13 January 2018

fam,

The last two or so weeks have been weird, but good, serving in a trio. Transfer calls came in Friday and it really never is a surprise. My first area was Grandville Spanish 1 and as a trio we also covered the Spanish 2, "the other side". Elder Magalei will be "transfered" back to the sp1 area with Elder Waters. I'll be with Elder Rencher for likely the next two transfers in the apartment we are in right now.

Elder Johnson
1830 R W Berends drive sw apt#2
Wyoming, Mi 49519

After we emailed last Monday we quickly tried our hand at making some tacos de pastor.  They turned out slightly off from how we learned from the francos but the were quite good. Pics will be added

Later that night we had a good lesson with Griselda. We walked in and she was like "you've got 25 minutes and then I have to leave." We taught a really fast word of wisdom lesson. Everyone always pushed back on coffee, everyone, and Griselda was no different. She was like "even coffee??" We talked about the different blessings she has noticed in her life from ever since we started teaching her and promised that these would only become more abundant as she lived the commandments we shared with her. She agreed to try. We would have been out on time but we've never left that house without being given a load of food. She warmed up some hot coco and we made it out well over her set ending time. 

Tuesday we meet with the Francos. We talked about their reading in the Book of Mormon and how church went for them. Its a weird scenario; Juliana wants Marco to learn English, they want to go to church but feel like they can't leave the taco shop, the English ward for their area isn't the one they are going to, if the family gets passed off the one kid not baptized with be taught by English elders and we will continue to teach Marco. It's a small mess, but we'll work something out. Marco mentioned he just felt really good for the rest of the Sunday. That's the biggest blessing of taking the sacrament ever week at church, you just feel better because you have the blessing of having the spirit with you. 

Thursday was pretty intense. Its started off a little rough. Elder Rencher wasn't feeling well and it looked like we were going to stay inside. At around 2 he got up declaring we were going to do something today. We had a few referrals we wanted to stop by so we made our plan and headed out. It was the warmest day of the week, peaking up around 45 degrees if I remember right and just pouring rain. I was driving and we had stopped by a bunch of people and no one really let us in. We were wet, slightly cold and at about 6 we stopped by a gas station. I got out to fill the car up and heard this weird sound, It didn't register but I saw a few stopped cars in the road next to the gas station. I noticed some people moving in that direction on phones and it finally clicked what I was hearing, hysterical screaming. Looking around I saw someone on the ground in the road and realized the screaming was coming from that direction, specifically what looked like a person laying in the road. Elder Magalei, Rencher and I ran over to see if there was anything we could do. We got there as some bystanders carried this lady to the side of the road. Beyond that, no one really knew what to do aside from stand around and look nervous calling 911. We were able to shelter her from the rain with some yoga mats from some random bystander. Turns out the stuff we learn in boy scouts really works, we did all the things they say to teat for shock and within a minute or two hysterical screaming became relatively calmed breathing and crying. She seemed to have been hit on the side pretty hard but was coherent and conscious. Cops arrived in about 5 minutes and a medical team from a firetruck was only another 2-3 minutes behind them. We handed all responsibility over and then went back to typical proselyting.

One thing I found interesting about the whole experience was that although everyone wanted to help no one knew what to do so they just stood around as this lady was in obviously a significant amount of pain. They looked to us, for what ever reason, for direction. We asked for the things we needed and people quickly helped out. Being prepared helps us preform when things get hard or when unexpected things happen. Did either of us know someone was going to get his by a car and that we would be there to help? No. Would those people have helped if they new what to do? For sure, but didn't only because they hadn't made those decisions and preparation before they needed to. Be prepared. 

Mission life is weird. I definitely felt like we were in the right place at the right time.  

-eric

22 January 2018

fam,

Monday we had a really interesting dinner appointment. As usual we had good food. We were transitioning into our message we were going to share. We basically just discussed the Book of Mormon and why it's important. At first we got the typical answers about how it's evidence God speaks through prophets in our days as he has in all of time and that it's the keystone of our religion. Things were typical and we asked Jorge one of the kids in the family. He paused for a moment and told us that the Book of Mormon is important because as we read it we start having questions. Those questions are then taken to God to get answers and getting answers to questions help us to actually come to a knowledge of the character of God. He concluded his answer by saying that the Book of Mormon was written to come to know God and those who read it with real intent can obtain that blessing. The spirit was like, "you should remember that." Most of the members who feed us live on this side so I don't really have a lot of experience doing the meal and message thing but our most powerful messages have all been in that member's house. 

Tuesday was pretty good. We watched the broadcast at the chapel with the Zone leaders and the other Elders. It was interesting, a little awkward at least in my opinion, I was expecting something more spiritually powerful. The day ended with a mission correlation where we actually had our Branch Mission Leader and it was super good. It's basically been a mini district meeting for the last few months.

Wednesday we had a powerful lesson with the recent convert Gasper. He's moving down to Nebraska for a few months. We spent our last visit with him putting him in contact with the local bishop and the missionaries down there. We also had a mini testimony meeting with him that turned out really well. The spirit was super strong and it seemed to really lift his spirits. 

Thursday was fun. We meet with a less active named Axle. Such a good kid. We were just talking about life and he mentioned he was struggling with the stress of school at the moment and not being able to keep up. The talk given by President Nelson clearly came to mind and we first opened with prayer and showed the talk. In my mind the promises made by President Nelson to those who read the BOM daily would really apply to him and figured that was why the talk came to mind. We watched it and I could see the spirit was working with Axle and at the end we asked him what he thought. He totally took the talk in a different but very important way. The spirit revealed what we had to do to help Axle but in a way I would never have known if he didn't tell at that moment. I just found it interesting that through the soft nudging of the spirit we were able to put Axle in a position to receive pretty strong revelation on some things he needed to change and start doing. 

One things Elder Rencher and I have started was simply reading with members for a few minutes every week. We only have two members right now who we prayerfully picked and we've seen some impressive changes. I really like the scripture in Alma 31:5 which says, "And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to that which was just- yea, it had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God." That principle is true and really is one of the reasons I know the BoM is true. There really is a power in that book.

Elder Rencher is the district leader so we had a trade off with the Zone leaders. I spent the day with Elder Guerrero and it was like we never left, comp unity was spot on.


Transfers
Elders Rencher, Magalei, Guerrero, me, waters

January 8, 2018

fam,

District Meeting

Add caption

I LOVE Mexican food!

Tacos de lengua: still not my favorite

With the Saturday P-day last week the week started off with church getting canceled due to poor weather conditions. It really hasn't been that bad though. Yes, it's been chilly with the temperature typically in the single digits and dropping below zero at night and in the mornings. But during the day it's not that bad. Sunday was also not bad at all. The sun was out and it was a "warm" 15 degrees. 

Church being canceled was extra aggravating because that morning we had a pretty big miracle. We met with a former investigator who had dropped Elder Rencher and Guerrero a little while ago and called us out of the blue asking us to come over. We met with him and he explained what's been going on with him. Turns out his sisters home got raided and a few of his family members are most likely getting deported. It was an unfortunate story but touching in the same way. Any time people go through big trials, like this clearly is for him, one has to make choices: Move closer or move away from God. He moved closer. He started living the commandments he apparently said he would never do, has listened to a good portion of the BoM, and his prayers have become heartfelt. The change really has been impressive from the little I saw beforehand and it was touching when he shared that "this was the first time in [his] life where he really needed God and He hasn't left [him] alone." We committed him to come to church with us the same day, something he said he likely would never do, and to start meeting with us regularly again. He said yes. It was pretty great up until church got canceled. He was doing a fundraising activity this last Sunday so we should get him next Sunday so it's okay.... sort of. 

This last Sunday was really good. We've still been meeting with the Francos and recently committed them to come to church. With the craziness of the taco shop and their personal finances that's been really tough. I think they understand why church is important and they seem to have a true desire to attend but have told us they don't feel comfortable closing Sundays or opening late..... yet. We compromised and got approval from our Zone leaders to attend the English ward with them in the morning and it was great. It was my first English service in a year and it was weird. English at church and English talking about the gospel just sounds weird haha. That's an interesting change. The family, with the exception of Marco, speaks pretty good English and they might decide to attend in English because it just works better for them. Juliana also really wants Marco to learn English and she sees it as an opportunity for him. We obviously don't want to pass them off and we want them to be able to stop working on Sundays. Going to church when they won't be working is a short term solution that I would prefer they wouldn't take. Long term solutions take longer but likely will stick better and that's what we are pushing. 

Sunday we also visited with a family we don't have the opportunity to visit very often. Due to the tough situation in which they live, going to church has become very difficult. In the last year I've seen the whole family at church twice. Even with all the obstacles they face in their life their home is one of the most amazing homes I've ever been in. When we visit with people, we can typical tell how they live the gospel, not by anything they say or anything they do, but by the light that they have in them and/or by how you just feel around them. Although humble, their home emanates with the spirit in a way almost incomparable to any other home I've ever been in. We had a short visit with them, but it was just so good. Definitely a goal I'd have for my future home.

Lastly the address I sent last week is correct, but we are in Apartment #2. Hopefully that didn't through anyone off, our mailbox says "the church guys or Elders" so hopefully I got everything.

Next Pday is Saturday.

December 30, 2017

fam,

Monday was good. Skyping was fun. Unfortunately we didn't have a full P-day and were out working at 6pm. It was kind of blizzardy outside and no one was outside. We stopped by a few people and distributed some presents given to us to pass out by our branch president.  

Tuesday is when things really began to happen. This week has been consumed by two occurrences. Tuesday was a clear and snowy day and Elder Magalei and I were making our way to visit with someone we met a few days prior. I was driving. The street we were driving on has a few streets that flow into it off of some actually steep hills. Unbeknownst to us, someone was coming down the hill at a speed where they couldn't stop. They ran or slid through a stop sign in front of us leaving us with little to no time to react or divert any momentum. We only saw them about a second and a half before we collided, but with the amount of snow on the ground there wasn't really anything I could have done to avoid the collision. We collided and all airbags blew. Obviously we came to a quick stop, but the first thing we I noticed was a considerable amount of smoke in the cabin. A little jumpy on adrenaline Elder Magalei and I both jumped out of the car pretty quick thinking it was going to burst into flames or something crazy like that. Only later did I realize it was likely the airbag charge. 

Once we were out of the car we noticed the other car was gone. I was a little disgruntled thinking it was a hit an run. We then called the police and our vehicle coordinator. I thought I had a good idea of putting all my warm coats in the car for emergencies but turns out when you smash the hood in, and the trunk doesn't have a physical key or lever or even a latch in the cabin you can't access any of your stuff.... what a design flaw. The other car came back about 15 minutes later and the first cop came another 20 minutes later. The crash took place just outside Wyoming city limits and when the Wyoming cop got there he basically asked if we were okay and then dipped out pretty quick. We exchanged information and these two sketchy SUV's pulled up and were kind of eyeing us and giving us some angry looks from the other side of the street. It was a little worrisome but luckily they left when the Grand Rapids cop came. Not sure what was going to happen with the people in the SUV's but it definitely was sketchy. 

Our car had to get towed but we were fine. All our stuff was still locked in the trunk, but our zone leaders graciously came to pick us up and get us out of the cold. The zone leaders then dropped us off where our car got towed to and we waited there for a while. After a little over an hour they said they couldn't get into the trunk which contained all our warm cloths and missionary materials so we were definitely crippled from that. Elders Rencher and Wall let us borrow some warm clothes and we were outside for the rest of the day.

Wednesday we got dropped off at the dealership, where our car got towed to and spent an hour there trying to break into the car without breaking anything more and without tools. The bigger problem was the guy who would help was busy, so we had no access to tools beyond what I had on me. (Editor's note:  if you know Eric, he's pretty handy). Eventually he was able to join us and using a thin pole pushed through a gap in the seats was able to release the physical lever on the inside of the trunk. That took a sizable chunk out of the day and then I had to fill out some church forms to report the accident. A fun day. 

The other item that has taken so much time this week was that with Elder Wall going home with a group of missionaries finishing their missions, Elder Magalei and I had to clean out our apartment to move into the other Spanish apartment. We packed and cleaned and then moved everything over. Elder Wall got picked up by the transfer van at the church at 7 pm. We had one appointment after that and then we began to unpack. Now with all the Spanish elders form the branch together our area has become the size of the stake. Technically I'm still in my first area, it's just like twice the size now, same amount of miles, but that's okay. Also I'm back in a Trio. It's still weird. 

Teaching in a trio is very different. It's much more relaxed because instead of the teaching being on two person's shoulders, it's now on three. 

December 30, 2017

Fam,

Two days to Christmas countdown. It's going to be so weird to skype haha. 

Tuesday we had a great trade-off. I went with the soon to be late Elder Wall. We had a good long day of finding planned. We were able to get a few miles in of walking through Little Mexico which was fun and more or less productive.

Wednesday we got a call from someone we talked with about two weeks prior. We met this lady after we got stood up at an appointment and were walking around seeing if there was anyone in the area we could talk with. We started talking with her and offered some service and were able to rake her lawn. We had a good conversion with her and shared Light the World with her. She asked us if we could help her to deliver some Christmas packages with the community organization she represented. We jumped on the service opportunity and met her at this random retirement community. It turned out to be really fun. We delivered hams, pastries, and Christmas packages to a bunch of people.  

The same day I also felt inspired to study "Living water" as found in the scriptures. Throughout the simple study I was thinking about spiritual self-reliance. My favorite scripture from that study was found in D&C 63:23 which says "But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life." 

Obedience is prerequisite for most of the blessings in the gospel, but what I found interesting is symbolically the well of living water source is from within someone. One can go to church and have to appearance of being spiritually powerful.  However, more important are the little achievements one does privately. Gaining a strong testimony or praying daily is not something public, but these things are personal achievements that lead to large and important consequences. Once you stop doing the little things it's like you stopped watering a plant. It doesn't immediately die but will slowly loses its strength and withers. Your faith decreases and you lose the understanding or testimony you may have at one point had. We had a great experience this week catching a member who is going through some trials with their faith and we were able to read with them. Just reading with members can be surprisingly important to helping members build their faith. 

Zone conference was Thursday. It was really, really good, as usual. President Brennan's remarks are almost always the highlight. He spoke on angels and their role in God's work as well as miracles. He pulled examples from almost all the standard works including, the Bible, Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine & Covenants. It was really interesting and he made the point that God works in one way and that doesn't change. We also watched clips from the Christmas story film "The Nativity." It was really interesting but the acting was not that great. On top of the acting the Angel Gabriel was a little freaky. Elder Wall made the joke that when people have angelic experiences they tend to be scared at first and that this was why. 

Friday we had the first practice for "O Holy Night" with the Reed family. I'm accompanying them on the piano (this makes the editor of these blogs VERY happy) and it sounds pretty good. Turns out when you ask someone if they can count when they don't have a musical background and don't realize that you mean beats in a measure when it's 6/8, they might be slightly offended. Oops haha.