555+!!

Dear family,

 

this week we reached our goal as a mission of finding 555 new investigators- the final total was 558- just barely made it! The first few days were pretty tough for Hna. Folsom and I. Whitewashing is pretty hard, it turns out, and the first 3 days we found no one, and taught very little. We just kept pushing through despite the discouragement, and were blessed with 10 new investigators by the end of the week! It really was such a miraculous week.

 

One of our new investigators is a Nigerian named Kingsley. We got on the wrong bus late one night, and moreover got off on the wrong stop- both of us being a bit unfamiliar with the area. Almost immediately, we ran into Kingsley, who was taught by the missionaries about 4 years ago, and somehow got lost in the shuffle (we can understand that pretty well right now). It´s incredible how the Lord uses our weaknesses and our mistakes to bring about His purposes.

 

We also began teaching a part member family. The mother (Estrella) has 8 children, and years ago, the oldest 7 were baptized, and all but 1 has fallen away from the church. 3 of the daughters live near their mother (one of them being the youngest that was never baptized), and they all have good memories of the church and want us to come by and teach them again (along with Estrella´s granddaughters). It´s so sad to me to see people who have turned away from the truth after having found it- much worse than those who never knew it. I keep thinking this week about the importance of strengthening recent converts and less active members, and want to invite all of you to do what you can this week to do just that, because there is no sense in building up the kingdom when what has already been constructed is crumbling down.

 

I´ve been loving teaching Palma- not sure if I´ve mentioned her or not. She´s a 30 something year old Spaniard that has been investigating the church since January or February, and you can really see the changes it´s bringing into her life. She´s so much happier, confident and at peace now, and you should see the way her mind is waking up to all of the truths of the gospel. She´s so hungry for all of it, and it´s really a joy to teach her. There´s a few stumbling blocks between her and baptism, like tobacco, but she´s really progressing, and we´re hoping she can be baptized this next month.

 

It´s still been difficult to leave all of the people to the Elders. Our recent converts ask us why the missionaries don´t come by to visit them anymore, and some have disappeared. I don´t blame the Elders- they´ve had a lot added onto their area, so they´re drowning in their work, but I worry so much about these people. We offer to help, but for now they haven´t accepted it. Maybe they can´t since they´re in another area.

 

One of the worst moments was when the Elders asked us to call the Romanians to set up an appointment with them, thinking it was better coming from us. When Costel answered the phone, he was crying, and told me that Iuliana was in the hospital, with just a few hours left to live. She died on Thursday, and we went to the funeral on Saturday. I hated that we hadn´t been there for the family during the last few weeks Iuliana had on this earth. It makes me sick to think of it, and to think that the girls went without support for weeks just because of circumstances.

 

The difficult things have definitely been trusting the people to other missionaries.

 

Other than worrying about my old area, I´m doing well. My companion and I are getting a lot of work done, and we love meeting and teaching new people. I can´t wait to hear how the reunion went- I hope you´ll make a little film for me, Dad. I love you all, and am happy to hear Alisa is still in the trial for now.

 

Love, Hna. Johnson

El Centro

Dear family,

 

well, we got uprooted from our area for the second time this transfer- que locura! We weren´t going to start working in the Centro until the end of the transfer, but the Elders found a piso a couple of weeks early and thought it would be a good idea to just switch now, so here we are! It was tough leaving again- we had three new investigators from scratch, and were really excited to teach them.

 

Fransisco and José are a father and son that I met way back when I was with Hna. Cano. The son is about 30 and has cerebral palsy (but he´s very bright- has a better memory than I do), and we´d see them walking together in la Palmilla a lot. We talked to them, but Fransisco politely turned us away, telling us he didn´t believe anything. Then when we started working in Parque del Sur, we started seeing them more than ever. He started talking to us more, and told us that whenever he thought of us before turning a corner, he´d find us right in his path, and he really felt it was a sign he needed to talk to us. He calls us his angels and practically begs for us to come by to teach. We put it off a while because we couldn´t find a woman to accompany us, but ended up just teaching him on a bench in the street. He´s really receptive and has a lot of questions, and we´re excited for the elders to teach them both.

 

We found the third investigator this way too. We were out teaching them on the bench when a young Romanian woman (love Romanians!) and her five year old son passed by, and slowed down to look at us. She asked us who we were, and what we taught. We explained a little, but Fransisco was the true advocate- telling her that we´re good people who teach true doctrine, and that she should listen to us. She asked us if we could come by to teach. We only had one chance to teach her before handing her over to the Elders, but the lesson was wonderful. When we began explaining about the young boy Joseph Smith who was looking for the truth, she interrupted us to say, "Like me!" I´m excited to hear from the Elders how things go with her.

 

Our new area will be a challenge- it´s a bit more touristy, but we´re willing to work hard. Speaking of, we have a new goal as a mission for this week. The most new investigators that the mission has gained in a week is 236. This week we have a goal of finding 555 new investigators. Please keep us in your prayers so we can reach this goal- Hna. Folsom and I need to find 7 new investigators this week, which will be a bit of a challenge starting off in a new area- still, it´s something that we need in order to work, and moreover, we know that there are people prepared to listen- we just have to find them. Ay, there´s the rub.

 

On a less spiritual note, our piso is very nice, and we finally have a wash line, so I´m officially Spanish now. And we may or may not have a grocery store in our basement. We´re going to the feria for p-day, so I should have some fun pictures for next week. Lots of speculation about what will happen this transfer. Will Hna. Folsom and I keep rockin´it together? Will we both train a newbie? Will I get sent away and leave Hna. Folsom to train? So many possibilities in this crazy mission!

 

I dreamt that Mom decided to store all the books in my library in a tree during my mission, and I couldn´t get her to understand that if she left them out, they´d get ruined by the rain. Take care of my books please, mother :) And Mark, while you´re living at the DI, make sure to pick up any good copies you see. I´ll pay you back in... foot massages?

 

I know that this is the work of the Lord- I´ve seen His hand countless times in just five months of being a missionary. I know that he really is preparing the hearts of the people, and I´m excited to search for the elect this week, and every day of my mission. I love you all and appreciate all you do for me (like the reunion letters :) You´re in my prayers.

 

Love, Hna. Johnson

For Real

Dear Family,

the realignment of the wards has been a little tough- the most difficult was saying goodbye to all- yes, all- of our investigators. 

One family we were really sad to say goodbye to were Uchenna and Ana Maria- she´s from Poland, and he´s from Nigeria, and the have the most beautiful baby I´ve ever seen. Ana Maria is a little skeptical, but she wants to know the truth, and you should have seen how happy she was when we brought her her own Polish copy of the Book of Mormon. Uchenna is ready for it all- his face lights up whenever we teach, and he always tells us excitedly how it all makes sense and fits together. We invited him to be baptized and he responded emphatically, "For real!" Oh, how I´ll miss my Nigerians (you understand, Matt). 

Things are still great with Hna. Folsom- I hope we´ll still be together next transfer, because we get along swimmingly and do the work well together. 

We´re excited to teach one man we keep running into in Parque del Sur- he´s always walking with his son with cerebral palsy leaning on his arm. He tells us he doesn´t believe in God very concretely, but then nods his head thoughtfully and tells us each time that maybe we´ll be able to convince him. 

Well, I´m not quite sure what else to write this week, since we´re starting from scratch and don´t know the people very well. Treading water a little bit over here, but we´re not drowning yet. I´ll just attach some pictures to make up for the empty space :) 

How did the kids like the recordings? Did they turn out alright? 

I love you all, and am praying for you.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Changes

Dear Family,

This week has been a little bit of a nasty one, mostly because things are going so well... and it´s all going to change. I´m pretty sure I´ve expressed just how much I love la Palma and la Palmilla, the two really ghetto neighborhoods in our zone. The ward is splitting in half, using a dry riverbed as the boundary line. Half of our area is in barrio 4 (palma & palmilla), and the other half is in barrio 3 (ciudad jardín and parque del sur), and they´ll be sending us sisters to barrio 3. The other sad thing is that every single one of our investigators lives in la Palma or la Palmilla... so we´ll sort of be starting from scratch.

And then after this transfer, there´s a good chance they´ll send us closer to the coast to work where the elders are working now, which I´m a little upset about, because it´s a very ritzy, touristy area, and I much prefer my beloved ´hood. 

Still getting along great with Hna. Folsom, although I can say now with assurety (is that a word?) that she is not like Amanda N. I feel like my spanish is deteriorating a tiny bit now that I´m not conversing with a native companion all day, but I´m sure we´ll figure out a good study pattern together. 

I made recordings for the nieces and nephews who wrote me on my birthday (all but Jon´s kids, I think- I´ll have to make theirs next pday), so make sure you get those from dad (Lintons, Blodgetts, Farners, Cheneys... any Johnsons besides Jon?). 

Sorry I´ve been bad at responding to letters recently- we´ve got a lot on our shoulders here, and so even on pdays I find I don´t really have time to write. Training is going much better this time around- partly because there are no culture-communication barriers. We work pretty well as a team, and it´s definitely a different experience having a non-native companion.

What´s most interesting is when we teach people in Spanish when they´re learning Spanish too, and it´s the only common language we have (like some new Romanians) or when English is the common language, but they´re learning that (a new investigator from Poland.) We never know quite what to expect and frequently order copies of the Book of Mormon in 3 or 4 different languages. 

I better head on out, but just know that you´re all in my thoughts and prayers. I dreamt the other night of my first afternoon back home- I know it´s going to be wonderful- especially to see all the nieces and nephews. Love you all!

Love, Hna. Johnson