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