Hola!!!  From under the equator!!!

Well this week we have been working hard.  On Sunday a whole family we are working with went to church!!!  It was cool!!!  Also Betty, the mom of one of the brides from the massive marriage went to church, and SHE IS GOING TO GET BAPTIZED!!!!! WWWoooot!  Raul didn’t get there, but we are still working with him so that he can convert to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are still having awesome experiences and working... DURO!!!! (HARD!!!!) 

“In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that.  When disappointment and discouragement strike --and they will--you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened, we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection (see 2 Kgs. 6:16-17).

They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed.”

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Awesome Quote!!!!!!!!!!!  I’ve got horses and chariots of fire with the angels of heaven at the reins to my aid. I think I’m in really good hands. :)  I know that we are in the last days, but we don’t have to fear, if we are ready for the Battle.

My love to all the family and friends from the ward, I’m doing great thanks to all their prayers. I love the opportunities and experiences that I am having and the testimony that I am gaining. I know that the scriptures are true!!!  I know that this is our Lord and Saviors gospel!!! He is the Holy One. I’m not the great one, the Lord is, and I’m just His servant.

Love you a ton!!!

Elder Joe!

Hola!!!! From under the equator!!!!!

Well, this week we had changes, but I was not changed!!!!! Wooohooooooo we got two new elders in the zone and we are happy with that. On Wednesday we had a zone leader council and it went well, we learned some new things, and we made a couple of new goals as a mission.  Also, Sister Blunck talked a little bit about the importance not only of what we do, but of who we become in the mission and in our lives.  I started thinking about when I was little and mom and dad asked me what I wanted to be.  I told them “an honest man”.  Well, it is still true.  I want to be an honest man in all I do, including being honest to God, and thanking Him for all that He has given me.  It was cool for me to remember that far back, and to think about who I am and who I have been and who I can be in the future.

On Thursday we taught Raul, and we read about Alma the Younger’s conversion with him. It was a cool lesson and we could see that he started thinking because of it.  Then that same night, he sent a text to our phone that said that he wanted to prepare himself for the last judgement and that he wanted us to pass by and tell him when he could be baptized.  We were just looking at each other like “wow, the Lord is amazing.…”  Raul has a lot to change, but he can do it and we are here to help him.

Yesterday we made banana chocolate chip cookies for breakfast!!!! Mmmm with milk.  Also Yesterday was the elections here, so we couldn’t teach lessons in the morning or anything.  So we watched Legacy.... :) We also found an awesome family contacting in the street!!!!! 

The work is progressing, and no hand can stop it from doing so.  I know that this is the true gospel of the Savior Jesus Christ, and that His will is that all of His children can return to His presence and have joy.  I love the work, and I love seeing the miracles it produces.  I love you all!!!! Have a great week!!!!

Love Elder Joe!!!!

Hola!

The pictures are of the zone a couple of weeks ago, the baptism on Friday, and a Procession that passed by our house with smoke and music.

Sounds like you all had a good week, a peaceful week, I did too.  I have felt the Spirit and am excited for this new month and this new change.  The whole zone is staying in place with only one change, Elder Garcia is going to Pucallpa and we are also growing.  We will have a new area opened this change.

We have been having success and on Saturday we had five baptisms!!!!!! Three of them are sisters.  Their brother got baptized a month and a half ago, and they told us that they wanted to be baptized, so they did.  Also their two neighbors told us the same thing, and their parents gave them permission.  Although the parents don’t really want anything, we will keep working with them so that they also can be baptized.  My policy for a while has been that I don’t baptize children without parents or unless they literally tell me “I want to be baptized.”   The Lord talked about those pure of heart that wanted to follow Him without a doubting heart, that they are blessed.  All five of them that were baptized are soooo excited to follow the gospel.  They are great examples for their parents. They also shared their testimonies in the Baptismal service and it was great!!!!!!

I have seen soooo many things this week and I don’t even know where to start to tell you all about it. :)  On Monday we made cookies as a zone and we were there alllll day because the oven was soooo slow!!!!!!  But it helped us to bond as a zone, and now we are all focusing on the investigators that will be baptized in June.  This month as a zone we had 24 people that were baptized and confirmed.  It has been awesome to see the zone work hard, and I am happy with what we have done.  This month will also be awesome!!!  I can’t wait.

I am really happy here and loving the work!!!!!  I feel the Spirit pushing me onward in the work, and I can’t go backwards, only onward ever onward!!!!!!  I love the Lord!!!!!  I love the Mish!!!!!!

Love you sooooo much.

Love YA!

Elder JOE

Hola! From under the equator and in Lima,

To all my family and cousins, Hi and I love you!  Especially the cousins who are in mission preparation, read The Standard of Truth, it is awesome.

This week has been really great and I have felt a great spirit in all the lessons and meetings that we have had. Well, Monday we cleaned the apartment a bit and slept a bit. On Tuesday we taught a family that wants to be married and we took out the trash.  They changed their attitudes, they were amazed that we would serve like that. It was cool to see the ¨Ammon Principle¨ in effect. On Wednesday we had a conference with President Blunck about the Fundamental Principles of Teaching.  That went well.  On Friday we taught another family that is married and the wife and grandma that live there attended church on Sunday!!!! On Saturday we had the baptisms of Jose and Genesis, and Anabel and Elmer!!!!! I felt the Spirit during the Baptismal Service.  These four shared their testimonies at the end.  It was awesome!!!!!  There were a lot of members there and afterwards they had a reception for them!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!  They also got confirmed yesterday, and they are all really happy with everything.   Awesome week!!!!

We also found a family that was having a lot of problems in the moment that we knocked on their door.  They let us in, the Spirit was strong and they accepted to be baptized in June!!!!!!

Our investigators are progressing really good!  My companion is great!  One of the Seventy said that we are importers of heavenly peace to the world, and that we should share it with all.  I try to scatter sunshine along my way.  I love the work and I love the Lord.

I know that Jesus is the Holy One, I love His gospel and am thankful for the unselfish sacrifice of His blood.  I know the gospel is true.

Have an amazing week!!!!!!!!!

Fidelidad Hasta El Fin!!!!!!

I love you a ton!!!!

Elder Joe Johnson

I love going to the temple, because I feel peace when I am there. My companion and I are  having a great time and we are working way hard. I am having some of the best experiences of my life!!!!  I’m learning lots, trying to progress and become what God wants me to be.

In Lima we went to the catacombs (Museo San Francisco - Monastery and Museum), and saw everything. Afterwards we ate McDonald’s - so good jaja (wasn’t 2 years ago but now!).

On Saturday two couples got married, and next Saturday they will be getting baptized!!!!!! We all were there in the Town Hall park, basically, and they had to get there early at 8 am because they had to do some papers and they close the doors at 11 am.  Well, we were there waiting and we were soooo nervous because they got there at 10:50 and 10:55 am.  We were so stressed, but they got there!!!  Answers to our prayers!!!  Also they went to stake conference yesterday, and they are really changing a lot!!!  Stake Conference was great!

This week we have had a lot of cool experiences, we found some guy that had found a Book of Mormon in the street and had read part of it and he knew about Jose Smith.  So we have an appointment to explain to him all about the Book of Mormon on Sunday.  We also have found a lot of families that are awesome. We have 9 people with baptism dates and two of them are the families that got married on Saturday. The work is going forward!!!!!

We have had some cool contacts with families, and we found a family in 2 contacts. First we found the wife, she told her husband that we were going to pass by on Tuesday. Then, yesterday we contacted the husband, he told us that he will also wait for us on Tuesday. It was cool because he told us that his wife had talked about us, and that she wanted him to listen too. 

I love the gospel and I am thankful for all your prayers!

I love you all sooo much!!!!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Joe

Well, things are great! I already told you all about my week in the phone call on Sunday, so I’m not too worried about telling you too much.  But I think that I could share my testimony. I am so thankful for our Savior, to think that God sent his own Son, one of His own to break the chains of the Fall, and to rescue us all, is something so big. Today I asked a contact what he thought of what Christ had done, and if he would do the same and he just looked at me like “I don’t know if I could.”  But God did know that He could do it, and that He was the only one.

Today I was also thinking about the Creation and how it came about, God actually created it all!!!!! He is The CREATOR!!!!  And this world is awesome. We also got to go to the temple today and it was an awesome experience and I learned a lot there, and felt the Spirit  soooo strong! I love the temple!!! Well, I love the gospel and am thankful for the opportunity that I have to teach it. I love it so much. I also love all you FAMILIA JOHNSON!!!!!

FIDELIDAD HASTA EL FIN!!!!

Love Elder JOE

I will answer questions on Sunday. I love you all sooo much. We are teaching some families and one of the Dad’s told us that he has received an answer to his prayers. The other has felt the Spirit in church and he shared his testimony on Sunday.

Love you all,

Joe