Homeward Bound

Dear family,

it´s been a full week, and a good week. I´m just breathing in everything about Spain and the mission because I already know I´ll miss them both. At the moment I feel more Spanish than American and more missionary than... civilian?

Vicenta was baptized, and everything went well- she seems really happy, and her family is excited to follow her and be baptized too. 

Tania is doing well- her husband Javi almost forbade her from bringing Ricardo and Blanca to church (saying we were going to "brainwash them"), but they all showed up Sunday morning, and I was so happy to see them. Tania is just a wonder. I´m so grateful I got to know her, and I hope more than anything that she can have a gospel centered/united family someday.

We keep finding new investigators, so I´m happy to see that Jerez is growing and will continue to grow. I´m still working hard, I´m still loving every minute. 

I´m so grateful for the mission and for everything I´ve learned from it. I know I´ve grown in ways I needed to by coming here- more than anything in my love for the gospel and everyone around me. I think that´s what I´ll miss more than anything- being able to set aside personal decisions and worries and focus more entirely on the Lord and others. 

I know that this is the Lord´s work- He can do it Himself, but He lets us experience and learn from it as well, and grow together as members of the same celestial family. I know that He knows us personally and guides our lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that He restored His church to the Earth so we can know the way back to His presence.

I´ll see you all soon.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Another Companion

Dear family, 

I was very neglectful and completely forgot to mention my new companion- I´ll only be with her 2 weeks in total, but I love her- her name is Hna. Camacho, she´s got Mexican parents, but she´s American. She´s bold and outgoing and loving- just a great addition to our companionship. I know she´ll take care of the people when I´m gone. Oh, and she was an fhe sister of cousin Bedda, so that´s cool.

This week was pretty miraculous- we taught a lot of lessons, found a lot of new investigators, and even more potential investigators. One of my favorite stories from this week was chasing down a beautiful flamenco voice in a gypsy neighborhood and teaching the family when we found them. 

Tania is doing so well- one of my favorite things about her is that even though most of her family has rejected her invitations to hear about or come to church, she continues to invite them. After a relief society lesson about eternal marriage and exaltation, she sat her husband down and talked about how she wanted to save the whole family,and not just herself. He still might not take her seriously, but she takes this seriously. Her daughter in Ecuador said we could send the missionaries to her house to teach her. Tania is so converted.

I´ve also been neglectful in not mentioning Vicenta for weeks- she´s preparing for baptism for this Saturday- has been preparing for a while- I guess I´m just so enamored with Tania´s family I haven´t mentioned Vicenta nearly enough. She´s changed a lot since we first taught her. She always showed interest, but bluffed about the reading assignments and didn´t seem truly committed, but now everything has changed- she teaches us what she learns from the Book of Mormon, comes to church on Sundays, came to a ward baptism and loved it. Things are going really well with her- she says she´ll teach me to dance the Sevillana (flamenco) before I leave, and make me a big jug of gazpacho- she´s as spanish as they get. She is a sweetheart, and her family is sad I´m leaving too- she´s used to us coming and going on intercambios and asked "so when you leave in two weeks, you´re coming back, right?" I shook my head and they all went wide eyed- I think everyone´s intent on breaking my heart. The daughters are planning on being baptized my first Saturday home- I´m happy for them and hope they continue strong- I´ll send pictures with them when I have some- or I´ll just show you when I´m home.

I can´t believe it´s coming so fast- I wish I could slow it down. Be patient with me if I have emotional breakdowns- especially since i¨ll be jetlagged. I love you all, and am so grateful for the mission. I wouldn´t trade this time for anything. I know that the message I share is true, and I´m determined to share it the best I can in the time I have left and throughout my life. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

New Investigators

Dear family,

it´s been a really good week, as has been the case lately. Tania is doing really well- she´s really studying the scriptures on her own, and Ricardo is reading the illustrated Book of Mormon by himself too. The members find ways to serve her- Nery, one very kind member, is teaching her 20 year old son to read (he has some form of autism). Tania is dreading my departure, as am I. A normal evening teaching to her family is this: Ricardo in the chair to my right, trying to show me where he´s read, fighting with Blanca to say the prayer, Minino the adolescent kitten purring in my lap, Luna the runt dog sitting on my foot, Kipper the babe-size dog standing beneath my chair, resting against my legs, Blanca painting my lips with lip gloss, or my polishing my nails, or trying to climb up me as if I were a tree (I remember being that little girl), and Tania with her sincere questions and earnest desires to do what´s right, scolding her kids for bothering me while I laugh and tell her not to worry, and remind her for the hundredth time that I have 24 nieces and nephews and love kids- then she patiently laughs too. Tell me how I can ever be the same after a mission.

We´ve started receiving more referrals from members- several have brought their friends to church and ask us afterward when we can come by and teach them. The area really is picking up and I´m so glad that I can leave it like this, although I´d rather not leave at all. 

I honestly am not excited to stop being a missionary- I dread it. I love dedicating my time to the Lord and to the people around me, and being guided by the spirit so constantly. My one consolation as that I´ll soon be with the family again... and that I won´t have to ration out my peanut butter so carefully, I suppose :) 

Please try mending my heart when I come home (perhaps with coonsie cat, mom and dad´s cooking, time with the nephews and siblings), because leaving Spain is going to break it without a doubt.

Thank you all for your love and support- just two more emails and I´ll be home!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Tania's Baptism

Dear family,

I´ll save the best for last and talk about trivial things first. Gibraltar last Pday was fun- I got to step from Spanish to British soil, see the coast of Africa, and watch a gang of monkeys steal my companion´s sandwich. It was a great time.

I got to see my trainer, Hna. Cano. She came home to visit for the weekend, and I only saw her for a few moments at the baptism and at church, and was so busy with Tania and all of our other recent converts and investigators, we only had time to snap a picture and say hello. She´s taller now that she can wear high heels.

We have a lizard named Guillermo living in our piso- we´ve only seen him twice now- once running across my feet, once at night in Hna. Cameron´s hair. We have yet to catch him, but I´m determined to do it. Any ideas? I´m sure the nephews will have some.

Tania was baptized this Saturday, and it was beautiful. Well, she was unfortunately baptized 5 times (a recent convert´s first time baptizing... he was a little nervous), but that´s a story for another day- remind me to tell you when I get home. We were so worried that she would feel alone because a lot of the ward members said they couldn´t make it after we called and invited them one by one, and most of her family refused or made other plans for the day- in the end though, there were more people at her baptism than anyone expected (and at the last moment her sister, nephew, and 2 of her kids came). The best moment by far was her testimony- at the last minute, they asked her if she´d like to share it, and even though she´s shy, she accepted. She talked about how she met us, and how much she changed, and how she felt about all that she learned. She´s so strong and we are so happy for her. 

That´s my favorite thing about this gospel- that it changes us and makes us new people- more Christlike. I can´t forget it or deny it because I never cease to see it here in the mission and in my own life. 

I love you all and will see you soon. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Pictures: Us and Tania, us and a monkey... well, I´m  not sure which one is the real monkey, british phone booths, Cano and my district, me with gibraltar (coast of Africa in the back), us with Tania again, and Ricardo, her son with a missionary tag they made in primary.

Short

Dear family,

I only have time to send a picture of the letter I wrote you as we print off these train tickets- had a great time at Gibraltar- you´re in my prayers.

Seeds

Dear family,

 I won´t write much- I wrote a handwritten letter thinking we´d go to gibraltar and I wouldn´t have time. 

Tania is doing well. She wants to wait two more weeks for her baptism (it was supposed to be this coming Saturday), but she wants a little more time to prepare herself- it´s incredible how well she understands what baptism entails and what´s expected of her. Knowing how she wants to prepare herself just shows us how prepared and converted she really is.

I¨ve heard a bit from Alicante- Jose Angel´s niece Lola has been baptized now and Jose Angel is still strong. One of my investigators from Huelva was baptized too- Ana- I don´t know if you´ll remember her. I´m so happy to hear that the people I loved so much are receiving the blessings of the gospel.

I´m grateful for the mission every day. The time I have left is going by so fast, but I assure you I´m putting forth my very best, which is still imperfect, but I know that the Lord makes up for my weaknesses with His grace, and I´m so grateful for it. 

Thank you for your prayers and love- right back at ya.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Week Long Birthday

Dear family,

I just had the best birthday week of my life. On my actual birthday, after travelling home from Málaga, we took cake to a recent convert family- it was also the birthday of Soraya (the one holding the cake with me). We´re trying really hard to help her come back to the church, but she hasn´t been there one Sunday. We took the rest of the cake to Tania´s house- then a day later found out it was her birthday later in the week, so we had two birthday parties with her. All the missionaries in my zone gave me a surprise birthday party on the train from Sevilla to Jerez after zone conference, and throughout the week, missionaries called me to wish me a happy birthday. Oh, and Hna. Nielsen brought me a poem that Jose Angel wrote and dedicated to the two of us- it´s really beautiful, and talks about his conversion. 

Other great birthday presents: we were finally able to teach all of Tania´s family. Her husband actually watched the restoration video with us, and even though he hasn´t committed anything, he says that what we taught is beautiful. 

We also taught a woman named Vicenta- she was the reference of recent convert named Amor. We invited her and her daughters to listen, and now Vicenta and Samara are preparing to be baptized on August 9. Her daughter Estefania told her mom (when we weren´t there) that she wants to be baptized too. They´ve all come to church and are reading the Book of Mormon.

We were also able to teach Marcos´s family, which has been a battle- he´s been embarrassed before to let us teach them (hate to think about what that says about us :) but there is so much potential. His wife insists she´s very catholic, but she likes us a lot and always tries to feed us. His 22 year old daughter Cissy has a lot of potential- so does her boyfriend, Alejandro. They are those in the world but not of the world kind of people. 

Honestly, there is nothing I would have done differently this week. Keep my investigators in your prayers if you remember to. They are my world and my family out here, and I love them even more than I expected I would... and I did expect to. 

I love you all and have you in my prayers. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Good Things

Dear family,

thank you so much for all of the birthday emails- I could definitley feel your love and am grateful for you all. Last night my comp and I had to come into Málaga to do residency, and President Deere invited us to join us in family scriptures and prayer- I may have teared up just a little bit remembering all the family home evenings and family prayers as a family. I´m so grateful for you all and am excited to see you again.

Here are a few good things that happened this past week. We were able to meet with Marcos´s wife- for the time being, she´s still very catholic, but as she expressed a difficult situation she´s found herself in this past week, the scripture Ether 12:37 came to mind, and I shared it with her- it was one that helped me through a really difficult time, and she said it comforted her a lot, that it was just what she needed to hear. I realized that one reason we pass through trials is to be able to succor others in the same place. I´m glad that I have had difficult moments that help me understand others better.

There´s also good news with Tania- she´s just blossomed this last week. Things we thought would impede her progress haven´t, and we couldn´t be happier with the change within her. I was remembering the first time we taught her- she was a bit distracted, and didn´t seem very interested or committed... and now she shares the scriptures with her family, and reads past the assignments we leave her and she says she wants her family to feel the same way she does. It broke my heart in one lesson- she´d just read the pamphlet for one of the lessons, and mentioned a picture she´d seen in the back of a family kneeling to pray. She said she wished she could have that. (Her family doesn´t want to participate for now).

Another important aspect of the work that was highlighted this week was follow up. We´d just had a prayer with Tania, followed up on her reading assignment, and the conversation was leading us perfectly into the lesson we´d planned, but even after my companion had started the first point of the lesson, I felt we had to follow up on whether she´d prayed about the chapter we´d left her (3 Nephi 11) and about whether she should be baptized or not. I changed the subject and asked her. She went quiet and began to smile. She said she´d pondered the chapter, read about the necessity of authority and immersion, and felt at peace when she´d prayed about it. She said she told her family that she´s ready to take this first step. It was one of the most spiritually enriching lessons I´ve had- I felt the spirit so strongly in the room and within myself.

I know that this church is true, and that the Spirit changes people- those who come to know the gospel for the first time, and those of us who´ve had it all our lives. I only hope to be changed enough to please my God.

I love you all, and know that I will enjoy my 21st birthday here in the mission field.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Cáceres

Dear family,

last week we had intercambios with Cáceres and Badajoz- I went to Cáceres and found out by chance that a missionary there, Hna. Camacho, knows cousin Bedda- I love how the gospel creates connections all over the world.  

I also love seeing how God puts us in the right place at the right time. We´d mentioned to a less active woman we were going to Badajoz, and as always, told her to call us if she ever needed anything. Her son that lives in Badajoz called us during intercambios to ask if he could meet up with us to give us an important medical document that the woman needed beforeSunday- it couldn´t be mailed fast enough, and we were able to get it to her- she was so grateful. 

Tania is progressing. She really recognizes the difference when we teach her, and when she comes to church. She likes all that she´s learning and will hopefully figure out a few kinks in her life so she can be baptized. Listening is so important- I´m grateful for the Spirit that indicates when there is something someone wants to say, but holds back. We had a good experience with her that way this week.

One more thought. We visited a less active recent convert last night. He received a phone call, and when he came back, he was in tears. He has a 15 year old daughter he´s never met, who looked him up and called him a week ago to say she wanted to meet him. She called while we were there to say that she couldn´t come after all and gave a weak excuse. Emilio was deeply hurt, and couldn´t understand why she would say she wanted to come see him, and in the end not make the effort. The parallel to our life hit me hard. We so often come to God, our Father, saying we´re willing to leave our mistakes behind and give ourselves to Him... and then we don´t make the necessary sacrifices to do so. When God only wants to love and bless us, we hold back. 

I´m still learning so much on my mission and am so grateful I´m here to serve. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Here Comes the Sun

Dear family,

the heat hit with a vengeance this week. It was nice and cool Tuesday, then on Wednesday, Spain turned on the oven. They say it´s worse here than Málaga... but for now, I´m still alive. We´ll see what happens in the worst months, July and August.

First the pictures. We went to the pueblo Arcos last Monday- it´s beautiful, but the best part for me was the falconer at the top that let us hold whichever bird we wanted. Hey, Dad, can I have a barn owl? I promise I´ll take care of it. Oh, by the way, I¨ve already ordered one that should fly in any day now.

The recent convert Marcos is doing well- he received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday and is going strong. 

We FINALLY got to do service this week! We´re always looking for it, but people don´t often give us the chance. We helped paint the home of a part member family. They in turn gave our number to a non member who needed help in her house. She´s a promising new investigator named Inma.

I can´t believe how fast the time is going- I´m excited to see everyone again, especially the kids, but I´m going to miss Spain and being a missionary. There´s nothing quite like it, and I know I´ll never be the same, or see the world the same. 

You´re in my prayers. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Blanca

Dear family,

 

another good week. We are teaching Tania and her family more often (the ones that came to church two weeks ago), and they all came to church again this Sunday. I fall a bit more in love with the family the more we´re with them. Ricardo, 7, is so patient and sweet with his little sister, and Blanca, 4, has me wrapped around her finger. When we come, she sits me down in front of her, and without waiting for permission, sets a kitten on my lap, asks me to draw her a picture, and then paints my nails. For a four year old she does a pretty good job. The best is that Tania and her sister Marlen are feeling the difference hearing our message makes in their lives. Once when we asked Tania if she´d read from the Book of Mormon as we´d asked, she said that she´d come home from work, and Ricardo was waiting in his room with the Book of Mormon open, ready to read with her. Keep them in your prayers.

 

I did intercambios in Cádiz with Hna. Moreno and Hna. Fumero, who are comps right now with Hna. Thompson from the MTC. They´re doing really well- I love learning from other missionaries... and riding bikes at dawn by the bay in Cádiz for exercise in the morning. Our biggest accomplishment was fitting all three of us with all three bikes in the elevator at once. Europe teaches you how to conserve space.

 

I got some letters from the office this week (it´s faster if you send them to me in Jerez), so for those who wrote me, I´ll hopefully get a letter in the mail for you today.

 

I´m doing well- not feeling at all ready to finish my mission. Fortunately I still have the rest of the summer. I´m glad to hear you´re all doing well, and will be happy to see you again.

 

Love, Hna. Johnson

 

pictures- me and four of my companions at the mission home, dawn in Cádiz, Blanca and I

Old Faces

Dear family,

I´ve had an interesting week since I was able to go back to Huelva to do intercambios. Some people weren´t as strong as they were when I left, so I encouraged them as much as I could in the short time I had, but was sad they´d slipped back. The best part of my time was seeing Sandra and her family again. They drove all the way from Valverde del Camino just to see me for a few minutes. Gustavo has grown up a ton- you can´t tell in the pictures, but he´s taller than me, and really strong in the church- he does his home teaching and everything. Natacha and Sandra are as strong as ever, and so so sweet. Even Juan Carlos (Sandra´s husband) came- he tells me he´s going to church whenever he can (2 or 3 times a month), but with his work schedule hasn´t had time for the charlas yet.

I´ve also been spending my P day with Bishop Padilla and his wife from my area in Málaga- they heard I was coming and offered to take us around Málaga. Right now Magdalena is making us lunch- they are seriously so kind, and I´ve loved being around them again. Bishop Padilla can now talk at normal neck-break pace and I understand him- he finds this very amusing.

Hna. Nielsen tells me Jose Angel got a calling as a counselor in the young men´s presidency and that he´s doing well.

Marcos was baptized last Saturday- the baptism went well, and his wife and kids all came- we´re hoping we can begin teaching the whole family.

Things are going well- I´ve been blessed a lot. It´s a miracle that I can make it back to see the people I love so much. I hope you all have a great week, and that someone sends me at least one pictures of Mark and Amanda´s wedding. Jon, I´m assigning you, since when I say things like this everyone waits for someone else to do it :)

Take care!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Taste of the Mish

Dear family,

 I feel like I´ve had a little taste of all of my sibling´s missions. Málaga had Matt´s West Africans and Mike´s islanders, Alicante had Jon´s Ecuadorians, Jeréz has Sonja´s Bolivians, and Spain in general has Mark´s... Spaniards. That´s all I have to say on that.

it´s been a good week. We had lots of things fall through, and they often led us to other people. We spent all Sunday morning passing by the homes of people who said they´d come with us to church (investigators, less actives, recent converts), and not one of them answered. We went to church just a little disheartened, and just before sacrament meeting, the elders found us and told us we had "an army of investigators outside"- sure enough, 6 nonmembers were making their way up the sidewalk. 

Backstory- in a lesson the night before, we were teaching an Ecuadorian woman- her sister was in the other room watching a soccer game. We invited her in in the middle of the lesson, and then invited them both to church (this whole lesson there was a sleepy kitten on my lap, so I had the spirit and an animal- what more could a Kirsten want?) They said they´d come, which is normal- the abnormal thing is that they actually come... and with another friend and 3 other kids. 

We´re working hard with recent converts here, as I may have mentioned. It´s a bit of a mess- some are smoking and drinking, thinking that it´s a suggestion, not a commandment, which I¨m vigorously trying to correct (the mission has taught me that I´m actually bold- I never thought I was before- I just kind of smack people over the head with doctrine, commandments and commitments, then Hna. Cameron kisses the wounds better with a little lovin´), a couple was baptized while still living together without being legally married and are now drifting fast from the church... it´s just a mess. Pray hard for us- we really want to help them but it´s turning out to be a tricky task. 

I´m going to Huelva this week- hopefully I won´t have to clean up too many of the messes I made there ;) Thanks for your love and support. Have a great week!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Jérez de la Frontera

Dear family,

It´s so good to be back in Andalucía! True, almost all of the investigators dropped us as soon as I got here, but the people are so much warmer (comes with the climate, I think). In Alicante, people would shut me down as soon as I opened my mouth, but here, they usually kindly explain that they´re already Catolica Apostilca Rumana, and kindly wish me luck. I love it. 

Half the streets we work on are tiny cobblestone paths, and the buildings are the classic white with yellow trim, flowers in the balconies. Jeréz is really famous for its wine, and we get wine-scented breezes from the wineries that are just slightly less numerous than the old chapels and cathedrals. 

It´s just beautiful here. 

We´re teaching one Bolivian man named Marcos who is progressing toward his baptism on the 31st. There are also a lot of recent converts here- Jeréz went through a baptizing boom about 6 months ago, but they´re nearly all inactive now, so we have a special focus on them. 

The Lord is so good to me- just when I arrived, the other SHE´s from Dos Hermanas called to say that they´d taken in a companionship that´s opening an area, and wanted us to start doing intercambios with one of the areas they have currently... HUELVA! We´re doing intercambios with those hermanas in two weeks, so just two weeks from now, I´ll be seeing my sweet swampy Huelva, with all the people I loved and worked with. Hnas Grant and Ancalle say the people are excited to see me. I can´t think of anything that will make me happier than seeing those dear people again. 

I´m happy and healthy and working hard. My legs forgot that hills existed, but they´re remembering now :) Take care- so glad to hear the wedding went well, and that no wayward karate moves took out beloved Elder Perry. 

Take care! Love Hna Johnson

See You Soon

Dear family,

I don´t think I´ll write much since I´ll be talking with you this Sunday, and I already feel like a boring conversationalist, and I´ll only be more so if I write any stories home today.

Here are some pictures you haven´t seen yet. I love you and am excited to talk with you soon!

Love, Hna. Johnson

No Time

Dear family,

we spent the day exploring the castle and beautiful little streets in the center of Alicante, and finding hna. Nielsen a yellow skirt for her brother´s wedding, and so I´m left with absolutely no time.

Just know that I´m well- Jose Angel was baptized and he´s very happy about it. Gave a very powerful testimony in his baptism. We´re still finding new investigators and keeping an eye out for the next Jose.

I´ll be sending a little mother´s day package home this week with a pendrive of all my pictures from the MTC until today- please back them up on the computer dad- so many missionaries have lost a lot of their mission pictures, and it would break my heart if that happened.

I´m doing well, we´re working hard, we love the people. Please send me Mark and Amanda´s wedding invitation. When are they getting married anyhow?

Love you guys a lot.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Oh, and with skyping on mother´s day- we´ll probably do it at 9 pm here in Alicante, not sure when that would be in utah- 1 pm in sandy? let me know if that works. Love you and will see you in no time!

Semana Santa

Dear family,

it´s been a bit like living in a post-apocolyptic (sp?) world this past week- it was the Holy Week (is that what they call it in English?), and so most everyone has been out of town or dressed up like the KKK (I´m assuming that those robes and caps have their origin in the catholic church).

Easter was lovely though. I read about the atonement in the scriptures and really pondered it- what an infinitely beautiful thing. Preach My Gospel promises that as we come to understand the atonement, we´ll have more desires to share it with others, and it´s true. I hope I can be a better instrument in Christ´s hands.

Jose Ángel is doing well- he´s nearly finished with the Book of Mormon, and he came to the chapel to pick out his baptismal clothes. He never misses a baptism or a day at church or a day reading the scriptures and praying- I think he´s off to a good start :)

Joana and her daughter are doing well, but didn´t make it to church. The elders did bring us a surprise to church- a 20 something year old Nepalese man named Deb that they contacted on the street. We had to translate into English for him (again I talked with all spanish speakers in English and all english speakers in spanish), and he seemed to really like church. We´re going to meet with him again this Tuesday- he seems pretty golden.

We also met with a woman from Málaga named Marilo- she divorced two years ago and is still pretty heartbroken- she has two precious kids. She has a pretty catholic background, but I think we have a good base with them and that there´s potential there.

That´s about all to report. I can´t believe how fast this time is going. I have a feeling it will be hard to make the adjustment in just a few months, but I´ll be happy to be surrounded by the family again. 

All my love, Hna. Johnson

Return of the Harpoon Gun

Dear family,

since I wrote last Wednesday, there isn´t too much to report on. We have a really cool new investigator- she´s a woman from the dominican republic, but lived in New York most of her life- so she has an awesome accent and a... liberal vocabulary, but she´s a good soul. (her 14 year old daughter is listening too).

Jose Ángel is doing really well. He´s planning on being baptized the 26th of April. We always ask him to share things he learned/liked/felt from his study of the Book of Mormon. He came across a scripture in Alma that says that many were brought to the truth through the power of the words of the missionaries. He grinned at us and asked why we thought he liked this one so much. You might not remember, but one of his doubts has been that he´s felt the spirit really strongly when we teach, and not as strongly when he reads the Book of Mormon. He feels like the Book of Mormon answered his question, and that this is the way God has chosen to show Him this is the true path.

God really does answer prayers, and reveals truth to the honest seekers. I know that, and I love seeing when other people come to know that for themselves.

Love, Hna. Johnson

P.S. I saw harpoon gun man again- walking down the street in broad daylight, gun in hand. No joke- that gun reaches from the ground to my shoulder. And fortunately that harpoon has yet to reach any of my vital organs.

La Conferencia

Dear family,

I just got back from missionary council in Fuengirola- this time in car. We had lots and lots of "detours" because we had no GPS and no one was particularly familiar with the spanish highways. There sure are some beautiful coasts in southern Spain, though!

I loved conference last weekend- I have yet to watch about an hour of the Saturday afternoon session, but I was able to watch the other sessions. I´m so grateful for the anchor of the prophets in these days. I love that they can speak with such love and compassion, and also stand so unapologetically against all the evils in the world. It can be done, and it should be done. I love when Elder Holland said, "Defend your beliefs with love, but defend them."

Jose Ángel was the only investigator that was able to come, but it was perfect for him. He´s very noble hearted, and it was perfect that President Monson talked about kindness and Christ-like love. It touched him, and I think it´s strengthened his confidence in the leaders of the church. He´s found some negative things on the internet about the church, and told us he was a little afraid of becoming part of a "cult". President Monson´s talk relieved some of his doubts. He also finally felt the spirit from his personal study of the Book of Mormon, which is a big step for him. He´s doing really well.

I know that President Monson and the twelve apostles are disciples and prophets called of God, and that this is the living church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I´m reminded of it constantly and I don´t doubt it for a moment. I love Jesus Christ and am grateful for His Atonement and its enabling power.

I´m so grateful for the family I´ve been given and the correct principles it has taught me.

All my love, Hna. Johnson

That's What It's All About

Dear family,

It´s been a good week. The 14 year old boy Kevin that stopped us so long ago is now an investigator of ours! Turns out he does live nearby and he and his mom both want to listen to us. I was in Benidorm when they had the first lesson, but we´ll be seing him again this Tuesday. Keep them in your prayers.

Adrieli wants more time. Jose Angel is doing great- he keeps coming to church, is reading in Mosiah, and in his prayers promises God that he´ll follow Him all his life if he can just feel that the Book of Mormon is true- keep him in your prayers too. He was as pleased as punch when the sound copped out at a baptism he came to see, and he was able to fix the sound system with some tools from home- he was the hero of the day, and he knew it. The members are taking note of how faithful he is and are wanting to be more involved in the process. It´s exciting.

We were stopped on the street 3 times this week- one was an old investigator Pepito (possibly of Colby Maughan? said he knew a tall Elder Maughan), another a man who´s listened a bit to the missionary lessons and who wants to come to the genealogy activities of the church, and the third was my personal favorite. A 30 year old spaniard passed us on his bike, then stopped in his tracks and asked in English, "Hey, are you Americans?" Yes. His next question, "Do you know the Hokey Pokey?" Turns out he´s been some sort of camp counselor in the US and couldn´t remember the words to some of the songs he used to sing. He also really loves hymns from American churches, and said he´d like to come to our services sometime.

The Lord is very good to us. I´m excited to be with Hna. Nielsen another transfer in Alicante, and to see some old friends from the mission (Hna. Daines, Elder Miller) who are coming to this side. I¨m grateful to be part of this work with so many good people. I know it´s the Lord´s work and that He loves His children.

Sure love and miss you guys!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Hotel Alicante

Dear family,

it seems like every week is more hectic than the last. Not only did we do intercambios with Cartagena for three days straight, Hna. Brown´s comp had to go to Málaga to do residency, so she was with me here in Alicante from Tuesday to Thursday as well (running back and forth from my area to hers to be able to teach both of our investigators), and the Hnas. from Benidorm stayed with us Thursday night to travel back to Cartagena with us for a zone conference we had Friday.

Hence I have little energy to write a letter, and less things to talk about than usual.

Adrieli was in Barcelona all this week and couldn´t answer her phone, so I don´t really know how she´s doing.

Jose Ángel is doing really well- we´ve finally learned how to cut him off in lessons (he´s a talker). My first "never fail" attempt was telling him that according to our strict mission rules, we can´t discuss politics/the economy/etc (things he brings up in every lesson)... he held up his hand. "I understand- it makes sense.... well, you don´t have to say a word. I´ll talk about it and you can just listen." Fail. But we learned, and we are putting it in practice and now the lessons are more spiritual than ever. He still just wants to read the Book of Mormon before being baptized.

Besides getting called a fat blonde german (?) by a spanish woman in her doorframe, not much else to report. Oh, except I did translate for a man from Nepal, a Romanian, and a Norwegian for 3 hours straight in church. I told the Norwegian girl dad´s phrase (meet you in the bathroom, you old turtle, eat chocolate) and she got a good laugh out of it. Her grandparents names are Alfhild and Aanen- ever meet them, Dad?

I just want to say that I know that Christ lives, and that he atoned for our sins. I know it- I feel it when I study it and even more when I teach it. God´s plan is perfect- just and merciful, and allows us all the opportunity to change and return to Him. His church was restored to its fulness by the propeht Joseph Smith, and we´re led by the Lord´s twelve apostles today. I know it is true.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Que Ojazos!

Dear family,

It´s been a good week- I was hardly in our area because I did two consecutive intercambios in other hna´s areas- Murcia and Cartagena. I was with my MTC companion Hna. Thompson in Murcia- it was strange reminiscing with her- it´s been a year now since we first entered the MTC.

Hna. Nielsen and I have had some interesting contacting experiences this week. From a Muslim man that wants to invite us to dinner, to some door slams, to women who have family in other countries that are members of the church and are willing to hear more. The best had to be knocking a building in the more "chungo" part of town. On the third floor, this 20 something year old gypsy man opened the door in a tanktop, pointing a harpoon gun in our general direction. We probably looked a bit like deer in headlights (or missionaries in the sights of a harpoon gun) as we presented our message briefly, eyeing all the while his finger above the trigger. He told us he wasn´t interested in such things (se nota), and as we descended, we heard the door close above us and the fwoomp! of the harpoon being fired and making its mark on who knows what. Fortunately not us.

This week Jose Angel came to church with two of his nieces- Miriam and Lola. Everyone that met them commented on their huge blue eyes- "Que ojazos!", and the girls loved church. Miriam wanted us to stay with her in primary, and it was so fun to see her participate in the class (I hope someday i can be a primary teacher). They asked for our help in sharing time- asked me to tell the story of Christ´s resurrection from Mary Magdaline´s point of view. Besides a short protest when I presented myself ("You´re not María Magdalena! You´re Hna. Johnson!") they were all very reverent when I told the story. You could tell we all felt the significance of it- that it wasn´t just a story. That Christ really lived on this earth, paid our ransom, gave His life, and resurrected, and because of Him, we can have real hope.

It´s true, and I know it´s true because I´ve studied it out and thought of it time after time, and each time I feel its truthfulness in the light I feel throughout my being. I´m grateful for Him, and grateful to be teaching His doctrine and inviting everyone to come unto Him.

All my love,
Hna. Johnson