Handwritten Letters Home

Dear Mom!

I Love You!!!

First off, I love you so much!  XD  I really appreciate all the love and support you give me every week in your emails, they really help.  You are such an amazing person and the BEST mom a teenage boy could ever ask for!  You've helped me in ALL the chapters of problems in my life, and for that I am eternally grateful! 

Right now I want you to know that the Lord is watching over you and the family, especially while dad and I are gone.  I know, at times, things can be difficult to endure, but that is why our brother, Jesus Christ, suffered as much as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Not only did he pay the price for the sins of the entire world, he provided us a way to receive comfort through times of hardships, to lighten our loads which are so heavy, to expand our joy and happiness, and to feel loved.  Not only by him, but from our Father in Heaven. 

There is a scripture that has really helped me while I've been out on my mission are in the Bible.  Matthew 11:28-30; "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  I love these verses! 

We all have to carry some sort of load in this life, for that's life.  So why wouldn't we choose to carry the Savior's load whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light?  The savior will take our load upon Him, e will still have a load, but it will be light and easy.  This allows us to be happy even in the darkest and hardest of times.  The trick is, we have to allow the Lord to take the load.  For if we don't give your problems to Him, He can't take them, and the load will feel unbearable, heavy, and at times, even impossible to carry.  It is my testimony that the Lord really does make all things better, He really is there to yoke himself to all of us. 

Something that the choir director in the MTC said is, "I like to think of Christ as a big power bull, tall in stature and very strong.  All of us are as calves who are strapped to the yoke, only to be suspended in the air kicking our legs."  I know we can get the help we need in this life, but the question is, are we willing to give it to the Savior?

I Love You Mom,
Love your son,
Elder Johnson

DAD,

I love you too!

Hopefully you like this book, I thought of you the most when I decided to make it, because I know how much you like all games!  I think you'll like the Kiribati Sorry and the Card Games the best!  Sorry if they are kind of confusing, some were kind of difficult to write the rules for!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that everything is great and I'm seeing the Lord's hand in so many things that I am doing!  I know that he is there through all that I am doing for it truly is his work!  I want to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  When I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time at the beginning of this year, I was so excited to pray to gain a certain solid testimony of the book, so I prayed right there.  I prayed and sat and listened... nothing.  I was confused as to why I didn't receive an answer...  So many people promised that if you read the book, then you pray about it, then you will get an answer.  I didn't know why I wasn't getting an answer, then I had the thought to clean the house.  So Elder Kennedy and I did, and we went deep, rearranging the furniture, sweeping, mopping, your average "Mom" cleaning.  And it took a lot longer than I thought it would, and by the time we were done it was time to go out and teach.  It wasn't until the next day that I had a chance to pray and ask again, and when I did, I was surrounded and overwhelmed by the Spirit. 

I received my testimony that the book was true!  And since the book was true, I gained a firm testimony that Joseph Smith was a man called of God, that he saw God the Father and the Son, that prayers are answered, and all things we teach are true.  As I look back on this experience, 1) We are not always going to get an answer right away.  2) It may be because of something in our lives that we need to change in order to more fully invite the spirit, and 3) Cleanliness is next to Godliness! 

I know that this church is true 100% without a shadow of doubt in my brain, and I know if we press on in doing what the Lord wants us to do, we will be blessed and we will receive help and we will receive answers to prayers!

I love you dad,
Love your Son,
Elder Johnson