Merry Christmas!

Hey,

This will probably be a long one, just so you know. This was easily the busiest week of my mission. We did not have anywhere near enough time to do everything we wanted/needed to. We were up an hour earlier than normal everyday, and we got back at least an hour late to piso every night. It's OK, we didn't break any rules to do it (kinda), but it was a lot of work.

Tuesday we had mission council. That was awesome! It was a great example of how perfect the church really is. Each of the 30 missionaries came with a prepared list of things to discuss (needs of the zone, problems, successes, rule changes) as well as the Busseys. Then from 9am to 5pm we were all sitting in a giant circle and we just discussed each topic. It's cool because even though there were a lot of different opinions and ideas, we never once had an argument or hurt feelings. In the end everyone always agrees on what to do. It was a pretty spiritual day.

Then we had zone conference on Thursday. That one was LONG, but good. It started at 9am and ended at 7pm. It was a normal zone conference until 3, then we ate and celebrated Christmas. We did a zone white elephant game. I got a set of Buddha statue things. We also did a big talent show with all 4 Madrid zones. I got the packages on Tuesday! They were awesome! Thank you so much.

This week we weren't in our area much. Each day we worked in another area from the zone. We did the thing where we set up a table and the banner of #LightTheWorld and contacted people. It worked out really well. We were able to get to know the zone a lot better and figure out what we need to work on. We saw a ton of success too. We got a lot of numbers. I also did my first baptismal interview. That was really cool. We did that on Monday and then she was baptized this Saturday. We had a few friends come to the baptism as well. In fact, all 3 of the friends that came now have baptismal dates themselves. We have one for Feb. 2, another for January 26, and possibly another this week. That came out of nowhere. The special sacrament meeting was a success yesterday. We had 7 friends come to church, and a few of them brought their families. 

Yesterday was Christmas Eve, and even though it was mostly a work day, the world shut down so our normal work was pretty ineffective. We did our weekly planning in the morning, and then we went and played soccer. That was definitely my favorite way to contact. There were 4 teams and we just rotated through every 2 goals. There was a Japanese team, a Spanish team, a Latino team, and a French team. They put us on the French team. We did alright against the 2 Spanish speaking teams, but the Japanese team killed everybody. It was super fun though. Pday started at 6, but we still had some work to do. We decided to make it fun though. We had a meeting with the sister training leaders to do some stuff for the zone, but instead of doing it in the church, we went to the center of Madrid. We were in Sol, it's a massive downtown area. We made a video to pump up the zone to reach our goals for December. We found all the people that were dressed up weird (like Jack Sparrow, a minion, Mickey Mouse, and Pikachu) and we had them each say a phrase and then we put them all together at the end. It was pretty fun. Then we had an eating appointment at 9. It was a good night.

So far we have no plans today. We haven't had time to plan anything all week. I think we're about to call a bunch of missionaries and organize a little game of soccer/volleyball. We'll be ready for the call at 5:30 today.

I'm pretty sure I still forgot a bunch of stuff, but that's all I can remember. Love you guys! Merry Christmas!

Elder Johnson

The view from our piso (we can see the temple outside our window)

We are soooooo busy!

Hey, 

So you said you're trying to wrap your head around what my new area is like.. I'll try to describe the changes a little. The area itself is really different. We use the metro and buses a lot. We contact a lot in the metro. It's pretty easy down there because nobody can leave. 😂 We have a ton of members so it's hard to get to know all of them. We have about 300 active members and around 250 in sacrament meeting every week. It feels like a bigger ward than ours at home. We are going to eat with members every day this week (except for the days with meetings). 

Speaking of meetings, the mission has changed a lot this week. We are super, super busy. This week we are going to be in our own area for about 24-36 hours depending on travel time. Tomorrow we have mission leadership council in San Sebastián (north of Madrid). That's going to be from 8 to 5 and then we have interviews with President until 8 and by the time we make it back to our area it'll be late. Wednesday we have a meeting with the district leaders in our zone, ward correlation, and we are going to contact with our district using the light the world poster. Thursday we will have zone conference from 10 to 7. It's a special Christmas one. We are in charge of planning the games. It's really fun being involved in that. We're combining with 3 other zones too, so it's gonna be huge. After the conference we are going to another area in our zone to work with another district. We are going to do mini exchanges with all the missionaries in our zone this week. So we're starting that on Thursday. Friday we will be in our area for the morning, but we have a few baptismal interviews in the afternoon and then we are working with another district in their area again. Saturday we will be in our area until about 7pm, we're going to the center of Madrid to work with the last district. That's just a quick summary of our week. Even with all of that, we will need to fit in at leat 10 appointments and find some new friends to teach. 

Even the normal days are insanely busy now. We normally start work at about 7:15 and we end at 11:00. Before this area I always had time in the morning and at night to cook and do whatever I needed to do. It's not like that here. Every night we get back to piso and we are busy until the end of the night. Sometimes we have to make calls to missionaries, sometimes to investigators. Other times we have numbers to do or lessons to report. We are so busy. 

We have been blessed though. This week we had 3 or 4 appointments every day and we found 9 new friends. My mission record was 5 before this week. We went crazy talking to people. Elder Johnson is a pretty outgoing kid so it's pretty fun contacting together. We fasted yesterday with a friend named Jesus. He's trying to quit smoking. He is progressing really well so once he stops baptism is very possible. Tomorrow we are going to fast again with some members. Since we're so busy here, I think I'm just gonna fast all the time so we can get the extra blessings. 

That Thai food looks bomb! Both Elder Johnsons here love Thai food so if you find a restaurant we will definitely find it. Everything will go fine with Emma's surgery today. I'm sure this morning is just gonna be chaos. Let me know how everything goes. I'll be watching my email. Oh, and don't be nerveso...

Love you, 

Elder Johnson

#IluminaElMundo Week 2 - On the Move

Hey,

This week was nuts. The first half of the week isn't even worth mentioning, but Thursday and on was insane. Thursday night I got a call from President. I was transfered. The crazy thing is that I moved earlier than the rest of the mission. He called at 10pm on Thursday and I moved early Saturday morning. I've been here in Barrio 6 since then. I'm not only in a ward now, I'm in the biggest ward in SPAIN! My area is also temple Square! This area is the promised land. I'm super excited to be here.

I'm also excited about my new companion.. I don't know if you remember the other Elder Johnson from the islands, but he's my new comp. He's one of my best friends in the mission so this is gonna be legen... Wait for it... Dary!!! Unfortunately we have the same name. It's been a big hit with the ward so far though. They will never forget this companionship.

The reason I came up here early is because I'm zone leader now and I had to replace the guy that is the new AP. This transfer is gonna be a ton of fun. I'm in my old district. We're gonna have lots of meetings and exchanges. One of the coolest parts is that I will be doing exchanges in CUENCA!!

¡¡¡¡¡HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERIN AND DAD!!!!! I hope this week is awesome for you guys! Send me pictures of the Thai food.

Yes, I miss Puerto. I will always miss Puerto. It is cold here. It was 77° when I left Sevilla. It's cold here. I almost died when I got off the train. Speaking of Puerto though... Jonathan should be coming up to the temple in January/February and I'm here now to go with him. I'm also gonna get my package next Tuesday in mission leadership council. That worked out well.

Love you guys,

Elder Johnson

Christmastime in Sevilla:

With Adilia

#IluminaElMundo Week 1 - Worldwide Service Day

Hey, 

Christmas season officially started in Dos Hermanas Friday night. They lit all of the lights around the city and the big Christmas tree near the town hall. We didn't see it because we were in an appointment, but it was fun to go outside and see some lights. This city is decorated a lot better than Zamora was last year. 

To start off December, we had the #LightTheWorld day of service on Saturday. We tried really hard to make it a good turnout, but the ward just wasn't interested. In the end the two of us worked with an organization called ONG. We spent the entire morning loading a big crate full of clothing, diapers, and food to send to Perú. It was really cool. We met some awesome people that volunteer there, and we are going back this week to see if we can work with them more. Even though we failed with the ward, it was a success for us. 

Tuesday we had intercambios with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Bates this time. Hes pretty cool. We had a pretty normal day, but 2 things happened that made it fun. One, I forgot my tablet in Dos Hermanas and we had time set aside to post on facebook. That got complicated. B, we had an appointment with a lady that walked in during district meeting last week and asked if someone could teach her about the church. She was awesome. As I shared the first vision, she started to cry and kept saying "that's true, that's true." We set a baptismal date with her and if everything goes as planned she will be baptized the 15 of December. Very soon. Sadly I won't even be able to go to the baptism because it's not my district. 

I think I forgot to give the sad news about Adilia last week. There were issues with the contract at her new job, and she ended up losing it. Luckily, her old job took her back, but she is not going to be able to attend church until January. That means her baptism will be February at the soonest. 

Transfers are next week. We'll see if there are changes in our companionship. I think it's about 50/50. They changed the way it works. If one of us leaves, it will be on Tuesday now rather than Monday. That way we have time to pack on Monday. I'll let you know what happens. 

Today we just went to Alcalá de Guadaíra to hang out in the church with our district. We could go to Sevilla so there weren't many options. We played uno, pase 10, and ping pong. We're heading back to Dos Hermanas right now so I can get my hair cut. It's a pretty chill pday, but it was fun. 

Love you, 

Elder Johnson

Christmas in Dos Hermanas 

This is a picture from October that Elder Birnbaumer sent me.

Thanksgiving Zone Conference

Hey,

What a week.. We had zone conference on Thursday, interviews on Friday, and #lighttheworld chaos Saturday and Sunday. It was not only a busy week, but one full of spiritual highs and exciting announcements. 

To start, we had zone conference in Sevilla on Thursday. Elder Rogers and his greenie, Elder Toro, spent the night in our piso the night before since they are a few hours away. It was fun to hang out with Elder Rogers again. He's changed a bunch, he speaks Spanish now. 😂 Then since Thursday was Thanksgiving, we ate Thanksgiving dinner.... Almost. A member from Perú made it. It was meat (maybe pork) with mashed potatoes. It was good, but next year I will enjoy turkey and stuffing. 

The conference was amazing though. We covered a lot of different topics. I took so many notes, I am still reviewing them trying to make sense of everything. They announced the details for #LightTheWorld, as well as changes the first presidency and the area presidency have made. I think one of the biggest things I took away from the conference was actually during the testimonies of the missionaries that go home this transfer. The hermanas I came into the mission with are going home in December, so they shared their testimonies this conference. It made me realize how quickly time is going, and I have felt a new commitment to consecrate every last second I have left in the mission. It doesn't seem that special, but it hit me hard this week. 

Unfortunately, the packages did not make it. 🙁 The next zone conference will be January 8, so that is when I will probably get them. At some point I will need to go to Madrid to sort out my residency card. I have been illegal for 2 months now. So hopefully I can do that this month and grab the packages then.

Friday night bishop invited us over to eat Costco pizza and talk about the #LightTheWorld initiative. He asked us to take the second hour of the meeting on Sunday and present the initiative to the Ward. He also asked us to plan and carry out the service project on Saturday. So all day Saturday we were going around town looking for service opportunities. We talked to the city hall, the police station, the local hospital, red cross, a local charity program, and a program called ONG. in the end we were able to organize something with ONG. I'm still not exactly sure what we will be helping with, but it's something. The presentación went really well. We set up Christmas lights and connected my tablet to the TV to show the calendar and the videos. It was a big hit with the ward. 

I can't believe it's snowing already. Do you think it's gonna snow a lot this winter? I know it's not gonna snow here. The last time Sevilla had snow was over 70 years ago. Thanksgiving looked fun. We were looking forward to the pictures all weekend so elder Zúñiga could see what turkey dinner looked like. Today we are having a chill day. We're gonna meet up in Sevilla, play some card games, and go to Costco to buy American milk. 

Love you, 

Elder Johnson

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

Costco Pizza, Volleyball and Keeping Busy...

Hey,

We have been super busy lately. The work is really picking up lately. We are booked 10 days out right now. We are still working towards the baptisms of 3 of friends in the coming weeks and months. I'm really excited for adilia right now. All she needs to be baptized is a new job that allows her to come to church in Sundays. She applied for a job last week and will find out if she got it on Thursday of this week. If she did, we will have a baptism in 3 weeks. Maria and Alejandro are also progressing, slowly, but progressing.

I started a new project this week. I am reading all of the conference talks from president Nelson. He has given 79 talks since 1984, so I will need to read a lot. So far it has been a good study though. President Nelson is a really funny guy, and it's easy to see that from the beginning he has been prepared for this calling. If you want to read an example of how funny he is, the first three paragraphs of his first talk are pretty good. 

I'm speaking in sacrament meeting again next week. My topic will be a talk from the April conference this year, "It's all about the people" given by Bishop Gérald Caussé. They asked me to speak for about 20 minutes this time. I like the opportunity to speak so often, I learn a lot every time I prepare a talk. But it's kinda funny that we have 60 active members and this will be my 3rd time speaking in 2 months. I'll let you know how it goes next week. 

That's awesome that you got a bracelet from Mallorca. Our ward mission leader is working there right now. Also, that's a good day for Emma's surgery. It's a pday. I mean, if she has to do it, that's a good day. 

We have zone conference next week. It's on Thanksgiving, so I'm really hoping that we will eat Thanksgiving dinner. They have a Costco close that carries pumpkin pie and turkey, so I think they will do it. I'm also excited because I talked the zone leaders into letting Elder Roger's and his greenie stay with us the night before. They're coming up from Cádiz. That will be fun to hang out with him for a minute. 

We have a zone pday today. We are all in sevilla for a volleyball tournament. We came out early this morning so we could have lots of time to play. So far we are in the semis, we're doing pretty well. We also sent the companionship that has a car to get pizza at Costco. But yeah, that's our week. Love you. 

Elder Johnson