Of Floods, Shamrock Shakes, and Baptismal Dates

A rainy hello to you all!
As you may (or may not) have heard, California is trying to make Noah's Flood 2.0™ happen and they're doing pretty well out here! We've been receiving flash flood warnings and stuff all week. It's nuts! Thankfully, we live at the top of a big hill, so we're fine ;) no flooding for us. Though the rain does slow us down a ton. There have been lots of accidents and we've heard a whole lot of sirens the last few days. But all is well in Glendale. (Brownie points because that rhymed.)

This week we were on a quest to find a McDonald's and try their "shamrock shakes." Hna Green swears by them and I've never had one, so obviously we needed to get some. We did it, obviously, and it was great! I understand where she was coming from now ;) We also got Hna Green her FIRST EVER PUPUSAS!!! :D (this is what parenting is about my friends). It was fun and so yummy :) that was on Valentine's Day, which is also Sister Ti'a's birthday! We celebrated and made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast <3

Also this week we were able to set a baptismal date with our investigator Maria and her daughter Daniela!!! They're set for March 25th :) which is weird because I realized I'll be gone by then... But please pray for them to be able to make it!! I have faith that they will because they're so so open and they were the ones who brought up baptism first! That like, never happens and it was awesome! :) I LOVE them so much and literally I'm just so excited for them to receive the blessings of living the Gospel :)

Then to end the week, on Saturday we had exchanges, which enabled my GLORIOUS return to the Promised Land: PASADENA!! :D I was SO excited to be able to go back, even if it was just one day! <3 El Molino still has my heart and always will.

Pasadena City Hall <3

Oh and today all us hermanas in the zone got together and went to Forest Lawn, aka a super famous cemetery wherein Walt Disney and Michael Jackson, among others, are buried. We found Disney's family plot, so that was neat! And the whole thing was super pretty too :)

And one last thought for this week. I've been thinking a lot about a scripture I found in Nehemiah lately (where the heck even IS Nehemiah??). It's chapter 6 verse 3 and says "...I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" Each of us has a truly great work to do. We cannot come down until it is finished!! There will always be distractions, temptations, and excuses. But the Lord has given each of us a great work to do in His kingdom. We can't afford to come down in the least bit (lookin' at you Lehonti) until our work is finished. Being at the tail end of the mission, I've realized that it doesn't matter how much time is left--I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Not until the very end. Otherwise I would be failing to live up to my responsibility as a representative of my Savior Jesus Christ.

Anyway, that's all. Hope y'all have a good week!

-Hermanita Johnson

And also just look how cute my kid is ;)