August 22nd - A solid week! :)

Hey everyone!

So this week has been pretty awesome!

Quote of the Week

"We understood these trials would be given to us for our experience and our good. If we allow them to, these trials will purify us rather than defeat us. They teach us to have endurance, patience and charity." 

I found this yesterday in the Gospel Principles book during Sunday School. It's talking about us in the pre-existence. I just loved the wording of that and the meaning behind it. It is so cool to think that we chose this life and these trials. We knew we would be tried and tested and we accepted the fact that they are for our good. It is difficult but so important to try as hard as we can to allow our trials to truly purify us and learn patience, endurance and charity from them. I know that no matter what trials I go through in this life, I can handle them and I will grow from them. I have learned to be grateful for my trials in retrospect as I realize the person they have made me and things I know I can do because of them! :)

Scripture of the Week

Alma 10:10-" And again I know that the things whereof he hath testified are true; for behold I say unto you, that as the Lord liveth, even so he has sent his angel to make these things manifest unto me; and this he has done while this Alma hath dwelt at my house." 

This is exactly how I want to be. I want to live the gospel so fully and strongly, that everyone around me can feel the presence of the Spirit of God. They can know that there is something different about me and they want to learn why. I want to be such a strong example wherever I go, that people can lean on my faith and and strength until they find and gain their own. They know who I am and what I stand for and they know the love and I have and the person I represent! That is my ultimate and my mission is helping me so much with that! :)

Miracle for the week

SO this week has been a little bit tougher. I am not going to lie and say that everyday is perfect because it isn't. I was a little sick and exhausted and most days, it was so hard to get out of bed. But I have found so much strength and guidance from the Lord. The only thing that pulled me out of my sickness and myself was teaching. When I started teaching and feeling the Spirit, I suddenly had excitement and enthusiasm and I didn't care how I was feeling at all. I guess my miracle this week is that I am finally beginning to completely lose myself in this work. 

There is no better way to find and discover yourself than to lose yourself in this great and marvelous work! :) I don't care how I am feeling or what is happening, I strive to spend all my time day and night, thinking about the people we are teaching and how best to help them. 

My best days, are the days that are so busy, I have no time to think about myself, only time to think about and listen to the Spirit and it's promptings. There is nothing more fulfilling or exciting then looking outside yourself all the time and seeing the joy, happiness, and love for others as you do your best to help them and share what you love and are passionate about. I absolutely love just spreading the love and being myself. I love planting seeds and helping them grow. Explaining, teaching and testifying constantly about the truthfulness of this gospel and this lifestyle. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. I know this is where I am supposed to be and I can't imagine myself not having come on a mission and experienced all of this!

 Missionary work is incredible and I am so privileged and blessed to have this opportunity to focus on the Lord and his work with no other worries or concerns! This church is true, this gospel is Christ's gospel and his teachings. He truly lives to love and strengthen us in everything and I am so grateful that he is my rock and my foundation. I put my trust in me and he puts his love, light, spirit and strength in me!

 I know this is the most important work to be a part of and I love every second of everyday! I am determined to work my hardest, do my best and have absolutely no regrets at the end of my mission! I love you all, I am doing great and I am happy as can be! :)

Miss you and can't wait to see you all again soon!!

Lovin' life and livin' my dreams!!!

Love always and forever,

Sister Britni Johnson! :)

an awesome porch swing we sat on at FHE with Kirstie! :)

Everyone our here has a weird obsession with these geese,
 they put them on the porch and dress them up like children or dolls. 

This horse's name is Tank and I wanted to ride him so bad-

I plan to come back after my mission and finally ride a horse! :)

This picture is especially for Rebecca Rowley -
This is a corgi, the type of dog that she wants :)

Kirstie's baptism!!

This totally reminds me of A Goofy Movie-when they go on the road trip

August 15th - Hey! Life is Fabulous!

Hello to all!

So first off, Happy Birthday Hannah!!! I love you so much and I hope you have a fabulous birthday! Sorry I can't be there but know that I am thinking about you! I hope you got my card and Braden remembers to give you the presents! Love ya bunches Banana Boat! 


Quote of the Week
"Don't ever think you are accomplishing nothing-Be your best at all times!" 

This has helped me so much to realize that as long as I am doing my best, Heavenly Father knows that and that is what counts. We may not have a super successful day or week all the time but it's because I can't control how receptive people are. All I can control is myself and how much I put into it! :) As long as we are working hard, we are accomplishing something. 

"If missionary work is easy, you are doing something wrong." 

Someone in our ward said that I really like it. It is so true and it helped me realize that this is always going to be hard, I may become more confident and less stressed and nervous but it will always be hard. If it isn't then I am doing something wrong. We are always supposed to be learning and progressing. There is no mastering something and then calling it good. I love being able to always learn and grow and never be stuck the way I am. 




Scripture of the week 
 D&C 84:88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

It is so incredibly important to be aware that the Lord is always with us every step of the way, He is ahead of us, behind us and in us. He is all around us and his Spirit is always with us in our hearts. We have his protection and his strength as long as we are worthy of it and following him and I just love that thought and promise he gives to us! :)


Miracles of the Week
Ok so this week was pretty awesome and it was full of miracles!


1. On Tuesday, Sister Mitchell had a training she went to so Sister Glaab and I were alone and I was in charge. That was pretty scary because I still feel like I have a clue as to what I am doing. I am all over the place and I still get nervous to knock doors and stuff. Anyways, that day was amazing because I realized that I can do this and I do have the Spirit with me, touching the hearts of the people all around me.

 We met Melinda who started crying and everything because she said she had been praying for some guidance or something to come along and she knew that we were an answer to her prayers. We met with Savannah again and she has been praying lately. She said she can feel comfort and peace and she is starting to believe in God! Which is amazing because she was a total Atheist when we first met her. We also talked to lots of interesting people and were able to plant seeds and leave peace and joy wherever we went. I am amazed at how much strength and power I am blessed with constantly from the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is only because of them that I am able to do any of this and I am so incredibly grateful for all of it! :)


2: We went on exchanges on Wednesday down to Greenfield which is a pretty rough city about an hour south of here. There are tons of people on drugs and they have all kinds of other problems. We split off into a duo and a trio and went around visiting people. Even though it was a rough area and I was a little scared, I could feel Heavenly Father's love and protection wherever we went. The members there are also very strong and kind to us missionaries. I guess the big miracle in this instance was I learned to be so much more grateful for the area I am serving in and the fact that I feel safe and protected and we don't deal so much with everyone and their dog being drunk or on drugs. I love my little city of London and our Madison County area we are in.



3. The last and best miracle is Kirstie. She is getting baptized this Saturday at 4:00 P.M. and I am so stoked for her because she is totally ready. We found her a few weeks ago on a day that was really rough. We had met tons of rude people and I was hating tracting. It started pouring rain and right before we headed off to dinner, we knocked on one last house. Kirstie answered the door and she was a little eccentric. I thought she wasn't interested and was beginning to lose faith that there are people being prepared to hear the gospel. Well as we met with her more, she became more interested and I grew to love her and look up to her strength and faith. She is so ready and super excited to go the temple and do family history. 

I am so grateful for the chance to be a part of this experience and to be the instrument in the Lord's hands that helped bring Kirstie to the gospel. She is amazing and I love her so much! I love being a missionary and I know that the Lord truly is preparing people for us to find and teach. Our job is to talk to everyone and be inspired and led by the Spirit to the people that are ready and willing! I love it and I wouldn't rather anywhere else in the world and doing anything else with my time right now than right here in Madison County, Ohio serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind and strength and my whole soul! I love this gospel and I am determined to share it with everyone! :) 



I love and miss you all! But I am lovin life and livin my dreams! :) 

Love always, 
Britni

I am officially obsessed with the sky out here :)

On our exchange-lots of my favorite people out here :)

Sister Mitchell's mom decorates our planners and does an awesome job! :)

What the humidity does to my hair-this is what I look like 90% of the time! :)

Sister Hunger-my new best friend out here in the field and 
future roommate fall semester of 2015 up at USU! :) Can't wait!

Sister Walbeck-our mission grandma

August 1st - One Crazy Week!!! :)

Hello!

Quote of the week

"You don't develop humility by thinking less of yourself, it's spending less time thinking about yourself."  

I just love that quote so much because it applies to everyone. Something I have really been working on lately is humility but there is a fine line between pride and putting yourself down. This quote explains it perfectly because it is so important to have self-confidence and self- worth. To realize that we are all children of God and he loves us and created us. But to also remember that we need to not thinks or worry about ourselves so much as about others and their needs, concerns and worries! I love this quote because it has helped me so much in looking outside myself and sharing love with all those around me wherever I go!

Scripture of the week 

Jeremiah 20:9 - "Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more of his name. But his word was shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay." 

This scripture is so powerful. It show true conversion because he says that he tried to deny what he knew and sit around but he knew it so deeply and powerfully that he couldn't not testify and share his knowledge. He couldn't sit around and pretend like he didn't believe and know it with all his heart. It is so incredible to realize that each and every one of us can and should be like that to the point where all we can do is share the gospel everywhere we go through how we live, our example, and living and serving everyone! I want to be like Jeremiah and have his words shut up in my bones and know this his word and gospel through and through! :)

Stories of the week

 So this week started out normal besides that fact that the other sisters were still staying with us and then things went a little crazy.

1. There was a water outage in the city of London so the water was shut off for almost a full day.

2. Due to the outage, we were able to get the other sisters apartment ready a day early and moved down there to stay with them temporarily.

3. That first night, there was no air conditioning and so we were sweating almost all night.

4. They also didn't get a fridge until the next day. 

5. Two of us stayed at the apartment while the other 3 went to the store and on the way back, while stopped at a light, someone rear-ended them and pushed them into the car in front of them.There was a police right behind that saw the whole thing and we are just grateful that everyone was safe. 

6. We tried to dry our clothes but the dryer started smoking and sounding like it was going to explode. 

7. There is water damage right underneath where the tub is upstairs and we are so worried it is just going to fall through.

So this week has been very eventful and crazy but I have learned to be grateful for things like clean, running water that we normally take for granted. I also learned that no matter how hard the adversary tries to prevent us from working and succeeding, we can press forward with a steadfastness in Christ and continue on in this work with faith and diligence and we will see miracles.

Miracles of the week

1. Kirstie is getting baptized in 2 weeks on August 17th and I am so stoked for her! She is so ready and willing to do whatever it takes to follow Jesus Christ and return to live with God. We love meeting with her and I can't wait for her baptism. She is also very excited about temple work and we are finding members to help get into that and work on her genealogy. It'll be great and I am excited to see her taking this first step to the Celestial Kingdom!! :)

2. I didn't even realize I had been stressing a little bit about having warm enough things for winter until a member mentioned she had tons of extra sweaters. She offered them to me so I went to glance at them. I ended up with a black garbage bag full of sweaters and warm things, a nice and very warm comforter perfect for a winter, and a pair of basically new boots that she had bought but never used. I couldn't believe how kind and willing she was but she told me that she had kept all that for someone who could use it and I was that someone. I was so grateful for the Lord looking out for me and taking care of me through the means of another person! I know he loves me and watches out for me at all times and it ceases to amaze me how much he truly knows my needs and concerns and takes care of me every step of the way!! :) :)

I love you all and I love this work! I know this is where I am supposed to be and I am putting my all into this!!! This is God's work and I have been called as a part of that! :)

Love you tons!
 
Love always, 
Sister Britni Johnson!!

We all match!!

An adorable baby i got to watch out for while the mom made dinner!! I wasn't complaining! :) :)