trio to a two-o

October 28, 2019

Hey boys and girls,

We are only halfway through the transfer and they've been changing it all around! We got the saddest news last Monday night that Sister Jacobs needed to go help out in Bay City, so we lost her on Wednesday. As much as a trio was an adjustment, I loved being with Sister Jacobs and Sister Nelson. I know Sister Jacobs is doing good work up there, and I'm grateful to still be here in Sturgis with Sister Nelson!

the wierschkes aka my sturgis parents

• last Monday we had our District Pday which was a grand ole time. We carved pumpkins, got ice cream and played ultimate football in the rain (rip bc we took pictures only after we were soaked).

district pday last week all soaked lol

• in one part of our area, Three Rivers, there is a very large amount of less actives and so we went with three other sisters in the ward on splits. We visited with so many amazing people each with different struggles and things keeping them from coming to church. It was a great experience and something we will keep doing to help find those lost sheep! 

• one sweet returning member we have been working closely with was able to get her patriarchal blessing after losing it years ago. That was such a sweet experience to help her and see how it blessed her. 

• we had our final district council with Sister Jacobs and we come to find out, it was our last with our district too. Because of a missionary who has to go home, they moved our area to a new district which is so sad, but I guess God has a greater plan for us here in Sturgis.

our last district council together

• we lost Sister Jacobs on Wednesday after they inspected our apartment but she is bomb and is doing awesome stuff in Bay City.

lomls

• we taught our friend Alida again and she is so awesome! She knows so much already and is so ready to be baptized. We figured we'd move her date to Nov 16 since she's so ready!

• we also got to teach our friend Rick again and it was so good. He has such a strong relationship with God and said he will pray about being baptized!

• ok funny story. So being the dumb trainer that I am, with no one to correct me, I figured a little rain wouldn't hurt anyone right? So we decided to walk around visiting some people close by in the rain. To our surprise, it wasn't too bad, until it started to pour and because the sun had set, it was freezing. Bonus, there were no street lights so it was pitch black. We barely made it to our church building and we had to call a member to take us home ...that can give you an idea for how much I know haha

me in the pouring rain before freezing to death

• despite it getting so cold here, it is so beautiful and colorful! I have never seen so many trees like these! 

the beautiful hill we biked up

Also, as a goal for our district this week, we shared our personal study to help us each grow together and so I'll share mine from this week! It's a little long so watch out haha. So today I decided to study Luke 17. Two parts in this chapter I wanted to focus on is the Ten Lepers and Lot's wife. First after reading, I was curious as to why these were both mentioned together and what correlation they share. The story of the ten lepers is when each leper cries for mercy from Christ. He heals them and only one returns to thank him. Christ said to him, "thy faith hath made thee whole." While each leper was healed and overcame their illness, it was the faith of this one that made him whole. Similarly, this chapter mentions Lot's wife. After the warnings that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed, Lot took his family to the wilderness. His wife however, looked by as they left. Holland gave a BOMB BYU devotional about this (and I highly recommend you listen to it) and he said, "What did Lot’s wife do that was so wrong? … Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before they were past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her." Both of these stories talk about faith and sacrifice. It made me reflect upon what I am willing to give to do this work. In Luke 17:33 it says, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." What an important truth for us as missionaries. We often get caught up in ourselves, our personal problems, and what we could've had. It brought me to think of Tad R. Calister’s talk, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary." Two things he spoke of are putting our disobedience and our fears upon the Sacrificial Altar. We have to sacrifice our own desires to serve the Lord and align our will with His. We can't do that when we look back as Lot's wife had. We have to have genuine faith in our Father's plan for us. Hebrews 11 gives a great perspective of the role faith plays in all of history. Were it not for faith, Enoch would not have been translated, Abraham would not have had his son, Moses would not have walked on dry land, and many other miracles. The leper was only made whole by his faith. The first Christlike attribute mentioned in Preach My Gospel is Faith in Jesus Christ. I never really understood why that was an attribute of Christ, but seeing how truly NOTHING could be done without faith in Christ and His Atonement, I have a greater picture. It makes me want to lay all my fears and sins on the sacrificial altar, to align my will with the Lords, always pressing forward--not looking back, and remembering the Lord in every aspect of my life. Missionary work is a waste of time if you don't have faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel. I know these things are true and I bear my witness of it. 

love you all so much and wish you the very best

♥sister johnson

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Sister Johnson

195 Memorial Dr Apt B 21

Sturgis, MI 49091

falling in love with Jesus

October 21, 2019

hey everyone!

as always, we have been having a party down here in sturgis! so many awesome things this week and next! let me give y'all the rundown

we hit our 5 month and celebrated with brownies :)

•  we had the amazing opportunity to hear from President Ballard, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Bennet this weekend for a North America North East mission broadcast! it was so powerful to hear two apostles of the Lord speak and council us on why we share the gospel. 

•  we also had some miracles the other night. our plans for the evening fell through and we weren't sure how we could best use our time. we decided to go out and bike, talking to the people that were put in our path. we met 5 awesome people all with a sincere desire to learn! God really does answer prayers when we commit to act. 

•  we bought some rakes and went around biking (with our rakes) and asked people if we could rake their yard. it was so awesome and we met some amazing people.

rakes!

•  we had interviews this week which is awesome. I seriously love my President and the council he gives. bonus we got to go to target and qdoba while we were in battle creek. blessings on blessings.

qdoba with my favorite people

•  training is still a blast. sister nelson came pretrained, I swear. I love being in a trio with sister nelson and sister jacobs. it is definitely not easy but has really allowed me to grow and deepen my love for my companions. 

we all accidentally wore stripes so we took a pic and then changed lol

•  we also had stake conference and were able to hear from two area seventies and they counseled us in recognizing the spirit more abundantly in our lives. 

Something powerful that President Ballard shared in the meeting was that we need to "fall in love with Jesus." When we come to deeply understand the Atonement, or Christ's suffering which was so individual to us, we fall in love with him. We feel a desire to use the Atonement in our lives DAILY and seek the comfort he is so willing to give. My absolute favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon is Alma 7:11-12. Christ felt EVERY pain, EVERY affliction, EVERY temptation, and EVERY sorrow we will endure in this life. He did this so that he could succor us—to care for us, lift us, and carry us through our burdens. As we come to learn that, we have a greater love for all that Christ did for us INDIVIDUALLY. We know that we are never alone in our struggles and trials. We seek to become more like Him and follow Him. I LOVE my Savior and His very personal Atonement and for the strength I receive from Him. I invite you all to learn of Him, use His Atonement, and fall in love with Him. Sorry, I don't think I could ever stop talking about Jesus Christ, but I would love to share what I studied this week. My FAVORITE parable is found in Luke 15:3-7. It is the parable of the lost sheep. The Shepherd left behind his flock of 99 to find the one. Many of us feel lost in a lot of different ways. Christ is ALWAYS seeking us out to bring us home and when he does, He lays us across His shoulders rejoicing to have us back. 

I love the work that I get to do each day, helping people grow closer to Jesus Christ.

we were forced to get flu shots so we had to flex them..

sturgis WHAT the electric city

I love y'all and appreciate all the love and support! have a wonderful week♥

sister johnson 

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Sister Johnson

195 Memorial Dr Apt B 21

Sturgis, MI 49091

HALLOWEEN CRUNCH IS BACK

Monday, October 14, 2019

Hey kids it’s been a bomb week!

We picked up our little pumpkin on Thursday and she is seriously the cutest! 

me and sister jacobs on our way to get our pumpkin

me and sister jacobs WITH our pumpkin

our whole district is training so here’s a district pic 

• We were finally able to teach our friend Mayra who has been really busy and it was so powerful to see the impact the Atonement had on her. We also were able to teach Rick the Plan of Salvation and the member we brought helped to really bring the spirit to testify to him that he could be with his wife again. We also taught Alida as well and she and her mom are really progressing. 

• We got another flat tire on Saturday haha! It was an even a different tire than the one that popped last week. Thankfully, our bishop was driving right behind us and helped us change the tire. We don't seem to have a lot of luck with cars lol.   

• We were also able to teach a lesson to a couple who were previously baptized but never confirmed. We had our bishop come and help to clarify their questions and understanding of doctrines. We shared Acts 19 which was super helpful and was cool to study as well. 

• We got some Chick fil a while in Lansing and it was so bomb. I love that place. 

• Training has definitely made me reflect on how hard I really am working. I felt like I was doing my best but with Sister Nelson, I realize that I have many things to improve on. She is doing very well and has such a desire to go and share the gospel! Being in a trio has also made me be a lot more intentional with the way I teach, the way I act and how I work but it has all been a great learning experience thus far. I have really come to realize it is not about me at all but about the work and helping Sister Nelson and Sister Jacobs.

• I have also really loved studying more about the New Testament and the powerful teachings of Christ. One story that I think is so interesting is about Christ raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus Christ. He heard of his sickness and decided to stay longer in Judea. In the Jewish culture at that time, a person wasn't considered to be truly separated from their spirit until 4 days after their death. Christ evidently did not come to see Mary and Martha until 4 days after. Christ, being someone of far greater perspective and knowledge of Gods plan and also had the power to raise Lazarus yet he "wept" as we read in John 11:35. Christ has so much love and compassion for us. He wept with Mary because he knew what she was facing. He endured it all, so that he could know how to succor- or show compassion through our struggles. I love Jesus Christ and the power His love has in my life. I know He is my Savior and Redeemer. 

Have a bomb week!

Sister Johnson

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CEREAL IS HERE

Me in literal heaven with the cutest dog (almost a bear) named Winston. He is actually the love of my life.

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Sister Johnson

195 Memorial Dr Apt B 21

Sturgis, MI 49091

we're expecting!👶🏼

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

hey yall!

it’s transfer week and boy do we have news! Sister Jacob's and I are trio training!! so pumped because I get to stay with Sister Jacob's and train a new little pumpkin! here's the week:

• this week we did a lot of service but it so much fun! we helped cut up some trees, serve people lunch, and helped garden. 

• we also got to visit with our sweet friend rick who just quit his job and is ready to start coming to church! he wasn't able to watch conference but loved reading some talks given in previous general conferences. 

• we also visited with dave and debbie and we sadly had to stop teaching them because they are heading to South Carolina this week and they weren't progressing either. we are just hopeful they will ponder what we've taught them and one day be ready to learn again

• we got a flat tire and our car is dumb and told us it was the wrong tire so we ended up overfilling one tire with a different tire that was flat that's what you get with two people who don’t know what they are doing hahaha. so shout out to a member's husband, coming out to our district council and filling up our tire enough to get us to Boland Tire lol.

as many of you know, this weekend was general conference (aka the best weekend of the year) and we get to hear from our living prophet and apostles! it was such a spiritual recharge and I loved every minute of it. I especially liked the focus on keeping covenants, enduring joy, overcoming the adversary, trusting in the Lord, and receiving revelation. each of these are crucial to our eternal progression to grow closer to our Father in Heaven and one day come back home to Him. I have so much love for this gospel and I have seen it bless countless lives. Elder Johnson's talk about the adversary really struck me. Satan uses deception, distraction and discouragement to separate us from what God truly wants us to become. as we love God and our neighbors, pray everyday, read and study the Book of Mormon everyday, and prayerfully partake of the sacrament every week, we will have the strength to overcome all that the adversary throws at us. 

love yas and hope you can each learn from and apply something from general conference in your life. 

♥Sister Johnson

riana.johnson@missionary.org

Sister Johnson

195 Memorial Dr Apt B 21

Sturgis, MI 49091