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)