La Hna. Cano se ha Muerto

Dear family,

There isn´t much to tell from this week. One of our investigators with a baptismal date has disappeared- we´re pretty sure he moved back to Ecuador- he was waiting on some papers to do that, and we haven´t heard from him for about a week, so... that´s that. Hopefully he´ll keep investigating in Ecuador- we´ll send his number to the missionaries there, see if they can get a hold of him.

Our other investigator with a baptismal date, Leo, is doing pretty well. He recognizes that everything that we teach is good, and so it must come from God, but he still lacks a testimony of the Book of Mormon, or an understanding of why it´s important to follow this path, and not another one. We´re still trying to help him understand that.

Also, Hna. Cano "died" on Sunday. Hna. Flanders was particularly sad to say goodbye to her- they´d been together for 2 and a half transfers. It was so strange to see a missionary go home. Obviously others have done so during my time, but definitely none of my companions. It looks like I´ll never have another senior companion (only 2 sister missionaries older than my group left at the end of this transfer), so she´ll probably be the only companion I see go home before me.

There really isn´t much else to tell. Hna. Flanders and I are still getting along really well. I think we´re going to make her birthday cake today (from last December), and this week we´re going to start running every morning, so maybe I´ll run it all off before too long.

Missionary life is good- I´m sure if we keep working and trusting in the Lord, more work will come.

Take care,

Hna. Johnson

Little Pieces

Dear family,

this week went by a little better than last week, as far as the work goes. Pedro, an older man from Ecuador, accepted a baptismal date- he´s very kind and grandfatherly. I think he´d only had one or two lessons before because of his busy schedule, but he´s been coming to church for about a month now. 

I think I must have inherited Jon´s mission- the other investigator with a baptismal date is Leo, also from Ecuador. He´s pretty young (24) and has his vices, but he says that he wants to try to live the commandments, and for the past week at least has been reading and praying every day and came to church. He gets along really well with the YSA here, so I think that when he is baptized, he´ll have lots of friends among them. I don´t know if he´s truly converted yet, but he has good intentions.

We did our first intercambios with the sisters in Benidorm-  I stayed here and will probably stay here the next intercambio too (until Hna. Cano leaves), and then I´ll be the one to travel- I dread the day when Hna. Flanders leaves me alone and I have to fend for myself. Our companionship is doing well- we get along, but we´ll miss Hna. Cano. The longer I´m in the mission, the more grateful I am to have had her as my trainer. She´s a wonderful missionary.

Today for P-day we went to a castle on the seashore. Yes. The wind was really strong, so the pictures are a bit interesting, but I love the history here. I hope I can spend a bit more time there another pday just enjoying the place.

Hna. Brown was there and I loved talking with her again- she really is happy I´m here.

This week I feel like a little piece of me fell into place- it came from a very simple decision, and I want to keep looking for those moments when I can change and improve myself just by deciding in that moment that I will be more selfless/obedient/diligent/etc. I hope that by the time I come home I will be the person I should be and have helped the most people I can.

Thank you all for your love and support. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Alicante

Dear family,

First and foremost, here is my new address:

Hna. Kirsten Johnson

C/ Plaza de la Viña 3, 3º G-22

03007 Alicante,

SPAIN

The city of Alicante is much prettier than Huelva, but it sure was sad saying goodbye to everyone. I worry so much leaving my investigators in others´hands, and I loved the people so much there.

I´m happy to be with Hna. Cano again- she´s just as sassy, classy and hardworking as ever. I´m really getting along with Hna. Flanders too- she has a much more demonstrative/loving personality than me, and I really appreciate it. She does have trouble remembering the words to songs, so when she realized I´ve got it all locked up in ze little grey cells, she announced I was her radio. Only motabs, of course :) ... Ok, maybe some Disney. I also saw Hna. Brown at a zone meeting- all the missionaries I talked with on my way to Alicante told me Hna. Brown was so excited to hear I was coming to Alicante that she burst into tears- I´m glad we´re such good friends and worked so well together.

We´ve been pretty balanced in our teaching as a trio, and I think we´re working well together... besides the fact that we feel like we´re ambushing people when we contact them in the street, being 3 against 1 normally.

None of the investigators we have here want to see us so far, which I think is harder on us because our area is supposed to be a model for other missionaries... and we don´t really have anything. I´m not too concerned- I know we just have to keep working and God will lead the people who are ready to accept the gospel to us. I´m really happy to be here with my great companions- we get along well and I´m excited to see what´s in our future here.

I´m so glad you got my Christmas package. Congratulations, Matt and Brittany- I´m excited to meet Kent Matthew when I come home. To those who have birthdays this week- I´ll have to send the birthday recordings one week late because I left my recorder at home- sorry!

Take care all. Keep me and Alicante in your prayers!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Three Generations

Dear family,

we heard from President last week- Hna. Daines is staying here in Huelva with Hna. Grant, a really good missionary from my group, and I´m going to Alicante. For the first three weeks I´ll be in a trio, my companions being Hna. Flanders and (drumroll.... you´ll never guess... wait for it...) HNA. CANO!!! Right now Hna. Flanders (from my group) and Hna. Cano are the sister training leaders in Alicante, so we´ll see how I do as a SHE (super hna. entrenadora). Another cool thing- I´ll be in the same district as Hna. Brown, my last hija, so we´ll have three generations serving together closely, and yes, I´m so excited to see them both again.

I´m really sad to leave Huelva- I feel like I´ve received many more blessings here than I could have deserved. Sandra´s family, all the ward members here, and now Mercedes.

Mercedes told us the Thursday before her scheduled baptism on Saturday that she didn´t want to be baptized (by phone). We stopped by on Friday and it turns out that she was just sad because her grandma is in the hospital. We finished teaching her the discussions on Saturday (the day she should have been baptized) and she asked if she could be baptized on Sunday- she was really excited for it. 

We had a really interesting interview Sunday morning- she refused to be interviewed alone- she´s too shy, so Elder Nuñez got permission from President Deere to invite us to the interview. It was a bit nerve wracking, because we couldn´t say a thing to help her, and she kept drawing a blank because she was so nervous, but she passed, and told her testimony, which as I´ve said before, is one of the strongest I´ve heard. The girl has no doubt about the veracity of the Book of Mormon or of this church. 

Surprisingly, it was the calmest I´ve ever been before a baptism. Everything was well prepared, and the spirit was really strong. Mercedes looked lovely and radiant, and was so happy to be there. Antonio Vega (the member that gave her the Book of Mormon) played Joseph Smith´s First Prayer on his guitar flamenco style (reverently, Dad, no worries), and all in all it was just lovely.

I´m so glad I´ve come to this place and met these wonderful people. I hope I can find a way to come back someday (any news on whether there are church assignments out in Europe when I get released, Dad? Or do Mom and Sonja still want to come). 

This is the Lord´s work, and I´m grateful every day to be involved in it. One lesson to be learned from Antonio Vega- we have about 10 old investigators in our area book that were references from Antonio, and none of them ended up accepting the gospel... but now Mercedes has been baptized, after all the times he didn´t see the fruits of his efforts. Please don´t be afraid to share the gospel- blessings will always follow. I´ve seen it in my mission and the lives of the people here.

Can´t wait to see pictures of my new little nephew being born as I type this email! Take care all of you.

Love, Hna. Johnson

(And now a moment of silence for the loss of Babe Dog- a truly loyal mutt)