Ingrid!

Hey, there is a chance that a hurricane named Ingrid is going to pass by here tonight or tomorrow. It has been really rainy for basically the whole week. They even cancelled church services today, but everything is clear and sunny right now so maybe the storm isnt going to hit us. President has all of the missionaries writing their families to tell them that we are ok and that we are prepared for the storm if it does happen to hit us. It shouldnt be too bad, some people are already saying that it wont hit us because it is really sunny again.

Our P-day got changed to Wednesday so I´ll be emailing y´all again on Wednesday!

nos vemos! dont worry!

I love you!

con amor,

Elder Johns

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CRAZINESSS!

 

Hey family and friends,

 

Everything has been a little nuts this past week and half, lots of twists turns and changes. We had been hearing alot about some sort of hurricane that was destined to destroy half of Tampico and flood the rest of it and that it was going to hit on Sunday. It had been raining everyday for almost a week so we didnt doubt it. then we got a bunch of messages from president about saftey stuff we had to tell all the elders in our zone such as to stay in their houses once the wind starts to kick up and to stay away from the windows and to buy food to survive in your house for 3 days. on saturday night it started to rain a ton so they cancelled the noche mexicana stake activity, and then they even cancelled the church services for the next day so we went to bed expecting to wake up during the hurricane.

 

BUT, to our suprise, it was sunny all day on Sunday and didnt even rain one drop. President Jordan came to our chapel and we had a little mini sacrament meeting. also, in anticipation of the storm, they changed the day of changes until today so I had 2 extr days in Tancol.

 

NOW, I am training  a new missionary named Elder Macias from Tijuana. He seems pretty great but I dont really know him very well because we just barely met yesterday. They called me at like 9:30am yesterday and told me that I ahd to get all my stuff packed and be in teh mission home by 12:30am so I only got to say goodbye to a couple families. My comp, Elder Villegas also got changed to another area.

 

Elder Macias and I are opening a new area named Madero. It has not had missionaries for almsot 6 months, and the 6 months before that it was occupied by a couple missionary companionship. We also dont have a place to live yet so we are looking around haha. Everything is really crazy right now. oh and I am also the District Leader so I am going to be woking closely with alot of other missionaries in the zone. President doesnt want to let me rest haha.

 

I cant upload photos because the comp doesnt accept my memory so please forgive me for not sending photos again.

 

about college, I am pretty decided on attending BYU for the Winter Semester, but I dont have any preferences right now as to whom I would like to room with or where. I dont know when class sign ups are, and much less what classes I want to take.

 

sounds like everything is going well for you guys, have a great week and I`ll write you guys back next week on monday like normal! please pray for us so that we can get things moving and find an apartment quickly in this ward.

 

I love you!

 

Elder Johns

There is a lot more that I still need to learn

Hellllllo,

this past week went by really fast. I feel like I say that almost every week now haha.

I am still learning a ton of stuff. I remember thinkging that I would know everything by about the gospel by the end of my mission but I keep learning more and more and I bet there is alot more that I still need to learn. I am reading through the Book of Mormon highlighting in different colors anything that talks about faith, repentance, the covenant of baptism, The gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I am getting alot of new insights on examples of how to live and apply the gopsel more fully in my life and I am writing it all down in a notebook to remember.

We had 6 investigators come to church on Sunday! 3 of them cant get baptized yet because of divorce issues, but it was the first time for the other three! They really seemed to enjoy it. but the gospel doctrine class teacher didnt show up so I ended up teaching the class but I didnt have any time to prepare but it was alright.

We did divisions and I went wiht a new american elder from Utah named Elder Alsup. He is a good guy but is having a really hard time learning Spanish so I went to go see if I could go and keep him motivated. I really enjoy doing exchanges because I get to know the people that the other missionaries are teaching, and I like to get to know the other missionareis better.

Today we played soccer, volleyball, and basketball as a zone and it was a lot of fun. This is week 6 so it is that last week before changes. I have a feeling that I will probably get changes next week.

Im glad to hear that everything is going well at home. Does Dad enjoy being a seminary teacher? does he go to work right after or does he take a quick nap at home? What has colin been up to? he hasnt been writing me very much.

I still havent gotten the package yet but maybe it will come this week.

I love you all lots! tell Abby happy birthday tomorrow for me!

con amor,

Elder Johns

Claudio Got Baptized!

Family!

Claudio got baptized on saturday! He was really happy! I have been very blessed to have had this opportunity to teach him. His baptismal service went well because his best friends showed up, but basically no one else came which worries me a bit about how well the ward will care for him after I have gone, but I guess we just need to help the ward to realize that they also play an important role in helping the recent converts to successfuly become active members. His family also didnt show up to his baptism because there was a family issue that made it impossible for them to attend.

We did more exchanges this week and I got to be with Elder Ellis. He is really cool and I think I learned more from being with him then he learned from me. He had an interesting idea about making decisions. He calls it "5 steps into the future" which includes analyzing the following 1. The action in itself 2. The immediate consequences 3. short term consequences, 4. long term consequences, 5. Eternal consequences. I really liked it because it might help me to see things from a larger perspective.

ummm on friday we had another consejo de liderazgo and in our plan we have some stuff that should help us to establish goals with the investigators or less active members to help them keep progressing. I dont really have time to explain it in alot of detail but I am hoping that we can get it to work. It should also help us to motivate the local leaders to help out more and fufill their responsibilties.

I am going through a hard time now with my comp but I am trying to learn my best from the situation. I am also trying to stop critisizing myself so much. sometimes I get too hard on myself and _I dont let myself relax and enjoy the moment. I guess that is what I am trying to learn now but I know that my Heavenly Father is giving me these little challenges to teach me and prepare me for the future. I guess that makes me grateful for the difficulty because I cant even imagine having been able to deal with all of this a year ago.

I miss you all and I hope all is going well for you!

con much amor,

Elder Johns

It's a short one

Dear family,

thanks for the cool poem! I have read it before but I cant remember where. I really enjoyed reading it again.

sorry for this short email but we just got a call and we need to go and help some missionaries get to a doctors appointment because they have spent all their money and dont have reserve funds...

on Saturday Claudio is GETTING BAPTIZED! I am really excited for this. He has been progressing alot.

other than that I am feeling alot better. There are still alot of problems and difficulty but I guess I am increasing my capacity to deal with all of it.

Sorry for the uber short email, I wrote Kaitlen and Ryan and then I was going to dedicate the rest of the time to write you guys but now we have to go and help the other Elders.

I love you!

Elder Johns

Scuba Diving Might Become a New Hobby

Dear family,

Thank you for the great letter, it was something that I really needed right now. Alot of times I dont like to say that I am having a hard time because I dont want to compain to you guys about everything hard or difficult about the mission or about what is going on. Last week was fairly hard because I had alot of stress working on me and being in the ciber writing all of you guys just made me feel so homesick. But now I am feeling much better. My companion is a little difficult but great at the same time. He isnt used to being very obedient and complains alot and its hard enough for me myself to be obedient without having to worry about him and have all the stress of taking care of the zone. He doesnt have any problem with doing the work, he is actually a really good teacher and he is able to win the trust of the people we teach really well so I am very thankful for that. And we arent hating each other either but it isnt the most fun relationship but I am trying my best to love him more and more. He isnt the first hard comp I have had so ive been through this before.

My birthday was pretty nice, The stake presidents wife made me some delicious lasagnia and bought me a small cake. And the sister that we ate with on Sunday gave me a huge ice cream cake from Dairy Queen that was super delicious! It was a pretty good birthday but I really missed being with family and friends.

On tuesday we had a super awesome leadership training meeting that really helped me out and answered alot of personal questions I had about how I can get through this current phase of my mission. Then we had a meeting with the Stake President on Wensday morning and we talked about a plan that we have for the zone (the zone covers the whole stake) and we are excited about it because we are going to be better coordinated with the ward leaders. After that meeting we had interviews with President Jordan. He is a really good guy, I have missed seeing him so often since I left the offices.

We did divisions and my companion thought that he was ready to be here in our area by himself but he ended up getting lost and we missed some important appointments. I had a good time with Elder Rosado. He was really into scuba diving before the mission and told me a ton of cool stories. He is from Veracruz (a state in Mexico). Scuba diving and fishing with a harpoon gun might become a new hobby after I get back...

We only saw Claudio one time this week but he is still doing well. We dont have many other investigators that are progressing but we are having success with the less active members. We have started formulating a ward mission plan with the ward mission leader and the bishop that should help us out alot.

um I cant think of much else to say right now. I have been getting fat but I am going to start eating a little healthier.

Thats cool that dad is going to be a seminary teacher! I would love doing that except for the getting up in the morning part. Seminary played a huge role in my life, more than I realized while I was taking it. Basically everything I know about the scriptures I learned in Seminary.

I love y´all and thank you all for your support! have an awesome week! I still havent heard anyhting about my package but I am sure that it will come soon.

con amor,

Elder Johns

Happy Birthday!

hello everyone,

Its my birthday! I am 21 years old. I dont feel much older but being on a mission makes me feel like Im 40 so I guess realizing that Im only 21 makes me feel a little younger!

We went to the beach this morning which was fun. I bought a pineapple coconut drink to enjoy while relaxing on the sand. We got there at 7am so there were only a couple of people jogging on the sand. Its been almost 2 years since we went to Hawaii and being at the beach reminded me a little of that last family vacation.

My new companion is very different from my last companion but we have been getting along. He is from the state of Puebla and he was a really good dancer. He also has the same amount of time in the mission as I do.

We did an exchange with some Elders and I was with an Elder named Elder Harris. He served in the Last Vegas West mission Spanish Speaking for a few months while he waited for his visa and he said that he met Elder (Tucker) Short while he was over there.

A new couple moved into our ward from another state in Mexico. They had been listening to the missionaries over there for a few months and they want to get baptized but they are having problems with getting married.

one of the hermanas that we ate with yesterday gave me an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen!

Claudio and his family didnt show up to church which was kinda dissapointing. We are going to visit them later today to find out what happened.

Thank you for the many birthday wishes! I dont know why it feels so hard to be here on my birthday, its basically just like any other day, but I feel your love through your emails and that makes me feel better. The stake presidents wife said that she was going to make me some lasagnia today so I am looking forward to getting to eat lasagnia. Thanks for the money and for sending me a package as well, I hope that it will make it through the mailing system.

Thats too bad that Abby has been a little difficult this past week, but that view of mount rainer must have been absolutely beautiful.

I love you all and I really really miss you, have a wonderful day!

con amor,

Elder Johns

New Companion

HeLlo FaMiLy,

Another week and another change under my belt! and another companion. Elder Fernandez is going to train in Victoria! He is going to be openning up a second area in the area that I was serving before I got here (Villas 2). I am really excited for him because the members are really awesome over there and help out a ton with missionary work.

My new companion is going to be Elder Villegas, he has around the same amount of time as I do. It is a wierd change because he was a zone leader in his last area but was only there for one transfer. Ive met him before and he is a great guy. later today around 12, 12:30, we are going to the bus station to make the switch so he isnt with me yet. Ive heard that he has trouble sometimes getting along with his companions but Im sure we will learn to work together just fine.

basically the whole zone is changing. all the district leaders were changed and so now we have new ones, and a new area opened up in our as well so now we are 16 missioneros. We are also going to have 5 trainers and 5 new missionaries in our zone which is going to be AWESOME! I dont really know why but I am really excited to have so many new missionaries. I guess I am excited to be able to teach them and take care of them and stuff, I miss training.

Nothing really big happened this past week. We had to clean the house for the missionareis that are going to open the new area and it was suuuuuper messy. The last missionaries that served there left food in the fridge and MILK! It was all moldy and the milk was spoiled and the electricty got cut a week before we got there so the fridge was just a mess. We took it outside and got it all cleaned up though. silly missionaries.

Claudio is progressing really well, he has been going to church and is excited about the gospel. He hasnt done so well with reading every day but it is something new for him that he is learning to do. His dad and his sister were going to go to church as well but something happened to his sisters eyes and his dad ended up staying to take care of her in their house.

There were 14 less active members in church today (and thats just from our half of the ward becasue there are two other missionaries serving in the other half) so we are having good success in motivating the less active members to attend. We still havent been able to get the bishop to call people to teach the family history and temple preparation classes which is a little frusterating, but we have achieved that all the other wards in the stake have the classes every week.

thanks for sending the photos of Tanners wedding! Its so wierd to think that he is married! He has been one of my best buds since as far back as I can remember. I am glad that Colin was able to enjoy his high adventure and thats a little dissapointing that he didn´t get to go all the way to the top but I am sure that it wouldnt have been so pleasent if the crampons (I dunno what a crampon is) wouldnt have functioned.

Thats exciting news about Kaitlyn! she should be reading Preach My Gospel everyday and reading her scriptures to prepare.

I am excited for my birthday (especially because it will be on a Pday). we got permission from PResident to go to the beach as a zone from 7am-9pm on that pday so I am excited. I hope that package for my birthday that you sent me gets here alright.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

ELDER Johns