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