30 Aug—Houston

Hey family!

So well where to start do you want the big news now or at the end. We will see.... I guess now will be better so I can just get it off my chest. Well, as you all know I got transferred. It was sad to leave my last area, there was a lot of good people who where going to enter into the waters of baptism soon. I enjoyed my time with my past companion and I enjoyed working with the district and learning a lot of new things. However, the Lord has a lot of new plans for me. I am now in an area that is called Houston 8 South, and I am with one of my old companions Elder Greenwood. I served with him in Houston 1 and we had a blast and a lot of success. Right now, he is training me on how to be a zone leader.

Last Thursday, I got a call from the mission office that President Saylin wanted to have an interview with me. So, I went in and he gave me a tough soul searching interview, and we talk for a little while. Then he told me that the Lord has called me to serve as a zone leader, and he told me not to tell anyone until Wednesday. So, that's why I didn't say anything on Monday. But yea, I am a zone leader now for the Houston West Zone. It is a big responsibility and I need to always rely on the Lord, because once I start trusting all in me and my abilities, I will fall and the zone will crash. So please keep me in your prayers so I can do this calling well and help the Lord's work go forth in the Houston West Zone. The Field is ripe and all ready to harvest.

This week I went to exchanges with the APs to get my training for zone leader stuff, and I was with Elder Roberts, who is the twin brother of my trainer, Elder Roberts. It was awesome to be with him. It felt like the good old days with my trainer, and we got to talk a lot about memories, and also how to be a good zone leader. So, that was a lot of fun.

My area is a Spanish area still, and I still need to keep on studying hard. We have a family that is getting ready for baptism on the 12th of September. So, hopefully everything will go well for them. The members here are very nice people, and the ones that I have met so far are really cool. On Sunday, we had stake conference, and Elder Greenwood and I saw people from Houston 1 there, and they were shocked to hear that we are companions again. The Bishop in Houston 1 said Elder Johnson, what did you do for that the happen (in a joking tone of voice)... it was great.

The zone is doing well right now, we have a lot of awesome missionaries in the zone and they work very hard. It is going to be a good experience and I will be growing a lot. I guess what is interesting about this whole thing is that three other missionaries from my MTC group are zone leaders. So, I might have a chance to serve with one of them some time. That would be super cool. I remember I thought the first year of my mission was tough. Well, things got a little tougher.

It sounds like the family is doing good. Kim is in college now!? Dang things sure change! I am going to have 2 new nieces and a nephew... Cheryl I am guessing that you will have a boy ;) new home and new friends when I get back. And there is going to be a bunch of more new changes in the next coming year.

Well I love you all!

-Elder Johnson

23 Aug—Manvel, TX

Hello family.

This week... let's just put it this way. I am tired and all I want to do today is take a nap.

The end

But seriously, I am really tired. I get more sleep than I ever did in college, and I am way more tired. Way, way, more tired. Anyway, the new news. Let's see, I am going to be transferred, which means a new area and new people to see. Hopefully, I won't go to an English speaking area, my Spanish is finally getting good. I feel bad for my companion, because we have used a lot of miles, so he is going to have to ride the bike a lot. I was planning on doing that with him so that we could both suffer the wrath of the hot sun and the bike together.

Our investigators are doing good. Last Sunday, we knocked on a door of a guy named Rusty, and he told us that he had a lot of Mormon friends growing up, and he told us to come back next week. So, yesterday we came back and had an awesome lesson with him. We started talking, and he talked about all of his friends that were Mormon, and he told us how he had gone to young mens' activities and even to church a few times. Then he told us out of nowhere that he wanted a Book of Mormon. So, we gave him one, and he said alright, let's get started, what do you have to share with me. So, we started talking about the restoration, he asked some good questions, and we gave some good answers. I really felt that we taught to his needs this time, and not so much the usual lesson, if you catch my drift.

So, we got the the first vision and taught him more about where the Book of Mormon came from, and he told us he was already baptized. The thought that went in my head was, ok it seems like he didn't understand the authority part of the lesson, but then he said yea I am just a really inactive member. He was 29 and hadn't been to church for about 6 years. We got talking some more, and it was just pretty interesting stuff. It kind of hit me hard though, because I thought about myself and growing up, and who knows if I didnt go to BYU or go on a mission, I could have been the 29 year old who was an inactive looking for the truth again. The good thing is that he is excited to have us come over and teach him the lessons. He grew up in Panama, or something like that, so he knows Spanish and English; he is way cool. Well, the other missionaries will have an awesome experience working with him, because I won't be here anymore. I will be in some other place, it will be really really interesting; a new place and a new companion. Once again, I get to work hard and change even more, woohoo!

-Elder Johnson

p.s Just keep me in you prayers, because I will need them.

16 Aug—Manvel, Texas

HEY!

Well, things here are still going. I have noticed some of the great missionary tan lines I have been getting. Newest being the watch tan. I don't know if we can go to the beach when I get back... I am going to look all goofy. Oh well.

Anyway, this week we have been trying to find more people to teach again, which means a lot of knocking on doors. I don't mind knocking though, you get to meet a lot of cool people; as well as hear some funny excuses as to why they don't want to listen to us. My favorite of the week is, "It's too hot outside to listen." We were able to make contact with Mauricio who was an investigator who was almost baptised. So we will see how he goes.

The weird thing about over here is it will say it's 95 degrees at like 2:00; then later in the day at like 5:00, it will be 100 or more degrees. I think I have lost some weight from sweating so much!

Lately, I have been studying about the sacrament and also about the High Priestly prayer that Jesus said right after the last supper. It is awesome and it says a lot of interesting things there. Like, being one with the will of the Father and being one with the will of Jesus Christ. Being out of the world but not being in the world. If we could do that we would be given great spiritual power.

I am sorry this is short, but I don't have a ton of time. I love you and congrats on the baby, Kelly! Wooooo!

-Elder Johnson

9 Aug—Manvel, Texas

Hello!

Well this week has been pretty crazy! We have been knocking a lot of doors getting a lot of rejections, but still enjoying the mission like never before. We have some great people we are working with. The family that was shooting for the 15 probably won't happen just yet but they should be good to go by the end of the month. And also we have been working with a part member family recently (the wife is a member and the husband is not), but the husband has been progressing really well and he came to church on Sunday! He hadn't been for 4 or 5 months. He really like me and Elder Henrie.

We were knocking doors on Sunday and we came up to this one trailer, and we heard some people inside, so we knocked on it. Then we waited and it got real quiet. So we just started walking back. As we walked back we heard a noise and there was this HUGE DOG running towards us! I am talking big! We whipped off our backpacks and stuck them in front of us and he stopped right in front of Elder Henrie. Like no joke, 2 feet in front of him, and he just barked and barked and we slowly walked away. Elder Henrie was breathing really loud it was funny; after it was over we had a good laugh. The tricks for dogs... if one is coming at you; bend down and grab a rock if there is one near you, or you can take your backpack off and hold it out in front of you, or also if you are on a bike you can put the bike in front of you, and be safe. yay!

Hmmmm speaking of dogs. I don't know if i have already told you all, but we have members with dogs from the canary islands. These big old Dogs. They have these stripes that look like tigers. But they are super cool, friendly and huge! They have one for dog shows with them and stuff, and if you want to buy one let me know. I think they are super cool.

Lately, I have been reading the book Jesus The Christ. There is a section that I like a lot about pleasure versus happiness. I really like this part in page 247 and it says happiness leaves no bad after taste, it is followed by no depressing reaction, it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering and if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction!

Well I love you all see ya later!

-Elder Johnson

2 Aug—Manvel, TX

Hello everyone!

This week was a pretty good week. Maria was confirmed a member of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was really great.

So kind of weird/funny story. Every fast and testimony meeting here is pretty interesting. Well, that's an understatement. It is very, very interesting. This month some old guy told us how he taught his grand daughter how to use the toilet paper, and not to use a whole role every time they go to the bathroom. Why would you talk about that? I mean, not to bag on his testimony or anything, but come on. Every testimony, I just say a prayer that it will go by smoothly, and that our investigators will enjoy it. Once again, I am a fan when the little kids go up to share their testimonies with people. It is always super good.

What else what else... This week it rained a bunch. I got soaked and so did Elder Henrie. It was pretty funny. We were walking in parking lots giving people cards for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and a lady rolled down her car window, gave us an umbrella and drove away. So, then we were standing there with an umbrella that we couldn't really use because we had our bikes. It was very nice of here though. :)

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders, and they went over some things that I need to know when I am a district leader, and about how I can help the district better. That was fun, I was with Elder Adams and he is a cool guy. He actually has more time as a missionary than he does a member of the church. Pretty cool! He was atheist before, and then he met some missionaries and his whole life changed.

So, my new companion Elder Henrie likes to do two things a lot. One is ride his bike, and the other is run. I haven't ran for over a year, but on Saturday, I told Elder Henrie to set the clock a little early one of these days and we would go running. Today, I got woken up at 5:30am by Elder Henrie poking me and he said, wake up man we're going running! I asked what time is it and he told me a little bit before 6. I looked at the clock and it said 5:30am; I told him what?! I am totally going back to bed. So, then he set the alarm at 6:00 and we went running. And we ran, and we ran, and we ran. For 3 miles we ran, and when I got back I just sat down. And sat... and I felt like my legs were going to fall off. I got owned. I guess it's alright because I haven't really ran a lot the past year.

Other than that it sounds like everything is going well! Thanks for the package mom! Kelly that is exciting that you are having your baby soon. Things here are looking good. We should have another 3 baptisms on the 15th so we will see what happens!

Keep on keeping on family and I see ya next week.

-Elder Johnson

26 July—Manvel, TX

Hey y'all,

Another week has come and gone. This week was a crazy, crazy week. Stress level was up there, and there was just tons of stuff. Tuesday and Wednesday, I had a leadership training meeting at 7:15 in the morning, and it ended at around 5:30pm. I got back to my area around 6:15pm. The mission just got some new training from the apostles and everyone else. It was interesting to see that nothing was really new, but all the training was about things that helped us focus and improve different skills that our mission has already been working on. I enjoyed the meetings a lot, and I got to learn a lot too. Thursday, we had another leadership training meeting, but this one ended at about 3:00pm, because I had a interview afterward.

So, while I was at my meetings, my companion Elder Henrie was in our area with another missionary. He was leading this guy around the area, which he had only been in for 4 days. The good news is that they didn't get lost and they did really well. We had a good week and Elder Henrie did great. He is pretty funny guy and we get along well.

The other reason why this week was stressful was because we had a baptism. A lady named Maria was baptized by her good friend Brother Roberts, and she is a really nice lady. She is somewhere in her 70s, and really had to give up a lot to be baptized. Her family wasn't to thrilled of her being baptized, but She just knew with her heart that it was true and was able to push on. The great thing about it was that there were tons of people at the baptism. And the branch is really another family to her now. I asked her how she felt, and she said siento contento. She is happy and feels clean. I was also happy that I could give Elder Henrie the experience of a baptism. That was something that my trainer was able to provide for me.

We also have an awesome ward mission leader, and he did everything for us. He filled up the font, asked people to give talks, and it was all wonderful. I have had some stressful baptisms in the past, but this one was nice. I saw one of Pearland's investigators outside the chapel, because she was taking care of her baby. I invited her in to see the baptism, and I did my best to translate for her. I think it went really well. She said that she really enjoyed seeing someone get baptized. And she liked to see it in Spanish.

This week, I also had the chance to interview someone for baptism, and let me tell you that was a real treat. The spirit there was so strong and I got to hear how happy Jenny was to be baptized. I read her Mosiah 26:21-24(I think that's it), but it talks about baptism and how we will be forgiven of our sins. When I looked up after reading it, she was crying but it was tears of joy. Man, I know last week I said I didn't know if I liked being a district leader or not. Well, I like it. I like helping and encouraging the missionaries in my district and helping other people as well.

Another thing, we have a couple of new people that we are working with this week and it is going to be great. They are two families, and we are going to try to set them for baptismal dates. I am exited to work with them, and help them come closer to Jesus Christ.

It is interesting how so many people think such crazy stuff about the Mormon religion and I enjoy talking with them about their questions. Then when they tell me something, I get to resolve their concern, which usually means I say something like no, that isn't true, we believe........ And then they go, oooooooohhhhhh. That's great, and they suddenly have a good opinion about what we believe. The big thing down here in Texas is that everyone thinks we have 5 wives or whatever. Apparently, there was something on the news a while back about this guy who was caught having 5 wives, and he said he was Mormon, but he wasn't actually Mormon. So, now everyone things we have 5 wives. I am proud to tell them I have 1 mom. :) hahaha.

Anyway, I haven't really written any letters to anyone besides emailing for about 4 months, and I got some hate mail this week. So, I think I am going to write some letters and just have a chill p-day with my companion. We are going to make some banana bread and it is going to be good. I also need to clean, so that will be good too. Well, other than that thanks for everything! Keep on praying for us!

Elder Johnson