Elder Cole Johnson: Weeks 64, 65, 66, 67

Family!

How are you? I miss and love you, praying for you every day! I hope all is well! I am so excited for Ty and Kate! That is sooooo crazy! Feb 11-- that is coming up so soooon!

 
(Elder Johnson's older brother, Tyler, was engaged to Kate LeFrandt.  They both served their

mission in Paris, France.)

These last few weeks have been super great! I have been taught so many powerful lessons and have learned so many things as I have been trying to change myself to who the Lord wants me to become. It's interesting how the minute you think you have found yourself and are comfortable where you're at, the Lord will push you to change yourself and will invite you to exercise your faith to become a little bit better and to improve yourself in the way of which He asks. I have been focusing on the daily blessings and miracles. They are countless. In Alma Chapter 26 verse 2, Ammon is talking to his brothers and he says something very powerful I think we can all learns something from. He says, "What big blessing has the Lord given us?" (In their Service to the Lord) Can you tell?

I have focused on that I and have seen more of the Lord's blessing these last few weeks. Every day since my 4th transfer I have recorded a miracle in my planner. That is also what I stress to the members in our Zone. YOU CAN'T SERVE YOUR MISSION WITHOUT SEEING MIRACLES; or in other words, YOU CAN'T LIVE LIFE WITHOUT SEEING THE LORD'S HAND.

I think back to the night of my farewell gathering when Brother Steve Lindsley looked at me in the eyes and promised me that if I put two feet into my mission, if I went in with both feet, I would be able to obtain all the blessings the Lord has in store for me and I would be able to become a sharp instrument in His hands. I am grateful for that great advice from a wise man and thought about it a lot throughout my mission, asking myself, "Do I have one foot in my mission or am I focusing here with two feet in giving my all to the Lord?" As I have focused with two feet in, I have seen that promise be fulfilled.

I have learned a lot about faith as well, having a plan, trusting in the Lord, and acting with faith through the spirit. This last week we were able to extend a baptismal invitation to our investigator. He is such an amazing guy. He met missionaries 20 years ago, and then last year on the street. The first week I moved to this area, he randomly called us. Long story short ,it has been really interesting to see God's personal plan for him. He is slowly recognizing it and we are really praying for him to be baptized. He didn't quite accept the date fully but accepted to pray about the date. He is such a good guy. He has to overcome a few things, but he can do it! He has become such a close friend. He is 37 and isn't married. He is looking for his vision and we are helping him grasp a hold of it through the Savior. This last week when we met him, I felt very inspired to ask him if he really knew he was a Child of God. I looked at him in the eyes and said, "Among all of God's children, do you believe that you are a child of Him and that He knows you and loves you infinitely? He wasn't quite sure and didn't quite have the knowledge, but as my companion, our member, and I all testified that we are all children of a Father in Heaven who loves us, he was able to partake a little bit of that knowledge and feel of it. What a great blessing to know for ourselves that we are children of our Heavenly Father. Who Loves us. More than we can comprehend.

I also had a very humbling experience on the street this week after a lesson. We saw a guy from Sri Lanka sitting on the bench smoking and eating some Ramen. As we walked over to him, his health just looked horrible. He literally looked like he was hit by a car. After talking to him for a little bit, he just started bawling. Crying so hard. And I could just see in his eyes how much he wanted to give up on life. He was so sad and was having such a hard time. Being a foreigner here in Korea and working in the factories is soooo hard. They are not treated well and barley receive enough to provide for their family, whom they never see.... The only thing keeping this man alive was his daughter. The love that he has for his daughter is perfect. It is just a fraction of the love God has for us, but I was able to learn a powerful lesson of love and just seeing this man, working and never giving up, was such a humbling moment. We both just gave him a hug and told him that Christ will heal him.

To be honest, I will never know the answer to this, but I wonder what the result would have been if we would have not gone over to him and followed the prompting. I saw him stare off into the distance as we were talking to him and it was like time stopped. It was like he saw his daughter and wasn't going to give up. Love is what makes us strong.

I will end with a quote from President Uchtdorf,

"For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are and who we will become."