March 17, 2014

Well here's the sitch:
Everything is going great. The sun is shining, the birds, are
chirping, the tank is clean... Despite the 4 inches of snow we
received throughout the week, the weather seems to be trying to warm
up. At least the streets don't seem to be as deserted these days.
Nothing like 30 degree weather to bring people out of hibernation.
Well, as we ate dinner with la familia mata Saturday night we received
a alarming call directly from president Fenn. I say alarming because
it's not just everyday you receive a call straight from the head man
himself. We called back to find out that Hermana Trimble has been
called to be an Hermana training leader and I will be staying in
Aurora and getting Hermana Sewell! I've met her a few times, she is
from Hawaii, just got out of training and really cute, so we are both
pretty excited. I feel blessed to have learned so much from Hermana
Trimble. But all good things must come to an end I suppose.
It has been a great week. We had an awesome zone conference on Friday.
President Fenn talked a lot about knowing your enemy. We made a list
of all the things that come from God and those that come from the
adversary. I have found it very helpful to identify the things of the
enemy in order to better understand those characteristics and thoughts
that come from God.

For example:
God gives us thoughts of Peace, light, comfort, faith, understanding,
hope, ennobling, merciful, forgiving, enlightens, motivating, desires
to do good, diligence, hard work, caring, humility, meekness, unity,
calmness, truth, righteous judgement... Vs. feelings of turmoil,
anxiety, confusion, darkness, fear, despair, cuts down, addiction,
criticism, apathy, difference, condemnation, discouragement, laziness,
selfishness, contention, erogance, pride, entitlement, pleasure,
controversy, lies, anger, etc. the list goes on and on.
The point he made is that as we live worth, seek, and follow the
spirit, we will always have the peace and guidance to make the right
decisions. As we learn to identify and control our thoughts, we
provide opportunities to eve ivy revelation and have experiences that
confirm and strengthen our faith. One great blessing from my mission
is knowing that if God calls you to the work, he qualifies you. So
that being said, there is just no room or time to have negative
thoughts... Ever. Because if we waste our time on them, we are only
feeding the natural man and will never reach our full potential.
It's always a work in progress... But it's in progress non the less.
Just a quick update on our investigators: Norma and Carlos are
awesome!!! We had a miracle lesson with them. Hoping to put them on
date for baptism this week. She had a great ah-ha moment this week "I
like that you address god as Heavenly Father, because it's like he's
our dad. And just like I was the best for my kids I think he wants the
best for us too." They are so prepared and just need to get work off
on Sundays. (By the way that is another way satan keeps people from
the truth- work on Sundays is not persuading anyone to serve god). So
there it is. I testify that god loves all of his children, and wants
to give us the truth and to bless us. We just need to ask and be
obedient. Serve god, don't work on Sundays, and enjoy the sun.
Well that's about it for now. Love you all!!! Thanks for all you do.

Love Hermana Johnson