Gazpacho en ze Head

Dear family,

I´m doing well, although we still don´t have too much work. We set a plan for every hour, with at least two back up plans, sometimes three, and we go through nearly every hour and plan without too much success. I´m surprised that I´m not more discouraged right now- I know the Lord is helping me with that.

Another thing that helps is that we know that we´re working our hardest. Before, I was a little shy to talk to people in the streets, (which is weird, because I loved it in Málaga), but we had a great zone conference that boosted my courage and faith, and I´ve been loving it again. My favorite contact by far was this thin, older German man named Tobias that looked like he´d just woken up after falling asleep in the 70´s. He speaks German (obviously), Spanish (he´s lived here for 30 years or so) and English (lived in America for 5 years), but all with a thick German accent. He told us, "I am a mess vith oll uf tees languages. You know gazpacho? Es unt gazpacho en ze head!"

Speaking of great quotes, when we visited an old investigator family this week, the little 11 year old girl, Ramona got excited when she heard we were from America- she told us she could say something in English. After a moment of mental preparation she asked, " Do you like... sausages?"

We had a pretty cool miracle this week. The office called us with a media reference- a woman named Sandra had asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon and finding faith in Christ- we called her and set up an appointment to visit her in a pueblo about an hour out from Huelva. She seemed surprised but pleased that we were coming out to deliver the order. Upon meeting her, we found out that she was a (Chilean!) member that hadn´t been to church in many years, and that didn´t know there was a chapel in Huelva. When I asked her to offer the opening prayer, she started to cry, and told us that she´d tried to get in contact with the church again because she´d had a dream of two sister missionaries visiting her, but she hadn´t thought it would really happen- it´s a miracle because we´re the first sister missionaries in Huelva in 10 years. She wants us to start teaching her 14 and 15 year old children the missionary lessons this week (neither they nor her husband are members).

Other little things- it finally began raining in Huelva, and hasn´t really stopped being cloudy and drizzly. The problem is that Spain shuts down at any "extreme" weather- too hot? Everyone´s inside sleeping. Raining? Everyone´s inside sleeping. No one came to English class this week because it was raining. They need to take a lesson from me and just love the rain... and the gospel.

Cool fact- Hna. Sara Brown played against cousins McKale and Alyssa in volleyball and softball- she says she was always jealous of the Blanding teams :)

I heard great news from my old companion Hna. Folsom- the daughters in the part member family we were teaching were baptized on Saturday, and so was Kingsley- don´t remember if you´ll remember that. I have a feeling my whole mission will just be planting seeds and hopefully seeing other people pluck the fruit. As long as it gets plucked, I suppose :)

I hear there are finally sister missionaries in Sandy- I hope when I get home I can go on splits with them- I know I´ll miss being a missionary.

I got the letters and cards from the Paul Johnson reunion and loved every one of them, and got a kick out of the far sider dash. And don´t worry, Mom, I´ll try to get home for the next reunion :)

Everything´s going well- still slow, but like I said, we´re doing our best. Hna. Brown is really frustrated with Spanish- please keep her in your prayers- remember her before me.

I love you all, and I love this work. I know that it is in the Lord´s hands, and that we are only His instruments. We just have to stay in tune so that he can conduct us. Take care!

Love, Hna. Johnson 

PS  Super excited to hear Dad pray in the Saturday session of conference- I miss that man!

Aliens

Dear family,

it´s been a more productive week than the last- I think the work is slowly picking up. We´re teaching Matthew and Joy´s son, who is nine and hasn´t been baptized yet, but he´s accepted a baptismal date for October. He´s a really sweet boy- good to his mom and his little sister, and very bright. It´s a joy to teach him because he really thinks about what we say and it sticks with him... even if he gets distracted when my companion is struggling to find a word in Spanish.

Things are great with Hna. Brown. She´s still frustrated by the language, but we find better ways to help her practice and prepare every day, and the people love her. She really is such a wonderful person, and we find reasons to laugh every day, particularly when people talk about- you guessed it- ALIENS.

We went to visit one of our investigators in her store (where she lives) and met her friend Osa, who sometimes helps in the store. He said he´d met missionaries before, and we clarified a few things that he didn´t know, and taught him more about the Book of Mormon. Then he went off on an alien theory he´d heard about- it was a little blurry, but it involved ancient instructions on how to build WW2 weapons that the Germans used that had been left by the aliens, and how the pyramids were constructed by the aliens, and that Adam and Eve were put here by, yup, aliens, and that outstanding people are aliens and that when the Savior ascended into heaven...

That´s where I had to draw the line and tell him it was not by a tractor beam, and no, He was not an alien. Hna. Brown had a hard time keeping a straight face, I think.

We had a really powerful lesson with the woman who owns the store- Lexi- about the Book of Mormon. It was incredible the way we felt the spirit testifying through us and bearing witness that what we said was true. I know the words we used were given to us, because after the lesson we discussed how we´d each said things the other felt impressed to say. I hope I never forget that feeling.

We have a few new investigators- probably the most promising is Fabiola, a friend of a less active member. We went to visit Cristiani, and she was there. We taught a short lesson because she didn´t have time, but she says she just wants to know what to believe in. She accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and we´re meeting with her again today.

We´ve had some miracles with people approaching us in the street this last week- we greeted one man and he nodded at us thoughtfully- I was torn between talking with him and walking on, since we were late to an appointment. I did the stupid thing and kept walking, but he showed up behind us at the door while we waited for the family to buzz us in and asked who we were and what our church was. He gave us his number and told us he was interested- I´m excited to follow up with him, and the other people we met this week.

Some days are long, and can only be survived with a cup of ice cream, but I love this work, and I testify that it is the work of the Lord, and that I see His hand in each life we meet and know that He loves His children and prepares them to come home to Him. I love Him and couldn´t be happier to serve.

I love you all and have you in my prayers. 

Love, Hna. Johnson

Doing Well in Huel...va

This week I complete 6 months in the mission- I can´t believe it. I remember when my trainer, Hna. Cano told me she´d been out for 9 months, and I thought she was so mature and wise. (She was). Things are a little slow here still. The few investigators we had don´t really want anything at all, but there are a lot of less active members and part member families to work with, and I think that´s where Hna. Brown and I will focus our efforts.

I think it´s felt slower and harder here because I don´t have so many investigators to love, but I´ve decided to focus on the people I do love. To name a few:

There´s Cristal, a single member that begged the bishop to let us come live with her as soon as she knew we were coming, and who invites us to eat each week. She makes a large meal that she can´t eat, being diabetic, and sends what we don´t finish home with us.

Matthew and Joy are a less active Nigerian couple, who are only less active because they don´t have money for the bus to get them to church, but are now getting the help from the ward they need. Matthew speaks like Sir Percy from the Scarlet Pimpernel, but with a Nigerian accent, if that´s possible.

Galicia, Gabriel and Alina are a family from Colombia- and the son served in the same mission as Mark. They´re all very willing to help with missionary work, and all are very kind to us.

Our ward mission leader, Antonio, made sure we had the help we needed to get our gas line working so we didn´t have to take cold showers in the morning, and helps us in finding work and in our confidence.

And of course I love my companion. I feel like I´m being forced to face one of my demons this transfer- envy. Hna. Brown is everything I was jealous of growing up- a cute 4.0 student, who plays every sport, dances, and is a social butterfly. Really, the only solution I¨ve found to envy, surprisingly, is praising her, noting all of her good qualities and building her up in the one area she seems to be lacking (Spanish). Let´s see if I can keep my demons at bay.

Another thing that´s really helped me is focusing on what I have been blessed with- not talents, but the life I¨ve been given. Whenever I start pitying myself, I think of all of your faces and know that I could not have been blessed with a stronger or more loving family. I wouldn´t trade that for any other blessing- what good would any other blessing do me if I didn´t belong with each of you?

I thank you all for your letters and prayers- I love you and appreciate you all more than ever before. Give the kids a hug and a kiss from me and tell them I love them.

Love, Hna. Johnson

Huelva!

Dear family,

I guess I´ll start off introducing my new companion, Hna. Brown. She´s from Fayette, Utah, the youngest of 6, and way cooler than me. She was attending BYU H on a scholarship for softball, and she´s got down every other sport as well. She reminds me a lot of cousin Bedda- even looks a little similar, in my opinion. It was pure inspiration that she got sent here- just now they want to start having a baseball class on Saturday mornings as part of the missionary effort here- and here she is to teach it! They need someone who can play the piano- and here she is to play it! The one thing is she doesn´t know Spanish, but that will come, and I¨m trying to help her as best as I can. We´re friends already and take everything with a laugh. Case in point-

As we step off the bus in Málaga, the Elders greet us and ask whether we want the good news or the bad first. (we´ve had a lot of those moments- good and bad news). Bad news- no electricity. Good news- beds. Bad news- no water. Good news- they brought muffins. The piso really is nice- everything is clean and new... the problem is it´s also very very empty. And we still don´t have hot water (I´m sure other missionaries have it much worse).

Really, the Elders are taking good care of us, and the members even better. They are all so excited for sister missionaries to be here after 10 years, and they just want to help us and serve us. I also really love the closeness of this little ward- they all know and care about each other. This also means there´s more drama, but I´m positive that we´ll enjoy this ward.

The missionaries here are Elder Harman and Nuñez- Elder Harman is a nice boy from Arizona who came in my group, and Elder Nuñez is one of the Marx brothers reincarnated. Seriously. Can´t decide who he is between Chico and Groucho. Hope I can get a picture of him to you soon too- he even looks similar.

In other news, I´ve finally learned the Nigerian snap! Not sure if I´ve talked about this before, but the Nigerians snap off of each others´ middle fingers when they pull their hands away from a handshake, and this really cool Nigerian convert named Prince finally taught me how to do it- I´ll have to show you when I come home.

In closing, I just want to say that I know that what we teach is true- that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ- that He lives and is perfect, and so is His gospel. There is no greater blessing than to know Him, and to know what we must do to return to live with Him. I´m so grateful that I¨m here, and that I still have a year left to focus on this work. It is His work.

I love you all and appreciate your support. Take care!

Love, Hna. Johnson

PS Check the new address on the blog since she won't get mail very fast if sent to the mission office.

C/ Isaac Peral 15, 5º C

21002 Huelva

España

The hardest investigators to leave behind

With all her hijas (daughters - trainees)

With Sister Brown and Columbus

Clanging Clock

Dear Family,

 

I knew there were a lot of possibilities for this transfer, but I was pretty sure (about 99%) that I´d stay here with Hna. Folsom and possibly be a trio with a new sister missionary... not to be.

 

I´m training again, and opening an area in the city of Huelva. Here are some things President Deere told me about it: It´s on the Atlantic Coast, very close to Portugal. Christopher Colombus may have sailed from the city. There are about 200,000 people in the city. It´s the strawberry capitol of Spain, and possibly Europe. My district will consist of me, my hija, and a companionship of Elders.

 

Here are some things the members have told me about it: There are mosquitos the size of planes. I´m being sent to outer darkness. I´ll never get another bad transfer after this. And "only you would get sent out there, Hna. Johnson".

 

The funny thing is, as soon as I heard the name Huelva, I remembered my first time in the mission home (a greenie of 1 or 2 weeks), and looking at the mission board. I saw that there were no missionaries below the caption of Huelva, and asked President Deere why that was. I remember him telling me that the area had seen little success, and that they´d had to close it, but might reopen it one day.

 

Even though I´m a bit daunted, I think I´m ready for another adventure. I know that I´m teaching and testifying of the truth, and every day I´m more sure of it. Having that knowledge makes me very nearly fearless, and even though I know tough days are ahead, I just want to share what I know with the people I meet and invite them all to enjoy the same happiness I do. Whether they accept it or not will have to be their decision, but I hope I never tire of telling the good news to everyone.

 

I´m sad to leave my area behind- even sadder than I previously expected. Good things are happening here- we´re working on reactivating a family of 8 kids, and inviting the members that were too young at the time to be baptized- the daughter of the oldest daughter (about 25 years old) accepted, and I see such good things ahead of her.

 

Palma is making progress, slowly but surely, and she has a very strong testimony of the gospel. I don´t have any doubts that once she resolves the few problems she has, she´ll be a strong follower of Jesus Christ.

 

Uchena and Ana Maria that we left behind in La Palmilla both accepted baptism! The Elders in that area are working with the Polish consolate to try to work through the legal system so they can be married. It was good news to hear just before leaving the area.

 

I love each person I´ve met so much- investigators, active members, and less active members alike, and I know that Hna. Folsom and Hna. Nielsen will take good care of the people here.

 

I´m glad you all enjoyed the family reunion, and I can´t wait to watch the film festival myself when I come home in just a little over a year! Know that I love you all and you´re in my prayers.

 

Congratulations Annie & Nate! (Are you really having another boy, Brittany?! Ah well, the world needs more Elders!)

 

Love, Hna. Johnson

 

P.S. I chopped my hair.

555+!!

Dear family,

 

this week we reached our goal as a mission of finding 555 new investigators- the final total was 558- just barely made it! The first few days were pretty tough for Hna. Folsom and I. Whitewashing is pretty hard, it turns out, and the first 3 days we found no one, and taught very little. We just kept pushing through despite the discouragement, and were blessed with 10 new investigators by the end of the week! It really was such a miraculous week.

 

One of our new investigators is a Nigerian named Kingsley. We got on the wrong bus late one night, and moreover got off on the wrong stop- both of us being a bit unfamiliar with the area. Almost immediately, we ran into Kingsley, who was taught by the missionaries about 4 years ago, and somehow got lost in the shuffle (we can understand that pretty well right now). It´s incredible how the Lord uses our weaknesses and our mistakes to bring about His purposes.

 

We also began teaching a part member family. The mother (Estrella) has 8 children, and years ago, the oldest 7 were baptized, and all but 1 has fallen away from the church. 3 of the daughters live near their mother (one of them being the youngest that was never baptized), and they all have good memories of the church and want us to come by and teach them again (along with Estrella´s granddaughters). It´s so sad to me to see people who have turned away from the truth after having found it- much worse than those who never knew it. I keep thinking this week about the importance of strengthening recent converts and less active members, and want to invite all of you to do what you can this week to do just that, because there is no sense in building up the kingdom when what has already been constructed is crumbling down.

 

I´ve been loving teaching Palma- not sure if I´ve mentioned her or not. She´s a 30 something year old Spaniard that has been investigating the church since January or February, and you can really see the changes it´s bringing into her life. She´s so much happier, confident and at peace now, and you should see the way her mind is waking up to all of the truths of the gospel. She´s so hungry for all of it, and it´s really a joy to teach her. There´s a few stumbling blocks between her and baptism, like tobacco, but she´s really progressing, and we´re hoping she can be baptized this next month.

 

It´s still been difficult to leave all of the people to the Elders. Our recent converts ask us why the missionaries don´t come by to visit them anymore, and some have disappeared. I don´t blame the Elders- they´ve had a lot added onto their area, so they´re drowning in their work, but I worry so much about these people. We offer to help, but for now they haven´t accepted it. Maybe they can´t since they´re in another area.

 

One of the worst moments was when the Elders asked us to call the Romanians to set up an appointment with them, thinking it was better coming from us. When Costel answered the phone, he was crying, and told me that Iuliana was in the hospital, with just a few hours left to live. She died on Thursday, and we went to the funeral on Saturday. I hated that we hadn´t been there for the family during the last few weeks Iuliana had on this earth. It makes me sick to think of it, and to think that the girls went without support for weeks just because of circumstances.

 

The difficult things have definitely been trusting the people to other missionaries.

 

Other than worrying about my old area, I´m doing well. My companion and I are getting a lot of work done, and we love meeting and teaching new people. I can´t wait to hear how the reunion went- I hope you´ll make a little film for me, Dad. I love you all, and am happy to hear Alisa is still in the trial for now.

 

Love, Hna. Johnson

El Centro

Dear family,

 

well, we got uprooted from our area for the second time this transfer- que locura! We weren´t going to start working in the Centro until the end of the transfer, but the Elders found a piso a couple of weeks early and thought it would be a good idea to just switch now, so here we are! It was tough leaving again- we had three new investigators from scratch, and were really excited to teach them.

 

Fransisco and José are a father and son that I met way back when I was with Hna. Cano. The son is about 30 and has cerebral palsy (but he´s very bright- has a better memory than I do), and we´d see them walking together in la Palmilla a lot. We talked to them, but Fransisco politely turned us away, telling us he didn´t believe anything. Then when we started working in Parque del Sur, we started seeing them more than ever. He started talking to us more, and told us that whenever he thought of us before turning a corner, he´d find us right in his path, and he really felt it was a sign he needed to talk to us. He calls us his angels and practically begs for us to come by to teach. We put it off a while because we couldn´t find a woman to accompany us, but ended up just teaching him on a bench in the street. He´s really receptive and has a lot of questions, and we´re excited for the elders to teach them both.

 

We found the third investigator this way too. We were out teaching them on the bench when a young Romanian woman (love Romanians!) and her five year old son passed by, and slowed down to look at us. She asked us who we were, and what we taught. We explained a little, but Fransisco was the true advocate- telling her that we´re good people who teach true doctrine, and that she should listen to us. She asked us if we could come by to teach. We only had one chance to teach her before handing her over to the Elders, but the lesson was wonderful. When we began explaining about the young boy Joseph Smith who was looking for the truth, she interrupted us to say, "Like me!" I´m excited to hear from the Elders how things go with her.

 

Our new area will be a challenge- it´s a bit more touristy, but we´re willing to work hard. Speaking of, we have a new goal as a mission for this week. The most new investigators that the mission has gained in a week is 236. This week we have a goal of finding 555 new investigators. Please keep us in your prayers so we can reach this goal- Hna. Folsom and I need to find 7 new investigators this week, which will be a bit of a challenge starting off in a new area- still, it´s something that we need in order to work, and moreover, we know that there are people prepared to listen- we just have to find them. Ay, there´s the rub.

 

On a less spiritual note, our piso is very nice, and we finally have a wash line, so I´m officially Spanish now. And we may or may not have a grocery store in our basement. We´re going to the feria for p-day, so I should have some fun pictures for next week. Lots of speculation about what will happen this transfer. Will Hna. Folsom and I keep rockin´it together? Will we both train a newbie? Will I get sent away and leave Hna. Folsom to train? So many possibilities in this crazy mission!

 

I dreamt that Mom decided to store all the books in my library in a tree during my mission, and I couldn´t get her to understand that if she left them out, they´d get ruined by the rain. Take care of my books please, mother :) And Mark, while you´re living at the DI, make sure to pick up any good copies you see. I´ll pay you back in... foot massages?

 

I know that this is the work of the Lord- I´ve seen His hand countless times in just five months of being a missionary. I know that he really is preparing the hearts of the people, and I´m excited to search for the elect this week, and every day of my mission. I love you all and appreciate all you do for me (like the reunion letters :) You´re in my prayers.

 

Love, Hna. Johnson