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