Week 13!

Week 13!! I will be hitting 3 months this week :,)

Fun fact about Sister Adams this week... if yall remember a couple emails ago i said she started crocheting? Well now it has turned into an obsession and often she'll randomly yell "AH I wanna set this on fire!!!" about all the projects she's worked on. But she has a pattern for a little mandalorian doll and she's working on that right now. Lookin pretty good so far tbh.

We had the opportunity to have a lot of lessons with members this week! I honestly love member work and I think it is just as important to strengthen existing members. We've worked with Sister Day, a super sweet lady who's been a member for 3 years now, and she finally scheduled her patriarchal blessing and is making changes in her life to be able to go to the temple soon! We also helped our friend Sister Curtis meal prep cause she's been in a lot of pain this week, and we did some dishes for Sister Hayward because her husband has been out of town for a med school rotation for 3 months and she has 3 little kids. SERVICE IS AWESOME! So is bearing and sharing testimonies:) SO many people need to hear YOUR testimony and feel of your love! No matter how small you may think it is, it is still enough!

I had the VERY unique opportunity to take a tour of the Lubbock temple this week. The head maintenance guy offers tours for missionaries during off hours so it's empty other than him and us missionaries.

He talked to us about the baptistry, pointing out that the octagon font looks like a keyhole. Baptism is the KEY to progression on the covenant path and the KEY to more blessings from God! We are also the key in the keyhole for those who have passed on. When we do the proxy baptism ordinance for our ancestors, we are opening the door for them to continue their progression!

We also went and sat in the brides room! SO BEAUTIFUL! He talked about how special the relationship is between a husband and wife. Mothers have a unique connection with their children because they carried them for 9 months:,) fathers have a unique relationship with their children because they are able to give priesthood blessings, revelation from God through them! Both roles are essential. Also if we aren't working on ourselves and trying to improve, we can't expect that our future spouse will be perfect. Growth in Christ and growth together is the plan!

LASTLY he took us to the ROOF. the literal roof of the temple. He told us a story from his mission in Chile... he said that his mission president took them to the highest hill in their mission and told them to look out across the city. He said "All these people chose God's plan in the premortal life. Everyone chose God! Some of them just need reminding." I looked out at all of Lubbock (basically all of Texas cause its so flat:,)) and i felt so much LOVE and also urgency. We are all in this together!! We all chose God's plan so why wouldn't we help others along the way? I'm happy that I get to do that full time for 15 more months because having the knowledge of God's plan brings me so much peace and comfort:)

We invited our friends Matthew and Crystal and John to think and pray about baptism! It was terrifying to be honest :,) I was so worried about their response like what if they aren't ready... what if it scares them... what if.. what if.. BUT THEY ALL SAID THAT THEYD ALREADY BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT! Miracleeeee. So if you will pray for them I would really appreciate it:) we'll see where they're at after a couple more lessons!

It's interesting talking to other missionaries out here and hearing about what they were like before the mission... seeing pictures of elders with their long hair or hearing what music people listened to or what they liked to do... SO CRAZY! I have shattered so many peoples expectations when i show them how i dressed and told them what music i listened to and it makes me laugh every time hahaha. missions are whack. its like a weird mix between being completely removed from the world but also stepping into it every day when you're teaching new people and learning about their lives:,)

My entire email was basically a spiritual thought... bear your testimony and go to the temple(if you can)! ♡

Feel free to email or Google chat me with questions, comments, concerns, life updates, etc. I love you all!

Sister Johns

Email:

sage.johns@missionary.org

Address:

5824 4th St #1407

Lubbock TX 79416

Pictures:

1. Driving through the ghetto

2. Elder Bateman with his hot dog chili

3. Elder Randall and the bird named Reginald