Life should be enjoyed!

Bonjour family & friends!

This week I had to say goodbye to my sassy french companion, Sœur Méjean and said hello to my new companion Sœur Kitchen! Change can be hard but it is good to have new and different experiences because it allows us to learn ad grow... And that's what life is all about.  I know there are lots of things I need to learn this next transfer!!

My last rendez-vous with Sœur Méjean was Tuesday night. Our ami Clémentine invited us over to have dinner with her family. There are not members and never really have had interaction with the church. They asked lots of great questions! They have heard a lot of stuff about the church so it was a good opportunity to clear things up. It was really good to have Sœur Méjean there to show that the church is worldwide. They asked her where she was from and said, "I am French." Then they said, "Oh a French American." She responded, "No, like French from France." They were surprised to meet a "Mormon" that wasn't from America! We were able to explain to them the basics of our beliefs and what we do as missionaries. They were super cool and easy to talk with. Hopefully, we were able to leave a good impression! It must have gone alright because they already said I can come back over for dinner before I leave Brussels. What a great last rendezvous to finish up a great two transfers!

Dinner with Clémentine! Aka my favorite person ever

This week we meet a girl on the street named Vanessa. We started talking with her and she didn't seem that interested at first. Usually when that happens, we try to ask different questions or talk about different subjects until it's something that they are interested in (or until they walk away). This time the question that really made the difference was, "What are the things in life that bring you happiness?" She paused for a moment, and then got emotional. It took her a minute but then she finally managed to say, "Hardly anything, life is hard." We were able to testify that we know God is there for her and that the reason we are here on earth is to have joy.  "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) We explained that Indeed life can be hard, but trials and difficulties are part of the plan that Heavenly Father created for us... And that no matter the circumstance, we can always find joy and happiness. We told her that understanding why we are here on earth will not take away our problems, but make it easier to overcome the trials we face in life because we have a different perspective. We told her that one of the things that bring us comfort in hard moments is prayer. We were able to pray with her and then set up and rendez-vous for next week to explain the plan of salvation!

Fall with Sœur Kitchen!

This experience reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from President Hinckley,  "Life should be enjoyed not just endured!" What a simple, but really quite profond statement. It is so true! There are always things that we can find that make us happy. It's just up to us to choose to look for the good in every situation! Have a wonderful week. L'église est vrai.

Love, Sœur Johnson

Be strong and of good courage!

Bonjour family & friends!

This week we had transfers and I am happy to say that I will be staying in Brussels for one more transfer! Sœur Méjean will be leaving to Arizona and I will be getting a new companion! I am excited to be able to stay and continue to help with the progression of our amis.

To start off the week, we had a "Family Home Evening" with the Christensen's and our ami Clementine! We had dinner all together and then talked about the blessings that come from having the gospel. We talked about how the gospel is one thing the always remains constant in our lives. We brought up baptism and she said that she wants to be married in the temple one day so she is going to for sure eventually get baptized. She said that she thinks it is probably going to happen in the next year. The thing is that she wants to be baptized by one of the members of her "host family" that introduced her to the gospel back in Idaho. When I asked her what the biggest thing was that was stopping her from being baptized she said, "it's hard to be a member here because you feel alone." She said that most of her friends have the wrong idea about our beliefs and it makes it hard for her because she doesn't have as much support here. We assured her that even if at times she feels alone, she will never actually be alone. We explained that at baptism she is given the companionship of the Holy Ghost who will always be our constant companion as we live worthy of it. We are promised, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18) What are great promise because no matter where we are in the world there may be times when we feel alone.

district photo! Frites & grand place

When we were having this conversation I was reminded of a talk that President Monson gave a couple years ago.. he says, "As we go about living from day to day, it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone?" It's not always easy to have the moral courage to stand up for what we believe but I know that we will be blessed for doing so.. and I know that we are never alone! "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." He is always with us! Have a wonderful week.

Love, Sœur Johnson

Vous êtes Mormon?!

Bonjour family & friends!

What another wonderful week! Life could not be better here in Brussels, Belgium. So many great things happened this week that I don't even know where to begin.

We had another lesson this week with our ami Nadjat who we taught a couple weeks ago. She is the one who was muslim but decided that it wasn't for her and is interested in learning about Christianity. We had such an awesome lesson with her! She asks the best questions and love her desire to learn and to know the truth. My favorite part of the lesson was when we talked about prophets and she got all wide eyed and said, "There is a living prophet?!" Our response was an astounding, "Yes!" She immediately responded, "That makes so much sense!" She explained how not that long ago she was talking with her husband and brought up the point that it doesn't make sense that we just all of the sudden "stop needing" prophets here on earth. We told her that of course it doesn't make sense because we do NEED prophets and therefore we HAVE prophets in these latter days! I am not sure if she even listened to anything else that we said after that because she was so consumed with the idea of having a living prophet. She kept saying, "Wow, there really is a living prophet?!"

In the middle of the week we got a text from our Ami Aude (the one who wants us to go to her beach house) letting us know that she was planning on coming to church! Sunday she showed up, with a beautiful dress and Book of Mormon in hand! She took notes the whole time and really enjoyed it. She said she is going to try to come every week at least for 1 hour. We were more than supportive of that idea! She lives really close to the church so it makes it easy. Before she left, she turned to us and said, "I would like to invite you to my house for Thanksgiving and was wondering if you could say the prayer over dinner?" There was definitely no hesitation in saying yes! Thanksgiving is an American holiday so they don't celebrate here and so we assumed that we would just have to have our own "missionary thanksgiving dinner". Since Aude grew up in America for 20 years, she decided to carry on the tradition when she moved back to Belgium. Every year she invites a bunch of her friends and they have a big Thanksgiving dinner! What a great opportunity we are going to have to be able to share the gospel while eating turkey dinner!

dinner with members!

Sunday night we were waiting to get on the metro to go home for dinner after a busy day of meetings and church. I looked over and saw a lady standing a good distance away from me. Immediately, the thought came to me that I needed to talk to her. I quickly brushed the thought away because it definitely was one of those "awkward situations." It wasn't like she was standing right next to me and I could just casually start talking with her. I looked over again and got the same impression a second time. I knew I needed to do it but to be honest I didn't want to! I watched the clock tick down on the metro as I tried for 4 minutes to sum up the courage do it. I have talked to hundreds and probably even thousands of random people on my mission but it seems like there are certain situations that make it harder to do so. This was one of them. With two minutes left until the metro came, I maneuvered my way over to her and started up a conversation. She definitely thought I was the weirdest person at first until she saw my plaque and said, "Vous êtes Mormon?" (You are Mormon?) Come to find out, she used to meet with the missionaries (one of them happening to be my MTC teacher) and her 3 kids were even baptized by him. They are no longer active and they ended up moving houses and so the church has lost contact with them. We ended up getting her new address and she is going to call us to set up a rendezvous! What a tender mercy.

I have reflected a lot on this experience. It made me think about how every day we pray that we can find new people to teach and who are ready to hear the gospel. Everyday the Lord puts new people in our way but it's our choice whether we choose to act on the promptings we receive. I'm sure there are many opportunities that I have missed because I didn't want to act on the prompting I received. I think this is something that happens quite frequently when we pray. We often pray and ask for certain blessings or certain things to happen. However, part of praying with "real intent" means that we are willing to act upon the answers we receive. Quite often we are asked to do things that we don't feel comfortable with or don't necessarily want to do. The Lord has promised us that he will answer our prayers but we need to submit out will to his and be willing to act on what he tells us to do. "Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament--the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted."(D&C 98) We need to remember when we pray and asks for certain things that they will be given to us, but we must be willing to do what the Lord asks of us in order to obtain our promise blessings. I'm grateful for the gospel. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I'm grateful to be serving! Church is true. Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sœur Johnson

The field is white already to harvest!!

Bonjour family & friends!

This week we started off by going to the US embassy! They wouldn't let me go inside with the Soeur Méjean.. So instead I sat in the park across the street and waited until she was finished. I bought myself a crêpe, sat on a park bench and read the Book of Mormon. To make it even better, the weather was absolutely beautiful! I sat there thinking about how grateful I am that I got called to the France, Paris Mission. I really feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to serve here. It was the first time I have been alone in 11 months! Lets just say that 1 hour of solitude went way too fast. If anything, it was good time to reflect on all the tender mercies and many blessings I have been given. Life can't be too bad if I find myself sitting in a park right next to Champs-Élysées, eating a crêpe, and reading the Book of Mormon! I was reminded that I definitely need to "count my many blessings." What a great way to start off a great week!

Taking a stroll on Champs-Élysées

We had a super cool miracle this week. We accidentally missed the tram stop we were supposed to get off at so we got off at the next stop and went to get back on the tram going the other direction. Right before we got on the tram I heard someone say, "Hey do you have a Book of Mormon in English?" We turned around and it was a young college student. We started talking with her and came to find out that she has seen a lot of missionaries on trams, metros etc. and is interested in religion and would like to read the Book of Mormon. She has already tried to read it in French but thinks it will be easier if she reads it in English because that's the language she does her studies in. We didn't have a English Book of Mormon with us so instead we scheduled a rendezvous for the next day. We went to her house and were able to teach her the restoration and explain the Book of Mormon. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true! She was super open and receptive.

our cute ami Clementine!

And now for my favorite miracle of the week... Our ami Clementine (the one who went meet on the street but happened to be at the farewell for the senior couple who is now serving in Brussels) texted us Saturday night and told us that she was coming church and wanted to give us a ride! She was telling us about how she went through the Provo temple open house and said it was beautiful.  She also started talking about how her favorite temple is the Manti temple. Apparently, was she was in Idaho she really wanted to go see it so her host family said that if she read the whole Book of Mormon they would take her...So she did! She was asking US what our favorite conference talks were. She started watching conference on her own at her house! She said, "My host family says that missionaries would call me a "golden investigator". We were both like...ummm yes!! Literally, I have never meet someone more prepared for the gospel. By just talking with her, you would have no idea that she wasn't even a member! Her testimony, helps strengthen mine. Meeting people like her give me hope that there really are people prepared to hear the gospel. People like her inspire me to work a little harder, be a little better, and sacrifice a little more. "Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength." There are people that have been prepared and are ready for the gospel. The Lord has called each member of the church to participate in the "harvest." Have a great week!

Love, Sœur Johnson 

Paris & Prophets

Bonjour family & friends!

This week we were finally able to set up a rendezvous with Aude, the lady we meet a couple weeks ago..(the one who wants us to come to her beach house) She is also the one that comes with her family to our church every mothers day. We started of by talking to her to try to get to know her a little better. Come to find out, when she was younger the missionaries would come knock on her door, her dad would let them in and have discussions with them. Her dad also took lessons from the missionaries a couple years ago. It seems like the Lord has been helping to prepare her over the years. In fact, she was in London last week and happened to be right by the temple. We both feel like she is so ready to hear the gospel (she just doesn't know it yet!) She didn't have a lot of time so we just shared a video and talked about how God hears and answers our prayers. We are hoping to see her again this week or the week after and share with her the message of the restoration!

Always happy to be in Paris!

On the way home, our phone starting ringing and Sœur Méjean answered it. It only took me a couple seconds to discern who was on the other line of the phone by the look on her face. She finally has received her VISA!! Today we spent the day in Paris because she has an appointment with the US embassy tomorrow. We will find out in a couple days when exactly she will be leaving. It will probably been within the next week or two! We have had lot of fun the last 8 weeks but I'm excited for her to start a new adventure.

Sœur Méjean..the only person I know that doesn't like Paris.

This past weekend we had the chance to watch General Conference. As a missionary, it's basically like Christmas! What an amazing blessing it is to be able to get guidance and direction from living prophets and apostles. I have been able to gain a strong testimony of the reality of prophets and apostles because it is actually pretty logic. As Elder Holland says, "We believe in a God who is engaged in our lives, who is not silent, not absent." If he talked to prophets hundreds of years ago why would he stop now? He wouldn't. It wouldn't make sense. In fact, we are living in a time where we need God active in our lives more than ever. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He never changes. Therefore, he continues to do what he has always done, provide prophets who can be his mouthpiece.

P-day in Paris!

We haven't had the opportunity to watch the last session of conference yet because of the time difference but the other ones I watched were wonderful. In particular, I really enjoyed Russel M. Nelson's talk on joy. He talked about how joy doesn't depend on our circumstances, but our focus. What we choose to focus on in our lives makes all the difference. I loved when he said the Savior's joy is constant. My mission has brought me joy. Not because it's been easy, but because I get to serve to Lord. I don't think before I have ever felt the joy that I have been able to feel on my mission. I had a lot of things that made me happy, but I never felt the pure joy that comes from consecrating my life to the Savior and his work. I'm grateful for the constant joy that the Savior has provided for me! L'église est vrai. Have a great week!

Love, Sœur Johnson

Instruments in his hands

Bonjour family & friends!

We had such a cool rendezvous with a new Ami that we found the week before. Her name is Nadjet and she is originally from Algeria. She was born into a Muslim family and was very practicing. After awhile she starting having questions and doubts that she realized couldn't be answered by her religion. Right now, she is "searching" for the answers to her questions. There are so many thoughts and questions she has that correspond with the gospel! We had a great lesson with her and introduce her to the Book of Mormon. She downloaded gospel library right there on the spot and said she is going to start reading the Book of Mormon. She isn't quite sure what she believes right now so she isn't even sure if there is a God. We asked her this week to pray to know if there is a God. She said she would do it! She already has shown a lot of faith by agreeing to pray even though she isn't sure if there is someone listening. We have another rendezvous this week and we will follow up!

We had a feeling that we should stop by a house of a new Ami. We had stopped by 2-3 times before and she had never been there. This time she happened to be home and let us in! We started to talking with her and she told us, "I'm usually never home at this time but today I felt that I needed to stay home a little longer." She said that this week had been especially hard for her and that it was a blessing that we stopped by and were able to share a little message. I'm glad we were able to do something to brighten her day!

This week we were teaching Flavie (the 11 year old who is preparing for baptism) and her grandma happened to be there. She isn't a member but decided to sit in on our lesson. After the lesson, she started asking questions about the Book of Mormon. She told us she wants to reads the Book of Mormon so she can know for herself. We told her we were more than happy to bring her one and then invited her to come to the family home evening that we were having with the them that week. Afterwards, we walked to the train station with Nene (Flavie's mom) and she was totally surprised by what just happened. She said that her mom has always been totally against the church and has wanted nothing to do it. At family home evening we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and commit her to read it! We are hoping we will be able to start teaching her as well. It's amazing how Heavenly Father is able to soften people's hearts and prepare them over the years to hear the gospel.

On Saturday, we went to a baptism the elders had for their Ami David! His conversion is actually a really cool story. When one of the elders that is here now was in his last area, he challenged a family to give away a Book of Mormon. They accepted and little while later they gave a Book of Mormon to their friend David that was living in Brussels. He started to reading and going to church on his own. This all happened during the time that there were no missionaries here in Brussels. A couple months later when missionaries were put back into Brussels, this same missionary who challenged the family to give away a Book of Mormon was transferred here and was able to start teaching David! He read the Book of Mormon 6 times before his baptism! There was no doubt that he is truly converted. This is a good example of how we can be instruments in the Lords hand if we listen to the spirit and its promptings. The longer and longer I am on my mission, the more and more I realize that the Lord is actively involved in the work of bringing souls unto him. "And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work." (Alma 26:3) What a blessing it is to be one of those "instruments" in this marvelous work! Which each have the opportunity to play a part in someone's conversion if we choose to let ourselves be "instruments" in his hands.

Love, Sœur Johnson

Deuxième chance!

Bonjour family & friends !

This week we had a rendezvous with one of old Amis that we haven't see for awhile because it was hard to get in contact with her. She has been really busy because her family owns a restaurant so she is working there a lot. She told us that we could stop by her restaurant if we wanted to see her! We decided to stop by and lucky we were able to talk with her for a minute. She had some other friends who were there and we sat done at the table next to them. Our ami came and sat with us and we started talking. After a minute her friends started in with our conversation and began to ask us questions. Come to find out, we had actually contacted one of them on the street awhile ago. I actually didn't even remember her at all because apparently she told us she was in a hurry so we didn't even have a conversation with her. This time we were able to talk with her and give her a brief explanation of the restoration and afterwards introduce the Book of Mormon. We were able to clear up a lot of misconceptions about our beliefs.  It so cool that God gives people second chances to hear the gospel! Then at the end of the conversation we were saying a prayer and someone walked in the door. When we were finished we looked up and he was walking right towards us with a smile on his face. He said,"hey! I am a member of church. I was baptized a couple years ago!" We were able to talk with him for a minute and invited him to come to church because he hasn't been active for awhile. It was such a productive 30 minutes! It was no doubt Heavenly Father giving us some tender mercies.

my fav place in Bruxelles.. Grand Place!

We had "Family Home Evening" with the family we are helping to become active. It was the first time they have ever done a FHE so the mom was really nervous about it. We made them a "FHE" chart with a slot for everyone's name and the list of the things they are in charge of doing each week (ex. Prayer, lesson, activity treat etc.) The mom gave the lesson this time and we contributed by making "American cookies" aka (chocolate chip cookies.) There kids are ages 11, 8, and 5. Overall, it went really well!! Of course, by the end of FHE the kids were all complaining that the lesson was going too long and kept asking when it would be finished. (They probably were just excited to eat our cookies) We assured here that unfortunately, that's how we acted quite often during FHE too and to not get discouraged. It reminded me about when I was in Lille and Elder Christofferson came for stake conference. One of the things he talked about was the importance of family home evening. He talked about how the important part of family home evening is consistency. It would be much easier for parents to just not have family home evenings every time kids started to complain. It's true that looking back I don't necessarily remember one FHE in particular but I remember that we would try to have them every week.. And if my parents willingly endured through the times when we complained and continued to have FHE the week after, it must be important!

Japanese tower!

On Sunday, we had a "missionary themed" sacrament meeting. A couple of the missionaries gave talks about the importance of sharing the gospel and then all 10 of us did a musical number. Quite of few members have said that they have noticed a different feeling in the ward now that they have missionaries back. We are working hard to have a ward committed to missionary work! I have learned so many different things so far on my mission, but if anything I think my mission is preparing me to be a better member missionary after my mission. One of the missionaries shared a talk from Elder Bednar that explains that members should be the full time "finders" and missionaries are the full time "teachers." My favorite talk about member missionary work is from Henry B. Eyring. He says, "Why should I speak to anyone about the gospel who seems content? What danger is there to them or to me if I do or say nothing? Well, the danger may be hard to see, but it is real, both for them and for us. For instance, at some moment in the world to come, everyone you will ever meet will know what you know now. They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, was to choose to enter into the gate by baptism at the hands of those with authority from God. They will know that the only way families can be together forever is to accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temples of God on this earth. And they will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you." The greatest thing we can do for the people we love is to share the gospel with them! Church is true. All is well. Have a great week!

Love, Soeur Johnson