ask in faith and thank in gratitude

Hello my friends and family! I hope utah and wherever you may be is treating you nicely! PA sure is getting cold here! The wind just cuts right through our clothes! Hallulujah for scarves! Anywho, I sure have been doing great this past week! It was really...reaaally weird though. A ton of our appointments cancelled and we ended up teaching random investigators we thought wouldn't progress. It's been an interesting mix up. It snowed a bit this week too, we're super excited for the holidays!!!!. Elder Birrell and I have been listening to elder david archuleta's christmas album since october! Our thanksgiving plans seem super promising too! we're eating at a members home and doing some service for a nonmember!

This week I've definitely gained a testimony of praying in faith. These past few weeks we were having a really hard time seeing our investigator Holly. We've tried seeing her for so long and we've had absolutely no luck. We prayed intently that we'd be able to see her. And we did! I also prayed that we'd have a better relationship with the bishop. Lo and behold he asked us if he and his wife could come to our appointment with Holly. It truly was so inspired. We talked about repentance, and read from the powerful scriptures from D&C 121, it was so amazing. We honestly had no idea if we'd actually see her that day, but we put our faith first and did all we could to make it happen. And the Lord answered our prayers. I know that the Lord will, ALWAYS answer our prayers, when we ask in FAITH. If we ask for blessings and then don't do anything about it there's no point in asking! That's like asking santa for a unicorn and then being naughty anyways. Tisk tisk, that surely isn't the way! Heavenly Father has definitely blessed me, and answered my prayers. And I know it's because I didn't give up! No matter how discouraging trials may feel, it would serve us well if we did our best to be grateful! This thanksgiving surely is a blessing in helping us remember how much the Lord's hand is in our lives. I invite all of yinz to 'Ask in faith, and thank in gratitude', and I promise you will find it to be one of the most powerful resources prayer can offer!

I love you guys!! Thank you for your prayers and support! I'm so grateful to hear from ya'll, and for those of you who don't write me I'll track you down and throw a pennsylvania snowball at you!

Love Elder Johnson

Zebroski's!

don't take temples for granted

HELLLOOOOO!!!!!!

All is well here in da Burgh! It snowed the other day, not sure if i'm happy or sad. The cold wind cuts right through you! But that's okay, I have the spirit of God like a fire is burning. Some members in the ward love korean food so we ate some at their house the other day. I was definitely a happy camper. And my companion hates it with all his might. I may or may not have chased him around the living room with a jar of kimchi... 

Today I wanted to talk about the beauty, and amazing experiences that the temple offers us. The temple is literally the House of The Lord. Only purity, love, and the spirit reside in its dedicated walls. It's such an amazing blessing from the Lord. This week we taught a less active member about temples. She was so thrilled and excited to once again walk into the temple doors and feel the indescribable spirit there. A married couple came with us to help us teach, and they bore powerful testimonies of how the sealing ordinance has blessed them, and helped them improve their relationship with each other and the Lord. This less active's brother also sat in the lesson. He was pretty stubborn in his faith, and seemed like this grumpy old dude, but he was so glad to hear that these ordinances can be offered to those who have passed away. Rather than be confused or freaked out, a light came on in his eyes. Of course our Heavenly Father loves ALL of His children. 

My invitation to all of you, is to attend the temple as frequently as your time will permit you. I promise you, that you're LIFE will glow, and everything will feel, and BE better and happier. Temple work, is the exact same as Missionary work. And the Lord will bless you for your diligence. I'm not sure if this is absolutely correct, but I heard Pittsburgh is the largest city in the US without a temple. I can't attend one for 2 years of my life. And most of you live 5 minutes from one. I'm pretty jealous! haha, Anyways, I love you all. Thanks so much for being an example to me. I know this work is real, and that the Book of Mormon is true. Love yinz!

-Elder Johnson

put your trust in the Lord

Hello friends and family! Wow it's getting ridiculously cold here! And yes mom, i'll dress warm. Today I wanted to share a quick story of the small miracles we've seen as we've strived to serve the Lord with FAITH! So the other day, almost every single appointment we had scheduled cancelled on us. We had no idea what we were going to do, and we didn't want to waste the Lord's time. We decided we needed to have FAITH that everything would work out and that we would be led to those that the Lord had prepared. We went to the home of a former investigator, who blew us off quite a bit... For example, we ran into her and scheduled an appointment for sunday, and when we got there we found out she went to a Steelers game the entire day... Anyways, We stopped by her house having faith that everything would all work out. Carla was very open and very kind. She's just this bubbly personality. We were super excited to teach her, but nothing seemed quite right. We offered to have a prayer and we did. After we opened our eyes her husband had run inside and joined the prayer. (He told us he was a chef, so we totally got a killer good caesar salad.) And we taught Carla and Larry (her husband) Carla ended up leaving for an emergency, and the spirit began to take place. We taught Larry the restoration, the spirit was so strong as he read Joseph Smith's first vision. During the lesson, the TV went quieter, his son was nowhere around to distract, the pets went away. It was just us three, and the Holy Ghost. The second we ended the lesson, I heard the TV his son came downstairs and the room was filled with noise. It just goes to show how much the Lord loves His children, US. He loves Him so much, we wanted this moment to be completely still and perfect, so the spirit could testify to Larry's heart that it was true. I invite all of you, to put your trust in the Lord, if you already do, try taking another baby step of devotion to our loving Heavenly Father. When we make time for our Heavenly Father, He will make MORE time, for us. I promise you, small and simple miracles will become more and more evident in your lives. I love you all, thank you for your love and support. I know this work is true. I know our Heavenly Father lives and loves us.

-Elder Johnson

p.s. April got her call to Korea!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy crap that is so amazing!!! I'm so flippin excited!! OHHHMYYYGOODDDNEESSSSSSSS!!! The computer was being super slow today, and i was DYING to find out where she was going, and I was on the email thing, trying to click on one of the emails from dad mom or April, AND. IT. WOULDN'T. LOAD. I was goin crazy! But holy cow! KOREA??!?!?!?!?! Totes jeal.

Anywho, I love you April, this is such an amazing and life changing experience, I'm so happy for you :) :) :) proud of youu poop face!!!... i mean SISTER POOP FACE!!

Stay strong. Stay Pure. Stay awake. Stay away. From.....BOYS. Much love.