Hello everyone!
Glad to hear the families doing great! Happy Birthday to Michelle and Addison on Wednesday!
Elder Coffey and I had a wonderful week here in Woodstock. We were both healthy and we are really starting to become friends and have a lot of fun. From the very beginning, we got along really well, but recently, I have seen how we can be ourselves around each other which makes everything better. This change has reminded me of how weird I can be when I am being myself haha, I don't think I can repent of my weirdness. On a more serious note, I know that God needed Elder Coffey and I to stay together for a reason, so we will continue to be diligent to discover what the Lord has in store!
Despite the mild craziness that goes down in our apartment, we still of course are hard working and obedient and we had a lot of success finding this week! Thank you for your prayers! While street contacting this week, we found 1 new investigator and 2 solid potential investigators we hope to meet with next week! Each one of those people were found on our last run-thru of the street. My companion might say, "Let's go back through one more time," and BOOM one block later we find a prepared person. I know the Lord blesses us the most when we are diligent and go the extra mile (or extra block in this case) and this principle applies to more than just finding new investigators. I believe that there is so much that God is just waiting to bless us with but often our self-centered behavior restricts us from receiving all of those blessings. If only I could just remember all that the Lord has done for me ALL the time then I would be more open to receiving those blessings. Unfortunately, I'm not perfect so I forget sometimes, I will strive to do better this week!
I had an amazing and testimony building lesson with Hubert on Sunday which I would like to share with you. Hubert has made it clear from the beginning that he does not want to be pushed into baptism so we are respecting that request. In our lesson with Hubert on Tuesday, we asked him how he was feeling about baptism, he said that he wants to be 100% sure about baptism before it goes through with it. He said he wants to decide on May 20 and if he felt right about it, he would like to be baptized on July 21 which is his birthday: it would be like a new birth for him. I could see that he felt good about July 21, but it was really hard for me to be happy about a date so far away because I felt he would be ready for baptism much sooner. We have taught him everything and he has almost overcome his Word of Wisdom issues, we want him to continue to progress by being baptized. Elder Coffey and I didn't express our concerns about the baptismal date in that lesson (on Tuesday), but we thought long and hard every day about what we would talk about on Sunday with him. We felt we had a good plan going into the lesson on Sunday; we basically wanted to help him realize why he should be baptized sooner. Most importantly, we prayed that the spirit would guide us with exactly what to say. As the lesson began and the attention was brought to me, I asked Hubert a question, and the question that came out of my mouth was not a question I originally planned on asking. However, Hubert said that the question was something he was recently thinking about a lot. That first question led to more inspired questions and a wonderful lesson, which helped Hubert learn and feel things that he undoubtedly needed; and exactly what Elder Coffey and I needed as well. We talked about his testimony and what was lacking and what he needed to do in order to increase his testimony. I have never felt so spiritually exhausted after a lesson which proves how hard the spirit was working with me and Elder Coffey because he felt the same way. I know that the lesson would not have gone as well as it did if my companion and I had not prepared as much as we did. Although the lesson didn't follow our planned course, God had planned a different lesson, and the spirit was willing and able to work through us because we cared so much about Hubert and had thought about his needs all week long.
That powerful lesson with Hubert strengthened my testimony that the spirit is the only teacher. It can be a confusing principle to grasp; nonetheless, I know it is true. The words we say when we teach are like a key which opens a spiritual door letting the spirit enter the minds and hearts of those we teach. The investigator/student may or may not remember all the words we say as teachers, but they WILL remember what they learnt and most importantly, what they felt; and that edification comes only through the divinity and power of the Holy Ghost.
Keep up the good work everybody! Still have fun everyday though! I challenge you to involve your Father in Heaven and Savior in your lives every day! General Conference is coming up!!!
Have a great week!
Elder Johnson
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