Even though we were able to enjoy
productive visits with many of the people we regularly schedule and see, the
highlight this week was our Zone Conference in Appleton. It is always a
pleasure to visit with President and Sister Jones and to see the other Elders,
Sisters and Seniors we have come to know and love. Maybe it was the realization
that this might have been our penultimate conference that sharpened our focus
because the Spirit that was so strongly present profoundly affected both Sister
Johnson and me. We were reminded that we are witnesses to the “hastening” spoken
of in scripture and that our positions as full-time missionaries give us a
front row seat, as it were, to the Lord’s hand in these things. Those truths were verified by
that spiritual out-pouring. We also appreciated the focus on the
meaningful involvement of the members in our missionary efforts and the ways
available to us to make it happen. We will continue to strive to understand and employ the lessons learned and
the commitments made at the conference. Our best take-away was this quote, "Serving full-time accelerates the assimilation of the gospel into our lives" President Timothy Jones
On Sunday Pres.
Nishida, our branch president, introduced to the members the new Branch Mission
Plan accompanied by Family Mission plans. The plans were well conceived with
reasonable, attainable goals. He invited the Elders to speak along with him in
our Sacrament meeting. The Elders and he gave great talks that, in a mostly
indirect way, invited the members’ participation in the process. We were
especially impressed with Elder Trout, he seemed to be very close to the
Spirit. So…the stage is set to get the members involved in a way that hasn’t
been happening up until now. Since the pool of active members and especially
active families is very small we have encouraged the Elders to start with two
or three and demonstrate to the branch some successes they and we can build on. After our meetings and the last Sunday of the month potluck, we presented our quarterly fireside. This time it was the video presentation of "His Grace is Sufficient" given by Brad Wilcox July of 2011. If you have not yet seen this BYU Devotional please watch it. It is especially good for the youth. Here is the BYUtv link:
http://byutv.org/watch/49475abb-10d4-4f45-a757-7000b9945468
This one is for YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLXr9it_pbY
On a sad note another long time
member of the branch has unexpectedly died. Br. Peter Frecchio was housebound
by many physical problems and ailments but he was involved in branch activities
as best as he could be. He was recently asked by the Elders Quorum Presidency
to compile a list of member e-mails and to setup a branch Facebook presence to
help bolster the abysmal home teaching activity in the branch. He will be
missed. He and his mother were the only members in their family and he
frequently spoke of a longing he had to be with her again. The cause of death
looks natural but hasn’t yet been officially determined. We have also had
another “good news, bad news” development. The young couple that recently
became very active, she through her recent baptism, announced they are
expecting a baby. The bad news…they are moving out of the branch to East
Lansing, MI. We really feel the losses in a branch this small. If we could just
member-nap the “inactives” from our wards back home, it would be a huge boost
to these struggling units.
We know, this is Lord’s work and
we are extremely grateful and thankful to be here and involved as His
missionaries. Just continue to remember the struggles of these little outposts
of the Lord’s work in your prayers.
Thanks, Elder and Sister Johnson
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| Here is a pic of our latest storm and the path we have to dig so that the mail will be delivered. What ever happened to delivery in rain, snow, sleet or the dead of night? P. S. We are embarrassed to show this dinky storm considering the wild weather you're experiencing in the West. |
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