Syringa

Dear Family, 

My area is a pretty rich area and it is pretty small as well. Friday we got rejected hard core a bunch of times. It was kind of depressing. But in the evening we went out of town about 5 minutes to a trailer park called Syringa. Its kinda the dump of Moscow. Half of the trailers are deemed unlivable and lets be honest the rest should be. But that night I gained a greater understanding about why Jesus spent so much time with the sinners and the publicans. Everyone there was super nice to us. First we had a great lesson with a recent convert named Amber and her family and now her son Gregory is on date for august 15th. Then we had a guy that was outside grilling call to us to have us come talk to him. We had several other great lessons there that night. It was a pretty stark contrast to the earlier part of the day. 

Man I've been trying to write this letter for like 30 minutes now but I can't think of anything interesting or clever to say. So hope you guys have a great week!

-eLDER (aNDRE) jOHNSON

New Companion - Elder Morse

My new companion I am training is name Elder Morse. He is from Tucson Arizona. He is a super solid missionary already (ya I'm an awesome trainer) Ha ha just kiddin. He was just super prepared before he came out so I basically don't have to train him at all.  

Rolling Hills ward has been fun. Currently it is an all bike area so we are definitely gaining a testimony that the name chosen for this ward was inspired of God and very true. The ward members are awesome though. They just had a baptism the Saturday before we got here so everyone in the ward is excited to do missionary work. I have never got so many referrals in one week as I have this week. Our area is pretty small though besides a big section of booniness that we can basically never go to because we don't have a car. 

We are teaching a 24 year old girl here named Danya. She is super awesome. She has had a hard life. She has been involved in drugs and other bad things like that. But she is really humble and wants to know if God is really there. She was originally found by the previous missionaries because she just walked into church and at the end of Sacrament meeting asked the bishop for advice in her life. He of course referred her to the missionaries. Right now she lives at her parents house. Her Mom is very supportive of us coming over and teaching her, in fact she sits in on the lessons and adds in her own insights. They lived in Salt Lake City for about 12 years before recently moving here so they are acquainted with lots of Mormons.  We are also going to start teaching the Son of the Recent Convert in the ward. 

(Mom don't read this next part)

Because we are opening up a new area we moved into a brand new apartment. As we were bringing things in from the truck several of our neighbors surprised me at how welcoming and excited they were to have us as their new neighbors. One neighbor Christina, talked to us for a while. She told us, we're excited to have you as our new neighbors, you are much better than the last tenant that lived in #8. "Ha ha sweet! We are representing the church well!" were my thoughts. "Wait, who was the last tenant that lived her?". She explained that the last tenant who had lived in the very apartment that we were bringing our bags into had just so happened to murder 3 people in that apartment complex 6 months ago. "Great! This place seems like a great environment conducive to the spirit!" She went on to say that the man had of course been sent to jail to await trial after the crime. "In fact the county jail he is staying in is right there" she pointed to a large building several hundred feet away. "Great now if he escapes his first destination will be back home!" So if you don't hear from me again, just know that I love you guys and I hope you have better luck in housing assignments than me.

Anyway Moscow is awesome, My son is sweet, the ward is stellar, and the Church is true.

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Transferring to Rolling Hills ward in Moscow Idaho

Well its transfers once again. They were a bit surprising for me this time. I will be leaving Sandpoint and going to the Rolling Hills ward in Moscow Idaho. I will also be training a new missionary! I'm pretty excited about that.

I won't find out who he is till tomorrow. He is flying in to Spokane today.  Moscow Idaho is home to University of Idaho. However I will be in a family ward.

I finally took a picture of Pend Oreille (Ponderay) lake. I know, not the best photography. In my defense I was driving while I took this. We are driving on the Long Bridge which is a mile long across the lake. Its super pretty.  Well I can't think of much more to say than that this week. Don't worry I'm sure I'll have some awesome adventures this week to talk about in my next email.

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Schweitzer mountain; New Pres

Today for P-day was an adventure. We rode our bikes down Schweitzer mountain. This is the first time I have ever really mountain biked. Elder Baczuk had only been 1 other time in our life so we didn't really know what we were doing but we made it back alive... with a few scrapes and bruises. I only crashed 3 times. We took some awesome pictures that I was going to show you but I left my camera at home so I can't. Sorry.

We got a new mission president this week! President and Sister Dymock (Dim-ick). For the last few weeks Elder Baczuk and I have been guessing what they looked like. I guess 5' 10" With blondish hair. Sister Dymock as tall with Dark hair. Well when they walked into our "Meet the dymocks" meeting last friday it turns out that they look like exactly what you would picture a Mission President and his wife to look like. He is about 5' 11" with dark hair partially balding and a little gray in there. She is tall with dark hair. They are pretty awesome! They are super pumped for this calling. I would show you pictures but I don't have any.

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson