WHAT UP! WHAT UP!

suppy yo.......yo.  BGL.

 

Sooo THANKSGIVING!!.................we did nothing....hahaha. I honestly didn't even realize that it was Thanksgiving! haha. Anyway, that's not important. The work is going super duper well right now! I'm honestly loving this work more than anything! But we did have a little bit of a downer this week....we were going to baptize yesterday (Sunday), and we had everything ready...the baptismal font was all filled (by the way, we have another one of those bag things as a font haha) and we were also all dressed in white...basically everything! And then the dad of YAHIR called from the United States and said that he didn't want his son to be baptized.........BLUHH. super bummed for sure...but it's ok because I'm absolutely POSITIVE that Yahir and his whole family are going to be baptized in the future, and just go right on to eternal life!! love love love it. Anyway, all of our other investigators are doing super well right now! We found a new family this week that is super ESCOGIDISIMA! That means that they were just a gift from God! haha. The son in the family named Hector is 15 years old and he is a freakin STUD! Honestly, he has so much potential to be a SICK missionary! He's responsible, doesn't drink (almost all the teenagers drink here...), and he listens super well in the lessons! The only bummer is that the only day he works......SUNDAY! nooooooooooooooo. But thats ok, I'm postive that God will make it happen somehow, because I'm telling you....this kid is gonna be the modern day AMMON! haha. But honestly, I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life and I love love love these people here! haha.

 

But about you all.....every single letter I get, I cant believe how much progress I've seen in my family and how much everyone is just KILLING IT in everything you are doing! haha. Oh and shout out to my main man DALLAS!  I'm so stoked that he's gonna be leaving soon! He's honestly gonna kill it in his mission! Also, what is going on with all my girls back home??? they're dropping like flies....I was wondering why I was recieving less and less mail! haha. No, honestly I'm super stoked to hear that everyone is just super happy back home and that so many people are just lovin life!

 

THIS IS GODS WORK! THIS LIFE IS GREAT, ENJOY EVERY SECOND OF IT!!

 

I....love....you....all...............................a lot.

 

Elder Johnson

FELIZ DIA DE GRACIAS!

HOLA HOLA

Feliz dia de gracias! haha. I'm actually pretty sure that they celebrate something the 24th, but I think it's something different but similar....either way, we won't be doing too much celebrating....haha. Anyway, things are going super well here. Remember how we had to drop all of our investigators and start over new? Well....it worked out really well! We have a bunch of new investigators who want to get baptized! Obviously, there are still a couple doubts and things like that that we have to take out and help them with, but a lot of them are progressing closer to baptism!  We are working super hard right now, and we have a few families who are all really special!  I'm so grateful to the Lord for blessing us this week with so many people to teach because honestly, I was a little scared to drop all of our investigators and start new because I thought we were going to have a super tough week, but it turned out to be the best week of the change so far! We have a ton of references that we still haven't had time to contact, so we're going to see what happens with them...supposedly, a few of them have talked with missionaries before and have said to some of the members that all of a sudden, they want to be baptized! WHATT! The blessings of the Lord sometimes are just COUNTLESS! haha.


So yesterday in  church was one of my favorite Sundays of my whole mission....actually my favorite Sunday of my whole mission!  First off, we got to the church in the morning in Angostura and I dont know why but I walked into church and I just had an overwhelming feeling of joy!  I couldn't stop smiling all 3 hours of church...we had around 60 people in church yesterday and everyone just seemed so much happier than normal! I was thinking about all the prayers that have been said for this branch, and I just knew that the Lord was answering our prayers in that moment! I can really start to see something different in this branch right now, and I feel like we are growing closer and closer to having our CHAPEL!!  Whatt upp!! haha. And then, in the afternoon we went to the meeting under the good ole famous tree! haha. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but in our english classes we have been learning "I am a child of God" in english! And yesterday, we all sang in the sacrament meeting! There were about 10 kids singing....and on the second verse, we sang in spanish and everyone that was at the meeting sang the second verse with us! It was honestly super special and we all felt the spirit super strong!! SO STOKED! haha.

Anyway, I'm loving the work!  I've never felt more joy in my life than when I am preaching this gospel to all that  I can!  I really have come to love this people SO much, and I know that I'm here in Mexico for a reason! There are people waiting for us, and I pray that we will be guided by the spirit to find them! I love you all so much, for real....I love you all A LOT! haha. I was so excited to see the pic of you all at the temple....a little jealous too! haha. Keep up the progress, spread the gospel, and love EVERYONE! haha. 

love you all.

Elder Johnson

COULDN'T BE HAPPIER!

HOLA HOLA!

So I'm lovin the google translator! haha. Anyway, it is starting to get a little colder here....it's super nice in the night, because now we don't even have to turn on the air conditioning and we save a whole lot of money! haha. But all other things are going well here....we had a pretty tough week with finding people to teach. We had to drop almost all of our investigators that we had because they all just stopped progressing at the same time...big bummer, but its ok, because there are people that are waiting for this gospel, and although I may not know where they are right now....THE LORD DOES!!  It's so cool that we have the knowledge that our Heavely Father knows each one of us personally and he knows exactly what we are going through! He also is constantly preparing the hearts of the people to accept this gospel and the message that we have! And we as missionaries have the ability to receive direct revelation to know where these people are at, we just need to be worthy and plead with the Lord to know where to go!

Oh also, sorry I didn't write yesterday...we were super busy and did not have any time to write the fam! But yesterday, we had a Family Home Evening with a member family in one of the ranchos where we work, because it was the birthday of one of the members (less active) in the family! So we went to celebrate his birthday and also to share something short and sweet....we watched "the Testaments" with the WHOLE family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, brothers, sisters....basically the whole rancho! haha. We had a TON of people and it was SUPER good! there were a lot of family members there that arent members of the church and they all felt the spirit super strong!  I honestly could not stop smiling the whole night, it was a way cool experience and I know the Lord brought every single one of those people to that family home evening for a reason....and I hope that we will be able to see some "fruits" from the activity!

Anyway, my card expires in February....comin up soon! haha. I'm glad you reminded me of that....haha. Also, I'm super stuHOKED to hear that there is another package heading my way! haha. I really really like sour patch kids for some reason....the only conclusion I can think of,  is that you must have eaten sour patch kids when I was in your tummy and made me addicted to them before I even had a chance to choose! haha.

So 250 huh?? that's super wild!  The time is going soo fast here in the mission....sometimes I think about how all my life has been looking forward to my mission and now I'm already 8 months into it! WHAT!! super cuhRAZY.  Anyway, I'm honestly loving it here and I'm learning a lot about myself and about this gospel that is perfect in every way!  I love to know that this work is eternal...without end...we will literally be working and continually progressing for eternity! Gods plan is perfect, Christ is the center of all we do, and I couldn't be more happy to be a part of this great work that He has set forth before me! I love you all, I love my Nephew (that looks EXACTLY like Jessica by the way!! haha). well I'm gonna get to work right now....peace. out.

con amor,

Elder Johnson


p.s. hope you are liking the piccccs! I'll send more soon.  l8r sk8rs.

Lovin' Dis Work!

hola hola hola!

So I'm basically super super stoked to hear that things are going so well back at home! I really can see the progression in each and every one of you...including me!! haha. Really, I can't even tell you how happy I am right now! Anyway, things are going SUPER good right now! Every week I'm here, I progress more and more....not just as a missionary, but as an overall person or member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints! We really are starting to see a lot of progression right now in this area...the other day, we were working in the afternoon and we had a few appointments with people that still hadn't had a baptismal date so we were super determined to put a batismal date for these people! I was feeling really good and I knew that we had the spirit with us, and when we were teaching, the spirit was super strong! Then at the end we challenged them to be baptized and every single person accepted!!! We actually had one appointment with someone that had already had a baptismal date and her daughter, who is about 30 yrs old showed up right before we were going to teach....we had planned to teach about keeping the sabbath day holy, so we started to teach and they both understood super well and at the end of the lesson, I felt that we should challenge the daughter to be baptized....keep in mind that this is the first time this girl has ever listened to missionaries in her life so I was a little bit nervous or timid at first to challenge her to baptism, but I knew that I had recieved that prompting from the spirit, so I grabbed the Book of Mormon and I started to explain a little bit about what it was and explained that if she reads it and asks God to know if it is true she will know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that if he was a prophet, the church of Jesus Christ is on the earth today....and it is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints! We challenged her to be baptized, and she accepted!! WHATT!  I honestly could hardly believe that we challenged someone to be baptized after teaching about the Sabbath day, and they accepted!  I learned that if we truly have the Spirit with us, and that same spirit touches their hearts....THEY WILL ACCEPT!  So that afternoon we had 3 people who all accepted baptism on November 19th! We are super stoked right now, and I know that we are going to start to see many more miracles here in Angostura!

This branch is continuing to progress....we have at least 55 people every week in sacrament meeting, and we are hoping that we can increase in the weeks to come! We actually had a few members who have been inactive for a while come this week so I was SUPER happy about that! The branch is working a lot harder now and I know the Lord sees our hard work, and is blessing us right now! The Lord truly wants this branch to grow, and we are doing everything we can to help him!

So the hand continues to bother a bit....but right now it is not preventing me from working, but I do need to take better care of it! haha. Oh and by the way, the package arrived last week but I forgot to tell you....whoops! but yeah, I'm loving every bit of my package right now....the only sad part is that I tend to just tear open the sour patch kids and finish them super quick! haha. lovin dem sour patch kids!

Anyway, all is well here. We are going to continue to work super hard here and I know we are going to see many miracles! The Lord truly has a great work in store for me here...and thats exactly what we are going to be doing....WORK!

Speaking of work....gotta go! Lots of people to baptize.

love you all, Elder Johnson