November 17, 2014
Well, I will say that it's a
little weird to write you all right after seeing all of the transfers.
Unless President Archibald is playing another practical joke on the offices
again (I don't think so, because that would be three transfers straight), Elder
Feller is leaving the offices. I was really bummed to see it, because we
had all gotten to the point to where we assumed that he would just stay there
forever. But whatever. The Trebol zone needs him badly. Also,
the other good news is that my new companion is going to be great, Elder
Fierro. He's from Surco, the southern part of Lima, and he speaks even
better English than Elder Feller. So, we're going to have a good time
here still.
On another note, I
can't believe I forgot to tell you all last week. I just passed one of
the most embarrassing moments of my life about a week and a half ago. One
night I had to go to the offices to do the mission newsletter. It was
about ten
o’clock, and one of the missionaries,
Elder Aldana, left out the front door to go to the room on the second
floor. About 10 minutes later, I heard someone fiddling with his keys
just outside the door, and I thought "wow, I'm gonna get Elder Aldana
good." I hid behind the door to scare him the way Spencer always
scared me, and I ended up doing a pretty good scare. The only problem was
that it wasn't Elder Aldana at the door. It was President
Archibald. Elder Feller said that it was probably the funniest thing he
has ever seen on his mission. I gave an awkward apology a while later, but
he just laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I have ten
kids."
Anyway, this week was
very interesting. Elder Feller and I have been finding more than ever
this transfer, but we hadn't had a single person come to church. We
fasted for a miracle on Saturday, and it came. On Friday, we gave a balloon animal to a little girl named Faviola (don't
worry, she was with her parents). We invited them to accompany us to
church, and they accepted. The surprise was that they were actually
waiting for us Sunday morning to come with us. We finally had a whole family
come to church with us! The great part was seeing the members come up to
greet them. They were so excited to see a new family. The ward just
needs to see a few more new faces of families and then they will be able to
understand missionary work. Bringing single people honestly doesn’t give
the same effect.
There are a few other
families that I think can do that trick. This week, we were passing by an
investigator’s house who kind of seemed to be avoiding us, and instead we
talked to her sister’s family. In the end, they accepted the invitation
to do a 20-minute Family Home Evening right then and there. It was
honestly one of the sweetest things in the whole world. We just have this
classic FHE plan, and it was great. We shared the scripture about praying
with your families, and they admitted that in their ten years of marriage, they
had never done a full family prayer before. So they had their first one
at the end. Then we played telephone and another quick game (I thought
the little girl was going to die laughing), and then the mom admitted that she
didn’t remember having played a game as a family before. Then we said
"Well, now you will every week, right?" Before leaving, all
four of them asked when we can come back. I think they will come next
week. It's just the strangest thing in the world, because some of the
most spiritual experiences I have felt is while teaching a family how to do a
dumb game together. You can just feel how the Lord feels towards those
families.
Alfonso has a family
that we want to attend church this week, and there was this great contact of a
Cuban guy yesterday. They all show real potential to progress, along with
the family that came to church on Sunday,
the Palominos. The real struggle is getting people to church, but I think
this is the week. It will be stake conference, and a Seventy is coming to
talk, so it will be the perfect opportunity. I just need you to pray for
them to come to church. If they can come to church, they can get it all
done. I really think that this is the week.
Sorry for boring you,
but it's amazing how it just occupies my mind 24/7. It's hard to be
trunky when there are just great people here to be thinking about. I love
this so much. I just know that there are whole families that want to make
this covenant before I go home, and it’s like I've been learning my whole
mission for these last few months.
Loving life. This
week's going to be great.
Thanks for always
praying for me—I can always feel it.
Love you all!
Elder Johnson
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