Hey you!!

Alright so I don't really have time to write about the last two weeks, because I had to send President a novel this week.  No worries I'll include it for you and then you shall see.

Brief recap March 17-23

  Oh my goodness I forgot to wish Grandma Donna and Karlee a happy birthday!! So sorry, I hope they were splendid. Zone Conference was beyond spectacular, I learned tons!!! We had an awesome lesson w/ an investigator afterwards and then we got to spend some time w/ George so good times of Tuesday. Wednesday we had a rainy day, and spent some time in and out of it. Thursday we had an interesting visit with a member who gave us some cookies. We taught Sister Morales the law of Chastity in her car, b/c our investigator dropped us before she made it to our place to pick us up.  Sunday we had an impromtu lesson w/ Luke and Brother Busch. It was awesome, he said some things to him that I don't think I have the guts to say, so that was nice.

This last week:

 We went on a hike w/ Brother McMurtry and the other Sisters and then we went back to his place and hit some wiffle balls, Dillon and Colio I'll have you know I hit them everytime, and they made it a good few feet. I guess my lesson w/ yall stuck....clear till now.

  Tuesday we had Christian come out w/ us and our person wasn't feeling well, so then he was cool enough to travel around Vandalia w/ us until we taught a lesson. The 3rd time was the charm incase you were wondering. :) We met Mason, George's brother. He is funny, very different from George....like in looks, personality and everything.  We had a good time with those we talked to this week.

here is my letter to President:

 Oh my goodness the second lesson went awesome.  As soon as we walked in the door she asked us, "Did you bring my book?"  We assured her that we had, and then we did the lesson as it was taught and when we actually got the book she was so happy. She told us that she had been thinking about it all week and couldn't wait to read it.  Unfortunately she doesn't live in our area, or even our ward, but we were able to pass her off to the Kettering Sisters because that is where she lives.  I am excited to hear how she continues to progress, because she truly is ready for the gospel in her life, she wants it too, so that is fun!
  Alright so for the assignment that you gave us. I'm going to be honest, I really struggled coming up with my questions. I guess I don't usually push my brain that hard, so go figure it was about time for it to truly work on something.

How can I forgive myself?
  This is a question that I feel everyone has.  Sometimes it can be a lot easier to forgive someone else than it can be to truly forgive ourselves. To start off I looked in the dictionary under forgive: to pardon; to overlook With that definition in mind I turned to Mosiah 26:29-32. If we are truly sincere in seeking repentance and we turn to God we can be forgiven.  He will not remember our sins anymore.  Repentance truly is a chance for us to move forward, onward and upward to God.  He wants us to forsake our sins (Alma 39:9). As we turn to Christ and let Him help us we can do this and move forward as taught in 3 Nephi 12:20 and as we read in 3 Nephi 12:30 we can see that we are to work on denying ourselves of ungodliness.  In Alma 24:11 we see that as we open our hearts to God, He can come in and help us make the change that we are trying to work on, it will not be easy however, but as we ask for His help we can just like in Alma 24:15.  My favorite place where I learned how we can forgive ourselves was in Enos.  In verse 2 we see that it is something that we must work at, verse 4 shows us that it is indeed a process, and in verse 5 we see that God forgives him.  If God is willing to forgive us, we can see how important it is to forgive ourselves.  God who is the greatest of all is willing to forgive and forget, we are not greater than Him, so we too must forgive ourselves.

How can the Book of Mormon solve my temporal needs?
  This is a question that I have seen in action many times over.  As I took the time to study I found that our temporal needs truly are very dependent on our spiritual needs.  In Mosiah 2:22 we learn that we must follow God's commandments if we are to be blessed and as we read the Book of Mormon we will learn His commandments so we can better follow them.  As we follow we are blessed. The cause and effect are seen a multiplicity of times as we read.  Mosiah 2:41 we are happy as we follow God's commandments and that helps our temporal needs as well as our spiritual needs. In 1 Nephi 17:3 God provided means for and strengthened them as they kept His commandments.  We cannot however just expect to receive blessings, we must be humble and we must express our gratitude as taught in Alma 7:23-24.

How can I overcome temptation?
  The answer plain and simple is that we cannot overcome temptation alone, only with God's help can we do so.  We first must do as we are taught in 1 Nephi 15:24 and be willing to hearken to God's will.  We must be realize that Satan only desires to bring us to destruction and that is his whole reason for tempting us (2 Nephi 4:27).  We must pray for strength as taught in Alma 13:28, we must also seek to develop more Christlike attributes so we can be like Him. In Mosiah 3:7 we learn that He suffered all temptation, but we also know that He was able to overcome it and not give in, so if we become more like Him we too can overcome things, because as we pray for strength He willing gives it to us, oftentimes we have more strength than we realize (Mosiah 4:27), because He is there strengthening us.  We must do as Helaman taught his sons in Helaman 5:12, we have to build on the Savior, we can overcome anything, with His help. He has to be our foundation Alma 26:6

I love you! I hope you have as good a time at GC as I do :)

Sad day

Julie had computer difficulties on Monday and was not able to email.  We will hopefully hear from her next week.

Happy Green Day :)

Hello!

  So there are some awesome things to tell you about this week, and I'm going to go in order like always, but first off I have a few shout outs to make.  Colton Congrats on becoming an Elder that is simply wonderful.  I hope you get to go to the Temple soon, because quite frankly that is the best place on earth to be.  Wow I simply cannot believe how big Miss Madison is getting that is crazy she is growing so much so very fast. Happy Birthday on Wednesday Miss Hailey, don't do anything crazy tho! :) Last off Happy St. Patricks day.

  Monday we met this really awesome guy.  He was just listening to us out of politeness to begin w/ and then we ended up piquing his interest so that was good. I was all excited to be able to teach him, but no, he lives in Kettering.....boo. But oh well we were able to call the Sisters down there and give them his info. Hopefully he will keep his interest, and they will be able to teach him, b/c he was cool.

  Tuesday we were on Exchanges and I was w/ Sister Campbell in Englewood.  We were able to meet some nice people and that was pretty fun.  We even found 4 new investigators and that was a definite high.  They live down in the hood tho.  Since the Elders are gone the other Sisters ended up w/ some interesting area, we have some as well, but not quite like them.  It makes for finding more people tho, so that is pretty cool. We went and visited Sister Helis and did some service for her and then she was kind enough to make us dinner. I got to have buckwheat pancakes which were pretty grand :) I adore her, Idk if you know that or not, but she and Brother Helis are simply wonderful!

  Wednesday was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! The 9 month wait was not my favorite, but being able to set foot in the Temple was so wonderful.  I adore the feeling that is in those special buildings.  The Columbus Temple is very small but so beautiful.  I never wanted to leave, it was so spectacular.  We were even able to do some names for one of our ward members so that was fun.  We ended up having a meeting w/ Bishop that night and got some names of people to focus on, I always love having greater focus. Just one of those people who needs to be directly directed or be the director, I suppose :) haha I was able to get some direct revelation for a few of our investigators so that was very helpful.  I love revelation it is simply the best.

  Thursday Happy Birthday Alex! We were gifted w/ some more snow, gotta love it right?  We had a good visit w/ .  He Elijah let us practice teaching the Restoration on him and we actually used a bajillion more scriptures on him than we ever use so that was cool.  I think we now need to just incorporate that into our regular teaching.  We had a lesson that evening and then it got cancelled and then it got filled in w/ another investigator and then they cancelled too. So we were left w/ a hole and a member was all set to come out w/ us, so I was stressed to the max and we went and visited some of our investigators that aren't really progressing.  It was different, but it totally worked, which was fun.  Miracles are amazing things :)  We went and visited one of my favorite LA's and it was so funny she told us. Don't come on Thursdays, its my Big Bang night, so I wrote it down so we don't rain on her parade. She is simply hilarious. :)

  Friday we had a lesson in the park, who knew there was one so close to us?? But it is and it worked out quite nicely. Then we got to go see George!!! I hadn't seen him for a week, I was practically going thru w/drawal :) haha We had a really, really, good lesson and I really think he is practically there. I can almost taste it :) we shall see when we go and visit him tomorrow I guess.  We went and talked w/ this guy that Sister Anderson and I met on her last Sunday on the mission and he was funny b/c he was interested the day we met him and then we started talking to him that night he was a little guarded, and then he opened back up for us.  He didn't want to take the BoM and then we just kept talking about it and were like are you sure, and then he was like well I guess I am interested I do want to see. So haha the power of just keep talking about it totally works :) Bring it up enough and they might change their mind.

  Saturday we had a good time.  We had an apt but they weren't there so we ended up talking to one of our miracle people from the week before and that was awesome.  Set up a return apt for this week and hopefully we might have 2 new investigators.  We had dinner at the Morales, which was fun as always.  Then we had a lesson w/ Luke and I felt so bad but we weren't able to get anyone out w/ us so we were outside w/ him for an hour and it was getting chilly, and he had only a t-shirt on. The poor guy was freezing. Its a lot different for him to have us than the Elders but I love him, and hopefully we can help him out just like the Elders did.

  Sunday we saw several miracles. We had 3 inv. at church.  Jon went to YSA and then we had 2 at church w/ us.  Elijah came to church and it was just a good old time.  We went and had a quick lesson w/ Luke after church, he hadn't been able to come b/c he was sick but we had a good visit and we set up to do FHE tonight. I'm super excited about that :) 

 Today we went to Dayton and visited some pretty sweet sites. Got to see the Wright Brothers old hang out spot. We got to be in one of their printing press places as well as one of their bicycle shops.  Cool stuff. :)

This week we have Zone Conference so I am super excited about that. We also have baptism happening in our ward that we are going too, so that will be fun :)

I hope you all have a great week!!  I also highly suggest you all do a study about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father.  I have been breaking down the Restoration in my studies this week and it has been so fun and I have really learned a lot!!

Love, Sister Julie Ann....aka  Sister Christiansen

Last Week Recap & This Week

Last Week Recap

Alright so last week was awesome I want to do a quick recap before I move on to this week.

 

Last tues. I was on exchanges w/ Sister Schmitt, we had a good time together, as always.  We were able to be kind of flexible and just go where the Lord wanted us to, after we had a good samaritan help us w/ our tire that is.  Funny that it ended up being the 2 who don't know how to change a tire when we got the flat.  Oh well it worked out pretty well.

 Wednesday we had District meeting so that was fun.  We talked all about baptism extensions and how imp they are.  We had a good lesson w/ Jon and Sister Wilson, we talked about setting a date but he's still not ready, so not yet.  We went to Derek's and unfortunately he wasn't there, but we were teaching his brother's gf, and then conviently enough he came home, she left and then we had a good lesson w/ him.

  Thursday was weekly planning since we had the Sisters meeting in Cinci.  We had a lesson w/ Jon and Sister Knox-Stanfill and she kept me laughing the whole way to Jon's it was hilarious :)  Dinner w/ the Morales was super duper fun, and then I was so excited all day cuz we had a lesson w/ Donny.  We got there, and he wasn't there and I was super bummed so then we left a note and cookies and went back to the car and gave him a call and left a message.  We were still deciding where to go when we got a call back from him and he told us sorry that he forgot but he was at his mom's and gave us the address so we could meet him there.  We had a good lesson w/ Him and I just love him.  He is reading everything, the BoM, the D&C and PoGP, the Gospel Principles book and has a notebook so he can keep notes.  I love him!!! He knows its true, he is just working on a few things, and he wants to get baptized, in his time, so we're going to work on him lots and lots!! Oh also we were sure hoping we were still in our area, so when we got home we checked the map and we still were, so that was a bit of a relief. :)

  Friday! The Sisters meeting was amazing!!! I loved it so much and I learned tonz!! I also got to see some adorable faces that I haven't seen for eons :)  We also got to chat w/ some Columbus Elders so that was fun, haha trying to figure out some stuff between the 2 missions.  Sometimes I don't particulary love that we are on the border, but oh well.

 Saturday we had a switch a roo again. We were supposed to have a lesson w/ Donny but he had to cancel, so we took Sister Tipton to Jennifer and Earls, and they loved her little baby.  So that worked nicely.  Also we had a baking failure, but not really and we took Sister Weir a birthday cupcake and she loved it so that was fun.

  Sunday we had a good time at church, and thats it folks!

 

Now you have a synopsis of last week! Party time huh?

 

Love you :)

This Week

Hello again!  Back so soon eh?

  So this week was awesome too! I have lots of stuff to say and lets see how far I get in it. :)

Monday we had a ton of fun at the activity! We really wanted to go see Donny that night and we decided to pray about it, and Sister Ashcraft got a definite no, and then right after we decided no together, he text us and said that he wasn't going to be home till later.  We went to Jennifer and Earl instead and watched some MM w/ them.  Namely Chris Williams and Stephanie Nelson so that was good.

  Tuesday we had a bit of a busy day. Since Sister Schmitt had to go to the meeting and Sister Campbell was down in a different area we were helping them out by going to two appointments they already had set up. The first one we got there, and no one was there. The second appointment a member was going with us, and was a bit more solid.  We got down there and she was coloring her hair so she said that she would just rescedule with the other Sisters, so we went and tried another person while we were down there, and someone came to the door and looked out and walked away.  The member told us I must be bad luck because everytime I come it doesn't work out.  We assured her that is not the case and I had been texting one of our investigators, and I asked him if we could come over? Thankfully he said yes, so we were able to turn it into a good experience for our member.  As we left his apartment building there was a guy outside that we walked over to and started talking with.  Turns out he just moved down from Toledo, and used to meet with missionaries.  It was such a testimony builder to me on how important it really is to talk with everyone, because quite honestly I wasn't feeling like doing so, but I knew that I needed to, so God blessed  us with a miracle.  It was so super awesome!! We then had to go to an appointment w/ Sister Morales to Jon and then we had to rush from there to dinner w/ the Stanfills.  The lesson w/ Jon was pretty good, but it was funny he had been reading out of the bible and I asked where, he told us Genesis. I said No, you can't read there. You have to start in Matthew.  We are still building faith in Jesus so you need to read in Matthew.  Dinner was good, and then we flew off to West Milton to have a lesson and it changed a bit so we had a goodish one w/ Derek.  Tuesday was busy, busy but it was super good.

  Wednesday we walked, it was pretty good weather that morning. Then we were super tired so we took a quick 10 minute break before we went and parked and walked again.  We met this super awesome guy on our way to Sister Greathouse's.  He is Muslim but he was super excited about the BoM, we just need to figure out what area he lives in so we can pass off his info to the other missionaries.  We had some quick mem pres lessons that were fun.  It made it a new experience for Sister Wilson :)  We went and visited these awesome people, the Henderson's, oh boy I love them.  Brother Henderson is from Hyrum so he was reminicising w/ me about different stuff in CV.  That was fun, its always nice to meet people who know where you actually come from.  From there we went to dinner w/ the Helis' and Jon. So we were a tad.....slash more than that late, and when we got there Jon opened the door and let us in,  Then Sister Helis was saying how Brother Helis waited for us to start and that he was wondering if all was well w/ us since we are always on time and that Jon then informed him that we aren't always on time.  Basically it was hilarious, b/c then Jon was like I wasn't throwing you under the bus, I just wanted them to know you were probably just a little behind.  Good times :)  We heart attacked Donny's door, b/c we haven't seen him since last Thursday, and had a good visit w/ Sister Weir.

  Thursday we had Zone Meeting and it was awesome.  We went over baptismal extensions among other stuff.  We are making some rule changes so there is no confusion where some lines are.  Had a good talk w/ Robert via the phone.  Highlight tho was we had this sweet lesson w/ Sister Knox-Stanfill Jennifer and Jacob.  We totally extended to Jacob and he said yes, so that was super fun.  We had a good visit w/ Sister Landis as well. Happy day :)

  Friday we helped this lady move into an apartment in the midst of Weekly planning she was hilarious.  We had lots of fun, and I got to wear regular clothes. I was a little remiss to take off my hoodie, USU shirt, and Aggie shorts....I represent at all times :) We had a good visit w/ Tiffanie as well so that was fun :)

  Saturday it was nice enough that morning we went running.... It was wonderful, but I'll tell you what the last 2 days it has hurt so good for me.  I can tell that when we can do it more regularly I'll be in much better shape :) Jennifer text us and said it wasn't going to work for us to come over anymore, Earl isn't really feeling to fond of Mormons at the moment. That was a bummer!!! But then we met this awesome guy whose name I totally guessed, it was Charles in case you were wondering.  Colio you are the reason I guessed that name in the first place!  We had a good lesson w/ Jon in the chapel that was fun.  We talked about the Temple and yep that was a fun day.

  Sunday we split up, I went to ward council and Sister Ashcraft delivered breakfast to Donny.  He never made it to church tho, so we hunted him down at his mom's and turns out he had a migraine, but I was bummed he didn't make it b/c church was fabulous.  We totally had the power of a referral yesterday tho, we found a new investigator, and we ended the night in West Milton had a visit w/ Stacey and then Derek. We are super excited b/c he has Sundays off now, yesterday was his last one.  I love being a missionary, it is so much fun!! The Lord's hand is definitely in the work :)

 

You should all check out The Profile of a Prophet by Hugh B. Brown its awesome!

 

Love you,

              Sister Julie Ann

Real Quick

Oh my goodness! I am so sad about Aunt Maxine, I surely will keep her in my prayers!!!!

 

Second off sorry but we had a Fun day today so really no time to email this week. 

 

Here is my copy of my letter to President:

This week has been really good.  We have been working lots w/ Jon as always, and then we started working with one of the Elders old investigators. Oh my goodness I love him, he is really really awesome and I want to be able to help him progress too!  I am very much looking forward to continuing on this week in finding new investigators and working with those we already have.  We really want to see amazing miracles, so we are going to work really hard to qualify for God's grace :)

 

Sisters Conference was fab! There are indeed 90 Sisters in the mission.  We had an awesome lesson w/ Derek this week. He wasn't home but we were teaching his brothers gf, and in the door he walked. I told him fancy meeting you here, and then said we are teaching about how the gospel blesses families so he sat down and joined us a bit. It was really good.

 

I love you all!! Have an awesome week :)

 

Sorry about this week!

 

Love, Sister Julie Ann

 

PS I can't believe its been 9 months either.....weird