It's All About the People

Hey,

This week was awesome. To start, I've got to tell you about adilia. I told you a bit about her a few weeks ago, but since then I have gotten to know her better and there is more progress in her story. Her 16 year old son, Jorge, was baptized in July. She started listening to the missionaries the week before his baptism. She came to the baptism, but because she works on Sundays she's never been to church. She started reading the book of Mormon though, and quickly gained a testimony of what we teach. Before I arrived in Dos Hermanas, she had 2 baptismal dates planned that fell through because of her job. She wanted to keep her job, and just take a Sunday off work when possible. That never worked though. So a few weeks ago we promised her that by November 24 she would be able to get baptized and come to church every Sunday if she was willing to sacrifice a few things. We fasted together and started looking for new jobs. We got the ward involved as well. This Tuesday she called us and said she had quit her job. Even though she has to support 4 kids, she wanted to be baptized. So she quit her job and had faith that it would all work out in the end. She invited us over to eat on Thursday. Right before we got there she got a call from a place she had applied at 3 times. The first 2 times they told her she needed a training that she didn't have to be able to work there, but she applied again this month just in case. She now has a job that is Monday through Friday. She can come to church every Sunday and her baptism is scheduled for December 8. Jorge will baptize her. So that was a pretty cool answer to a lot of prayers.

I spoke in sacrament meeting again yesterday. I am actually starting to enjoy it now. I spoke about the talk "It is all about the people" from the april 2018 conference. It has become one of my favorite conference talks. But more specifically, I talked about this part of the talk, "Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like if the Savior visited your ward or branch next Sunday? What would He do? Would He be worried to know if the visual aids were good enough or if the chairs were positioned properly in the classroom? Or would He find someone He could love, teach, and bless? Perhaps He would seek out a new member or a friend to welcome, a sick brother or sister in need of comfort, or a wavering young person who needed to be lifted and encouraged." A lot of times we complicate things in the church, but what really matters is our effort to become like Christ. The talk was good, I went into it with this quote and 3 verses from Moroni 6, and I talked for 26 minutes. The bishop got up and tapped my shoulder so I would finish. I don't really know what happened because talking is not my thing. 

They gave us access to a new application this week. It's called QualityTime. I think I will use it when I get home from the mission as well. It tracks how much time I am on my tablet and phone. At the end of the day I can see how long I was on the device, what apps I used, and at what time I used them. I realized this week that even though I have improved a lot in the mission, I still use technology when I don't need to. 

Today we are doing a tour of the Real Betís Balompíe Stadium. I am super excited! This is my new favorite Spanish team. Until now, I always liked Atlético because they aren't Real Madrid and I like a few of their players, but Betis is awesome. The fans are seriously crazy. There are 2 big teams here in sevilla, Sevilla FC and Betís. Even though Sevilla FC has the name, the real team of the people here is Betís. I love it. I am a little excited for the tour. I also miss soccer a little, but that's never gonna go away. We are also gonna try to see the tower of gold. I've heard it's pretty famous. 

Love you, 

Elder Johnson