dear fam,
the
shift button on the keyboard doesn't like working, so if some word is
confusing or something, just examine how a shift button might alter it
to make sense.
this week has been great and i
feel like things are starting to pick-up slowly but surely down here. we
talked to a lot of babushki this week and gave some of them copies of
the BoM. they're so interesting to talk to and i feel so bad for them
because they all seem so lonely and have such hard lives. most of them
don't have phones, which makes it hard to try to meet w/ them in the
future if they're even half interested in the gospel. one of them we met
walking down the sidewalk herding her goats. her name is nina and she's
probably one of the most delightful bobs that i've met here. yes- she
was herding goats as we talked to her and making sure they don't run out
into the street. she gladly took a copy of the Book of Mormon, said
she'll read it during the winter when it's freezing and she has to stay
inside, and then kissed us on the cheeks and gave us a hug before we
parted. i think her old jacket used to be a wind-breaker at some point
before i was born, but now the wind-breaking fabric is missing in large
spots so that it's showing the fuzzy liner. she's the cutest little bob
ever. i hope we meet her and her goats again. there was something a bit
sybolic, i felt, in meeting a shepard.
another story i forgot to mention last week was that
2 weeks ago on monday we went up into moscow to listen to the wife of
the area president speak on the godhead. we had to get off at a
different train stop than normal do to repairs they were working on and
as week walked up the long staircase at the stop we got off at, i saw a
bob carrying her bags up the stairs and i offered to help her. she let
me take one bag, but was too stubborn and independant (sounds like a
johnson) to let me carry the other one too. we saw her a few minutes
later at the bus stop and she told us what bus we needed to get on to
get to the metro. she asked us where we were headed and it turned out to
be the same metro stop in the middle of the city as her. she insisted
that she show us the way -and didn't quite realize that, besides which
bus # we needed- we new exactly where we needed to go. so, despite the
fact that we were in a big hurry as it is and a part of me despirately
just wanted to say our good byes and hop on a marshrutka rather than
wait for a bus, we waited w/ her for the bus, walked w/ her to the
metro, and then road the metro w/ her all the way to the center of city.
it turns out that she's from podolsk, too, and i talked w/ her on the
metro ride and showed her pictures of my family and explained that i'm a
missionary. she was really sweet and when we got to the metro stop
where we needed to be, she kissed us on the cheeks, gave us a big hug,
and cried. it was the sweetest, saddest thing. we gave her a church
invite and asked us if she'd bee intrested in meeting w/ us to hear more
abt. our message, but she said that she's too busy to meet w/ people. i
really hope that we see her again on the street in podolsk some time.
well, i'm almost out of time, but i hope you all
have a fabulous week. i love you!! thanks for all of your prayers,
letters, and support. camilla- are you alive? i haven't heard from you
in ages.
fml,
sister johnson
here's my letter to president sorenson for some more details on my past week:
happy halloween!! sorry, the shift button on 1 side of this keyboard doesn't work.
this week was great and i feel like the Lord poured out his blessings on us and our efforts after lay-up-in-store week. we tripled our numbers from last week in 3 categories and got 2 contacts!
we still have no real investigators, but a referral from a member that's come to english club is interested in meeting w/ us at, even though she hasn't set a time yet. she's way nice -her name is lyuba- and her mom's been in town to help her recover from a bad illness. her mom has also come to english club and seriously is a hilarious woman. they've both been staying for the spiritual thought and i think lyuba is at least open to listening, even if her mom might not be too intersted in our message yet.
zone conference was awesome!! thanks for your talk on the atonement. that was deffinitely my favorite part, even if i was very sleepy during it. i heard there might be a conference for just the sisters in november. fun!
despite the fact that podlsk has been a challenging area, i really have come to love this little town and the branch here. just know that i will go or stay where ever the Lord wants me to. it's his errand, so i will serve where ever he wants me to, be it here or in a different area next transfer.
thanks for all you do!!
sister johnson
ps- the exchanges went great this past week. i went back up to my birth-place in rechnoy and got to meet w/ a less active up there. sister wright is seriously an awesome missionary and just goes for it. she's going to get the language fast because she always tries to speak, even if she doesn't know how to congigate or decline things right in the sentance. she's going to do an amazing job and i'm sure already is. she taught really well on our lesson and didn't shy away from trying to speak or open her mouth. i seriouslly would not guess she's been in the field for less than a transfer.
this week was great and i feel like the Lord poured out his blessings on us and our efforts after lay-up-in-store week. we tripled our numbers from last week in 3 categories and got 2 contacts!
we still have no real investigators, but a referral from a member that's come to english club is interested in meeting w/ us at, even though she hasn't set a time yet. she's way nice -her name is lyuba- and her mom's been in town to help her recover from a bad illness. her mom has also come to english club and seriously is a hilarious woman. they've both been staying for the spiritual thought and i think lyuba is at least open to listening, even if her mom might not be too intersted in our message yet.
zone conference was awesome!! thanks for your talk on the atonement. that was deffinitely my favorite part, even if i was very sleepy during it. i heard there might be a conference for just the sisters in november. fun!
despite the fact that podlsk has been a challenging area, i really have come to love this little town and the branch here. just know that i will go or stay where ever the Lord wants me to. it's his errand, so i will serve where ever he wants me to, be it here or in a different area next transfer.
thanks for all you do!!
sister johnson
ps- the exchanges went great this past week. i went back up to my birth-place in rechnoy and got to meet w/ a less active up there. sister wright is seriously an awesome missionary and just goes for it. she's going to get the language fast because she always tries to speak, even if she doesn't know how to congigate or decline things right in the sentance. she's going to do an amazing job and i'm sure already is. she taught really well on our lesson and didn't shy away from trying to speak or open her mouth. i seriouslly would not guess she's been in the field for less than a transfer.
