19 April - Houston

Hello all,

So you want to know about the mission mission.

How do I like my mission?

Well to tell you the truth, I love it. Sometimes it is hard when you kind of do the same thing every day. But a cool scripture I like is in Alma 5:7; it talks about when you have a change of heart it is like waking up from a deep sleep and waking up unto God. That is kind of like how a mission is. You don't really remember the pre-mission life very well and you kind of feel like you woke up from a sleep. I think that is because my heart has been changing a lot out here.

The longer I am out here the more I realize that the most important thing we can do is be obedient and to show our love to our father in heaven. And we show our love to him through obeying the commandments. So I am loving the mission. BYU changed me a lot but the Mission is changing me even more. I like learning a new language, and serving in the ghetto. You kind of get the feel of a new culture. You learn to care for people and you learn that true happiness comes from the gospel.

What is happening so far?

Well this transfer, we have baptized all of our main teaching pool (Benjamin, Brayan, Maria, and Victoria). So, right now, we are working on finding. That means talking with everyone. This is sometimes hard, because you talk with someone, and set up a time with them and they are not even there. For example, on Saturday we talked with someone and he invited us over for a lesson for Sunday. We told them we would bring him a piece of cake, because I made a cake and he was like alright. So, Sunday comes around, we bring him the piece of cake and he takes it. Then he tells us, oh I am watching the kids so I don't have anytime to talk with you see ya, and closed the door. So as you can see I got robbed of a piece of cake :(

Also my companion is getting transferred, so I will be getting a new companion and taking over the area. This will be interesting because we don't have any real solid progressing investigators. So, what is the plan to fix that? Rely on the Lord, fast, pray, and talk with everyone. Also be diligent. So, we will see how that goes.

Our ward is very funny; at the start of sacrament meeting there are probably 40 people there and then after the sacrament has been passed and the doors open, a giant stampede comes in and then all of the sudden there are 145 people sitting in the seats. It is pretty nuts. Last Sunday, we had 2 confirmations and everything is going really great.

I think almost all of my pants has some kind of rip in them and a few socks have holes in them, but I guess that is the mission life huh.

O yeah we have the coolest mission president ever. I think that this guy is going to be a general authority or something crazy. He is so awesome. I had the annual transfer interview with him on Wednesday, and he told me about grandma and stuff. It was good she finally passed away because every time I visited her she would say take me home Joe. Well, anyway I got another angel on my side so that is pretty good. Other than that things are going great. People to teach; people to baptize

-Elder Johnson

12 April - Houston

Hello everyone!

To tell you the truth I don't know what to type. Another week in Houston has come and gone. Things are going good here; we had another baptism. Her name is Victoria, and she is 11 and she is awesome!

Let's see, transfers are next Monday. Elder Greenwood is awesome, so I hope we have another 6 weeks together. Spanish is coming a long well and I can pretty much understand most of the conversations now and say most of the things that I want to say.

Ummm, I like the food here. It isn't that hot and I like reading and studying the scriptures in the morning. We are going to have a zone activity after this at the park and there is going to be some BBQ and I am hungry. We are going to eat fajitas and it is going to be delicious!

Well, I gots to go c ya!

-Elder Johnson

5 April - Houston

Hey family/friends-

Well, to tell you the truth, this week was kind of the same as every other week. That is the funny thing about missionary work. At first, it is very exciting and you get to talk about all these things you do everyday and then after a while you realize, wow, I do the same thing every day, but just with different people. But hey, I am not complaining, I love it out here and I enjoy making people happy and teaching them about Jesus Christ.

I really liked conference and all the messages we got to hear from the prophet and apostles and other church leaders. Conference messages are really good. It is interesting how every year they talk about basically the same things, but just put tweaks in it. That is because the path to salvation hasn't changed and will never change. God made the Ten Commandments many, many years ago and we still need to follow them today. Times are worse now I would say, and that is why it is important to have a prophet on the earth today. We have received additional commandments such as the word of wisdom, and law of chastity from latter-day prophets to help us stay above the filth and sin of the world. I am grateful for the commandments in my life, I used to think they were restrictions, but I know that they lead us to freedom. Hold on to the Iron Rod, keep on striving for perfect obedience, and I know that we will one day see each other and live with our families together forever after this life. Well I love all of you so much.

-Elder Johnson