September 20th email

Buongiorno!
It is starting to get colder up here in Bergamo! Some missionaries are starting to wear heavy jackets already! I am super excited for the winter, because you know what that means... Christmas Also we have started listening to Christmas music in the apartment (finally).

Last P-Day we went to the Museo Civico Scienze Naturali. I loved it so much, especially because I haven't gotten to stimulate my sciencey-mind in so long. I took a lot of weird selfies with animal statues. And it was only €3
On Thursday and Friday we deep-cleaned our whole apartment. It was wonderful. Just kidding, it was actual very tiring. But we got to listen to a lot of Disney and Christmas music which made it a little more bearable.

I don't know how much I have said this but I love Italy. I love the Italian language. I love Italians. They are so hilarious. But a lot of times I think they are being funny when they are actually being serious haha. This week Giorgio asked Sorella Hoffman and I out to dinner. We are unsure of his intentions I think he was a little put off when we told him we would have to share a spiritual thought with him. We said we would plan dinner with him later and quickly ran off the bus 🤣
Also since everyone just started school, the city buses and trams are super packed, especially in the middle of the day. A couple days ago Slla. Hoffman and I had to get on this bus that was literally so full that we weren't sure if we could fit our bodies on the bus. But we made it work. So we were all squished together in the bus and I was next to an Albanian man and his wife that we had been talking to at the bus stop before we got on. Slla. Hoffman was behind me. I was talking to the Albanian wife and felt someone stroke my hair in the back, but put it out of my mind, because I thought it was just Slla. Hoffman being weird (again). When we got home, though, she was like, "That was so weird when that man touched your hair!" And I was like, "What?! I thought that was you!" So the Albanian man actually was the one stroking my hair. 🤣

Also yesterday for district meeting, we all met at the church and made lasagna in the kitchen. It was molto divertente e anche buonissimo haha. I guess that's just something Italian missionaries do...

Today for P-Day we went to the Orio Center again. On the bus, us four sorelle were speaking in English to each other, then a couple of teenage girls starting talking about us and our missionary tags in Italian 🤣 It's so funny to be able to understand them. Because we turned to them and were like "We're missionaries for our church, that's why we have these tags" (in Italian of course haha), and they turned all red. But then we ended up being able to talk to them about the church.

Yesterday I was reading a talk by Howard W. Hunter from Oct. 1987 General Conference titled "The Opening and Closing of Doors." It talks about how trials and unexpected things happen in our life for, ultimately, our benefit. Such a great talk. Anyway, it said, "Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery." It really helped me to realize that even though not everything goes as planned and even though not everything goes well all the time, God has our best interest in mind. And we will always be able to grow from the difficulties we experience. 

I am attaching a video through Google Drive from yesterday. It is pointed mostly at the ground but you can hear a man whistling super loud. He was sitting at the bus stop near us. After we took the video, he got up and walked way down the street, and you could hear him from like hundreds of feet away becausse his whistling was so loud

I am also attaching a couple pictures I took from our apartment of the hills & beautiful view that I definitely take for granted, me with pajama pants and slippers on under my skirt for while I study because our apartment has no heat, peanut butter in Italia (€6 for a tiny jar! ), and me drinking a capri sun that a member gave me on Sunday. 

I hope everyone has a buona settimana! 

Sorella Johnson

September 13th email

Ciao tutti!!
First of all I would like to say sorry for how long this email is. 😅 Allora, this week I accomplished the amazing task of eating 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of cookies over the course of the week. I think I am a better person because of it. Also I realized that "Nessun Dorma" is in Italian and I can understand it. So you could say it's been a good week.
Also! We just found out our mission has been approved for Facebook! So that will be interesting. I'll definitely be learning some self-control the rest of my mission haha.
Sorella Vanderkooi, one of the other Bergamo sorelle living with us, started training this transfer. Her new missionary's name is also Sorella Johnson haha 😅 She is really nice and we have a lot more in common than our last names! It is nice not being the youngest in the mission anymore. Also I will be the oldest Sorella Johnson in the mission the whole time I am here 😎👍
The new anziano here to replace Anz. Austin is Anz. Norton. He's from American Fork, UT and played trombone with some of my good friends from the U!! I thought that was super cool. Also I noticed Anz. Norton wearing marching band shoes as his black shoes and called him out on it. He said I was the only one in his whole mission who's ever noticed, and he's been out 11 months. I don't know whether to be proud or not... 😅
We ate at the Ghilardi family's house twice this week. They live on the floor above us in our apartment building and they invite us over to eat all the time. They are the greatest. Monica, the mom, made swordfish! It was actually super good! I thought I didn't like fish, but maybe I just don't like American fish haha 😝
On Saturday night we went to a member's house to have a lesson with some investigators and the members who are their friends... but the investigators didn't show up... so the members made us eat food. I ate chicken heart and liver without knowing it. I was very glad I didn't know until I finished haha. Once they told me, all I could think about was the frog I disected for my sophomore biology class.
On Monday we also had a lunch appointment with the Garcia family. It was super fun. We played trivia and I still won, even in Italian 😎 Then the mom was like, "Sorry this was so boring. We can play a better game next time." And then I was sad haha.
Several times this week we've seen good 'ole Giorgio that I mentioned in my emails awhile back. He is really hard to understand, because he slurs his words altogether-- he is used to speaking Bergamasco, the local dialect. Instead of his usual half-buttoned white shirt, shorts, and sandals, he's changed it up: He now wears a half-buttoned, long-sleeve pink shirt, jeans, and sandals. What a guy. He has very long nose hair I've noticed. Also when we asked him a couple days ago what he would be doing that day, he said, "Ho appuntementi con seidici donne!!" (I have dates with 16 women) and then he proceeded to tell us that every time he goes to Esselunga (one of the more common grocery stores in Bergamo), he has a nice pick of cashiers. I'm making some interesting friends.
We've also seen this guy on the bus several times who is afraid of bees. The reason we know he is afraid of bees is because the first time we saw him on the bus, there was a bee, and he was literally running around the bus swatting it away. He ended up at the front of a bus in the fetal position. We haven't talked to him yet, but at least I can think of some good conversation-starters.
On Friday we had our first lesson with a woman named Tina who is from Nigeria but has lived in Italy for 17 years. She is very passionate about religion, as most of the Africans here are. We started out the lesson by talking about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and how He blesses our families. We asked her how God has blessed her family, and she told us this story: a few years ago her brother was kidnapped in Nigeria, and the kidnappers were requesting a ransom of about €10,000. Tina was here in Italy and couldn't go back to Nigeria to be with her family, so over the phone, she told her mom not to worry and that God would help them. Then Tina fasted and prayed continually for her brother's safety. After a few weeks, the kidnappers lowered the ransom to only €200, and another family paid for him to released, and he was. Tina told us that she knows God blessed her family when that happened. Pretty amazing story I think.
"... you will not be whole and healed and fully empowered unless you receive the voice of the Spirit and go and do whatever it directs" ("Put the Savior First," Ensign July 2017). I know that we are prompted to do good in order to be tools in God's hands. We will become better and feel more fulfilled when we hearken to those promptings, or thoughts, and become better instruments in God's hands.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am attaching a pic of a house that says "Benvenuti alla casa di Babbo Natale" (Welcome to Santa Clause's house) that is obviously not la casa di Babbo Natale, Anz. Norton's marching band shoes, a little gift we left in someone's mailbox when they bidone-d us (had an appt. scheduled and didn't answer or show up), and a ceiling that is heart-eyes gorgeous 😍

Vi voglio bene!
Sorella Johnson

September 6th email

1st transfer DONE 🔥

This week was overall pretty good. I was in a weird mood. I was very weird and hyper. Also there was so much rain. From Friday to Sunday it rained almost endlessly and there was thunder and lightning too. The Oregonian in me loved it. Sorella Hoffman, being from Arizona, carried around an umbrella while I wore a hooded jacket and scrunched up my face in the rain haha 😊
We've mostly only met with our 5 investigators this week instead of more less-actives like we usually do. We are trying to help our simps progress more. It is interesting to see the progression of each investigator-- one of them knows the doctrine almost better than us, one of them does not believe in Christ yet, etc. They are all so different, so Sorella Hoffman and I have to spend a lot of time discerning their needs.
Also this week was transfer calls! Since I'm training Slla. Hoffman and I will stay here in Bergamo for at least another 6 weeks.
Today's P-Day was awesome! Today is Slla. Hoffman's birthday, so the other 2 sorelle and I got up early to make her pancakes and homemade syrup (syrup hardly exists here and is super expensive when you do find it so we don't buy it). We stole her alarm and then woke her up by throwing confetti and singing happy birthday. I think she was happy ☺ After that, we went up to Città Alta and looked in the Cathedral of Bergamo, which was closed last time we went. Then we went back down to Centro, got some burgers (obviously we like to get burgers on P-Days hahaha), did a 10-minute grocery shopping trip (my favorite kind), and went home and napped. Probably my favorite P-Day so far. I will attach some pictures from today!
Earlier this week I was feeling a little bit homesick/Utah-sick. I was sad that I wouldn't be doing school or band stuff for sooo long. But then I had the spiritual thought for our district meeting and was searching for something to share. I came across a talk called "Eternal Families" by Robert D. Hales from the Oct. 1996 general conf. Something in the talk really struck me; it says: "While serving in the Air Force, one of the pilots in my squadron crashed on a training mission and was killed. I was assigned to accompany my fallen comrade on his final journey home to be buried in Brooklyn. I had the honor of standing by his family during the viewing and funeral services and of representing our government in presenting the flag to his grieving widow at the graveside. The funeral service was dark and dismal. No mention was made of his goodness or his accomplishments. His name was never mentioned. At the conclusion of the services, his widow turned to me and asked, “Bob, what is really going to happen to Don?” I was then able to give her the sweet doctrine of the Resurrection and the reality that, if baptized and sealed in the temple for time and all eternity, they could be together eternally. The clergyman standing next to her said, 'That is the most beautiful doctrine I have ever heard.'" I realized that even though I'm missing out on some stuff back home, other families are missing out on blessings of the gospel. While I'm here, I'm doing what's most important.
Sorry I don't have tons of stories for this week! Haha I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Stay awesome.
I'm attaching a pic of our district, Slla. Hoffman and I in scrubs she got in her birthday package, Centro, a little something a 9-year old investigator named Nadine made for me, and a pic I took this morning up at Città Alta!

Vi voglio bene!!
Sorella Johnson  

August 31st email

Ciao
This week was awesome. Slla. Hoffman and I are on fire. The work is so great right now. I am so exhausted; that's when you know it's good. We set a baptismal date for one of our investigators who has been investigating the church for almost a year. All of our other investigators are progressing super well and really feeling the joy of the Gospel in their lives, even though they're at different stages.
The members here are great. The church is not nearly as established here-- for example, I have to start playing piano in sacrament meeting this Sunday, and if I have to play piano, you know they're desperate. But the people here are so loving. They always ask me how the language is going, how I am doing, and if I need to be fed haha.
We ate a lot of good food this week. We got some of our own food and had a couple meal appointments, too. Last Thursday we had zone conference in Brescia, and our first train back to Bergamo was late, so we missed our connecting train and had to wait an hour until we could take the second train all the way to Bergamo. Because we were so late getting back, we had to cancel English Class. So instead of Il Corso d'Inglese, Slla. Hoffman and I got some pizza and gelato at a cheap sit-down restaurant in Bergamo Centro (the picture of pizza I am attaching is from that). It took a little longer than we expected so by the time 9:55pm rolled around we were sprinting from the tram stop to our apartment. Usually it's a 10 minute walk but we got to our apartment by 9:59pm 😎 (If we get to our apartment at 10pm or later, we have to call the mission president.) Also a couple other times we raced the bus to the bus stop and we have yet to lose. 👍 I think I will probably do some of my fastest running in these 18 months haha...
We also had a dinner appointment on Sunday for the birthday of a man named Samuele Ghilardi in Bergamo 1. Their whole family was there-- so like 25 people. There was so much food. But somehow I ate it all again. I'm starting to think being full is just a state of mind that I have been able to overcome. But Sorella Hoffman and I still had food babies (bambini del cibo, hahaha). I will attach pictures of that because I didn't take many pictures this week so we will have to settle for those 😂 Also! Do not be fooled! I still have to eat food that is not necessarily great while I am in Italy haha! Everyone thinks it is all pizza and spaghetti and garlic bread, but I have yet to eat pizza or spaghetti at a meal appointment, and garlic bread doesn't exist here (the horror 😭). However, the gelato is delizioso sempre.
Yesterday we had New Missionary Training in Milano, which is why my P-Day is Thursday this week instead of Wednesday. It was good! I got to see all the missionaries that I came to Italy with and catch up with them. Some of them are as far south as Tuscany and others are as far north as Lecco, so we don't see each other. It's amazing to see how the mission has changed most of us a ton already.
Today was P-Day but there's not much to report: Slla. Hoffman and I had a lazy day and took naps and then went to Centro, got gelato, and walked around. It was great.
Something I have felt lately is a great sense of purpose. I just want everyone to know how happy the gospel can make them. It's hard when they have had bad experiences or heard weird things about the church in the past. But I know with a surety that the gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect. God works through imperfect humans to spread the gospel... obviously, because young adults are being sent out to represent Christ around the world and invite people to come unto Him. I know, though, that even though we are imperfect, His gospel is still perfect. I know that whatever pains we have felt in the past or are feeling right now, everything-- literally everything-- will be made right through the Atonement.
"The fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ brings great comfort in stressing times of mortality. It brings light where there is darkness and a calming influence where there is turmoil. It gives eternal hope where there is mortal despair. It is more than just beautiful doctrine. It is a reality in our lives that if we can be obedient and obtain the eternal rewards that God grants us, if we will draw nigh unto Him and embrace the eternal doctrine, we will be blessed." -Robert D. Hales
I'm attaching a pic of pizza, Slla. H. and I with our food babies (hers is way better than mine), the new missionaries and our trainers yesterday, some creepy children mannequins I saw in Centro today, and a pic of a cool old building at our tram stop.
Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support. It means so much to me.
Con amore,
Sorella Johnson

August 23rd email

Tanti miracoli!! E scambio!

Ciao!
This week was great!! Sometimes I feel like my brain is burning because of all of the awesome studying I am getting in haha. The Italian is going well, and I love it. 😀 Sorella Hoffman and I get along great. We play the slug bug game where we punch each other when we see a slug bug-- but we do it with nuns instead. So any time we see a nun, we punch each other haha. 😅 Also a few times I've felt discouraged about the language when I'm trying to listen in on strangers' conversations and can't understand a word. Sometimes it sounds like plain gibberish. But then Sorella Hoffman tells me it's actually Spanish and not Italian, and I feel better. 🤓
This week I saw so many miracles. I will just tell you about a few of them 😊
We have been teaching a less-active member of the church each week named Maria Luisa. She is a very difficult woman. This is because she has a great knowledge of the gospel but she often does not keep commitments and has told us that she doesn't want to change; she has said that she is comfortable with how she is and where she is in life. At a lesson two weeks ago, we asked her to read Alma 32 before the next lesson, and then we called her twice during the week to see if she had read yet. The second time we called, she yelled at us on the phone and told us to stop harassing her about it. So we went to the next lesson ready to tell her we couldn't visit her anymore if she wasn't going to progress. We got to her apartment and asked how she was and she was all lit up. She was so happy. It was like she was a completely different person! And then she told us she read her scriptures. Sorella Hoffman and I were like 😱 We were so happy too. And the lesson went awesome. I know that the Spirit can work miracles if we exercise even a tiny amount of desire to come closer to Christ.
We have also been teaching another less-active family, a mother named Carolina and a daughter named Claudia. We have previously been visiting and giving them spiritual thoughts, but Sorella Hoffman and I thought they needed more. So last week we planned to teach the Restoration lesson to them because we know that rekindling someone's testimony about basic doctrine of the gospel can help them remember what's missing. So we prepared to teach Carolina & Claudia, but Carolina's boyfriend, Simone, ended up being there also. It was really great that we planned to teach the Restoration. Simone was very interested and paticipating in the lesson even though he wasn't familiar with the church. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was already flipping through it before we left. (Also side note-- I got to say the First Vision for the first time in a "real" lesson woop woop 🤓)
On Saturday we saw a woman on the bus that we felt we needed to talk to, so we did. Then on Sunday morning, on the tram on our way to church, I saw a woman look over at Slla. Hoffman and I all excitedly as we were talking to each other. Then I whispered, "Hey it's the lady from the bus yesterday!" It totally looked like the lady from the day before. We started talking to her and she was stunned and said, "I don't speak Italian, but I heard you speaking English..." So it actually was not the same woman... BUT this new woman, Roanne, told us she wants to learn more about the gospel!! We are setting up an appointment with her!
I am currently in Verona-- where Romeo & Juliet takes place 😱-- for scambio (exchanges) and have been since Monday. It's been so cool. Yesterday with Sorella Rabirù was super fun and I learned a lot. Attached is a picture of us getting a gelato at the end of our day together. I have found my favorite gelato flavor: "Biscotto della Nonna," aka grandma's cookie ❤ Also today for P-Day, Slla. Hoffman and I stayed in Verona and went to the Arena, Juliet's balcony, checked out the markets, ate McDonald's to treat ourselves, and went to the mall. I am so tired! But it was a good day. I am excited to go back to Bergamo. 😀
"And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me" (Alma 36:27). God will deliver every single one of us if we put our trust in Him. I love the Atonement. Grazie a Gesù Cristo, we can have real joy.
I am attaching a cool picture I took after someone didn't show up to our appointment, Anziano Austin holding some ginormous zucchini from a member at church (we took one and cooked it), Slla. Rabirù and I with our gelato yesterday, me in front of the Arena in Verona, and another pic of Verona Centro. I hope you all have an amazing week. Thank you so much for your support-- it does not go unnoticed. ❤
Vi voglio bene,
Sorella Johnson

August 16th email

Ciao tutti!!
I have been in the mission over two months now! Crazy! I could do this times nine haha. A good way to describe how fast it goes by is that the days go by slow but the weeks and months go by fast. Also I have decided on two things that I am looking most forward to for when I get back: playing trombone and Sunday naps. Everything else I can do without haha (besides my family of course).
Last P-Day on the cable car, all six of us missionaries met a man named Marzio and his two sons. He told us about how he and his family live high up in the mountains and have pigs, horses, etc. He started asking about us as missionaries and about the church, so we got his number and planned to go over to his house to do service.
On Saturday we met up with him, his wife, and his two sons to do what we thought was going to be service, but they ended up taking us on a hike. 🤣 It was amazing!! It was so beautiful, and it reminded me of home. The hike was a great way for us to talk about the gospel. They are all super amazing people 😊 I will attach a few pictures from the hike!!
On Saturday night I prayed to be able to learn the language faster. Then at church on Sunday I was learning stuff at rapid speed and understanding everything people were saying to me or saying during lessons/talks. It was cool. The power of prayer works.
On Sunday after church, we had lunch with some members. It was super fun because I finally feel like I can have a regular conversation and not just ask how someone is doing and where they're from. We were talking about what I did for work before my mission and they were like "oh so you aren't bothered by blood?" And I was like, "No... Mi piace sangue..." 🤣 Haha anyway, we don't have member meals a ton, but when we do, they stuff us full. I am always afraid I won't be able to finish it all but somehow I do 😮
Yesterday we went to a dual-ward picnic for both of the wards Slla. Hoffman and I are over (Bergamo 1 and 3). It was for the official holiday of Ferragosto (Aug. 15). Everyone brought bowls of food and blankets and we all sat out on the grass at a park. Since everyone is Italian, all the woman were walking around with their bowls and scooping food onto people's plates even if they didn't want it. These people are so funny.
Today for P-Day, Sorella Hoffman and I went down to the Orio Center, which is apparently one of the biggest shopping malls in Europe, to go check out the rest of saldi. It was weird shopping for myself now that I'm a missionary. For lunch we got burgers and fries. 🤤 Also I realized that I pray a lot when I eat: I pray before to bless the food, I pray during to receive strength and will-power to finish the food, and I pray after to thank Heavenly Father that I was able to finish the food. 🤣
We have had a few lessons this week that I have felt I benefitted from more than the investigator/less-active benefitted from. That's one cool thing about missionary work. We're called to invite people to come unto Christ and be teachers and finders, but I feel like I am learning more than I am teaching. I'm sure part of that comes from me learning the language, but I think I'm also starting to really understand the love God has for every one of His children. Every. Single. One. He knows us individually. It seems so impossible because there are so many of us that have ever lived and will ever live, but God is all-powerful and all-knowing, and we cannot comprehend everything (yet) that He can. Even with all of this knowledge and power, though, the most imprortant thing to our Heavenly Father is us, His children.
"... compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I'm attaching a few pictures from the hike (including one with Marzio's two sons, Giordano e Ruben, and a couple anziani), me holding a local garden cat (I promise it liked me) after a long day, and the best store in the Orio Center called Oregon. ❤ Also sorry if the subject of this email was misleading, as I did not take any pictures of the food I ate this week... Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week!!
Con amore,
Sorella Johnson