Dec 29 - Villa el Salvador

Hello All,

This week was awesome! I am so glad that I was able to skype with you guys and let you know how the missh is going :). This Christmas was a little weird having the sun out and no snow, but it was awesome! Us 5 missionaries of the ward went out and sang songs to a bunch of people in the morning. We the ate lunch and had a regular day of preaching. It was a lot different, but at the same time it was soo cool. It is such a blessing to be able to give to others during the time of Christmas.

We also ended the week with a baptism of such a nice lady named Sabina. She had so many difficulties to be baptized and was struggling a lot. However, thanks to her testimony and determination she was able to make this covenant with God. She is so amazing and has such a strong testimony. I know that she will endure to the end and we are looking forward to going to the temple with her to do baptisms for her deceased family members. So excited!

This week was also the week of transfers. I have a new companion named Elder Rosado, who is from Colombia. He is awesome and we are looking forward to working hard in the Ward El Sol. Also, my trainer is my district leader and is now in the same ward as me! So weird, but he is awesome and Im looking forward to it. This is going to be a great transfer!

Mom to help you with your spanish: haha

Estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad a hablar con ustedes en la Navidad. Tambien, a ver John y Cynthia y Jack y Connor. Ellos son lo maximo y aparece muy bien. Yo espero que ustedes tuvieron un gran tiempo jugando baquet y otras juegos en la capilla. Les amo mucho y no puedo esperar hasta el dia de madre para skype con ustedes otra vez.

I love you guys so much and continue to pray for you everyday. It was so nice to see all of your faces and to talk to you guys. I truly miss you guys so much and cant wait to be able to be together and enjoy eachothers company.

Love you all soooo much,

Elder Johnson

Dec 25 - Merry Christmas!

We received a nice Christmas email from President and Sister Douglas this morning with a picture taken at their recent Christmas conference.  They also extended an invitation to watch this video which focuses on the birth of our Savior, He is the Gift.

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

Merry Christmas from Peru!

Dec 22 - Villa el Salvador

Merry Christmas!!

I got your package!! Thanks for the goodies, they were awesome. It just went to show me how much I miss all of the good stuff from the US haha. As you can see from the pictures we don't have an oven so me and Elder Wright cooked them [cookie mixes] over the stove top haha. It was interesting but SOO good! :)

The skype call is going to be on Christmas at 2:00 PM (12:00 noon in Utah). I hope to see all of your faces then and be able to tell you all of the experiences in the mission haha.

Granny said that same thing about Elder Wright and it turns out that he is the one! He totally knows David and Megan and their whole family. He told me that David helped him write his farewell talk and they are really tight together. What are the odds! hahah Awesome! He has become a real friend and I can totally see us hanging out after the mission. He plans on going to BYU so possibly we could room together down there! Well, I got 18 months to think about it so.. haha. So crazy that the mission is already a fourth of the way over. CRAZY!

I love you guys soo much and cant wait to see your faces on Christmas. I will also be calling you today as well! I cant wait!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Elder Johnson

Dec 15 - Villa el Salvador

Hello All,

This week has been crazy!

So, Friday in the morning at 9, we were starting to get ready for weekly planning. We started and one minute into it we got a call from one of the AP´s. He informed us that my companion Elder Izquierdo had an emergency transfer to Ica and our area would be closed. He had to be in the office at 2 pm to leave, so the rest of the day we spent it packing and getting everything ready. The day before we had just moved into our new apartment and so now we will have to move again! UGH! I will still be in the same zone and same ward, but different area. My new companions are Elder Wright (CA) and Elder Paucar (Piura, Peru). I already knew them because they were in my district and so it was an easy transition. It is definitely a little different in a trio but it has been good so far.

We were able to attend the wedding of Gerson and Katy. They are both members and now after being married in civil will continue to prepare to get married in the temple a year from now. They are awesome and I can tell that they are going to be powerful members of the church.

My zone leaders informed me that the package is here!!! So I will be able to recieve it tomorrow at our district meeting. I cant wait! Christmas is in only 10 days!! what! It is the weirdest thing to get sunburned in December! but it is awesome!

I love you guys and cant wait to be able to talk to ya face to face. We will see how my english is haha from this message you can probably tell it is slowly but surely failing haha.

I love and pray for you guys everyday. Keep doing well and let everyone know I love them.

Much Love,

Elder Johnson

Dec 8 - Villa el Salvador

Hello All,

I hope you guys are enjoying the week of Jen! haha Happy Birthday Mom!! I hope you guys are doing well and enjoying this Christmas season.

Everything is going well here in Peru. I seriously cant wait until Christmas. I just keep telling myself to get through Christmas. It will be so weird to see your faces again ahah I cant Wait!

That`s awesome that Miles and Andrew got their mission calls! Japan and New Hampshire! It will be such a great adventure for them and a life changing experience.

I have been studying a lot about the Atonement and the enabling power that it has. It is not just for our sins, but allows us to change and become more like Jesus Christ. During this time of Christmas I want to focus on becoming more like Jesus. Through my mission experience I have already changed so  much and I thank the enabling power of the atonement to allow me to do so. I remember me and mom were driving to pick up something and I told her that I wasnt liking the new ward and didnt want to go to church anymore. And now Im in the mission teaching people the gospel and allowing them to recieve the fulness of salvation. Wow! I am amazed again and again with this gospel. I now have my priorities straight that there is nothing more important than the gospel and family. I guess soccer will have to take a back seat ;) haha. 

So the deal with Christmas is that I will be able to call you guys on the 22nd for 5 minutes to coordinate exactly the skype call. Then on the 22nd, 24th, or 25th I will have a 40 min skype call with you guys. Let me know what time and day would be best for you because my schedule is flexible :)

I love you guys so much and seriosly cant wait until the opportunity to see all of your faces! Aww! Until then keep doing well and staying strong. I will continue to pray for you guys everyday. Love you soo soo much.

P.S. Mom it is mañana haha. and see you on monday is hasta lunes (until monday). Keep it coming with the questions so that you can become fluent. :)

Much Love, 

Elder Johnson

Dec 1 - Villa el Salvador

Hello All,

[We emailed a picture of a gingerbread house we made at Thanksgiving] That gingerbread house is truly a piece of art :)

This week has been awesome! I´m starting to get used to the area and the new ward. It was hard at first, but it is definitely getting better.

The church has launched a new program called el es la dadiva (he is the gift). Im sure you know about it. It is expressing the importance on how Christ is the gift of christmas and we need to remember the real meaning of christmas. On December 7th the church has purchased the front page on YouTube! In the mission we have recieved cards to pass about specifically about this. It is truly inspired. The first time we used the video was with some members. They were crying after and gave us referrals. I could feel the spirit so strongly. AMAZING!

It is crazy to think that I have officially been in the mission for 5 months! Elder Baum (from the MTC) said how we are about 1/4 done with our missions! Time has really passed sooo fast.

[Dad shared some of our Gospel Doctrine lesson on the Atonement] The Atonement truly is amazing. We teach it so much, but it is so extensive that I dont have a full understanding of it yet. Exactly like you said it is not just our sins, but also our pains and sufferings. He did it to know how to help us. He truly has experienced everything and therefore knows how to overcome them. A big part of the atonement for me is also the ability to change. One purpose of this life is to become like Christ, and this is only possible through repentance thanks to the Atonement. I am so grateful, for the grace of God and how he gave us his only begotten son so we can repent and return to his presence.

I love you guys soo much! I miss you soo much, but if time keeps flying like it has I will be back home in no time haha.

Much Love,

Elder Johnson