December 12, 2016

This week was cool. We taught a couple of people. Our mission has changed a few of the key indicators we report so we can focus more on the people and not so much the number. It’s super weird, but it’s working so far. haha!  It really forces us to put a bigger emphasis on getting members out with us and building ward trust. I guess that is a common problem with a lot of missionary's. I feel like we have pretty good ward trust and friendship! haha We were able to teach some good people this week! One that I’m really happy about is a girl named Samantha! She is super solid! She had a problem earlier about Nephi killing Laban, but we worked through it after like an hour-long lesson. haha So it all worked out! haha So that was really cool! We’re hoping to see her at church this coming week! But we will see! haha Otherwise we see the same less actives, nothing really new so I’m sorry these are so short but I can literally tell you all that's going on when I get home. haha But I love you all! And I miss you so much! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

I happened to come across this picture on another missionaries blog!  I love seeing Michael, so happy, in this pic.  Not sure when it was taken or which area he was in, but that's ok.  It's fun to see his smiling face!

December 5, 2016

This week has been good, we have been doing some good things. Nothing too crazy. We found some new people, but some of them have already dropped us, so that stinks. But oh well. Otherwise we went about our day doing our thing. haha  It’s freezing cold over here. That sucks and were biking, so yeah I hate that. haha But the ward is really great! I love them so much! I’m excited to spend my last Christmas here and then head on back to Arizona where it will be the perfect weather! :) So, the food I really want to eat is your sweet pork, a Nandos chimichanga, and a fruit pizza. I have been craving those three things! So maybe my first home dinner? I think the biggest attribute change has been patience by far. You learn that one pretty much your whole mission. haha I think the most useful spiritual tool I have been able use is the scriptures and prayer. Those things are by far the best possible! You need the scriptures and you also need to pray to understand them, so they go hand in hand. When I grow up I want to be a dentist or orthodontist! Not sure yet. but once I have enough and I have a house with some land, I plan to build a shop in the back and work on cars and race when I can. haha! And how soon do I think I will be married... hmmm... I’m thinking early 2018, maybe summer of 2018. But who knows. Guess we will see. But I’m excited for whenever it happens! haha It will be nice! But that’s about it for this week! I hope you guys all have a great week as well! I love you! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

November 28, 2016

This week was pretty good, missionary work wise. We saw a few people and found a few interesting new people. One is pagan, not sure how long we will have her as an investigator, but we will see. We are also teaching her husband and we will see what happens with them. The lesson was really awkward. Haha, but oh well. We got to see the Fullmers one last time before they moved out! We also helped them last night try and pack up the moving truck as best as we could. And we took some pictures so that was cool! We had a really good Thanksgiving as well! It was fun, except my companion tried to ruin all the fun and make sure we didn't have any. So, me and some others had fun while he did his own thing.

The biggest struggle on my mission has been crappy companions... if you don't have a good companion everything is hard and nothing goes well. I think the biggest difference, is probably that I know the gospel now and I actually know what this church is all about. I have learned so much and have actually read the Book of Mormon and know what it talks about! So my knowledge, I think, would be something people will notice the most. I’m not sure what has been the biggest growing experience... I would probably say my mission as a whole. There are so many things that just get thrown at ya and different challenge's always come up and you have to work through them... I think I will miss the southern hospitality out here! It’s crazy! Everyone is so nice! And they are always willing to listen to you about Jesus Christ! Well, at least down in North Carolina! I love North Carolina! It’s a great place! I just would never live there.. too humid.. haha But I would say that will be weird coming home and seeing the culture difference and being able to see everywhere and being back in the desert! haha Since I’m used to the green of the east coast! haha

Anyway! I love you all and miss you tons!

Love,

Elder Johnsen

November 21, 2016

This week was really good though, well the first half at least...  We saw some good people. The Fullmer’s came to church again, but we found out Anna is moving to the Portsmouth ward. So that's too bad, but at least those missionary's will have someone good to teach! I'm excited for her though. Otherwise same stuff different day. We did find a little family of 4 to teach, they are pretty cool! We were teaching their daughter, and then we finally got to teach the whole family this time around. They have potential, but we won’t know until we teach them again!  I did "my plan" today which was crazy. It’s the thing you do just before you go home to help keep you active in the church. I don't plan on going less active so I shouldn't need it, but it’s cool to go through none the less. I enjoyed it!  Otherwise nothing new here. These letters keep getting shorter and shorter since I'm getting closer to coming home! Haha  

Kim Thomas back in New Bern gave a talk this week! That was really cool! She sent me a copy of it. I’ll be sure to send it to you guys! She told me it went well so that's exciting! :) I love that family down there! They’re so amazing!  Anyway, I love you guys! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

November 14, 2016

This week was cool! I guess? I mean I got sick which sucks but it was cool otherwise! haha We were able to see some people. The Fullmer family didn't come to church but Anna, the girl that is living with them that is a less active, did by herself which was awesome! And we now give her homework to better help her understand what we teach her. So that’s pretty cool, except I hate giving out homework and coming up with that stuff haha

We also got to meet with a lady the Bishop asked us to go see. She is trying to come back, which is awesome! But really needs to be re-taught everything. So we’re excited to be able to go and teach her every week! Another person we can add to the people we see on a weekly basis.

We got transfer calls and for my last transfer in the misison I get to be with Elder Lore! It’s actually pretty cool because my favorite companion in the mission trained him. So Elder Lore was trained by Elder Godfrey! After Elder Godfrey left me in Morehead he went to Washington for a transfer then trained Elder Lore and now I’m getting Elder Lore! haha He has only been out for 4 months, so he's pretty new! haha So that’s cool!

But this is it! I’m almost home! haha Otherwise our week was pretty much the same. Same stuff different day kinda thing! haha I love you all and miss you! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

A couple of pictures he sent.  He doesn't send pictures very often.

November 1, 2016

This week was pretty good, lots of good things happened, I guess. We found 2 new people which was pretty cool there super prepared. So we will see how that goes in the coming weeks. Otherwise same thing just a different day haha  The Fullmers finally came to church! So that was super exciting! And Faith Bensinger even came to church, which was super exciting! So we’re excited to see what all happens with them in the coming weeks! Brother Bensinger has even softened up a little bit by now, offering rides for us if we ever need them! So that was super nice of him! We also did some service for him to try and help him out! So that was awesome! We’re hoping to see if we can get him to church next! But we’ll see what happens.

The comp has been good! We’re having fun doing our thing! He has gotten a lot better which is good. I was informed a few days ago that since being his companion he has made huge progress as a missionary. So that was nice to hear that, even though it’s hard and that sometimes I feel like I’m not sure why I’m his companion, it was nice to know that I'm helping him out a lot.

Yesterday we had Elder Bennett from the Seventy came to the mission. It went super well, except like all Seventy they kinda just rebuke us. So it was cool to meet him and get to know him, but he is the tangent king. He went on so many tangents it was nuts. But it was cool to meet another General Authority. I asked if we would trade me ties but he said no. So that was depressing, but he had a decent excuse. He said his wife got him that tie. I’ll bet he has a hundred ties his wife has given him. He doesn’t have one from Elder Johnsen though! Oh well. But it was pretty cool.

But I guess the only other cool thing that happened was that my crown on my tooth came off. So that sucked. It was weird not having it on, but a dentist in the ward said the only thing he could do was slap some cement on the old crown and use it as a temporary one and hope that it will last until I get home. He said he can’t guarantee it will make it two months but it beats trying to make a new one and paying big money for it haha. Anyway, that was our week! I love you guys so much! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

November 7, 2016

Hey! So yeah, you best be waiting to do Christmas until I get home! haha It’s only a week everyone can wait! haha. I’m glad for what the mission has done for me and for everyone that's close to me. I never thought it would bless others so much but it has. Transfers are next week, but we get calls on Saturday. 

This week was really good I guess? haha It’s been pretty much the same old same old. We were able to have Faith Bensginer come to church and the Fullmers came as well! It’s great being able to see them at church! They really need it! We’re now trying to see how we can get them to both keep coming every Sunday. Sister Fullmers kids loved church, because they did a whole bunch of coloring so they loved it, of course haha They’re so awesome! haha And they’re super cute! And they love having us over! They call us the engineers, it’s super funny! They will be like ‘Mom, the engineers are here!’ haha It’s funny! We were able to do a little bit of service as well, for the Bensinger family, which was fun. We did a lot of yard stuff. So that was cool! We also found a cool investigator last week but he dropped us hard core this past week haha But it’s all good! So we continue to try and find new people to teach each and every day! I can’t believe I only have a few weeks left. I think it is finally starting to hit me that the end is near! But I hope all is well! I love you all! You’re the best! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

October 24, 2016

Our week was amazing! We were able to do so much with a car this week. We saw so many people! We saw the Fullmers as usual, they are still doing well. We had a good lesson with them. We were also able to pick up 4 new investigators this week! They are all doing really well! One of them even came to church which was awesome! Not sure how well she will progress as she told us that we were hot stuff and that she was looking for a husband... So we might be dropping her if she is just interested in "us" and not the church.. haha She is 24 so if only there was a YSA here that we could pass her off too. haha But we cant.. haha

We were able to set up a lesson with a family that seems to have great potential. We were out contacting less actives and ran across this member that doesn't live there but his daughter does and she is not a member, and when we met her she was super prego and told us to come back after she had the baby. Well this past week we stopped by and set up a time for her and her husband! So we’re super excited about that! I will let you know how it goes! hah But sorry to keep it short we gotta run!

Love,

Elder Johnsen

October 17, 2016

This week was great! We got the car and have been killing it in finding people and setting up appointments! We have tons of lessons set up for this coming week! We’re super excited to be able to be teaching a lot of people again. We have also been going into Cradock again; which I pretty much swore I would never do again but with the car we can go through the place and not get jumped or shot at. So that's a plus. We have been going through all our former and potential investigators trying to contact as many people as we can in our area before we have to switch the car back to the other Elders. We met with Sister Fullmer and we went hard in the paint talking about the Sabbath day. We didn't rebuke her, but we made it apparent that she isn't keeping the Sabbath day holy. She took it well and said she would strive to be better about it. She still didn't come to church but we’re going to keep trying to get her there. She has a less active friend that is coming to live with her for about a month and so she was telling us how she wants to be able to reactivate her. So we told her that she needed to be coming to church also in order for it to work. So we are working on that as well.

We also had a pretty funny miracle happen this week. We went and contacted a quarter referral a few weeks back and set up a time to come teach her and we show up and she is like ‘y’all caught me at a bad time’. So we’re like ‘darn’. Then she proceeds to talk to us for another 20 minutes.. haha But then she brought up church and how she is going to be going to the early morning session of her church at 8am. And were like well ‘hey! Come to our service at 11:30am’ and she is like ‘I’ll try’. (that is what every person and their dog says out here) And we’re like ‘yeah, we’re sure you will try your hardest’. haha  And so we told the time and location and we get in the car with the member and we’re thinking she probably won’t show up; they never do. haha And he agrees and we talk about it for a little bit while driving back. And then the next day (Sunday) we’re greeting people, welcoming them to church and lo and behold, guess who shows up? Yeah, so Elder Ferrero and I were like holy cow! No way! We were freaking out!  We sat with her and she took notes through church and busted out her bible trying to find Alma and Mosiah but couldn't, of course, I thought it was funny.. haha  But it was cool she really enjoyed it! She didn't stay for all three hours but she said she would be coming back again! So we’re excited to put a little more emphasis on her and trying to teach her! So that was cool!

That was pretty much our week! I hope you guys all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Johnsen

October 11, 2016

This week was really slow. It was transfer week and I was hoping to go, but I didn't so I wasn't really motivated to do anything. I’m in the stage of my mission where I’m not really wanting to do much. Kind of like senioritis; when you become a senior in high school you kind of don't really want to do anything because you know the end is near. So that's how I was feeling towards the beginning of the week. 

But later in the week we got some great news... WE GOT A CAR!!!!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS! I am so excited and became excited about the work again. haha So the other Elders have it right now, but we get it on Friday and I have become way more excited about the work. I have started using the phone way more effectively, we have been out biking right at 10 am to be diligent, and we are trying to teach everyone! With the car I don't have to bike and as long as I can stack the car week with lessons then I will be excited to teach! So the car really helped motivate me! So the last half of the week was really good because not only did a hurricane hit, but I was trying hard to be effective! so I'm excited to see how the next transfer goes! 

We didn't teach the fullmers. So this next week we will be seeing them. We have a lesson with them tomorrow so we're excited to see them again. Otherwise we didn't really see anyone last week. We did teach the Bensingers again. They have one daughter that is 17 or 18 and last time we saw them she was saying she is starting at the beginning of her quad and just going to read all the way through it. And well, three weeks later we talked to the family and asked how their reading was going, she said she read and that she finished the Bible and tried reading the topical guide but it didn't make sense to her so she skipped it and then tried the Bible dictionary but she said it was pretty complicated so she moved onto the Book of Mormon and got to 1 Nephi Chapter 20! Then the best part is that after getting to chapter 20 she felt prompted to take notes and keep a study journal! So she took notes of the whole chapter! It was crazy! Then we talked about study journals and she then proceeded to take notes of our whole lesson so she could go back and look it over and read the verses we used! It was amazing! Meanwhile the rest of the family acted like we weren't even there, even though the lesson was for the whole family. So we're trying to figure out how to kinda just teach her and her dad; since the dad has the best chance of coming back to church out of the rest of the bunch. So that's the problem now, but we're going to see if we can get her to church and to see if she has ever thought of serving a mission. So wish us luck and pray for them! 

So to answer some of your questions. I am perfectly on track with the D&C! I read section 83 today for 83 days left. I read 1 section every day to count down the days I have left! It's been going well! And I'm learning so much! For the first little bit I wasnt highlighting, I was just reading and then I thought 'well that's dumb! I need to be highlighting!' haha So I broke out the pencils and went and re-highlighted a lot of chapters and have been marking every chapter since! 

Now, the storm was awesome! I love hurricanes! Even though we didn't really get anything of a hurricane is was pretty windy and raining crazy amounts! I don't know how much rain we got but we got flooded in. I did want my winch so I could go wakeboard. haha It would have been sweet! But church got cancelled pretty much everywhere in the mission. And we were grounded so we couldn't leave the apartment from Saturday around 3 until about 2 on Sunday. But in the morning we went out with the Assistants to see the area, to help President get a view of what the destruction was like since he was flooded in as well. So we took their truck and romped through a lot of flooded areas! It was sweet! Lots of people stranded and helpless and a lot of people crashing and things like that. So it was crazy. But these past two days have been cold and I have been wearing a jacket because I'm from Arizona where everyone wears a jacket when it gets to 70 degrees. I think it was around 55 the other day. which is freezing to me. haha But it was crazy. It felt like an apocalypse happened. The streets were bare with no people and it was awkwardly quiet.. haha So after we got ungrounded we went out biking around and I took a lot of videos for you guys! So don't worry, you can see it through my eyes just like I was seeing it. 

That's pretty much all that happened this week. I hope you guys had a great week as well! I love you guys and hope you guys have a great week! :)

Love,

Elder Johnsen

October 3, 2016

Well this week has been good! We were able to watch conference which is always great! I loved it so much! It even felt like it was all too short! Back home it feels forever long, but I just can get enough while being on my mission. That was the last conference I will watch as a missionary. This also means that I'm only 3 months from home, or 12 weeks, whichever you prefer. haha The weeks are going to fly by! And since I didn't get transferred it will be going even quicker! I have the same companion and everything! This will be my second longest area. So I’m excited and the ward is really good here so I don't mind another 6 weeks. It just means I’m either going to finish my mission here or I'm going to get trunky transferred to a different area. Either one will be fine with me.

This week we got to see the same usual people. They’re all doing so well. We got to teach the Fullmer’s again. They are now starting to slowly pack up their house and get ready to move to most likely Florida, so will see if we can get them to church. We haven't been able to teach them without her husband yet so that will be the next challenge, since we will then need a third male. So we’ll see how we get it done. We also taught our investigator Tamika. She is doing ok. Not really sure how interested she is... We are still trying to figure that all out. So we will see what happens. She is very nice though and hopefully we can meet with her twice this upcoming week. Otherwise not much new. Kinda the same old same old. But I love you and miss you guys so much! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

September 26, 2016

This week we were able to teach a lot of people, but we’re starting to see the same people over and over again. A lot of the same less actives every week. We’re working with some 15+ less actives and we’re starting to see a lot of them on a regular basis. Which I good, but at the same time can be boring. But we’re excited to be seeing them and hoping that we can bring one of them back to church! We have been trying hard to get the Fullmer’s back. That one has been a little difficult! But we are still trying hard. Once her husband leaves then we will really put an emphasis on getting to church. He will be leaving later this week.

We have also been having another less active, that was having ride problems, come to church each week, now that we have her a ride each week! So we are working on getting her to the temple now! So that's exciting! We also picked up a new investigator this week, we will see how long that last. She lives in the housing projects and seems like it could go somewhere, but I have never had anyone in the projects progress any further than like 3 lessons. But we shall see! We also stopped by a less active whose boyfriend was taking the lessons and got over whelmed by some very excited missionaries, and we were able to stop by and see her and we played very oblivious to the situation. She was very nice and we set up an appointment with her and her sister in law, who is not a member either! So that is very exciting! haha So to answer your questions. Transfers are next week, on the 5th I believe. Transfer calls are this week on Saturday. The biggest struggle about this area has been just trying to find people that are solid to teach. We can teach lessons all day, but no one would progress to baptism. So finding those who are ready to be baptized is really difficult… The biggest success is how much the members are willing to help and how much work there is to do with less actives! We have 20+ less actives that we know about that would let us teach them but they flake appointments. But being able to have that many people to try and teach is wonderful! haha Although it may not be baptism numbers it is still doing missionary work! That's pretty much our week! I hope all is well back home! haha love you!

Elder Johnsen

September 19, 2016

This one is ultra short.  Unfortunately, he mistakenly deleted the email as he was trying to send and he didn't want to re-type everything!  Ugh... 

Anyway... this week was good. We taught the Fullmer's again. We are going to meet with them while their kids are in school so we can focus better. Her husband leaves in a few days so we will work harder with her. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting which went really well. I was only given 5 minutes, but it went great none the less. I think it went well. It was on commandments so I couldn't have choked that bad. haha

This week should be a really good week! We have a lot of things already set up, hopefully they don't fall through! It would be nice to actually have a good week again... but we're working hard and trying our best out here! Today I'm going to try and get some other missionaries to play rook with me! Hopefully it works! It’s been so long since I have played! haha  Anyways I love and miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Johnsen

September 12, 2016

This week has been really good! But we have also had some downfalls as well... We were teaching Andrea, but her husband decided that she is not allowed to go to the Mormon church. He is being very rude so Bishop and the Relief Society President are the only ones staying in contact right now. We are laying low until the situation clears up. But we did have a very powerful lesson with her this past week! We invited the Mission President and his wife! They were so great! He was very bold and blunt with her when it came to contradictions, he made sure she knew exactly whatever she was trying to say was not right and that this is where it says it and what it means. And the best part was that he did it in a loving way. something I sometimes struggle with. I’m usually pretty mean when I smash false doctrine or prove people wrong. haha President Weed is just perfect and so is his wife. They were perfect for her! So we will see if anything happens with it. For now we are just going to lay low.

But we also saw the Fullmer’s again and the wife and one of the boys kept our commitments, but the dad didn't. But we did find out he got orders to go to Georgia so she will be staying for 3 months then going to be with him down there in Georgia. So we are going to really start working hard on getting her active now that he will be gone, since it seems like he is the one that is kinda holding them back! We had a powerful lesson with them on Saturday! They didn't come to church, but we did get them to both bear testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So we’re very excited to see if we can get her active enough to become a little more converted to the gospel!

Otherwise that has been our week, nothing to crazy or amazing but kind of a slow week number wise. We did have 14 lessons fall through or cancel. But none the less we have worked through it! Hopefully this next week can be a lot better! I’m sure it will!  I love you all and miss you all so much!

Elder Johnsen

September 5, 2016

Our week was really good! We started teaching Andrea! That was a big blessing! We taught her once and she brought up some concerns and we’re working through them, so we’re not going to stop teaching her! Her husband is less active and is kinda mad at the church, but she said she is doing this for her! and that she is going to find out for herself if it’s true and not think about the problems her husband has because they can be resolved over time! So we asked our Mission President if he would come with us and he said he would! So we’re super excited to have him out with us the next time we go see her! So that’s exciting!

We also had a killer lesson with a less active family and I was super bold with the commitments I left them. I really just want them to be doing the basic things so they can see the blessings of it, so they can hopefully come back to church. So I strongly committed them to read a chapter together every night as a couple for the next week and to also to share their favorite scriptures on social media this next week! So hopefully they can do that because I have seen it throughout my mission bless families! So we’ll see what happens with them.

Me and the Comp are getting along great! The time is really starting to fly by! which is nice. I'm not excited to be done or want to be done but I'm ready for the next challenge... But I'm enjoying the time we’re having here and I'm still going to make the best of it! We’re having a lot of success in the area which is nice and I'm excited to see who will be our next baptism! We also had our investigator Linwood come to church, but we found out he isn’t really retaining as much as we thought. Even though we have gone over the restoration twice and the plan of salvation 3 times. It was very embarrassing in Elders Quorum when someone gets set apart and they then ask Linwood, ‘So the missionaries have taught you about Priesthood Authority right?’ and he says ‘No, I never heard of that.’ When he said that I just put my head down and was like are you kidding me? I was so embarrassed. I just didn’t know what to do. And my companion has never taught him yet, so he didn’t know anything. But anyway, that kinda sucked. But we are still working with him, but he probably just won’t get baptized as soon as we thought. So we’ll see what happens!

None the less were still working hard. And here are some pictures for ya! I love you guys and miss you a lot! See ya in 16 weeks! 

Elder Johnsen

Looks like lots of rain and some flooding in the streets!

August 29, 2016

Well this week was pretty good! I got my new companion. He is pretty cool but pretty lazy and not really motivated to do anything. So that has been a little bit of a struggle, but it’s something we’re working through. We have a lot set up this week, so that will help out a little bit! This week was a little slow but we were able to see a lot of less actives and none of our investigators. For only being in the area for a few days we did a pretty good job.

A miracle we had was that if you remember me talking about Andrea, the girl that is married to a less active and she isn't a member? Well she came to church again this week! We talked to her a few days ago and set up a time to come by and meet with her! So we are super excited to teach her and hopefully see an investigator actually progress! She even mentioned at church that she is hoping that by her going to church it will help her husband comeback to church! and I was like yes, yes it would so you better keep coming! haha I'm super excited! It will be nice to have something cool happen again! We also met up with this super crazy less active family! They could talk all day long if we would have let them. Luckily I interjected and we were able to make it out alive! But we are hoping to start working with them again! They were a strong family, but from what the teaching record says, their daughters got offended at the yw camp and then the dad went on deployment so they just stopped coming and haven't been since. So hopefully we can reactivate them. But we’ll see.

Otherwise nothing really crazy new has been going on. I’m still working out hard core trying to get back into shape for going home and going to the lake! :)  I hope all is well and that everyone is doing great! I love you guys and miss you a bunch!

Love,

Elder Johnsen

August 22, 2016

This week was an interesting one for sure! My companion went home, as we all know, so I went to be with another missionary for 10 days named Elder Nipko! He is sweet! He was my zone leader while I was in New Bern and we have been in the same zone for the past year on my mission. So I know him pretty well! He’s a really cool guy from Ephraim Utah! I have learned a lot from him! And since we weren't in my area I don’t have much to say about my area. We got transfer calls. I’m getting a companion I already know really well! His name is Elder Fererro! He is so funny and knows a lot of church doctrine so I will be picking his brain a bit and talking a lot with him. He was being trained in New Bern while I was there, so it will also be cool to see how much he has changed.

Since there’s not much to say about my area, this week I have been studying some really cool things. I have been reading the Doctrine and Covenants backwards, to count down my days but also because I have never actually read through it all the way and I have learned so much! Currently, in one of the Books of Mormon I’m also reading and trying to finish before I go home, I am highlighting all the travels throughout the Book of Mormon and making maps of what all is going on. I’m a visual learner and so this is really helping me a lot to kinda see what all is happening throughout each chapter. Along with that I am reading the D&C and I have been learning tons from that as well! Tomorrow I will be reading about eternal marriage in the 132 section, so I will enjoy reading about how that all came to be. I loved what was in section 138. It was a vision a previous latter day prophet had, and man it was a really good chapter. I learned so much from it! Lots about the spirit world and what all happened when Christ was gone for 3 days. Also, my patriarchal blessing talks about Joseph and Ephraim, and since I pretty much have no idea who they are, I figured I needed to read about them and see who they are. Well, after reading and studying A LOT about them I ended up starting to make a genealogy family tree of the family of Abraham and Sarah! So I have dived into this way more than I originally thought! haha And I know there are family trees elsewhere I could get, but I'm making this one for myself. And I have run out of post it notes trying to organize this whole thing... so I will be transferring it over to a blank white paper once I get back to my original apartment. But I have been learning a lot about this whole family! haha So that's what I have been studying every morning the past few weeks! It’s a lot but I love it and I’m actually staying awake a lot more because I’m actually involved in the study and I’m writing things down and making different things. One hour goes by way too fast! haha But I love all of you and hope you guys have a great week! Keep doing what’s right and the Lord will bless you! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen

August 15, 2016

We had a very cool miracle happen this week! So I’ll start off with that! A lady, who is a non-member that is married to a member, showed up at church! We have never met with her but we have seen her and her husband every now and then. We never told her to come to church, she just showed up out of the blue! We had no idea and we were very excited! We sat with her in sacrament and she really enjoyed it and asked some very good questions! We introduced her to a few of the members and then introduced her to Sister Goldade who then took her and led her through church the rest of the day! It was a huge blessing that we know the Lord played a key role in!

Throughout the week we didn't do much teaching because of the trunky monkeys in the apartment. But we did still see a lot of people, we just spent a little more time inside so they could pack. But it was a pretty good week, otherwise nothing too crazy happened. I will be going to a different ward so I am not alone in the apartment. So I will be with Elder Nipko, who I knew from New Bern! So I’m excited to be with him! He is a good missionary! I’m sure I will learn a lot from him!

Another cool thing, if you remember Steve Thomas from New Bern, he recently got re-baptized into the church! So that was amazing to hear! I’m really happy for him! It’s exciting to hear when people get back into the church! I’m doing good though, the new President is still amazing! He showed up at our district meeting, which was way cool! I love seeing him! I can’t wait to see what happens with transfers as well! It should be very interesting! Anyway, I hope all is well! I love you guys and I miss you guys a ton! :)

Love,

Elder Johnsen

August 8, 2016

This week we finally got someone to come to church! His name is Linwood, he is a pretty funny guy, but he loved church! We had to go pick him up and we were late getting to church. We got to church right as soon as they finished the prayer for the bread! We thought we were going to have to ask the Bishop to give us sacrament later in the day or something! haha But he loved how smiley people were and how friendly they were and he said he wanted to come back next week! So that's very exciting! We only taught him once last week and he was acting kind of funny during the lesson so we didn't really get through it. He might have a problem comprehending everything we are saying, so we might have to teach him a few times before he really understands anything that we say. But he’s a good guy and we’re excited to be working with him. We taught only one lesson last week to an investigator, which was Linwood, but we taught 8 less actives which wasn't too bad. It was kind of a slow week compared to what we are used to. None the less it was still fun!

We got rained on while I was on exchanges again this week! It was pretty fun. I love playing in the rain haha. Well, I guess I always have... but we had a cool experience while we were in the rain. We biked to a less actives house that we didn't know, that we recently found on the roster. After knocking on the door and no one being home we left and it started down pouring, so we went under a tree and hung out until it was practically over. While we were waiting, a truck passed us and then stopped and backed up and said "Hey do y’all wanna come to my house and dry off?" and we were like sure! So we went over and he was the boyfriend of the girl we were trying to contact! He pulled up to the house we had just tried! He let us in and we had a good talk with him and he was from GILBERT ARIZONA!!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome! We had a good talk. He isn't a member since his family stopped going to church when he was about 5 years old, but he has respect for the Mormons and thinks what we do is pretty cool! But his wife is a member and she wasn't there, but he texted her and she told us to come back and he gave us her number, so we will be calling her and setting something up in the near future to meet with them. Hopefully we can get him baptized! it would be so cool! But that was a cool little miracle that happened this week! I hope all is well and that everyone is having fun! I love y'all!

Elder Johnsen

August 1, 2016

So I have forgotten to tell you guys something. If you ever see Brother Hayward, Dayton’s dad, ask him if he remembers an Elder McQuivey from his mission. He's a member in our ward here and he pulled out a mission year book thing and showed me Brother Hayward’s picture! haha They were never companions but he knew him! So, small world around here! haha

But this week nothing too exciting happened, besides some cool storms and the fact that it was hotter than crap out here. The humidity is brutal, even though the temps are not even bad at all. it was only like 100 which I would love in AZ, but the humidity just cuts deep and kills. It’s like turning on the heater in your house, going into your bathroom and turning the shower on hot and then bringing in a treadmill and trying to run 10 miles. Try that and you will know what it’s like out here. It’s stupid hot out here. haha

But, we taught a few people. No one came to church either, which kinda stinks. We are struggling so much with that. We just teach so many people that are un-committal and just won’t progress. We also had exchanges this week, so I went with one of the other missionary's in the other area, and it was so much fun! We taught a few people and just had a blast all around. Since Elder Brown leaves a week early I will probably be with them for the week until transfers so I’m pretty excited to be able to be there with them. They’re great missionary's. But that's really all that happened. I feel so bad that these are short but there's really nothing else worth writing about that happened. The Mission President is doing good, he is amazing, and the ward is doing great here so I’m still happy to be here! haha  I hope all is well back home and that y'all are having fun! I love ya!

Elder Johnsen

July 25, 2016

This week was really good! I really had a lot of fun and was able to learn a lot too! But this week, we didn't have anyone at church. Our one investigator, Mr. Linwood -who has the pet chicken, was supposed to come but he called and told us he couldn't make it a few hours before church, which was sad but next week we will get him there. He is really the only one that looks promising right now. I know Tyler came to church, but he doesn't seem committed at all. He is always asleep whenever we go over and his wife won’t wake him up. So it’s very annoying and we found out they’re trying to move to Texas, so that kind of stinks as well. But we are still trying to work on it and see what happens. We will see what happens next week! Otherwise we didn't find anyone new this week.

We did go on exchanges with the zone leaders, which was pretty fun! It was fun to be with Elder Nipko, who was with me down in North Carolina. We also had interviews this week and they went awesome!!!!!!!!!!! I was actually looking forward to them for the first time! This new President is amazing! He is such a great man and is so inspired! We had a great interview and a good conversation! He loved what dad said in his last email to me saying "we expect a strong finish" and President was like ‘Thank you Brother Johnsen! You are my new favorite father of a missionary in this mission.’ He went on to say that this is now my last little bit, so I need to kick it into high gear and work even harder! We also talked about school and what will happen there and we are looking at releasing me on the 3rd or the 10^th of January, most likely the 3rd though so I can be ready for school on the 14th. He also talked about next transfer and what will happen with me. So I know what is probably going to happen next transfer! But I’m not going to tell you until I get the transfer call! :) haha All I know is I’m pretty excited!

President Weed also came to our ward for church! It was incredible! He was only given 5 minutes for some closing remarks and he blew everyone out of the water. The topic was temples and he got up and said there has been a girl in the front row in a pink blouse listening so very intently, and she has heard all about... and he talked about what was said by others and then this is where it gets crazy. He then said ‘but today we are really here because on this day in 1846, President Brigham Young took his cane and jammed it in the ground and said “Here we will build a temple of our God”.’ When he talked about putting his cane in the ground he pounded the podium with his fist! It was crazy. Then he went on to say ‘because of this, we have the beautiful Salt Lake Temple right where he put his cane.’ and he continued on. The crazy part about this whole thing is that he didn't take any scriptures up with him, no reading from his phone, he made eye contact with every member and spoke softly and it was just powerful. By far amazing! I love him! I’m excited for the last part of my mission! I’m just going to make it amazing!

My favorite thing so far for this area has got to be the members. They are by far amazing! They do so much for the missionary's, and they are actually willing to come out with us which is nice. This area has a lot of potential, once we get member referrals, so that will be my focus once I take over the area. So there’s lots of good but probably a lot of negatives as well.. haha The area is soooo ghetto... haha But we look past that. :)

Well, that was pretty much our week! I hope you guys have a great week as well! :) I love ya!

Elder Johnsen

July 18, 2016

This week we had some crazy stuff happen. But, first and foremost, we had an investigator at sacrament meeting! Tyler, the husband of Payton -the one that bishop talked to- came to church with his family! It was awesome! They jetted pretty quick out of church though, but at least they came! haha We were supposed to have a lesson with them this past week, but we ended up just talking to Payton out front because Tyler was asleep. Hopefully we can try to meet with them again here soon. We dropped a bunch of people this week as well as picked up a few people. So we’re kinda just moving through people, seeing who is ready and who isn't. Hopefully we can start to find those who are ready.

We got a member referral for the first time in this area and we are excited to be able to teach her next week! So hopefully we can see someone progress! It will be so nice! haha We teach so many people that we only teach just once or twice, and then they disappear. haha But, I guess that’s about it, so it’s now time for funny stories, because I love funny things and I love telling stories, so a scary one first. Yesterday, while we were biking through Cradock, a lady stopped us and told us not to come in the neighborhood again. We were like ok? and she said there is a new gang forming in the neighborhood and they have so far robbed 3 people at gun point, one of which they had a 12 gauge held to a kids head in the middle of the day in front of 20+ people. He was lured in by playing the new Pokemon game that lets you chase Pokemon and capture them. ? Not sure, but someone hacked it and led the kid to him. So we have decided not to go near that place unless we absolutely have to. So there ya go mom, don’t be scared, I hope to be transferred haha. So that was scary for me. It’s the first time I have ever actually been scared on my mission. haha

So now for something pretty funny! haha We have this guy we met a few days ago named Ron. He is like that friend that everyone loves. He makes everyone happy and is just a fun guy to be around. He's 28 and lives like he is making $300,000+ a year, by that I mean he has his own house a few doors down, Land Rover in the garage and a nice Benz right next to it and a bunch of cool toys haha. Well, we called him and asked if we could come over at 8:30, and he was like ‘ummm… well I’m busy, so maybe not’. So we were like ‘what about for only 5 minutes?’ He said ‘well, I’m babysitting.’ So, after talking to him for a bit we finally convinced him to let us come over. We get over there and it’s pitch black and looks like no one is home. We knock twice, no one comes. We’re about to call him and then the door opens, and we’re like ‘Hey Ron!’ and he's like ‘wazzz upppp! Y'all wanna come in?’ and we said ‘sure!’ As soon as we step in we hear party music going on upstairs. Elder Brown turns to me and gives this look of like awh crap, and I just start laughing. So we go inside and he says ‘let’s go upstairs’, so we follow him up to this house party that he has going on! haha There’s music, alcohol, and some girls. He says ‘we’ll go out onto the back deck.’ We go and it was just a mad house! haha It was crazy! haha I was laughing so hard and thought it was so funny! Two missionary's at a party? You don’t hear about that very often! haha

Lastly, while we were riding around a giant cummins dually rolled past us and I yelled and gave him a thumbs up. Later in the night we were in a neighborhood and around the corner turns this huge dually! I have my gopro, so I immediately get excited and stop him when he gets up to us. We start talking and shooting the breeze and then I whip out my gopro and say ‘does she roll?’ and he just gets this big grin on his face and says ‘ohhh yeah!’ haha He says ‘hey y'all watch this.’ So I start recording and he spools that thing up and rolls some nasty coal and then starts doing a burnout! Now this is a dually that has wheel adapters to allow him to run semi wheels and tires on it, and he's lighting them up like its nothing! It was insane! I was having a good ole time! Then he takes off and Elder Brown kinda had a look of like ‘really?’ that was kind of undignified haha I thought it was funny and got a kick out of it! I will always remember the grin on his face! :)

But that was our week! I hope you guys have a good week! I love you all! :) 

Elder Johnsen

Just a few fun pictures: 

July 11, 2016

Well this week has been interesting! I’m not being transferred which is great! I love the ward here! They are so great to us and I love them! But, to start things off, George, one of our less actives we have been working with, has gone crazy. He recently got cancer and he won’t come to church and is very rude to us in lessons. He is looking for a church to pay all of his bills because he is being lazy right now. He says he is too tired to ride his bike to work. If I were in his position I would be riding my bike to work, and have a newspaper route so I could pay my rent and all the co pays I would have for all the doctor visits. It’s pretty annoying too, because he feels like everyone in the ward should just give him money and help him out. But that’s not the way the church works. The church helps those who are going to help themselves. So we’re not sure what’s going to happen with him.

But, something really cool that happened was, we had an appointment with a part member family that forgot about it so we went and visited a new move-in family a few doors over, and he was from 2 miles from where we live in Gilbert... Super weird.. He lives in white fence farms and we talked about Gilbert for a good amount of time. It was sooo funny! He hasn't been to church in a long time because of joining the military. But his wife is not a member and was asking really good questions about the church! So we are excited to secretly try and get her to investigate the church! haha Then after that, we went back over to where the original appointment was and knocked on their door, and they let us in! Now her husband, who is not a member, is investigating the church! It was super cool! The family was the family that Bishop met with a few weeks back, so we were finally able to meet with him. They didn't show up at church, but hopefully next week they will come!

Otherwise, that's been the highlights of the week! haha Just trying to get through the next 4 weeks as fast as possible! Then we can see what happens! I will only have 5 months left when that day comes! :) A funny story for you guys, this might scare mom. One day, at 8:30ish pm, we were in a super ghetto neighborhood called Cradock. We were just finishing up talking to someone when we heard 9 gun shots, and then 7 gun shots in retaliation, and then 6 shots back and then 7 more and then pure silence... We were freaking out. It was only a few streets away, from what it felt like. We’re freaking out and so we are like, alright let’s get home. So we start heading home and we pass this street with about 12-15 young adults standing in a line walking down the street like a gang. We saw that and went oh flip, and started biking faster. Then we passed the next street which was filled with people, the whole street was packed, and they were all running around freaking out! So we were like whoa! This can’t be happening! So we got out of there as soon as possible! haha So that was cool!

I hope you guys have something cool happen! Enjoy! 

Love,

Elder Johnsen