Surviving

Dear Family,

believe it or not, I have yet to crash and burn. But I do have a good lymerick for you. 

There was a girl serving in Spain

Who was told that she´d just have to train

After only six weeks.

Things are looking quite bleak,

For the blisters and heat are a pain.

I guess I better start off by introducing my new companion. Her name is Hermana Coloma. When we first met, she asked me how long I´d been in the field. Upon hearing that I had a grand total of 6 weeks under my belt, her eyes popped wide open and she said (with a hint of fear, perhaps), "¡Qué feurte!" When I learned that she was from Ecuador (Guayaquíl, Jon!), and that she was 23, I thought, "This is alright. At least Spain is foreign, so I´ll be able to help her with something." And found out moments later that she´s lived in Barcelona for the past 6 years. So much for that. I have been able to teach her somewhat, about the schedule, and obedience, the area and the people. 

Honestly though, one of my biggest fears was that she would resent me for being foreign and so naive, but she really treats me with love and respect, as she does everyone, and for that I´m exceedingly grateful. I´m sure that we´re going to be friends, and we´re already very united in the work. 

It´s so strange to have so much responsibility- with Hermana Cano, I think I was more like a duckling, following her around everywhere and helping where I could. Now I have to remember and record everything practically on my own until Hermana Coloma learns the ropes. I like working though- it´s the best cure for homesickness. 

Hermana Coloma is great- she has good ideas, and is up for all of my... adventures. For example, one of our investigators moved from the most ghetto area this week to the second most ghetto area, and I decided we should help her, since we´ve been asking for weeks if there was anything we could do for her. Well, it just so happened that she had a BIG flatscreen TV- I didn´t measure it, but it was just a few inches smaller than the TV mom and dad have in their basement. Anyhow, Hna. Coloma was in charge of hauling the cart while took the TV by myself (our investigator is expecting, so we didn´t want her to carry anything). Everyone crowded us, asking how much we were selling the TV for (that street is a sort of free market, most of the goods coming from dumpsters). Then we promised to help her move her fridge. Turns out she had two half sized ones, and a normal fridge. The elders came and carried one of the smaller ones, and Hna Coloma and I got the other one. Everyone in the street kept calling out about how strong we girls were... we certainly stood out in our skirts and blouses carrying a fridge between us in the poorest area. It was great fun. On a more-than-you-needed-to-know note, I´m going to have to look for some clinical strength antiperspirant. Particularly if I decide to carry any more fridges. Oh, and Estela (13 year old Nigerian who was baptized my first few weeks) asked me if all the Johnsons were tall and strong like me. I told her were were the strongest family ever. She said people must know I´m a Johnson just from seeing me carry such heavy things in the street- so true :) I´m glad I have a family I can be proud of in every way.

Oh, another fun adventure (that may or may not have also been a sweaty experience) happened the other day. The Elders had asked me to sing at Jay´s baptism (you guessed it, he´s also Nigerian), so Hna. Coloma and I planned to be in the chapel a few minutes before 8. 8.As we were waiting for the elevator in a building about 25 minutes away from the chapel (at 7), Elder Cortes called to ask whether we were planning on coming to the baptism. "Yes.... It is at 8, right?" Nope, definitely at 7. We ran (read: sprinted in 90 degree heat) to cut the time down to 15 minutes, so everyone in the chapel sang hymns while waiting for us to come.  It was a beautiful baptism though, and after I sang "I know that My Redeemer Lives", Jay clapped for me :)

There´s also an amazing Romanian family that we´re teaching- they´re pentacostals, but they really love all that we teach. We invited them to pray if the Book of Mormon was true, and they said, "Oh, we know it´s true. We´d share it with our congregation if we had enough copies so they could follow along." When I was teaching the girls (about 9 and 8 years old) about dispensations and the great apostasy, I explained that God has always revealed his will through prophets like Adam, Abraham, Noah... here, the younger one interrupted and asked, "Prince Noah?" "Prince Noah?.... Do you mean King Noah?" "Yeah, him! From the Book of Mormon!" .... "Do you mean you´ve read all the way to Mosiah?" "yeah, we read it every night." I don´t know what will happen with them, but they are so full of light, and I know the girls at least embrace the gospel whole-heartedly. One problem is we can´t get any one of them to give any prayer but the Lord´s prayer from the Bible... in Romanian. 

Sometimes our appointments fall through, and sometimes I miss home, but I really am loving my mission. I can´t believe just how much I love the people I meet- the missionaries, the members, the investigators, and strangers on the street. I realize every day just how fond I´m getting of this place, and all of these now-familiar faces and streets. Missions aren´t easy, but every day when we teach, I know that it´s worth it, because I feel the worth of each person we meet, and I know that they´re worth every effort, and every sacrfice. Something I´ve really learned is that (maybe I´ve said this before) Heavenly Father is all-powerful, and could do this all on His own if He willed it so. But he gives us the chance to give service- to show our faith and gratitude for all that He gives us. It´s humbling to know that even if I worked at full capacity every day for the rest of my life, it would never repay Him. 

Thank you for all of the emails you sent this week and the last. I always mean to reply but never have time- today we were at a castle in downtown Málaga, so... I didn´t have much time for letters today either. Just know that I appreciate everything you do for me, and that I don´t know what I´d do without your love and support. You´re the greatest family (and the strongest), and I´ll be happy to be with you again. I love you all!

Love, Hna. Johnson