Transfer calls came at 11:00pm
last night. I will be staying in South Phoenix and Elder Myler will be
leaving for his last transfer elsewhere. The phone call was devastating
and a shock - I really believed we would finish together for reasons
that I will clarify later. But I know that President Toone is inspired
and whatever happens happens for a reason.
I have served around a lot of
missionaries. For almost 23 months I have watched them in their final
months, weeks, and days. Some have prepared for the next step, others
have not. The idea of "work hard until the end and then think about the
next step" has been lived by many. They worked hard until the end but
I've seen them have hard transitions at the end. Other missionaries
couldn't stop thinking about going home and burned out before that day
came. They also had a hard transition.
I'm going to work hard until the end and think about
the next step the whole way. Not in a distracting way but in a way that
allows me to set real goals for what is to come. President Toone
confirmed that inspiration last week. Having done so, I feel like I can
focus more in the moment as I know where I want my long term goals to
take me.
We had an eventful week. But outside of our area our
zone had an eventful week as well. I can't really explain it but
conversion is happening here with these great missionaries. Four weeks
straight with almost every stat doubled. What a great way for Elder
Myler to finish his time here.
Facebook success is exploding. However, with that,
there are also challenges. I am teaching a man who lives in a small
village in India. I 'know' the mission president there; he is one of my
favorites. This last week I emailed him the referral and he informed me
that this man lived 2-3 days away from the nearest church building. There were no missionaries in his area and so contact and teaching would be impossible.
Sad.
I asked him what he
wanted me to do. He advised me to give the man access to the church
websites and then allow him to learn from there on his own until that
part of India is ready for the church to be established. I knew he was
right but that was a hard moment. The man who disappointed but
understood. I told the mission President that we'll send them enough
referrals for that entire city to justify a stake there :)
You see, these are neat experiences that would be
impossible without online proselyting What a unique situation for a
missionary in Phoenix, AZ to have.
This was another week of "dropping" people. When they're not willing to
do their part, we can't do our part so we "drop" them until an
undetermined future date when they are ready to act. It's never fun but
you know when it is right. There is a reassurance amidst the sorrow.
We had a tough day last week. We ended up dropping a
family, three lessons in a row fell through, and our member had
cancelled. We thought back to why we are still not baptizing in our area
and it was a discouraging moment. As we headed to our next appointment,
Elder Myler took a wrong turn and brought us down a street that a
family that is never home lives on. We did not plan to be there or visit
them but I had a strong impression to stop and knock their door.
Surprise! They were not home. But across the street was a man sitting
under a tree drinking a 40 oz. We determined to talk to him and seconds
later he yelled at us to come over.
So we did! He stood up and met us at the gate,
clearly drunk, but clearly wanting to change. He had experienced some
hard things in his life. Right from the start we were very direct and
bold with him. We wanted him to know what we do as missionaries and that
we would not waste time with people who did not want to act. I asked
him, "what are you willing to change?" He quickly responded, "I need to
get baptized."
If you insist! We talked for a while and asked him
how he could prepare. He said, "church, scriptures." I looked at his 40
oz and said, "are you willing to give up drinking?"
"Yes."
"Then pour that out."
"But, I'm not ready yet."
"If you're willing to change, you need to show God your faith."
"You know what, you're right!" And then he poured out the entire bottle.
Those are the best moments on a mission. He had a big smile as soon as he finished pouring it out. He knew it was right.
It
was one of those moments when we knew that God was watching out for us.
If our lessons had not fallen through, we never would have had time to
visit this man. If our member had not cancelled, we likely never would
have turned down that street. If we had not taken a wrong turn in our
car, we likely never would have met this man.
But all things happen for a reason. All we can do is make sure we're doing "what we ought to do, when we ought to be doing it."
This
week included a great success story from the Philippines. I am teaching
woman who has distraught when I first found her on Facebook. She wanted
to abort her unborn child and felt lost. We taught her the gospel of
Jesus Christ, about the importance of families, and about God's love.
She decided to keep the baby and practice her faith. We sent
missionaries to visit her but they could not find her home. They emailed
me back (through their mission president) reporting that the address
was a blank lot.
Devastated I contacted her again. She said she had
watched the two missionaries go by but was unsure about how to approach
them. So she didn't. She gave me her address again, I sent it, and the
next day I got the most wonderful message to her about how much she
loved their visit, how excited she was that they spoke Tagalog, and how
their ENTIRE FAMILY had been in the meeting. They have all accepted
baptism. The husband is taking the Book of Mormon to work to share it.
The mission president excitedly emailed me saying that the missionaries
were also reporting great things about the family.
You see, these are neat experiences that would be
impossible without online proselyting What a unique situation for a
missionary in Phoenix, AZ to have.
We visited a beautiful family this last week. The husband is progressing
much slower than the mother who is ready. We talked to her about it and
invited her to be baptized before him. In the past she has rejected
that because she wants to make this decision with him. We invited her to
pray about it. When we returned she said that she felt like she shuold
go ahead with it first. We read 1 Ne 8 about Lehi's vision or the iron
rod and how she can lead her family. She, being an amazing wife to her
husband, said that she needed to counsel with him about it first before
she set a date. She wanted to respect him as her husband and make sure
it was ok with him.
This family is one of my favorites. They teach me so
much everytime we visit them. And what a humbling experience it was to
see her get the answer to the prayer that she initially was unsure
about! And so quickly, at that!
This past week Elder Myler and I exchanged with our
roommates, Elder Hardy and Olsen. Elder Olsen got sick so we came in and
I died of boredom. I managed to read dozens and dozens of pages of old
Ensigns, practice the violin for an hour for an upcoming opportunity
that we will have to play, and clean the house. I don't like being
inside.
Saturday and Sunday was stake conference in the Phoenix, AZ stake. President and Sister Toone spoke at both sessions.
After the Saturday
night session, Elder Myler and I had our temple recommend interviews
since ours expire at the end of this month. I've never felt more
prepared for an interview - it was a great experience. I took the
opportunity to ask President Toone some doctrinal questions that I had
and was blown away, like everytime, by his answers. I have learned so
much from him.
Before the interview ended he asked me how I would
feel if our companionship was affected by the transfers the following
day. For 5 minutes I told him that we should stay together. It didn't
work.
He asked how Facebook was going. I told him some of
the miracles we have experienced recently. He was touched. I showed him
this map (attached). It is a sacred evidence to me that this is the
Lord's work. It shows where all of our Facebook investigators live.
We are teaching people in:
the
USA, including: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona,
Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York
Canada: Alberta
Mexico: Quintana Roo
South America: Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
Europe: England, the Ukraine
Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa
Pacific: Australia, New Zealand.
Over 20 countries. Over 10 languages, connected over google translate and broken English.
President Toone was touched and asked if he could share that in the Sunday
session of stake conference. We didn't expect him to cite our names but
he definitely did and told everyone that we had six weeks left haha. It
was a little embarrassing; President Toone is a king of making you feel
special.
We had people come up to us afterwards and offer to help us teach people in languages where they had served their missions.
You
see, these are neat experiences that would be impossible without
online proselyting What a unique situation for a missionary in Phoenix,
AZ to have.
Do you remember last week when I wrote about
that Iraqi family? Apparently they told the man that brought them that
they saw "coronas" around our heads when they talked to us. I told the
man that we saw them around them as well. What a special family.
Last night was the Mission President's Fireside. We
translated. It wasn't the best job we have ever done but it was
sufficient. Afterwards I was overjoyed to hear that the last three
members of a family that I taught and baptized would be getting baptized
next week in Mesa! I'm making plans to go. I love that family. The
mother pulled me aside and said, "You will always be our missionaries.
We will never forget you and everything you have done for us."
That was a tender experience.
I
also saw another wonderful family that I taught in Mesa! They went to
the Mesa temple for the first time last week. They're doing so strong.
So well. :) :) :)
Life continues to move on here. Miracles happen
everyday. This transfer has made me sad but we move on in faith and
trust in God :)
PS: I made some calculations
today...there's a chance that I go back with Elder Diaz again for my
last six weeks. I'm 40% sure that will happen. Start praying!
Love you all!
Elder Johnson
FB sotory
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