Christmas eve

Hello and merry merry christmas to you all!! I hope all of you have thoroughly enjoyed you week and I hope that Jack frost hasn't bitten off any of y'alls ears or toes.

I am always enchanted by this time of the year. But this christmas is way different...its around 90 degrees outside, lots of sun, and people selling bananas on the side of the street still strikes to my cheyenne wyoming side of my personality as summer. It's one of the most confusing things I've faced here as a missionary in Madagascar. But on the flip side there are a lot of things here that the christmas in the US and the christmas here have in common. The people are so amazingly courteous, they never go one instant without saying hello to us, even if it's in french. I was walking back to my apartment today and it absolutely tore my heart to shreds and shards when I saw a little malagasy boy with dirt riddling his hair and rips ravage his clothes with his arms extended and his hands cupped, asking me if I had anything to give. It reminded of one of the saviors teachings to his disciples in the new teastment, "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven". I wish with all the remorse and earnesty of my humble heart that I could've given all that I had to him, even the clothes covering my back. But, if I had given to him then other people would've selfishly assumed that the money was free game, so I was constrained to hold it in. How easily the natural man turns unstable in all his ways, and how foolishly he deals with his fellow men when they bargain for their salvation with the world as dogs to their vomit. I know that Jesus christ never would forsake any of his fellow beings. If he did, his sacrifice for our abominations would be invalid and gods plan of redemption would become corrupt. Every day I pray and pour out my soul's  inexpressible gratitude for his infinite patience and undaunted perseverance. He is forever my hero and he will forever be my king.

Here's what has transpired this past week in Mahamasina 2, Antananarivo, Madagascar:

Tuesday:Tuesday was a frenzy. We were everywhere that day and it was kind of a big mess. I don't really remember all of it other than we did a lot of walking and we only taught a little bit that day...We did not get the chance to write in our planners for that day because we were far too busy for planning, so for those of you who are preparing to go on missions, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to plan every morning RELIGIOUSLY for at least 10 to 20 minutes. It will save you a lot of time and energy.

Wednesday: We taught francois again that day and it didn't rain again on this wednesday...There was hardly any rain this week and the sun gave me a few tender spots on my neck. We talked with her about her interest with us and her commitment to getting a baptimsal date. She said she was still thinking about getting a date and that she would get back to us about it. I was a little bit sad because when investigators do this, it generally means that they don't really care and they eventually drop us. But, you'll never know until they actually give you an answer so I'm going to wait for her response. It's a emotional roller coaster anticipating their desicions.

Thursday: This was a really fun day! We started it off with district council and we played scriptures jeopardy. My team won but that really was because elder Leishman was on my team and He is a scripture genius...Me, not so much. XD  After that we went and ate out...again. The fast food here is getting tastless and bland. I wish I had a say in what we eat, but elder keener really doesn't like taking suggestions because he is really tired a lot and I don't blame him for not wanting to take suggestions. We went and stopped by a members house, Soeur Flourina. She was just talking to us about her voting decision for a new president here in madagascar. She said that she voted for Andry and someone (A member actually) cussed her out and was really mean to her. I felt super bad for her and I wanted to comfort her but elder keener really just wanted to get along with the lesson so we did that instead and that made me mad. I really detest of some of the things that he does, and it's not because I view him as mean or selfish. I just don't like it because I'm not used to the way he does things. I pray every day that I can be more christlike and accept him for who he is. I know I am by no means a perfect person, and that we are all beggars from the same god, so that just tells me that I have no room to complain and just move forward with my mission. We walked all the way to paraky that day (Paraky is malagasy for tobacco) and paraky is around 2 miles away from where we live so it was pretty far. We had dinner with a nice member, Soeur Saondra. She served us some cold macaroni with potatoes and some smoothies. It was really good. The members here are super supportive of missionary work and I just love it so much. I hope it can always stay that way here in madagascar.

Friday:On this day we got the zone leaders to come with me, elder keener, elder latola, and elder allen to a service project that lasted for around 3 hours. We had to rebuild a brick wall that had been knocked over by a passing monsoon. It reminded me of the cyclone now incoming for madagascar in about a month, and how that will be one of many walls tumbled down, which is kind of a sad thought. The way they make cement is really cool. They get a bucket of water and mix some dirt with the water until the dirt is pasty and becomes mud. Then they slather the mud on top of the remaining bricks and place more bricks on top. It actually works really well and if a monsoon ever crosses through wyoming I will definitely use that technique. I helped destroy the broken bricks and while I was doing that some malagasy kids came and asked me to play some games with them, so I played hide and seek with them, I had them race, I played a local game called vaky vaky ny koko (break the coconut). After that we went to the bishops house for review of our weekly planning and we ate at his house.

Saturday: We had around 10 baptisms in our ward and the manakambahiny ward and elder keener and latola got to baptise while Elder allen and I watched. I wanted to baptise some of those little kids, but I knew in the lords due time I would get the chance. We had to help set up chairs and put them away, and I decided to go to the little party after some little kids baptism. I noted a piano sitting lonely in the corner of the room with the cover off and the power on. This was my cue. I walked over to the piano and played the spirit of god without music for the first time in my life. This was also the first time I played the piano in madagascar. Everyone loved it. I was flooded with people on either side of me as I left and I felt the reception of the holy ghost confirming to me that I had righteously utilized a precious gift graciously given to me from god.

Sunday: On this day we had only one hour church and we had an investigator come to church for the first time and he loved it! My breath was literally taken away from me when I saw lalina approaching me and elder keener. We had a couple youth talks on the temple and christmas and the bishop talked about the greatest gift of christmas. He did a fantastic job and by this point I pretty much understood all of his words. After church we had the baptism of the girl Lalina. It was a very nice experience. We got to go to different people's houses that day and we ate a TON TON TON of rice. My stomach was going to burst if i ate another morsel of rice.

I just want to note something that has been on my mind a lot. The miracle of christmas and Jesus Christ. In the premortal life, jesus offered his life on earth as a sacrifice for the remission of our sins and wrongdoings. Satan wanted us to be enslaved by his diabolical yoke of bondage and swipe the glory for himself. He was thrust out of heaven and became satan. Jesus Christ had taken upon himself the most crucial part of the plan of salvation: The role of a savior. He was born in the city of David in a manger. He lived his life and did his very best in all things. He was baptised to fufill all righteousness. He was persecuted. He was befriended. He taught the beatitudes. He was betrayed. He bled great drops of blood from every last pore in the garden of gethsemane. He was scourged, tried before. He was smitten. Spit upon. Mocked. Tortured. He carried a wooden cross to golgatha, or the place of the skull. There, he was nailed painfully and excrutiatingly to the cross. He was raised up. He said to his mother standing in the croud amidst his suffering, "Woman, behold thy son!" He plead with the father to forgive those that had despicably hurt him, to bless those who had cursed him. He cried "Eloi, eloi, lama sabacthani?" "My god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" He finished his mortal ministry and sealed the title of christ he was entrusted to from the beginning with the words "It is finished."

I humbly Implore you all, to please consider this amazing story of incomprehensible love. It couldn't have just happen by mistake. It was not a spontaneous event triggered by the fantasized explosive inflation of the universe. It was not programmed by the so-called users who speculatively launched the universe as a simulation on a computer. It was not a package sent to us expedited on amazon prime from an unknown being. It was a MIRACLE. It was an eternal, sublime, precious miracle. Please ponder this,

I love you all! Have a great holiday

Merry chistmas from Elder David Johnson

December 17th 2018

Hello all amazing people!!!

No words can properly express the excitement and anticipation for this moment I have been waiting for all week! I enjoy every moment of doing this and I have to because the time slips by like sand through my fingers. I can't wait to tell all that has happened!

Let's get to it!

Tuesday: On this day I started to notice that I am starting to get the hang of this language. I can start to understand the people more clearly and ask more questions and incorporate more words into my vocabulary. I was able to teach an entire restoration (no help included) to an investigator named lalina. He is very solid and very ready for the gospel of Jesus christ. Elder Keener was proud of me which was also a tiny little thing I was shooting for! It rained a little bit that day, which was a precursor to the following day, when it poured buckets!

Wendesday: On this day, it poured rain a whole lot. I was at the top of the hill with elder keener when it started to rain again and I was very happy and grateful that we got some moisture. We went and visited a lady named anastasia and she is someone we recently found to teach. We taught a lot to her about prophets and authority. She seemed to understand a lot of it, and she also loved our message, which was really good. After her we went finding a little bit, and something you have to understand about malagasy children is they are always wanting to hang out with white people. With us being the white people, we were at the center of the spotlight. The children always made me laugh as they asked me for a donadona kely (little fist bump). I love the malagasy kids, but elder keener not so much. He is really set on getting from one place to another without delay, so to him the kids are a little bit of a drag but I love the kids and it honestly teaches me a lot about how to be perfect and happy. Madagascar has taught me so much about temperance and patience and humility that I would spend too much time naming all the things that have already helped me to become a better person.

Thursday:On this day, we had district meeting and we talked a lot about our areas with elders oberhansley and leishman. They are the zone leaders for our zone and they are amazing. After the district meeting we went to a little restaurant called fish and chips and I bet what y'all could guess what we got! After that, we went out to go finding and we stopped by this one man at an eppisserie who was drunk (I didn't know until afterwards). He started trying to break us down saying stuff like madagascar would still have the gospel even if god didn't send missionaries like us down here. I tried to explain to him more, but he just rebelled, so we left. I didn't want to have another experience like pablo again.

Friday: We met up with an investigator named francois and she is really curious about the gospel but she's a little bit wishy washy about it. We went to her house and shared a vatsim-panahy (Spiritual thought) and invited her to be baptised. She said she would think about it, but we are fairly confident she will say yes to that. The gospel is so amazing and I couldn't be more happy to be preaching that word to his children to the far corners of the earth.

Saturday: I went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with elder leishman while elder keener went with elder oberhansley. Elder Leishman and I taught the somewhat fluent class about tongue twisters, space, mathematics, and a lot more. We had lots of fun and ate out at fish and chips again afterewards. I had to lead elder leishman around mahamasina 2 for the first time without my trainer, and I was able to get 2 out of 3 lessons done. I was so glad I could talk to someone who actually understood my feelings and respected them, because I really don't have that privelige with elder keener. I still pray for him every day and I still love him with all my heart.

Sunday:we had fotoam-bavaka and fracois came to church! She actually had a hard time with that commitment and with sone other things but she actually came to church and we were both so very happy about that! Elder keener had to do a couple of baptism interviews with some other 9 year olds. They all passed, which was good. After church we went to a members home in manakambahiny and it was awesome. The person who makes the food always makes us a mountain of rice with some sort of topping with it and its awesome. The name of the member is andie and she's getting ready to go on a mission, and i'm so happy that she has made that desicion to serve the lord.

Everytime I stand in the middle of the busiest streets in Antananarivo, I think of how many people are actually on the earth, and all the necessities that are needing to be met. When I look at the children, I think of how selfless and brilliant and strong they are as friends and as individuals. Everytime I see someone holding their hand out to me on the street begging for food or money, I can't help but feel my heartstrings get plucked out of their places because they are in so much need and I want to help them so bad. I know they are in good hands though, because two thousand years ago in the city of David, a savior was born to a virgin. His name was called emmanuel, or Jesus. He was born to take on himself the sins and struggles of the world. Only HE knows what it is like to hold out his hand for food and money on the streets of a third world county in a prefect manner. Only HE knows what it is like to lose a son to brain cancer, to contract a terminal illness, to lose a job, to have his home burn to ashes, to have his town washed away by a tsunami, to have a tornado rip a loved one from his grasp. He knows your pain perfectly, and he can help you see the good in this world like a flashlight in the dark. It is a gift so precious, so divine, we must always remember to use it. We always say each sunday I will take his name upon me that I may have his spirit when we eat the bread and drink the water, but what does it mean to you as an individual? I invite you all to ponder that as the chirstmas season passes. I humbly express my small yet fervent witness that Jesus christ is the savior and redeemer of the world. I know that he is our only hope of coming home safely. If we choose to embrace the ultimate gift of repentance and hope, he will guide us to the farthest reaches we need to go to. I know this to be true, and I invite all who read these words to come to know it for themselves.

God bless you all my friends!

Elder Johnson

December 10, 2018

Hello Everyone!

This week has been fantastic, and i have been waiting all week for this moment to share what has transpired the last 7 days! I hope that everyone has had a great week and I hope that it's not too cold in the USA. But, lets get into what happened!

Tuesday: Elder Keener and I went out to a members home and their names are suzanne and francois. Francois and suzzane are both inactives that we have been trying to get to come back to church. Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of time with them, as it started to rain considerably hard. So, we had to cut that meeting pretty short. But, overall we had a pretty spiritual experience with them. We also went to a place in Tana called Tsimbazaza where we usually go to knock on doors, but we went to go visit another member. They weren't home, unfortunately. We did a lot of walking around that day, and in my area, mahamasina is probably about 3/4 of a mile uphill and down. I walk around 3 or 4 miles a day or more.

Wednesday: That day was by far the raniest and coolest day of my mission.

Elder Keener and I were out finding when the rain just started pouring! And it wasn't stopping! We had to hide under little episserie roofs in order to shelter ourselves from the rain. We had to very carefully make our way down the little mountain with the water rushing from behind us. It was practically like a little waterslide from 6 flags. When we had gotten to the bottom of the hillm we saw that the streets had been completely flooded and that some of the taksibes were swamped from the rain. The natives were telling us to stay on the center of the meridian, but at that point there really wan't a meridian. We came home and stayed home for the rest of the day. All of my clothes were sopping wet and when I took off my shoes they were fillled with little puddles. It was a very interesting experience. It was really amazing because I love the rain and I just felt so blessed because madagascar is in great need of water.

Thursday: It rained a whole lot AGAIN and this time we didn't stay home. We went out to go visit another investigator, lucy. We knocked on her door and taught her another restoration lesson. She is really solid but she needs to be able to understand us a little more because she doesn't really understand a whole lot about preisthood authority. I came home again that day will tiny little puddles in my shoes from all the rain and puddles.

Friday:I was cleaning a little bit on this day when I noticed a few things next to my bed. for the past few weeks I have been bittien by an unknown bug in the night. Butm as I was making my bedm I noticed that I had killed what had been biting me and sucking my blood: Cockroaches. The bites were big and red with a redder dot in the center of the bite. They were very itchy and painful, but if Elder keener heard me say something about it he wouldn't really care about it much so I didn't say anything. (I don't really think he knows it, but he has taught me a lot about patience already). We went out again and tracted some more, and to our pleasent surprise we were able to find 4 new people to teach! I am so grateful for the chance I have had to find some new people to teach here in madagascar.

Saturday:We taught english class from 10 to noon on this day and I can already tell that my malagasy is getting better by the day as long as I am trying my hardest at it. I taught 25 kids in a little classroom with elder keener about elements and the alphabet. Before we had english class, Elder keener aqnd I taught our most progressing investigator, lalina. She is set to be baptised next saturday. We practiced the baptismal interview with her that day and sunday. She is a sweet young lady and I can't wait to see her get baptised.

Sunday; We had sacrament meeting and while the sacrament was being passed out I let a little malagasy kid draw in my notebook because he wanted to draw in it and He wanted to sit next to us. We sat through elders quorum and gospel priciples. We learned about the last war that happens when satan is loosed for a little season. I was really interesting, and It taught me some new great and meaningful words.

Well, I hope this was very entertaining for you all and somewhat spiritually edifying. I love you all and hope you have a great fantastic week!

Mazotoa!

Elder Johnson

Miracles

This week I had an incredible experience that I thought was worth sharing and that I felt like was a miracle.  Saturday night around 12 am (10 am Saturday Morning in Mada) I woke up.  It felt like I was jolted out of sleep and I sat up wondering what was going on.  I felt some strange feeling, like something was wrong, but the house was completely silent.  I sat in bed looking around wondering what the feeling was that I was experiencing, when all the sudden I knew I had to get out of bed and pray for my boy in Mada.  I woke up Enoch and told him we needed to pray for David and so we did.  I felt better but I couldn't help but wonder what was going on.  Knowing that the Lord would take care of David, I decided that everything was resolved and that he would be ok.  Fast forward to this morning when I got to chat with David about my experience (and if you read his email) he mentions that they were lost in Madagascar at 10 am (midnight our time) and that it was a miracle that they were able to find their way.  David also said that there was a group of people who looked pretty unsavory as they found themselves completely lost.  I was so happy that I was jolted awake to pray for him so he could be protected.  Other miracles have been taking place in our home and in other areas that are too personal to share here, but I feel like a flood of blessings is pouring down on us right now.  Sometimes I am so blown away by the blessing that I find myself in a little bit of shock, like it couldn't be real, like you're still trying to wrap you're head around it.  I do believe in miracles. So many have happened in the last year, it would be hard to count.  I'm grateful for this experience that has taught me more fully about the power of prayer and that even though we can't communicate through phone, we are still very much in touch! Praise be to God for His tender mercies and gifts that bring me so much joy and happiness!

December 3, 2018

Hello y'all!

This week has been amazing! I know I say that every time, but it still is! I love madagascar, the contrast of culture has taken its toll on me and as a result i don't really feel a culture shock here anymore. Also, i've pretty much gotten over my sickness which is really good.

Here's the fill-in for the past week...

Tuesday:Elder Keener and I had to tract a lot since a lot of our appointments fell through. It was a little disappointing, but it gave me a chance to improve my malagasy a little more. I am not quite mahay (fluent) yet in the language, but it's coming quick to me! I can understand quite a bit know that I am fully 100% immersed in the language. That night we had dinner at a members home and had some soup, I'm not sure what was in the soup, but what I do know is that the pepper I ate afterwards was super hot! Its called the (and I don't know if this is completely right) sakai pepper. It's actually hotter than a habenaro, and just a few weeks ago I had a habenaro pepper, but the sakai pepper gave me little blisters on my lips afterewards. Yeah! It was fun!

Wednesday-Friday:Lots and lots and LOTS of walking, talking, and member-meeting-up-with. The only reason I am combining these days is because i cant really tell the difference between these days. But, there was a specific day where I got called vazaha a lot, and it ticked me off!! I have learned to kind of ignore it when the people call me that. 

Saturday:Craziest day of the week! (Or the weekend?) We were invited to a fanambadiana (wedding) and it lasted from 10:30 AM to 3:00 pm. The wedding was crazy fun! I never danced because it's against the rules in the white handbook, and neither did any of the other elders. Before the wedding (so right around 10) we got seriously lost. But, we were blessed when I think it was Elder keener that found the way to the wedding. It was a miracle, it would've been a long day if we didn't find it. 

After the fanambadiana, I had to go on splits with one of the zone leaders for a baptismal interview. I went with an elder named elder oberhansley, and after we went to a lesson, I crossed around a concrete corner, and a chicken flew up against the wall right next to me due to the fact that elder oberhansley scared it, and then it slapped me in the face, full contact. I doubled over for a second, and I heard, "Elder Johnson, are you okay?", and I went, "Yeah, I think it might've scratched me." It hadn't luckily. That rest of the day was filled with more and more blessings.asthe day went by.

Sunday: Fast and Testimony meeting! I didn't bear my testimony, but I will next time! I promise. After the fotoam-bavaka (sacrament meeting) elder keener and I taught the young single adults. we taught an investigator about fahafolonkarena (tithing) and she understood a lot about it. After church, I was walking around with elder keener and we had to go to a members house to give a blessing. After the blessing, we went home. When we were walking home, we were going down some stairs, and it was pretty dark outside. I made a wrong move, and plopped my meaty left leg right into a poop river puddle about to my knee. I was trying to walk it off, but the smell didn't leave. I won't describe it more, but the whole experience was humbling. Elder keener was chewing me out saying that it happens all the time and that I needed to stop whining about it. I guess he knows what he's talking about.

This morning, I was able to go to the zoo with Elders Latola, Keener, and Allen. It was really fun, because I got to have some lemurs climb off me and lick some honey off my arms and face. I'll have to send some pictures next week, because the computers here don't accept USB. Walking out from the zoo, Elder allen got pooped on by some storks from about 50 feet up. It was pretty funny, and we had a good time.

Well, that's all there is for now! I would sure love to hear from y'all about your weeks! Have a great one, and I'll talk to y'all later.

Love y'all, 

Elder Johnson

The trip to Mada

Over 10,000 miles, 24 hours of air travel and a total of around 40 hours of total travel time, David arrived safely in madagascar. He called me in Johannesburg at 8 am his time in good spirits and ready to be done with travel for a while. He said, "the flight was brutal!" It was so nice to hear his voice and hear his laugh. With about twenty missionaries eager to call home, we only got a few minutes but that's ok, we get to talk again on Christmas day! He was met at the airport in mada by his mission president, president Duckworth and some other senior missionaries. Here we go!

A letter to Momma

I received this email this morning as I woke up.  Honestly I didn't sleep very good last night knowing it was probably preparation day in Mada and David would most likely be trying to email me.  I know in Mada David and I will probably not be able to chat back and forth on pday.  But this morning a miracle happened when I woke up, he had just sent me an email from a cyber.  I was overjoyed to get to chat with him for about an hour and talk about what Mada is like and how he's been doing.  I'm not sure if it helped me or made me a little depressed, but I was grateful to know how I can pray for him. He's definitely seeing the reality of a 3rd world country and as I think about what he's experiencing I can't help but feel blessed to have so much. My heart is a little bit heavy today, but I can't wait to hear about all the success he will have and all the amazing things he will see and experience.  Here's the email I got when I woke up...tears...he still calls me momma!!

hey momma...

Its your boy here in madagascar from the big island. 

I miss you so much, and madagascar really only reminds me of your true love as a mother and dads true love as a father. 

I see all the amazing mothers breast feeding their babys in the dirty streets and on the busses despite all their oppisition. I see all the women at work at the rice patties and at work washing their clothes and preparing all their meals. I see them playing with their children and loving them so much. It all just comes washing back to me like an emotional tsunami as i remember all that you have done for me. I can't thank you enough. 

The jet lag has made me so tired and the air here smells like poop and trash and gasoline and anything that smells, but the malagasy people here are just so friendly and so kind, I wish you could meet them.

I know wyoming is early in the morning now, so I'll let you get back to sleeping. 

Love you love you...

1st email from Tana!

Hello everyone!!!

So I finally made it to madagascar! Its so crazy! The people here are so amazingly happy and courteous. I love them all so much, I can't explain in words the emotions and feelings i am experiencing right now. Its almost overwhelming. But enough of that, lets get down to what happened in these past two weeks.

two mondays ago, it snowed hard in tucumcari and elder ward and I were out in the morning to help out with shoveling snow out of peoples driveways. I loved it, and while we were shoveling this one ladys house, a man from the newspaper company came and took our pictures and wrote down our names. He told us he might put us on the paper, but it wasnt a definite thing. Later that week, I found our companionship on the front page of the local newspaper. Later on in that week, i said goodbye to my investigators as I prepared to go to madagascar. Nothing else really happened that weekm but to be honest I really miss Tucumcari and I especially miss Elder Ward and his amazing missionary spirit. 

Last monday, Elder ward and I got into our 2018 toyota tacoma and drove from tucumcari to amarillo. It would be the last time on my mission i would see tucumcari. 

I was able to have some fun with the zone leaders before they had to drive me to the airport at 4 pm, and that was really fun. 

And then, they dropped me off. 

I said goodbye to one of my best friends, one of the best people i have ever known: Elder ward. I will miss him so much, and I still do. We took one last picture, exchanged hugs and goodbyes, and then we parted ways. 

I got to the lobby section of the airport, and as soon as I set my personal bag down, a flight attendant by the name of Juneah bought me some food, and I felt super blessed. She said she felt my burden because she had served in wasington D.C. At 6 pm, I boarded the plane and flew to dallas, texas. There, I met up with Elders wilkes, mano, and smith. It was so nice to see them after 3 months of not seeing them since the MTC. At 10 pm, we boarded the plane headed to London, England. And I am here to tell you, dear friends, that riding in an aluminum tube 5 miles in the air going over 500 miles per hour for 9 hours isnt exactly the most comfortable thing to experience. I was riding with british airlines, and I liked the british feel a lot. I even almost accepted some of their tea at 2 in the morning. About halfway through the flight (4 hours), I wanted to look out the window to see the atlantic ocean, but one of the flight attendants told me not to look outm because it was about to be morning. 

My jaw dropped.

And after a little while, so did my brainwaves.

We landed in London, and I wanted to call my parents so bad, but no one hade a working mobile phone. It was a little bit frustrating, but I figured I could at least call them in my next destination, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

I was able to meet up with the rest of my MTC buddiesm including all of the elders from the MTC that came after us. They are really cool.

By the way, if my grammar or spelling is a little weird, its because I'm not using a english keyboardm so my apologies.

Anyways, we boarded the plane to go to South Africa at 4 or 5 pm. This flight was actually 2 times more tiring and confusing to my body than the first flight. I had a man on the left of me that really only spoke afrikaans and another man on the right that only spoke the language spoken in ghana. Both sound asleep. The man in front of me had his seat stuck in the reclining position for the entire flight. And whats more, my seat wouldnt recline. It was as if captain literally from studio c came and restored his balace requisite to save the universe or whatever. One seat would only recline, one wouldnt. I was stuck in the same position sleepless for 12 hours. We FINALLY landed in South A and I felt like I got hit by a train. I got to call my parent, though. It felt so nice to hear their voice and talk to them for a little while. 

Then, finally, after 7 month of patient, eager waiting, I stepped foot onto the plane that would take me to Madagascar. 

The Indian ocean is beautiful. I saw the atlantic and medditeranian ocean on the way, but the indian ocean is so beautiful. 

I landed in antananarivo, and stepped off the place to find that the city smelt like....garbage. it made me gag a little bit. I came out of the airport and met my mission president, and shook his hand with a hand that had been clutching the airplane seat for more than 25 hours. It was a little sweaty. I went to go load my baggage into the taskibe (bus) that would take the luggage to the church, and as I was putting my bag in the taksibe, a group of malagasies came up to me and asked me for a stylo (pen), so I gave them one, but when I asked for it back they just wanted my money. one of the APs told them to settle down and go away, and they cussed him out and went away. 

The driving down here is crazy. No one cares if you are in the street or notm they will keep going. I thought I saw my life flash before my eyes at least 50 times on the way to church. 

My new companions name is elder Keener, and he's pretty cool (but as our little secret, elder ward won by a landslide).

anyways, over this past week, I got sick partially due to jet lag and partially due to the air pollution here in antananarivo. The air here is horrible, it will literally take at least 2 weeks off of your life. I got sick with a bad cough, with a bit of sinus congestion, and a fever of 100.8. It was a little bit of a rough start here in mada, but i know things here can only go up from here. 

The people are wonderful. I always get called vazaha (foreigner) because I'm white and everyone else is black. The ones that usually call me vazaha are the little ones, to which I reply, salama zazakely (hello little one). They laugh at that, and it can only make me laugh.

I bore my testimony yesterday at my first fotoam-bavaka (sacrament meeting) and everyone seemed impressed. I couldn't understand everyone else too much, though. In due time, I will understand them.

Well, thats about it!

I cannot thank you all for your amazing faith, prayers, dedication, and motivation for this amazing thing to take place. I always include each and every one of you in my prayers. I hope those prayers have been answered. 

I love you all so much, I wish I could say more, but time here at the cybers is a little tight. I will email yall next week!

Truly yours,

Elder Johnson

November 12, 2018

Hello everyone!

And yet another week has passed by in the blink of an eye! I am always impress that how fast the week goes as a do the large work here in New Mexico. A lot of unexpected things have happened this week, and a lot of them happens to be miracles. It's always fun to see what will happen throughout this week as week go and do the things that I'm call to do.

Tuesday: on this day, elder Ward and I did not go to Amarillo for District Council. The reason for that is because later that week we had mission tour in Lubbock. However, we did go and look for some new people to teach. Last Sunday, we got a new referral. Her name is Julia, and she is from San Diego California. She and her husband moved here, because would be a lot more peaceful here than it is in California. They're both super open to the gospel, and they are just amazing! We are both happy to be able to teach these people.

Wednesday: on this day, we went and did some service at the Historical Museum. We went inside a little building next to the actual Museum, and did some sweeping and mopping. During this time, we listened to a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland at BYU. It was a talk on Lots wife, and her mistakes and how we can avoid them. Jeffrey R. Holland is an amazing apostle and he is personally one of my favorites. I decided to get some of his talks on to my mp 3 player. He is helps me a lot as a missionary, and I hope to be able to meet him someday. Also during that day, elder Ward and I got some haircuts. The lady who cut our hair was amazing. Her name is Tonya. After we got our haircut from Tonya, we went and ask for referrals from members. We were able to get a couple of people to teach from these referrals.

Thursday: there is a very small community about 20 miles south of Tucumcari called house. There are no more than 500 people that live there. Older Ward and I went there to go see if we could find some people to teach. We found out that a lot of these people were Baptist, but they were very happy to talk to us and we're very friendly, even though a lot of them rejected our message. After this, we went and taught a family called the thielbars. The conversation with them was kind of awkward for the most part, but I felt the spirit strongly as we talk the father the restoration. We invited him to read the book of Mormon, but he said he wouldn't be able to, because he doesn't like reading. His kids accepted the invitation to read the book of mormon. After that, we went to Amarillo to spend the night at the zone leaders house in preparation for mission tour. That night was super fun, and we had a lot of fun. 

Friday: at 4 30 in the morning, we got up and drove down to Lubbock which is about 2 hours from Amarillo. When we got there, we were visited by a member of the seventy. We had mission tour until 1 PM. He gave us instruction on planning and on missionary work. He was a great instructor and we could all feel the spirit strongly around his presence. Then, all the missionaries leaving the mission bore their testimonies of the gospel and the work that we are doing. I wish I could've seen elder mano and elder Smith, I miss them so much and I wish I could talk with them in person, but I know I will a week from today. I love them, and I love y'all too!

Saturday: on this day, elder ward and I were asked to give a 10 minute devotional at a youth bonfire that night. Now, we had received word that on Sunday we were going to receive 6 inches of snow, so the bonfire was cancelled but we still had a party at a members home. Elder ward and I decided to split the 10 minutes into 5 each. I gave a talk on how we should avoid worldly sirens and how we should stay away from things that look appealing but aren't beneficial to us at all. Elder ward gave a talk on opposition and how we should react positively to it. Every youth seemed to like it, and everyone had a good time.

Sunday: yesterday, I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on faith and also a little bit on veterans day. I shared a few family stories from a relative in the civil war and a relative in WWII. The branch was very small in numbers, only around 25 people were there, but that only made me more grateful for the gospel and for those people who showed up. Elder ward gave a talk in Sunday school about standing in holy places, and he did a fantastic job. After we had church, we went home and decided to go to Logan to meet with some members. While we were on our way to Logan, it began to snow. This was something I never would've thought would happen on my mission. Well, it did. We got 4 inches of snow, all ready to make snowmen out of. We had dinner for the last time with the Morris family. They are such amazing people, and I can't wait to visit them again in the coming years. After dinner, we went back to the house and had a mini snowball fight (no one clearly came out on top) and we made a little snowman. It was very fun!

This morning: we went out and shoveled 6 driveways. A lot of them were people's we didn't know. As we were doing the 4th one, a man working for the newspaper snapped a picture of us and asked us some questions. He told us that he would get us on the paper! That was the best part of the day so far (the best is now talking to you guys). 

Well, I am not slacking off this last week here in good old Two come Scare me. I have thoroughly enjoyed it down here, which can only amplify how much I'm going to have a blast in the mad gas car. I'll stop with the silly puns now. I love you all and I hope yall have a safe and warm blessed week!

Scripture: Jakôba 6:12 

12 Ô, mba hendry; inona no azoko lazaina ankoatra izany?

Jacob 6:12

12 O be wise, what can I say more?

Tiako Ianareo, mazotoa! Love y'all, have a good day!

~Elder Johnson~

 

 

Family video

Letter from David Nov. 5, 2018

Manahoana!!!

This week has been such a blast! The time is always ticking faster when you're doing the work of God, and you are always on your toes, which means you have almost no time to sit down and take a few deep breaths, but today I can finally kick up my feet a little bit and relax, it feels super nice. It hadn't been very cold down here, it only got to around 40 degrees at the coldest, but it's funny because when it hits around 50 degrees, everyone cranks up the heat in their cars and puts on their winter coats like it's about to snow over, but to me it feels like a normal day in good ol' Cheyenne. When they see me with a short sleeved shirt, they always say, "arent you cold!?" and I say, "nope, not since I've left Cheyenne". Blessings spring eternal from growing up in a place with constant wind.

And speaking of wind, my week sure was windy with activity and spiritual experiences, and I'm sure y'all are pretty ready for me to get on with it, so I will! Let's go...

Tuesday: On this day, we decided to try by some former investigators. We went by some, but most of them were just abandoned homes, which was sad. We went by some other people, including Joanne. We stopped by her house again (and for the last time), and knocked on her door. She didn't answer the door, which was clear enough evidence that she didn't want us around anymore, so we dropped her. It was sad, but people have their agency. We DID get to meet with one of our other investigators, though. His name is cody (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned him to you guys), but at any rate, we caught him at an awkward time when he was playing a video game with his buddy and drinking a little beer (which made me panic a little bit, I've already had my fair share of drunk people chewing me out). But, it turned out to be great! We had an excellent conversation with him about God's amazing plan of happiness. Towards the end of our visit, he expressed a concern, and this was critical because we have been prying around for a concern to succor, and found none until this time. He began to squirm a little bit, and said he was mad (and he said he was a little more mad than usual, he blamed it on the beer). He said he was mad at God because bad things happen to good people. Well, we told him to read a certain part of the book of mormon and we told him that that chapter would answer his questions. He seemed satisfied, which was good. No chewing outs happened. We went home very satisfied and happy about our work, and it's always a good thing to be happy about the work you do, because taking credit for good work builds good self esteem. 

Wednesday: on this day, we went to Amarillo for District Council again. This time, the Zone leaders attended with us, and gave us specific instruction on our role plays. They did it to also help us improve our role plays, and to be honest with y'all, it was kind of embarrassing to watch ourselves teach. It was also a huge learning experience it for us as missionaries to see how we teach others. After that, we went on exchanges. I went with elder Collins, while Elder Ward went with elder Barney. Elder Collins and I went about trying to teach some people, but none of them were home. We then went to the Stake Center to prepare to teach someone a lesson on tithes and fast offerings, but they never came, which was a shame. After that, we went and had dinner with elder Ward and Elder Barney at a member's home. They got really creative with their food, and try to recreate the cheeseburger spider from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. They did a really good job on that, and I will include some pictures. The kids in that family helped out a lot with the meals, I could tell. While we were eating, one of the kids mentioned to us that she needed help, because the teacher had picked on her to talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the class. We told her to pray about what she should say, and to read the scriptures. Directly after dinner, we went back to the Zone leaders Apartments, because that was Halloween night, and it is specific instruction to stay indoors around 6:30. For the rest of the night, we just told a lot of stories and watched a little movie on the coming of Jesus Christ. Also, we went to a little gym adjacent to the apartment that the Zone leaders live in.

Thursday: this was by far the best day of the entire week. I enjoyed it so much, because I have been waiting for this day ever since last transfer. Remember the story of how we couldn't go to the Animal Sanctuary because we had to get rid of the bed bugs first? Well, I got to go to the Animal Sanctuary to do service with the other elders! And it was the coolest thing, because we got to feed some very exotic animals. When we got to the sanctuary, The Zone leaders gave Elder Ward and I a tour of the sanctuary. The first animals we got to see, and quite frankly the first ones we heard, were the Lions and the Tigers. The lions were enormous, and the Tigers weren't far behind the lions. If you could picture me standing at full height, which is around 6 feet, then the Lions which I saw were up to about my belly button. They were huge! And they were very hungry, which made me want to go to the next thing to look at. The next thing we saw were the chimpanzees. Now, as a passing note, I want to say that the chimpanzees were actually a lot scarier, and by far the scariest ones we saw, because they were very, very, very loud. If you ever got close enough to them, they would spit water at you and Screech at you. Next to the hundred foot tall cage of the chimpanzees, there was a building complex that connects to the cage itself. I went inside this little complex to prepare to feed the Lions, when I noticed that the cage and the building were connected by a little prison-like door which had bars on it. As I looked through the door, I could see one of the chimpanzees throwing a hundred foot pallet around like a frisbee. If you were there, I think you might have been a little humbled, too. I heard the Zone leaders tell me, you should move away right now. Right before I could ask them why, I could hear running steps approaching the prison like door, and then I heard numerous bangs come from the door and I looked up, and I saw Chucky the chimpanzee rocking the door forward and back spitting water at me through his teeth. I was slightly offended. Even though the other Elders laughed at me, I went about my way looking at the chimpanzees. The next animals we saw, and the last exotic ones ( MTC District missionaries excluding elder meldrum, I'm sorry, but you are going to be very jealous) were the ring-tailed lemurs. We fed them bananas, grapes, and kale. I will include a video of myself feeding the Lemurs. They were in a position of when someone was meditating when we first looked at them, because the sun had just come out, and that night had been very cold. The hardest ones to feed were the Lions and the Tigers, because for one thing, I was a walking corn dog to them, and for another, we were feeding them frozen chicken bodies that were already hard enough to get into the silver trays we would slide into their cages. There was an adult male lion in particular that was very impatient with us getting his food into his cage, and I will include another very short video of that.  after those Amazing Adventures were over, Elder Ward and I went back to Tucumcari. We went around members homes for the rest of the night.

Friday: this day was mostly uneventful, We just went around and visited some people we were teaching. The swaps were out of town around this time, so we had to go and feed their horses and one goat. other than that, nothing else really happened that day.

Saturday: We went by a man named Mickey Trousedale, whose wife died recently of cancer. We stopped by his place and talked with him for a little bit to see how he was doing and to see if we could do anything for him. He was a little tired and sick when we saw him, and we told that to president whetton, the branch president. He decided that his ministering brethren should go to his home soon to help him feel better. We didn't really have anything else happen that day that was really eventful 

Sunday: I bore my last testimony in fast and testimony meeting expressing my love and faith in them for their love and support. I live then so much and I'm going to miss them so much when I leave in a couple of weeks. That day, 21 different missions participated in a fast for the increase of missionary work. Elder Jeffery R. Holland participated in this fast and actually gave a broadcast that day. We got a referral from San Diego, California. Her name is Julia, and she is so ready and open to the gospel. We love it!

 I have explained the Lions part of the lion, the glitch, and the war zone. Let me explain the glitch. Just a couple of days ago, my phone started acting up in such a way that whenever I typed in an incorrect password, it would still unlock the phone. unfortunately, I never figured out the cause of this glitch, but after a few incorrect attempts it follow the correct protocol of denying me entrance into the phone. Now, for The War Zone part. Dear friends, we are living in a world where opinions, thoughts, and ideologies are constantly bombarding us to hopefully to thrust some sort of influence into our lives. The only hope of fortitude in this life is Jesus Christ himself. We must Center our lives on him if we are to feel any peace, and if we do not send her our lives on Jesus Christ, we can relate that to being in no man's land, Being all alone without any armor or weapons. Gird up your loins, put on the sword of righteousness, and the armor of God, and as you go out into this world, you will be protected from the fiery darts of the adversary. I would like to bear my testimony that I know that this church is the living and restored Church of Jesus Christ. he is the best example for us to follow. If we are to be anything like Heavenly Father, we must first adopt and develop christ-like attributes. I love you all, I pray for you, i pleade for you, I hope for you, I think of you. Please have a safe and fun week, and know that the lord loves you.

Scripture of the week

Fotopampianarana sy Fanekempihavanana 138:58, 59

58 Ny maty izay mibebaka dia ho voavotra amin’ ny alalan’ ny fankatoavana ireo ôrdônansin’ ny tranon’ Andriamanitra,

59 Ary rehefa voaloany ny sazin’ ny fandikan-dalàny ary voasasa madio izy ireo dia handray valisoa araka ny asany, fa izy ireo dia mpandova ny famonjena.

Doctrine and Covenants 138:58, 59

58 The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,

59 And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation

Mazatoa! 

~Elder Johnson~

Letter from David

Manao ahoana ianareo! Hello y'all! 

Inona no Vaovao? How are y'all?

Y'all aren't going to believe this.... I got my visa!!! This morning my Mission President called me and informed me that my visa had been approved both by Madagascar and the US. They have my itinerary for the flight there. I am going to fly from Lubbock to Dallas, and here I will meet my MTC elders (who i miss dearly and can't wait to see) then I don't know where I'm flying from there other than Madagascar. But it actually happened! I'm so happy, and I cannot properly put into words how amazed and grateful I am for all of your faithful and humble fasts, prayers, and words of advise for this to happen. The Lord will surely bless you with a rain of blessings. 

Ok, phew. That was a little crazy. I'm going to get to what happened this week (plus another side story of Pablo for those of you who are amused from hearing about him). Ndao ary isika!

Tuesday: Elder Ward and I went to Amarillo for district counsel to discuss what had happened with our investigators the last week. Now, Elder Ward drives a truck....a Toyota Tacoma. We had a part recall on one of the engine parts and we had to get it to the dealership in order to change the part. This would require us to carpool. So, we had to call the zone leaders in Amarillo and have them pick us up from the dealership which you have to understand is absolutely humongous, even for one in Texas. Also, the street was so busy, it was nearly bumper to bumper when the light was red, no chicken was going to cross that road. We had district counsel and had an amazing discussion on families and how we can be better teachers. We did some roleplay and the we left. When we were on our way back, we decided to get a car wash at a place called quick quack car wash. The logo was a yellow duck wearing sunglasses, which i thought was interesting. Whenever we go there we see from time to time a yellow duck mascot pulling some hilarious dance moves outside the wash. But we didn't see him this time, which was a little sad, because he always makes me and Elder Ward laugh a ton. We came back to Tucumcari and did some finding. I knocked on an old lady's door and we got to teach her a little bit. Her name is Joanne, and she has a ton of potential. We got to teach her about the restoration of the gospel last Tuesday, and it was amazing. 

Wednesday: There is a man that me and Elder Ward would go and visit in the hospital named Mickey. He was such a strong soul even though he is in his 90's. He fell from his front porch and broke 3 ribs and punctured a lung, and he had to go to the emergency room in Amarillo for some medical treatment. Fortunately, he didn't need to have surgery. We visited him for a few weeks, and on Wednesday, we found his room empty, which meant he had made it home safely. I am so grateful for him and for his spirit he carried with him. After that, we did some more finding and I want to share a story about finding real quick. A couple of days ago we went finding and we went up to a house that elder ward felt impressed to go to. Before we even got to the porch, a brown retriever like dog stopped us and just looked at us, it didn't bark, didn't growl, it just stood there in our path. Then when elder ward tried to pet him, the dog started to growl. And it scared us for a second because we didn't know if this dog was chained or not, but after we backed up for a while, we found to our relief that it was chained, so we went back. But the scariest part was the growl, because the growl sounded like a truck without a muffler in slow motion. I've seen some musicals with dogs singing in it, and this guy wasn't musical at all. He just wanted to eat us. That's what happens!

Thursday: We had another lesson with Dawn again and we had it at a members home. The name of the member is JD. He is super nice and always allows us to come over. We had a lesson at his home and we also gave Dawn a blessing for her back. Her back seized up because she was trying to grab something and her back tightened up. Poor gal. She said she felt better after the blessing, which was good.

Friday: There are certain types of birds down here in Texas and New Mexico called Grackles. They are in a lot of ways similar to a type of bird called the lyrebird, which can imitate virtually any noise from a chainsaw to a camera shudder. When the Grackles are around, I am always interested and amused at how they sound. They sound like monkeys blowing into cazoos. We did some more finding and we really didn't find anyone to teach. We got home and did some research on our area book, which is a pain in the you know what to organize. We are still in the process of organizing it.

Saturday: this was the day that I was especially afraid that we would have another confrontation with the infamous Pablo. We didn't end up doing service that day, but instead we went around town looking for formers and inactive members. We managed to edit our Master list so that it was updated to the best of our ability, and it still has a couple of flaws in that which we are trying to fix. We did some more finding, and we saw a man named Paul who said he was looking for a church to go to. He said that you would come to ours, but he didn't actually come. Elder Ward and I are still trying to work up the courage to go finding on a college campus in town here, and there's not a lot of people to go finding for in the first place, but I'm sure if we do it then we'll find someone to teach. This is an average Saturday to us Tucumcari elders.

Sunday: I had the privilege in helping the primary with practicing for their primary program next Sunday. I absolutely love playing the piano for them, they are such a joy to me, and I love their little voices. This Friday, we will be having a primary program party at sister Swapp's house, and there's going to be a lot of fun there with games and singing. Next Sunday is the primary program, and I am not that nervous (which I probably shouldn't be). I got to thinking, what are my spiritual gifts? I had never actually had this concern before until this moment. To be honest with you all, it was actually pretty stressful. I looked up and down over and under for the things that I thought I was capable of doing, and nothing seemed to come to mind. There was a member of the high counsel there, and he told me he already knew some of the gifts that I had. I was a little bit astonished. He said that I was very musically talented and I was Fearless and many other things. This opened to me a different aspect of my life that I never found before. I'm grateful I got to talk to him into refresh some things in my mind.

Alright, now for the Pablo story. 

Dawn, one of our investigators, was asked out by a very mysterious 33 year old man we didn't know, until I looked at his profile picture on Facebook and found to my horror that it was Pablo who had asked Dawn out. We told her to block and avoid him. She did so. We saw him last week at the Ministry of hope while we were doing service. This lady I don't even know asked us about one of our investigators who lives right next beside her. Before I could change the subject, Elder Ward said her name was Dawn, and I looked over and Pablo had a weird look on his face. He knew what had happened but didn't want us to know that he knew. I was scared. Just a little. 

Well, that's that for this week's episode of the district in Tucumcari New Mexico. I hope to hear from y'all soon! 

Malagasy scripture 

James 1:5 

If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

Jakôba 1:5 

Raha misy aminareo tsy manam-pahendrena, dia aoka izy hangataka amin’ Andriamanitra izay manome malalaka ho an’ ny olona rehetra sady tsy mandatsa; ary homena azy izany.

Love you all lots! 

~Elder Johnson~

Elder Johnson's request

This past P-day as I was chatting back and forth with David over email I mentioned to him that I would be loading some money onto his debit card so he could go out to eat with his companion.  He responded...

...Thank you so much! It really does mean a lot to me that you do so much to keep me happy, and i'm super appreciative of that. But what would really make me happy is if you extend a challenge to the family to read the Old Testament with me...I know its a big challenge, and they don't have a whole lot of time to do it, but i feel like it would help you guys a whole lot.. Do you think that could work?

~Elder Johnson~

Sometimes your children school you on what's important. I was so happy that his focus as a teenager has shifted from gaining temporal things to gaining spiritual things.  David went on to challenge us to finish the old testament by February....wowza...yeah that's a challenge alright! I have committed to do it and I extend the challenge to all who want to participate.  Furthermore (yes there's more) he extended the challenge to finish the standard works by the end of the next year, "if not earlier," he added. Yes! Why not?  My mother heart can hardly contain how proud I am of how he is completely diving into his role as a missionary.  My sadness that overcame me when he departed on his mission, is now replaced with overwhelming joy! Let's do this!

.

Letter from David

Hello everyone!

This week has been absolutely fantastic! I love serving here in New Mexico, even though sometimes it's super hot down here, but nontheless the people here are so amazing and their reception has been a true blessing to me. I cannot be more grateful for them. And I also cannot be more grateful for all of you! Thank you all so much for your fervent prayers and fasting on my behalf, I have seen in abundance the blessings which they have brought to me, and I hope that you will start seeing the blessings the lord will rain down on you for your kindness.

Tuesday: For the first time here on my mission, I was able to help out at a Dinosaur Museum! It was amazing, we got a ton of rain down here on Monday night and Tuesday, so we had quite a bit of standing water. One of the museum worker's houses got leaks coming in from her roof and her walls because the water was sitting on her roof for too long and the gutters were clogged. So, we helped her to climb onto her roof and unclog the drains. When the drains were unplugged, the water came gushing out and it was just about the funniest thing for me and Elder Ward. We helped her back down from her roof (just in case you were wondering, we didn't get on the roof...that's against church policy), and got the ladder back to the museum. After that, we went to the Ministry of Hope to do some service because we had missed the week before, and guess who was there.......Pablo. 

Yep. Pablo.

It was a little awkward at first, but he said he was sorry about cussing us out and calling us brainwashed, and he said he was willing to listen to a little bit of what we had to say about the bible, but Elder Ward has a sneaking suspicion that he is only saying that because he is in public, which I could understand. I got to know him a little better, and he brought his homeless friend Larry with him. I got to talk with him a little bit, too. We are planning on visiting them sometime this week, and not for too long either. After that, we went finding and we visited the Powell family and talked about life after death. Brother Powell is a Mechanic and he is a great christian.

Wednesday: Elder Ward and I went to District Counsel (again....we go there often, now don't we?) and we discussed in great detail the importance of families and roleplays. Roleplays are super fun, but they can also be a little bit awkward for the person teaching. We do roleplays all the time at District Counsel now, and it has been very helpful not only to me but to everyone. We got 2 new sisters (one of them came out with me into the field), and we had the privilege of getting to know them better. They are great missionaries and I can't be more grateful for them. We came back from Amarillo, and went finding some more...I can't remember much more of this day, but I will say on Monday after we had Dinner at a member's home, we went outside and saw the most magnificent rainbow. The colors were so vibrant and radiant, I had the slightest urge to cry. 

Fortunately, I didn't.

Thursday: We went finding a LOT that day, and we didn't find a single person to teach except for one man named Eloy. He's Catholic, and he was willing to read from the Book of Mormon. That day, however, was a very exciting day for us Elders, and do you know why? Because Dawn was having her baptismal interview that night. We were so excited! We went to the church and one of the mission leaders with his wife came to Tucumcari and interviewed Dawn to be baptised and confirmed. She passed the interview! We were EVEN MORE excited!!

We just could not wait until Saturday, which was the day that Dawn would be baptised.

Friday: We went to Logan to go finding and to meet up with one of our investigators. His name is Joe. We had called and texted him many times, and he answered nearly all of them. We came to his house, and he was not there. We decided to drop him, and I will say this much, that we do not joy in exiling  potentials. They are generally the people we love to teach, and Joe didn't want anything to do with us anymore, so we had to let him go, which was a shame, but it was ok, because we knew that the lord would bless us with more people to teach. We went finding a lot that night, too. We really didn't find anyone to teach. In Tucumcari, there are more dogs and cats here that there are people. You wyoming people would know how many rabbits are in Cheyenne, which is a lot. Well, multiply that population by like 2 and thats how many dogs and cats there are here, even though Tucumcari is like 1/4 the size of Cheyenne. There are also tons of crows and ravens here, so it's super funny to go driving the truck by puddles of water where the birds usually hang out and then splash them all and see an ocean of black feathers coalesce and fly away.

Saturday: The big day finally came!!! The Baptismal service started at 5 pm and there weren't very many people there, but it was still a very spiritual experience. There were probably no more than 15 or 20 people there. Elder Ward and I were scrambling to get people to do certain things like give talks or say prayers. It was all so rewarding in the end. Elder Ward baptised Dawn, with the presiding authority and I as the witnesses. We had cupcakes after the baptism, and everyone got to know Dawn a little better. She is just a ray of sunshine! (Haha, get it? Dawn....Sunshine....oh!)

Sunday: I fasted and prayed that my visa (if it  was the lord's will) would come soon enough. I got an email saying that I had an update on my visa status, and we were so happy until we opened it and read that it hadn't come yet and that they would let my mission president know when it will come. It was ok, though. I had the supreme privilege of confirming Dawn a member of the only true and living church on the earth today, and giving her the mighty gift of the holy ghost. I am ever grateful for her loving spirit and her amazing sense of generosity she carries with her. I will never forget how she taught me how to knit and how she loves rock and roll. She is one of the greatest people I have seen to blossom spiritually. Elder Ward bore his testimony and shared with us a scripture that talked about if you only had one person join the church because of you, you would still be really happy, and I bore my testimony and told the story of how Billie broke his bow and how we need to break away from satan's spiritual yoke of bondage, and enter into the yoke of christ. For those of you who don't know what I mean when I say Billie broke his bow, it is a reference to a story of one of my ancestors when she was away from the salt lake valley and her family were being harassed by indians, and one of the indians scared one of the oxen named Billie, who happened to break his bow and run away from the indians. 

As you can probably tell, i haven't obtained my visa yet, and what I have been told it probably won't be coming for a few more weeks. 

Recenly, I made a scripture case made out of cardboard for my malagasy scripture case, and it came out too small for the malagasy scirptures, but it can fit my cambodian scriptures nice and snug, and also my english and spanish book of mormons. I taped pictures from the ensign on the case, which I thought turned out to be a success. I also did the same thing for my scripture journal, which I also invite y'all to keep.

Also, I forgot to mention to y'all that I have completed reading the New Testament and the Pearl of Great Price. It is amazing writing and I strongly encourage you all to read them.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and love. Hitahy Andriamanitra Ianareo!!! (God bless you all)!!!

Malagasy Scripture

Doctrine and Covenants 25:15

"Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come."

Fotopampianarana sy Fanekempihavanana 25:15

''Tandremo lalandava ny didiko dia handray ny satroboninahitry ny fahamarinana ianao. Ary raha tsy manao izany ianao dia tsy afaka mankany amin’ izay misy Ahy.''

Sunshine and smiles,

~Elder Johnson~