Ola!

This week passed by extremely fast. I don’t have a whole lot to write as not a whole lot happened. I spent most of the week resting as I have had a few health problems. It is nothing too serious and I am beginning to feel better. I went to the doctor and he gave me some medicine that seems to be helping. I do not like sitting on the bench. I would much rather be playing in the game. I am hoping this week will be better and that I can be out there working more.

We still were able to visit and teach some people. Emerson, Everton and their family are all doing well. They still don’t feel quite ready for baptism, but they are progressing and hopefully will receive the desire to be baptized. The lessons with them are really great and spiritual. We are always so welcome in their house and we will keep working with them.

I did have a lot of time this week and study the scriptures. That part was really nice this week. I love the scriptures and always want more time to read. It is crazy because before the mission one hour of scripture study seemed like a lot but the one hour we have here on the mission seems like so little. I just want more time to study. It’s amazing how much we can learn through study and prayer. Even just a few minutes can strengthen us and give us answers to all our questions. Take a few minutes or a few hours a day, study, and ponder the scriptures. You will feel a true difference in your life.

Another thing I am extremely excited for this week is General Conference! This will be my first General Conference in the field as I spent the last one in the MTC. I love Conference. In my house it is one of the biggest holidays of the year. As we are filled with the sweet words of the prophet, we are also filled with sweet candy in my family. More than just the candy and food of Conference, there is truly nothing more satisfying than hearing the words of God through his chosen servants. They are inspired and have the authority to literally speak for God to the whole earth. They are more than just good speakers or leaders of a church. They are literal representation of Jesus Christ speaking not just to his church, but to the world, leading and guiding us through the tribulations of our days while also lifting and inspiring us to have more hope and faith in a world so full of doubt and unbelief.

Conference is a time to literally raise ourselves up and be edified and filled with the most precious truths the gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer. We must do all we can to prepare ourselves for this opportunity we have. We must pitch our tents as in the time of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. When King Benjamin gave their version of General Conference everyone pitched their tents with the opening towards the prophet. In my family we literally would make tents and stay in them to watch Conference, but more than literal tents that we sometime build, we need to make sure that our spiritual and mental tents are ready. Our minds need to be ready to hear and understand the words and our hearts need to be opened to feel the promptings of the Spirit as he will testify of the truthfulness of all that is spoken and will place in our hearts and minds all that we must do. This week in preparation, read the scriptures, pray to our Heavenly Father and think about questions that you have. Write the questions down and I promise that if you’ve pitched your tents and are open and ready the words of God, you will receive answers through their words and through the Holy Ghost.

I hope you all have an amazing week. I love you all!

Tchau
Elder Johnson.

Ola

This week flew by so fast. I will start off by talking about Emerson and his family. Emerson and Everton were not baptized this week. We still had to teach them a few things and they didn’t quite feel prepared yet. Hopefully this week they will be able to be baptized. Everton is the most prepared. He is 15 years old and has been waking up early to go to Seminary everyday. He really likes the church and learning more. His friend Jose wants to go to Seminary and go to church but his dad still won’t let him. Jose talks about being baptized though and is just waiting for permission from his dad or until he turns 18 in two years. One really cool experience with their family this week was when we had a lesson with them and President Thomas. It was a little weird at first because it has never happened before to me. It was super spiritual though. The lesson went really well and everyone enjoyed it. President Thomas even called me a few days later to see how the family was doing.

Our other main investigator is Robbie. He is the Indian man who we teach in English. He is doing well. He always wants us to come over and teach him and he is reading the Book of Mormon. Teaching in English is weird. One day about half way through the lesson I switched to Portuguese without realizing it. My companion had to remind me to speak English. Haha. I am also teaching him how to cook food on a small budget because he is still looking for work and doesn’t have much. I showed him the college student’s best friend, Ramen. Haha. I explained to him how to cook Ramen but also to include vegetables and some meat for it to be a little healthy. I will teach him how to cook a few more things this week.

We are still looking for more people to teach. It is always a task to complete as missionaries, but with faith and hard work I know we will find those who are being prepared by the Lord. One thing I really like about this ward is that we have a lot of Family Home Evenings. Members invite us, recent converts, investigator and friends over and we have a message, some games, and food. It is a great way to bring everyone together.

Sunday this week was crazy for me. About 15 or 20 minutes before the meeting started I was asked to give a 10 minute talk. I told them I would although I had nothing prepared. As I started preparing a talk, someone else came up to me to ask me to play the piano. I said I would try. I went over to try to play through the songs once, but before I could even see what all the songs were, the meeting was starting. I had only played through the first song once and I still didn’t have anything prepared for the talk. I did feel the spirit calm me and although my piano playing was nowhere near perfect I was able to play through some songs I have never played through. Because the name is in Portuguese, I didn’t even know what hymn I was playing until I started. I also gave the first talk. It was my first talk in Portuguese and I am so grateful for the spirit and the gift of tongues. It wasn’t perfect and the talk was a little scattered, but I think I said some good things and even started going over time a little bit without realizing it. Haha. It truly is a gift to have the Holy Ghost with us. He can comfort us, guide us, and help us in any situation. We need to live worthy for this gift from God, but when we are worthy He freely gives us all his gifts. We still have to prepare ourselves and practice our talents, and we may not always be perfect, but the Holy Ghost will amplify our efforts and bring happiness, joy and peace into our lives. I love you all!

Chao
Elder Johnson

Ola

This week was awesome. A lot happened but I will start with last p-day. After we used the internet cafe for email, it started pouring rain. Literally like buckets pouring down. I forgot my umbrella so I took the opportunity to literally sing and dance in the rain. It was so much fun just to enjoy the feeling of the rain. I was completely soaked, but feel so good. It reminded me of the Primary song that says “I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.” Like the rain cleans and purifies the earth, the Lord cleans and purifies our soul.

In relation to our investigators, Emerson and Everton will be baptized this Sunday if everything works out! They have strong testimonies, are always going to church, and are excited to be baptized. We are working with the family also, but they aren’t as certain about the church yet, but I think with a little time they will take the steps to come to church and be baptized. It is an amazing, unified family. The lessons with them are so spiritual and fun. They always welcome us in and I can already see a different light and feeling in their home as they are accepting the gospel more and more.

Our other main investigator is Robbie. He is an Indian man who doesn’t speak a lot of Portuguese, so we are teaching him in English! It is a lot of fun but very weird to switch to English. It has been almost as hard as teaching in Portuguese when I first arrived. One crazy thing that happened with Robbie this week is that we had an appointment with him, but he wasn’t in his house. As we walked back to our house, we stopped to talk to a member on the street. As we were talking, Robbie came up behind us. He had been our running and had lost his house key. We helped him explain to his landlord, and she gave us a huge bag of keys (probably about 60) She said to try them and maybe one of them is for his house. We went to Robbie’s home and he pulled out the bag of keys. He chose one and the very first key he tried worked and opened the door. It was a little crazy. I truly know that the Lord was looking out for him. After, we had a great lesson with him talking about the word of wisdom and setting goals for him to follow. He also went to the Stake Conference we had this week, so I translated most of Stake Conference into English. It was a little bit of a challenge but was fun. He hopefully will be baptized in one of the following weeks.

A couple of days this week were great learning experiences for me. Firstly, I had a division with the zone leader, which was great and I learned a lot. Then we had a multi-zone conference and had some great training from our mission president, his wife, the zone leaders and others. It was in the chapel in Cotia so it was also fun to return to my first area. The last day that was great was Stake Conference. It was focused on missionary work. He gave training to the leaders about inviting friends to Family Night, church, etc and all of the talks on Sunday were great. It reminded me that every member is a missionary. Missionary work is not effective without members. Through simple things (such as sharing a video or testimony on social media) every member can make a difference. One interesting thing that President Thomas, the mission president, showed was a talk from Elder Bednar showing that we shouldn’t just pray for people to magically show up for church but that we should go out and do the work. We are all instruments of the Lord. Lets all do are part to spread the gospel and it’s message of hope and love to all the world. I love you all.

Chao
Elder Johnson

Soaked

Olá!

This week was great! We have been working really hard here and it has been a lot of fun. The greatest thing that happened with week was with Emerson's family. It is a huge family and we were finally able to teach all of them together. It was such an amazing lesson. We sang some hymns in English and Portuguese and we talked about Moroni 10:3-5. We challenged them all to pray and also to be baptized! They all accepted! Some are more excited than others, but we hope to prepare all of them and hopefully they can all be baptized together!

We also taught some other people this week who went to church with was great. It is always hard at the end of the week waiting to see who shows up and who doesn't. It is amazing when you see someone walk in who you would never have expected.

I was feeling sick this week. I just had a cold or something. It seemed to be going around. As sick as I was feeling I am so happy for the power that I felt also. I was able to still work every day and meet with all the people we needed to. Though I was tired and wanted to just go to bed some days I had help from my companion and definitely from angels who held me up and pushed me forward. There are always people out there for us to find. Who are looking for the truth and to have more happiness and joy in their lives. That is what this gospel is about. The true happiness, peace, and joy that comes from the knowledge that we have a Savior who suffered and died and that he knows us perfectly and is always here to help and guide us. It is amazing knowledge to have. I love you all!

Tchau!

Elder Johnson