Besos

Dear family,

I´ll just leave you hanging on that title for a while. It´s been a good week. We´ve been contacting like locas, and it feels so good to just give everyone a chance to listen, whether they decide to or not. We went to a resort town called Benidorm to help the Hermanas there find future investigators- it´s a really tough area. We contacted one man who at first seemed a bit standoffish, but when I found out he was from Chile and started talking about my time there, he opened right up. It´s kind of cheap- I have so many connections with South America that I can say to pretty much anyone I meet, "Ah, I have a sister/brother/friend who lived there!" And then I´ve got them.

Adrieli is progressing a lot. She´s going to stop drinking tea this week, and she committed to do it after her baptism- she´s just so good.

Leo is still holding back- every time we talk with him he has another explanation for why he´s not ready, even though he´s keeping all of his other commitments. Keep him in your prayers.

Had some fun moments at church- one woman gave a Pollyanna-style "Death comes unexpectedly" sort of sermon in sacrament meeting. Drowsy monotone and then "BROTHERS AND SISTERS- THE LORD IS WARNING US!" Fortunately Adrieli didn´t seem scared away- but she did say after that she´s got some repenting to do :)

So, about the besos. It´s custom here to kiss first the right cheek then the left cheek of a person when you greet them. The Elders can´t do it at all, and the sisters only can with women. I met a new investigator family of the zone leaders just before church, standing in a line. I introduced myself and went down the line giving besos to the teenage daughters (soft cheek 1 and 2, soft cheek 1 and 2) and just kept going down the line, and between beardy cheek 1 and 2 I realized something had gone terribly wrong. I jumped back with a yell, hands on my face, and started blubbering about how I shouldn´t do that to this poor investigator father who looked VERY confused, and Elder Rojas had to calmly explain the situation while I repeated "Que vergüenza, que vergüenza!" ("How embarrassing, how embarrassing!") over and over again like a shell shocked missionary. I guess I am.

Everything, is going well. I´m sure I´ll have miracles to tell next week, and hopefully no more moments of breaking basic mission rules.

Love you all!

Love, Hna. Johnson

P.S. Dreamt in Spanish again last night.

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! 

Concilio

Dear family,

sorry for not writing yesterday- we had concilio with the other SHE´s and zone leaders in Málaga, so we had to travel there by bus (7 hours) stay for meetings overnight, and after meetings in the morning, take the bus back (7 hours) to Alicante. We lose our pday, but have permission to write home today. 

We found Pedro again, but he´s really offended about the word of wisdom, and I don´t think we´ll see much progress with him before he leaves for Ecuador. 

Leo is doing pretty well- we´ve had to push back his baptismal date because he´s not ready yet. 

Adrieli (not sure if I´ve mentioned her... 19 year old Brazilian girl) almost came to church this week- at the last minute her mother´s boyfriend took the car and she couldn´t make it. She´s a really spiritual girl- I have faith that she really can progress soon. 

Exchanges with Elche this week went well- I really felt like I was able to contribute, and that I learned from the other missionaries as well. Elche is beautiful- it´s all palm trees- the chapel is in the middle of a forest of them. 

The missionary council was good. I liked being around the other missionaries and sharing stories and testimonies and ideas with them. Also, Hna. Deere gave us Reeses. That´s a plus. 

Speaking of healthy eating, running with Hna. Flanders has been great- I feel a lot better health and confidence wise starting that. 

Contacting is picking up again- it´s always in waves of habit, and we´re getting back into the habit and seeing success. I´ll keep you all updated. 

Well, we have to rescue Hna. Brown and Nielsen right now- their lock is broken to their apartment, so they´re staying the night with us.

I´m doing well, and the work is picking up a bit. Glad to hear good news from home- keep it coming :) 

Love, Hna. Johnson

La Hna. Cano se ha Muerto

Dear family,

There isn´t much to tell from this week. One of our investigators with a baptismal date has disappeared- we´re pretty sure he moved back to Ecuador- he was waiting on some papers to do that, and we haven´t heard from him for about a week, so... that´s that. Hopefully he´ll keep investigating in Ecuador- we´ll send his number to the missionaries there, see if they can get a hold of him.

Our other investigator with a baptismal date, Leo, is doing pretty well. He recognizes that everything that we teach is good, and so it must come from God, but he still lacks a testimony of the Book of Mormon, or an understanding of why it´s important to follow this path, and not another one. We´re still trying to help him understand that.

Also, Hna. Cano "died" on Sunday. Hna. Flanders was particularly sad to say goodbye to her- they´d been together for 2 and a half transfers. It was so strange to see a missionary go home. Obviously others have done so during my time, but definitely none of my companions. It looks like I´ll never have another senior companion (only 2 sister missionaries older than my group left at the end of this transfer), so she´ll probably be the only companion I see go home before me.

There really isn´t much else to tell. Hna. Flanders and I are still getting along really well. I think we´re going to make her birthday cake today (from last December), and this week we´re going to start running every morning, so maybe I´ll run it all off before too long.

Missionary life is good- I´m sure if we keep working and trusting in the Lord, more work will come.

Take care,

Hna. Johnson

Little Pieces

Dear family,

this week went by a little better than last week, as far as the work goes. Pedro, an older man from Ecuador, accepted a baptismal date- he´s very kind and grandfatherly. I think he´d only had one or two lessons before because of his busy schedule, but he´s been coming to church for about a month now. 

I think I must have inherited Jon´s mission- the other investigator with a baptismal date is Leo, also from Ecuador. He´s pretty young (24) and has his vices, but he says that he wants to try to live the commandments, and for the past week at least has been reading and praying every day and came to church. He gets along really well with the YSA here, so I think that when he is baptized, he´ll have lots of friends among them. I don´t know if he´s truly converted yet, but he has good intentions.

We did our first intercambios with the sisters in Benidorm-  I stayed here and will probably stay here the next intercambio too (until Hna. Cano leaves), and then I´ll be the one to travel- I dread the day when Hna. Flanders leaves me alone and I have to fend for myself. Our companionship is doing well- we get along, but we´ll miss Hna. Cano. The longer I´m in the mission, the more grateful I am to have had her as my trainer. She´s a wonderful missionary.

Today for P-day we went to a castle on the seashore. Yes. The wind was really strong, so the pictures are a bit interesting, but I love the history here. I hope I can spend a bit more time there another pday just enjoying the place.

Hna. Brown was there and I loved talking with her again- she really is happy I´m here.

This week I feel like a little piece of me fell into place- it came from a very simple decision, and I want to keep looking for those moments when I can change and improve myself just by deciding in that moment that I will be more selfless/obedient/diligent/etc. I hope that by the time I come home I will be the person I should be and have helped the most people I can.

Thank you all for your love and support. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Alicante

Dear family,

First and foremost, here is my new address:

Hna. Kirsten Johnson

C/ Plaza de la Viña 3, 3º G-22

03007 Alicante,

SPAIN

The city of Alicante is much prettier than Huelva, but it sure was sad saying goodbye to everyone. I worry so much leaving my investigators in others´hands, and I loved the people so much there.

I´m happy to be with Hna. Cano again- she´s just as sassy, classy and hardworking as ever. I´m really getting along with Hna. Flanders too- she has a much more demonstrative/loving personality than me, and I really appreciate it. She does have trouble remembering the words to songs, so when she realized I´ve got it all locked up in ze little grey cells, she announced I was her radio. Only motabs, of course :) ... Ok, maybe some Disney. I also saw Hna. Brown at a zone meeting- all the missionaries I talked with on my way to Alicante told me Hna. Brown was so excited to hear I was coming to Alicante that she burst into tears- I´m glad we´re such good friends and worked so well together.

We´ve been pretty balanced in our teaching as a trio, and I think we´re working well together... besides the fact that we feel like we´re ambushing people when we contact them in the street, being 3 against 1 normally.

None of the investigators we have here want to see us so far, which I think is harder on us because our area is supposed to be a model for other missionaries... and we don´t really have anything. I´m not too concerned- I know we just have to keep working and God will lead the people who are ready to accept the gospel to us. I´m really happy to be here with my great companions- we get along well and I´m excited to see what´s in our future here.

I´m so glad you got my Christmas package. Congratulations, Matt and Brittany- I´m excited to meet Kent Matthew when I come home. To those who have birthdays this week- I´ll have to send the birthday recordings one week late because I left my recorder at home- sorry!

Take care all. Keep me and Alicante in your prayers!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Three Generations

Dear family,

we heard from President last week- Hna. Daines is staying here in Huelva with Hna. Grant, a really good missionary from my group, and I´m going to Alicante. For the first three weeks I´ll be in a trio, my companions being Hna. Flanders and (drumroll.... you´ll never guess... wait for it...) HNA. CANO!!! Right now Hna. Flanders (from my group) and Hna. Cano are the sister training leaders in Alicante, so we´ll see how I do as a SHE (super hna. entrenadora). Another cool thing- I´ll be in the same district as Hna. Brown, my last hija, so we´ll have three generations serving together closely, and yes, I´m so excited to see them both again.

I´m really sad to leave Huelva- I feel like I´ve received many more blessings here than I could have deserved. Sandra´s family, all the ward members here, and now Mercedes.

Mercedes told us the Thursday before her scheduled baptism on Saturday that she didn´t want to be baptized (by phone). We stopped by on Friday and it turns out that she was just sad because her grandma is in the hospital. We finished teaching her the discussions on Saturday (the day she should have been baptized) and she asked if she could be baptized on Sunday- she was really excited for it. 

We had a really interesting interview Sunday morning- she refused to be interviewed alone- she´s too shy, so Elder Nuñez got permission from President Deere to invite us to the interview. It was a bit nerve wracking, because we couldn´t say a thing to help her, and she kept drawing a blank because she was so nervous, but she passed, and told her testimony, which as I´ve said before, is one of the strongest I´ve heard. The girl has no doubt about the veracity of the Book of Mormon or of this church. 

Surprisingly, it was the calmest I´ve ever been before a baptism. Everything was well prepared, and the spirit was really strong. Mercedes looked lovely and radiant, and was so happy to be there. Antonio Vega (the member that gave her the Book of Mormon) played Joseph Smith´s First Prayer on his guitar flamenco style (reverently, Dad, no worries), and all in all it was just lovely.

I´m so glad I´ve come to this place and met these wonderful people. I hope I can find a way to come back someday (any news on whether there are church assignments out in Europe when I get released, Dad? Or do Mom and Sonja still want to come). 

This is the Lord´s work, and I´m grateful every day to be involved in it. One lesson to be learned from Antonio Vega- we have about 10 old investigators in our area book that were references from Antonio, and none of them ended up accepting the gospel... but now Mercedes has been baptized, after all the times he didn´t see the fruits of his efforts. Please don´t be afraid to share the gospel- blessings will always follow. I´ve seen it in my mission and the lives of the people here.

Can´t wait to see pictures of my new little nephew being born as I type this email! Take care all of you.

Love, Hna. Johnson

(And now a moment of silence for the loss of Babe Dog- a truly loyal mutt)