Microwave

We got a MICROWAVE!!!!!!!!! The apartment is awesome now! We have two desks, two chairs and a microwave! Although it still smells like cigarette smoke and it gets really humid and warm. Its pretty nasty.

Sorry but I'm out of time.

Love YOU!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Just kidding I have a little more time!

Well now I'm going to have to think of something to write about. Its only been a few days since I wrote last. The Moran Prairie Ward is AWESOME! The ward is mostly young married adults with little kids. Then there are a few middle aged families and a few super old people. A lot of people move in and out of the ward for college. Especially right now. We have lots of new people moving in that will be going to school in the fall. Most of them are either medical or law students going to graduate school or residency. I love young married students because they are super excited about missionary work. We keep having families move in that come up to us and tell us that they are willing to help! It is super cool! The Rhotens are awesome! They just moved here about two weeks ago. They said that they have been praying for missionary opportunities. Well we happened to meet run into them the day they moved in. We were just talking to some other people in the apartment complex. The Smiths are the Best! They're probably my favorite family! ( I don't know if I'm allowed to pick favorites) The Smiths are both ward missionaries so they help us out a lot. Sister Smith was baptized about 6 years ago. She is such a great missionary. We brought her to this lesson that we had with a returning less active we have named Jennifer. Sister Smith bore such a powerful testimony. We could all feel the spirit really strong. I think it really helped Jennifer to hear the things that she said. Brother Case is sweet! He is the first counselor. He is super missionary minded. He befriends all of his neighbors and finds some way for us to go over there. We have been meeting with one of the families for a while now (Aaron and Oh). Elder Wilson and I gave a talk on yesterday at church. His talk was on covenants and my talk was on ordinances. I learned a lot while preparing for that talk.

Challenge: Read Matthew 3:13-15. Then read 2 Nephi 31:5-9. It talks about how Christ was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Then it talks about the straightness of the Gate and the narrowness of the way. That last phrase was kind of the theme of my talk. The way to eternal life is straight and narrow. God has provided us with a path to help us find our way back to him. This is a concept that a lot of people out here don't understand. They say that they know God in their heart and that is enough. While that is awesome that they know him in their heart they don't realize what they are missing out on. God loves us enough to make a very specific path for us to follow. The pathway are the saving ordinances we must do to get back to heaven. Baptism, Confirmation, Receiving the Melkizadek Priesthood, Receiving Temple Endowments, and Temple Sealing. Because God loves us he gave us these ordinances that serve as reminders of the covenants that we are making and the promises that we will receive. God commanded that we do these ordinances. It is a blessing to be able to "humble ourselves according to the flesh" (2 Nephi 31:8?) and perform the ordinances he has commanded us to do in the way he has commanded and by the proper priesthood authority. Anyway that was what my talk was about.

When I very first got here Elder Aidukaitus came to the mission and did some training with us. One of the things he told us was that every companionship in this mission should be baptizing weekly. He promised us that it was possible. That is a pretty bold thing to say. We haven't had a baptism since I've been here. However I definitely believe that it is possible. I've found since I've been out here that if the Lord wants something to be done, he can make it happen. And because his mouthpiece told us that it should be done, I know that it can be done. Anyway that goal is pretty hefty but I'm going to shoot for it. Even if I don't ever achieve it I can prepare areas so that the next elders will be able to get it or maybe the next.

Love you guys!

Elder (Andre) Johnson

P.s. I Met another guy named Andre! And this one actually seems pretty interested!

Weekly Letter

P-Day was on Friday this week because we went to the Temple.

We finally got a desk!!!! For the past 9 weeks we have been studying using a couch, a porch chair and a coffee (hot chocolate) table. It was very easy to fall asleep. Luckily a ward member had an extra desk. We met one of the other tenants at our apartment named Edward this week. He was super cool. He asked us for help moving some furniture around in a different guy's apartment. He had a chair he was getting rid of so we took that. Then yesterday we were helping a lady move and she had an extra chair so we took that! Our Apartment is looking fancy now! I would send a picture but I left my camera in the car.

 

Elder Wilson and I love to do what we call Bike contacting. We ride our bikes and stop and talk to everyone that we see. Its great because we pass so many people walking on the street because we are moving way faster than them. One of them we met last week was named Tony. He is an older man with a big beard that we saw at the bus stop. We told him that we taught people about Jesus Christ and he agreed to let us come over and visit him. So we did a few days later. He is super duper nice and he is really sincere and honest. After learning about the restoration he has agreed to be baptized! He could really use some prayers though. He is going through some tough times right now. It seems like that always happens once people start progressing.

 

 

One thing that I have seen is that it is super important that we are demonstrating our faith every day. Its not super important exactly what you are having faith in as long as you have faith in something. Let me explain.. no let me sum up (that's for you dad). Last week Elder Wilson and I were really focused on contacting as many people as we could. We set some pretty high goals for ourselves. As we went out and did our best the Lord made miracles happen. Some of those miracles had to do with street contacting. But some of them were random other things. When the Lord see's that we have faith that he will make miracles happen, then he trusts us with his children and he makes things happen. This week we are focused on getting people to church.

 

Love you guys!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

p.s. I met a guy that lives across the street named Andre! There are a bunch of Russians in Spokane.

New companion - Elder Wilson!

My new companion is the best!!! Elder Wilson is from Waco Texas. He is super funny! He is also a really hard worker. We have been able to work together a lot better than Elder Sanders and I did. We are just on the same page more. 

Elder Sanders is a great guy but I really did struggle with him. He didn't have nearly the same amount of desire to work. It was really hard to come from the MTC where I was super excited to the field where I felt like we were wasting a lot of time and not really bringing the spirit to most lessons. Things got pretty tough at some points last transfer. But they got better especially after a few trainings with President and Sister Mullen. In fact speaking of Sister Mullen I just got a personal call from her this morning. She was just checking up on how I was doing. It was really cool that she did that. I told her that I am feeling much better now. 

Elder Wilson is awesome!!! He has a desire to work and to bring people to Christ! This last week we got a lot done. Our goal for this transfer is to work on having short, quality lessons! So far we have been doing fairly good. In the morning during comp study we lesson plan and role play for all of our lessons. Then when we get there we make sure that we know what time we will be leaving before we go into the lesson.

Thats awesome that you are trying to improve your testimony of the Restoration! My testimony of that has grown a ton since I've been out here! I didn't realize how important it is for the world to know about. About half the people here in Spokane are somewhat religious. But for most of them it doesn't mean that much. Many of them used to have faith but then lost it after going through super hard trials. But that's because they don't have the restored gospel. They only have pieces of the truth. But pieces of the truth often isn't enough. The restored gospel is a much bigger support to them and brings them much closer to Christ than any other religion can. Ha ha when we talk to people out on the streets a lot of times they say "I'm a believer" and keep walking. But they don't understand that we bring much much more than they already have. The thing that has really helped me gain a testimony about the restoration is seeing what we have because of it. (a living prophet, additional commandments, priesthood authority, additional covenants and ordinances, more scripture, more insight into God's plan for us, the list goes on.) 

I'm glad you guys had a fun time in Arizona! I am slightly jealous. But not too much because I'm having awesome experiences up here on the South Hill in Spokane. 

Love You!!

Elder (Andre) Johnson

Transfers

I had my very first transfer calls last night! It was pretty exciting. The anticipation to know what my next six weeks would be like was killing me. Well the results are...........drum roll.............I am staying in Moran Prairie! However my companion Elder Sanders is going to to Moscow Idaho. My new companion will be Elder Wilson! I don't know very much about except that he is a "Visa Waiter" meaning he is only in this mission until he can get his visa for Brazil. I'm glad I get to stay in this ward. I really love the members. There are a lot of members that are excited about missionary work. I also really don't want to leave my investigators yet. So ya I'm happy. It will be sad saying goodbye to Elder Sanders but I guess that's the way it goes on missions. 

Cool Stuff that happened this week:

1. We had a lot of Less Actives show up to church yesterday! It was really awesome! Elder Sanders and I were super busy running from one to the other making sure that they had friends to sit by and making sure they met the Bishop. Another cool thing that happened at church was Elder Sanders and I got to help teach 3rd hour. The Book of Mormon Play is coming to Spokane this August so yesterday for 3rd hour (5th sunday) there was a training for everyone in the ward about how to respond to Questions about the play and what the church will be doing to get the most publicity that we possibly can from it. Elder Sanders and I did some role plays in front of the whole ward about how to respond positively to the play and tie it back into a gospel topic or to missionaries. I'm pretty excited for when the play does come. For one whole day us missionaries will be shadowed by ward members who will document our experience with photos and videos and post it on their social media profiles. Then the whole ward is supposed to repost everything they post. It will be cool. They are also doing a few other social media things.

2. A few weeks ago we street contacted this guy named Haiking. We told him about the living prophet and how he gives us guidance for our families. He seemed interested so he gave us his address. Well we stopped by a few days later and he wasn't there but his wife was, we talked to her briefly then left. We tried back a few more times but they were never there. Fast forward to last Saturday. I was on exchanges with Elder O'neil (Zone Leader). We were walking up a busy street when we saw in the distance that there was a broken down car in the middle of the road and another car stopped to help. We saw that the victim of the broken down car was a lady with a baby. First cool thing: As we approached I said to Elder O'neil, "Perfect we can help these people. Do you know anything about cars?" "No" "Neither do I" but I saw that the car was smoking so I said, "I wonder if they need any water?" Immediately after I said that we heard the man in the distance ask the lady, "do you have any water?". Babam! Awesome! So we walked up and gave him my water bottle. Then I realized that I recognized the lady holding the baby. It was Haiking's wife!!!! Sweet! Pretty soon Haiking showed up and we helped by pushing the car. Haiking was pretty grateful and we set up a time for a return appointment. Man we walked away from that and we both said, "that was a miracle that we ran into them" 

Spiritual Thought:

2 Ne 4:(don't remember the verses) Its Nephi's pslam/song whatever its called.

It is awesome. I get down every so often and these verses really help me. It shows Nephi's transition from sorrow and hopelessness to confidence and hope. He realizes that there is no reason for him to be listening to Satan. He remembers all the good things God has done for him and then he lets go and forgets everything that Satan is telling him and tempting him with. A lot of times I feel stuck just like Nephi felt. I feel bad about myself because my "sins do so easily beset me". But I have learned that in those moments I need to stop listening to Satan telling me that I am not good enough and I need to start paying attention to what God has given and is giving me now. 

Love you Guys!

The work is picking up a little

Hey Peeps! It is a great day to be a Missionary in the Washington Spokane Mission!

The work is picking up a little. Several of our investigators beginning to progress.  

Ian got married on Saturday and he texted us that morning and said that he would see us at church next Sunday so we are hoping that he follows through and shows up so we can start teaching him again. He told us back when we were teaching him that his wife doesn't really like organized religion but he also said that she will probably come around eventually. I definitely want to ask him again when we start teaching him again because it will be way better if they are coming to Christ together.

Ed Perez. Have I already told you about Ed Perez? He is awesome! Currently he is our investigator that is progressing the most. He is married to a Less Active member of our ward name Heidi. On my first day out we went over to visit her and we met him. He was pretty drunk at the time so he was really nice to us and told us that we were awesome. (drunk guys are always nice to us for some reason). Well we've been meeting with him a lot lately. He is really gaining a testimony. It started off with his desire to be a nicer person that did service for people and stuff. But we've taught him about prayer and about the Book of Mormon and about repentance and it is becoming a desire to know God and follow him. Last time we met with him he said that he did the commitment we gave him to pray about what he could do to come closer to Christ and he had a really cool experience. He said that for the last two days he had been crying because he felt like God really loved him and was helping him to be better. He knows that he has to give up alcohol and smoking which he outright admitted to us he loves. But he really wants to do what God commands him and he has born his testimony already that he felt like God is helping him get rid of his addictions. His wife Heidi has been present for some of the lessons but she usually leaves early. We really want to get her more involved so that she can strengthen her testimony and have the desire to go back to church.

Aaron and oh. Have I told you about them? Man I can't remember. Well Aaron is the first counselor's neighbor and Oh is his wife. He is very white and she is from Thailand and speaks a limited amount of English. They also have 3ish year old son named David. Aaron is way awesome! He loves the Bible and he loves God! He loves having us over to talk about "the word" as he says it. Oh has a very limited Christian background because she grew up in Thailand. We try to teach to both of them but it is kind of hard because Aaron knows the bible super well and likes talking about super in depth things and Oh needs the simple things of the gospel. For the last two weeks we have been meeting with Aaron and Oh and the First Counselor and his wife and some other friends from a different ward. Aaron and Oh really enjoy the company and he really enjoys the fellowship. Hopefully we can help them come to church this coming Sunday.

We had interviews with the President Mullen and his Wife this last Thursday. They are so awesome! I love it when I get the chance to be trained by them because I always leave the trainings feeling more confident and prepared. Not to pick favorites but the way Sister Mullen teaches really makes sense to me. She teaches basic principles then gives examples of how they apply. She is also really bold. She will call you out if she can see that your opinion is distorted. Its awesome! President Mullen has an insane amount of energy! He always talks really loud and he is always really excited. Ha ha I saw a few pictures of him before I came out and he is the exact opposite of what I thought he would be. He is really cool though.

Well have a great

 

Weekly letter

A lot of great stuff has happened this week! Too much to write about all of it, so I'll just write a few cool experiences that I had this week.

Yesterday:

1.There is this certain apartment complex in our area that Elder Sanders and I proselyte in several times a week because there are lots of active and less-active members there. As we have walked around up there we have befriended this 7ish year old girl named Yetsini who is outside playing all day everyday. A few days ago we were street contacting a resident and we asked her if we could say a prayer with her. Well Yetsini was had come over to say hello so we asked her if she wanted to join us. After the prayer Yetsini said, "That was fun!". Well yesterday we were up there again and we saw Yetsini with a bunch 6 other girls that ranged from age 4-9. So we gave them all a picture of Jesus. Then Yetsini asked, "Can we say a prayer?" Elder Sanders said, "Sure! Do you want to say it?" She was a little embarrassed and said that she didn't really know how. So Elder Sanders and I taught all of them how to pray. Then Yetsini prayed for us. It was a simple but powerful prayer! Then one of the other girls said, "I want to say one too" So she did. Then another one did. All of us but the two youngest girls each took our turn saying a prayer. After it was over Elder Sanders and I told that they should pray every night. It was a really cool experience!

2. Yesterday we also had a lesson with a women named Andrea. She is really awesome and really prepared! First of all her name is basically my name. Second she told us about a lot of experiences she has had where she has felt the spirit. She is Baptist but hasn't been active for several years, and she said that she is ready to start doing more to come closer to God. We set up another time to go talk to her so I am really excited!

 

I have learned a lot about faith since I have been out here. I love Alma 32 where it defines faith (v 21), then takes you through the process of having faith grow into a knowledge (v. 27-28). I have read and reread that passage many many times since I've been out here and I keep learning ever time.

Happy Fathers day in 364 days!

 

Love Elder (Andre) Johnson

The Field is White!

Hey guys!! Its a great day to be a missionary in the Washington Spokane Mission! (That's what President Mullen says everyday he talks to us)

This week some cool things happened. On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Buchanan from the Shilo Hills area, which is down more in the city. Two great things happened.

First, I had the smoothest street contact of my whole mission! That morning during personal study I studied about moving the conversation quickly to the restoration when street contacting. So I did it and it was like text book perfect. We started talking to her and we found out that she was religious. So I told her about how we have a unique message about how there is a prophet on the earth today just like there were prophets in the bible. She seemed really interested and we set up a time to meet again! It was awesome!!! I don't really thing it was my own skills, she was just really prepared.

Second, we were visiting a recent contact named Deborah and teaching her the lesson on The Gospel of Jesus Christ. She mentioned that she wanted to invite one of her caregivers to church on Sunday. Well about 10 minutes later guess who randomly decides to visit Deborah? Her Caregiver Ashley! She came in and Deborah explained that we were her missionaries from the church. Ashley was pretty interested, and she told us that she was really starting to get more religious because she felt like she needed it in her life. She said that she had been going to a Christian church. Deborah invited her to come with her to our church and she was like, "ya we should totally do that". Deborah explained that she had been baptized a year earlier into our church, and Ashley replied by saying that she had been thinking about getting baptized recently. Now Elder Buchanan and I jumped into the conversation by saying, "well that's actually what we were just teaching Deborah!" She was like, "Now way teach me too!" So we gave her a Gospel Pamphlet than taught her about being baptized by someone holding priesthood authority. Her words exactly, "That is so beautiful!" She told us about how when she was younger her uncle taught church in his living room and he baptized people too and she thought that was kind of weird. Anyway we got her address and stuff so that she can be taught more. It was just incredible to see how prepared she was! Our job was incredibly easy! Everything worked out so well!

 

Elder Sanders and I have been teaching this street family for a while and I am really coming to love them. I say street family because they aren't really a family they just act like it. David and Kelly act like they are married, but they aren't. Then there (Mom) Dianna isn't really their Mom but she lives with them and acts like there mom. They all have varying degrees of mental disability so its always an adventure to go visit them. At first Elder Sanders and I really had a hard time getting everyone to focus but we are getting a lot better. One cool thing about them is that they are constantly bringing new people into their apartment to come live with them (which may or may not be legal) but its cool because there are always more people to introduce to the gospel and invite to church.

 

Ian is going through some hard times so prayers would be appreciated.

 

Well I love you all and I hope you have a great week!