3 March 2014

New address! Who will be the first one to write me?!? 7611 S 36th St #214, Phoenix AZ 85042

There must be a God because I'm back with Elder Myler!! We are so excited to be together again and we've had so much fun already! And we're in South Phoenix, baby! The crack capitol of the USA a few years ago and home to what we lovingly call the Phoenix Zombies! 

We had done the "math" right before transfer meeting and figured out that we would probably be together. So we went to work and started planning what we would do when President Toone read our names and that we'd be companions. 

The normal procedure goes like this, "And in Phoenix South 11, Elders ____ and _____" The missionaries then get up and go hug, sometimes with lots of excitement, sometimes with less haha. 

We wanted to leave a mark. So we played baseball. How?

When President Toone said, "Elder Myler and Elder Johnson," neither of us stood up. Instead, Elder Diaz stood and pitched an imaginary ball at an Elder who swung an imaginary bat. Someone else yelled, "FLY BALL!" 

That was our queue. We were sitting on opposite ends of the room and stood up when we heard that. We stared at the ceiling looking at the imaginary ball and ran to the back of the room with our hands in imaginary mits and then ran into each other. After recovering from the "shock" we "noticed" that we were companions, got excited, and ran back to our seat.

It was the most memorable one of the day. 

Elder Myler is the THIRD companion that I have had twice haha. I've never heard of that happening before more than once! 

We talked a lot about the area. Elder Myler believes it has been under-performing and in the four days that we were together in the past week we already set an area record. The future is exciting! We are both on the same page for everything and it's AWESOME!

South Phoenix is completely different than Mesa. Whereas Mesa was poor, South Phoenix is destitute. It has everything that comes with a poverty-stricken city: drugs, violence, gangs, and intense minority groups. Things are rough down here but I LOVE it. My second day gave me the taste for what South Phoenix would be like:

The ward that we serve in, just a Spanish ward, is amazing. It is very organized (DREAMS DO COME TRUE), the members share the gospel on their own, the Bishop is excited, the ward mission leader is amazing, and great things are happening already! The members have very...unique...pasts but that's ok, all that matters is the future! They're converted and are converting many! Retention is at 80% for the first year - probably the highest that I've seen in any ward. 

There are 18 missionaries in the zone including us, a fraction of the 30 that we had in Mesa. I was sad to see Mesa go but I was excited to be able to serve in a zone so small. There is a family atmosphere here. 14 of the missionaries here are Spanish speaking.

We have a 2014 Toyota Corolla. We picked it up with 30 miles on it. It has a backup camera?! Hahahaha. And no tiwi :D

Within my first two days here I had an experience that has changed my life and has changed my mission. We were at the church waiting for our member to show up to take us to some lessons and the Sister Training Leaders (STLs) called us with an emergency. They were alone at a different church building at 7"30pm when a man ran up to the locked door and started pounding on it while screaming, "I NEED TO GET SAVED, LET ME IN!" 

After a few minutes, he fell onto his knees in tears and the sisters talked to him through the door. They called us and we floored it over. 

When we got there they were talking to him outside. He was a meth addict and has been haunted and tortured by "the devil and evil spirits." He was 20 years old and clearly had been through hell in his life. He had piercings. We took him inside the church and into the chapel, sat him down, and told him his life wasn't going anywhere. He told us some of his recent experiences, which were shocking, and told us that he was willing to give anything up to have peace. He was desperate, depressed, lost, and confused. 

We gave him a priesthood blessing and he immediately calmed down. It was night and day. His voice level softened, his countenance changed, and he recognized that he was a child of God.

That was humbling in and of itself.

He told us that he had been clean for 11 days. He was so proud of that. And you know what? I was proud of him for that. 11 days is not very long but that was all the hope that he had. In his eyes, he was winning! And in mine he was too.

As Elder Myler and I got in the car to drive back, we reflected quietly on that experience. This kid was my exact age but our lives were going in completely different directions. 

I could have been (name changed) "James." I could have been a meth addict, running around alone at night being haunted by personal demons. I could have had his life.

But thanks to everyone that preceded me, I am not. I am serving a mission for James. He is my purpose. I am out here going through what we do everyday for James' everywhere. I am serving a mission so that James' children don't have to experience what he did. I am serving a mission so that James can trust himself, can believe in himself, and can believe that his future is as bright as he wants it to be. I am serving a mission to say thank you to my ancestors for helping me be who I am today. This isn't for me; it is for all of them. But what it has done for me is inspiring.

I would do anything for any 'James,' because I've seen James' change. And it's the best thing ever.

That experience was so intensely profound that it has changed the way I approach everything. I wake up at 6:30, exhausted beyond belief, for James. I work hard all day everyday for James.

And it is all worth it. Every. Single. Second. 

James has changed my life. There are few other single moments in my entire life that have impacted me as much as 'James' did in that moment.

Yesterday was the Gilbert Temple dedication. It was a special experience. It was a little strange hearing such loud sounds inside the celestial room, but whatever! President Monson strangely didn't look very happy. 

I found my apostate great great great (etc) grandpa in the Doctrine in Covenants! D&C 132:124! Alpheus Cutler!

We had a cool experience this last week in a meeting with the DLs and STLs of the zone. We met together to discuss the needs and make a training plan for the month. It was exciting to see everything come together as we refined ideas and made plans. That's the coolest thing to experience.

This past week was Mission Leadership Council (MLC). I love MLC. I learn so much at MLC every single time.

However this time President Toone thew a curve ball. President Eyring, when he gave President Toone his final interview, commissioned him to teach the missionaries of the Arizona Tempe Mission how councils in the Lord's Church work. So that is what we have been doing.

But at MLC we counciled in a different way. We did a mock High Council disciplinary meeting. It was intense, terrifying, and inspiring. I've never felt the way I did when being involved in that practice. It was agonizingly sad and unbelievably peaceful at the same time. Weird combination. I won't go into the specifics for what we "role played" but I had never felt what I did before. 

At MLC, President Toone also spoke to the missionaries that replaced Elder Diaz and I in Mesa in front of the whole group of 40 of us. He said that we were all there to support them as they replaced Elder Johnson and Elder Diaz in Mesa, "a zone that was run marvelously and magnificently." That was a nice moment. 

On Saturday night, contrary to previous instruction, President Toone invited all the missionaries to watch the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration video. It was hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time and I *think* that the humor was planned. It was also very well done and ran smoothly, despite the massive rainstorm. That was the first time it had rained in months. I honestly can count on one hand how many times it has rained in the last six months. 

Thanks for the letters Susie and Family! 

Miracles are going to happen here! I'm so excited to be here in South Phoenix and even more excited to be here with Elder Myler! #ComoSeDiceANDALEPUES

Thank you all for your continued support! Be sure to like and share my posts on Facebook so that more people can see them! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Johnson

29 July 2013

President Toone called last night. He talked to both Elder Diaz and I. Elder Diaz is training. The second he said he wanted to talk to me my heart dropped since I knew it would mean I would leave. He asked me to 'step up' and then later to pack my bags. 

I have loved this area. I've loved this district. District meetings were always so much fun and I loved preparing the training and whatnot. I was hoping to stay there for a long time since it is a more personal calling. I'm still working on making myself be excited because mostly I'm just sad to leave.

Right now we have six people getting baptized, easily, in August. Six! Ahhh! This is what happened to Elder Sawyer, he got transferred right before six people he taught got baptized. I'll be sad to miss the baptisms.

So in short: I'm getting transferred. Three months of happiness here in Chandler serving in one of the best wards. I'm going to miss the members, the recent converts, and our roommates and Elder Diaz.

Yesterday at church we finally saw the fruits of all our labors with the members. Members had brought friends to church! There were 5 there that members had brought all on their own! After our talks last week and all our visits it's finally paying off. When we got to this area the members didn't trust the missionaries and there was nothing going on. I'm so happy I got to see it turn around and am devastated not to see the amazing results that are just around the corner. 

Speaking of results. We had two baptisms this past Saturday!! They were awesome. We started fifteen minutes late since one of the soon-to-be-recent-converts roommates started fighting him and threatening to call the cops. Baptisms are never easy....

And then during the service the person who said the prayer only prayed for one of the two and then the first speaker forgot one of their names....Ahhhhhh I was dying! But fortunately a comic relief saved the day. When one of them came out of the water (baptized by the bishop) he did the catholic cross thing with his hands and everyone started laughing. I got to baptize one of them and it was an amazing experience. Ahhh, I love baptisms. One we had to do after since he was super late ha. 

At church when he got the gift of the holy ghost he just sat in his chair afterwards and looked up slowly and said quietly, "what peace....what happiness..." and then gave us all hugs.

That was the most amazing sacrament meeting I've ever been to. There was a missionary returning, leaving, and the two confirmations. In between the talks the mother and her friend got up to sing to her departing daughter (Chicago, Illinois) and choked up and had to stop while her friend kept singing. For the last few lines the mother turned around and just looked at her daughter while she sang. The lyrics were all about handing her daughter over to the Lord and watching her grow etc etc. The spirit in that room was tangible. 

Someone asked us this week if we had horns.

We had a pretty cool experience with an investigator. She is going to ask her mom if she can be baptized. We had her pretend that Elder Diaz was her mom and she practiced what to say. In that little role play she bore her testimony and it was super super powerful. Dangit I'l miss that baptism too! 

One of the Sister Training Leaders (STLs) from the Mesa zone was over at our dinner appointment doing exchanges. She did the dinner message but used her iPad Mini to show a video clip from President Eyring. It was waaaaay cool. Jealous! 

Chandler is being taken over by Tesla Model S's! They're way sleek.

This week Elder Janis is working me out hard this week haha. Last monday I told him to make me an exercise plan that I can do everyday for the next months. He took it to heart. He was a fitness trainer back home and is watching everything I eat and making us get up at 6 to do 30 mins of cardio and 30 mins of weights. I'm eating about 1700 calories a day and lots of Chia seeds. They taste terrible haha. I gave up chocolate. I know, crazy, right?

A little bit of background real quick. Mexicans love Novelas. Soap operas. This week we were teaching someone who said, "You know, I think the scriptures are a lot like Novelas." He stopped talking because I was laughing too hard. He never explained it hahahahahahahahhahaa.

We had an amazing meeting this past week. The Chandler East stake called all the ward council members, bishops, and missionaries in the stake together for a training. President and Sister Toone came and they trained on how to focus ward councils and meetings on missionary work. It was an amazing meeting. 

But I think my favorite part was when P. Toone spoke. He shared some awesome stories in response to some questions about the iPads. He said that while he was in the MTC being trained they had a training on the iPads and Tracy Watson, director of global proselyting, took out his iPad and said, "Hey, want to see where the missionaries in the Texas ____ mission are?" He then opened it and had real time tracking on them. But he quickly clarified and said, "Tracking them isn't the point." He said the Brethren and the Mission Presidents have complete access to lively monitor iPad usage. They can see when the last time the electronic area book was updated, the plans for the day, etc. Then he said again, "But tracking them isn't the point." He went on to tell some stories of the power behind the technology. The first story goes like this:

A woman calls the 1-800 referral number requesting a Book of Mormon. The missionary at HQ on the other line notices she lives in an area that is piloting iPads. The missionary sends a text to the mission president who sends one to the zone asking if any missionaries are nearby. One missionary, using the iPad, gets all the information, coordinates with the missionary at HQ, and replies, "I'm two doors away. I'm on my way over now." Before the woman calling HQ hangs up the phone, the missionary is at the door with the item she requested. Her response, "How did you do that?!" 

True story.

Another one. A husband is married to a member. He isn't a member. He decides to take missionary discussions but is a truck driver so never has time. The missionaries commit him to pull out Skype at rest stops. Over his 10 day trip they taught him everything over Skype as he traveled from Utah to New York. They coordinated church building locations and then skyped with him and his family after church. The man was amazed that the lessons in New York were the same in Utah and they shared thoughts on the lesson  10 days later the man returned, ready for baptism. 

True story.

The concern came up about missionaries abusing it. President Toone said, "We know. But the Brethren have said the Lord has created this for the spreading of the Gospel. The Brethren said it is too powerful not to use and if there are problems, they will deal with them as they come and they will learn better ways to control them, but "this tool needs to be used now."' 

In the next 6 months we should have them mission wide. 

This Wednesday the mission is receiving 41 new missionaries. 1/3rd the mission will be training. 

I set a goal for myself to read the Book of Mormon in 6 weeks. That's about 115 pages a week. I'm 60 pages into it and it's going really really well. 

One of our recent converts told us the funniest story this week. His friend was baptized a Jehovah's Witness and they said that when he comes out of the water he should, "see Jehovah standing." So the first time he got baptized he said he saw nothing. They baptized him again. Again he said he saw nothing. Four to five times they baptized him and then finally he came out of the water gasping saying, "Yes, I saw them!" The newly-baptized JW  told our recent convert that he felt like he was drowning and so he just told them. Our recent convert was dying of laughter while telling us the story aahha

This week our recent convert told us, "Science has a limit. God doesn't." It was super insightful. He was telling us about the opposition he received in deciding to be baptized. His other pastor started anti-ing him. Just like last time, our recent convert anti'd him back and won haha. The story was super intense and our recent convert said words were coming to him and he didn't know where they were coming from.

We have been having a big problem recently at church. We have too many investigators to sit with and we don't have time to talk with them all? I love that problem. It's my favorite problem to have. Last week we had 8 at church and this week we had 6. We have really good relationships with our members. When we walked into ward council meeting they all got up and gave us hugs. Ah I'll miss this ward.

Last night someone freaked out at us and started screaming at us. We were talking with a woman in an apartment complex and a very heavily tatooed man ran at us screaming TONS of obscenities, calling us names, and telling us we can't solicit. We don't solicit, we invite. By Arizona law that is recognized but no one knows that. So he screamed and screamed and threatened to call the cops on us. I wanted to tell him to do it because they'd be on our side but we just walked away. I was worried for our member, an 85 year old. Later his neighbor apologized and explained that we can't be there for soliciting. We explained to her that we're allowed to be there and then left.

Anyway, this has been an awesome three months. I've learned a ton and have grown a ton. I'm excited for what's ahead!

Thanks for all your support everyone! Thanks for writing Eric, Will, Mom, and Natalia! 

With love

EJ

Random question: Why do the monsoon clouds only come in in the afternoon?

Random question: Can someone tell me more about Madasa?

Random question: is there a way to produce darkness like we produce light?

13 May 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

 

It was fun to Skype home yesterday! Especially being able to talk to you guys back home and having Mark skyped on a laptop at the same time...never done that before!

So I guess the big news is that .01% of the time I'm wrong and am not staying in Queen Creek. I was 99.99% sure I was staying haha. 

Chandler is a lot different than anywhere I have ever served. Yuma and Queen Creek had more farm fields than people it seemed. Our address is 1287 N Alma School Rd #174, Chandler, AZ, 85224

On Sunday night we were awaiting our transfer calls and as I wrote last week, they never came. Monday afternoon before the calls Elder Lanier and Sawyer called to say goodbye and told me I would enjoy this next few transfers, whatever that meant. That night as we were waiting around the house waiting for transfer calls President Howes called and asked me to be trainer among some other assignments. I was pretty nervous. Later that night the Zone Leaders called and said I was leaving (President Howes doesn't tell us if we're staying or leaving) which meant that I would whitewash train - just like how I started my mission down in Yuma. Whew I was pretty stressed out for that!

At transfer meeting we found out that five visa waiter Elders came in. Elder Myler was there as well as some other people I've gotten to know. "the Argentine" was slated to come in for 3 or 4 transfers but never came in due to visa problems. Everyone was fighting to get to train him since he is a native speaker haha. Anyway, long story short, I am training Elder Diaz, "the Argentine," and am having a great time. He is super energetic and very prepared to be a missionary. Already I've learned lots from him. I also realized that Elder Diaz is the first 18 year old spanish missionary here! Also the first one to come in for 3-4 transfers.

The rest of the transfer meeting was crazy. President Howes chose this past meeting to make all the changes for the mission split. All the missionaries in the valley/phoenix area were invited and told to bring all area books. They then changed just about everyone's wards, moved apartments, split zones and moved districts. Cars were swapped and taken away for some and weird changes were made to boundaries. They've moved districts from one zone to another zone now. I can't imagine prepping a mission for a split haha. I guess that's an accomplishment though, eh?

When we first got to our apartment, I walked in the door but was very very confused when I saw a TV that was on and a computer. I looked around a bit then realized I had walked into someone else's apartment! I quickly ran out of the apartment and opened the door next door (?) and walked into ours. Unlike in Yuma, it was clean and everything was put away. Lots of food too!

So far we have been speaking tons of Spanish. I talk to him purely in spanish and he talks to me in English. I help him with his English and he helps me with my Spanish, kind of like with Elder Valdez but I'm trying not to be as lazy and am speaking more Spanish this time. I've already seen tons of improvement in just six days!

We cover the Spanish ward here. It was probably the most energetic ward I've ever been in! The Bishop is from Bar(th)elona Spain and has the very unique accent. He is an awesome guy and very very energetic with a young family. The ward had us stand up in sacrament meeting to introduce us, in Sunday school, and gospel principles. Never had that happen before! There hasn't been a baptism in the ward since September (when Elder Myler was here) but we're going to change that. Having a native speaker in a Spanish ward makes a HUGE difference. Not to mention there are seven 'Diaz' families in the Spanish ward haha

I was flipping through the Ensign and saw a picture of someone familiar ..Jim Kabbani!? Ensign from Oct 2008. Cool story!

Finding our way around Chandler has been an adventure. Someone in a ward that we don't cover offered to give us a ride around Chandler to show us all the streets and whatnot so we did that our first night. We drove over 30 miles and it was super super helpful. The roads are relatively easy to understand.

We found out that we're getting moved into a bigger apartment next month. It seems like every time I unpack I get told I'm moving.

We've been biking a lot. In Yuma I had 1,000 miles per month, in Queen Creek I had 1,100 per month and here we get 650. The area is a lot smaller but the Elders before used a lot of miles at the start so we bike 15 or so miles every day. It's hot, too...

The chapel for our ward is nine miles away which doesn't help too much. 18 mile round trip before lunch time on Sundays.

Elders quorum on Sunday was pretty funny. The lesson was all about being a good husband - we sat there awkwardly. It felt like a marriage prep class. 

We have one investigator in our area that was on date before that fell off. She was supposed to get baptized on the 11th but called the Elders and told her that she didn't want to on the 5th. We went by and visited her and found out that the problem is that she works a lot and rarely gets to see her kids. Her kids don't want to go to church and she won't go unless they go. So we're working with the Young Women's leaders to get the daughter interested and involved. The woman is very prepared and has a strong testimony but won't commit without the daughter. Usually the kids aren't the set back. 

Our district goes down to the Native American reservation. I'll be doing like 6 baptismal interviews down there on Wednesday and Thursday haha. In our district is a senior couple of who cover the reservation. They're on fire! Really nice senior couple, lots of energy, and a good sense of humor. Our district has no other Elders, just two Spanish sisters, the senior couple, and us. 

The Spanish work in Chandler is "legendary." I've heard about this ward and area my whole mission. We see more Hispanics in one day than I did in 3 months in Queen Creek. We have been busy talking with people and orienting ourselves. Chandler is full of apartment complexes (not vertical ones) and trailer parks. Perfect! 

Driving down the main street is a pretty nice experience, visually, but as soon as you turn off of it things change pretty rapidly. Imagine my surprise when I saw this Ferrari!

I had almost the worst OYM of my mission but luckily saved myself. We went up to talk to someone on the street and asked her algunas questions. She responded that she wasn't interested. I offered to give her a card and she said, "I wouldn't be able to read it anyway!" I assumed she was blind and started to say, "Well if you see us and need anything..." but stopped myself at, "if you s-" Whew. To my defense, her guide dog didn't have one of the typical leashes and she didn't have a cane and was out with her kids. Disaster avoided! 

Anyway, we're in a good place doing good work in a good ward. Life is good.

Thanks for the letters: Andra and Grandpa and Grandma J!

Con mucho amor,

EJ

6 May 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

 

Transfer calls..............didn't happen.

 

We got a text at 9:30 saying that instead of calling that night they would make all the calls at some point today. They also decided to take away P-Day and so we only have from 9-12 today and they said from 2-6pm the entire mission is to stay indoors, clean the apartment, and prepare the area books as if we are all getting whitewashed. No one knows what is going on. Based on the AP calls that were made it seems like we will both be staying in Queen Creek for another 6 weeks and Elder Allen would finish his mission here. We made our own transfer board and have pretty much every option written out haha. Staying here another transfer would almost guarantee me to stay in the Gilbert Mission.

 

Which would mean 16 months here.

 

So a lot depends on the phone call we get today. In the meantime, probably just keep sending letters to the mission home again this week to be safe.

 

____

 

 

It was so hot this week. We have been getting not only hot air but also hot wind which makes it pretty bad. I think the high was 100 and it will still get 10-20 degrees hotter. Everyone always asks us why we wear dark slacks and church shoes. That's a hard one to answer haha. But luckily people are very kind with giving out cold water bottles. Sometimes we just walk holding the cold bottles against our face to keep cool. There is an SUV being sold down the street and the two selling points written on the window are "LOW PRICE" and "COLD AC."

 

I got so acclimatized to the winter in Yuma, this'll be a fun one. I was just remembering too how in my enthusiasm I suggested that we Sawyer and I bike a couple of times a week down in Yuma when it was 120. I must have been crazy haha but we had awesome results. He finishes his mission tomorrow!

 

This past week was probably one of the most upsetting anti's. We talked to him on the street and he told us how his preacher tells them all how our church is false and whatnot. I told him that if our preacher really knew what we taught he would be a member. We headed down the street right after that to visit a less active member. As we were walking into the home the anti biked around the corner of the street, jumped off his bike, and walked into our less active members home to give us a DVD that "proved the falsity of everything we taught." I traded a pass along card for the DVD then put it in my backpack to be disposed of later that night. The fact that he came into the members home to give that was the only upsetting thing.

 

There were many other angry people too.

 

We also met the first RLDS/Community of Christ person I've ever met in my life this week. Actually, she left it to join the baptist church but we got to learn a bit about their beliefs and it was a nice talk.

 

I wrote about that awesome potential from last week, the one who went to church and that baptism for the sisters. This week she told us that she was too busy for us again.

 

Every time we make a little bit of progress it just all falls away.

 

One of the things that has been brought up over and over this week was the temple; people talking about open houses and whatnot. It has been fun to go along with what was said at conference how everyone is invited to the temple! We have told lots of people that and it has been cool to see their interest spike. Unfortunately they were all referrals for other missionaries but the work is progressing nonetheless.

 

I'm 99.99% sure I'm staying here.

 

There's not much more to say. Nothing happened this past week worth much note.

 

 

Thanks for the letters: Mom, Eric, Will, Sis. Hines, Mark, and Grandpa and Grandma W for the package!

 

Con amor,

EJ

 

 

A prairie dog.

25 February 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

On Sunday night of last week I got the transfer call and let you guys know that P-Day. My last few days in Yuma were awesome; we got to visit some recent converts and say goodbye and I got to be with Elder Sawyer and Elder Valdez.

I rush packed that last night to get everything ready to go. With the car filled and packed with six missionaries and luggage, we headed out of Yuma at 7am and arrived at the mission home just before 10 am. On the drive up we saw a bunch of cops FLYING past our car. When we caught up 10 minutes later we saw them running at illegal immigrants on the train tracks. Quite the sight. Don't see that everyday.

All the missionaries in the entire mission were called in to that transfer meeting. I was expecting that we all got chastised but it turns out it was quite different news. Turns out that the Arizona Tempe mission is getting split into the Arizona Scottsdale mission, the Arizona Gilbert mission, and the Arizona Tempe mission. All the missionaries in these areas will be getting new mission calls in the coming weeks and there is a very good chance that I could be serving in the Mesa, Phoenix, Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale, or even a California mission. Rumors floating around are that the Yuma area will get put into a California mission. Big news! This goes into effect July 1. I'll keep everyone updated.

Anyway, that big announcement was made and also all the big announcements about transfers. I waited and waited and waited and didn't hear my name until just about the end. I was transferred to Tempe. I went from the furthest from the mission home to the closest haha. I didn't do anything, I promise! 

Tempe is pretty cool. It's a lot different from Yuma. Tons of people, big college town with all those ups and downs. It has a hugely different feel from Yuma but I'm learning to love it. The work is a lot different as well. We taught 15 lessons this week, half of what we taught in Yuma on a good week. We spend all our time in trailer parks and small apartments. It's hard to find new investigators and the teaching pool of the area I came into was basically nonexistent. 

We spent the week working hard to find people and only found one person. We also did two days in a row of fasting. That was pretty exhausting. The first day was with an investigator and her family that she could make it to Church (get off work) and the second day was with an Elder who was diagnosed with cancer and sent home. The whole mission fasted for him. We're hoping for the best. Though the investigator didn't make it to church that day it was cool to see them all fasting and practicing their faith. Theyll be at church next week. It was pretty exhausting. 

I was starting to get used to Tempe and just finished unpacking yesterday. And then....at 9:40 pm our cellphone rang. President Howes was on the phone. He asked Elder Harder (my companion) and I to go somewhere quiet and put him on speakerphone. We did. The first thing he did was apologize and then said that I was getting transferred somewhere else to replace someone who just went home. Four days into my new area and I'm already getting moved! I've packed more in the last 4 days than the lats 7 months! But I'm happy to go wherever. Elder Lanier called that night from the office and told me to be there at 11:30 am toady (in an hour or so). He wouldn't tell me where I was going, just that it was "the complete opposite of Yuma!" That means I'm either going back to Yuma (to open up a new area in Somerton), to Gilbert, or to the Mountains/Show Low area. I got some more out of them when they said that they have to lose their P-Day as well which means I might be going somewhere far away like Yuma or Show Low. But we will see, I'm willing to go wherever. I'll send a letter home when I get settled with my new address but until then, keep using the mission home one! (1871 E. Del Rio Drive, Tempe AZ 85282)

If I go back to Yuma I'll be happy since it's Yuma but I was so excited to go to the temple. We aren't allowed to go in Yuma since it's too far away. Show Low can go to the Gila Valley and everyone else goes to Mesa. With the upcoming mission split, there's still a chance I can serve in Arizona and not have a temple in my area.

Church on sunday was interesting too. Here in Tempe they have a spanish ward, not a branch. There were quite a few people at church on sunday which was cool. I was a little disappointed to see that most people speak English and will try to speak English with me if I let them. They teach the youth classes in English as well.

But that was the big news. I didn't do anything to get emergency transferred haha.

The other big news is that it snowed here! We were bringing all our stuff into our apartment and it started hailing and snowing for 2 minutes. The apartment is/was so nice, probably the nicest in the mission from what I'm told. Too bad I'm getting kicked out of it. It even has "Valet Trash," haha. Some guy with a giant "trash cape" runs from floor to floor picking up trash between a certain time and takes it to the dumpster.

Rewinding back to Yuma for a second. The Elders that Elder Sawyer and I replaced in Yuma had a recent convert who just hit her year mark as a member and also just got her mission call. Guess where she's going? DC South! Keep your eyes open for an Hermana Sevilla. She's spanish speaking. Small world.

On the drive to dinner one night we passed a giant field with the most intense RC Airplane airport I've ever seen. Runway, grandstands, you name it. There were three planes flying around and they were pretty big. One was a zaggi and the other was a piper cub.  

Other big news of the week! For the first time in 6 months I haven't had Eggos for breakfast! Who knew that brown sugar and maple oatmeal was so filling and good...Pretty cheap, too! I'll probably live off of Pop Tarts and Oatmeal for the next 6 months and then find something else to eat, probably Eggos haha.

Thanks Grandpa J, Eric, Will, Mom, and Natalia for the letters! I hope I'll have time to write everyone today but it just depends on where I get transferred to.

Anyway, I need to get ready to get transferred somewhere. Thank you all for your continued support! 

With love, 

Elder Johnson

Pics: saying goodbye with Elder Sawyer and Valdez.

18 February 2013

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I got the transfer phone call last night. I leave Wednesday morning at 4:45 am and will likely be serving in the Phoenix area/valley. So, until next Monday, continue to send letters to the mission home until I can tell you all my new address. 1871 E. Del Rio Drive, Tempe AZ 85282.

This week's letter will be pretty short. 

This week we have been doing things a little differently than before. We tried to take people out with us for a set amount of time, not just to a certain lesson. It has made such a big difference! Instead of teaching around the "standards of excellence" we have been exceeding them. We've had a lot of success with teaching - three weeks in a row with over 30 lessons in a week. That's a lot more than usual. It has taken a lot of extra planning on our part but it makes such a big difference in the progression of those we are teaching if there's someone else there who lives locally that they can speak to and relate with. 

I went on exchanges this week to the foothills. We were walking around one of the Snow Bird areas and I saw one of the millions of Oregon license plates that we see. We went up and spoke with them and after he said 'no no no no' I decided to ask him which part of Oregon he's from. He said some city that sounds Hawaiian and then I asked if by any chance he was familiar with Sweet Home. He said yes and that the neighbors down the street lived there. So we went over there and knocked on the door. No one was home. Their other neighbor looked out the door and said, "Oh, he's at the Sweet Home lunch-in at Cracker Barrel!" Haha turns out there's a lot of people in Foothills from Sweet Home, Oregon... I've met only a handful of people who know where Sweet Home is and then stumbled upon dozens of them in Foothills. Small world.

Elder Lanier got the AP phone call yesterday so he left that afternoon for the drive up to Tempe. As such, Elder Sawyer is companion-less for a few days so he's spending that time with us in a trio. It has been lots of fun. We got to fill in for Lanier yesterday and help teach the stake mission prep class. The turnout was pretty low since so many people were out of town for travels and whatnot. They wanted us to focus more on how to teach out of Preach my Gospel. It was a nice experience and is always fun to answer questions about what we do and how we do it.

Which is what we did for the rest of the night. Right after mission prep we went to the fireside we were asked to panel. The Sisters, Elders Valdez, Sawyer, and I all answered questions and did a brief introduction about why we decided to serve a mission, what we did to prepare, and whether or not we felt prepared. Most of the other missionaries did a lot of mission prep, going on about classes, splits, etc that they did to help prepare. When it was my turn I let everyone know how little I did and how that has hindered the work. I told them that since everyone was telling me to do lots of prep I just ignored it since it got old and how that was something I regretted. I spoke on how they have time right now to prepare and if they don't take advantage of it it will be something they will regret for a long time. The theme of my five minute introduction was: be better than I was. Haha if I had a dollar for every time I heard a missionary say that... But the fireside was awesome. There were some really amazing questions asked and everyone was kept involved. Kind of a nice way to leave Yuma.

It's bittersweet to leave. 95% of the other areas in the mission don't really compare to the amount of spanish work we have here. I'm really grateful for the people I've been able to meet in Yuma and what I've been able to learn. It will be interesting to learn how to work elsewhere since missionary work in Yuma is supposedly very different than other areas. More on that next week when I know what other areas are like. But bittersweet is the right word. I'm ready to learn a new area and have to run around to memorize all the names and whatnot. It should be exciting.

Learned this week that there's a camel farm in Yuma! They breed pure bred racing camels and ship them to Saudi Arabia to race, not even kidding. A Saudi Arabian owns the place and his wife is actually a member of the church. Yuma is so random. 

Thanks for the letters Sister Hines, Eric, Susie, Will, and Mom! Hope all is well. 

Why do Cacti only grow in some areas of Yuma? Like the big cliche ones. There's this one area with hunnnndreeedsss and they're nowhere else.

Question... We were reading in 3 Nephi 9:20 and it speaks about how the Lamanites were baptized and received the gift of the holy ghost "without knowing it." How is that possible?

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Con amor,

EJ

31 December 2012

A missionary Christmas

Transfers calls are next Sunday, taking affect on the 8th.

On Christmas Eve went caroling to our recent converts and investigators. They all loved it. We packed the Elders into our Corola and drove around for about two hours visiting people. Tiwi (the GPS in the car that yells at you if you turn too hard, go too fast, etc) gave me four aggressive drivings in one night...hopefully that doesn't take my Tiwi license away. It went hypersensitive that night then died for three days. Called it in and they said they'll write the violations off and that they would fix Tiwi. Tiwi is terrible.

That baptism I wrote about last week fell through. The husband said no. We're hoping for sometime this month though. Hopefully I'm still here.

We did have a White Christmas in Yuma though! The other family who was supposed to get baptized, the one that the husband was going to baptize, got baptized! (Did that make any sense?) We all went in white ties since it was on Christmas day and it was a great time. That was one of the happier moments of my mission to see our recent convert baptize his family and then be able to stand in as they received the gift of the holy ghost.

We were called to go way out of town this week to give a blessing. The drive out took us past the crop duster airport which was pretty cool. When we got to the house and gave the blessing, we talked for a few minutes afterwards about Christmas and whatnot. The father then got up and grabbed a pretty big remote controlled helicopter and gave it to me and said I should take it since he doesn't have time. Sweet! It's probably 2.5 feet long and is pretty intense. I'm going to try to find a charger for it today since that was all he was missing. I'll attach a bad picture of it. Someone told me there's a Fast Eddy's near Walmart. I have no idea what that store is but hopefully they have what I'm looking for.

We had dinner with a family this week who had family from Gilbert visiting. When I said I was from Arlington she said she was there three years ago visiting the Arlington 2nd ward. There's a pretty good chance we were in the same room in a state thousands of miles away.

We received a referral for someone who recently moved into our area this week. We stopped by his house and met him and his wife and his kids. He was someone who had fallen away from the Church yet served a mission and married in the temple in "another life." His life went south quickly and he distanced himself from, well, everything. It was the first time I've tried to teach someone who has done everything as he should have until a certain point. We quickly realized he did not want to go back to church. We asked him why he went on a mission to which he responded, "social pressures." We asked him if he ever felt the spirit on his mission and he said, "no." He has spent the last 10 years of his life 
surrounding himself with anti literature and we spent a while trying to address his concerns until we just gave up on it because he wasn't going anywhere. We testified about the Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it. When I said I was going to leave a copy of the Book of Mormon for him, he said no. We ended with a prayer and I left the copy on the couch without telling him. Maybe something will come from it someday.

This week had more door slams, obscenities, yellers, and rejections than any other week I've had. It was a little disheartening but it was ok because yesterday we found someone who accepted a baptismal date for early January. We're pushing for four baptisms this month and it's looking like we  do it.

I heard about the tree of life rock or something this week. What is it? Is it legit?

This week we brought some investigators to a baptism for the winter visitor (snowbird) congregation. The room was packed of older people and then the family we brought with everyone in their 30s. They felt way out of place. When it was time for the baptism to happen and they started walking towards the water, everyone started yelling, "does he have hearing aids!?" for a good 10 seconds. He didn't but he probably needed them haha. I was dying in my seat because only at a winter visitor branch would you hear that be the major concern. Good times. Anyway, the family enjoyed the baptism and we are going to put her on date for the 5th when we meet with them this Tuesday. A quick one but she's ready!

Not a ton else happened this week since we had 1.5 days "off" due to Christmas. This next week should be a good one! If you're planning on writing to me at my apartment write before Wednesday to make sure it gets to me. If not, write to the mission home: 1871 E Del Rio Dr, Tempe AZ 85282

Thanks Mom, Eric, Will, Ian, Brother Parker, Natalia, and Sister Hines for the letters this week. Was great to hear from you all!

26 November 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

 

We got calls last night. Remember how I said there's a 50% chance that Sawyer and I stay together and a 100% chance he goes ZL? Well, he went Zone Leader and we are no longer companions. However, the 50% thing was spot on. I'm getting inter-zoned to a different apartment just up the block. I got the shaft of it all: lost our big apartment with an amazing view, lost my swagger wagon (van), and lost my companion, and it's looking like I'll get the worse Spanish area. They are putting 6 Spanish missionaries in the Spanish branch instead of four so our areas will be moved around. I'll be taking over ours and to say I'm a little nervous doesn't do it justice. I'm predicting a hard transfer. I will know my new companion on Wednesday.

 

My new address is 1334 Ave B #174, Yuma AZ. I'm close enough to my old house that any letters I haven't received yet can be picked up any day. I'm seriously only moving 2 blocks.

 

This was a fun week. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at a member's house and had a good time. I'm not a big fan of being painfully full but I'd rather be that than painfully hungry. Afterwards we got invited to an investigator's house for some food. They're going to get baptized.

 

Remember our recent convert to the Spanish branch a few weeks ago? The one whose family is now investigating? The ones who were going to get baptized by their recent convert father? Yeah, well things were going really well with them. Really well. The daughters really wanted to get baptized and the mother was overcoming her concerns. Then she asked us for a triple combination so she could cross reference scriptures. The next day we went over and she had clearly stumbled into some anti-Mormon literature. She was pulling out all these deep doctrine scriptures that made everything seem terrible, commenting on the cursed Lamanites skin, etc. It was bad. I was on exchanges that day and the Elder I was with didn't do much. The lesson went horribly and the rest of the day was bad. We went home after that and took a 30 minute breather so that I could recuperate from the stress. It was really bad. Anyway, we've been working with them slowly and have found her real concern which was that she was afraid of concern. We brought some great fellow-shippers over and have settled most of her concerns. Now the trouble is putting them all back on date for baptism. I'll be doing that without Sawyer and with my new companion.

 

We have one investigator who is progressing very quickly. We've taught her probably five times and she has taken right to everything we've said. She has a very strong understanding of the Bible. We will be helping her overcome her addiction to smoking, the only thing standing in the way. Not too worried about it, she has lots of faith. Our lessons with her have usually been on the longer side since she's a talker; around 45 minutes to an hour. We have been strongly encouraged to teach 15-30 minute lessons and get out so that you don't satisfy their spiritual needs so they want you to come back the next day. Well, we were getting ready to leave this week after an hour long lesson and she said, in Spanish, "You guys always leave so early! Why? Every time you come over I always feel...just better. I'm happier and feel like I'm learning a lot. I'm drawing closer to God and understanding verses I've never understood before. When you guys come you bring light with you. Thank you. Thanks you. Thank you." It was pretty great to hear something like that. She will likely be baptized the 3rd week of teaching her - a fast one.

 

There were 3 baptisms in the district this past weekend, none of ours. Elder Sawyer and I went to each one. Very....unique baptisms. The first one was ridiculously long. It started off wrong when the other Elders noticed that the baptism before theirs had drained the font and locked the font doors. Bad start. It went on to start 30 minutes later and have lots of people running in and out of it making loud, loud noises. While they were changing, their ward suggested really weird hymns to sing that no one knew. I almost requested #233, Nay Speak No Ill, the song that no one knows. But the spirit was already gone haha. The pianist was lost, the singing was terrible... I'm pretty sure the Elders who baptized her were losing hair over it.

 

The next baptism was the Sisters'. They were baptizing an over age youth with two less active parents. Actually, a less active father and his girlfriend. Well, fast forward to after the baptism. The Bishop got up to do his welcome and ended up talking for 30 minutes...to an 11 yr old girl. And then for the closing prayer, the girl's father's girlfriend (whew) got up and gave the most interesting prayer I've ever heard. She bore her testimony in her prayer and spoke to the girl...all during the prayer. The baptisms were great, just interesting.

 

 The baptism was even better because Elder Boyd ripped a huge hole in his pants. It was so bad that we had to take him to the library and fix it. Since none of us can sew, we ended up taping his pants and coloring the tape black hahaha. It was pretty ridiculous looking. It was a pretty bad repair job because by the end of the service had ripped twice the size. 

 

There was a big debate in the YSA branch about legally wrong vs. morally wrong and the thin lines between the two. Interesting situation, that. You can make a good debate on either side I think

 

Last night I got to bless my first home. We went over to a members home who is, according to her, Palestinian. Raised in Jerusalem a Muslim and converted to the LDS church 2 years ago when she married her Mexican husband. I think they're the most diverse couple in Yuma and one of the coolest. He was watching a movie on his new 3D TV yesterday so I got to see it just for a second. But then afterwards they told us about a spirit that had been haunting their home and stuff. I kept an open mind since I'd never... well, I kept an open mind about it. They asked us to bless it and I did. It was definitely a unique experience. But afterwards they taught me how to throw punches. Both of them were boxers growing up and pretty competitive ones at that. They asked if I'd ever gotten in a fight since I'm big and from the DC area and when I said no he laughed and brought out all their boxing gear. Now I can throw a sweet punch and a left hand jab. Unstoppable! "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing..." I'm basically invincible now.

 

Not a ton else happened this week. It was a harder week in the mission - most of our lessons cancelled and things were just hard finding people. I'll miss being Elder Sawyer's companion. We had an awesome 12 weeks. We're both glad we'll still be in the same zone.

 

Thanks Natalia, Jamie, and the Arlington Ward Young Men for the letters/package this week! [He left his mom out and Eric and William who write weekly letters. . .] You're all great! Letters will be sent to everyone from last week and this week today, I promise.

 

Con amor,

Elder Johnson