Evansville 6/19/17

Dear people,

So I'm gettin' shafted to Louisville! Brookside to be exact. Brookside
is where I went on my very first exchange (it used to be an STL area).
It's also the closest I will ever be to Shawnee and Shively, Dad.:)
Kind of stoked about that!

President and Sister Brough's last Zone Conference!  I feel very happy to be serving around such normal, classy missionaries;)

You can't hug your mission president. But you can do this. And that's almost the same thing:) I'm really grateful to have this F1-11 flying, off-key singing, occasional four year old, exactly obedient, and extremely bold man as my mission president!

Exchanges with the Olney sisters! Got to go to Illinois one more time. Thirty minutes after we took this picture, Sister Mendon and I got a phone call from one of their branch members who needed a blessing from the Elders for a sister in the branch in the hospital. For a solid thirty seconds, we thought one of the sister missionaries was in the hospital! We freaked OUT! Hahaha it was funny. We also were obligated to run away from a raccoon later that night.

Have a great week! 

Sister Johns

Evansville 6/12/17

Heyy fam! 

This week was great. 

Had MLC! Probably my last one. President and Sister Brough got us all prepped for the new president. We met in the Eastern Parkway building instead of the mission home, which was nice. I just have to say, it was SO nice to be around all my old companions again! Sister Endemann and I may or may not have snuck out and played ping pong in the basement during lunch haha. 

Two exchanges this week--whew! I went to Owensboro with Sister Ellie Glad! We were chatting about where she was from and we made the connection that she grew up in Mt. Pleasant and knows a lot of the Palmers! We probably have met at some point and didn't realize it haha, isn't that funny?

Sister Thomas came here to Evansville later in the week. She is five feet of joy and we had so much fun. We both did the math and realized we've both been on about 30 exchanges on our missions. Such a good experience. 

So we had a goal set for a certain number of new investigators for the week and Sunday we were three short of our goal. Sister Mendon contacted a lady from our car as we drove by and she referred us to her neighbor who let us right in! We had a lesson and then walked down the street and tried a potential who also let us in. We had a really powerful lesson with her and her teenage son. Three new investigators in less than an hour! God is GOOD!

Have a fab week!

Sister Johns

Double District Meeting

Sister Glad

Sister Mendon

MLC!

Evansville 6/5/17

How was your week, Sister Johns?

In a word, NKAJOCAUWNK. Thanks for asking.:)

Hahahaha, just kidding, this week was just crazy sauce!

Firstly, here's a journal entry excerpt:

Sunday. Good day. I realized today that part of having charity means
"rejoicing in the truth." And lately, Satan has been REALLY ticking me
off with his lies! People want comfortable, smooth gods. Be a nice
person (Or if you cant be a nice person, at least don't hurt anyone
according to the Pentacostal-turned-Buddhist today). No depth, no
breadth, no life, no CHANGE. April didn't come to church today, no
excuse offered. I spent part of personal study marking my New
Testament for theological warfare and studying how the word "try" is
doctrinally incorrect. Yoda is right, turns out.

One of our investigators we've been working with the past few months
dropped us this week. So sad! She felt like she got an answer from a
movie that recently came out which portrayed Christ basically telling
the main character that there is no religion, just believing in Him.
She'll get there someday.

I had my last interviews with President and Sister Brough before they
go home in a two weeks. That was the first time I've seen President
tear up. I love them SO much. They have helped teach me more than I
can ever thank them for.

Have a wonderful week!
Sister Kristen Johns

Evansville 5/30/17

My dear people,

If you're wondering what happened this week, I am sitting here wondering myself what happened. Haha. 

We're still working with our two families--this week we focused on serving them. They are coming along slowly but surely! 

I have an analogy for you. And maybe I've been living near the South too long ha, but I think conversion is like oil in a fryer. In order for the fries to be done they need to be fully saturated in the oil. That's like our investigators--in order for them to be fully converted to the Savior and His gospel, they need to be fully immersed in it. What we usually need is a basket. The metal basket holds the fries and lowers them into the oil. I think of the basket as members, callings, the church organization, family history, activities--anything that helps the investigator lower into the vat and stay there long enough to be saturated. 

Without the oil, the basket is pointless. But oftentimes, the basket is the means to the ultimate end. So be the basket for other people. That's your role in their conversion.:)

Have a fab dayy!

Sister Kristen Johns

Exchanges with the Jasper Sisters!

So THAT'S how pineapples are made....

Evansville 5/22/17

Dear fam bam,

New companion! Sent Sister Fehrenbacker to somewhere in the deep hollers of Kentucky and now I have Sister Mendon! She's been serving the past six months in Hanover, my old stomping grounds. It's been special to talk about people I used to work with! The area is thriving. 

Sister Mendon is the workhorse I've been praying for my whole mission haha! We've set some goals and we've seen a lot of miracles this week. God is blessing Evansville! This transfer is only five weeks, so it's going to fly. It's President and Sister Brough's last transfer! I'm going to miss them SO much. 

One of the most difficult struggles of my mission has been helping people to accept the Restoration. People bash the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, church history and the church organization all the time. It's wearing sometimes. 

I really believe that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ came down from heaven to bring back light and hope and the authority to access God's power and revelation. I really believe that actually happened.

I really believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only church being led by a living, breathing Godhead. 

I really believe these things because I've read the Book of Mormon everyday for years. Samuel the Lamanite gives the reason we've been exhorted to study it DAILY, "...As many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the hold scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them"(Helaman 15:7).

I really believe that. And that's a big deal.

Love you all!

Sister Kristen Johns

Four generations! I'm a great-grandma!