Christmas week eve. Racine 12/18/17

Hey all!
So I send a video this week. Hope it works!! Word on pictures. One is of our tree that we finally bought today. Super proud of it. :) Also our ward Christmas party was AMAZING. So thorough and fun. Wish you could've been there.

​To everyone who wants to be a little more festive...word of advice. Put up a tree with someone who hasn't yet. Or light your own and sit and read the Christmas story in Luke. Just take time to really think about WHY we put so much effort into Christmas celebrations. Then go out and do something kind. Smile at someone. Relax. Don't sweat the small things. ENJOY family and friends. And also blast Christmas songs--the good ones. :)

Here is our Prophet who directs us on how to be a little more Christlike:
President Thomas S. Monson has taught: “Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given.”

Anyways, I hope that you all have a very merry Christmas eve week!!
love,
sister Johns

Video

Lighting the world! Racine, 12/11/17

Dear lovely people.

Hello! IT's been another crazy week here in Racine! And as far as the weather report goes, it's finally winter here. It was around 60 degrees last week and now it's about 25. So that's been fun. It also snowed on Saturday! 

So funny story of the week. We talked to this old lady in our ward and she wanted us to come help her decorate her tree. She's so cute. She told us that we'd need around 3 hours. Yeah. We were surprised too haha. But we thought we could probably work harder and take less time than that. BUT with dinner and and everything it actually did take 3 hours....and we didn't actually have time to decorate the tree! haha. The tree wouldn't stand up straight, the stand was pretty old. So we put up a good fight but we lost in the end. 

So we've been teaching this awesome 9 year old in our ward, Tessa. She was going to get baptized this weekend, but some unexpected complications came up. So we had to tell everyone to not come. We then got a text from Bishop Tuesday evening saying that the baptism is still on! Maybe we were a bit overdramatic...but we freaked out. We had to arrange the speakers again and tell everyone to actually come! It all worked out well. But as we were freaking out sister Eadie had quite the encounter with an exercise ball. It bucked her off and pinned her in a corner. She fell backwards and her feet went flying haha! I had to laugh before I helped her up. It was so funny. But anyways! The baptism went very nicely. Tessa was beautiful and enjoyed it. Baptism is a time where covenants with God are made. Those promises will guide her throughout her life. It will help her on her path back to her Heavenly Father. 

Miracle of the week! So we were visiting with an awesome lady in our ward who is preparing to go to the temple. WE had some time afterwards before our next appointment and were trying to decide what we needed to do. We were just going to visit some people we didn't know in the ward, when sister Eadie said we needed to visit a lady who we had been teaching. She is going through cancer treatment and we lost contact with her. We have stopped by several times and weren't able to get a hold of her. But we thought we'd try again. We buzzed her apartment and--Miracle!--she was home and let us in! We love Wanda and are excited to start visiting her again. 

Other fun things...we had zone conference in Milwaukee! That was awesome. So many good things. 

Also, if you haven't heard of #Lighttheworld, please go to mormon.org and look it up! This Christmas time is a perfect time to reflect more on the example and life of Jesus Christ. He isn't here to help heal and serve those around us, but we can. We are His hands now on earth. So look up the video and do what you can to light the world! As we all do this I know that we will feel of His love for us and those we serve. What a blessing to be filled with that love this Christmas!

Love,

Sister Johns  

Video

December 4th. 12/4/17 Racine

Dear everyone,

We had an awesome week this week. There were so many miracles! Also it was still in the 50-60s this week. We got to wear cardigans in December in WISCONSIN! So cool. Highlight right there haha. But the real winter is supposed to be coming soooo that willl be even more fun.

So we had mutual with the young women this week! We went and talked about missionary work. It turned into a big Q and A with them. But it was amazing to see how many want to go on missions! 

 

So we haven't been able to have a lesson with Felicia for while. She canceled our appointment this week, but reshceduled for the next day. When we got there we realized she forgot about our appointment. But she let us in! It was a bit awkward for the first little bit. Her little boy was crying and fussy which made it really difficult for her to concentrate. Something seemed to be wrong. We decided to just start reading in the Book of Mormon. As we started to read her little boy calmed down and the Spirit was able to enter her home. We read in 3 Nephi 11, the account of Jesus Christ appearing to the Nephites after He was resurrected. Felicia relaxed and opened up. She told us that she just got back from an anniversary of a close family member's death. The rest of her family went out, but she went home because she didn't want to drink. She wanted to stay strong! By the end of our lesson she committed to be baptized at the start of the new year. We are so excited for her!

Sunday at church we had 3 students from a local college show up! They had to do a project in their class and study a religion. So they picked ours! We were so excited to have them there of course. They wanted to meet with several members. We got to meet with them and answer their questions. It was fun! 

We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional Sunday evening as well. If you haven't taken the time to watch it, I'd encourage you to do so this week! It was a great reminder of what the season is really about. I hope that we all will not let the opportunity of being a little more Christ-like pass us by. 

Have a blessed week!

Sister Johns