English Lessons

Dear family,

President Deere responded to my last weekly letter to him (which is uncommon with how busy he is), and told me I´m going to need to brush up on my English when I go home- Spanish phrases keep sneaking into my vocabulary. I take this as a good sign.

Things went much better this week- Leo younger has another baptismal goal, and yesterday he told us "I want to get baptized" for the first time- he says he first has to change his friendships, because he wants a lasting change- honestly I¨m so much more pleased with that than with a rushed baptism. There is so much pressure in the mission from our leaders to baptize and to do it quickly, but whenever I listen to them and not the spirit, things don´t turn out very well. I´m really learning to trust the spirit more, and for now, I¨m happy where Leo is heading.

Adrieli came to church and really loved it- the young single adults were really kind to her, and she said she felt really good there. She also accepted a baptismal date this week- she is taking in all the teaching well and recognizes the spirit. She believes it´s all true. Still, she wants to wait until March. Her mom is also interested, but we can never teach her because she´s so busy. Adrieli really impresses me- she´s just a really good kid, like Gustavo and Natacha.

The other day we were writing up reports from our exchanges with the sisters in the locutorio, and I heard a portuguese man a few computers over saying a few words in English to a younger boy next to him- we told him about our English classes, to which he responded, "Thank you. I´m an English teacher." which... was a little awkward, but then he asked us what we were here for, and we explained a little bit, and then taught him about the Book of Mormon right there- he says he wants to learn more, and he´s particularly interested in learning about the Plan of Salvation.

We´re looking forward to more miracles like that this week. I´ll miss some of it though- I´ve got exchanges with the Hnas. in Murcia and Cartegena (other companionship) this week. Thanks for everything- I haven´t read through the newsletters yet- but I¨ve printed them and will enjoy them this afternoon.

Have a happy Valentine´s Day! Love you!

Love, Hna. Johnson

P.S. One of my other investigators in Huelva, Rocio, just got baptized- I´m so happy for her!

UPDATE!  Just found out that Hna. Brown is training this transfer (she´s SOOO ready) and that Hna. Nielsen, her current companion who´s from my group, will be my new COMPY!!! If you can´t tell, I¨m excited about this news- Hna. Nielsen is awesome, and I know she´ll help me where I fall short. I´m so happy, but I know I´ll miss Hna. Flanders- she´s been a really good companion. Anyway, that´s all. Have a good week!