Olá!

This week went very well! I am feeling a lot better. I have had a little bit of a cough which is not fun when you are teaching, but have been feeling a lot better. I spent two days with President as we went to interviews in a couple of the zones here. It was really enjoyable to be with him and just have time to talk about the mission and other things. He is truly inspired and I am grateful for his guidance in our mission. I love that the Church is so organized and that everything is done through revelation. The mission has strengthened my testimony of that.

We have been able to teach a lot of people recently. I think I forgot last week, but we received a referral from the Sisters in Salt Lake! Someone sent them a message on mormon.org saying that he wanted to learn more. His name is Mateus. He is 19 years old and is awesome! He understands everything we teach him and has already been to church twice. He is super shy but has been opening up a lot and we have gotten to be great friends. It has been fun to teach him the past couple of weeks. He would have been baptized last week but had to do a surgery. We will see when he will be able to enter water again and when he can he will definitely be baptized.

Another person we taught this week is named Stella. We first talked to her a while ago when we were knocking on doors, but after we could never find her again. We finally were able to find her at her house and she is awesome also. She has already been to a lot of churches in the past, but never truly felt like they were true. She loves to talk and tell stories. It is hilarious to teach there. She didn't go to church yet because her dad does not like us very much because in their church they had a meeting about "the Mormons" Haha. It happens a lot here. We are going to try to talk to him this week so I hope that it all goes well.

I am loving the work that we are doing here. I feel like the time is flying by which scares me a lot because I don't want it to end. I have been seeing so many changes, both in my life and the lives of the people we teach. It is incredible to see how much the gospel can truly shape and mold us. Some family members of an investigator we are teaching were shocked when they found out that he was going to church. They thought that he never would, but when we ask for Christ's help, His grace is sufficient to change our hearts and minds. I am so grateful for the changes He has done in my life. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This week flew by super fast. It was a fantastic week. Tuesday we had a multizone conference and it was also my birthday so that was a lot of fun. We were also able to watch the announcement of the new Prophet. It was fun to see a lot of friends on that day and then at night we went out to dinner with President and Sister Thomas. It turned out to be a great birthday on the mission.

The next day I woke up and was not feeling that great. There were a couple elders in the office that were sick and I think I picked up what they had. It was a little rough the next couple of days, but I felt that the Lord helped so that we were still able to visit a lot of people and I also recovered super fast and was ready to go on Friday.

The last couple of days of the week were awesome. Friday and Saturday we were able to teach a lot of people and invite them all to church. On Sunday we had a lot of investigators at church which was a blessing because it has been a little hard the past couple of weeks. I know that God blessed us and also those people for going to church. It was a great meeting and many of the people said that they would return next week. I am so grateful that the Lord is always helping us in the work that we do here on the mission. It felt like this week and transfer would be an extremely difficult one and I felt like we were failing a little bit because we were not finding a lot of people who were wanting to progress, but after this week my testimony has been strengthened that if we do our best, the Lord blesses us and miracles will happen. I know that He guides us in all that we do. Thank you for all your love and support!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This week flew by and today went by so fast that I do not have a whole lot of time to write about what has happened. Our week was full of a lot of meetings. At the start of transfer it is always like that. We have to help organize everything. This time all the meetings went very well. I think it was our best time. Some of the trainings that we give are the same every time, but sometimes we switch them up and have to prepare. We had a few late nights of planning. It is ironic because our main training was about planning and we spent so much time planning. It went extremely well though. The new missionaries who got here also are awesome. I think we have a great future for the mission. It is crazy how it feels like I just got here and was receiving these trainings and now I have to give the trainings. I am really enjoying it though. It might be extremely tiring, but the Lord always helps and qualifies us in our weaknesses.

I have time to share a little story. On Sunday night we had a miracle. We were on the road trying to invite people to go to a ward activity. It started raining and little bit and then it started pouring. We almost turned around and ran to the church, but we kept going and decided to go a little early to a recent convert who we were planning on visiting, but just a little bit later. As we approached his house, we saw that his neighbor was watching us. He gestured to us and we entered into his house. We started talking to him and found out that he had already gone to the church and also has read part of The Book of Mormon. A week ago he wanted to turn around his life. He stopped drinking and wanted to go to a church. He then went out to watch the rain on Sunday and he saw us. He believes that it was an answer from God.

It was amazing that we were in the right place at the right time. President Thomas always tells us about that. He says that we need to talk to everyone and work as much as we can because so many times there are people who are praying and needing help and that we need to find these people. We can truly be the answer to another person's prayer. This experience strengthened my testimony. I am so grateful that the Lord guides us in this work. Thank you all for your love and support.

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This week went by super fast. Christmas was fantastic. I loved being able to see my family. The time went by so fast, but it was great to see everyone and be able to talk. Technology is amazing. The rest of Christmas we spent relaxing. We also went caroling to a couple people in the apartment where we're at. We went with a couple of members and their kids. It was a lot of fun. There are some Christmas traditions here that are the same. There were a lot of Christmas trees and until today there are even Christmas lights in some areas! It still doesn't feel like that time of year, but it is nice to see some of the traditions.

The rest of the week flew by. On Tuesday we planned some trainings that we will give this next transfer. On Wednesday and Thursday, we went on an exchange. I stayed in my area with Elder Keller who was my companion in the MTC! It was a lot of fun to be with him again. We have changed quite a bit, but it also just feels like yesterday that we were together in the MTC. Those couple of days went really well. It is usually slower because a lot of people were traveling, but we were still able to teach a lot of people which makes the days go a lot faster and it is also just a lot more fun to talk with people and teach them rather than stop them on the street to try to talk to them and mark a day to go to their house.

I did one more exchange on Friday. I was with another American who is pretty new on the mission. It was a really fun day. It is a very different area because there are a lot of apartment buildings. That makes it harder to teach people unless you receive a referral. There was one part of the area that is a little poorer which made it easier to work there. We found a family with a young man that is 18. He seemed extremely interested in the message. I hope that he prays and progresses in the gospel. The rest of his family seemed interested also, so I hope all of them accept as well.

There weren't as many things to do the rest of the week. On Sunday it was hard because everyone was drinking and having a party. We came to the office to sleep. At midnight there were a bunch of fireworks. It was fun to see. It is crazy how the time has flown by. I was able to give a talk on Sunday. The bishop called me a few minutes before church and asked if I could. I hope that it went well and everyone understood me. I talked about the goals we make especially with New Years. I talked about how we can use the Atonement of Jesus Christ not only to cleanse us from our sins but also help us make any change in our lives and improve in any aspect that we want to. I know that He has the power to help us become the best that we can be and even more than we can ever imagine. He sees our potential. We should always trust in His plan and do all that we can to do our part. I am excited for this new year and for all the opportunities it brings. Thank you all for your love and support!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson