Dear Family,
Well, we have come to the end of another week here in Mexico. It has been quite an interesting one. My eyes really have been opened to thefact that I don´t know Español, and how much I need to rely on the Lord. Countless times during this week, I would be speaking so well, and get confident in my own ability to speak. This is when the Lord would see fit to teach me a little humility. Seriously, I would find myself not being able to say even the simplest phrases. I am reminded of the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. The Lord would bless them constantly, but when they began to be prideful, and not acknowledge where the blessings came from, this is when the Lord would inflict them, and remind them who is the source of all blessings. One thing that I have learned from this, though, is that the Lord wants a humble missionary. When the missionary is humble, that is when the Lord can mold him, and use him to his full potential.
Anyway my new compañero, E. Ramero, is great. We get along just fine. He is from District Federal, Mexico City, Mexico. He has a year and a half in the field. It was quite a week that we had! We only got lost like a hundred times. Ha ha! But now I know the area like the back of my hand, so in the end, I guess it was a good thing. I feel really dumb for not realizing this before, but every companion is going to be different. Even their styles of teaching! I had not counted on this, but it does help me not to just get into a routine when I teach.
It was good to hear from all of you last week, and I miss you mucho. Take care.
Love,
Elder Johnson
p.s. Jackie, you are my favorite!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
May 9, 2011
Hola Familia Amado,
Comô esta? Pues, estoy muuuuuuuyyyyyy bien! Elder Cope, mi compañero se fue, pero estoy animado por mi nuevo compañero!
It was so great to talk to you all yesterday! I really enjoyed that treat. Now back to work! Yeah!
So, all I have done today, is WAIT. Literally. We sent Elder Cope off at like eight this morning, and my new companion doesn't arrive until 5:15. So, this day was a little boring, however I got to go on splits with E. Mortenson and his new compa, E. (I dunno). So that was fun. All that I know right now, is that my nueva compañero is Mexican! I'm going to be soooooo lost! Yeah!!!!!!!!! I am looking forward to this.
So last week went by so fast, because E. Cope had to go on splits with like all of the missionaries in our zone, and so I was in our area with all of the other companions leading the area. It was a real eye-opener, to the fact that I do not know where anything is! Ha ha oh well. :)
I love you all, and I hope that you all are doing well! Set your watches, mark your calenders, because the next call (December 25 "Christmas") is going to be here so fast.
Con mucho mucho amor,
Elder Johnson
Comô esta? Pues, estoy muuuuuuuyyyyyy bien! Elder Cope, mi compañero se fue, pero estoy animado por mi nuevo compañero!
It was so great to talk to you all yesterday! I really enjoyed that treat. Now back to work! Yeah!
So, all I have done today, is WAIT. Literally. We sent Elder Cope off at like eight this morning, and my new companion doesn't arrive until 5:15. So, this day was a little boring, however I got to go on splits with E. Mortenson and his new compa, E. (I dunno). So that was fun. All that I know right now, is that my nueva compañero is Mexican! I'm going to be soooooo lost! Yeah!!!!!!!!! I am looking forward to this.
So last week went by so fast, because E. Cope had to go on splits with like all of the missionaries in our zone, and so I was in our area with all of the other companions leading the area. It was a real eye-opener, to the fact that I do not know where anything is! Ha ha oh well. :)
I love you all, and I hope that you all are doing well! Set your watches, mark your calenders, because the next call (December 25 "Christmas") is going to be here so fast.
Con mucho mucho amor,
Elder Johnson
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
05/02/2011
Hello Family!
How are you all? I am so jealous to hear that you all had some snow. Let me tell you, I dream about the snow. Often! Ha ha You wouldn´t believe how hot it is. I can´t even imagine when we get to August.
Well, this past week sure was a trying one. You were right to say drink lots of water. I was super sick this past week. I think that it was the change in the food, but this past Tuesday, around 6:00 I started to feel not too great. I will not say too much on the subject, but it sufficeth me to say, I wasn´t able to work all Wednesday. And, even better, Wednesday President Cantu came out here to Los Mochis to do interviews with all of the Elders. Then, Thursday, E. Cope went to Culiacán for Zone-Leader things. I stayed here doing splits with E. Martinez. So, with all of these things added up, we didn´t really accomplish that much work this week. The Lord really blessed us though. We had eight investigators at church, and two of them were new.
My Spanish is coming along. I can understand about 70 percent of what people say, but I really cannot wait until I can actually communicate properly with them. I can talk, but I feel like they have to translate what I say to them. Oh well, it will come. I trust that the Lord will assist me, because this is what he wants from me.
I love you all so much. I know that the Lord loves all of his children where ever they are. He knows us all personally. He knows our thoughts, He knows our desires, He knows our pains, He knows our joys, and He loves us.
Love,
Elder Johnson
How are you all? I am so jealous to hear that you all had some snow. Let me tell you, I dream about the snow. Often! Ha ha You wouldn´t believe how hot it is. I can´t even imagine when we get to August.
Well, this past week sure was a trying one. You were right to say drink lots of water. I was super sick this past week. I think that it was the change in the food, but this past Tuesday, around 6:00 I started to feel not too great. I will not say too much on the subject, but it sufficeth me to say, I wasn´t able to work all Wednesday. And, even better, Wednesday President Cantu came out here to Los Mochis to do interviews with all of the Elders. Then, Thursday, E. Cope went to Culiacán for Zone-Leader things. I stayed here doing splits with E. Martinez. So, with all of these things added up, we didn´t really accomplish that much work this week. The Lord really blessed us though. We had eight investigators at church, and two of them were new.
My Spanish is coming along. I can understand about 70 percent of what people say, but I really cannot wait until I can actually communicate properly with them. I can talk, but I feel like they have to translate what I say to them. Oh well, it will come. I trust that the Lord will assist me, because this is what he wants from me.
I love you all so much. I know that the Lord loves all of his children where ever they are. He knows us all personally. He knows our thoughts, He knows our desires, He knows our pains, He knows our joys, and He loves us.
Love,
Elder Johnson
04/25/2011
Hola Familia!
I sure hope that you all had a wonderful Easter! This week flew by so fast. On Wednesday E. Cope and I went to Culiacan to sign some papers for my visa. Basically, we woke up at 4 in the morning, and got on the bus. We arrived in Culiacan at around noon. We then went to a consulate or some official building, and I signed like 10 papers. Then we got back on the bus and we arrived in Los Mochis at around 5:00. It was quite the experience.
Anyways, a normal day for me, is
6:30- Wake up, shower, eat, and get ready for the day
7:30- Study Spanish (if I have time)
8:00- Begin personal study
9:00- Begin companionship study
10:00- Be out of the house, and out contacting or visiting with our investigators
2:00- Eat with a family in the ward
3:00- Contact and visit investigators
9:00- Return to our house
9:30- Plan the activities for the next day
10:00- Shower and eat
10:30- Go to bed
This is about the same for all of our days, with the exception of P-Day, and Sunday.
I had a wonderful Easter, and Mothers Day is in two weeks. I think that the way that they do it is that I give you all a number to call, and you call it. My time is scheduled for 5:30, and I will get back to you with the number.
Well I sure hope that everything is going well, in the land of mild weather!
I love you all so very much.
Love,
Elder Johnson
p.s. So I found out that it takes like a month for letters to get mailed from here to there, and from there to here, but it only takes 10 days to send packages. Spread the word... Packages are the way to go! Ha ha
I sure hope that you all had a wonderful Easter! This week flew by so fast. On Wednesday E. Cope and I went to Culiacan to sign some papers for my visa. Basically, we woke up at 4 in the morning, and got on the bus. We arrived in Culiacan at around noon. We then went to a consulate or some official building, and I signed like 10 papers. Then we got back on the bus and we arrived in Los Mochis at around 5:00. It was quite the experience.
Anyways, a normal day for me, is
6:30- Wake up, shower, eat, and get ready for the day
7:30- Study Spanish (if I have time)
8:00- Begin personal study
9:00- Begin companionship study
10:00- Be out of the house, and out contacting or visiting with our investigators
2:00- Eat with a family in the ward
3:00- Contact and visit investigators
9:00- Return to our house
9:30- Plan the activities for the next day
10:00- Shower and eat
10:30- Go to bed
This is about the same for all of our days, with the exception of P-Day, and Sunday.
I had a wonderful Easter, and Mothers Day is in two weeks. I think that the way that they do it is that I give you all a number to call, and you call it. My time is scheduled for 5:30, and I will get back to you with the number.
Well I sure hope that everything is going well, in the land of mild weather!
I love you all so very much.
Love,
Elder Johnson
p.s. So I found out that it takes like a month for letters to get mailed from here to there, and from there to here, but it only takes 10 days to send packages. Spread the word... Packages are the way to go! Ha ha
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
April 18, 2011
Well... I am soooooo tired. This week there was a seminary for all of the Jr. Companions , so they all went to Cúliacan for the week, except for me (this is because I have only been here for three weeks). I stayed in Los Mochis with my companion. Because half of all the missionaries were gone, our area was combined with another area, which was twice as big as ours. We did a lot of walking this week. All is well though, because they returned this past Saturday.
But, the big news for this week, is that I gave my first "discurso" in Spanish yesterday. If you think giving a talk in English is hard... You wouldn´t believe it, but I think that it is easier to give a talk in front of 60 people in a different language, than it is to give one in English in front of like 600 people. Anyway, I am sure that my grammar was horrible and that I pronounced everything wrong, but I enjoyed the experience. Might as well, because I´m probably going to have to give like 15 trillion more before the end of my mission. :)
You never know who God has placed in your path for you to help and lift. It is important to always be an example of the believers, in all that you do and say. This is definitely true as a missionary. People are going to look at me, and judge our church. In the white-handbook, it says that I need to maintain the highest standard of conduct, because I represent the Lord, and his Gospel.
I love you all so much, and pray for you often,
Elder Johnson
But, the big news for this week, is that I gave my first "discurso" in Spanish yesterday. If you think giving a talk in English is hard... You wouldn´t believe it, but I think that it is easier to give a talk in front of 60 people in a different language, than it is to give one in English in front of like 600 people. Anyway, I am sure that my grammar was horrible and that I pronounced everything wrong, but I enjoyed the experience. Might as well, because I´m probably going to have to give like 15 trillion more before the end of my mission. :)
You never know who God has placed in your path for you to help and lift. It is important to always be an example of the believers, in all that you do and say. This is definitely true as a missionary. People are going to look at me, and judge our church. In the white-handbook, it says that I need to maintain the highest standard of conduct, because I represent the Lord, and his Gospel.
I love you all so much, and pray for you often,
Elder Johnson
Thursday, April 14, 2011
April 11, 2011
Hey Family!
Well, this week has been quite something. So, one of the rules in our mission (I think I already told you all this) is that we cannot go to church unless we bring with us an investigator. Well, we worked hard all last week, but we could not get a commitment from anyone! We got to Saturday, and we had 12 people planned, to go visit. We thought "for sure we´ll be able to get one of our investigators to come with us" But as the day went on, no one was home. I think of the 12 we had scheduled we taught a total of 3 people. We were running out of options. It was about 7:00, and we didn´t have anyone to go with us.
We decided to say a prayer, so we sat down on the side of the road, and prayed for us to be able to bring escogidos (God´s chosen people) to church with us. Then we went to our last two appointments. Neither one was there. So, it was 8:40, time for us to start heading home, and then we decided to try this one last house that was on our way home. This was a nice little family, that we had talked to for fifteen minutes on this past Tuesday. That is the only interaction that they had had with the missionaros before. We stopped by, sang a hymn, prayed, and invited them to church. They accepted. The Lord really did bless us. This does not happen. EVER.
I know that the Lord hears our prayers, and he answers them too. This is one of the first principles that we teach to the investigators. That is because it is so important to know that we can talk to our Father in Heaven, and what’s more, that He will answer. Now, I know that not all answers come like this one did, but I know that as I put my trust in the Lord, and have faith that he can and will answer my prayers he will bless me.
Anyway, I cannot believe that I forgot to tell you this last week, but now I look even more like Harry Potter. I have this big ole gash on my forehead. Me and my companion were walking along the sidewalk, when we saw one of our investigators. I was waving to them, when all of a sudden, BANG, I just stopped. I had run head on into one of the air conditioners, that are mounted on the side of the houses. So yeah. I was a little embarrassed, and I have the coolest scar ever. This was like my second day in my area.
Well, the address to the Mission Office is:
Río Choix #888
Col. Rosales, Culiacán, Sin.
C.P. 80230 A.P. 645
This is where all of the letters will go through.
Well, I have to go. I love you all mucho.
Love
Elder Johnson
Well, this week has been quite something. So, one of the rules in our mission (I think I already told you all this) is that we cannot go to church unless we bring with us an investigator. Well, we worked hard all last week, but we could not get a commitment from anyone! We got to Saturday, and we had 12 people planned, to go visit. We thought "for sure we´ll be able to get one of our investigators to come with us" But as the day went on, no one was home. I think of the 12 we had scheduled we taught a total of 3 people. We were running out of options. It was about 7:00, and we didn´t have anyone to go with us.
We decided to say a prayer, so we sat down on the side of the road, and prayed for us to be able to bring escogidos (God´s chosen people) to church with us. Then we went to our last two appointments. Neither one was there. So, it was 8:40, time for us to start heading home, and then we decided to try this one last house that was on our way home. This was a nice little family, that we had talked to for fifteen minutes on this past Tuesday. That is the only interaction that they had had with the missionaros before. We stopped by, sang a hymn, prayed, and invited them to church. They accepted. The Lord really did bless us. This does not happen. EVER.
I know that the Lord hears our prayers, and he answers them too. This is one of the first principles that we teach to the investigators. That is because it is so important to know that we can talk to our Father in Heaven, and what’s more, that He will answer. Now, I know that not all answers come like this one did, but I know that as I put my trust in the Lord, and have faith that he can and will answer my prayers he will bless me.
Anyway, I cannot believe that I forgot to tell you this last week, but now I look even more like Harry Potter. I have this big ole gash on my forehead. Me and my companion were walking along the sidewalk, when we saw one of our investigators. I was waving to them, when all of a sudden, BANG, I just stopped. I had run head on into one of the air conditioners, that are mounted on the side of the houses. So yeah. I was a little embarrassed, and I have the coolest scar ever. This was like my second day in my area.
Well, the address to the Mission Office is:
Río Choix #888
Col. Rosales, Culiacán, Sin.
C.P. 80230 A.P. 645
This is where all of the letters will go through.
Well, I have to go. I love you all mucho.
Love
Elder Johnson
April 4, 2011
Greetings from MEXICO!!!
Yes, that is correct, I made it to the land of hot weather alive. If I were to describe Mexico, I think that the word that would best describe it would be HOT. It is the first of April, and I´m pretty sure that the temperature is in the 90´s all the time. Everybody says this is the nice season. Ohhhhh joy, I can´t wait for August. A saying here in the mission is, "If you can love someone in the heat, you can love anyone." I believe it to.
My companions name is E. Cope, and he is the Lidre de Zona. (Zone Leader) So, basically, it is always busy, and I am in good hands. He has been out here for 20 months, and has the language down pat. He doesn´t speak English to me, except when I say "Comó se dicé....." or Qué signífica...." Which basically means, how so you say...? or what does..... mean? I can basically understand most of what is being said, the most frustrating part is that I cannot say what I want to say. It is extremely important for me to learn this language so that I will more effectively in bringing the gospel to the people of Mexicó,... Especially Los Mochis, which is where I am right now.
Another side note, apparently our mission is what is known as a baptizing mission, I didn´t truly appreciate what that meant, until this Saturday, when two investigators of ours were baptized. Their names were Roberto, and Yihydia (ju-hyd-a). It was quite the experience. And, I was only able to watch two sessions of conference, because the rule here is, you have to bring an investigator with you, or you don´t go. That was quite an eye-opener for me, along with the fact the it was in SPANISH! Ahhhhhh everything here is in Spanish, Including this computer I am using right now. Anyway, that is about the extent of my week. Oh, I forgot, I have probably walked about 2,000,000 miles or close to it in this past week! Ha ha, it is quite fun.
My mission president is such a Spiritual-Powerhouse/Giant. I really look forward to the opportunity of serving under his direction, and his wife is such a sweet lady. Anyway, I am sure that these next two years are going to be quite interesting. T here have already been so many experiences that I shall never forget. I have been so blessed to have been born in the United States, to a loving family. We are teaching a family, who lives in a house that is smaller that our living room. They have 9 children who live with them, they don´t have much work, and because of their poverty, none of their children can read. They do not have any access to water, and their power is going to be shut off soon, because they cannot pay the bill. I pray so hard that they will accept the gospel, so that they can experience that Joy and Happiness that accompanies it. It is such a blessing to know that if they make good decisions, get baptized, and endure to the end, they will be able to find a home in one of the Mansions that our Father in Heaven has prepared for them. My eyes have really been opened this past week, and I am sure that I still have more yet to learn.
I love you all so much, and am so grateful for your patience with me, and your faith. You are in my prayers continually.
Love
Elder Johnson
Yes, that is correct, I made it to the land of hot weather alive. If I were to describe Mexico, I think that the word that would best describe it would be HOT. It is the first of April, and I´m pretty sure that the temperature is in the 90´s all the time. Everybody says this is the nice season. Ohhhhh joy, I can´t wait for August. A saying here in the mission is, "If you can love someone in the heat, you can love anyone." I believe it to.
My companions name is E. Cope, and he is the Lidre de Zona. (Zone Leader) So, basically, it is always busy, and I am in good hands. He has been out here for 20 months, and has the language down pat. He doesn´t speak English to me, except when I say "Comó se dicé....." or Qué signífica...." Which basically means, how so you say...? or what does..... mean? I can basically understand most of what is being said, the most frustrating part is that I cannot say what I want to say. It is extremely important for me to learn this language so that I will more effectively in bringing the gospel to the people of Mexicó,... Especially Los Mochis, which is where I am right now.
Another side note, apparently our mission is what is known as a baptizing mission, I didn´t truly appreciate what that meant, until this Saturday, when two investigators of ours were baptized. Their names were Roberto, and Yihydia (ju-hyd-a). It was quite the experience. And, I was only able to watch two sessions of conference, because the rule here is, you have to bring an investigator with you, or you don´t go. That was quite an eye-opener for me, along with the fact the it was in SPANISH! Ahhhhhh everything here is in Spanish, Including this computer I am using right now. Anyway, that is about the extent of my week. Oh, I forgot, I have probably walked about 2,000,000 miles or close to it in this past week! Ha ha, it is quite fun.
My mission president is such a Spiritual-Powerhouse/Giant. I really look forward to the opportunity of serving under his direction, and his wife is such a sweet lady. Anyway, I am sure that these next two years are going to be quite interesting. T here have already been so many experiences that I shall never forget. I have been so blessed to have been born in the United States, to a loving family. We are teaching a family, who lives in a house that is smaller that our living room. They have 9 children who live with them, they don´t have much work, and because of their poverty, none of their children can read. They do not have any access to water, and their power is going to be shut off soon, because they cannot pay the bill. I pray so hard that they will accept the gospel, so that they can experience that Joy and Happiness that accompanies it. It is such a blessing to know that if they make good decisions, get baptized, and endure to the end, they will be able to find a home in one of the Mansions that our Father in Heaven has prepared for them. My eyes have really been opened this past week, and I am sure that I still have more yet to learn.
I love you all so much, and am so grateful for your patience with me, and your faith. You are in my prayers continually.
Love
Elder Johnson
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