Welcome Home Elder Johnson

19 July—Brazos (LAST LETTER HOME)

Hello family and friends!

This week was a good week. We had our buddy, Juan Garza, come to church again. He is a cool guy, plays in a band that travels all over Southern Texas singing and playing all kinds of instruments.

We have seen miracles this week as we have put our disobedience acts on the alter as an act of obedience. We had a day where everything fell through at 7:30pm, and we didn't know what it was that we were to do. Then we realized this is not our work. We are doing the work of the Lord. That is when we humbly sought for the guidance and direction of the Lord. When we prayed, we felt the impression to go and try a certain part of our area that we hadn't really tried before. It was over by a members home. When we got there we found a trailer park that we had never been to, and we started talking to people asking them if they would be interested in hearing a message about the gospel of the restoration. The third lady that we spoke with was a less active lady that we had been looking for, and her father who is not a member of the church. It was a great miracle. Then the next day we went back to the same area and tried another section and we found another part member family with a son named Cesar who is a very nice kid that we are going to start to work with.

Things have been running very well in the zone. This is the first time my whole mission that we have been hitting all of our goals. Every single one, except for our keys goal, which is average sit downs and OYMS. It is amazing experience to be able to pray each night about each companionship, and know them well enough to be able to ask the Lord for what they need, and praying for their investigators. I have loved being a zone leader for the Houston West zone for eight transfers. I have been able to serve in each district in the zone throughout my mission and it has been very humbling to see little tiny seeds that I planted earlier on my mission grow into a beautiful family tree.

Quick experience on Saturday. I was talking with the district leader in Houston 8 and he was telling me about a family that I taught when I was there. I had the privilege of baptizing two boys, Max and Steven, there. Their mother always had a doubt that she would never tell us. Well, it turns out that she finally opened up to the missionary's and she wants to be baptized! She knows the church is true! Another family in Houston 8 is progressing very well, and they come to church every Sunday and all they need to do is get their marriage license and they will get married and baptized. I can honestly say that my joy was full that night. Other families in Houston 1 have been able to bring their bothers and sisters to church and be baptized.

The standard of truth has been erected and no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. I know that statement is true. The only thing that will stop ourselves from progressing is ourselves. We need to make sure we keep the natural man in us dormant, or even cast it out. My favorite scripture that I have been able to say is my favorite, since I have been on my mission, would have to be Mosiah 3:19. It has helped me to really submit myself and to try to really become a disciple of Christ, to become one of his friends not an enemy.

The thing that has changed the most about me as I have been on my mission has been to do the little things. I am going to pray in the name of Christ (see prayer in Bible Dictionary) and I am going to read my scriptures everyday, and apply them to my life. And I am going to magnify my priesthood callings, whenever they are given to me. I am going to be obedient and follow my church leaders. I know that by doing this things I will be able to cut out the natural man in my life.

My favorite thing to study on my mission has been to study the mighty change of heart. It has to do with everything. This is really the purpose of life. To give our hearts to him. And to show that we have given them to him through our obedience to his commandments and diligently seeking to become more like him everyday. I know that the mission has given me a foundation to build upon for the remainder of my life. I have a firm foundation in Christ and know it's time to build the temple. I want to live my life in such a way that I can have the spirit to be with me always. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He appeared to Joseph Smith and called him to be a prophet. The Priesthood has been restored and through it we can partake of the saving ordinances of the gospel. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can have a mighty change in our hearts and really have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I love this work and I love being a missionary. The badge comes off after the mission, but not the change.

-Elder Johnson

12 July—Brazos

Hey Family!

Things here in Texas are going great! This month the mission is focusing on obedience and the zone has been applying it and we have been seeing miracles happen here!

This week was a week of hard work for us here in Rosenberg and Richmond. We have really been trying hard to find newbies and we had a funny experience happen this week while we were out talking with people. We found a bike trail that lead to the back of a trailer park that we had been to before, so we decided to take it to the trailer park for the first time. We were going kind of fast and my brakes don't work very well, when suddenly I saw a little stream right in front of my path. I tried to brake but it was to late. Splash! I rode into this little stream that was probably five feet wide, and jumped off my bike and the only part of me that got wet was my right foot. My companion was laughing at me, but the cool part is that when we got to the trailer part we talked to a lady who has a brother that is a member of the church. His name is Angel and we have been trying to find him for ever! Turns out that this summer he is out of the state visiting his cousins and wont be back till school starts. But we are now going to teach Jessica his sister and we will see what happens!

The other good thing is that right now we are teaching Sandy and Frank, and they are progressing well. They really have the desires to change, and those are the type of people we are looking for to help the work move on. They are actually a member referral. We have been receiving a lot of them lately and they help out a ton. President Saylin shared some interesting information with us that I want to share with you. And that is that almost 70% of baptisms that happen in our mission are from member referrals. So I can promise that if you have a little bit of faith, and invite friends to church and to visit with the missionaries, you will see results and you will be able to have some of your best friends with you at church. If you are afraid just remember this. We are in the Church of Jesus Christ. This is His church. We have a secret weapon and that is the spirit. It will testify of the truth of the Restoration to everyone. It is then up to them to accept the message or to reject it.

I have been studying prayer lately. And the Bible Dictionary is totally cool! It talks about praying in the name of Christ, and says that when we pray in the name of Christ, we pray in a way that our mind is his mind, that our desires are his desires and our ways his ways. It says that most prayers that are not answered is because we don't pray in the name of Christ, but instead we pray for the selfish desires of our hearts. So that is what I am trying to do. Align my will with His.

I love you!

-Elder Johnson

27 June—Brazos

Hey Family!

This week we are emailing Monday instead of Tuesday, because we have a busy week ahead of us with the leadership meeting, and also a ZLC meeting this week.

But I wanted to tell you about the good week that Elder Garrido and I have had here in Rosenburg and Richmond. We have been patiently searching, talking, knocking doors, and asking people if we could share the important message of the restoration with them. One day, I think it was maybe on Tuesday, we were finding people to go and teach and we went to this street were it didn't really look like there was going to be much success because there were some nice looking homes around, but we decided to go down it anyway. At the very end of the street there was a little dirt road with some smaller homes and trailers that were not visible while we were at the entrance to the street. We knocked on the door at the end of the little dirt road and a very nice lady answered. We began to talk with her, and she told us she was from El Salvador, and back when she was living there she had a friend who was a member of the church. She went on telling us about her friend and how he was such a good man, and told us she would be happy for us to come and teach her and her family later that week.

We went over on Saturday and had a very awesome lesson with them. We knocked on the door and the husband answered it, and said pasale which means come in, so we did and we began to talk with them. The husband immediately began to talk about religion these days, and how there were so many issues with it and everything. He definitely started of the lesson with the ball. He had control with where he wanted to go. He would ask us a lot of questions and we were able to answer them through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and when we gave answers he would say things like exacto! Prefecto ustedes saben and things like that. Then we were able to teach this family the restoration, and we felt inspired to watch the 20 minute restoration DVD because we felt it would be better for the family because that way the husband would have to listen and learn instead of talk and talk and talk.

By the end of the movie there was a great spirit, and everyone was content and happy, we were able to testify of the truth of the restoration. Their 3-year old girl liked the movie, which made the dad really happy. The family accepted dates for July 30th. They said they would come to church this week to see how it is and to see if they like it. We are really excited about this family.

Other than that we are excited to keep working the with ward members and our investigators. This past week I had the chance to interview a man for baptism in a different ward and at the end of the lesson he asked me what I was doing on Saturday and I said, well more missionary work, and he invited me to come to his baptism and baptize him. I was shocked and I got permission to do it, so I will be baptizing him today, because his baptism was moved to today so that's exciting!

Well I love you all a lot and I hope you all have a good week!

-Elder Johnson

21 June—Brazos

Hey Family!

Things here in Rosenberg are going great! We have been busy-bees as we have started to take over the sisters' area! All-and-all, things have been the same, but the thing that we are the most happy about is the fact that we obtained seven member referrals this week! We are really happy about it. Five of the referrals are from a young man who had just finished serving a six week mini-mission! We are teaching his cousin and the cousin's boyfriend, and his two sisters and their boyfriends. It was amazing to see the change in this young man. He went from waking up at 12:00 in the afternoon and playing video games all day to having the desire to read the whole bible this year, and coming out with us to teach his family! It is awesome!

We also got one referral from our recent convert, Richard. He introduced us to his mom and we are going to start teaching her. We hope to see her come to church sometime with her son. It would be a great experience. We also got one from an older lady in the branch, and we didn't even ask for it, but she just gave it to us and said that she had given it to missionaries before but they never went to see her. So we went by but no one was home so we are going to try again.

Well, it sounds like everything went well this past week, and I just want to say happy Fathers' Day to Dad and all the brothers-in-law: Jeremy, Greg, and Tyler. You all are cool guys and thanks for being good husbands to my sisters. And thanks Dad for the good example you are for me, and I hope you enjoy the letter.

Well that's about it for the week. Nothing crazy exciting happened, but we are super excited for this next week so we will see if I will be able to provide some cool stuff for you all!

-Elder Johnson

14 June—Rosenberg

Hey Family!

This week I am pleased to announce that I will be staying in Rosenberg with Elder Garrido for the next six weeks. The cool/crazy/exciting/intense thing is that the sisters' missionary area for the branch was closed down this transfer; so we have doubled the size of our area, moved to a new apartment in Richmond,(sorry I don't know the address yet), and now we get to work with all the members in the branch! We are very excited about this, because we can really focus on getting member referrals and building up our relationships with them.

We also had our investigator fireside this last Sunday, and it went really well. I think it was the first time that the Houston West Zone was able to get every companionship to come to the fireside. We had a total of ten people there and it was just a very spiritual meeting. It was super cool.

As far as transfers go, only two missionaries from the zone were transferred, and we are excited because we will be able to grow more in unity and see good things happen in the areas. But it is the calm before the storm, because there is a huge group coming and a huge group leaving next month, so many missionaries are going to train and that means many people will be getting transferred.

I forgot my camera again, but I hope to bring it next week so I can show you the picture of Richard getting baptized. And what my companion Elder Garrido looks like.

Good news for the week is that we had our dear friend Abel come to church! He is a less-active member who is missing both of his legs. He came to church, and it was the first time that he has been in about three months, so we are very excited about it. It is great to see the branch go serve and help him.

I guess this one goes to the friends, just to let you know I have really wanted to stay completely focused on the work the last few weeks of my mission so that is why I haven't responded to a lot of the letters. We will catch up soon! I hope you understand.

I am not really sure what to say to you this week besides the fact that everything in my life is going great, and I am still loving to study the scriptures. I hope everything goes well, and just so you know we email now on Tuesdays instead of Mondays.

I love you!

-Elder Johnson

7 June, 20011—Brazos, TX

Family!

Richard is now a member of the church! He is so awesome! His baptism was super cool, and it just showed the kind of man he is! We got to the baptism, and began to fill up the font and some brown rusty-looking water came out. It was dirty! There was some road work going on outside, and some how it affected the water in the fount. Anyway, while this was going on we were frantically thinking of other solutions to fix the problem, like going down to the Brazos river, or using someone's swimming pool. When Richard heard this he said, no I want to be baptized right here. He said President Puig, you're a holy man right? Then let's get this baptism started!

Then we started the baptism, and Richard was baptized. He was so happy afterwards, and it was a cool sight to see. His life has completely changed and it was nothing any of us did. The change all came from the spirit, and Richard's open heart. Sunday, he received the Holy Ghost and it is so cool to see the fire he has. All he wants to do know is share the gospel with his friends and his family. He swallowed a little bit of the water, and he got sick from it. We gave him a blessing, and he just about had tears in his eyes and he said that's some powerful stuff. The priesthood of God is back on the earth, and with this authority all of God's ordinances can be performed once again. So awesome.

Right now in the branch out efforts have now switched from our own efforts to involving more of the members. We knock and talk, and knock and talk, and have a hard time getting any where. The other day a young women from the branch invited her boyfriend over for dinner, and he accepted a baptismal date. The family is pumped. This guy's life is about to change for the better. The gospel is true.

We got in our first Bible bash the other day. It wasn't even intentional. A man looked like he was interested, we start teaching, and he tried to back us into a corner, which didn't work. He showed us his Bible, and in the back it has a section about how "Mormonism" is a cult. And all this other garbage. I think that is so lame! Who puts that in the back of a bible??? It wasn't just about our church, but about tons of other churches as well. I was grateful that I had the chance to realize that this was a testimony builder, not a destroyer because I know the church is true! There is nothing anyone can say that will prove the Book of Mormon false, or prove that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet of God.

The church is true! That is all I have to say today. We will see what happens with me next week. Transfer calls come Tuesday, and I will let you know what happens!

Love y'all

-Elder Johnson

31 May—Brazos

Hello family!

Things here in Rosenberg are going well! Elder Garrido and I continue to work, find and teach. The thing that I have loved more than anything from my mission is learning to study the scriptures. I love doing topic studies, and they say we need to follow the spirit while we teach people, but I truly feel we can apply that to our own personal studies. That while we study we listen to our hearts, and we ask the question of what would God have me learn today. Or what would God have me do to be a better person, and we study it. This is a personal example of what I mean. About a month and a half ago, I really felt in my soul that I needed to re-study the mighty change of heart, and while I studied that, it took me to different topics, like the sacrament, our covenants, the spirit, and pride. And I just enjoyed linking them all together, trying to figure out how they apply to each other and running with it. Just this week, I moved on to something different. But this is the key to it all. You need to write what you are learning down in a study journal. Otherwise the Lord will not reveal things as easily, and I feel it is because we will end up forgetting it all. There is a scripture in D&C that says in times past your mind has been darkened because you have taken lightly the things you have received (something like that). I know that a study journal will help us receive more light.

Right now I am studying the priesthood and it has just been awesome. I have realized that pride and the priesthood really go together. That if we have pride, we will not have priesthood power. I still have a lot to learn and I am excited to study it for a few more weeks.

I hope that everything is going well with the family, and congrats on the baby blessing Cheryl and Tyler!

Have a great week!

-Elder Johnson

16 May—Brazos

Hi family and friends-

This week was a good week for Elder Garrido and I. We had a chance to find some new people. We have a companionship goal to find a new investigator who has desires to really change, someone with real intent, every week. That way by the end of the transfer, we will have a lot of people to work with who are really progressing.

I really don't know what to say about what's going on. Elder Garrido and I hope to have a big week at church this next Sunday. We have five potential people who are just super awesome who we have been working with, and we really hope to see them get baptized one day.

The Sister missionaries in the branch had two baptisms last week. The first one that the branch has had in a few months, and the branch was really happy and excited about it. I was asked to sing a solo at the baptism. I did, and it was the first one I have ever done. It turns out that I actually really liked it. I am thinking about telling President Puig (Branch President) that if he ever wants me to sing during sacrament that I would be happy to do it.

I have really been enjoying the change of heart study again, to help me weed out any laziness and to help me refocus on everything. That study is so cool. Mosiah 5 is so awesome! I really love studying the scriptures and starting my day with reading. So, if you are not studying them you better blow the dust off your scriptures and dive in deep.

Oh, my I almost forgot about the biggest news in history. My trainer, Elder Roberts, he has been home for over a year, and it turns out he is getting married on August 5, and he wrote me a letter and wants to to be a groomsmen!! So, that is only nine days after I get home and I told him that I am going to go!! So, I don't know if that changes any of my family's plans, but I love Elder Roberts, so I have got to go to his wedding. I have to be there to support him. I am going to have him call you (Mom and Dad) this week so that he can give you some details. He lives in Northern California.

I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Mother's Day 2011, Last Phone Call Home

Hey family!

It was really great to be able to talk with you on the phone! I don't really know what to say today, besides I love you all! We have a great family and I am really grateful for each and everyone of you. Mom Dad, sisters and brothers. Man, I got the coolest brothers-in-law, and the coolest sisters that anyone could ever want!

I love you and have a great day!

-Elder Johnson

2 May—Brazos

Hey Family and Friends!

Things here in Rosenburg, Texas have been going great! We had transfer calls this morning, and it looks like I am staying in Brazos. That means that I will probably end up spending the rest of my mission here. I have really liked the challenge. The mission is to get some baptisms here in Rosenburg, and hopefully this will be the month it happens. We are really excited because the Sister Missionaries should be baptizing two or three people this month. I really hope that our buddy Richard will decide to be baptized as well!

My companion Elder Bunch is getting transfered so we will see who I get next. He has been a good companion, and has helped me get back into the groove of planning well. He is a great missionary and isn't afraid to talk to anyone. It was great to be with him. I think we cancelled out each others' weaknesses with our strengths. So, that was a cool experience.

I think it is really funny how at the end of your mission all of your stuff falls apart. I have had to get new shoes, because both of my shoes have holes in the bottom of them. I need a new backpack, because there are two big holes in the bottom of it, and the strap is halfway torn off. And my bike, there are only three gears that work (Gears 12, 21 and 24). It is fine though, because that is all I need to get around. I guess that's what happens when you get a used bike at the beginning of your mission.

I was writing in my journal the other night, and I realized how cool it is to be a missionary! It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve the Lord! This is probably going to be one of the few times in my life when I will be able to do this everyday. And I love it. I love getting shut down; I love getting let in by someone; I love teaching the gospel, and I love seeing people get baptized. This is awesome! I decided to study the mighty change of heart again, so I can be on the spiritual boom at the end of the mission and not go down the drain.

Thanks for the great letters, and I hope that everyone of you is enjoying life!

-Elder Johnson

25 April—Brazos

Hello Family and Friends!

Well, the great news about Rosenberg. We have been riding around on the bikes all week, and this is good because we have been able to filter through a lot of different people as we continue to try and find the elect. Funny story of the week. We go and we teach this guy named Angle, and we knocked on his door; he answered. He goes inside to get the pamphlet we left him, and hear his wife saying, WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU? ALREADY HAVE YOUR FAITH. We told Angle that if he didn't want to hear, he could go inside. It was alright, we didn't want to mess up his relationship with his wife. But he said he has always wondered what the message we shared was, and he wanted to hear so we told him that we would share it and invite him to pray about it at the end.

We taught him and he liked it a lot; he had questions about why there are so many churches and which church was true, and he felt like he got an answer. Right when we were about to give him a baptismal date, his wife came out and we asked her if she wanted to hear. She told us to come inside. We taught her. Totally opposite effect. She disagreed about everything. It was really amazing to see the difference of someone with an open heart, and someone without one. They said they would call us once they have prayed. I think the husband got kick out of it. We will see what happens.

Richard is doing great. He came to church again, and we were able to get his son to go to primary. We had to sit with him through it though, and boy it was great to get to learn with the six-year old, and then draw a picture. Richard drew a picture of Elder Bunch and me knocking on his door for the first time, it was cool.

Then Sunday night, we got to go to a broadcast from Salt Lake City; a musical called El Salvador Del Mundo (The Savior of the World). It was great! Well, a little long, but it was great because we invited a family of five. We have been working with them this month and they came! They got to meet some of the members, and hopefully they will want to come to the actual church services next week. I like this little town, it's a good place.

Thanks for the cards and packages for Easter, I really appreciated them! They made Easter really special! It was a great time to read in the Bible about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I really like a movie "Called to this End was I Born" (about the Savior's Atonement made by the Church). It was very great, and we got to watch it with some of the members here.

Well I love you and have a great week!

-Elder Johnson

18 April—Brazos

Hey family and friends!

Sorry, this letter is going to stink, I have 5 minutes to type. I just got caught up with reporting some numbers and stuff. But I love you, and thanks for the letters and the love. I needed it!

This week was a good week. We had a good weekend. And our friend Richard and his son Anthony came to church, they really liked it a lot. On Saturday, Richard was like, "Hey man, I got to tell you, that tie of yours is having some problems." And he's like, "Man, wait a second," and he came back with a big yellow tie. A really nice yellow tie, and gave it to me. It was a new tie. I kind of think he just wanted to give me a tie haha. But he is way cool, and one of those people I am happy to work with.

Well, thanks for everything, I have to go. Sorry that this letter was short. I love you all! Next time I am going to get the other stuff done quicker!

-Elder Johnson

11 April—Brazos

Family and friends,

Things here is Brazos are going well. It has been a busy week, and man, things have been busy. I think it's good though, because it keeps me focused on a good cause, and I will be able to continue to progress at the end of my mission; instead of slowing down. So, I am grateful for it.

We had a lady named Sylvia come to church this week! Second week in a row for investigators at church! Woohoo! Richard couldn't come, because his son was sick. We continue to get out on the bikes, and work hard to find those people that have open hearts, and are willing to read, pray and come to church to see what it is like.

I am going to load some pictures, because that what you all like anyway. George Munoz from my last area was baptized on Saturday, and I got to go to see it! It was great! He's the man!

Well, I don't really know what to say for the rest of the week. It is fun to be a missionary; it is fun to preach the gospel. Real fun comes through living the gospel. Why? Because every choice we make has a consequence, a good or a bad one, and their is never a bad consequence when you choose to live the gospel. You're never going to have a hang over, you're never going to accidentally have a baby, you're never going to be thrown in jail for breaking a law. Yea those are bad things, but they happen. You're usually going to be doing some kind of service for someone, which really brings happiness. You're going to feel good inside. And when you keep the commandments, God helps you out. This is just my opinion, but I feel like if you put God first in your life, he will put you first in his. Well, I know he loves all his children, but I think that saying is at least partly true. Anyway, now I'm just ranting. Have a good day. Bye!

-Elder Johnson

Random picture of me and Sarah from Galveston, my first area

Jose, Josselyn and family

Elder Bunch and Me

Brazos fields

George's baptism

4 April—Brazos

Hey family!

Well, I have two options for this mission email today. I can either talk about how the area is going, or I can talk about the mission call and pre mission life. Here it goes.

When I was little and in Primary, I remember singing "I hope they call me on a mission when I grow a foot or two." I remember I always wanted to go on a mission, and go to some far-off land and be a missionary. As I grew up I began to lose that desire. It became the "me world." All I cared about was my life in high school; it was my time. Time for me to look good; time for me to be the best basketball player ever. All me, all my time. This was a time in my life I could say that my testimony was on the line. I stopped enjoying church; all my friends were not members, and I always thought man why can't I just do what they do. It's hard to always say no to things. It's the church's fault I can't do it. I wasn't reading my scriptures; I wasn't praying very often; and if it wasn't for my loving parents, there is no way I would be here in Texas on my mission.

I have to take some time and talk about my mom and my dad. They are the best parents for me. They helped me. I remember one day, mom came home from the temple with dad, and she told me how she felt I wasn't reading my scriptures, and she started putting Ensigns by my bed. I would read them every now and again before I went to bed. I remember one I read about repentance and the happiness it brought. That always stuck in my head. I realized then that I know that repentance is what I needed to do. No one is perfect, it's all something we have to do if we want to be happy. But repentance is not something I wanted to do. I had too much pride to go and do it. I was worried what people would think of me; what my family would think of me, and what my church leaders would think of me. Man, Satan had me good, I would say. It was all ME, all me. You can't repent, because it would show the world that Elder Johnson is not perfect. Man, it was pretty bad.

It got to the point that I wanted to just go to Cal Poly with my friends, and hang out there. I'll tell you one thing, if I did that I wouldn't be on a mission. Who knows, maybe I wouldn't even be active. My parents talked to me about college, and they said; you can go to Cal-Poly, and be with your friends, but don't come asking us for help for rent or for school. They gave me another choice, and it saved me. It was if you go to BYU, we will help you pay for school, (it is a lot cheaper). There were a lot of Pros to go to BYU, I had some family there, and my parents were going to help me. So, I went to BYU, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I was under the impression that it wasn't cool to be a member of the church. But man, BYU is so cool! I got a chance to go and room with people that I have never met before. I met other members of the church that have the same likes as me, and are super cool.

My roomate Jason Ashby was a big inspiration. When I first met him, I didn't even really like him that much. He was short; I was tall. He liked playing the piano; I liked playing basketball. He liked to sing sing sing; I liked to sing, but it wasn't a big deal to me. He liked to dance; I didnt. I was hanging out with the "cool guys," and I didn't even know my roommate very well. One day, I thought to myself, man I dont even know my roommate; this has got to change. That night, I hung out with Jason, and my life changed. It was fun, I didn't have to worry about me me me. About being cool, and being friends with all the cute girls. It was crazy. Little did I know that Jason was going to be my first best friend that was a member of the church. We did everything together. We hung out, and it was always let's hang out with Jason and Steve. We were each others shadows, I guess you can say. It was always a lot of fun.

Then one day at around Christmas time, Jason received the coolest gift; his mission call. This was the first time I had ever seen anyone open up a mission call before, and man it was so cool. He was called to the Honolulu, Hawaii mission. I was so happy for him, but it was then that I realized. I want one of those. I want to go on a mission,

The next semester, Jason was gone, and I suddenly found myself without a wingman and a best friend. I felt kind of lost, and I felt like I needed to start over. That is when I met Austin Mulleneaux. Who was soon to be my new best friend. The truth is, I didn't like him at all the semester before. I thought he was full of it, and all he cared about was working out, girls and looking good. He was also hanging out with my old group of friends, and that probably had something to do with it as well.

Austin lived in the same stairwell as me, and we would always see each other going home from school, and we would say, "whats up," and then go to our apartments. We did this for about three weeks, and then one day Austin asked me hey are you good at Halo? I said yea man, I am pretty good. So we played some Halo, and started talking and it turns out we had a ton in common. We started hanging out everyday, and I made my second best friend that was a member of the church. Austin and I got talking, and we both knew we needed to get ready for missions and that meant to repent. So we talked to our bishop, and worked things out. We were worthy of getting our mission calls!

I still remember the day! It was the very, very, last day of school. I opened the mailbox and saw it. The envelope! I called Mom, Dad, and the fam, and we all got together. Some of my buddies were there also. I had always wanted to go to Mexico or Italy, because that is where my parents went. If I stayed state side, I wanted to go in a city with a ghetto speaking Spanish. I opened up the call, and it said I was going to the Texas Houston South Mission; the best mission in the world! And that I would be speaking Spanish. I was so happy and stoked! And man, I am loving the mission! It has definitely changed my life. I have learned the importance of obedience to the commandments; the importance of personal study and prayer every day; and the importance of following our church leaders.

Well, I am out of time, and now you know more about my life and my journey of coming on a mission. There is some more detail to add sometime, but I don't have time. I love you all and have a great day!

-Elder Johnson

28 March—Brazos

Hey family and friends!

Well, I am now serving in an area called Brazos. It is in the town named Rosenberg, and I am back to trailer parks and homes. No more city life for me. I am here with my companion Elder Bunch. He is 6'6 and is from California just like me. He is from up north though. The Zone leader area has moved to Brazos. It is a little branch with a new branch president who is a fire ball. I think it is going to be a good experience here.

As far as the old area. George and Jose and Josselyn all came to church, and George has a date for the 9th, so that should go down for sure! It was tough to say goodbye, and it was sad because Josselyn cried for like 15 minutes, and that was sad. But I gave them a little picture book with the pictures of the birthday party that the threw me. They are awesome, and I am really happy that the old area is working out well.

As far as the new area, I am still learning it, and the people here are relatively nice. The Spanish is pretty good here. We have a lot of potential in the area, and we hope to see some success here soon. I am glad for the opportunity that I have to still be a zone leader in the Houston west zone. This is transfer #6 here in the zone. Pretty wild! But the change up in area will be a good thing. I think I needed it so I would be able to shake off routines, and really refocus on the little things.

The week went by fast; I needed to train Elder Bunch in the zone leader stuff, and he needed to train me in the area. He has a good focus, and wants to really work well with the district leaders, which is a good thing. We had a good District leader council meeting where we got to talk about the goals and plans for the zone. The zone is doing great with 71 with a date, and we hope to baptize a lot of people this next transfer! We are going to see miracles for sure! I really love all the district leaders; they are awesome and great hardworking missionaries, and have a great vision for the zone.

I guess you would probably like more detail about the area. Well, I would say the best thing would be to go to Google Earth and check it out. But it is definitely a country area; some trailer parks and some homes. Small town kind of feel. I have never really been to a place like this. Well, Manvel was kind of similar. There are tons of churches in this town. I can't believe it! It is funny when you ask people have you ever wondered why there are so many churches? They can really relate to that question a lot. So, the restoration is a great thing for this place.

Our branch is pretty cool. It was the branch conference this past Sunday, and with all the stake leader coming to the branch I am not sure how many people are actually in it. But we are excited to work, and hopefully it will become a ward soon. I think that is the vision that the leaders of the stake, and the vision that President Saylin have for this branch. It is going to be a lot of hard work, but it will definitely be worth it!

I love you all a lot, and I hope everything keeps going well!

-Elder Johnson

21 March—Houston

Hello Friends and Family!

I really appreciated all the e-mails that you all sent me. There are too many for me to respond to, so I decided to just write a really good email this week. The big news first. I am getting transferred. Elder Scavo is training a brand new missionary, so that means I am staying in the zone but in a different area. The zone leader area is moving. I have have a feeling that I am staying in the ward, but just in the other Houston 8 area and that Elder Kump will be called to be a zone leader. It will be an interesting transfer meeting.

News #2. George wasn't ready to be baptized, but that is ok, he still wants to make a goal for a little later. So, I will be able to go and see him get baptized.

News #3. Jose and Josselyn are doing awesome! I gave Jose one of my favorite green ties, because that is his favorite color. We also gave him a white shirt, and he bought some Sunday shoes, and he looked so good at church on Sunday! Josselyn is a sweetie, and is just loving the church. She went to Relief Society, she is making a lot of friends there, and had a really spiritual experience on Sunday. Hermana Richards is going home, and they asked her to sing a song to say goodbye. She sang Yo Se que Vive mi Senor (I Know that my Redeemer Lives) and she cried during the last verse; the whole relief society was bawling, and Josselyn was crying a lot too. Man they are so awesome. I forgot my camera but I will bring it for next week. Also, Jose brought his younger sister to church on Sunday, Jasmine, and she is 14 and went to the Young Womens and made some friends! I am really happy about them, and I know they will keep on progressing. We had a lesson with them, and we talked to them about the temples and temple marriage, and then we challenged them to drive to the Houston temple and have a picnic there. They said they will do it, and mentioned I would let them use my GPS so that they won't get lost!

My birthday was great! I appreciate all the gifts and letters I got! Jose and Josselyn invited us over for a birthday lunch! They are so nice! She made some yummy fajitas and other good stuff. Then they bought a really fancy tres leches cake (a cake with 3 milks) It is really goooood. We sang happy birthday, and they gave me a couple of funny cards. They are so nice. Jose was telling me how he was trying to find a gift and how he was going to buy me a tie, and then he heard my voice saying I have sooo many ties. Then he said I was going to buy you jersey, but I realized that I didn't know you favorite team. So, then I bought you this card. They are super awesome, and so nice especially, because I have only known them for about 2 weeks.

Well, I am running out of time. Thank you for all you all do for me and I love you a lot!

-Elder Johnson

14 March—Houston

Hey family!

Man this week was crazy! I don't even know where to begin. I guess I am just going to start with Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the day started off great. We had two awesome church tours, with two different investigators. The first one was with Jocelyn and Jose. They are 20 years old and super cool. We showed them around the church and explained to them what their church experience would be like on Sunday. We start in the chapel and then talk about the sacrament, and what happens during the sacrament meeting. Then we took them to the Sunday school room, and we explained to them what happens in Sunday school. Then, we showed them the relief society room, primary room, and the nursery and explained whats happens during those meetings. Then we took them to the best part of all. The baptismal font. We walked into the font an taught them baptisms right there, in the font. It is always the most powerful part of the church tour.

Then we took them outside, and we talked about how they liked the tour. Jocelyn said "I cant wait to get into that font." They are super cool.

We did the same thing with our boy George. We brought two priests quorum members with us (Two of his friends that he made at church), and we had a tour. We did the same thing, and talked abut the sacrament and baptism. He said he had a good vibe, and is excited for the baptism. Man they are so great.

Then we went to Panda Express to celebrate for lunch. And then we got a crazy phone call; it was from a member, and they said that their daughter was missing. She was outside, and suddenly disappeared. To make a long/more private story short the ward stepped it up, and we were able to find her. She is now home safe. But that took most of the day because we were helping this family. The mother and father of this family are just studs. In the morning, they knew they just needed to do all they could to serve God. So, they went and cleaned the chapel, and then they went to the bishop's store house to do service there. They fasted and prayed, and with the ward's help, they were able to get their daughter back! It was awesome! So, that was a very High and a very low for all of us all in one Saturday!

Then on Sunday, we went to church and Jose and Jocelyn were there! They had a great experience, and and really liked church a lot. I really love that family. They are so nice. Jose works at a country club, and he asked us if we wanted to go golfing with him on Monday. I said yes and we would love to. So, next Monday were golfing woohoo!

That night we had the investigator fireside, and Jose and Jocelyn came! Man it was awesome! And Presidente del Aguala was able to talk with them and they just loved it! They are so awesome. They are people that I feel complete my mission. Because of the teaching experiences with them, I can go home happy and accomplished. I just think they are the best.

So, when we got home from the fireside I was just pumped. I was so excited. We fill out the number for the zone, I lay down to go to bed and then it happened. I felt a sharp pain in my eyeball. I was like aaahhh, and then I couldn't get it out. Elder Scavo flips over my eyelid and rubs it with a q-tip and still I couldn't get the thing out. I look in the bathroom with my red eyes (when I have red eyes my eyes turn really green like the hulk) and the hulk green eyes and I see it. I had an eyelash stuck in my eyeball, right by the tear duct and I could only see part of it the other part was like in my eye if the makes any sense. So, I tried to lay down force my eye open and Elder Scavo came with the Q-tip and tried to get it out. After 30 mns of failed attempts, we called the mission nurse. She told me to try to rinse it out in the shower, and then if that didn't work to go to bed. Well, that didn't work either. So, I went to bed. Woke up, and the eyelash still was stuck in my eye. And Elder Scavo said I had a dream and I know how to get it out. We need to go to the other elders. So, we went. I got pinned down by one elder. The other held my right eye open, and then elder scavo put this eye drop in my eye which stung a lot. Then I cried. Still nothing. Eyelash still stuck in the eyeball. Then they go back to pinning me on the ground. With my eye held open, and elder scavo goes in with the q-tip pushes the eyelash so it pops up a little bit in a U shape, and then with tweezers was able to grab it and pull the eyelash out! Success! WOOOHOO no more pain in the eyeball, and man it felt so good.

Moral of the story. Use others to get annoying things out of your life. With the help of other we can be free of sin! yay!

Well that's all folks. O yea, the mission office is moving. Don't send m anything after march 25 because it will just get sent back to you. I will give you the address next week because we forgot what it was.

Love you all!

-Elder Johnson!

7 March—Houston

Hello family and friends!

The good news is that I brought the camera this week, so I can send some fun pictures.

But holy cow this week was so awesome! We had so many cool things! We had our zone leader council, our mission conference, and our Sister Training meeting where we trained the Sister Missionaries in the zone.

At ZLC we were urged to be even more obedient. Because of this Elder Scavo and I went through the white handbook, and we are reading it and underlining the things that we need to change. The big sacrifice of the week was that we went through each others ties and put the ties that were not appropriate or to flashy in our suitcases. Man just from that one little thing that we did the blessings came. We were able to hit our goals! Not only that we met some new awesome investigators this week.

I want to talk about George. George is 17 and we OYMed him (talked to him on the street), and he told us to go and visit him on Saturday. So we went and we taught him the restoration, and it was so cool because he totally feels that it is true. He learned in his world history class that the first christian church was started 300 years after Christ died, and he was always confused about that. So we go to teach him the great apostasy and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth. He was so pumped! Other things that make him super cool. He is a skater, and he has the same birthday as me. He wants to get baptized on his birthday, so it's going to be really cool.

We also have been starting up a new training from President Saylin, which is the Church tours. We have been trying them out for the past 2 weeks and they work out great. President Saylin wanted us to train the Sisters in the zone on how to do the church tours and we did that, and it was awesome! We are excited to see how this will help the mission grow even more.

The mission right now is just on fire, people are working hard and it is just great to see how when people follow the trainings and have desires to change and be better, how the Lord will pour down his blessing upon all the missionaries.

Well I am going to stick on a few pictures now. Well that is it for the week! I love you!

-Elder Johnson

Back in the MTC

Fire for our tin foil dinners

Preparing the dinners

Tin foil dinner

Bowling

Sister Training meeting (the serious look)

28 Feb—Houston

Hey family and friends-

Things this week were pretty good. We had a new couple come to church, and they liked it a lot. I had this fever/cold thing this week, and I got to go and buy some meds. But we still went out to work. We have been having a mission-wide training every Thursday, and it has been really helpful for me to see and be reminded of the basic things that I can do to help my area and investigators. One of them being having kneeling prayers at the end of the lesson. Another one being the importance of teaching the Book of Mormon, and praying to know it's true in a very basic and simple form so that the investigators could understand and feel comfortable reading and praying on their own.

Elder Scavo and I are still putting our shoulders to the wheel and pushing on! It is very interesting to see how the gospel is the source to happiness. Everyday I am shocked on how it is just one way to fix all your problems. Granted that you will still have little scuffles here and there, but man I cant believe all the 16-17 pregnant girls that walk around my area, and all the drugs and drunk people there are in the world. I tell you one thing that if I didn't already know, I know now that those things don't make someone happy. And to all those people who say weed isn't addicting, let me be the one to tell you that it is. Man that stuff keeps so many people away from the gospel and away from happiness. I am grateful for a mission because I get to see the results of different choices that people make. I get to see which choices bring happiness and blessings.

That's it! until next week!

-Elder Johnson

22 Feb—Houston

Hello everyone!

This week was a busy week for Elder Scavo and I. We only saw each other for three days. We did a two-day exchange with Elder Bunch on Tuesday and Wednesday. Elder Taukei'aho and Elder Bunch came up to Houston 8 with me, and we got to talk a little bit more about how to own your district and goals, and how to gain respect from people through service. He said he learned a lot from it, and I hope he gets to put it into practice.

On Sat, we got to go on an exchange with the Assistants, I was with Elder Bellome, and it was a good day. I was glad to go with him because I didn't really feel like I knew anything about him, so we had the chance to go and build a relationship. He is a nice guy, and we had a good day.
Then on Sunday, we did a blitz with Elder Kump and Elder Banks because they were having a rough week with their numbers; so that was a good experience, and we were able to help them get their goals. It has been going great this week.

The night after the training meeting was really cool. We went to have a lesson with la familia Torres, and we watched the restoration movie with them, and taught them about the Book of Mormon and about praying to know if this stuff is true. They accepted baptismal dates for the 19th of March. So, the trainings worked out great. Then we also had a lesson with the ward mission leader after that.

I love you all very much, you are the best family I could ever have. Have a great week!
Elder Johnson

Valentine's Day 2011—Houston

Hey family!

CONGRATS CHERYL AND TYLER WITH THE BABY GIRL! THAT IS SO AWESOME!!!! Man, that is so crazy. I am so excited and happy that I don't even know what to say!!! Well, actually I do know what I have to say. Y'all better slow down. By the time I get married, and have kids, all their cousins will be like 4 to 8 years older than them. It is so crazy how the family has just been growing really fast. Now it's what, the Johnson family of 15? Dang.

This week was really great. We found a couple of families, and gave one family a date, and we hope to give another family a date tonight. I really am grateful for the chance I have to serve in this Zone and area another transfer. I feel like I am just starting to understand how to lead, serve and correct with love. The missionaries in the zone are all just totally awesome and good people. We got some really good missionaries in the zone

O yea, feliz Dia de San Valentin! This holiday is always lame. Especially this year, because I didn't wake up with the funny heart boxers that mom always gives me. Well, I guess I don't really need those. Maybe I'll stick with pajama bottoms. Elder Scavo and I went to the ward Valentine's day party with some investigators. It was pretty weird as missionaries. I was talking to Hermano Benitez, and he said this is my girlfriend, and he pointed to his plate of food. Then he asked if I had one, and I said no I ate mine already. I hope you get the joke haha.

On Sunday, I was sitting in the chapel looking around, and I was pretty sad because a lot of the kids I have baptized here, are already less active now. During the sacrament, I was pleading with Heavenly Father for a miracle, and for some of the recent converts to come to church. We called some before church and no one answered. Then right after the sacrament, Amada and her two sons that were baptized walked in and sat by us. She brought her niece and she said. Did you call me earlier today? I said yes I did, and she goes aww thank you soo much. She is the nicest lady ever. I hope she gets baptized.

She came to the investigator fireside that we had, and it was wonderful. She loved it. We had 45 people that showed up, and 14 investigators. It was really great. I had the chance to conduct it. It is always a scary experience conducting in Spanish. But I was happy for the growing experience. Things are going well here!

Well I thank you all for all the love and support you show me. I hope you all have a great week!
-Elder Johnson

31 Jan—Houston

Hello family and friends,

Well, hmm... There isn't much to say about this week besides our baptism. We had another baptism! DJ got baptized and it was a good experience.

I guess for new updates. We hit our 18 month mark, and that means four more transfers left; which isn't a lot of time, which means we need to plan harder, study harder, and find faster. We get transfers in a week, and I am assuming that this time I will be getting transferred because I have been here for six months. Then the time will really go by fast! Which is not exactly what we need here. If they open up China, I would totally go; that would be so cool.

I don't really know what else to say. The weather here is pretty cool. it hasn't been that cold this week, and it hasn't rained a lot either; so I am happy about that. We will see if it stays like this. The members here are really nice and they all cook really good food. We have one member who is one of our buddies, and he makes cake so we get to eat a lot of cake.

Wow! This letter is lame, sorry about that haha. Maybe y'all can shoot some questions in your next email, and then I will be able to answer them and write a good letter. Thanks!

-Elder Johnson

Steven and comp. with DJ

Steven and his trainer

24 Jan—Houston

Hey family and friends,

Well, this week was really cool. We had the coolest zone activity ever, which consisted of 500 balloons, 1100 dots and a cool chair maze. We basically did a big relay race thing, and it was a lot of fun. My trainer and I did one of those for the zone when I was back in Galveston; so it was a lot easier to do it the second time.

We had two confirmations this last Sunday, and it was great. Max and Steven were confirmed, and we are still teaching their mother and older brother. They are really cool, and the mom really likes us a lot. She is happy that her sons were able to be baptized. They are from Honduras. That is the cool thing about serving here in Houston; we get to meet people from all over the place like Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. It is great and it is cool to hear the different accents.

We are going to have a baptism this Saturday. DJ our 10 year old buddy is going to be baptized. It is really cool. He was a referral from his aunt. His mom is less active but has been coming to church the past couple of weeks, and we love that family a lot! They are great and she cooks some really good Mexican rice!

Elder Scavo is a really good companion, his mom served her mission in Italy. He lives in Palmdale, and wants to go to BYU when he gets back. He is just going to go home and stay with his mom for a little bit.

I guess other news, I hit the year and a half mark. This is really crazy that my mission is going by fast, and there is still so much work to do here. I wish the time would slow down a bit. The worst part about it all is that I am probably getting transferred, and then the time is really going to go by fast, because that always happens when you go to a new area!

Well see ya later here are some pictures.

-Elder Johnson.

18 January 2011—Houston

Hello family and friends,

This week I decided to bring my camera. So, I can upload some more photos. This weekend was really busy, and a lot of things happened. Let's start with the good stuff. We had two baptisms on Sunday. Max and Steven Martinez. They are awesome kids, and were a member referral. Jorge Benitez was the person who gave us the referral, and he did an awesome job fellowshipping these two boys. We are still teaching their mom and older brother. The kids were so ready to be baptized. When the mom said ok, they jumped for joy; and now they are telling their mother that they want to be missionaries in the future. So cool! Also Jacob and Niko were able to be confirmed today, so that was big news. I was really happy for them.

Time for the crazy story. We went outside on Saturday morning to get into our car, and we couldn't find it. We looked around for a little bit, and we then realized that our car was towed. DANG! We went to the office and the lady wasn't very nice. She just gave us a paper with the car photo and the phone number of the tow place. So, then we had to spend the day with Elder Rodgers to get the car back. We had to notarize a paper, and that took a couple of hours out of the day. When we got it all ready to take the car out, the lady told us the license plate was wrong. We told her to write the cars plate number down, and she gave it to us and it was the same plate number. Then she tells us we filled the paper out wrong, because we couldn't give ourselves permission to take out our own car. So, we couldn't get the car out the first day.

The next day we filled it out, and she finally let us get the car. Man all in all it cost about $259.63 what a rip! Well, this is how it got towed. When Elder Richards was here he got in a small accident, and so the mission took the car to fix the little bump in the upper right corner of the car. So, we didn't know our complex had parking permits; so we didn't take the stickers off the car, and put it into the Toyota that we got to drive around for a bit. Three weeks later we get towed. Horrible!

Back to the good news, we planned out a cool zone activity, and I will bring pictures next week. It is like the one my trainer and I planned out, but better. Well, you all have a great day!

-Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson in his apartment

Christmas zone activity

Brian and Jamie

Max and Steven Martinez

Elder Scavo and Elder Johnson

6 January 2011—Houston

Family and friends,

This week was really exciting, and crazy. Well, I guess I will start with this: Elder Richards went to League City, English speaking; and my new companion is Elder Scavo. He was my friend from my MTC district. AWESOME! 2nd companion from the MTC group in a row, and it is way tight. He is from Cali, Palmdale and we get along great. At transfer meeting, it is was dumping rain, and I was so glad that I wasn't getting transferred, because none of my stuff got wet. But it was definitely an adventure.

The next day we had a couple of lessons, and we taught one of our investigator named Felix. We got him to smash his bong. It was so legit. The best part about it all was that it was all him; he dumped the water out, it stunk, and was nasty looking. And we were like see what's in your body? And the he set it on the ground, and put on his shoes and BOOM bye bye bong! I just got a flash back of when I was in 6th grade and had a billabong shirt that was green, and it said bong across the front, and I finally understand why one of Cheryl's or Kelly's friends started laughing at me and took a picture with me in my shirt.

Then on Friday, we had district meeting, and later a lesson, and on the way to our lesson we walked by an apartment and there was a lot of people around it, and that's when we saw what they were all looking at. The apartment had two huge holes in the front windows and then we hear a woman start to scream. NO NO. We ask the man next to us. Que Paso (What's happening)? and he said No se (I don't know). And so no one knew what was going on. Elder Scavo and I were getting ready to take action. I have always wanted to use some of my ninja moves like the flying missionary and my mega punch, but suddenly a speaker flies through the other window and the man comes out. Everyone ran away, except for Elder Scavo and I, and he looks at us, blood running down his forehead between the eyes and then turns around and pics up the speaker he previously had thrown and throws it through the remaining window. and walks away. Then you here the woman scream, and she comes running out, don't leave me, don't do it. What??! I told myself you want that guy to stay. Well, all I have to say is that's the life in H-Town. Pretty legit.

Sat we ate some tamales, and I am pretty sure they were bad tamales, because at 10:30 at night, I had the sudden urge to poop my pants, and I finally had the chance to feel how dad felt on his mission, the Montezuma's revenge. But to top it off, at 11:30pm, I started throwing up. I felt horrible, I told Elder Scavo, if this is how it feels to die, I don't want to. And I was finally able to sleep at 2:30am. Then I stayed home from church the next day, because I was very sick and still had to use the bathroom all the time. Then after church, Elder Scavo comes home and starts to have to same problem of the runs. Then at 11:30 that night, he threw up just like me. It always comes at night. And so we were sick dogs last weekend. It wasn't fun. I have a picture, I will have to show you. I look like death, and Elder Scavo was white as a ghost. It was a great growing time.

I also had the chance to go on exchanges with a new missionary named Elder Taki'aho, a 6'4 350 pound Tongan stud. He is so tight and was going to play football in college, but decided to go on a mission instead. He is way cool, and we had a good time. I am tired of typing, so I'll end the letter here.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week.

-Elder Johnson