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

Cruz Roja

Dear family,

I realize I never explained why the last email was titled the light blue bus. Ha. I told Hna. Nielsen last week that to solve the problem of getting investigators to church was to buy a light blue bus and drive them there ourselves, then there was that miracle of having the ward mission leader´s big car, and now it´s not even funny anymore because you had to wait a week for the punch line. This is why I don´t tell jokes.

Anyway, it´s been an interesting week. Hna. Nielsen and I were half dead from traveling 16 hours in 2 days, then doing intercambios, so we worked a bit like zombies the rest of the week, but even so we got blessings. Jose Angel and Adrieli are both still progressing- it´s incredible to me that in such a lost world, there are people like them with such pure hearts. It´s such a blessing to serve a mission and get to meet them.

We asked an older member if she knew of any service projects we could do for the community, and without warning she pushed the emergency call button on her necklace- the red cross answered on the machine, asking what the emergency was. "I´ve got 2 american girls here who want to know if they can volunteer there." Pepita responded. Hna. Nielsen and I looked at each other white faced as the woman said, "Are they there? Let me talk to them." We were ready to get ripped apart, but she was really nice and told us where the office was and when to pass by. We decided that it only makes sense she wasn´t upset for a non-emergency emergency call since people go to the emergency room here about once a week on average.

Miracle of the week- when Hna. Nielsen and I were dead tired, we still tried to push through and keep working and contacting- no luck for two days straight- not one future, and at the end of one long day, we contacted one woman, who asked us immediately after where the church was. We talked with her a minute more- turns out when she was 12 in Colombia, she´d attended church for about a year, but never joined it. She says she´d be happy to hear us again.

Things are going well- pray for Hna. Nielsen, who´ll be doing intercambios on her own here in Alicante two days straight as I go to Murcia and Cartagena- she´s stressed. Thank you for all your love and support. I´m so grateful I get to serve the Lord Jesus Christ here in Spain. He lives and wants us all to know how to return to Him. I love the scripture, "Will ye not return and repent, that I may heal you?" I hope to love as Christ does someday.

Love, Hna. Johnson

The Light Blue Bus

Dear family,

it´s been another miraculous week. We had two intercambios with Elche, my first intercambios on my own in my own area (read, without Hna. Cano), and they went well. I could not believe how exhausted I was when we finished- Hna. Nielsen came home in similar condition, but we really felt we were able to help the other missionaries.

The spirit really guided us this week. In one home of a less active, we found out they weren´t living the word of wisdom and retaught it to them- they really softened and committed to living it completely. We taught Leo for the first time in a week, and as we talked, I felt something was different about him and commented on it. He asked me what I thought had changed. Reflecting just a moment, I answered, "I feel you´re distancing yourself from God. You aren´t reading the scriptures or praying. You´ve stopped keeping the commandments. You´ve fallen into old habits, haven´t you?" He leaned back, a bit surprised and answered that it was all correct. I told him that when he started doing those things, the rest would fall into place. It was one of the most direct and specific inspirations I¨ve received from the Holy Ghost- it´s incredible to feel it work through you. Hopefully he´ll take this decision now- we´ve taught him everything- it´s up to him to live according to his knowledge or not.

Adrieli´s doing well- probably won´t baptized this week, but she´s doing well- she´s committed to live all the commandments, just wants to be more sure before her baptism because she doesn´t want to fall away.

Jose Angel and our miracle family are doing really well. They all love what we´ve taught and one of our huge concerns this past week was how we were going to help them get to church, because they haven´t got the money for the bus and it´s an hour walk to the chapel (bit tough on little feet), and we prayed and prayed for a solution. At our ward council, we brought up the problem, knowing that everyone with cars already had their spots filled, but hoping for a miracle- we got one! Our ward mission leader told us that he´d just gotten their other vehicle repaired and he could take the entire family with him! In the end, a lot of them didn´t come because family came to visit, but said they´d come next week, and now we have the means. Lola and Jose Angel came- Lola LOVED it- said she´d bring everyone next time.

Everything is going well- Hna. Nielsen is a great missionary and so many good things are happening for us right now. I´m so happy to be a missionary, and will definitely miss it once I go home, even if I will be happy to see the family again. Take care- don´t let Anne and Nate move to Tokyo before I get back, and make sure I at least get a wedding announcement in the mail.

Love you all!

Love, Hna. Johnson