08/28/17

Hola mis amigos y familiares 

¡Esta semana estuvo buena! Hicimos mucho trabajo. Y un día (creo que el sábado) fuimos a un parque de trailers y caminamos de un trailer a otro, buscando a las personas que estaban en la lista de "antiguos investigadores" y también a cualquiera que encontráramos por la calle. 

HA. Y'all thought I was gonna write my whole email in Spanish. No. I won't do that. But anyways, yeah so this week was good! We did a lot of work and I feel pretty accomplished if I do say so myself. I mean, if I do all I can and all that the lord asks, I can't NOT be satisfied because I know that it's all in the Lords hands and I just need to work my booty off like he asks me to, and then awesome results will come from it. 

One thing I've learned on my mission is obedience. I mean it's only pounded into our heads since day one! I swear we had like 5 district meetings in a row about being obedient and consecration and all of that. So, yeah, guys, be obedient to the lords commandments! They're a blessing and a help. We need to follow them to help us stay on the straight and narrow path. Two of the seventies came to our mission and one of them explained that we need to help investigators hold onto the barra de hierro (iron rod) from the start. Or the dark mists and temptations are going to come and when they reach for the rod, they aren't going to be able to find it! So don't just be obedient when it's convenient or when you feel like doing good. ALWAYS do good and ALWAYS hold on tight to the iron rod. 

This week I honestly can't remember much of what happened. I guess that's just what happens when you're really enjoying the work!

As I said in Spanish above, we went to a trailer park on Saturday I believe, and we just walked around and visited some people who we had down as former investigators and we talked to people we saw in the street and all that. Well, we were there for like an hour and keep in mind that's still over 100 degrees in Arizona children. And I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt because I look hot in those and it's not "as hot" anymore. Lol. Well, yeah no it was blazing hot I was so sweaty and my head was hurting. But, you know what I did? I straight went home and took a nap!!!! No jk if only. No, I didn't complain and I let my body sweat off all of the food and water and whatever else was in my body that day, didn't make my athletes foot any better, and I talked to people and shared the gospel! Cause that's what the Lord wants and well he sent me to Arizona for a reason, and if I'm not doing the work, what am I doing?!? 

Ya know.... I think he sent me here so that I could learn a lesson about the heat as well, because I always remember complaining to my dad that it was hot as heck outside and I didn't want to be playing in dirt (that was basically powder and I had to use the garden hose to water it down and I was sweating everywhere and being a little wuss) in 90 degree weather. HAHAHA 90 degrees?!? THATS SUPER NICE WEATHER! Yup! I've learned my lesson! 90 degrees feels faaaaaantastic. NO MORE COMPLAINING ON MY PART!!!!! 

Well, that's all I got this week. I'm also going ACTUAL golfing today. I'm so excited I'm gonna pee my pants!! Maybe. Probably not, but I'm still excited. 

Espero que todos hayan tenido una buena semana, y que esta semana que viene esté llena de felicidad y mucha tarea para los niños en la escuela  no jaja es broma

 

 

08/21/17 - SOLAR ECLIPSE

Hey everyone!!!!!
How are you?! You're doing GREAT I just know it! Cause LIFE IS 👍🏽
(that means great)

So this week was just a blur. I don't even know what I did. But, I
know one thing for sure, I did do missionary work!! I think... nah jk
I did.

So my companion is great still! He's always so happy it's annoying. No
I'm kidding I love it 😂 but, I am going to kill him (missionary
terms. Significa que voy a ser su compañero cuando se vaya, entonces
"le voy a matar"). But he is trunky as heck. We don't even do
missionary work. No that's totally a lie I apologize 😂 he's not
trunky at all. He might be less trunky than I am! No jk I'm not trunky
guys why would you think such a thing 😂 I still got a year come on.
My mind can't even fathom the thought of "home". I don't even know
what a "home" is. Haven't had a steady home for a year now 😂 no ok
I'm totally kidding. I'm just messing with all of you. Estoy
tomándoles el pelo. Or how we say in English, im just pulling your
leg!

Well, I don't have much to say about the week because we just did
missionary work that never gets boring, but not any crazy experiences
that happened this week. But there IS ALWAYS TIME FOR AAAAA
SPIIIIIRITUAL THOUGHT!!!!

So, yesterday I was studying ya see. And I studied a little bit on
"los dones del espíritu" or "spiritual gifts" (I always study in
Spanish).
And I read some super cool stuff in the teachings of Joseph Smith.
Amasa Potter said, "Amasa Potter comentó: “Recuerdo que el Profeta se
levantó para predicar a una congregación numerosa en el bosque que
había al oeste del Templo de Nauvoo. Dijo que predicaría sobre dones
espirituales… José afirmó que todo Santo de los Últimos Días tiene un
don y que al vivir una vida recta y al preguntar por él, el Santo
Espíritu le revelará cuál es”. Translation: every Latter Day Saint has
a gift and by living a righteous life and asking God for it, the Holy
Ghost will reveal it unto us. K, I'm just gonna leave it as that. I
will say no more. Let that sink in.
Also, something that is super awesome! Is of course, the GIFT OF THE
HOLY GHOST!! We all have the gift of the Holy Ghost (those who have
been baptized and confirmed). How sick is that?! We have a constant
companion to help us, guide us, warn us, etc. something also that is
so awesome is the promise that when preaching the gospel, and if we
just listen to the person and don't think of what to say beforehand,
and when we open our mouths, it will be filled with the words that we
need to say. That's kind of a scary thing at first! It's always a
tendency to think of what you wanna say first. But, it's true and it
works!! I know that as you guys preach the gospel in all different
ways, and ask Heavenly Father for that, that it'll be given to you.
Always look for opportunities to preach the gospel! You don't need to
be a missionary for the lord to help you! Especially because every
member is a missionary. Preach the good word fellas!!!

Love you all. You're all great. You're beautiful. Have a great week.

08/14/17

Hey everybody!!! 

I hope you're doing super great, cause life is great!! 

It's finally getting colder here. And by colder, I mean it only gets up to like 105-110 now!! WHOO. Making progress!! I think I have officially turned into an Arizona man. Because I am not a fan of the cold, and what "cold" is here, isn't cold. It's like 60 degrees and I'm chilly. We were at Zone Conference this past week and they had the air conditioning running, and I WAS FREEZING!!!! Literally freezing. And then we went to go eat lunch (in the gym) and it was EVEN WORSE and I was like oh my gosh I can't do this please turn it off! And then it turned off a few minutes later. And I was happy. 

Another exciting thing is that I am almost done reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish!!! I'll let you know when I'm completely done. I've learned so much it's crazy. But yet I don't know anything I feel like cause there's so many more things I can learn!!! 

So this week I want to testify of how much better life is when you're obedient. Elder Johnson is SUPER obedient! And I love it! We've been doing so well. Well, one day I was like. Whoa. Why am I so happy? Why am I so excited to do missionary work? Why do I repeatedly want to say that I love being a missionary? Why do I want to smile? Why do I have so much enthusiasm to talk to people and share this gospel? Why am I so excited to be awake (cause we don't sleep very much)? And then I realized. ITS CAUSE IM OBEDIENT! I feel so good! Cause I'm living the gospel, and I'm living the mission rules! Why wouldn't I be happy?!? (Now I am not saying that I was completely disobedient before, cause I wasn't, but I also wasn't 100 percent obedient cause that is at difficulty EXPERT. But now I am trying super hard. So don't judge. You guys aren't 100% obedient either so you got no room to talk. We all fail in someway everyday). 

So we went on exchanges and I was in my area. And I was with a new missionary. The fact that I was with a new missionary wasn't hard at all. That was easy. The hard thing was that I DONT KNOW MY AREA AT ALL!!! I was so lost all day  I used Google Maps! Yeah I hate google maps without Wifi. I drove so many miles that day  I had to hardcore apologize to my companion when he got back that night  that's ok. We learn to laugh at things like that. But yeah, i eventually found my way around, but it took a few detours. You could say we like to take the scenic route. But also, I don't know a lot of people in the area still!! So it's super rough. I was like... Elder... I don't even know who to visit... oh well. We follow the spirit and the spirit knows. 

Also today we went on a road trip to San Carlos! It's past Globe. I will send all the pictures. We saw a mine, ate at a restaurant called "burger house" that had Mexican food (and burgers), went to the church building in San Carlos and found out that the Elders that serve there, live on the church properties in a little trailer. Who knew!!! It's actually pretty nice and cool looking. San Carlos is like 2 hours away from Mesa. So we had a lot of fun! 

Bueno, así fue mi semana. Espero que hayan tenido una buena semana, y que la semana que viene esté llena de felicidad. ¡Les quiero!

 

 

 

 

08/07/17 - RAINY DAY

Hola

Well, guys, it's been 6 days. I don't know anyone here and I am always
so lost. I can't communicate with anyone, they all speak a different
language. I am so thirsty and so hungry. Stomach so empty.





NAH. Hahahaha jk I tried to make it seem like I was in one of those
survival shows 😂
Well, yeah it's been 6 days! I am getting to know everyone. I know a
lot more people now that we went to church. I am almost always lost
because the roads are all different. Even though I'm literally not
very far from my old area, but yeah. I'm lying about the not being
able to communicate though 😂 it's just that in this area there are a
ton of hispanics. It's awesome!! Yesterday I was thirsty and hungry
because it was fast Sunday. Stomach was pretty empty though!

So this week was a whole lot of thinking and remembering and my brain
is just dead 😂 I have to remember so many peoples names!! Well, it's
nothing unusual. I've done this before. It's just not ever very fun 😂
who likes not being familiarized with an area and people?!? Nobody!
But I do love this area  and all the people here.

Our church building is an old Catholic Church! Well, i didn't get that
information from a reliable source. But!! It is gold and white in the
outside, the inside has glass stained windows, and the rooms and
everything are all different and it's just different. Ya feel? 😂😂😂
also in the chapel, the pulpit is (if you're sitting in the benches,
looking to the front) is to the left. It's not in the middle 😂

My companion is awesome! He likes to joke around a lot. Which is
good!! I like to have fun. He only has 3 months left, so I'll be the
one to kill him 😉😂 but surprisingly he's not trunky!! Thank goodness
cause trunky missionaries are hard to be companions with... not that I
have experience with that... I would just imagine 😂 I think once it
gets closer, like a month or something, he'll get trunky 😉.
He is also SUPER obedient! I totally respect it.
Another cool thing is that we live alone. More room for me! Nah jk. We
have our beds out in our living room and our desks and stuff are in
the room. It's not that weird. I've just never done it before.

Well that's all I have! I guarantee I'll have some very fun
experiences these upcoming weeks

¡Les quiero!