No Time

Dear family,

we spent the day exploring the castle and beautiful little streets in the center of Alicante, and finding hna. Nielsen a yellow skirt for her brother´s wedding, and so I´m left with absolutely no time.

Just know that I´m well- Jose Angel was baptized and he´s very happy about it. Gave a very powerful testimony in his baptism. We´re still finding new investigators and keeping an eye out for the next Jose.

I´ll be sending a little mother´s day package home this week with a pendrive of all my pictures from the MTC until today- please back them up on the computer dad- so many missionaries have lost a lot of their mission pictures, and it would break my heart if that happened.

I´m doing well, we´re working hard, we love the people. Please send me Mark and Amanda´s wedding invitation. When are they getting married anyhow?

Love you guys a lot.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Oh, and with skyping on mother´s day- we´ll probably do it at 9 pm here in Alicante, not sure when that would be in utah- 1 pm in sandy? let me know if that works. Love you and will see you in no time!

Semana Santa

Dear family,

it´s been a bit like living in a post-apocolyptic (sp?) world this past week- it was the Holy Week (is that what they call it in English?), and so most everyone has been out of town or dressed up like the KKK (I´m assuming that those robes and caps have their origin in the catholic church).

Easter was lovely though. I read about the atonement in the scriptures and really pondered it- what an infinitely beautiful thing. Preach My Gospel promises that as we come to understand the atonement, we´ll have more desires to share it with others, and it´s true. I hope I can be a better instrument in Christ´s hands.

Jose Ángel is doing well- he´s nearly finished with the Book of Mormon, and he came to the chapel to pick out his baptismal clothes. He never misses a baptism or a day at church or a day reading the scriptures and praying- I think he´s off to a good start :)

Joana and her daughter are doing well, but didn´t make it to church. The elders did bring us a surprise to church- a 20 something year old Nepalese man named Deb that they contacted on the street. We had to translate into English for him (again I talked with all spanish speakers in English and all english speakers in spanish), and he seemed to really like church. We´re going to meet with him again this Tuesday- he seems pretty golden.

We also met with a woman from Málaga named Marilo- she divorced two years ago and is still pretty heartbroken- she has two precious kids. She has a pretty catholic background, but I think we have a good base with them and that there´s potential there.

That´s about all to report. I can´t believe how fast this time is going. I have a feeling it will be hard to make the adjustment in just a few months, but I´ll be happy to be surrounded by the family again. 

All my love, Hna. Johnson

Return of the Harpoon Gun

Dear family,

since I wrote last Wednesday, there isn´t too much to report on. We have a really cool new investigator- she´s a woman from the dominican republic, but lived in New York most of her life- so she has an awesome accent and a... liberal vocabulary, but she´s a good soul. (her 14 year old daughter is listening too).

Jose Ángel is doing really well. He´s planning on being baptized the 26th of April. We always ask him to share things he learned/liked/felt from his study of the Book of Mormon. He came across a scripture in Alma that says that many were brought to the truth through the power of the words of the missionaries. He grinned at us and asked why we thought he liked this one so much. You might not remember, but one of his doubts has been that he´s felt the spirit really strongly when we teach, and not as strongly when he reads the Book of Mormon. He feels like the Book of Mormon answered his question, and that this is the way God has chosen to show Him this is the true path.

God really does answer prayers, and reveals truth to the honest seekers. I know that, and I love seeing when other people come to know that for themselves.

Love, Hna. Johnson

P.S. I saw harpoon gun man again- walking down the street in broad daylight, gun in hand. No joke- that gun reaches from the ground to my shoulder. And fortunately that harpoon has yet to reach any of my vital organs.

La Conferencia

Dear family,

I just got back from missionary council in Fuengirola- this time in car. We had lots and lots of "detours" because we had no GPS and no one was particularly familiar with the spanish highways. There sure are some beautiful coasts in southern Spain, though!

I loved conference last weekend- I have yet to watch about an hour of the Saturday afternoon session, but I was able to watch the other sessions. I´m so grateful for the anchor of the prophets in these days. I love that they can speak with such love and compassion, and also stand so unapologetically against all the evils in the world. It can be done, and it should be done. I love when Elder Holland said, "Defend your beliefs with love, but defend them."

Jose Ángel was the only investigator that was able to come, but it was perfect for him. He´s very noble hearted, and it was perfect that President Monson talked about kindness and Christ-like love. It touched him, and I think it´s strengthened his confidence in the leaders of the church. He´s found some negative things on the internet about the church, and told us he was a little afraid of becoming part of a "cult". President Monson´s talk relieved some of his doubts. He also finally felt the spirit from his personal study of the Book of Mormon, which is a big step for him. He´s doing really well.

I know that President Monson and the twelve apostles are disciples and prophets called of God, and that this is the living church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I´m reminded of it constantly and I don´t doubt it for a moment. I love Jesus Christ and am grateful for His Atonement and its enabling power.

I´m so grateful for the family I´ve been given and the correct principles it has taught me.

All my love, Hna. Johnson

That's What It's All About

Dear family,

It´s been a good week. The 14 year old boy Kevin that stopped us so long ago is now an investigator of ours! Turns out he does live nearby and he and his mom both want to listen to us. I was in Benidorm when they had the first lesson, but we´ll be seing him again this Tuesday. Keep them in your prayers.

Adrieli wants more time. Jose Angel is doing great- he keeps coming to church, is reading in Mosiah, and in his prayers promises God that he´ll follow Him all his life if he can just feel that the Book of Mormon is true- keep him in your prayers too. He was as pleased as punch when the sound copped out at a baptism he came to see, and he was able to fix the sound system with some tools from home- he was the hero of the day, and he knew it. The members are taking note of how faithful he is and are wanting to be more involved in the process. It´s exciting.

We were stopped on the street 3 times this week- one was an old investigator Pepito (possibly of Colby Maughan? said he knew a tall Elder Maughan), another a man who´s listened a bit to the missionary lessons and who wants to come to the genealogy activities of the church, and the third was my personal favorite. A 30 year old spaniard passed us on his bike, then stopped in his tracks and asked in English, "Hey, are you Americans?" Yes. His next question, "Do you know the Hokey Pokey?" Turns out he´s been some sort of camp counselor in the US and couldn´t remember the words to some of the songs he used to sing. He also really loves hymns from American churches, and said he´d like to come to our services sometime.

The Lord is very good to us. I´m excited to be with Hna. Nielsen another transfer in Alicante, and to see some old friends from the mission (Hna. Daines, Elder Miller) who are coming to this side. I¨m grateful to be part of this work with so many good people. I know it´s the Lord´s work and that He loves His children.

Sure love and miss you guys!

Love, Hna. Johnson