Cement Floors and Mission Pics

Hey family,

The only thing that there really is to talk about here is the baptism we had this week. the other missionaries we live with had one too so it was a double baptism. it was really a great experience, like the other one. i think my favorite part of all of it is the next day when they are confirmed a member and receive the Holy Ghost, that's when i feel the Spirit the strongest. we baptized another little girl that was 13, and was the cousin of the first baptism i had. the other missionaries baptized a 16 year boy, who the next day was confirmed, received a calling, and received the Aaronic Priesthood. if you can't already tell, there is a need for male priesthood holders in our brach. Last Sunday, i also gave a talk but it was pretty easy seeing is how that is what we do all day, give little talks about the gospel.

The spanish is coming little by little. seeing as there are only americans in our house, we always speak english which doesn't help me but whenever we leave the house, i only speak spanish (usually). understanding is the hardest part for me. i can pretty much say what i want but i can't understand what they say back.

This last saturday, we put a concrete floor in for a family that is kind of investigating the church. well, we as missionaries didn't put the floor in, we mixed the concrete and other people of the ward who actually new what they were doing put the floor in. its amazing what this family was living in. it was just a little one room hut made of wood and a dirt floor. it was hard work, but the family was very appreciative and offered us breakfast because it was all they could offer. also, earlier this week, we cleared a lot for a family to plant some fruit trees. we cleared the whole lot with our machetes and it only took 3 hours. its amazing how much a person can sweat working in the sun for 3 hours with 90% humidity. nothing on your body is dry. and since you sweat so much, you never have to go to the bathroom which means you can work longer. its a win win situation.

oh yeah, the people here are amazed with my little lantern and how bright it is. there are used to using candles for light, not LED's. They love playing with all of our "american" toys. honestly, i don't really have too much more to say or any cool stories so i am just going to send pictures instead because a picture is worth a thousand words and i don't have time to write a couple of thousand more words. anyways, i love you all!

Love, Elder Johnson

Electricity > Candle Light

Family,

I´m not gonna lie, i really don´t have to much to talk about this week. the most exciting thing that happened was on monday when one of the general authority from the 70 came and talked to us for a couple of hours. the best part was that he was a gringo so i could understand all of his spanish. he talked a lot about establishing the church and how we need more priesthood holders. it was a really good meeting with a strong spirit. the other big thing that happened this week was that we got our inverser fixed so we have light all of the time. its not powerful so run the washer or the fridge, but at least we don´t have to study by candle light anymore. this sunday, we had stake conference, and our mission president gave a talk. he talked about missionary work and then had all of the missionaries stand up. of course, everyone in the building just looked at me with big eyes like i was a freak, but i´m used to it by now. i am still waiting for the time when i find a door that i can walk through without ducking, i haven´t found one yet. well, i thought the spiders we see everywhere in our house are big, but then i saw 3 huge tarrantulas last week, at least they weren´t in our house. i think i am over the spider thing too, they are just annoying.

as far as teaching goes, its the same. we teach all day long, the people love our messages, but then they don´t change because it is too hard. the lady we are teaching that has a date has been living with a guy so we talked about marriage with them. they decided to get married which we were really happy about, but then we found out she is already married to another guy. its a lot more money to get a divorce, so they just moved out and don´t bother each other. now we have to get her divorced, married to this guy she is living with, and then baptized. i´m kinda thinking that its not gonna happen but we´ll see.

other than that, i really don´t have too much more to say. i met a guy who claims to be 109 years old, and the soup i had today had chicken´s feet in it. besides that, just doing to Lord´s work everyday. anyways, have a great week.

Love, Elder Johnson

"Gracias a Dios!"

Hey family,

i had another great week this week, although not as exciting as last week. On Sunday, i had to give the entire lesson in the principles of the gospel lesson. only 3 weeks in the field and they already have me giving 45 minute long lessons and i have a talk in church next week. i am either doing something right, or my spanish is so bad that they want to give me as much practice as possible so they can understand me. i can really see the Lord's help though because when i left the mtc, i could barely make a contact in the street. i haven't had to eat any crazy foods this week but who knows for next week. my old comp from the mtc told me he has already eaten chicken necks and other parts of the chicken i didn't know were edible. for one of our service project this week, we went to clear out an area for a house, but when we got there, we found that the area had a lot of wasps. for the first 20 minutes, we would cut a branch or two and then run away, so we weren't getting much done. then one of the neighbors came over to help us. he was this 70 year old man who could barely walk. he had his cane in one hand and his machete in the other. he told us how he wasn't scared of bees. he walked right in the middle of them and then started chopping (he was also talking to the bees the whole time). he practically cleared the whole area, and then he almost passed out after from all the work. he was a champ. other than that there wasn't too much that happened this week. we gave the law of chastity talk with our investigator with a baptism date and her "boyfriend". it was my first time giving it to a couple, usually its just a single mother or something. my comp is a champ though. he pretty much just that God hates people or break the law of chastity and that you are going to hell if you don't repent. hopefully she can put aside of her temptations and get baptized in 4 weeks but we will see.

it is true what they say that you can't teach without the spirit. sometimes its really hard to have it because they love to play loud music here (they still play michael jackson here 24/7). those lessons always don't go as good as the ones when it is quiet. we taught one lady this week who used to be a very active evangelical. we we taught her there was an evangelical meeting in the street right outside of her house. at these meetings, all they do is blast loud music and scream "gracias a Dios". we could barely here each other so we couldn't give a lesson. instead we read some scriptures how the Spirit comes in a still small voice, so we pretty much disproved everything they were doing, it was pretty cool.
besides that i don't have too much more to say, i hope everything is going well for all of you. love you!

Love, Elder Johnson

Pigs Feet and Goat Guts

Hey family, i had another crazy week with a bunch of new experiences. The first thing is what i had for dinner these past two days. on Sunday we got invited to a members house and they fed us pigs feet. it was basically just fat but i ate it all because it is bad manners if you leave any. the next day, an inactive member we are teaching gave us some goat intestine to eat. that was actually really good, it was one of my favorite meals that i have had here from a member. she cooked it in a spicy sauce and added potatoes and carrots so it was kind of like a beef stew with goat guts instead of beef. also, where ever we go, we take the public transportation cars because we don't have bikes or cars. since there is no traffic laws here and the drivers want to make as much money as they can, we successfully fit 9 people into a cab (granted 2 of them were about 12 or so). i also saw a family of 6 on a motorcycle. cars are expensive here so they just pile everyone on a motorcycle and don't worry about it.

We had our first baptism this Saturday. we only had one because the other one's dad didn't give her permission to get baptized. we found out yesterday that her dad isn't married to her mom and he doesn't even live here so he technically isn't her guardian so we are going to baptize her this next Saturday or the week after. i love loop holes. the baptism went really well though, my comp baptized her which was special because that we the first one that he was able to baptize. every other time someone else has baptized them. me and another missionary sang for the service which was nice because everyone here is horrible at singing so we actually sounded pretty good. This last week i got my first baptism date. we started teaching this lady two days after i got here and on the 3rd lesson we asked her to be baptized on the 5th of September and she said yes. we just found out that she has a drinking problem so hopefully she can overcome it soon. she loves our lessons though and has a desire to learn.

Every morning from 9 thirty to 12 we do service, usually for an investigator or a person in the ward. on Saturday we helped build a house and we have another house to start building next week. there is always service to do here but i like it and the people are very appreciative. the only thing that i am not a big fan of here is the spiders. the last two days in our house we have found 2 spiders as big as my palm. the other missionaries in our house thought it would be funny to leave a dead one on my chair because i told them how much i hated them. it wasn't that funny... i threatened them with my 2ft long machete so it all worked out.

The biggest problem we have here with investigators and inactive members is people don't get married here. it cost too much to get married so they just live together but then they can't get baptized. we eventually have to drop them because they can only progress to a certain point and then it is either move out and get baptized or don't. i also learned this week that you can get pregnant at 13. there is a girl in our ward who got baptized a long time ago. she is 16 with a 2 year old and she will have another one in about a month. i can't tell you how many 15 and 16 years olds i have seen pregnant here in only 2 weeks. its really sad but that is just how things are here.

To answer your question, yes lunch is the big meal here. usually we just have a really small breakfast and dinner and then a huge lunch (usually just rice, beans, and chicken everyday). we have a 2.5 hour break in the middle of the day because that is when everyone is sleeping and the work is not productive so we go and eat and then study for the rest of the time. They have cereal here but it tastes a little weird and the American brands are really expensive so we just by the native stuff. i think the thing i miss the most is milk. they have milk here but it is not milk. it tastes really sweet and a little sour. (i know you can't send milk though so don't try, i will live with it). the members here are really nice. they give us some references but most of them we have to find on our own. there is just a little rama (branch) with about 70 people here in La Cienaga. we have church in a little house. their church here is a little different. they still do all the same things that we do but they might throw a pitch for a new food or product someone is making and they like to ramble on a lot. that's just the way they are though. we have a little washer (if you could call it a washer) to wash our clothes. its pretty much a tub that you fill with water and soap then put your clothes in and it spins around. the dryer is the same thing without the water and soap. it just spins the clothes so we have to hang them up for a while after. there used to be sister missionaries in our zone but not any more. there is a couple companionships in Santiago but not too many. yes i have to use the mosquito nets every night. we sleep with all of the windows open because it gets too hot if we don't and we would get eaten alive if we didn't have the nets. its not that bad though. Yes i'm pretty sure that you can send me pictures through email. i am going to by a chord for my camera sometime and see if i can send you some pictures as well. The only thing that i might need in a little bit is a good pair of work gloves. they don't have those here and since we do service everyday for a couple of hours (except sunday and wednesday) i am always getting blisters.

Oh, the other thing i was going to tell you about was the ward party we had at the chappel the other day. when i saw ward party i actaully mean a party. they had about a 2 minute spiriual thought and then the michael jackson impressionist came out and they had another performer come and sing. after that everyone started to some salsa dancing. i was definitely not expecting that. besides that i don't think i have too much more to say. i still love it here and the work that i am doing. i hope you all are doing good and i will write you next week . love you!

Love, Elder Johnson

Culture Shock and Machetes

Hey family,
This has probably been the most crazy week of my life. i don't even know where to start. first of all, im in La Cienaga (i spelled it wrong the other time). also, the address for packages is:

Elder Mark Johnson
8013
11010 N. W. 30th street STE 104
Miami, FL 33172-5032

and my address for letters is (you can send letters and pictures in envelopes with this one):

Elder Mark Johnson
8013
PO Box 025725
Miami, FL 33102-5725

Anyways, i experienced a lot of firsts this week. last week during my very first lesson in the field, the lady we were teaching started breast feeding her 3 year old in the middle of it without covering up. i guess thats not that uncommon of a thing here. i guess i just have to get used to that. Also, this week was the first time i woke up to roosters which is not as exciting as it seems. we have electricity in our house about once every 2 or 3 days so most of the time we are studying and cooking by candle or my lantern. also, we have water sometimes and sometime we don't, but it is all cold so for showers we fill up a bucket with the water when we have it and then use a cup to scoop it out and pour it on us every morning. it is definitely a little different living standards than in the states. for food, we make breakfast and dinner and then we pay a lady in the ward to make us lunches. most of the time it is cereal and peanut butter and jelly but the milk here isn't really milk so the cereal tastes a little funny. the people in our area are really poor. most of them live in a little 2 or 3 room house made of cement or 2x4's with a tin roof. they are so kind here though and humble. they make the best of what they have and move on. one of the lessons we taught this week was under a little covering made of palm tree leaves and trees. there were chickens and dogs running around our feet and a mule and goat behind us making noises. during that lesson i wondered how in the world did i get here... The spanish is still really hard to understand here since they only say just the first half of the words pretty much but i do understand when they call me a white giant (which happens a lot). Yesterday was a big day in my life. it was the day that i bought by first machete! they sell them everywhere here and they are only like 4 US dollars. we only had about 17 lessons this first week because our area is so big and we only walk so if we go to someones house and they aren't there its about a 10-20 minute walk to our next appointments house. the two people we are baptizing this week are 2 girls (12 and 13 years old) they family used to be inactive and then they all became active again so i am excited for that. i don't know what more to tell you, just a whole bunch of walking and teaching. oh and by the way, my old email account that you sent me emails to won't allow me to delete the emails (i am not that stupid Ang) so just keep sending them to this one.
i also really like my trainer. at first i wasn't to sure about him but he's a good worker and knows how to relate to the people and teach them. i don't think i am going to write individaul emails this week because i don't have time but i will try to do that next week. i think i am ok for now with food and stuff so you don't really have to send me anything. I hope you have finally stopped crying in public since i have left but if you haven't then i don't know what to tell you. just a short 22 months until i am home again. love all of you and hope you are doing well.

Love, Elder Johnson

Welcome to La Cienaga!!

Hey family, i am finally here. there are so many things to say i don't know where to start. we took a 2 hour bus ride to Santiago and the mission president and a bunch of the other missionaries met us there. i love President Lee. he was so excited for us and the work that we are going to do. after we got there, he took us to our house and we ate pizza! even though is was budget pizza and some just had corn on it, it was amazing. then we had a little meeting where he gave us all of the rules and then we did interviews. i think the best thing about yesterday was dinner. we grilled steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers, and pork chops. i had one of each. i knew we would not eat this good for the next 22 months so i took advantage of it.

It is so pretty here. it is way more greener , has mountains, and is cooler than santo domingo. My first area is la cienega in the north part of santiago. it is this little town practically in the middle of the forest. if you look out my back window, all you see is green, mountains, and cows. i love it though. i think today i have finally grasped the fact that i am on a mission. i like my trainer so far, he has been out a year and five months but he seems like he is a hard worker but i will find out more when we start teaching. he also said that he has two baptisms scheduled for next week so i am really excited about that.

I accidentally left my packet with my address at our house so i can't give it to you yet but i will definitely give it to you next week. i also sent you a letter in the mail yesterday with a picture of me with my mission president and his wife and one with all of the missionaries that came with us to Santiago. It has also rained here for the past couple of days which i have really enjoyed. it makes it just a little bit cooler.

I don't have too much more to say about Santiago, but i did have a really cool experience this last Sunday. for the past couple of sundays, the elders in our district would go to the temple and read on the steps for an hour or two. usually i just bring Jesus the Christ, my english scriptures or my Preach my Gospel, but this time i felt i should bring my soft copy of a spanish book of mormon that we give to investigators. i really didn't know why i should bring it i guess i thought i could just read in it for a little bit and practice my spanish. about a half an hour of reading, a car pulled up and a family came out. i talked to the dad and could tell that he wasn't mormon but he wanted to bring his family to the temple and walk around. i told him that that was fine . once he started walking around the temple i had a strong impression to give him that book of mormon i brought. i waited until he came back around and talked to him a little about our church, gave him the book and asked him to read 3 Nefi 11, and then testified about how it has helped me and my family to be closer together and how it could help his family too. i don't know if anything will happen with him or even if he will read but i am really glad that i got to have that experience.

I love you all and hope you are having a good week.

Love, Elder Johnson

Last Week in the DR MTC!

Hey family, the next time i email you i will be in the field. i can't believe the time is already here for me to leave. i can't wait to leave and at the same time i am not prepared at all (mainly because i can't speak spanish). I am not gonna lie i am a little disappointed in all of you. i leave for a couple of months and you have already replaced me with one and a half babies (it will be 2 babies in march). and also this cruise to alaska?... you are taking all of the good trips when i am gone. i am not complaining though because i get to eat rice and beans everyday. i really like it here though don't think that i want to come home at all.

There really isn't too much that happened to me this week to talk about. i finally got rejected at the university. i went up to a group of guys and one asked us if we had any money or food. i said no and then he told us to leave and wouldn't listen to us. i was a little disappointed but i need to get used to being rejected. Also when we went to the university, we talked to some guy doing his homework. we gave him a reference sheet to fill out and when he put his head down to write on it, there was a little lizard about an inch long just hanging out on his head. there are lizards everywhere here if i haven't told you already. we didn't tell him about it because we didn't know how to say lizard in spanish and we thought if we did he might get occupied with it and forget about the reference sheet so we thought he could just find out for himself after we left.
Also, every sunday we watch an apostle devotional that was given at the provo mtc. the one they showed was 2 weeks after we left. There were 8 apostles and a big number of 70 there as well because they were training all of the new mission presidents. i was a little disappointed i wasn't there when it happened but it was still really cool to watch. Elder Holland gave the talk which was amazing. it was a serious talk rather than a funny one but i still really enjoyed it. He talked about teaching with the Spirit and basically forbid us to teach if we didn't have the Spirit. at the end of the devotional, he quoted the story of the angels coming down and ministering unto the people of the Americas (i think it is Helamen 5: 45-48 but i am not sure because i don't have my notes with me right now). He then told us welcome to the work of angels because those angels were us. it was really cool to be called an angel by an apostle of the Lord.

To answer some of you question:
no i didn't do anything for the 4th of July. it was just a regular day of studying and class, but we did get 2 chocolate chip cookies at lunch (even though we get them once a week anyways it was still a good surprise).
I haven't really had any problems with mosquitoes here yet but i am sure it will be a little different when i get out into the field.
i got a little sick from the food for about a day but everyone does when they come here because it is a completely different diet than what we have in the states. some of the stuff is pretty weird tasting but overall it is not too bad.
we do our laundry just like you do in the states. we have washers and driers but again i don't know if that will change when i get to Santiago.\
i really don't know any of the details about tuesday when i leave except that i am leaving by bus. i don't know where i will stay the first night or if i will get right to work when i arrive. i think my p-day is on wednesday though but i am not entirely sure.
i am about out of time so i have to go but i will tell you all about the rest when i can email you again next week. take care i love all of you!

Love, Elder Johnson