June 25, 2012

¡Hola! So this was an interesting week. I had my first ingrown toenail, and I hope I never have another one. It had been bugging me for about a week, so on Wednesday night my companion tried to cut it with some scissors we had. He said he knew what he was doing, but I’m really pretty sure he didn’t. Anyways the next morning when I woke up my toe was really big so I called the doctor and had to go see the mission doctor that day, and he lives in the MTC which is right by the Mexico City temple. A member, Jorge, gave us a ride there, and the doctor said that my toe had lots of infection, and he gave me a prescription to buy some pills but that’s all he did because he’s just a general doctor. After that we went to the temple and ate. It’s way cool looking; I’ll send you some pics. Anyways after that we went back to the Jorge’s house and we ate and watched some movies and stuff because I wasn’t supposed to walk for a couple of days. When his wife got home from work she told us she had a friend who was a podiatrist so we went to see her to see if she could help me. She cut my nail, and I think it was honestly the most painful thing that I’ve ever had done in my life. She didn’t numb it or anything because she said there was a chance I could have an allergic reaction. For the first time in my life I actually wanted to get a shot but I couldn’t! After like half an hour of cutting and digging on my poor toe she finished. Jorge and my companion had to grab me so I wouldn’t move, it was quite the site. Anyways the next day I felt a little better and we went to our zone conference. Sister Morales, the President’s wife had heard what happened with my foot and made me take my shoe off during the meeting. The doctor told me that I shouldn’t walk for a couple days, so after the conference we just went home and watched church movies. The next day we worked though and yesterday we had a cool experience where one of our investigators was baptized by her husband, who had been less active. They got married on Friday, and then her husband talked to the bishop and everything so that he could baptize her. She’s nineteen years old and 8 months pregnant too, so it was really cool to be able to help their family start out right. I had already gotten the package with the CD´s and the money and everything, and then at zone conference I got the other package with the garments and candy. I also got the package from Brother Garcia at zone conference. You don’t need to worry about putting on the packages that they need to be delivered before one o clock, even though I liked the Spanish you used on the shipping label. Thank you so much for everything, the hard drive is really nice. Tell Brother Garcia thanks very much too. Everything’s going great, and I have everything I’ll need for a while. I’m glad you guys got my packages, that’s a bummer the axe got confiscated, that was the coolest thing I sent to you guys. Hopefully I can go the pyramids again and I’ll buy another one. Thanks so much for everything, I love you! Love Elder Johnson Zone Conference Elder Johnson and his companion at the Mexico City Temple

June 18, 2012

Hey Mom! So on Tuesday I got my new companion, Elder Flores from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. He´s pretty cool and really relaxed. He has 20 months on the mission, and will go home in October. It’s still too soon to tell if he’s clean yet, I’ll let you know when I find out. We’ve worked pretty well this week, but didn’t baptize because none of the investigators we have that are ready to be baptized are married! This Friday we have zone conference, and we also have to go with a couple that day to the judge so they can get married, and then the wife can get baptized hopefully this Sunday. Yesterday at Sacrament meeting, we walked in late, after the sacrament because we had to go to bring some investigators to the church. Right as I walked in, the brother that was conducting said that we’ll now be hearing from Elder Johnson. I was not prepared at all, and I literally dropped my backpack and walked up onto the stand. My talk turned out okay though. There was also an ex-missionary from Utah that was in our sacrament meeting yesterday that was visiting his mission with his wife. Anyways I talked to him and he’s going to be bringing a package to you guys from me this week when he gets back. He’s going to BYU right now so hopefully dad or you can meet him somewhere over there. I hope you guys have fun camping this week, I’m kind of jealous to not be going! Let me know how it goes. Thanks for giving me the news on everybody, it’s great to hear what everybody’s up to. Send Brayden a message on Facebook that says I want him to email me at tylerjohnson13@ myldsmail.net please. That’s crazy that Greg Taylor is already done. Keep on keeping me updated with everything. How was the Miss UT thing? I got the package with the CDs and treats from Disneyland, thank you! I’ll let you know when I get the other one from Brother Garcia. Thanks for everything Mom! I love you! Elder Johnson

June 11, 2012

Well Hello... This week has been really good; we baptized one 15 year old kid, named O. My companion baptized him as it will be the last baptism of his mission because he’s going home on Wednesday! We also found lots of new investigators that came to church yesterday. Speaking of church, it was really good that we had lots of investigators in sacrament meeting because our mission president was there. All he did was ´planch´ (planch means iron in Spanish, it’s like he grilled everybody) all of the members the first hour, and then we had the sacrament meeting the last hour after Sunday school and everything. Our mission president is a really good guy. He’s about a foot shorter than I am and loves to grill people too, he makes me laugh sometimes. He talks really fast too, like he’s from Guatemala, not like the people from here. Anyways tomorrow we have the exchanges, where I’ll be leaving my companion one day in the mission office and then he’ll go home Wednesday morning. I still don’t know who the new companion is I’ll be getting, I just hope it’s somebody that is clean. My companion right now is not very clean in the house and it’s been driving me crazy! But we’ve gotten along pretty well this last transfer. I’m really anxious to see who my new companion is going to be. All we’ve done for P day today is wash our clothes, clean the house, and then my companion has been packing. We’ve been teaching a ton this week and haven’t had time to do anything in the house. We should have a couple people that are ready to get baptized this weekend too. Anyways I gotta go; my companion wants to go say bye to everybody. Thanks for everything, I love you!

June 5, 2012

Hey Mom! This week was really crazy. I did exchanges with Elder Ortega on Tuesday and worked in another area, and then on Wednesday and Thursday I did exchanges with Elder Goodrich, who has only been here for a month and worked here in area Texcoco. It was really good to work with both of them, and I’m getting to be really confident as the missionary who has to do the majority of the teaching and talking. Also on Thursday morning I went to Los Reyes, a city about an hour away, to help the family get married that we baptized last week. The rule is they can’t get baptized until they’re married, but they promised they wouldn’t sleep in the same house until they were married so we were able to baptize them last week. This Saturday we thought we were going to have another baptism of a 15 year old kid, but he never showed up to his own baptismal service, so we called him and then he told us he wasn’t sure anymore and didn’t want to get baptized today. It kind of stunk because the baptismal font was all full and everything was ready to go, but I guess there’s not really a whole lot we can do. This week is the last full week of my companion’s mission; it’s so weird with him getting ready to go home and everything. I’m going to miss him, we’ve been working really well together and we’re really good friends too. It has still been really hot here this week, and then it rained really hard on us on Saturday and we were out running through it for a while. I think it might have made me sick, because I woke up on Sunday with a sore throat and not feeling very good, but luckily there’s a sister who is a doctor in our ward and she checked me out at the church and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. They changed the law 2 years ago and now you have to get a prescription for antibiotics here. Other than that though, I’m perfect health wise. My feet are better and everything. Today for P day it was our zone activity. Every 6 weeks we have an activity as a zone where we try to do something a little fun. Today we went clear to the center of Mexico City to a wax museum and the Ripley’s Believe it or not museum. It was pretty fun, and the best part was we got to go eat at Carl’s Jr. after. It was the most like America I’ve felt since I’ve been here. They had English music and everything! Have you guys seen Men in Black 3 yet? I’ve already seen the pirated version on sale on the streets and everything, man I really want to see it. It will be on my list after the Avengers. I’m glad to hear everything’s going good and you’re off to another busy summer. That’s good primary is going better, you would really definitely appreciate the organization in our ward if you saw how things are ran here. It would be so weird to start on time for once! I still haven’t gotten any packages from you guys, but I’ll let you know when I do. I’m thinking I should hopefully get them at the exchanges next week. Thanks for everything mom, I love you! Elder Johnson PS I’m pretty impressed with your español! Elder Johnson & Elder Scott who were companions in the MTC, with another Elder also from the MTC Doing some teaching at the wax museum!

May 28, 2012

Hola mama, This week has been really good and really really busy. We were able to baptize 4 people yesterday. I was going to send you pictures today of the baptisms from last week and this week, but the computer isn’t working, sorry I’ll try to send them next week. One of the cool things about the baptismal service yesterday, was that the guy who was possessed, I confirmed him in the morning in sacrament meeting, and then right after church he received the priesthood and baptized his 12 year old son that didn’t want to get baptized last week. It was a really cool experience to see how far this family has progressed in the last couple of weeks. We baptized 2 other girls from a different family, and a boy from a different family. Both of the parents of these families want to get baptized too, but they’re not married yet, so hopefully we can take them to the judge this week to get married. It has been so bloody hot down here this last week. We’ve been walking a ton everyday too. The other day, we didn’t have money for the combi, and our dinner was in another city about 5 miles away, so we decided to walk there. On the way we had to cross a ghetto Mexican bridge made out of a rope and a bunch of sandbags to cross a river. It was a pretty funny experience. I wish I would have had my camera with me. Also I wanted to say thanks for sending me the ideas for teaching the Holy Ghost too, they’ll help a lot for teaching, especially kids. I talk at lots of baptisms too, so I think it would be fun to use some of your ideas at one of our services. Keep me updated on what’s going on. Oh, and 1 more thing... I think the emergency brake problem with the Ranger is my fault. The last time I went hunting right before I left, I drove a ways with it on and looked back and saw the tires smoking and everything. I didn’t say anything because I thought it was fine, SORRY!!!!!!!!!! Use money from my account to fix whatever you need to. I love you mommy!!! Well sorry I don’t have a ton of time this week, we’ve been really busy today. This morning we went and did service, moving a bunch of panels for a roof, and then we rode in the back of a little pickup on the freeway to another house. After that we went to the University to eat with a member, and while we were there I saw a clip of the Boston Red Sox on the TV and got really trunky. But ya that was pretty much our whole p day! Anyways thanks for everything, I’ll let you know when I get the packages. I love you! ¡Hasta luego! Elder Johnson

May 14, 2012

¡Hola! It was way fun to talk to and see you guys yesterday. I’m glad everybody’s doing so well. I told you guys pretty much all the important stuff, so I don’t really have a whole lot to say today. Today we’ve cleaned the house, washed our clothes, took a nap, and went and ate some tortas with the other missionaries. Every week on Monday we have to email the Mission President too and let him know how everything’s going. I’ve been emailing back and forth with Brock, and took the extra time today to email my friends too so sorry the email’s not going to be too long. So we had a family of 9 people that we thought we were going to baptize this coming Sunday, but they didn’t show up to church yesterday, and we have no idea why so this week we’ll have to check with them and see what’s up, and see if they’re really prepared to get baptized this week. We also need to check up with Miguel and his wife too to make sure they come to church too so we can confirm them. We also found a new family this week, and the wife said that she had a dream of me 2 or 3 months ago where i told her we were going to church, and she didn’t know what church that was. It was a crazy cool experience, and it helped me realize that here in this pueblo in Mexico is where i need to go. There are 2 new gringos in our district that just got here 2 weeks ago. It’s hilarious to hear them try and speak Spanish, and know that I was once that bad. It makes me feel good with my own Spanish though, and I realize how much I’ve improved. Keep giving me up the updates on everybody, it’s fun to hear what’s going on. It was so great to talk to you guys, I miss you a lot, but I know I am where I need to be, here in Mexico. I love you! Elder Johnson

May 8, 2012

¡Buenos Dias Mama! So this last Tuesday I got my new companion, Elder Montoya from Mexicali, Mexico. That’s by Tijuana I think. He is 27 years old! He’s really cool though, and knows a ton about the bible and everything. He was a zone leader from a different zone last exchange. This is his last 6 weeks of the mission, so it’s kind of different being his last companion he’ll have and everything. I’ve learned a ton from him, and we work so so hard! In fact I have 3 new blisters this week because we’ve been sprinting from appointment to appointment. We didn’t baptize anybody this week, but we found 28 new investigators. That’s like a record for everybody, when we reported to the zone leaders that we found 28 new people they started laughing because it’s so many. Yesterday we went to El Distrito so I could shop for new suit. He has style so we get along really good, and we both like to shop. So M, the person that we baptized a couple weeks ago has been having some problems. He still hasn’t been confirmed yet because he’s had to work on Sundays as a firefighter. His wife told us he drank a lot the other night too. So our goal is to teach him about repentance and then hurry and get him confirmed so he can have the Holy Ghost with him so he won’t want to drink anymore. He’s still our friend and we went to their house this week for the birthday party of his cousin H, who is the dad of M that I baptized a while ago. We’re also teaching another big family too that we hope to baptize this week. Their uncle actually lives in Farmington, Utah, and just married a gringa in the Salt Lake temple. We got a reference from the church offices to teach them. I got your package yesterday, over 2 months after it was sent! The candy and everything is still good though, thank you I love Easter candy! The missionary papers were cool too, they’ll actually really help thanks! There are actually 2 missionaries from Spanish Fork in this mission, Elder Blake Hunter and Elder Blaylock, I don’t really know either one very well, but the other day they both got packages too, and it took about 6 weeks for theirs to get here. They were sent exactly the same way as mine and cost the same and everything, so I think it will usually take about 6 weeks for a package, mine just got destroyed at customs for some reason this time. The card was opened when I got it, so never send me money or anything. I can’t wait to talk to you guys this Sunday; sorry it’s been so confusing with how to do Skype and what time and everything. None of the missionaries really know exactly what’s going on. The Mexican missionaries are mad too because El Día de Madre is on Thursday here, and the president just gave an announcement that they have to wait until Sunday to talk to their parents too. I’m excited to talk to you guys, it’ll be way fun! Thanks so much for everything. I’ll see you guys in about 5 days! Con amor, su hijo guapo, (With love, her handsome son) Elder Johnson Hey Dad, I actually finally got the package you guys sent yesterday. (The package was mailed 9 weeks ago) There was a letter on it from the post office of Mexico that said it had been opened so they put another clear bag over it to ensure nothing got taken out but ya everything is pretty corrupt down here. I found a 320 gb hard drive for 900 pesos at Wal-Mart, that’s only like 75 dollars I think. Don’t send me the hard drive, I’m worried I won’t get it and I’ll just buy one here. I don’t need garments or anything yet, so there’s no need to send a package right now. There are actually 2 missionaries from Spanish Fork in this mission, Elder Blake Hunter and Elder Blaylock, I don’t really know either one, but the other day they both got packages too, and it took about 6 weeks for theirs to get here. They were sent the same way as mine, so I think it will usually take about 6 weeks for a package, mine just got destroyed at customs for some reason this time. My new companion is 27 years old, and this is his last transfer in the mission. He ´s really cool though, and knows a ton, I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s trying to learn English too he sounds hilarious when he talks with his accent. I’m actually starting to forget some English too. My Spanish still isn’t fluent, but I understand almost anything, and I can say what I want to , I just don’t always say it in the most fluid way. Where are the state playoffs for 3a? Hopefully SF can beat the Delta Rabbits and whoever else is in 3a! Thanks for everything Dad; I’ll talk to you on Sunday! Con Amor