Obedience brings blessings. Oshkosh 7/10/17

Sister Webb and I have matching shirts

Hello all!

This week flew by! It was a super good week though. It began with going to the little zoo here in Oshkosh with some other missionaries around here. They have some pretty exotic animals here...Llamas and sheep, how neat, right?! Haha, it was funny. Cute zoo. But this week I definitely saw how seeking to be obedient and just doing the things you're supposed to do brings blessings. 

-For the Fourth of July we had a ward activity in the morning. We watched people canoe, kayak, and slackline haha. But the ward is awesome! Love them. 

-We realized that there was one place people were going to be on the 4th--and that was at the festival, "sawdust days." basically a ton of vendors, food tents, and ride and about a million people. Perfect place for missionaries, right? So that was exciting. 

-We had exchanges with our sister training leaders this week. They are awesome. I learned a lot from sister Oborn--she is an amazing missionary. It was after exchanges that I really tried to make obedience my quest. We have a quote that President likes, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that very moment God endows us with His power." So true. 

-We had an awesome lesson with our investigator, Ed. He is a stubborn old  man, who is actually super funny. It was amazing to be in unity with sister Webb and teach him the importance of the Book of Mormon. That Book really does have power. He ended up coming to church this week, so that was exciting!

-We finally had a sit down lesson with Angela this week. She is this wonderful black lady. When we got there she was super upset with her daughter. She couldn't go shopping for her meat for the 4th of July until late. So she vented to us. She was all like, "if I don't get my ribs..I'm gunna cut her up and put HER on the grill." Man. She's awesome. 

-Saturday was the loooooongest day ever. We woke up super early to get to the farmers market and set up our family history booth. We spend a good majority of the evening the night before preparing. ANd it was a success! We talked to a LOT of people. Turns out people are super interested in their family history. They are being influenced by the Spirit of Elijah and don't even know it. So if you haven't looked at your family tree in a while...take a look at it today. :)

-Miracle on Sunday: SO we once got a headquarter referral for this Spanish speaking guy. We stopped by and he canceled our return appointment. But the Spanish Elders some how came across him and felt impressed to hand him over to us. We were confused, but thought we'd just stop by to see if he'd changed his mind or something. He hadn't. So we were walking back to our car and passed by this black guy who, in response to our approach, said something like yeah my day would be better if I quit drinking and smoking. We were both like WAIT! So we stopped him and started talking to him. It turned into a 15 minute long talk where we vented about how he wanted to find God and nurture his faith, but the world is so tempting. He wants to find a church who believes that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are 3 separate beings. He said a lot of things and we just couldn't believe it. I wanted to give him the fullness of the gospel so badly. I wanted to tell him that we have the truth and we are the answer to your prayers! He recognized that as we started talking and agreed to meet with us again. It was a miracle. All the things that happened to make that meeting possible...it was God progressing His work. Sister Webb and I freaked out the whole way home haha. 

Anyways, it was a good week! We are excited to see what adventures this week brings. The Church is true, the book is blue. It is amazing to be a missionary--an instrument in the hand of the Lord. Alma 29:9-10 

I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

Don't forget to laugh today! Hope everyone has a blessed week. 

love,

Sister Brianna Johns

PS We also got to go to a baseball game today! :)

Dinner on the 4th wasn't super healthy haha

A package that the Waukesha sisters sent us

Then P-day today we went to a base ball game!

Oshkosh 7/3/17

Dear lovely people,

Happy early Fourth of July! There have been a few super patriotic people (or just people like explosions and loud noises)  here who have set off fireworks these past couple of nights. It's been lovely to fall asleep listening to that haha. This week has gone by pretty fast. I'm finally starting to get used to missionary time--the days are long but the weeks are short. We had quite a few adventures, met some really wonderful people, and I learned several valuable lessons.

SO, lessons learned:

1. Never challenge a mosquito...ever. It will win everytime. We spend the week dancing on porches trying to avoid them haha. No wonder people didn't want to answer their doors!

2. Don't turn down the wrong way on a one way street...old men are prone to stopping their vehicles in the road to tell you it is a one way street. Never turns out well. But you'll be glad to note that we did find the apartment building that we were searching for! 

3. Never try to be a "sneaky missionary" and coax old, straight forward ladies into taking a temple prep class they've ALREADY taken. They will tell you how they feel, "don't try to persuade me, sisters. I will get very angry." On a side note, sister Rice is a wonderful lady. She did ask us to run to the store to buy her some milk though...unfortunately we had to get to an appointment...

4. NEVER accidentally invite the socially awkward YSA guy to a ward activity...it won't end well. You and your companion will have to kindly explain that you are actually busy for the next 18 months doing missionary work. Aaaand you might be forced to take the looong way home when you realize he is following you home. Poor YSA sisters haha!

5. Always make backup plans for everything...ALWAYS. Even the solid members will cancel occasionally.

6. Halloween is actually a very beneficial to missionaries. Our ward mission leader, Brother Roby, was able to discover the neighborhoods that are very friendly (trick of treating there...). So mom, there is some good that comes from Halloween haha. 

7. Praying specifically for something is very powerful. We were tracting and decided to pray before we got out specifically for an investigator--very specifically. We then went on our way and did our best to follow the Spirit to know what we should say. The Lord answered our prayer and we were able to find that specific lady.

8. Black people are the BEST. I finally met our one investigator, Angela, who has been sick these past couple of weeks. She was a headquarter referral and really wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We shared a section in 3 Nephi 27;15-16. It really brought the Spirit in as we testified that God know her individually and wants her to learn of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She wouldn't let us help her shampoo her carpet, but we said a prayer with her--she was mumbling amen while we prayed...it was awesome haha. 

So that was this weeks adventures! One the best parts about being a missionary is that you get to meet sooooo many wonderful and amazing people--regardless of the faith, there are some amazing people out here in Wisconsin. Here's my missionary plug for the week: please, take every opportunity to meet people of other Faiths. Expand your circle of friends. As members and missionaries work together to invite people to come and see, miracles will happen. 

Love you all!

Sister Brianna Johns

Picture this week: So we found saw a car this week from Utah and just about went crazy haha. We had to take a picture of it. :)

Oshkosh 6/26/17

Hey hey hey!

Wisconsin is soooo indecisive (I guess we have that in common). It couldn't decide if it was going to be sunny or cloudy or rainy...so it alternated approximately every hour of the day haha. But we thoroughly enjoyed the cool weather! This week we started to see the fruits of our labors from the past two weeks of basically non-stop finding. We were able to find a lot of new investigators and actually meet with a few past gators. We have been focusing on setting high goals and doing everything we can to achieve those goals--a lot of prayer has been involved. And, as sister Oborn (our sister training leader) says, "set crazy high goals and expect to achieve them." We expected too and were not too far off. Amazing how the Lord furthers His work through imperfect vessels. 

HIGHLIGHTS!

-Monday we spent the day at a park slacklining with the district. It was sooo fun to get back on the line! Sister Oborn was a natural at it.

-Tuesday sister Webb and I were feeling really adventurous and decided we were going to try to get a lot of investigators that day--with the Lord's assistance of course. Aaaand we met our goal! It truly was a miracle that we were able to meet so many wonderful people. Ended up though that we passed several over--including an adorable family of girls--to the Spanish elders in Neenah. Apparently we found the few Hispanics in Oshkosh!

-Wednesday we met with an investigator named Jason. We met at the library and sadly we weren't able to bring a member with us. So we just walked in and found a quiet place to talk. It struck me how strange this meeting must be to him--or anyone really! This older gentleman is coming to meet with a few young girls to learn more about religion. It made me think about how God uses our weaknesses to show forth His power--so true! But the lesson went really well. He had questions and sincerely agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. 

-Thursday we had zone conference--it was soooo good! It was like all the missionaries were coming in from the wilderness to an oasis haha. 

-SO this ward is really amazing. There are so many solid families who are willing to sacrifice so much of their time and efforts to helping the missionaries and other people in the ward. They are sooo wonderful. And there are so many cute families too. I love getting to eat dinner and visit with them during the week. Not getting to hold babies is a little rough, not gunna lie. But we are obedient!

-At correlation with our ward mission leader...

Sister Webb: We found this awesome guy named Jason this week who seems to be super interested!

Me: and he seems to be fairly well, off...like he has a car!

WML and wife: What?! He has a car? And a job? He's showing commitment??

Apparently people out here don't enjoying driving a lot...or at least not everyone is fortunate enough to have a vehicle. So a lot of the less active members don't have cars. It was just funny haha. 

-We had exchanges with our sister training leaders this week and boy did I learn a lot. It was so good to see how they do missionary work--I have something to go off of now as sister Webb and I work in Oshkosh. We aren't just fumbling along trying new things haha, which is good too haha. I got to go to an apologetics class for a bit too...

-Saturday and Sunday were crazy! We spend the day running around to appointments that usually fell through and planning for the week in our car haha. 

-Sunday night we met with David, who has been going to church in Fond Du Lac. He is sooo ready to be baptized, he just needs to learn a bit more--why he can't get baptized tomorrow haha. He smokes and drinks coffee so we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom. It was so neat to see his real intent. The member we brought with us was also wonderful! We prayed as a comp about a baptismal date and decided on July 22. But sister Webb though it would be neat to have him pray about his own date. So he did and finally decided on (DRUM ROLL) July 22! It was sooo neat! We are super pumped for him. 

So sorry for the novel haha, but it really was an adventure this week so I had to share. :) My favorite tid-bit from zone conference was about being a consecrated missionary. As I've been out on my mission I tend to get caught up and overwhelmed by all the things I should be doing but am not and all the things I'm doing but shouldn't (I am sure some people can relate, right?). I wish I was more obedient, more cheerful, less fearful, ect. I need to be giving my ALL to the Lord, right? But if consecration is a tree, those are the branches. And we don't water branches, do we? We water the roots. SO the root of consecration is a love for the Savior. As long as we are nurturing that love (and not focusing on all the things we aren't doing), we will begin to do those things that will make us a consecrated person. We will want to give our all to the Lord. I also think that this comes by focusing on other people, not what we want. 

Again, sorry for the novel! I just love sharing things that I have learned throughout the week.

Anyways, hope that this week is full of adventures and sunshine. :)

Love,

Sister Brianna Johns

OH what a week! Oshkosh 6/19/17

Dear all,

 This week was full of opposites haha: sunny and rainy, inspiring and trying, eventful and slow. But all in all it was a really good week. I learned several things this week in regards to faith, goals, and giving my all to this work. So yeah, highlights!

-We found a family from Pakistan who speaks little English. We were trying to contact a member but ran into them. They invited us in and all the mom could say was "how are you?". We couldn't communicate very well but it was neat to meet them! On our way out we ran into the YSA sisters. They told us how they found a lady just then who was very interested in learning more about the gospel. They also told us how they were focusing on setting high goals in faith and praying specifically for things. They were seeing amazing results. So sister Webb and I have been doing our best to implement that this past week. And we found that when we were focused on our goal and did our best to talk to everyone that we were able to find people to teach. It was amazing to see how the Lord blessed us this week.

-Tuesday we had a lesson with the Hunsaker family (a young couple with the cutest little black boy EVER). They weren't home so we stopped to talk to their neighbors (who live above them in a the house). The guy was reluctant to talk at first but as we continued to talk he opened up and actually invited us into his house to meet with wife. We learned that the Hunsakers had been talking to them about church and they were interested in learning more. So we taught them about the Restoration with the Hunsakers there (they joined later). 

-So once upon a time we were visiting with our adopted mother and recent convert, Mitro, when the sky got suddenly super dark. Then all at once the wind picked up and it started to POUR. There were sheets and sheets of rain! It was so crazy! Mirto wanted us to go home, so she sent us out...little does she understand that missionaries get to work RAIN or shine haha. But tracting we found was a but helpless...one house we stopped at the mother wasn't home and the boy didn't invite us in. The whole house was just staring at two short, drenched girls at the door haha. We were quite the sight!

-We were able to do a lot of tracting and finding this week due to it being summer and everyone was out of town. So that was honestly hard. It isn't that fun to go tracting for a large majority of the day. I reminded myself and was reminded by other little things that I am out here serving because I love the Lord and I know that the Gospel is true. 

-We met with a cute old couple from Puerto Ricoin our ward this week. They are both hard of hearing so it was funny to have a conversation with them both...and she wouldn't stop talking haha. 

-One morning we were tracting and started talking to a black lady named Cheryl. We found out that she has been looking for a church to attend for a while but just hasn't found one yet. She has an inquisitive boy who wants to learn more about God, so we shared Joseph Smith's story. She recognized that our meeting was meant to be because she usually isn't out at that time of day--she has migraines so is usually in bed. The Lord truly is leading His work. She wasn't able to come to church, but we will be meeting with her later this week.

So it was a full week although plans fell through right and left. I learned the importance of giving this work my all. It's much like a cross-country race. During the race you get to a point where you want to give up and just going forward seems too difficult. But if you focus on the end you are able to get back up and endure. When life gets rough--first find something to laugh about--but then look to Christ. Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought. Doubt not, fear not." I know that giving my all to the Lord's work is worth every day I spend out here. I know that this church is directed by the Lord. 

Hope you all have a blessed week! 

Sister Brianna Johns 

Rain videos!

https://youtu.be/Mafz6i2P-Y4 

https://youtu.be/9xGwFYJmwzk

Miracles and tears. Oshkosh 6/12/17

Hey all!

This week Wisconsin decided to slowly boil everyone. So that's been fun haha. But this week was crazy! Sister Kowallis and I ran around Tuesday like "chickens with our head cut off" (as sister Wright would've said). Then Wednesday brought transfers...and I've been trying to adjust to a new area ever since. I saw so many miracles this week though, or at least I've had time to reflect on all the miracles I've seen in Waukesha. I've seen how I have come to sincerely love the ward there--they are amazing people! And I've seen how the Lord really does bless you when you are diligent and hard working. So highlights!

-First off JEROME. So Tuesday we had a lesson with Jerome in the morning at a sweet members home. We had an awesome lesson on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. First he told us how some of his friends confronted him about meeting with the Mormons. But he explained that every step people take to try to dissuade him, will only make him more set on finding out the truth for himself. Yeah, he is so amazing! We were able to answer his questions about "Mr Smith." So near the end of the lesson he said that he was going to pray about this--he had questions answered so now he could pray. We didn't even ask him to! Then I asked him to be baptized...the long and short of his answer was he would as long as he got an answer to his prayer. And we set a date with him for July 15. Talking with him and seeing his real intent filled with so much joy. After he prayed I dropped and sad news--that I was leaving. His response: What? Well, I guess I understand, but...yuck! Aw, Jerome! He asked me my first name then started calling me Bre--man! My heart just melted. He is an amazing man and I feel privileged to have met and taught him.

-The sister that hosted our lesson with Jerome learned that I love Indian food...sooo she took us out for some. Bless her! It was sooo good. :) Almost as good as yours, mom! (not quite though:)

-Also on Tuesday we got to take out a brand new sister for a couple of hours. It was so fun! It was crazy to see how much I have learned in only 3 months. 

-Wednesday I had to say bye to sister Kowallis...it was sad. But it has been fun getting to know sister Webb. Oshkosh is very different--well, the scenery isn't but the people are. :) I am excited to get to know the people in Oshkosh better and love them as much as I love the people in Waukesha. 

-SO funny story of the week. Once upon a time we thought that we had to die of heat in our apartment because we had no AC. Then all of the sudden I realized where it was! Praise the Lord we DO have AC. Moral of the story: always check out the big box behind the couch. :P

-Also we have a pet gorilla in our apartment and his job is to guard the door while we sleep. His name is Enrique. :)

So yeah, this week has been hopping. I have looooved Waukesha and am excited for Oshkosh (plus it's fun to say). I have realized coming to a new area how weak I really am. I don't know how to help these people or where to go to find those that are prepared. But I do know that the Lord knows. And He will bless us with success when He sees fit. All we need to do is our very best--and keep trying. I love the Scripture on Doctrine and Covenants 123:17:

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.

So don't give up on whatever  your are working toward. He knows you and loves you. You just might have to endure a little until the sun comes out. Anyways, love you all!! Have a blessed week and don't forget to laugh. :)

Sister Brianna Johns

TRANSFERRED. Waukesha 6/5/17

Dear all,

I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED! It didn't seem real until I found out where I'm going. I'm going to Oshkosh and my comp is sister Webb--we came out together, but not in the same district. I didn't know her super well, but it should be good! I will be the senior companion, which is weird. And nerve-racking! So that's the news. Other-wise it was a really good week, but very long for some reason. I can't believe a week ago it was Memorial Day haha. High-lights!

-Have I told you about our new ward mission leader? Brother Larson is awesome. He is super new to his calling and wants to magnify it to the best of his ability. He is going to be an amazing ward mission leader. We had a good correlation with him and the elders in our ward Wednesday night. Also on Sunday no one told the missionaries there wasn't any ward council...so we all set up chairs and waited until church started. Brother Larson was sad that a couple of us were leaving. He's so nice! 

-We had an awesome lesson with Jerome--the black guy we tracted into on Memorial Day. He seems like an honest seeker of truth, so he is totally open to learning more. He gave the opening prayer in our lesson Thursday--which has never happened before. He started to read the Book of Mormon we left him and had questions about Joseph Smith. We brought an awesome sister from the ward with us who bore her powerful testimony at the end of our lesson. She used to be a Catholic so she related to him well. I really felt the urge to invite him to be baptized, so I did at the end. He was really thoughtful then said, I want to do what's right. So he didn't agree to a date, but maybe soon he will! We are super pumped about him. My favorite line he said was what he told his friend about his actions, "was God taking a nap?" Haha, he is just wonderful. 

-We've been doing our best to talk to everyone and the result was several surprise encounters haha. We think people realize we are walking up to them, but when we start talking a couple people jumped a mile! Hahaha! We even made a poor lady scream as we walked up to help her unload her groceries. Welp, we are trying!

-We discovered several people in the ward have moved in, so we decided to go visit them. But one lady said they moved a long time ago and please take her off our list! "The 'guys' stopped by last night and scared the living daylights out of us." Haha, so apparently scaring people is a thing haha.

-We are working with a recent convert, Sandy. She is super nice and loves our visits. She is struggling with her testimony though, it's still a tiny sapling, just a sprout (movie anyone?). She's been getting bombarded with anti-material too, so it's been hard for her. We are trying to help her. It just reminded me of the need, as missionaries, to baptize converts. We are here to help people come closer to Christ and develop a testimony of the Book of Mormon. She is wonderful though, sad to say goodbye.

-We had dinner with the Hassells on Sunday--they're so awesome! She is a Disney princess sister Wright decided. I love their family and girls (and the one little boy of course). It was so fun to go over for dinner. :)

So yeah, this week was good! There was one point during the week that I felt super happy. I realized that there is no other place I'd rather be than on a mission. So I guess when I feel comfortable enough to finally feel like that I know I will get transferred. I've been thinking a lot about Ether 12:4 lately, and it seems to sum up what I've learned recently. 

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

I've learned that faith in Christ is a deep abiding trust, which I may have mentioned already (sorry for the repeat). But as I've felt myself really trusting in Christ's power and strength, I see that I can do things I never could've done other wise. And as I have tried to turn outward and really loose myself in this work, I develop that trust. I am led to do good works and glorify God. So make sure you are leading with the faith you do have. :) I am excited for my next adventure in Oshkosh!

Have a blessed week and don't forget to be grateful. Love you all!

Sister Brianna Johns

sun, rain, and snakes. Waukesha 5/29/17

Dear lovely people,

Happy late Memorial Day! It isa bit strange to have P-day on a Tuesday haha. I have neglected to write my words of the week for a while, so today it's sleepy. Wisconsin seemed sleepy this week. But we saw a lot of little miracles this week, so it was a wonderful week.

-I got to go an exchanges with sister Giles finally! We didn't get to go last transfer, so it was so nice to go this week. She is so wonderful. I learned how to dance in the rain properly while tracting and met the nice new office missionaries (a cute older couple from Cali).

-I learned again that sister Kowallis has no fear. We were park contacting and saw this big black guy on a bench and I might've been very tempted to pass by him. But sister Kowallis went right up and introduced herself. He was well built, covered in tatoos, smoking a massive cigar, and had a beer can....but looks can be deceiving. He basically vented his frustrations about religion and church and God to us while we patiently listened and tried to understand his concerns. Sister Kowallis then introduced the Book of Mormon and answered some of his questions. As he was spouting off his concerns I felt the strongest urge to give him the Book of Mormon--it really does answer all of the doubts he had. He accepted it! So moral of the story...don't let looks deceive you and never doubt the power of the Book of Mormon.

-We met another black guy--this time a super sweet older gentlemen--named Jerome. He looooves his family and gladly told us all about them. He accepted a Book of Mormon and said he actually would read it. :)

-We finally had a lesson with this lady named Meaghan. She is agnostic, but we had a pretty neat lesson where she really opened up. We talked about faith and how we all need to experiment on the word in order to know if it is true. She is awesome, but super busy.

-For all of you who hate snakes you may want to just skip this part haha. We met a guy who had a 15 ft long python in his apartment. Yeah. It was in this huge display case under his TV. It was crazy! He also breeds snakes...so we got to see little baby pythons! Not gunna lie, they were pretty cute.

So all in all it was a really good week. This week I was trying to focus on recognizing promptings from the Spirit. By the end of the week I recognized that I often argue with myself on whether or not to do things--talk to big black guys or not haha. I realized that I, more often than not, am arguing with the Spirit. Never do that. Always be a "first responder" as talked about in General Conference. Anyways, God is good. I hope you all have a blessed week!

love,

Sister Johns