Converting Columbus: July 2014

July 28th, 2014

Hello everyone!!!!

I can't believe July is almost over! It definitely doesn't feel like it because it barely feels like summer most of the time. This is the coldest summer Ohio has had in a long time. It's weird but it's super nice being a missionary in it because we aren't completely dying in the heat and humidity!

Scripture of the Week

"Choose ye this day to serve the Lord God who made you."- Moses 6:33

Short, sweet and to the point. Everything in life is a matter of choice. Are we going to choose to serve and love God or the adversary? It hit me hard how simple things can be sometimes yet somehow as humans we always manage to complicate everything!

Updates

This week was very interesting. It's crazy how fast the majority of our investigators are just disappearing. It mostly just makes me sad because I start to love our investigators so much and I want this so badly for them. But that's ok because I know I am doing my part and the Lord will take care of the rest! We are still being blessed so many times everyday so don't worry, we are keeping our chins up!!

Next Sunday is the start of the 40-day fast we are doing in our ward. Basically a different family signs up to fast each day for the length of 40 days. They fast specifically for the missionary work in our ward or for their own personal missionary experience. It's a great way to unify the missionary effort between ward members and full time missionaries. It's awesome to see how excited everyone is getting about it. We have almost all the slots filled and everyone is more than happy to help out. We haven't even started it and we are already seeing miracles happen right and left. I am so excited to see what happens and be a part of all the personal missionary experiences for the members here in this ward.

I love being a missionary so much! The Lord is truly hastening his work and I can feel it and see it happening all around me. This is a marvelous time to be alive! I hope everything is going well for everyone else! Thanks for the constant love and support, I can feel you love and prayers with me always! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!! :)

P.S. Transfers are next week so we will see what happens, I would love more than anything to stay here in Fairborn with Sister Jensen! :)

P-day hike

Sister Jensen left 2 pans of cookies in the oven and forgot about them for almost an hour,

we ended up burning both pans.

Thanks so much for the cookies Grandpa!!

They were absolutely delicious and brightened my whole week! :)

Mowing the lawn for the first time ever!! And in a skirt too! :)

We did Zumba for our district activity!

July 21st, 2014

Hello everyone!!

This week is going to be a little bit short because somehow I ran out of time faster than expected!! Things have been good this week!! Not much to update. It was one of those weeks where we worked our little butts off but didn't really have much to show for it but that's ok! We know we did our best and Heavenly Father will bless us for it!! :)

We have meeting a lot of really awesome people lately, the trick is just getting them to actually show up for our return appointments. It's been super great though, we are having a great time and I am excited to be able to keep meeting now people and helping as many people as we can.

Miracle of the Week

One miracle we had was on Friday night. It started pouring rain and neither of us wanted to go out tracting which was what we had on our plans unfortunately. We decided instead to try to talk to people in K-mart especially because I needed new shoes so we had an excuse. So we went and picked out a pair of shoes and tried to talk to a few people but it just kept getting awkward. We were about to give up and just head to our next appointment but we both saw this lady with 2 kids that we really wanted to talk to. We conveniently got in line right behind her and struck up a casual conversation.

She looked at our name tags and recognized us immediately. She informed us that her brothers are members and her nephew just got back from his mission to New Orleans. Her family has pretty much shunned them since they joined the church but she thinks that is absolutely ridiculous. We had a really great conversation with her and found out she actually lives in Dayton which is in the other mission but she frequently comes to Fairborn because this is where her mom lives.

We asked if we could get her phone number so we could call her and set up a time to meet this coming week and she said sure! She would love to learn more, she has a Book of Mormon and has had the missionaries over before but none of them have ever really taught her much! She was super duper nice and even gave us a hug before we had to leave to get to our appointment.

It was such an incredible miracle and I am so glad that we listened to the prompting from the Spirit to talk to her! Heavenly Father really is a part of this work and he will let us know exactly where he wants us to be and who we need to talk to if we will only listen and act on the promptings of the Spirit!!

This church is true and this work is truly the work of Salvation and the best work to be a part of! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ and I am so grateful for how much they are willing to teach me and help me learn each and every day!! I know that miracles can and will happen if we pray for them, trust in Heavenly Father and then just look for those miracles!!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Love, Sister Britni Johnson :)

The joys of tracting!

An investigator gave us these awesome magnetic signs!

Midge and Victor came to church again! All is well again! :)

Good ol' Fairborn!

The fun shops up and down main street

July 14th, 2014

Happy Monday Everybody!!

Actually I think the only people in the world that actually like Mondays are missionaries because that is P-day!! :) Things are going so great and this work truly is amazing!

Quote of the Week

"The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble and calumny may defame; but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent; till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say "The work is done."

We have been watching the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie a lot lately with investigators and I love this quote from Joseph Smith that he says in the movie. I love this quote because it is so true! It is happening everywhere in the world and I am a first hand witness of that! Absolutely nothing can stop this work from rolling forth and it is incredible to be able to a part of it!

Updates

This week was kinda crazy. We put Midge and Victor on date to be baptized next Saturday and then they kinds dropped us because they can't afford to pay tithing. We are still trying to address that situation with them. We actually got dropped a lot this week but then we were blessed with finding a ton of new people to teach so that was super awesome!!! Every time something difficult comes our way, we push through it and then Heavenly Father blesses us tenfold for our faith and efforts. It's amazing how much he truly does love each and every one of us and knows exactly how to help us and take us farther than we could ever take ourselves if we will just let him!!

Sister Jensen has been teaching a woman named Becca since February. She is super solid and has a really strong testimony. The only thing holding her back is her husband. He is super against the church and it has been really hard for her because they have only been married for a year and a half and they agreed to go to church together until she found the truthfulness fo the restoration of the gospel and her husband is really against the church now. But her husband is out of town this week and so she was able to come tor church for the 3rd time yesterday which technically means she could get baptized. She really wants to and so she met with Bishop yesterday about it. He gave her some really good advice and counsel and said she just has to get written consent from her husband and we can go ahead with the baptism. It's perfect because she is going to use this week without him to pray and fast and ponder on the best way to approach it with him so that it will work out and sh can finally get baptized! We are super excited because she knows it's true with all her heart and wants to get baptized really soon!

Highlights

We had interviews with our new mission president this week, President Daines. I went with President first while Sister Jensen met with his wife. We had a super good discussion about my progress thus far as a missionary and how these next few months are the most critical. He gave me a few good tips on how to keep my projection and spiritual progression continuing rapidly to the very end and how to keep it after the mission. It's super weird to be in this position where i have less than 5 months left, for a long time it felt like this day would never come and now it is coming way too fast! I love every second of it though because I am able to learn so much.

While I was meeting with Sister Daines she was asking me about my life and growth and such and I had a whole new view on how much I truly had grown and learned. I never thought of myself as having much faith or trust in Heavenly Father but these last few months, I have learned so much by just turning everything over to him. I have so much faith, hope and trust in my Heavenly Father and that is what gets me through each and everyday no matter what happens. I am truly allowing Him to guide me in each and every thing and it is remarkable. It is a blessing to be able to see noticeable growth and I know it was all my Heavenly Father's hand in my life. He is the reason I have learned so much and I am eternally grateful for each and every second of my mission, good and bad!!

The only downer lately is the crazy weather. This morning we had this really weird mist rain thing where you could feel the water just sitting in the air. It wasn't really bad until you tried to run in it and it just got super gross. It was probably the closest I will ever get to a rainforest but it was super weird. It rains all the time here and it is the middle of summer! I am definitely not used to it but it certainly keeps life interesting! :)

Have a great week!! :)

Love always, Sister Britni Johnson

This is for all those Juniper lovers out there! It made me think of the Juniper Dr. that grandpa built a house on in Moab :

An intersections that turned into a swimming pool because of all the crazy rain. It's so weird, it randomly pours rain all the time and then just floods everywhere!

Random gold calf statue

Best dinner welcome ever! :)

Awesome car-we knocked on this lady's door, asked to take a picture with her car, and then proceeded to teach her and she is invited us back! Miracles :)

That is actually a grill!

July 7th, 2014

Hello everyone! Happy 4th of July!!!!

Quote of the week: "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." I love this quote because a lot of things come down to our perspective. When we can't change someone or something else, we need to change our perspective and that will really help the situation. A lot of things really are just dependent upon how you look at it or how you choose to look at it!

Updates

Midge/Victor-Victor quit smoking on Friday and is now over 3 days smoke free!! It was a true miracle and he is doing so great! We are aiming for them to get baptized on the July 19th because the only thing holding them up was his smoking! We taught them about the temple the other day and they are super excited to be able to go do baptisms for the dead for their loved ones that have passed on. They are also really excited to get sealed in the temple!!!

Erick- He came to church again, there is just a slight problem. He kinds dragged us into the middle of a dispute between him and his girlfriend so we are trying to figure out that situation.

Billy Wayne- We had a chapel tour with him and he cried almost the whole time because he felt the spirit so strongly!! He is still so sincere and loving everything we teach him!

Those are the main updates for right now but we met a ton of super solid people that are open and willing to read the Book of Mormon.

We met this man named Dexter while tracting. He is super awesome, he has a nice little family and is a professor at Wright State University her in Fairborn. We took him a Book of Mormon the next day and offered service because he was moving. We ended up helping him clean up the new house he was moving into and it was perfect because we were able to have a super solid conversation with him about life and what we believe in and stuff like that.

We got a new mission president this week!! We were able to meet him and his wife on Wednesday. They are super awesome and I am so excited to see the good that happens under their direction and counsel.

It is absolutely incredible all of the miracles and blessings that are all around us!!! Heavenly Father truly is blessing us immensely and it's wonderful. I love being a part of this work because I am so happy to be the tool in Heavenly Father's hand in bringing one of his children into the fold! We are still loving life and doing our best here in good ol' Fairborn!! :)

I love you all and wish you the best!!

Love always, Sister Britni Johnson :)

Random sign in Fairborn that is totally applicable to our life! :)

Soul mates :)

Learning to chop wood

The elders car is kissing our car's butt :)

More sparklers :)

June 30th, 2014

Hello everyone!!!

This week has been insane!

Quote of the Week

"Surprise yourself, there is something that happens after the trial of your faith."

We are just having a blast here in good ol' fairborn!! There is so much to do it is hard to keep up with and it's the best problem to have!!!

Updates

Midge/Victor We haven't been able to teach them much this week because they have been super busy! But they came to a baptism of someone the elders have been teaching and they loved it! They also had a small kitchen fire but fortunately neither of them had any harm. But they joked and said it was a miracle and they are never missing church again!

Erick He is doing as good as ever! He came to the baptism as well and loved it. He said that he had a lot of deja vu and we explained to him that is because he is in the right place and doing what he is supposed to and that is sort of a confirmation of that.

Lisa She wasn't able to make it to church again but we taught her the plan of salvation and she liked it a lot!

Billy Wayne He wasn't able to make it to church because he was called into work but he loves everything he is learning. We met with him and his brother last week and watched the Restoration with both of them. It was kinda awkward because the only working DVD player they had was in the bedroom so we all had to cram into the hot small room but it was funny and ended up being super spiritual! We are meeting with him again tonight to teach him the plan of salvation!

We gave him a sneak peek last night and explained that we don't believe in heaven and hell but we believe 3 kingdoms of heaven. He really liked that because he has always been afraid of burning in hell and he was really curious of our belief on that. We explained that hell isn't a fiery pit but hell is not living in the presence of God.

Angie Angie is actually the wife of our maintenance man at our apartment complex and she is super interested. We found her a few weeks ago and she had read the whole Book of Mormon before in the past so we are hoping to teach her and help rekindle the things she learned the first time. We had our first lesson with her yesterday and it was super stellar! She loved everything we shared and she has been reading the Book of Mormon again and loves it! She had a lot of questions and says that she feels good every time she reads and prays about it. She is a little apprehensive about coming to church and stuff because she can feel the truthfulness of it and is already considering the magnitude of her decisions if she were to join the church. She is super excited to come to church next week and to keep meeting with us. She is incredible and I am so excited to teach her!! :)

Michael So we met Michael last week and we weren't sure how interested he was at first. He was nice and said he had gone to our church for awhile about 10 years ago but then he stopped. We asked if we could come back and teach him. We taught him the Restoration a few days later and he had the chapter we left with him. He liked everything we shared and when we asked him to pray about it, he said he has and he feels good. He feels good when he reads the Book of Mormon and he feels good about everything we have been teaching him. It came as a bit of a shocker because he seemed so indifferent at first but it turns out that's just how he is.

Shawna So we met Shawna last week right before a huge rainstorm. She said she was atheist and didn't seem too interested but said we could come back. We went back a few days later and it was awesome! She is more agnostic because she doesn't know what to believe. She said there could be something there but she has had so many rough experiences in her life that sometimes makes it hard to believe someone is watching over her and cares about her. She is super awesome though. She is a great mom and has good standards and a really good spirit about her. I immediately felt this connection with her and I am so excited to be able to teach her. She agreed to read the Book of Mormon, she has a really open mind towards the things we have been sharing with her which is great!

I think that's the majority of the updates right now! It's incredible how many people there are out there that are prepared, it's just a matter of finding them. I know Heavenly Father is truly in this work and if we allow him to, he will guide us to exactly where we need to be!

Lastly, I have now gone over a week without sugar! We had been doing a competition with the elders to see who could go the longest without eating sugar. Sister Jensen and Elder Simkins both dropped our yesterday but Elder Peterson and I are going strong. It's cool because not only do I feel so much better and healthier, but I feel like I have a lot more self control. I am not even really tempted by the sugar anymore and now I am so much more motivated to keep tackling all those little bad habits I have so I can continue to grow and progress!! Things have been so fabulous and I am having so much fun!! I am so grateful for my mission and all the absolutely incredible people in my life!! Life is great and this church is true!! :)

Love always,

Sister Britni Johnson :)