Flecks of Gold

Hello Family!!

Guess what?! I get to stay in Inwood for a 5th transfer!! Wahoo:) Sister Balley is now off to Texas, and my new companion is Sister Christoffersen:) She is from Arkansas and she has been out for 3 months. She plays the trumpet and she's super happy, bold, and optimistic:) So I'm excited to serve with her!

Oh yeah here's a funny street contacting story! So we were walking through a park trying to talk to a few people. We sat down by one lady at a bench and after a minute or two of talking she pulled out her phone and said she had to take this call. . . the screen was blank and after a minute or so we could tell that she was just faking a phone call haha! But it's okay cause it made us laugh a little:)

We went to a fireside on Sunday about addiction recovery. It was about what happens to our brain when we're addicted to something, and how we can be healed through Christ. It was good! A little confusing cause the guy was so smart and he was talking fast, but the Spirit taught me something so that's all that matters! We all have little addictions or habits that we want to stop. He talked about how our brain has some brakes in the front like a car, that tell us to stop or slow down (like when it tells us not to eat a whole tub of ice cream or to not do or think about something). So I thought about how it's important to follow those promptings and follow the brakes. Cause if we have the brakes going but we're still doing the gas at the same time (imagine in a car) then we'll wear out the brakes! So, it's important to have that self discipline when it's needed so you don't wear out the brakes and the promptings! Hopefully that makes sense:) 

I forgot an important breakthrough from last week:) So there's a Mormon Message called Flecks of Gold. It talks about a guy who went to the California Gold Rush looking for gold nuggets and he finds none so he's disappointed! (AKA - Me). Then a good old man tells him that it's not about the big nuggets, it's about the small flecks of gold that add up to make us rich! (AKA - Sister Balley). I've been looking for big amazing moments where I completely change and grow and the Spirit is so powerful and it's like a 180 degree flip! But she brought up something I feel is true and important for me and probably for a lot of us as we go through life. God is able to help all of us change and he reforms us at different times in our life. But we're not always being reformed. In my case, I've grown up with the church, I've already made those changes necessary to follow him and be on the right path. So now at this point in my life, and similar to a lot of us, He is not reforming me, He's refining me. He's carving in the details of who he wants me to be. Sometimes those little flecks of Gold are hard to see unless you're really looking. It can be hard because it's small! It doesn't seem like it's making any difference! But those small and simple things are what make us rich and priceless:) So look for the small and simple change that is happening in your life!

Love you all! Make it a great week:)

Love, Sister Johnson