Finding Forgiveness

Hey,

This week was good, but looking back on it, it was pretty boring. We worked hard and we stayed busy, but there is nothing that really stands out. We changed to winter schedule yesterday. That means that we will wake up 30 minutes earlier and end the day 30 minutes earlier. It also means pday ends at 6:30 (my time) from now on. 

I spoke in sacrament meeting again yesterday. They gave me 25 minutes this week and my topic was repentance. It went really well. It was probably my favorite talk I have given in the mission. As I prepared my talk, I mainly studied a talk by Richard G. Scott. It's called "Finding Forgiveness." It's a really good talk, and it's cool because one of our teaching pamphlets has a section based on this talk because it explains repentance so well. Here is one of my favorite parts of the talk,

"Only the life, teachings, and particularly the atonement of Jesus Christ can release us from this otherwise impossible predicament. Each of us has made mistakes, large or small, which if unresolved will keep us from the presence of God. For this reason, the atonement of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event that ever has or ever will occur. This selfless act of infinite consequence, performed by a single glorified personage, has eternal impact in the life of every son and daughter of our Father in Heaven—without exception. It shatters the bonds of death. It justifies our finally being judged by the Master. It can prevent an eternity under the control of the devil. It opens the gates to exaltation and eternal life for all who qualify for forgiveness through repentance and obedience."

A few things to tell you about...

First, I uploaded 3 pictures to the drive. One is a selfie of me and Elder Zúñiga in piso that we had to send to the APs confirming that I read a document they sent us for a meeting on friday. The other 2 are from utrera. It is a pueblo/town outside of Dos Hermanas. We work there a lot. It is about 20 minutes in train from here. We were standing on a corner looking at a map trying to figure out how to get to our cita, and I realized Spain is beautiful. So I took a picture. After living here for this long I kind of forget sometimes to enjoy seeing the country. 

Second, Halloween is Wednesday. We never did anything fun to celebrate, so I'm moving on to Christmas. I found a tree in piso that I'm going to set up. That should be fun. We also got the info for LightTheWorld today. It's gonna be big this year. This initiative is getting cooler every year. I'll write more about that as we plan it. 

Third, Today we are doing nothing. We had leadership meetings all day on Friday and I forgot to get permission for the district to leave our areas. I blew that one. So we are in piso today. We watched the testaments, talked about how cool the book of mormon movie will be, and we went grocery shopping.

Talk to you next week...

 

Love you,

Elder Johnson

Transfers...

Hey,

This week I'm gonna start with the update on our investigators. So I mentioned José Antonio a few weeks ago, we still haven't met with him since. I still have high hopes for him but we works a ton so it's been difficult. Adilia is our friend that I talked about last week. She is doing well. We set a baptismal date with her this week, so we're working towards the 24 of November. Hopefully she can find work before then. We found another friend this week and have already made some good progress with her. We set a baptismal date for December 1. Her name is Maria.

Yesterday was super crazy. We left the piso at 9:30 am to go to church, but there was a big parade thing on our street that went all the way to the chapel. It was nuts. It woke us up at 4 am with fireworks, cannons, horses, drunk people, and Spanish folk music. It was insane. Then after church we had 4 citas. We had to sprint in between citas to get them all in. We ran 4.7 kilometers in 23 minutes. Miracles are real. We left one cita and realized we had no other option but to run, so I tucked my bag under my arm like a football and we went for it. That was the most miserable half an hour of my life and we were both at the point of throwing up afterwards, but we made it. 

(The Parade/Fiesta on the way to church)

The transfer is already over and we start a new one today. The last transfer went by fast.. Really fast. It was a good one though. I learned a lot and it was definitely the transfer where I have worked the hardest, at least so far. We made some good changes in the area and we will keep changing this transfer. Elder Birnbaumer is leaving today. He's going to salamanca/Zamora......... Crazy right?! I freaked out when I got the email with transfers. I'm so jealous. He's not so sure about it, but that'll change. My new companion is Elder Zuñiga. He's from Perú, but lived in Argentina for like 17 years. He started the mission the same time as elder Rogers. He seems super cool. Idk a ton about him though. Maybe I'll write more about him next week. But yeah, talk to you later. 

Elder Johnson

Elder Birnbaumer's Birthday (Sunday)

Spain weather is Wack

Hey,

We're halfway through October, but it does not feel like that. Spain weather is Wack. It's worse than Utah. Its still hot and I'm ready for fall/winter. This week was good though. We had intercambios Tuesday and Wednesday with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Bodhaine again. He was my district leader in Cuenca and we were in the same district in the islands. This was my second Intercambio with him. We were working in Sevilla, but mostly in the church. We were inside teaching lessons the entire time. We only left for about an hour and that was to grab food. Other than that they just had appointments lined up all day. It was fun. I prefer that over tons of time in the street.

 

So about 4 months ago there was a baptism here in Dos Hermanas. We have been working with him since I got here. His name is Jorge. He's super cool. He's 16 and super involved in everything. He's planning on a mission once he graduates. We have been teaching his mom and she's ready for baptism. We have taught her everything. The only thing holding her back is her job. She works on Sundays and can't come to church. We fasted with her this week so she can find a better job and be baptized. The ward is also looking for ways to help her. I'll keep you updated on that one.

 

The weather has been changing. It's cooling off a little, like 85 rather than 90. Today is actually a lot cooler though. It's actually sweater weather. I miss the holidays, like Halloween or thanksgiving. We (more like I because he doesn't speak English) teach English classes on Wednesdays, and the group that has been coming just likes to practice conversations. I've been taking advantage and I just ask about Spanish history, stuff to do on Pdays, and where to eat. So far it's been working pretty well. That's how I found out about the festival of nations. One of the ladies is going to make us gazpacho this week, and she gave us a ton of pumpkins and fruits this last week. We were talking about where to buy pumpkins because we want to make jack-o-lanterns. She told us where to buy them, and then went and bought them for us. I'll upload a picture of everything she gave us. Sometimes people are just super nice and it's really cool.

 

I guess the pictures finally uploaded around Friday this week. We went to the cathedral in sevilla last monday. I guess it's the 3rd biggest in the world. We saw a bunch of other cool building and churchs. We also went to the festival of nations. It was pretty cool. They had some great food. I wish that I had 50€ to spend there. It was pretty expensive. The only thing I tried was piroshki in the Russian booth. It was super good. A lot of the guys got tacos at the Mexican booth. I miss Mexican food. 

Today we were going to go to Costco with our ward mission leader. Neither of us really have money left to burn this month and his wife had the card so we would have to go later in the day, so we're just gonna do it another week. I'm pretty excited for Costco though. They even have hotdogs and pizza here. We also had plans to play sports in sevilla but that fell through, so now we're just chilling in piso. We're gonna clean a ton and have some time to write later today. Nothing special, but I'm not complaining. I am happy to relax. 

Talk to you later,

Elder Johnson

My 3rd General Conference

Hey, 

This was an awesome week! I have time today, so I'm gonna write a novel. I'm gonna start with zone conference. I learned a lot and definitely left on a spiritual high. I don't know that that has worn off yet since we had general conference this weekend. The Busseys are great. They are focusing on one principle from lesson 3, which is The Gospel of Jesus Christ, each zone conference. This time we discussed the Holy Ghost. We focused a lot on how God directs his work through the spirit, and what role we have in that process. We saw some great examples of that this week. I'll share them in a minute. A large part of our role is being worthy to be God's instrument, so we talked a lot about obedience. That was something we needed to hear as a companionship, so that's cool. 

The next day was one of the times we saw an example of what we learned, like I mentioned earlier. We were contacting in a pueblo about 20 minutes south of Dos Hermanas and we passed by an old investigator. We knocked on the gate outside his yard and waited for 3 or 4 minutes but he didn't answer. As we were walking away he came running outside wearing only a towel. He was in the shower and wasn't planning on getting the door, but he got a strong impression that he should answer it. It's a good thing he followed the impression. He let us in and told us he was glad to see us. His wife had left him over the weekend and he needed our help. We shared a short message with him and then invited him to come see general conference. It was really cool to see how we were used to answer his prayers. (Also, that man will be baptized. Just saying...)

Saturday was amazing. We got up early and grabbed the train to go to Sevilla for our interviews with President Bussey. It was a great interview. Then we had studies, and general conference. I wasn't surprised when President Nelson announced something new, we all knew that was coming, I just wasn't sure what it would be. I think the new change sounds great. 

I don't know if you guys have heard much about the new book the church released, "Saints." I started it last Saturday. I got hooked pretty quickly. By Monday I was reading every spare moment I had. I finished it yesterday morning. The book is about the history of the church, and covers the time that Joseph Smith was prophet. It was an awesome prep for conference. It helped me see the real purpose of the church. The changes we're seeing now are only helping fulfill what was started almost 200 years ago with Joseph Smith. This week my testimony grew a lot. I have no doubt this is the true church. This is the last dispensation, and we are being prepared for the things to come. This new schedule gives us more responsibility. A few members here have already been concerned about it, but as we strengthen our testimonies and get on the covenant path, I don't think it will be an issue. I don't know if anyone will have time since you're already reading the Book of Mormon, but I would recommend Saints. It is a great book. 

Thanks for the update on everyone. That was fun to read. So I actually started this email a few hours ago and have been writing every chance I get. I thought I would have more time, but I just found out we have to catch a bus really soon. Today was fun. We saw the cathedral. It was beautiful and I have a ton of pictures I'll upload a few today and the rest next week. Love you guys, 

Elder Johnson

Dos Hermanas - Week 2

Hey,

Everyday Sevilla feels a little more like what I expected Spain to be like. I think it's because it's a bigger city so it's not as poor. We had a good, Spanish week. Last night we ate a Spanish tortilla and paella. Some members cooked food for us and gave it to us in Tupperware at church. Saturday we put on our soccer shoes and went to a few soccer courts to find people to play. That's still my favorite way of finding people to teach. The group we ended up playing with were cool. We're going back this Saturday to play again. They are probably the most talented group I've played with so far. I've got to step up my game.

My Spanish is improving quite a bit. Being surrounded 24/7 by it makes a difference. Elder Birnbaumer doesn't speak a lick of English, so obviously we only speak in Spanish together, but even with other missionaries we only speak Spanish. I'm to the point now where I only think in Spanish and all of my dreams are in Spanish. I even wrote the first 2 sentences of this email in Spanish.

Friday and Saturday we helped some less active members move houses. It reminded me of moving right before the mission. It was pretty fun seeing the difference having a ward can make. In my last areas we were the only ones available to help since we only had like 10 members, but this weekend we had 14 guys from the Elders Quorum show up to help. It was pretty cool. This ward is really cool.

My talk went well yesterday. Since I became district leader I never have as much time to study as I would like. On top of the normal studies I have to plan meetings and write reports, lots of boring stuff, so I completely forgot to write my talk. I took 10 minutes before church and marked a few scriptures and it went well. I think this has happened so many times in the mission that I'm getting better at it. Next time I'll write it out though. I already know when I have to speak again.

That's awesome that the Busseys sent that email. They're super cool. We definitely are the happiest missionaries in the world. And dude.. That's a super cool story about elder Tiebing. I hadn't heard about that. I'm not super surprised though, he's a great missionary.

I'm uploading the pictures from last week, I don't have much from this week. Elder Birnbaumer hates pictures and we didn't do anything for pday again. I'll make sure I have something next Monday.

Love you guys, 

Elder Johnson