A Visit From Flat Stanley

 The highlight of this past week may have been celebrating Valentines Day with Sister Johnson. We just relaxed a little and reflected on the wonderful experiences we are having and the wonderful people we have met. It was also pasty making week. We have three more opportunities and then it is over. While working at the Senior Center we invited some of the other workers to our Mormons Next Door presentation next month. We had a nice little conversation about religion. Nothing, to our knowledge, changed. We are thick in the middle of planning for that event. The truly great part is how excited and animated the branch has become. They are truly rallying around the event with stories about invitations they have given and expressions of excitement for the possible results. This kind of enthusiasm is a new and welcome feeling.

 With the Lord’s inspiration and the Spirit’s help we were able to finally finish the assignment of branch families into Home Teaching districts. The newly called president was seemingly paralyzed while trying to figure out how he was going to make sure everyone in the branch got a monthly visit. He was fixated on the inactive, the missing and moved members. We were finally able to move beyond those feelings by helping him realize we just needed to start with those who were active and less active and make a plan to get to the others as we could. I can see why I was called to this position. I have been able to really help set the home teaching up due to our commitment, when we first arrived, to visit everyone listed on the Branch roster. No righteous or right activity goes unnoticed or unused in the economy of the Lord’s plan.

 Sister Johnson is using Preach My Gospel principles and knowledge in teaching the youth Sunday school class and is being rewarded with small successes. Based on her experiences with that small class up until now, she’s excited.

 We had other wonderful visits with our “regulars” as well. Dennis Klingman is well on his way to total integration into the Branch. He gave a great lesson on Sunday. The Carlson family is more and more receptive to the baptism of their daughter. Br. Peters is asking more questions from his reading in the Old Testament and seems to be more at ease with the idea of membership. We have received permission from the Branch and Stake Presidents to establish a Face Book presence for the Branch. The less active son of the former 1^st counselor has agreed to administer it. We will help set it up and establish guidelines for its use. Face Book is a very important resource for the members of the branch due primarily, we think, to the travel distances involved. We think this additional resource will become a valuable communication tool for Branch leadership.  At least we hope so.

Still smiling,

Elder and Sister Johnson

P. S. We've had a short visit from a classmate of one of our granddaughters Allie Johnson. His name is Flat Stanley and we have been introducing him to the culture of the U.P.

Flat Stanley is excited to try a pasty. A favorite of the local residents.

The game of cribbge is a favorite pastime of Upper Michigan residents.

Flat Stanley found out that it snows a lot this far north in the United States. 

Two Trainings and Roses

Not too much happening this past week unless of course you count the wonderful Zone Training Meeting and Senior Training in Oshkosh. And in spite of being on the road quite a bit, we were able to make time to visit the Elders Quorum president (close to 100 miles round trip) and commit him to contact an individual with an invitation that could possibly bring the blessings of the restored Gospel into their lives. He chose his next-door neighbor and will have given them a written invitation to the “Mormons Next Door” presentation by last Saturday. We will follow-up with him this Wednesday. The zone Leaders shared with us “who, what and when” cards that are left as a reminder to members that they have committed to make an invitation to some gospel related activity to a family or individual.  They make the invitation and we follow up. The cards coupled with our MND presentations in March give the members a very easy way to begin the process of contacting friends and acquaintances. Hopefully they will realize it is not such a frightening experience after all.

Sunday I was set apart as the Elders Quorum secretary. I feel very good about this calling. With the Lord’s help I will be in a position to assist with the set-up of the home teaching families and routes. My mantra will be, “Doing something is going to be a big step up from what went on before, which was practically nothing”. When you meet members who benefited from a close relationship with home teachers and they ask you, “why haven’t we seen anyone in quite awhile”, it makes you very sad. In that regard, Sister Johnson has made a big difference with her calling as Relief Society secretary. We continually meet members who comment on the cards, mailings and visits they receive from the sisters. These results are coming after a sweet, previous Relief Society president quit requiring visits altogether.

It’s the eternal principle of faith…to make something happen, something has to happen.

Trying to make things happen,

Elder and Sister Johnson 

Happy Valentines Day

Impressions and "Both Sides Now"

We had some great inspiration and out-pouring of the Spirit this past week. We have individuals both members and “not yet” members, we work with at least weekly. Let us bring you up-to-date on one or two:

Four months ago the branch president called a gentle 77 year-old brother to be the Elders Quorum President. (Branches generally only have one quorum for all of the Melchizedek priesthood holders) He has only come back into activity about three years ago after being baptized more than 30 years ago. He and his counselors have struggled putting the home teaching program together. It doesn’t help that he has no interest in using the computer. His counselors are not much more computer literate either. This week while visiting once again with one of the counselors, Sister Johnson had the impression that I could do, as the Elder’s quorum secretary, what she has been able to do for the Relief Society. I received a strong confirmation that she was right. The Elders Quorum President and the Branch President reinforced our impressions. I have been called to be the secretary and will work until we leave, helping them with the organization of Home Teaching, agendas, reports, etc. With the distances, high levels of inactivity and big financial challenges it is very difficult for some members to take responsibility to watch over another of their brothers or sisters. I will do my best. The best part is this; the Elders Quorum presidency had already called an assistant secretary, the 40ish inactive Priest son of the Branch Clerk. We have developed an excellent connection with him and he with us. He still has issues with church attendance but he reads the B of M with us and has a very good understanding of Gospel principles and doctrine. Unlike the counselors, however, this brother is extremely well grounded in computer knowledge and skills. The hope is we will be able to move him into full activity including priesthood advancement so that he will be qualified to take over as the secretary when we leave.  We see the hand of the Lord in this series of events.

Dennis Klingman has been “troubled” recently by the strong impression he needs to get the temple work done for one of his brothers. Dennis has come back into almost full activity. He still has some issues he is working on so he wasn’t feeling yet as though he himself could take the name to the temple. We have worked to establish his access to the records available on the Internet. Sister Johnson has done the bulk of the work and has begun to find and piece together his family tree. This is just a beginning. It is amazing to see the reach of the Spirit. That we could be a part of missionary work on both sides of the veil at the same time is just exciting. Dennis expressed his intention to visit with us in Utah this summer and we included in that visit a request that we visit the temple together. In the mean time we have asked our oldest son Brad and his son Zach to get this piece of Dennis’ work completed.

We experienced a great Fast and Testimony meeting on Sunday with solid testimonies and a very strong Spirit. Even the kid that normally sits behind us and talks through the whole meeting was quiet and we assume influenced by the Spirit’s presence. The very most exciting thing however was the attendance of Bob Peters at that meeting. It is amazing how close he seems to be baptism but still can’t make that final step. Much like some young men view marriage we guess!

Living the good, better, best life,

Elder and Sister Johnson

P.S. Here is picture that serves as a reminder of what Moses said and felt after viewing the works of the Lord, "And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed."

In the center of the Trifid Nebula, thanks APOD. The little "pokey" things at the
bottom center of the picture are stars being born. They are at the very tips.

Conference, Fireside and another Death

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

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.

Mission Plan and Agoraphobia

With the presentation Sunday of a well thought-out and achievable Branch Mission Plan, Sister Johnson and I could see more clearly that we were sent to help hold this little branch together through some pretty serious events just prior to and just after our arrival.  Up until now there had been no mission plan.  Accidental deaths, deaths of spouses, chronic illness and even murder all combined to change the focus of branch members inward and not outward. From a missionary perspective, seeking out interested non-members was way on the back burner. That has now changed. Our recent baptism, our most committed pair of young Elders to date, a change in the Branch Presidency plus the passing of time has once again brought focus to the future and growth of the branch into the minds and hearts of the branch members. We see the hand of the Lord in the direction and inspiration that has come to us to prepare for this time as well. It has richly blessed us. When the Branch President demonstrated that through new investigators, reactivations, and increased dedication to Home and Visit teaching we could reach a Sacrament meeting attendance goal of 45%; individuals in the room became excited, you could feel it. The excitement came from the realization that, at the 45% attendance level, the building would be in line to receive a phase II addition, which would mean a “real” chapel among other improvements.

This past week was once again pasty making week. We have just four more pasty making adventures left before we return to Utah. Because of the flu we were short handed. But, in spite of really sore muscles and clothes and hands that smelled like pasties and onions, it is always a satisfying experience meeting once again with, and working with, this dedicated group of seniors. Some of these individuals have been making pasties 20 years and more. They will miss us and we them.

In our visits with members this past week we had some choice experiences. One family where the sister has agoraphobia (a fear of, or, anxiety around crowds) wants to take up our suggestion of attending church services seated in a room away from the congregation where the proceedings of the service could be transmitted and where they can still partake of the sacrament. We are making progress with the 9-year-old daughter of the Carlson family. We have been teaching the family by adapting and simplifying the standard missionary lessons. We are using a three ring binder we have named “Carlson Family Memories”. We have included pages the kids can color, pages with goals, pages with activities, simple directions to the parents of weekly concepts they can emphasize with small/short assignments for the coming week. For example this week the kids (her 10-year-old brother is already baptized) have been asked to tell us a story about a prophet from the bible. Our lesson will be about the necessity for prophets and the restoration of prophetic leaders for us today. It’s fun. We even had the father singing “Birds in the Tree” from the Children’s Songbook during our last visit where the lesson was about families.

The Carlson Family

Outside today it's sunny and -5 with a wind chill of -25 to -30, inside it’s 72. Who knew that visiting the U. P. during the Winter of 2012-2013 would be a warmer experience for some of you!

Today we are staying in…besides it’s P-day for us. 

With twice warmed hearts,

Elder and Sister Johnson

Fresh Salad and a BB Gun

 As I am sure you are well aware, there has been a lot of flu going around. This means we had some of the meetings we scheduled cancel outright (probably an excuse) while others moved to a future time. Ahh…such is missionary work. We did meet with two of the members with whom we have been working and committed the one who hasn’t yet come to church to attend. He replied, “you never know now that football season is about over”.

 It turned out that our major contribution this past week was assisting in holding a funeral for a 27-year-old member who decided to end his life. We had never met this individual although his mother and sister did attend church a couple of times after the branch moved them to a new apartment. It was reported to us by one of the long time members that this man, as a boy, was always getting his friends to come to church and testifying to them that he knew his church was the true one. Sad. The services were held in a local mortuary. Sister Johnson played two hymns while the chorister sang solos in front of the 100+ funeral attendees. Yes, they all had the words, it was just that nobody sang and we mean nobody. What an odd experience. It was the kind of crowd that probably doesn’t attend church. The Relief Society, with help from the family and members, prepared food for 150 people for an after the funeral lunch. We had around 80 come. Would you like some fresh salad…we have plenty.

 This afternoon we had an unusual request from the Mission President. It seems that previously one or two (since that is how they do it) of our local missionaries acquired a BB gun...no, I don't know if it was a Red Ryder and no, no one's eye was shot out (although Elder Young has lost his sight in one eye, he said it was from a hunting accident...hmmmm). The current missionaries found the gun hidden in the apartment and turned it in at their last interview. Subsequently they discovered a few dents in the ceiling tiles and on the white board missionaries use to keep track of their weekly activities. President Jones wanted us to visually inspect the "damage" and report back to him with suggestions. It is the church's policy to leave things better than they were when they were rented or leased. We found the damage to be easily repaired or in a couple of instances replaced with new tiles. We thought it unnecessary to inform the landlord of the mishap. A course of action will be decided upon and the situation rectified. If President and Sister Jones can just hang on five and one half more months they won't have "this kind" of silliness to deal with any more.

The white board being held as evidence. Notice the BB dents along the frame.

Inspector Trainee Elder and Inspector General Sister Johnson

A Blessed Week and a Baptism

 It has been a week of blessings. Although, due to illness (theirs), we were not able to visit a couple of the people we regularly visit. First off we were able to visit with President and Sister Jones during our New Year’s District Meeting. We always enjoy seeing and talking with them. They help us keep an important perspective on the work and in this case the conclusion of our assignments here in Iron Mountain (More on that in a future post). Their openness and frankness is very much appreciated. It is also good to be able to report our activities as it identifies areas where we are doing well and those where we can improve. In the vein of “doing well”, we can’t say enough good things about Elders Trout and Christensen. It seems that because of their youth, missionaries are often surprised at the results that come from their sustained righteous efforts. This is the case with these two Elders. They are enjoying success by simply applying Preach My Gospel principles with faith. It is a privilege to be a witness to the process. Their success is now reaching into the branch. With boldness they are challenging the branch members to increase their missionary efforts as well. It is working. The Branch’s attitude is, by far, the best we have seen it since our arrival.

The Iron Mountain District with Sister and President Jones center front.

 Next, at our regularly scheduled visit to the Carlson family we challenged the parents of their nine-year-old daughter to allow us to prepare her for baptism. We are now planning the lessons and as we “warned” the parents we will together select a date for the baptism to happen. In this family there has been resistance to getting her baptized although her ten-year-old brother is already a member. We used the fact that we only have a few more months to visit with them before we leave plus we were able to draw on the mountain of good will and trust we have developed since we first started regularly visiting them a year ago. You will be hearing more of our efforts with this family.

 We once again connected with the Winter family. They are the ones that called us for the phone number of the Branch President and when we asked how else we might help they requested missionaries to come and teach a non-member spouse and some of the older children. They were gone over the holiday season visiting family in Wisconsin but they are now back. Our first meeting is scheduled for this Thursday. The missionaries will be doing the teaching and we will help with the young children and be representatives of the Branch to assist and fellowship.

 Toward the end of the week we met with a fellow who has had a sad and miserable life. It started as a life of privilege and money but as Satan has influenced many of his choices his life devolved into pain, anger and bitterness. As frequently happens in these circumstances he unloaded all of that frustration and the much torment he feels on us, two proclaimed ministers of God, which we are. We will spare you the details and the language. He seems sorry and shed tears because of his life and actions. We had a short lesson on our Father’s plan of happiness and left a pamphlet he said he would read. We know if he will embrace the Gospel and specifically the Doctrine of Christ, he will be healed both physically (he smokes like a chimney) and spiritually. The atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to do that very miracle. We will be his guides as long as he wishes, but from here on out the important, life changing decisions are all his. Salvation from death is a free gift from God (1 Corinthians 15:22); salvation from the sin in our lives (knowingly doing things against God’s will or wishes) requires us to bring our lives into harmony with those of God and His son Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:48) and must be worked out over time.

 Finally the weekend brought us much happiness with the baptism of Matt Oslund. Matt attended the Mormons Next Door presentation we held at the local library on the first of December. Sister Johnson overheard his grandmother say that after he got home that Saturday he was excited telling everyone he really liked what he had felt, seen and heard. The missionaries did a great job answering his questions and assisting him in his desire to be baptized. There was good support from members, his friends and family and we are sure he will be an asset to the branch going forward. Coincidently a schoolmate, who came at his invitation, was already in contact with the Sister Missionaries in Marquette where she is attending college. It came as quite a surprise to her when she got a text from him that said, “I am going to join the ‘Mormon’ Church” and invited her to come.

Elder Christensen, Matt Oslund and Elder Trout with the baptismal font in the mirror.

 The Mormons Next Door presentation was so successful that we have set up two additional times and locations. On March 9^th we will have one at the small library in the community of Crystal Falls and on the 16^th we will repeat the presentation at the Dickinson County Library here in Iron Mountain. We will follow the same format in both places using members to read from the prepared script. They do a great job and it strengthens their testimonies. And yes, Matt will be one of our readers at this next presentation. We hope some of his non-member family will attend.

It is exciting being very small pebbles stuck to the side of the “stone…cut out of the mountain without hands” (Daniel 2:44-45).

Elder and Sister Johnson