Oshkosh 7/3/17

Dear lovely people,

Happy early Fourth of July! There have been a few super patriotic people (or just people like explosions and loud noises)  here who have set off fireworks these past couple of nights. It's been lovely to fall asleep listening to that haha. This week has gone by pretty fast. I'm finally starting to get used to missionary time--the days are long but the weeks are short. We had quite a few adventures, met some really wonderful people, and I learned several valuable lessons.

SO, lessons learned:

1. Never challenge a mosquito...ever. It will win everytime. We spend the week dancing on porches trying to avoid them haha. No wonder people didn't want to answer their doors!

2. Don't turn down the wrong way on a one way street...old men are prone to stopping their vehicles in the road to tell you it is a one way street. Never turns out well. But you'll be glad to note that we did find the apartment building that we were searching for! 

3. Never try to be a "sneaky missionary" and coax old, straight forward ladies into taking a temple prep class they've ALREADY taken. They will tell you how they feel, "don't try to persuade me, sisters. I will get very angry." On a side note, sister Rice is a wonderful lady. She did ask us to run to the store to buy her some milk though...unfortunately we had to get to an appointment...

4. NEVER accidentally invite the socially awkward YSA guy to a ward activity...it won't end well. You and your companion will have to kindly explain that you are actually busy for the next 18 months doing missionary work. Aaaand you might be forced to take the looong way home when you realize he is following you home. Poor YSA sisters haha!

5. Always make backup plans for everything...ALWAYS. Even the solid members will cancel occasionally.

6. Halloween is actually a very beneficial to missionaries. Our ward mission leader, Brother Roby, was able to discover the neighborhoods that are very friendly (trick of treating there...). So mom, there is some good that comes from Halloween haha. 

7. Praying specifically for something is very powerful. We were tracting and decided to pray before we got out specifically for an investigator--very specifically. We then went on our way and did our best to follow the Spirit to know what we should say. The Lord answered our prayer and we were able to find that specific lady.

8. Black people are the BEST. I finally met our one investigator, Angela, who has been sick these past couple of weeks. She was a headquarter referral and really wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We shared a section in 3 Nephi 27;15-16. It really brought the Spirit in as we testified that God know her individually and wants her to learn of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She wouldn't let us help her shampoo her carpet, but we said a prayer with her--she was mumbling amen while we prayed...it was awesome haha. 

So that was this weeks adventures! One the best parts about being a missionary is that you get to meet sooooo many wonderful and amazing people--regardless of the faith, there are some amazing people out here in Wisconsin. Here's my missionary plug for the week: please, take every opportunity to meet people of other Faiths. Expand your circle of friends. As members and missionaries work together to invite people to come and see, miracles will happen. 

Love you all!

Sister Brianna Johns

Picture this week: So we found saw a car this week from Utah and just about went crazy haha. We had to take a picture of it. :)