Great Place to Finish

January 5, 2015

Well, the transfers weren't a joke!  Yeeeesss!!   I am Elder Harrop's adopted dad here in Miramar 2.  Elder Harrop is great.  He is from Layton, Utah, is 19, can pitch 88 mph (but sorry, he's a Yankees fan) and has already learned Spanish quite well for being out for one transfer.  It is just perfect, because I wanted to be with an excited newbie that has high expectations, but he also has had enough time to where he has been able to get the hang of things. Elder Sarria, one of my first companions in the mission, is finishing this transfer as well and just so happens to be my district leader.  That's also pretty fun.  Our district is the biggest in the mission: six companionships.  Four of us are going to finish this transfer, and we are all in sixth gear. 

And my area, don’t even get me started on my area.  I love my area!  For those that understand Google maps, you will see that the ward is pretty huge.  We are in the northern tip of Lima, in the districts called Santa Rosa and Ancon.  The Miramar ward is all of Santa Rosa and Ancon put together.  My area is in Santa Rosa, and, (drum roll) it has the chapel!  It’s this beautiful new chapel that every single person in Santa Rosa has seen, and they all have this certain mysterious respect for the building.  People just naturally want to go to that place.  People here are also very humble and receptive.  It’s kind of strange, because I see a different kind of people here.  Even though most of them have to work far away from where they live, they prefer living there because it’s the first sign of quiet that you get in Lima.  So you get to see a type of very friendly people that just can’t take all of the noise of the world and are looking for some peace and quiet.  Doesn’t that sound like any missionary’s dream?

First off, Elder Harrop and his old companion were teaching Victor and Casandra for a while, and this week, they got their birth certificates and chose a day to get married and then get baptized!  Their baptismal date is for the 24th of January, so just pray for them in the meantime.  They are doing great.

Another nice experience we had this week was when we had to go to the bank as a zone in Puente Piedra, which is actually pretty far away.  While we were waiting in line, we said hi to the man in front of us and we started talking.  It turned out that the man, Juan Garcia, not only lived in our area that was so far away, but also that his adult daughter was a former investigator who went to church several times a few months back.  Juan is great, though we can only find him on weekends.  We taught him and he actually accepted a baptismal date as well.  The Lord really seems to know us, right?  He knows what we need, where we've been, and most importantly, where we're going.

Having a great time.  Love you!

Elder Johnson