Howdy!

On May 16, 2011 Elder Johnson wrote:

Greetings all you fellow adventure seekers!

What a week! I am here in my new area in "Prados" tearing it up with my new companion and "step-son" Elder Schultz, we have been doing good work! When I first got here, we had a big problem with cockroaches! I have never before been in a room, let alone a house, so full of the little creatures. They have been feasting off of five years of missionary grossities, and there was dust everywhere. The cockroaches lived in every single corner, and anywhere they could get their filthy little bodies. The first night...was terrible. Being sick on top of being in that house was a nightmare. I didn't sleep well at all, and I woke up the next day with bug bites all over me...

So:

The first day we cleaned all morning long. My companion was just as uncomfortable as I was and quickly agreed to help clean. We have spent hours cleaning this week (but it needs to be done) and have hours left, however, the good news is that the cockroaches are dead, or poisoned and bringing it back to their nests to die with their sick little families. We have only seen two or so cockroaches in the past three days! We are winning! The house is also now livable. We are waking up now without bug bites. The smell of bleach and cleaning supplies have never smelled so good to me.

I don't have any pictures of the apartment yet, but when we get it cleaner I will take some and send them to you!

We found out also the morning after the first night, that not only had the previous missionaries not cleaned, but they had not paid any of the utilities for five years! Holy Smokes! I got here and I feel like the clean-up crew on the scene of a natural disaster! Oh well, as they say here, "hay que seguir adelante." You gotta move forward.

Hopefully this week will be a better week, and we can do good work.

I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Howdy!

On May 9, 2011 Elder Johnson wrote:

Family and Friends:

Boy was it great to talk to my mommy and daddy and sissy. It was good to hear that you are doing well and that you are happy. I hope the rest of you all are also! It was swell to hear about your adventures and such.

Unfortunately, I am still really sick. I had kind of a rough night, and scrambling around for transfers has made me really tired. I'll eventually get over it, I suppose. I have decided to do everything in my power to avoid eating the lettuce here. It has become a bit too dangerous for me.

I am excited to be training, and to be in a new area. It looks to me like we have a lot of apartment complexes in my new area, so we will see how that goes. I haven't met my new companion Elder Schultz yet, but by the look of his suit (which I saw in the apartment) he is not a very big guy. I'll send pictures next week.

I love you all!

Elder Johnson

From Michelle:

We had such a wonderful time talking with Iver yesterday for Mother's Day. We brought Shakira home from Ft. Collins for the call, sat around the phone (on speaker-phone) and talked non-stop for forty-five minutes! We had a little scare, and a hard time getting started, thinking maybe our calling card wasn't working, but Iver had given us the wrong number, and after about 50 minutes we got it worked out!

Here are some of the things he said:

As mentioned in his letter, he was "emergency transferred" today. He is very excited and nervous to be training a new missionary. We know he will be a fabulous teacher! Iver is such a great example of love and patience! He is quite sad, however to be leaving his latest companion, Elder Martinez. The two of them developed a great friendship that Iver hopes will always continue, and they did great work together. He is also sad to be leaving the many wonderful converts and investigators he has been working with.

Despite being "lettuce-sick", his spirits were high and had he not told us we wouldn't even had known! He laughed and laughed, which is exactly what this momma needs to hear! He said things in Spanish a lot, which he would follow with, "oops, that was Spanish!" And when Corbin tried to talk to him in Spanish he said, "Dad, I can't understand you, can you spell that?" So cute.

We found out that he HAS NOT had bedbugs, a huge relief to us. But told us about the gigantic la cucarachas that live with him. If you know Iver, you know that this is fun for him, as he loves bugs, but he knows they are not sanitary, so he scoops them up and releases them outside whenever he comes across them. He described their funny antics to us, like getting stuck upside down like they are "looking up at the stars." He finally found where they were coming from, the cabinet in their bathroom, and had decided it was time to wage war on them! Capture and release. Iver is so adorably kind and humane.

His socks are all worn out (sending him more!) and his ties are all faded from the sun. President Nancollas has asked all of the Elders to purchase a new white shirt for the upcoming general authority visit so Iver warned us that there would be a Wal-Mart charge on his debit card! I can only imagine how grungy those shirts get in the hot, sweaty, dirty city, with grimy drunk bums grabbing onto them and sometimes having to do laundry by hand! Mark of a fabulous missionary, though!

Shakira asked Iver to tell us about the mugging incident he wrote about a couple of months ago, and Iver just laughed..."How about I tell you about a different one? It happens all the time!" He went onto tell us about the drunk bum who demanded they give him money because his mother was sick. Iver said, "Tell us where your mother lives, we can bless her and pray for her!" Of course that wasn't what he wanted to hear, but after roughing them up and threatening them a little bit, he gave up and moved on. Now, of course these are not fun things for a mother to hear, but Iver knows he is on an errand of the Lord. He know his prayers are heard and that he will be protected. I know that, too. SO GRATEFUL!!

The mission was able to recently attend the Mexico City temple (I posted the picture above). Iver was very excited about that. He was especially struck by the architecture and how white it was. He loved that his ordinance work there was done in Spanish!

He loves Mexico City. Iver is a city boy and is definitely happiest in the city.

Iver expressed to us tearfully how grateful he is to be on a mission. He expressed his love for his family, and the precious gift of being able to be together eternally. He said, "I am just so grateful to be helping other families to have what we have!"

I can hardly believe that on June 9th, Iver will have an entire year of this mission completed. When we talk to him next Mother's Day, we will only be weeks away from traveling there to pick him up! I am crazy-thankful for this beautiful son of mine, and his service and sacrifice. We have been very blessed through it all. What a wonderful way to begin his adult life. He is most precious.

Howdy!

On May 2, 2011 Elder Johnson Wrote:

My habits, my friends, my family: they mean so much to me.

Hello:

Welp, this week we were able to baptize two more! Woot woot! But I don't have my camera, so I can't send the pictures. Matilde, grandma of Kevin, Karen and Kenneth, was baptized as well as Lorena, who started investigating the church over a year ago! It was cool to see them get baptized and have five confirmations this Sunday! It took up a lot of time, but it was so cool to see the ward's faces when they announced we would be confirming five people!

Woo Hoo!!

Well this week, I will have the opportunity to call my family. That's exciting. We'll be doing it on Sunday in the evening, and I'll give you a call Sunday morning to give you the number and the exact time. I'm excited to call you once again!

This will be the last full month for Presidente Nancollas. He is feeling ready to go home, I can tell, but he is finishing strong. He invited a visitor to come speak to our mission in about two weeks. We are all very excited to meet him. I have never spent time with a General Authority of his rank before. We are all excited to meet Quintin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and to learn from him.

Well, I love you all and hope you are well. I wish I had more time to write, but I don't.

Elder Johnson

From Michelle:

Some tidbits from a personal letter he sent to me...

"I do cook a lot. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a lot of muffins (I sent him a muffin tin and lots of mixes in his last package when he mentioned he has an oven in his apartment, Iver loves muffins)."

Answering if he was eating any yummy fruit: "If you call guayaba and papaya yummy, then yes. They are an acquired taste."

"I am getting some pouch mail..." (I'm sure he would LOVE to get more!)

"I hear from Kevin and Olive and Grandma J. I got a package from Olive, it was a valentine with some candy, and one from her and Ashleen, with homemade peanut butter and a swell tie."

"Let's just say that my feet enjoy sleeping at night."

"Hola to the Capitol Hill Ward."

And "Happy Birthday, Mommy. I love you!"

Howdy!

On April 25, 2011 Elder Johnson wrote:

Greetings!

It was nice to receive all of your birthday wishes! I appreciate them all! Thank you so much!

This week we were able to baptize three! Woohoo! Karen, Kevin, and Kenneth! It was cool to think that twenty years ago I was born, and twenty years later I was standing in a baptismal font helping three people be "born again" (about the same time, relatively).

After we got out of the font, Kenneth told me, "That was so cool! I feel so great! I wish I could be baptized ten more times!" It was a great feeling yesterday as we celebrated together. We had warm water, too. That makes the first time on my mission, it was nice!

As the week progressed, the celebrations did too. My companion and I saw a parade as we were knocking doors, with a bunch of roman soldiers leading a guy with a big beard carrying a cross. They were followed by a HUGE procession of people. That explained why absolutely no one was answering their doors. My companion told me that there is a place in Mexico City where they do the same thing, except at the end they nail the poor guy to the cross. You just don't see that in the states.

Well, I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Howdy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELDER JOHNSON!!!!! He is very loved!!!

On April 18, Elder Johnson wrote:

This week I had a few adventures. I got out of being robbed twice this week. Let's just say there are a lot of drunk bums around here. They aren't even happy, just drunk. It was cool though, because they all went away very, very confused.

The kids here are pretty cool. They like it when you join in on their soccer games, and are always willing to talk to you. I wish their parents would learn from them. That would be good.

So, here is a little known fact about Mexico (little known because I didn't know it before now): it rains in Mexico. A lot. There are many floods that happen, actually, as a result of it. This week I am thankful for my umbrella, because I have been using it a lot lately. It rains basically from 4:30 to 7:00, nonstop. Things are starting to be very green here.

This week we also had transfers, and Elder Norlund got transferred. I am now here with Elder Martinez, who so far seems like a good guy.

This week we are planning on having six baptisms, I hope that all goes well! They are: Matilde, Kevin, Kenneth, Karen, Josephina, and Carlos. We are pretty excited and will be breaking our backs for them this whole week. I hope it all goes well! We knocked into a guy named Manfred who is a great guy, but who has some problems with drugs, we are helping him to get over those problems and to get some Jesus in his life. These people are really wonderful people and I hope you will pray for them!

This week is "la semana santa" translated to : the holy week, which has a lot to do with the Catholic celebration of Easter. They have weird things going on all week long, and none of the kids are in school. It's a bit strange to see all the kids around, usually they are all in school right now. We had fireworks going on yesterday during church (the neighbors) and there seems to be a lot more drinking and going to church than usual.

Well, I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Howdy!

On April 11, 2011 Elder Johnson wrote:

Family and Friends:

What a week. We had a good week, and are pleased today. We had splits with our District Leader on Wednesday, Thursday our Zone leaders came over and gave us compliments (that hardly ever happens here, unfortunately), and on Friday the Assistants to the President came over and we went on splits with them (really great guys). On Friday afternoon, the people we were going to baptize went on vacation, so we can't baptize them this month (surprise vacation). On Saturday we had to basically start over, and we found ten people that day, and on Sunday we were able to bring five of them to church! After that my companion and I saved a man's life as he was having a seizure on the sidewalk (my companion is a former paramedic). It was cool, and he let me help save his life, so that was cool. It's too bad that he doesn't live anywhere near our area, so we can't teach him...

Anyway, crazy week. Yup. The people we are teaching right now are: Marcela, who's husband is never sober; Matilde and her grandsons, Kevin and Kenneth, who are really interested in the church, and have spent time together reading the pamphlets and the scriptures; and Angel who is a teen, and really happy about learning about the church, and came all by himself to church because the rest of his family didn't want to go. Please remember these people and pray for them! They are such wonderful people and need our prayers!

I enjoy living in the city. It is a lot different than Denver, a lot of people in not a lot of space and so many cars it is not even funny. A lot of people who drink, just because they have nothing better to do, and hardly ever are sober. A lot of ninos (sorry, cannot make an enyay on my American keyboard) who like to play "trumpo" which is a type of top. I bought one...I need a lot of practice. It seems like the only thing that the kids know in English are "wat iz jour nam?" and the "f-word", both of which they yell at us, and then quickly hide. Silly ninos. The only thing I really don't enjoy about the people here is the fact that they lie, all of them, all the time, and they aren't even good at it. It drives me crazy. Other than that, it's all great down here. We are going to have to have a hot chili eating contest when I get home. I'm fairly certain I will win, or at least place second, after my dad.

Well, that's all for now, fellow space explorers. I love you all!

Elder Johnson

Howdy!

On Monday, April 4, 2011 Elder Johnson Wrote:

Friends and Family:

Well, this week we were unable to get any of our investigators to come to the conference, and boy did they miss out! Sometimes, actually, most of the time, it is difficult that we work hard and teach well, and still people don't make it to church. All we can do is move on and keep smiling...eventually we will see fruits!

I love listening to the Prophet. What a man! Imagine! That man speaks with God. How cool is that? i was deeply impressed by his comments on the temple, and was pleased to listen to his talk. I really enjoy the fact that I can understand Spanish, and that I listened to the conference in Spanish. I really am looking forward to reading all the talks again in the Ensign, that'll be so cool. I learned so much from the last one, and look forward to studying this one. Being a missionary helps one understand the importance of having a Prophet. We teach everyday that God has always called Prophets to guide His people, and the fact that we have a Prophet today blows my mind. If only every one knew that he was a Prophet, and listened to him!

I am finding it very hard to take and send pictures, because, quite frankly, I don't want to carry my camera around in this area. I will try harder next week and hopefully I can get it done. I hope you all know I love you and that I pray for you all.

Elder Johnson

Mom: I love you mom! Gosh, this month is the month of our birthdays! I hope you know how much I love you! I love getting your emails each week, they make me really happy! Thank you! I love you!