Tuesday, January 25, 2011

FINALLY AN UPDATE!   SORRY THE COMPUTER HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP!!

December 27, 2010

Dear Family,
I love you so much!  I miss a real Christmas so much.  You know that Christmas is my favorite and I’m crazy over it.  It was really hard to talk to you all.  I thought I was doing pretty good until the end when I had to go.  Like I said on the phone this is the hardest thing I have ever done but the best thing, it is weird!  I have been thinking about my life lately and what I have been doing in it.  It has been a very, very spiritual week for me.
     My companion and I have worked really hard this week!  I have my first baptism this Sunday.  I feel sorry for my companion because he has done all of this work and then they want me to baptize them, I think it is because I am an American.
     One night my companions and I were sitting on our roof studying.  There was  a group of Mexicans out in the street hitting a piñata.  They came up to my companions and ask if they wanted to hit the piñata and they all said no.  I said, “I’ll go hit it!“  I  hit it a dozen times and it wouldn’t break.  Little did I know that they make adult piñatas that you can’t break.  They were all laughing at me and I stepped back and thought, here I am, the only American with 200 Mexicans hitting a piñata in the streets of Mexico.  How amazing is this!!!  They all know who I am now!  And they call me “the gringo that hit the piñata!”
     Christmas was cool.  We had great food, a piñata and fireworks.  I haven’t got my package yet but we will see what happens next week.  I guess it doesn’t take that long to get to the office but it takes forever for them to get it to us.
     Don’t’ worry about me that is the Lord’s job.  Focus on the study of Jesus Christ and the power of the atonement.  If you understand its power you will never worry about me on my mission.
     It’s, my p-day, Monday, and we just got back from the beach.  It was crazy and scary!  It just reminded me of how powerful water is and especially now on my mission.  I didn’t even want to touch it but I did get some good pics and we had a lot of fun.
     Thank you family for everything that you have done for me.  Thank you for your love and kindness.  I thank you for what you have all done throughout my life to show me that Christ like love.  I have a whole new appreciation for everything!
     Thank you dad for teaching me money skills, because it cost me money for this email I’m going to go, haha
  
I love you all with everything I have
Love forever
Your son and brother
Elder Johnston
PS. Tell people to write to me.

January 3. 2011

Dear Mom and Dad,  I’m so glad that you had fun at Christmas and the dance.  I’m glad you had a good New Years as well.   I told my comp that I have been kissed every year by a girl.  Needless to say New Years was not so great for me!!  I was in my house at 8:00 studying!  Our AC broke which I fixed.  It was 90 degrees and the mosquitoes ate me alive!
     I love you tons and I’m glad that you like my video’s.  That is what it is really like in the MTC.   The card that I have is the one that has Till We Meet Again when they sang it for me. It is really good and I have some good pics on it too.   I am really organized here as well and I will send this card soon.
    My Spanish is still mas o menos, I can’t tell.  I can’t tell if it is getting any better but everyone says it is.  I can talk and have conversations but I sound like a three year old!  I need to work on my grammar and stuff.
          I bore my testimony though, and the baptism was amazing - I didn’t even mess up! We also had zone conference.  We went to the beach and the rain here is like buckets not drops.  It floods the streets in like three minutes.
     I have been thinking of St George like everyday, it’s crazy.  I love that place because it is like our family’s spot. It might be because the weather here is so much like St. George except for the rain.
     No package yet and the milk here is really gross!
     I don’t have a lot of time so I will talk to you next Monday.  I love you all soooooo much I will be praying for you and thinking of you always,
Love Jake

January 10, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad ,
     Wow! Mom that is crazy that UNR won!!
I hope you get this soon because I don’t have a lot of time.  I have been doing a lot of stuff today.  I have been making this binder with like everything anyone would ever need about the gospel in it.  It is pretty sweet I’m no going to lie!
     Wow that is so crazy about your neck mom!!11 I can’t believe that!!! I have been praying for you all week and if you are better then I have one more part to add to my testimony!!!    That’s great!!
     I used the water purifier Terrin gave me and it came in real handy.  I haven’t been sick and my companions think I am an angel sent to protect them with all my gadgets!!!
     Mom I know that you have worked really hard on Christmas and for some reason I feel like you need a break. It’s weird!   Maybe you and dad should take a vacation somewhere this weekend and just relax.  I feel like it would be good for you both!
     Dad I feel that you need to be extra nice to mom this week.  Make the fires before work and do the dishes without being asked, vacuum and dust, maybe the laundry as well.  You will see blessings in your life if you do this, this week and continue to, as you always do!!
In church we had to get extra seats for the people which was great!  I saw the biggest spider in my life.  It was the size of my hand!  We had to kill it and it was crazy fast!!  In the church!!
     I also had a real coconut the other day with a guy who cut it open with his machete.  I drank the juice and then he cut it open and I ate the meat.  It was crazy good!!!
      Last night we were walking through esperansas colonia , means hope in English I think.  It was like 9:00 p.m. and we were going home.  Three drunk men were sitting on a curb in the dark.  They were of course trying to start something with us so they called us over from across the street.   They said hey kids come practice with us so we went over there.  They asked us what we were doing and we told them that we are preaching the gospel of God.  We are missionary’s from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints and have a message that can change your life forever for the better if you will let it.  We preach the same things Jesus did. Faith, Repentance, baptism…  and they were kind of dumb founded and didn’t know what to do.   We invited them to listen but they were not interested.
     This was quite a spiritual experience for me because I realized that people don’t know what they want in life.  They want things better in their life but they can’t recognize it when it passes right in front of them or they are too scared to try it or don’t want to work for it.    It taught me that if you don’t know what you are looking for in life, it is impossible to find it!!  
     Just like a lot of our investigators lately have been falling through right before baptism.  It is hard for us but someday, hopefully, they will realize what they are missing.
     I don’t have a lot of time because several people have written me this week and I need to write them back.


January 16, 2011

Dear Mom,
     I have a lot to tell you today but I think I will tell you in the family part.  I have this idea that you should read my letters for family home evening together.  I will write a story every week
     I am disappointed that you and dad didn’t get to go somewhere this week because I felt really inspired that you should.
     I am glad that you re having a good time doing Standards Night.  It sounds like it is going to be great again!
     I still haven’t received my package though and yes I am good and healthy!!
     We have had two zone conferences and changes are the 5th.  I might get sent to a different area I don’t know but we will see.  I really like this area and I love the people in it!!

Family:  1st Story  It is about the rain.  We had a rain storm for three days here.  The first day was the worst!! Oh my Gosh!!  So we walked outside and it is just cloudy.  During the day we go to like two appointments and teach one lesson.  We are walking back and I contact this lady.  We are talking and none of us have raincoats or umbrellas.  It starts to sprinkle rain.  We are still talking and then she gets this look on her face and all of a sudden she is like k thanks and runs off.  Within 5 seconds it feels like I have stepped into a freaking shower!!! It is like shshshshshsshshshshshshshshshshshshh hshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshhshshshshshshhshshhshshshshshshhshhhsh
     We run to a house with an overhang and within 3 seconds the street is like a water slide with water running down it!!!  I am already soaking wet,  everything!!!  We wait and wait for it to let up and it never does so we start walking!!  I will never forget this day!!  Walking in the pouring rain in my white shirt and tie, in slacks.  Oh gosh!!  We went to lunch  and everyone is laughing at us!
     So for 3 days it was like this and the last day I finally bought a raincoat. They are really hard to find.  That night walking home we were so wet I was jumping in the puddles because I couldn’t get any wetter.  It was like swimming in the rain, It was crazy!!!  In parts of the city we couldn’t cross the road because there was so much water in the street so we would wait for a semi and jump on the back to cross the intersection and then jump off on the other side.
  
2nd  Story
     We are walking through the park and a girl runs up to me and says “stay calm all I want to do is see your eyes.”  She freaks out  in Spanish about how hot I am and how beautiful my eyes are.  She grabs my pad and pen and writes her name and  number.  Then she starts unbuttoning my shirt!!!!!    I was freaking out and my companion was like we can’t, we can’t in all this really fast Spanish  that I really couldn’t translate because it was in slang and so she stopped.    I needed to retie my tie so I took it off.  She said “I want to look at this“.  I said you can look and that’s all.  She grabbed  it and said thanks and walked off!!!
 A MEXICAN HARLET STOLE MY TIE!!! !!!!!!  It’s not what she wanted but it was the best I could do!!  I had to walk home without one… It is  a long story but that is the gist of it.  Can you believe it!!!!  I have had lots of  female contacts saying hey juapo and then I go make an appointment to baptism them basically!!! Funny huh

Well, I love you all !!!  gtg
Love Elder Johnston

January 24, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad,
    Wow!!  Mom your email was a lot information to take in all at once.  That is so cool about Rob and Becky Weed being called as a mission president!!!   That is all amazing and I have a lot to say about that, but I won’t because I have a lot to tell all of you today, as well.  
     I love you tons mom and I thank you for everything you have ever done for me.  I’m sorry for everything I have ever done to make you mad.  Ha ha   really!!!  I have really learned a lot lately.   Changes were made today and I will be here for another 6 weeks.  My companion is the district leader and spent 7 months in the office as a secretary.  He thinks I am a real sinner because I told him that I have watched the Super Bowl on Sunday in the past!! Its pretty funny!! Ha Ha
     Our week started out fine but on Wednesday my companion had an incident.  He has epilepsy and had an attack.  He was on his bed in the morning when we were getting ready and he had a seizure!   We were freaking out , but I was calm like you know that I am in a crisis!  It was crazy!!!  We ended up staying indoors with him for two days.
   The mother that I live with, our momasita,  wants to come and live with us and be our Mexican food cook because I love her cooking so much.
     Speaking of food, in my packages it would be great if you could send me some peanut butter, food, or I really miss cookies.  I could use a new memory card because mine is dead.  Maybe you could send me my how to play the guitar book and my shoe shine kit that I have, also a football, soccer ball or stuff like that.
     Last week I taught the Preisthood lesson on sacrificio, sacrifice in English.  I think I did a pretty good job.
     So this week the kid that I baptized  is really poor but one of the best people on earth.  I love that kid to death, his name is Gil.  I love him really and he is amazed at some of the things that I have like my tie.  He doesn’t have one of his own so long story short I gave him his first tie and I wrote on the back of it.  He is pretty juapo in it I have to say.  Haha
     I am going to give my story of the week to Terrin this time since you are having family home evening at her house and I didn’t have time to write her last week.  
     I loved you so much mom and dad you have no idea.  I love you and I am doing my very best out here.  Things get tough but they always seem to get better.  You could send me some pics of xmas, the house, our family and everything!  I love you so much and I just want to give you a big hug so just imagine it!!
I love you and stay healthy!
Love Forever Elder Johnston  your son
PS Tell Rob congrats

Dear Tearbear,
     My best friend in the whole world.  I am so sorry I didn’t have time to write you last week so you get the crazy story of the week.  I could sure use a waterproof camelback by the way.  The rain here is so unbelievable. I am carrying my books in a walmart bag to keep them dry that’s how hard it rains here.
     So one day my comp and I were going to an appointment.  We had two different ways we could go. One way is longer and more uphill.  We couldn’t really agree on which way to go so I started singing hymns so that I might feel the spirit.  I really felt inspired that  we needed to go the long way,  he disagreed but when I started that way he followed.  We had been walking for about 10 minutes when we here this woman yelling ELDERS! ELDERS! ELDERS!  I twas a lady in our ward and she had been looking for us but didn’t know whre to look or find us.  She told us to run in this house and so we did.  She wanted us to give her dying mother a blessing.   Then a man entered the room and said that he had been feeling evil spirits in the house… when we walked into this room to give her a blessing it was like crazy you could really feel it!!  So we got down on our knees and prayed and it immediately was gone like that!!!  It was crazy!  We gave her a blessing and the spirit was very strong, Sadly 4 days later she died.  I don’t know how God works or what our plan is but all we need to know is that we need to follow His plan  because He will lead us to Heaven!!
     I miss you tons and you and Jason need to keep writing to me.  Lacey and Cody you need to also!!
I love you to the moon Buddy and don’t forget it!!!
Love Elder Johnston

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