Dear Family,

The Prayers! The Faith! I am officially released from the hospital in record time thanks to you people! Usually with cases like mine, patients stay in the hospital for 5-7 days...but I only stayed in the hospital for 3.5 days! Thank you, thank you for the miracles! 

There has been a lot of reasons that Sister Cassita and I needed to come to Fiji, it wasn't just to receive medical attention (although that was much needed :) The first was to build my faith. 

Two days before I flew out I was laying down on my bed just crying because I was in so much pain. I was getting so worn out because to even breathe was painful. I will never take breathing for advantage again. Sister Lavulavu came in and layed down on the bed with me and said, "Sister Johnson, you're not better yet? Where's your faith?" to which I honestly said, "I'm too tired to have faith." Then she sat up, looked at me in the eyes and said, "Sister Johnson, do you think the Savior was too tired to suffer for your sins?" I said, "Yes." She continued, "Then do you think that it's ever OK to be too tired for faith?" And the lesson I learned here was that someone far greater than I went through something far greater than I,and still had faith. So must I.

The second reason was to go to the Fiji Temple. It's a funny story...Sister Cassita actually snuck me out of the hospital to go. I arrived to Fiji on Thursday, and the temple's last session was on Saturday morning at 10:00 because it was closing to be cleaned for two weeks. I wasn't sure if I could go or not because they were still monitoring me pretty closely, and I always had an IV in...but Sister Cassita told the nurses she wanted to take me for a walk! Ha! A very long walk. So we casually strolled out of the hospital grounds and caught a Taxi to the temple. I still had my IV in my hand and everything! We get to the House of the Lord...and oh..the peace. I was able to take some specific questions to the House of the Lord and really caught a vision of missionary work. It was significant to me because back on my island we have an investigator who I wanted to drop. Sister Lavulavu said, "Sister Johnson, if you want to drop our investigator then that means you can't see them in the Celestial Room with you in the Temple." And she was dead right, I couldn't see their potential, I just saw their progress as slow and often reverse as it was. So to sit in the temple and think about my investigators...wow, it definitely changed how I think about missionary work for the better.

When Sister Cassita and I were deciding if I needed to go to Fiji or not to receive medical help I just kept feeling that there was a work I needed to do in Fiji. I just kept feeling it..and so I trusted that prompting and we came here. Well, when I first got admitted I was admitted into a room all by myself. (Which I loved because as a missionary you get zzzeeeerrrrrooooo alone time.) The next day I had a roommate move in. Her name is Dorothy Naidu Tuilevuka. At first it was like one of those movie-scences: I was asleep when she moved in, so when I woke up the curtains were drawn..she kept making strange noises...hahahaha. Anyway the nurse came in and Dorothy was complaining about it being too hot, so the nurse told her that it was because the curtains were drawn (my side of the room had the AC.) So she threw the curtains open and I met Dorothy. It was about 10:00PM and I was just finishing up some scripture and journal time. I said my hello's out of courtesy and kept writing. The nurse tended to her, then me, then she left. Dorothy asked what my name was and we started to casually talk - to which I thought we would end our conversations and go to bed - but we ended up talking until 2:30 in the morning! She told me all about her family business, her family, her life...and I got the privilege to just listen and let our friendship start. Then she was kind enough to ask about me...and when I said my name is "Sister Johnson" it's kinda a dead give-away that I've got some spiritual thought coming you way. So we started to talk religion...and oh my wordy. She is gold! She has this powerful testimony of God and Jesus Christ being separate individuals (something that I am so grateful for because most people haven't yet received the truth about that gospel principle.) I started telling her about what we believe and she kept commenting, "Oh, hey, I believe that too!" I ended up teaching her the doctrine equivalent of five lessons! And she was loving it! I won't ever forget how excited I got telling her about Eternal Families. Learning a new language has given me so much appreciation for English, so testifying in English was...exhilarating! I taught her that knowing I was part of an eternal family was the only reason I could leave my family for 18 months..and regardless what happens, I know that we will all be together again someday. After teaching her about that she said, "You know, I think Jesus crossed our paths." I agreed with her and she said, "I told the nurses hours ago to give me something to help me go to sleep, but they wouldn't! And I'm so grateful that they didn't!" Before leaving the hospital I wrote down all her information and she will be contacted shortly by the missionaries in Fiji ....I think she was the work I needed to do here :)

These are just three reasons why it was in the plan that I needed to get sick...but there are even more! I know that the Lord places us exactly where we need to be!

Oh yeah--and as for my health--I've never felt better! I am so grateful that I feel well again! I get tired easy..but that is just part of the recovery.

Thank you all again so much for the prayers, and fasting...you all almost made me look silly for coming to the hospital: I was in and out so quick! Hahahahaha. Thank you, thank you. I pray the Lord sends all those blessings back to you.

Much, much, much love.
Sister Johnson
sj

 This temple means the world to me. This is the temple that I preach and plead for my investigators to be in one day..so sitting in the Celestial room praying for my 

investigators was more than powerful.

 This is Sister Balinathangi's home ward. It's run a lot like our ward in England...2/3rds of the congregation is related! Sister Cassita and I were asked to speak!

Recovering so fast!

 The nurses. Loved them, although they never let me sleep for more than a couple hours..hahaha. Blood pressure, temperature...medicine..pulse...constantly checking on me.

 The real reason I came to Fiji: Dorothy Naidu Tuilevuka