Feliz Navidad

Elder Johnson did not write a group email home today.  We had a great time Skyping with both he and Elder (Kaden) Johnson in Oregon.  We had everything all ready to go and then Elder Johnson said that his computer didn't have Skype on it!  AGH!  He downloaded it and soon enough we were all hooked up.  It was so great to talk to both of them.  Only five more weeks and he will be home.

Skyping home

Christmas Photo

Last Change

What's up everybody!  I had a pretty good week, not too much went down.  I had to go to Trujillo on Monday and we didn't get back until Wednesday due to our training, my doctor's appointment and traveling.  Everything went good.  The doctor told me that I have to rest but we all know that he's out of his mind and that ain't happening!  I got out of him what I wanted, which was that I will be fine to wait until I get home to get everything taken care of, so yeah--I got the green light to go ham in my LAST CHANGE in the mission!  It's pretty crazy, honestly, today I officially start my last change and I'm ready to go ham.  Yesterday were the changes and everything here in Casma is basically staying the same which I'm very happy about.  Entering into this change, I have a lot of goals that I want to reach before I finish my mission.  I know I can reach them!  We are teaching a family that is super sick and some other people that are pretty solid.  So, we will see how all of that goes in this change.

Anyways, I honestly don't have too much to report today, other than I am super pumped to talk to you guys on Monday!  It will be a bitter sweet call.  I am looking forward to it.  I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  I know Christ lives.  I love the Christmas spirit and the blessings that we have during this time!

I love you all, have a good, safe week!

Love,
Elder Johnsoncito

Some of his email to Denise:

I am super excited to Skype with everyone next week.  I am pumped to see Kaden.  He is a stud.  My home, Elder Amosa, went home today.  Pretty crazy!  He is the man, he lives in the Provo area.  He is Samoan and was one of my main homies here in the mission.  Crazy to think that I am next, ahhhhh.  Today we got permission to watch Elf--that was weird seeing a movie.  I can honestly say I don't have too much desire to go home and watch movies and stuff.  I'm thankful for that.  I have goals to just keep waking up early and taking advantage of my time and making good use of it.  We will see how that goes.  I love you, Mom!  I can't wait to see you next week!

CHEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOO!
Elder Johnson

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" NOT!

Hey everybody, I hope that you all had a good week.  My week was honestly pretty slow.  We are in the process of strengthening the members so that they can fellowship and take care of our investigators.  It is a process, but we are making some progress.  My companion and I are becoming homies with all of the members and little by little we are seeing progress in the branch.  About a month ago there were 15 to 20 at church for Sacrament meeting but now we are having about 40 to 50 attend which is really good for us to see.  As I said, it is a process, but we are seeing blessings from visiting the members.

So earlier this week, I had a little scare.  For about two months, I have been having some problems with the surgery that I had before I came on my mission.  The scar from the surgery has been giving me problems lately and has been super swollen and has made everything pretty uncomfortable.  On Tuesday, the scar burst open from being too swollen so instantly the song, "I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me" came into my mind.  Honestly, I was pretty stressed that I would have to miss out on my last transfer here on the mission and come home next week, but luckily I talked to the area doctor and she told me that everything would be fine and that I can wait and finish my mission before I get everything taken care of.  I am actually going to Trujillo tomorrow to go to a training with my companion and while I'm there, I'm going to go to the doctor to get some medicine and get everything taken care of.

This cholo is still alive and I'm gonna mob until the end!  Nothing really went down this week.  I'm gonna go ball up in soccer today for p day.  My nickname is the Wall of Trump because I don't let any of the latinos score any goals!  I have become an animal as a goalie because I can't kick the ball due to ingrown toenails.  ha ha--I hope you all have a good week!

Love you guys,

Elder Johnson

#IluminaElMundo

Hey everybody!  I had a pretty good week, not too much went down but I was still able to learn a lot which is always a blessing.  I feel really grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ this Christmas season.  I know He lives and that He loves me and all of you.

This week, we had a multizone Conference in Chimbote which was really good.  President Rios is awesome.  I look up to him so much.  He is one of the best examples to me because he is all in and has such a great desire to share the gospel with everybody.  In the meeting, he started everything out by talking about older generations and how back in the day they used to baptize way more than they do now.  He asked the question, Why?  Everybody was saying what they thought and then President went on to say that it's because we are in the fulfillment of times, we are in the last days and the world is becoming more and more wicked daily.  It made me realize how important this work truly is and how all of us have the responsibility to help others come unto Christ.  Obviously, President wasn't saying we can't baptize but what he was saying is that the signs are clearer today than they have ever been before in the history of the earth that we are in the last days.

I wanted to tell you guys this so that it can be a motivation for you to LightTheWorld this Christmas season.  Trust in the Lord.  Have faith in Him by watching the videos and doing the activities that have been released by the church.  It is an opportunity to have less and love more, as President Uchtdorf said last night in the Christmas Devotional.

To close, I just want to share a scripture that has been on my mind this week, it says:

But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe.

It is my testimony that by acting on our faith, God will bless us with signs that He lies.  You can come to know Him personally and what better way than doing His will this Christmas season by lighting the world with Christ's love that is infinite.  I love my Savior and am going to do my part to share this gospel and light with those who don't have it this Christmas season.

I love you guys and hope that you all have a good week!

Elder Johnson
#IluminaElMundo

Happy Thanksgiving

What's up everybody?  I hope that you all had a good week with the fam and a good time pounding some turkey.  I guess that you could say that I got close to eating turkey.  I will let you all guess what that is.  The only thing that I gotta say is that I have eaten that 2 times and I about threw up both times.  It was absolutely disgusting, pero bueeeeeno caballero no mas (but good gentlemen no more).  I couldn't do anything about it.  I hope that you all had a good weekend.

"Turkey"--Bull Testicles (Ceviche)

This week for me was very busy.  I was busy traveling the whole time and didn't have much time to proselyte or anything.  I had to go to a place called San Jacinto which is an hour away from my area to do a baptismal interview.  That place is the hood!  It's in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but it was a good experience.  I felt the spirit so strong as I was able to feel the spirit of this convert's testimony.  After that, I took advantage of the time to do an interchange with a new missionary who is serving there and brought him to my area.  We went ham and got some big things done in little time.  We invited this guy to be baptized on the 8th of December and I feel solid about it.  Pray for Victor Raul so he can obtain a testimony.

After that, I had a surprise trip to the temple.  We went with our branch and it was awesome.  We chilled in the temple all day long and actually I just dedicated my time in the baptistry.  I actually got to baptize in the baptistry and it was a very spiritual experience.  I was very happy to have been able to go to the temple.  I also got to see my old ward in Trujillo at the temple, I was very happy to see everyone.

This week was awesome.  I am very thankful to be a missionary.  I love this work and the people in Peru.  I love you guys and pray that you have a good week.  Don't forget the #ILUMINAeIMUNDO starts this week...do what the church has provided to be able to feel the beautiful Christmas spirit.

Love you guys,
Elder Johnson

RUSIA 2018

What's up everybody?  I hope that you all had a good week.  I had a good week.  Not too much went down.  we focused a lot on working with the members this week.  I am serving in a branch and for the past month there have been about 15-20 people going to Sacrament meeting.  It has been pretty stressful so we are focusing a lot on the members and strengthening them.  The mission leader and the two counselors to the Branch President are less active so it makes things kind of stressful.  I know I am here for a reason and my companion and I are going to make things happen.

The atmosphere here for the Peru game was unreal.  The people here are absolutely crazy!  Because they won they had a holiday basically and nobody went to work (because they were too drunk ha ha), it was awesome.  It will be good to see my boys in the World Cup in Russia.

Aside from that, this week was super chill.  I was able to learn a lot and reflect on all of the things that I have learned in my mission.  I am grateful for the change that has taken place in me and in my life.  I love the gospel and the light and joy it brings into my life.  I love you guys and hope you have a good week.

Elder Johnson

How Do You Know You Know?

Hey everybody, I hope you all had a good week.  My week was awesome.  I got my new companion, his name is Elder Chova and is from Bolivia Santa Cruz.  He is 25 years old and we are out here mobbing.  There is definitely a difference between a 18 and a 25 year old ha ha!  He is super mature and I have found that it helps us work a lot more diligently.  He is a stud though.  I feel bad though, while he was in the MTC, his mom passed away so straight out of the gate he has to rely so firmly on the Atonement of Christ.  It is difficult, but I admire him and am learning a lot.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures today.  I don't have a cord for my camera but next week, I will hit it up!  Anyways, I actually had an awesome experience on Tuesday when I went to Trujillo to pick up my new companion.  In the morning, we had a little training with Presidente Rios and the assistants and after we went and ate lunch in this rich part of town in Californa.  To my surprise, I found two GRINGAZOS!  I found two American dudes eating there and so I took advantage of the opportunity and contacted them.  I can honestly say that I sounded absolutely ridiculous trying to testify and teach in English, ha ha, but I am confident that the Spirit was there.  I talked to these two guys, Spencer and Joe and they happened to be missionaries for a Christian church.  I testified to them about the Book of Mormon.  I just explained what the Book of Mormon is and testified of its truth and how it would bless their lives.  They seemed to be super interested and had a bunch of basic questions that the church and Book of Mormon has answers to.  So, long story short, I was able to answer all of their questions and before I had to go, Joe said to me, "I don't want to offend you, but I know that the Book of Mormon isn't true and that all that we need to know is the Bible, but I would like to say a prayer right now and ask God to manifest it's truth to us....so he offered a prayer and I left but after that I just thought about that experience---I thought to myself, how could he possibly say that the Book of Mormon isn't true, if he hasn't ever attempted to read it?  How could he say that HE KNOWS!  I learned a great lesson that day.  We have a gift and that gift is the spirit that can manifest ALL truth.  We can have an experience with a celestial being that manifests all truth known to mankind.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  I KNOW because the Spirit has manifested it to me.  I invite you all to read the Book of Mormon and act on the celestial invitation in the introduction.  I know if we apply the steps to obtain a testimony and if we humble ourselves we WILL receive a testimony.

My testimony is the biggest blessing and will bless my life forever.  I love the gospel and the blessing I have to invite others to come unto Christ.

I love you guys and hope that you have a good week and remember PORQUE YO CREO EN TI, VAMOS VAMOS PERU! (Peru is playing to go to the World Cup this week)

Elder Johnson

Still Small Voice

Hey everybody!  I hope and pray that you all had a good week  I had a good week, it was honestly pretty slow, not too much went down.  I said goodbye to Elder Hernandez the other day.  He was a stud.  I had so much fun with him and he taught me so much.  It really prepared me for this next change and I am super motivated to continue working.  I am super motivated to give everything I have in this training and help others come unto Christ.  I feel really confident and ready to put into practice all that I have learned on my mission.  I honestly am super excited and humbled to be able to train starting this week.  I will pick up my new companion tomorrow.

So, this week, I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my whole mission.  I had an experience, I'm not going to go into too much detail, but all I can say is that I KNOW that God communicates to us if we are worthy and willing to HEAR Him.  I had an experience on Friday, where I felt a prompting that was so subtle but so clear at the same time.  I was able to witness one of the greatest miracles, tender mercies of my life.

That experience reminded me of Amulek in the Book of Mormon when he said that he had been called a lot of times, but he didn't want to hear.  I have set a goal to act on every prompting that I feel because I know through obedience to those whisperings--some of the greatest miracles happen.  I invite you all to HEAR our Father in Heaven and act according to the heavenly guidance that He gives us.

I love you all and pray that you have a good week.

Elder Johnson

Valuable Lessons

What's up, everybody!  I hope that you all had a good week.  I had a good week.  It was a pretty uneventful week in the work, but as always there were a lot of valuable lessons that I learned.

I came across a quote by CS Lewis that has really been on my mind lately.  The quotes says, "We can say that we believe in Christ as we believe in the sun at noon day, not that we can see it, but by it we can see everything else."  I love that so much because Christ is the light and the life of the world.  As I have pondered on this, a scripture in Alma comes to mind that says, "But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement, and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead..."

I have pondered on this scripture because I know that it is through repentance that we receive the mercy, light and truth of Jesus Christ in our lives.  I know the He lives and the He is our Redeemer.  I treasure the sacred testimony that I possess of this eternal truth.  I invite you all to apply the Atonement more fully in your lives so that you can see all things through Christ.  I love Him and know that His light conquers the darkest and lowest times of our lives.

I love you guys and hope and pray that you have a safe and spiritually filled week.

Elder Johnson

Heavenly Father Answers Prayers

Hey everybody!  I hope that you all had a good week.  I had a really good week. I was able to receive a lot of answers to my prayers that I am really thankful for.  I have been really humbled, honestly.  I know that our Father in Heaven lives and that He answers prayers.

So, to start everything out, on Thursday, we had a multi zone conference in Chimbote.  I felt so much love and an invitation from the Lord to change and become better to finish out strong.  It was awesome.  Then, the best part is that since the start of this change, I have been praying to have the opportunity to train a new missionary as I finish my mission.  I really have a desire to give everything I have and I have talked with my Father in Heaven about that.  So after the conference, we had interviews with Presidente Rios and he told me that he felt that I should be a trainer this coming change.  As I heard that, I felt so thankful.  It was a really good experience for me and has encouraged me to work hard and prepare to help a new missionary come into the field.  I feel really happy.  I have two weeks to prepare and pray for my new companion who will be coming to the field.

Aside from that, yesterday my companion and I were walking on the street looking for a family and we just started knocking on doors.  Literally, the first door we knocked on, we found a family that has been so prepared to accept the gospel.  As we got in the house, he said, "I feel something so special about you guys.  Do you have a message or something you want to share with us?"  I was so humbled.  I learned a lot this week and gained such a strong testimony of our Father in Heaven.  I know that He lives.  He listens to our prayers.  I know it.  I love Him and am so thankful that I have this sacred calling to represent Him.

I love you guys and hope you have a good week.

Elder Johnson

PERU

What's up, everybody?  I hope you all had a good week, I had a pretty good week.  As always, it was filled with spiritual experiences that I am so grateful for.  To start out the week, on Tuesday this place was insane!  School was canceled for all of the kids and after district meeting, my comp and I were walking through the plaza and we had Peru scarves on to rep for the team.  We got there and there was a huge parade and everyone was decked out with Peru stuff and then before I knew it, the news cameras were in my face and supposedly, at night, my interview was on TV and it said, "Foreigners repping Peru" and stuff like that--it was pretty sick.  It will be a good instrument to get into people's houses now because everyone saw it!  It was a cool experience though to see all of the hype and the excitement here.

Aside from that, we had a successful week.  My companion and I are working really well together and finding a lot of new people to teach.  It is amazing to see the miracles that happen when we open our mouths and talk to everyone.  God truly works and speaks through us.  I really saw that this week and it taught me so much.

I love this gospel and am thankful to be a missionary.  It is the biggest blessing in my life.  I know that Christ lives and that He loves us.

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

Elder Johnson

Sand Boarding

What's up everybody!  I hope that you all had a good week.  My week was pretty chill, we didn't have too much go down but things are looking pretty well as far as the work goes.  I am loving my area so much right now, the people are awesome.  I know that the Lord has called me to be here at this time.

Anyway, I don't have too much to say this week, I'd just like to share a little thought that has been on my mind this week.  I have been reflecting a lot on repentance and the importance of it in our daily lives.  I know it is through repentance that we apply the mercy and love of Jesus Christ in our lives.  It is a gift that will allow us to become like Jesus Christ.  I love the gospel and the blessing that I have to be a representative of Jesus Christ.  I love you guys and hope that you have a good week.

Elder Johnson

PS  Today we shredded the NAR Peruvian style.  We went sand boarding.  it was honestly pretty sick!  All of these pictures are from today.

Elder Johnson's District (his companion is on the far right)

What a beautiful place!

La Conferencia General

Hello everybody!  I hope that you all had a good spiritual filled week.  I had an awesome week, I love my new area a ton!  i am super excited to be here to serve my God and the people of Casma.  Me and my companion are homies, we are going to be able to get a lot of work done here in this area.  He is in his last change here on the mission so we are going to work super hard and baptize como locos (like crazy)!  The people here are super receptive and are super united.  That is such a blessing, honestly, I feel at peace to be here.  I have some high goals and standards that I want to accomplish and I know I will be able to do so as I trust in my Father in Heaven.

To start out my message, I want to give my thanks to one of my best friends, Elder Fillmore, for serving a faithful and honorable mission.  He has been a great example to me in my missionary service and in all of my life.  It definitely is a blessing to serve alongside my best friends.  It will be something I will always cherish in my life.

Anyways, today I just want to share with you the experience that I had in General Conference.  I was able to reflect a lot as I listened to the words of the Prophets and I received a lot of personal guidance.  I reflected on my spiritual growth I have received in the mission.  As I listened to the talk by President Uchtdorf, I was overcome by the spirit and felt the love of my Father in Heaven.  One of the biggest/valuable lessons that I have learned on my mission is that it is so important to recognize the feelings that come from the spirit as we listen to the prophets, as we pray, as we read the Book of Mormon, and as we attend church.  I felt spiritual filled this conference weekend.  It was such a spiritual experience for me.

I invite you all to study and search for celestial treasures in the talks that we received this weekend.  I testify that it is the guidance that we need to be protected at this time.  I know that our leaders are called of God and that they are leaders endowed with power and authority to guide us through this crazy world.  The Book of Mormon is true, Elder Callister put the team on his back and slayed everyone who tries to tell us that the Book of Mormon isn't true.  It is my testimony that it is NECESSARY in our lives.  It isn't optional, its blessings are key for us to prosper in these latter days.

I love you all and hope you have a good week.

Elder Johnson in the background :)

In the meeting with Elder Gonzalez visiting

A penguin??

Con mucho amor,
Elder Johnson

CASMA

What's up everybody?  I hope that you all had a good week and that everything is going good back in the 435.  I had a good week.  I was able to learn a lot about the power of the Atonement this week.  I truly know that the Savior lives and that because He lives we can find great joy in His infinite Atonement.  I was able to talk to quite a few people who are going through some pretty serious problems in their lives and I was able to testify with great joy about the blessing of repentance and the power of the Atonement.  As I have reflected on the experiences that I have had this week, I have thought about the song, "I Feel My Savior's Love" and it allows me to have such a strong desire to help these people that are struggling.  May we all help others feel our Savior's love, through a LIVING TESTIMONY and by being a witness of Christ's Atonement at all times and in all places.

I'm sad to say that I am bouncing from the PROMISED LAND here in Viru tomorrow.  I have been called to serve in an area called Casma and my new companion's name is Elder Hernandez.  I honestly am super sad to leave this area.  I have enjoyed it so much.  It is the straight up hood, but I loved it more than anything.  Actually on Friday, there was a drive by shooting and this dude murdered two guys selling propane tanks---pretty lit!

That's everything that went down this week.  I love you all so much and hope that you all have a good week.  Talk to you next week!

Elder Johnson

Blessin on Blessin on Blessin

What's up everybody?  I hope you all had a good week!  I had a super crazy, but good week.  A lot of things went down so I was super busy and stressed all week, but to starting everything off---we had a training with a General Authority, Elder Walter Gonzalez.  That was awesome.  I felt the spirit a ton and learned a lot.  I know he was definitely guided by the Lord to say what he said to us.

To start with all of the crazy ish that went down this week---on Friday, we had planned to have the baptismal interview for Johanie so we went to the church early to get everything ready and when we finished we went to pick her up.  We got to her house and she had just woken up because she is working the graveyard shift.  She said she would be at the church in fifteen minutes so we went back and we waited for her and we were there for three more hours waiting ha ha!  I was like, "nah you have got to be kidding me--Satan is the biggest tool on the planet--so we were calling her and everything and she didn't answer.  We went back to her house and NOTHING!  Luckily like an hour later we got a hold of her and she said she had fallen asleep but she came and everything went down and it took so much stress away from me!!  I was so stressed because this area hasn't had a baptism in almost a year so I have been trying to do everything that I can to change that.  While she was in her interview, I was talking to Elder Martinez and I said I was so happy we were finally going to get a baptism and we were just talking about everything.  He told me to just wait because Satan is going to do everything that he can to prevent this baptism.  I was like yeah---everything is all good, nothing else will go wrong.

So, the next day, we went early to get the font ready and clean everything up and to our surprise, the FBI was at the church because somebody broke in to the church and robbed everything!  They robbed $10,000 worth of stuff.  The fuzz told us that we weren't going to be able to use the chapel that day.  With my luck, it was the only chapel in Viru, so we had to go to a river and find a place to baptize Johanie.  We were so lucky that we found a place to baptize her because the water level is really low.  We were blessed and pulled everything off!  Johanie got baptized and it was one of the most spiritual experiences ever!

Elder Johnson, Johanie, Elder Ibarra

Elder Stroud, Elder Rokovitz, Elder Johnson

I know the Gospel is true.  It is the biggest blessing in my life.

I love you guys and hope you have a good week!

Elder Johnson

Ty Hall

What's up everybody?!  I hope you all had a good week.  I had a good week.  I really felt the presence of the spirit, which I am really grateful for.  To start my thoughts off today, I want to talk a little about my thoughts of Ty Hall.  When I heard about his death, it honestly had me in shock, I couldn't believe it.  I still can't believe it.  I felt like it kind of took over my mind on Monday and really allowed me to reflect on the perfect plan that God has for us.  Something I have thought a lot about is that before we came into this life, we made part of the FAMILY of God.  We are literally His children and He knows us perfectly. When He presented His perfect plan to us, we rejoiced that we would be able to come to this early, even though we would leave the glorious presence of our Father in Heaven.  As we accepted our call to come to mortality, we were place here on earth into a FAMILY so that God could perform his beautiful/perfect plan.  I know that after this life, as well, we will live with our FAMILY if we obey what our Father in Heaven asks of us.  As I have thought of that, the question came to mind, if life is eternal, what purpose do I fulfill by having life?  The answer is to make part of a FAMILY!  The family is the basic unit in the plan of God.  I know that Ty Hall and his family can be together forever.  It is my prayer that the Hall family will have peace of mind and the companionship of the Spirit as they go through this tragic difficulty.  To finish my thoughts about Ty, I want to share a phrase from a general authority that I have carried with me for my whole mission.  Elder Fillmore sent it to me last year.  I can't remember the name of the general authority but he said something similar to this:  "You guys need to know a couple things that I know, that you may know, but you need to know, that I know.  I KNOW THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH.  I don't have faith there is, I know.  Faith is something that is unseen.....I KNOW THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH." This powerful testimony has allowed me to strengthen my testimony so much and I hope it can do the same for you all.  I send my love to the Hall Family, Tom, Holli, Bryar and Ty's little sister.  I know this is hard, but it's part of this perfect plan and God has called prophets to guide us through as we faithfully obey them.  R.I.P 8BALL HALL!!

Bueno, aside from my thoughts, I had a pretty good week.  I saw a lot of opposition with our investigators who have a baptismal date.  My companion and I did everything that we could to help them so we will see how everything turns out.  I have been spiritually uplifted as I have been able to help these people come unto Christ.  It isn't an easy thing, but it is worth it!  I have seen many miracles and blessings that will help me throughout the rest of my life as I have helped in this process.  Johanie and her daughter should be getting baptized this week!  Pray for them so that everything goes through!

Everything else is going well here in the mish.  This week we are going to have the visit of a general authority, so I am really looking forward to that!  I am really looking forward to being guided by men that have been called of God.  We are blessed to have the blessings that we do.

I love you all so much and hope that you all have a good week.

Con mucho amor,
Elder Johnsoncito

Power of the Spirit

What's up everybody!?  I had a pretty good week.  It went super fast but I had a ton of spiritual experiences.  My companions and I are making a ton of changes this week because what we are doing now is not really working for us.  I have really felt the guidance of the spirit as we are trying to make the changes that we are making and I know that as we do we will see a lot more success.

On Tuesday, we had one of the most powerful lessons that I have had in my whole mission.  We had a visit with Emely and I am really seeing the power of the spirit as it is working in her life.  It is amazing to see the Gospel in action.  I know that we were guided in every word that we said.  I literally was on a spiritual high the whole week after that.

We have 6 baptisms lined up for this month.  I have faith that everything will go through and as we trust in the Lord, we will be instruments in His hands to help his children.

I love you guys so much and hope that you all have a good week!

Elder Johnson

Who Will You Become?

What's up everybody!  I hope you all had a good week.  I had a really good week, the only bad thing is, is that we have been going hard dong the ALS ice bucket challenge again every morning, ha ha.  The water heater broke so I getta penguin status every morning before I get to work.  I'm over it.  I definitely lucked out that my birthday is on P day because Peru definitely doesn't know how to party, ha ha.  I'm super thankful to be able to hear from all of you guys and feel of your love.  I truly appreciate it and I send my love to all of you.

Pero buuueeeeno.  I had an awesome week this week.  It was definitely a week of personal revelation and changes that I know will be a blessing in my life and also those that I teach.  To start errythang out, I wanna share a scripture that has been on my mind all week.  as I came across this verse, I felt the spirit so strongly and it impacted me so much and my mission.  It says:

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven  Matthew 10:32

I know that every time that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, testify of our Savior, He does the same with our Father in Heaven and confesses our name before Him.  This is an eternal truth that we all need in our lives and in our spiritual progression.  How could we possibly progress spiritually if we don't share our testimony and keep the baptismal covenant that we have made? I know that as we do this, we will feel the power of the spirit and we will see the instant blessings in our lives.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know that I am nothing without Him and His atonement.  I invite you all to share your testimony daily with someone who may not have the blessings that you have in your life by having the restored gospel...or maybe someone who is struggling and doesn't fully understand what they have in their lives.  I promise, as we do this, we will be entitled to personal revelation and we will become something great in the hands of God.

It is my testimony that this is true.  I know that this applies to everyone and through this we will see what kind of disciple we can become.

I love you guys and pray that you all have a good week.

Elder Johnsoncito

Time is Going Fast!

What's up everybody!  I had a pretty good week this week, it went super fast, I cannot believe how fast time is going by.  It honestly makes me pretty sad at how fast time is going and seeing all of my main homiez finishing their missions.  It's weird, but bueeeeeeno, there's nothing that I can do about that.

This week, not too much went down.  We are still working a lot with Emely and Johanie and her family.  Everything is going really well with them and they are progressing really well.  Remember them in your prayers.

I am doing good.  I love my mission and all of the blessings that come from it.  I know the gospel is true.  I know my Savior, Jesus Christ, lives.  Have a good week everybody!  Sorry I don't have a ton of time, I will have more time next week!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Johnsoncito

Celestial Traditions

What's up everybody?  I had a really good week this week with a ton of miracles.  T start everything out, we were able to have a lesson with Johanie and her husband Jorge and invited them to be baptized on the 16th of September.  It was a really spiritual experience, Johanie is really looking for changes in her life.  I know she has a ton of desire and the Lord works according to our desires and faith.  Pray for her and her family so that they can get dunked on the 16th!!

Anyways, on Saturday, I had a really spiritual experience.  We were teaching this lady named Emely Soles and she is going through some super hard times right now.  She is separated, she has some hard core debt and her daughter is going behind her back and it is causing her a lot of problems.  Every time that we visit her she always ends up crying over one of the problems she is going through, but the whole situation with her is super fragile.  she has told us that she is suicidal, has attempted to do so which is really sad, but as she told us her life story and what she has gone through and what she is going through, I have felt a great love for her and have done everything I can to help her feel the peace that I feel in my life.  On Saturday, we had a lesson with her and our focus was to invite her to church and right out of the gate she said she wasn't going to be able to.  As she said that, the words from an apostle came to my mind, that say, to have investigators attend church, it requires extraordinary efforts.  My comp and I trusted in the Lord and were 100% guided by the spirit in everything that we said.  I felt the spirit that was so strong that I know she felt as well.  She attended church the next day and with her luck, we had a multi country conference with general authorities and Elder Cook.  Everything that they said applied to everything Emely is going through.  It was awesome.

That being said, as I was in that meeting, Elder Uceda spoke to us and talked about Celestial Traditions that we have.  It made me think and reflect a lot in my life.  The focus of his talk was on the things that we do with a half effort.  He talked to us and asked if we know how to talk to God and if not, we have to learn and make a celestial tradition on how to talk and pray to him.  He asked about attending the temple and challenged us to make a celestial tradition and go weekly or monthly.  It was a really spiritual experience and made a great impact on my life.

I love you guys and pray that you all have a good week.

Scorpion that scared the crap out of me

Elder Johnson, Emely, Elder Ibarra

Saying goodbye to Elder Arevalo

Elder Johnsoncito

Club Goin Up, on a Tuesday

(Not sure what his subject line means???)
Hey everybody!

I had a really good week this week.  It has been an honor to serve my God in His work this week.  To start everything out, I had the privilege to go to the temple this morning and I want to share my testimony that the temple truly is the house of the Lord.  I could feel such a beautiful spirit that I am so thankful for.  Every time I go to the temple, I find something new that applies in my life and that helps me so much.  As I reflected on the sacred covenants and the peace that i find in the temple, the spirit testified to me that my Father in Heaven loves me.  I love Him and am thankful for all of the blessings he has blessed me with to be here on a mission serving him.  I invite you all to make the temple a part of your weekly lives.  Don't let the things of the world lead you away from the eternal blessings of the temple.

with that said, I had a really awesome week.  We are teaching a sick family right now, named familia De la Cruz.  They are super sick (that means cool, not ill) and we are seeing a ton of progress in them.  More than anything, Yoani, the mom, is really desperate for the blessings of the Gospel in her life.  Last week on Sunday, the Gospel Principle class was given about fasting and we were able to teach her more about that throughout the week and then on Sunday, she was able to fast.  I was so humbled by her acting on her faith.  I remember on Saturday, we had a lesson with her and it was an experience that I will never forget.  I truly looked at her as a daughter of God and felt the spirit working through me.  A valuable lesson that I have learned throughout my time as a missionary is that the spirit is the teacher and we are just instruments in the hands of the Lord.  I know that she felt the spirit that day.  We are going to invite her and her family to be baptized today for this coming month.  I am thankful for the greatness of God.  I know He will make big things happen.

I love you guys so much and hope that you have a good week!

Elder Johnson

Cuando Hay Amor

What's up everybody?  I hope that you all had a good week!  I had a really good week.  It was super fast, as usual, but it was really good with so many blessings!  To start everything out, I want to share a spiritual experience that I had last Monday.  After I wrote home, my companion, Elder Ibarra and I felt super motivated to work hard.  As we left, we set goals and told ourselves that we were going to go ham this week.  After we said a prayer to start the night, we left and we were going to go visit Felipe and Irma to see how they were doing.  As we were walking, I saw this lady that I had talked to once before, just briefly.  The spirit told me to go talk to her, so we went and talked to her.

Her name is Emely and she is going through a ton of problems.  She invited us into her house and she began to break down into tears telling us about her story and everything that she has to deal with.  she told us that she is so low in life and that she even is suicidal and doesn't know what the point of being here is if all she does is go through problems without happiness in her life.  My companion testified to her and shared a personal experience of his that was super powerful.  As he shared that story and as we talked about the restoration, we could see a great change in her face.  It was as if all of the problems that she was going through were forgotten about and she just felt peace and happiness.  As we were talking to her, the spirit whispered in my heart to sing Cuando Hay Amor.  We sang a hymn and I was filled with the spirit.  I testify that the gospel has power to bring us happiness.  I know that it doesn't matter what we go through in this life or how hard our problems truly are, the atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ apply to everyone.

Aside from that, something that has really been on my mind this week is desire.  I have found that in my personal studies in the Book of Mormon, the word desire has stood out to me so much.  I know that we are blessed according to our desires and our willingness to act upon them.  As Dallin H. Oaks said, "Every great spiritual experience begins with desire."  I am a witness of that and know that it is true.  I love you all so much and hope that you have a good safe week.

Elder Johnsoncito

Two Johnsons in the Mission Field

Hi everybody!  I hope and pray that you all had a good week.  First off, I am honored to be in the mission field alongside my main homie, ELDER JOHNSON!  Welcome to the Big Leagues!  I honestly am super hyped for this experience, I know it will be one of the most special experiences that I, as well as my family, will ever experience.  I am thankful for you and your example, Elder Johnson.

On another note, I want to wish a happy pioneer birthday to my little sister, Brynn!  You have had me thinkin' all day about how awesome trek was 4 years ago.  I'm sure you are feeling super happy that you were able to go on trek less than a month ago!  You are blessed!  Haha nah Brynney!  I hope you have a happy birthday!  I'm jealous that you get to watch fireworks tonight.  I want you to know that I love you and that you are so special to me.

Anyways, I had a lot of spiritual experiences this week.  I feel really thankful to be a representative of Jesus Christ this week.  I feel a great change in me that I could never explain.  I know the gospel is true.  So this week, we had a lesson with this dude named Eduardo Araujo.  he is a G.  He is from the Sierra and is living here alone for work.  We were able to have a lesson with him this week and it was one of the strongest moments that I have ever felt the spirit.  It strengthened my testimony so much of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here on earth.  I know that we truly were instruments in the hands of the Lord at that time.  We invited him to be baptized for the 26 of August.  Pray for him.

Yesterday, the district presidency in Viru, did an activity that had a great impact on me that I want to share with you guys.  They had recent converts and less active members write them letters and then had someone from the congregation read the testimony of someone else.  It was honestly so powerful.  I could feel the power in every single testimony.  It made me think that all of us have our own conversion story that has power to have a great impact on other people.  I know that sharing our testimonies is a responsibility that all of us have as members of the church.  I invite all of you to do the same and write your testimonies on a sheet of paper and give it to someone to read.  I know it has power.  The spirit testifies of all truths.  He has power to change lives and He works through us.  I promise you all you will feel the presence of the spirit more as you go throughout your days.  God and Jesus Christ live.  I know it.  I am a witness and I see the truthfulness of them and this gospel daily.

I love you all and hope that you have a good week.  Let the spirit guide you!

Elder Johnson

Surprise!

Surprise everybody!  Literally, right after I told all of you that I would be emailing on Wednesday, I got the news that the temple date got changed to August 8th....so here I am!  I hope that you all had a good week.  I had a really good week this week.  To start everything out, we had a district leader meeting in Trujillo with President Rios on Tuesday.  I got to see my main homie, Elder Rokovitz.  It was really good.  It was a good time to receive revelation and guidance from the Lord to become a better missionary.

Elder Johnson and Elder Rokovitz

This week was full of a bunch of cool experiences.  On Wednesday night, we were walking down this road that we don't walk down too much.  We didn't have much going on, so we were just knocking doors basically and out of nowhere, this dude that was walking to one of the million crazy churches that are here, stopped us and called us over to go and talk to him.  We talked for a little and took out a return date and then on Saturday we went and visited him.  We talked to him about the restoration and told him that the church that Jesus Christ established is on the earth today.  I remember when we said that, he felt the spirit super strong.  As we had that lesson, it made me reflect on how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life.  I love the Gospel and I know that it's true.  We are really pumped to work with him and help hi to progress so that he can be baptized.

On Sunday, it was a pretty crazy day.  In the church, the four missionaries in our branch gave a training to the members about revelation and the importance of them in this work.  It was a really spiritual experience and I know that it will help us have success.  Then in the afternoon, we went out to proselyte and we found one of our references that we haven't been able to teach yet, inside her house with a body box.  She just gave birth to her daughter and she passed away.  It was one of the saddest things that I have ever seen.  They are a family who has nothing and they had to pay everything that they had to bury their baby girl. We were able to help them with some food and other things.  I know that now is a crucial time for them to accept the gospel.  God is great and I know that he will make big things happen for this family.

I love you guys!  Have a good week!

Elder Johnson

I'm Proud to be an American

What's up everybody?  Hope you all had a great week celebrating the independence of the greatest country on earth.  I definitely missed pounding real hamburgers, but I'm over it and had a pretty good week this week.

So to start out, next week I will be emailing on Wednesday because we're going to the Temple as a zone so just in case I'm not online to say bye to Kaden--I want to share a few thoughts with you before you head out.  First off, it is one of the hardest things to think I won't see my brother for almost 4 years.  It's a hard thing, but all I can say is that it is worth it!!  The mission is the greatest experience ever.  I know this work is the work of the Lord.  I love you man and know that I am praying for you every single day.  Give everything to the Lord!

As for my week, the only thing I can say is I'm so thankful that I got my toenails cut out finally!!  It was one of the most painful things ever when the doctor put the anesthesia in, but after that was over, I haven't felt anything since.  I wasn't able to leave for a couple of days just to be careful of infections.  I didn't get to leave until Friday but everything is all good and I'm ready to roll and go hard this week!

Ouch!!  Before surgery!

Elder Johnson is an AMAZING artist!  He drew this Plan of Salvation while he was "mobbing" in his room and unable to work last week!

 Other than that, nothing much went down this week.  Remember Felipe in your prayers.  The day is soon that he will be baptized.  I know the gospel is true!  Have a good week, I love you guys!

Cute kids Elder Johnson was making laugh

Elder Johnson