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