Transferring to Sandpoint Idaho

Transfers were this weekend. After my 7 1/2 months here in cheney I will be transferred to Sunnyside ward in Sandpoint Idaho to be Companions with Elder Baczuk (Bay-zuhk). Man I'm going to miss Cheney!!! But It'll be great going to Sandpoint. I hear it's a pretty boony area. Thats the missionary term for there are more deer than people in your area. But I also hear that its beautiful country and there are mountains. I haven't seen real mountains since I came out. They have a few here that they call mountains but they aren't.

We saw some pretty cool miracles in Cheney this week. I've really found it productive when I am street contacting to have the attitude of "this is God's work and he is preparing people. If they aren't interested thats ok. I'm here to find elect people" Anyway we were walking down the street and we saw this girl about our age sitting in a parked truck smoking and reading a book. Both Elder Bowring and I judged her at first. She didn't look like someone that would be too interested and just a few weeks before we had had a semi contentious conversation with someone at that house. We almost kept walking by but last second we turned and started to talk with her. Turns out that she had come to our church several times with one of her friends. She also had received a Book of Mormon and had read it 5 times! She bore her testimony to us how the Book of Mormon helps her when she is feeling down. She also told us that she had recently been trying to get in contact with one of our members but she lost contact info. So ya that was sweet.

This is Bob. He's the one who we helped put siding on his house. He almost came to church last week. He should come this Sunday. He has completely changed since we first started meeting with him.

This is Juanita. She has been a member her whole life but started coming back to church in January after 40 years of inactivity. I'm am going to miss her!

Well I love you guys! Keep doing missionary work! if you live in Utah and aren't sure how to do missionary work with so few nonmembers. My suggestion is become friends with nonmembers. Have them over for dinner, drop off cookies whatever. Opportunities to share the Gospel will naturally come. "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Another phrase i'm making up on the spot is, "you won't know what to say until you start doing missionary work for them and not for yourself" Make sure that they know that you don't judge them for their decisions. They feel that way all the time living around so many mormons. Don't be afraid to get a little cigarette smoke on your clothes if necessary. Keep your gospel conversations very very simple. My last suggestion is don't get discouraged when they say no. Its gonna happen. If a wayward child said no to the first time you invited them back to church would you give up on them? No. Your friends are the same. Love them. Be patient. Invite them. Anyway I went off way longer than I thought I would on that thought.

Love ya!
-Elder (Andre) Johnson