It's like a portable Jesus! Racine 4/16/18

Dear everyone,

Hello from Wisconsin! This week crazy things happened. But also a lot of good things!

SO 

Monday we had a dinner appointment with a family who lives in the north of town. But they had a TON of road construction going on...so it took FOREVER to get there. And we almost died...but we didn't! God always looks after us. We made it safly home. :)

Tuesday we had the awesomest lesson with a lady named Rachelle. We met her last week and set up an appointment in the morning. So we went and she greeted us hesitantly. But she let us in and said so, I'm kinda hesitant to let ya'll in...and we just paused not sure of what to say. But then she's like but I guess you gusy must be nervous and anxious too, so come in and sit down. She is so nice! She is baptist, but a seeker of truth. We had a good talk about God's love. She got really excited when we gave her the Book of Mormon. And she is excited to learn more! I love her already. :) After that we volunteered at the Salvation Army. We packed red plastic bags with food for kids. Best part was at the end when we were tying them. ONe black guy was getting tired, but when he saw us come to help he's like, oh! I feel it already. I'm not sick of red bags no more. Now all I see is the blood of Jesus! Haha, it was pretty funny. Good stuff. We went finding and met Rita! 

Wednesday crazy stuff happened. SO brother Briggs had to get up early to get some CAT scans done. When he got home he had lunch before sister Briggs left for work. But we was NOT his normal self. He was so quiet and kept saying how he felt weird. So we went to lay down. But he started sweating and throwing up and all this stuff. We had no idea what was wrong with him! So sister Briggs rushed him to the ER! We felt like we needed to help them somehow, so we cleaned their house for them. It was definitely needed for us--I love giving service where we can!  We got to stop by a lady who just had a baby and help her clean her house as well! We also had a good lesson with Ethia. We walk in and see her daughter (14) and her son (1) passed out on top of each other on the kitchen floor. Haha! But we taught her the 10 commandments with the little hand sygnals. The 9th was her favorite...thou shalt not bear false witness. Sister Gorder holds up 10 fingers and says, I'm holding up 9 fingers, right? It took her a while to get it, but when she did she busts up laughing! It was pretty great. We also got to go to youth night at the church! They were supposed to be learning a primary song in Spanish...but no one who spoke Spanish turned up...whoops! So we ended up playing games with them. 

Thursday we had a lesson with Monica. She had several questions about the chapter she read in the Book of Mormon. so it was fun to answer them and help her see how the chapter applied to her personally. Isn't the Book of Mormon great?

Friday we had zone conference! It was so good. We learned a LOT about how to use mobile phones...which we are going to be getting in May. SO WEIRD! We still haven't gotten over that. Our lessons both canceled--including Alex.. His girlfriend Katelyn's mom is in the hospital and not doing well. She had a procedure that didn't go well. So they've been visiting her a lot. So we've been praying for a lot this week. But good news came on Wednesday and she is on the mend! We met a super nice black lady who is less active. 

Saturday was cold and wet and windy! But we tried to go finding. We had a lesson with Rita who we found earlier! We also had 20 minutes to go finding before dinner. So we knock into this lady named Stacy. She was stand offf ish at first, but she let us in for a bit. And as we talked to her she said, it's kinda crazy that you guys knocked on my door. I've been having a really rough week and you come to talk to me about Jesus. So neat! Miracles. :) So Saturday night we had stake conference! IT was soooo good. But it was raining ice...or slush or something. So the drive back was super fun. But before we left we helped everyone we could scrape all the ice off their windshields. WE made it home safely though!! So glad!

Sunday we got a call from our leaders. They siad due to the weather we were allowed to go to stake conference (it was broadcast at our building) and them go directly home. We couldn't go anywhere! So we finished our weekly planning and had dinner with the Briggs. Fun stuff!

So when we had our lesson with Ethia we got talking about the Bible. .She is listening to it and was intrigued by the tabernacle. She said, "it's like a portable Jesus!" It was really funny. I also thought that it was neat. We all can have the Spirit with us if we choose. in the Doctrine and Covenants 45:32 "But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved;" We can make wherever we go a holy place. I love the phrase what would Jesus do? As we remember Him in all we do we will have the Spirit to guide us more in our daily lives. 

Have a blessed week!

Sister Johns