June 18, 2012 - To Las Aguitas and Back!

Hey how about it! One week came and gone!

  Well here we are again in good ol´Concepcion Chile! It was a great week! Full of everything!

  Monday we bought some stuff in Centro and we taught Sara Jennifer and Franchesca a family that we are teaching so it was great!

  Then Tuesday we had District Class like usual! I had Elder Glazier give a little lesson on planning and it was sweet! It helped me out to become a better planner, because if you plan good you plan for success! Then I had a mini exchange with Elder Wade our Zone Leader. It was epic! We saw a bunch of miracles. We were walking down the street to go to an appointment, and we decided to ring a doorbell to an apartment complex, and the door opened and we walked in and two ladies walked down the stairs and started yelling at us that we couldn’t be in there, and while that was happening I shook the hand of a college kid that walked in, and he went to a door and was talking to a girl , and then as we were walking out after being yelled at he yelled and said hey come in here! So we walked in and there was 2 girls and him. So we taught them a lesson about the Plan God has for them, and the blessings that come by living the gospel. And we asked them about being baptized, and it turned out that that kid was an inactive member of like 6 years. So we used him to teach the lesson with us. It was sweet! Heavenly Father always leads us to his children if we are looking for them. So that was a way cool experience. Then later on we taught Sara and Jennifer and Franchesca about the Word of Wisdom. With Brother Labrin the 1st counselor. It was great they accepted to live it. And then we were walking around doing contacts and then we were on our way home, and Elder Wade rang a doorbell and a college kid came out and let us in. We started teaching him, and then all of a sudden a lady walked in. And we invited her to share with us, and she sat down and we put a baptismal date with her. She is from Paraguay. And she knew a little bit about the church, and was ready to hear the gospel. Her name is Olga! So it was a sweet day! We got a lot done.

 Then Wednesday we did some work in the morning, and we ate lunch and then we went to the office and switched back. And all of Tuesday it was raining off and on. Well the whole week it was raining off and on. Then we went home and got ready to work. We went and taught Daniela and Fernanda again. The 2 girls that we found the night we were walking to Olga’s house and right as we got close a member stepped out of a taxi, and we invited her to come help us teach and she came! It was so cool! It was great! And we did a bunch of contacts also.

  Then Thursday came around, and we did our studies in the morning, and Elder Aranibia and I had a good talk about desires, and being diligent. And we taught a bunch of lessons on Thursday! We were both super animated to work, and talk to everyone so it was cool. And with Sara Jennifer and Franchesca we shared with them the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. Because her daughters are 13 years old. So it got them really excited, and that is something that Sara wants for her daughters, good morals and values! So it was way cool, and we committed them to reading it.

  Then Friday we did weekly planning, and that was great. Now we have a bunch of people to teach so we were able to plan what we are gonna be teaching them in the upcoming weeks. So we did that all morning, then we had lunch with Sister Salazar! (not the one who lives down the street! hahahaah) Lunch was good and we went with her to teach a less active family but they were busy, so we said a prayer and left. Then the rest of the day we did contacts, and we weren’t able to teach anybody so that kind of stunk, but at the end of the night we had our meeting with the Mission Leader so that was cool. And then we went to English class, and we got there a little late because the meeting took a while, and we walked in and we didn’t see anybody there for it, so we went to the bathroom and we came out and the 2nd counselor said Olga was there! So she came to English class. I taught them how to say a prayer in English so it was pretty cool. And we shared a little bit about the Book of Mormon with Olga because she had some questions so that was cool! And then we went home and planned for the next day.

  Saturday came around and we went early to Olga’s house at like 11 with a member to share with her. She had forgotten so she had to go change because she was in her pajamas. So we shared about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless her life and bring more life into it. It was way cool, and she was able to meet a member. Then we spent the rest of the morning doing contacts, then we went to lunch and lunch was good! We had chicken and mashed potatoes! My favorite! Then the rest of the day we taught a bunch of lessons. We stopped by this one house of a kid that came to one of our sport nights, and we knocked on the door and the grandma came out, and she said they weren’t home, so we left and went and knocked on a door in front of the apartment, and the dad came out and yelled hey come over when you are done over there! So we walked over, and we started teaching them. They are real nice, the dad said he wanted help to stop drinking and smoking. So we taught them about the Restoration and Atonement. And we put baptismal dates with them! But they had a lot of questions, and we had to be super direct with them. I think the dad had been drinking that morning also. But we were way stoked to finally be able to find that family! It’s much more easier to teach a family then a bunch of single investigators, and it’s what God wants. Eternal Families! So it was way sweet. Then we taught Sara at night and shared about the Atonement and The plan of Salvation. It was great! She has had some pretty hard challenges in her life and with her daughters. People that live in their part don’t treat them very nicely. But she was feeling better after a hymn, and that lesson. She is so great she and her daughters are so special. We found them one day when we were walking up a hill to contact, and Sara was working in her garden and we offered to help her, at first she wasn’t very receptive but we convince her to let us in and say a prayer. And she wasn’t really feeling it at first but we kept coming back and they felt the Spirit as we shared the Restored Gospel, and now they want to go to church and be baptized! So it’s so cool how Heavenly Father works!

  Then Sunday I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. I talked about Capitan Moroni and the title of Liberty, and the baptismal covenant. And how we make covenants to have a better life, and receive blessings! And as I was sitting there singing with Sara I looked out of the corner of my eye and Olga had come and sat down next to me! So it was a way sweet Sunday!  Sara’s daughters went to the campo with their dad for the weekend so they couldn’t make it to church. But it was way cool. And Elder Glazier gave a great Gospel principles class about the Restoration. So all in all it was an epic week!

  And now we are here on Monday with our P Day taken away because our house failed the clean test. I can only assume that everyone is laughing right now! But hey I tried my best to do my part. Our oven had like Ghost Buster Goo on it and I annihilated it with some steel wool. And the bathroom had mold and fungus and I destroyed it with a brush and everything. But in the end everyone’s gotta give their part in keeping their rooms cleaned. So I hope they have learned their lesson. And we also got news that we are going to be moving in with the office Elders and the Assistants today! So no more cold showers! So we’ll see how it works out. Wish us luck!

  So I hope everyone has a stoke-tastic week this week! I’m gonna do my best to have one to! Thanks for the prayers and love,

           les quiero,

                           Elder Johnson

June 11, 2012 - Sopaipillas, and Electric Shower!

Epic week none the less! Started out with a sweet District Class. The Zone Leaders had their Zone Leader Conference last weekend so they gave the class. They talked about diligence in finding people so that we could be able to baptize more people. It was way cool! We read a talk about Mediocrity also. It talks about how you gotta give it your all so at the end of the mission when you get off the plane there should be an ambulance waiting for you! It’s just like a sprinter in a swim race. If you get out of the pool and you aint breathing hard and you can’t walk, you didn’t give it your all in that race. So it was a way cool class. We had some good practices and left feeling great. We went home and ate lunch with a member, and then went out to work.

  Wednesday we had a great day. It was sunny this whole week. And being sunny didn’t mean that it was hot. In the mornings it was freezing cold. (Good thing we bought electric blankets.) But our house has an electric shower, and it has made me a more humble person. The way it works is you gotta turn the water on, and if there is a lot of water it’ll be colder and if there is less water it’ll be warmer, so if you put less water it’s just trickling practically. So now I’m a world record shower taker. You just gotta get in and out. It’s so freezing! But I’m becoming more of a fan of the cold because of it so it’s good. We taught Sara Jennifer and Franchesca they are the family we have been teaching. So it is sweet. We had a great lesson about the restoration. One of the daughters thought she was gonna be baptized on Sunday! But we explained how you gotta go to church first 3 times. Then after we went to the Ecuadorians house and we taught them about being a light to the world by being good examples. It was great, and they gave us rice with scrambled eggs! It was great!

  Then Thursday we had weekly planning early. So we did that and we went to lunch but it didn’t fall through because it was gonna be at 3 and that is late for us. So we went to Doggys. It’s the Chilean McDonalds. They sell completos French fries and ice cream. So it was good. The rest of the day was spent doing contacts, and we taught the less active family non-member family we teach. It was cool. We watched the story of John Rowe Moyle. The handcart pioneer that got his leg cut off but continued walking the 40 miles to the temple to finish the granite work. It’s one of my favorite stories!

  Then Friday we had a mini conference in our chapel. President Humphrey talked about this new program they have made to keep the new converts active in the church. It is sweet. Because here in Chile lots of people get baptized but very few stay active for that long. So this program is going to be great. Then we watched a talk that Elder Holland gave in the MTC where he talked about how we need to make the mission a platform for our lives, and how we need to become more dedicated to studying preach My Gospel and stuff like that. It’s super inspiring! Then the assistants talked about how we need to always find people to teach, and why it’s important to find, and we did some practices about teaching a quick 5 minute lesson. Then later at night we taught Sara Jennifer and Franchesca again. We taught them with a new convert Ximena. It was great we talked about the Book of Mormon and the importance of reading it. So it was great and Ximena shared a great testimony. Then we walked to English Class. Franchesca and Ximena came. And I taught some English, and then we had to walk Franchesca back home so we ended getting home a little late but it was a great day.

  Then Saturday came! We left in the morning and started contacting. We went to contact this reference, and this guy opened the door and said no, and slammed it right away so that was lame. But I guess that guy doesn’t live there he is like the neighbor or something. Then we did some more contacts, and we found Geraldo! He is an older guy who is retired and has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. He has a basic concept of the gospel, and the desire to share. So that was cool. Then we went to lunch and after lunch we went right to work. We went to stop by a less actives house, but she wasn’t home so then we went and started doing contacts. And we taught a college student named Oscar. He was cool. He had some great questions to ask us. He studies karate also he told us and there he learns a little bit about some Japanese religion.

  Then we found Mauricio a couple of houses down. He was a little busy so we couldn’t share that much. But he’s a dad with 2 little kids and his wife. So we shared for a minute and gave him pamphlet and left. Then we went and found a less active that we had previously contacted during the week. His name is Manuel. He lived in Germany for 30 years. He is way cool. He had a cool story. Of what he did when he was younger and how he got to know the church and some cool members he met in Germany. So we talked to him for like 30 minutes on his door step. So we are gonna try getting him to church more often. So we are excited. And then we taught another less active couple who is going through some hard times. They are like 21 years old and have twins that are 1 and a half years old. The wife goes to school, and the dad works. So we shared with them, to get that fire burning inside of them again. They are real great and have a lot of potential in church. But they didn’t end up coming. But we are just getting started with them so it’s way cool!

  Then we went later to Sara and Jennifer and read some scriptures with them about baptism, so that was cool. Then we went home for the night.

  Then came Sunday morning! We woke up early showered and made the long walk to Las Aguitas to have breakfast with Sara, Jennifer and Franchesca. We brought bread and cheese and cookies to share for breakfast, but they woke up earlier and made sopaipillas! They were so good! They were warm, and I put some dulce de membrillo on them. Dulce de membrillo is like a jelly that comes from a fruit that is super sour, but they just add sugar and it tastes delicious! And I also put some cheese on a couple of them so it was good! And we talked a little bit about church and they were way excited! Then we walked down the hill together and took a colectivo to church. Our collectivo got there before them, but we didn’t know that so we went running up the hill to find them but they weren’t in the church so we went running back down the hill and there they were walking up. I felt bad because Sara broke her ankle a couple of months ago so she walks with a crutch, and they had to walk pretty far. But hey they’ll get more blessings for that!

  So church was great, Sacrament meeting was cool. One talk was about the importance of mothers and daughters! Which was perfect for Sara, Jennifer and Franchesca. Then the 2 daughters went to young womens and loved it! And Sara loved Gospel principles class, and Relief Society. After we walked down the hill with them so it was way cool. And the less active family with non-member kids came and her mother in law! So it was way cool! And another less active lady we have been teaching! So we were way stoked, we were way blessed Sunday with all of those people in church!

  And then we went to lunch after, then had to walk home, and we walked back to where we ate lunch, and we did some contacts, and found a family. But we weren’t able to teach very good, so we left them with a pamphlet. But we'll go back again and see how they are doing. And we did some contacts, and we taught Alvano. We hadn’t seen him nor his wife for like a week. but he is doing good we talked about the Book of Mormon and what it can help him achieve and become, and also how it can bless his family! So we are just waiting for them to get married!

  Then we did some more contacts and contacted a reference.

   So all in all it was an epic week! We just gotta keep the animo flowing and the diligence up and well see some miracles! I’m loving it here!

    I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for everything!

   les quiero,

                 Elder Johnson

June 4, 2012 - Holes in the Rain Pants, but a week of progress!

Hey how about it! Here we are again! Time flies! We had a great week this week!

 Monday was a great day. We found a couple of sweet investigators at the end of the night! So that was a great start to the week!

Wednesday morning was District Class. It was great. We all introduced ourselves, so that was cool. Then I gave the Class. It was great! We talked about the importance of teaching the investigator and not the lesson. And the importance of asking questions to figure out what really is the problem they are having. So it was cool. Everybody gave comments and we did some great practices! And it was a nice day out. On Wednesday we were contacting and we found a sweet older lady. Her name is Silvia and she has trouble seeing. She was great we talked about the Restoration for a bit and about the Atonement, and baptism.  She was way cool, we could really feel the spirit with her. We also taught Alvano and Nilvia with Igor one of the members in our ward. It was a great lesson. We talked to Alvano the whole time because his girlfriend was in the other room with their little baby. But it was a great lesson. We talked about baptism and the importance of it in this life. And Alvano accepted a baptismal date. And the member that came with us is a returned missionary that served in New Jersey. He is sweet. He talked about the importance of the Law of Chastity and the blessings they can could receive by being married and keeping that commandment. It was great! Alvano liked it, and it made him think a lot.  So that was great.

   Thursday was also really cool! We were walking down the street in the morning and we always pass by this apartment complex. But this time the gate was opened so we James Bonded it into the complex, and we were like...hey where should we go contact. And we walked to this building and we touched the doorbell, and a lady walked  out and we started talking and she invited us in. And we started talking, and she said that we came at just the right time. Because she lives with her boyfriend. They have been together for 7 years, they are an older couple. But she said that the son of her boyfriend started living with them, and he is a drug addict and him being there started to mess up things in the house, but finally the son left. And she was telling us that she thinks like it was her fault. But we testified of the Atonement, the Restoration and the Plan Heavenly father has made for families. And then invited her to be baptized like Jesus Christ. And she accepted. The Spirit was real strong there, I could feel it testifying to her that these things are true. The only problem that we would have with her is getting her married. Because you can’t be living together without being married. That seems to be one of the bigger problems here in Chile....no one is married. But we find all of these great people, and that’s the only thing that impedes them from entering the waters of baptism.

But Friday was crazy. We had weekly planning, and then it started raining. So I put on my new rain pants I bought last Monday. And we walked from appointment to appointment the whole day. We taught 3 lessons, and walked the whole time in rain, it rained for 6 hours straight! But my pants kept me dry, but at the end of the night when I took them off I looked at them and to my surprise there was a giant hole in the butt! So I guess from just walking or something they got destroyed. So that was pretty funny, walking around with a whole in my butt the whole day! But we had a sweet lesson with Alvano and Nilvia! We read The Family A Proclamation to the World and we talked about Eternal Families and the plan Heavenly father ha for them. And they really like the sound of Eternal Families and Alvano really wants to be baptized, but they said that it isn’t something that is to urgent for them. So we have some work to do with them still. But they loved church when they went and everything. So pray for them!

   Saturday was a great day. We taught a couple of lessons. One was with a family that is part less active and part not married, but the parents are sweet members. So we shared a lesson with them about the Atonement, and it was good, the parents gave a lot of great complements. We teach the daughter of the parents who is less active. The parents live in another sector, in the other mission actually. And the daughter’s husband is not a member. But it was great. We just need to get the daughter going more to church. I know that if she starts going more her husband will see that and want to go. So we’ll see how it turns out.

   Sunday was great. We had Alvano Nilvia and Lucas all committed to come and at the end of it when we called them they said they had to go to a birthday party. So that was lame. But church was great. And we had a good day. We found some people and set some sweet lessons up. We ended the night at a Family Night with a new convert. It was cool there was a couple of families from the ward there. We ate some crepes with Manjar. Amnjar is like thick caramel! It’s so good. I’ll have to send some home one day!

  But that was our week! Pretty sweet we are excited for this one to see what’s in store!

I love you guys a bunch, thanks for all of the prayers and love!

Have a great week!

    les quiero,

                     Elder Johnson