Week 53 - July 27, 2015

Family!

How was you week?  Everyone sounds good! 

This week was super good.  Had a lot of miracles and were able to meet some new investigators.

One of our investigators we found was from a church in Korea that is a big cult.  When you first meet them, they don't tell you what church they are from because they try to keep it a secret, but when we met this kid around my age this week, he told us he was from this particular church.  Anyway we were able to set a lesson up with one of our members and all this student wanted to do was fight through the Bible.  We explained to him that we are here out of love and sharing the message of the  Restored Gospel.  After about 30 minutes of our member talking with him, I had a prompting from the Spirit and I followed it.  I simply asked him if he has ever knelt down in prayer and asked our all-knowing source, our Heavenly Father, if what he was saying was true.  He tried changing the subject many times but finally he admitted that he hasn't.  If it is one testimony that I have gained on my mission, it is that God does hear and WILL answer our prayers.

Last week in Elder Copeland's letter, he talked about noticing little miracles.  I wanted to add to a little bit of what he said and share a little something I have done with my companions throughout the last six months of my mission.  I learned this from a companion when I was younger, named Elder Oehler.  Each and every day when we come home to plan for the next day as we finish up our stats, we write down one miracle we saw that day.  As I have done this, I have really been able to recognize the Lord's hand in my life.  It has been one year and I can't help but be so grateful to the Lord for each and every blessing He has granted me thus far.  I am blessed beyond my knowledge, and I am so grateful for my mission.  My mission will and is teaching me how I will endure in this Gospel throughout the rest of my life.  I am grateful.

I also finished reading all of the Book of Mormon this week and my testimony of it has been strengthened.  I know that it is God's word.  It has brought me so much happiness, and I am so grateful to share from it every day.  I have a testimony that through following its teachings and through diligent study, we can obtain the Spirit. 

The weather here is crazy.  It's either pouring rain and blazing hot with the humidity just a million degrees or the sun is out and its still a million degrees hahah. 

I want to share a scripture that reminded me of something Dad shared with me last week.  It is in the Bible 1 John 4:7.  In simplicity it says, "God Is Love."

I am grateful for the Love of God.  It heals hearts, changes lives and makes us better people!

I love you guys, sorry not a lot of time this week. 

Love,

Elder Cole Thomas Johnson

P.A.C.E. Trust(ing) in the Source.

Elder Johnson Meets a Special New Friend from Nicaragua

(Elder Johnson was thrilled to meet a man from Nicaragua where one of his best friends, Elder Copeland, is serving his mission at this time.  Both he and Elder Copeland had their farewells together on the same day and both left for their missions the same day, so to find someone in Korea that was from Nicaragua was really thrilling for Elder Johnson.  He instantly felt a connection.  Here is how he explained it:)

NICARAGUA GUY!

 I had the feeling that I should go talk to a guy that I saw on the street, but I ignored the feeling.  But then, I went over to talk to him and ahhhhh!  I was so pumped when I found out he was from Guatemala!  I had a few pictures of Elder Copeland and I and told him all about Elder Copeland.  I had a few of Elder Copeland's e-mails and some pictures of places that he has been.  This guy said that he lived very close by where Elder Copeland has served.  I am going to meet him again in a week.  Soooo cool!

 

 

Weeks 51 and 52 - July 13 and 20, 2015

Family!

A new start.  A new beginning.  A new transfer. 

For about the last three weeks the words, "TRUST IN THE SOURCE," have been flowing though my mind.  Each and every thought ties back to those four words.  I have thought a lot about how I will step up this transfer by applying those words in my daily missionary work.

STEPPING UPWARD CELESTIALLY.

I have recently found myself asking the question that Enos asked the Lord,

"Lord, How is it done?"

As we study the prophet Ether's words, we can know.

..."By FAITH all things are fulfilled."

In order for us to step up Celestially, we must deepen our knowledge of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

In this last conference, Elder Teixeira explains it perfectly, "A deeper understanding of Jesus Christ will give us greater hope for the future, and despite our imperfections, more confidence in achieving our righteous goals.  This will also grant us a greater desire to serve our fellowman."

When we deepen our knowledge of Him, we trust in Him.  We rely on the Source.

As we step up celestially we must, 

1. Seek the Lord. 

In 3 Ne 12 when Christ appears in the Americas, he give an invitation to His people.  To us. He says, v3. "Come unto me." 

v2. "See me, and know that I am.

v1. "See me, and know that I am. 

Although we can't see the Savior, we must follow Him and His teachings.  We must Seek Him and His will and by doing so, we can "see" Him in our own way.  We will find, though, our testimonies will be strengthened as we seek a deeper knowledge of Him and His atonement. 

I have noticed a pattern throughout my mission. After every spiritual experience, there is always a test of our TESTimony.  If our TESTimonies weren't TESTED, there would be no progression and therefore we could not deepen our knowledge of Him. 

2. Rely on the Lord.

As I thought about relying on the Lord, I came to realize that we must first live as HE does. Coming to know Him requires an enduring effort on our part and an ongoing will to constantly seek to do better.  I am slowly coming to understand that, "Perfect Love casteth out Fear."

We can find comfort in D&C 6:36:  "Look unto me in every thought, Doubt not, Fear not.

3. Look to the Lord. 

In high school, I wore a wristband that said, EYES UP.  DO THE WORK.  I have noticed that as missionaries, we do a great amount of walking.  I have found myself hanging my head some days and looking at the ground.  When we keep our eyes up and "look to God and live," we show faith that we are trusting in the Source and deepening our Knowledge of Him.

Elder Cole Thomas Johnson

P.A.C.E. 

Week 50 - July 6, 2015

FAMILY,

Sounds like you had such an amazing week!

First of all I just want to say Happy Birthday to the most amazing Momma in the world.  Mom, I can't express the amount of love I have for you.  I am grateful for all you do for me, and I am so lucky to have been raised by you.  You have taught me so much about life and how to be successful.  You are the most selfless person I know, and I am so grateful to be your son. I love love love you, Mom, and miss you everyday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  I can't believe you're 30!!!!!!!!! ㅎㅎㅎㅎ 

Secondly, I want to express how proud I am of IZZZZY!  Holy amazing Iz.  I am so proud of all your hard work you've done.  MY SIS IS FAMOUS.

 (Elder Johnson's sister, Izzy, who performs in a group that was the opening group for Journey at the "Stadium of Fire" in Provo, Utah, on July 4th.)

Haha Iz  I am so so proud of you and it's a bummer I couldn't be there, but I can feel your spirit and I know that you are blessing others' lives though your amazing talents.  IZ, I AM SO SO PROUD TO BE YOUR BROTHER.  I love and miss all you guys so much.  I hope all is well and I hope you had a great week! 

 

 (Elder Johnson and Elder Woo)

This week as I was reading in the scriptures I came across a part that I want to share with you. 

The Lord is asking the brother of Jared a question and I think we all can l learn something from this question. 

 23  And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared:  What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?

As I read this verse of scripture, the Spirit taught me something that I won't forget.  The Lord is asking us here, "What are you going to do in order for I (the Lord) to help you in your efforts in accomplishing the things that I have commanded you?  

What are you going to do in order for I (the Lord) to help you in your day to day efforts?

What are you going to do in order for I (the Lord) to grant you your blessings?

I was able to learn great things from this passage and I have a testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. It is the Word of God. I am grateful for the chance to share about it every day!

I don't have a lot of time but I love you and pray for you everyday. 

Love Elder Cole Thomas Johnson

Week 49 - July 1, 2015

Family!

Wow, this week has been super crazy!  Sorry it's been a while since I have been able to put together a decent family letter!  With all my new responsibilities, I am busier than ever.  I hope all is well and it sounds like things are going awesome!  It's crazy it's almost July! We're basically back in the month I started!

(Elder Johnson and Elder Holden with a friend in Yusung)

(Serving others brings joy.)

I have been thinking lately on the topic of "Blessings I have Obtained From My Mission."  This last week I was asked by our bishop to speak in sacrament meeting on that topic.  As I pondered that subject, I was led to the thought of recognizing my weaknesses, being able to learn from my weaknesses, and making them strong through the Savior and his infinite Atonement.  Often times we have that feeling where we feel like we can't quite seek the Savior's love or feel His grace, but in a verse in the scriptures that we all know we need to look at it in a little different way. 

Ether 12:27 says:

27  And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

In order to feel His Grace and healing Power, He first SHOWS US OUR WEAKNESSES. WHY?  To make them strengths, and during that process we are able to rely on Him.  So at times when we feel so alone or can't quite seek the Savior, it is because he is showing us our weak points and ALLOWING us to make them stronger.  He doesn't do it for us, but requires us to act, and he has given us the promise that he will help.

This week I have visited a few members and have taught them PACE.  They all loved it! They have it in their homes and GRANDPS and GRANDMA, they want to meet you super bad.  Hah!   I showed them a few pics of us and stuff and they were just so excited.  Our members here in Yoseoung are great! 

This week we fasted as a zone to become one and to find new investigators.  Through the fast this week, we were able to meet a new investigator and we feel as if he has a lot of potential.  His name is 서종우b.  He met with the missionaries around 20 years ago, and he told us that he has been recently thinking about the Bible, and he wanted to start reading it again.  Because we were able to find him, he told us it was "meant to be."  We knew it was a miracle.  We met with him and have been calling him often to talk about the Book of Mormon.  We are snatching him.  Snatching him through the Book of Mormon. 

He is awesome!  He has great potential!

So many other crazy things happened this week!  AHHHHH  So as I was talking with the guy from Nicaragua, we were on the subway and all of a sudden it just suddenly stopped to a big hault!  A few people almost fell over!  Well, we had no idea what was going on..  The Subway tried to restart and it kept failing..  It started and went super slowly.. making really loud noises.  Meanwhile.. every ten minutes a new subway comes..  So I was thinking.. "Oh great.... The next subway is going to come from behind and just smash us and kill us all!!!!!!!!  Hah It was super intense.  We were able to slowly make it to the next station and get off!  I was super grateful.  The guy from Nicaragua said his girlfriend said that a few years ago the same thing happened and the other subway ran into the back of the other and killed a few people, so it was pretty scary!  All is great and I am alive and healthy!

We have seen a lot of miracles and I am grateful for all the Lord gives me!

Love you.  Have a good WEEK!

Elder Johnson

Week 46, 47, and 48 - June 8th, June 15th, and June 22nd, 2015

Elder Johnson has been made a new District Leader and sent a few pictures home for all of us to enjoy:

 (Meeting great people in Korea.)

 ( Making the little comforts of home....oatmeal with peanut butter and honey.)