New normal

I'm not sure how many people want to read a second hand account of a conversation I had with David over skype, but for now, that's all I have, so I will do my best to regurgitate the conversation we had this morning.  First of all, the past two calls we've had with David have come with some difficulty with those Malagasy computers.  Last week he had to switch computers and then we were able to talk with him.  This week his head phones were brand new, his computer was just fine, but skype was giving us problems all over the place....so we decided to try google hangouts video feature and that's when we found success.  Sometimes technology is wonderful but I am sure we will face this problem for the rest of his mission.  We aren't complaining though, because it's worth the small trouble to see our son every week!  

David looks really good and is in good spirits.  Gary Stevens from the Quorum of the twelve came for a missionary conference last week and David got to play the piano for the event.  He said that it was broadcast to the rest of the mission, like the islands of ft dauphin and maritius.  David said that he got to shake hands with Elder Stevens, so he was really happy about that.  The Madagascar Antananarivo mission is still a baby mission.  It was dedicated only 20 years ago, so there is A LOT of work going on and already a lot of obstacles that missionaries are facing.  You can only imagine that a lot girls are trying to get the missionaries to marry them.   And as most of you know, missionaries are not allowed to date let alone get married on their mission.  So, some of girls they meet, teach and baptize flirt with them, lie about their age and send the missionaries inappropriate txts.  It's become more of problem because some previous missionaries have succumb to that temptation and now a lot of malagasy people have a preconceived idea about david and his companions.  David just baptized a girl, and now she is having some of these same issues, so David said he will have to tell her to stop contacting him and his companion.  

Madagascar according David is, "nothing like you would see in the movies."  lol yeah I'm sure it's nothing like the animated movie Madagascar, but I understand what he was saying.  He says it's filthy, there are mobs of people trying to overthrow the government (that's super comforting for mom), there are people begging everywhere and he particularly hates the air.  He said he will never complain about the wyoming wind again.  

Last week his apartment was flooded when a pipe exploded, so he was temporarily moved to another apartment in his area.  Fun times!

David ended his call with his testimony in malagasy and he did so great!  I'm so proud of him, his mission has been pretty hard.  He mentioned three big things that were super hard for him and for the purpose of future missionaries that might read this and also for journaling, I'll mention them here.

1.)  It was incredibly hard for David to leave his family, especially his brother.  

2.)  Getting used to Madagascar, the culture, the language, the food, the people, the air....was like a huge slap in the face.  

3.) Leaving his friends was hard.  

Well that's pretty much it! I am so grateful that I get to talk to him once a week!  It's been a huge blessing for all of us!  David doesn't have a lot of time to talk on pday, so I'm not sure if he will be sending emails anymore.  I don't know what the new normal will be, but for now I will try and comment on our conversations.  

Talking to David over Skype

 Yesterday was David's first pday where we got to chat over skype!  It just so happened that the kids at home had the day off from school, so yesterday felt a little reminiscent of Christmas Eve 2018.  David usually is my alarm clock on Monday morning because he messages me very early, sometimes as early as 4 am.  But this mamma doesn't miss a chance to talk to her missionary!  Yesterday he messaged me around 7 am and asked me if I was ready to talk.  I opened up the computer and he called me over skype.  We connected and started realizing that we couldn't hear david but he could hear us.  Those malagasy computers on not the best and we have experienced this before.  David asked that Lucy say a prayer, and we did momentarily fix the audio, but the computer jack was broken on his end.  David messaged me, "I want to cry!"  I felt his pain and quickly started asking him to switch computers with someone in the cyber.  His sweet companion switched with him and then we were able finally hear him.  I can't tell you how much I missed his laugh, smile and Davidisms.  He looks so tan and skinny!  He went from gaining a lot of weight in the MTC and tucu, to losing all of that weight in Tana!  He loved talked with his siblings and Joseph was able to make him laugh.  They didn't skip a beat from the last time they talked.  Lucy and David loved talking and Lucy asked him a lot about Lemurs...she got a stuffed lemur for Christmas, so she's been thinking a lot about It.  David told me that he missed my Thai coconut curry!  Oh man that pulled at my heart strings.  He also said, "Mom, there's a song I've been listening to that reminds me of you, can you guess what it is?"  I said, "Let us all press on?"  (everyone knows I'm obsessed) He said, "No, it's you are loved by Josh Groban."  I was so happy that he is thinking about how much I love him, because I pray for that every single day, that he will know how much he is loved by me and feel that love even though he is so far away.  I am so glad that we get to talk more, it feels so weird though!  I feel like I'm breaking the rules, but I know that I will get used to this new way of communicating as time goes on.  I'm so grateful to my Father in Heaven to provide such a tender mercy!

Missionaries Now Have More Options to Communicate With Families

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families on Friday, February 15, 2019. ©2019 BY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.2 / 5

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families on Friday, February 15, 2019. ©2019 BY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.3 / 5

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families on Friday, February 15, 2019. ©2019 BY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.4 / 5

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families on Friday, February 15, 2019. ©2019 BY INTELLECTUAL RESERVE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.5 / 5

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Effective immediately, missionaries may communicate with their families on their weekly preparation day via text messages, online messaging, phone calls and video chat in addition to letters and emails. Previously, missionaries relied primarily on email and letters for communication. See the official notice to Church leaders.

“Regular communication with their families is an important part of a missionary’s service,” said the First Presidency in a statement. “One of the major purposes of this adjustment is to encourage families to be more involved in their missionary’s efforts and experiences.”

Under these new guidelines, missionaries are encouraged to use judgment in determining the length of phone calls and video chats and to be considerate of their companions. Additionally, to avoid disruption to missionary schedules, family members are asked not to initiate calls or chats but instead should wait for the missionary to contact them on his or her weekly preparation day. If a missionary’s parents live in different locations, he or she may contact each parent separately.

With so many advances in technology, this communication should take place at little or no cost. In those locations where families or missionaries do not have access to computers or phones, missionaries will be encouraged to continue using their current means of communication.

“We encourage missionaries to communicate with their families each week using whatever approved method missionaries decide,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the Missionary Executive Council. “This may vary based on their circumstances, locations and schedules for that week. It is not expected that all missionaries will call or video chat with their parents every week. The precise manner of communication is left up to the missionary as he or she decides what will best meet their needs.”

In addition to weekly communication, missionaries are also encouraged to contact family on other special occasions such as Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, parents' birthdays and other culturally significant holidays.

Elder Uchtdorf said the new guidelines offer several additional benefits, including accommodating varied family circumstances as well as better supporting those missionaries who would benefit from increased personal contact with family at home.

Currently, more than 65,000 missionaries serve throughout the world in a variety of countries and cultures as representatives of Jesus Christ. Serving full-time, they study the gospel and teach its life-changing principles to people who are interested. Young men serve for 24 months beginning as early as age 18, and young women may serve for 18 months as early as age 19. They gain valuable and life-changing experiences along the way, giving of themselves and serving others.

“We love the missionaries and know the Lord values their selfless service,” said Elder Uchtdorf. “We continue to try to find the best ways to support and help them and their families while they serve.”

New rule change/learning the ways of africa

Akory ka!

Ino ty vaovao? Tsy misy vaovao ve? Tsara be izany! tena mahafinaritra!

This translates to good day? Whats new? Nothings new? That's great! That's wonderful!

I hope that everyone's week has gone great, because this past week went really well for me. I have had a lot of fun so far working here with elder Buthelezi.

This email will be very short but i just want you all to know that this past week went fine and that this week will be very eventful to which i will probably inform you more about.

I love you all and hope you all have a great rest of your week!

Elder Johnson

Akory ka!

This past week has gone so fast and lots of crazy good things happened! I got transfer news that Elder Keener is going to be transferred to Tamatave. He will be whitewashing an area that my new companion, Elder Buthelezi, just left. Elder Buthelezi is sooo cool and he is so amazing, we are going to smash it this transfer! I am a little sad to say veloma to elder keener but I know he will have tons of fun in tamatave.

Here is what happened this last week!

Tuesday: Elder Keener decided to have me lead him to where all the members live that we usually visit without his help. I got a little lost but after a few moments (and prayers) I was able to find my way back to the houses we were supposed to visit. That day was kind of hectic but nonetheless an adventure never to be forgotten.

Wednesday: On this day we made sure that Larissa and Elisa were ready for the baptism and that they were willing to make this sacred convenant with the lord. They were obviously ready, and I couldn't have been more happy than that. After that we went and taught Yvette, the mother of a young man in the ward. We recently extended a baptismal date to her and the son's 12 year old sister on the 16fh of march. How excited I am to be able to continue this work in mahamasina!

Thursday: I went on a split with a missionary named elder Whitesides. He is very very good with the language and we had a great time teaching all of our investigators in our areas. While I was with him, we were able to set a time for an inactive member to go talk to the bishop after the following sacrament meeting. i was so happy because he had some issues with the word of wisdom and after a 2 transfer battle with him of not talking to the bishop he finally decided to talk to him. How amazing!

Friday: On this day Elder keener and I taught a young lady named sarobidy, whose name in english is precious. She has a hard life. Her parents fought and got divorced about a year ago and her father remarried. Her house doesn't have a lot of electricity sometimes because her dad doesn't pay the bills. How sad! We gave her a promise that as she tried to pursue the path of righteousness that she would be able to continue on in life. She accepted that and I could tell that it was the right thing to say.

Saturday; On this day we had the baptism of Larissa and Elisa. I baptised Soarivony Elisa and I felt the spirit very prominently despite the shockingly cold murky water of the baptismal font. It was no sooner that I realised that the water that we baptise with is the same water that runs off of the roads after a typhoon. But, holding the priesthood authority of god, I know for a fact that despite the physical uncleanliness of the water, Elisa's sins were washed away.

To tell a little bit about Elder Buthelezi, he is from South Africa. He is about my height and is a very goofy yet loving soul. He is so amazing, I can already tell. He has a younger brother who is 17 and he too wants to serve a mission.

Today for p-day I got to hold the worlds smallest lemur, which was only around the size of the palm of my hand! It was so cute and so small! I wish I could take it home...

Amim'manaraka, ry namana!

Elder Johnson

Rain rain go away!

Akory Aby!

This week has definitely gone by super fast! I hope that this week can go a little slower though, because this is probably my last week with Elder Keener. He has been such a good companion and I hope that wherever he goes next can be for his betterment and that he can always be happy when he goes.

Tuesday: On this day Elder Keener and I had President Interviews! That means that I got to talk with President Duckworth personally about my misison and how he can improve as a mission president. I am so grateful for him and for his amazing love for this mission. He has 3 countries to take care of in this mission and all 3 of them need good spiritual nourishment. He also disclosed to me that day that not one but two apostles are coming to madagascar this month, one of which I very may well be able to meet because I will be playing the piano and Elder Smith conducting the music (He was a buddy of mine before and during the mission). I don't know which apostles are coming, but i do know that they are coming, which is really great! After the interviews elder keener and I went home and talked about what we had just heard.

Wednesday: This day was zone conference! It was really fun because I got to give some instruction on spending your time wisely as a missionary and because of that I can bear a realy strong witness that we must be thrifty with our time of the lord. After the zone conference, President Duckworth bore his testimony and gave some good remarks. Afterwhich we had PULLED PORK SANDWICHES! Holy cow I haven't had those sandwiches or that type of meat in months! It was so good, I am so grateful for the tender mercies (and meat) of the lord! count your many blessings!

Thurdsay: On this day we went and taught our now to be baptised Larissa and Elisa (I will be baptising Elisa this saturday) and we did a run through of the baptismal interview questions. They are Mahay (really good). they are so ready for baptism and just as I was really anticipating Lalaina's Baptism, I am so ready to baptise Elisa.

Friday: On this day I weekly planned with Elder Keener for the last time. We had a good planning session and we got a lot of work done. Afterwards we went and taught Lalaina and his mom (which will also soon be baptised) about the Plan of Salvation. We had lalaina teach it because he wants to serve a mission. I am so proud of him and his desicion to serve the lord. from the moment I knocked on his door I knew he would be someone different to me.

Saturday: I went on a split with elder leishman in Soissant sept and did a lot of work that day. I will say that i faced a lot of contraversy that day (kids flipped me off and I nearly dislocated my arm falling off of the bed) but nothing too serious. The lord has put trials in my path in order to make the person he has created me to be. I am up to the challenge to become as he is and I am also up to the challenge to gather those who hold that same motivation.

I hope that this was spiritulaly edifying to you all, and I hope that y'alls week can go really well!

Malagasy word: tsikelykely (Gradually) Pronounced Tsee Kehlee Kehlee

Mazotoa, isika rehetra!

Elder Johnson