Converting Columbus: 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 :)