Monday, December 29, 2014

12-28-14 Happy New Year!

Here comes the new year.

Everything was pretty chill this Christmas. We entered early because of dangerous drunks with fireworks.

Other than that, we ate about 10 tamales each and put goals of things we want to improve as a companionship and as people.

I´m really interested in this next change on the 6th. If I leave here, it will be weird, and if I stay it would be weird. It will be interesting. But everything will be alright.

I love God so much and am so grateful to him for blessing me so much. This work is not possible without Him. We must depend on him. always.

Love you guys
Happy new year, 
paz y amor

sorry it´s so short just kinda at a loss for words haha

Monday, December 22, 2014

12-22-2014 Merry Christmas!



 MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL
 
Well, this time of year is crazy for a unidad, or like branch I want to say.
 
I was looking at the calendar and wow, I´ve been in this same area for like 8 months..... that's a long time, almost half my mission. Pretty crazy, but we have done so much here it´s kinda mind boggling.
 
This week we had the Christmas Dinner, found a ton of people. I´m really hoping that the Lord softens the hearts of these families. Other than that, this week was relativley calm. We had 200 people come to the dinner. There was miraculously enough food. I dressed up as a women to do our drama, and other than that, we worked hard in finding people to teach.
 
I love this work. I love Christmas because it is a great time to be with the family and develop true lasting love.
 
I want to give a gift to God this Christmas, I want to give him my life. Not like dying or suicide, but like dedicating my will to his will so that they can become one. I want to give my life to God through dedication. Not my will but his be done. If I can give that gift, that will be the best thing I´ve ever received in my life.
 
Love you all! You´re awesome!
Don´t do anything I wouldn´t do.

Monday, December 15, 2014

12-15-14 A busy week

I don't know how someone can be so happy and so tired at the same time.

This week I was in my area working for a total of 1 day of the week. This is bad and good. It breaks the routine, and the rhythm... so good and bad. haha

I'll start with Monday, for p-day we started the day painting the health center. Then I was in the office doing interviews for people to go to the temple. It was awesome and I felt much joy.

 

Tuesday we got up early, made breakfast for the travelers and loaded the buses. I was in charge of the 7 youth because that's what I assigned myself since we don't have anyone to be a young mens president or even a leader,  but lots and lots of women. Seems like in my life I've been trained especially for this moments what with 3 sisters and no brothers. Anyways, we got up and went to Teguc. We  got there late so we had to wait to combine with a group from Nicaragua to do the baptisms. We ate lunch and then did the baptisms finishing at like 4:00. We sent the two little buses home and stayed in the temple so we could go to the Christmas activity the following day. So we found some New York Cheese Cake and then took a taxi. This is the capital we're talking about and I was completely dependent on that taxi to get to the assistant's house. We got there and played... haha kinda we went contacting in a super rich neighborhood... 

Wednesday I took advantage of a hot shower... geez I miss those, and we went early to the migration office because my residence expired so I had to renew it. I felt bad because we were an hour late to the activity and my companion had never been to one before. We watched Frozen and played games.


 

Thursday. I went straight to Esperanza for the District mtg and to know the baptismal dates, and stayed the night there.

Friday I got back to my area and we had a district meeting with a crazy guy who barged in and I told him he could stay and listen if he didn't say anything. It was funny to see a grown man be so obedient... haha

Sat we tried to finish the Health center and then we had a baptism and then an elders quorum activity with tacos.... Then Sunday.



Really crazy week, this next week should be easier. haha
He got his package but some of the candy didn't like the humidity, especially the crackers.
 
Love you all Love the holidays
paz y amor.
Elder Johnson

Monday, December 8, 2014

12-08-14 20th century paint style

I feel good, tired, but satisfied, kind of tired.



This week was kinda nuts. I was only in my area for 3 days, for various meetings in La Esperanza and Tegucigalpa. Kinda complicated, and then one of those days we had to do a service project sooo what did we do? Logically, we painted the health center where Elder Saurez fainted... haha, pretty fun. But man, that's a lot of work. We still haven't finished and looks like next Saturday we will be doing the same thing so it doesn't stay super ugly looking.... but all good. haha We didn't have enough paint so.... we combined white paint with yellow and green... not so bad, but we still don't have enough paint.. I think we will be taking a 20th century style and painting every wall a different color.
 
He just loves the jungle.
As for inv. well... One family is having problems and now are going to separate. I have now recognized the consequences of fornication. They have a daughter together, they've been together for 3 years, and they  faced this problem and now, well... because they had no commitment to each other they're just gonna split up and the daughter will go with the mother.... It sure makes me sad. This is what happens when one does not marry but has a family... shouldn't work like that, but it is all too common here.
This is a fruit that is like cantaloupe but its called sipote and falls out of a tree like an apple.... weird but good.
On the other hand, in the branch, tomorrow me and my companion are going to the temple for a temple trip where our 8 youth and 2 families are going to work. The Families are going to be sealed... I'm am inexplicably happy about that. 
 
Food for 2 months straight... (its cheap and weddings are expensive)
I think up to this point in my life I've never felt such extremes. Such sadness to see people waste their potential and do exactly what you say not to do only to suffer the consequence, and the worst part is when they still keep going at it. When a person does not learn from the mistakes that's the worst.
 
And such happiness to see people loving God and their lives changing and seeing the blessings in their lives.. I
I believe I haven't cried so much from sadness or happiness ever.... until these days.

These are crazy Hondurans, there is a man driving the first car.. the chain broke...
and the car fell but no one died, just minor injuries jajaja... but seriously.

This coming week will be a wreck. I'm going to the temple tomorrow to baptize the youth, then sending the branch home without me as me and my companion stay to renew my residence and then we go to stay with the assistants. Wednesday we will be at a Christmas activity of the mission. Then Saturday we have this service, Elders quorum activity, and Christmas party prep. That's in 2 weeks, we have so much we need to do, but geez, sometimes it's hard and that's using a planner. I would be unable to accomplish this without my planner...

The branch had a high in attendance this week and we have a baptism on Saturday.. basically missionary life. Lovin it.

Paz y amor
Elder Johnson




Monday, December 1, 2014

12-1-14 Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow so this week was a pretty normal full throttle week.

We are really focused on finding new people to teach which means we have to go to the extremes of the village because I basically know every house and inhabitant of the pueblito.... haha 

The big news of this week is that my district has doubled in size and our zone has shrunk. Here a zone is normally 8-10 pairs of missionarys, and a district is usually 2-4 pairs of missionaries. I had a district of 2 before and now I have a pair of 4 because they closed like 2 areas from our zone. Not for disobedience but  because they aren`t baptizing, so president puts them where they baptize.

 
Now my district is a lot bigger so this district meeting we decided to do a Thanksgiving dinner... haha It was on Friday. We were going to cook the chicken, one pair of sisters had rice, and the others a salad, and then the other pair of missionaries had the mashed potatoes (because one of them is a Texan and you got to have a lot of mashed potatoes.) When they were on the bus to come to Otoro, which is like an hour drive, one of the missionaries fainted.... kinda a problem. So we bought the chicken, asked the sisters too cook it and then took him to the health center (there are no nearby hospitals, the closest being a 2 hour drive). There they stabilized him..... idk what exactly they did, but in the end they said they don't know why he fainted... so they sent him and his companion to the hospital. We stayed and did the Thanksgiving dinner and district meeting.... felt bad but I didn´t know what else to do. Now he's back with a crazy brain medication that keeps him awake.. kinda scary Honduran medicine I think, but whatevs, the Mission pres knows so I'm not gonna worry about it too much, I just wouldn't take the medication.


Thanksgiving dinner with the new district
 
Other than that, we had a priesthood conference in the Esperanza and it was kinda lame because here it's graduation so we could just lift like 8 people and then.. none of the other branches showed up.... but it was good. President Fortuna is super powerful. The branch president from the other area said he was ready to be a Setenta.. haha super fun.

Well life in the mission continues, love every crazy day, how fast the time flies by.
 

Love ya all

paz y amor
Elder Johnson