Letter from August 24, 2015

This week has been good! We taught 19 lessons this week, found 7 new investigators and got 78 I/O's, so we didn't get the standard because we didn't get 100 I/O's which sucks but it's fine, we were teaching lots of people! Cool little miracle thing that happened this week, we were on our way to a lesson and while walking up to the house we stopped and talked to a guy to get a little I/O before the lesson.  He was like 'yeah I'm going through some family problems' and wants to help his family out so we told him our message blesses families.  He was like 'Well, come on in right now!'  We told him 'We have a lesson right now but after we can try.'  He was cool with it so we went in and taught this lesson and then came out and went to another lesson, and then went to a third lesson before we came back and said 'Hey we have some time! are you available for a lesson?'  He was, so we taught him outside of his house and it was a great lesson! He invited us back over and said he is really looking for some direction in his life! He really loved the part about the apostasy! He said he sees alot of the end result of that! So that was cool! His name is Sam and he even said he would be baptized if he came to know that it was true! So that was super cool!

Alright, so the hardest question we have gotten is usually if Jesus is black or white or that they were already baptized and don't want to get baptized again. 

The question we really hate getting is if Jesus is black, because the person is usually really racist and will dwell on trying to proove to us that Jesus is black.. I don't really care what color he is, his teachings are what matter most. 

And the easiest question that we have been asked is 'when can I get baptized?' haha Those ones are super easy! 

This week we were told something pretty far fetched, he clearly doesn't understand scriptures.. but he told us we worship pagan gods because we celebrate Christmas and Easter.. Super lame. But I wanted to ask why he was wearing a cross, because that would mean that he is worshipping the cross and not Jesus, therefore meaning he worships pagan gods as well.. I thought it was funny. haha That was pretty much our week! :) I miss you all and can't wait to see you again soon! 

Elder Johnsen

Letter from August 17, 2015

This week we went above and beyond the Standard of Excellence, which is 15 total lessons, 2 new investigators, and 100 invite others. We got 19 total lessons, 4 new investigators, and 110 invite others. We killed it this last week. We had an investigator at Sacrament Meeting as well and have two people set for baptism, with 3 more we're going to set by the end of this next week. The Mission numbers were through the roof as well. I included them here as well: 

Our performance as a mission this week was:
- Baptisms for the Week: 4; Total Baptisms and Confirmations for the year: 156
- Total Lessons taught for the Week: 818; Average lessons per Companionship: 9.2
- I/Os for the Week: 6,054; Average per Companionship: 68.0
- New Investigators for the Week: 239; New Investigators pwe Companionship: 2.7

"The Mission performance for the week was remarkable -- more I/Os and new investigators than ever before.  You didn't just get back to work after transfer week -- you raised the bar (again)."

That was our week.  I wish I had more time.  These new companions are really quick at emailing, so I have to be quick too.  I love you guys.

Love,
Elder Johnsen

Letter from August 10, 2015

Well, I was Transferred! Thus far I have had 9 companions and have served in 4 trios and have served in 3 areas in 6 months! I'm now in New Bern, North Carolina! I'm with another set of zone leaders! I Love my New companions! They're both from Idaho, and they're both freaking awesome to be around! This week we taught upwards of about 25 lessons, which is killer but we can't count some of them because we didn't set up a return appointment. So they don't count. But we did teach 12 lessons with a return appointment. And picked up 2 new investigators! The new way of teaching is so much better! We can get upwards of 10+ investigators a week but we would rather not waste our time with people that are not as prepared as others. So we limit our self to the mission standard of excellence of two new investigators a week. We have about 9 lessons set up a day, but only about 4-5 go through.. But we keep our heads high! We will teach everyone in this city in no time! :) And something funny... I am learning how to solve a Rubik's cube...  I cant think of anything super funny that has happened... Something super cool did happen though! This isn't spiritual at all so don't be expecting some miracle or something cute that happened... So while Elder Thurgood and I were out tracting we saw the back end of a brand new Dodge Challenger Hellcat, and I heard it start up and I was like 'Elder Thurgood, watch this', so as he was backing out I hurried over and flagged him down and told him to wait and stop. So he pulled up to us and rolled down the window and said 'What's up?' and I was like 'sweet car man!' And he said 'Thanks!  I then asked the greatest, most spiritually inspired question ever! I asked 'Would you be baptized?' No, I'm kidding I actually asked 'So does this thing do some nice burn outs?' And he just got the biggest smile on his face and was like 'Oh does it do burn outs!' and he put that thing in first and just let her rip!  He lit those tires up so fast!!! And he had a dope burnout goin on! And after hitting the limiter for a minute he took off down the road leaving some fat stripes down the road!!! It was beautiful! I was mad I didnt get a video of it.. But I did get pictures, so I have proof that it did happen!! haha We also got to go explore a huge mud truck! Well thats about it! haha I miss you guys! 25% complete! Time is flying! :) 

Love,

Elder Johnsen 

Transferred Again! (From August 3, 2015)

This week we have been doing missionary work. I think that's a good thing. haha But seriously, we got transfer calls and I am being transferred to New Burn, North Carolina! I go on Thursday.  I'm super excited! I get to be with Elder Rogers and Elder Egbert! Elder Egbert was my Zone Leader in Norfolk so we will get along great! I'm super excited! He's a great missionary! So that's been exciting. Otherwise this week we had MLC which was pretty cool. I got to see my trainer one last time before he goes home! He's a great guy! It's been a much better relationship now that we are not companions! haha I will miss him, he is a great guy!

This week has been full of lessons and we have been teaching quite a bit which has been nice! And we currently have 4 people set with a date, but that could change at any point. So hopefully they can all go through! I won't talk too much about them since this is no longer my area haha! But they are great people! This week we have a mission wide meeting where everyone in the mission is coming up for a specialized training and it will be super cool to see our whole MTC district again! I will make sure that we get pictures! I think that's about it for the week..? Maybe I'm just not remembering because I'm old... not sure.. haha well I love you guys and miss you guys a bunch! Only 18months left!

Love,

Elder Johnsen