Katie's Mission - Apollo Beach - Transfer 4
Apollo Beach - Week 22 - December 16, 2019
CHRISTMAS IN JULY?
Companion: Sister Hurley
It is pretty shocking that there are only a few days left until Christmas because we were dying of heat on Wednesday and most days still feel like July!
We have had a blast this week and set some pretty good goals for this transfer. We are hoping to set dates with a few of our people in the coming weeks!
HIGHLIGHTS:
•manatee viewing center with Sister Bingham and Sister Ball before we dropped them off on Tuesday. Sad day.
•the cutest FRIENDS themed YW in excellence. Our ward is the best.
•going to the wrong house on accident but meeting Daniel and his dad who are super interested!!!
•watching the Christ Child 48312 more times with some AWESOME families.
•Beth calling to tell us she listened to some of President Nelson's talk and she knows he is the true prophet!
•lesson with Jackie and having her grandson on a mission video call in!
•meeting the cutest family that let us right in to watch a light the world video with them.
•being companions with Sister Hurley "they actually let us be companions!!" Fun fact: we are almost the same person and our birthdays are 1 day apart
•stopping by a former named Nick who told us about his amazing experience with missionaries and that he wants us to come back!
Hope you all have a week full of little miracles (:
Sister Johnson
Apollo Beach - Week 23 - December 23, 2019
THE TEMPLE!
Companion: Sister Hurley
Merry Christmas Adam everyone(:
We've had the best week here in Florida mainly because we got to go to the ORLANDO TEMPLE!! It was amazing to be there with President and Sister Hollingsworth and all the other missionaries. The peace you get from the temple is so real and I'm so grateful for the opportunity we have to participate in ordinances there.
We also had a mini zone conference afterward! We received some great trainings. Sister Hartshorn and I gave a training on faith too!
We officially started teaching our friend Samantha this week. She is the BEST and even came with us caroling with the older folks in the ward! It was so much fun. We did a gift exchange and I got "The Log Cabin: 9 Historical Romances from Pioneer Times" that I can't read haha so lmk if anyone needs a good book;)
We went into Burger King to contact one day and this 18 year old girl took her lunch break near us. We started talking and she was so happy to find out there were girls her age talking about church. She said she could relate to us better and asked if she could take lessons from us! Julie you are the best!!
My mom used to do this activity with us called "Christ-centered Christmas" where we talk about the fun things we do on Christmas and then we focus in on the things we can do to remember Christ and think of gifts we can give Jesus Christ for Christmas. We did it with Kaidan and Krisley and the bishops family and it was amazing. See the picture of us with our Christ-centered Christmas papers below! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior! He understands each of us perfectly. I am so grateful for His birth and all He did for us and that I have the opportunity to teach others about Him. Hope everyone has the best Christmas ever!!
Sister Johnson
Apollo Beach - Week 24 - December 30, 2019
Columbian Christmas!
Companion: Sister Hurley
MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS! Thank you SO much to you all for sending Christmas cards and letters and packages. You guys are so sweet and made us feel so loved.
Sister Hurley and I had a pretty memorable Christmas Eve which included district council, Christmas Eve lunch at ChickFilA with the sisters, reading Christmas stories, a Columbian Christmas with a part member family (not complete without empanadas and lots of dancing), and a nice meal with the ward mission leader's family. This year has been a little different but in all the best ways.. we have been able to share Christmas cards with strangers, drop off Christmas cookies at our friends doors, teach amazing lessons centered on Jesus Christ, share the Christ Child video, and spend time with the best members on Christmas day. Plus I got to call my family and open presents and it felt like I was at home with them!
Real quick shoutout to my little sista EMILY, happy birthday!!! (sister bingham, you can pretend this is for you too since you have the same birthday and your name is emily)
We are excited to wind down from the holidays and set up some awesome lessons this week. We have a goal in our mission to have at least two lessons in a member's home each week and it really helps the work. People progress so much better when there are members involved sharing their light and testimonies.
We had some in-person and video call lessons with our amazing friend SAMANTHA. We met her at the community college here and she has a real desire to learn more about the scriptures. We taught her all about the Book of Mormon and how we can pray about it to find out if it is true. She said she would and it is awesome to see how she really wants to find out and is willing to put in the work to get an answer. She came to church with us and loved it and wants to do the rest of her lessons in members homes.
Kaidan and Krisley are doing good, but struggling coming to church. Their family is dealing with some huge health problems and haven't been able to make it in weeks! Please pray for them. We know their family will be so blessed from doing those small and simple things and they love feeling the spirit and learning. We have come to love them so much and want them to experience the joy of this gospel. ♥️
We had a fantastic video call lesson with Sylvia. We asked what she wanted to talk about and she said the Holy Ghost. It was amazing as she recognized when she has felt the Holy Ghost before and that she will be able to have it as a constant companion when she gets baptized. I was able to share my favorite scripture with her, Moroni 7:13 which says if it "inviteth and enticeth to do good" it is from God. I am so grateful for that gift that God has given us to help guide and comfort us. I have learned a lot about the Holy Ghost as I try to follow every prompting. We may not know exactly what to do, but God does and he will guide us.
It's been such a great year, here's to 2020!
Sister Johnson
Apollo Beach - Week 25 - January 6, 2020
GO BULLS!
Companion: Sister Hurley
Hello friends, it has been SUCH a good week. It's 2020! What a great year to be a missionary!
First of all, happy new year!! We went on exchange so Sister Corneliussen came to Apollo Beach for new years eve. We had so many good lessons that night and then woke up at midnight to countdown and watch the fireworks but we could barely stay awake and all I could hear was Sister Corneliussen's head up against the window saying, "OH MY GOSH... OH MY GOSH" apparently they don't see too many fireworks in Cali where she is from.
THE BEST PEOPLE EVER:
•Kaidan and Krisely are back on date for January 18th so we are super excited and planning their baptism. They were at church and Krisley said her prayers and even read her Book of Mormon last night and I am SO proud of her!!!
•Shannel and her two babies are doing fantastic. Whenever we show a picture of Jesus, they say "Jesus loves me!" and learned how to fold their arms and say "dear Heavenly Father". Shannel totally gets that this church is different from any other church and wants to be baptized. She is asking her boss if she can switch shifts so she doesn't have to work on Sundays so please pray for her!
•We had 9 PEOPLE AT CHURCH! Which is kinda stressful and we were exhausted by the end but so so happy. What a good day.
•We had a recent convert Yuliia and her two girls move in. They are so cute and originally from Ukraine so the little girls are teaching us Russian haha. We have been visiting them a little bit and they finally came to church on Sunday!
One awesome thing that happened was Sister Hartshorn and I got to go up to Tampa with some other missionaries to SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AT THE USF BASKETBALL GAME! It was so awesome to sing there and have them announce "thank you to the missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" It was on ESPN so maybe you saw me on tv;)
If I haven't said it in a while.. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! Have a great week!
Sister Johnson
Apollo Beach - Week 26 - January 13, 2020
Taco Trucks and the Book of Mormon
Companion: Sister Hurley
Quick update on the week...
•We have senior missionaries now in our zone covering our ward and the Riverview ward so that will be wonderful! We love the Petersons!
•Kaidan and Krisley passed their interviews! Kaidans was with the bishop since he is still 8 and Krisley had an interview with our district leader. Her mom went in with her and said her answers were so heartfelt and she could feel the spirit through her words. So proud of them. We can't wait for their baptism on Saturday!!
•We got some Mexican food at one of the best taco trucks here and were talking about how we were going to find another person today and then we look over to this lady sitting next to us. We started talking to her as best we could in Spanish and gave her a spanish book of Mormon which she gratefully accepted and asked us to come back the next day. We came back with Sister Espinal and she had read 3 Nephi 11 and wanted to be taught!
•We finally got a lesson with Beth and we brought her a large print Book of Mormom which she was sooo happy about. She told us she decided she was going to stop drinking coffee so she could be baptized and hadn't had any all day! We hope she keeps going strong!:)
We love our life and are excited to live it up in Apollo Beach for at least one more week. We'll see what happens at transfers next week! The church is true♥️
Sister Johnson
Apollo Beach - Week 27 - January 20, 2020
Here’s to 6 Months!!
Companion: Sister Hurley
We got transfer calls early this morning and GUESS WHAT? Apollo Beach is stuck with me for another 6 weeks. Sister Hurley and I are staying together and training a new missionary!!! We will go pick her up on Thursday and we could not be more excited🥳
We hit our 6 months on Friday and got to celebrate doing service with the zone moving hay bales! We also got to pet the horses while the elders scooped manure. Scroll down to see an elder slipping on hay when we were trying to take a picture haha.
Kaidan and Krisley's baptism was supposed to be on Saturday but they got really sick so it was postponed until this week. Hopefully they get feeling better and all goes well. We are planning on playing "church jeopary" with them tonight!
Our people are doing GREAT. We LOVE them. Sylvia reads the Book of Mormon all the time and when we told her we might get transferred, she said she will find somewhere in the Book of Mormon that says we can't be separated haha. Polo is on date for March! We usually call the Spanish elders in for his lessons to explain things in Spanish which is working great. He started the lesson by saying "I'm probably going to be baptized this year.. so that's cool."
We had interviews with President Hollingsworth on Tuesday which was awesome. It was hard to believe it had been 6 months since we came to the mission and since he had become the mission president! Time is flying and I am so happy I have spent these first 6 months with the best companions and best missionaries and in the best area having the BEST experiences. I am so grateful to be learning about my Savior and serving Him♥️
Sister Johnson
