Hello family!
hows it?
well this week was awesome... General conference was the bomb-diggity yo. My fav's were.... Holland, Eyring, and Uchtdorf. Holland blew me away. He's probably my favorite apostle. he has been since the mtc when i heard him say..." We aren't the church that runs down to the end of a football field shouting im saved!!"
but ya, awesome general conference. I haven't seen Priesthood or Sunday Night yet though. So i guess there is still more to be seen!
We had a bunch of investigators come watch a session! Lawrence and Thabo came and brought their friend George. He's actually very interested in the gospel. So i hope that we can start teaching him and his family. as well jennifer came and Carolaine. So that was exciting. The lee's havent been coming to church lately so i'm getting worried....
but it's ok we'll work it out!
Umm... let's see what else is news from the area.... We have zone conference this week which is exciting! So we'll leave early tomorrow and stop by god's window on the way. Hopefully this time i'll be able to get some decent pictures!
But how are things with the fam back home? How is rugby for kev-bot? Is there a countdown for Death Cab Yet? I'm jealous, i can't wait to hear about it! And i loved the pictures! Those kids are growing up so fast! Are all of them out of diapers yet? I know that jack might beat kevin but it's ok we all love kevin anyways. HAHAHA just kidding.
And i just realized how much i miss the light that shines off the top of George's Dome. It's awesome. sorry im just in a joking mood today!
Umm.... i think i'll send you all some kruger pics next week! I have some pretty cool one's of Baboons and maybe lions if you're lucky.
But ya... i'm getting more and more nervous with transfers approaching! I wanna make sure that this area is in AWESOME shape in case i do have to go. I'm gonna be an emotional wreck. haha
It's funny how much this town has grown on me... at first i was just dying to get out, go to township and never tract again. but now it's awesome.... i love it! This area has so much potential as long as the missionaries work hard and the branch will fellowship like true christians! That is the key to success for Retention.
Lately i've been only eating pbj's and squillo's! But now that we are getting back to a somewhat normal p-day schedule i may have time to get real food! I'm excited!
But i hope you all have a great week! i can't wait to hear from you all soon!
-elder johnson
P.S. Oh and tell sydnie i do indeed remember puke boy! and that she is the cat's pajamas, the bee's knees and and what what!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Not that I'm Counting
I really haven't been too "into" the time that has FLOWN by since Michael has entered the mission field. But crazy enough it has been 4 months already. Kevin made the comment that it seemed longer to him. Michael is doing so well and is loving his mission. Here is this week's email! Is this really my Michael, or has someone else taken over?!
hello hello family!
Hows it?
Well today was a fun day we went to kruger and saw 4 of the big 5! so that was great! I'm sad to say that in lall my trips i have yet to catch a glimpse of the ever elusive leopard.... But as far as sending stuff back home to you all, we have had super busy p-days lately and i haven't gotten around to it. So i guess i'll have to save kevin's b-day card for next year! He'll love it even more when he's 18.
Anyways onto some news from the mission field! Yesterday i gave a talk about "Our Duty is to Save Souls" I gave this within a week of listening to a talk by Gene R. Cook called Teaching by the spirit. If you ever have the chance, listen to it. it's long but it will blow your mind. anyways.... it went well! I am pretty much speaking or teaching a class every week for church!
As far as teaching goes.... Things are going great, we had 5 investigators at church on sunday!! it's a record for us! Lawrence and Thabo came as well as a lady named jennifer and her kids. We also have a new investigator who was being taught in Witbank but recently moved to Hazyview which is a long way away from here but she came anyways. We're pretty sure she'll get baptized! It's exciting
Things with precious are good, we are currently seeing her twice a week which is awesome cause it really helps keep the pace up and keeps things rolling!
This area is just continuing to blow up.... It's all because of the faith and hard work that we put in. Tracting is no longer a burden we always view it as an oppurtunity to find more and more of god's children and bring them back to him!
In other news... the weather is cooling down here! so im pretty pumped about that.
And conference is this week! i am so excited....it's the super bowl of mission! New Apostle news, as well as other great news and talks! it's gonna be rad.... All of the elders in the flat are calling the announcement of the book of mormon.....part 2!! haha
But i loved the ward conference goals.... They are perfect and will definately strengthen the testimonies of the members as well as invite others to come unto christ! As far as things that i need..... I would like some more churchy music if possible! And if anyone can get their hands on some sweet talks that would be much appreciated. you can probably send them as an attachment. you can send pictures as well! The music can just come in the next package, don't go out and buy anything just find something you have that you think i'll enjoy.... If you have any Lex De Azevedo i would love that as well as Jon Schmidt. They have awesome arrangements of church songs....
But for the most part things are great so don't worry about sending anything too quickly! haha
Well i hope things continue going awesome for everyone back home! I love hearing from you all every week! I want you to all know that i love you and the great blessing that we have as being members of this church and how thankful we should be and that we should share these blessings with those around us... i challenge each of you to have at least one name to give to the missionaries by summertime this year. I hope to hear about the progress you make!
Remember....
The Church is True
The Book is Blue
and Jesus is a Mormon.(sorry we have an elder here who always says that and it cracks me up.)
-elder johnson
hello hello family!
Hows it?
Well today was a fun day we went to kruger and saw 4 of the big 5! so that was great! I'm sad to say that in lall my trips i have yet to catch a glimpse of the ever elusive leopard.... But as far as sending stuff back home to you all, we have had super busy p-days lately and i haven't gotten around to it. So i guess i'll have to save kevin's b-day card for next year! He'll love it even more when he's 18.
Anyways onto some news from the mission field! Yesterday i gave a talk about "Our Duty is to Save Souls" I gave this within a week of listening to a talk by Gene R. Cook called Teaching by the spirit. If you ever have the chance, listen to it. it's long but it will blow your mind. anyways.... it went well! I am pretty much speaking or teaching a class every week for church!
As far as teaching goes.... Things are going great, we had 5 investigators at church on sunday!! it's a record for us! Lawrence and Thabo came as well as a lady named jennifer and her kids. We also have a new investigator who was being taught in Witbank but recently moved to Hazyview which is a long way away from here but she came anyways. We're pretty sure she'll get baptized! It's exciting
Things with precious are good, we are currently seeing her twice a week which is awesome cause it really helps keep the pace up and keeps things rolling!
This area is just continuing to blow up.... It's all because of the faith and hard work that we put in. Tracting is no longer a burden we always view it as an oppurtunity to find more and more of god's children and bring them back to him!
In other news... the weather is cooling down here! so im pretty pumped about that.
And conference is this week! i am so excited....it's the super bowl of mission! New Apostle news, as well as other great news and talks! it's gonna be rad.... All of the elders in the flat are calling the announcement of the book of mormon.....part 2!! haha
But i loved the ward conference goals.... They are perfect and will definately strengthen the testimonies of the members as well as invite others to come unto christ! As far as things that i need..... I would like some more churchy music if possible! And if anyone can get their hands on some sweet talks that would be much appreciated. you can probably send them as an attachment. you can send pictures as well! The music can just come in the next package, don't go out and buy anything just find something you have that you think i'll enjoy.... If you have any Lex De Azevedo i would love that as well as Jon Schmidt. They have awesome arrangements of church songs....
But for the most part things are great so don't worry about sending anything too quickly! haha
Well i hope things continue going awesome for everyone back home! I love hearing from you all every week! I want you to all know that i love you and the great blessing that we have as being members of this church and how thankful we should be and that we should share these blessings with those around us... i challenge each of you to have at least one name to give to the missionaries by summertime this year. I hope to hear about the progress you make!
Remember....
The Church is True
The Book is Blue
and Jesus is a Mormon.(sorry we have an elder here who always says that and it cracks me up.)
-elder johnson
Monday, March 23, 2009
Email and A Few Pictures!!
ok i must start out with an apology. I wrote a big long pretty email complete with pictures from our latest activities including: Eleophant sanctuary and Service at Kanyamazane. But... my computer froze and now i have to hurry and write a short email containing all the fun stuff we did this week!
So.... As far as the tsela's go things are great! We taught them word of wisdom and it went super smooth! lawrence had a nephi moment when he said " I WILL follow the prophets! and i was like sweet so i showed him Chapter 3:7! it was great.
We met a lady named precious who when she about 10 years ago was investigating the church and wanted to get baptised but her dad flipped and wouldn't let her! anyways she's super pumped and is very interested in learning about the gospel again!
Today we went to an elephant sanctuary it was awesome! I will try to attach a picture!
Anyways the work is going awesome! it's so sweet. As we continue to have the faith to find people the lord continues to provide them!
I hope you all have a great week i'm so sorry about the brief nature of this email! next week it will be better. I think we're doing kruger again on p-day! it should interesting!
The Church is True
-elder johnson
Friday, March 20, 2009
Read Scriptures, Pray and Go to Church!
This was a great email from Elder Johnson. He has come to love the area he is serving in and most of all the people. I have included a few pictures I found on the web so we can see "God's Window". SOMEDAY he will send his camera card home and I will post his actual pictures!
hello, everyone!
Hows it?
This week has been pretty cool! I have been uber busy with transfers and all that stuff, i am now the district leader.......... Just Kidding!
haha
Im glad you got to talk to elder mbhele he is the man! Elder Septon is pretty cool as well! He only has 3 months left on mission and is fighting the trunkiness! he's doin a good job of too. We are working hard and have done a bit more tracting in the last couple days with suprisingly positive results. our whole day on tuesday is full of appointments with people we tracted to last week. We didn't get to teach the Tsela's this week mama tsela was outta town and lawrence and thabo were gone too. But we did swing by and set up an appointment for this week so hopefully we can keep them on track for the end of april! Sad news is that i will probably be transfered before they get baptised. Rumour has it i will be gone in 6 weeks. So we'll see. If it's true i'll definately be bummed, this area has kind of become my baby. I've grown to love it. and Once it's out of my hands i'll worry alot about whats happening here! IT's funny it used to be so weird but now it's just like home. I know every part of town and what not.... it's crazy.
God's window was pretty sweet! it's a huge cliff that overlooks a valley unfortunately it was so foggy that we could'nt see anything but it was a way fun hike.
Oh and you may notice some money getting withdrawn from my home card. We needed to get the bikes serviced and my allotment card didn't have enough so i had to use the home card, so you might be getting 300 rand or something like that when i send my card and a special b-day card for our special b-day boy later this month! I'm glad my friends are still talking to mom. That's great. And i am sooo pumped for Chris being out on mission! That kid is awesome and i am so proud of him.
Onto more news from the mission field we are currently teaching some brothers named Tulani and Sphizo, they are really cool and are looking very hopeful. Right now we are working on building their testimony in the book of mormon. Everytime i teach about the book of mormon my testimony of it grows. I am constantly reminding investigators of how important it is to have that testimony of it. As they say it's the keystone of our religion. If it is true then Joseph Smith is a Prophet and the Restoration is true. Its funny when people know it's true but can't accept the other parts. Especially the whole "true church" thing. That drives me nuts! anyone have any advice on how to help people understand that better? anywho.....
The Church is true, Jesus Christ is our savior, Joseph smith is a true prophet, Thomas S Monson is the prophet today and The Lord's kingdom continues to press forward here in south africa!
Read your scriptures, and pray, and go to church, do those 3 and you wont go astray! it's true, its true, IT'S TRUE!
-elder johnson
Monday, March 9, 2009
Email from Michael's Companion!
I am SOO excited for this post. I had the priviledge to email Michael's companion before they have their transfers. I am very sad that they will no longer serve together. I am so indebted to Elder Embele for the good training he gave Michael and the great relationship they developed. I think they really worked well together. It sounds like they may have had a few "moments", but knowing Michael I am sure he was the first to make amends and lighten the moment! So enjoy this week's emails and I am hoping we will get his camera soon so I can post some pictures! Also you just have to love the broken English and spelling!! I love you Elder Embele!!!
thank you for the email and i`m so greatful aswell that i`m the one who helped elder Johnson to start his mission he exectle the kind of missionary that i prayed to get someone who does not need to be told everything that he needs to do,elder Johnson is a great missionary and with the faith,diligent nd the love fo the work and the poeple that he has he will go far.
did he tell you how our area was when he came to it but as soon as we atarted working together things just for the better and our area is progressing every week.
and i even told him that out of all the companions that i have had he is the one that has been the easiest to get along with,even though sometimes we will get angry at each other not realy angry like when feelings will get heated at the end of the day we will be loughing and all that, and we always talk openly to each other and that does help with our relationship.
ye i will miss my son!! i mean your son,he always call me father so i thought i could call him son.
thank you again and for the qoute aswell iknow that the gespel is true heavenly father loves us.
and please send my love to all of your family
Michael's email- (hey the new comp can't be all that bad he's from OGDEN! For those who may not know that's where I was born along with all my family and most of my extended family!)
hello family!
Things sound great back home! Dad's story about that couple was awesome!
We had our temple trip this week and it was great! We did baptisms with the members in the morning and then in the afternoon the missionaries stayed and went through a session, it was awesome. i love the temple so much. It blows me away more and more everytime i think about. But things are just getting better and better here in nelspruit. Yesterday we had a very spiritual lesson with the Tsela's and Now both Lawrence and His Mom are commited for baptism in April! Thabo the brother is always gone when we teach so we gotta come and get him caught up! It's incredible what the lord has been able to accomplish through us lately. It's been very interesting how i notice that as missionaries this is not our work. it's the lords and we are just the medium that he uses to get to the people. I just hope that my next companion will be able to help carry on in the effort that we've been putting forth. Speaking of new companion we got transfer news this week and we found out that Elder Mbhele has been Transfered to Springs, he will be Zone Leader! And my new companion is Elder Septon from Ogden Utah. So it should be interesting! i'm pretty nervous to see how things go!
We are currently getting ready to go to a place called god's window! so im a little short on time! But i just want to let you all know that I love you all so much. I know that This church is true, i know that joseph smith was a prophet, i know that jesus christ is the savior of the world and the son of god, and i know this is his gospel and we are teaching it to his children! Have a great week! I love you all so much!
-elder j
thank you for the email and i`m so greatful aswell that i`m the one who helped elder Johnson to start his mission he exectle the kind of missionary that i prayed to get someone who does not need to be told everything that he needs to do,elder Johnson is a great missionary and with the faith,diligent nd the love fo the work and the poeple that he has he will go far.
did he tell you how our area was when he came to it but as soon as we atarted working together things just for the better and our area is progressing every week.
and i even told him that out of all the companions that i have had he is the one that has been the easiest to get along with,even though sometimes we will get angry at each other not realy angry like when feelings will get heated at the end of the day we will be loughing and all that, and we always talk openly to each other and that does help with our relationship.
ye i will miss my son!! i mean your son,he always call me father so i thought i could call him son.
thank you again and for the qoute aswell iknow that the gespel is true heavenly father loves us.
and please send my love to all of your family
Michael's email- (hey the new comp can't be all that bad he's from OGDEN! For those who may not know that's where I was born along with all my family and most of my extended family!)
hello family!
Things sound great back home! Dad's story about that couple was awesome!
We had our temple trip this week and it was great! We did baptisms with the members in the morning and then in the afternoon the missionaries stayed and went through a session, it was awesome. i love the temple so much. It blows me away more and more everytime i think about. But things are just getting better and better here in nelspruit. Yesterday we had a very spiritual lesson with the Tsela's and Now both Lawrence and His Mom are commited for baptism in April! Thabo the brother is always gone when we teach so we gotta come and get him caught up! It's incredible what the lord has been able to accomplish through us lately. It's been very interesting how i notice that as missionaries this is not our work. it's the lords and we are just the medium that he uses to get to the people. I just hope that my next companion will be able to help carry on in the effort that we've been putting forth. Speaking of new companion we got transfer news this week and we found out that Elder Mbhele has been Transfered to Springs, he will be Zone Leader! And my new companion is Elder Septon from Ogden Utah. So it should be interesting! i'm pretty nervous to see how things go!
We are currently getting ready to go to a place called god's window! so im a little short on time! But i just want to let you all know that I love you all so much. I know that This church is true, i know that joseph smith was a prophet, i know that jesus christ is the savior of the world and the son of god, and i know this is his gospel and we are teaching it to his children! Have a great week! I love you all so much!
-elder j
Saturday, March 7, 2009
First Baptism!
Michael had his first baptism and it sounds like it went great.
Here's the email we received this week!
Sent March 2, 2009
hello family, hows it?
well i am happy to announce that everything went smoothly with the baptism! It rained a little bit but it was ok! And don't worry there were no evil spirits that got washed off into the pool! I was so happy about all of it! and i got close to tearing up in sacrament meeting during the confirmation.... and other great news is that one of our investigator families, the Tsela's came to church on sunday! it was awesome! it was the first time that we had more than one investigator at church since Elder Mbhele has been here! So that was very exciting i actually asked a couple members to make sure that they said hello and welcomed them. Our branch has had troubles in the past welcoming visitors, and i decided that as long as i am here noone is going to come to the lords church and feel unwelcome!!! So that was definately awesome to have them there and to have the members actually step up and fellowship! :)
Anyways.... in other news we got a refferal from the kanyamazane elders and i think we will be teaching that family as well. It's this girl named Sepasihle and when she lived in township she was going to church almost every sunday for like 4 months and wanted to be baptised but they never got to teach her before she moved into town, but now that she's living with her family we hope that they will be as excited about the gospel as she is!
So things are definately picking up! i want this area to be exploding when i leave it. When i came in it was totally dormant but i now see how much potential it really has and how many great things can happen as long as we work hard and depend on the lord for help! I say it time and time again but that is the key to success in the mission field! Hard Work, Lots of Prayer, and Trust in the lord. With those three things in place the work progressess beyond what you thought was possible!
But as far as questions that were asked let me answer a few of them:
Pap(pronounced "pop")- Is the stable food of south africa, it is pretty much the same thing as fufu in Congo! If you can buy maize meal in the states then get some, put it into a pot, add water, butter, and a little salt. and stir until it hardens but is still soft. Then get some cans of baked beans, mix them into a pot, add some mince, if you can buy curry powder get some and put some of that into there. as well as onions and other stuff. anyways when its all done you plop some pap onto your place, then put the beans all over it like a gravy on mashed potatoes. It's soooo good! If you can't manage it right now, then wait and i'll do it for christmas dinner in 2010. haha
But hearing about all those memories with jeff made me crack up a bit. those were good times!
Welp to close i just want to reiterate how great things are here and how much i love the work, it is awesome, and i truly do love every minute of it! And just a little shambocking for the family and branch, that being If you guys aren't doin any member missionary work, then you best be getting on that! It doesn't have to be anything huge just always be ready and prepared for those opportunities that arise to share the gospel. Believe me, the elders can use all the help that they can get from you!
And lastly, you guys should definately shoot elder mbhele an email for next week, here is his email address!
jabumbhele@myldsmail.net
Welp, thats about it for this week! i hope you all have a great week! I can't wait to hear from you soon!
-elder j
Here's the email we received this week!
Sent March 2, 2009
hello family, hows it?
well i am happy to announce that everything went smoothly with the baptism! It rained a little bit but it was ok! And don't worry there were no evil spirits that got washed off into the pool! I was so happy about all of it! and i got close to tearing up in sacrament meeting during the confirmation.... and other great news is that one of our investigator families, the Tsela's came to church on sunday! it was awesome! it was the first time that we had more than one investigator at church since Elder Mbhele has been here! So that was very exciting i actually asked a couple members to make sure that they said hello and welcomed them. Our branch has had troubles in the past welcoming visitors, and i decided that as long as i am here noone is going to come to the lords church and feel unwelcome!!! So that was definately awesome to have them there and to have the members actually step up and fellowship! :)
Anyways.... in other news we got a refferal from the kanyamazane elders and i think we will be teaching that family as well. It's this girl named Sepasihle and when she lived in township she was going to church almost every sunday for like 4 months and wanted to be baptised but they never got to teach her before she moved into town, but now that she's living with her family we hope that they will be as excited about the gospel as she is!
So things are definately picking up! i want this area to be exploding when i leave it. When i came in it was totally dormant but i now see how much potential it really has and how many great things can happen as long as we work hard and depend on the lord for help! I say it time and time again but that is the key to success in the mission field! Hard Work, Lots of Prayer, and Trust in the lord. With those three things in place the work progressess beyond what you thought was possible!
But as far as questions that were asked let me answer a few of them:
Pap(pronounced "pop")- Is the stable food of south africa, it is pretty much the same thing as fufu in Congo! If you can buy maize meal in the states then get some, put it into a pot, add water, butter, and a little salt. and stir until it hardens but is still soft. Then get some cans of baked beans, mix them into a pot, add some mince, if you can buy curry powder get some and put some of that into there. as well as onions and other stuff. anyways when its all done you plop some pap onto your place, then put the beans all over it like a gravy on mashed potatoes. It's soooo good! If you can't manage it right now, then wait and i'll do it for christmas dinner in 2010. haha
But hearing about all those memories with jeff made me crack up a bit. those were good times!
Welp to close i just want to reiterate how great things are here and how much i love the work, it is awesome, and i truly do love every minute of it! And just a little shambocking for the family and branch, that being If you guys aren't doin any member missionary work, then you best be getting on that! It doesn't have to be anything huge just always be ready and prepared for those opportunities that arise to share the gospel. Believe me, the elders can use all the help that they can get from you!
And lastly, you guys should definately shoot elder mbhele an email for next week, here is his email address!
jabumbhele@myldsmail.net
Welp, thats about it for this week! i hope you all have a great week! I can't wait to hear from you soon!
-elder j
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Few More Emails-- First Baptism is SET!!!
Feb.23, 2009
Sawubona Johnson Clan!
Kunjanyi?!
Yes it is another week and i can't believe it either. It's my 3 month birthday this week, Mission is goin by way too fast! I'm 1/8 of the way done. thats weird and im not gonna mention it again....
well i just want you to all know that i am becoming more and more african every week... I enjoy eating Pap and beans as well as chakalaka with rice. Right now i am in Polokwane for zone conference! it's pretty cool over here! a little bit better then in nelspruit where it's been soooo fetchin' hot! But that's crazy to hear about the academy awards. I heard some of the results on the radio at the place where we do laundry but aside from that not too much! have you all seen heath ledgers award winning performance in Dark Night?! If not then you better fix that soon. haha
Wow i am shocked to hear about our little kev-bot just growing up so fast! The more and more i think about the more i wanna try to get into byu for summer semester after i get home! that would be so bomb. the sad thing is that kevin will be a freshman in college before i will be!
Holy cow what happened to BSU basketball last week it was awesome this week.... not so much. eh?
But things are great in south africa, our baptism is this week! Luckily we get to use the dlamini's pool! James almost didn't let us on account of the "evil spirits" that get washed into the water after baptism. Don't worry though they can be chased away by sprinkling river sand around the area! hahahaha We have been trying to explain to him that isn't true. But the traditions are deeply rooted and his wife isn't lds and freaks out about it! haha
As far as our investigators go there isn't too much news! things are very much the same! We just continue doin the hard work and the lord does the rest. so we hope that maybe we'll have some more investigators on date soon!
As far as tranfers go, we have transfer meeting two weeks from wednesday! and I am about 99% sure im staying here but elder mbhele will be taking off! so i will be having a new companion! so that will be interesting!
But i hope everything is goin well back home! I love you all so much! thanks for writing me emails (none of which are "lame") i hope to hear from you all soon!
-elder johnson
Feb.16, 2009
Hola family. hows it?
im glad to hear that chris and logan came out and visited! that's great. Im so pumped for chris he is gonna be so great, i already know it! And yes, those guys can definately still email me. I'm just gonna have kevin forward stuff to those guys. But thanks for all the music news mom and dad, it's sad to hear about the withering state of wwtsf. but it's ok, just like the gospel there must be a falling away before the restitution can take place. hahahaha It's great to hear that mark, tom, and travis (blink 182) are back in action! that will be fun to hear a couple years from now. And say anything has me pshyched out of my mind. but don't worry, im still very concentrated on the work, usually my thoughts get focused again once p-day is over!
Wow, the family sounds bonkers as usual! and that's a good thing!
The girls sound like a handful, tell them i say hello and tell them i saw mufasa,simba, and rafiki today, as well as timone and pumba.
and i heard that i will be having a new nephew soon!!! I am so excited!
well this past week has been pretty sweet, kind of uneventful, but good nonetheless! As far as news goes..... We went to Kruger again this week which means im having chinese food tonight! yay! but in more important news the zone leaders are coming to interview kanyhi this week we are going to push the baptism up a week so that she will be able to go with her dad & sister to the temple trip on the 7th of march! we are excited about that! speaking of temples i am very excited to hear about that sister from the ward, Temple work makes me soooo excited just to think about. The plan of salvation is amazing. It's funny when we teach about it i always blow myself away just thinking about while elder mbhele is teaching that i sometimes have to remember what i'm doing! haha But i am definately excited to go to the temple next month it's gonna be awesome.
But anyways, I'm thinking we should have some more baptismal commitments pretty soon, we were hoping to have some last week, although that didn't happen we are moving closer and closer! The Lukele's are progressing awesome! and the Tseles are doing well as well. The mom was in jo'burg visiting the dad on saturday but two of her sons sat and listened. It went well they understood everything and i cant wait to hear about how their prayers went this week! I just inherited a set of cups which serve as a visual aid to teaching the restoration. Elder Wilson hooked me up with them. I think i will make a video of me teaching with them in the flat and have that on the card when i send it home! i think that will be in march sometime when i send it out! I love teaching it is soo fun, i'm trying to get more and more personal with my teaching as time goes by! .....I am Elder Johnson not Elder Robot Missionary! haha......
But as i always say that with every week goes by my testimony grows stronger and stronger and i know now, more than ever that This is the lords work, this is his church on the earth today, joseph smith truly was a prophet of god and Thomas S Monson is the prophet on earth today!
Have a great week! May the lord bless you all and i can't wait to hear from you soon!
-elder johnson
p.s. Tell amy and brandon congratulations! :)
pps. GO BSU!! THAT'S GREAT NEWS! BIG TIME UPSET!
Feb. 16, 2009
Eita Bru! Hows it?
Dude things are so awesome out here you can read from my email to mom and dad about all that! I am working hard and my testimony is getting stronger and stronger each day! i love the work it's awesome. There has been no drama in my companionship so far! everything has been chill! the other guys might have a bit of contention though... hehe
Dude i love the planner. without it i would have no idea what day it is or what i would be doing!
TEACHING IS THE BOMB! i am pretty comfortable now with it! Im trying to personalize it more and more as i go. as i said in the other email i don't wanna be a robot missionary.
But ya man keep me updated on stuff back home, love ya brosef!
-elder j
(This was an email to Jeffrey!)
Sawubona Johnson Clan!
Kunjanyi?!
Yes it is another week and i can't believe it either. It's my 3 month birthday this week, Mission is goin by way too fast! I'm 1/8 of the way done. thats weird and im not gonna mention it again....
well i just want you to all know that i am becoming more and more african every week... I enjoy eating Pap and beans as well as chakalaka with rice. Right now i am in Polokwane for zone conference! it's pretty cool over here! a little bit better then in nelspruit where it's been soooo fetchin' hot! But that's crazy to hear about the academy awards. I heard some of the results on the radio at the place where we do laundry but aside from that not too much! have you all seen heath ledgers award winning performance in Dark Night?! If not then you better fix that soon. haha
Wow i am shocked to hear about our little kev-bot just growing up so fast! The more and more i think about the more i wanna try to get into byu for summer semester after i get home! that would be so bomb. the sad thing is that kevin will be a freshman in college before i will be!
Holy cow what happened to BSU basketball last week it was awesome this week.... not so much. eh?
But things are great in south africa, our baptism is this week! Luckily we get to use the dlamini's pool! James almost didn't let us on account of the "evil spirits" that get washed into the water after baptism. Don't worry though they can be chased away by sprinkling river sand around the area! hahahaha We have been trying to explain to him that isn't true. But the traditions are deeply rooted and his wife isn't lds and freaks out about it! haha
As far as our investigators go there isn't too much news! things are very much the same! We just continue doin the hard work and the lord does the rest. so we hope that maybe we'll have some more investigators on date soon!
As far as tranfers go, we have transfer meeting two weeks from wednesday! and I am about 99% sure im staying here but elder mbhele will be taking off! so i will be having a new companion! so that will be interesting!
But i hope everything is goin well back home! I love you all so much! thanks for writing me emails (none of which are "lame") i hope to hear from you all soon!
-elder johnson
Feb.16, 2009
Hola family. hows it?
im glad to hear that chris and logan came out and visited! that's great. Im so pumped for chris he is gonna be so great, i already know it! And yes, those guys can definately still email me. I'm just gonna have kevin forward stuff to those guys. But thanks for all the music news mom and dad, it's sad to hear about the withering state of wwtsf. but it's ok, just like the gospel there must be a falling away before the restitution can take place. hahahaha It's great to hear that mark, tom, and travis (blink 182) are back in action! that will be fun to hear a couple years from now. And say anything has me pshyched out of my mind. but don't worry, im still very concentrated on the work, usually my thoughts get focused again once p-day is over!
Wow, the family sounds bonkers as usual! and that's a good thing!
The girls sound like a handful, tell them i say hello and tell them i saw mufasa,simba, and rafiki today, as well as timone and pumba.
and i heard that i will be having a new nephew soon!!! I am so excited!
well this past week has been pretty sweet, kind of uneventful, but good nonetheless! As far as news goes..... We went to Kruger again this week which means im having chinese food tonight! yay! but in more important news the zone leaders are coming to interview kanyhi this week we are going to push the baptism up a week so that she will be able to go with her dad & sister to the temple trip on the 7th of march! we are excited about that! speaking of temples i am very excited to hear about that sister from the ward, Temple work makes me soooo excited just to think about. The plan of salvation is amazing. It's funny when we teach about it i always blow myself away just thinking about while elder mbhele is teaching that i sometimes have to remember what i'm doing! haha But i am definately excited to go to the temple next month it's gonna be awesome.
But anyways, I'm thinking we should have some more baptismal commitments pretty soon, we were hoping to have some last week, although that didn't happen we are moving closer and closer! The Lukele's are progressing awesome! and the Tseles are doing well as well. The mom was in jo'burg visiting the dad on saturday but two of her sons sat and listened. It went well they understood everything and i cant wait to hear about how their prayers went this week! I just inherited a set of cups which serve as a visual aid to teaching the restoration. Elder Wilson hooked me up with them. I think i will make a video of me teaching with them in the flat and have that on the card when i send it home! i think that will be in march sometime when i send it out! I love teaching it is soo fun, i'm trying to get more and more personal with my teaching as time goes by! .....I am Elder Johnson not Elder Robot Missionary! haha......
But as i always say that with every week goes by my testimony grows stronger and stronger and i know now, more than ever that This is the lords work, this is his church on the earth today, joseph smith truly was a prophet of god and Thomas S Monson is the prophet on earth today!
Have a great week! May the lord bless you all and i can't wait to hear from you soon!
-elder johnson
p.s. Tell amy and brandon congratulations! :)
pps. GO BSU!! THAT'S GREAT NEWS! BIG TIME UPSET!
Feb. 16, 2009
Eita Bru! Hows it?
Dude things are so awesome out here you can read from my email to mom and dad about all that! I am working hard and my testimony is getting stronger and stronger each day! i love the work it's awesome. There has been no drama in my companionship so far! everything has been chill! the other guys might have a bit of contention though... hehe
Dude i love the planner. without it i would have no idea what day it is or what i would be doing!
TEACHING IS THE BOMB! i am pretty comfortable now with it! Im trying to personalize it more and more as i go. as i said in the other email i don't wanna be a robot missionary.
But ya man keep me updated on stuff back home, love ya brosef!
-elder j
(This was an email to Jeffrey!)
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