DOUBLE DIGITS!

The weeks are flying like rocket ships over here. Idk about all of you, but that’s how it feels to me hehe I HOPE YOU’RE ALL WELL. I miss you always & pray constantly for each of you. What’s new in the life of Sister Johnson?? I mean at this point you’re probably expecting something as nuts as the past few emails. Honestly nothing extreme took place, but that doesn’t mean it still wasn’t a stellar week!! So strap in, get comfy, & take a little read 🙂

Here comes the Sun... — Here comes the Sun…

So last Monday started off super fun!! Since it is Sister Pinheiro’s last transfer she has been able to see some of the people she served around for the last time before she goes home to Brazil. We were able to meet at the chapel with her friend Holly & we sat at the picnic benches outside & ate snacks all together (even though it was raining hehe–gotta love Covid & England!) It’s always so nice to be outside and have good ‘ol in-person interaction with people. Ahh blessings. Later on Monday we were able to have an online finding team meeting as always, after which we were able to finish the last session of General Conference, YAY. The time change makes it hard to watch all the sessions in real time, so I was super happy that we were able to finish (not tooooo far behind) and see Sunday afternoon’s masterpiece of a session! This church is TRUE.

So MAJOR, insane, extraordinary, just MASSIVE miracle of the week & of my whole mission is that we were able to find 12 new people to teach this week. Double Digits–I’ll take it!! Who would’ve thought even in lockdown that this would be possible?! We have been exercising exceeding faith & praying for & expecting miracles. And they COME. Most of these friends were found through Instagram & Facebook—divine tools given to us to bring about the Lord’s purposes. I can’t say it enough!

This week we also had some more member lessons which are always so SO nice. I love getting the chance to excite the members about missionary work. Some returning member lessons also took place this week which were lovely as always. we were also able to have loads of first lessons with all the new friends we are finding. And if ever one of our many lessons fell through, we had the opportunity to have time to find even MORE people to teach. We have been struggling to find some super solid, progressing people, so that’s why we just keep finding because we know they are out there. Finding & teaching alllll day, that’s what we do!

One of our lessons was with our new friend Galina. She is the absolute SWEETEST. She was found & taught by the missionaries years ago…and as we were going through our contacts one night, Sister Pinheiro felt like we should call her. I am so grateful we did. The lesson with her was wonderful. She spoke about her faith & love for God & the importance of prayer in her life. At the end she told us, “…thanks for not forgetting about me.” Now doesn’t that just melt your heart?!! ❤ Definitely not a coincidence that we called her number in our phone.

My assignment as a Social Media Sister has been going great as well. We are continuing to work on merging a handful of the mission Facebook pages & hope to see benefits from consolidating. Sis. Pinheiro and I continue to track the statistics, analytics, and insights across the mission of each Facebook & individual Instagram accounts. I keep joking every day that it feels like we clock into the office each morning as we sit down to start working. I’ll admit I’m quite sick of staring at screens all day but ya gotta do what ya gotta do, ya know? Definitely going on a fat technology cleanse in a couple months hehe. But here in the EMM, the social media game is going STRONG. Sister Pinheiro & I did another Instagram live on Friday and it was super fun. We answered a ton of questions & got to be ourselves. Lives feel so natural for us. I love doing IG Lives with Sis. Pinheiro, the best Brazilian bestie I could ever ask for. Some of our new friends & potential friends were able to watch it, which is what it’s all about!

On Friday we had MLC. Some representatives from the Europe Area Presidency who are basically over the social media aspect of the church in Europe joined in & gave us a training. It consisted of mainly a big Q&A and lots of learning as they evaluated where the England Manchester mission is at in terms of the effectiveness of our online missionary work. I will say it was quite fascinating to have their perspective as professionals in this sort of field. I learned & soaked in A LOT!!! I’m excited to see the steps of action we will take as a mission as we continually improve with each passing day. Of course they gave our mission big props for all the work we have accomplished thus far, especially the mission’s WHY I BELIEVE Devotionals….speaking of which….

We had the October WHY I BELIEVE Devotional this past week which was another HUGE HIT! The mission’s WHY I BELIEVE Devotional weeks are always crazy for the tech team (hehe) so stress abounds for us all, but it is always worth it in the end. We were really emphasizing to the missionaries to invite EVERYONE!! (I even telepathically invited Deeves, I hope she enjoyed it hehe 😉 ) A lot of the prep work is just inviting everyone we talk to the week of the event to come join us & to invite their friends to watch. So crazy to me how normal these have become as a monthly virtual devotional for the world, as opposed to the old normal of having them at a Stake Center in person across the mission. Times have changed & so have We! We all embrace the new normal with a big smile because we have even more opportunities to invite even more people and feel even more of God’s love.

My trainer, Sis. Farnworth, singing at the Devotional; President Johnson; Our Mission choir–can you find me? (ok ok, top row–3rd from the right)

We had a fun Sisters night call this week where we all showcased a specific dance from our home country. It was such a hoot. This bunch of Sisters that I work with are so culturally diverse. Represented are America (of course), Brazil, Spain, Tonga, Pakistan, New Zealand, and China. Like WOW. I know! My heart was soaring because duh–DANCING. I was absolutely living & loving every moment. Sister Pinheiro & I are pro-international dancers at this point (wink).

We had a super tender experience this week with one our returning members. We planned to call this member at a certain time in the afternoon. When he answered, he let us know that just 30 minutes prior, he was told of his dear dad’s passing. I had never found myself in that type of situation before. I was heartbroken for him, as was Sister Pinheiro. Of course we knew it was no coincidence that we called him that day and at that time. If I haven’t mentioned it lately I’ll tell you again…God is so aware of His children. We spoke to him about everything & tried to console him with comforting scriptures from the Bok of Mormon. In the end we just wanted to leave him on somewhat of a happy note. He said he enjoyed music so I immediately grabbed my Ukulele & sang him a hymn. He thanked us & said that that hymn would now be stuck in his mind the rest of the day. It’s little moments like that where I find myself overcome with gratitude for being able to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands by loving & serving His children, in whatever circumstance, for whatever reason it may be.

I know without a doubt that there is a miracle coming soon here in the Preston, England area. Sister Pinheiro and I have been promised that we will find someone who is willing to accept the invitation to be baptized. I know that person is out there. I know we will find him/her in the next week & a half before Sister Pinheiro goes home. How do I know this, you ask?? Because the Lord ALWAYS keeps His promises, that much I know for sure. So we continue to pray & fast for this miracle, & I of course will keep you all updated on the miracles we see here in this marvelous & historic area of Preston, England ❤

I LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER. Stay strong my friends. Remember God’s promises. Keep your end of the deal. That’s the secret.

“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”

– Ole Helgerson

All my love always,

Sister Johnson