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