Katie's Mission - Bradenton - Transfer 12
Bradenton - Week 70 - November 16, 2020
BRADENTON, SARASOTA
Companions: Hermana Frei & Sister Phelps
HELLO, BRADENTON!!!
Wow this week has been one for the books. Transfers went well, it was verrryy sad to leave Tampa but I got to go back 2 days later for MLC! We love Bradenton already. It is right on the beach and so beautiful. Look up Anna Maria Island- that's in our area. We walked by the beach today and felt like we were on vacation! I always thought I'd end my mission on the beach.
My lovely companions areeeee.....
SISTER PHELPS! Sister Phelps has been out 3 months and is leading the area like a pro. Her sense of humor is the best and she has great ideas.
HERMANA FREI! We know each other from college so it is fun to actually be companions! She is a phenomenal singer She is my STL comp and it has been so fun to get to know the Sarasota zone. It's big like Tampa, there are 12 sisters!
So our first day was very exciting and started with back to back lessons with the recent converts (the legends alien BOB and GREG with purple hair, if you know you know) they are too funny. Gregory's zoom kept cutting in and out. We were talking with him about the word of wisdom and then it cut out and all of a sudden he came back and had switched over to the law of Chastity. We ended up getting a very long and choppy lecture about the law of Chastity..
anyways that night the storm aka HURRICANE ETA got pretty bad and the whole next day we were stuck inside. So naturally we put our sweaters on, listened to Christmas music, and drank hot chocolate (but the Spanish kind- Abolitas!!)
One of our lessons that night was with C H R I S. Chris requested a bible study with the sisters and so for our next bible study we read in Matthew 3 about Jesus Christ's baptism and WE SET A DATE FOR BAPTISM FOR NOV 28TH! Chris is amazing, he truly feels that God has guided him to this and he is so open and humble to learn about the gospel. We have had 3 lessons this week and the thoughts and questions he has are so inspired, it's amazing. He absolutely LOVED learning about 3 Nephi 11 where Jesus Christ visited the Americas after his ressurection and it made so much sense to him. Sorry that was so much but those lessons have been the highlight of my week! My heart is full.
We also had MLC which means we got to see all our best friends. We learned how to simplify & intensify and point everything we do to Jesus Christ. (: It was actually my last MLC so all my 7 big sisters (from the transfer ahead of me) and I gave our departing testimonies. Bittersweet.
Well the miracles are pouring in from Heaven. So grateful I get a front row seat to this work. God loves us and He is involved in the details. Look for His tender mercies each day. They are there.
One of my new favorites as I am trying to trust in God and His plan:)
Mosiah 7:33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him wityh all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.
Love your favorite sarasota sister,
Sister Johnson
Bradenton - Week 71 - November 23, 2020
JISKA LAFEN
Companions: Hermana Frei & Sister Phelps
Hey everyone! Feels like its been forever yet this week went by so fast. We were insanely busy so I have so much to report. Sister Frei and I really keep ourselves busy especially with this new zone and responsibilities. and we both go about 100 miles an hour. We also can talk and crack jokes at 100 miles an hour We are like chickens with our heads cut off but luckily Sister Phelps is very chill and helps us slow down. Whenever she thinks me and Sister Frei are stressed she gives us a piece of her lindor chocolate and tells us she thinks we need to write in our journals. Haha it's so cute she's seriously the sweetest.
First off, we had ZONE CONFERENCE THIS WEEK & saddest news is it was my last zone conference so you better believe I soaked it all in. We gave a training with the zone leaders, led a council, said the missionary purpose in Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole, practiced a last minute Christmas musical number (made brownies for those who sang haha) and gave departing testimonies. I seriously love being a missionary. So fun to officially meet everyone from the zone and see old missionary friends.
We talked about being CONVERTED to Jesus Christ and His gospel for our whole lives which is a huge focus in the mission.
ALSO the message of hope from President Nelson was amazing! I challenge you all to continue posting #givethanks and sharing things on Facebook. It does soo much good and the gospel is reaching so many people who are willing to let God prevail !!
Some things I'm grateful for this week
☆eating seafood while watching dolphins and the sun set on anna maria island
☆the elders for teaching us the purpose in creole (the end goes "jiska lafen" which is now our most common phrase)
☆cute tourist shops
☆finding the lost salsa in the car hallelujah
☆lessons with funny old people in our ward
☆chris and his faith and trust in God
☆our cute ward members who like to surprise feed us;)
☆our linae where we spend a large majority of our nights
☆sister Tua'one for telling mission stories and lending us her ukulele
☆the ftm and President and Sister Hollingsworth
☆the Book of Mormon that brings so much peace!!
☆my companions who keep me laughing constantly and always look on the bright side
☆my parents who are always there to call and listen to and support me
jiska lafen means "till the end". I love this because we are striving to be disciples of Christ till the end. We will work hard to follow Him and gather Israel till the end. there are so many people out there waiting to find the truth and our small efforts go a long way. love you all! I'm grateful for YOU.
Sister Johnson
Bradenton - Week 72 - November 30, 2020
New families and old friends:))
Companions: Hermana Frei & Sister Phelps
This week was filled with so many reminders that God is aware of me and He loves me! Grateful for a beautiful area that's LITERALLY on the ocean (I feel so blessed whenever we sit and watch the sun set on the beach it is a dream) with all the cute tourist shops, the amazing members, and of course my hilarious comps who love to talk as much as I do.
Milagros from praying for families to teach⬇️⬇️
•but first sad news.. Chris had his interview but there are some things he needs to wait on before he gets baptized. So hard but his testimony and fire to share the gospel are as strong as ever so please pray that he will be able to get baptized soon!! He made a goal to study the Book of Mormon for an hour each day AND we met his entire FAMILY who loves us!!
•We also met the parents and twins boys of our friend Vercy!! We love them so much. We stopped by on Thanksgiving to deliver 5 COPIES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON and a pecan pie;)
•one more! We stopped by a ton of self referrals, none of which answered until the LAST ONE- a FAMILY who is sooo open and prepared to learn more about Jesus Christ's church!!! Let's go Karen + fam!
Ok Thanksgiving! We went to the cutest Tongan family's house.. they had a huge backyard and pool and SO many different kinds of food (shrimp, pig, squid, plantains, mango juice, crab muscle, taro, etc.) Dinner started over an hour after we arrived and then we were rushing to our district activity. Everyone was texting in our group chat saying they can't have Thanksgiving without the plates and the turkey.. they had a point but you can't leave a Tongan Thanksgiving without them giving you about 6 plates of food and dessert to take home!! Our whole mission got permission to have meals with our districts which was super fun. Our district leader had 1 job and he FORGOT THE MARTINELLIS so he promised to bring it to district council haha.
We met with a whole ton of members this week which was so fun for us to get to know them & so good to get them up to speed on how we are finding on Facebook and how they can help. Seriously members make all the difference. We also had a training during 2nd hour of church about how to share the gospel online -> LOVE, SHARE, INVITE. Oh also the Tua'ones let us borrow a ukulele AND their daughter played us a song which was so fun!
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Okay.. time for the highlight of the week! I GOT TO SEE SHANNEL. For those who don't remember, Shannel is the cutest young mom that my companions and I taught in Apollo Beach. She works in Bradenton which I knew but never meant anything to me until now. So we found out she works right on Anna Maria Island and we stopped by. She was there and she was sooo happy to see us and gave me a big hug! It was so fun. So we got her number so we can stop by and I can possibly see her kids and maybe she can make it to one of our church meetings. God really does have a perfect plan.
I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and how He truly hears our prayers and answers them. I have soo much to be grateful for and I'm glad we got to be reminded of all we have this week. Living with a grateful attitude is the best way to live that's for sure.
A sweet member gave us a Christmas tree to decorate HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE
Love Sister J
Bradenton - Week 73 - December 7, 2020
Sarasota Yacht Club
Companions: Hermana Frei & Sister Phelps
AHHH transfers aren't until next week but we recieved transfer calls this morning. Both my companions are leaving me! We had mini transfers because some of the reassigned missionaries go home this week. (Hna Frei is going to Largo Spanish and Sis Phelps is going to Sarasota. My new comp is Sis Teasdale who I picked up from the airport in April!) We'll see what happens next week haha.
Highlight of the week: EXCHANGES
Hermana VanDam and Hermana Marler came to Bradenton with me and Hermana Frei. QUAD SQUAD!! It was a day full of miracles, such as..
•district leader bringing us the forgotten Martinellis. This area is so bougie and there are so many yachts so we joke about smashing our martinellis against the yachts and call ourselves the #sarasotayachtclub
•chalking on the Riverwalk- lots of people stopped to ask what we were doing. one of them is looking for a church
•singing Silent Night with our district at the riverwalk and filmed it for the Facebook page (go check out/like Finding Jesus Christ in Sarasota;)
•talking to so many people, one of them in the Culvers restroom. She liked the page too!
•lesson with a recent convert BOB. He requested we sing his favorite song.. SILENT NIGHT: the same song we had sang earlier!!! So we played ukulele and harmonized like it was on the spot and he was so touched. He shared how God has been strengthening him so much through the cancer he is going through and all of the blessings he has been seeing!
•eating our culvers kids meals (+ a free scoop of ice cream)
•helping with English class because so many people came!
•member bringing us a big Christmas tree
Other eventful things
☆we washed Bob's red corvette
☆we accidentally went to a super old ladies house in our ward! we aren't supposed to visit people over 65 but we couldn't just leave so we were terrified the whole time and tried to stay as far away as possible but she kept leaning in trying to give us more hot chocolate and desserts haha.
☆zone christmas devotional with President and Sister Hollingsworth! What stood out to me is that Christ is the LIGHT of the world and all light and goodness comes from and because of Him.
☆First Presidency Christmas Devotional! SO GOOD!
☆lots of scheduling posts on Facebook for December!
☆exchanges with the social media sisters and district social media councils
☆yes, watching the sun set on the ocean again
☆sisters activity visiting tourist shops in Sarasota @ lido key
☆we had coordination meeting at our ward mission leaders house who has GOATS
☆Chris bore his testimony in church!!
☆we got ahold of our cute friend Patricia and visited her at the pizza place she works at
☆we did a zone activity and guessed which baby picture was which missionaries which was hilarious
Something a member said in a lesson was.. "God never leaves us. If we are ever separated from Him, it is through our choice." God is always there ready to help. One thing I have been thinking about a lot is that God isn't standing over our should always ready to punish us when we make a mistake. He is the one HELPING us through our challenges and mistakes because He LOVES us and wants us to grow!! Sometimes I feel like I am not good enough, but Jesus Christ IS and what a blessing it is to have a loving Brother and Father here to help me progress and overcome my challenges.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!! HAVE A GOOD WEEK!! GOD LOVES YOU!!
Sister Johnson
address:
2780 50th Ave. West #28 Bradenton, FL 34207 United States
