February 17, 2014 - Zilina

Hello everyone!! 

  

 Thank you soooo much for the birthday wishes! 

I'm really excited!! There's lots going on...I've been coordinating all of this with the zone and what not and I'm just hoping all goes well! (editor's note: Although there use to be much  more stated here; apparently it is somewhat of a surprise! Yikes...hope we haven't ruined it for the recipients - Sister Johnson forgot to mention we weren't to share it with everyone - with a little more passage of time, you too will know what the surprise is.)

 

Another wonderful thing about this week was that I rode the double decker train!!! I'm so HAPPY!!! It's a regional train, just between small cities and I've wanted to ride it for ages and now I finally have!! YAY!!

Another funny thing (for other people at least) was that I got us stuck in Vrutky. It's a town outside of Zilina and we went to visit a member and it was on a Saturday which means the train times were weird and quite honestly Sister Krauel was the one who always knew everything. I messed up and we missed our train back and were stuck there for 2 hours. But we made it back safely and we only had to change one thing in our schedule. But it was super stressful and not anything I want to repeat!

Now time for questions which I was suppose to answer:

1. How did your Family Home Evening event turn out?  Exactly what did you do?

A. It was okay. We started off with a spiritual thought from the Elders about ways to strengthen your family (such as through family prayer), then we sisters took over with the activities and we all made Valentine Hearts and then played do you love your neighbor, which is crazy hard in Slovak when you don't know what people are always saying ;). Then we had sugar cookies and what not. Funny story though...so the elders baked good sugar cookies (they were a bit bland and dry but we won't tell them). Honestly they were probably better than mine because I couldn't find cream of tartar here so I tried substituting (didn't work-my cookies were super flat; tasted delicious though!). But the Elders also made a frosting (not following my advice) which didn't turn out (They used margarine instead of butter and it didn't mix properly so it was a sugar mix with chunks of margarine). So we didn't frost the cookies. About half the branch came and 2 other people came. It wasn't a failure but it wasn't quite successful like we wanted. Both of those who came enjoys our company and coming to activities but has no interest in taking the lessons. 

2. Were you able to turn any of your phone number contacts into investigators? Tell me about them.

A. Yes! 1 so far (Mi, see below). We haven't been able to get a hold of some of them and we also have a meeting later on today with another. :)

3. Is Pa still meeting with you?  What about Fi?

Pa isn't meeting with us anymore. He just seems very busy but we'll keep inviting him.

Fi hasn't met with us in weeks now. The other day I was on the phone with him and I asked if he still wanted to meet with us and learn about our message/the Gospel. He said yes but he's really busy so we'll see.

Ka. Well Karol still likes it when we come by and visit but is staunch Catholic. Mostly he's just lonely so we go occasionally but not often since he's not willing to commit to anything really. 

Mi is a new investigator. The first of the transfer!! We've met with him twice now and he's really great. He has an amazing testimony of Jesus Christ.

Pa isn't really an investigator but more like an honorable mention. She was given as a referral 4 or 5 transfers ago but doesn't have any interest. She lives near us and is a super sweet and cool older lady. She's an honorable mention because today we went over to her byt and she made us AMAZING soup. She has awesome stories and is just super friendly. Plus she's got a cute dog.

4. What did you do for the bake-off and, did you win?

A. OF COURSE I WON! I made smores brownies (thanks for the marshmallows at Christmas!) and sugar cookies, which may have not looked pretty but tasted good.

5. What miracles did you see this week?  

A. I don't really know...I think I have a testimony of the little things. That every little effort counts and that the biggest blessings in life are the little things. That even when things go wrong it's going to be okay and everything will work out eventually. 

I guess I'll close with a brief thought. I've been reading in Alma and I just love Alma 38. I think those verses apply to everyone as members (or missionaries). The chapter defines qualities that we as missionaries and member missionaries must develop. My favorite verse from the chapter is verse 2: "And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end." I think the little everyday things we do are important in building the Kingdom of God. So let us be steady and faithful in our endeavors. 

I love you all and once again thanks for the birthday wishes!! 

S Laskou,

Sestra Whiney Sarah Johnson<3