Last Transfer to... WHERE???!!!!

In true Mikey style he writes to tell us he is being transferred BUT doesn't tell us where!
I can tell he is very excited not to have to ride a bike anymore and that being Zone Leader wasn't necessarily in his plans, but he will do a great job at whatever he is asked to do. That is just how he works. It is hard to believe that we are down to his last area and that his next transfer will be HOME!!! George and I are both trying not to be too "TRUNKY" but it is very exciting. We have loved seeing the growth that has taken place in Michael and are eternally grateful for the protection and safety that he has been blessed with. BUT it is time for that boy to come home!! Four months...I can do this! The closer it gets the more "out of my body" I will be, so I will do my best to contain myself...for now!
Thank goodness for football season! It will be a great distraction and help. Can I just say... GO BRONCOS! I hope they give Michael the opportunity to see them play in the post season. I know they will.
So now we wait. Hopefully it will occur to him to let us know where he is and I know that wherever that is they are in for a ride. Elder Michael F. Johnson will take that place by storm!
(Just ran across a site for his mission and found quite a few pictures of him. I will randomly choose a few over the next few weeks OR put them in a slideshow. I think he is playing the guitar a man gave him, while visiting him in a rest home. I believe he still has the guitar and will be able to bring it home!)

Elder Johnson givin some TOUGH LOVE

This is possibly Michael's last week in his current area. Hard to believe that this could be his LAST transfer. I wonder where he will end up?!
Great email and amazing that he is baptizing so wildly!! One thing for sure, he LOVES the work, and LOVES the people.

Monday, July 19, 2010
YEBO WE HAD 4 BAPTISMS!! Not all the ones that we expected! The shipilanes had to go to a funeral so angie couldn't be baptized but Nomsa, Nkululeko, Lehlogonolo, and Thandiwe! now.... thandiwe is an interesting case... we almost dropped her two weeks ago because she was being very difficult and just didn't seem interested, we'd been teaching her for like 3 months and we seemed to be stalling. So a couple of weeks ago i just said.... " we'll schedule another appointment with you when you come to church. and as well let us know when you want to be baptized" to which she responded " well i won't be coming to church" then i said "k then i guess we'll miss you next week then" Anyways.... she came to church two weeks in a row and last week on tuesday said she wanted to be baptized on sunday! i was skeptikal but when i asked her about keeping the commandments she said she was. So she was interviewed the next day and passed and was baptized yesterday! so that was a pleasant suprise. I was always super hard on her but she needed it. and it worked!! :)
And the water heater is still broken in the chapel so the baptisms were freezing!! The ladies both screamed!
But it was an awesome day! i was so happy! if these are gonna be my last baptisms then I'll be proud and happy about it!
We get transfer news on saturday! so i'll let you know what's happening on monday!!
As far as school goes BSU and BYU are the tops.... but if i have to do night classes or weird stuff like that i'm ok with just accepting my fate as a bronco. haha
But mission life is legit! we've had to walk so much lately.... it's ridiculous the brakes are broken on the bikes and it hasn't been too ayoba!
Well hopefully you guys enjoy the pictures! have a great week!
the church is true!
-elder johnson
p.s. we're going to the temple this week! i'm pumped!

He titled his pictures "PAIN" and "SMILE"- fitting. And oh so adorable!

4 1/2 Months to Sexy Plan- is that Mission Approved?

So the great debate amongst the family now is how long it will take Michael to find his "eternal companion", as he likes to put it. Some think it will take him 2 years, others think it will be within 2 years. All I ask is that it is NOT 2 weeks!!!! It is hard to believe that we are even at the point of talking about these sort of things. By the time school starts and BSU has played their first game, I will be able to say he has only 90 days!! That is incredible! I love hearing about his progress with investigators and the experiences he is having. I LOVE having a missionary out, as it blesses our family so very much. But I have to admit that I am getting very excited to welcome him home.
He will have plenty of new adventures awaiting him and I know the Lord is pleased with the efforts he has put forth to serve in the Kingdom and that he will undoubtly RETURN WITH HONOR!
I honestly think he may have a future in developing a new "weight loss program"! Maybe his will be the new Weight Watchers.
I guess we will have to "weight" and see!!!

July 12,2010
THE (INSERT AMOUNT OF MONTHS) TO SEXY PLAN:

CURRENT SITUATION: Mission Gut, Improving facial hair, overall physically unfit.
AND lack of SOCCER SKILLS!

IMPERATIVES (what needs to happen):
1.Lose my awesome man belly. And become a total hunk of a stud.
2. start to look good and be able to grow some awesome stubble upon my face.

3.get good at soccer!
ACTION STEPS:
1. Play Soccer at least twice a week
2. Breakfast= eat like a king
3.Lunch=eat like a prince
4.Dinner = eat like a slave
5. Ride bikes a lot!
6. Shave everyday (I pretty much have to now)

DESIRED RESULT: GET INTO AWESOME SHAPE TO HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF FINDING A STELLAR ETERNAL COMPANION.

It's all about planning and then executing.... executing is the key. I only played soccer once last week and I ate way too much kota! So I’m getting back on track. Of course the plan can be adjusted to whatever the desired results... mom may not want a beard. haha
But silliness aside, THIS WEEK IS GONNA BE HECTIC! We were informed by the bishopric that we need to move all of our baptism for the 25th up to the 18th of July…. So we have to get all of the people interviewed this week! So we’re going to be scrambling getting all of them ready! We’re hoping for 4 baptisms! So it will be a great day! As well we had an amazing lesson with siphiwe’s family! BABA WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED AND MAMA WILL as well! It was awesome Jackie just told everyone in the house to stop what they were doing and then he talked about how he knows his children have made the right choice. That there is no other church like this one on earth, it was awesome! We are both so pumped so they’ll hopefully be getting baptized in august!
Nomsa passed her interview on Friday! So that was great! She reminds me so much of Siyanda, the girl that we taught last year in bedfordview who got baptized. She’s just been a super humble person who is ready for the blessings of repentance and baptism.
As well I did the package I just forgot to tell you! It’s been awesome. The jolly ranchers are sweet. And most of all….. RESES PUFFS!
As far as transfers go…. I think I might be getting transferred soon… the next one is two weeks from Wednesday. We’ll see I’m definitely going to miss hospital view. It’s been great!
Oh the other awesome thing that happened was that we went to the temple for baptisms! It was great we went with our recent converts! I have pictures I’ll send them next time!!
As far as post mission plans go it will happen as follows: 1. Go to School… I’m starting to like the idea of studying a bit of IT and then getting a business degree as well…. You can’t go wrong with business and technology! 2. MAKE MUSIC. 3. Begin the Wife Hunt.
That’s kind of all I got. Right now.
But life is good here! The work is moving forward we ahd another great week I think we had 12 investigators at church! Which is sweet.
I’m glad to hear that the ward is having sweet activities! WE need to have more here in our ward in h.view!
Well that’s all for this week folks!!
The church is true!
-elder johnson


July 5, 2010
Wow it sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun over there!!
As far as The SLC temple goes... i'm up for it! I want to see a live session because it is true that's how it has been done from the beginning before they had fancy projectors and screens. that would be legit!
It's always sweet to see pictures of the family! you guys all look awesome!
I'll be sending some pictures this week i believe! so be ready for that!! :)
My 4 1/2 months to sexy plan is working out marvelously. Unfortunately though it causes extra attention from the township girls.... BA GOO! Luckily though, it's not a temptation just a little annoying. haha
If you stay focused on the work and your purpose those type of things don't give you too much trouble. That's something that every future missionary needs to know....KEVIN! haha
as our dear leader of the past Ezra T. Benson said "THE SECRET OF MISSIONARY WORK is.... WORK!" I'll quote the whole thing for you another time!!
Luckily i was able to get the office to refund me!! it was nice.
As far as Soccer stuff goes world cup is almost over and all the memorabilia is on the streets! so i'll be able to score some scarves and jerseys and flags easily! just remind me who wants what!!
The work is awesome.... Nomsa is getting baptized in a couple of weeks! Angie (siphiwe's sister) is getting baptized on the 25th! And she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting Siphiwe burst into tears. he was so happy. That family is going to be great in the gospel... now we got the kids so it's time for the parents!!!
I'm kind of excited for world cup to be over... it's been alot of fun catching bits and pieces of games and the atmosphere but it's a big distraction for my companion so once it goes things should be a bit better!
but this area is getting better and better all the time.... If there is one thing that i have to be proud of on my mission it's that i've generally left area's better that i found them. I could care less about leadership or anything thing else if the work is happening!
The scariest thing that happened this week was at Zone Conference when president poulsen asked me in our interview " so elder what are your plans for after mission??" That made me realize that i am an OLD OLD MISSIONARY MAN! my whole mission i've said " I've got 20 months to think about that.... I've got a year..... i've got 8 months.... but now.... yikes!!
Just keep working. It's funny every missionary goes into denial of his trunkiness and then over compensates for it.... i'm kinda doing it a bit now.... i just talk about work work work work all the time. if i work then i keep trunkiness at bay! haha
well that's about all for this week! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! have a great WARM july week!
-elder johnson
ONE PICTURE IS FROM THE BAPTISM THE OTHER IS WHEN WE PAINTED OUR FLATS!



June 28, 2010
Ya my illness was just a little bit of bronchitis type stuff! but i'm doing much better my only concern is that i had to spend 160 rand on medication! i don't know if the mission can refund me or not, so if not a bit of money would be nice! But aside from that everything is great!
Charmaine got baptized!! once again i got to baptize! But i'm pretty sure this will be my last one i do personally. As far as the work goes Our new stellar investigator Nomsa came to church yesterday! and her brother sifiso came as well! we actually had 13 at church which is pretty great! Siphiwe's whole family came it sounds like his sister wants to be baptized next month so that will be exciting! from there we just need to center the work on his parents. they're pretty tough.
World cup is still crazy! i've got the fever! and i'm not talking about jungle fever. We've played so much soccer lately! i love it!
As far as our investigators go.... we a lot of people on date now! But we still need to get them in the water! It's crazy every time we teach nomsa we give her a commitment with a promise and it's crazy how whenever she keeps the commitment the promise comes true. haha
We told her to pray about being baptized, we came back to teach her and she said " When i prayed i felt that feeling... i can't explain it but i knew it was the right thing, i didn't know if i was supposed to keep praying or if i should stop..."
it was great! So she's totally pumped about everything! charmaine's baptism has also been great because her mother lungile has been a bit less active in the past but since we started teaching lungile has been much more excited about church and she was definatley touched at the baptism! she said it reminded her of her own! So that's been great to see the gospel blessing their family! Charmaine was so excited and happy to be baptized, it was super.
But it's great to hear that the girls are still a handful! I'm glad to hear they still talk about me.
How is the ward doing are we still rolling along? How are the youth doing? OH and how is trevor fike doing?? If you can find a way for me to get into contact with him i'd be very pleased!
but have a great week!

the church is true!!
-elder johnson

Vuvuzelas, Baptisms, Soccer, and Teaching

These are the scriptures Michael mentions in his email. Thought it would be nice to know what he was referencing.

Jacob 1:19 And we did amagnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the bresponsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not cteach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their dblood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

Moroni 9:6 And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor adiligently; for if we should cease to blabor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 2:02 AM

KEVINS GOING TO BYU WHERE THE GIRLS ARE GIRLS AND THE BOYS ARE TOO!!!!
hahaha
That's awesome i'm proud of him! his roomates sound..... interesting... it sounds like someone needs the RMTC..... Cough. BROTHER MISSIONARY RAZOR COUGH
Some missionaries don't get the concept that there is life after mission....
But as far as my life on mission is going now... it's great! we're going to have a baptism this week! and july as i have said before is going to be stellar! We taught the nene's on wednesday! it was awesome! they are a great! family we are going to see them again this Wednesday!
Norman and Jermina are good. Norman came to church but jermina didn't... they'll get there for sure though!
My new companion is from UGANDA his name is Elder Higenyi! He's an interesting guy. Ugandans are renowned for their stubborness. But so far he's been great. He's very bold. which is good. He has knee problems though which makes it hard to ride bikes so we're gonna be doing a lot of splits throughout the weeks we're together!
We've had some awesome lessons the past few days though we finally had a breakthrough with one of our families... aptly named the Smiths! They go to a church that was founded by the baba's family but he's now starting to see that things are wrong with the church and that there is contention and false doctrine.... elder higenyi then jumped on that and powerfully (and boldly testified) that such things are not part of the church of christ. it was awesome i gave a 15 minute discourse about the restoration of the priesthood and then boom! elder higenyi dropped the spirit bomb! It was an awesome lesson!
It's crazy though, mission does start to take a toll on you.... i've been sick for the last week and haven't had time to rest, i'm quite sick of being tired and tired of being sick, But if i have strength to work...i must work. if i stay at home i will have Moroni 9:6 and jacob 1:19 haunting me. but it's been amazing to see the hand of the lord in all these things cause with out him i wouldn't have made it anywhere close to where i am now.
World cup is crazy... when possible we do ask investigators and member to turn off the games but if not possible we'll do what the brazillians do and teach between breaks!
Elder Higenyi loves soccer! too much. It's quite a distraction so i'm working on helping him with that!
But i hope that everything is great back there! The family sounds awesome...as always!
the church is true!
-elder johnson
p.s. i cannot for the life of me, remember my password.... i tried to see if i could get it sent to me from Byu.edu but the question that i left for myself to answer to get it, i cant remember the answer to!!


Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 4:21 AM

Once again... kevin looks so awesome in his rugby uni. Just make sure there is no ketchup around..... haha And the neices and nephews.... i am so pumped to see those kids!!
Yes world cup is officially here.... it's crazy!!! Oh my word... VUVUZELAS(THE HORNS) EVERYWHERE!!
And yes it is quite hard to teach i'm pretty sure i've seen parts of everygame so far generall you get to the appointment have a friendly chat for a minute then when its time to teach they say "Ah, we'll watch first then we'll teach...." so usually we can convince them that they can watch later but other times...not so much. We're working the best we can around games so we'll see how it goes over the next week!
But we got to see the bafana game! it was awesome! we had an activity with some of the members in the ward!
AND THE USA.... what can i say... we looked pretty good from what i saw and heard!
But ya i can get lots of memorbilia! it's all on the streets! i can get a scarf and jerseys and flags and vuvuzelas and whatever! So i'll pick up a flag this week and i'll work on the scarfs later!
I haven't seen too many tourists but i know that they are here. Noone really comes to the township... except the people who live there and.... us.
I can't wait for kevin to be on mission he's gonna be an awesome missionary!
But yes...i'll definately be home before he goes! I would lose it otherwise i'd miss that kid too much!
As far as the work goes.... Norman and Jermina are still doing well however we missed them at church because one of norman's friends got attacked and was in the hospital.... so that wasn't too great. But we're gonna see him tonight!
As well we had a random father and mother and two kids just come to church! it was sweet! so we're gonna start teaching them on Wednesday!
We had a good lesson with Rachel last night... she's a cool lady we teach she's the sister to a member in the ward!
This other guy named sibusiso tracked me down two weeks ago before email in Kempton. and Asked me where the church was in tembisa! and i told him and he didn't come to church that week.... so we forgot about him but then he came this sunday and was super pumped!!!
so that was really cool. I'm thinking july is gonna be a sweet month for us here! oh and elder van vuuren is being transfered this week! So i'll have a new companion! i don't know who it is yet though so you'll find out next monday!! :)
Ohh and charmaine the girl who we met last week who hasn't been baptized will be baptized on the 27th of june! :)
That's awesome that mr. simmonds is coaching football.... freshman team??? eish! haha
I CAN'T BELEIVE MCSHEA GOT ETERNALIZED! yikes!!
Well hopefully this email was sweet for you guys! a bit longer than last week eh??
Things are great! i'm very well aside from a nice bit of flu last week!
THE CHURCH IS STILL SUPER TRUE!
-elder johnson
ps. music that is needed... motab..... classical! NO EFY! I CANNOT STAND EFY MUSIC!! if i hear one more efy song i will end my hearing abilities for life! THANKS!

DON'T BE LOSERS! SPEAK UP! OPEN YOUR MOUTH!

May 31,2010
HEY HEY HEY!
Jeffrey Got Baptised! it was awesome! (picture attached)
I'm pretty sure his favorite person from the scriptures is the apostle paul....because every time he makes any public statements in church he starts by saying "Greetings in the name of the lord jesus" it's awesome as well.
We have some awesome new families that we're teaching! We're teaching this guy Norman and his wife Jermina. Norman is friends with this dude in our ward and he was invited to church the past two weeks and then came this last week as well anyways when we had our first visit with him last week wednesday he said " I've come to church the last two weeks, so far, so good. I'll probably get baptized in a few weeks" So all we did was give him a date and now we're gonna work on having his wife ready as well! it's gonna be sweet!
We also did an acoustic guitar duet of "Lead Kindly Light" for the baptismal service and the chapel burst into applause.... At first i was taken back but then i realized....T.I.A. (this is africa) it was great!
It's been really crazy being in township the last few months and just seeing how many people can be prepared for the gospel in humble circumstances.... it's amazing.
So it's been a very great week! Oh man i'm pumped for that package! usually stuff takes 3-4 weeks to get here!
Well not too much else to say we're keeping busy and working hard! i'm loving it here!
The Church is True!
-elder johnson!

May 24,2010
Wow... i really hope that i won't be called as a bishop for a long long long while. It sounds so hectic!!! Every week i either get "It's been a long day, or i am very tired" Maybe i'll just get called as a door greeter, Ward Aerobics Instructor or 3rd counselor in the ym's presidency or some other awesome calling that we get to have in the states due to our large membership numbers! Maybe i'll be ready for it in the millenium, i'll be bishop of the Boise 1,679th ward!
Eish it sounds like the ward is changing dramatically! I'm glad Kevin loves and respects me! I knew that if i "bore with patience mine afflictions" that he would come around! he's a stud. i love that kid.
Well Jeffrey passed his baptism interview! so we'll be having another baptism this week! which will complete our may goal of 3! June we're going for 4. so hopefully we'll get there!!
Siphiwe's little sister came to church on sunday and she loved it! the young women fellowshipped like mad and it sounds like she's gonna come back next week. As well Brother & Sister Shipilane (siphiwe's parents) both say that they know that what we're teaching is true! so now comes the process of separating them from their church and bringing them into christ's! So we're definately excited for that family!
Church is still getting awesome!! right now we are functioning with only a bishop and first counselour they released the second counselor because he was effectively less active. :/
But the bishop is really putting forth his best effort and it's making a huge difference! The ward is slowly coming alive!
But i'm definately loving it here! and i'm looking forward to that package!
Keep up the good work!
Have a Baie lekker week!
-elder johnson

"When i go home i'm going to adopt 10 kids and make them work on the farm, we just really need people to work on the farm."
-elder sande
Just as the Sande family needs help on the farm so does the lord need help in building his kingdom. hopefully as members we can put forth the effort that the effort that the lord expects of us in all aspects of our membership. let us not only magnify our calling but also magnify our membership!

May 17,2010
Well....what can i tell ya???
the work continues to press forward!! Our recent convert siphiwe is killer right now and is a missionary machine! He came out teaching with us twice this week and we taught so many sweet new people! We did splits which is awesome because we can do twice as much work in the same amount of time!
Oh man, once again. the neices and nephews sound awesome!
I'm glad to hear that stake conference was powerful!
WE had a cool sacrament meeting. i was asked about 5 minutes before sacrament meeing to give a talk about the aaronic priesthood... so i a.s.d'd(as the spirit directs) a sweet talk! it was great. there were also some leaders from the stake there both of which are from Bedfordview and Edenvale wards so that was interesting! it was crazy hearing other white people give talks in sacrament meeting. I heard the first 5 syllable words that i have heard in a long long time!
But the ward here is improving so much the chapel is actually starting to look full. This is really an area where i've been feeling that we've been making a difference. most area's i just teach and baptize some people but here we're are seriously building the lord's kingdom! it's been awesome! We've set a lot of goals and have been able to achieve many of them. it's been great!
WEll i'm going to attach some pictures on this one! from last weeks baptisms!
We're hoping to have one more in the month of may on the 30th! so we're very excited about that!
I have also continued to have some amazing expereinces as i have begun reading the book of mormon again! it's been awesome! i love that book!
Well the church is true!
have a good week!
-elder johnson
p.s. here is my elder sande quote of the week! elder sande is this hilarious elder from Zimbabwe in our flat.
" I remember when i was at home and i was a loser, i was always hiding my identity. When i go home i will never be a loser again i will never hide my identity as a member of the church." -elder sande
DON'T BE LOSERS! SPEAK UP! OPEN YOUR MOUTH! -elder johnson

Last three emails! Mother's Day talk

We ended up having to wait til late Sunday night to talk to Michael. It was actually early Monday morning for him. He had only been up for about 20 minutes when we got through. But we had a wonderful talk and he sounded so good! A little funcky accent that made me smile!!! Same old Mikey! It was SOO good to hear his voise. I have often said throughout his mission that I wished time would slow down a bit and that he could stay out a little longer just so he could keep having the experiences he is having. WELL... I have changed my mind. I am ready for the boy to come home! December 1st can't come soon enough. I want him to enjoy every minute, but I really do miss him and it will be wonderful to have him home. He is so happy, loving the work and is doing a wonderful job. He was able to actually baptize a week or so ago. TWO!!! He was pretty stoked about that. He said they work from like 10am to 8:30pm. everyday!!! I couldn't believe it was our last time to talk to him. It was HEAVENLY!!!
Enjoy the emails.
Elder Johnson-yo momma loves you.


May 10th
Wow... well it was nice talking to you all!!
Thanks for the pictures i love them!! especially kevins! he is such a stud!!
Pictures are always welcome and appreciated!
Well... I don't know if there is too much to tell about!
Here are somethings that i would like:
1. Jerky
2. Breath Mints
3.Reses Pops. if possible
4. Pictures.
5. Music,
6. Other sweet delicous american goodies! (JOLLY RANCHERS PLEASE!)
7. any other nice suprises!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
-Elder Johnson

May 3rd-
EMERGENCY!!! I'm supposed to call home this week! so what im gonna try to do is to call on sunday night here, which will be sunday morning around 9 or 10. if that doesn't work then your gonna have to be troopers and i'll call monday morning here which will be around 9:30 at night over there! :/
Aside from that bit of intense news! things are good here!
we're for sure going to have 2 baptisms this week! :)
as well both me and my companion are staying here. But they are whitewashing the other elders in our flat. so we have to help out a lot with the new elders cause they are going to have no idea whats happening in their area and who is who and everything. Some missionaries have a hard time realizing they aren't in high school anymore. They don't realize that young women are now inadament objects that you say hello to and thats the end of the relationship. hence the whitewashing. bleh.
Anywho... me and elder van vurren are having a killer time! working hard and doing the work. It's been sweet.
I'm so excited for my new nephew! Luke is gonna be a stud just like his dad! (and uncles and grandpa)
NEW MOWER.... I THINK HELL JUST FROZE OVER?!?!?! hahahaha
Does this mean an HDTV is in the works?!? haha i tell stories about dad and the tv all the time to people here because people in the township prefer having a nice tv to a nice house and so you go into these little shacks and they have bigger tv's than we do!
Oh man i miss gandalfos!
WE haven't heard too much news from the stake yet. it sounds like the changes will be another month or so. WE got a new ward mission leader! it's a kid from Zimbabwe named stanton! he is a stud! he doesn't speak zulu or very good english! so he has a hard time communicating with anyone! but he loves the work and loves the gospel! so he's gonna be great!
Aside from that there isnt too much news to tell about!
have a good week! talk to you on SUNDAY!!
the church is true!
-elder johnson

April 26th-
Hello!! YES WE FINALLY SAW CONFERENCE! it was sweet! :)
Dieter F. Uchtdorf is now tied with jeffrey r. Holland as "my boy". Uchtdorf had some awesome talks and Holland laid down the law! LUST IS SHAMEFUL AND STEALTHY! good stuff! The minute he said " it grieveth me" i was like "oh boy here it comes!!"
It was definately a power conference!
As far as the work is going! we're going to have two people interviewed for baptism this week! So we're pumped for that! and then we're hoping for a couple of more baptisms the week of the 30th! so may should be a good month! june should be even better! And who knows....July could be intense! I went on exchanges and was stuck in the rain on bikes in super cold weather in a muddy township with a young Kenyan Elder...... it was a rough night. but we had a good time!
The pictures i'm sending you are one of me with my son in our final minutes as a companionship! The other is with samuel and tankie! WE had just a family home evening with them my 2nd week here! She is a member and were working n getting him bapped! He's draggin his feet though!
The last one is me with my sweet glasses and suspenders pretty much "the look"
and yes the guy in the picture is my companion! the two white guys!
well we just heard from the stake high council that there are gonna be some big changes in our ward in the coming weeks! pretty scary eh? So we'll see what happens!
Don't worry mom... the food is ok. It sounds sketchy but it's safe!
What else is there to tell about??
This week was pretty chill! WE're just working hard! Even on weekends! haha jk
welp have a great! week! enjoy yourselves!
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
-elder johnson

Way Behind in Posting!

I have been behind since my computer hasn't been working very well. I hope to get some current pictures and information about his new area soon. Enjoy the emails!

April 5th WOO!! Oh man.... life sounds so awesome, hectic, fun, crazy. Kevin is going to university! i'm glad he got my b-day card! i sent it a week before leaving selcourt! it got there quick! wow thanks for calling president! i'll be having an interview with him this week! so i'll ask him about it and apologise for you! haha Things are great! we're still keeping super busy i'm over the stomach adjustment phase of township.... let me put it this way i was eating a lot and still lost weight my first few days here. stuff goes right through you! So that was awesome! And i am now speaking more tsotsi talk than english with people on the street! ACHTARE! LAMANJYE! EITA HOLA! SHO SHO MFYWETU! it's pretty awesome! The guys around the township love us! which is crazy cause usually they hate the mulungus riding around township! But we're teaching some pretty sweet people! some of our investigators are being interviewed for baptisms this week! so that will be great it sounds like they'll be baptized a week from sunday! :) The people in the pics i'm pretty sure it was norbert and tariro! was it the wife and the husband?!?! Or was it the family home evening?! the FHE was with Norbert tariro and obert and sabina! it was fun! Those families are gonna be so powerful! I'm excited to continue to hear about what they will be doing over the following year! o and conference has been pushed back a few weeks for africa! so i won't be seeing it until the 24th or something like that! bummer eh? anyways! have a great week! i'm just about outta email time! the church is true! -elder johnson


April 12th Yup... Tsotsi isn't a real language.... it's pretty much just a bunch of slang that all the "gangsta's" and taxi drivers speak! Achtare is afrikaans for "behind you" Lamanjye means "right now" in zulu, eita hola means absolutely nothing and sho sho imfweytu is i'm good brother! Pretty much you use these words in no particular order and communicate nothing intelligible and the guys LOVE IT! In bigger news we are in the ward choir and i'm in a quartet that will do a musical number in sacrament this week! as well we are learning african traditional songs! it's pleasing! We are most likely going to be having 5 baptisms this week! We're very excited!! 2 of which are future priesthood holders! YES! It is a ward! Its entirely run by members in the township.... which is nice and sometimes not too nice! But we love it anyways even when it's not as organized as usual.... for instance the ward is run on Africa Time. So sacrament starts at 9:10 every sunday! and most of the ward shows up around 9:30. And the bishop is only at church every other week. sometimes less! so it's pretty great. The good news is that we're actually rejuvenating the ward a bit..... wow... i just used a 5 syllable word. The best township food is KOTA!!!! It's the diet of the missionary... let me put it this way it's about 8 rands which is about a dollar. and it's a quarter loaf of bread emptied out and stuffed with fries, cheese, meats, and sauce. It will probably give me a heart attack someday.... but yo! it's good and filling you can eat one and be full for the whole day! I'm going to send you guys some pictures of me and my son (elder matunya)and me with a family here in hospital view that we're teaching (tanki and samuel!) Tanki is a member but samuel isn't. he likes to drink too much but we're gonna change that. Don't worry mom. i did cut my hair when we got back to the flat that night and my hair is now incredibly short and missionary like. Pretty much a #4 all around my dome! OH and we're going to the temple this friday! i'm so stoked! I love the temple. i listen to a lot of talks about the temple. i'm pretty sure it's my favorite place in the whole world and my favorite thing to think and ponder upon! it's so sweet! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! _elder johnson


April 19th WOO! 5 BAPTISMS! It happened for sure! It tied the record for my mission thus far! :) We have some very solid people in that group as well! Siphiwe is already talking about going on mission and all that. So that would probably make me happier than anything else! As well Lucky is the man and our others bore awesome testimonies following their baptisms! Sister hilda didn't go down without a fight elder van vuuren had to baptise her like 8 times before she finally got under! haha But it was definately a spiritual experience. it's always the best. As well we had the rubbish collectors all over Gauteng go on strike this week! There is trash and junk all over the streets everywhere! today we drove down the street and there was a dumpster in the middle of the street! sweet. as well i ate chicken head and chicken feet yesterday at siphiwe's after the baptism! The juice inside of a chickens eye is not pleasant in case you ever have the urge to try it. haha The temple was sweet! as usual! it continues to blow my mind! Jo burg has the best temple grounds in the world! What else is there to tell about...... oh ya we're on bikes 5 out of 7 days. we get the car for two days of the week! And bishop came to church again! sweet, The vibe in the ward has been awesome the last two weeks. lots of smiling, jokes, and just a sweet vibe. Aside from that... not much else. Just working hard. And doing the work that the lord wants us to do! it's great! But i hope everyone has a good week! i'll hope to hear from y'all soon! the church is true! -elder johnson