Hey Brothers and Sisters!
Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to start. Our prophet is inspired by the Lord for sure. Home MTC is better than I could have imagined. It is fun, spiritual, busy, exhausting, exciting, and flying by all at the same time. I mean it! I have been spending 9+ hours a day studying the scriptures and it feels like 20 mins. The longest part of my days currently are the mornings and nights when I am not studying with my district.
Our first class was with 450 new missionaries and it was led by the MTC director. In the most gentle and loving way he told us to stop thinking about ourselves and to get to work. I was immediately humbled (10 minutes into my first class!) The spirit was so strong and we all left absolutely stoked about missionary work.
My district is the best! I already love them all so much. We have so much fun studying and laughing together.... even over zoom. I cannot wait to spend time with them in person. I already know they are becoming some of my closest friends. Guess what? I am in a trio! Sister Blair and Sister Scholes are awesome and they love the gospel. It became very obvious really quick that we are just a bunch of nerds. Our lessons together as a district are awesome and I am learning so much. I am finding that there is something very powerful about 12 young adults gathering together and trying to be the best they can be so that they can serve the Lord the best they can.
I have so many awesome experiences that I want to share, but for the sake of those readers who have made it this far, I will just share one. We were challenged this week to create a timeline of events that have had huge impacts on our conversion to Christ's gospel. We broke into groups of 5 and shared with some of the other missionaries in our district. The other missionaries got to choose what story you told, and we all ended up sharing pretty serious and traumatic trials in our lives. After sharing, one of the elders spoke up and thanked us all for having the courage to share such personal stories. Then he said that he was very proud of each of us for taking experiences that could have ruined our relationships with God and turned them into experiences that ended up strengthening our testimonies and relationships with him. There is no way to describe the spirit that was there and I feel a very special bond to these 4 other missionaries because of the experience. Here's what I learned. In the trials we come across, we are given the choice to let it strengthen us or destroy us. I know that Christ alone can give us the healing that we need. All we have to do is turn to him. I also learned that nothing bonds people together like the spirit. That's why efy, youth conference, girls camps, and the mtc are so awesome... it's all the spirit!
Lastly.... I have a book that lists a bunch of things to be happy about, and it has changed the way I look at life. I have so much more gratitude for the little things around me now. So I decided that every week in my email I will state something small that I noticed made me happy that week. I encourage everyone to do this everyday! This week flowers on a desk make me happy .... yep it's that easy. Show gratitude for something small everyday that makes you happy! Are you up for it? You will be happier because of it.
I love you all so much and just want you to know that I love my savior and I LOVE serving him. It's the best decision I have ever made:)
Have the best week ever,
Sister Johnson
This is my awesome district!
