January 21, 2013 - Dusty Days in Ranchillo!

We baptized Carmen yesterday! It was a fantastic baptismal service! She was so excited! She couldn’t wait all week. It was a great experience being able to share with her. We almost lost her because she went to a Catholic Church meeting and her family told her a bunch of things and she got confused but we studied with her and shared some great things and she continued to progress real well until her baptism! So that was way cool! She is a great convert, she is so stoked to be a member. The baptismal water came out cold so the water was freezing! Haha so that’ll be something she'll never forget.

 On Thursday we went out to the farmland to go teach an investigator named Demoria. She is the mom of a member and the grandma of Jose who we baptized. We went to the rural bus terminal to catch the bus at 5 and supposedly it was the bus that was supposed to take us there. So they dropped us off out in the middle of nowhere, and we saw the sign that said Ranchillo 4 kilometers. So we started walking and we got confused so we called and then got turned around because we thought she told us to go another way. But after a couple of calls and turning around a bunch of times, she sent out one of the workers and he found us. We walked like 6 miles that day in the middle of the day when the sun was scorching. So finally we got there and she gave us some juice and we taught her and her husband. Then we were supposed to get a ride from their neighbor who was loading firewood into his truck with a horse carriage, but he was gonna be a while longer so we started walking back down the dirt road...... Hitchhike style! Haha so a little ways down some farmer dude in a whooped out Suzuki samurai and a trailer full of horse feed let us in. And he took us back to San Carlos. So it was quite the adventure that day. We were spent and our nostrils were filled with dirt boogers. So we got some good pictures too! And her and her husband and daughter ended up coming to church on Sunday! She loves reading the books and the Book of Mormon. They are great. A while back her husband bred horses and raced them in the rodeos so they have a huge ranch...his name is Huaso Urribe. So that was cool. They are great. But everything is going great we are hoping to baptize her and her granddaughter and Javier before I leave here! So pray for them please! I love all of you guys!!! Have a great week!

  Les quiero,

                   Elder Johnson

January 14, 2013 - Ñiquen or Bust!

Well this was a great one! It was hot all week. So we were sweating bullets all day. We worked hard. We saw some fruits from our work we had done the previous week so that was nice. Sunday we were walking down a little street and we saw some people outside and they said something and I remembered that we had talked to them before. So we stopped and started talking and the mom had listened to the missionaries while her daughter received the lessons to get baptized. And the mom didn’t want to go to church before but now she does so that was way cool, and she accepted a baptismal date so that was way cool. We were able to teach a lot of lessons with members too. We are teaching a guy named Javier. He’s like 65ish. And before he had gone to the church a long time ago and knows how it is. And he loves reading in the Book of Mormon. He came to church and he was taking notes so that was way cool! And Carmen came to church so that was cool too! Carmen is so excited to get baptized on Sunday! She was telling everyone that she is getting baptized so she is way excited! She is so great. She loves the church and sharing with us. She almost didn’t get baptized because she went to the Catholic Church to a meeting for her father and her whole family was there and they all told her she was wrong and she got confused. But we just worked hard with her and she found out what was the right decision by herself. So her testimony is so strong! She is gonna be a great member! 

On Wednesday a member named Jorge came and picked us up and took us out to his house in the farmland like 30 minutes away. And we helped him and his wife scrape a bunch of grass. In Chile they don’t really use lawn mowers for their weeds and stuff you use a shovel and scrape it. So I did that for like 2 hours, it was a good time. My other comps are a little soft so they raked or washed the car...haha Jorge and his wife thought that I would be the softy since I’m white but they were surprised at my skills with the shovel. And then we ate lunch with them there and we took some pictures. So that was fun to go a little out of the normal schedule.

But that’s about it, we are seeing some good results. We hope that the people we have found are good and that they will progress. So pray for us! 

  Today for P Day we had a Zone Activity! We all bought some water balloons and water guns and we had a huge fight! The funny thing is that it wasn’t blazing hot like the whole week! haha but it warmed up a little bit after. So that was cool and then we had some completos and chips so that was good!

  I love you guys! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA!

  Elder Johnson

January 7, 2013 - Solcito in San Carlitos!

Hey family and friends! Well here it is! Things are going good here. This week was supposed to be the biggest week of my mission. So we worked super hard. It was blazing hot all week. Just sweating bullets. We were set out to find a family that would get baptized this month. So we had our sights set on that. We did all kinds of contacts we passed by members to ask for references... everything possible. But it didn’t come at the end of it all. We had fasted and prayed for it. So we are hoping to see some fruits of it this week that’s coming up. 

But we still have Carmen that is getting ready to be baptized this 20th of January. So we are teaching her and keeping things going with that. She’s great, she loves the church and reading the Book of Mormon. So she is special. Her house is sweet. She paints like random bottles and pans and metal things with flowers and birds so her house looks like a jungle thing! I’ll take a picture and send it! haha you’ll like it.

 Today for P Day we went and played some soccer with the Zone so that was cool we had a good time. 

Saturday it was burning hot and the sun got the best of me so I got a little sick but I’m better now. My face was beet red in church yesterday. 

Yesterday a brother from the ward passed away. So they did his funeral. His wife, son and daughter live here with them. He had been in and out of the hospital a lot lately. But now he’s resting and things are good for him. It’s good to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. The family is very strong. We were asked to sing a special number. We sang Come Come Ye Saints and Elder Monsalve played the recorder flute on a couple parts so it was nice.

 But things are going good.  This week we have interviews with President. So that will be cool and next week we have Mission Conference in Talca.
 But thanks for your prayers and love! I love you guys have a great week!

  Elder Johnson

December 31, 2012 - Prospero Año Nuevo Amigos!

Hey how goes it! We had a great week this week here in San Carlos. We worked hard this week. We taught a bunch of lessons so that was great! 

 We ventured off to another part of the sector. We have usually been working in a little part in the North West corner of San Carlos, but a couple days this week we went to the North Central part and we found some families that had shared before with some missionaries that I know. So that was cool. But they weren’t really accepting. We felt like we had taught them what they needed to hear or what would help them overcome their biggest doubts. But at the end they didn’t accept baptismal dates. But it’s alright you never know what can happen! 

On Thursday and Friday I did a mini combio with Elder Monsalve. It was great, I was able to learn some new things. He has about 9 months in the mission. He is so funny. He cracks me up. It’s hard to keep a straight face in the lessons. He’s a good buddy, he’s from Santiago Chile. So we had a good time together. We met a guy from Manchester England who has walked from Mexico to Chile talking in schools to the kids about how they need to take care of the earth, and he’s been on radio stations and stuff so it was cool to talk to him. He works with the firefighters of Chile. 

 Today for P Day we went and played some soccer in another sector in a gymnasium so that was fun. 

We are teaching a lady right now named Carmen. She saw the baptism of her aunt. Carmen has like 50 years. She’s cool she loves us. And she loves the church to death and the Book of Mormon. We are just trying to get her to be converted and 100% sure that she’s gonna get baptized the 12th of January. So pray for her! But we got a lot of work to do still here in San Carlos we gotta make it a big month! I’m lovin it still. Thanks for the prayers and the love, it means a lot!

  les quiero,

Elder Johnson

                 

December 24, 2012 - White Christmas in San Carlos!

Hey family and friends how’s it going! Things are going great here! We had a great week. We were super busy all week! It was good though it all paid off at the end of the week! We had 4 baptisms. We baptized Danilo on Saturday at like 8:30. It went real well. His girlfriend Romina gave a talk and the Spirit was so strong. She is a member and he has been sharing for missionaries for like 2 years and it finally came to an end. They are getting married on the 19th of January. So she said in her talk that not only is he taking this step but they are taking it together and everyone just started bawling. It was real special. 

  Then Sunday we had the baptisms of Julia, Ivannia and Matias. They are a family. They are super special. One day Ivannia came to church with her boyfriend Matias and her little brother Matias. Matias the boyfriend is a member in another ward. So we asked them for their address and we passed by the same day and they accepted baptismal dates and started progressing. They loved listening to us and they were always reading and praying and trying to learn something new. The mom had just been passing through a real tough time, and we found them during that. So it just goes to show how much our Heavenly Father cares for His children. She always talked about how the gospel has changed her life and how it helped her get through this time in her life. I just have a loss of words when I think about them. They are a perfect family and they have done everything right. You could see the change that the gospel and the Atonement had done for them. And it was even more special because they got baptized on the Birthday of the Savior. It couldn’t be more perfect! I’m so grateful to my Heavenly Father and what he has done for this family and for having given me the opportunity to be a part of this process. There is nothing better than a complete family entering the waters of baptism. So this will definitely be a memorable Christmas for me. Perhaps the best one yet! A real White Christmas. 

  But we are excited to keep working we still have a bunch of possibilities for baptism these upcoming months.
Today we played some soccer with the zone, and being summer you would expect hot weather like it should be but the weather is weird last week it rained super hard, and today it’s raining and tomorrow they say it’s gonna rain. Last year for Christmas it was blazing hot! So I don’t know what’s going on. But thanks for everything! It means a lot! I love you guys tons!

  ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD! 

        les quiero

      Elder Johnson

                      

December 10, 2012 - Karaoke Party and some gozo!

Elder Johnson & Elder Bracken

Bueno! We had quite the week this week! On Tuesday we had a mini conference with president and the Assistants. They talked about the focuses of the month! So it was way sweet! I learned a bunch and it got me stoked for the week! Then right after I had a mini combio with Elder Bracken..my brother from another mother. We had a great day we taught some great lessons, and I did an interview for them. I interviewed Marina a 90 year old. She is so great. She has a great spirit and had so much desire to be baptized! So that was a great experience for me.

 On Friday we had the big Karaoke party. We had made invitations and passed them out to the whole ward and a bunch of other people. So we were expecting to see at least 80 people there. We had to buy the stuff and figure out how we were gonna project it and everything. We bought corn to make carmel corn and everything. So we were all stoked to get this ward stoked, but like 30 people showed up. A couple of investigators and some less actives and a couple of members. But everyone who came had a great time at least so that’s what counts right! So it was cool.

Saturday we had this crazy lunch. The member made some sausage soup thing and put like a liter of oil in it. And I worked fine all day but when I got home and after we had planned I spewed my guts out for a little bit, and my I had some killer body aches. It was way weird. I woke up Sunday feeling super bad and we had to leave and make sure our investigators were coming to church. So I got it together and we headed out. We had a great week. Our focus of the week was having people in church. So we worked hard all week inviting and verifying, and it paid off we had 7 people in church. So the Lord blessed us tremendously!

 We had a sweet Family Night with some investigators who are friends of 2 members. Their names are Alejandra and Mario. Mario drives semi-trucks throughout Chile and he’s only 20. He’s super cool, and his wife is way cool. The members have shared a lot with them about the church. The members are less actives. But Mario and Alejandra are looking for the church. They came to church and they loved it! They have 2 little kids Ignacio (Nacho) and Martina. They are so cute. So pray for them that they keep progressing!

And Danilo is the boyfriend of a member. They are getting married the 19th of January. And he’s been sharing with the missionaries in Santiago, and wants to get baptized here. So that’s a huge miracle. So we are stoked to see what’s in store for us this month. We just gotta keep working hard and the Lord will bless us. This Wednesday is the Christmas Conference! So I’m excited for that but a little bummed because I have to give my last testimony in the mission. But it’s alright I still got plenty of time! I love you guys tons and hope that you all have a great week!

 les quiero,

 Elder Johnson

December 3, 2012 - Sleigh Bells and Door Bells!!

Hey family and friends! Here we are again! What a week! We worked super hard. We found some great people and we got some great references. President challenged us to find a family to get to church and we found a family that was great they all accepted baptismal dates and they were stoked to go to church and we passed by on Saturday and made sure they were ready, and Sunday it started pouring rain, and everyone went into hibernation mode. So no one wanted to come out of their houses and no one came to church so we were bumming a little bit. Because we had done everything that President asked us to do. Every day we got home tired and that Sunday bummed us out a little. But it’s alright because you learn from things like that right! So now we left that behind and we have a sweeeeeeeeeeet! Activity planned for our ward this Friday!! We are gonna do Karaoke and make popcorn! And Elder Bueno and I made some sweet invitations that are awesome! And we got everyone stoked on Sunday for the activity and the ward is gonna invite their friends and San Carlos is gonna explode! So I am stoked beyond stoked! It’s just what San Carlos has been waiting for!

  Last night we had some lessons and at the end of the night we had nothing to do so we went to go see a future and she wasn’t there, so we started contacting by her house and after getting denied.....just like always we knocked the last door before going home, and a lady answered the door and we started talking and she said her husband had died a week ago. And we got in and shared with her and she had shared a while back with missionaries and had the Book of Mormon and we committed her to baptism and her daughter showed up who is 10 and they are ready to get baptized! They want to do it they loved listening to the missionaries! So we were way blessed. We had worked our butts off all week and we thought we blew it but the Lord just put that right in our path with all of His love he has for us! So we are stoked to teach them! We gotta pass by with some members and get them excited to go to church, and this activity is gonna get everyone stoked out of their pants! So I’m excited to get working this week with Elder Bueno. He is a stud.

  Today we had a Zone Activity. We went to some rich member’s house in Chillan in the farmland. We played some soccer and basketball and a little BBQ so we are ready for the week!

I hope everyone has a good week! I love you guys!

les quiero,

Elder Johnson

Ice Cream Time!

My Zone!

Oooo aaahhh I caught a lizard!