Taste of the Mish

Dear family,

 I feel like I´ve had a little taste of all of my sibling´s missions. Málaga had Matt´s West Africans and Mike´s islanders, Alicante had Jon´s Ecuadorians, Jeréz has Sonja´s Bolivians, and Spain in general has Mark´s... Spaniards. That´s all I have to say on that.

it´s been a good week. We had lots of things fall through, and they often led us to other people. We spent all Sunday morning passing by the homes of people who said they´d come with us to church (investigators, less actives, recent converts), and not one of them answered. We went to church just a little disheartened, and just before sacrament meeting, the elders found us and told us we had "an army of investigators outside"- sure enough, 6 nonmembers were making their way up the sidewalk. 

Backstory- in a lesson the night before, we were teaching an Ecuadorian woman- her sister was in the other room watching a soccer game. We invited her in in the middle of the lesson, and then invited them both to church (this whole lesson there was a sleepy kitten on my lap, so I had the spirit and an animal- what more could a Kirsten want?) They said they´d come, which is normal- the abnormal thing is that they actually come... and with another friend and 3 other kids. 

We´re working hard with recent converts here, as I may have mentioned. It´s a bit of a mess- some are smoking and drinking, thinking that it´s a suggestion, not a commandment, which I¨m vigorously trying to correct (the mission has taught me that I´m actually bold- I never thought I was before- I just kind of smack people over the head with doctrine, commandments and commitments, then Hna. Cameron kisses the wounds better with a little lovin´), a couple was baptized while still living together without being legally married and are now drifting fast from the church... it´s just a mess. Pray hard for us- we really want to help them but it´s turning out to be a tricky task. 

I´m going to Huelva this week- hopefully I won´t have to clean up too many of the messes I made there ;) Thanks for your love and support. Have a great week!

Love, Hna. Johnson

Jérez de la Frontera

Dear family,

It´s so good to be back in Andalucía! True, almost all of the investigators dropped us as soon as I got here, but the people are so much warmer (comes with the climate, I think). In Alicante, people would shut me down as soon as I opened my mouth, but here, they usually kindly explain that they´re already Catolica Apostilca Rumana, and kindly wish me luck. I love it. 

Half the streets we work on are tiny cobblestone paths, and the buildings are the classic white with yellow trim, flowers in the balconies. Jeréz is really famous for its wine, and we get wine-scented breezes from the wineries that are just slightly less numerous than the old chapels and cathedrals. 

It´s just beautiful here. 

We´re teaching one Bolivian man named Marcos who is progressing toward his baptism on the 31st. There are also a lot of recent converts here- Jeréz went through a baptizing boom about 6 months ago, but they´re nearly all inactive now, so we have a special focus on them. 

The Lord is so good to me- just when I arrived, the other SHE´s from Dos Hermanas called to say that they´d taken in a companionship that´s opening an area, and wanted us to start doing intercambios with one of the areas they have currently... HUELVA! We´re doing intercambios with those hermanas in two weeks, so just two weeks from now, I´ll be seeing my sweet swampy Huelva, with all the people I loved and worked with. Hnas Grant and Ancalle say the people are excited to see me. I can´t think of anything that will make me happier than seeing those dear people again. 

I´m happy and healthy and working hard. My legs forgot that hills existed, but they´re remembering now :) Take care- so glad to hear the wedding went well, and that no wayward karate moves took out beloved Elder Perry. 

Take care! Love Hna Johnson

See You Soon

Dear family,

I don´t think I´ll write much since I´ll be talking with you this Sunday, and I already feel like a boring conversationalist, and I´ll only be more so if I write any stories home today.

Here are some pictures you haven´t seen yet. I love you and am excited to talk with you soon!

Love, Hna. Johnson

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