Training Week 4 - Interviews

Hey,

This was a super fun week. We have zone conference tomorrow so the entire zone came to Puerto for Pday. Most of them went to loro parque, but I'm kind of playing tour guide with the other group. It was pretty fun but I'm exhausted. This will be a pretty short email.

We did the "Puerto Tour" today where we walk along the coast, eat Chinese, and hang out on the Rocky beach. It was cool because it was a whole new group of missionaries. I had my interview with President yesterday. That was different than the ones I've had before. We pretty much just talked about Elder Rogers and how I can help him more. I also got permission to call the Benavente branch because their building burned down recently. That still makes me pretty sad but I can't wait to talk to them again.

We made some awesome progress with some less active members this week. Pedro hasn't been to church in more than a year but he came yesterday. I'll send a picture of that. We also have seen numbers go way up with me and Elder Rogers. We are finding almost twice as many investigators per week as me and elder Tiebing. That really surprised me. Our Intercambios went well this week. I was with Elder Johnson and we had a ton of fun. That kid is awesome. We would definitely be good friends outside of the mission.

I think thats all I have this week. Thanks for your emails and I'll email you more next week.

Love you,

Elder Johnson

{me, Pedro, Elder Rogers}

I'rn Bru

{Johnson & Johnson}
... we made fun of the picture on FB ...

Training Week 3 - Loro Parque Part II

Hey guys,

I'm emailing you a little early today because we are going to be at Loro Parque again all day. I'm super excited though, we're going with all elders today. The hermanas are going with Hermana Pack next week so they didn't want to go today. I'll send lots of pictures again, but let me tell you about the week.

So to begin the week we did some service with a member here in Puerto. She has a garden that's on a cliff/the ocean. It's pretty sick. So we helped her pull everything out and plant new stuff. It was really nice to switch it up and have a few hours of yardwork. That morning was crazy though. We messed up when we were scheduling appointments. We were supposed to help her from 9 to 2, but we scheduled a teaching appointment at 11 on the other side of the island. Long story short, we skipped breakfast and showed up early, then we drove to the cita and changed clothes in the car, they didn't answer, then we changed on the way back and worked in the garden until lunch. It was exhausting but totally worth it.

We are continuing with #SweepTheEarth this week. It's actually not as bad as I thought, and I like the effect it's having on the ward. We actually got it going and we have a bunch of people participating. I don't know what effect it would have at home, but I think it would be cool if you guys tried it. I think it would be fun hearing those things from you guys.

We had intercambios/exchanges this Thursday. I was with Elder Hinckley. It was kinda weird because he's from my CCM group. After training for the last few weeks it was a big change in how the work was. I felt like we were pros. It was a good intercambio though and I learned a lot. It may have been the best one of my mission. We had a really good lesson that night. It was one of those where the spirit was overwhelming, and when I was testifying I could really feel the power. In the end, he accepted a baptismal date and it was a cool lesson to be a part of.

I think this is the first week since I have been in Tenerife that we haven't had a lesson with Jonathan. It was really weird. It might be a good thing though. We have become really good friends and you know I talk a lot. I'm finally to the point where my Spanish doesn't limit me on that, so we have had some visits go a little long with him because we were talking the whole time. He reminds me A LOT of dad. It's crazy. We were talking about the possibility of me going to the temple with them next year. If I'm still in Madrid, I think I would be able to go with them. They are going to be sealed in February. I'm so excited for them. They've also mentioned that they want to come to both me and Elder Tiebings weddings. That would be crazy.

I'll send some pictures later today. And can you tell me when mothers day is? I have no idea, I just know its close. Love you, 

Elder Johnson

Training Week #2 - We Speak Spanish

Hey guys,

We finally went on another hike today. I feel like I write my emails from the bus every week lately. I'll have to send some good pictures later. So, this week we tried a TON of new things.

I'm sure you already noticed Facebook. We decided we are going to make a bigger effort to take advantage of it. It's actually kinda funny how we started the challenge. We were watching some training videos for new missionaries, and there was a clip of Elder Bednar speaking. He was talking about how the Lord is furthering His work through technology. It was actually that same quote that's on the first picture I posted. But when I heard it, I got the impression that we should do that challenge everyone did a while ago. You guys know me, I ABSOLUTELY HATE THAT STUFF. And I'll admit, I tried to ignore it, but it kept coming back and I remembered the discussion we had right before I was set apart. We talked about how we shouldn't hesitate, when an impression comes, just act. So here we are, and what do you know, it's actually been a huge success already. It took off in our ward already. That was a little miracle this week.

That wasn't the only miracle this week, in fact, greenie miracles are real things. We had a lot of time for street contacting this week, but no success. At least not at first. But like Elder Taylor said in general conference, "God sanctifies the most difficult days." I truly believe that no effort is wasted, all that time that we put in this week paid off in the end. Saturday we were in the streets for about 3 hours and no one would talk to us. I was pretty frustrated so I totally turned and knocked on a nearby door, cause why not. They answered and we were able to teach them the first lesson. We'll be going back Thursday to teach them again. So we knocked on their neighbors door, we taught them the plan of salvation and were going back tomorrow morning. We found and taught 4 new people within 2 hours. We were cruising. That was a big relief this week.

Next greenie miracle... we only cooked for ourselves 1 time this week. We had lunch appointments everyday. We ate homemade pizza, Moroccan food, Indian food, tacos, and a stir-fry. It was a good week as far as food goes. We took the taco seasoning and kool-aid you sent me to Jonathan's and had lunch with them. That reminded me of home way too much.

We made some good progress in training this week. I realized when I first left the MTC that I just didn't know the lessons well enough, and I think it's the same for most new missionaries. I mean, I knewabout how the church was restored, I basically knew the plan of salvation. But in order to actually teach these things, you need to know it inside out. So when I noticed that Elder Rogers was in the same situation this week, we went and bought these big posterthings and made some giant blueprints of the lessons. It seemed like too much effort at first, but it helped a ton and we are teaching a lot better together now. The other big progress we made was in spanish. I think this week has probably been a little harder for him, but it's all worth it in the end. We haven't spoken English since Wednesday morning. Well, almost. From 11:00 to 11:30 at night we speak English because sometimes it's nice to be able to express yourself. But other than that it's all Spanish, all the time. This made the biggest difference in my training, so why not do it now, right?

Me and the other Elder Johnson are the only ones left from the group that went to loro parque a while ago. Everyone is pushing pretty hard to go again next week. We'll see what happens. It was amazing, but I would rather do something else with my time and money since I've already done it. We'll figure it out though. If we don't do it we will do another hike. I guess either way you will get good pictures.

OK, here is the part where I answer all of your questions... But first, thank you so much for all of those pictures. Me and Elder Rogers were drooling all week. We saw the Man City celebrations at a bar the other night. That was sad to see. And dude!! You almost came to Madrid! What the heck?!? That would be soooo cool. I have loved all of the little things you send me. Even the weird things are always fun. Even the tuna has been useful, that's always my lunch when we go on hikes. I took pictures of the kkk stuff for Easter. It didn't freak me out or anything, but it is pretty wack. It makes it pretty clear that apostasy is a very real thing. But yeah, that's a longer email. 

Watch for pictures.

Love you guys,

Elder Johnson

WhatsApp profile pic

Today's hike (Tiede)

Another awkward picture. 😂

The Plan of Salvation with Jonathan

Training Week 1

Hey,

This was an insanely eventful week, as I'm sure you would have imagined. There are plenty of stories to tell, but I think most of them will be told better when I get home than through email. With that being said, here is a "quick" summary of the week;

So monday was pretty fun. Me and Elder Tiebing took the district on a tour of Puerto. It's such a beautiful area. We walked along the coast for a few hours and then we grabbed some Chinese food for lunch and played some uno in a park. Our pday ended a few hours early so we could fit in more appointments. We had 3 eating appointments scheduled that night to say goodbye to Elder Tiebing. We had BBQ chicken, bratwursts and potato salad, a couple pizzas, pasta,salad, sandwiches, and then we ate ice cream 3 times. I was so sick at the end of the night.

Tuesday was also loaded with appointments. We had 3 or 4 and I had 2 and a half hours of meetings. The appointments went well. The meetings not so much. I was skyping in since they are in Madrid, but the wifi went down about 20 minutes in. So I missed the entire training and now I have had no idea what I'm doing all week. 👍😁 I finally called the office elders at the end and was able to meet my new companion that way. We talked for a second and I told him what to pack. After that we went back to work. I was pretty excited/anxious that night.

Wednesday we had an early appointment with Carlos. He's awesome. He does a lot for us. Then we went straight from his house to the airport. I dropped Elder Tiebing off at security and then I waited an hour with the La Laguna elders for my new companion. His name is Elder Larsen Rogers. He's from New Mexico. (I know, not European!) Here's the cool part, he's a beast at soccer. We realized we were at a few of the same tournaments. He's a lot better than I am though. His Spanish is a little better than mine was when I came into the field, but he's still a greenie. The work has been super fun this week as he is exposed to everything for the first time. 

Thursday we had district meeting. We did the whole thing in english so everybody would understand. It felt kind of weird. By the way we aren't the only training companionship in the district, the hermanasare also new. It was a really good meeting though. Then we had correlation afterwards which was all in spanish. He didn't pick much up. It's super fun for me because that was me just the other day. It's cool to see how much can change and how fast time isflying. I'm definitely not a new guy anymore. 

Friday and Saturday were just loaded with appointments. I remember my first week was just a blur because we were so busy. And it worked out well so why not do it with him. I did the same thing Elder Udy did to dad, and Elder Jäger did to me. Our first lesson I just turned it all over to him. It was hard to do, I really wanted to just help him out and do it. But I know it helped me and in the end its worth it for him. That was our week. One big change has been the extra studies. We have an extra hour everyday to study "the first 12 weeks" pamphlet. Like I said, there are some pretty good stories to tell, but those will be better later.

Thank you for the pictures of the posters and the derby. I loved that! I've been hearing music lately that I just don't recognize at all. It's pretty weird. I've also been hearing a lot about the world cup lately. It must be coming up soon.... I hate that I'm missing it.

The letter from the Packs has been mentioned in multiple emails, but I've never heard of that. That's pretty cool. Those guys are so cool. I'm definitely not ready for the change.

If you have any questions let me know. I wasnt sure what to write so I just tried to summarize the week a little.

Love you guys,

Elder Johnson

Me and Elder Rogers

Highest of Highs, Lowest of Lows

Hey guys,

Oh man, this is one of those weeks I wish I could just talk to you guys. I don't even know where to start. I've heard that you experience the highest highs on the mission as well as the lowest lows. This week is proof of that. We have transfers today, and you already know Elder Tiebing is out. That means I will be staying here in Tenerife for a while longer. I'll talk more about that in a minute though.

I figured it would be better to start with the low first. 2 months ago we found a miracle. You probably remember, but we met a guy that really, really needed the gospel. We had an amazing first lesson and from there it was smooth sailing. He accepted and lived everything we taught him, he was incorporated into the ward quickly. It was just too perfect. I still don't know exactly what happened, but he called us Wednesday and told us he wouldn't be baptized and he is basically our sworn enemy now. I was just dumbfounded. We talk about the love you have for the people as a missionary all the time, so you could imagine when he called and said the things he did it really hurt. The good news is, as bad as that was, it got better pretty quickly. With general conference and transfers a few days later, there wasn't time to worry about it.

So that was Wednesday. Thursday we had a ward activity here in Puerto. It was pretty fun. We had a picnic and then played some soccer. It was awesome to see the small group of members here organize something and make it happen. I guess it's been a few years since the last activity here. Then the 2 of us were in charge of a ping pong activity later that night. It wasn't the best turnout ever, but we had 3 investigators come and it was fun. I love Ping pong.

Alright... Here is the big news. Elder Tiebing is going to ponferrada. That's in my old zone. His new companion is Swiss so they can speak German together. But it's getting crazy here in Puerto. I AM TRAINING!! I got a call from the AP's on Saturday morning and that was seriously the most stressful day of my life. Talk about feeling completely unprepared and inadequate. I couldn't tell anyone until Saturday night when transfers came out so that sucked too. General conference was good though. It helped me a lot. By Sunday night I was ready to go. I'm super excited now, completely ready to make or break this kids mission. 👍 That is definitely a high for the mission though. 

I will Skype in for a training tomorrow afternoon and then I will join in the meeting later to meet my new companion. So I don't even know his name yet or where he is from. Then Wednesday I will take Elder Tiebing to the airport and pick the new guy up. I still don't even know if we are keeping the car. 

I've only seen 3 of the 5 sessions of conference so far, but my favorite talks so far were from Elder Robbins and President Nelson's from Sunday morning. When Elder Sabin came a few weeks ago he made it very clear that this conference would be a historic one, and that came true this weekend. That was clearly a special one and I can't wait to reread and re-watch it. We are going to watch more tonight, and next week I'll write you guys more about it.

So I have a few questions for you guys. I'm surprised I have made it this long without asking, but I need a rundown of everything going on in the movie and music world. I have seen a lot of cool posters lately...incredibles 2, han solo, stuff like that. I specifically need the star wars universe. Can someone fill me in on the movie lineup and can you guys send me some cool star wars pictures. Also updates on soccer are always good. You guys are the best. I'll write you more next week if I don't destroy Tenerife this week.

Love you guys, 

Elder Johnson