HEY HEY HEY!!! FROM UNDER THE EQUATOE!!!!

Well the week went well, and I didn’t get to eat *cuy, but that’s ok. (All the cuy’s were still babies so they didn’t do cuy).  I did have pizza and another cake..... so that was good..... and my comp smashed another egg on my head.... TRAITOR!!! Jajaja it’s all good.  (The Peruvian birthday tradition is to make a “cake” on the head).  They also gave me a ‘King Kong’, it’s a dessert here that is made from a hard bread with pineapple jam and date jam and Manjar (caramel) in the middle.  IT IS GOOD!!!!!!!  I will bring one home for you to try!

This week we had a family attend church.  They will be baptized on the 20^th!  This family has prayed and received answers.  There were also 9 investigators there, it was awesome!!!!!!!!!  The work keeps moving forward!!! I love it soooooo much!!!!!!!!

I also felt the Spirit’s influence yesterday in fast and testimony meeting.  I wanted to get up and bear my testimony, but there was a line, and so there wasn’t time at the end.

We are keeping up the work and everything’s going good.  I love the Lord’s work and have seen His hand in many ways, especially changing lives. It truly is a marvelous work and a wonder.  I am thankful for all the blessings that the Lord has given me, I love the gospel!!!!!!  I just feel pushed to finish well, and to do my best until the end.

I love the work!!!!!!!! Endure to the END!!!!! Fidelidad Hasta el FIN!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Joe

*Guinea pigs (called cuy) were originally domesticated for their meat in the Andes. It continues to be a major part of the diet in Peru. Guinea pig meat is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, and is described as being similar to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken. The animal may be served fried (chactado or frito), broiled (asado), or roasted (al horno), and in urban restaurants may also be served in a casserole or a fricassee. Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year, and the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco shows Christ and the twelve disciples dining on guinea pig.

Pres. & Sister Blunck with Missionaries in Lima

Feliz Cumpleaños a ti!!!  Wooooo Hoooooooo!!!

This morning I was given a Peruvian birthday!!!  Which means...... that they smash eggs on your head, and then they put a bunch of flour on top!!!  They have fun with it.  Last year I got out of it, because it was Sunday and nobody knew til the day before. Well, this year they knew, and soooo you can look at the pictures to see what happened.

Today we are planning on going to the center of Lima to a museum or something as a Zone, my comp knows all the info on where we are going.

This week was great!!!  We had the new Elders from the CCM doing the practice proselyting in our zone on Saturday.  We went with them to work in our areas for a day, and I felt like a new Elder again!!!  It was fun to work with them a little, and to remember when I had just barely gotten here and didn’t understand anything that they were saying to me. They found an awesome lady that has passed through a couple of churches, but still has doubts.  So we answered some of her questions, and now Elder Geronimo and I will be passing by to visit her again. 

When we were finishing up the proselyting, I invited the Elders that I was with to a mil-hojas (NOTE: Mil hojas means a thousand 'sheets' or 'leaves' (in this case, layers of pastry), and there are almost a thousand South American interpretations of this classic French dessert, the napolean. This dulce de leche variation is quick and easy, looks beautiful, and is simply delicious. Serve it with fresh fruit, or dress it up with a layer or two of pastry cream. Some people like to roll the edges in coconut.  Spread some extra dulce de leche around the the sides to help the coconut stick.)  They thought they were in heaven, especially Elder Alley, from Texas, he just said “Mi Gusta!!!!!” (I like) about three times. It was cool to be with them.

The Lord has given me many blessings and I am happy right now!!! I love the work!!!  How sweet it is!!!

What more can I say?  I’m thankful for the Gospel plan!  I know that we are in the Lord’s hands, we just have to trust in Him!!!!!!!!  This is His work, and we are His servants!!!  I know that this is Christ’s church, and that all of it’s teachings are the Truth.  HE LIVES!!!!

Love Elder Joe!!!

Hola!

Well I think that right now I am on a Spiritual high. We just got back from the Temple.  There wasn’t enough space in the room to do a session, so my comp and I did initiatory work.  We  were going to also do some sealings.  But, they were short a couple of workers to do a couple things so we started doing initiatory, and then while inside we had to wait about 35-40 minutes while the workers helped out in other areas.  It was alot of good thinking time..... I feel wonderful when I’m in the Temple. I love it.

One of the elders of our Zone that was going to train didn’t receive a companion.  So he was with us as a trio.  He went to Iquitos on Sunday, so we are now short 2 missionaries in the Zone, but he was happy to go to Iquitos.

This past week my comp also was a little sick for something he ate and so he was down for a day.

On Friday we had a Zone conference that went really well, the assistants to the President taught us and I learned alot. :)

We have found some new investigators this week, one of them is another family, and one is a Dad that is separated from his family right now.  He told us that he wants to change his life, that he has a problem with alcohol, but that he wants to change. 

I feel very blessed to have such an amazing family in my life and to have the restored gospel as well.  It is interesting to know that we always have the opportunity to choose. We can choose to follow the gospel plan, or we can not, we can choose to obey the commandments, or we can not. God has given us the freedom to choose, and I have chosen to share the Gospel, to do God’s will. It’s amazing to me the blessings that one receives while sharing.  In the world’s view, the more you give means the less you’ve got. With the Lord is the opposite, the more you give, the more you’ve got. But it all depends on us and what we choose. 

Christ lives and hears our prayers!!

Love Elder Joe.

HOLA!!!

This week we have had some fun!!! :) On Monday we went to Chiki’s to eat as a Zone. On Tuesday we had to pick up the Zone Leaders from Moyobamba (the jungle) to sleep over in our room.  On Wednesday we had the Zone Leaders Conference. :) Then, on Thursday night we had to pick up two Elders that are finishing their missions, Elder Moore, and Elder Smith. So all week we have had other people sleeping in our room!  On Thursday we also gave service to a member in the morning, fixing his roof, and on Friday we gave service sanding down a room to be painted. On Saturday we planned for this week and the new changes and yesterday we taught a family that is really awesome!!!!!!!  So our week has been really busy and so many things have been happening that I was going a little crazy this week. :)  But, such is life. The craziness continues as a new week starts and today we have to set up a new area in the zone.   Tomorrow are changes......... I am way excited to work this change and to see what we can do!!!!  I will finish here, but three elders are leaving the zone. :(  So we still have a lot of work to do.  The work is moving along and we are focusing on the families, and working hard to find 4 families that will be baptized.  We are looking for the families that the Lord has prepared for His work.  Families are Forever!!!!

My favorite food if it is food food, is Aji de Gallina, and if it’s a dessert, then alfajores!!!!  And my least favorite would be……...burnt kidney!!!!!

Well, I know that the Lord has formed again on the earth His gospel and I am so excited to be part of this great work!  We have a living Prophet on the earth today, and he is the Lord’s messenger to guide us in our path. I love the gospel and the many blessings that it brings in my life.  I love the Lord and I am happily serving Him.  Life is awesome!!!  I love you all soooooo much!!!!

Love Joe

Hello from under the equator and in PERÚUUUU

This week went well and we had an awesome baptism. Her name is Mabel.  A couple of months ago her foot got run over by a motocar, so she is using crutches still and the water was really really cold!!!!! I baptized her, so we entered the water and we were both a little chilly.  When I baptized her, her foot left the water.  We had to do it again, so we put a chair in the font and she sat on it, and when I went to baptize her, she didn’t even go under...…  Sooo, I kneeled down in the water and she sat on the steps of the font and she was baptized!!!  It was awesome!!!!!  Third time was the charm...... :)  Then she shared her testimony and couldn’t get it all out because she said that she felt a peace inside, and then just started to cry.  That moment was soooooo special and the whole room was quiet. Awesome!!!

We have also found two families this week that are great!!!! One of the other families that we are teaching accepted to be baptized on the 23rd!!!  The work is progressing!!!!

My companion and I cover more than one ward, but we don’t work there always, just with references.

I have seen Elder Wood, from North Ogden, in my area a couple of times.  He looks good!

Our visit to Parque de la Imaginacion was awesome!  There was an earthquake room that shakes, a giant piano, a big bubble maker, an electric chair that works, a human gyro, a room that rolls and makes you dizzy, a giant human heart that lights up, and a couple of other things.  The photo’s I sent are from the Imagination Park.

I know that this is our Savior’s church and that He is at the wheel today, guiding and directing us.  I love the work and am excited to endure to the end!!!!!!

Also I found out that I will be finishing the mission here in my area right now!!!! And it is fine by me!!!

Happy 4th of  JULYYYYY

Love, Joe

HOLA!!! From under the equator!!!

Thank you for the photo’s and emails.  I also read one of the Hymns not long ago, “Like Ten Thousand Legions Marching” (#253), very awesome. But your song is sweet too!!! (# 325)  I was reading in the book of ancestors stories that was made for me, and there are some awesome stories in there.  They had such faith in the Lord!!!  We also need to have that faith to follow in their footsteps!  There was a quote that I read once that said that we receive as inheritance our name and that to live up to what we receive, we need to make it our own, or something like that, (it was a tradition by me) :)  Thanks for the inheritance!!!  I’m making it my own!!!

This week has gone well and I am trying to work my hardest here.  I know that there are lives and futures to change.  We had one baptism!!!  Mirko got baptized, and we were waiting for him at 6 in the chapel, when the baptism should have started.  But he didn’t show up at 6 or 7 so we were a little worried.  So we offered a prayer, and he got there!!! Just goes to show that when we do our part, and then put our faith in the Lord, He will never abandon us. Also, we are teaching a family that is awesome!!!!!  On Friday we talked with the father, Rudy, and he told us that he had prayed and that he had received his answer.  So we invited him to be baptized and he told us that he had an addiction to playing cards.  So we are working with him to help him beat the impulses that he has.  They also came as a family to church!!!  It was awesome!!!

The other two people that were to be baptized are waiting a little bit longer. Mabel will be baptized on Saturday, and Betty will be changing a few things in her life that are out of order and will be baptized at the end of July.

Winter in Lima is just a little cold and it mists a lot!  In Lima we can’t use the motocars, so we walk a lot!  We do exchanges if there are members to go with.  Right now we haven’t done it often, but are trying to.

Today we are going to the Imagination Park, or Parque de la Imaginacion, here in Lima.  I will send you pics this next week.

I know that God is our Father and that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of mankind.  I also know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Thomas Monson is a prophet of the Lord, and is guiding us today. I also know that this is the only true gospel on the Earth!!!  I know that these things are true.

Have an amazing week!!!  Hurrah for Israel!  Kia Kaha!

Love

Elder GREGORY JOSEPH JOHNSON aka Joe  :)

Hola from under the equator!

Well things are going great here in the work.  I am way excited for all the things going on here and there!!!

We have been working hard and had a great week!  This week we have three baptisms planned, and we are looking for more people that have been prepared to hear the gospel message. I love the work!!!  I am doing great, don’t worry about me at all, I am happy as a lark!!!  We are teaching some good families and we are hoping that one of them can get married this month, and that another one can be baptized, because they are already married.

Betty will be baptized on Saturday!!!  And she is inviting all of her family to go to church with her!!!  AWESOME!!!  We also have two other investigators that will be baptized on Saturday!!! Coolio!!!

Today we went to the Temple and it was great to feel the wonderful spirit there, I love our family and am so glad that it is an eternal one!!!  It just reaffirmed my testimony of eternal families and renewed my desire to have an eternal family someday. I love the Temple!!!

I know the Gospel is true and has been RESTORED!!!  The book of Mormon is God’s word!!!  The Temple is God’s house!!!

Thank you for your kindnesses!!!

I love you sooo much!!!  A ton!!!

Love Elder Joe