Monday, November 30, 2009
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1:52 PM
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So transfers were really crazy! I did get transferred but it's really weird where I got switched. So in my ward (Orange Park 2nd) there was me, Perez, the ZLs, Sisters, and another Spanish companionship Elder Toney and Elder Trott. Turns out that me and Elder Trott just switched places so I'm with Elder Toney now in the north area and Elder Trott is with Perez now in the south area as the new zone leaders. So I'm still in the same ward and Elder Perez and Trott are still around all the time but I have a new companion and a new area. It's way sweet. Elder Toney and I have both never been Senior companions and he's just a little bit older than me so we both have no idea what we're doing which is great because now we both get to learn instead of just having the other companion do everything while we sit back and watch. It's going to be a very good transfer and I know that both of us are going to grow a lot. We actually had two baptisms this weekend that Toney and Trott had been working with for a little while but yeah me and Toney had to teach them ourselves, resolve the concerns they had at the last minute, organize the baptism service, organize rides and talks and all kinds of crazy stuff by ourselves. Before Black and Perez just kinda did it but this time I actually had to help do stuff. It was very stressful but it was good for me, it gave me an opportunity to grow and really depend on the Lord to direct me what to say and how to act.
I did finally get the package Monday afternoon right before we got transfer calls. Thank you so much! It is just starting to get cold so my jacket came right in time. And it is so cool to be doing Spanish study from the same book that Dad used. Haha and where did you find those Marvel trading cards? Those are way cooler than Pokemon cards! Thank you so much, getting that stuff made me feel a lot better. I'm sorry that my letter last week was so bad. I was so stressed out about a lot of things and I hate to say it but I just didn't get along great with Perez so he was no help. I am excited for this transfer with Elder Toney. I think I'm going to finally start being able to figure a lot of stuff out for myself and it forces me to really rely on the Lord rather than just on my companion. Elder Toney is cool. He's from Houston Texas and he played the trombone in school and he was going to be a music major for a while but then that changed to history major I think. But in High school he played the trombone in a Ska band (ask Austin what that means) he's really cool and really caring, very different than Perez.
We spent our Thanksgiving at a recent convert family's house, the Ramirezes. These guys are way cool. There are these two twin brothers who live in the same trailer park that got baptized a few weeks ago and they love us! They are New York Ricans (Puerto Ricans from New York), so they have that hilarious New York atitude, and for Thanksgiving we had turkey, potatoes, pork, mac and cheese, and of course rice and beans. It was a lot of fun to have the twin brothers and both their whole families there. They are a really cool family. Oh and we went over there the other day and they were watching New Moon! Ah man I know it's going to be super girly but I was shocked about how bad I wanted to watch it! Oh well I guess I can wait ;) Things over here are much better, I'm really excited for this transfer in almost the same area with my new companion, I'm really excited to grow and learn for myself. I think next week we're doing emails at a members house instead of the library so I'm going to try and email some pictures home next week.
Love,
Elder Johnson
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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5:37 AM
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So, this has basically been the worst week ever. We've been working really hard, we've tracted for hours and hours but still can't seem to find anyone. Our president's interviews got cancelled, and yes transfers are this week and we were supposed to find out on Saturday if we’re staying or not but for some reason President decided that we weren’t, instead we find out tonight if we’re being transferred so we’ll have tonight to pack and then we’re supposed to move tomorrow. No transfer meeting, just get up and get out. I know it’s Thanksgiving week but I don’t understand why we don’t find out until tonight. I really am hoping that I get transferred which I know probably means that I won’t. I’m just sick of this transfer, it has been so hard on me for some reason, I miss Elder Black and my district in Putnam County. On top of all that, my package came on Friday but I wasn’t there to sign for it so I had to wait until today to call them and ask them if I can just come and pick it up. They told me I can’t because it’s on the bottom of something and they can’t pull it. Then the lady told me that the delivery guy could just leave it at the office of the apts. if I told them I was expecting a package so I called the office and they said that they can’t hold packages because it’s a liability issue. So I have no idea how I’m going to get it, especially if I get transferred and have to leave tomorrow.
I have no idea what we’re doing for Thanksgiving but we’ve gotten plenty of offers from the members of the ward here so if I stay that won’t be a problem. I don’t know what we’re doing though because Elder Perez doesn’t tell me anything, he just kinda plans it in his head and then bam that’s what we’re doing! So yeah basically I’m just super stressed out right now and I really want to get the heck out of Orange Park, which I know means that I probably won’t. I’ll probably stay right here with Elder Perez and it will be just fan-frickin-tastic! But it’s ok if that happens that just means that the Lord needs me to learn something more here and do more of his work here.
I’m sorry Austin's birthday was lame, that sucks. But I’m glad everyone got to see New Moon. I hear that it’s supposed to be pretty good and midnight shows are always fun :)! Someone will have to watch that movie with me when I get home. Tell Dad, lo siento pero no quiero escribir mas esta semana. Tal vez la proxima semana yo contestara su cartera en espanol.
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Monday, November 16, 2009
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7:06 PM
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Ok, so I want to try to tell a little more about the stories of the people we baptized at least. Gerardo was the one who would drink like 36 beers a day! His wife Maria is the one who got baptized last week. Friday, we found out that Gerardo went out drinking. We tried to talk to him but he was drunk or hungover or something so it was just stupid. We were really worried that he wouldn't be able to be baptized now but we talked to him with the APs on Saturday and he knew it was wrong and he really did want to change so the APs interviewed him to make sure he was good and he was so he got baptized. The family of four is the Caicedos. They are way sweet. We didn't even really get to teach them that much but they were really sensitive to the holy ghost. Every time we came over they would tell us, "It just feels better when you guys are here." We told them that they could feel that when they read the book of Mormon too and so they did that and they felt it and they knew it was true just like that. They were all really excited for baptism even though we didn't really teach them anything. They just knew it was the right thing to do. The problem was that they hadn't been to church yet. So we got it all set up and then they all of a sudden had to go to Orlando for the weekend. So we got online and found the closest church to them and called the bishop there to get the number of the Elders there so we called the missionaries in the Orlando mission which was kinda weird and got it all set up with them. We were really worried all Sunday because we weren't sure if they were really going to go and there really was nothing more we could do to make sure. But they went to church in Orlando, came back home at like 6 and then got baptized at 7! It was so cool! It really shows me that it really isn't me converting people. It's God and the Spirit that really converts people, I just am kinda there showing it to people but I don't really do much. It's very humbling and it makes me so happy to be in this work.
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OK, so I just wrote you a huge long letter and then the server freaked out and kicked me off. Basically we baptized a family of 4 and Gerardo yesterday! The other missionaries in the ward baptized a family of 6 so we had 11 people baptized in one day! It was freakin awesome! It was very stressful and a lot of things happened that tried to stop it but we worked through it all and it all came together in the end. God is definitely watching his work here for sure. Perez is cool. It's not that I don't like him but lets just say we wouldn't be hanging out if we were at school together or something but he's a very hard worker and he knows what he's doing. I'm sorry this is so short maybe next week I'll have to send part two of this week. I really took like a half hour to write the letter the first time.
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Monday, November 9, 2009
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5:08 PM
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That's really comforting about the whole raising the bar thing. This mission, is ridiculous! We're the FJM! We have a goal of 1050 baptisms this year, in July we had 117 baptisms, in August we had 130 something. The MTC actually just had someone come down to have President Newman make a training video on some of the things we do here, the AP's give us ridiculous goals like teaching 200 lessons a week and we run between houses when we tract and it's just a lot of stuff we do that is crazy and I did not expect. I think writing off everyone is part of the "raising the bar" as well. Honestly, I still don't understand it and it was/is really hard for me to do. I just hope that sooner or later I will understand why I had to do it and be able to see the blessings from it.
Yeah we have eight missionaries in one ward. It's definitely different than Utah for sure! We just have a bigger area to cover for one ward I guess. And then on top of that the Spanish missionaries overlap a few of the English missionaries areas so it works out. Haha Small Frey (pronounced like fry) is basically the coolest kid ever. He's 18 years old but he looks like he's 14 so that's fun, and he is so excited to go on a mission! He comes to every Zone Conference and transfer meeting with us, he goes on trade offs with us all the time, he just can't get enough of it. Plus on top of that he just is great friends with all the missionaries. He comes over to our apartment almost every other night and just hangs out with us after we plan and stuff. He actually called me this morning just to tell me a story about Elder Black. It's really cool, for me at least, because I didn't ever go on trade offs with the Elders. I didn't even know or see any of our Elders in Utah or Arizona. I wish I would have now, it's gotta be great preparation for him. But anyway, that's Small Frey.
I'm so glad that Space Camp and PTC was good for you. And I'm glad you didn't get shot by the creepy guy too. I knew PTC wouldn't be bad for you, from what Grandma tells me all the kids in your class love you so why would their parents have anything to complain about?
I'm so excited for Stacey! That's way sweet that we'll get home at the same time! I really want to know where she's going, maybe you should tell her to email me so she can tell me. Maybe that would be weird though, I don't know I just want to know where she's going. Grandma Nettie sent me a package! She sent me all kinds of Orange stuff like Cheetos and Reese's and even some orange cough drops. Tell her I said thank you so much! I loved it, especially the sunflower seeds! It's just fun to get mail sometimes, it doesn't matter what's in it it's just fun. I'm not saying I want mail like every week but if you guys wanted to send stuff every once in a while that would be good and I'll tell you if I need anything that I can't get here. But I do need my coat. I hear that it gets really cold here and humid cold is really different and weird so yeah I need my coat pretty soon.
Oh my gosh I almost forgot! We had a baptism yesterday! So last Saturday, we went down to Flemming Island with the ZL and President Newman so they could talk to some Haitians that live there. It's kinda a far way away and we didn't have a lot of miles so we bummed a ride with them to go tract there. So while they were talking to the Haitians we talked to all the Hispanics there. The Haitians turned out to be pretty lame but we found a guy named Gerardo that said we could come back. So we went back to teach him and we found out that he has a really bad drinking problem and he was drunk when we talked to him. He wanted to change so bad though. He told us that he usually drinks 36 beers a day and it's a really really big problem! He's been hit by two cars while he's been drunk, he gets beat up by his friends, his wife was wondering if she should leave him, just all kinds of trouble because of it. We taught him and his wife and gave them a Book of Mormon and they've been reading and praying and he hasn't had one drink since! So we taught them all week and his wife decided that she wants to get baptized! President Newman had to interview her because she had an abortion when she was like 20 (she's 60 something now) so he came and talked to her and made sure she was good to go. So she got baptized yesterday and I confirmed her in Spanish (which was not great, not bad, but not great)! Gerardo still needs a little bit more time but he's planning to get baptized next weekend! So yeah, that was sweet! :) President and Sister Newman came to the baptism, which has never happened to me before, so that was awesome!
So yeah, good times! I love you!
Elder Johnson
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Friday, November 6, 2009
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1:13 PM
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I am enjoying myself a lot more now. We had Elder Ringwood of the Seventy come and talk to us at Zone Conference and he gave me some really good perspective. He told us that as long as we're working hard and doing our best to do the work that the Lord will bless us no matter what. That's a promise. He told us that we may not always see the direct results of those blessings though, sometimes the Lord will manifest those blessings for our work in another area because we are all one mission and we are all working together to reach our goal of 1050 baptisms this year. That made me think about all of the blessings I have seen here, like the totally random referrals for really sweet people or the awesome random calls from members who are willing to help us and it made me realize something; the actual work that I do doesn't really have to accomplish anything. This is God's work, he wants people to come to him so it's going to get done with or without me, he will find a way. That in turn made me realize how lucky I am to be able to be an instrument in his hands, how much of a privilege it really is that he allows us to help him. Missionary work is not an obligation, it's a privilege, and now I'm finally starting to be able to see that. Before, I would think that I must be doing something wrong if I didn't see a lot of success but this different more broad perspective of all of us in the FJM really helped me see the fruits of our efforts (even though Crescent City is closed). I don't know why they closed Crescent City, I've heard there's a possibility that they might open it back up after a few transfers but I don't know. But yeah, we'll definitely have to go there after my mission.
My new ward is the Orange Park Second ward with Bishop Ross (I think that's how you spell it) what's your friend's name again? Yeah this ward is so awesome! Some of the coolest members I've ever met live here! Oh remind me to tell you about Small Frey next week. We are allowed to eat with the members, in fact it's encouraged, but there has to be an investigator we can teach at their house too. I have no idea how Thanksgiving is going to work or Christmas or anything like that. I don't know if it will be any different for us. I kept forgetting that Saturday was Halloween just because we don't do anything different than normal. Just work work work. I didn't even see any kids out trick or treating when we went tracting, it was kinda weird. Elder Perez and I live in an apt with the Zone Leaders Elder Terry and Elder Kasper, they are really cool guys I like them a lot. They are English speaking and we are Spanish so that's kinda weird, it almost feels like that's separating us sometimes just because we try to pray and plan and everything in Spanish and they can hear us down the hall and they do everything in English. It's not anything bad just different. Yeah there are actually a lot of four man apts. here in this mission. Our ward we're in has 8 missionaries in it. There's us, another Spanish companionship, the Zone Leaders, and Sister missionaries. It's a lot of fun for sure.
Haha space camp sounds awesome. I remember I loved Space Camp! We didn't have cool training like you guys are doing though. I'm sure parent teacher conference will be good. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a few unhappy parents just because you can't please everyone, and it also doesn't help that people are crazy. Just relax, fix what you think would actually be constructive and just let the rest of the crazy people deal with it. That sounds kinda mean but you can't please everyone so don't try to that will stress you out too much.
I can't believe it's already been four months! It's almost Christmas time! I'm really looking forward to calling home that will be sweet. But I think you should still send me stuff. I'm trying to find stuff that I can send home but it's hard because we NEVER have time to just look for stuff and we don't have a whole lot of money. Even on P-day we're ridiculously busy all the time but I really want to send stuff home. I feel really bad that I didn't send Dad anything for his birthday but I'm looking for stuff so I'll send something home eventually. Hopefully I can send home some little Christmas presents for everyone.
Well, I love you all! I love being a missionary, I'm so excited that I get to be a part of the Lord's work! There's no place I'd rather be right now than here in the FJM. That's more valuable to me than any prize; preachin' love and peace with other well dressed guys. (Name that movie!)
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