hey family,
this week was pretty much the same. we did get another baptismal date for an investigator we are teaching which i am really excited about. we were teaching his wife for a while, and at the time he didn't live with her so we never taught him. a couple of weeks ago he moved back in so we started teaching him. he has really progressed and has a ton of desire to learn more. we need more priesthood holders in the branch and i really think he can help the church. his wife doesn't have the same desire though. she loves our messages but she is a die hard evangelical and doesn't want to change. we asked her to be baptized and she said she was already baptized. she doesn't understand that the authority was taken from the earth and restored through joseph smith and that the person who baptized her didn't have that authority. we are going to keep teaching her so hopefully she will understand and have the desire to be baptized.
oh yeah, its already christmas here. last week i saw my first christmas tree in the stores. they don't have halloween or thanksgiving here, so the next big holiday is christmas. my comp told me its really different though. people just get together christmas eve, eat dinner, and then get drunk. thats it...
the other day, we walking home around 9 at night, and we saw a couple cars just stop in the middle of the road and a bunch of people run out and over to some houses that were on the side of the road. when we asked what was going on, they said that they saw a thief trying to break into a house. they don't just call the police like in america, they take matters into their own hands. first they find the person, and then they beat them. this actually made me feel a lot safer because if someone ever tries to rob us, he won't get away if there are any people in sight!
today were transfers, i thought for sure that my comp was going to go because he already has 7 1/2 months here, but he's staying which i was really happy about. one of the other missionaries in our house only has 1 transfer left so it will be interesting to watch him get ready to go home. the language is coming little by little. hopefully by the end of this transfer i will be able to understand most of what people are saying. i feel like i'm just rambling on but there is not too much more to say so i am going to keep rambling on. in my personal study this week i came across a scripture in Psalms 37:37. i looked up my name in the topical guide and i found this scripture so i think you will like it. anyways, that's about all i have to say. i will try to send some more pictures of the area. have a great week, love you!
Love, Elder Johnson
P.S. i forgot to tell you, today i am going to play baseball for the first time so i'm super excited. they know that i play baseball so they have been asking me to play for a while and i finally have a free morning. also, mom, you asked about my p-days. i wake up a 6:30 and do a little scripture study, then we go to the city and buy stuff we need, then we go back home and eat the food we bought and relax until 6 when we have to go back out and teach. sorry if i am not more descriptive but that really is all that we do. the only thing that changes is the stores we go to every week. oh yeah. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM and DAD!!! i was actually talking with my comp about the cheesecake factory this week so i am really jealous. the pictures that i sent with this email is the baseball field that jose reyes built for the kids in Palmar Arriba which is right next to our area. in the other picture, the little shack at the bottom is a church. its really a little shack with plastic chairs. the huge yellow mansion on the mountain is the home of the pastor of that church. he also has another one that even bigger being built a little ways away. i wonder where all of the money the members are paying goes?...
Love you
