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~