has no Christian background but has such a strong desire to know if God exists and which church is His church. Sister Wang taught her how to pray and she said she gave a beautiful perfect prayer over the phone!!

And also another miracle! While on the phones the other day I received a call from a man who lives in Nashville. He said he found a card in his mailbox about the Book of Mormon and decided to call the number because he is really interested in receiving one. I talked to him for a bit and he is the sweetest old man on the planet!!!! I asked him some questions and got to know him. He says he just wants to have a purpose in life because he has no family and is all alone. I testified to him that he does have a purpose!!! A purpose greater than he could ever imagine! I didn't have a lot of time to talk so I couldn't teach him right then, but I am going to keep in touch and teach him until the missionaries come. What a neat experience though! Such a miracle! He thanked me for my sweet spirit and said he could feel God in my spirit. 

These are the moments that make everything worth it! I tell ya, I'm so darn lucky to be a missionary.

So, those are some highlights of last week. Also had interviews last week with President Meredith. Let me just say what an incredible man he is and how lucky I am to be a missionary under his leadership. He is one of the most loving, faithful and humble men I've ever met. All mission presidents are amazing, but I gotta say that President Meredith is the best! :)

Love you all and thank you for your prayers. If you have a question in your life, follow those steps listed above! Haha :) Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are real. Work hard every day because you're going to meet them again one day!

Love you all,
Sister Johnson
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