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

 

 

BOO!!!

Happy Halloween family!

So this week has been good....kinda crazy and all over the place but good nonetheless. We didn't have a whole lot of time to work this week, due to a lot of traveling and unexpected things that came up that we had to leave our area to go help someone else, but thats alright! So it's a lot different having a "gringo" companion! I didnt think it was going to be a lot different, but it is. But it's really good, we don't hardly ever speak to eachother in English which is really good....we actually have a goal to not let oursleves fall into the trap of speaking English to eachother, because if we do....were gonna forget how to speak Spanish real quick, and that would be a problem...considering were in Mexico and all! haha.

Anyway, we had a really good zone conference this week in Los Mochis! It was unexpected and super random, but it was super good! President Cantu had just gotten back from a 5 day training thing in Mexico City, where he learned a bunch of stuff, and then he came back and taught it all to us! I learned a ton in this zone conference and we are really trying to put it into practice! We have a lot of people that we are working with right now, and I know that if we work hard and are diligent, we are going to see baptisms real soon! I'm super excited to be working here in this area right now, the members are helping a lot and we are closer and closer every week to having a chapel here in Angostura! We just need to make that extra effort and show the Lord that we are willing to sacrifice and work to have the blessing that he has prepared for us here in Angostura! I know that the members will be blessed so much to have a chapel here, and also the people that are not members here will recieve great blessings! The Lord wants so much for this Branch to grow, we just have to show him the effort!

I'm so thankful for each and every day I am here on my mission! Sometimes it's difficult to take new chances and try new things, because sometimes it doesn't work the way you planned....but that is how we learn! I have learned to accept that as missionaries....we are not perfect, we make mistakes....but we continue working with all our heart, might, mind and strength....and the Lord takes care of the rest! I really love this work, and it is WORK! haha. Also, tell Bishop Andrews that I really enjoyed getting his letter, the home ward sounds like it is doing great and you are all taking advantage of the many blessings that you have recieved!

I love you all so much, and I'm so happy to hear that all is well! By the way, that picture of Asher is hilarious!! haha. Keep working hard, love the Lord with all of your heart , and remember that I love you all!!

con mucho amor,  Elder Johnson 

Angostura, Mexico  

Sacrament Mtg. under a Tree  

2 Plates of Sushi? 

Trust in the Whisperings of the Spirit

Bad news...................i brought my camera cable and i was just about to put the photos on....and then my camera died...............hahahaha. sorry, no photos once again! 

Anyway.....haha. The work is going super well here! I just recieved a new companion named Elder Talbot....he's from Utah Spanish Fork and he has about 10 months or so in the mission. He's a really good guy and likes to joke around a lot! haha. Should be a pretty fun change! Honestly, I'm super stoked to be here right now! I feel like I have prorgressed more in my mission in this past month than in any other time in my mission! I really have learned to trust in the whisperings of the spirit, all my life I have always had this wierd fear of following the whisperings of the Spirit, because I always just thought it was MY thoughts or something...I'm sure I'm not the only one! haha.  But we had divisions this week with another area and an elder named Elder Marquez came and we worked SUPER hard!  He taught me a lot of things that I needed to hear and I'm super grateful to the Lord for answering my prayers!  We have a few new investigators that we are working with. one of them is the husband of a recent convert in the branch here in Angostura! His family is Jehovas Witness and he has grown up in that religion, but just recently he was talking with his wife saying that he has just about everything he has ever wanted in this life....a nice house, a wife, kids, a car etc. but then said that there is something missing.......something bigger than things of this world that have to do with money! He still is warming up to us a little bit, but he's honestly a great guy, and I can see the Spirit working in him! We're super stoked for him! haha.

Anyway, the branch is doing super well! the Branch President is super stoked!!! He's starting to plan activities for the branch to go visit less active members...which I'm honstly super stoked about!  He is just talking a lot about how we need to unite the branch and see more excitement and work together!  I honstly feel like we are going to have a chapel here in Angostura super soon!  Please pray for the members here!!!  It was actually a really cool experience, because this whole past change I felt like I needed to stay here and help the members and this branch more and I was praying that I would be able to stay here and help the memebers here more....I really feel like there is something bigger that I need to do here....and then the changes arrived and I have the opportunity to stay here and I'm going to work every moment I can to take advantage of it!

I love you all so much and I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well!  Keep studying those scriptures and stay close to the Lord!  Hay que ser constantes en todo que hacemos!!

Love you,

Elder Johnson

I Would Give Up Everything to Receive a Remission of My Sins!

ho la!

This week has been a good one! haha. Although the baptism of Guadalupe fell through (sort of kind of a big bummer), we are still working hard with her and with all the other people we are teaching. We actually found a new little rancho where not too many missionaries have worked before....but the whole rancho is family (literally every single person is related)! And not only family , but family of one of the strongest members in the branch! haha. We went to visit some people that live there the other day and we took the member with us (Hna. Julieta) and it went super well!  I really think that we're going to see a lot of success there, and the good thing is...it is super close to Angostura so its not too difficult for the people to go to church on Sunday! Good things good things.  Also, we are teaching the son of Hna. Julieta who never was baptized and he's prgressing really well!  We read with him the other day in the Book of Mormon Alma 22 and we talked about how the king was willing to give up everything to follow Jesus Christ and recieve a remission of his sins and Alvaro felt the spirit super strong!  Then during the next week he was talking with his mom about everything and he told her that he wants to be baptized and he said that when he does, he wants to give up everything bad in his life and just go all out following Jesus Christ (JUST LIKE THE KING!!!). It was super cool to see the words of the Book of Mormon have that much of an impact on someones life!  We are really excited for Alvaro and I know that he is going to be baptized and be a super strong member in the church!

The English classes are still going well and also we had a service project in the church this week to try to unite the members more and it went really well also! We had a few members come out and we all worked super hard...we actually cut down this big lime tree that was just in the way of everything and super ugly! We cut the whole thing down with pure machette (spelling?) haha. It honsetly wasn't easy but we got it done! haha. anyway, the goal of the project was just to unite the members and get everyone working in the branch, and this Sunday we had about 60 people in church which is really great! We have everything we need for a chapel...we only need more faithful tithe payers! We are SOO close its unreal! I'm not kidding when I tell you that there are almost enough members here in Angostura to have a small stake! haha. About half of this pueblo is baptized and are members, but all of them are inactive! We are trying to start to involve the members more in visiting the less active members of the branch....I hope it goes well!

Anyway, that's basically the work here in Angostura! We are just fighting every single day to find more people, activate the inactive and animate those who are active! AMAR, BAUTIZAR, RETENER! That's our motto of the mission. Also, changes are this Saturday and I think that Elder Fernandez might be leaving...so I might be having a new companion this next week! We'll see what happens.

but yeah, thats my life.....what up!

Elder Johnson



p.s. pics coming soon (I'm always forgetting the cable for my camera....sorry!)

just send me a text to remind me.................................................:)