Olá!

This week we did more exchanged which was a lot of fun. The first couple of days I was with Elder Garcia who is from Argentina. I stayed in my area and we had a couple of great days. We met a lot of new people which was nice because when you are in an area for a long time you sometimes start to lose faith and think that you already have spoken with everyone, but that is not the case. There are still a lot of people here. We also went to district meeting together. President showed up as a suprise and it was the day that I gave a training to the district. I wasn't nervous as I usually have to give training in front of the mission and president and I enjoyed that it was a smaller group. I felt that it was a great meeting. President also brought chocalate covered strawberries which was a bonus.

After the first division we spent a day together in the area. It was nice. We made a cake for the girl who was baptized last Sunday since it was her birthday. She was confirmed yesterday which was special to see also. On Friday we decided to do a division with Elder Benedito who was my trainer! I went to his area and it was awesome. It was so much fun to be with him again. He is a great person and taught me so much so I felt like I was being trained again. We remembered a lot of old stories from the beggining of the mission and the day was full of things to do. He will go home in about a month so it was great to be able to be with him before he leaves.

On Saturday we were together again in the area and usually we use Saturday to invite everyone to go to church, so we were running around that day. It was great. On Sunday we had many investigators there and it was a fantastic meeting. Kimberly has been learning a lot. She gets so excited every time we give her a new pamphlet. She has been studying a lot and will be baptized next week!

I am having a great time on the mission. It has been raining a lot. There was a huge storm a couple of days ago that even destroyed some houses because of how strong it was. We are safe and happy though and I am excited for another week here in São Paulo! Thank you all for your love and support!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson

Cake for new baptism.

Just soda!!!

My trainer! (middle)

Olá!

This week went great. I may or may not have accidentally flooded the church. We were filling up the baptismal font and I forgot to turn of the water. Luckily I remembered before anyone came up and told us that it was overflowing. It wasn't a lot of water, so we were able to clean it up fast. I guess I wanted to be like Noah in the days of old, just without the ark. The baptism went great. It was a young girl named Lismaeli. Her family was baptized a few months ago and we started teaching her a couple of weeks ago. It was also her birthday so it was an incredibly special day.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. There was one day that was the day of rejection. Everyone rejected us. Everything fell through and it was a rough day. We were able to teach a few people, but the first person didn't even want us to pray, the second didn't want us to come back, and the rest were already going to different churches. There was even a person on the street who, when we said "Olá!", started yelling swear words at us and said "don't you have anything better to do??". We laughed it off, but it shows you that missionary work is not easy. It is hard to walk everyday in the sun and sometimes not have results. I am grateful for these days because I know that Jesus Christ suffered a lot more for me and so many people rejected Him. If He was rejected, we will also sometimes be rejected. I hope to follow His example and never give up and always forgive. I know that there are still so many people out there that need our message and we will keep working so that they can hear what we have to say. Through the difficulties, Christ will be with us always and I know that He is preparing so many people here in our area. I hope to be worthy to find them. Thank you all for your love and prayers!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson

We really do have plenty of food!

SEE!!!!

Olá!

Yet again another week has flown by. This week was fantastic. The highlight of the week is that we had two baptisms on Saturday. Both Mateus and Rafaela were baptized. It was an incredibly special day and we had a lot of support from everyone in the ward. Mateus was a referral that we received a couple of weeks ago. Rafaela had been taught for two years and finally was able to be baptized when her mom let her. Rafaela bore her testimony in church and it was very special. You can tell the love that she has to be a member of the Church now. Sometimes we can take for granted the blessings we receive when we are baptized. She is super excited to go to the temple and participate there. Mateus is also doing great. We had a family night after the baptism at his house. His mom went to the baptism and to the confirmation. He has also expressed desire of serving a mission. He is a great person and will do great things in his life.

The rest of the week we were working with a lot of other people. Fabrícia has now gone to church a couple of times. She will be baptized this week or next week. She still has a couple of doubts, but I think everything will work out soon. She is reading The Book of Mormon which helps a lot.

For a few days, I was with President at a couple of meetings. I translated for Sister Thomas. Translating is a very tiring process, but I really enjoyed it. You have to think on the spot and learn a lot of new words. There are times when you just have to make it work with what you know. This week is going to be a lot more normal. We will not have as many meetings. I am super excited to keep working here. I have seen so many miracles and hope to be worthy to see more. Thank you all for your love and support!

Amo vocês!

Elder Johnson