Happiest Monday! Racine 2/19/18

Hello everyone!!

Happy belated Valentines day. For Valentines day we packaged up a little candy for old ladies in our ward. We wanted to help them feel loved. It was fun to see and visit with them! We also got a referral from one of them. So bonus! ;)

Funny story this week: Sister Gorder woke up one morning this week and told me she had a dream about Felicia, one of our investigators. Kinda funny. But then as we were driving we saw a license plate that said bye felicia. Haha! So we were like okay I think we need to visit Felicia. So we went and she was home. She is doing a lot better! Her brother was in the hospital and that was stressing her out. But he is doing better now. She told us though that she had also had a dream about us! WhAAT? Crazy. She told us that while she was with her brother in the hospital she wa afraid that he wouldn't make it. So she thought to to have him listen to The Book of Mormon. They both listened to it. She was able with lots of prayers find peace about her brother. It was so cool! And she actually started the Book of Mormon!! She's been having the hardest time starting it. So we were SO excited to hear that she actually started it. Kind neat.

Oh so my greeny that I trained is now training! Glad to hear that. :)

Weirdest moment this week: We stopped by a lady who we've talked to in the past. She seemed interested so we were hoping to catch her at home so we could share the Book of Mormon with her. Well she was home along with her daughter, son, and their families. The house wasin a comotion but she daughter, Tatiana let us in. She was like yeah you can share a message I'm all ears. But everyone was getting ready to leave actually...so instead of sharing a message we prayed with them. Pauline, the lady we were originally trying to talk to, gave us hugs and pushed us out the door haha. One older black guy before we left turned to us and said let me get a bit of that love and hugged us too! Soooo..happy Valentines Day? 

We had an awesome lesson with Alex and Lindsay this week. We just love them. They are so cute! We taught them about following the prophet. As we talked about it he kept saying yeah that makes sense. It is so amazing to hear people listen to our message and accept its simplicity. As missionaries we are supposed to teach the gospel so simply that no one can misunderstand it. I love how the Book of Mormon is "plain and simple" just as Nephi says. As we do simple things to come closer to our Heavenly Father (prayer, reading the scriptures, serving others), we will feel His love and guiding hand in our lives. 

Have a great week!

Love, 

sister Johns​

#BLESSED. Racine 2/12/18

Dear everyone,

SO here is Gorder and Johns episode 2! Please enjoy and again, don't mind the awkwardness. 

 

I'd give this week a solid 10 out of 10. So many miracles happened! I love being a missionary. :) During our ward conference this week I was sitting in sacrament meeting  pondering about the message being shared, when I had a thought. Let Him in. There are times when I realize that I don't really let Christ into my life. What can you do to let Christ more fully into your life?

Revelations 3:20

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and aopen the door, I will bcome in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

I know that as I take time to pray more ernestly and sincerely--truly open my heart to my Heavenly Father--that I can let Him in. As we do that we can receive an increased measure of the Spirit in our lives. 

Have a blessed week!

Sister Johns

Prospective fish bowl. Racine 2/5/18

Dear lovely people,

This week has been lovely here in Wisconsin! 

MONDAY: After P-day we had dinner at this awesome family in our ward. It was Hannah's birthday! So we got to celebrate with her and her cousins (the family of 8 in our ward). So it was crazy! Then some of her school friends showed up and it got even crazier haha. But we got to share a message about Jesus Christ with all of them. It was amazing to see how the Spirit came in when we started to testify of Christ. Her school friends weren't member of the church, so it was cool to have them there while we shared our message.

TUESDAY: We had a lesson with Javier about revelation. That was good. We also had district meeting, which is always good. We had dinner with this cute old couple at Olive Garden (SO good). So we are in the restaurant having dinner when sister Milner starts talking about her grandson who is serving a mission. She kept talking about how good looking he is. It went something like this: 

Sister Milner Oh he's is so good looking. Do you have your eyes on anyone? *Brother Milner looks at her* Well they have eyes don't they?!

Brother Milner: Dear they're serving the Lord! 

Sister Milner: They're prospective husbands!

Hahaha, we were dying. It was so funny. Brother Briggs later this week also started talking about the same thing. He's all like yeah, but this is a perfect opportunity! This is a prospective fish bowl. Haha, so funny.

WEDNESDAY: So we had several lesson on Wednesday. We taught Lindsay the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She really understood it and it was so exciting! She is still unsure about baptism, but we challenged her to pray about it. She loves church and can't deny that there is a special feeling of joy that you can't get anywhere else. We also met with the cute old black lady named Gloria. She just loves having us over! When we talked about baptism and invited her she said something like, "Oh I've already been baptized. But I could get baptized again!" Haha, she's awesome. 

THURSDAY: We had an awesome lesson with Javier. Brother Milner came and he was able to help Javier see a little more clearly. He has been through some of the same things that Javier is now going through. It was so beneficial to have him there and testify of the truth of what we were saying--from experience. We had dinner with sister Maine. She is the cute old lady who has MS. We go over often and cook her dinner. She tells the best stories about her genealogy work. I've really learned the value of following the Spirit. She told us how one time she and her family were driving away for a vacation. She had the thought that the burner was left on. but she ignored it. Finally she told her husband that they had to go back. Ended up that it was on and she saved the house from burning down. ALWAYS follow the Spirit's promptings. 

FRIDAY: We met this lady who was previously taught by missionaries. She was very open and invited us in right away. It was so cool to see what she remembered. She is open to us visiting her again. So we are excited! Also, everyone here is getting sick...but we've avoided it so far!!!

SATURDAY:We had an awesome lesson with Felicia. When we came in she told us that she needed to slow down on our "Bible studies". We of course didn't want that, but we just said okay. We taught her the 10 commandments. It was what she really needed! When we were done she told us that reading about them in the Book of Mormon she now left like she needs to keep going with our studies. It was a miracle! The Spirit really does do the teaching and converting. 

SUNDAY: It snowed! But people still trekked out to church! So we had dinner with the Meiers (the family of 8). The super bowl (of the stupid bowl according to sister Meier) was starting and the remote was gone. So the first half of dinner was spent frantically looking for it haha. Her daughter is 18 and planning to go on a mission. So it was fun to talk to her about questions she had and funny stories we've had. 

So that's our week! I've been studying and  pondering about the Holy Ghost a lot this week. I know that the Spirit is so vital in missionary work. As a missionary I know that I need to be a clean vessel so that the Lord can work through me. Sometimes it is difficult to discern the Spirit's quiet, gentle promptings when we are so involved with other things. I am learning to quiet myself and pay closer attention to those thoughts and feelings so I can do the will of my Heavenly Father. One scripture I cam across this week in my studies I loved: It's from D&C 11

12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;

I know that as we put our whole trust in that Spirit that we can bring to pass many miracles and find peace and joy in our daily lives. 

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Johns

Y'all are jewels! Racine 1/29/18

Dear Everyone,

It's been a wonderful week! We decided to make a video instead of writing a ton. You're welcome. :) Don't mind our awkwardness, we're missionaries okay. 

This week I was reminded of a phrase in the scriptures. "Perfect love casteth out all fear." I have been trying to focus on putting my whole trust in my Heavenly Father as I go out each day as a representative of Jesus Christ. As I have learned more about Jesus Christ through reading the scriptures and striving to be obedient, I have grown in my love for Him and His gospel. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church restored to the earth. Otherwise I won't be out here teaching people about it. It truly changes lives! I hope that all of us can continue to grow our love for the Lord, His gospel, and recognize that in our lives. 

Love you all!

Sister Johns

Mom, a member in our ward made Butter Chicken this week!! 

Oliver's baptism went well! He is so cute and smart. There was a baptism earlier that day in the Kenosha ward and the water hadn't drained all the way when we got there to fill the font (hense the need for sister Gorder to go wading:).

We went on exchanges this week with the Waukesha sisters. SO sister Eadie got to say goodbye to everyone here in Racine. And I got to see everyone in Waukesha again! Jersome or Brother Kess was SO excited and surprised to see me. AH! I love these people. :)