More than Weekend Warriors!

Bonjour family & friends!

This has been a crazy week! It seems like every week we seem to get busier and busier and the weeks keep going faster and faster. This week has been a time of a lot of reflection and learning. Soeur Brown and I have both decided we want to stretch ourselves and take advantage of all the opportunities that Heavenly Father is giving us to grow.. and believe me, He is giving us plenty :)

Outside the palace of the Duke and Duchess with my cute companion!

This week we had such a cool lesson with one of our new amis. We met this really cool lady a couple weeks ago. She was standing on her porch while we were walking by and so we starting talking with. We only got to talk to her for a few minutes before she had to go, but she told us that what we had to say interested her so that we should come back. We went to her house again later and started talking with her. She said that she has had quite of few people come knock on her door talking about religion but has never let any of them in. She said that she told us we could come back because she felt something different this time! We brought one of our members that is leaving to go on a mission in a couple months. While she was testifying about the Book of Mormon she started crying and then our ami got tears in her eyes too. Then she asked, why do sometimes when I pray I get weird feelings like I am feeling now and even start crying?! We were more than willing to give her answer. We explained the "Divinity" (the difference between Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost) and told her that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost testifying of truth. The spirit was so strong during our rendezvous! When we were teaching it felt like we weren't even teaching her new things, we were just reminding her of things she already learned in the pre-existence. We are going to see her next week and explain more of the Book of Mormon! The miracles never cease.

The palace of the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg

We had a really great lesson with one of our members this week. We were getting to know her and so she was telling us a little bit of her life story. Her and her twin sister met the missionaries when they were in their 20's. They chose to be baptized even though they were really persecuted by their family members for doing so. She comes from a very catholic family and so they were not very happy that they were leaving what had become a family tradition. She continues to face a lot of opposition because even 20 years later, her family is against her decision to remain in the church. We asked her what has kept her strong throughout the years. She told us it has been by doing the "little things" everyday that has helped strengthen her testimony and has helped her face daily opposition. She said that by reading the scriptures everyday, praying and by going to church every week, she has become truly converted. It truly is the little things that make a big difference!! 

This week, we had a member call us and ask if we would be willing to spend the day visiting members who live far away and don't often get visited. As we spent the day traveling between three different countries, I was thinking about how incredible it is that this member not only comes to church on Sunday but truly understands what we learn at church and applies it during her weekly life. She took an entire day out of her week to visit people that she knew hadn't been visited for a long time. Not because she was necessarily friends with them or even their visiting teacher. She did it because she knows that is what the Savior would do. It reminded me of the quote, "Therefore, true Christian soldiers are more than weekend warriors." Not every one has the time to spend a whole day visiting people in the ward or to go out with missionaries or to visit a friend who might need a boost (members or not). But no matter how busy our days are, we all have time to make a quick phone call, or send a quick text.  Like I said, it's all about the little things! 

I don't know if i will ever get over how cool Luxembourg is!!

We should make the people around us feel of Christs love because of how we treat them. Coming to church doesn't make a difference if we don't apply the things we have learned. When people walk into the church building they should feel like they are in the church of Christ. We should not be kind just on Sundays. We should not ask people how they are doing just on Sundays. Our commitment to following the Savior is not just for Sundays, it's for everyday of the week and for everyday of our lives. "It is not enough for us to know what is right and to believe it is good. We must be willing to stand up and be counted. We must be willing to act in accordance with what we believe under all circumstances. It is of little value for us to believe one way if we behave contrary to that belief in our private actions or in our public performance." The real test of our loyalty to the Savior is how we live and serve people in our day to day lives. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!! 

Love, Sœur Johnson