28 September - Galvaston

Well, I am in Houston. Who wants to guess where my first area is??? Galveston baby!!!! Yea thats right it is the island right off the coast of houston. Its is pretty awesome. My address there is:

Elder Steven Johnson

102 Strand Street #30

Galveston, TX 77550

Well, a lot has been going on the past couple of weeks. We woke up early Tuesday morning at 4:45am, and got to the airport. I got to call Mom and Dad and Kim at 7:00am California time and that was nice. On the airplane, I sat next to another Elder so I took a good nap. We got to Houston and met the mission president. Then we went in a big van with the president's assistents and they took us to a church and there were elders there waiting for us to take us "running" (Running is when you go aorund and you try to talk to as many people as you can). So, my runner took me to a place called Glendale Park and apparently it's a really rough area. One of the more dangerous parts in the mission, but we went and taught people and it was fun.

Then, we went to the mission home and met the mission president's family. They made us some enchiladas and it was yummy. Then, I got interveiwed by the mission president and got to know him and he is a really cool guy and I like him a lot. He also has a very nice family.

Then, we slept over at a zone elders' house; well, me, Elder Breeze and 2 more elders did. And guess what one of his name is? Elder Mike Jones, and he knows Cheryl and Tyler crazy!!! So we had a good time talking and stuff. In the morning, we found out who our trainers were and where we were going. My trainer's name is Elder Roberts, and he is a twin, and his twin is in the same mission as us! He is a big NBA fan and his favorite team is the Houston Rockets. But he still has respect for the Lakers, so that's good. He is 6'0 and is from Nor Cal (Manteca to be exact).

My first day out in the mission field was cool. We went around on our bikes and I met some people. We also got to teach some people and we ate at some members' home, the Stouts. They are really nice. Then we went home and I unpacked and we talked and planned. It was a really fun day.

The 2nd day, we had a district meeting and I met the missionaries in our district. There are 2 other elders and 2 sisters. Me, Elder Roberts, Elder Stack, Elder Moline, Sister Hammar, and Sister Campbell. We have the power squad district and we are doing some good work. After the meeting, we ate at Subway and then split up and started teaching the word to people. While we were riding the bikes, I hopped up onto a curb and almost fell. Then, I was riding pretty fast to catch up and I was like, Elder Roberts that was a close one. I almost fell, and then 1 minute later I hit a ditch in the sidewalk and flew over my handle bars and ate some pavement. I didn't get seriously injured, but my right hand got cut up on my palm. Then we ate dinner at another member's house, the Sheffields. They like to cook and they tried a new dish out and it was really good!

We get dinner every night from members here which is awesome! Sunday came around and we go to the English ward and Spanish branch. This is the only area where we get to teach in English and Spanish. So, the Spanish branch was cool and they talk really fast. They also cook us food after church, and it was really goooooood! I only could stay in the Spanish branch sacrament meeting for the 1st talk because guess what? We had 2 baptisms we had to get ready for! We baptized a lady named Tammy and her daughter Sara! There was also a lady named Amis that is Chinese and she is moving to Malaysia. So I got lucky being "born" in Galveston where we had some baptisms the first week I was here. :)

Later that night, we went over to a man's house named Mike Garcia, and he cooked us some salmon and it was sooo goood. Sorry Mom, it beats any that I had back home :) We took him with us to do some door knocking and the first door we knock the people answer and right away say come in come in. And they were from El Salvador and we taught them the 1st lesson right there and I told them the 1st vision in Spanish and we have a return appointment with them this week and I am really excited. We also met some other people from Mexico and there where tons of mosquitos and I have a ton of mosquito bites on my right arm; like 30. I don't know what's up with those. They just like my sweet personality ;) Hahahaha, well anyway. I love it here and I am having a blast and learning a lot. And this week has been super busy! But I have to go and I love you all!!!
-Elder Johnson

p.s. My email time is not timed anymore but we are only allowed to email for 1 hour. So you can send me emails. If you want to send me pictures, put them in Word and then I can see them. And I am only allowed to email family. Sorry friends, but you can still write me letters!!:)

Pictures from the MTC

15 September, 2009

Well, this week has been a good week. I only have 1 more week here!!!! Wooooo!!!!!!!

My new adress is going to be:

Elder Steven B Johnson
Texas Houston South Mission
4627 Austin Parkway
Sugarland, TX 77479

So if you are planning on writing me a letter, make sure you send it to that address and not the MTC address.

Nothing to exciting has happened to me this week. This sunday Elder Breeze and I had the chance to bless the sacrament in Spanish, and went smoothly. We also had the chance to teach our Sunday School about the purpose of life, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how to repent and use the Atonement in our lives. It was one of the easiest lessons that I have ever taught because it was on a subject that is so important to me. None of us are perfect and we have all sinned in our lives, and I know that through repenting and using the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from our sins.

Ummm hmm what else is new. Oh since i havent been allowed to play basketball because of my wrist I have taken up 4 square. I know I know, me playing 4 square? When I came to the MTC it was funny to see the type of elders that played each sport. The typical cool elders usually played basketball or volleyball or they lifted upstairs. And I am sorry that I am judgmental but the weirder/dorky elders would play 4 square. So one day I decided that I was sick of doing nothing and started playing 4 square with one hand. And then I realized it is actually a lot of fun. So sorry if I offend anyone by bashing on 4 square. But it's actually fun and now a lot of guys from my disctrict play, including Elder Breeze (he is a beast at 4 square haha)

Hmmmm. I have had fun talking to people on the phone or internet chats and helping them with their problems. You can go to www.mormon.org and talk to missionaries at the MTC and they can help answer questions you might have about our church.

Hmmm. Well. Oh, today I got my wrap off my wrist and my stiches out so I can finally take a shower without putting a bag over my hand. Woooo! My wrist movement is a little stiff, so I need to do work on bending it and it will be back to normal so that's good. The scar is about 1 inch across my wrist. But it looks like it should go away, because it is hardly noticeable right now.

I am excited for Houston! It's going to be weird teaching the gospel in Spanish. I know I am going to mess up a lot and say some embarrassing things. For instance, I have already said, Jesucristo tiene un cuerpo de carne y juevos (Jesus Christ has a body of flesh and eggs). I should of said juesos which is bones. Someone said donde va (where are you going (on my mission)) and I said a la baño (the bathroom) thinking that he said where were you. I dunno, I know some more embarrassing things are going to happen and I can't wait!

Hmm what else is new? I still have many hours of class and study every day. Umm, we figured out how to take lightsaber pictures, I'll send some home later. Other than that I am just really excited to get out of the MTC and into the world.

Oh, by the way GO BYU FOOTBALL! WOOOO! That's right. I know what's going on in sports even though I don't get the newspaper or watch tv. One of the blessings of being on my mission
eh?<--- Canadian slang I picked up in college, haha.

Well, I love you all and thanks for the support everyone!
-Elder Johnson

Mom- I love you. Thanks for the letters and packages!
Dad- Those pictures of the fire where crazy!!! Thanks for the cougar sports news, haha!
Kim- What up sista! I hope you're doing well in school!
Jen- How does it feel to have no baby in your belly?
Jer- You got your hands full bro, bueno suerte.
Kelly- How is Finland??
Greg- How is work in Finland and everything?
Cheryl- Your pictures didn't work here at the MTC. I don't know if it will be any different in the field
Tyler- What up bro? Thanks for the letter, I see your cousin a lot!

8 September, 2009 - MTC

Hello everyone!

The MTC has been awesome! I only have 2 weeks left crazy!!! I will be putting my address for Texas up on the blog in my letter next week! The MTC has been a great place.

I had a cold for the past week and a cough, so that isn’t any good. The past 3 nights, I have been having problems going to sleep, but then I found cough drops in my suitcase on Sunday so that was really nice!

All my classes are in total Spanish, its pretty scary, but I do understand most about what they are saying. I learn so much everyday from reading The Book of Mormon and find answers to questions I have, like where were we before this life, where are we going after we die, and what our purpose here on earth is. Also, I enjoy reading about the battles in the old days. I love The Book of Mormon and I just finished reading it last Sunday!

It is really weird because my district is now the oldest district in our zone (A district is the 10 missionaries that I have class with every day while a zone is the people that we go to church with). It is pretty cool, a new group of missionaries came on our floor and one of them is my friend Matt Dibb and he is in my ward from BYU. I forgot where he is going, but he is from Idaho.

I want to say thank you for all the letters that you all send me and sorry if I have been a little slow with responses, I am doing my best to write them, but they only give us 1 day a week, and on that day we have to: go to the temple, attend a big meeting in the middle of the day, and do laundry. So, I try to write to as many people as I can.

The food here is pretty good still, but I have been here long enough that I never get a new meal anymore. So it’s ok, but I can’t wait for the Mexican food in Texas WOOOOOO. I have a friend that I met here at the MTC that has been in my mission for 2 weeks and he really likes it and says the food is reaaaaaallllyyyy good.

My wrist is doing well and I get the wrap off in 1 week so that’s good. Well, I hope that you all have a good week and I love you all!

-Elder Johnson

p.s. BYU FOOTBALL BABY!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jennifer! Congrats on the baby! She is a cute baby! Well I hope you survive and I hope that the labor wasn’t too bad!
Jeremy- I hope you didn’t have a heart attack from the excitement when BYU won their football game.
Kelly- Thanks for the pictures, they were awesome!!!!!! Finland looks so cool, and I am jealous of the cool things there and the cool toys at the park.
Greg- You can walk on water! Dang man, you have mighty faith!
Cheryl- Thanks so much for the cookies!!!!! They were yummy and I shared.
Tyler- Man your letter made me laugh so much, I see your cousin a lot here.
Kim- Hey, thanks for the package the little comments on everything were funny!
Mom- Hey Mom, I love you. Thanks for the package!
Dad- Thanks for the letters Dad. My companion calls me J all the time and it reminds me of you!

September 1st

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your letters. Sorry to everyone that wrote me letters last week. I had almost zero time to write letters because I went to the doctor, and that took most of my day.

Quick overview of the week. We had an apostle Richard G. Scott come and speak at our devotional. It was AWESOME. It was a really good talk and he talked about Jesus Christ and how to have faith in him and grow to know him. I don't have my notes with me so I'll go into more detail next week.

Spanish is going great. I have given three lessons in Spanish and I really like it. It's fun to talk in. I still have a lot to learn though. I got to call home and talk to Mom, Dad and Kimmy on Saturday because I had a surgery on Monday. I finally figured out what was wrong with my wrist. It had been hurting me in volleyball my senior year and stuff and I started to get a big bump on my wrist. It turned out that it was a big cyst way down deep in my wrist! So, on Sunday all the elders in my district, they are my new family here at the MTC, gave me a blessing. Elder breeze was the one giving it, but the other 6 people were also helping. He gave a blessing saying the surgery would go smoothly and that there would be no complications.

So, on Monday me and Elder Breeze went to the hosptial and I was getting changed into these funny shorts socks and gown and then the anesthesiologist came in and I asked him about his job and stuff to see how he likes it. And he said he likes it, and said a lot of neat stuff about it. I think I might want to be one of those when I am older. When the guy was pushing me into the surgery room he said I am going to apologize in advance for what the anesthesiologist guy is going to say.

So, when I was in the room the guy said, "What up biggy smalls! Are you ready biggy smalls! I am going to make you higher than you have ever been in your life! You thought you got high in college, well get ready because I'm going to make you so high!"

And I was like, "Bro, I went to BYU. I didn't get high there haha!"

And he said, "I know. I'm just trying to scare you."

And then, I was waiting for him to tell me to count from 10 to 0 and I was going to do it really fast and go haha in your face and then fall asleep. But he told me to count from 30 to 0 in spanish, and I only got to 25 hahah. Anyway, the doctor said that it was an absolutley perfect operation. There where no complications and the big cyst came out in a perfect ball. So, I know that the priesthood blessing from my friends really helped me. And I know that God helped the surgery go well.

So, that was pretty fun and it was a nice change to my week because the days are really long, but I love it here and I learn so much here. How is the fire going? I hope everyone is safe and that nothing bad has happened!

Oh, I just learned something cool. If you guys want to email me, you can. My email is steven.burk.johnson@myldsmail.net But if you email me, make sure it's in a word document so I can respond back to you on the word document and copy and paste it so it wont waste my time online. Cuz I get only 30 mins a day and after that it logs me out. But I do like hand letters the best, or you can also write at dearelder.com I am doing my best to respond, but Tuesdays are the only days I get to write. So, sorry I'm going to write you all back, I promise.

Mom- I love you. I hope you weren't freaking out cuz I didn't call. But, they let me write an email to dad, so I did.

Dad- What's up? How is everything? I love you, and thanks for the letters.

Kimmy- How is school???

Jennifer- Good luck with having your baby this friday! woooooo!

Jeremy- How goes it bro? Anything new?

Kelly- Like I said, email me and attach a microsoft word document so I can write back on microsoft word and then I can write you a long email cuz I only have 6 mins left because my left hand is in a wrap pretty good though, huh?

Greg- How is finland? any cool stories?

Cheryl- Thanks for the package! The rain coat is awesome! And the mini gold is fun hahah!

Tyler- Elda steve huh? Hahaha, thanks for the letter, how is school?

All my friends at BYU- Tell me your adresses!!!! So I can write you in college.

Friends at LC- Thanks for the letters. I got them, and I'm sending you some back today! I love you all.

I love you all, thanks for all the great support!

-Elder Johnson!!!