Happy Birthday, Momma!

Hello dearest family and friends!

So, my time is quickly ticking away today so I will briefly summarize. More so than I already do. :]

Monday=great. We had a great lesson with a 14 year old girl named Daisy. She is friends with a member in the 1st ward and get this, she goes to early morning seminary. EVERY morning! I don't know if I was even that dedicated in high school. She is an amazing young lady though. She understands a lot about the gospel and it is a lot of fun teaching her. We are going to teach her the restoration tonight with the cups. It is such a fun lesson and I am SO excited! We also had the pleasure of meeting with Sis. Coombs on monday. Her husband isn't a member. We weren't really planning on teaching him because she said she didn't want us to push or do anything with him, but he ended up sitting in on the lessons. He is super great as well. Sis. Coombs is very active in the church and does a lot of family history and her husband is very supportive. He doesn't know much about the church, but is willing to read and pray "at his own pace." I believe the Lord will set the pace for him. :)

Tuesday was wonderful as well. I witnessed a great miracle! I forgot to fill up my water bottle before we left home in the morning and by mid-afternoon I was parched. We don't have a key to the church building yet and no one seemed to be home or willing to let us talk to them. So, as I was dying of thirst I asked Heavenly Father to please provide a way that we could get some water. We stopped by the church in hopes of it being open. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but Sis. Asay spotted a water bottle in the middle of the parking lot. She jokingly suggested that I could take that water bottle. I laughed and told her no, but upon closer examination we discovered that the water bottle wasn't opened! I could hardly believe my eyes. Yes, it was very hot water, but regardless, it was water. It was like manna from heaven! So, that was the miracle of the day.
We had a great lesson with Sis. Donaldson about patriarchal blessings. She is excited to prepare and receive her patriarchal blessing.

Wednesday was crazy. We had so many appointments. It was wonderful to be so busy. Our RS president from the 2nd ward came out with us and we were able to teach a man named Dale. He is from Zimbabwe and his dad is a member. He is very opinionated and said things like "I can be my own prophet." "I don't need to go to church to feel the spirit of the Lord." It was a challenge, but I guess we'll see what happens with it.
We met with Shaunti, a recent convert in the 2nd ward. Her little girl, Georgiana is hilarious. She is 8 years old and a firecracker.  Someone knocked on the door while we were there and she goes and answers the door and says, "We can't talk to you right now. We're talking with the Mormons." Haha... Then she proceeded to close the door. Shaunti is a great lady. I don't know how she does everything she does and maintains a positive outlook. She is raising 3 girls all on her own and barely has enough to scrape by. She knows the gospel blesses her family though and that is a great blessing for her.

Thursday we had coordination for a LONG time. It was good though. That was about the only thing that happened on Thursday. We discussed the importance of taking care of the individuals God has entrusted into our care and that He will not give us more if we aren't taking care of what He has already given us. I just so happened to read Acts 2 this week and it goes right along with that.

Friday we had district meeting and interviews. The church building is always so cold! I thought I would turn into a popcicle while we were there. Regardless of the cold, we had a good lesson from Elder Masulonis (not sure on the spelling...) about receiving revelation through prayer were spiritually warmed and fed. Prayer is so important for a person to understand their relationship with their Creator and to build their faith (see Alma 34:17).
We met with less active Sis. Andujar. She mostly talked at us. Bless her heart. She has a lot going on in her life right now. Luckily we were able to squeeze in a few words here and there. I hope she took something away from all of that. We also met with Sis. Falco. She is funny as ever. We figured out which car was hers based on the stickers which said things like "muggle smuggling wizards" or something along those lines. I love Sis. Falco. She is such a sweet lady. She came to church again this week too! Yay! We had dinner with the Heltons as well and had this delcious quinoa chicken soup. It was really yummy. Sis. Helton served a mission in Japan and told us so pretty funny stories about tracting in Typhoons. I am thankful to be in the USofA. That's for sure.

Saturday we went back to Shaunti's to help her wash her walls. She is trying to move and needed some help to get things organized. We were able to have a good conversation with her about putting our trust in God whilst washing her many walls. (I could hardly turn my head on Sunday due to muscle soreness. I am out of shape x 10!) Georgiana was blasting the Flintstones the entire time. I was grateful for silence once we left.

Sunday was definitely a miracle day as well. We had Sis. Reeves visit us from the General RS presidency. (It might the primary presidency.) She gave a wonderful talk in Sacrament meeting. I felt like that was exactly what I needed to hear. It was like the spirit had whispered directly to her the words I needed to hear. She spoke of her 17 year old daughter who had passed away 7 years ago and how she knew that the veil was so thin and that her daughter was aware of them and how the Lord gives us trials to chisel us into the people we need to become and that in the end, all the things we endure here will not matter. Just as long as we make it back with our Father in Heaven, that is what will matter in the end. It was so helpful and brought so much peace to my mind. I am thankful that she was directed by the spirit on what to say in that meeting. I know that mom and a lot of other people who are on the other side are assisting us and helping the missionary work here in NC. They have to be.
We had a wonderful lesson with a referral who called and wanted to learn more about the church. Her name is Michelle. She wants to come closer to God and wants to turn her life around. She also wants to get baptized! Yay!

Good things happen everyday. Today is mom's birthday. I think of her everyday and think about how great of a lady she was. I miss her a lot, but I know we will see each other again. I know that she is busy sharing the gospel with a whole bunch of people and I am grateful for the restoration of the gospel that brings clarity and understanding to things like the after life. The church is definitely true.

Have a wonderful week! Keep pressing forward and don't forget to find joy in the journey!

Love,

Sister Johnson