Winchester 1/23/17

Volunteering at an elementary school library!

She wanted a picture with this mailbox.  She's weird.  =)

"Tea" party. Mm, yes, yes, indeed. Quite spendid.

Dinner with some wardlings

Heyyy,

Here's a list of notable things that happened this week:

• Had a tea party with a lady in our ward in her house that was built in the 1800s. We shared a lesson and then sat back for the inevitable Story of How We Met, written by Jane Austen (according to her I'm sure;). It was a tale of young love when she and her husband were in high school, heartbreak, and ended with her yelling at him about it in front of an entire YSA dance seven years later, and somehow it must have worked out because here we are and they have four kids.
• Ran around town looking for service opportunities. Our reasoning is that most kingdom building/prepared/elect people will be at work during the morning and afternoon, so we should use that time visiting members and doing service. We're going to be volunteering at a historical museum, a food pantry/thrift store thing, and a homeless shelter. 
• Had interviews with President and Sister Brough. They asked me about how things are with Sister Israelsen and I told them she beats me up. They didn't seem to concerned. I guess they've learned not to take me too seriously.  
• Exchanges with Morehead--its sooo pretty up there. I saw mountains! And by mountains I mean small hills with trees on them. There's a college there, so we worked on ways to utilize YSA opportunities better. 
• We also had a lesson with a recent convert who is an absolute NUT. Halfway through it, her two kiddies ran out and started terrorizing us and the cats...with absolutely no clothes on whatsoever.
  Then the scene went something like this: *banging noises in the back room*

       Recent convert: oh. That's our third child no one ever sees. Would you like to meet him? *smiles creepily

       Sister Johns: Did the voices in your head tell you that?

        Haha it was funny!

• Got invited warmly into the home of a cute young couple who are very very well versed in the Bible, have read the Book of Mormon, and think we're probably going to a very bad place for a very long time. He had a loooot of concerns about Mormonism. We just tried to understand where he was coming from and help him understand us a little better. It made me realize that it's time for us not just to LIVE our faith, but be able to articulate and defend it. The way to do that is by understanding other religions. Not just their doctrine, but their lingo. Throwing out phrases like Atonement, sacrament, stake conference, wards, bishops, etc isn't effective. Then we have to understand our doctrine and why it is that way. One of the most common questions out here is "what is the difference between your faith and my faith?" What would you say to that? 
  Have a good one!Sister Kristen Johns