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!

November 26, 2012 - Sunny San Carlitos!

Hey  everybody! Sounds like Thanksgiving was a blast! That’s good! We did our own little party, I bought some meat and my comp bought some sausages. So we had some tacos and stuff. It was delicious! We had a good week here though we saw a huge miracle on Sunday. We had worked hard all week trying to find a person that would progress and get baptized in December. So we found some good people. And Sunday came and we had passed by and prepared all of the investigators that we could on Saturday and Friday, and on Sunday the couple we had been teaching were in separate houses and had fallen asleep, so we passed by a bunch of other people to bring to church. And we got to church and Ninosca showed up the sister of a new convert who is sweet. So we had her and then a kid walked in with his girlfriend and her little brother and they sat next to me and I talked to them a bit and I shared my hymn book, and after my comp asked their reference and after lunch we passed by and we shared with them and their mom! And the mom was like ya! What do I do to have to be baptized! And her kids accepted baptismal date too! So they are preparing to get baptized the month of December! So I am way stoked for them, and the boyfriend is a member and he has shared a little bit with the family and the mom likes how he is because he doesn’t smoke or drink and he’s good so she always sees how the gospel blesses families! The Spirit was so strong in that lesson I was giddy with energy after we left! So we are excited for them! And we gotta get permission for Ninosca to be baptized from her parents too so she can get baptized. So pray for her please! But the weather is nice here. I got a little sick this week because the weather changed and got all weird. It was sunny but the wind was blowing super hard and it was freezing so I got a little sick but nothing bad. I’m good now. Just ate a bunch of oranges.

  I had to do a baptismal interview for an investigator of the other Elders here in San Carlos. His name is Jorge he is the spouse of a member. They got married so that he could get baptized, his name is Jorge. He was super ready for baptism. He just wants to get married in the temple as soon as possible. We had his baptism on Saturday morning at like 9:30 because he had gotten off work and he lives out in the farmland like 40 minutes so it would’ve been hard for him to go home and come back. So it was a great service. I had to talk about the Holy Ghost so that as great! It went real well!  

But it was a great week we found some great people. When I did the interview I did a mini exchange with Elder Llontop who is from Peru. And we found some great people that really wanted to be baptized. We were walking down the street and Elder Llontop out of the corner of his eye saw a kid on the stairs outside of his house and we contacted him and we got in the house and before we started the kid was already crying. He’s like 15. He has some problems with his parents they don’t really get along but we shared with him for a bit and Elder Llontop shared a personal story and he accepted a baptismal date it was a powerful lesson. And we found another guy who accepted baptismal date. So we saw some miracles during that mini exchange Elder Llontop is a stud of a missionary!!
So I hope everyone has a stellar week! I love you guys tons! Thanks for all of the prayers and love!!!

 les quiero mucho!!!

   Elder Johnson

 

 

 

November 19, 2912 - Thanksgiving in San Carlos!

Hey how goes it everyone! This week went by fast that’s for sure. Everything is going great here in San Carlos! Elder Bueno my new comp is a stud. He is full of genius ideas to help this ward get going. We taught some good lessons with members, and we passed by a bunch of them and we have an activity planned for this Friday. We are gonna play some soccer and watch a movie so we hope it goes well! We had a good week. We worked really hard. We found some great people. One day on like Friday we passed by a lady me and Elder Benitez had contacted and she was golden! We taught her about the plan God has for her family and she loved it and said that she wanted to go to church and wanted to read and pray to know that it’s true! So we were way stoked. But we passed by on Sunday to go to church and she was sleeping and we tried passing by on Saturday with a member to teach her but she wasn’t home so that was a bummer. But we are gonna pass by this week and see how she is doing and get her excited for church. She has a little daughter who sang for us some songs she had learned in her school.

 But on Sunday we had Elvis and Maria show up to church: During the week we passed by with Brother Garces and we taught Maria and her mom Maria. We found out that her mom was baptized but not confirmed, and Maria the daughter wants to learn more and she accepted fecha to so we are excited to see if she progresses. Her and Elvis are married and have a baby on the way. And Elvis wants to learn more and see how things are. So pray for them! 

On Friday we had a soccer game with some investigators to get more people to church but they didn’t end up coming to church. So we are gonna see what we can do with them. But we are super excited because San Carlos has a huge potential. Right now about 75 people come to church and a while back about 120 came to church consistently so we are gonna see some big changes. We are gonna do a lot more activities and get the ward animated! 

Today I had a leader capacitation in Chillan so we had to go to that. It was super! I learned a bunch of things that can help out my District. President Humphrey is so great he is a stud. He has so many great ideas. He told us that he is going home in 7 months and he don’t even think that I’m gonna be trunky, because this mission is gonna keep rising like it is! So that was cool. He has done a lot for the mission. I have seen so much changes since my first exchanges in the mission. Now it is much more efficient and we get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time. So I’m stoked for that. But this week is super important because we have to find some people that can get baptized in December. This is the last week we can do it, so keep praying for us! 

 But I’m loving my time here in San Carlos I’m gonna do my best to leave it bigger and better than it was when I got here, so that’s gonna keep me busy for these next few months! I love you guys and hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving!

   les quiero,

    Elder Johnson

November 12, 2012 - BBQ´n it up, San Carlos Style!

Hey well here we are the exchange has already come to an end! And I’m staying here! Elder Benitez got transferred to Talca. My new comp is from Uruguay, his name is Elder Bueno! So we will see what we can get done here! I’m stoked!

We had a good week. It was tough. We are still on the lookout for some new investigators, trying to prepare for December to baptize somebody! So that is keeping us busy. We have had a couple of things go against us with some investigators and we’ve also found some good ones.

We started teaching the grandma of Jose who got baptized last week. She loved the baptismal service and felt really good, and she wants to get baptized. And she loves to read the Book of Mormon. Her name is Demoria. The only bad thing is that she lives in the farmland area, so it might be hard sometimes for her to come to church. But everything with God is possible! And we worked in a little housing tract outside of the normal sector and we found a bunch of people. A couple are really good, we found a mom and a daughter that are great! But the dad is against them. We get a lot of that. People have closed hearts and say that they already have a church when they don’t even go to it or do anything about it. So we just show them some love and soften the heart and sometimes they loosen up. So hopefully we can see something good happen with them here soon.

I did a mini exchange with Elder Turner on Saturday. We taught some great lessons to some of their key investigators. We just did our best to put baptismal dates with them and help them feel the spirit and get them stoked to prepare for baptism. So it was cool Elder Turner got way stoked. It was crazy because we left the house in the afternoon and it was sunny and everything, and then like 3 hours later a crazy lightning thunder storm rolled in and we got showered on. We were just in our white shirts. But right as it started we contacted a house and this guy came out with his shirt off and he seemed a little grumpy and I was like aww great he’s gonna yell at us to leave, but he’s like hey come in after a second of staring at us and we got in and he and his wife whipped out a baptismal picture of them 2! They had been baptized like 5 years ago. And he got way happy and we shared a scripture and he showed us some books and he said whenever you want come over and well do a family night and my neighbor wants to listen to you! So that was cool and he gave us some jackets and we walked outside and it was raining like crazy! And we taught some more lessons. The last lesson we taught was great. We taught the restoration to a girl they are teaching and the Spirit was super strong. It was great she accepted a baptismal date and everything.

On Friday Elder Benitez and I taught some good lessons, and then at 8:30 we played a soccer game with some investigators. It had rained a little bit that day so we were like aww man it’s gonna stink but as we were walking over it stopped. And the court was a little wet, but we started playing and after a half hour and some good slips and falls it dried out and it was game on. We said if we won they all had to come to church, and we won of course! haha and we showed them the church and they all liked it, but Sunday came around and they didn’t show up. But it was good maybe next time.

But we had a good week we are looking forward to this week that is coming up, we gotta get some people to church and get them progressing so we can have a ¨WHITE¨ Christmas! So pray for us that we can get this ward pumping and help our investigators feeling the Spirit! This exchange that is coming up is only 5 weeks they cut it short one so that the missionaries can be home for Christmas. So that’s gonna be crazy and then the last exchange is gonna be 7 weeks. So I’m excited, it’s gonna be great! I hope you all have a great week and thanks for the prayers and the love!

les quiero,

Elder Johnson

October 29, 2012 - Bautismo de Thalia!

YES! We baptized Thalia! We didn’t think we could but we got permission to do the baptism in the morning with another kid who got baptized! So that was way cool. We had to get up early and fill up the font and set up a little but it was good!

  It was a good week. We were able to find an unbaptized kid from a less active family. So we are doing a family night with them tonight to get them re activated. We’ve been really trying hard to find some other people to teach that are really going to progress. So we have been on the lookout for that. We do our best to contact all of the families in the street because we know that the Lord will bless us.

 On Tuesday we had a good District Class. I talked about the Spirit and why it’s important in the teaching. So it was cool. And I talked about how it’s important to worry about the small and simple things. So everyone left stoked from the class so that was cool!

On Thursday I did a mini exchange with Elder Turner because I had to do 2 interviews for baptism. I interviewed Daniel a kid. And Eduardo the son of a new convert. So that was cool. And we went to a family night with a member family. So that was cool.

 Friday morning after we studied we went to the Chapel to pick up the baptismal tunica for Thalia. Then we went to lunch after we did some contacts.

 Oh cool story. On Wednesday I think we went to go teach Thalia but she still wasn’t home from school so we went out and did some contacts and passed by a couple other people but they weren’t home. So then we said hey let’s go teach this member named Louisa but she wasn’t home. So we knocked her neighbor’s house. And she answered the door and we got in and started talking to her. Her name was Maria. And she is going through a hard time right now. She doesn’t know if she should date this one guy because her two older children don’t like it. So we just testified to her of the restored gospel and showed her what she had to do to not be stressed out or worried. We talked about prayer, and everything and she accepted a baptismal date. But the cool thing was that our appointment fell and we went to her house, and she had gotten out of work early that day. Which never has happened she says. So that was way cool! Heavenly Father just prepares the way so that His children can hear the gospel! So I felt really special to be able to be a part of that.

 Saturday night we had a family night with Thalia and her mom and her sister. We showed up and her mom was frying calzones rotos, or ( broken underwear)! It’s fried bread with sugar on top. So we ate some of those and we watched the full version of the Restoration with them, and after we ate some BBQed pork and Turkey! It was so good! I left full to the gills. But it was fun we had a good time. They are so nice. The mom is super loving. They are people from like the campo area or like the farm fields. They are super humble.

Thalias Story...          When we first got to the house she would run away sometimes or would stay in her room. Elder Benitez found the family one day while he was contacting during a mini exchange. So we started sharing and teaching. And week after week she would start saying more things during the lessons, because she is very shy, her mom says she has been that way all her life. And during the first couple of weeks she wouldn’t want to share because her cousins would make fun of her for sharing with the Mormons, so we had to fight with that for a while. And now she speaks and laughs and has a good time. She has changed a bunch! So the gospel is the greatest thing on this earth. It changes lives, behaviors, and cures just about everything! My testimony has grown so much in the last year and a half. I’m so thankful for my mission! If anyone is reading this and doesn’t know if they should serve a mission......JUST GO! It really is the best 2 years like they say it is, just as long as you do your part!

 Oh and on Sunday I had to give a talk. I talked a little bit about Elder Nashes talk from conference and I talked about a story I learned playing water polo at Cerritos about why we need to worry about the little things. So that was good. Then after we went home and ate lunch. And Sunday was the day of electing the mayor so everybody was out and about, and when they finally found out who won, a caravan of cars was roaming throughout the streets of San Carlos blaring their horns and screaming and playing music, so that was nice.

 But it’s going great here, we are working on finding some people who want to listen to the message of the Restored Gospel, and who want to get baptized! So we are excited for that! And we are planning on baptizing a kid named Jose this Sunday! So pray for him that he will be able to do it! Thanks for everything! I love you guys so much! And an early congratulations to Uncle Mark and Aunt Kari! Take a bunch of pictures for me!

   les quiero,

   Elder Johnson