P- DAY IS FUN DAY
During Chinese food buffet
After Chinese food buffet
All the mail that Lauren isn't getting from us - except for e-mails (which we are good at)
Getting everyone in on the selfie
Oakland Temple Sisters on P-day
Hey we're twins!! We also had our primary program on Sunday, and we went to a member's home for dinner and also had pot roast! Yipee!
This
past week was good! We had some neat things happen. We were able to
visit (finally) a former investigator who we haven't seen in a long
time. He is still waiting for permission to be baptized. So it was so
good to see him! We shared a simple thought with him on hope. As I've
studied hope, I've learned that hope is as important as faith. Hope is
not only the wish, or the desire, but having optimism - especially when
the immediate future is foggy. Faith is action, and hope is the
attitude! We can have faith, but if we aren't hopeful, we're not going
to be as happy. Hope also teaches us patience, and that we know that in
the end, everything will work out together for our good. It talks about
this in Romans 8. It's a great chapter in the scriptures about hope!
We
also had a neat experience stopping by another former investigator's
home (he investigated back in 2009). He actually moved a few years back,
but his grandma still lives there so we decided to stop by and meet
her. She was super nice and let us in, and T*** (the former investigator) was
there! So we ended up talking for like 45 minutes in their living room.
He investigated for a year and loved coming to church. What is sad is he
said it was a sacrifice for him to stop going to church because he
enjoyed it so much but with the feelings of pressure and doubts, he
stopped going. Anyways, we had a great discussion. He asked a lot of
questions and even though he said he will never convert, we were
grateful we stopped by and got to know him. And he doesn't even live
there - he lives about 2 hours away but just happened to be there when
we stopped by. We invited him to come to church with us and he said he
would consider it. So there is hope! Heavenly Father definitely led us
there that night. :)
We also decided to call
another former investigator who we stopped by a few weeks back but
wasn't home. He answered and was super nice! We invited him to some
upcoming events and asked if we could visit him - and he accepted! It
was a bit of a surprise because that doesn't happen a lot haha,
especially over the phone (for our area at least). We also were able to
get in contact with a member who sent us a referral a few months back.
We visited his friend, but at the time he said it wasn't a good time and
he wasn't interested.
When we talked to the member though the other night, he said that he
told him we stopped by and is interested in having us visit again. So
that was also a surprise! Some other neat things: M***** came to church
yesterday!! He has finally been
getting back to us and said he needs to come to church. So he did and he
said he really needed it. We just want
to do all we can to help and support him. He's such a great guy!
We
are also getting everything ready for Brother G******'s baptism! Everyone
in the ward is so excited for him. He is awesome and has become so
enthusiastic with such a strong desire to learn. It's amazing to see!!!
There
are a lot of fun things happening this week: tomorrow we have our ward
Trunk or Treat, Wednesday we have a Visitor's Center breakfast at Elder
and Sister Poulsen's home, then Friday is Halloween (which means deep
cleaning!) And then Saturday is Brother G's baptism interview and
transfer calls! Unbelievable that it's the last week of the transfer!!
This next transfer is going to be awesome also because Elder Bednar is
coming! Yay! I am so excited for the Holiday season!!!
Also
I'd just like to add how awesome all the families are in our ward.
Every time we drive home from visiting members or having dinner with
them, we are in awe by their kindness and love for us! It is so
inspiring to be able to be around so many wonderful people. And the
awesome thing is all of these wonderful families are not only here, but
everywhere! All over the world! The Gospel is spreading more each day.
And, even though things in the world are getting worse, the Gospel is
growing stronger. I can feel it and see it, especially being at the
Visitor's Center. I love seeing people of all different backgrounds and
cultures come in and have an interest in the Gospel. The work is
progressing and it's our duty to share it. This is what we're all here
for! Invite friends to activities and to church. Share thoughts with
them. Miracles will happen as you do!!!
Love you all and have a Happy Halloween week! :-)
Sister Johnson
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