10 October 2011

Dear family,

How is the ward doing? We had a missionary from our zone go to the Lima temple this week. It’s a 1.5 hour plane ride. I would love to go so much. When is the next youth trip to prepare for?

Right now we are passing some high school students running and yelling like soldiers training. I think it’s part of their gym class. That’s cool. They’re running in the street and taking up the whole thing.

The letters get here on a de ves en cuando [every once in a while] basis. But thanks so much all for writing them! They come every few weeks all together every chance that the mission office has to send us packages.

So this week was interesting. We had the monthly zone leader’s conference in which we learned a lot. We are going to implement a new system that will help us teach better. The first week using it was very hard. It’s just a card that has some important points of each lesson and stuff that will help the investigatores [investigators] understand better the lessons. Preach My Gospel says that the better they understand the doctrine, the better the Spirit will be able to testify to them that it is true.

In companionship exchanges I worked in Puchun, and then here. There with Elder Perez and here with Elder Stringham. It was pretty good. The two days were very productive.

Hey, guess what? I know no one’s gunna [going to] believe it, but in our branch, there was a baptism!!!!!!!!!! We have been teaching a small family who live upp upp upp in a place called Paradise. The mom and son we have been teaching. The mom is a member and the son got baptized Saturday! He asked me to baptize him. It was great. Only the water was SOO cold. It might as well have come out of the faucet as ice cubes, and Joel (the son) was terrified of water in the first place, but it was all fine. Our branch mission leader directed the service, the family of Joel was there, quite a few of the young adults were there too, us, and the branch president, and an investigator came with his two teens.

A missionary returned to the branch from his mission in Lima North. Two more talked since they are about to leave tomorrow and in a few weeks. Freaked me out a little since I feel like a month ago I had to talk in our ward.. but I’m more than halfway to returning.

We passed one family Thursday who were taking big wood boards into the house that they use to make the concrete roofs. We offered to help them and they were grateful since there are many, and later we taught all 6 [in the family]. They seem like a great family and I hope we can continue to teach them! In all there are something like 8 people who live there.

I am going to have to get the pictures through the next Monday. And bueno. Las cosas estan bien. [And well, things are well.] I was thinking about how life is often difficult, and reading about Alma teaching the purpose of life in the Book of Mormon and between the chapters 34 and 42 came to understand better that we had to come here, so that we could have the experience of repenting and choosing the good. This is part of the goal, so it was absolutely necessary that Adam and Eve fell since we all needed to go through the process of repentance in order to progress in the grand scheme of things. I dunno [don’t know] exactly how to describe it but a few things just made sense better than before.

Haha this Sunday we tried something. We put the hymn CDs on high volume so that all could sing along Sunday. There is no piano or organ or someone who could play the electric piano, so we put on the CD and it worked GREAT! Definitely were gunna  [going to] continue. I think I’m going to be the new music conductor since the current is going on the mission tomorrow.

Love Elder Johnson

17 January 2011

Dear Family

Muralkjfsa you are all skiing?? I wanna. Oh well. I very very much like being here too. This week has been interesting. Miguel, from last week, had some doubts about getting baptized. He went to the Noche Missional [Missionary night] this Friday, and while there, Elder Hernandez pointed out the painting of Jesus Christ being baptized that was in the same room. Miguel was surprised that we baptize like that (banging head on keyboard) and when Elder Hernandez asked how he felt about being baptized like that, he said he was ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The 29th will be his goal. Ademas [Furthermore] we have a plethora of other possible people.. All we need to do is let the Holy Ghost testify to them, and help them recognize [the truth].

We taught a lesson to a group of ladies once they finished a class of learning how to write for the day. One of the practice sentences in the goverment issued writing books was "Rotilde does not let her children take drugs." Pretty prevelant propaganda in the books.

Another person, really a friend of a member, passed by this members house after we contacted her (as told by the member) and demanded our phone number and address and email address and everything because she has to be baptized. I really hope we can finaly find her.

Elder Hernandez is getting used to Peru. They speak a little different in Guatemala. For example, here, "que chevere" means more or less "cool". But for him it means "What Hotdog". In addition, some of the normal semi slang terms that could be used in church here, are offensive words.

Unfortunately, he his suffering a bit of pain due to something going on with his stomach. Today we are going to buy meds for that. The pain is degrading his ability to work every minute of the day. Which reminds me...

Along with the picture of the scripture, I wanted to send back 2 Nephi 25:29. I am reading the Libro de Mormon [the Book of Mormon] for the second time since leaving now and well, this time I will understand the first half. I liked this scripture a lot, because it reminded me that we [I] need to work with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. (see DyC 4:2)

Y'all went to the Salt Lake Temple?? I have been wanting to go soo bad. Really what we need in Arequipa is a temple, so we can go on P days. The closest is in Lima, an hour and a half in airplane. Mom and Dad did y'all get to go in?

On Thursday we had a Zone Conference. It was awesome. Between 1:30 p.m. and 8:40 p.m., and in the words of my long lost friend, Elder Badjinski ( wow... forgot how to spell his name even!) It was a spiritual feast! He is in Ecuador now.

I left with so much excitement to get to work that 2 hours later when we went to bed I couldn't sleep. The hardest will be managing all the appointments that will come when we start doing all the contacting we should be doing, but that's fine. Splits [That's where a the missionary goes with a member of the church and his companion goes with another member of the church. That way, they can contact twice as many people].

Yesterday we were contacting on the edge of a large field with sheep and cows. We talked with one lady who was wearing the most incredible clothes. Remember the Peruvian culture thing we went to last summer [at the Indian Museum in downtown D.C.]? She was like that, but MORE colorful. I wanted so bad to take a picture of her, the background and everything but alas didn't have my camera. It was way cool.

Also a little bit before, and a little after I almost got eaten by a huge dog, we knocked a door. A 12 year old girl came out and when she saw us, called her dad. Her dad came, and she came to watch. He started to try to confuse us... Started talking about a lot of confusing things in the Bible, and actually contradicted himself about 4 times... I didnt feel good talking to him at all and was a little sad how closed he was... I tried to help him be a little open, but nothing. Interestng how you can study the Bible for a really long time (him 25 years) and be so disbelieving, and more, confused. The invitation in the final two paragraphs of the introduction [to the Book of Mormon] is to the whole world. If they read the Book of Mormon, and reflect on it, and pray and ask to know if it is true, they can know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true. A fufillment of a promise: I wasn't confudido [confused].

In this transfer, my goal is to become the missionary I should be.

Love Elder Johnson