Wednesday, May 8, 2013 9:25 am
Dear Everybody,
I leave the MTC in less than 2 weeks now!!!!! At least I should unless some unforseen problem comes up. So hopefully there are none. This letter will probably be short again because the MTC is a very repetitive part of the mission and most of it is studying the language and the gospel, which is fantastic but is, well, repetitive.
So first I want to say thank you SO much for the love and the letters and the goodies that are sent on my behalf. I know that the prayers that are said for me are answered. I mean I couldn't have learned this language without the help and prayers of all of you. Thank you so much. A highlight this week was TRC on Saturday. TRC is where volunteers come to the MTC and we teach them as who they are (they don't act and usually are members). The Cambodian speaking volunteers are mostly RMs. This week we taught David Olsen. He is asian and served in Cambodia. He is wonderful. We taught him about Church attendance and how it blesses us. One question that I asked was amazing. Not the question but his reply. I asked him what blessings/ how he feels when he goes to church. He then gave his testimony about how it made him feel and he knows that church blesses him so much and makes him feel stronger and more loved by the Savior. David started crying and I was on the verge of it too. The spirit was so powerful and strong. I loved it.
Sunday was Fast Sunday and it was fantastic. We had the MTC Presidency speak to us and it was fantastic. It was my last week as Zone leader for they want to share the leadership positions as much as possible in the MTC. I sang This Is the Christ in sacrament meeting and though I wasn't a Josh Groban I sure did feel the spirit and the truthfulness of what I sang about. It is such a wonderful song and I love it. That was my testimony that day. Later that day Chad Lewis came to speak to us. For those who don't know he went to Orem High, played football at BYU and in the NFL and went to the Superbowl. He loved to jump over people. It was so great.
I know that Jesus Christ Lives and that he loves us.
One of my teachers this week told us about how we are the "Workbenches of the Spirit." That we need to prepare ourselves to have the tools that the spirit needs to use that day. We need to be organized and help the spirit do its job. I loved this so much and I am trying to be a better organized and prepared "Workbench."
So this week was really spiritual and fantastic. We are now writing all in script (trying to) and are preping for the field now. I can't wait to get out there. I love this work so much. I KNOW that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that God created a Plan for us to return to Him. I am out here to bring families together for eternity. I love it. I know it is true and I know that Heavenly Father knows that I know it is true. I love the Book of Mormon. Especially 3 Nephi and Alma 18 (I've been reading this chapter in script, so fun). Ammon is such a great example for me as a missionary. Go read it and learn from him.
I love you all. May God be with you until next time.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Monday, July 1, 2013
Week...uhh 6? Yep
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 9:09 am
Dear Everyone,
Cumrapsua from the MTC! (that means hi). I hope you are all doing amazing. Thank you all for the wonderful letters and love. I am so glad and excited when I get to hear from all of you. thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.
This week in the MTC (sounds like an introduction to some tv show :)), was pretty normal. There really weren't all that much that happened other then the regular studies that I do everyday. Let's see last Wednesday was a lot of fun because I got to Host new missionaries for the first time. It was a lot of fun and I loved it. It made me think about my first days and how confusing and long they were. It was a lot of fun. So that was on Wednesday. The rest of the week was really boring and all so yeah. they switched our MTC schedule and it was annoying but now it is a lot better. My P-days are now Wednesday but after today I only have two more before I leave to Cambodia. Yikes so close!!! Anyway on Saturday I had TRC where we teach volunteers who can speak our language. IT was a lot of fun. We taught a guy named Dave Thompson. He is so cool and he totally helped us become better teachers. The spirit was so strong even though we can still barely speak the language it comes when we pray, read the scriptures, and bear our testimonies. I love it. The rest of the week until now wasn't anything special. Yep. Oh but I'm going to try to do a musical number in sacrament meeting this week. Wish me luck and hope I sound good.
Anyway, sorry for the short letter but it is rather monotonous now. I love you all. I know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. I know that Families can be forever and I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Until next time may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Dear Everyone,
Cumrapsua from the MTC! (that means hi). I hope you are all doing amazing. Thank you all for the wonderful letters and love. I am so glad and excited when I get to hear from all of you. thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.
This week in the MTC (sounds like an introduction to some tv show :)), was pretty normal. There really weren't all that much that happened other then the regular studies that I do everyday. Let's see last Wednesday was a lot of fun because I got to Host new missionaries for the first time. It was a lot of fun and I loved it. It made me think about my first days and how confusing and long they were. It was a lot of fun. So that was on Wednesday. The rest of the week was really boring and all so yeah. they switched our MTC schedule and it was annoying but now it is a lot better. My P-days are now Wednesday but after today I only have two more before I leave to Cambodia. Yikes so close!!! Anyway on Saturday I had TRC where we teach volunteers who can speak our language. IT was a lot of fun. We taught a guy named Dave Thompson. He is so cool and he totally helped us become better teachers. The spirit was so strong even though we can still barely speak the language it comes when we pray, read the scriptures, and bear our testimonies. I love it. The rest of the week until now wasn't anything special. Yep. Oh but I'm going to try to do a musical number in sacrament meeting this week. Wish me luck and hope I sound good.
Anyway, sorry for the short letter but it is rather monotonous now. I love you all. I know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. I know that Families can be forever and I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Until next time may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
In Cambodia our teacher told us that guys hold hands and girls hold hands and it means nothing. Just that's what they do. So the Elders of the district did this...Except I never actually held hands. I am the only one who hasn't officially held hands. I just pretended to.
In this one I look like a stud because I'm the only one turned around :). I like it.
This is me just running back being crazy :)
Week...5? Wow
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 8:20 am
Hello Everybody!!
Wow 5 weeks already? I just passed my halfway mark through the MTC this past Sat. It has gone by so fast. I've been here a month...1/24 of my mission is gone! Caum!!! (Woah in Cambodian) (sounds like jome!). Haha so this week has been crazy and fun and slightly painful. Oh and SO SPIRITUAL!!!
So after I emailed you all last week I had a fantastic day. Went to the temple and it being P-Day and all. But the best part was that Elder Scott came to speak to us!!! It was so cool!. He said that "We are called to SUCCEED not to Fail." It is so true. He taught us about being in constant communication with Heavenly Father and he blessed us that we will be able to learn our languages and succeed. He actually promised that to us after the closing song and before the closing prayer (he ran up before the Sister who was saying the prayer could start). So inspiring. We had our district devotional testimony meeting after and I totally used the song "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee." I almost sang it haha. God will NEVER leave us and He will always be there to help us. So that was Tuesday right?.
Thursday was pretty rough. For those who don't know i am TERRIFIED of shots. I absolutely hate them. It just so happened I had to get the second shot to both the Japanese something or other and the Hep A. The first one I barely felt so I was like yes I can do it. Then the second one was big. haha. Absolutely hated it. But luckily I didn't get a sore shoulder :). Haha. Oh Mom!!! I also saw Jalyn Macedone then. It was wonderful and she said you look wonderful :). Of course you do. Friday was a rough day too. Fridays are always the worst. You still have another day before Sunday and you are just burned out. But it was really cool too. We got to become "investigators" or people who other companionship's in the district taught in Cambodian. You were encouraged to be someone you knew really well whether member or not so that you could act just like them. Well guess who I was? You're right! My brother Cutler!!! It was so much fun to be you brother. I felt so much closer to you. I even drew one of your funny little pictures with the buck teeth and curly hair. I named the picture "Choncho" ;). Was that good enough? Hopefully. It was so wonderful to be you. I get to do it again tomorrow!!! So much fun. I love you bro.
So the last exciting day was Sunday. First one as being a Zone Leader and it was so much fun. Got a ton of meetings and all but it was so wonderful. Just like being 2nd councilor in the Elder's Quorum all over agian. The best part of the week is on Sundays, Temple Walks. We have an hour on Sunday to go walk around the Provo Temple. it is the most refreshing time of the week and it totally calms me down and prepares me for the coming week. You just feel so much better and stronger. Later that night we had Devotional. It was amazing!!! The BYU Men's Chorus came and I got to see Josh Frei, Cameron Raps, and Xander Moffitt all from my BYU ward. Haha. I almost cried hugging them. They are some of the most amazing people that I have ever met. We did several musical numbers together and I miss it. But what spiritual and wonderful experiences did we have together. Oh and one of my teachers, Locruu (teacher in cambodian) Mickelson was in it too. Haha. Oh not to mention that I got FRONT ROW SEATS was fantastic. I kinda had to give the opening prayer for the devotional to get those seats though. Haha. Boy, I say boy was that a nerve racking prayer. I stumbled along. I should have done it in Cambodian haha. Anyway it was amazing still. The spirit was SO strong during that devotional. Music is the best way to communicate and bring the spirit I believe. I felt wonderful the entire time. I am so happy that they came. After the devo we saw the movie the Testaments! Remember how whenever I was sick on Sundays and couldn't go to churhc I would watch that movie, mom? Yeah. So good. Again i almost started crying. haha. I loved it. I KNOW that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior. I KNOW that He LIVES!!! And He is always with us through anything. I love it so much. I love being on a mission. It will be the best two years of my life. haha.
I don't know if I told you before but my room is TOTALLY the Best Two Years Elders. I am obviously Elder Johnson, my companion, Elder Plothow, is Elder Van Pelt. We both got bottom bunks like they do in the movie. And then Elder Clark is Elder Rogers and he has the top bunk like Elder Rogers. And then Elder Clawson is Elder Calhoun. It is SO funny. haha. I wish I saw that movie one more time. CUTLER!!! Watch it for me :). Thanks buddy.
So I just want to say thank you all again for the wonderful letters and emails. It is so amazing to hear from all of you. Connor, you sound like you're growing so much. You have been such a wonderful example. Thank you. Well until next time, may God be with you.
Love, Elder Johnson
Hello Everybody!!
Wow 5 weeks already? I just passed my halfway mark through the MTC this past Sat. It has gone by so fast. I've been here a month...1/24 of my mission is gone! Caum!!! (Woah in Cambodian) (sounds like jome!). Haha so this week has been crazy and fun and slightly painful. Oh and SO SPIRITUAL!!!
So after I emailed you all last week I had a fantastic day. Went to the temple and it being P-Day and all. But the best part was that Elder Scott came to speak to us!!! It was so cool!. He said that "We are called to SUCCEED not to Fail." It is so true. He taught us about being in constant communication with Heavenly Father and he blessed us that we will be able to learn our languages and succeed. He actually promised that to us after the closing song and before the closing prayer (he ran up before the Sister who was saying the prayer could start). So inspiring. We had our district devotional testimony meeting after and I totally used the song "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee." I almost sang it haha. God will NEVER leave us and He will always be there to help us. So that was Tuesday right?.
Thursday was pretty rough. For those who don't know i am TERRIFIED of shots. I absolutely hate them. It just so happened I had to get the second shot to both the Japanese something or other and the Hep A. The first one I barely felt so I was like yes I can do it. Then the second one was big. haha. Absolutely hated it. But luckily I didn't get a sore shoulder :). Haha. Oh Mom!!! I also saw Jalyn Macedone then. It was wonderful and she said you look wonderful :). Of course you do. Friday was a rough day too. Fridays are always the worst. You still have another day before Sunday and you are just burned out. But it was really cool too. We got to become "investigators" or people who other companionship's in the district taught in Cambodian. You were encouraged to be someone you knew really well whether member or not so that you could act just like them. Well guess who I was? You're right! My brother Cutler!!! It was so much fun to be you brother. I felt so much closer to you. I even drew one of your funny little pictures with the buck teeth and curly hair. I named the picture "Choncho" ;). Was that good enough? Hopefully. It was so wonderful to be you. I get to do it again tomorrow!!! So much fun. I love you bro.
So the last exciting day was Sunday. First one as being a Zone Leader and it was so much fun. Got a ton of meetings and all but it was so wonderful. Just like being 2nd councilor in the Elder's Quorum all over agian. The best part of the week is on Sundays, Temple Walks. We have an hour on Sunday to go walk around the Provo Temple. it is the most refreshing time of the week and it totally calms me down and prepares me for the coming week. You just feel so much better and stronger. Later that night we had Devotional. It was amazing!!! The BYU Men's Chorus came and I got to see Josh Frei, Cameron Raps, and Xander Moffitt all from my BYU ward. Haha. I almost cried hugging them. They are some of the most amazing people that I have ever met. We did several musical numbers together and I miss it. But what spiritual and wonderful experiences did we have together. Oh and one of my teachers, Locruu (teacher in cambodian) Mickelson was in it too. Haha. Oh not to mention that I got FRONT ROW SEATS was fantastic. I kinda had to give the opening prayer for the devotional to get those seats though. Haha. Boy, I say boy was that a nerve racking prayer. I stumbled along. I should have done it in Cambodian haha. Anyway it was amazing still. The spirit was SO strong during that devotional. Music is the best way to communicate and bring the spirit I believe. I felt wonderful the entire time. I am so happy that they came. After the devo we saw the movie the Testaments! Remember how whenever I was sick on Sundays and couldn't go to churhc I would watch that movie, mom? Yeah. So good. Again i almost started crying. haha. I loved it. I KNOW that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior. I KNOW that He LIVES!!! And He is always with us through anything. I love it so much. I love being on a mission. It will be the best two years of my life. haha.
I don't know if I told you before but my room is TOTALLY the Best Two Years Elders. I am obviously Elder Johnson, my companion, Elder Plothow, is Elder Van Pelt. We both got bottom bunks like they do in the movie. And then Elder Clark is Elder Rogers and he has the top bunk like Elder Rogers. And then Elder Clawson is Elder Calhoun. It is SO funny. haha. I wish I saw that movie one more time. CUTLER!!! Watch it for me :). Thanks buddy.
So I just want to say thank you all again for the wonderful letters and emails. It is so amazing to hear from all of you. Connor, you sound like you're growing so much. You have been such a wonderful example. Thank you. Well until next time, may God be with you.
Love, Elder Johnson
Week 4
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 7:57 am
Hello Everyone!!!!
Wow has it seriously been 4 whole weeks since I've left? It feels like I have been gone an eternity and yet only a few days at the same time. It really is amazing at how time flies after the first few days. I can't believe at how much I have left to go but also at how much I've grown. The MTC seriously is the place where boys turn into men.
So even though I have said that the weeks have gone by fast this week still was long and tiring. But there were so many wonderful things that happened. I saw so many missionaries that I know who came in this week and last week (by so many I saw like 4). But it was so good to see them. I saw cousin Carson Johnson here!!! I was looking for him for days and in the cafeteria I prayed that I might be led to him. As I was walking out I almost ran into him. Literally :). It was so cool to see him. He has been here only a week and I loved to see how he was doing. I couldn't talk with him then but on Sunday I got to talk to him for several minutes. I bragged about him to my companion a bit haha. It made me realize how much I missed family and I was so grateful that I have some family that I can see every once in a while here. Another person that I saw this week was Elder Christian Wawro. Just got here this week too and he was looking just like himself. He is going to Denmark and the language looks difficult haha. We got a picture with him at the temple and I'll try to send some pictures soon. It was great to see him. Let's see.... Oh! For all those who are from Wyview I saw Elder Spencer Lee. He is from Minnesota and is going to Albania speaking Albanian. He and I became really good friends at Wyview and did a number of ensemble pieces for the ward and stake down there. HOLY COW does that language seem hard. haha anyways we see each other quite often actually and it is so much fun to just see him. I literally ran into him the first time I saw him haha. He is looking fine and I look forward to seeing him a lot. I also saw Spencer Mace!! I saw him a few times before and he found me at the temple and lifted me up from behind. He is SO TALL!!!! I was flying haha. It was awesome seeing so many people.
So this week was really long because I had a cold ALL week :P. haha it was rough. I got it last Tuesday and am just feeling better. It was pretty bad on Thursday but i quickly recovered. it was really hard to learn though. I forgot how to say so many words and I just wanted to not do anything. But the Lord pulled me through it. Turns out I feel like i am doing better in the language by a lot since my cold. I totally was humbled on begging for help and health. That seriously was most of last week. Saturday we did our first TRC which is you teach volunteers who come to the MTC and come to just be taught by the missionaries. They are not investigators. They are themselves, they don't pretend to be someone else. Sometimes investigators or nonmembers do come but we didn't have any this week. It was such a learning experience. haha we didn't know how to say much and communicating was really hard but it was ok. haha. We taught two people. We taught a Brady Johnson :D and a Dave Thompson. They were so cool and it was so spiritual even though we couldn't teach a lot.
Sunday was crazy though. It was just so spiritual and fun. Church was amazing. I just felt the spirit. We talked on how to recognize the spirit and on faith. Also, this was the last Sunday of the Cambodian district right above us. They leave today. The Branch President called Elder Plothow and I to be the new Zone Leaders. It is crazy. Already a zone leader?? Honestly we have no idea what to do right now but we are working on helping our zone (our zone is our branch which includes: Cambodians, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Thai). Pretty intense. Such a big job and I pray SOOOO much more now (like haven't here already). It was intense. Also later we had choir practice. Brother Eggett is just an amazing guy. I love how much I learn from him. I plan to at least take one class from him even though I don't go to UVU when I come back in 2 years. It was fun to sing. We had a pretty cool devotional that night where the guy talked about what the Church was doing with media to tell the world who we are. They have done some amazing stuff and just finished some amazing "I am a Mormon" campaign in London. The Mormons just arrived in London :). After the Sunday night devos we get to choose to watch a film (a church movie or recorded talk from a list of 4 per week). we saw Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration!!!!! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!! Yes people. I teared up but I felt the spirit so strong. I KNOW Joseph Smith was called of God to restore the Church. Sunday was great.
Well, that was pretty much my week. Hope you are all doing great. Thank you all for your love and support and letters. They help so much. Have a wonderful week.Till next time may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Hello Everyone!!!!
Wow has it seriously been 4 whole weeks since I've left? It feels like I have been gone an eternity and yet only a few days at the same time. It really is amazing at how time flies after the first few days. I can't believe at how much I have left to go but also at how much I've grown. The MTC seriously is the place where boys turn into men.
So even though I have said that the weeks have gone by fast this week still was long and tiring. But there were so many wonderful things that happened. I saw so many missionaries that I know who came in this week and last week (by so many I saw like 4). But it was so good to see them. I saw cousin Carson Johnson here!!! I was looking for him for days and in the cafeteria I prayed that I might be led to him. As I was walking out I almost ran into him. Literally :). It was so cool to see him. He has been here only a week and I loved to see how he was doing. I couldn't talk with him then but on Sunday I got to talk to him for several minutes. I bragged about him to my companion a bit haha. It made me realize how much I missed family and I was so grateful that I have some family that I can see every once in a while here. Another person that I saw this week was Elder Christian Wawro. Just got here this week too and he was looking just like himself. He is going to Denmark and the language looks difficult haha. We got a picture with him at the temple and I'll try to send some pictures soon. It was great to see him. Let's see.... Oh! For all those who are from Wyview I saw Elder Spencer Lee. He is from Minnesota and is going to Albania speaking Albanian. He and I became really good friends at Wyview and did a number of ensemble pieces for the ward and stake down there. HOLY COW does that language seem hard. haha anyways we see each other quite often actually and it is so much fun to just see him. I literally ran into him the first time I saw him haha. He is looking fine and I look forward to seeing him a lot. I also saw Spencer Mace!! I saw him a few times before and he found me at the temple and lifted me up from behind. He is SO TALL!!!! I was flying haha. It was awesome seeing so many people.
So this week was really long because I had a cold ALL week :P. haha it was rough. I got it last Tuesday and am just feeling better. It was pretty bad on Thursday but i quickly recovered. it was really hard to learn though. I forgot how to say so many words and I just wanted to not do anything. But the Lord pulled me through it. Turns out I feel like i am doing better in the language by a lot since my cold. I totally was humbled on begging for help and health. That seriously was most of last week. Saturday we did our first TRC which is you teach volunteers who come to the MTC and come to just be taught by the missionaries. They are not investigators. They are themselves, they don't pretend to be someone else. Sometimes investigators or nonmembers do come but we didn't have any this week. It was such a learning experience. haha we didn't know how to say much and communicating was really hard but it was ok. haha. We taught two people. We taught a Brady Johnson :D and a Dave Thompson. They were so cool and it was so spiritual even though we couldn't teach a lot.
Sunday was crazy though. It was just so spiritual and fun. Church was amazing. I just felt the spirit. We talked on how to recognize the spirit and on faith. Also, this was the last Sunday of the Cambodian district right above us. They leave today. The Branch President called Elder Plothow and I to be the new Zone Leaders. It is crazy. Already a zone leader?? Honestly we have no idea what to do right now but we are working on helping our zone (our zone is our branch which includes: Cambodians, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Thai). Pretty intense. Such a big job and I pray SOOOO much more now (like haven't here already). It was intense. Also later we had choir practice. Brother Eggett is just an amazing guy. I love how much I learn from him. I plan to at least take one class from him even though I don't go to UVU when I come back in 2 years. It was fun to sing. We had a pretty cool devotional that night where the guy talked about what the Church was doing with media to tell the world who we are. They have done some amazing stuff and just finished some amazing "I am a Mormon" campaign in London. The Mormons just arrived in London :). After the Sunday night devos we get to choose to watch a film (a church movie or recorded talk from a list of 4 per week). we saw Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration!!!!! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!! Yes people. I teared up but I felt the spirit so strong. I KNOW Joseph Smith was called of God to restore the Church. Sunday was great.
Well, that was pretty much my week. Hope you are all doing great. Thank you all for your love and support and letters. They help so much. Have a wonderful week.Till next time may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Elders of my district starting from left: Elder Plothow, Me, Elder Clark, Elder Clawson, Elder Garrow, Elder Anthony, and Elder Whitney.
Me, Elder Plothow, and Elder Brady Call who we went to school with.
A cool picture I took of the temple :D
Week Bei (3 in Khmae)
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 8:47 am
Hey Everyone!!!
So wasn't everything fantastic this General Conference? Holy smokes was it wonderful. Hahaha it was so cool to have General Conference here at the MTC. It really was something although the chairs were not that comfortable. I didn't fall asleep once this year mom!!! Although the spiritual nod came a couple of times haha. I'll talk more about conference later. I am so glad to hear about everyone's week. It was so wonderful. Grandpa thank you for the picture of Adam-Ondi-Amen...(spelling?) it is beautiful. I really am excited for the day when all the Saints are gathered there for one big sacrament meeting with the Savior himself there. Mom and Cutler I haven't received the photos yet but I bet I will get them later today. Thank you all for the wonderful letters. I can't begin to tell you how much they mean to me. If you remember the Best Two Years how crazy they went when they got mail, yep, that is all us missionaries here. We are all so excited when we get one. Hahaha it really is so funny Cutler, I hope you are having fun on choir tour. tell me how it goes. I know that you will have so much fun and that you have an amazing voice. haha. i have never been to san fran before but i bet it is pretty cool. just don't do anything to be put into Alcatraz ;). haha and i loved how much you have spent time with Flynn. Agh I miss our puppy. I am so excited to see his picture. you seem to have had a busy spring break which is wonderful. don't become to lazy or bored because that's not good. remember to always be striving to have the spirit in your life. :).
Thank you mom for keeping me caught up with things. also i'm glad you are having a wonderful time at work I will remember to ask Sister Melton about sister Boulter.
I am so glad to hear from Connor. It sounds like Georgia is a rough place to be but he is handling it wonderfully. I just want to also say the same thing Connor did with bathrooms how they are wonderful as the only place to have privacy. And when you're falling asleep. Those are nice. This week was tough. Isn't every week tough? Haha. Well this week was pretty tough because of the language. I felt that I couldn't get the language hardly at all this week. It wasn't coming to me at all and it was stressing me out. i felt that i was better last week than this week until we had General Conference. GC definitely is amazing. it rejuvenated me and inspired me. so many talks were for me and about my mission it was like manna from heaven. how cool is it we have over 90,000 missionaries (65,634 full time; 20,000 waiting to enter the MTC Week 2; and 6,000 waiting to be called). That is SO cool. hopefully we'll break 100,000 soon. I particularly looooved Priesthood Conference...don't I always ;). President Monson taught an amazing talk of missionary service. He gave 4 steps to success: 1. Search Scriptures diligently 2. plan life with purpose 3. teach the truth with testimony and 4. Serve the Lord with love. Those are such great steps especially for being a missionary. This was only one of the many wonderful talks that were amazing. We listened to a couple afterwards in Cambodian...0_0 wow. I got like 1 out of 100 words. ha but it was so cool too. So this week we started singing the hymns only in the script (the crazy squiggles that the language is made out of). The singing is quiet right now :). We have consistently taught in Cambodian now and have consistently struggled but the spirit is always there no matter how awkward or bad we get. phew. My testimony of the Savior and of Joseph Smith and of Thomas S. Monson have strengthened so much this week. oh and especially of the Book of Mormon. I was reading about it in Preach My Gospel and I got an overwhelming feeling of the spirit testifying it was true. I love it so much.
Since I've last emailed I actually gone to the temple twice. I went last Tuesday after I emailed and did initiatories. I had 3 Frenchmen with awesome names that I wish I could remember and I had one English guy from 1616 who's name was Lancelot :D it made me so happy and it was so cool. I also did endowments this morning at 5 am. It was wonderful. haha. I actually was focused most of the time, unfortunately we had gone twenty minutes too early... the temple cafeteria wasn't open grandpa :P. But I looooved it. I miss our weekly temple sessions. I still love remembering about the St. George trip to the temple. So white.\
Well, sorry for a jumbled and sometimes not concentrated email. so hard to remember what I did this week :). thank you all again for all the letters and emails. They lift up the struggling spirit. My companion's brother told him some wonderful words of advice; "the mission gets hard. sometimes you wonder if you can do those last two weeks for two more years. you say I don't think i can do it. but you don't have to. you'll never have those same two weeks again. they will be better. you say that about the first month and say you don't know if you can take another month like that. you don't have to. that month won't happen again. you say that the first year was so hard you can't do it for another. you don't have to. the next year is 10x better." I love that saying and it is so true. Each week is hard but it gets progressively better. I have a testimony of our Savior and this work. It truly is the work of God our Loving Heavenly Father. I love them. Until next time may God be with you.
Love, Elder Johnson
So wasn't everything fantastic this General Conference? Holy smokes was it wonderful. Hahaha it was so cool to have General Conference here at the MTC. It really was something although the chairs were not that comfortable. I didn't fall asleep once this year mom!!! Although the spiritual nod came a couple of times haha. I'll talk more about conference later. I am so glad to hear about everyone's week. It was so wonderful. Grandpa thank you for the picture of Adam-Ondi-Amen...(spelling?) it is beautiful. I really am excited for the day when all the Saints are gathered there for one big sacrament meeting with the Savior himself there. Mom and Cutler I haven't received the photos yet but I bet I will get them later today. Thank you all for the wonderful letters. I can't begin to tell you how much they mean to me. If you remember the Best Two Years how crazy they went when they got mail, yep, that is all us missionaries here. We are all so excited when we get one. Hahaha it really is so funny Cutler, I hope you are having fun on choir tour. tell me how it goes. I know that you will have so much fun and that you have an amazing voice. haha. i have never been to san fran before but i bet it is pretty cool. just don't do anything to be put into Alcatraz ;). haha and i loved how much you have spent time with Flynn. Agh I miss our puppy. I am so excited to see his picture. you seem to have had a busy spring break which is wonderful. don't become to lazy or bored because that's not good. remember to always be striving to have the spirit in your life. :).
Thank you mom for keeping me caught up with things. also i'm glad you are having a wonderful time at work I will remember to ask Sister Melton about sister Boulter.
I am so glad to hear from Connor. It sounds like Georgia is a rough place to be but he is handling it wonderfully. I just want to also say the same thing Connor did with bathrooms how they are wonderful as the only place to have privacy. And when you're falling asleep. Those are nice. This week was tough. Isn't every week tough? Haha. Well this week was pretty tough because of the language. I felt that I couldn't get the language hardly at all this week. It wasn't coming to me at all and it was stressing me out. i felt that i was better last week than this week until we had General Conference. GC definitely is amazing. it rejuvenated me and inspired me. so many talks were for me and about my mission it was like manna from heaven. how cool is it we have over 90,000 missionaries (65,634 full time; 20,000 waiting to enter the MTC Week 2; and 6,000 waiting to be called). That is SO cool. hopefully we'll break 100,000 soon. I particularly looooved Priesthood Conference...don't I always ;). President Monson taught an amazing talk of missionary service. He gave 4 steps to success: 1. Search Scriptures diligently 2. plan life with purpose 3. teach the truth with testimony and 4. Serve the Lord with love. Those are such great steps especially for being a missionary. This was only one of the many wonderful talks that were amazing. We listened to a couple afterwards in Cambodian...0_0 wow. I got like 1 out of 100 words. ha but it was so cool too. So this week we started singing the hymns only in the script (the crazy squiggles that the language is made out of). The singing is quiet right now :). We have consistently taught in Cambodian now and have consistently struggled but the spirit is always there no matter how awkward or bad we get. phew. My testimony of the Savior and of Joseph Smith and of Thomas S. Monson have strengthened so much this week. oh and especially of the Book of Mormon. I was reading about it in Preach My Gospel and I got an overwhelming feeling of the spirit testifying it was true. I love it so much.
Since I've last emailed I actually gone to the temple twice. I went last Tuesday after I emailed and did initiatories. I had 3 Frenchmen with awesome names that I wish I could remember and I had one English guy from 1616 who's name was Lancelot :D it made me so happy and it was so cool. I also did endowments this morning at 5 am. It was wonderful. haha. I actually was focused most of the time, unfortunately we had gone twenty minutes too early... the temple cafeteria wasn't open grandpa :P. But I looooved it. I miss our weekly temple sessions. I still love remembering about the St. George trip to the temple. So white.\
Well, sorry for a jumbled and sometimes not concentrated email. so hard to remember what I did this week :). thank you all again for all the letters and emails. They lift up the struggling spirit. My companion's brother told him some wonderful words of advice; "the mission gets hard. sometimes you wonder if you can do those last two weeks for two more years. you say I don't think i can do it. but you don't have to. you'll never have those same two weeks again. they will be better. you say that about the first month and say you don't know if you can take another month like that. you don't have to. that month won't happen again. you say that the first year was so hard you can't do it for another. you don't have to. the next year is 10x better." I love that saying and it is so true. Each week is hard but it gets progressively better. I have a testimony of our Savior and this work. It truly is the work of God our Loving Heavenly Father. I love them. Until next time may God be with you.
Love, Elder Johnson
Week Two: Easter Time
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 8:45 am
Hello Everyone,
Again thank you SOOOO much for all the letters you send to me. They are one of my favorite things about a mission. Every evening our District Leader hand out the letters to whoever got them and whenever I get one I am just so happy. I love hearing about everyone and the support that you guys send me. It seriously means so much to me. Oh!!! Happy Birthday Grandma!!! Sorry I missed it. I bet you're looking great :).Mom, everything that you sent me is working wonderfully thank you. So I don't think I told you guys about my district last week. I have 12 people in my district. there are 5 sisters and 7 elders. We are such a tight district already and we are working hard (if not unfocused and loud at times). There is me and my comp: Elder Plothow. He loves basketball and to whistle music. Like he is always whistling and sometimes it is too much but honestly since there is very little music here I enjoy it. He is like 6 inches taller than me, he is the tallest elder and I am the shortest elder (of course). He is so cool though and he goes to choir with me. He loves Brother Eggett too. (Oh mom, tell Brother Eggett hi for me and that he has been such a wonderful example to me. He is amazing too). Next are Elders Clark and Clawson, our roommates. I actually shouldn't call them roommates. We are all so tight that we have like a quadruple companionship going on. Elder Clawson is from Texas and is actually speaking Cambodian in the Long Beach Cali mission. He did track like you Cutler, the 400, 4x1 too. He was like a low 48 second 400 m runner. Fast. He is quite in class but is so funny when its just us four. Yeah. His comp is Elder Clark. Clark is from Cali and sounds like he came from a well to do fam. Left a car, man cave, pool, girl, etc behind for the mission. He and Clawson are so funny they keep me and Plothow laughing all the time. Clark has grown so much since I have met him and it is crazy what he has done. He gave his first blessing on Monday and us 4 were in the circle. So proud of him. His testimony has grown so much and it has strengthened mine as well. Then there are Elders Whitney, Garrow, and Anthony. Anthony loves basketball and gets updates on the NCAA tourney (what are they bytheway?). Whitney is from Provo, lives like a block away. And Garrow is from NY not city though. Was in the Hill Cumora Pageant for 9 years now. So i saw him in it like 3 or 4 summers ago when I went on the Church History Tour. They all are a trio of companions and I love them. They all love Avatar the Last Airbender and we sometimes talk about it cuz we all love it. The sisters are Homer and Hartley, and then the trio McQuivey, Orton, and Melton. I don't know them that well. Just that Sister Hartley loves fanta and that Cambodia lives on Fanta. Literally. Number one soda there. Also, Sister Homer is super good at the language already. (So are Garrow and Whitney). They all have great memories. Yep. That is my wonderful district.
My teachers are locruu Mickelson and locruu Thomas. Locruu Thomas (locruu means teacher in Cambodian) was our first "investigator" Boon Somnop (closest spelling with English alphabet). They seriously care about us so much and have strengthened my testimony like no other. I love them. Mickelson is always always smiling and Thomas understands us and how we have grown with teaching him. We taught him 4 times before he became our teacher. Anyway I love them both.This week has gone by so fast it feels. Literally after my first few days this one has blown by. The language is still hard but it is coming. We started learning script, the actual writing of the squiggleys, and have started to learn to read them. It is CRAZY!!!! when I come home I will have my own secret language :D. It is starting to become enjoyable now to learn the language. But honestly, If i could choose what to study i would definitely do the Book of Mormon. I love it so much. I read so much of it this week and AHHH i just love it. It is the most true book in the world. I have felt the Spirit so much by reading it. This past week i read about the Stripling Warriors and Captain Moroni. I know that I have the mother of a Stripling Warrior as my own mom. I know that :). Love you mom. One little detail about Captain Moroni that I thought was funny was, He has a temper. I mean in one part of the BoM it says that He was angry with the Lamanites and the next thing it says is something like, he commanded his men to slaughter them. So don't mess with Captain Moroni and liberty and religion. I almost felt bad for the Lamanites. But I seriously love the Book of Mormon so much. It is so fun and enjoyable and i learn so much.
So this week was Easter. We thought an apostle was going to come to talk to us but it was actually Bishop Causse (he's from France with the whole accent and everything. SO cool) and his wife. They taught about the Savior but I didn't actually get the most out of that. What I got the most out of was actually the sacrament meeting. It was combined... 3,000 missionaries taking it all at the same time!!! Never had they done that before. It was just like the Savior feeding the thousands with loaves of bread and fish. It was so cool. It reminded me of the huge sacrament meeting going to happen with the Savior before his second coming at Adam Ondi Aamen (spelling?). The spirit was definitely there and we in the choir sang the Lord is My Shepherd. It was great. Sundays p.s. are the best day of the week along with P-day. So after meetings on Sundays we go on a temple walk and take pictures and just enjoy the weather. It was great. We had a devotional that evening and Sister Sheri Dew spoke to us. She has definitely been the best speaker here by far. She taught about how the Savior is not our last chance, he is our ONLY chance. I know that to be true. She knows it too. She has never been married and she HATES it but she also has grown so close to the Savior and knows that he is looking out for her. It was amazing. Later, we watched a talk of Elder Bednar teaching how to recognize the spirit. He said quit worrying about it. If it is something good then just do it. Every good thing comes from the spirit and more often then not you will not know if it is the spirit till after you do what you felt. it helped me soooo much because i was worried about that.
I love this work and this mission i am on. It is so hard but the letters, the people, and the Lord pull me through it. I know that He loves me and that He Lives. He is the way. I am here to share this message to everyone who will listen. I love it so much. I miss you all but I know that God is with you. I love you all so much. Until next time, may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Hello Everyone,
Again thank you SOOOO much for all the letters you send to me. They are one of my favorite things about a mission. Every evening our District Leader hand out the letters to whoever got them and whenever I get one I am just so happy. I love hearing about everyone and the support that you guys send me. It seriously means so much to me. Oh!!! Happy Birthday Grandma!!! Sorry I missed it. I bet you're looking great :).Mom, everything that you sent me is working wonderfully thank you. So I don't think I told you guys about my district last week. I have 12 people in my district. there are 5 sisters and 7 elders. We are such a tight district already and we are working hard (if not unfocused and loud at times). There is me and my comp: Elder Plothow. He loves basketball and to whistle music. Like he is always whistling and sometimes it is too much but honestly since there is very little music here I enjoy it. He is like 6 inches taller than me, he is the tallest elder and I am the shortest elder (of course). He is so cool though and he goes to choir with me. He loves Brother Eggett too. (Oh mom, tell Brother Eggett hi for me and that he has been such a wonderful example to me. He is amazing too). Next are Elders Clark and Clawson, our roommates. I actually shouldn't call them roommates. We are all so tight that we have like a quadruple companionship going on. Elder Clawson is from Texas and is actually speaking Cambodian in the Long Beach Cali mission. He did track like you Cutler, the 400, 4x1 too. He was like a low 48 second 400 m runner. Fast. He is quite in class but is so funny when its just us four. Yeah. His comp is Elder Clark. Clark is from Cali and sounds like he came from a well to do fam. Left a car, man cave, pool, girl, etc behind for the mission. He and Clawson are so funny they keep me and Plothow laughing all the time. Clark has grown so much since I have met him and it is crazy what he has done. He gave his first blessing on Monday and us 4 were in the circle. So proud of him. His testimony has grown so much and it has strengthened mine as well. Then there are Elders Whitney, Garrow, and Anthony. Anthony loves basketball and gets updates on the NCAA tourney (what are they bytheway?). Whitney is from Provo, lives like a block away. And Garrow is from NY not city though. Was in the Hill Cumora Pageant for 9 years now. So i saw him in it like 3 or 4 summers ago when I went on the Church History Tour. They all are a trio of companions and I love them. They all love Avatar the Last Airbender and we sometimes talk about it cuz we all love it. The sisters are Homer and Hartley, and then the trio McQuivey, Orton, and Melton. I don't know them that well. Just that Sister Hartley loves fanta and that Cambodia lives on Fanta. Literally. Number one soda there. Also, Sister Homer is super good at the language already. (So are Garrow and Whitney). They all have great memories. Yep. That is my wonderful district.
My teachers are locruu Mickelson and locruu Thomas. Locruu Thomas (locruu means teacher in Cambodian) was our first "investigator" Boon Somnop (closest spelling with English alphabet). They seriously care about us so much and have strengthened my testimony like no other. I love them. Mickelson is always always smiling and Thomas understands us and how we have grown with teaching him. We taught him 4 times before he became our teacher. Anyway I love them both.This week has gone by so fast it feels. Literally after my first few days this one has blown by. The language is still hard but it is coming. We started learning script, the actual writing of the squiggleys, and have started to learn to read them. It is CRAZY!!!! when I come home I will have my own secret language :D. It is starting to become enjoyable now to learn the language. But honestly, If i could choose what to study i would definitely do the Book of Mormon. I love it so much. I read so much of it this week and AHHH i just love it. It is the most true book in the world. I have felt the Spirit so much by reading it. This past week i read about the Stripling Warriors and Captain Moroni. I know that I have the mother of a Stripling Warrior as my own mom. I know that :). Love you mom. One little detail about Captain Moroni that I thought was funny was, He has a temper. I mean in one part of the BoM it says that He was angry with the Lamanites and the next thing it says is something like, he commanded his men to slaughter them. So don't mess with Captain Moroni and liberty and religion. I almost felt bad for the Lamanites. But I seriously love the Book of Mormon so much. It is so fun and enjoyable and i learn so much.
So this week was Easter. We thought an apostle was going to come to talk to us but it was actually Bishop Causse (he's from France with the whole accent and everything. SO cool) and his wife. They taught about the Savior but I didn't actually get the most out of that. What I got the most out of was actually the sacrament meeting. It was combined... 3,000 missionaries taking it all at the same time!!! Never had they done that before. It was just like the Savior feeding the thousands with loaves of bread and fish. It was so cool. It reminded me of the huge sacrament meeting going to happen with the Savior before his second coming at Adam Ondi Aamen (spelling?). The spirit was definitely there and we in the choir sang the Lord is My Shepherd. It was great. Sundays p.s. are the best day of the week along with P-day. So after meetings on Sundays we go on a temple walk and take pictures and just enjoy the weather. It was great. We had a devotional that evening and Sister Sheri Dew spoke to us. She has definitely been the best speaker here by far. She taught about how the Savior is not our last chance, he is our ONLY chance. I know that to be true. She knows it too. She has never been married and she HATES it but she also has grown so close to the Savior and knows that he is looking out for her. It was amazing. Later, we watched a talk of Elder Bednar teaching how to recognize the spirit. He said quit worrying about it. If it is something good then just do it. Every good thing comes from the spirit and more often then not you will not know if it is the spirit till after you do what you felt. it helped me soooo much because i was worried about that.
I love this work and this mission i am on. It is so hard but the letters, the people, and the Lord pull me through it. I know that He loves me and that He Lives. He is the way. I am here to share this message to everyone who will listen. I love it so much. I miss you all but I know that God is with you. I love you all so much. Until next time, may God be with you.
Love,
Elder Johnson
Sunday, June 30, 2013
First Week in MTC
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 8:09 am
Hey Everyone!!!
The first week has been so weird. LOOOONG. If this is a short or bad letter don't blame me because my hands are freezing and I only got 25 minutes left to write to you. It is crazy how long it feels I've been here. Seriously it feels like I've been here for months and only have a few days left on my mission. Anyway before i forget mom, can you send me a jacket and some Cetaphil face wash please? :) that'd be great. So the first day was intense. I get out and say bye then get dragged all across the MTC to check in. I met my comp. It is EDWARD PLOTHOW. I went to high school with him! We actually love a lot of the same stuff: basketball, video games, reading, SINGING, and more. He is so much fun!!! Also, i met locruu Mickelson. He is our teacher. (locruu means teacher in Cambodian) He didn't speak a word of English to us for 4 straight days! ALL CAMBODIAN. The language is pretty crazy and it is hard to learn but it is sooooo much fun too. Every day we have personal time to study the gospel and companion study time. We also get about 6 hours of classroom instruction which includes: language learning, learning how to be a better missionary, and teaching investigators. We literally had to give our first lesson to an investigator the second day. IN CAMBODIAN. He doesn't speak English and it is so funny because it is one huge game of charades. it is super hard though. we teach a lesson to him 5 days a week. super intense. We have to learn how to say what we want on our own. I've learned a lot though.
The first four days (Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat) were so hard though. they were the longest days of my life and have been some of the hardest. Everyone told us if we made it to Sunday then it would get so much better. They were so right! Sunday was just relaxing with hours of personal study and Sacrament meeting. With a devotional at the end was great. Oh I also went to MTC Choir practice and Brother Eggett saw me in the choir and called me out to sing louder while we were all singing. He also then called me down to say the closing prayer too. Haha he was so funny though. Tell him hi for me mom. anyway Monday was a great day because it went fast and we now have the hang of things. I love my teacher so much and he is so funny and always has a smile on his face. it is so refreshing to see it. He helps encourage us so much. If the keyboard wrote in romanized Cambodian I would type in it but it doesn't. ah well. I hope everyone is doing well. I loved the letters from all of you. Thanks so much. They are my favorite part of the day personally ;). Well sorry it is short but I gotta go. Cumriap leah!
Elder Johnson
Hey Everyone!!!
The first week has been so weird. LOOOONG. If this is a short or bad letter don't blame me because my hands are freezing and I only got 25 minutes left to write to you. It is crazy how long it feels I've been here. Seriously it feels like I've been here for months and only have a few days left on my mission. Anyway before i forget mom, can you send me a jacket and some Cetaphil face wash please? :) that'd be great. So the first day was intense. I get out and say bye then get dragged all across the MTC to check in. I met my comp. It is EDWARD PLOTHOW. I went to high school with him! We actually love a lot of the same stuff: basketball, video games, reading, SINGING, and more. He is so much fun!!! Also, i met locruu Mickelson. He is our teacher. (locruu means teacher in Cambodian) He didn't speak a word of English to us for 4 straight days! ALL CAMBODIAN. The language is pretty crazy and it is hard to learn but it is sooooo much fun too. Every day we have personal time to study the gospel and companion study time. We also get about 6 hours of classroom instruction which includes: language learning, learning how to be a better missionary, and teaching investigators. We literally had to give our first lesson to an investigator the second day. IN CAMBODIAN. He doesn't speak English and it is so funny because it is one huge game of charades. it is super hard though. we teach a lesson to him 5 days a week. super intense. We have to learn how to say what we want on our own. I've learned a lot though.
The first four days (Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat) were so hard though. they were the longest days of my life and have been some of the hardest. Everyone told us if we made it to Sunday then it would get so much better. They were so right! Sunday was just relaxing with hours of personal study and Sacrament meeting. With a devotional at the end was great. Oh I also went to MTC Choir practice and Brother Eggett saw me in the choir and called me out to sing louder while we were all singing. He also then called me down to say the closing prayer too. Haha he was so funny though. Tell him hi for me mom. anyway Monday was a great day because it went fast and we now have the hang of things. I love my teacher so much and he is so funny and always has a smile on his face. it is so refreshing to see it. He helps encourage us so much. If the keyboard wrote in romanized Cambodian I would type in it but it doesn't. ah well. I hope everyone is doing well. I loved the letters from all of you. Thanks so much. They are my favorite part of the day personally ;). Well sorry it is short but I gotta go. Cumriap leah!
Elder Johnson
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