Hey Hey!!!!!

Feliz Navidad, y Prospero Año Nuevo!!!!!!!

This week was good, you all sound great!!!!

We had a lesson with the daughter of Humberto Sanchez this week, she is named Lisbet and has a little girl nicknamed ¨Boo¨ like in Monsters Inc. We had a lesson with her and she said that she wanted to change her life and be baptized because the example of her family. She prayed to close the lesson and was crying tons, I love this work!!! I love my Savior and what he has done for all of us, I love being able to share this with others. I know this is God’s true church on the earth, and that it was restored through Joseph Smith. I love you tons!!

Sorry it’s so short, I didn’t have a lot of time this week. Much Love!!!!!

Elder ¨under the equator¨ Johnson :)

To start off I have a new comp his name is Elder Aguirre, from Bolivia, it  was a change of emergency, and now Elder Lazo is in Iquitos with a new Elder.  It was sad to say goodbye but it’s all good. This week has been so awesome and I have had tons of my prayers answered.  Firstly we were in the chapel preparing for the baptismal services and waiting for two people to come to be baptized.  One of them showed up but the other didn’t and we waited for a while and decided to start, I told Elder Aguirre that we should pray for her to come. We went into a room and prayed and then we started and 15 minutes into the service she came!!!!!!! It was awesome!!!! I baptized Ayvi Mandruma, Humberto Sanchez, and a ten year old from the sister missionaries John Peter.  It was a great day and ours were both confirmed Sunday in church, they are really brave because both of their families told them not to be baptized and aren’t very happy with them.  We went to the house of Humberto last night and he had tears in his eyes, but his wife is a member and three of his kids, so he will be ok.

Another prayer that was answered was yesterday we were in the mototaxi of a member and we were going to his house for lunch and his motor died.  He tried to change a few things and then it didn’t even turn over, so I told them we needed to pray. After we did he was inspired to change the spark plug and then it started right up!!!!  Way cool!!!!  The power of prayer is real!!!!

The jungle is crazy-awesome!!! The food here is a little different from Lima, there are a lot more fruits and stuff. this week we tried a fruit that the taste reminded me of mucous and it was sticky and I spit it back out. but there are also coconuts and mangoes, I opened my first coconut this week!!!! It was sooooo goooood!!!!!  We are going to pick more today to put in our fridge, we have a fridge to keep food in because there are a lot of bugs.  Today  we are going to have alligator with french fries for lunch, I have heard that it is really good!! So we will see. :)

I love you all and wish you a Feliz Navidad!!!!!!!!

I agree completely with the words of Scott, the reason for CHRIST-mas isn’t the gifts at all, it’s the greatest gift ever given. The gift of an only begotten Son, by a loving Heavenly Father for all of us. I love him for what He has done for me and want to share with everyone I see.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

ELDER JOHNSON!!!!!!!

Photos from Peru!

Elder Johnson with his mission President and wife.

Photos from Pucallpa:


Joe with his companion, Elder Lazo, a young girl and former Elder Landon Rich, his companion and others.

Hey!!!!!!! Well this week has been pretty good, we had a baptism! :)  

This week has been good we went to the zoo after email last week!! There were a ton of animals, and I touched a couple of monkeys and about three jaguars!!!! It was awesome!!!!! I have pictures, so they will be coming in a while :) We also set the baptismal date this week for Humberto Sanchez. His wife and family are members and he is so awesome!!! Their family rocks they are new members but they are so strong in the gospel!! Our baptism this week was Luz Clara Goncalvez Velgarai, I remembered her full name because I baptized her. She is a special daughter of God, and really felt the spirit at her baptism. She’s 12 years old and her parents aren’t married so they can’t be baptized. We also talked in sacrament meeting and it went way good, I talked about repentance and it was pretty good. I was shaking the whole time and wasn’t scared, it was cool. Elder Lazo talked about being spiritually prepared. It was good. On Saturday we got in a water fight with the kids of our landlady and pensionista. We were all soaked and Elder Lazo used his talc powder so they were ¨gringo¨ for a little while. :) We also had a water fight with our zone for P-day and it was pretty fun. :)

I love this work! I love this gospel!!! The story about Joseph Smith isn’t just a story, it is fact! He saw God and Jesus Christ in a vision, I know it’s true!!!!! I love you!!!!

Love you all

P.S.  I can’t receive email from anyone other than mom, dad or brothers and sisters, so please set up an email for others, thanks!!!

Hola!!!!! from Under the Equator!!!!!

This week has been amazing/crazy/hot/I don’t even know what else.  On Wednesday I left Elder Ruiz and went to the offices and then to the airport and flew out with two other elders and a sister, in a 25 passenger jet for Pucallpa, Perú. There was a little turbulence. I sat next to a soldier on leave from the Canadian Army. We talked and I taught him about the First Vision and the Plan of Salvation, and challenged him to pray if it was true and he said the he would!!!! He was pretty cool. Then we landed and walked out of the plane. I started sweating and haven’t stopped since. :) 

Everything here is so amazingly beautiful and green. There are mango trees and coconut trees everywhere. The people are so humble and amazing. In the first 3 days we had 11 baptismal dates set and we are both new to the area!!! Our goal is 15 baptisms this change and two families, and we are well on our way!!! They are all so humble and in a lot of the houses they will invite you in and offer you soda, such amazing people! I now know why all of the Elders here talk about the ¨selva¨ or jungle, it is amazing! My comp is Elder Lazo de la Vega (his plaque only says Lazo) from Arequipa, Perú. He is the only child in his family and he is 21 years old. He is awesome! Our ward rocks too, we have 2/3rds of a ward and the other part is for other elders, but it is awesome. We eat lunch with members every day and it is way good. They eat a lot more fish here because of the rivers, and lots of bananas and fruit I love it! Our Pensionista is a little crazy and calls us her little gringo’s or Papito which means little papa. :) She’s pretty sweet! 

I know this church is true and that all of it’s teachings are true, that Joseph was a prophet of God and that reading the Book of Mormon will help you with any problem, and that God does answer prayers!!!  Every day in his own way!!!!!

Love you tons!!!! 

Elder Gregory Joseph Johnson!!!! ¨Joe¨ :)

Hola!!!!!   This week has been cool, and Elder Ruiz and I have had some really cool experiences together spiritually. We had a meeting with a third of the mission on the 25th in Lima with Elder Pino. He is an area seventy and from Venezuela. He and his wife talked to us and I learned a ton, and it was really one of the best things this week. Also, Presidente Pérez and his wife talked to us and it was just a really great conference. We also got more baptismal dates this week!!!! Two of them are for the Familia Mundo, a really cool family! They are just amazing. Every lesson we have, the dad, Cesar, almost cries and they have such a hunger to learn. Then we had a lesson in the house of a member and they invited a 19 year old to their house. His name is Armando, and when we started the lesson I had a really cool impression about  all the people he will baptize in the future. It was really cool and he was so ready to accept everything, he just plain rocks!!! 

Last night we had a really amazing lesson in the house of Eder and Consuelo. She was there with her kids and her sister, and we watched ¨El Restauracion¨ and then I bore my testimony and Elder Ruiz bore his testimony and he was crying. We could tell that they felt the spirit. It was one of the most spiritual lessons we have had so far and was ¨lo maximo¨!!!!!!!!!!! 

This morning we found out that I have changes and Elder Ruiz doesn’t, which is sad, but I have loved my time with him. 

I’M GOING TO PUCALLPA!!!! I just found out!  Wow!  This is amazing. I can’t wait. Everyone talks about the jungle, or ¨la selva¨ and says it is the best, so here goes nothing!!!!! Oh, I am so excited!!!!!!

Anyways, I have loved this week and loved being with Elder Ruiz and he is so amazing. I have loved this area and the people here. Oh how I love being a missionary!!!!!! It is the best, and I know that I am where I need to be. I also know that this is true church on the earth and it was restored by Joseph Smith. It’s true!!!!!

Love,

The Johnson under the Equator, Joe.

Hola from under the equator!!!!

This week was pretty good, we have been trying to help some of our investigators with marriage because a lot of the people here just live together. So we have been helping them with that, and it's going good. We also got a date for a baptism from Cesar Mundo, and we need to get one from his wife and they will be a ¨familia de oro¨. They are pretty cool!!!!  The spirit was really strong in our lesson. We also had one of our investigators skip his interview for his baptism so he couldn’t be baptized, which was sad, but we can't make people be baptized. Elder Ruiz and I are doing good together, and working hard. Changes are the 3rd of December, and neither of us wants to change, I love my ¨papa¨. =) 

This week is Thanksgiving? Where has time gone? Last week was Halloween!!!! =)  Well I'm truly thankful for the miracle of the atonement, for the opportunity our Father in Heaven has provided for us to return to him. I'm thankful for my many blessings here in Perú, and for my amazing family and friends, their support and prayers. I'm thankful for everything I have in this life and for all my blessings in this gospel. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, I love you!!! Thanks for everything!!!!!

Hurra por Israel!!  Te amo mas!  Elder XOXOXOXOXOxoxoxo

ps  I got the jerky, but if you send it in a box they will open it and take it.  If you send a box leave the tags on things, and no jerky in the box.