Olá!

This week went by so fast! It is crazy how fast the weeks go, but how slow the days feel sometimes. We walk a lot. Up hills and down hills and around hills. Haha. It is extremely tiring, but it strengthens me physically and spiritually because of the strength of the Lord I feel at all times here.

We have been working with a lot of different people. We make contacts on the street and then try to go back and teach them. We have to do it that way because there are a lot of apartment buildings here. It is fun and interesting to make a lot of contacts. On the street, you meet a lot of different people. One person kept trying to ask us weird questions. He asked us "Who we are", "What we eat", and "Where we live" Haha. Every time we tried to respond he would stop us and ask us the same questions over and over again. Haha. But I feel a love for all the people here. I know that they all of sons and daughters of God and that the love and atonement of Christ are for every single person on the planet.

We have a lot of different investigators. It is somewhat easy to start to teach someone, but for them to continue progressing is really hard. I am starting to be able to teach more and actually have conversations with people. It is hard when someone asks you a question and you have no idea what they said, or you know what they said but you have no idea how to respond in Portuguese. I have learned to have so much faith. Whenever I feel like I need to speak, the Spirit always helps me. And it is not a grand explanation of deep doctrine, but it is the simple testimony that the Spirit helps me with. I am so grateful for all the opportunities I am having to strengthen my testimony here, and for the opportunities, I have to serve and to teach. I love you all. Thank you for all for everything you have done for me!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

I made it to the second P-Day in the field! It has been crazy! So much happens that it is hard to remember it all! I am loving Brasil and the people here! The language barrier is hard, but I can still feel love towards every person here. The members have so much love for the church and want to hear all about Utah and the Conference Center and how it is there. It is super hard to explain in Portuguese, but I think they somewhat understand me. Haha.

One crazy thing that happened this week is that we were walking around at night, getting contacts and a somewhat crazy looking guy came up to us and was saying that he needed a scripture read. He was yelling that we were messengers from God and that he wanted us to read a scripture right then. He kept yelling "LEIA! LEIA!" which means "READ! READ!". We read him the scripture and then tried to get away without anything more crazy happening. Haha

The food this week was good. We tried McDonalds. It was...interesting. Haha. It was just a little different. The Big Mac was smaller and not as good. Everyone says that Burger King is better here, so we will try that. Haha. My companion likes learning English and likes Burger King and Pizza. The pizza here is amazing. They put chocolate in the crust which is actually amazing. So it is like a 3 meat pizza, with a chocolate crust. It sounds weird, but it is so so so good. :)

The weather has been weird. It goes from super hot, to stormy, to super hot, to freezing cold in one day. The storms here are intense. They took out the power on our street and I don't know if I have ever heard louder thunder. It was a little scary as it was almost shaking the apartment.

We had stake conference this week. It was really good. The mission president was there and a couple of our investigators were there also! One of them is making great progress. When I contacted her on the street and gave here a picture of Christ, she started crying because her husband died a couple months ago. We have shared with her the Plan of Salvation and she is making great progress! Her baptism is planned for the 13th of November!

I have seen so many blessings from the Lord. It was a hard week, but the Lord truly has been there to lift me up and to bless me. I love this gospel and the light that it brings into people's lives. Thank you all for the prayers, emails, letters, and love. I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Ola everyone,

I have survived one week in the field! It has been difficult and trying, but it has also been amazing. I have already learned so much and continue to learn more every single day. The language here is incredibly difficult for me. People speak so so fast and I only pick up a few words. It makes it hard to communicate and I might have said some false doctrine. Haha. Someone asked me if I am liking Brasil and I said no on accident. Haha. I am learning more every single day and the Lord is helping me through everything.

I am in a city to the west of São Paulo. Still in the state of São Paulo, but a different city. It is different. Roads are just built randomly and there are a lot of hills. I am so tired of walking up hills. Haha, We go to a lot of apartment buildings, but also other houses. It is crazy. I taught a lesson in a tiny room with a family and it was raining and the rain was coming in through the roof, but I still felt the Spirit so strongly. People here live in modest circumstances, but they love so much and they always are so giving. I also see some crazy things. One time I saw a guy walk by who was just singing at the top of his lungs and then a car went by with a sound system so big that it was sticking out of the back of the car(People here have decent cars, but great sound systems Haha) And then a guy went by on a horse. It was a pretty hot day so maybe I was just seeing things. Haha.

The weather here is pretty crazy. It goes from super hot to pouring rain and back in one day. I like the rain more. Walking up hills in the sun makes for long days. People love to see pictures and hear about the United States. One person was asking about conference and I said I sung in it last year, so he looked up the video and we watched it. It was fun and kind of weird. I had longer hair then. Haha

The food here is really good. Usually, rice with beans and meat. Sometimes pasta. And the juice is super good. We eat lunch with a member every single day and share a message with them. It is a lot of fun, but difficult when they talk so fast and then ask me a question and I have no idea what to say. Haha, They also love always calling on me for prayer. Haha. Every time they want the American to say it. I also help teach people English which is fun. I actually know what is going on . Haha. People also love how tall I am. People take pictures with me all the time. Haha

I am loving the opportunity to be able to serve the people here in Brasil. I know that through the Lord that I have been strengthened and continue to be strengthened every day. I love the simplicity and the beauty of the gospel. It blesses lives. The main thing that keeps me going every day is "Posso fazer todas as coises com Cristo" which in English means "I can do all things with Christ" His strength, love, Atonement, and mercy can bring light into the darkest places, it can heal any wound, and through it I know that I can accomplish my mission here and that I can live with my family and with God forever. I love you all. Thank you for your prayers, support, and love!

Elder Johnson

Olá!

This week was awesome! General conference was amazing. We watched it all together with the Brazilians and so I had to wear a headset the entire time, but it was still such an amazing experience. I probably could have picked up a good amount of Portuguese, but I wanted to make sure to understand all of the messages. It is very different when you are listening to conference on a mission. The messages seem a little different. There was so much emphasis on the Plan of Salvation and Jesus Christ. The doctrine of Christ is so simple and so I am glad that it was the simple, powerful truths that were taught during conference. It is the same amazing truths. that I am learning and teaching here in Brasil. I can't teach anything complex because, firstly, I don't know how to say anything complex in Portuguese, and, secondly, it is the simple truths that people feel and are drawn to. So I loved conference. I love having prophets on the earth that we can learn from. We all need to continue studying their teachings. Instead of reading texts, tweets, or posts, just take a couple minutes to read a conference talk. It will bless your life.

Another thing that happened this week is that I went Proselyting again. It was again very different. It was colder and I got rejected quite a bit. Many people didn't seem to want to talk to a tall, skinny, curly hair kid from Utah who speaks grammatically incorrect, broken Portuguese. Haha. But there were a few people who stopped (or who I tracked down eventually) and in those moments I knew it wasn't me that was speaking. It was the Spirit. It is such a blessing to have the Spirit. That is truly what gets through to people. And so through the rejection, I still feel really good that I was able to hand out a few Book of Mormons. Nothing too crazy happened in proselyting this time, or maybe I am just getting used to it. Haha.

I got a haircut this week, which was an experience... The barber doesn't look at your hair when he cuts it. He just starts buzzing the sides and then he did a scissor cut on top, but he seemed to be very distracted and missed a few parts, so I had hair that was longer on the back and in a couple different places. My roommate fixed it, but it was pretty bad. haha. I took a few pictures before it was fixed and will send those when I get out of the CTM.

It was truly a great experience here in the CTM. I leave to the field on Tuesday. The CTM is in my mission area, so I am basically just going right outside, but it is going to be totally different and I am excited and also nervous. I feel like it is the last practice before game day and I know that I need to get ready and be prepared. I want to leave it all out there and have no regrets. I know that with the Lord's help, then I will be able to make it through and enjoy this opportunity to serve. I know that this work is so important and I absolutely love it. Thank you for all your love and support!

Tchau!

Elder Johnson

This is the Museum of Art in Sao Paulo, an area that Noah has been streeting within. He says that it is very impressive and interesting.

An aerial view of the MTC in Sao Paulo