Tis the seasons...for pumpkins. Racine, 10/23/17

Dear all,

What a week! We have a lot going on in Racine. A few highlights:

-We had dinner on Tuesday with the craziest family ever haha. They have 3 crazy boys, an older sister, and a younger sister. There was also some cousins over who had some sass. So it was a party! We decorated sugar cookies with them. :) One of the sons just got baptized by his dad who is a recent convert. Awesome family. 

-Zone conference was this week! So all the missionaries in the area and surrounding areas got together and listened to trainings given by President and sister Williams, our zone leaders, sister training leaders, and the assistants to the president. All really good. 

-We got to go to YWs this week. They are so crazy and fun! We decorated pumpkins while we listened to Christmas music...tis the season I guess?

-We started teaching a guy named Javier this week. He came to our Halloween activity on Saturday! The activity was super fun. Even the adult dressed up! We had to content ourselves with switching name tags. :)

-We had an awesome lesson with a lady named Felicia. She is really trying to turn her life around. We got to teach her the Plan of Salvation. It was wonderful the Spirit that came as we were teaching. I felt that the Spirit came as she accepted our message. She kept saying "yeah, that makes so much sense!" She has real intent and is searching for the truth. It is neat to tell someone like her of the truth that I know. 

-Sunday we didn't really know what to do. It was raining and the Packers game was on. So we decided to stop by a few people we've been meaning to contact. One was a referral from our Bishop who was contacted by a bishop in Colorado. We had already stopped by the night before, but we did it anyways. As we were standing on the porch a girl came out and asked us what we wanted. We briefly introduced ourselves and told her who we were looking for and why. She went inside for a short while then came back out and said that Lynn was busy. So we started talking to her, Hailey. As we talked she related how crazy it was that we just showed up here at this time. She had had a pretty rough summer and in the process lost her faith in God. But she was looking to build her faith again. One thing that I learned from this was how much the Lord loves each and everyone of us. He is very aware of YOU. While we are here on earth we have trials and hard times, but those are a part of our earthly experience! They are meant to help us grow and become the person God wants us to become. I know that He listens to each prayer. From President Uchtdorf's talk in his most recent General Conference talk

"The sublime message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that God is our Father, that He cares about us, and that there is a way to return to Him...When you walk the path of discipleship—when you move toward Heavenly Father—there is something within you that will confirm that you have heard the call of the Savior and set your heart toward the light. It will tell you that you are on the right path and that you are returning home."

God loves you and wants to bless you with more light, knowledge, understanding, and joy.

It's true. And God is so good. :) 

Hope you have a blessed week! 

Love,

Sister Johns

I love fall!

Pumpkin painting :)

​Sister Eadie made Asian soup this week!​

Racine--the "nice" ghettos. Racine 10/16/17

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Hellooooo fam and friends!

So Racine is ma new home. We actually live in a smaller town called Sturnevant (sp?) outside Racine. And we live with some members! It's this nice couple, their kids are all grown and out of the house. We live upstairs. There's a bed room, a study room and a bath room. They both work so we don't see them a lot. But they are super nice! Brother Briggs makes fun of all the sisters too haha, so that's fun. We also drive a truck...which is good and bad. Good for the coming winter weather but bad for driving in the bigger-than-Kimberly city haha. 

So sister Eadies is awesome. She likes to cook... :) She has been super patient with me as I am trying to learn everything about all the new investigators here and how to get places. The ward here is a lot bigger than Oshkosh. I am excited to get to know everyone! 

So It's been rather a whirlwind of lessons and scrambling to find things to do when things fall through. But I am getting my bearings so there will be more next week. :) Some funny things that happened this week...

-So sister Stanger and I before I left Oshkosh had so say bye to the Taylors. We took a picture with sister Taylor and she made this face. Looking at the picture later we both died. Haha, love her. 

-In Racine we were tracting and talked to this one dude who gave us a bro hug to finish out conversation! Haha it was a bit surprising!

So that's about all for this week. But I've been thinking this week about the areas I've had the opportunity to serve in. And I am realizing how the Lord guides and furthers His work. This work of spreading the Gospel and helping souls come closer to Christ isn't furthered by me or anyone else. The Lord works through us. There are times like this week where we are at church and meet two people who are interested in learning more about the gospel. Complete miracle. It reminds me of this scripture...

Doctrine and Covenants 123:17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to be a part of this work. I love striving to be an instrument in His hands. It happens little by little. I hope that we can always be looking for ways to help and love those around us!

Love,

Sister Johns

SO this picture makes me laugh. You kinda have to know sister Taylor. But she just love to talk and always has this voice that could put you to sleep. She is really funny with out trying to be. 

Man. love her and her dog!

Oshkosh b' osh! Oshkosh 10/9/17

Dear lovely people,

So I'm getting transferred to Racine! I have come to love the people in Oshkosh so much. They are all such good people. SO it is hard to leave! But I know that I will come to love Racine as well. 

This week we had some interesting adventures!

-It was Oktoberfest this week. But we only got offered beer twice!

-We got to talk to this drunk guy one night. He was very fascinated by the Book of Mormon. He also thought that Trump was the anti-Christ....

-We got to take this guy and his 9 year old son on a church tour! He grew up Roman Catholic and was a monastic monk. But now is looking for a little more in his life. He really wants to be led by the Spirit as he looks for a church. Very neat guy!

-I was reminded of the importance of following the Spirit this week. One night we had a little bit of time before we had to go home. So we decided to stop by this one guy on the ward list that we didn't know. It was dark and had been sprinkling all day. Sister Stanger prayed before we left the car that we would be able to receive any promptings of the Spirit more clearly. As she said that I felt that we shouldn't go to this house. But I pushed off the feeling thinking that it was just me and that we needed to use this time wisely. As we walked up I just felt this creepy feeling--I don't know how else to describe it. Right as I hesitated to go any further sister Stanger asked if I felt like we shouldn't go knock on his door. And yes. I definitely felt that. So we both hurried back to the car and left. It was neat to realize how the Spirit speak to us--through small feelings. I know that God is aware of each of us individually. He will guide you and protect you because He loves you. 

Love you all! Have a blessed week. 

Sister Johns

District!

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Holli! She is awesome. She's the Bishop's daughter​

​Zulema--she's a Beehive and is also awesome.​

​The Minahros! They are wonderful and soo funny!​

Mirto! My adopted mother. I'm going to miss her!

Whirlwind! Oshkosh 10/2/17

Exchanges!

Hello dear lovely people!

Man! This week just flew by! We had a lot of random things happen which made it super exciting and fun. I am beginning to recognize more and more the hand of the Lord in His work. Some examples:

-Monday night we had some time, so we decided to stop by some less active families in the ward. We picked this one part member family that we have tried and tried to meet with before with no luck. What helped me to actually stop by them again? No clue. So we knock on the door and at first she doesn't hear us--we could see her watching TV. Then after our second attempt she yells and asks who it is. We tried to reply by still she couldn't hear us--the covered porches that people have here are sometimes very annoying. So then the light goes off and we thought we'd lost our chance. BUT she actually come to the door again and opened it! She let us in and we had a nice long chat with her. It didn't really avail to much, but we had contact. And she mentioned that she had seen the sisters in Appleton that day--the first time in a while. God works through small and simple ways. 

-Another little miracle: We have been trying to make contact with another part member family in Oshkosh for a while now. Thursdays is her day off, so we have been trying to meet with her every Thursday with no avail. But we decided to try to stop by again and we were finally able to have a lesson with her! She is a wonderful lady who is going through some rough family issues. As we got to know her we expressed some questions regarding the Plan of Salvation. She wondered if she would be able to see her family again after death if she didn't make it to the temple. This was the first time I have been asked something like this face to face. As we struggled to sufficiently and kindly answer her question it struck me how important temple covenants are. We can be with our families forever if we make those sacred covenants with God in the temple. I am so very thankful that I was blessed to be born into a family where my parents have made and honored their temple covenants!

Other adventures from this week:

-So I can't remember if I already related this or not...but we met a Lutheran Pastor at the Farmer's Market last Saturday. He texted us a couple days later (we gave him a card) and said that he would love to meet. We were both so surprised! We set up an appointment and it happened to be the same day we were exchanging with our sister training leaders. Thank goodness for that! I was with sister Jaeger and she is amazing. He was well versed in the scriptures and had learned quite a bit about our beliefs--he had even met with missionaries and gone through the discussions before. He had several questions that we were able to answer for the most part. We also asked him a lot of questions about his beliefs. He was very kind about his inquiries, but stood by his own beliefs. It was a very stressful and unique encounter! It has inspired me to study more thoroughly the doctrine we teach as missionaries. 

Random things that missionaries laugh at: Cat decorations that hint (as with the smell protruding from the door) that we have just disturbed a crazy cat lady. General Conference (when we listen to our church leaders speak) was absolutely wonderful! There is truly a treasure trove full of things to study and ponder for the next 6 months. One thing the Spirit testified to me as I listened to the church leaders was how God, our Heavenly Father, asks us to trust in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. 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.

If we fully trust in our Heavenly Father then He will direct our paths. I know that is true. Hope you all listen and give place for their words in your heart. If you experiment on their words you can know for yourself that they are true.

Anyways, have a lovely week!

Sister Brianna Johns

Sunset from our apartment

Adventure is out there! Oshkosh 9/25/17

Hello all!

What a week! We had some great adventures this week here in the lovely town of Oshkosh and the surrounding towns. They're lovely too most of the time. But man, it was hot this week! Hot and humid. But I am soaking it in before the winter comes...But yeah! Here are the highlights!

-Last P-day we took the drive up to Appleton and played basketball, volleyball, and chair soccer with some other missionaries in our zone. It was fun! Fun to get out of Oshkosh and actually see other missionaries not in our district haha. Sister Stanger is reeeeeealy good at basketball. I am not. But it's okay. We also had a dinner appointment clear out in Winneconne with a cute couple. We helped them move, so they wanted to feed us dinner. They live right on the lake now, and it's so beautiful! We decided to do a quick picture shoot before. :)

-Tuesday we tried to have a lesson with the Hunsakers. But their cute little 1 1/2 year old boy provided an adequate distraction for everyone...LOVE little kids, buuuut...

-We are still teaching this Iranian guy named Mo. He is so funny, he told us that he had our birthday presents. A couple of weeks ago he asked us when our birthdays are. We had to explain to him that we might not be here by then. SO he brought us out both a clock and cards (which he wrote out in front of us). Haha, he was so cute about it. I guess he gives clocks to all the ladies in his apartment building. 

-We took part in the Young Womens modesty fashion show! The star of the show was brother Palmer...who quite literally tore things us. :P

-Word of caution...when tracting trailer parks be aware that not everyone will be fully functioning...or completely dressed. Including old men. 

-We drove out to Fremont to have lunch with some other members. They live clear out in the middle of nowhere. So our GPS takes us to this grill and bar...and there are only a couple of other houses near by. We were already a little late, so after driving around for a good while...we decided to march into the grill and bar to ask if anyone knew the members we were looking for. The lady just looked at us wide-eyed and said she's never heard of them. We were then smart enough to knock the nearby house...which somehow happened to be hers! Good news though we finally found their house. Took us a while though!

-The General Women's Session of conference was wonderful!! We thoroughly enjoyed it--along with the 3 other members that came to the church to watch it. :)

So this week we decided to try to work a lot with the members. The members out here are fantastic and dedicated. They are examples to me of being strong and courageous. The more I am out on my mission the more I realized that I don't know a lot. I am realizing my need to be completely dependent on the Lord. I can't do much by myself. But I am striving to be worthy of the Spirit and of God's love. I know that the Lord works through imperfect people to bring to pass His purposes here on earth. Just like Ammon said (Alma 26:12)

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Love,

Sister Brianna Johns

We tried to share the gospel with the turtle...but he wasn't interested either! 

Also, our P-day activity was decorating our apartment!

Baptism??? Oshkosh 9/18/17

Hello lovely people!

So I'd give this week a solid 8 out of 10. It began with finding the tree of life at the church! Like who knew, right? Unfortunately someone hasn't been taking care of it so it was more like an apple tree with rotting apples on it. But we saw it for it's potential! 

We made frantic plans for David's baptism this week. We mostly just had to wait and I hate waiting. But Monday he had his baptismal interview. We both just held our breath to see if he'd pass. And he did!! Our district leader came to find us waiting in the young womens room and all he said is he's good. So I guess I stressed a ton for nothing--not unusual haha.

We had exchanges this week! I got to go to Neenah with sister Koford. It was the first time since I've started training that I left Oshkosh for an entire 24 hours...and it was much needed. It is always so good to learn from a more experienced missionary--even though we were MTC comps haha. I was reminded of the importance of Christ-like love when helping people change. It can't be done by force. It must be done with love. When someone feels that love they suddenly want to change. Things seems more doable and light. At least that was my experience. 

We met with Nik this week which was good. We didn't get to meet last week so we were so glad to see him. He is struggling with the motivation to come to church, but he said that he would in the near future. He is starting the Book of Mormon and sincerely desires to know if that book is the word of God. His real intent was felt as asked him when you come to know that this book is true, will you be baptized? He said he would! We are very excited for him. 

We were in Ripon this week for a dinner appointment and decided to stop by this part member family while we were there. Sam opened the door--the husband who is not a member--holding their new baby. Man. She is SO cute and has a TON of black curly hair. He was super nice and let us come in. His wife wasn't there, but we chatted with him for a bit. He told us we saved his night because the baby stopped crying when we came in--crazy, right? It was something so small, but it just made me so happy.

So David. We had a good lesson at Paige Thompson's house with him. It was so cute to see him play with Lydia, her daughter. Saturday didn't come soon enough. I was so anxious the whole day. We came to the church early to set up and saw David already there. He had a shirt and tie on! He's never worn a tie before to church. The service when smoothly, despite my less than perfect piano playing. His mother (a Lutheran) and girlfriend came, so we got to talk to them. The service was simple but beautiful. He shared the most heartfelt testimony afterwards. He has come a loooong ways. It was so amazing to see the change in him. After his baptism and confirmation we both agreed that he looked difference. Not only has he changed his actions, but his countenance was lighter. He seriously glowed. He was so happy!

So that was honestly the best part of the week of course. Nothing could top that. It just was a testament to me of the truthfulness of the gospel. It really does have the ability to change hearts. It reminded me of the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 5:2 "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." Never forget the power of the Spirit. And never forget the importance and value of the knowledge found in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and latter-day revelation. I would encourage you to share the knowledge that you know with someone who needs some lifting this week. It can be a small act and may be awkward, but it will be worth it. The Lord truly does work through us, imperfect as we are, to help His children. Sorry for the novel and ranting. :)

Love,

Sister Brianna Johns

PS I almost forgot! We decided to to talk to people at the farmers market this Saturday--even though we didn't have a booth to run. Aaaand we discovered what Wisconsin people do for fun when they don't have mountains or cliffs to climb...(I'll send the picture).