10/26

Hey Fam!!
How's it goin!? How did Jess's wedding go!? I guess I kind've gotta good excuse for not being there, huh? =) Well..this week was pretty great I guess! We got to teach Carey, who is the 12 year old girl that wants to get baptised, and we're going to be teaching both her and her mom this week so that'll be great! Hopefully, we'll be able to set a baptismal date for both of them!! Please pray hard for the both of them!!

But my district is doing well! There is a lady named Brenda getting baptised this Saturday (Halloween) and she's got a really great story! Apparently her car had broken down on the side of the road and noone was helping her, then the 2 elders pulled up to her and helped her out and invited her to church! So that was really great! There is so much more to that story too, but it's a really great one!

So probably the only other eventful thing that happened this week was my hand getting engulfed by fire from another missionary's object lesson and receiving a couple of 2nd degree burns from it..haha..but other than that, it was a pretty mellow week..

Well I love y'all and miss y'all! Hope y'all are doing well and I can't wait to hear from y'all! Stay on the "scraight" and narrow and "scrive" to get "scronger" every day! =) love y'all!

10/19

Hey everyone!! Soo..I've already decided everything that I want for Christmas..and these are things of necessity..haha..
I NEED:
2 longsleeve white shirts
2 shortsleeve white shirts
1 pair of black warm and waterproof gloves
a couple pairs of wool socks

I would really really really love to have:
An electric razor! haha..(it could even be a really cheap one, I don't care..I'm just really tired of shaving with razor blades everyday!)

But yeah..I would actually prefer to get these things long before x-mas..like as soon as possible!! Haha..Im just now getting to see how cold NC can get!! I am freezing! I don't like my companion right now because this is summer to him, he being from Idaho, and he won't let me wear a coat!! Haha.. but yeah..I am totally not prepared for winter and those are the things I am going to NEED!! This is the first week we've actually used the heater in our house! The cold just came out of nowhere! It dropped about 20 degrees in about 2 days! Haha..I was TOTALLY not ready for it..plus it was raining like crazy..it kinda made it a little miserable being on a bike haha..

But yeah..the 2 most important things out of that list are the gloves and the socks!! If I get nothing else for Christmas..please make sure I get those! (plus maybe some ties! haha..)

Well Elder Kearsley and I have seen some really great stuff this past week! Yesterday, we just got permission to teach a 12 year old girl who is on the cheerleading team with one of our members! Her name is Carey and she's been coming to church and mutual for the past couple of weeks and she has already told us that she wants to be baptised! We are way excited and are looking forward to helping her out! But yeah..this just helps me to know a little more how honestly and truly..all success comes from the members! I love what L. Tom Perry said.."Members are full time FINDERS..missionaries are full time TEACHERS" honestly to me..that just means that if missionaries are out tracting, than the members aren't doing their job. Now tracting is still way important..it shows the Lord how hard you are willing to work hard to have people to teach..but truly all success comes from the members. I've had so many great lessons and investigators by finding with my own efforts..but getting those type of people to church is another story. It is SO much easier if they have a friendshipper!

Well I love y'all so much! Wish I could be at Jess's wedding! I'm sure it'll be great!

Elder Johnson

10/12

Hey everyone! I miss y'all! Soo..missions go by way too fast..I turn 5 tomorrow..I remember thinking that 5 months was way old!! It's not fair =( I wish they still did extensions..maybe if I start talking to President Cotterell now, and bring it up everytime I talk with him, maybe I'll end up getting one! Haha..

Well..that meeting at the other church..didn't go too well..haha..it was a total trap! It just ended up being the pastor of the church, the former pastor of the church, and the pastor of a Pentecostal church. Yhen they just wanted to bash with us the whole time! It was pretty lame..especially because the first time I met the pastor, we agreed to the meeting as just presenting our beliefs, not trying to impose our religion on anyone..but than the pastor of the Pentecostal church..who also happened to be an excommunicated member of the church and even served a mission in South Carolina..brought a whole bunch of anti stuff and tried to attack us with it..it was really pathetic and kind've hilarious! =) But it still was pretty sad to see the state that he had fallen into because he couldn't hold the standards..but it did make me realize something..you should never try to prove a religion wrong by attacking it's doctrines..that will just turn into an ongoing argument that will never end..instead, what you should do is judge a religion by it's works! That's really the only way to do it! But yeah..we didn't bash at all..we just referred all anti and probing questions to Moroni's promise, which they even attacked as well..haha..oh well. =)

But yeah..this week went really well! We've got some new investigators that are looking pretty solid, so it'll be great to be able to work with them! I'm looking forward to this week!

Soo..I think I've decided that I want to be the next crocodile hunter when I get home. Everytime I see a lizard or a bull frog, I can't help but catch it and throw it at my companion! (which he loves by the way, him being from Idaho and never seeing a bull frog before) haha..but yeah..I saw my first chicken snake the other day! I would've caught it..but I got there too late..I got there right as the guy was about to cut his head off..I was too late =( Poor guy.. but yeah..if not the next crocodile hunter, maybe I'll do something with reptiles! We have an investigator who used to be a snake scientist..and he had tons of snakes and would even milk rattlesnakes! Thats way cool! It sounds like something I might have to do when I get home! =) (sorry mom)

But yeah..I'm doing well! I'm enjoying every minute of my mission! And if anyone could send me a dvd with Elder Holland's talk on it from last conference..that would be really amazing and probably the best Christmas gift ever! =)

Love and miss y'all!
Elder Johnson

10/5

So I've definitely made some major accomplishments this week! First off..I solved a rubiks cube all by myself for the first time! =) Second..I was actually able to make it through all 10 hours of general conference! Before my mission, I never in this world thought I'd be able to endure all 5 sessions..but I did so with so much excitement! I learned so much and it went by way too fast! The only bad part about it is that for all 4 of the regular sessions..us 4 missionaries were the only members in the church building watching it..Haha..that was pretty lame..but oh well. I am thrilled that I developed a love for conference over the past weekend..now I never want to miss another talk again! Haha..I learned so much and I can't wait til the next session!

So I was in Raleigh last Friday for a District/Zone Leader meeting..and our mission President, President Cotterell, is raising the standards quite a bit! I'm way excited to see how much we're going to grow from this! Soo..apparently President Cotterell has some pretty high expectations of me and Elder Kearsley and our potential here in Wallace..so hopefully we'll be able to see some great miracles and changes here in Wallace!

Soo..I'm definitely going to need some prayers from y'all..we tracted into a minister's house..and he invited us to pretty much come to his church this Thursday and teach the restoration to his congregation..I'm not really all that nervous..I just would appreciate it if y'all prayed for me this week because I want this to go really well and to be a great spiritual experience for everyone!

Well I love/miss y'all! Thanks for those birthday packages and cards! Hope y'all are doin well!