70 Dogs

Hello all!                                                                           July 29, 2019

▪ Our new addiction is McDonald's ice cream cones. Very bad news. They're 59 cents...how could we not? But one day we went twice within an approximate 5 hour period of time and the same worker was there and he openly laughed at us when he saw us ordering two more cones...real fun. 

▪ Another day, we get our cones, and this nice lady makes us the biggest cones EVER. And I just happened to see a slug bug and so after I punched Sister Nuttall, her giant cone flew out of her hand, and got all over her and the car. Unfortunate situation. 

▪ One of the biggest blessings this week was when a member of our ward, Sister James, took us out to Qdoba for dinner. But wait, there's more. When she picked us up she gave us 2 of the cutest dresses ever. We love her so much. 

▪ We had interviews with our Mission President this week which are always fun, he asked if Sister Nuttall and I want to stay together and we said yes of course. So pray we get to stay another transfer! 

▪ Great news everyone. I saw a total of 70 dogs this week. It was a good week!

▪ We got to visit some people in the hospital this week. We have a friend that's a pastor for another church who we sometimes visit and he is getting his leg amputated so we went to see him. We read Alma 7:11-12 to him and testified that he is not alone is his trials. Jesus Christ knows everything we feel at every moment of our lives. He has been through it all, lived every second we live, and because of that He knows how to comfort us better than anyone else. We enjoy talking to each other about Jesus Christ because of the common ground we can find as His followers. Super cool guy.

▪ We had some cool experiences this week with following the spirit. We were about to door knock a street and we felt prompted to push a little harder at doors. The first door we knocked the man was not interested but as we pushed just a little more he opened up to reading the Book of Mormon and finding out for himself if it's true. We're going back in a couple days! Later that same day we were passing the house of someone we left a Book of Mormon with a few weeks ago that we haven't been able to get in contact with. We felt prompted to stop by and were able to talk to them and get a return appointment! Miracles come when we follow the Spirit!!

▪ We also met a guy named Zack at the Tridge the other day and he had to go, but we left one of our cards with him which has the church address and time on it. And for the first time literally ever, someone used the card and he showed up at church on Sunday! So fun, what a guy.

▪ At church yesterday someone said, "What does it mean to you personally to "come and see"? This made me think a lot because as missionaries we are constantly inviting others to "come and see" our sacrament meetings, church activities, and more. But for the past day I've been pondering a lot on how each of us can "come and see" if we already know what those things are like. To "come and see" does not simply mean to attend church, it means to more deeply develop your relationship with Jesus Christ. Going to church, making time to read your scriptures, and praying are little ways we can do that. But one of the best ways we can "come and see" ourselves is by inviting others to "come and see" with us. As we share the joy that the gospel brings into our lives we come closer to our Savior and help others to do the same. What better way is there to come unto Christ than by showing Christlike love through sharing His message? I am so thankful that I get to share that joy and love every single day.

♡ Sister Johnson

P.S. we were terrible at taking pics this week...so here are some pictures of us with ice cream :)

Sister Riana Johnson

2201 Ashman St

Apt #2

Midland, MI  48640

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Green Eyes & Grapefruit Juice

Hey! Great week, great people, great place. Everything is so great here in Midland. 

Best parts of my week :)

• Sister Nuttall and I discovered that we have the EXACT same eye color. Not that significant but we were so shocked for so long about it haha.

Not very good pic of our matching eyeballs

• We caught a firefly! Our friend refused to light up inside our apartment so we kicked him out but we're not done trying. 

• We rescued a dog! Cutest little pup (pics below) was running around this neighborhood going buck wild so we went door to door around there and found his home! So fun. 

• While we're on the topic of dogs, I have started keeping track of how many dogs I see every day which has been the best part of my day, we hit a high of 19 dogs in one day. 

Joe, our best friend

• On Thursday we didn't have much to do in the afternoon so we decided to make some cookies and bring them to people we thought could use a little boost. We delivered so many cookies with notes that said "you are LOVED" and it was just a blast. We would drop them on the doorstep, knock, and run. We got caught multiple times but some still don't know it was us haha.

• We are working with the family we're teaching toward their baptism and Heidi is working on quitting smoking. We gave her this amazing 7 day stop smoking plan that she's starting today! But we went over this plan on Saturday night and she realized that she had to buy all the things necessary and that the next day was Sunday and she's also trying not to shop on Sunday so we went with the whole family to the grocery store at 9pm and got everything she'll need. It was so much fun. One step of the Plan is to drink grapefruit juice after every meal and also when the cravings come to smoke. Grapefruit juice is disgusting, everyone knows it, so we promised that every time she drinks it, we drink it. So now we're carrying bottles of grapefruit juice with us at all times lol. Gags me every time but I'll make it.

Pre-grapefruit juice drinking...so gross

• Final event, some members in our ward, the Gudmundsens, invited us over for dinner last night and straight up fed us strawberry shortcake for dinner, that's it. It was the best. 

Our cake dinner leftovers that lasted 10 minutes

Hope you all are doing amazing!

Random tridge pics...

Ice cream treat :)

Love you all so so much!

-Sister Johnson

Sister Riana Johnson

2201 Ashman St

Apt #2

Midland, MI  48640

riana.johnson@missionary.org

New and broken things

July 16, 2019

Transfers were yesterday and good news is Sister Nuttall and I are staying together in Midland another 6 weeks! 

▪ starting with new things: we tried painting in our down time! SO FUN. I'm the most creatively challenged person ever but we bought some cute colors and letters to paint and they turned out pretty good!

Crafty us!

▪ another new thing: pranks! We did a mini prank to start our new careers and gummy bear'd the Elders' car which was dangerous, because we ate so many in the process. Super fun though.

▪ last new thing: we went on a RUN this week. Shocking news I know. I hate running with my entire soul but we forced ourselves to do it. It was the worst and I almost puked.

▪ broken things...our fridge decided to stop working this week so we had to bring ALL of our food to the Sisters’ apartment and just go there for every meal lol. We called multiple Elders to ask them what to do about it...and here are the responses we got. "If you blow on it hard enough it will stay frozen"..."is your refrigerator running?"...and many more ridiculous comments. We're still in the process of fixing it :(

▪ our car is also having some issues this week...pray for us, haha.

▪ in other news, we had tradeoffs this week with some other Sisters where we trade companions for a day. I missed Sister Nuttall but it was a lot of fun! We also got Chipotle, because we were in Mt. Pleasant!

Tradeoffs in Mt. Pleasant

▪ we had another ward campout and played SO MUCH volleyball. We also made SO MANY s'mores and ate hot dogs. Our family that we're teaching came and it was just a blast! 

▪ we had a big scare this week as well. Someone we're close to got lice so that was terrifying, don't worry mom, we checked each other and all is well.

▪ the LPGA is here in Midland and I'm praying so hard that we get permission to go to a golf tournament! Probably won't happen but a girl can dream. They do have golf themed sculptures around downtown so I had to take a picture with the dog. 

▪ also Sister Hudson painted me a cactus on a quarter which is sick so check that out. 

▪ one of my favorite scriptures from my studies this week was 1 Nephi 17:50, which says, "If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If He should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it should be done." 

I love this scripture because Nephi's faith constantly inspires me to increase my own. Faith leads us to act, and Nephi is always ready and willing to do what the Lord asks of him. Not only does faith lead to action, but actions lead to faith. When we act on the faith we have, no matter how small, that faith grows and our relationship with our Savior and Heavenly Father deepen. These actions don't need to be big declarations of our beliefs, it can be as simple as opening that Book of Mormon that has been collecting dust on your shelf, getting down on your knees and asking God for help, sharing a scripture you like with a friend. Allow Christ a place in your life, and you will see His hand in it every day.

Overall a really fun and beautiful week here in Michigan :)

The District

Love all of you!
-Sister Johnson     

Sister Riana Johnson

2201 Ashman St

Apt #2

Midland, MI  48640

riana.johnson@missionary.org

You would not believe your eyes

July 8, 2019

Happy Monday! 

What a week people. 

Highlights!:

▪ Sister Nuttall spilled Dr. Pepper ALL OVER herself one night. Karma for being addicted to it or something like that. 

▪ Happy America day! Hope everyone enjoyed the 4th! We got to see like zero fireworks, very anticlimactic. But the few we did see were through lots of trees from our apartment window. Sister Nuttall and I put on our marching USA t-shirts and turned off all the lights and watched fireworks while eating ice cream :) fun time. 

▪ We saw fireflies for the first time, what a blast. We freak out every time we see them. Someone listen to “Fireflies” by Owl City for me please.

▪ Had our zone conference (big meeting with lots of missionaries serving in Michigan) and it was great! We started reading the Book of Mormon as an entire mission yesterday with the goal to finish by General Conference on October 5, everyone is welcome and invited to join! (Let me know if you're in, and I'll send you pump up emails on Mondays, lol.) 

District with Bay City Elders

Three Generations

▪ We drove with the other Sisters in our district to and from zone conference because it was in Lansing and we penny surfed the entire hour and a half drive home.  :)

▪ We fasted this week for some peeps and treated ourselves by ending our fast with Olive Garden and I almost died it was so delicious and we ate so much food...endless breadsticks is a blessing and a curse.

▪ We made another cat friend! We named him Little Prince, and we love him so much. He followed us the entire street and brought so much joy. Pics included :)

▪ We weekly planned in our hammocks at the tridge!

The Tridge at sunset

Scripture of the week!

Alma 30:44
"All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea and it's motion, yea, and also all the planet's which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator".

I love this scripture because it so beautifully and simply declares that there is a God, and that He lives. I know this to be true, I have seen His hand in my life and in the lives of those around me. I know we have a loving and living Heavenly Father who wants all of us to return to Him. He loves us endlessly and completely. He loves and knows you individually. Trust Him.

I love you all lots! Also p-day will be Tuesday next week because it’s transfer week, so watch out! 

Love, Sister Johnson

Sister Riana Johnson

2201 Ashman St

Apt #2

Midland, MI  48640

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Jasper Jingleheimer Schmidt

 July 1, 2019

Let me tell y'all about this week of blessings...

• One night we were out knocking doors trying to find some more peeps to share the gospel with and it was POURING rain. We were soaked. Some super nice guys were talking to us about the Book of Mormon and how they have one and are willing to read it (blessed) and when we were leaving they insisted that we take this umbrella with a DUCK FOR A HANDLE. The coolest thing I have ever seen and they just gave it to us (double blessed) . We named him Jasper and we love him.

Jasper

• Sister Nuttall and I went to a follow up training meeting in Lansing and got to see Sister Tupou  (more blessings) and obviously had to get Chick-fil-a because we don't have one in Midland. Love love love that place, such a blessing every time we get to go. 

• Some members we love took us out for ice cream this week and it was so much fun 

• Most important event of the week...we put the Bushre family on date for baptism! We are so so excited, it's been amazing being able to witness the gospel change and bless the lives of this family and see them grow so much in faith and love. 

• We had root beer floats (again) and Sister Nuttall just chose to have hers out of the ice cream container but the same day we got vests for the bikes we're supposed to get soon (very tragic) and decided to wear them around the apartment for a bit. These things just happened to occur at the same time...so that's that. 

Sister Nuttall and her root beer floats!

Also I recently read President Nelson's talk "We Can Do Better and Be Better" and it is so good. I love how he talks about how repentance should not be seen as a punishment but a blessing. Satan works so hard on us too. "Satan knows who you are and who you were premortally, and he understands the work that must be done before the Savior returns. And after millennia of practicing his cunning arts, the adversary is experienced and incorrigible." The only way to overcome him is through Jesus Christ. He suffered incomprehensible pain and affliction so that we could repent and grow closer to him. When we repent daily and apply the Atonement in our lives, we can do better and be better. 

Thank you all for (maybe) reading these long emails and for sending love and prayers to Michigan :)

Love ya!

Sister Riana Johnson

2201 Ashman St

Apt #2

Midland, MI  48640

riana.johnson@missionary.org