July 25, 2011 Barra de Hierro!

  Dear family!

  That’s cool that the girls went surfing! But that stinks that she stepped on a stingray. That is never fun. I’ve seen big buff body builders cry when they step on them. And Chancho went back up to Utah again that is pretty cool! Family reunions are sweet! It’s always fun to hear from you guys and hear what you guys are up to.

 Tell Evan congratulations for his Eagle Scout! Elder Keller my comp. calls himself a Street Scout because he didn’t get his Eagle. It’s pretty funny. Only Elder Pulver and I are Eagles, and Elder Abbott and Keller are the street scouts.

  We had a good week. We are still doing a lot of contacting and finding because we don’t have many good investigators. We had 3 of our investigators come to church so that was sweet! It was a miracle, they are a family. But we need to get the mom and dad married first before we can baptize them. Hopefully their kid Miguel is ready next Sunday to be baptized. He hasn’t really been reading or trying to progress.

  Our 2 other investigators that are really good, left on vacation. Karen went to Iquique, and Cristobal went to Chillan. So that was kind of a bust. We have been teaching Karen for a long time, and she was finally starting to progress real well, but then she left this whole week. So hopefully she read in the Book of Mormon!

  On Friday morning Elder Keller and I went to Licanten on a bus because he did a mini combio. The ride is about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Licanten is towards the coast it is about 20 minutes from the beach. So we rode there and then I rode back with Elder Thomas. Elder Thomas is one exchange older than me and he already knows Spanish. I think he took a lot of classes before the mission. When we got back to Curico we walked down the street and we taught Carolina a little bit but then we had to go to lunch. But our lunch appointment forgot about us, so we bought some stuff to make sandwiches and Elder Pulver made rice.  The rest of the night Elder Abbott and I walked around Curcio contacting and looking for less active families to teach.

  Elder Abbott and I taught this one lady that we found, and we gave her a baptismal date. She accepted it. But after I took out this paper we have of less active and part member families in the ward, and I saw the ladies name that was on it! She doesn’t remember that she was baptized! She is kind of crazy, and says funky stuff. So next time we go back well have to ask her if she remembers anything. So that was pretty weird.

  On Saturday morning we went to Rauqen, the sector next to ours. And we helped the Sisters paint their old house because they got a new one. So we did that for about 2 hours. Then after we had to run/walk to our lunch appointment because there was no collectivos or micros that went by. It was probably pretty funny seeing 4 gringos running on the side of the road next to a horse pasture.

 On Sunday we had 3 investigators in church so that was cool. After church the family that was supposed to do our lunch wasn’t even there. So Hermano Ingram who is the new 2nd counselor,  he is from North East England, made our lunch. He asked us what we wanted, so he made hamburgers and french fries. He is real funny and nice. And we had cake and ice cream for dessert. It was pretty good, but it took like 2 and a half hours so we lost a lot of time to work. So the rest of the night we did contacts, and we taught Familia Carrasco our new converts.

  So it was a pretty eventful week we got a lot done.

 O and on Wednesday President Humphrey and his wife came and talked to us for district class, and he talked to us about being obedient, and working with faith, in order to receive help from the Lord. It was really cool.

  This Thursday we have Zone Conference so we are going down to Talca. I’m pretty excited they are always fun!

  And today we painted our new house. We are moving out of our old one and into this nicer one that some members are renting to the church. It is really cool. We have to paint all of the walls white, and the ceilings peach. So we have a lot of painting to do. We also have to paint our old house. Because the Land Lord lady came and said she wants it painted and fixed. So we are going to be all painted out in a couple of weeks! Haha It’s good though we have a good time and listen to The Mormon Tabernacle Choir while we paint.

 It also rained a little bit this morning to if you guys wanted to know! And we ate at Casa de Empanadas for lunch, it’s our local hot spot!

  But that’s all I got for now. If you want to know more ask some questions I’m a pretty lame writer.

But thanks for your prayers and your love and support you guys, it means a lot!

   Espero que todo esta bien, y su verano es bacan!

                                                                                  les quiero!

                                                                                                 Elder Johnson

July 18, 2011

 Big Daddy D!

 We had a good week this week. Starting on Thursday it started pouring. And it poured off and on until this morning. It was crazy.  Elder Keller and I were contacting in a publacion like 15 minutes down
the road, and all of a sudden it started pouring down rain! So we had to walk back to the house so he could get his rain gear I was wearing a ghetto pancho! haha. We had to jump over rivers of water that were gushing down the streets. It was raining like crazy, and it was cold.  The weather here is crazy. It will first start howling wind. And the wind almost pushes you over. And when that happens, you know that the rain is coming so you got to get geared up for that. So it keeps you on your toes its great. We just keep up the energy while we are out in the rain so it’s great. There’s many great memories that have happened in the rain.  But we have had a couple of tough weeks. It has been hard finding
new investigators. So we have been doing a lot of contacting and finding, and asking people for references. But this Sunday it paid off.  We had 3 of our investigators that we have been working hard with, and focusing on coming to church. Cristobal, Carolina, and Karen.   It was cool with Carolina because it has been really hard to find her. Because her mom is real sick, and she is between houses. But on Saturday after we went to the church and turned the baptismal font on to fill it up for another sector, we thought it would be a good idea to walk across the street and see if Carolina was home. She wasn’t home but then we looked down the street and we saw her coming and her 2 year old son Martin was sleeping in the stroller. And we talked to her and she said she was mas o menos( Means so so). So we talked to her, and then we said you want to go see the inside of the church and see what it’s like, and she first was a little unsure but then she decided to go! So we walked across the park and showed her some of the rooms in the church, and the baptismal font. So it was a miracle. It helped her not to have as much fear of coming to church. She liked it! She was amazed at how big it was!   Then on Sunday she came and we walked to her house and got her to bring her to church. And we walked across the park again and went in and sat next to her in Sacrament meeting. The power was out so the lights were off and the microphone didn’t work. But it was still great you could feel the spirit. Then we went to class. And we first tried to drop her son of in the nursery. He had a couple of toys in his hand but when she left he started crying. Then we walked to the Gospel Principles class, and I showed her son Martin pictures in the pamphlets that we have and gave him my pen to color.   I was worried because when we taught her before Martin would spazz out and throw stuff and cry. But I would turn the page to a picture and he would get all excited it was pretty funny. Carolina had a good time. She was surprised to see all of the help that was offered there by the other sisters in the ward, and the people that greeted her. But she left real quick after church and we didn’t get a chance to talk to her and ask her how it went. But we felt like she had a good time, and that she will be coming back. So that was one of the miracles that happened this week.   And the other was with Karen our other investigator.  After church last week she left after Sacrament and cried the whole way home. It was a good cry. And she read the Book of Mormon too!  And she came this Sunday, so things are looking up for her!  We have worked with her my whole time here, and I hope that she makes the decision to be baptized before I leave. I just want her to get baptized because we all know, even she knows that it will help her. She has a real stressful life and a lot of unorganized stuff because she teaches kindergarten. But little by little she feels the spirit and is growing closer to Jesus Christ.  So pray for them that they can progress and be able make the decision to enter the waters of baptism. You can really see the temptations of the devil trying to distract Heavenly father’s children from entering His fold. It’s a battle!  But we are blessed because we know what we have to do. We have been living it for our whole lives. We just need to Hold to the Rod like it talks about in 1 Nephi Ch 8.  This week I also went on a mini combio with Elder Davis who has one exchange less than me. We got into one house and taught her about baptism, and how we are redeemed from Adams Fall by our Savior Jesus Christ.   A lot of people here are Catholic, and they don’t understand that.  But they say that they read the bible, and still don’t understand.  But that’s why we have the Book of Mormon and the Bible that work hand in hand.  On Saturday we taught these Adventists that tried to get in an argument with us over the Sabbath Day. They believe it’s on Saturday, but we told them that Jesus Christ Atonement did away with the Law of Moses, and that when Joseph Smith was called as a prophet in the last dispensation Sunday is the Sabbath Day. But they wouldn’t understand so we told them that they need to pray and find out for themselves. They are too stubborn.   But that was our week!  Pretty eventful! We just keep the love up for the people of Chile and remember our purpose as missionaries. And work hard, nothing better!  Also these last couple of weeks have been the Copa America. It’s the tournament for all of the South American teams in soccer. And Chile did pretty good until they lost yesterday. Whenever Chile scored a goal the whole town would go crazy! And during the games it is a ghost town there is no one outside, and it’s hard to reach or do contacts because everyone is watching the game! haha its classic. But we always find something to do. You just have to show your faith, and he will put the people in your path to teach!   I love you guys, thanks for writing and your prayers and support!  We played Monopoly this morning for Pday it was great!
                               les quiero,
                                              Elder Johnson

July 11, 2011

The mission is still going great. We had a tough week last week, because we dropped a lot of investigators that aren’t progressing, and we had to look for a lot of new ones. We have a big ward, but all of the members are kind of lazy, I hate to say it. They expect us to do all of the work.

 The other day we went to do a service project for a hermana in the ward, and us 4 elders and the stake president and his son showed up. And there’s about 30 other able bodied men. So we had to take off the ceiling and roof of this ladies house, because the guy that put it up, did a lame job. It was all off centered and crooked, and the ceiling was leaking. It was kind of sad I felt bad, because the guy that did it just left to go to Santiago. At one point I had to go on top of the sketchy roof that has like sheet metal for roofing and little 2 by 4s holding it up. And I started kicking the ceiling through because it wasn’t coming out very easily. It was fun though we had a good time doing it. I always love doing service.

  But on Sunday it was great. After a long week of trying to find new investigators and walking all around Curico, we had 3 investigators that showed up. It was pretty cool. One lady named Karen showed up. Her 2 sisters were baptized a year ago. So we taught her on Saturday night. And Karen knows that she needs to be baptized, but she is just stuck in her ways and hard headed. But she knows that baptism will change her life for the good. So pray for her that she can start reading the Book of Mormon more, and coming to church and feeling the spirit more in her life. 

  And we had Miguel and Eva come to church too. We are supposed to baptize Miguel next week but they aren’t really taking it seriously. When we got to church we called them and we woke them up when we called. So they showed up late but it was good they came. Miguel is 11 years old and Eva is his mom. We are having one of the sisters in our ward and her daughter come with us this week to fellowship them and be there when we teach. So I think it will be a lot better next week. Keep them in your prayers to. Eva and her pareja(partner) Miguel aren’t married. So we are trying to get them married to so they can be baptized. They were baptized before but they weren’t confirmed after so we have to baptize them again since it has been along time about 15 or more years.

  It has been cold the last couple of nights, but yesterday and today were a little warmer. It was supposed to rain today but it didn’t so that’s why it is warm. We played basketball and soccer again today! There was 10 of us Elders. It was a way fun time!

  Elder Keller started singing the Robin Hood song the other day and I gave him the name of Robin Hood, and I’m Little John! haha he’s a funny guy. We are always having a good time. He’s already taught me a lot and I’ll probably learn a lot more. It’s great. He said we are gonna go surfing after the mission.

 I took a picture of a micro and a collectivo, but I forgot my cable for the computer to plug it in. haha sorry, but I’ll send it next time. And my front tire on my bike popped again. It’s like the 3rd time. It’s probably from doing wheelies, that’s what Elder Keller thinks. haha

  But all is good. I’m still trying to figure out Spanish and how to teach. I can understand most people so that’s cool but then I sit there and think about how to respond! haha. They just look at me funny.

  Thanks for writing I look forward to hearing from you guys! Just ask me questions and I can answer them I’m sure my emails are lame!

 Enjoy summer and the Book of Mormon! haha they are both great and bring happiness to your life! That was a lame try at making a paroble. haha

                     les quiero,

                              Elder Johnson

July 4, 2011

2 youth in our ward that our going on their missions.

 A banana with honey that we had for dessert

My new scripture covers. They are really cool

Playing soccer and basketball for P-Day. We had good weather, it was sunny and a tad bit warmer. This morning the ground was frozen and water in the streets had ice on it. We lucked out.

Elder Keller my new companion. He's from Ojai California.

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June 27, 2011

BIG D! Thanks for writing! haha I missed your letter last week, no worries I guess you were busy. That’s good that you are staying busy. Sounds like you guys are starting off summer pretty well. I laughed when you told me about Ellis driving Kayla that’s pretty funny I could only imagine their stories. That fish that Tyler caught is pretty sweet I’ve never caught a Halibut. Thanks for the draft updates. Kobe is still going for another ring? That’s sweet! I gave a kid in our ward my Kobe shirt he plays basketball for his school here, and he always comes out to teach with us, he’s real cool.

  So it’s pretty cold now winter officially started. Last night we contacted for like 3 hours and I’m pretty sure it was below 32 degrees. Those are the days you will never forget. We couldn’t feel our toes hands or faces but we were loving it. I was with Elder Pulver and Hobson because Elder Gil went to Concepcion because he is leaving. He left yesterday at 12 right after church I was sad to see him go. He was my first companion of the mission and my trainer. He taught me a lot, and we always had a good time together. Never a dull moment or a harsh word. I was blessed to have him. he gave me a soccer jersey from his hometown team in Colombia. And we traded ties. I told him I’m coming to Colombia one day to dance the Bachata with him! haha He was a great example for me and I hope I can become the missionary he was. He loved his mission and he didn’t want to go. It made me want to work harder and become as loving and hardworking as he was.

  Some Zone Leaders called yesterday and said that a volcano down south is spewing ash, so all the flights out of there were cancelled. Elder Gil wanted that to happen because he didn’t want to leave! Haha it was pretty funny. So I guess they will bus them all up to Santiago to the airport.

  There were 6 missionaries that left our Zone this exchange. So we had a lot of changes. Elder Hobson is going back down south to Barrio Norte. It’s funny because that is where he started his mission. And Elder Pulvers new companion is Elder Abbott. He’s a cool guy I talked to him once because we both went to the training meeting in Concepcion. And my new Companion is Elder Keller. He is going to be a Zone Leader with Elder Pulver. He was one of the assistants for the past 3 exchanges. I have been very blessed with my companions so far. Both of my companions thus far have been assistants so I have had the opportunity to learn and work with Elder Gil, and now with Elder Keller. We are going to work hard, and I am going to learn a lot. I am so very thankful for this opportunity it truly is a blessing.

  Last night some Elders from Bombero Garrido came over, and we made some eggs and potatoes and we played Monopoly it was a good time.

 And yesterday at church Elder Corbridge of the General Authority spoke. He served his mission in Argentina with President Humphrey our mission president so he speaks really good Spanish. Before church I went around shaking people’s hands and I walked on the stand to shake his hand, and he asked me where I was from and I said Orange County. And then I didn’t know what to say, because I was used to talking to people in Spanish so it felt awkward so I said what is your name? And he said Elder Corbridge, and then I said O you wrote The 4th Missionary. And he said ya, and I said thanks for that. Haha it seemed kind of awkward but I don’t know haha. The 4th Missionary is about 4 different types of missionaries there are. And how you want to be the 4th missionary who changes on his mission and serves his mission to its fullest, and loses himself in the work. It is a really good talk. It changed my perspective on how I am doing things right now in my mission.

  On Saturday Elder Gil was saying good bye to lots of families and we went by this one family that him and Elder Pulver found the exchange before I got here. The dad is a Carabiñero (Chilean Police). So we were talking to the dad and his kids and we took some pictures, and the mom was at work so we were gonna ride our bikes across town to go say goodbye to her. But then he said, "Hey I can take you guys". So we hopped in his car and he took off. It was sweet he was driving all fast like a rally driver. Tyler would of liked it! Then we got to her work and we took some pictures and said bye, and we got in the car again and took off, and as we were going he turned up the big hill that’s in Curico. There is a road that goes up it. And he gassed it and was flying up, and there was some sharp turns, it was sweet. Then we got to the top and we took some pictures of the city at night it was cool. Then we got back in  and went down the back side. It was steep with some tight turns to it was cool. So that was my Chilean rally experience. They are a real cool family. The dad Edmundo calls me "Beach Boy" haha.

   But it was a good week. I was sad to see Elder Gil go but it was bound to happen. The mission, and life for that matter, is about learning, adapting, and climbing those hills with sharp turns, and obstacles. But always at the end of it all there is a big prize, and grand view. And it is something so great and marvelous that we can’t even imagine it. We just have to hold to The Rod and endure to the end. Just like it says in 2 Nephi 31. This work is a marvelous work I wouldn’t exchange it for anything. I have been blessed to see four miracles so far in my mission. I hope that I will have the opportunity to see more.

  I love you guys and thanks for all of your prayers and your support. Have a fantastic summer, and I Hope you all drive safely to Utah and have fun.

  Gracias por todo, les quiero mucho!

                                                         les quiero,

                                                                         Elder Johnson

June 20, 2011

Haha I found a graffiti of Tyler picking his nose! haha.

The hamburgers we made

I got silly stringed

After the rain

Yesterday we confirmed Eduardo Duran the kid that we baptized last week. It was nice. And yesterday we went over to help a family in our ward move, and I drove his truck to their other house, because he was doing something else. We had to take over a bunch of books.

  Today is the last P Day for Elder Gil and a couple of other guys in our zone so they all came over to our house. There was like 12 guys in our little 2 bedroom house it was packed. I gave my bed up so I slept on the ground. It was fun. I’m sad to see Elder Gil go he has taught me a lot about being a missionary and he’s a great missionary I’m gonna miss him.

  At the beginning of this week it was way freezing at night. The houses in Chile are made out of cement and nothing else so it is like a refrigerator. I was wearing two jackets and thermals with 2 big Mexican blankets and still froze. Everybody else froze to. Elder Gil always sleeps with the little electric heater next to his bed, he turns it on when it gets cold its funny. He’s from Colombia so he’s only use to it being way hot.

  Then on Saturday a huge rainstorm came in. When we walked outside the wind was blowing way hard, and the rain was pouring. You could hear stuff being blown off of houses and the cables of the light poles whistling. I had this ghetto umbrella that was falling apart it was pretty funny we were laughing at it. We walked down to this little track of houses like 15 minutes down the street to see if a couple families were home to teach but they weren’t. So we did some contacts, and we did this one house and I started talking to the lady and she let us in. We taught her about Jesus Christ and about the Atonement and baptism on the earth, and committed her to baptism, and she accepted! It was pretty cool. She lives in Santiago though so we gave her address to the office. But it goes to show if you are working even when the conditions are not to your liking that the Lord will bless you. It was a good lesson that I learned. So that rainstorm is still going on it rains on and off. It’s the Chilean Winter she’s back! haha It is fun though me and Elder Gil are always making the best of every situation.

   This week we had lunch in a little town like a 30 minute bus ride out of Curico. So we went there early before lunch and we tracked for a little bit. We got a couple people to let us come back later on so it was cool. We contacted this one lady, and Elder Gil introduced us, and he said his name and I was about to say my name and he started laughing, because I was starting to say my name so I looked funny. So throughout the whole contact we were laughing. It probably isn’t that funny but I thought I would tell you guys.

  On Thursday Elder Pulver and Elder Hobson baptized a 11 year old kid named Mauricio Sepulveda. I don’t know if it is called cerebral palsy, but He can’t control his body real well so he is always moving. But it was a real special baptism. The bishop baptized him and Elder Hobson helped out. The bishop held him in his arms and then he dunked him under. Mauricio is a real special kid. He loves the gospel. One time we went over to his house to teach him ,and he was watching The Restoration on youtube. And he says he wants to go to the temple some day. Mauricio knew he had to be baptized. It is kind of like Jesus Christ, He was the only perfect person to walk the earth but he was obedient and he obeyed Heavenly Fathers commandments. I think Mauricio should be an example for all of us. Even though  it was a struggle for him to read and speak and be in a wheel chair, he understands our purpose in this life and that we need to be obedient and follow Heavenly fathers commandments. Mauricio has opened my eyes to the importance of baptism and obedience to the gospel.

  Throughout the week we have been trying to find people to teach. Fernando the guy that speaks english has been struggling. We havent been able to reach him, he’s either looking for work or something else. We have another investigator Karen.  Her two sisters are baptized so we taught her on Friday when they were here because they go to school in Santiago. Karen knows she needs to be baptized. She is having a hard time right now, and she knows that baptism will help her get through this tough time. But we think she is just scared of change. We are gonna baptize her though were not gonna give up on her.  But otherwise it was a good week, did a little bit of everything.   Next week is combios so Elder Gil is gonna leave and I’m gonna get a new companion so it will be a sweet and sour day. 

  But I hope everything is going dandy. Sounds like summer is starting out! Kayla and Tyler study hard for your last few weeks unless you already ended haha. But I love you guys!

                         

                                 les quiero,

                                                 Elder Johnson