September 24, 2012

¡Hola! It sounds like you guys have had a fun week with homecoming and Brock’s first duck hunt and everything. I saw the picture of the duck hunt; tell Brock I’m proud of him ha ha. Sorry but the letter is going to be a little short this week because I don’t have very much time. This week on Tuesday the baptism we were going to have fell through, and I’m still not really sure why. I talked to the girl in the morning and she told me that everything was fine and that we could pass by her house to visit her before her baptism. We passed by her house to take her to the baptismal service and she had completely changed her mind and everything. We tried talking to her but it didn’t help a lot and then had to hurry and tell everybody the baptism was off because we had told the bishop to fill the font and everything. We’ve tried visiting the girl since, but she hasn’t been home. Her school teacher that’s a member told us that she has a new boyfriend and that could be the problem. We did have a baptismal service yesterday though of N, a 9 year old girl whose parents are members. They’re super nice though. This week I saw my first live mariachi, it was pretty funny. It was Jorge’s birthday this week and we helped his wife blow up balloons and everything and then she hired a mariachi that went to his house in the morning and surprised him and we there with their friends and everything, it was really cool. Also the ward party went really well, we had several investigators there and I tried some new foods for the first time. One was cow hoof, and it was really gross, like slimy. I also ate a bowl of cow stomach soup that wasn’t too bad, it was the first time I’ve eaten an entire bowl of it and I can’t really describe the taste. The texture is like the tongue cleaners that are on the back of toothbrushes, if you know what I’m saying? Anyways I got to run shower and everything so we can go to a zone meeting. They aren’t too fun but the leaders usually teach us something. But ya I hope you all have a great week, thanks for the pictures and everything. I love you! Elder Johnson

September 17, 2012

Hey Mom, It sounds like you guys have had a good week with all the football, the dove-a-que and everything else. The MTC president must have changed recently because when I was there President Brown was the man in charge. I know that because Kalin and I had a meeting with him when we got in trouble one time. Ha, we’ll tell you guys the story when we both get home. So this week was actually a pretty tough one. The 15th and 16th of September is their big fiesta here celebrating their independence. We had to be home early on the 15th for safety because there were tons and tons of drunks in the streets and everything. We still celebrated though with J and G though it was fun, I’ll send you some pics when I can, the adaptor isn’t working right now. We visited the boy that’s on dialysis this week, and his mom told us that they weren’t interested anymore and that they wouldn’t ever get baptized again because they were already baptized when they were babies in the Catholic Church. I felt really bad because I think her son would have been baptized and everything if she would have let him but what can you do? I wanted to talk to them more about the scriptures, but I decided not to and we talked a little bit and then sang a hymn to them and left. The people that first knew of the church 28 years ago are still coming every week and even went and bought their own hymn books and scriptures this week. They don’t have a baptismal date yet because there are some doubts still but we’re working hard with them. Tomorrow we should be having a baptismal service of a teenage girl, and then on Sunday we’ll have another baptism as well. I really hope we can do both of the baptisms this week because it will be the first time I’ve had 2 services in one week. Also there is a fiesta in the ward tomorrow to celebrate the 15th of September, and when I gave my talk yesterday I told the members to all invite investigators to the fiesta. This week I did exchanges a couple days with Elder C, my district leader and it went really good. Everything is still going good with my companion, he’s a little different but I’m more patient than I’ve ever been nowadays. Also this week I’m going to start giving English classes once a week in the church for our ward and the other ward that uses the same building. It’s an idea to be able to find more investigators, but a whole bunch of members are super excited for it. Little do they know that I’ve never taught English before but I’ll let you guys know how it goes! Oh, that will be way cool for the kids for conference, I’m sure they’ll like the candy! When I get back I want to go to a live General Conference session. It’s funny that some people here save up all year to be able to go to Salt Lake for the weekend and see conference when we live 1 hour away and have never gone! My clothes are pretty good, the pits are all stained on my garments, and the necks are stained on my white shirts but they’re fine for now but when I get back we’ll definitely need to go shopping. My feet are fine and I’m pretty good with everything health wise, but my shoulder still does bug me a little bit. We played handball the other day and it really bothered me then and the day after, maybe I’ll have to do more therapy when I get home or something but I still can’t throw really at all but its all good don’t worry about anything, the main sport here is soccer and I don’t have to throw to be able to play that. Thanks for sending me a hump day package, I can’t believe I’m almost half of the way done! As a tradition I think I’ll burn one of my white shirts that day. Everything is going good, even though I’m really missing hunting this time of year but I try not to think about it too much. The language is coming along really good, I even dreamed in Spanish last night, weird huh? I think almost always in Spanish, and I’m forgetting some things in English. Anyways I hope you guys have a great week, thanks so much for your examples and everything.

September 11, 2012

Hola Mom! I’m glad that everything’s going good for everybody, and your sharing time sounds really cool too. Thanks for sending me those pictures, I’ll let you know when I get them. So my new companion is Elder J from Aguascalientes, Mexico. He’s a really good guy and likes to work and so far we’ve got along really well. He went to the MTC in Mexico the same day I went to the one in Provo, but he got to the mission in November and I got here in March. Elder J looks like he’s about 13 years old though. Yesterday I got to baptize E, it was a really cool experience. He chose me to do it a couple of days before and it was awesome when he decided for sure to get baptized and asked me if I would do it. He’s 18 years old and in the last year of high school, so hopefully he can keep progressing and serve a mission soon. I’ll send you pictures when I can, I don’t have my memory card adapter with me right now. This week a hermana from our ward who is a teacher gave us a reference for one of the students in her school. We went and visited the 16 year old kid, and he’s really sick. His kidney’s don’t work, and he has to do 6 dialysis treatments every day. He still goes to school but has to come straight home and start doing his treatments. His family doesn’t have very much money either, but so far people have donated all of the medical supplies he has needed. We’ve visited him several times since and he’s been reading the Book of Mormon and everything, but the bummer is that they didn’t come to church yesterday. Today we had a zone activity in another church, and we did a scavenger hunt, an obstacle course and played that volleyball water balloon game with the towel. It was pretty fun and every activity was related somehow to missionary work. It’s also Elder H from my district’s birthday so we’re going to go eat cake in just a minute. We’re currently teaching the family that first knew about the church 28 years ago, and their granddaughters should be getting baptized next week. The work is going great here, and we should be having lots of success this transfer. Thanks for everything mom, I can really say that I am happy here in Mexico and am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be here. I hope you guys have a great week, I love you! Elder Johnson

September 3, 2012

Hola Mom, That’s really a cool experience you had about listening to the Spirit, you’re so right we always should be listening to it. I got your letter this week that you sent on Aug 10. As far as D goes it doesn’t seem like he’ll be getting baptized anytime soon he’s gone back to partying again and can’t stop smoking. The week has gone pretty well though, and I found out yesterday that I will be staying in Texcoco again for at least 6 more weeks, but my companion is leaving and I’m now senior companion. Tomorrow I have to go to Santa Marta to drop my companion off and get my new one. I’ll let you know how he is next week. More than anything I’m hoping that he’s clean and organized and likes to work. I’m actually glad that I’ll be staying in Texcoco because there is a lot of potential in this area for the upcoming 6 weeks. We’re going to have a baptismal service this Sunday for E. He’s an 18 year old kid that’s way cool. One of the things we’ve done with him is taking him to the church to play basketball with the other young men, and then we play too. I’m know I’m not super good at basketball but nobody here is very good at all so I like playing and schooling all of them. Yesterday at church we had 7 investigators at church, which made me really happy. M, a guy I baptized in April blessed the sacrament for the first time, and then after that I was sitting by him and made him a deal that if I bore my testimony he would bear his too for the first time. He was super nervous but he did it and it was really cool to see the changes he’s been making in his life. We’re going to go to his 5 year old daughter’s birthday party this week. Also this week an older couple that nobody knew showed up at church. They had talked to the missionaries 28 years ago but were never baptized, but the guy had a dream that he needed to go the Mormon Church in Texcoco and so there they were. We’re going to visit them this week; I’ll let you know how it goes. I ate a goat head taco on Friday. Yea, like the eyes, the cheeks, and the brains. It wasn’t too bad but I got sick after. Anyways, I’ve got to run because my comp has to pack all his stuff and I’m hoping he cleans up some of the huge mess he’s made too. I love you and I hope you have a great week! Elder Johnson