Be One and if Ye Are Not One, Ye Are Not Mine

Dearest familia,

 

Mom... Keep me updated.  How are you doing??  I  won't be on until next Wednesday!  Long week waiting.

Kory, how is the MTC?  Dad, Kolton, Kaden, Keeks miss you and love you:)

 

Alrighty, this week was shorter, our p-days keep switching all over the place.  We have zone conference this week, so that should be fun :)

 

I led the discussion in district meeting again... not my favorite thing to do. ha.  Oh, and I got proposed to by some guy we contacted in to... he was very drunk.

 

Then funny story.  A sister at the visitor center was out and saw this guy.  He was like, you are very pretty ladies.  I am not sure what she thought he said, but she said, "Great!  Is there a time that we can get together?"  He said, "Sure, I like women."  Then she didn't hear him so she said... "what?"  With an oblivious smile on her face and he said, "I like women."  And she got super happy all of a sudden and said, "THAT's GREAT!  Because we are Mormon's!!!"  Sister Rigby was rolling her eyes... saying.. quietly, "He said women sister, he said women." haha  It was so awesome.

 

We also went to our neighbors and gave them cookies and one of our neighbors name is Tami.  She was a little bit frustrating :)  I was excited to talk to her at first because she was asking what we do as missionaries   So we started telling her that we get to serve for 18 months, etc.  Then she started asking what we believed in and sister Spong said, something about living with our Father in Heaven again.  Then she freaked out and said, "again?"  What do you mean see Him again?  Then she went on and on saying we have never lived with him... and tried to get us to prove everything from the Bible and would not stop asking questions.  We were like... we would love to come back another time and we tried to leave, but it seriously would not work!  It ended with her giving us a hug and her saying, "I am going to be praying for you girls because I love you two already, and I want to see you in heaven.  So stop reading that Book of Mormon.  Stick only to the Bible and get away from that non-sense because Satan blinds your eyes sometimes and you need to open them!"  We were like... great.. thank you so much, Tami.  We will be praying for you too. haha  I was just frustrated...

 

I went on exchanges this week with Sister Neslen.  The one who wrote me a letter before I got out here.  That was fun :)  Miracle exchange!!  We were at the Johnson home.  We took probably 5 tours and the best tours ever.  Almost every single one of the tours cried.  The spirit was so strong... I can't even tell you.  I felt a connection with all the people who came in and some said it was their favorite part of the whole entire church history tour.  Then we went to Jim and Lisa's home (our investigators)  They have a baptism date :)  Lisa cried.  We were talking about the Plan of Salvation and she broke down when she heard that she can see her mom again... I love Lisa and Jim so much.  It made me cry... Then the last stop of the day, we went to Kathy's (A Less-active).  We sang, "where can I turn for Peace?"  And by that time, Kathy was crying and I was crying again.  That was a miracle exchange.  A water works day, but I am so grateful for the gift of the spirit and grateful that I am a missionary, so that I can help others become closer to our Savior and Father in Heaven.

 

We also went back to the nursing home.  They are so much fun!  We just talk and do activities like Simon Says for their exercise and work out time, sing songs, puzzles ,etc.  It's the best. One lady was like, are you an angel?  You are so bright!  She made my day :)  Most of them always ask if we are nuns... haha.  We get that a lot. A nother lady named Helen always is shaking and really cold and so another lady decided she wanted to knit her a blanket.  It was so sweet!  It probably could have been a blanket for a Barbie, but it was so sweet that she was trying her best.  She said that God gave her talents to help other people.  I said, you are so right!

 

It reminded me of the Saints :)  Of course... I am always relating everything to the Saints now.  The Saints were commanded to build a temple, but they didn't know how and it wasn't until 6 months later after the Lord had chastised them that they started building the Kirtland temple.  No one had money, but everyone had talents.  Joel Hills Johnson built Saw Mills.  That was one of his talents and because of that, they were able to get moving!

 

In D&C 38 it says; Be one and if ye are not one, ye are not mine.

In D&C 46 it talks about how we should always remember and always retain in our minds our gifts.  But that we all don't have every gift for there are so many gifts!  And to every man is given a gift by the spirit of God.  And to some is given one and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

 

Think about what your talents are. You could be good at communicating, good with details, loving, multi-tasking, dicerning, singing, dancing, being humble, smiling, basketball, laughing. We all have different gifts and talents.  Our Heavenly Father gave them to us so that we can become as one!  As the scripture says in D&C.  We are not using them for ourselves.  We are able to help each other build talents, serve, lift each other up.

 

We need to recognize and be so thankful for what He has given us... and we need to use them.  Even just getting out there and using your talents and being the person you are, you are able to be an example, a shining light to those around you.  Sometimes we will see the fruits of our labors, but sometimes we won't.  Heavenly Father just wants us to use our talents and He wants us to use them so that we really can all become as one.

 

I know that the Saints were able to use their time and talents to help build the temple.  They worked so hard.  Some would cook for the men, some would babysit, some would sing, cut lumber, etc and because of that they were able to bless so many lives.  I know that our Heavenly Father loves every single one of us and every single one of you.  He knows you personally.  He knows the desires of your hearts and He is right by your side cheering you on.  He wants you to be your best and magnify those gifts you have been given.

 

I pray for you everyday and I miss you...

 

Love you sooo much.

xoxo

 

Sister Kelsi Denae Johnson

 

"The trick is to enjoy life.  Don’t wish away your days waiting for better ones ahead."