Hide and seek. Oshkosk 9/11/17

Dear everyone,

So this was a short week! I've found that no week or day is the same when you are on a mission. And with the low times come an equal amount (at least this week) of good times. So basically mission life is like a roller coaster--not to be redundant! So yeah, but a few lessons learned this week:

-I had to relearn this one this week...NEVER tract during a Packers game. Absolutely no one will answer their door...and if they do your conversation will be like 3 seconds long. So much for that!

-Learned that I am the worst at hide n' seek. When elders loose something at transfers or any other meeting at the Oshkosh building guess who is assigned to retrieve it for them? Yup. Not that I mind, but I usually fail at finding it. Maybe I've been sent on a false journey too many times. But this seems to be the same with people who are interested in learning more about the gospel--the ultimate game of hide and seek! So yeah, we are currently no exactly winning that game. But we do find those few souls who will listen and are kind. 

por exemplo: We were tracting duplexes and went up to this one door. I just happened to notice that whoever was inside was watching the Cosby show...so I thought they had to be interested, right?? She was so sweet and listened to us. We are hoping to stop by again sometime and share more. :)

-Miracles do happen when you get lost. I got lost trying to find a good place to tract before we went to a dinner appointment. We finally just picked this one cute street. We were talking about family history to people and there weren't many that were terribly interested. But we did talk to a family that is friends with the members who we were going to dinner with right after! The lady even texted the member that night saying that she would've let us in if she wasn't busy at the time. So there is potential there!

-I love talking about the temple. We had a stellar lesson with David this week about temples. We were able to clarify several things which was good: temples aren't glorified church buildings. They are so much more. It was amazing to me how strong the Spirit came into the lesson with we started explaining the importance doing necessary ordinances (such as baptism) for ancestors who have passed on. It made me slightly homesick for the temple, but it was so wonderful to know that I was helping to give someone knowledge of such sacred and wonderful work. 

Those were the highlights of the week! I am learning also the importance of love in the gospel. It is so vital for missionary work. I may not be able to do a lot, but I can love the people here as the Savior would--or try to. Moroni 7:46

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

Kindness to those around is so so important. Please listen to the words of our prophet and be a little more kind this week. It really does change your perspective when you are able to see others through the eyes of our loving Heavenly Father.

Thanks for the prayers! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Brianna Johns 

The looooooong week :) Oshkosh 9/5/17

Hey all!

Yeah, this week was an extra day longer than normal. And it just felt super long for some reason! Not that is was a bad week, just long. :) It is really starting to feel like fall here and I'm convinced I am not going to last the winter here...the cold definitely bothers me haha! So the week's adventures!

-Monday we went up to Fond Du Lac and visited this all year round Christmas shop...so for all you Christmas lovers out there--you're missing out! It was huge and there were sooooo many Christmas trees. The Fond Du sisters kindly didn't let us miss out on all the fun. 

-Tuesday we had to rescue Mirto (a recent convert) from the library--and school. Her car wouldn't start and so she called us to jump it for her. Apparently our $7 Walmart cables weren't enough...so she had to call her friend with the real deal. We still had to use our car though. Her car is a piece of work! She gets sore driving it because the power steering is gone or something. She got out of class though!

-Also on Tuesday we randomly tracted into this lady that knew a new move-in that we've been trying to get in contact with! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

-Wednesday was full of finding adventures. We got asked to do the young men's activity last minute, so we had an activity on (DRUM ROLL PLEASE) missionary work! Surprised, right? So was he...only one young men showed up (the Bishop's son). Apparently they caught wind that we were coming haha. 

-Thursday we had a lesson with Dan and both his friends Pete and Toua. Man. Never again haha. We brought a kind member with us, who loves to talk. Between Dan and sister Taylor we could hardly get a word in edge wise! But it was good. We read the Book of Mormon. It was neat to see the power that that book has. It brought the Spirit into our lesson and calmed the contention. 

-Friday we crashed MLC! MLC is a missionary meeting for all the leadership in the mission. It's held at our church building every month. We had to ask President a few things so we came at the end of the meeting. Both my trainers are in leadership positions. So when they saw me I had to brace myself haha! It was soooo good to see them. :) I felt like I had to mothers for a bit haha, both wanted to know how I was doing and stuff. Fun times. 

-You know you've been tracting all week when your trainee introduces herself as sister Johns. Haha, the person was a bit confused for a minute there...two crazy ladies on her porch who can't even get their names straight haha.

There are several things that I learned this week--or am learning. One of them is the power of faith in Jesus Christ. When we truly believe in Christ--that He loves you, suffered and died for you, and lives to give you strength and happiness--you learn to trust Him. You learn to trust that everything will be alright if you keep following Him. Someone showed these verse to me and I love them. Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18

17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

I know that He lives. And that He loves me as well as all others. And I am learning that the key to happiness in this life includes keeping His commandments, loving others, and serving them. I hope that you can remember that and share it with someone this week.

Have a blessed week!

Sister Brianna Johns

Also of us volunteering at evergreen--painting the lady's nails. :) On exchanges

So pictures of our last district. We got the BEST chocolate milk in a bag at Kwik trip for dinner this week. Also we went out for lunch with a less active member and I got an interesting fortune...mom haha. 

"one step enough for me". Oshkosh 8/28/17

Dear all,

It's the end of another transfer! But I get to stay here in Oshkosh with sister Stanger. :) Man, we both are getting a little scared for winter...it's not even the end of August yet and the temperature has already dropped a lot. It feels cooler than it's been. But I love fall! So it should be fun.

HIGHLIGHTS

-Monday night we thought street contacting would be a good idea. So we were walking by the river and came up to two couples in lawn chairs. One guy was storming from the parking lot near by swearing, the other guy was crying going on and on about how he just lost his wife and have you ever lost someone, his wife was shushing him and listening to us as well as she could, and the other wife was pacing around apologizing. Maybe not the BEST time missionaries could've showed up...

-Tuesday we had exchanges with our STLs--we blitzed our area, so all four of us were in Oshkosh. Miracle of the day: sister Jager and I had been finding all afternoon and only finding YSA potentials (we can't teach YSA aged people). After dinner we had 20 minutes so we decided to tract some town houses. No joke out of the first 8 doors we got 4 new investigators--and one for the STLs area (Menasha). Afterwards we were freaking out because that never happens! Miracles. 

-We set a baptismal date with David again! He is very excited to get baptized. He is still recovering from his hospital stay, but doing a lot better. He stayed for the Gospel Principles class on Sunday!

-So we got a call from the part member family on Monday. She (not a member) wanted us to come visit her and her family and share a message. Whaaat?? So we took the hour drive on Wednesday night to their home in Neshkoro. They proceeded to tell us their background and how they want to be married and baptized as well as their kids. It will be a rough road, and one that they might not be fully committed to yet, but it was amazing to remind them of what they both know is true.

-We had a lesson with Nik this week. He has lots of questions and sincerely wants to find the truth. He hadn't started the Book of Mormon yet, but he did read part of the Restoration pamphlet. He said that that little book had answered more questions than any other church he'd been to had. He also said that it got him over the Trinity. He hasn't come across anything he disagrees with yet, but is very cautious and thorough about making decisions. It is so amazing to see the Lord working with him!

-Friday we went to 3-6 week training! It was fun for both of us to see people we knew. 

It was a good week. We had our rough patches of course...but things are looking up. On Sunday I was feeling rather overwhelmed with everything. But the thought and feeling I received from Sacrament meeting was "whom the Lord calls he qualifies." Although there are times when I can't see how I can complete the task I've been call to do, I can rely on Christ's strength to pull me through--put my faith and trust in Him. It reminds me of the hymn Lead Kindly Light. There's a line that says, "one step enough for me." With Him I can do all things. 

Anyways, hope that you all have a blessed week!

love,

Sister Brianna Johns

6 months tomorrow! Oshkosh 8/21/17

Dear family and friends,

Not much time today! But highlights of the week:

We met with a less active this week who breeds European Boxers...and she had 4 puppies! They were soooo cute!! 

We met with an awesome guy named Nik this week! He is in his 70s and is very open and honest with us. He really has a sincere desire to find out more about the church and know if what we're teaching is true. Although he talks  A LOT, we were able to teach him a little about the Restoration. :)

My companion and I had the opportunity to get blessings from a man in our ward this week. It was very powerful. It just made to so so so thankful for the power of the Priesthood. I am so thankful for those men who are worthy to exercise that power in a time of need.

We were helping Mirto this week mow her lawn and do some weeding. I was out there and she was holding the bag for me to put weeds in when we suddenly held on to me and went all limp. It scared me, but we realized that she was having a seizure. We knew that she has them, but hadn't witnessed one. We got help from the house and she was okay. Glad we were there to keep her safe and call for help!

Oh, we had dinner with an awesome member and her daughter this week. While we were giving our thought her daughter, Lydia, started throwing a golf ball then laying flat on the floor and picking it up with her mouth. Ha. It was so funny! When I started to video she stopped, but I got a little. It was just so funny!

We finally met with David again after his hospital adventure. While he is not fully mended, he is doing a lot better. He still expressed his sincere desire to be baptized. The only thing that brought him through that dark week was the Book of Mormon and the Bible. He felt like God was telling him that he wasn't going to leave yet. He still has a work to do. Although he doesn't know exactly what that is, he is determined to find out. 

Anyways, love the scripture D&C 6:36--"Look unto me in every thought, doubt no, fear not." If we look unto Christ in all we do we will not fear. 

Have a blessed week!

Sister Johns

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Ummm...? Oshkosh 8/14/17

Dear all,

Not exactly sure what happened this week...it kinda just happened. Highlight though was exchanges with our sister training leaders! I got to be with my MTC comp! It was SO fun and much needed. :) Between stopping by a recent convert with MS, our dinner appointment with an AWESOME member (she's a recent convert of about 2 years) and has a daughter named Lydia!, and street contacting we didn't get much time to catch up! But cool story of the week:

Sister Koford and I thought we'd go street contacting down town in Oshkosh. After driving around for a little I pulled up on the side of the road at some shop. We got out and sister Koford immediately starts talking to this lady outside of the tattoo place. Turns out she is a member! She has 2 teenage daughters and has fallen aways. But she realized the craziness (there are no coincidences, right?) of her happening to be outside just when we pulled up. How awesome it that?! We also found this super awesome lady with the cutest 4 year old daughter who is interested in checking out our church!

Miracles happen on exchanges. :) 

Oh, we had a lesson with this old man from Iran. He kept talking to us about how much he LOVES America and is interested in Mormons because of Mitt Romney. Haha, it was an interesting lesson...we didn't get to talk much in between all that haha. 

I love how even though we do our best to plan our days, it never EVER seems to go the way we planned haha. Sunday we planned after church to visit some people in Omro and go tracting up there. But we thought we'd contact a referral first and ended up spending our whole evening in that area instead! We found a less active family from Pakistan that we've been trying and TRYING to contact. So that was exciting. I guess the Lord really does guide us and show up where He wants us to be. 

Oh, also on Sunday half the members were on vacation or something...only about 50 people were there! Including all the kids! Haha, love the ward. Our stake president has promised our stake that there are 10s of thousands who are searching for the truth and aren't brought into the fold merely because they don't know where it is. If we adhere to the truths found in these scriptures then the missionary effort will go forth: Matthew 22:34-40 and Alma 26:21-22 (I forgot the second one...).

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sister Brianna Johns

A light in dark places. 8/7/17

Dear lovely people,

Wow. What a week. It has been a roller coaster, I can tell you that! But at least it ended on a happy note. :) Wisconsin decided it wanted to psych us all out and took a turn towards fall this week. It was rather colder than it's been (by colder I mean not super hot and humid) and very rainy. We decided this week that our favorite rainy activities were jumping in puddles and eating soup. So good things happen in all kinds of weather--we thought that people would take pity on us and let us in while we were tracting...but alas! It was not to be. Oh well. 

-Monday we went exploring in High Cliffs State Park. Not to be Mr. Johnny-rain-cloud or anything...but they didn't have any high cliffs. There were some ledges...but nothing compared to home haha. I guess you can't easily beat the canyon. But we have fun exploring through the jungle-like growth everywhere. :)

-Monday night we had a lesson with David. It was so good. He hadn't been in high spirits, but we were able to lift him a little. But this week took a turn for the worst and he ended up in the hospital for different reasons. We are hoping he is doing okay, still not completely sure of the situation. But every time we have a lesson with him he feels the Spirit testifying to him that the church is true. 

-Mirto came to church! She is a recent convert who has had some crazy family stuff going on. But life has finally settled down a bit for her. She told us that she has realized through all of it now that she needs to worship God more and come back to church. She was too preoccupied with her kids she realized, and now with her house a little more empty she realizes that this is God's way of helping her to come back to church. She is a strong woman. I didn't realize how sincere she is until she finally let us help her with some yard work Saturday. She works hard despite her physical condition and everything else. Also, we found some baby bunnies mowing her lawn! Don't freak out Dad, but I might've picked one up...they were so tiny! And were just starting to get hair on them...so they actually looked a bit like mice haha.

-We discovered that one of our investigators has some mental handicaps. He also opened up to us and told us that he doesn't believe that Christ has come yet. Interesting...Why he just told us that now, I have no idea haha. He came to church this week though! With his friend Pete! So that was exciting. :)

-We had a lively discussion with a college age girl about missions. She was so amazed that we do what we do--aka haven't ever been drunk before, had coffee, or get to go on dates while on a mission. Ended up thinking that we have a ton of rule we have to follow...but hopefully we will be meeting with her so we can straighten that out! 

-When a lesson fell through we were looking around and saw a guy we had met before sitting on a bench. So we went over and talked to him. We straightened up some misconstrued ideas about the restoration--it was a neat little experience to see his perspective change! He also texted us Sunday and let us know that we were welcome to come back some time! Woo hoo!

I've found that no matter how hard a week can be you can always find something to be grateful for and something to laugh about. Sunday we discussed the Holy Ghost in Gospel Principles. One man relayed some experiences he had had with the Spirit--he is battling cancer right now. He said that the Spirit can be a light. We have to pay attention to it and not let it become background music. Listen to those tiny thoughts and feelings--and ACT on them. When things are disappointing and discouraging, cling to the feelings you receive when you serve others. They can be a light when everything else has gone out. Remember Frodo in the spider's den...everything was dark and there seemed like no possible way out. But he remembered the light from the elf queen and was able to face his fears. Love Lord of the Rings!

3 Nephi18:24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.

Love you all! Have a blessed week.

Sister Brianna Johns

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Short and sweet. Oshkosh 7/31/17

Hey all!

This week was an adventure. With EAA going on all week, it seemed like we were always combating the noise from an airplane or several overhead. It was fun to see all week though! I realized that I haven't really given an update on all the people we are teaching...so here goes.

-We met with Dan this week and he continues to have a lot of questions. He is finally starting to make a little headway in understanding that there is only ONE true church...but he isn't quite there yet. He is still kinda holding on the idea that the 7 churches mentioned in Revelations means there are 7 different churches that God has chosen. We are planning on moving on. :) He won't commit to coming to church..9:30 is just so early or something. But he is reading The Book of Mormon!

-Pete is Dan's friend that has joined us for a couple of lessons. We are currently trying to meet with Dan and Pete separately so we can actually answer adequately all their questions and concerns. But But he seems super interested and really wants to know the truth. He is pretty open and seems to get what we're teaching. 

-Angela is still wonderful. She's  been having medical issues so we weren't able to visit her this week. But stay tuned for next week! 

-David still really wants to get baptized. He is pretty solid. But is having some difficulties. We are working and praying for him though. Smoking is a very hard habit to quit. 

So yeah! That's the low down on our gators. Sister Stanger is a wonderful missionary! I honestly feel like she is training me half the time haha. Funny story for the week:

We were contacting a referral and this guy was outside and called over to us as we were walking by. This never happens so at first I was all like, wow this is so cool! But pretty soon we both realized as we started teaching this guy--or he started teaching us--that he was not in his right mind...possibly drunk. He told us some pretty outlandish things...like beware of the lizards. We gave him a pamphlet and got out of there. It was crazy and kinda funny in the end. 

I've been thinking a lot about D&C 50:24 "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." We all have a little bit of the Light of Christ--a bit of Light that leads us to truth and goodness. As we follow that we will receive more light--we will continue to learn and grow. 

Anyways, hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Brianna Johns

Training adventures Oshkosh 7/24/17

Dear lovely people,

This week has definitely been an adventure! Sister Webb had to pack up and tell everyone in Oshkosh goodbye and I had to prepare for my greenie! But we survived the best we could and no one has gotten seriously injured yet, so all's well. :) 

Monday: We had a lovely dinner at the Bishop's home with his family. Love those people! We also got to join them for Family Home Evening--it felt like we were part of a family again. :)

Tuesday: Basically we ran around are visited everyone we could (members and investigators) so Sister Webb could tell everyone bye. Tip if you ever are visiting people in Wisconsin...never just stop by the Richards really quick. They will talk you ear off and not let you leave for twice as long as you expected haha. But we love them!! We raced back to get to David's baptismal interview--we got some food from Panera really quick in honor of it being Sisiter Webb's last supper here in Oshkosh. We were slightly delirious by the time we got to eat our food, but we made it! David passed  his interview with flying colors. So all week up to this point I had been feeling slightly sick about training...like I did right before a cross-country race. But I got a blessing from our district leader and things felt a lot better. We had to pack all of Sister Webb's stuff and drive to Milwaukee to stay at sisters' apartment there for the night. We talked and rocked out to Christmas music the whole way haha. Good times.

Wednesday: 7:30 I said goodbye to sister Webb and was in a training all morning! It was soooo good. Much needed. Then I got my newbie! Sister Stanger is awesome. Also, she's from Twin Falls, so this was pretty much mean to be. Crazy how that works out haha. She is such a good missionary already. She is good at going with the flow--when I am freaking out, so we balance each other out haha. She is also good at just jumping into missionary life. It was fun to see the other missionaries I know there too. We drove all the way back and had our studies. I didn't even let her unpack a lot heh. We had a crazy lesson with an investigator named Dan that night. He brought two new friends who had a ton of questions. It was fun! Sister Stanger did a rockin' job (as sister Wright would say haha). She even invited them to be baptized--they didn't feel ready, but now we know how to help them. 

Thursday: We went to work! I have gotten us lost so many times this weeek! It's bad. Sister Webb somehow knew how to get everywhere! But we are making it through. :)

Friday: We had a last lesson with David before his baptism! But it went completely NOT the way we expected. As we were following up with his prior commitments, he told us that he smoked a cigarette that day (someone offered it to him). My whole heart dropped. I didn't know what to do after that. Somehow--thanks to sister Stanger--we made it through the lesson. We had to explain to him that he couldn't be baptized the next day because he needs to be clean. It was so hard. I felt like crying! I was so excited for him! But it was a good lesson to all of us. And I think it will be so much sweeter of an experience because he has to wait. 

Saturday: It was my 5 month mark!

Sunday: I learned today that we must trust in the Lord with all our heart. This week I've been reminded of the scripture in Proverbs (3:5-6)

5 ¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Sometimes we can't see our path ahead very clearly and we don't see how things could ever work out. But the Lord does love us and things always get better--as long as we trust in Him with ALL our heart and lean not to our own understanding. I realized that as I trusted in God and dampened all the feelings I have of stress, worry, and anxiety, that the Lord was more able to perform miracles. He truly does lead this work.

Anyways, it has been a good week. I hope that this finds everyone well! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. They are much appreciated. :)

Love,

Sister Brianna Johns

So JEROME GOT BAPTIZED in Waukesha!!! AHHHHHH! Wow I love that man. I got a picture from sister Kowallis. :)

Hospitals and Amish... Oshkosh 7/17/17

Hello dear people!

I am honestly trying super hard to remember this week. It seriously blew by. And the only thing I can remember right now is TRANSFERS are this week. So the bad news is sister Webb is leaving me! And the other bad news is I'm TRAINING! So we are both freaking out. I definitely do not feel prepared to be training right now. So prayers will definitely be appreciated--lets hope that I can actually teach my first greeny something and not drive her crazy. But anyways, this week! 

-First off, word to the wise. The finding suggestions in our missionary planners are not super useful. Especially the last one...but we were feeling adventurous so we tried it! We walked into the nearest hospital and asked the front desk if we could put our names down on their clergy list. They looked super confused and started asking us questions about WHAT IN THE WORLD we were talking about. We got referred to another desk which produced just about the same response. The hospital is super nice and all we were doing was giggling at how awkward the situation was. Sherlock kept coming to mind..."We can't giggle at a crime scene!" So yeah, word to the wise. 

-David is awesome. He is an older guy who is super ready to be baptized. He read about Joseph Smith and the early saints and has a lot of admiration for him. He is getting ready to be baptized this Saturday! I am sooo sad that sister Webb will miss it. But it will be wonderful.

-Just a shout out to the members here in Oshkosh. They are so awesome. We have had quite a few people ask us if they could come out with us. And we can usually find a member to come with us to lessons. The church members out here may be few, but they are solid. They do their best to lift where they stand. 

-So...once upon a time we thought it would be a good idea to have a tour of our church building for all our gators. We invited everyone we could to come--so at least like 10-12. We had our few gators commit to coming. So night of the tour a few members came to help us out. Aaaaaand that was it. So much for the church tour haha. 

-We got a Headquarter referral this week in Wild Rose, Wisconsin. So we decided to investigate and find the guy. About a hour and a half later we gave up our quest...after running into a couple of foxes, turkeys, and scouts. Another word of advice! Never ask a scout master for directions! We stopped one to ask and he had no idea where N5428 24th ave was. So much for that. We also discovered some nice Amish people and some llamas. So all in all it was not necessarily a waste of time...but we didn't find our HQ referral. Hmmmm...

So those were the highlights of the week! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to serve with sister Webb. I am sad that she is leaving me! I have learned from her how to be more optimistic, positive, and laugh about the strange situations that we (as new missionaries) found ourselves in. This transfer we definitely saw how the scripture 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 came to pass.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

We knew that there was so way we could do the Lord's work by ourselves. So we relied heavily on prayer and guidance from the Spirit. We did our best to act in faith and we saw miracles. So if you ever feel like you can't do this, pray and act in faith. 

love you all!!!

Sister Brianna Johns

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