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

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