"dear Jesus God, I love you...I love white girls, amen." Green Bay 7/23/18

Dear everyone,

Hello!! What a week. We've had some crazy adventures! I've been kinda freaking out that this coming week is my last full week as a missionary.....AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! But it's fine. 

So first off funny story. This happened Tuesday? I can't remember. It's all a blur. But we were backing out of our garage one morning. Our car has a handy dandy back out camera on it. So sister Oborn and I were in the front--making our trainee sister Squires back us. We noticed that there was something in the camera clear at the bottom, it was pretty tiny. As we started moving we realized that it was a spider. yeah. No bueno. It starts to freak out cause we're moving and crawling UP it's web. So on the camera it starts to get bigger and bigger and bigger!! We both freak out! *side note the only thing sister Oborn is afraid of is spiders...and she is deathly afraid of them* We can't move obviously since we are in the car...that was our first reaction even though it wasn't actually in the car. So sister Oborn realizes that the only way to make it stop is to put the car in park. So she halts the car immediately and screams. Ha. sister Squires was super confused. Then when she realized what was going on she couldn't stop laughing. It took us some time to re-cooperate. So that was fun!

Update on Amanda: We had a really good lesson with her on Tuesday! We taught her gospel of Jesus Christ. So if you haven't heard yet...there's a new Preach my Gospel out! We've been having a lot of fun studying it. But it has added more focus on Jesus Christ. I love that! We helped Amanda to realize that it is through Jesus Christ that we can over come sin. How important it is to make that connection! We need to realize that it isn't from an ambiguous term called "the atonement" that we get strength and the power to become clean from sin. We get that strength from Jesus Christ. John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."  Amanda loved the idea of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I love how much she loves the gospel!! We also taught her on Saturday about the Plan of Salvation. She also understood and loved it! But we brought Marla....and wow. She told us how much the gospel has changed her life. It was so powerful. By the end both Amanda and Marla were crying. Tasha, Amanda's friend was also there. They both came to church! Tasha said she came to church because of Marla. Her story touched her. AH! So amazing.

We had some crazy lessons with Megan. She is a returning member. And she is bringing a lot of her friends with her! Every time we've met with her she has a new friend with her that is interested in learning about the gospel! So first is was her and Rose, then her, Rose, and Quisha; ect. So we have been teaching all these people with a ton of kids running around. I love it. Megan is so funny though. In the middle of our Restoration lesson she says, Oh! tell them about the word of wisdom! So we had to tell them about that...interesting results. :)

Oh! We met with Kendal this week! We met him a couple of weeks ago and finally had a lesson. He was really interested! He is excited to learn more! We had fun with his daughter haha. Her name is Navea (spelling??). She stole all our phones and different times and took videos and pictures. She also put BRIGHT blue eye shadow on us. She did say a prayer! Here's how it went roughly, "dear Jesus God, I love you...I love white girls, amen." Ha. So great. 

Saturday was an adventure! We rode the bus all day. :) So after our lesson with Amanda it started to rain. So we caught the bus to Culvers for lunch. We had to walk a little after we got off the bus...and by the time we got to Culvers we were SOAKED. I was dripping. It was so funny walking in there...everyone already stares at us haha. We had to go into the bathroom to dry off. Also on Saturday we tracted into a lady who let us in! She said how she just came from Chicago. Some missionaries had given her a Book of Mormon and she was excited to read it! But she lost it. It is so amazing when the Lord leads us to people who are searching and prepared to receive us. #blessed

Anyways, that is a few of our adventures from the week! I love being a missionary. One thing that really struck me this week was how valuable the message of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. As a missionary I've gotten to talk to so many people. There are sooooooo many different crazy and confusing ideas out there. I've seen how families get torn apart. I've talked to depressed and discouraged people. Just as Preach my Gospel says, all people are best helped by receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ and his teachings lives are changed. Relationships are healed. We often take the church for granted. But the blessings we receive are so bountiful! Don't ever take it for granted!! Share the goodness. Look for ways to help those around you. Please! It changes lives. 

Okay, I'm done preaching.  ​

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So I think that's about all for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Love you!!

Sister Johns

To bus or not to bus. Green Bay 7/16/18

Dear everyone,

It was a lovely week! A few highlights: 

We got caught in a down pour while we were tracting. So we took cover under a porch. The lady who lived there came out and was wondering why we were there. We said that we were representatives of Christ. She said, oh this should be interesting. Heh. She was actually willing to listen! And we set a return appointment. 

Amanda came to church for the 1st time! She absolutely loved it. Crystal also really enjoyed church! She said she didn't want to leave cause she was having such a good time. 

On Saturday we took the bus! We were on exchanges--3 duos again. It was a blast! So much fun. No body got lost too much! Ha. 

One of the most powerful things you could ever give someone is the Gospel. I love being able to share that with everyone I meet. 

Anyways, it was an awesome week! 

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Johns

We work for God. Green Bay 7/10/18

Hello everyone!

Have no fear, I am not dead. I did not get lazy. No one kidnapped me--in case you were all wondering. ;) We had interviews with President yesterday, so we turned it into a work day. So, happy Tuesday P-day!

So in Green Bay the 4th of July is pretty chill. There were a whole bunch of venders in a park by the bridge down town. They even blocked off the bridge to traffic so more venders could set up. It was a very HOT day. But we celebrated with pizza. :) We were super hot and sweaty by the end of the day. But it did down pour in the middle of the day. So that was a fun break from planning our zone conference training. We had dinner at the Bytheways so that was a party! We got to hang out with their newly found frogs. 

Zone Conference was on Friday! It was sooo good. So sad that it was my last one! But we did win the golden plates for the cleanest car. :) Funniest part of was when sister Oborn went up to share her departing testimony and ran into a pillar. Ha. 

Also Saturday was fun! We drove 0 miles. We got a ride from Marla to a lesson with Hilkiah. It was so cool to see Marla testify of things she's learned! So powerful. For the rest of the day we basically walked everywhere. :) Other exciting things...we ate watermelon from Marla for lunch. We had a lesson with a guy who got lost in sister Oborn's eyes......yeahhh. 

Over all it was an awesome week!

Story on the subject line: We were knocking this apartment building and met this kind lady from Somalia. She let us in and gave us some water--kind soul!! Her kids (who spoke much better English than she did, although her English was very good) asked us, "who do you work for?" Sister Oborn's response, "God." Which is true! I have probably said this before, but there have been countless time when we've showed up at a door and the person says, wow I can't believe you caught us at home! Sister Oborn's response, "Well, God sent us!" He does send us to people. I love being a representative of Jesus Christ. It is very humbling to stand in his place and try to emulate Him as you talk to and teach everyone you can. 

This week we got to teach Amanda again. She is someone we got in with last week or so. We stopped by on Saturday randomly and caught her as her was about to leave. She said that is was crazy that we caught her because she was supposed to leave a while before, but she hadn't felt like leaving. As got to share the story of Joseph Smith and tell his story with his own words. In response she got teary eyed and said how beautiful that was. In our return appointment yesterday we taught her the full restoration lesson. She seemed to understand and love what we were teaching her! At the end she said with teary eyes again how she could feel our non-judgmental love for her. She hasn't had that a lot in her life. But she could feel the strength of the Spirit--because the Spirit was there. It was so tender! She is an honest seeker of truth. You don't find people like that everyday. We testified that God loves her. She is His daughter and is very aware of her unique circumstances! I can say the same thing for everyone. 

This week we've talked to a lot of people. Something that I have noticed is how confusing, dark, and hopeless the world sometimes seems to be. The one light of the world is Jesus Christ, as He Himself testified: Johns 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." We can feel and receive that light if we come unto Him. We can do that in small and simple ways. Studying the scriptures, having meaningful prayers daily, and coming to church, and partaking of the sacrament. I have found that these small things make life so much lighter and hopeful. Let His light come into your heart. 

Love,

Sister Johns​

Not your average week. Green Bay 7/2/18

Dear lovely people,

What a week! 

Monday: We had a busy day! It was sister Squires 1st Pday! So we got a bunch of groceries. We had an awesome lesson with Ben at the library. He was only off on Monday, so we decided to have a lesson with him anyways. There's a garden outside the library and so we made ourselves at home. Ben is pretty well versed in the Bible, so he had lots of questions as we taught him about the Restoration. His last question was my favorite. So it was a pretty good lesson and the Spirit was there, so we invited him to be baptized. He said that he had already been baptized. So sister Oborn explained about the Priesthood authority. Then he said, "okay so random question...what are those things on your arm?" Sister Oborn had put some produce stickers on her arm from the grocery store (she collects them). And that ended our lesson. But we did some sports with the other GB missionaries and some slacklining. So it was a good time. That evening we dinner with a cute couple in our ward. 

Tuesday: We had a surprise breakfast with one of sister Oborn's previous companions who is now home. So that was fun! She also used to be my sister training leader. WE had district meeting, which was awesome! We have a smaller district now, but it was fun to see new faces. It was a day of setting goals. We set district goals and zone goals afterwards. I am pumped for them! It's the last month and I really want to work hard so we can achieve the goals we set. We had a lesson afterwards with a lady we met a while ago. But she ended up not being home. So we went to another lesson with a guy named Mike, who is actually a member. WE did some finding then had dinner with the Cooks--they are awesome. We laughed a lot and left later than we should have haha. But we had a good quick lesson with sister Kline in our ward, who needs our support. Then we went on exchanges with the Hermanas! I got to spend the night with Hermana Brimhall in my apartment. 

Wednesday: Wendesday was full of miracles! We had an awesome lesson with Trent. Travis is a recent convert in our ward and came to the lesson. He and Trent have a lot in common. So it was a powerful lesson. You know it's good when the member you bring is explaining the apostasy and Priesthood then causally pulls up his phone which has a picture of Christ getting baptized in the back. yeah. He's awesome. So that was a highlight. We also got to meet up with Sister Squires and Hna Koplin--they were together so it was fun to meet up with them. WE also got to meet Amanda. She let us in but was a little apprehensive. We ended up helping her make dinner (we chopped potatoes) and teaching her about the Book of Mormon. It was so neat to see how her heart softened by the time we left. Miracles!! That night we had correlation which is always fun. Elder Tarone's line, "yo soy una tortuga" (Spelling??) Cause Hermana Brimhall is obviously Spanish haha. Good times!

Thursday: We had a cool lesson with an old man named Gary. Sister Squires met him when she was with Hna Koplin. We invited a priest to come with us. He cant' drive on his own so his omom came as well. He wasn't home...but pulled in right as we were about to leave. He accidentally came home. So we ended up meeting with Gary and his 2 grandchildren. It was a houseful! But so good. We helped our neighbor move while doing weekly planning. We went to see Amanda again, but she wasn't home. So we were about to leave when sister Oborn pulls over and we get out to talk to this lady on her porch. She was super nice! When we told her about the Book of Mormon she got really excited! So that was awesome. 

Friday: Sister Oborn and I went to MLC! Sister Squires stayed in our area with Hna Koplin. We are baptizing her by fire haha. They did great! It was really fun to see all my friends at MLC haha. It was also a really good meeting. I had to give my departing testimony however...probably the most nerve wracking thing I have done in a long time. But I survived. That night we went tracting. We met this little boy outside these apartments. We told him that we were talking to people about Jesus. He said that we should talk to his mom. So while we were waiting we went to the other doors. He came with us and knocked on all the doors for us! When one guy came out the little boy said hey these guys want to talk to you about Jesus! It was the best thing ever. Also his mom said that she'd been looking for a church and his dad is actually a member! 

Saturday: Most of our plans fell through. SO we got to go finding! It was SUPER hot. Like 100 degrees hot with humidity. We met a Native American guy who was really nice. He got super defensive however...even when we introduced the Book of Mormon. We also met this guy who peaked out the door with one eye...his eyes were huge and the room was mostly dark. Slightly creepy haha. Oh the people you meet!

Sunday: Always so good! It was my last fast Sunday as a missionary. So weird!! We had a fun dinner with the Ballards in our ward. Not much to report....just a refreshing Sunday.

A little thought for the day: I have learned that faith in Jesus Christ is trusting that everything will work out. There have been so many times when I can't see the end or I don't understand. But I just have to trust and continue to walk forward. Quote from Elder Harold B. Lee  

You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness, then the light will appear and show the way before you.' 

Hope that you all have a marvelous week!

Love,

Sister Johns

GB take 2. Green Bay 6/25/18

Dear fam,

Hello! This week has been crazy!! quick run down of everything...

Tuesday was spent running around like crazy basically. Sister Koford had to finish packing....and say good bye to all her friends in Green Bay. She's been here since January so that's a lot! We also had a couple of appointments. So our day was packed! To add to that we went on a impromptu exchange with the Spanish Sisters. One sister had something she needed to be at in Milkwaukee but they had some appointments they also needed to go to. SO i left sister Koford to balace both schedules while I took a road trip to Milwaukee! It was actually super fun! Lots of driving though, it takes about 2 hours to get there. So we got back around 7--we were later than we thought--and I had to just turn around and drive all the way back to Milkwaukee. We had stay the night in Milkwaukee because we were supposed to be at the trainers meeting at 7:30 the next day. SO 6 hours in the car that day. I was exhausted by the end!

Wednesday we got up bright and early to meet our new trainees! I am training sister Squires! She is also from Idaho, so is awesome. ;) Sister Oborn wasn't there because she was driving all over kingdom come to make sure no one was alone that was getting transferred. SO poor sister Squires had to wait with me until 2 at the church. It was fun getting to talk to everyone though! I saw sister Eadie again! I forgot how much I love her. I also met another Elder that slacklines! So that was fun. So when sister Oborn finally arrived we headed back to Green Bay. Funny thing was though that my GPS had died a couple weeks before. And we found out that sister Oborn had given her GPS to her last trainee. SO we were GPs less. We were able to use the tiny map on our area book planner app though and found our way home. We used that app for the next couple of days. BUT in desperation I tried to charge my GPS AGAIN. But miracle! It worked again!! So blessed. Also on Wednesday we took sister Squires tracting for the first time. We got to talk to some interesting people. But the first door she did on her own she set up a return appointment! She got so excited. I think that we are going to rock this transfer! It was exciting.

Thursday we had several appointments. We were pretty busy which was fun. We didn't get a lot of time to weekly plan..whoops. We did have a lesson with Trent. Sister Squires invited him to be baptized! She did awesome! And he said he would pray about it. He is definitely a seeker of truth. We had a fun dinner appointment with the millers. Their kids are so smart! They have a 1st grader that knows a LOT about birds. Oh also we ended up driving down to Oshkosh to get a different car, it's about an hour away. They decided to total our car....wow. 

Friday I hit my 16th month mark! So crazy. We had lunch with a sweet little Hmong lady that comes to church. She made a LOT of food and it was sooo good. She didn't think we ate a lot, but I seriously couldn't eat one more bite. She makes traditional Hmong clothing for the Hmong new years, and she let us try it one! IT was so fun to play dress up haha. We also helped at a funeral. We had a lesson with Crystal which was really good. We brought a member with us which was so good! Crystal opened up to us a lot and told us some very personal things she's been struggling with. It was so neat to help her see how the gospel can bring peace and comfort into her life when nothing else can. That evening we ended up stopping by Hilkiah and caught him drinking with his friends. Ha. We got to talk to them a little, THAT was fun. but we set up an appointment with Hilkiah for the next day.

Saturday we attended a baptism in the GB 1st ward. Crystal was going to come but didnt...whoops. We had a really good lesson with Hilkiah! He told us how he's been trying to live the word of wisdom. Even though he hasn't been perfect he has seen how living it has brought more clarity and peace in his life. He also has a 10 year old son. He asked him if he wanted to stay at our church or go to a different one. Hilkiah jr said that he liked our church! So they are staying. We are so excited for them! We had some quality finding time that day. We found an AWESOME guy named Luis. We were talking to him and his friend...his friend was a little crazy. But Luis told us he's read the Book of Mormon and loves it! #golden. Miracle happen. We got to have dinner at the Vanderheyden home. We saw some of Brother Vanderheyden's art work! He was working on a little colt--he does metal art. So that was cool.

Sunday was lovely! I always love Sundays. We had a looong day at church though. Correlation, ward council, then church. And we stayed afterwards so that sister Oborn and I could do my plan...which was weird. (for those who don't know its a 6 week program that prepares missionaries to be regular people again...I don't think it will help me be less awkward though haha). Exciting things though. For 3rd hour the YMs leader asked the elders and us to come join them. They asked us questions, so that was fun. But we had to leave Marla and Crystal in RS alone. BUT we asked Marla to sit by Crystal. Marla is our recent convert and Crystal is our investigator. Crystal is normally very quiet and keeps to herself. So we heard from Marla that they talked and Marla was able to help Crystal feel welcome. Oh it just made me so happy!! Also Marla got her temple recommend and a calling!! She also gave me a gift haha. A DVD to help me learn Spanish...and her notes from trying to learn Spanish (she tried for 3 days then gave up). HA. It's a joke between us. Remember the one time at church...we grabbed a Spanish Hymnal instead of an English one. We were both real confused. Then in RS the only hymnal in the room was a Spanish one. So we've just laughed about it ever since. Haha, Marla is so funny. So that made my day. I love Marla!

So I guess that wasn't a quick run down of the week haha. It's been an eventful 1st week of the transfer! We are excited. I love the gospel! It really is the good news that we get to take to everyone who will listen. I read these verses this morning that made me really happy in D&C 76:

40 And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

42 That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

No matter what mistakes we've made or times turned away from God we STILL can come back to Him. We can be washed clean and receive the peace and joy that comes from Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice. 

That's all I got for this week,

love you all!!

Sister Johns