Olá!

This week was great! We have been working a lot here. I am liking my new area. There are not as many hills as Cotia, but we still do walk a lot. We have quite a few members to work with here which is nice. We have also been working on finding new people! It is hard to look for people every day, but I know that there are people out there waiting for us.

Our main investigators are a huge family. It is extremely complicated to try to explain who everyone is, but there are three main young men that are awesome! Two of them are actually with the young men's group on a sort of camping trip but in a hotel. We have been teaching them a few times a week and every time there are more and more people who are interested. It is awesome and we are hoping to baptize all of them. haha

We also taught a few lessons in English this week! We met a guy from India who is learning Portuguese but speaks English well, so we are teaching him. It was extremely hard to switch the lessons to English. It is fun, though, and my companion is learning English so it is good practice for him!

Our time was a little limited today because we went to the Temple, so I will write up more this week, but the Temple was an amazing experience. I love the peace and eternal joy that is found inside the Temple. We should always have the Temple as our focus. Try to go every week if you can. I know you will feel the Spirit so strongly. I miss working in the Temple and the opportunity to go at any time. Here we can go once every three months, and I miss it a lot in the time we can't go. I am grateful I have the opportunity to work with people here on earth also every day :) This truly is the work of the Lord. I love you all!

Elder Johnson

My new companion, Elder Do Carmo.

Olá!

This was my first week in the Raposo Travares Ward. It was really great! It is different than Cotia, but I am enjoying it. We still walk quite a bit and there are still quite a few mountains, but it is easier to go to the Chapel because we don't have to take the bus. It makes it a lot easier for members and investigators to go to church also. It feels like a really strong community here.

My new companion is great. He is Brazilian and he is a very loving guy. He knows quite a bit of English which is nice. He practices English and I practice Portuguese! He is a great missionary also. He truly knows how to connect with people and put a smile on anyone's face. I am learning a lot from him which is great!

This week we went straight to work. It was a lot of fun to just get into it and it helped with the transition. We found some great new people and are working with some people that he found before also. The best people are a couple of youth that we are teaching. The other missionaries here had a baptism one night and we invited a couple of young guys on the street to go and watch it. We didn't really think they would show up, but that night they were at the baptism! They really enjoyed it and went to Church on Sunday also!!!!! We will work with them more this week and hopefully, they will be baptized soon!

As I start learning this area more I will have a lot more stories to tell and a lot more people to talk about. I just love that I have been so welcomed here. The light of the gospel is the same light in the entire world. The Church is true. 100%. It changes people and makes them better. I love the light of Christ. It is in each and every one of us. We can all share our light through our testimonies and love for one another. I love you all and thank you all for everything you have done!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This last week went really well. We just kept working on finding new people and we found some great new people who have amazing potential. One great thing that happened is that we decided to knock doors on one street. In all reality, you usually clap outside the house, but at the very first house we went to there was a person who was extremely interested in the Church! It was an amazing lesson and I feel like we were truly guided to her. We also were stopped in the street by a man who said he was a member but has been less active for many years. We passed by his house another day and had an amazing lesson. He has had some difficulties in his life and really wants to change and find peace and happiness. I felt the Spirit so strongly talking about The Book of Mormon and the love that Christ has for him. His wife is not a member so we are also teaching her which is great for both of them!

This week we have transfers. I will be leaving my area here in Cotia. It is a little weird to be leaving it behind. I have been here my entire mission. It feels like another home. You meet so many people who become like family. They help you through every day and every week. The area is just so familiar and comfortable. I like knowing where I am and how to get everywhere. It will be hard to start over again, but I know I will make more friends and will be able to help the lives of many more. The decisions that are made in regards to transfers are definitely inspired. I have faith that there are people that are waiting for me and I hope that new missionaries will help this area that I leave behind and will continue the work of the Lord. This is truly the Lord's work. As missionaries, we are just His hands here, but His Spirit is truly what inspires and changes lives. Sorry for the short email. I will have a lot more to say after this week of changes, but I love you all. Thank you for all the support and prayers!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This week went by super fast. We were preparing all week to try to make sure that Sabrina's baptism happened. Everything worked out and she was baptized on Saturday night and confirmed on Sunday. It was such a cool experience. I was able to baptize and confirm her. It is such a great feeling to be able to help with all steps of the process. The Spirit definitely does the heavy lifting in regards to conversion, but I am glad that I could help with finding her, teaching her, inviting her to be baptized, and then eventually baptizing her. To see how much someone changes and grows in such a short amount of time is an absolute miracle. It was an honor to help her and her family and I hope that she will continue to grow in her faith and be a light to all those around her. Baptism is just a step, but it is a big one in regards to the blessings that she and her family will receive.

To prepare for the baptism we had divisions so that the District Leader could do the interview. We also made sure she understood all the lessons and didn't have any questions. We invited people from the ward to the baptism and got some short talks set up. The day of the baptism we cleaned out the baptism font and had to wait a while to fill it up. The water wasn't the warmest, but still, beats getting baptized in a river. Haha. There were not a whole lot of people at the baptism, but it was still super nice. We sang some hymns and the bishop gave a great talk. We then had the baptism which she wanted in English, so my first baptism in Brasil was in English! Haha. It was a little different, but she really wanted to be baptized in English, so it was her choice. My companion translated for her family so they understood, so it was kind of in English and Portuguese. After, a member brought cake and it was like a small little party. The next day I was able to confirm her. It was one of the first blessings I have given in Portuguese also. It was a little hard, but I felt the Spirit and feel like I said things that made sense. We also introduced her to a lot of the people in the ward, so she has a lot of friends and people that helped her here. It truly was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

There was not a whole lot more that happened this week. We are just working every day. It is hot some days and raining other days, but the work always moves forward. We did get our new daily schedule. I haven't taken a long look at it yet, but I the biggest change is that we will be getting up at 7, not 6:30 and will return to our house by 10. I like the new schedule. I will look at it more to know exactly what I should be doing, but it looks good!

I know that this truly is the work of the Lord. So many miracles happened for one person to be baptized, and as I look back on the entire story it is crazy how much the Lord directs our paths. He truly cares about every one of us. He puts us in the direction of His lost sheep and we just need to follow the Spirit to do our part to bring them back into the fold. The worth of souls is truly great in the sight of God. One person is so important to Him. We search for the one that is ready and willing to accept Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that the Lord put Sabrina in our path and that he prepared her to truly accept Jesus Christ and take an amazing step in her life. Thank you all for the prayers and love.

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson