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