December 17, 2012

(hahahaha you´ll have to put it through a translator) ((I hope you can understand it))

Querido Familia,

Muchísimas gracias por mandarme los correos. Me daba mucho gusto al escuchar de ustedes. Jackie, yo sé que la escuela puede ser difícil a veces, pero realmente vale la pena. La única cosa que le puedo decir es disfrútelo. Bueno, mi carta esta semana al igual será corta porque tenemos muchas cosas que hacer.

La semana pasada yo y el Elder Lopez tuvimos muchas buenas experiencias, y pudimos ver algunos milagros. Habíamos empezado a enseñar a los miembros otra vez las charlas. Eso tiene como fin al ayudar a los miembros a recordar y fortalecer sus testimonios del Evangelio. Al hacer esto, si realmente se conviertan, ellos nos van a apoyar de gran manera a la obra. La Hna Blanca y Manuel siguen animados para sus bautismo. Entrando el año ellos se van a tomar lo mejor decisión posible. Me ha ayudado mucho al ver estos dos progresar. Me ha fortalecido mucho mi testimonio de que Dios está preparando a personas para nosotros, y solamente tenemos que abrir nuestras bocas y seguir el Espíritu. Amo este Evangelio. Sé que es verdadero y que realmente Dios de nuevo está estableciendo Su reino aquí en la tierra. Estamos en los últimos días preparando las personas para la grande y gloriosa venida de Su amado Hijo. Jamás quiero que termine.

Les amo machín a ustedes. Estoy eternamente agradecido por su apoyo y sus oraciones. Me fortalecen día tras día.

Nos pondremos de acuerdo en la semana que entra para la llamada de Navidad. Es posible que marco de la casa de algunos gringos (americanos), viendo que ya estoy de nuevo aquí en La Baja. ¡Que emoción! Por las ultimas 6 semanas de mi misión estaré en Cabo San Lucas 1A.

Hasta Pronto

Con mucho amor, besos y abrazos,

Elder Johnson

December 10, 2012

Dear family,

This is going to be a short letter today.

I love you all. I hope that life is going great back at home. Here in Mazatlan, life couldn´t be better. We are just cruising along. Yesterday Blanca (a different Blanca) came to church with her husband Manuel. The best part about it is that they arrived all on their own. Wow! The ward is fellow-shipping them very well, and I am really excited to see them progress. The hna Blanca recently has undergone chemo therapy, so she lost all of her hair. It is a tough time in her life. We are going to have our Christmas concert this Friday! yay.

Well, sorry it is brief, but I am really stressed out by this computer. I have to press the keys like 3 times before it shows up on the screen. FRUSTRATING. :)

tell Jackie hi.

Love, Elder Johnson

December 3, 2012

Dear Family,

Well, I sure was saddened to hear about the deaths of Aunt Norma and Aunt LaDean. It really is difficult, and even more so in this family centered time of year.

And to answer the multiple questions that Jackie asked,

Q. Skype or phone

A. I think that a phone call would most adequate. Skype would be more of a hassle, and would only last 1 hour as opposed to a phone call which will last 2 hours, and you can´t see me cry... (if it were the case that I should cry) hehehe

Q. I don`t remember if I told you this but if I did, oh well, I am going to tell you again, I am the beehive president for our ward! How exciting is that?

A. Congratulations. That is way super exciting, and a very big responsibility! I am sure that you will do wonderfully.

Q. I wanted to know if you had any ideas for this year’s chocolate house?

A. Well, as for the chocolate house,... I have no idea. You could make Santa´s house, and the barn where he keeps his reindeer. (And maybe the workshop where he makes the toys) I am sure that I will get to see whatever you choose, seeing as how we usually wait like 3 months to eat it! :)

Q. What are you doing in the pictures you sent us?

A. Jackie, you silly sister of mine, I have no clue of which picture you are referring to. :D

Q. Did you get the package the ward sent you.

A. As a matter of fact, I did receive the package this past Saturday! Thank you so so SOOOOO much. I sure did enjoy your letter Jackie. (not to mention all of the candy) You be sure to tell the Robinsons thank-you also.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH I just barely realized that I left the house without a TIE!!!!! This has got to be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened. It was extremely funny though. I felt for my tie and, lo and behold, I had put on the invisible one! I have been walking around looking really awkward with the top button buttoned up, and yet NO TIE. I turned to my companion, and asked him why he had not told me about the tie, and his eyes got the size of golf balls, and then started laughing. What shame.

Anyways, this past week was really quite the adventure. We did divisions, and I got the opportunity to go to Juarez and be with Elder Morrise. He has got to be the most interestingly delightful person I have come to know. He is passionate about music. He is so intense about his music, and sounds and such, that it often times causes somewhat of a distraction for him. He is super intelligent. We are working hard to get the two wards excited for the Christmas Concert that we are arranging. So far everything is going well, but it would be better if we had a better turnout from the wards in the rehearsals.

Do you remember my good friend Elder Tingey? The one who I was with for 6 months... The one from Las Vegas,... The one who has a band, and plays the base guitar, the drums, the normal guitar (I do believe it is called an acoustic guitar), and sings (obviously not all at the same time),.... The one who I sang with in the Christmas Concert last year, and then in the conference in August,.... The one who never changes his contacts,.... Well, anyways he ended his mission 4 weeks ago. I received an e-mail from him! Yay

Well I would like to tell you about a wonderful experience that I had this past week. We had a conference with our zone this past week. It was very good. I was reminded of some things that I have to keep on doing, and many things that I had forgotten and that I must start doing once more. Well, at the end of the conference, we went to the food. We ate with a future missionary named Edwardo. He is the only member in his family. Well, his mother made us food, and sat down to talk with us while we ate. She had talked with the missionaries in many occasions, but then for some reason they stopped passing by. Well, at the end of the food, we asked her if she knew anyone who needed to hear our message in these moments. We received the typical response "nope, I can´t think of anyone" and "the thing is I almost don´t know anyone around here". We sat there, and there were some moments of silence, and then she turned to us and told us that she works in the hospital (in our area) and that she would like for us to visit the people in the hospital! Wow. That is the first time this has happened. She then told us that she is going to ask permission from her boss so that we can enter and share messages with the patients. Elder Lopez and I are really excited to start this. It will be a fantastic way to find new people.

I love you all, and I sure hope that you are all doing wonderful. Have a great week. Be sure to make every day better than its yesterday. Life is great here in the mission (a little hot but oh well) and I would that it might not end.

Love,

Elder Johnson

November 26, 2012

Dear Family,

Thank you so SOOO much for the letters, I sure did enjoy reading them. So, I will start off with a little SUPER depressing information. So 2 weeks ago I received a phone call from Elder Martinez from the offices. He asked me the killer questions. Example "Where is the closest airport to your house?" and "What is the name of your bishop, and/ or stake president?" You know that you do not have a lot of time left when they begin to ask horrible questions like that. Actually, I can count the number of weeks on my hands... 9! I will be returning home the 30 of January of 2013. I should be arriving at the Salt Lake airport... ha ha And actually, I struggled with the names of the Bishop and Stake President, because they changed on me.

Anyway, that is great that you all got to eat delicious food and celebrate Thanksgiving... I, on the other hand, did not! (oh, and by the way, I do believe that someone had a birthday... and an anniversary) But I did make a delicious Apple Pie last Monday! Absolutely scrumptious! The following 4 days were absolutely terrible. I think that I threw out my back or something ... all I know is that I could not stand, sit, or lay down without being in pain. It was one of the most frustrating things. I was not able to sleep good because every little while I was waking up out of pain. Do not get too worried, I am better now, and I sure hope it never comes back.

This week we have been working a lot trying to find all of the references that were given to us in the activity in the graveyard. We have come across many great families. The majority of them are really prepared to receive our message. Saul is a man who I had contacted in the cemetery. This week we have been teaching him, and he really has been showing positive signs and lots of interest in the church. The only problem is his work. He works as a money collector (I have no idea what it is called in English, but in Spanish it is cobrador). Due to his work, he is rarely home, and he even has to work Sundays. BUMMER! Also we have met this man named Felipe. He is a great guy. He is going through a tough time in his life right now, because 2 months ago, his 20 year old son died in an accident. Gospel means good news, and that is just the message that we bring. Families can be together forever! He was SUPER receptive to our message. Now on to some seriously sad news. This past Sunday, our bikes were stolen. And worst of all, it happened while we were in church. Oh well, I guess I must be grateful to have had them for 4 months.

I love you all. Life is golden down here in Mexico. It is still hot, but it has started showing signs of Fall!

Love Elder Johnson

November 19, 2012

Hey Family,

So this past week has just been a blast. It is incredible So Elder Lopez and I have been working hard to find new people to teach. With the changes that have been made, it has been quite an experience. We have had to start working a lot more with the members. We were working with them before, but now we are almost exclusively working with them. I have thought about this, and it really does make sense. This is the way the Lord wants us to work. Imagine it, the members of the church know many people who are being prepared by God to receive this message. We as missionaries only come in contact with a minuscule portion of people when compared to how many people all of the members come in contact with on a daily basis. When they get the fire of missionary work running through them, they are able to find many chosen people.

So this past Saturday we had a conference with our President of Mission. It was almost all day long. He capacitated us, and showed us what it is that we are doing wrong, and how we need to change to become better missionaries and teachers of the Gospel. One of the things that he stressed upon was the fact that we need to become more affiliated with the scriptures. Also I realized that I have become a little conformist with my teaching. I have begun to push myself once again to always be striving to be better.

After the conference, we had only like 3 hours to work. It was a little bit frustrating because Saturday is supposed to be the day that we have everything ready, and make all of the preparations to bring people to church. So we scrambled out and went and invited all of the people that we could find. We began to get a little down, because we were not finding the people, and then a miracle happened. We got a phone call from one of our investigators, telling us that she had assisted the baptism of her daughter in another ward, and that Sunday she would be going to church to see the confirmation!!!!! YAY

I love this chance that I have to be a missionary. It is so wonderful to be able to help so many people in a significant way. I love you all, and I sure am grateful for all of the help you are giving me.

Love,

Elder Johnson

November 12, 2012

Dear Family,

How was your week? It sounds like it went great from your letter. I sure am a little bit jealous that you all got snow. Here it has just been hot. Actually, it has seemed like it has been getting hotter this past week. You know why?!... Because it has become cooler in the morning and when it warms up, you can feel heat more noticeably Funny huh. You know, I sure am not excited for the cold. I have now decided that I do not like freezing my toes and fingers and noses off! (yes, I do know that we only have one nose) Actually, today at 7:00 in the morning, we went and ran up to the light house. It is like 800 meters up a big hill. Besides the fact that I am out of shape, I could not help but notice how my lungs were stinging as I breathed in the brisk morning air. I can only imagine how it must be with snow. Oh well, tis life.

Anyway, I did not tell you about the awesome activity that we had last week in the graveyard... oooooooOOOoooooo Let me explain. Here in Mexico there is a holiday that is called day of the dead. It is the 2 of November. So, as a mission, we all put together an activity where we along with the members of the church would go to the graveyards and cemeteries and contact the people. It was incredible the success that we had. There must have been thousands of people who passed through the graveyards in those dates. And we were there alongside of the members contacting the people, giving them a message about the Plan of Salvation, and then taking down their information. Hopefully in these coming weeks, we will be able to find many more people to teach.

Oh, and guess what.... The mission has changed greatly in these past few weeks. For questions of safety we are not allowed to knock on doors anymore. We can only work with the referrals that we receive, the information that is in the area book, and contacting people in the street. It has been quite a new experience for me. I realized more and more this past week that I need to confide 100% in the Lord. The work goes along in His time and at His pace.

So, I will tell you about a man that we have been teaching for 2 weeks now. His name is Carlos. The manner by which we found him is actually quite interesting. We met his wife one day knocking on doors. She told us that we could drop by in another occasion. The next time we passed by her husband answered the door. At first he was reluctant, but promptly he invited us in, and we shared a message with him. As we began talking with him, we began to take note that he had a very chauvinistic attitude Honestly, at first, I did not fall very well with him because of his personality. We shared a message about the Family and the role of the husband and wife. At the end of the message, we gave him a "Proclamation to the World". The next time that we passed by with him, there was a definite change in his attitude. He told us that he had read the pamphlet, and he had felt that it was true. We also noted a change in his reception towards us. The first time we passed by with him, he was suspicious, and at times he even tried attacking what we were teaching. The following time, he was totally receptive to our whole message, and showed a real desire to change and make the relationship with his wife better. I know that when the people begin to put into practice the concepts and principles of the Gospel, they can see and feel the change in their lives.

Thank you so much for all of you help and support. I love this work, I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary. I know that this Gospel is true. I am so grateful for the chance the God has given me to be able to repent and change. Thanks to Jesus Christ, this is possible, and without him all our efforts would be useless.

I love you all.

Elder Johnson

November 5, 2012

Dear my beloved Family,

 Well, I would just like to let you all know that I love you very much. I had a very weird, and slightly sad dream this morning. I dreamt that I had finished my mission, gone home, and was living a normal life. It was a very depressing dream. I honestly do not want this to ever end. I don´t want life to go on. These have honestly been the most wonderful 21 months of my life. I have now entered into my penultimate transfer. What does that mean? That means, that I will only have two transfers of 6 week left before I get on that plane... :( I feel like this past transfer that I have had with Elder Lopez just flew by. Literally. The changes that came in these transfers were definitely unexpected. I will be staying here in Villa Galaxia with Elder Lopez, but both of the Elders in Juarez (Elder Green and Elder Goates) got taken out. Now I am here with Elder Morrise and Elder Velez. What is more, Elder Webster from my generation is going to come and be in Albatros. Now Elder Livingston, Elder Webster and I are all in the same zone. These are the only elders from my district in the MTC who are still in the mission. I am super excited. It will be like a good little reunion. Oh, and by the way, can I tell you how much cake I have eaten in this past week. It is not a joke, when I say that I have eaten from 5 different cakes. The people here have been so good to me. I sure had a happy birthday. Anyway, I´ll tell you about one of the sad things that happened over the course of this past week. The Hna Blanca Estela has cut her communication with us. It is not by her choice though. Her husband is a super jealous man. I will not lie, I do find it a little hard to love him. His wife is SUPER golden. God has been preparing her, and her husband in being a tripping stone in her path. Aye de aquella personas que hagan eso. Porque no les irá bien. But on the other hand, the baptism of the Hna. Alejandra went well. If I had more time, I would tell you about it. Maybe next week if I remember. I love you all. I wish the best for you. Sorry for the rushed letter.
 Love, Elder Johnson
 p.s. So in 2 days, my good friend Elder Tingey is going home. I remember when we were both so green over a year ago in San Jose. WOW