It was kind of a cool, unique situation...

Hey! It’s been a good week, very exciting and busy.

The area I’m in is very large. It would take about 30 min to drive from one side to the other on the interstate. It’s been exciting getting to know a new area. While there aren’t many investigators here right now, there will be soon! We were able to teach two 14 year old girls this week and they are on date for baptism on the 21st. It’s exciting to see.

 It’s been great being with Elder Ward. He is a super funny guy. We get along well. It was pretty cool this week…we were knocking doors during the day. We got to talk to someone who wanted to learn more and would ask questions. Eventually, we found out it was his day off work and we asked him if he wanted to go drive over to the church house and look around. Rather enthusiastically he said, “yes.” So, we went over and gave him a church tour. It was kind of a cool, unique situation.

 There were also a few other unique situations… one with a recent convert that I was quite close to running away. I got special permission to go talk to him after he came home. Very exciting week. 

I’ve found that lately that it’s really quite easy to argue with people and sometimes I enjoy it more then I should. I start to get defensive and try to prove that all the "problems" or "faults" that people find in our church or its doctrine. They all have answers. They all have solutions and it’s beautiful. It can be so easy to sit there and prove to people why this gospel really does have the full truth and it’s beautiful. I’ve also found that brings almost always nothing at all. By arguing nothing will get done but there’s a difference between arguing and stating truth.

-Elder Johnson

Photo Blessings: Transfer Day & Service

From Elder Johnson's Parents-

Missionaries serve with all their "heart, might, mind and strength." (D&C 4:1) .  Parents worry, pray, and trust that others will love their missionaries in absentia.  We are grateful to have received some photographs this week reassuring us that Elder Johnson is loved.

He has been a special joy to us ( Mickey & Louise Brasher). .. He has worked so hard doing outside work with Mickey & Elder Geier .. They are just like our grandkids.  We sure hated to see them leave us & go elsewhere ..  He is such a gentleman .. Thank you for sharing him with us!!!

Transfer Day with his new companion, Elder Ward.

Transfer Day...  Elder Tani (blue tie) is from just down the road from us in Kaneohe.

Transfer Day...  a great looking group of Elders.

It has really led to some pure, real happiness...

Hey! I’m getting transferred today to Tumwater 2nd ward. The Olympia 4th Ward is being closed because lack of elders in the mission. My new address is:

2776 Stratford LN SW #3216
Tumwater, WA 98512

It was an exciting week in Olympia. The first part of the week moved kinda slow. We did lots of service which I enjoy. Juan has committed to be baptized on March 21. He has made some big changes this past week and it has really led to some pure, real happiness.

With so many investigators progressing, leaving them is really hard and I worry about them a lot. Saying goodbyes last night was not fun in the slightest. The hardest was having to tell Chintz that we weren't going to come back to be with him. But we would be back on the 14 to baptize him.

In my new area I will be with another new kid named Elder Ward. He seems like a great guy. I’ll miss biking everywhere with Elder Geier. He has been such a hard worker and has been awesome to work with.

-Elder Johnson

Now he has a desire...

Note:  Elder Johnson's dad forgot to post this letter from last week.  Sorry...

Elder Geier had his surgery on Tuesday and has recovered really well from it. Although being down for a few days, I was able to call a lot of investigators and do a lot of work with former investigators along with read read read! Though we did not get out till Friday, we were very blessed when we did... lots of things were able to get done.

We have an investigator named Juan who is in the Army and is 21. He is very casual with us most times and it is hard to get him to focus on the gospel. But, this past week we saw him. I don't know where the change came from but he finally said he wanted to change.  He said he knew he needed before but never wanted to. He knew he had a bad past and knew he needed to change. Now he has a desire.

This is the last week of the transfer.  I'm expected to stay here. There's no reason for me to go and I am excited to be able to stay and do more work.  I really love the people here, a type of people I've never dealt with before so its exciting. We plan to go chop down trees Tuesday afternoon. Im exited to do that (something I never did in Utah). The ward here is great!  They take great care of us and are really focused on missionary work.

Enjoy the holiday this weekend. I'm sure me and Elder Geier will. Thank you all for the support.

-Elder Johnson

I got to cut down my first tree this week...

The past week has been very rainy. Long days on the bike always keeps things exiting though. It’s odd… in all my other areas there hasn't been recent converts that I’ve had to teach. But here we have converts, so we gotta teach them. It’s very exiting talking to them and seeing them change week by week… seeing how their new-found beliefs bring peace and happiness and often make things in life easier. (at least easier to cope with).

With the Super Bowl yesterday, we were not allowed to do anything besides go to church. (for our own safety). So we got a lot of time to read and study which I enjoyed very much. I finally got through "Articles of Faith" by Talmage. What a wonderful book. I learned a lot from it.

I got to cut down my first tree this week. A member in the ward had a tree he needed gone so we got a chainsaw and cut down about a 50-foot tree… very exciting! It was something I didn't think I’d do on a mission.  We then cut the tree up for firewood (everyone out here heats their home by a fireplace).

Because of the Super Bowl the chapel was only half full. It was almost imposable to get investigators to church yesterday but we were able to get a family there. The testimonies that were bore really struck home for them and I think it was a big step for them.

-Elder Johnson

I am staying warm. There is a lot of rain and my bike broke the other day. I’m trying to fix it myself.  I’m using a extra bike in the meantime. I layer up each day to stay as dry as possible.

320 Israel Dr. SW #34

Tumwater WA 98501