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

Good Things

Dear family,

thank you so much for all of the birthday emails- I could definitley feel your love and am grateful for you all. Last night my comp and I had to come into Málaga to do residency, and President Deere invited us to join us in family scriptures and prayer- I may have teared up just a little bit remembering all the family home evenings and family prayers as a family. I´m so grateful for you all and am excited to see you again.

Here are a few good things that happened this past week. We were able to meet with Marcos´s wife- for the time being, she´s still very catholic, but as she expressed a difficult situation she´s found herself in this past week, the scripture Ether 12:37 came to mind, and I shared it with her- it was one that helped me through a really difficult time, and she said it comforted her a lot, that it was just what she needed to hear. I realized that one reason we pass through trials is to be able to succor others in the same place. I´m glad that I have had difficult moments that help me understand others better.

There´s also good news with Tania- she´s just blossomed this last week. Things we thought would impede her progress haven´t, and we couldn´t be happier with the change within her. I was remembering the first time we taught her- she was a bit distracted, and didn´t seem very interested or committed... and now she shares the scriptures with her family, and reads past the assignments we leave her and she says she wants her family to feel the same way she does. It broke my heart in one lesson- she´d just read the pamphlet for one of the lessons, and mentioned a picture she´d seen in the back of a family kneeling to pray. She said she wished she could have that. (Her family doesn´t want to participate for now).

Another important aspect of the work that was highlighted this week was follow up. We´d just had a prayer with Tania, followed up on her reading assignment, and the conversation was leading us perfectly into the lesson we´d planned, but even after my companion had started the first point of the lesson, I felt we had to follow up on whether she´d prayed about the chapter we´d left her (3 Nephi 11) and about whether she should be baptized or not. I changed the subject and asked her. She went quiet and began to smile. She said she´d pondered the chapter, read about the necessity of authority and immersion, and felt at peace when she´d prayed about it. She said she told her family that she´s ready to take this first step. It was one of the most spiritually enriching lessons I´ve had- I felt the spirit so strongly in the room and within myself.

I know that this church is true, and that the Spirit changes people- those who come to know the gospel for the first time, and those of us who´ve had it all our lives. I only hope to be changed enough to please my God.

I love you all, and know that I will enjoy my 21st birthday here in the mission field.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Cáceres

Dear family,

last week we had intercambios with Cáceres and Badajoz- I went to Cáceres and found out by chance that a missionary there, Hna. Camacho, knows cousin Bedda- I love how the gospel creates connections all over the world.  

I also love seeing how God puts us in the right place at the right time. We´d mentioned to a less active woman we were going to Badajoz, and as always, told her to call us if she ever needed anything. Her son that lives in Badajoz called us during intercambios to ask if he could meet up with us to give us an important medical document that the woman needed beforeSunday- it couldn´t be mailed fast enough, and we were able to get it to her- she was so grateful. 

Tania is progressing. She really recognizes the difference when we teach her, and when she comes to church. She likes all that she´s learning and will hopefully figure out a few kinks in her life so she can be baptized. Listening is so important- I´m grateful for the Spirit that indicates when there is something someone wants to say, but holds back. We had a good experience with her that way this week.

One more thought. We visited a less active recent convert last night. He received a phone call, and when he came back, he was in tears. He has a 15 year old daughter he´s never met, who looked him up and called him a week ago to say she wanted to meet him. She called while we were there to say that she couldn´t come after all and gave a weak excuse. Emilio was deeply hurt, and couldn´t understand why she would say she wanted to come see him, and in the end not make the effort. The parallel to our life hit me hard. We so often come to God, our Father, saying we´re willing to leave our mistakes behind and give ourselves to Him... and then we don´t make the necessary sacrifices to do so. When God only wants to love and bless us, we hold back. 

I´m still learning so much on my mission and am so grateful I´m here to serve. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Here Comes the Sun

Dear family,

the heat hit with a vengeance this week. It was nice and cool Tuesday, then on Wednesday, Spain turned on the oven. They say it´s worse here than Málaga... but for now, I´m still alive. We´ll see what happens in the worst months, July and August.

First the pictures. We went to the pueblo Arcos last Monday- it´s beautiful, but the best part for me was the falconer at the top that let us hold whichever bird we wanted. Hey, Dad, can I have a barn owl? I promise I´ll take care of it. Oh, by the way, I¨ve already ordered one that should fly in any day now.

The recent convert Marcos is doing well- he received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday and is going strong. 

We FINALLY got to do service this week! We´re always looking for it, but people don´t often give us the chance. We helped paint the home of a part member family. They in turn gave our number to a non member who needed help in her house. She´s a promising new investigator named Inma.

I can´t believe how fast the time is going- I´m excited to see everyone again, especially the kids, but I´m going to miss Spain and being a missionary. There´s nothing quite like it, and I know I´ll never be the same, or see the world the same. 

You´re in my prayers. 

Love, Hna. Johnson