Hanover 6/27/16

Dear People,

Another crazy week! Here are some highlights:

We taught two lessons to this older couple. They have both read the
Bible 35+ times, so when we got around to the whole "other book of
scripture" thing they freaked out. We did our best to teach with the
spirit, but the lady ended up saying, "I think you girls are wasting
our time." It made us think a LOT about apostasy. Today I was studying
all the times in the Book of Mormon when the people got off track.
What is the reprimand? When Jacob addresses his people for committing
gross crimes, "they understand not the scriptures." When Shem denies
Christ's coming Jacob asks, "Do you believe the scriptures? Then you
do not understand them." When Moroni is lamenting the people who deny
the gospel, "he that deniers these things...has not read the
scriptures; if so, he does not understand them." If these people who
follow Christ truly understood--not with their minds but with their
hearts--the Bible, they would be soft enough to accept representatives
of Jesus Christ. It made me think--do I truly understand the
scriptures? If Christ were to come right now, would I even recognize
Him?

When it comes to this work, there is an ongoing process of planting
seeds, nourishing the root, and harvesting the fruit. In Hanover, most
of the seeds have been planted. Most aren't ready to hear the truth.
Sister Vaughn and I are doing a lot of nourishing. We both feel
impressed to stop and talk to people, and listen. One lady had been
offended by missionaries. We stayed to talk long enough that she felt
like we understood her and she wasn't angry anymore. We spoke to
another man about family history  work. When people say, "I already
have a church THANK YOU," we ask them about it. It amazing to see
hearts soften even in a few minutes.

We approached a Hispanic man this week who didn't know much English at
all. Thankfully, Sister Vaughn had studied the language enough to
carry a very broken conversation with him. Sister Johns just blurted a
few Spanish words in the right moments or spoke in English very
slowly. We invited him to church (At least I think that's what we
did). He told us he was Catholic and tried to teach us how to pray to
Mary...at least I think that was what was happening. Haha.

One word I've been thinking a lot about is ALL. Christ promises to
fill ALL our gaps, fix ALL our broken pieces, make us full, complete,
perfect. Ultimately what we do in return is quite simple. We let Him
do it. How? We give ourselves up. Our badness and weaknesses and
frustrations, yes. But that isn't ALL. We must give up our talents,
our strengths, our good desires. Christ requires ALL. Because the
goodness we have is good. But Christ promises to make us perfect.
Repentance is more than just turning away from sin. It's a continual
process of giving up ourselves to Christ, and surrendering our will to
His.

Have a blessed week!
Sister Johns

PS next week, we have P day on Tuesday because we get to work on the
Fourth of July, FYI :)

Kristen was in Louisville last night with her companion, Sister Vaughn.

Here they are with Sister Fielding.  She is the wife of a member of the mission presidency,
and the sister of one of  my favorite mission companions, Elder Rob Wells.  

Shepherdsville 6/13/16

People!
Transfer calls came Saturday. We knew a ton of sisters are coming in
this transfer, so we'd either get called from president for a special
assignment or get no calls at all. He called. Sister Bogardus is
staying here and training! And.... I'm reopening Hanover Indiana and
training! So please pray lots that Sister Johns doesn't corrupt her
greenie too much and Hanover will be prepared to be whipped into
shape.

This week was absolutely packed. I learned that God is an amazing
planner. We make plans every night for the next day and try to carry
them out, but God usually has better plans. Like Monday, we had a
lesson with our lady investigator and she cancelled as we were driving
to her house. But we were inspired to drop by a referral and ended up
having an amazing lesson with them! God knew that's where we needed to
be. Or Tuesday, we were going to go to a member's house to do yard
work and she called us sick that morning. We had a lesson with an
older lady who is a recent convert but really struggling with her
testimony. After the lesson we offered to mow her lawn, which meant
the world to her. She came to church for the first time in two weeks.

I'm going to miss Shepherdsville so much. The town feels like home,
the branch feels like family. But here's to a new adventure!

Love,
Sister Johns

281 East Main #5
Hanover, IN 47243

Shepherdsville 6/6/16

Hey people!

I've read a lot of philosophical discourses and Bacon, Hobbs, and
Descartes all spend pages and pages discussing how to know truth. All
of them wind up reasoning themselves into a philosophical hole.
Addressing the impoverished Zoromites, Alma uses a succinct
formula--the front and back of one page--of how we can know something
is true. If we make room for the word, plant it, and not cast it out
(the action), It will sprout, swell, and bring forth fruit (the
power).
We are teaching a young couple who can't seem to reconcile their take
on the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We brought a member to a lesson
and gradually the topic moved back to the doctrine of exaltation. It
got more and more heated and tense. I didn't know what to do. Finally,
Sister Bogardus leaned forward and bore a powerful testimony of the
Book of Mormon. The tension dissipated and everyone went quiet. I
asked him if he was willing to be baptized if the Book of Mormon was
true. He said yes. "Well, Brother Goldsmith, are you willing to try an
experiment?" He was. "Will you study from the Book of Mormon for 30
minutes every day for a week?" He agreed. He also "challenged us to
read from Romans and Galatians for 30 minutes a day for a week. We'll
see who's right--I mean...;)

Have a blessed week!

Sister Johns