Howdy!

On August 8, 2011 Elder Johnson wrote:

Friends and Family:

Contrary to popular belief, I was not climbing any mountains last p-day. I was emergency transferred to Hidalgo. I left Mexico state at 10:00 a.m. and did not get into my area until 8:00 p.m. I had the opportunity to be in three different states last Monday on my way to the middle of nowhere. Now I am here, and boy is it different.

My companion, Elder Gray, and I cover about eight pueblos. About 80% are members in the pueblo we live in. It's quiet and dark at night and we get to wake up to roosters crowing at about 6:00 a.m. We spend a lot of time walking and waiting for buses. Rumor has it that president wants to keep some missionaries in their areas for up to 9 months. I might die in this area (for those of you who are unfamiliar with the missionary lingo, that means "finish his mission"). I have never thought of that until now...Well...also we eat a lot of cactus here, all different parts. That is because there are more cacti than people and animals combined here.

My companion, Elder Gray is great. He is in my 'generation" which means we started and will finish our mission at the same time. It's good to be with him. He is a district leader with aspirations to be a zone leader. He works really hard. We get along well. We helped a lady in our ward this week weed and mulch her cactus garden. It was fun, and I got cactus spines stuck in me. I asked her why she had a cactus garden and she said that the prophet has asked us to have food storage...It's good to see the members honoring and following our dear beloved prophet!

Elder Iver Johnson

And now, a special guest writer:

Hey Johnson family! Elder Gray here, companion of Elder Johnson. I just wanted to let you all know that Elder Johnson is a slammin' Elder and he's really easy to work with. He's not afraid of hard work, and he keeps things interesting. Yesterday he decided to start a collection of pictures of himself next to various types of cacti.

The mission is definitely better off because of your son. Thank you for raising such a brilliant young buck. He's certainly doing you proud!

Elder Gray