Hello!

Another week! And it was probably the best week of my mission so far!

We still don't have an oven or a stove, but all of our shelves are up!

Apparently sisters weren't supposed to come until the start of the

next transfer at the end of September. Also, Sister Riser told me that

when the APs (assistants to the president) called her and told her we

would be opening an area, they said they couldn't think of anyone else

besides her and her new missionary that could do it. That really

strengthened my testimony that I am supposed to be here. God needed me

specifically for this place at specifically this time. We have

definitely seen miracles every day we've been here.

We usually get 3 or 4 potential investigators a day. BUT most people

don't know their phone numbers so they forget to give us the area code

or country code, so a lot of them don't work. I just want to tell you

about a couple people who have changed my perspective on missionary

work this week.

The first is Sacko and Patrick. They are both refugees whose families

are both back in Africa. They were telling us about their families,

and how a few brothers, sisters, and a father or mother were dead.

They then asked if my dad was alive, and I said ya. They then assumed

my mom was dead, and when I told them my whole immediate family was

alive they were shocked. I didn't realize how big of a blessing it is

to live in America until now. We can't teach them because they are

refugees, but we got them both Book of Mormons in their native

language, and they are coming to church and German classes:). For

Patrick, it was his first time in a church. Sacko has to translate

because Patrick only speaks French and Italian, but both seemed to

really enjoy church and have strong desires to follow Jesus Christ.

We're just waiting for visa day to begin teaching them!

Speaking of church, no buildings here have air conditioning, so

yesterday church was only an hour because it was "too hot". It really

wasn't hot at all, but all the old ladies had towels out to wipe the

sweat off their necks. It was pretty funny.

Also, another miracle on Sunday: a random girl showed up, not a

member, but her boyfriend served in Bahn a year ago, and so she goes

to church every once in a while. We got to chat with her and talk

about her being baptized. She says she knows she needs to, but she's

going to wait until after she's done with her internships in Russia

and Bulgaria (people here are so cool).

Next is Stefan. He is from the Ivory Coast, but he has been in Germany

for 13 years. He has incredible faith in God. He dreams dreams of

revelation, and he asked us if we believed in that, so we directed him

to the first lesson of the restoration of the gospel and Joseph Smith’s

vision. We could tell that he was feeling the spirit super strongly,

so strong that he seemed uncomfortable. We're calling him on Tuesday

to get a return appt, but I pray he receives a dream that this gospel

is true! Haha:)

Lastly is Greta. I just met her yesterday, actually. We went to

Wienerplatz for an appt with three Muslim teenage boys, who didn't

show up, but that's okay. Sister Riser ended up getting this prompting

she needed to talk with a guy alone, so she told me to stay and ran

after him. Don't worry, we kept all of the rules! So, i just started

sitting down on the stairs next to people and talking. Then I saw a

girl who looked my age, so I got excited and went and talked to her!

She's from Lithuania, she's 25, she played soccer professionally, she

just got divorced and she's looking for a new life in Germany. I

invited her to German classes and she seemed super excited to come!

She got divorced because her husbands family wanted her to become

Muslim, but she is Christian and she wouldn't deny her faith. I got to

testify to her of Christ’s love for her and that he wants to help her

make this new life. I'm really excited to see where she goes,and also

just to finally have some one to talk to who is not over the age of

forty, as much as I love all of them:).

I write a lot, but there's so much happening here! We spend a lot of

time trying to track down book of Mormons in people's native

languages. Tonight we are stopping by a family who needs an Arabic

Book of Mormon. Also, random, but we have a mysterious harmonica

player that we always hear from outside our window. It's really

relaxing and fun:).

My challenge for you this week is to count your many blessings,

haha:). Be grateful for the small things, like a sink, a stove, your

family, air conditioning, relaxing nights, even the convenience of

stores. Everything! God has given us so many blessings, and sometimes

we are too blinded to realize they are blessings. Make a list so you

don't ever forget. get creative with it! You'll be amazed how long the

list is and how much God has given you.

I love you all so much.

Liebe,

Sister Johnson

Ok ok. So.

DEUTSCHLAND IS SO COOL!

My companions name is Sister Riser and she is from Houston, Texas. She

only has three transfers left. We are opening an area (meaning we have

no investigators/nothing to do other than talking to strangers on the

street) in Köln. Köln is the highest populated city in Deutschland (1

million people). Needless to say there are always people out on the

street to talk to. 9 times out of ten, the person you talk to is not

from Germany (Russia, Albania, Syria, France, Dominican Republic,

Bulgaria, etc... Hence the array of book of Mormons in various

languages), so their German is worse than mine. We've resorted to hand

motions and pictures of Jesus to explain our purpose quite a few

times.

We are living in Müllheim which is nestled up right next to the Rhine.

Across from the Rhine is downtown where the infamous Catholic Dom

Cathedral is. We visited it today with our district. It was fudging

amazing. I relived half way through that I had learned all about it in

Music Civ at BYU. I FORGOT EVERYTHING.

The first day we got here, they had us all out on the streets of

Frankfurt contacting random people. Two old taxi drivers proposed to

me and I made friends with a young group of Save the Children workers.

That flight was death, but worth it. Since out apartment is new (for

us, our ward is 50 people and they have 3 sets of missionaries-- 1

elders and another sisters) it is super nice. Probably nicer than our

house (sorry). Downside: it's not finished. We have no stove or oven

or sink, so we eat things we can make from a toaster. It also wreaks

of paint and has saw dust and parts for book shelves and curtain

everywhere. Yup. But it is super nice, and I think we're getting a

microwave, vacuum and stove this week so fingers crossed! Also, our

first night in the apartment we had to yield outlandish beds so we

could sleep. Obviously there is a reason the lord needs us here now,

we're just working hard until we figure it out.

K I absolutely love my companion.... But I haven't slept since I got

here because she snores really loud. We also live right next to the

bahn and airplanes fly over us at night and we have to leave the

window open otherwise we suffocate from the smell of paint. I'm making

it sound unpleasant, but it's actually really cool. I love it here.

My German is apparently really good. That makes me really happy. I

still make mistakes. I told a guy on the bahn that he had a pretty

shirt. Another guy said he would think about hearing our message, but

I thought he said no, so I said ni which means never and so he was

like ja ni and walked away. My companion had a good time with that.

Also,my first two days here I spoke to two people who only spoke

Spanish, and I realized that was God telling me he needs me to work on

my Spanish because I forgot it all. There is a Spanish branch more

south I think. Right now it only has elders. I'm really determined to

learn Spanish by reading the Spanish Book of Mormon and then when an

area for sisters opens up, I could go there. It's a lot, haha, but

it's what the lord wants me to do. I know that, and I know that he's

going to help me do it.

I have this goal to up the active membership of people my age here.

Everyone in our ward is old or has only part member families. There is

so much work to be done, and I am really excited.

Also, fun fact, German playgrounds are not safe. I'll try to send a picture.

The work: we have made about twenty potential investigators, most of

which we had to refer to other areas because they are not from here.

Last night was the first time we actually got our first investigator!

We were going to the Rhine to meet with a man from Bulgaria who we

told we'd bring Bulgarish material. We figured out we had none, so we

brought a Russian one and an Albanian one. THEN we ran into a man who

was from Albania, and couldn't speak Deutsch. He called his friend out

who could speak more Deutsch, and then he left. Then, we ended up

having a forty five minute conversation with her about her faith and

how the Book of Mormon would fit into that. We had her read from the

Albania BOM intro and the promise in Moroni, and then got an appt with

her next Sunday! She was really reluctant to read it. A lot of people

here are. They all are either Catholic Protestant or hate organized

religion and believe in a hippyish form of religion. The cool thing is

having these deep conversations with people from all different faiths

and realizing how much good and truth is in every single one.

My favorite thing about being a missionary? The way people look at you

after your done talking, even when they don't want anything to do with

your church. Most of the people we talk to just don't understand the

role of Christ in their lives. Others are amazingly devoted Catholics

who love Christ and their church. Every time we talk to anyone deeply,

they walk away with this super intense grateful look in their eyes.

ITS SO COOL AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT! We met a cute old man

from Germany wearing a Canada hat and attempted to share our message,

but he was a devote  Catholic. We ended up just talking about America

and skyscrapers. When he got up for his stop he said "I want the best

for you" with that super cool look in his eyes! Everyone here is just

really grateful to us for the work we do, even though most don't want

to hear our message. My favorite response is "Kein zeit ". Most people

numbers we get end up saying they just don't have time.  I just want

to be like "you really don't have time for Christ?!?!" My challenge

for you this week is to really think, do you make time for Christ in

your life? Or do you simply push him aside because you "don't have

time?" I know that there is so much more that we can become through

Christ. I have already changed so much by dedicating two months of my

life. That's how I decided to make time for Christ, how will you?

As always I love you all!

PS we have this crazy goal of breaking Sister Risers record and

getting 6 investigators to church with us (1. Because we have zero

investigators right now and 2. We want the members to trust us enough

to start doing their own missionary work. Most of them say they are

too old to do the work. That's really not possible, so I'm working on

inspiring them), so any prayers you could send to the people of Köln

that they can be prepared to accept the invitation would be gratefully

received!

Addison is somewhere else north east. I'm north west, but we're in the

same zone so I'll see her tomorrow!!!

I love you!!!!!

KIRCHE JESU CHRISTI
DER HEILIGEN DER LETZTEN TAGE
Deutschland Frankfurt Mission
Missionsbüro: Corneliusstr. 18
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Tel: +49-69-97064310
Email: 2019604@ldschurch.org

Thursday, 18 August 2016 


Dear Brother and Sister Johnson,

We are happy to report that Sister Cambria Sue Johnson arrived safely today.  Sister Stoddard and I met all the new missionaries at the Frankfurt airport, and your daughter looked good and was happy to be here.  We are always grateful to have new missionaries come into the field as they bring a sense of excitement and a spirit of great faith.  It inspires and energizes the whole mission. 

After their arrival in Frankfurt, the missionaries were transported to the Frankfurt Mission Center, where they completed paperwork so they could register and obtain their Visas to stay in Germany.  They also received their debit cards. This allows them to access their missionary support funds.  They also learned about mission transportation and apartments.   Later, Sister Stoddard and I both spent some time getting acquainted with your daughter.  I also took a few minutes to conduct a brief interview with her.  She is a wonderful young woman; and, we are so grateful to have her here.  After a light meal, the missionaries were taken to a nearby hotel for the night.  On Thursday, Sister Johnson will spend the morning in a meeting with the other new missionaries, where they will be introduced to their new companions.  They will have some more training and then head off to their first areas of assignment. 

There is a website at http://frankfurtmission.com .. Shortly, photos will be posted and updated periodically.  Please refer to it throughout the mission and feel free to distribute it to family and friends.  A map of the mission, so you can see where your daughter will be serving, can also be located on the blog. 

The mission office address is up above in the header.  Please send ALL packages to the mission office address; and, please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.  When sending Christmas packages, post them before Thanksgiving.  For special packages to arrive in a timely manner, please allow 4-6 weeks.

Letter mail can be sent to the address where your missionary is serving.  However, we recommend that you send packages to the mission office; and, we will deliver them as soon as possible.  It is easier for the mailman to deliver packages to the office because there is always someone there to receive the mail.  The missionaries email their families on their Preparation Day, which is Monday in our mission. Make sure when addressing envelopes or packages to your missionary that you include “Elder” or “Sister”, their first name, and their last name, because sometimes we have multiple missionaries with the same last name. There are a lot of these at this time.

Sister Johnson entered this mission at an especially important time.  We pledge to do all we can to insure that she  has a chance to grow spiritually and develop a strong testimony.  We feel confident that she will be effective in this important work of teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have been prepared by our Father in Heaven.  We know that your family will be richly blessed for your sacrifice (D & C 31:3-7).  Thank you for sharing your daughter with us.  We will keep her constantly in our prayers; and, we promise to do all we can to help her fulfill a successful mission.

Sincerely,

President Ronald A. Stoddard

Germany Frankfurt Mission President

I took this picture of your daughters at the main train station in Frankfurt this morning as they were about to catch their train to Köln (Cologne). Thank you for supporting your daughters. We love them and are grateful to have them here.

Mit lieben Grüßen

Elder Jeff Kirk

Family Johnson,

We are pleased to announce that Sister Johnson arrived safely in the Germany Frankfurt Mission. She is doing great and is excited to begin this new adventure here in Germany. We know that the lord will protect her in her service and you and your family will blessed for his service. 

Sincerely 
President and Sister Stoddard

Aufwierdersehn (is that spelled right?) Provo  Even though I have been in the MTC 6 weeks, I still don't know how to spell goodbye in German.... On the plus side, I can spell Schlussstein now (Keystone). German is the cutest and yet manliest language there ever was. Sometimes you sound like a bumbling idiot like "Ich bin schick" (I am smart) or "Ich kann Deutsch" (I know German) while other times you sound like the smartest person ever, like "Joseph smith hat das Evangelium Jesu Christi wiederhergestellt" (Joseph Smith restored the Gospel). Es ist ein spass zeit.

Accomplishment for the week: I memorized all of the adjective endings *fist bump*. 

.... except we skyped with a member from Switzerland who speaks German and she couldn't understand me. I've got a long way to go:P. However, she had recently lost her job, and Sister Moeller and I got to testify to her that as she puts all of her faith and trust in God, he will help her. It was really cool to see how much our simple testimonies of God's love could affect her outlook on her situation.

We leave for Deutschland Monday morning! We're all really sad because Sister Swapp and Redd are headed towards Berlin and we won't see them for a few years. We have plans to all make a road trip up to Canada for Sis. Moeller and then fly to New Zealand for Sis Griffin so we can all be together again (If I'm not married by then. Side note: Everyone keeps looking at me and going "Yup, first to be married. I give her 6 months" and I'm like... um... ok? thanks?) 

Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at the Tuesday Devotional. It was an amazing talk. His main point was that as missionaries, our job isn't complicated (invite others to come to Christ) but it's not easy. He advised us to do three things; 1. Be obedient 2. Be clean 3. Be busy.  It's crazy how simple it is to be a worthy missionary, but how hard it is to accomplish those three simple things. Also, it was his birthday, so we all sang to him. Really adorable.

So I really don't know anything about the terrorists attacks in Europe right now, but I know enough to know that God is preparing so many people for us to help come unto Christ. I think I am in for what will most likely be the craziest year and a half of my life, but I am so grateful for this opportunity and I know that I will be helping people change their lives for the better.

Lastly, we had an In-field training "meeting" (it was 7 hours of instruction) on Thursday. My biggest take away is that missionary work is impossible without the members help. I was probably the worst member for missionary work. I remember the missionaries would come over and ask for referrals (friends of mine I thought would be interested in hearing the gospel) and I would look at them like.... what? no. I have since learned that I sincerely needed to repent for this. My challenge for you this week is to self-evaluate how you approach member missionary work. Find one thing you can do better (maybe talk to your friends more, or volunteer to feed missionaries, or be willing to go to lessons with them). I have the coolest promise ever for you if you will do this, straight from President Hinckley. He promised that if the members would become more active in missionary work, we could double the number of people who get baptized each year. That's so many more people coming to Christ and finding joy and peace in their lives!!! Think about it;);)

I love all of you. I think about you all the time. If you ever have questions or you want to just tell me something, I am here for you! Also, I'd love to here about any experiences you have with member missionary work!

Mit Liebe,

Sister Johnson

SQUAD

Week 5

I know I start every email this way, but this week was amazing. When I say amazing, I mean hard. I'm pretty sure about ten people had breakdowns, 6 people got injured, and 2 people threw up, but nevertheless, we are all still standing with one week left in the MTC before we leave for Germany!!!

We got our flight plans yesterday. There are 28 missionaries flying to Frankfurt. We leave on the 15th from Salt Lake, have a 4 hour layover in Atlanta, and then fly to Frankfurt. I think it's an 11 hour flight, but with the layover and the 8 hour time difference, we arrive on that Wednesday! The first thing we do when we get off the plane is either street contacting or working the booth they have set up in downtown Frankfurt. My Deutsch is really good for four weeks, but I'm kind of terrified for speaking with an actual native. Not terrified, more like I can foresee the impending awkward and embarrassing situations that will occur.:p

German is coming along well. We learned adjective endings, which are specific to the gender and the case of the word (whether its masc/fem, a direct object, indirect object, being owned, and if the first word describing the noun is "a" or "the/it"). It's like a gigantic flow chart process. It's going to be the greatest day when I can speak German without having to go through a mental puzzle every sentence:P.

So, one of our favorite things as a Mitarbeiterschaft  (companionship) is to have fun (surprise!). This week was pretty packed with pranks, etc. Sister Moeller sowed a shirt pocket for Elder Harman, so we decided to douse it in perfume before giving it back to him because he had accidentally let it slip that he hates all kinds of feminine perfume. It was hilarious, except he decided to torture us and left it in the room. We were all gagging by the end of the three hour class. Then, a few days later, we were all really bored, and we had found these really strong mints (chewable icebreakers), so Sister Griffin dared Elder Harman to eat a whole pack (16), and he did. After about two minutes he was gagging and crying because he couldn't breathe..... probably not the smartest thing we could've done, but he was okay after. Elder Allan decided to prove that Elder Harman was a baby and ate 17 mints the next day. Needless to say, he was just as much of a baby as Elder Harman. SO FUNNY! 

Back to breakdowns people have, one of our Elders, Elder Fromm, fell asleep in class. Our teacher, Sister Ahlm, was asking us if we knew what meningitis was  (in German) (She got meningitis on her mission), and Elder Fromm woke up and took it upon himself to answer, except he didn't know the question. After a few mumbled tries, he went off on a really long spiritual tangent about how the more we read the BOM the more we can get out of it. We were all so confused, so when he finished we all just bursted out into laughter. It's kind of the new joke in class.

Okay, I promise we have a lot of spiritual moments too. At the devotional, the speaker asked all of the missionaries who had a parent who served a mission to stand up. Almost all of the missionaries in the room stood up. Now that the age is lowered for woman, a lot more kids are going to have two parents who have served a mission. Imagine what that does for the family! It's kind of insane. The MTC is already so crowded (2600 missionaries in the Provo one right now). In about 20 years the number of missionaries is going to at least double, I think, so they are going to need to build a bigger MTC (you can't move in the cafeteria and it takes half of your meal time to get food).

Second cool experience: I was studying a lot about the Atonement this week. I never quite understood why Christ had to sacrifice himself, or why it had to be a sacrifice at all, so I got to studying the scriptures. It's amazing how the Spirit can guide you through your study when you have a specific question. I decided to make a list of everything I sacrifice for this gospel (it was about 8 things), and then I made a list of the blessings I received in return for my sacrifices (about 25 things). I then read 3 Nephi 24:10 where it talks about "bringing all your tithes into the storehouse"  and then that "there shall not be room enough to receive [the blessings]". God wants to bless all of us, but we must first sacrifice something, and then the blessing we receive will be innumerable (I'm sure the total of my blessings exceeds 25). I then read in Doctorine and Covenants 110:9-10. It talked about tens of thousands of people who the Lord would bless through others-- kind of like missionary work. I realized that my sacrifice, this year and  a half, is helping God to bring blessings to his children that he desperately wants to bless. I then related this back to the Atonement. Christ sacrificed himself to make way for the blessings the Lord wanted to give us, like repentance, eternal life, and so much more. 

I want you all to know that I love this gospel, and I love God. I know that I wouldn't be the person I am today if I did not have my testimony of the Savior, that he can and will help me through all of my trials and weaknesses. I know that we can find answers to all of our questions, worries, and doubts through prayer and reading the Book of Mormon. I love you all, I am here for you, and I pray for you all every day.

Liebe,

Sister Johnson

-- 

Cambria Johnson