Hola familia y amigos!!!

First and foremost, we just had an awesome miracle!! So I can't remember how much I have told you guys about Shannon, but she is an investigator we just got from the English Elders and she is going to be going to the singles ward. Well, she's pretty much soooooo awesome and could be baptized tomorrow. But the problem is that she wanted Elder Armstrong to baptize her and he isn't coming back to the mission until August. (yeah i'm pretty sure I already emailed this) But anyways, we got a call late last night that we couldn't answer from the English Elders and we just barely called them back this morning. They said that they were teaching Jack, her boyfriend, (because he is still in their ward) and at the end of the lesson Shannon came in. She asked one of the elders what day he was going to be leaving because he is about to go home and he said on the 25th of this month. Then she said that Elder Armstrong was actually not going to be able to come back and visit the mission so she wanted to get baptized earlier, and before he left if possible!!! So she is going to get baptized this month!!!! We are soo excited! As a zone we have a goal to get 5 baptisms this month and it wasn't looking like it was going to happen, but now it will! So cool.

So this week was pretty busy. On Thursday we had a zone training meeting. It was all about studying. It was perfect because just the day before me and Hermana Garner were talking about how we wanted to learn how to study better. It was really good. Pretty much what we did was spent an hour and half, almost 2 hours reading 2 pages of Preach my Gospel. If you really sit there and "escundrinar las escrituras" (scrutinize or pick apart the scriptures) then you can get sooo much out of them. So I have had this goal to read 5 pages in the Spanish scriptures every morning out loud and I have been doing really well at it. But I realized at this conference that that wasn't really helping me learn because I was just trying to read it really fast. So instead we learned a different way to study. Instead we learned that we should have a question in mind about one of our investigators while we are reading the chapter. Then begin with a prayer and ask that we will know how to help our investigators while we are reading. You get WAY more out of the scriptures when you do that. So it was really cool and I think it has helped my studies a lot. 

Then the next day we had a Spanish conference. It was way fun!! It was with all the Spanish missionaries in the mission and afterward we did a mission-wide exchange. The conference part was good, it was cool cause the whole thing was in Spanish and usually all of our meetings are in English. And we could do all the practices in Spanish too, which we usually can't do also. I was kind of scared to do the practices in Spanish, but I actually did really good! My group said that I was really good at Spanish for how long I've been out so that made me super happy. Then we went on exchanges and I went with Hermana Schwaggler, but stayed up here in San Clemente. It was the funnest exchange I have ever been on (out of all 2 of them). She reminds me a TON of Autumn. We didn't stop talking like the whole time and she is a really good missionary. I just felt really confident with her and super bubbly. Maybe I was just having withdrawals or something from not living with Autumn for so long and because she was so much like her my crazy side came out again, I don't know. But it was really fun. 

But yeah this week was awesome!! These next couple weeks are going to be awesome too! We are coming down to the wire, only 2 more weeks until all the changes are made! Yeah, I'm pretty much 100% positive both me and Hermana Garner will be staying up in the Irvine mission now, so we aren't nearly as stressed about that anymore. We really want to make sure Areli gets baptized in June like we have planned, but she has been really hard to find at home lately. And her mom might want her to wait for July so we are praying that we will be able to make it happen! We need her to get baptized to reach our goal for the zone! 

I love you all and I hope everyone is having a great week!

Les Quiero!

Hermana Johnson

Shrimp Soup

HOLA!!

This week has been awesome!! One of the better weeks here in the mission field. First and foremost I have some great news. I ate an entire bowl of a fish and shrimp soup!!! (yeah super weird, it was a fish soup. I have never heard of that before) There was like 8 pieces of shrimp in there and I ate it all!!! I thought everyone would be proud of me so i wrote it down in my planner so I would remember to tell everyone. :) Oh, and that doesn't necessarily mean that I liked all of it, but I ate it and that's what matters!

But on to more important things, today we were able to go to the temple for the first time. It was really awesome. We went to the Newport beach temple because that one is closer and it is suuper pretty. It is really small, but I like it a lot. It was really nice to be able to relax and just think for a while. You don't really ever get that opportunity in the mission. 

But we had another awesome miracle the other day! We received a golden refferel. A girl named Shannon Brady has been being taught by the English elders because she was going to a family ward with her boyfriend. But because her and her boyfriend want to start living the commandments, he moved out and she wants to start coming to the singles ward. So now we get to teach her! She is solid, she is for sure going to get baptized and she is really excited for it. The only problem is that she really wants Elder Armstrong to baptize her because he is the Elder that found her and taught her the longest, but he just went home and lives in New Zealand. But he is coming back at the end of August so that is when she wants to get baptized. So...we'll probably have to wait a while, but she is super awesome! I am really excited to teach her. 

Also we had another really good lesson with Giovani. We are definitely seeing progress with him. He pretty much told us that he wants to get baptized and that he really likes everything that we tell him and all this stuff, but that he doesn't know what to do about his wife. Because he really respects her and what she wants, cause he is a really good guy, but she is just super catholic. She is as catholic as we are mormon and she wants her kids to grow up that way and all this stuff. So it has been really hard for him lately because he doesn't want to lose his relationship, but he also wants to do the things we are telling him. He said at one point, "Seria muy bonita para ir a la iglesia con todo mi familia." (it would be super amazing to go to church with my whole family)  We have been talking about the family a lot and how we can have peace in the home and he wants that so badly! So we are really going to work with Candi a lot these next couple weeks. 

Anyways, this week was just really good. I love San Clemente, I love the people here, I love having the opportunity to work in the singles ward and in the spanish ward, and I have loved my mission so far! I know this gospel is true and I love sharing it with others. This next week is going to be awesome, we have a lot of cool training things this next week. 

Andre and Brian you are gruaduated!!!! O my gosh!!!!!! Brian you are going to be a missionary as of tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!! Suerte! Vas a ser bueno misionero! Recuerda que el campo blanco esta ya para la siegra!! :) Estoy muy emocionada por ti! 

Les Quiero mucho! Nos Vemos!

Hermana Johnson

Changes!!

Hola Familia!!

So this week we found out that this transfer is only going to be 5 weeks long instead of 6! They are doing that because on July 1st, (which is when transfers were going to happen) the new mission presidents are coming in and President Cook is leaving. President Cook wants everyone in their positions where he thinks they should be before the mission splits so the new mission presidents don't have to worry about all of that when the mission splits. This is a problem though because Tabby's baptism is set for June 30th, the last day of what we thought transfers were going to be, but now there is a pretty good chance one of us could be moved before her baptism! She can't switch it either because she has already told a ton of people and her family is coming up from Utah so they can't really move the date. Hermana Garner is freaking out. She'll probably be the one that moves and she has taught Tabby from the very beginning so she is going to be suuuuuuuuuuuuper sad, mad, and everything if she can't go. Plus we are giving a talk at the baptism as well so that would just really stink. Usually it would be fine because if you get moved to an adjacent stake in the mission you can go back and see the baptism, but there is a chance she will get moved into the Carlsbad mission to Escondido, which is not only like the furthest point away from us, but it will be in a different mission. Sooo we'll see what happens. She is actually really sad about it and we might call President to tell him the situation and just see if we can get permission for her to come back even if she does get moved out of the mission.

Oh and the other thing that is going to change is if I stay here in the Irvine mission they are going to do a 3 week transfer shift. So after we have this 5 week transfer we are going to have another transfer in 3 weeks after that. Yeah, so it's all going to be super crazy. I think they are doing that becuase we will be combining with 2 stakes of the Anaheim mission (i think) and I am guessing that is when their transfers are so we are going to get on track with them. Anyways, just a bunch of changes are going to happen and we have no idea what will happen. Ah!

But for the rest of the week...this week was a little bit slower than the past weeks. For some reason we had a ton of people cancel their lessons with us. Giovani didn't come to church this week though :( We had a couple really good lessons with some less actives where we were able to see their faith growing and we were able to see that we had made an impact on their life so that was super cool!

Yesterday was a super good day, we had lesson after lesson. For dinner we went to the Garcias becuase it was baby's birthday (yeah that's what they called him) It was sooo fun! I love the hispanic culture! Even though I didn't understand like 95% of what was going on because that family talks sooooooooo fast, it was still a blast! I have some pictures that maybe I'll send. Hermana Garcia and 2 of her sisters were there with all of their kids, and man do hispanics know how to party :)

Well I don't have much time, but I love you guys and I am super excited to see what happens with all the changes here in the mission!

Les Quiero,
Hermana Johnson

Milagros!!

GIOVANI CAME TO CHURCH!!!! Wahoo! We were so excited, he walked and Hermana Garner and I pretty much stopped in our tracks and just started smiling. He was suuuper nervous though for some reason. He didn't feel like he knew anybody and his wife was a little bit speculative of him coming. But he talked to a guy in the ward who invited him to stay for the rest of church after sacrament meeting and he said that he would come next week for the full 3 hours but that his wife was expecting him home. So he should be coming next week too!
This week was a really good one, seriously so many good things happened. Besides Giovani coming to church we also had a really good lesson with Areli. We had taught her the 10 commandments and the signs before and when we came back she was sooo excited to show us that she had them memorized and that she had been practicing all morning during school, haha. She is sooo cute! Then we watched the Joseph Smith movie about the restoration with her. I don't know, it was just really good. She told us how she felt this really good feeling when she read and prayed the other night, like through her whole body :D then at the end of the lesson she was like, so June 15th right? That's when I can get baptized! And she ran over and wrote it on the calendar. Seriously she is adorable. Now the problem is we need to get her mom on board with us so that she can come to church and so that her mom is supportive and everything. So please pray for her to come to church this week!
We also had a good lesson with Tabby's boyfriend. He is becoming really interested now in the things Tabby believes because she is about to get baptized so we taught him about the restoration and he was really receptive. There is a lot that would need to happen with him before he could get baptized, but hopefully through Tabby's example it will happen one day.
Oh yeah, I also played the piano in church last Sunday. Sister Staley White, a lady in our ward (she actually worked with Lindsey Christensen as a secretary or something like that at BYU) sings suuuper well and she asked me to accompany her. It turned out really pretty, I love accompanying people. It is like the only opportunity I get to play the piano!
Today is transfer day! I have already been out for a transfer, that means I've been gone 3 months officially. Super weird, it does not feel that long. I still feel like I just got here. This is President Cooks last transfer and the last transfer of the Carlsbad mission as it is right now. Its weird cause this transfer flew by, so all of these changes are going to happen really soon!
I'm sure there were more things that happened this week cause it really was a good one, but I can't think of them right now. But I love you guys and I hope all is well back in utah!!
Les Quiero!
Hermana Johnson

Feliz Dia De Los Madres!!!!

Hola Familia!!!

It was sooo good to talk to you guys this sunday! I was excited for it all day :) For a while I didn't think I was going to be able to talk to you because we couldn't get the password to work in the church, and I was going to be really mad. But we got everything worked out! I feel like I already told you mostly what is going on here, but here is a recap and a couple other things!

Something exciting that I forgot to tell you is that we finally set a baptismal date for Tabby! WAHOO! It was actually really hard to set. She talks sooooooo much, seriously. Even more than Autumn (haha just kidding :P). But ever since I have been here, we have only been able to teach her the plan of salvation, and part of the gospel (faith). Its good cause we are really good friends, so she tells us everything, but its bad cause she literally tells us everything so it takes forever. But the other day we went over and I was like, "Hey, let's plan your baptism! You can choose who does everything!" And she was really excited for that (she wants like 4 talks, 3 musical numbers, etc. its hilarious, i love it) So we sat down and started planning it, and then finally I was like, "Tabby you're going to need to start calling people so we should have a date to tell them when this is going to happen." And finally she chose the 30th of June! Man, we had been trying to get her to set a date the last 3 times we went over there. But we are really excited because that is the day before President Cook goes home and we have a goal to get 235 baptisms by then, and to do that every set of missionaries needs to have at least one baptism, so we are going to get one! She is really excited, I am really excited for her.

We also set a baptismal date for this little girl named Areli. She is the cutest girl ever. Seriously, she's 11 and she is just adorable. We taught her about baptism and everything and she really wants to get baptized. Now we just need to figure out a way to get her to church and get her friends and stuff because her mom is really busy and works on Sundays so she never has a ride. Her mom is really nice and we are trying to teach her too, but she mostly just likes us and is just always leaving so she doesn't really listen that much. But if we can get Areli to church this Sunday and get her some friends, she will be baptized too! Her date is June 15th, so hopefully that will go through as well.

There's also this other family that we are working with. It is kind of an interesting situation. Our zone leaders were teaching a recent convert named Selene who was baptized in Texas just a couple months ago. They have been working with her and somehow started teaching her whole family. Its weird though cause her dad is athiest, her mom is a devout catholic, and she, even though she is baptized, doesn't have a testimony at all. She used to be satanist, athiest, and all this stuff, but I think she just made some good friends in Texas who were nice so she got baptized. What's interesting though, is that our lessons with them are usually always really good. That dad is the most into the lessons. From all the questions that he asks he seems really interested and like he wants to change and stuff, but I don't know, sometimes it also feels like he thinks we're crazy or something. Selene and her dad don't get along at all, and so we started meeting with Selene by herself so that we can figure out the story of their family. The dad has told us multiple times though, that if he gets an answer that the book of mormon is true that he will be baptized. So he definitely has potential.
Oh and we found out this week that one of our investigators in the YSA ward who we set a baptismal date with and we were super excited about, is in jail. I guess he was caught with drugs on the military base for the third time in a row. So we don't know if we'll ever be able to see him again or not.

The work is going really well here. We have a lot of people that we are working with, we just need to figure out how to resolve all of their concerns a little bit better. I feel like we have a lot of fence sitters right now and we need to somehow figure out how to help them realize the importance of our message. The gospel is true and it is going to bless their lives soooo much! So we need to help them realize that a little bit better. But pray that we will be able to have 2 baptisms before President Cook leaves. Tabby and someone else, that is my goal. I love you guys and it was really good to see everybody! I can't believe college is out and high school is almost out. Brian, you have the Priesthood!!! And you are going on a mission in pretty much 3 weeks!!! Let me know when you go to the temple because that is sooo exciting! I love you guys and I will talk to you next week.

Les Quiero Mucho!
Hermana Johnson

Hola!!

Hola!! Como Esta!?

I went on my first exchange this week! I was suuuuper nervous about it before it happened. I don't feel like I know my area because I am never paying attention when we are driving cause I'm on the phone, and I was going to have to lead everything and teach in spanish without my companion. The person I went on exchanges with is a native speaker though, so I don't even know why I was worried. But it went great! I was right, I didn't know my area and we probably flipped like 20 u-turns, but hey, we survived it and eventually arrived where we needed too. And I lead almost everything and I was fine! It was actually a really good confidence booster, that I can do it and that I can think of things to say when I need to.

Another cool thing that happened this week was that we had Zone Conference. It was really cool, I learned a lot and I realized a lot of things that I need to work on, which is good I guess :) There is this one Elder that is about to go home, Elder Armstrong, who is such a stud! He is the best missionary I have ever seen and he just really knows his stuff, has such a strong testimony, and you can tell is just completely lost in the work. He reminds me of you Clint. From what your mission president told me, I picture you being exactly like him. That is what I want to be like when I am about to go home.

In Zone Conference we learned a lot about people's desires and how we can better focus on and figure out what people's real desires are. After Zone Conference we had a lesson with Giovani, one of our investigators who we really think will get baptized but he is just not progressing for some reason. It was the first time we were able to meet with him in a while and so we decided to use what we learned and figure out his desires. It was awesome! He spent like an hour almost just talking about his concerns and that he knows that he needs to do these things, but that he is scared because of his wife and all these things. We have really been trying to get him to church and when we asked him to say the prayer at the end (which he never does, but he did this time :D) he asked that he would have the strength to start praying everyday, reading, and that he would have strength to come to church!! It was sooo awesome! We honestly didn't even teach him, which was the cool part, we probably both talked for less than 5 minutes combined and we were there for an hour. Just by asking the right sorts of questions he taught himself. Super cool. So if you could keep him in your prayers so that he can come to church this Sunday that would be awesome!

A lot of other things happened, but those are the most important. I love you guys and I am super excited to talk to you on Sunday! We are seeing a lot of miracles here in San Clemente and I know its because of everyone's prayers. So thank you!!

Les Quiero Mucho!
Hermana Johnson

A Calmer Week

This week was quite a bit calmer, not as many things were going on. But it was still a super good week. A couple really cool things happened. First of all, our investigator Tabby just told us that she has read enough of the Book of Mormon to know that it is true and that she is ready to get baptized whenever! Wahoo! We were really excited. We will set a date with her next time we go over and see her.
So I don't know if I told you but our mission has a goal to reach 300 baptisms before June 30th because that is when our mission president leaves. Well we just had a zone conference yesterday where we were told that we are reevaluating that goal and changing it to 235 baptisms. All the leaders in the mission got together and had a super spiritual impression and experience that we needed to change that goal. So if every companionship gets one baptism before June 30th we will reach that goal and be on track to have 600 baptisms for the year. I'm super pumped about it! Me and Hermana Garner have a goal to get 2 more baptisms before then, and hopefully three. So pray for us to be able to achieve that!
We had an activity with our Spanish ward this week that was super fun. I love the Hispanic culture, they are sooo nice and they know how to have fun. We just played a simple game called "Tengo un Amigo" and they loved it!! It's the game where you say, "I have a friend that is wearing a blue shirt." And then everyone wearing a blue shirt has to get up and switch seats. We could have played it for hours and they still would have loved it, it was awesome.
Nick got the priesthood this week! And he had his interview to go to the temple so that he can go with the ward next week! He's pretty excited about it.

We have an investigator named Giovani that we have been working with for a super long time. We really need him to come to church so that he can continue progressing. Will you pray for him? Thank you!
I don't have any more time, but I love you all and I am doing super good. Oh yeah, they are doing this really cool thing with the sister missionaries now. I  don't know that much about it, but they have called 'sister training leaders' who pretty much act as district leaders for the sisters. They are assigned to go on exchanges and just work with the sisters that they are over. Super cool. I think it will be really awesome. Ok, well I love you all and have a great week!
Hermana Marci Johnson