September 22,2014

Fiesta!

hello everyone! i hope you are all doing really well!!!!




i had a really good week. 9/18 is chilean independence day and it is also their biggest holiday. it was a lot of fun! we had a party in the chyrch with the people in our ward. i got to fly my kites =) of... i dont know if ive told you all about kites... well here in chile they have a tradition of flying kites. it is huge! almost everyone here knows how to do it and about 75% of ther people who are at home during the day are outside flying these things all day. it is huge. so me (being the person that i am) decided that i really wanted to fly these things and i was going to like it and do it no matter what. i have like 8 kites ( their are about 50 cents each) and i have basically a giant fly fishing real of string i can use to fly them. the kites are called volentines and people fight them in the streets. you can try and cut another persons line with your line. its a little competition =p so yeah i have a bunch and i really like flying them.




i also ate a ton of empenadas. empenadas are the fiest food of choice here. so i ate about 9 on the 18th and almost every house we went to that day gave us some to take home . it was awesome.




i am doing really well. elder balarezo has helped me a lot. this was a super tough week for me for some reason. he is helping me to see what really matters in a mission though and he is helping me make every week better. the lord knows who we need in our lives and he will put those people there when we need them.




i love you all and i hope you have blessed weeks!!!




(*I had asked Declan several weeks ago to be thinking of some Christmas ideas as I would have to be sending Christams out early in order to get it to him on time. He has taken a couple weeks to think about it and I thought his response was a little humerous. As you can see, he is the same old Declan:)




{i have been thinking about this a little because it takes about a month to send stuff... but i dont really need anything. i would like a few things though.

1 a small nice just book of mormon in english

2 a small nice just new testimate in english

3 the approved missionary library books

4 sudoku or other puzzles i can do to keep my brain more active

5 a more advanced algebra work book and other math books i can use too




thanks!!!! i love you!}

Seriously- who else asks for a math book????? I love it!!!!!!)

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September 15, 2014

These weeks go bye so fast...

well another week has flown bye here in chile! this is going bye so fast!!! like seriously so so so so fast!!! but this week was another really good one!!!!




So i dont know if you all know much about my mission. My mission is a pilot for a new type of missionary work. we are testing out something for the church called Plan Piloto. My mission and the santiago south mission are the only 2 missionms in the world right now who use it. basically what it is is we work really hard with less active family}ies as well as investigators. we visit less actives just as often as we visit investigators. we have about 1000 less actives in my sector. a lot people who were baptized when they were really young. but we have a book with all of the adresses of the members and we basically go to try and reactivate them. we teach them lessons and try aned respark their interest in the church. we also work really hard with their families. it is really awesome because i have gotten to work with a lot of part member families and i get to help make their families eternal. we have a baptism next week or the week after with one ofr those families. the mom was a member and she knows the church is true but just doesnt go so we are worrking wioth her kids and they really want to be baptized. yesterday she wentr to church for the first time in years. it was amazing.




so in chile 9/11 is a really dangerous day. i had my first complete day in my apartment. all of the companionships in my area were not aloud to leave their apartrments that day. i had a really good day though. i read a ton. i started reading the new testimate this last week. i really love it. i also read the book our search for happyness by elder ballard ( Not my old compoanion ;p). it is amazing. if you want to learn more about our faith and whaty we believe in i highly recomend it. it is very small and i would recomend it to anyone.




so yesterday i was sick for the first time out here in the field... the morning was very very very unpleasent. i felt terrible but i pushed through it and went to church. yester4day ended up being one of my best days out here. we tought 4 great lessons, gave blessings to a whole family of investigators who have been really sick, worked a lot with the youth, and felt the spirit extremely strongly. it was definitely a testimoney building kind of day!!!! i kjnow that if we pray for help god will help us through every situation we need helpo in. i know that god does answer prayers, i know that if we work through adversity for the things we believe our minds, bodies, and sould will be strengthened. i know that if we work hard and do what god wants us to do we will be greatly rewarded.




i love this church and i love this mission.




i hope you all have an amazing day




Elder Johnson




{ A little extra info about his referencing him being sick, which I though his uncles in particular would enjoy ;)

If you get queezy or offended about the reality of monazumas revenge on missionaries in foreign lands just skip over this last part; however, this is a reality of his mission I want him to be able to remember he endured through and still kept on smiling and loving what he was doing:




soooo yesterday i had my first almost poop your pants day. i can now say i have a testimoney of imodium ad =p hahaha elder balarezo and i were both sick =p we were fighting over the toilet when we were at our house. it was bad. then we had to go out into the streets... i seriopusly spent 90% of my mental power just making sure i kept everything that was inside of me inside of me =p when we got to church i went to the bathroom... 9 times =p yeah and finally after church the meds started working. so after that i was good!!! i really didnt feel like eating though =P so yeah, i have my first poop story on my missionm =p hahaha. }

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September 8, 2014

Cambio week

hey everyone just so you know thiis is going to be really short... today we had transfers so i have no time to write. but this week was really good. not much changed here. im in the same place with the same people and same companion! so i didnt get effected too much =p




I had a baptism last week!!! ill send ics next week i promise =) but i got to baptize again =) it was awesome. he was the first person i tought when i got here. his name is francisco and he is 13. ill send pics later!




i love you all!!! have good weeks =)

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September 1, 2014

Que Volà?


Hello everyone! how are you?




i had an amazing week. i seriously have never worked harder in my life and i was so rewarded for it too.




this week we had 7 new investigators added to our list. and 4 of them are super super super prepared to be baptized. im so excited to work with them. we also have another baptism this week. it is for the first person i taught here in chile. his name is francisco. he is 14 years old and he really wants to be baptised. something really cool about this baptism is the other guy i baptised (Gilbert) will be able to baptise him because he is a priest! so yeah that is way cool! that will be exciting!




well... the lady whose shop we write at is kicking us out because she has to eat.... ummm i love you all!!! i know this church is true! work hard and i know the lord will bless you!!

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August 25, 2014

Week.... something =p

Hello everyone!!!!! i hope you all have had amazing weeks!




This week was really good!!! it wasnt as eventful as others but it was still really good!!!! i dont really have much time to write today though so this is going to be brief.




so this week i had devisions again! i get to go on deevisions a lot because my companion is the district leader. i really liked where i went and i love divisions. i get to see how other groups of missionaries teach and steal there good teaching techniques and use them in my lessons =p we didnt really teach a bunch, most of the day was contacting, but we did teach a brand new investigator and i commited her to read the BOM, go to church, pray, and be baptised all in one lesson so that was cool!




yesterday we had about 51 people at church. that might not seem like a lot bot my first week here we had about 34. we are finding a lot of people that are interested in the church. we are also working with a lot of less actives and helping them assist the church.




today i had my first transfer meeting... kind of. we really just said goodbye to a bunch of people that are going home in a special change to get home in time for school... i think thats what it was. but it was cool seeing them. we watched videos of them from the first couple weeks here and the last. its crazy how much people change!!! it was way cool though!




I love you all!!!! im sorry i dont have more time. the transfer meeting took a long time. i just want you to all know im doing really well and i love the work! i love this church and i love the gospel!!! I know this church is true. i know that joseph smith was and is a prophet. i love you all! please have blessed weeks!!!




elder johnson =)

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July 18, 2014

what a week!!!

my trainer me and the other person my trainer trained ( dad and brother)

my trainer me and the other person my trainer trained ( dad and brother)

 

Hello everyone!!! this week has been so amazing. seriously the best week ever. here is why:




the first reason is i truly felt like a tool in the hands of god. i went on splits this week (friday) with the leaders of the zone. their area is really interesting. if you ever get a chance look up the history of La Victoria in chile. but anyway the moment i felt like a tool in the lords hands was when i was teaching a retension family (a family who was baptized pretty recently). from what i understand this family really has been having problems. the 2 year old boy has asburgers (?) and has a lot of emotional problems. well he was fighing with his mom. she was at one point married to a really bad guy and he beat the little boy. they had no idea he had a mental illness then and were really hard him. and the 10 year old boy has a hard time forgetting that. well he was mad at her and he kept bringing up the past and sh ewas trying to tell him that she was changing her life. she has since then joined the church and comnpletely changed her life. but the boy couldnt see that. the house was in complete diserray. the elder i was with was trying really hard to calm everyoner down. he was teaching them out of the scrips but nothing seemed to work. then i opened my mouth and promptings from the spirit just started pouring out. i talked about charity and forgivness and how when we show these attributers we are acting like christ. well they were instantly calmed and i challenged them to serve eachother when they are upset with one another. we left after that and while we left they werte hugging and crying and apologizing. it was awesome- so that was one thing.




another was the service project we did earlier that morning. we rebuilt a house for a new convert. he was living like a dog. seriously he as living with dead rats all over the place. his family was making him live in basically a shed so we fixed up a new place for him to live. that was cool.




and then the next day i had my first baptism in the field. i was lucky enough to baptize gilbert isais diaz toro. it was amazing. i was kind of nervouse but when it all went down the spirit was so strong. that being said, that is not why i will rember that event for forever.. the events before that are why i wil remebr it =p so we were filling up the faunt and it was going by really slowly. seiously in about 3 hours we had filled up about 1.5 feet of the faunt... so we had to use the fire hose to fill up the faunt. well.... the hose had holes in it. so when we turned it on the church flooded. yes we flooded the church so for about an hour we swept water out of the building. it was so crazy. it was hilarious!!! there was watert everywhere. everyone was freaking out but i couldnt help but crack up. i felt bad because our bishop looked so stressed but i thought it was funny. we got everything cleaned up though so it was all good. and the baptism was awesome!!

elder balarezo, gilbert, rosa and i!!

 

then the next day i had the amazing oppertunity to confirm gilbert as a member of the church, give him the holy ghost, and give him a blessing in spanidh. that was amazing. again i was nervouse but the spirit took over and told me exactly what to say. it was amazing.

it was such a good week!!! i know that this gospel is true and that the worth of every soul is great in the sight of god. i felt that this week. seriously he loves us so much!! i know that this is the only true church in the world. i know that we have the priesthood and the ability to make covenants with god. i know go loves everyone and is so happy when we repent and come to him.




thank you for all of your messages of encouragment. they have helped so much. i love you all and hope you have blessed weeks.

lunch on my 2 moth aniversery!!! 8/18/2014

love elder johnson

my new haircut and mission photo

 

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Monday, July 11, 2014

One more done! it sure did fly!!!

wow i can believe it is already pday again... that went by soooo quickly! i feel like i blink and my week is already gone!




sooooo this week had some pretty big highs and some lows too... but i loved every moment of it. first off i just want to say congratulations to margo and jim. i am so happy yall were able to make it to the temple and seal your family together for eternity. that is the reason i am out here. to help famileis do exactly that.




soo this week. hmmmm. where to start. ok so in chile all heating in the house runs on gas. well we ran out of gas. that means we had no hot water or heater in our house. we didnt have gas for about 10 days. those 10 days just happened to be the coldest 10 days ive had since ive been here =p it was sooo cold and crazy! we showered with water we boiled in an electric tea pot. it was pretty funny. about 2 days ago we got gas back! so we were all extremely thankful and happy. and it only cost us $300 =p




so we taught abouth 40 lessons this week. we got 8 new investigators. it was pretty awesome! we had about 4 inverstigators at church with us and an inactive man named paul with us too. it was nice. we have two sets of missionaries in our ward. this week the missionaries brought 1/6 of the people who were attending sacrament. there is a ton of work to do here. we have about 35 active people in the ward. our area has about 1000... yes 1000 inactive members. so yeah a lot of work. the other missionaries are about the same. it is really hard. chileans are stubborn =p they dont like to change their ways =p so yeah it is hard. one of my favorite people we teach is inactive. he has been a membor for about a year and he is pretty inactive. it breaks my heart but all we can do is keep providing him with spiritual experiences that will strengthen his testimoney. he loves to help us teach so hopefully that will help a little. its just hard with everyone. we have one awesome investigator named osvaldo. we thought he was gonna be super easy. he is just prepared. he believes everything we teach and he prays and reads every day. hes awesome. well we saw him again after church yesterday... he could barely walk straight. he was drunk... he went straight from sacrament to the bar so we are gonna have to help him with that =p its all hard but so worth it.




right now we are really trying to provide members with spitçritual experiences that will revamp their testimoney.... we do a lot of fhes. we are also trying to help guide our leaders in the right direction. our bishop is really excited (thats the best word in english i can think of =p) to have baptisms buttttt he wants to baptize children. only children. not their families too. so we have to help him a little get things back on track there =p and our ward mission leader is inactive so we have to help him too. its a lot of work but we are doing it.




this week has been so amazing though. there have been times where i have felt the spirit so strongly prompting me to say something. and when i say it it is so powerful and in perfect spanish! but after i say it im back to my broken spanish =p haha its pretty funny. but the spirit is amazing. it is so powerful. i love being a tool in the lords hands.




alrightr i have very little time left so i will tell you all about my new favorite scripture hero. I love the book of Enos. it is very short but sooo powerful. i have spent the last 2 or 3 days studying it in personal study. its so amazing. first off he had so much faith. he prayed so hard. he describes his prayer as a fight multiple times. he prays sooo hard. and for a long time. all day. he prayed so hard that the lord forgave him instantly. he also had enough faith that he could hear the lords voice. but the impressive thing is that the first thought that came to his head after he had been forgivem was that he hopes the lamanites can be forgiven too. his first thoughts were for his worst enemies. he wanted them to have the same oppertunities he did. he loved them so much. he even covenanted with the lord to save their race and the records of his people so one day they could be brought to god. that is crazy to me. i am trying to live my life like him. when i get frusterated with someone im trying to think of enos and the way he would react. it has helped a lot.




i know this church is true and i know that with the help of god we have the power to do all. i love this gospel. and i love you all!




have a blessed week!




LOVE ELDER JOHNSON

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August 4, 2014

I made it through week one!!!





Hello everyone!!!

how are you all? i am awesome!!! i have so much to say!!




first i have some buisness. send all letters and packagaes to my mission home. i will have my mom pu the address into the blog. and when you send packages only send them through usps. it is a lot more reliable and easier for my mission president. lable the ackage as mission supplies. nothing else if you do that is is a lot more likely to get to me.




ok now that is out of the way. I am great! i love it here so mich. i am in the ochagavia zone in my mission. it is the most ghetto but it is good =p my area is called diagonal. the people here are so nice. life is just simple here. i wish you all could see it. i cant use my camera in the streets. if i did that id get robbed =p but yeah its just simple. most people work from little shops in their house. its really cool. i love it.




i love the food here. we eat a lot of hot dogs, mashed potatoes, rice, and we drink a ton of coke. seriously a ton of coke. have you ever seen a 4 liter thing of coke? i have. i didnt even know they exist!!!! i also love to drink echo and matte. echo is like coffee but made from wheat and matte is a drink made from herbs. they are both big here wit he people and missionaries =p




my companion is awesome. his name is elder balarezo. he is from peru. he lived in italy for a long time though so he says his italian is better than his spanish =p he speaks really good spanish italian (im assuming) and english. i like him a lot.




so some of you might have seen my picture i took with my new companion and notyiced that my hair is really short... well there is a story behind that. in the ccm i was the designated barber. one night one of the elders tried to cut his own hair and it looked terrible... so i fixed it and it looked pretty good so i was n chargen of haircuts. i cut elder mertz hair one night and then the next i cut elder ballards. after each haircut i got better and better so i decided i could give mysel a haircut... i went and did the sides. they were pretty good. i had another elder clean them up for me (elder allen) i then cut the top. it was going pretty well for a while... but then i messed up. i accidently trimmed the front way short... like way sghort. i was using clippers so i have no idea how it got so short but it did. so yeah i was sad. i had to take my hair down to a 4 on the top to get it all even. i learned 2 lessons, 1 never cut your own hair, and 2 i look terrible with short hair =p




i love being out here. i love teaching too. it is kind of hard though. i have a really hard time understanding chileans. they talk really fast and mumble. im never 100% sure if what i am saying is a reply to what they just said =p im getting better though. im always exhausted by the end of the day because i have to translate in my head but its getting easier each day.




so yes i am in the mist ghetto zone in the west. my area isnt the worst but it is one of the worst. I loeve it though. i have never once felt in danger. the lord is prtecting me. the people who live here in the flite (what they call the ghetto <i probably spelt it way wrong>) are all so humble. they are pretty easy to teach. they know the truth once they hear it.




the ward is small. there are like 1000 members in the records for the area and like 30 are active. so yeah there is a lot of reactivation work. but there are also a lot of people here who havent ever been a member of the church. we teach a huge mix of both. right now we have about 6 investigators with baptism dates. hopefully we will have more next week! my first baptism is the 16 th =)




i just want to end the letter with a testimoney. i know this church is true. with all my heart. i know it can change lives. i have seen it already in my investigators and myself. it really can. i love the book of mormon. i love reading it and studying it. i love missionary work. there are so many good people in the world even in scary places. there is a way to everyones heart, it is our duty to find that way.




i love you all! hae a good week for me! i cant wait to hear from you all! have a blessed week!




love, elder johnson

(Here are a few extras that Declan shared in some other notes:)

i am currently in a persons house/store typing!!

i am awesome!! i love it out here!!! the people live such a simple life. everyone is so nice. i love my companion. im getting the language, slowly. its amazing!!!

in the field my pday is 6 hours. i have as many hours from that 6 to write as i want.

(About his hair:) haha its weird =p i dont like it too much but it works for here. ive never seen myself with hair this short so it was a shocker =p

(When asked if he was tall out there, and told that in his picture there was something about his companion that reminded his dad and mom of his good friend Nic Mower)

haha yeah im kind of tall. not relly though. my companion is peruvian. and his name is nicolas!

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July 29, 2014 (Declan's letter)

 

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July 29, 2014 From Declan's Mission President

MISION CHILE SANTIAGO OESTE

Presidente Jose A. Barreiros
Correos, Casilla 149
Pajaritos 1921
Maipú, Chile
Fono: 56-2-531-2258

29 July 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Johnson,

Sister Barreiros and I were pleased to welcome your son, Elder Johnson, to one of the finest missions in the world, the Chile Santiago West Mission. He is well and happy, and we are impressed with his enthusiasm for the work. After greeting him at the MTC and a brief tour of the beautiful city of Santiago, we arrived at our mission Office. I interviewed your son. My Assistants and office missionaries then gave him a brief orientation to the mission. We had a delicious lunch together, he met his new companion, and that afternoon he left the mission home and departed for his first area of labor.

Elder Johnson has been assigned to work with Elder Balarezo, who will serve as his training companion. Trainers are chosen for their competence, patience and dedication, and are selected after prayerful consideration. With this letter we are including a photograph taken of your son and his new companion with Sister Barreiros and myself.

Please accept our deep appreciation for raising such a fine son. We feel a genuine fellowship with you in supporting and providing him this opportunity to grow spiritually as he labors to bring souls unto Christ. It is my prayer that the Lord will inspire us all to sustain him in this challenging assignment. Please write him frequently, weekly if possible. Express your love, support, and confidence in him. You will witness miraculous changes in his life as he engages fully in the service of others.

Being parents ourselves, we understand your desire to occasionally send packages. For your information, packages sent to your missionary through FedEx often require large duty fees which must be paid by the missionary. Those sent through Global priority mail, marked missionary supplies and valued less than $100 usually arrive duty free and within 2 weeks. But currently there is a mail strike here in Chile, so please communicate with your son through Email.

If you have any questions or if we can assist you in any way, please do not hesitate to write.

Sincerely,

President Jose A. Barreiros
Chile Santiago West Mission

barreiros@ldschurch.org




Elder Rowley y Elder BangerterMisión Chile Santiago OesteSecretarios Ejecutivos0225312258 / 94401463

 

 

 

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MTC Question & Answers (July 23, 2014)

1. What does your typical day's schedule look like?

i wake up at 7 and eat, excercise and have personal study and get ready then i go to the ccm at 9:45. i then sit in a class for 12 hours and then go back home. it is my last week here though. i go to the field next tueday.

2. Do you get a full day for P-day?

we get 3 hour pdays


3. Do you get to play soccer?

no we play volleyball ping pong or basketball every morning.



4. What do you do to work out?

we run for 15 min then play sports.



5. What is your favorite thing that they are feeding you?

i love the chorizo. it is a sausage they give us almost every day. i eat empenadas from a little shack on pdays.



6. Do all of the MTC missionaries live in the same house?

no some of the mtc missionaries live in the dorms here at the ccm



7. Are there any natives in the MTC with you?

yes there are. they are hilarious. i love the peruvians



8. Are you learning the language?

i am definitely learning a ton. the gift of tongues is so real



9. Are you having fun?

i am having a blast but im ready for the field



10. What do you do on your down time for fun?

we dont have any down time



11. What is it about your companions that makes you like them so much?

we just get along really well. they are both awesome guys



12. What are you most excited about when you get in the field?

i cant wait to teach real investigators and try to talk to chileans



13. What are you most nervous about when you get in the field?

speaking to chileans and teaching =p



14. What food item do you miss most from home?

ummmm i havent really missed many food items yet... you can get most of it here.. just for like tripple the price



15. How many times have you gotten to go to the temple?

ive been 3 times. the last time was cool because i did work for a guy named andrew webb.





 

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July 23, 2014

Hi everyone! i hope youve all had amazing weeks! mine was sooo amazing.




i have a lot to say and only 30 min to type it so im gonna get straight to it. this week was amazing!! sunday was awesome but it wasnt as amazing as other weeks. i had a ton of fun but it wasnt as spiritual for me but that is probably because i did it all in spanish and didnt understand it all.




2 days ago one of the elders that is in my group went home so one of my companions was transfered over to be with the companion that got left behind. now my only companion is elder ballard.




yesterday was actually the most spiritual nday ive ever had in my life though. for the first time since i have been here i really felt like a missionary. it was really cool.




so every day we teach progresive investigators. yesterday we taught an investigator named iris. she was born in the catholic church but was never really active and she didnt feel like she had a relationship with god and she felt like she had never felt gods love before. we prepared our lesson yesterday on faith. we were going to explain that through faith we can develope a relationship with god and feel his love. we also had the scripture ether 12:12 to share with her. as we prepared we prayed and planned diligently for her and for our teacher. i had also been praying to have the spirit more strongly in my lessons and to be able to see my investigators through gods eyes and feel his love for the investigators.




we got in the lesson and began our lesson. it was our first lesson with 2 people instead of 3 so i thought it was gonna be weird. it wasnt. it felt so natural. i was calm and so was elder ballard. we just talked with her a little bit and then began our lesson. we explained what faith was and how we gain it. elder ballard then shared a personal experience and then we shared the scripture. she read it and while she read it her whole countanence changed. it was visible. i then asked her how she felt when she read the scripture ( i was feeling the spirit sooo strongly and i knew she was too) she then explained to us some of the trials she had been going through and how the scripture helped her so much. it changed her attitude about many things. we then asked her to be baptised and without hesitation she said yes. we then bore our testimonies and ended with a prayer.




after the lesson ended the spirit was still really strong. she then explained that everything she had said after we had her read the scripture was her talking and not the investigator. she had been having htose struggles and she had been praying for help. for the first time since i have been on my misssion i was really genualy a tool in the lords hands. i really helped her. we answered her prayers and we helped her come closer to the lord. it was awesome. at the same time my prayers were answered because i was able to feel the love god has for her, feel the spirit and see her through gods eyes.




this is an amazing work im doing here. this is an amazing gospel. god is amazzing. i love this church and i know with all my heart that it is true. i know god loves us all and i know that he answers our prayers.




thank you everyone for reading this and keeping up with me. i love you all and i hope you all have a blessed week.




Love elder johnson




(For verification I asked Declan if he was teaching a real investigator or a fake one. His response):

It was a fake one. the teacher was pretending to be an invesigator she taught.

also today i am going to go prosolite for the first time and then on friday i go on splits so yeah... pray for me =p

 

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July 15, 2014

Hello all!

i hope you all had amazing weeks. mine was spectacular. it flew bye so quickly though! it was unreal. the longer im in the ccm the faster the weeks seem to go. co




Im doing really well. i might be sick and congested but im going strong!




so not a lot went on this week. i honestly have no clue what happened on which day. the whole week was just a blur. sunday was the only distinct day i remember. i just love sundays here. they are so amazing. i am able to feel the spirit sooo strongly. and i have had multiple prayers answered each sunday i have been here. its amazing.




im slowly becoming a better teacher. its super interesting being in a 3 man companionship. lessons are kind of hard because all of us have so much we want to share but we are figuring it out. i feel like i can cotribute a lot more in our discussions. i might not now much spanish but i can get my point across =p




so i just want to share a quick message with you all. ai know that the true church has been restored on the earth today. i know that the church was restored through joseph smith. the church is the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and it has all the power and authority that the church established by christ himself. the gospel is true. i love this church and i love the book of mormon.




have a blesseed week everyone and dont forget to thank the lord for all he has blessed you with.

p.s. i survived a small earthquake. i didnt feel anything but i heard it. it was funny

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July 8, 2014

The new MTC Group

Hi everyone! i hope you are all having amazing weeks! mine have been flying bye!!! it feels like just 10 minutes ago was last sunday. its been so crazy!

My district

this week we switched teachers. i thought i loved my last teachers but these ones are sooo awesome!!! we talk in a lot more spanish in these classes. the language is coming. its by no means coming fast but its slowly coming.




so i just want to share one of my testimoney this week. i know that god is there. ive had my doubts in the past but after this week i have no doubt in my mind that he is. i have seen his hand in my life like crazy. i also know that when we pray we are talking directly to him. he also knows each one of us individually. this week has been kind of hard for me. i was struggling. i wanted to know why this had to be so hard. i felt like i had already given up so much to be here so why did it have to be so hard to learn spanish and to teach investigators. i bore my heart out to god and the next day in church we had a lesson about why this was so hard and why it is important for us to have challenges in life. it was so crazy. he answered my prayer almost immedietly. i also know that this church is true. this is the true church and it is the restored church of jesus christ. i know that the book of mormon is true. im reading it in spanish right now. though i dont understand a lot of it i have never felt its truthfulness more than i have these past 3 weeks. if you take time to really read and pray and ponder about it you will know of its truthfullness too. i love this gospel and this mission i have the oppertunity to serve.




i also love all of you. i hope that you all have blessed weeks and i hope you all know that through god all is possible.

The house I live in (this was Andrew's mission home when he was on his mission)

 

 

 

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July 1, 2014

hello everyone!

Three best friends. Elder Ballard, Elder Johnson, Elder Mertz

week 2 was pretty amazing. as soon as i finished writing i went to the temple. that was an amazing experience. i learned so much the second time through. and it is a tiny temple so that was cool too.

Morning teachers

this has been an extremely spiritual week. i have felt the spirit sooo strongly. it has been crazy! i feel so uplifted all of the time. there are some hard times but it is mostly fun and extremely enjoyable. the language is getting better too. i am actually amazed at how much ive learned. in the two weeks ive been here ive learned more spanish than i did in the 2 years i took the class in highschool. im by no means fluent but i can stumble through a conversation.




so i really want to send pictures but i have no idea how to work this camera so im not sure if ill get any off this week.

Afternoon teacher

santiago is a really cool city. i currently live in a 100 year old house in the east mission. we do our personal study there every morning and then by bus we get brought to the MTC. we spend 10 hours at the mtc in classes then we get bussed back to the house to sleep. thats my life. and i love it.

Afternoon teacher

i knew i was going to gain weight on my mission but i didnt know it was gonna happen this fast... we eat so many carbs here. i feel like ive gained 10 lbs.




so this sunday was definitely the best day ive had out here. i got hit with a huge wall of the spirit. it was crazy. each week we are asked to prepare a talk for sunday and on sunday they call random people to give talks. i got called on this last sunday. the talk is supposed to be mostly in spanish and so i wrote a little talk in spanish but i shared an experience in english. the meeting was on prayer. i shared a story about a time i remeber praying harder than i have ever prayed before for the health of my sister. i was bawling... and so was the rest of the congregation. it was amazing. ive never felt the spirit so strongly before in my life.

Evening teacher (my favorite)

i just want to leave you all with my testimoney. i know this church is true with all of my heart. it is the one true church on this earth. i know joseph smith is a true prophet and that he did see heavenly father and jesus in the grove. i know that the book of mormon is true. i also know that thomas s monson is a true prophet. i know that this is where i meant to be right now. i know that this is an amazing work that im doing and i am so excited to bring people unto christ.

My district

i love you all. i hope you have blessed weeks.

The three amigos

love elder johnson

Elder Johnson, my little brother. He is 2 weeks younger than me and arrived 4 weeks before me. He just left to the east mission.

 

One classroom has no window so we made one

Elder Ballard

 

Elder Mertz

 

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