you don't like my English?

Some of Sean's emails have had the most atrocious grammar and spelling I have ever seen!  So, I sent him and email just saying that maybe he should watch that a little bit better because this is a life skill and a great time to practice typing well, plus I didn't want him making it a habit to type poorly.  Here is his response

"tal vez voy a responder en solomente espanol si usted no le gusta me ingles... pero... Si las zappatos son buenas por supuesto! gracias"

What a stinker, he just thinks he's sooo funny!

I'm from Argentina

This  week was soo slow and idk why.

We have a fecha for a family!!!! and they came to church and want to have their baby named and blessed in the church!!!! It´s a miracle the first family here in Comayaguela in half a year!
 

This week we went to Tegucigalpa, that was not fun.  We are on a bus for two hours and then we get there and they tell us we can´t watch General Conference.... what!?!?!?!!?!  I think that some missionaries almost stood up. He changed it, we just aren´t allowed to go to priesthood session because Saturday night is the best night to find families. Which makes sense but it is still a super bummer.  I was soo excited for it. Oh well, I can read it after.

 

 

Oh, one exciting thing, I mastered an Argentine accent in Spanish for about 4 or 5 sentences, so if I want to make a joke with contacts I tell them that I´m from Argentina.  At first they didn´t believe me, but now like four contacts believed me! woo!!!  Spanish is coming, and yesterday I spoke the whole day in Spanish without asking once for a word in English!  wwoooooooooo!  Finally one goal accomplished.

 

We aren´t working as hard as we should... my companion,  I love the guy but he is sick of being "rejected".  I feel bad for him. Also, he`s taken to looking at our work as condemning to the people who don´t accept us. Which I haven´t been able to prove to him we aren`t. That our goal is to save, but kinda by attempting it and making the chance that they reject us it's scary, but we kinda do add one more problem for them....

 

Um... the food is good, I´m becoming quite the chef and mastering all sorts of little tricks. I enjoy improving myself very much but I have to remember this mission is not about me... it`s tough to think outside of myself. One thing is we get fed all the time but I´m always hungry!!! It`s so frustrating! Yet sometimes we just forget to sit down and eat, like yesterday we ate lunch and now that I think about it I don´t think we ever ate dinner.

 

Funny story about last night though, my companion locked our keys in our room so we had to get the security guard and he broke in for us..... yeah kind of ironic.  Other than that, the shock and excitement is wearing off.  Time to buckle down and work.
 

Oh one more cool thing! This month was a record for the mission!

 188 bautismos y 40 Familias Whoo whoo just some mission pride there

:) btw my address is

Elder Sean Johnson

Misiòn Honduras Comayaguela

Apartado Postal 2625

Tegucigalpa Honduras

 

Love to hear from ya`ll

Let me know if I can do anything for you. I will do my best.

The beginning of our mission journey

This journey started years ago, but Sean received his mission call on Thursday, March 14,2013.  He opened it surrounded by family and friends, receiving a call to Comayaguela, Honduras.  He graduated from high school on May 30, 2013, then received his endowment in the Logan Utah Temple on June 4, 2013 in the 9am session. 

 

After a full summer filled with father & sons camp out, family weddings,

 a trip to Idaho and a trip to California and Las Vegas, his farewell and a family reunion,

 Sean flew to the Mexico MTC on July 9, 2013 at 7am.

 

His first email to tell me he made it:

 

"Hey mom, so things are pretty crazy out here haha I have Pdays on tuesday. Today we went to the mexico temple, all in spanish... My companion is way cool, he was a gymnast and, kinda a red head. The food down here is craz! haha like all mexicano except once when we had pizza on our first night, ha so far.. I´ve liked all of it . They´re kinda unorganized down here so basically we have been allowed to do anything we want. but its kinda frustrating when you are assigned a lot to do and not given any time do do it. We started teaching a "investigator" on the second day I will refer to him as angel (prounounced anhel) we do all of our communicating in spanish which is so hard but its coming extremely fast. I call it communication because its not quite talking yet. ha anyways we committed him to pray, go to church, and read the book of mormon. and yesterday we challenged him to be baptized and he said "Si" I almost jumped up for joy! actually I kinda did. I just stood up and shook his hand. I know that this is the kind of work Christ would have us do. It´s really hard and last week really felt like an eternity. I miss all of you and Love you. Stick with class and tell everyone to write me through email. The mail system out here isn´t well..... let's say established."

 

Can I just say, um, hello!  AP English high school graduate!  Where is your spelling, punctuation, capitalization? Ugh, I sent a little email out about that. I also sent an email about giving us a little more detail.  I asked a few questions, like how was the bus ride.  In response the next week we got:

 

"hahahaahhahahaha the bus ride????? hahaha you joking me we had a bus driver who seemed to have the philosophy of "grind it till you find it" we were stuck in traffic until the cops started their sirens then everyone was like flying. I think the rule is when you change lanes you honk. and the bigger you are the less warning you have to give. Motorcyclists were shoooting gaps i didn´t even think were gaps. and we looked out our window and saw a lady  tied up and gagged in the back of a Geo... it´s like wha? I asked the elder next to me if we should tell someone. Since neither of us had any idea how to convey in spanish what was going on he said "nah, i think that that´s probably normal round here" so we didn´t say anything.

 

Sorry i may have mislead you guys on the baptism thing, these investigator guys are latino teachers who are acting the way they did during their conversion lessons and such Angel is actually maestro  who is now teaching us on how to teach (in spanish of course). My companion is getting really frustrated with the launguage. the food theses days is sooo good but we still don't have irons.... odd. we learned that Manana doesn't mean literally tomorrow... it really just means not today.

 

I have seen like four kids from my schoool now and talked to all of them. Including scott and josh i'm telling you the first week is the hardest. and i  played soccer the other day with Bud it was sweet.

  

We have two more investigators. one is really hard and the other is medium... serious like when they talk a million miles an hour it's all i can do to get the gist of what they are saying. I'm still tired all the time and more and more funny thing keep happening but nothing as funny as an elder's sleep walking. Tell everyone i say hi and that i miss them. Stay close to god and mom read 1 nephi 2:8 if you ever miss me too much. ;) love ya dad thanks for being such a good example to me maybe when i get back i can learn portuguese, and you can help me?"

 

Ok, so he gave us more information, but really, a girl tied up and they didn't tell anyone?  I still haven't gotten over that one.  But there is some improvement.  We then asked some more questions and for some more information like who was in his district and what the sleep walking story was and such.  Hence, you start at the MTC in the beginning, the first post.  It only took a few weeks to get to that point.  We still ask questions all the time, and answers seem far and few between, but we are getting there.

 

Shauna

Mom

and so you are, at the beginning of a mission adventure!

 

 

 

 

Horse Whisperer

This week was.. really fast gee whiz where the heck is it going?



Elder Johnson the photo bomber.  The elder on the right is Kay Pearl's grandson, my former coworker from the temple.

 

This Monday was the first Monday in the campo that I played soccer and just fyi... all the Latinos in my zone like me now.. (weird) We have been teaching like nuts, but no one has accepted fechas yet. Interesting fact, an hour away from where I am, George of the Jungle the movie was filmed. Sweet

We found this new peublito called Quebrocho. Missionaries have never been there before, I was like.. what? It's so cool, people are soo humble and they are letting us in and everyone insists on feeding us. I really feel like I'm gaining weight.

 We went to Las Anonas again and of course, it was one of my highlights. We had an adventure, we decided the trail was boring so we went up a cliff cause it would be faster... it wasn't much faster and we were way dirtier in the end... haha. Then we helped calm down this little horse of one of the members, and the people now think I'm an animal whisper just cause I touched the nose of the horse and it just stopped. Yeah, not spiritual or anything, I think it was just surprised, they treat their animal pretty poorly here.

I've been wondering what are my strengths in missionary work without Spanish...... I've also been wondering where do abilities come from? Very broadly, that's what I've been wondering about.

We also went to a place called "valley of angels" super pretty and we taught an 8 year old who got baptized this Saturday.

This week we have been focusing on meno activos, less actives. Here a lot of people can't afford the bus to go... and it's too expensive for the church to rent a bus every Sunday. My companion and I want to set up a branch in Las Anonas cause that would be EPIC and everyone in that direction would be able to go.

I'm learning a lot about myself out here, and I'm clarifying my beliefs. That's important. Figure out what you want to become. Always remember it, I'm not talking about your job, or future, I'm talking about your essence. We are SUPPOSED to change, it's what we're here for. That's why we don't like it so much. Comfort is the enemy of progress.... that was in a gym over here, I think it's partly true, but I think that the ultimate progress would to become comfortable with progress, expect it of yourself, God expects it of us. And Jesus Christ didn't suffer for our sins for nothing.

Anyways this week was super fun, can't wait for the next week. Let me know if there is anything I can do for any of you. Que le vaya bien!!

Love, Elder Sean Johnson

p.s. If you write letters to me make sure you put "Elder Sean Johnson" on top because we have two or three Elder Johnsons in this mission and fyi, I really like letters.

The gospel is a path that exists FOR us, but knowing about a trail or a path doesn't mean you know the path... LIVE IT.

Ok.. well this week was loco. I had interchanges, I went to the temple and we have a BAPTISM!! Woo! I also met a man who lives in New York and we're teaching him, and I did my first service day of chopearing... which is like cutting a lawn with a machete.... yeah pretty sweet..

  So Interchanges are when you and your companion trade companionships so my companion was the district leader for one ...day... He is sooo good at contacting, we contacted 8 people and they all gave us food. He's from Tonga... and BIG like really big, that's probably why everyone gave us food. Oh and I freaking met a monkey, like it climbed on me!! Woop! Woop! yeah I'm cool, that was a really cool day.

That was on Tuesday, it was super cool, but on Thursday we went and did service chopeando,. It was honestly really hard but I can now say I have used a machete.. whoever thought that using a machete is cool and fun.... oh man that person has a lot to learn. We are so blessed to have weed wackers. I have two blisters on my hands still and I never get blisters, but after that the guy drove us to the city and bought us Honduran Chinese food, it was pretty good:)

  The next day we went to the temple. Hahahaha, that was crazy. We had a bus meant for 28 people and we fit 40 missionaries on it!!! haha and the temple is sooo small that we filled two sessions just missionaries... but it was cool. I understood like all of it ,so that was a miracle!!

Then that night we got home and went contacting. I met a man who speaks ENGLISH!!! Man, I would be so good at teaching Latinos in English, oh well. Man, OH and the 15th is the Day of Independence, here they had huge parades and almost no one came to church, but it was ok hahaha um..

We're really close. We have been focusing on finding people. Just this week we found 18 investigators and 4 families... total we have 42 investigators and 9 families.... but many aren't progressing. They just don't want to do anything. They think if they let the word of God into they're home they're blessed, but they don't act, they just listen... oh well they have agency and I really am trying my best. I'm having a blast and working hard and honestly loving it...

I can't think of anything else and I'm out of time. Basically this week was super fast and really fun. I hope it will be like this always.

Just one last thing, the gospel is a path that exists FOR us, but knowing about a trail or a path doesn't mean you know the path... LIVE IT.

Love Elder Johnson 

 

 

 

 

Questions and Answers

Here are some questions Sean answered about his mission:

1. How many missionaries serve in your mission? 230
2. How big is the area you serve in? Idk really, we have half of a city and then like a huge mountain area at least 10 by 35 mi...les but rough estimate.

3. How many wards are in your area? 1

4. What is something that has surprised you while you have been a missionary? How much time you spend in the apartment, you have to prepare before you can teach effectively.

5. What is some advice you would give the youth? Dude, be an example, even if everyone is pretty much white over there they still notice if your following the standards set by our lord. Also you don`t have to share a message to someone who doesn't want to hear it.

6. What is a cool experience you've had while there? I suck at Spanish but this pregnant lady asked us to give a blessing i did the anointing of the oil, then my companion blessed. The baby hadn`t moved through the pregnancy and she was 8 months and 20 days in as near as she could tell. during the blessing the baby moved. It was a miracle. Priesthood power is the power of god, and your intentions and worthiness to exercise the priesthood are more important than how well you speak.

7. Anything else? The church is so strong in Utah, appreciate it. We have 1,500 baptized members here, but only 130 members attending church every Sunday. See More

A rough week

So this week sucked..... nobody came to church!!! probably because tomorrow is la dia de ninos (kids day what? talk about epic culture) and therefore they were saving the commute money for the pinatas and candy. Also Honduras beat Mexico in a qualifying game. No me and my companion didn´t watch the game, we just watched people dance and set off fireworks all night. then our neighbors came in and ...told us all about it. They are so crazy here, it was actually pretty freaking sweet to be surrounded by people who care about soccer.

OK but other than that, I mean it rained alot.... not much happened. I`m getting used to life here, I had pirahana yesterday and my companion didn`t like it.

I hope that since I`m becoming accustomed to life here I`ll be able to focus more on the gospel and the teaching of it. That sure would be nice, my Spanish is todavia terrible, but it`s coming... slowly. When I tell people I`ve been here for 2 weeks they compliment me, so whatevs.

We`ve been focusing on contacting a lot this week. It`s hard, people don`t automatically like you if your a gringo here, its work. I still feel like I could do more, I just need to do something, Idk know what yet.

Oh ok, so the most exciting story happened during our trip to Las Anonas, the night before we left we had three dinners.....bad idea. Woke up and was fine, started heading out and on the bus, I started getting car sick. I never get car sick, so it was a weird experience. We get off and we have a member RM with us, and just start hiking, I felt terrible, like sick sick. So half way up I just told my companion "yonecesito vomitarse" "I need to throw up" so I stop, tuck in my tie to my shirt (I didn`t want to get it dirty) and then bend over and puke my guts out. Yeah..... that was half the story, we get to Las Anonas and they feed us lunch, chicken head stew... I ate it.... haha and then threw up all over the porch. The starving dogs loved it!. After that they gave me this juice and I felt good, and we had a really spiritual lesson on the importance of temples.... hahaha then they made me take some corn before we made the hike back.

Another story is, well, the day after Honduras won we went to the hospital because this lady, I`m gonna call her Esperanza, had her baby. This is the lady we blessed and the baby hadn´t moved her whole pregnancy until we blessed her. Then it moved! Man this is a freaking miracle packed mission or something, Idk what's happening, maybe I just never had recognized miracles until now... anyways we went to visit her in the hospital...

It was gross, like really gross. I tried not to touch anything at all and washed my shoes when we got home. I don`t want any diseases.... the crazy thing is I learned that men suck.....(and we need to fix how they treat women).

We need lots of prayers.

I don`t want to end on that note sorry, but I`m out of time. Love you all, I really could use your guys` prayers right now. And just pray for people in general. Gee whiz. Keep your face toward Zion k? and love where you`re at and what your doing when your doing it, it`s important to have joy in the moment.