Book of Mormon prophecy fulfilled

This week we had a regional broadcast from Salt Lake. It was awesome. The speakers were, Elder Grow of the 70, Sister Osarson the YW General President, Elder Hamula of the 70, and Elder Renlund of the 12. Each talk was powerful! Not one of them was boring...haha. Those type of conferences are like the super bowl to missionaries. Normal people cheer when they see a big hit or when a touchdown is scored. We cheer when we hear General Authorities throw down clear sound doctrine. It gets my adrenaline going when I hear the "philosophies of men" deconstructed by the simple powerful teaching of those called by God to teach the truth.

Cindy and her son Jason showed up for the broadcast. I don't know what they thought of it yet but we'll find out on Thursday. 

Book of Mormon prophecy fulfilled:

This week we talked to another pastor. We had a great time talking about similarities and differences in belief. He of course was very big on "Sticking with the Bible". Though we tried to explain the concept of Revelation to him it was difficult for him to see how we could be so trusting of feelings. So we asked him a question, "How do you convince an atheist who doesn't believe in the Bible to believe in God?" He said, "Well you could show him many of the prophecies in Daniel that have been fulfilled." History does clearly show that they have been fulfilled. He gave several other suggestions which prove the validity of the Bible through intellectual/scientific/archaeological evidence. After he said that it became much more clear to me where he was coming from. If I grew up in the same situation as he, surrounded by confusion and deceit, I would probably have the same zeal for sticking only with the Bible and nothing else. I would probably also try to penetrate the thick blanket of corruption and lies the world creates by studying history and archaeology until I came down to the base of what "must be true." However, the search would be endless. And it would also be fruitless. We come to know God by exercising faith in him unto repentance. He in turn reveals the truth to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is how we have a personal relationship with him. How do you convince an atheist or anyone to believe in God? You invite them to have faith and repent. And then they will be changed by the Holy Ghost which is God speaking directly to their heart. They will not only believe in God but they will love him. There is no more powerful evidence of truth than this. The common religions of the world today don't have a very deep understanding of this. Nephi prophecies of this time, "And their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance." -2 Nephi 28:4

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Sweet week!

This week was pretty sweet! We found a few new people to teach. One of them is named Amber. We had a few extra minutes before an appt with a member so we knocked on the doors near by and did our survey tract I wrote about a few weeks ago. When we asked her if she believes that God's plan requires a church she said yes! That is very uncommon up hear. Most people think churches are good but not necessary. So then we asked her which church she goes to. She said she recently moved here and didn't have one to go to. So we invited her to come to ours, and we offered to teach about our church as well. We had an appt set up but it fell through. So we'll see.

The highlight of the week though was probably when Jason, who is the son of Cindy (a member returning to activity) showed up to church with his mom! We met Jason earlier in the week and he was super awesome so we were pumped that he decided to come to church!

Today for P-day Elder Olson and I are in charge. We are going to be playing quidditch and drinking Butterbeer! We're pretty pumped. I may or may not send pictures next week.

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Fun with Clay

Elder Olson and I had fun with clay. #Premortal life.

This week we went to a bible study for another church because one of our investigators invited us. Last bible study I went to was very edifying. The people were kind and I agreed with all the doctrine. I was surprised at how much I disagreed with the topics being discussed. We're pretty sure the Pastor who was leading the study, knew that we were coming because his whole message was basically anti-missionary and anti-mormon. He didn't put us on the spot or anything but he took a more passive aggressive approach. Elder Olson and I had decided before we went in that we were not going to let it become contentious, so we just quietly listened as he pastor taught untrue doctrine. It's been interesting to learn more about their  beliefs though. It definitely helps my ability to teach others because I understand where they are coming from.

This week we taught the combined 5th Sunday lesson on missionary work. It went really well! It was pretty cool to reflect on the change that has happened in me since the beginning of my mission. In the past I would have been pretty nervous to teach that many people and I would have relied heavily on notes to know what to say. But we both new the doctrine we wanted them to understand so we were able to have an open discussion. And based on what people said we knew what to teach. The lesson went really well!

We found lots of prepared people this week. We contacted a lady name Patricia this week at an apartment complex. She was going through some tough stuff. She was stunned that we ran into her because she had recently been thinking about contacting us and learning more. We found a lady named Shawna tracting who said we could teach her. In my opinion our church culture has adopted this idea that tracting doesn't work. It absolutely does. Any activity that involves humans can result in finding people to teach. However it tends to not result in baptisms as often because Shawna doesn't have friends in the church to walk with her through the heavy opposition from Satan she will soon experience. That's why the church emphasizes member referrals. Thanks for letting me vent my pet peeve.

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson  

Three quick things

This week we found a new investigator named Crystal. She's pretty awesome! She's very intellectual. She questions things if they aren't logical. Sometimes too much for her own good. Kinda sounds like me. At this point she doesn't believe in God. It doesn't logically make sense to her. But she is open to. I'm pumped to teach her because the more and more I learn about the Gospel the more and more it makes perfect sense! I love explaining the Plan of Salvation to people and the whole purpose of existence, and how the Gospel perfectly fulfills our purpose. 

We also found a few other people to start teaching. One of them is named Donna. Her and her husband are in their 70's. They have been Methodists for a looong time. They let us in just to share a quick message about Jesus Christ so we showed them A Savior is Born video. But after that I asked about what the Methodists believe. Donna explained where the Methodists church broke off not long after Martin Luther. Then she asked where the Mormon church broke off from. It was a perfect set up for us to teach the Restoration. Afterward she agreed to read the Book of Mormon! We'll see how she likes it in a few weeks. 

We got a pretty awesome compliment from Felicia this week. She told us, "Its going to be hard for me to convert, but I'm willing to try because I can see the devotion that you have to it. I can tell its something that you really care about and you just want to share it with others. And your not asking anything from me but to ask God". It was a great to hear that. I felt like I was doing my job.

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Tripanionship

This week we were in a Tripanionship. Elder Rasmussen joined Elder Olson and I. The reason is because Elder Rasmussen's companion Elder Cummings has a pacemaker and apparently it was running out of battery so last Tuesday he flew to Salt Lake and had surgery. But it was a pretty simple surgery so he actually flew back this last Saturday. We actually went to the airport to pick him up. THAT WAS WEIRD! I wasn't planning on being in that building for a few months. Part of the trip though we were asked by our mission president to go to Cheney and pick up a car. So I got to go back to Cheney! It was awesome! Lots of good memories. 

A benefit of the tripanionship was that we got to drive in Elder Rasmussen's car the whole week! That was pretty nice! 

We had a great lesson with Felicia this week. She had lots of very good questions. It was obvious that she had been thinking about it a lot. We brought another member of our church who was a convert from the Catholic church and they became friends very quickly. Turns out they're only a year apart in age!

This e-mail is being interrrupted...

It will now resume...

Sorry don't know what just happened. Another missionary got a hold of the keyboard. 

Love ya!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

Six Things

Here they are:

1. We had great lesson with Cindy! And she came to church!

2. We had our first lesson with Felicia this week. It went really well. She is the one that told us we could come teach her but that she might not convert because she is Catholic. So we brought a member of our ward who converted from Catholicism. She shared her testimony and it was really powerful!

3. My companion gave a talk in church about the Godhead. It was sweet.

4. We made some good food this week. Rice, frozen vegetables, eggs, ham, thai basil sauce stuff, all mixed together. It was goooood, really good. 

5. We're going to go to a different church's bible study tomorrow. That should be fun. 

6. I've been studying a lot from PMG chap 13 and its been sweet!

If any of you have time my companion and I are compiling a list of Frequently Asked Questions or Concerns among members regarding missionary work. For example (I've already invited all of my friends, now what?)(How do I casually start a gospel conversation?)\

If you have any, email me.

I hope you have enjoyed this spark notes version of my week.

Love you!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson

New Finding Tools

Its cold. Our snow is about 2 feet deep up here and we don't have a car. However its good because it makes it so people let us in!

We had some cool experiences this week. We were walking by a less active member's house and we saw that their driveway wasn't shoveled. We wanted to shovel it but we didn't have a shovel. So we kept going and knocked on some other doors. We met this guy that wasn't that interested but he said his neighbor just moved in so we could try her. So we did. First thing she said to us was, "Are you Mormons?... Yeah you can come and teach me?... But I might not be converted!". It was sweet! Plus she let us borrow her shovels so we went and shoveled the driveway. We also met someone else this week as she was getting out of her car. She said she had been thinking about joining a church lately so she is willing to have us come teach her. 

A new finding tool we have started trying is what we call survey tracting. Knock on a door and ask if we can get their opinion on 4 questions. People usually like preaching rather than being preached to so it works out. Right now our questions are:

1. Does God's Plan require a church? We haven't asked very many people yet but we have yet to have someone who says yes. Most people up here believe churches are good but they don't think they are necessary. Its a great way to connect with people about the apostasy.

(we are thinking about adding a follow up question. Where does the idea of church come from?) Duh the bible! But then they're confused because why do churches matter? Everyone knows they're man made. Then we tell them. God does have a church. It does matter. There is 1 not a million. It was on the earth then it left. Man made their own. Then it came back.

2. Define a family: The plan for this one was to get people to say whether or not they supported gay marriage. But we're gonna have to rephrase the question. Super big issue. People like their opinions to be heard.

3. Do you do Genealogical research? Our family history center is awesome!

4. What's the craziest thing you've heard about Mormons? My favorite one. It gives us a chance to get rid of anti right away. Usually its the anti that people have heard that keep them from even giving us a chance.

I love talking about the gospel. It is super fun being surrounded by people who are totally being affected by the apostasy, "wandering from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro looking for the words of the Lord, and shall not find it" Its pretty exhilarating to know that I have the answers to their questions. They have good reason to be loosing confidence in organized religion. I love helping people connect the dots. It's pretty tricky though getting past all of their misconceptions, embarrassments for talking to us, pride and enlightening them with doctrine. Its also very humbling that I am the one with the knowledge. Its a perfect situation God has set up for both the Missionaries and the nonmembers. Because there is opposition it makes us all truly come to understand and be grateful for the truth. As a missionary my understanding of the doctrine has improved dramatically as I have tried to help others understand. I'm also so grateful that I have the truth as I witness the confusion in the world. For investigators they come to love the gospel and understand it as they get answers to concerns by study and by prayer.

Getting more people into the church is not the only reason God has us do missionary work. He wants us to do it so we can grow. If you aren't doing missionary work you are missing out. If you aren't sure how to do missionary work or feel discouraged, you are not alone. From my observation the majority of church members feel this way. I've learned that missionary work is much to difficult to do on your own. You need support. If you want to do more missionary work build some support for yourself. This could be your home teacher, your Ward Mission Leader, family council, the missionaries. Ask questions, share miracles and disappointments, take suggestions and teach others, make and share goals. When you do this you will experience the gospel in a totally new way. Don't wait for missionary work to find you, instead go find missionary work.

You can start anywhere. You don't have to be baptizing people all the time to be doing missionary work. And you don't have to spent tons of time. Spend the amount of time God wants you to spend doing it. If you start where you are and start making and fulfilling goals eventually you will become a powerful missionary like Peter who ministered to thousands.

Love Ya!

-Elder (Andre) Johnson