life is simple...

Some fun stories about me. in the house I live in, it's truly a Kiribati house. I have to pump my water, do my wash by hand, manually flush the toilet...everything you could dream of, isn't it? hahahaa :) but there is no other option -- I think maybe that's the luxury back at home i'm realizing I don't have...options. haha :) other than that, I really am doing so good. Learning to serve God with all my heart...

One thing that I learned this week was how to be happy with what time it is. I guess I was guilty of just wanting time to pass, so I could go home...but if I live my mission like that, it is a waste of time..so I started to really live in EVERY day. just take one day like it was the only day I have. I've done it for a week, to just live in the day and it's been the fastest week I've had!!

This week was fantastic -  I almost taught 40 lessons, mom I THREW myself in the work. And life here is so simple...we arrived early to our dinner appointment and they weren't ready (no one has a clock here, who  would be ready?) and I got to sit and watch the sunset for forty minutes as our rice cooked. just me, cause my companion fell asleep (something that is totally fine to do, sleep anywhere, anytime, on anyone's hammock ;) and was just so grateful that life is so simple for me right now. I truly love missionary work, and it really is work :) I'm teaching most of the lessons, and then my companion cleans up all the things I forgot or didn't make sense..I can't believe i'm actually speaking in another language..it blows my mind..I know Heavenly Father has helped me so much with this language. 

(Lizzie found out that her uncle, Robin's brother Dan, passed away this morning)

Having faith in Heavenly Father is the only thing I have here mom...and I just have faith that everything is as it should be. I know you must be feeling so much right now..I had a little moment today when I thought of you -- I asked the little neighbor boy to go buy some -- it's called, 'te ice' here -- anyway I asked him to go buy me one and buy one for himself...but mercy I thought it would save me time but I ended him watching him the whole way there and back (the little shop was in sight) I thought, "mercy, heaven help sister Johnson as a parent because I can't even let the neighbor boy go 50 yards without watching him the whole way." and how this ALL ties into each other...is that right now mom you have to have more faith then you ever had before. your daughter is not in your sight and neither is your brother. but are we still here? yes. Yes mom, I'm just as much here as Uncle Dan is. But all you've got is your faith to see us. Growing hurts, doesn't it? It definitely stings, but I just want you to know that everyday, or about everyday I teach about the Plan of Salvation..and the Plan of Salvation is what holds our family together at this time momma.

I love you!!!!!!!!!

liz

PS. Please thank kris and jane for the packages! This week I lost my ATM card, and so it was PERFECT timing, because I had all the food they sent! Thank you thank you to them. 



 

fish

I think Dad and Devan are the only ones that know this...maybe Mom and Sarah too if you guys are really studying PMG like you say you are ;) But guess what? Missionaries do service once a week! It's the coolest thing in the world! President Weir has set apart the appointed day of Thursday that we do service. Sometimes is lasts one hour, sometimes the whole morning...but this last week was pretty memorable. 

We got to Unia's house and asked if there was anything we could do to help. We were all dressed in grunge clothes ready to work. Unia -- and the people here -- are really shy to let foreigners help them because it's definitely outside of their culture. They have strict traditions that girls can only do girl chores and guys can only do guy chores but when we come - we come to work. She said she really had nothing for us to do, and just then her three daughters came back from their morning bath in the ocean with all sorts of fish they had caught (talk about multi-tasking..) So we started the daily routine of the people of Kiribati. We gutted the fish (and I almost threw up..but I held my white self together) salted the fish..then walked all over the islands to find fire wood. We found some, and started a fire with stones. Just kidding..but sometimes I think I wouldn't be surprised if we did. We started a fire, and then placed a sheet of metal on top of two large rocks with the fire in the middle and cooked the fish. After all this was done and the fresh fish was cooked..we ate the fish. I actually ate the fish...but only two bites, hahaha. I always have to explain to everyone, "Nanou, e kain Kiribati; ma biratou, e tiaki kain Kiribati" My heart is from Kiribati, but my stomach isn't from Kiribati. And that concluded our service...but as I thought about it as we were walking home..I was seriously so impressed with the skills of these people..yeah no one has a solid education -- but they have got street smarts like nobody's business. With only an empty bag of rice as a net they can catch a whole meal of fish..and keep the fish in the bag, and still catch more fish..and take a bath, and...MAN! And then - as most things on this island do -- it turned into a spiritual lesson for me.

I thought about when Jesus asked his apostles to leave their nets. And that scripture story clicked for me. It clicked because their nets are EVERYTHING to these people. Nobody has jobs here--the economy is literally non existent..so all they do for fun and for work is fish. And when Jesus asked them to leave their nets..He was asking them to leave the lives they knew. The kids here - from the time they are old enough to walk, bathe in the ocean and learn how to fish. Fishing is their life. They fish to LIVE, but Jesus asked the people to leave their nets..leave your life behind and come follow Him. I can understand why after Jesus died they went back to fishing -- because they had been doing that their WHOLE life long. They did not have the spiritual food that they were used to with the presence of Jesus, so they turned to physical food - to fishing. 

Maybe this was just an "ah-ha" moment for me, and it won't make sense to anyone else..but man, this mission is teaching me so much about the life of Jesus Christ.

love you to the moon and back,
sis j

Baptism!

I just wanted to thank you all for your e-mails and love. I'm really sorry i don't have time to email you back individually!  We have the slooooooooooowest internet connetion I have ever seen. Sometimes I just can't get it all done in the time that we have...

Yesterday (today for you guys) is my official four month mark!!! It's november now and it only gets hotter from here...so enjoy that cold, okay? I get to talk to you guys in one month and three weeks..and yes i'm counting..but trying not too :)

We had three baptisms on satuday which means that i've seen seven baptisms while on the island. The Lord is really preparing these people!!

got to run, so sorry again, but i love you all!
liz

BAPTISM! Nei Tiikoro and Nei Kobaki 

Transfers

Man, time goes by so quick on email! 

I got some good emails in personally, so nothing too long for everyone -- but hey guess what? I got transferred! Remember how I just got transferred? Yepp -- getting transfered again. This mission is pretty spontanous with the transfers...they told Sister Lavulavu she is  gonna work on Christmas Island, and a couple days later she is gone! So I'm with Sister Alafoki from Tonga. Hahahahahahahaha. We are moving zones, and white washing again..and mercy our area? Takes 10 minutes to drive though..it's huge! Well, huge if you are sisters walking by foot...but I'm not sure how email will go because I move zones, and it's all new...but I will let you know. I'm working in an area called Bairiki. Hahah, so sorry, must run but I'll email you next week!

loves,
liz

Life in Kiribati...

FAAAAMEELEIA! In Kiribati family is: Utu. Short and sweet. (Pronounced like you-sue..kinda)

I feel like I have so many experiences and stories to tell you and I'm trying to cram them all through this little funnel and let you see a glimpse of Kiribati, but forgive me if I do it injustice!

First thing is absolutely first. Some honesty about bad days. I've read a lot of missionary letters..some bore you to tears, and some bring you to tears but what I really respect from my cousins, friends and other missionaries are some good honesty about bad days because being on a mission, they are inevitable. I know that Dad and Mom and Criss keep asking about them, but I've never really sent emails home about them..but it's because having a "bad day" on the mission field is simply that I did something that does not allow the Holy Ghost to be with me, to teach with me, to work with me..and the day goes to wreck. Bad days are the days that I don't have courage to look my flaws square in the eyes. Bad days are when I choose to focus on how this mission is changing me and my life, rather than how it's changing my investigators lives. Bad days are days that are focused on me: either because I'm thinking of myself, or because the Lord is teaching me things I need to work on about myself.

I think the hardest day of my mission was a day that I couldn't figure out why I was here in Kiribati, I had only been on island for about two weeks and couldn't speak to anyone, didn't understand anyone, I was struggling to find foods to eat (before mom's package came) -- just mission blues, I'll tell you that. I lazily walked to our lessons, didn't contribute to any of the lessons and when we got home from a long day of work and Sister Lavulavu sat me down and said, "I have a question for you. You don't have to answer...well yes you do..Sister Johnson," and then the tone of the next question is what really stung, she asked...pretty hesitantly.. "do you even want to be here?" And when the words came out of her mouth..it stung my heart..and honestly didn't know the answer to her question. Did I want to be here?... The Lord answered my question because shortly after I got very sick and flew to Fiji and had two solid weeks to think about that question. And because of how sick I was Sister Cassita asked me if I wanted to go be honorably released from my mission or if I felt strong enough to finish my mission...and I was so close to quitting. So close to blaming it on being sick and leaving..coming home to America...so close, so scared of the living conditions, so scared of the language, so scared of everything I didn't have out here, but I choose to keep going with my mission.. And choosing to come back to Kiribati -- was the bravest decision I have ever made. 

It was brave because Kiribati is poor. I know you guys know this, but I'm telling you: It is poor. One of the poorest countries in the world. So poor that there is only one store on the entire island that sells loaves of bread, so poor that they don't even sell water bottles, so poor that 70% of what they eat is food that they can catch. At one of our investigators home, their roof is held up by two crutches dug into the sand. I don't talk a lot about things other than spiritual things because I guess living here is something that I'm still dealing with, but the Lord has blessed the missionaries in Kiribati. As missionaries we are taken care of, physically, financially, spiritually, and temporarily. We are safe. We are fed. We are well. We have soap, we have toilets that work, we have a brand new fridge -- and food in that fridge -- our next door neighbor is a policeman so we are safe, the Lord always blesses us with food...I guess I just don't want you guys to worry about me. I know you do already, so that's why I don't like telling you how I really am doing..so I hope that was what you guys meant with questions about bad days, I don't really know what you mean..but maybe that helped a little.

I think about you guys a lot, you know that? Every time I log off my email, and walk away from the computer I think..."Did I tell them enough, do they know how much I love them? Did I praise my parents for raising me right, and thank my siblings for the support and strength they are?" Out here, I don't have much..and so right now, you guys mean everything to me. Literally everything. So I just pray that any blessing that I get from serving goes to you guys. The Lord has carved out my heart a little deeper to love you guys a lot more...so please know I just want you to know that I love you and all I want is to do good and honor the Johnson family in Kiribati. Please forgive me if I don't directly respond back to your emails, if I don't answer your questions, or if you feel excluded from what's really happening in my life...please forgive me. I just love you guys so much.

That was a lot. Last thought I have for you is to tell you how truly truly happy I am out here. I could go into details about HOW happy I am, but we'll save that for another day.

Your truly,

Sister Johnson

 Here is our baptism from two weeks ago. They were my first official baptism here on the islands, it is two sisters!! We taught them everyday for almost three weeks, and had them baptized! And the person that baptized them was a less active that we reactivated, so it was a good day as a missionary!

Sister Lavulavu and I before our baptism with Nei. She's 12 years old, 

and slowly we are completing her family!!!!

General Conference

Dearest Family,

GENERAL CONFERENCE. I guess my spiritual thought this week doesn't come from me, but from the reality that this church is the church declared by the Apostle Paul, "One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." This church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the ways I know it is by watching general conference. Wasn't it cute when Elder S. Gifford Nielson got so excited about his exclamation points? I was loving it. And I respect so much the vulnerability of President Jeffery R. Holland to speak about depression..and Elder Dube's talk! Ah. 

We had two investigators come watch general conference with us. The first a little girl named: Nei Reea. She's 12 years old and will be getting baptized soon! We're so excited about her! And the other: Moteaki..he's around 65, and he came and watched it! And then at our lesson bore his testimony that he knows that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called of God. The gospel feels so good!

Make it a great week!

Love, Sister J

the Atonement...

Last night Bishop invited us to come to his house for dinner. Sister Lavulavu and I are new to the area so we wanted to prepare a special spiritual thought for them and I've just got to tell you about it. After reading in John about the account of Jesus washing the apostles feet we decided that we would wash their feet..so before dinner we started our spiritual thought. We had Bishop's wife come sit on a chair and as Sister Lavulavu read the whole account of Jesus washing his apostles feet I washed her feet.

And I felt that much closer to the Savior.

Nobody can afford shoes here, so you can imagine the average Kiribati feet. Dirt and toenails that are falling off, with scabs and scars and open wounds on their feet. And I thought that that must have been how the apostles feet were too. And I could understand why Peter would say: "Thou shalt never wash my feet." Embarrassed that the Savior would see his dirt. Embarassed that the King of Kings would bow below to wash him. But the lesson I took away from this is really a lesson about the Atonement. Do we have the humility to let Jesus see our dirt? Bishop's wife was so embarrassed that a guest at her home would wash her dirty feet...and I can understand that, but I am so grateful that I truly walked in his footsteps this week to come to understand our Savior a little bit more...but it's not just a story about feet, or the Atonement, it's a lesson on baptism, because with that water and towel, Jesus can erase our sins -- or our dirt. He said himself to Peter: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."

It's my testimony that the greatest of us all has already washed our feet -- that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed every whit. I love you, my sweet family, so much.

sister j

PS. I AM HEALTHY as can be. stronger than ever. more motivated. working hard. laughing...lots of laughing.