Ivan's Baptism

What's up everybody!  I hope and pray that all of you had a good week and that everything is going good for all of you.  I had an awesome week with so many spiritual experiences.  I have been humbled to be in the service of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I saw a lot of tender mercies this week that testified to me that this is the work of the Lord.  I know that He is with His missionaries at all times. First off, I want to tell you about a tender mercy that I saw today!

Last week on Saturday, we had a goal to find 4 new investigators that day.  We had three at the time and went to our pension to see if they had any references.  They gave us a reference and we contacted them and she wasn't there.  As we were walking back, this guy who was drunk out of his mind, stopped and started talking to us.  He was saying how he wants to hear the word of God and to come back a different day when he wasn't drunk--ha ha.  So, we went back on Tuesday and we came in contact with his brother, Fernando.  Fernando said, "don't listen to my brother, he just wants to mock you guys so don't bother coming to see him....but you can talk to me."  We had a lesson with him and gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to Ivan's baptism.  He didn't come to the baptism, but we were walking to a member's house today and we saw him.  He said, "Johnson, I've read 16 chapters of 1 Nephi"  Then he told us sorry that he didn't go to the baptism.  He said he didn't go because he didn't have the clothes that it says to wear in the back of the pamphlet that we gave him.

I was humbled by that experience.  I know that he is prepared.  I know that on Saturday last week, we were put in that situation to find Hermano Fernando.  I know that the Lord is with us.

Anyways, on Saturday we had our first baptism in La Florida in over a year!!!  It was such a special day that I will never forget.  I know that Ivan was prepared.  We were at his house on Thursday waiting for him to get home from school and we were talking to his mom.  She told us that that day they were walking together and Ivan told her that he will finish high school when he has 17 years and when he graduates he is going to work for a year and then when he has 18 years, he's going to go on a mission.  When I heard that, I felt the spirit so strong.  I know we were led to Ivan and that the President was guided by the spirit to change the rule of baptizing teenagers under the age of 18. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to confirm him a member of the Church in Sacrament meeting.  It was an experience that I will always remember.  I am so happy.

Elder Choque, Ivan, Ward Member, Elder Johnson

I have honestly been so humbled by the tender mercies of the Lord.  I know that I am here in this area for a reason--to find the people that the Lord has prepared.

I'm so blessed to be on a mission.  I'm so pumped to hear from the living prophets this weekend.  I invite all of you to prepare spiritually to hear the words of the prophets.  They are called of God. As you prepare, you will receive answers to your prayers through their messages.  I hope and pray that all of you have a good week.  I love you guys!

"Beverly Hills"

"Beverly Hills"

Elder Johnson

A Miracle

Hello everybody!  I hope and pray that all of you guys had a good week and that everything is going well back at home!  I'm so thankful for the blessing it is to hear from you guys today!

I had a really good week this week!  We have been working really hard lately and we are seeing a lot of results and blessings from our work.  In July, we contacted this kid named Ivan.  I can't remember if I have told you about Ivan.  He has 15 years and he has been investigating different churches trying to find the correct church.  We have been working with him and he has been coming to church and ward activities ever since we contacted him.  The problem is, we have a rule in the mission that we can't baptize kids under the age of 18 unless their family gets baptized or if they have members in their families that can be responsible and help them get to church.  The majority of these teenagers go inactive if they don't have the support of their family.  We haven't been able to baptize him because his family isn't progressing like he is.

We have been fasting and praying a lot especially for Hermana Lucy, but also for a miracle in this area.  Recently, President told us that that rule has changed and that if the ward council commits to help these kids out and make sure that they have that support as they would with their family, they can be baptized.  So we will be having a baptism this Saturday for Ivan!  I'm so happy and thankful for this miracle.  I know that President receives revelation from the Lord and that the Lord knows that Ivan will be a blessing to his family and that it is time for him to be baptized.   That being said, we know that there is an opposition in all things and that Satan will do everything he can to prevent Ivan from being baptized.  Please pray for him that everything will go through this Saturday!

I'm so humbled and blessed to be a missionary and to testify of the truthfulness of this gospel every day.  I could never ever deny my testimony of this gospel.  I know Jesus Christ lives and that this church is led by Him through the Prophet Thomas S. Monson.,

We are so blessed to have this knowledge and blessing in our lives!  Take advantage of it.  Les amo mucho!

Elder Johnson

Staying in La Florida

What's up everybody?  I hope and pray that all of you guys had a good week!  I hope that all of you are happy and that work and school are going good for everyone.  I had a good week!  I hate changes--I'm always stressed out of my mind on change night, but I got good news!!  I'm staying in La Florida for another change with Elder Choque!!  I'm so hyped, honestly!  My bros are staying in the zone again so I'm super happy!  I know I have a great responsibility here in this area and guaranteed we are going to have success.  I know that President Rios receives revelation directly from the Lord for where to put His missionaries.  I have a strong testimony of that.

For this week, I had a really good week.  I learned a lot and had some cool experiences.  First off, Lucy---she should be having her baptismal interview this week!! Pray for her that everything will work out.  She is going to Lima again for cute little Luana this week, so we won't be able to meet with her until next week.  I know that she is almost there!!  Hopefully she will be baptized next week!

I had a cool experience this week that was a huge testimony builder for me.  Elder Choque and I got a reference and we went to contact this pata named Oswaldo.  The lady who gave us the reference told us that he and his family are evangelicos and are really active in that church.  We contacted him and said that we were missionaries and all of that and he was like nah, come back another day, I'm busy.  Then Elder Choque said, "Hermano Oswaldo, is it cool if we share a quick message only five or ten minutes" and then Oswaldo said, "oh yeah, we know each other from a year ago, come in and let's talk for a little bit" Ha ha--Elder Choque has no idea who it was but he thought they knew each other, it was funny!  We walked in the house and Oswaldo and his mother in law were studying and talking about the Bible.  I thought it was just going to be a Bible bash and that is never good.

We got in the lesson and Elder Choque said the prayer and I said a quick personal prayer to be guided by the spirit that I would know what to say and that they would feel the spirit.  We started talking with them and I felt impressed to share a scripture in the Bible that I love, Proverbs 3:5.  I asked Oswaldo to read the scripture and after he read it, he said, "wow, me and my mother in law were just talking about this scripture and didn't know where it was...."  When I heard that, I felt the spirit so strong and knew that the Lord was present in that lesson.

I'm so thankful for that answer to a short, simple prayer.  I know and testify that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.  God is aware of His children.

That's all I got for this week.  I hope and pray that all of you guys have a good week.  I love and miss you all so much.  I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Johnson

Last Week of This Change

Hello everybody!  What a blessing it is to hear from all of you today!  I hope that all of you had a good week and that all of you guys are happy.  Wow, I am amazed at how fast time goes.  It is unreal.  I feel like we just started this change and here we are going into the last week of the change.  I'm honestly pretty sad, I feel like I'm going to be leaving this area and I don't want to.  I have so many good friends here that I don't want to leave, but we will see, hopefully I'll have another change!

One of my best bros, Elder Benitez, got called as the new assistant.  I'm sad that he's leaving, but I'm hyped for him.  He is a good missionary and I learned a lot from him in my time here in this zone.

As for my week, I had a good week.  We had a lesson with Lucy on Friday and she told us that she received an answer that this church is true!  She told us and started crying that she is doing some things that she has to stop doing before she can make that covenant with God.  It's good and bad news.  I really want to be here when she gets baptized!!  We have literally been working with her my whole time here in La Florida.

We had a lesson with a dude named Ramos this week.  He is going to progress so much.  We contacted him the other day.  We were walking on the street and we saw him reading his bible.  We stopped and talked to him and had a couple visits with him.  We had a lesson with him on Saturday and it was powerful.  At the beginning we asked what we could pray for for him in the prayer and he said, "that I will have the ability to have more knowledge about the gospel of Jesus Christ." Right when he said that, I felt the spirit.  I know we were an answer to his prayer.  I know that God prepares people to hear His gospel.  We taught him the restoration and how the priesthood authority is restored to the earth.

In this lesson, I was so humbled to have a knowledge of this gospel.  I know that so many people are searching for the truth and what their purpose is here on the earth.  I know that this church is true.  I know that this gospel is the key to happiness in this life.  I'm so thankful for my mission and the opportunity I have been blessed with to be able to serve my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know He lives.  I know this is the work of the Lord and we all have the opportunity to be part of it.  What a blessing that is!  I invite all of you to take advantage of it.  Be an example and share it with everybody.

I hope that all of you have a good week!  I love you guys so much.  Thanks for all of the love and support that you give to me.  I pray for you everyday!  I'll talk to you next week.

Elder Johnson