What a week!
Sister Gregson, Sister Stewart and I are really getting into the groove of things! The only hold back ia that we were pretty sick all week and still recovering, but we are still groovy!
I forgot to mention this last week, but most of you know that I have an intense love for peanut butter particularly crunchy. Well upon arriving in this area I discovered that one of my companions is allergic to peanut butter and the other one is avidly against crunchy peanut butter. Opposition is real! I am learning to survive, but I have also taken the important role of consuming anything that involves peanut butter before it enters our home. Prayers are gratefully accepted whilst I endure this time of uncertainty;)
Right away this week we hit the ground running. We have been finding like no ones business and God is literally throwing miracles at us! We had pouring rain a couple days this week and we were nothing but hyped to be out there in the rain. Although a lot of lessons have not gone through, we have had members come to them all and I know that the lord is seeing our efforts. It is so fun to see these wards so excited to be apart of the work.
At every member dinner this week we have shared a thought to help them recognized ways they can be missionaries with us and make a mission plan with their family. It has been incredible. With each family, as we playfully consider people they know and how they can help them come closer to christ, we have had a revelatory experience where the spirit teaches us as we counsel together.
One of the highlights of the week was meeting Brother Rhudy! Oh man this brother wears the gospel of Jesus christ like a cape! He is bursting as the seams with testimony of and excitement for the gospel. He practically screamed his testimony to us! He was the spiritual rejuvenation we all needed. We left so excited to get to work!
Another miracle is that there was a lady the sisters met back in October at the park. They gave her a card and went on their way. Out of the blue she texts us and says she wants to meet. Talk about the spirit doing its work! She is really strong in her faith and loves christ so much but wants to be a better witness of him. We met at the church to talk about how we do that and how she can do that too! We taught her about our covenants to witness of Jesus Christ and about the Book of Mormon, another witness of Jesus Christ. She loved it! She is so excited to study the book of mormon with us and the cherry on top was that Brother Rhudy was there to testify to her with his contagious love for the gospel. We walked around the church with her and even showed her that there are missionaries near her family in south america and she is going to pray about sending them to her family! Her conversion is already so beautiful and we are so excited to add precious truths to it!
We are also starting to get more involed with the youth and build relationships there. We showed up for a little bit to the youth nights this week and let's just say the sister missionaries become pretty cool when they kick off their shoes and start destroying some kids in volleyball. I'm just kidding (kinda) but the wards were really glad we came and we were able to chat with some of the youth about friends that they can start inviting!
Last little story for this week! Sorry not sorry I am just so hyped about the work right now! We went store contacting (probably the most humbling way to find people to teach in my opinion) at a pet store. Okay! Best idea ever! We got to hold bunnies, ferrets, chinchillas, geckos, and bugs while teaching the workers and costumers about the gospel. We also went store contacting at an antique store, which was also so cool because everything is so unique that you can start up a conversation about anything!
This week during church I gained the biggest sense of urgency for this work. I had the opportunity to speak in church about missionary work, and as I testified of the love that God holds for each of his children I felt the spirit confirm to me again of the importance of this work and the great love that God has for each one of his children. As I have met parents with wandering children and seen the desperate urgency they have to aid their children, I have realized how active and almost desperate God is in his involvement with his children. He is so urgent about this work because the stakes are high and his children are on the line. The scriptures literally say that his "work and glory ... is ... to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" meaning that his soul purpose is to bring us home! Another speaker said, "God has already lost 1/3 of his children, do not let him lose anymore". That hit me like a ton of bricks! I have come to realized that my mission has been hard because this work is that important and the stakes are that high. Each person surrounding you is at a different level in their conversion, but I invite you to do one of the following things with them. Love, share, or invite. Start by loving, as you learn to love them as christ does you will want to share with them the truths of the gospel that have brought you so much joy, as you share those truths you will naturally want to invite them to live it because you love them. Don't miss an opportunity to be involved in the greatest work ever. It is moving forward, don't let it move forward without you. I know that my brothers and sisters are so important to my Heavenly Father and that he wants us all home.
Love yall!
This week the best chocolate milk in the whole world made me happy, even though I had a terrible stomach ache afterwards:)
Sister Johnson
