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