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

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

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

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

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!)

One of Michael's Best Emails!

> WOOOOWWW!! i am so jealous you all got to hear from elder holland! that is
> awesome. those qoutes were awesome and definately inspired the youth
> definately need to hear those things. I'm glad to hear things are great over
> there! kevin told me about death cab! that will be awesome! it will
> definately blow your minds. Anyways things back here are grand, we are
> continuing to work hard and getting sweaty, rained on, and tired just about
> everyday! :) This week we are putting extra focus on having another
> investigator ready for baptism. I'm definately putting all my faith in the
> lord to help has have someone prepared by sunday! So that's exciting. We've
> tracted to a couple of new families in the last couple of weeks! So that's
> been great. One is a mom with two daughters, the other is a mom and a dad
> with like 3 sons! so we are definately gonna be working hard to make that
> happen. We had two days in which we had exchanges so i worked with the
> elders from kanyamazane, unfortunately my companion got to go out there and
> i stayed here. I really love going to township its sooo awesome! But while i
> was out with elder wilson(one of the kanyamazane elders) he showed me the
> magic of working with members! so we went to visit "sister v" who is one of
> the favorites of the missionaries here in nelspruit. anyways she wasn't home
> but she had a visitor who was and we got to sit down and talk with her and
> her name is bramwynn and she's a member but it pretty inactive and she was
> having a hard time. so we came at a really good time! We made her throw away
> her ciggarettes and told her to come to church. And by sunday both of those
> things happened so that was cool! the lee's came to church again as well! so
> that's 3/4 weeks! i am so pumped! Kanyhi was at church as well on sunday!
> And she is still doin great! tonight we are going over following the
> prophet, word of wisdom and law of chastity! so that should be fun,
> hopefully it will all go smoothly! But ya the work is great i'm getting more
> and more bold each week! it's really great! I am in the final month of my
> companship with elder mbhele! It's crazy how fast time is going! i can
> hardly keep track of days if it weren't for my planner i would have no idea.
> But i love love love love the work. it's great. it's progressing. and it's
> the lords!
>
> -elder johnson
> p.s. Btw.... i have food with curry in it almost everyday! today i am buying
> rice and some kind of meat and i'm gonna be making up some curry rice dish
> of some sort this week! it's gonna be crazy. And another thing you must add
> into your plans if you pick me up is goin to durban. supposedly it's the
> best curry you can get outside of india!
> and im so super pumped about bsu's recruiting class, i cannot wait to see it
> come into fruitition in the seasons to come!

Short and Sweet

I am hoping for some pictures from Michael, but until then enjoy his weekly emails.


hello family! for those of you who wrote me seperate emails! im sorry this one will have to suffice for this week!

how are you all?
things are great down here! we are working hard and things are goin great!

Ok lets get to business....
Our baptism is still in line, so thats good!
We have been working with a less active family the past month or so and have gotten them out to church 2 out of the last 3 weeks! we are very excited about that!
Aside from that we have a few investigators in our teaching pool. We are working our booties off trying to expand it!
One of the stupidest(sorry maddy,mia,and carrie, that was a bad word i know and i'm sorry but it's true) things elders say is that "tracting is ineffective" That phrase can be translated to "I'm too lazy to tract and i'd rather go hang out at a members home."
Tracting when it is done right always yields results! Sometimes in very small numbers but the most important thing is that you are proclaiming the gospel to the people! And as long as the message that the lord's church is on the earth once more and that we have a prophet and twelve apostles on the earth is being heard then it is in no way "ineffective"!
and here is something that dad can throw out to the members it is:
never believe that spreading the gospel and doing your own "missionary work" will be ineffective, as i said earlier as long as you are sharing your testimony of the gospel then they will feel the spirit whether they know it or not!

Anyways sorry my email was brief today! i just wanna let you all know that i love you all so much, and i am so thankful for your prayers! i definately feel them everyday! Have a great week!

Until next time,

elder johnson