October 28th 2013

Hey there! Sorry, I probably won't be able to send pictures in Balakova since we write at a gaming internet cafe and they don't really allow for you to download stuff. But I'll try. :) Thanks for sending me all those pictures though, it helps so much to see your faces. :) It's so crazy that Justin is back home!! I suppose Katie isn't super far behind him too huh? Well she's probably got like 5-6 months still huh. Man... and Aprils getting married! That's so exciting! He looks like a good guy. Have you met him? I can't wait to see pictures of the wedding! :) That's also so great that you got to go to the coast! Sounds like it was a nice, peaceful time. Don't talk to me about the temple though haha I can't think about it cause it hurts too much! Other than the family, I miss the temple more than anything!!
Congrats to dad for his seniority... ahhah that's funny that the worker didn't even ask... I don't think dad looks that old.:)  The Turners will be missed! It sounds like you sent them out well though. I'm glad you all are having a good time over there at home :) and that you are enjoying your callings. We have a really great ward mission leader here, he really is our best friend/co worker. He calls every night and throughout the day if he thinks of someone we could stop by or if he has an idea. He really wants to make a difference and is truly our link to the branch.

I'm so excited for halloween and the holidays!!! Only 2 months until we can skype!

I don't really have a whole lot to say about this week. It's been a mental/spiritual battle more than anything. Lot's of ups and downs and all I really want to explain is that President's letter meant a lot to me, that my efforts are not in vain, that they are counted and that I must keep going. I haven't found or taught a new investigator in about three months and in general we haven't seen any results of our work. I was letting this get to me and Satan knows exactly what buttons to push to get me into a hole of self doubt. And remembering all of the promised blessing the Lord has promised to me specifically and to the mission I was starting to wonder why we were having such a hard time. I kinda broke friday night and saturday morning. It took all of my faith just to leave the apartment and get past the thoughts running through my head. But after that time of really being rung out all I had left to do was just let it all go and give it all to the Lord. And now the fire's back, the Dachney fire. The passion and desire to shove it all back in Satan's face and kill it with kindness, love, forgiveness, obedience and complete submission to the Father. It was a hard week, but now I see that it was necessary.

My mission is so precious. Thank you! My love and appreciation for each of you grows every day.

Sister Johnson
Dear Elders and Sisters,

I have felt the Spirit in an amazing way the last couple of days, and wanted to share some things with you before I list a few of the incredible things that have been happening in the Mission. First, let me thank you for your great display of faith. So many of you are working very hard, even when immediate success does not seem to come. That is the trial of our faith--when we work hard but see few rewards. Please know that that cumulative faith and effort is having an effect on this Mission and on the people who live in this Mission. I promise that your work and effort are not in vain.

I have prayed that I might know what the Lord authorized me to say, rather than just something I might say on my own. I have felt grateful to have the Spirit verify that I was authorized to make the promises set forth below. However, before talking about those blessings, let me talk about the opposition to those blessings. Satan is working as hard as ever. Every one of you who have had lessons or baptismal dates fall through know that. While we have seen a sharp decrease in "incidents" involving missionaries (only one in the last few weeks with no injuries), Satan is working hard on us and our investigators.

I would like to ask you all to do some things to combat that. First, as you feel the effects of Satan in your own life, cast him out. If necessary, get a priesthood blessing to help you do that. Second, pray specifically for your investigators to be protected from the influences of Satan. Ask the Lord that Satan will be kept away from them. Remember specifically that "WHATSOEVER he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it SHALL be granted unto him" (Mormon 9:21). Pray that Satan will be cast away from your investigators and the people you meet. Third, as you pray in your investigators' home, bless their home to be a place which will be protected from Satan and where the Spirit can dwell. Fourth, pray for not only your own investigators, but the investigators throughout the mission. We must unite our prayers against Satan on a constant, daily basis. Our entire Mission will be blessed as we do this. Remember the scriptural promise: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

As we unite our prayers and our faith in Christ, Satan's influences will be diminished, and many more blessings will occur. Many more appointments will be kept and baptisms will increase significantly. Elders, you hold the Priesthood of God. Sisters, you have been set apart as missionaries by the Priesthood. Have active faith and not just passive faith. As we continue to work hard, miracles will continue to occur in ever-increasing numbers. Also, as we all unite our faith and prayers, the above-referenced things will be done.

Please remember to keep making sacrifices! I read earlier today the following in the Lectures on Faith, written by Joseph Smith: "Let us here observe that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." The Prophet then added: "Those, then, who make the sacrifice, will have the testimony that their course is pleasing in the sight of God; and those who have this testimony will have faith to lay hold on eternal life, and will be enabled, through faith, to endure unto the end, and receive the crown that is laid up for them." Remember that sacrifices are EXTREMELY important.

And now for some wonderful miracles (with some profound teachings from some of your letters mixed in):

--"We had a lesson set up for an investigator. He said he was bringing a friend or two, so we agreed to meet at a cafe. We had a member join us on the lesson. When we finally arrived and sat down, there was five of us but it soon grew to 11 people as more of our investigator's friends showed up and the table next to us also was interested in the discussion. We taught the Restoration and bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and of modern-day prophets. We received several contacts and committed 3 to read the Book of Mormon. The spirit was there, and we hope to have follow up meetings with all of them."

--"We talked to a man about the Restoration and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. Others came and started telling him that it was all wrong, but the man stood up for us. We gave him the Restoration movie and he watched it that night. The next day he met with us and his face was lit up. He said that when he watched the movie, it all seemed right to him."

--"This last week we saw miracle after miracle. Within 2 days we went from having 0 investigators to having 3, all of which are referrals. Amazing things are starting to happen in this city and it is incredible to actually learn how to exercise faith more, implement it, and then see some of the miracles that Heavenly Father can perform. Miracles do come after the trial of our faith and we have seen that this last week, for sure."

--"We've been trying to contact a certain potential investigator who seemed very promising and we had little to no success contacting him. But one night on our way back to the apartment, some police officers stopped us and asked for our papers and we were almost back home, so it was a little frustrating. But afterwards, we started back home and ran right into our potential investigator and set up a meeting! If the police officers hadn't stopped us we would have made it home before our Potential came outside!"

--"The miracles that have been happening are incredible! And the biggest miracle of all is that we are missionaries and the Lord lets us be part of this great work! As I walk down the street with different sisters, it never gets old to say, "Sister . . . We're missionaries!" That gives us excitement to keep going because we know for sure that the Lord will bless us."

--"One day we were roaming the streets finding people to teach, when all of a sudden a former investigator walked up to us. It's been a few years since missionaries have been over, and he asked if we could stop by some time. When we stopped by, we met his father who also is very religious."

--(This one was fun for me because I got to personally witness it)! We had been out contacting for several hours without too much success. However, the Elders I was with kept talking to everyone and literally minutes before our final appointment, we approached a man who was standing by a bench. He turned out to be a Baptist who hasn't been baptized yet! He was very interested in having the missionaries come over and talk to him and his family.

--From a Zone Leader: "We get at least one call every night from the district leaders about a miracle. We set goals with them last Monday, and surpassed each goal we set. I love this work. I love miracles."

--"This week we decided to stay out until 9:30 every night. And the first night we had just been talking about desiring to give more, even when we don't have perfect faith. As we were standing there on the corner, making a decision, the neatest woman walked by and told us she would come to church. Well, one woman we met has been to church and has a friend who is a member, and wants to come to our next activity, and just every new potential we get seem to be more and more prepared."

--"President, this week has been out of control! People are talking to us everywhere they go, and last night a young woman even came up to us as she heard another woman tell us she wasn't interested. We even fasted that one of our investigators would come to sacrament. Until now, that's the only commitment he hasn't been able to keep. And you know what? He came and he watched Conference. He heard the words of our prophet and when it was over he said . . . "I feel like the Apostles and Prophet are just like my friends."

--"I am beginning to see waves of miracles and I know the tide is going to change. Yesterday at church we had two random people show up. One of the persons we have taught before and we had no way to get hold of him, but he showed up and he agreed to meet later that night. [They did and extended a baptismal challenge which he is considering]. The second man we met on the street, and he told us that he had read about some person named Moroni and he read about some "Pearl" thing. He knew about the Pearl of Great Price! At church he said he loved everything about it and he wants to come every week. Later that day, he said he hasn't put the Book of Mormon down and he set up two meetings with us!"

--"We prayed that God would give us a miracle so that we could teach someone. We did phone calls from some old potential lists, and no one wanted to talk to us. It was time to go, but I felt the impression to call the last name on the list. [She wan't home, but her daughter said she would call back]. About 20 minutes later, that lady called. She wanted to meet with us and told us she would meet that day at 3:00. We went to the church, and while we were waiting, we were searching for something in the library and found a Book of Mormon in Armenian. When the lady came, she came with two family members. Her son in law had just had a heart attack a few days ago, and they had been searching for a church that would pray for him. All of the churches had turned them away, because they are Armenian. We taught them the Restoration and related it to how they could help their family member. They were all in tears. We were able to give them a Book of Mormon in their own language because we had "happened" to find it 5 minutes before. They came to church on Sunday. One of the ladies said "This is the church where our children need to be baptized."

I wish I could list more of what you have written, but this letter is already very long. Sisters and Elders, we love you. Great things are happening. Remember to do the four things discussed above to control Satan's influences. I promise you that much greater blessings are obtainable for our Mission. I promise that baptisms will increase dramatically. As we continue to work hard, exercise our faith in Christ, and pray fervently for all of our investigators, incredible miracles will happen.

We love you all. Thank you so much for the work you are doing.

Love,
President & Sister Schwab