6/14

Well..this is my last e-mail from Garner, i get transfered tomorrow. =( It was really hard saying goodbye to the members yesterday, i grew really attached to them over these past 8 months! I'm going to miss Garner a lot, but i'm looking forward to serving in my next area, as well and having more great experiences like the ones that i've had here in Garner. So, i found out that i'm getting released from District Leader, which i guess is pretty bitter sweet. I loved being able to serve with, learn from, and get to know my district very well as District Leader. It was a lot of fun! On the flipside though..i've been planning District Meetings almost every week for 11 months now, and a little break might be refreshing! However, President Cotterell said that my days as a leader are nowhere near being finished, so i'll probably be back to being a District Leader sooner or later, which will be fun again! =) Well, not much to report on this week. We had an investigator named Eric Banks that came to church yesterday, unfortunately he might be shipping back into the military in a couple of weeks. =( bummer..

Well i love/miss y'all! I hope y'all are doing well..i really hate packing by the way..it's the worst! I've got so much stuff now, that i don't even know where to begin! It'll be a miracle if i can get all packed by tomorrow! Take care y'all!

Elder Johnson

Anderson Family
Bailey FamilyHeaberlin Family
Holmes FamilyNewbry Family
Quiller FamilyRiggleman Family
Sister Lugo
Sister WilliamsDistrict 2
Garner District

6/7

I have a testimony of latter day prophets. =) Our meeting with Elder David A. Bednar was truly a once in a lifetime experience. It was a 4 hour, question and answer session, where he would ask us questions, and we would answer them. Then we were able to ask him questions, and he answered them. I am absolutely amazed with how profoundly, how swiftly, he answered and responed to each question. I'm amazed at the questions that he asked us. I am humbled by an experience that i was priveleged to have during this meeting. Just the day before, we met with an investigator named Eric Heyberlin, who is married to a member. He accepts Joseph Smith as a prophet, he accepts the Book of Mormon as scripture, he does not however accept the way that we call prophets now, and honestly i didn't know too much about how we call prophets now except for the senior apostle always takes over, so i didn't know exactly what to tell him. Then when Elder Bednar was introducing the question session, he gave an example of a bad question to ask him, than he gave an example of a good question to ask him. The bad example was asking him where the sword of laban was..haha..But then for the example of a good question, he "just so happened" to use the example of asking him how prophets are called today! He did not answer that question immediately, but i knew that it was inspired. So i raised my hand and asked him that question, and as he looked me in the eye, and explained to me this God inspired process of the selection of the next prophet, i felt the Spirit probably stronger than i've ever felt it before, as i sat there and held a brief conversation with an apostle of the Lord. I know, and i witness that there truly are apostles and prophets of God that walk the earth. I know that President Monson has truly been called on by God. I just hope that one day, i'll be able to have another experience like this some other time in my life!

Well i'm really grateful to be out here on my mission! Elder Wilding is doing great, he's got a great spirit! He reminds me of the greenie on "the best two years" haha..(i just hope i'm not as trunky as his trainer was!) Oh yeah..i found out that i'm getting transfered next tuesday! =( It's sad..i'm going to miss garner. Well i love/miss y'all!

Elder Johnson

6/1

Soo..i arrived here in North Carolina exactly a year from today! It's so weird thinking back to that day and the state of confusion and shock that i was in! haha.. i hope i've improved a lot since then! Well..so a lot has happened..i had a really good week over in Cary, working with Elder Handy and Elder Waite. During the week, i found out that i was going to have a new companion on Tuesday! A new greenie! His name is Elder Wilding and he's from Loveland, Colorado! (my first companion that grew up with early morning seminary!!) He was originally called to the Sacramento California mission Spanish speaking, but then they switched his call and he came here to speak english with me! Then yesterday i was invited to go to the Zone Leader Council meeting up in Raleigh, and i learned a TON!! After the meeting, i got home and was trying to finish up some planning and then i get a call from the assistants telling me that my new boy was actually already at the airport waiting to be picked up! (we all thought he was coming in the next day) He also told us that President Cotterell would be at our place in about an hour and then we'd go out to dinner together with my new greenie! Soo..yeah! A lot happened really fast, so now i have a new companion and am back in my area!! Only for about 2 more weeks though..President Cotterell told me that i'm still going to be transfered this next transfer..=(

So we had a miracle happen! Our investigator Adam Guillen had been praying for an opporotunity to come to church..then an hour before our appointment on Tuesday, he got a call saying that he didn't have to work this weekend..so he was able to come to church and he enjoyed it! We set a baptismal date with him for July 10th..but we told him that we could move that forward if he felt like he was ready! We're really excited for him..we see him again tonight! Pray for him!

Well i hope everyone is doing great! I love/miss y'all! Take care!

Elder Johnson

5/24

I've got some really bad new..my son is dying.. =( Elder Petersen had his MRI..and it showed a fractured foot and a sprained ankle, and they said it will take 3-4 months to heal, but he has to stay off of it. Well..he can't really stay off of his foot and do missionary work at the same time...so they've got no choice but to send him home and let him heal, then let him come back. (i'm holding his bike as colateral until he returns! haha..) But he flies home tomorrow morning, and i'm going to be working in a threesome in Cary until they can get me a mini missionary..which should be really fun! haha.. (mini missionaries are members that live here in North Carolina that get called by their stake president to come fill in a gap somewhere in the mission temporarilly..so i'll probably only have him for 2-3 weeks until transfers come.) But on a lighter note..we also found out that we are having a mission conference on June 5th..and Elder Snow from the presidency of the 70, as well as Elder David A. Bednar will be there!! I'm so pumped for that, it should be a great revelatory experience!!

Well i hope everyone is doing better than my companion is! he's kind've sad and really nervous to go home..but he'll get over it. I love/miss y'all!

Elder Johnson

Elder Petersen's Leg..haha..

Possessed Cookie Monster

5/17

Well..in spite of an amazing zone conference..this week has probably..actually most definitely been the most boring week of my mission life!! So my companion was born with some crazy condition that totally messes with his lower body..like he was born with only 4 toes on his right foot..and his left leg is longer than his right! So when he was in middle school, he had his growth plates removed from out of his left knee to allow his other leg to catch up..but now it's giving him lots and lots of problems!! His knee is really swollen and over the course of a week..the swelling has gone all the way down to his ankle! He can't walk without crutches now, and we've been inside for the majority of the week resting it! His leg is constantly in throbbing pain and he can't ride a bike..it hurts for him to even walk with crutches so it's making the work a little more difficult..haha..The spanish missionaries have been going out with me ever once in a while throughout the week, just so i can get out of the house..but i just spoke with the mission president this morning and he said that he doesn't want us doing that anymore because it impedes the spanish work, which is definitely understandable. But we're finally going to be able to go to the doctor tomorrow..we've been waiting for his parents to send some insurance information and apparently it's taken a little longer than it should have because his parents haven't quite fully understood the seriousness of the problem..haha..i think the saddest thing though..is that i'm still not all the way caught up in my journal. =( BUT..in spite of the adversary's attempts to slow us down..we were still able to somewhat get around this week and we were able to set a baptismal date with one of our investigators named Adam Guillen. His date is for June 12th, but that might get bumped back a little further because he might not be able to make it to church this week. So Adam is from Beliz..a country that is umm..south of texas? haha..i'm not sure if its in north or south america..but i do know that english is the first language there so he speaks it really well! in fact he doesn't even know how to read spanish! But he's really humble and sincerely wants change in his life and wanted to be baptized..so we're going to be working for him and hopefully things will pan out! His date is really there to get him..and us..to exercise faith, so we're excited for it!

Well i'm really hoping we'll be able to go out a little more this week, than we were last week..people seem really receptive when they see Elder Petersen gimping up to their door on his crutches! =) haha.. But yeah..i'm really excited to be with Elder Petersen..he's really great and has a great spirit..and it's killing him being down like this. That just goes to show how important this message is. Something we've really been talking about lately that has really hit home to me is that we are not out here to get people to join "the true church." We are out here to baptize people, because this church just so happens to be the only one with the authority to do that. It's always funny to me when people say that they don't agree with "mormon doctrine." People just don't understand that "mormon doctrine" is the same thing as the doctrine of Christ..which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. That is the only path that leads to eternal life, everything else is "just an appendage" to the doctrine. Yeah..i've learned a TON recently!! =) Well..it's amazing how fast time flies..this time next year i'll be home..funny thing is..i still have no idea what's going to happen when that day comes..and it's still too scary to even think about..so i won't think about it! =) i love/miss y'all! I hope y'all are doin well! Talk to y'all next week!

Elder Johnson

5/10

Hey fam! It was really great to hear from y'all yesterday! It seems like it was just last month when i called home for Christmas..i have to admit..Mother's Day came around way too fast! It'll be pretty weird when i call home the next Mother's Day..because i'll be home about a week after that! haha.. So i was thinking yesterday about how we used to play sockball in the house, and i think i realized why im mom's favorite son..it's because i'm the only boy that hasn't broken a yadrow!! =)

Well..Garner is still going really well! I've been here 6 months now..and i'll still probably be here for atleast another 5 weeks..so i'm excited for that!! I absolutely love the members here, they are amazing!! Zone Conference is coming up this week, and i'm really pumped for that! President Cotterell has been focusing on our purpose as missionaries lately, and he's been doing a really great job! He's an amazing man! I wouldn't be surprised if he got called to be a general authority after this! =) But yeah..Zone Conference is going to be really good..we're going to be re-learning what Brother Mitchell and Brother Watson taught us..but this time as a whole mission!

So Sylvia came to church again!! haha..she snuck in during Sacrament meeting and sat in the very back..so we weren't able to go back and sit next to her..so we just continue paying attention to the meeting..Then at the end..they had all of the mother's stand so they could receive a rose..so we look back because Sylvia brought her son..and she wasn't there!!! So we ran out into the parking lot and her car was gone!! We asked around and a lot of people saw her walk in..but noone saw her leave!! haha..I've gotta give her props for being sneaky! =) oh well..hopefully we'll see her again this week and be able to set a baptismal date with her! We're really excited for Sylvia..Elder Petersen and I have been working really hard, and we both feel that Sylvia is an answer to our prayers and a blessing for our diligence! She will be a hard one though..she has made it pretty clear that she was going to come to church..but that it didn't mean she was going to join the church..haha..but hopefully we can help her out with that!

Well i love y'all and i hope y'all are doing well! I'm excited to still be on my mission! It's ridiculous how fast time goes! We had the Stake President for the Durham stake come and talk to us at a zone conference once..and he said that the spirit has a way of making time go by faster than you want it to..i testify that that is true doctrine! But it's okay..i've still got a long ways to go before i start talking trunky!! =) love y'all!

Elder Johnson

My new bike.

False Doctrine

My District

5/3

Dear Family! I'm pretty excited to be able to talk to y'all this Sunday! I'll be calling home around 2:30 Houston time. This week has been lots of fun! Elder Petersen and i "sang" in the talent show..haha..it was ridiculous..i wish we would've had it on video!! So..we had been riding bikes all day..and we were tired to the point where you just start laughing at everything..and you can't stop laughing..and so Elder Petersen starts singing...and i just burst out laughing on stage because it was so bad!! Then my part came and i tried so hard to sing..but i couldn't help but laugh..which made everyone in the audience laugh histerically..because they could tell we were trying to sing, but we just couldn't!! haha..at one point in the song, the piano player stopped playing because she and everyone was laughing too hard! haha..but yeah..we sounded THAT bad!! haha.. at the end..the Bishop came up to us and said "great effort Elders..great effort.." haha..but yeah..it was lots of fun! =)

So we had an investigator named Sylvia come to church on Sunday! Sylvia is a single parent that moved here from Detroit..so maybe Jared already tracted into her! haha..who knows. But yeah..she only stayed for the first hour..she said she enjoyed church..but you could tell it wasn't really her "cup of tea"..it was probably a little bit more reverant than what she's used to..haha..but who knows..we shall see this Friday when we go over again for our return appointment!

So..we had an amazing experience this past Thursday! I was in a District and Zone Leader Council meeting, and we had two members from church headquarters come and talk with us. Their names were Brother Mitchell and Brother Watson, and they were from the missionary department. Plus..they both participated in the development of Preach My Gospel, so yeah..it was a great revelatory experience! The meeting lasted from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon..but it seemed to go by too fast!! (kind've like General Conference) But yeah..i learned a TON!! So i'm excited to take the knowledge and inspiration i've received and apply it into the work!!

Well i hope y'all are doing well! I love/miss y'all!

Elder Johnson