Oct 29, 2008

hey everyone.
this week has been intersting. i still haven't recieved the package, dont know where it is. so elder brockman said, you mihht be able to track it, but don't know. it's hopefully at the post office now, didn't go by it this morning. wow, i can't belive josh is back now. but it sounds like he had a good time there. yeah, i heard byu was humilated. so i have some exciting news this week.
so friday we had our baptism. we did it up in petersburg. elder brockman baptized aidan. heres the funny thing. it was suppossed to start at 6:00 and bro. johnson our mission leader made the goal that we were going to start on time. the problem was, the local highschool had a parade for homecoming and people struggled to get around it. so byt the time it got started it was 30 minutes late. not our fault. besides the person doing the opening prayer was in the caravan running late. but it went very good. then on sunday i confirmed him, so that was pretty exciting. but thats the most exciting thing for this week. today is elder brockman last p-day and then next wendsday he's flying home. i'll be staying up in hopewell. where there will be only one zoneleader, because the other one is going home as well.
we have to be in by six on halloween and i've already heard plans by memebers planning to come by, so we have to get some candy, kid probably wouldn't like pass along cards to well. oh yes yesterday we were out tracting and sometimes a dog will start foling you, this time we had a cat. it was funny, never pet it, never fedd it or anything, but it just followed us everywhere. it was funny walking down the street and having it walk along the side of us. it was pretty odd. it acted a bit like a dog. whenever a dog follows us we call it a disiple dog, this time it was a disiciple cat. well that's it for this week.
i'll talk to you in less than two months. later

Elder S. Johnson

Oct 22, 2008

wow, that good that dad got himself another deer. that sounds great. this week has been intersting. i just got that card from grandma today, elder brockman is already liking grandma's idea of taking him out for lunch. yes i've been to the diner a few times. the first time was the day we arrived here. so this week was amazing, i got to shake elder cooks hand, twice. second time was on accident but i talk about that in a minute.on friday we did twenty fours with the zone leaders. that was an intersting exprience. i was with elder brockman's mtc companion. so that was intersting. then monday i went on exchanges with the petersburg elders. petersburg is differnt. for example saw a drug deal as we drove by. so that was differnt. also talked with this one guy who was really bent out of shape because two of his neighbor houses were broken into that day. so petersburg is differnt. but for some good news, we made it to stake confernce and we herad from some elder where elder cook was. so we styaed around that area waiting till he came out. so he came out and he said, hello elders. shook our hands and pres. millburn was coming out of the room with him and he placed his hand on my shoulder and said, good work elders. and then walked off. so we both looked at each other and chuckled abit. it was a really good meeting. pres millburn spoke at ours as well as elder cook, and it was a very good meeting. then afterwards we were trying to find some members really quickly and accidently ended up at the door right when he was walking through. so second time was on accident. then we had zone confernce yesterday, but no special quests were there. the richmond area had two apostles sunday, and three seventy's. so it was unusual, no news was revealed like a temple or anything, but i think alot of people were hoping. zone confernce was amazing. it was very good. well i still havent recived the package yet, i think there somthing wrong with the post office near us our something. but who knows. we have a baptism on friday. for a 9 year old named Aidan fosser. it's been differnt teaching him mostly because of his younger siblings. there a set of twins, that are both six, and another one that is 4. so it's been intersting. well that's it for today. next time you here from me i'll been twenty. elder johnson

Oct 1, 2008

so i guess you already now a bit about this place. i have more to share though. it has an airport, last area didn't. it also has many peanut fields around us. alos micheal Vick's house is in our area. the one with the dogfighting thing. but the biggest thing is, that me and elder brockman are reopening this area. it's been crazy. we arrived basically with nothing. but the branch is very supportive. all of them are thrilled that were back. it's very exciting. i've learned a lot. so the first night we arrived, we unpacked bought our food, and evrything else. then we went out with a bro. holle. he toured us around, helped us go up to the zone leaders apartment and get some more supplies. so that was pretty intersting. we already have someone set for baptism, belive it or not, and another were planning to set on sunday, there unbaptized youths but still something. i have already seen so many miracles here. one day we were looking up potental investigators and we knocked on the door, no one. elder brockman then felt inspired to go to another door, and we ended up tracting everything and nothing happened, as were getting into the car, the potientails wife pulled in. so we talked with her and she's always been interseted in learning more. it's been great here. and quess how big the branch is... make sure you sitting down for this. in my last ward there was about 40 active young men, here there is about that many active members. it is very small. but it's great.
so my companion, elder brockman was a zone leader and now were reopening this area. he has only six weeks left though, so we are really moving to get this area going. he's great, he's really been helping me learn. i've already leanred alot from him. right now we are working on getting a p.o. box because they don't have mailboxes in the town limits. so it's been intersting. we ont be biking here, mostly because elder brockman doesn't have one, and it's not worth it to buy one for six weeks. so it will be different. congradulations on your calling that sounds great. yes, wealso get the ensigns but usually later in the months so we get sneak peaks from members often. well that's about it, i don't know when i can sned pitcures though, mostly because of there's no place here to do it. but i will sometime. well that's it for now. talk to you later.
elder johnson

well this week has been very intesting. we had a baptism, said goodbye to elder wangemann, and found out who my new companion is. sister goodhue on sunday asked for our families email, she wanted to email them, so that's the basic story behind it. your going to have to let me know who it is that coming to virginia, i'm sure i know him. yeah, we been hearing alot about the olympics from people here. so brett farve is jet now, that werid, just thinking about it. yes, Glen allen is in richmond, in fact it is just to the east of us, in fact our boundries meet. here's a funny story last night. i was staying with elder malone, and elder meyers. elder malone gets a call from president millburn saying that he is training in glen allen, so elder meyer was depressed that he is going. at 11:15 transfers come in over the fax and they had it first, and then found elder meyer and his companion is elder S. Johnson, area gayton. so i'm already with my new companion. he's just going across the street. so that was very unusual.
so on wensday we went to the cheesecake factory. mmm, that was good. that was a very fun day. then on thursday we had inetrviews with the mission president. it went well, and then we went straight to an appointment at three, and we then went to one at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. we were running all over that night. but it was fun. then saturday was awesome, belinda was baptized, and everything went well. it started alittle late though, about thirty minutes. but everything went good, other than that. it was because her oldest sister whose not amemebr was coming, and she got lost. so we waited for that. then that night me and elder wangemann went to maggie moos to celebrate that, and it was his two year mark. then sunday was intersting, we were getting gray hairs because belinda came very late. and for converts they have them confirmed in sacrament meeting.
man this week flew by. last transfer flew by. i was also wondering if you might be able to get zack's and nicks email address. well thats it for this week
elder johnson

Aug 6, 2008

wow. sounds like you going to have a fun trip. elder neilson wanted to go there really bad. tell spencer congratualtions. the bishop's wife had a son who is tempe, arizona mission. so tell him to keep an eye out for an elder weber. yesterday we were lucky it was supposed to be mierable. humity in the nineties and tempeture over a hundred. lucky we had cloud cover and it was cool, but still humid. but not as bad. i remember hearing about kim and shawn moving to michigan for school. there is also a person here who is going to SUU this year as well. he is also preparing for a mission as well. who knows they may meet. i was also wondering about whether the gopher was around or not. i cook every now and then, but recipes could be fun, so you could send some. i'm still adjusting to wensday as well. oh yeah, let wendels know i got the pitcures and note from the primary. thanks. oh yeah, last week we had a new family move into the ward. kelli black's older brother. i talked with there dad and he said, he knows dad. his name is lyle black.
well this week has been intesting. it's starting to heat up here. tempture. yesterday we had one of our invetsigators take us to brewsters. it's an ice cream shop, very popular here. it was good. it's seems alot like maggie moos, but they already have stuff mixed in. it's still good. she has a son that's a member who is one mission in uraguay. he's a zone leader down there and just loves it. so she loves to have us come by. he comes home in october, so i may not be able to meet him, before he goes back out to BYU.
we also have a baptism this weekend. it's for belinda. so i'm looking forward to that. tomorrow is going to be very busy. we have interviews in the morning, then we head there to an appointment with an invetsigator, then, we have one at four, five, six, seven, and eight. so it's going to fly bye, it's between less actives and active members.
yesterday i found a rechargable battery charger so i bought that for my camera, that will quickly pay it's self off. but that's mostly it for this week. well maybe try to wait for my package, because tuesday i will be staying with the glen allen elders, and there is still a chance that i will be transfered. so just to give you a heads up. but that's it for this week. i am also headed to the cheesecake factory today. elder wangemann is throwing a last p-day party. so it should be fun.


i just remebered something we did on saturday. the elder quorum in our ward did a pig roast and invited us to come. it was great. we had a less active meber arrive and he has an almost three year old that is always getting into trouble. he thinks everything is his and doesn't like to share. but he is fun. there was alot of little kids there running around, checking out the chickens, pigs, peacocks, goats, and even there dog. i was thinking the whole time, kate would of had a blast there. they even were letting the kids feed the goats. i wish i would have brought my camera though, but that's it. hope to hear from you.

June 17, 2008

hey everyone this week was awesome. not only did i have a baptism, but the heat has gone down. (knock on wood) i heard from people it was record heat for this month. so not to fun, now it has cooled down a bit, feels much nicer.
i forgot a very funny story last week, we were teaching a members friend in his home, the lesson went well, answered all of his questions, and then at the end he said, i only have one problem with the book of mormon. i was excpeting somethinmg really bad, and then he said, "i can't read it, the prints to small." so the member happend to have another copy of the book of mormon, large print. so that was good.
on wensday we had a zone confernce. it was fun. i got to see my old MTC buddies, and it had quite alot of speakers. were losing quite a few good missionaries though. elder Callahan, our zone leader is finishing up his last transfer, along with an assiastant. so that was fun to hear there departing testimonies.
the lady me and elder beames tratced into a while back, she has know been set for baptism, and she is very excited. it was very exciting to hear.
sunday, they had four men speak about there dads, all of them were amazing, one of them, was A.J. who i talked about last time. he spoke about his dad, and it was very touching. his dad and mom were both there to hear it. his talk was really amazing. he talked about the islamic belives on families and fathers, and then shared our views. it was very good, then he ended with the faith of our fathers talk by president Uctordf. it was very good, but all of them were. then we had a baptism. it went very well, they had some primary kids there, and after she was baptized, a little kid as they came back said in an excited voice, wow. me and elder wangemann laughed quietly to ourselves.
yesterday we finished up some service we have been doing for a less active member in our ward. he's cuts down trees for a living, and he's been spliting wood, to use in a firplace. so we been helping him, load into a truck, and then unload it. it was fairly fun. he competes in compition shooting events as well. so he aalways is telling stories about that, or when he was in the miltary. he's one who is hard to leave at times. he also had this small cat, that loves to play fetch with twisties ties. it's really funny.
well thats my life right now, today we are having a tri-zone p-day and are going to a baseball game. sounds fun to me. but thats my life this week. school here ended last friday, or on friday the 13th. i liked that story with Kate pushing her stroller to the door and then sitting in it waiting for a ride. i laughed when i read it, well quietly. transfers are coming up as well. on the thrityth i'll find out if i'm going somewhere else or not. but i'll let you know. that's it for this week.
elder johnson

June 10, 2008

the heat has started to hit. we have had hit the 100 everday since about friday. it's bad. yesterday the district leader called us and told everyone to have banannas and salty foods with us when we go tracting. sounds like quite a few missionaries are getting in trouble from the heat. yesterday it really got me. a lot of people have been much more nice. most of them offer water but there not interseted. so that part sad. last tuesday night, we got rained on really hard, and we also had a tornado warning for our area, but nothing happened, just rain, rain, and more rain. then the heat came. sounds like it usually doesn't get this warm this fast, unfornately the humity still hasn't reached it's july, and august levels from what i've heard.
this week has been great though. i'm having my first baptism this week. her name is Ashlee Vosper. she's an unbaptized youth. so we've been teaching her like crazy. we also have been meeting with a less active memebr whose husband is not a member. but her husband is a proffesional chef, so far all our appointments have been dinner appointments, so it's been fun. we also have zone confernce this week. so that's going to be interesting. no quest speaker this time, elder Wangeman's told me i'm very lucky to have that on my fisrt zone confernce. it was Elder Marriot.(his family own marriot hotels). we tracted into this guy this week that has been fighting cigarettes in court, he trying to to make them unconsitutional, so that good. hope he succeeds, but we kind of doubt it.
we've also met this little kid a few weeks ago that told us that were with the church that lied to them. it turns out some missionaries a while back tracted into there family, and they wanted them to come back. they never did. so we were able to set up an appointment with them and came back on saturday. he was not expecting us to come back. we ended up giving them a book of mormon because that was what he really wanted. it was a very sad experince.
we then went tracting somewhere else and we finish the street with no sucess. it was very disappointing and then as were heading back to the car, another car starts going very slow behind us. the ended up stopping next to us and it was a spanish family. the girl was trying to translate for them but the mom asked us if we had a stamp. the girl gets a very confused look on on her face and said, no, no, a card. we talk with them for a while and luckily elder Wangemann knows spanish fairly well. that family is a family we like to call golden. they were very much wanting to get involved with a church, in fact our church. so it was a very fun experince. we have sent the spanish missionaries to them and there very excited.
there is also this recent convert in our ward, who joined the church a few months ago. he is very amazing. his name is Aujeng Abadi. everyone just calls him A.J. though. his whole family is muslim, and he converted over. well he's going for to Iran for six weeks to visit his family members. he's very nervous about going over there, but he's going. he's very amazing though, he had an incredible testimony and he feels like he didn't betray Islam, he just builded upon it, and thats the highest focus of his testimony. he very amazing, hopefully he makes it back safely.
that was the highlights for this week though. so i'm glad it's p-day today, and that we have many appointments later on so we can stay out of this heat. with the music we can listen to, it's tradintaion hymn music, Motab, and efy music. so anything that is included in that is fine. i asked elder Wangemann and he said that i can email friends as well. so that is on the plus side, but i only have an hour to email though. well i'm glad that earthquake wasn't to bad. i've heard about that one in China a while back. thats it for this week.
elder Johnson

May 13, 2008

well this week has been going well here in Virginia. that's awesome that Spencer is going to Arizona. there a missionary from the Gayton ward(the ward were in) who is there. the girl we were going to baptize this saturday has decided to postpone it. she wants her grandpa to do it and he couldn't make it out here, or someone she wanted here would not. so she is going to be staying with them in the summer and will get baptized then. so it's good, just wont include us.
the bishops soon was baptized on sunday and there was no room in the inn(well the room the font was in). we ended up sitting outside and then after he was babtized, they had us teach the restoration. it went fairly well. then the bishop's wife invited us over for dinner. we had homemade fried chicken. it was good.
i have a funny story that happened last week. we were talking with a member and she asked if we could help her take some stuff over to her best friends house(not a member). we heard some sort of muttering behind the door. her friend answers it and it turns out her husband came to the door looked out the peephole and said in a panicked voice, "it's louise, and she brought the mormon's." we all thought it was funny.
we also had this meeting with a member in our ward who lives in the same apartment complex as us. it turns out he has the Jehovah witnesses coming to his door and trying to teach him. he's told us he going to try to convert them instead. he was missionary at one point and he's says the biggest difference between us and them, is we have the spirit when we teach, and they try to convince everyone through there bible, unlike us who ask everyone to pray and ask if it's true. a way he discribed it is black and white.
the program we had was four older sisters and they talked about there mothers and i believe all of them were converts. it was really amazing. i haven't told you this yet, but some intersting history for the chucrh in virginia is, that it was all started by two families, the powers, and the amos's. one of them had 21 kids and they all tned to live in the same place. i met the powers awhile back and there's this long street and most of them live on it.
on friday we were tratcing and we were not being very successful. i knock on a door and someone answers it. i then gained the impression to talk about the book of mormon, and it turns out he's very intested in studying about different religions and he had never heard of it before and he wanted to read it. it was amazing.
well that's all for this week and i think it would be fine for grandma to email me. i always have spare time waiting for everyone else. i laos just realized i forgot my camera so no pitcures this week. hoepfully i can next week.
Elder Johnson