Update from Elder Johnson–January 2017
Monday, January 2nd --
I hope everyone had a great 2016 and I hope you are all looking forward to an even better 2017.
This was a pretty solid week. It was lots of fun. We taught Përparim. We are përparing him for baptism at the end of January. (But, actually his name means progress I think, our key indicator says Kurkuesit në Përparim (Investigators in progress). We just change it to Kurkuesit quhet Përparim (Investigators named progress). It's pretty funny.)
We also found more less actives. Yeah!
On New Year's Eve, we had to go inside at 4 because Albanians go crazy with New Years. Lots of Fireworks and other craziness (sometimes guns). We also got to watch movies Star Wars 7, Lord of the Rings 1, and Remember the Titans...but, no big deal. Only 30 or so people showed up to church yesterday, because of New Years. The city was empty and nothing was open yesterday. Everyone was just chilling inside. It was crazy.
Today, we played some board games for P-Day. Poker and Bang! (You know, normal missionary appropriate games.) That was fun. We are hoping for a pretty solid week this week with lots of investigators on baptismal dates, lots of new investigators, and lots of less active members in church! Lutjuni për ne. Pray for us.
The Atonement. is so important. It is how any and all of us grow and improve. and in my case, improvement is desperately needed. We need it every day, every hour and every year. So, for this year, just like the last year, I am making a resolution to study, apply, and focus on the Atonement. To start this goal off right, President actually asked us to read the entire Book of Mormon in the month of January, focusing on the teaching of repentance and the power of the atonement. I am excited. (If any of you want to join, feel free and then please tell me how it goes and what you learned if you do. Lexofshit mirë.) I love the Savior and I know that He really lives and suffered all things for us. He is the way, the light, and the reason. Follow him! That is all He asks. In his name, Amen. Elder Johnson
Monday, January 9th --
Hello everyone-- This was a good week. Lots of fun knocking on people's doors. Lots of people's responses stunk and many were funny. One excuse was that they were too old and we should teach younger people. We get that one a lot. Lots of people respond that they are Muslim. Lots of people just say thank you and close the door.
On one floor, a guy came out as we were knocking on someone else's door and yelled at us to never cross to his side of the floor. That was fun. But, we also met an American living in Albania who had read the Book of Mormon and we are going to teach him the Plan of Salvation next week. Sweet. We also found one nice lady who said we could come in. We will send the Motrat to visit her.
Another door was sad. An old man answered and was so nice. We talked for a bit, and he told us to make sure we kept in contact with our families, and with tears in his eyes, told us about his children living in Italy who he hadn't heard from in a while. So sad. I nearly lost it there.
Also, we tried Albanian Hot Chocolate last Monday. It was delicious. It is a lot thicker than normal Hot Chocolate, but wow, it was great.
On Saturday, we had three lessons in a row, all of which fell through. But despite all those little things, like rejection and missed lessons, we are seeing the hand of the Lord in our work. It is so great to be able to touch people's lives. We are finding more people who might be interested and looking through our area book, we have found more people who are able to meet that had been dropped before. It is great to be a missionary. I love the Lord and His Atonement. It is so important that we understand and apply this life-changing principle. I know that if we take His yoke upon us, our burdens will be made light. It is so much easier when we have the Lord on our side. I hope you will all take some time to learn more about and apply this incredible gift. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Elder Johnson
P.S. Today, We went bowling to the one bowling alley in all of Albania, probably. It was sweet. I enjoyed it. Score of 140.
January 16th --
So, super great week. This week, it snowed! In Tirana! For the first time in 32 years. So that was so fun. All the Albanians were so excited about it and were making snowmen and throwing snow. It was great. It is super cold here, but I am fine. Also, everyone else in our district didn't have water for a few days after that. But, we did, so we are good.
My companion, Elder Larsen is so great. Such a good example and fun friend.
The sisters had a baptism this week, so that was awesome. Përparim and Denis, our investigators, came to that, and hopefully they will be next. Përparim is set for two weeks from now. We have had some solid lessons this week with Përparim, Egezon, Denis, Myzafer and Xhemali, Arjan, and Klaus. It was a great week.
Also, the last two weeks, I have been playing the piano in sacrament meeting. That was fun. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. Luckily, now someone who can play in the ward is back, so I don't have to anymore.
In my book of Mormon reading this week, I found Mosiah 4:11
11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
The gospel has been such a blessing in my life, and learning of the precious gift of the Atonement brings me so much joy. I know that we can gain a remission of our sins, and by praying daily and standing steadfastly in the faith, we will be blessed and learn and grow even more.
Katie, Emily, Megan, Luke, and Matthew: I love you so much and want the very best for you! I know each of you are struggling with different things, but I will pray for you for sure. I am so proud of you and how much you are improving and working and growing. You can do it! But not alone. Work together, love each other, and definitely let Jesus Christ, our biggest brother, do some of the heavy lifting. Ask Heavenly Father for His help with the improvements you want to make and He will help you. I love you and He loves you and your parents especially love you. If any of you have any questions or thoughts or concerns or tough times, just email me. You are all amazing. Also, I would suggest FHE's with a special focus on the Atonement this month. The perfecting influence of the Atonement. Because I have found it to be the most important thing in my improvement. Maybe teach how you can study it, apply it, and be grateful for it.
I love my family and my life. I love you all. Have a great week. Elder Johnson
Monday, January 23rd --
Be ambitious for Christ. I love my life and I had a great week. I am so happy to be doing the Lord's work full time. It is such a blessing.
These past two weeks have been the most successful weeks I have had on my mission so far. We had so many lessons with some really solid and nice investigators. We are very blessed. We met with Egezon, Denis, Xhenis, and Përparim, all with baptismal dates for February and March.
We had 53 people in church yesterday, including Egezon, our investigator who only speaks to us in English because he is really trying to learn it. (It is good, but not as good for me because I am really trying to learn Shqip.) Përparim is incredible. He has been investigating the church with multiple baptismal dates passing by for over a year now, and has made significant changes in his life. He comes to church every week, reads every day, and is so nice and has such strong faith and understanding. He is getting baptized on Saturday. I am so happy. My first baptism and he is so solid now. Some people need time and I am so glad that all the previous missionaries stuck with him and helped him so that he could get to this point.
We have three sister missionaries in our ward. They serve in T1 and T3. (Tirana 1st Ward and Tirana 3rd ward)
One highlight of the week was an exchange with Elder Divkoviç. It was so great. He is German, so funny, and so hard-working. We found a less actives house and talked to EVERYONE. It was so sweet.
We also had a meeting on Saturday with every active priesthood holder in attendance. The stake president, President Mema, spoke on the blessings of the priesthood and he is a powerful speaker and teacher.
But, I am so imperfect it kills me. I am trying so hard and improving so much every day. Every day is better than the previous day here. It's hard but it's so amazing! Sometimes, my imperfections get me down. One of my favorite parts of every day is personal study. I especially love studying the Atonement. I never want this mission to end, because every day here I grow so much! It is so great. Elder Larsen is really helping me learn how to be a better missionary and be better in every aspect of life. He is a great example and reminds me of Dad.
Spiritual Thought for the day. I found an amazing scripture this week. It is D&C 67:10. I read it in Shqip and it really hit me with the spirit, but I guess it is good in English too.
D&C 67:10 And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am -- not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.
It is my privilege to be serving here in Albania. I love it. I hope to be a true disciple of Christ without jealousy or fear, but with humility and understanding.
I love Europe, especially Albania. I love you all. Have a great week. Kalofshi mirë! Elder Johnson
January 30th --
Hi everyone, So, a few special experiences from this week.
First of all, We had mission conference in Elbasan on Thursday. It was so sweet. We saw all the missionaries. I said hi to Elder Benson, Elder Samuel, and all my other friends.
We watched an incredible missionary broadcast and I was definitely enlightened and encouraged to become even better, and teach with more Charity. It was an amazing broadcast and really well done. Also, the schedule of missionaries all around the world has changed. The new schedule gives us more time in the evenings and mornings, reduces lunch time, and some study time so we can have more time. It really gives missionaries more responsibility to organize their own day in a way that they will best be able to serve the Lord and work effectively. It is nice. It is not a huge change for us though. We already had that freedom to move studies and lunch around to fit our schedule.
Also, the key indicators changed. Now, we only report 4 numbers at the end of each week.
- Investigators baptized and confirmed.
- Investigators with a baptismal date.
- Investigators in church.
- New Investigators.
It is pretty cool. I guess we are narrowing our focus on those things that are most important for us to do. Good, better, best.
All the Kosovo and Macedonia missionaries drove into Tirana the night before mission conference. The elders in Skopje, Macedonia stayed at our place for the night. It was a blast. So fun. They are all called Macedonian-speaking. Macedonian seems so hard. They are so great. We only have about 10 missionaries in Macedonia, while there are 80 missionaries in the whole mission. (Side note: They speak Albanian in Kosovo. Well, a way harder dialect of Albanian called Gegë. I could totally serve there at some point. That would be sweet.)
Përparim has been an investigator for just over 1 year. He has made some incredible changes in his life, and was very ready to be baptized. He has come to church every Sunday for the past year or so. He is so humble and at the end of each lesson we have, he bears his testimony to us of what we taught. He knows the gospel, and he will be an amazing example to so many people. We had a very special lesson with him on Wednesday. We just talked to him and ended up talking mostly about the Plan of Salvation. It was so special. I committed him to be an active member of the church his whole life and we planned to meet up, Elder Larsen, Përparim, and I, in mbreterinë çelestiale (the celestial kingdom). The spirit was so strong. It is so special to have such an eternal and kind friend. He really is the nicest guy ever and makes sure to include me.
His baptism was so amazing. Elder Larsen performed the baptism. Such a special experience. Great talks. Përparim gave his testimony. He is awesome. And, yesterday, I got to confirm him. It was so great. I love the opportunities I have to exercise the priesthood authority of God. Actually, this week we gave a lot of blessings. Yesterday, we took the sacrament to a sick lady in our ward, and then gave her a blessing.
Street Contacting is always the best thing ever. I just love testifying of Christ and His sacrifice and love for us. One guy the other day stopped us for a solid 45 minutes, telling us the history of Albania and religion therein. (I honestly didn't understand most of what he said, just words and phrases and important names from Albanian history.) He then went on to tell us every major story in the Bible and Quran and how they could be explained away by Science or whatever. (most of which I understood because my gospel vocabulary is very large and expansive.) It was fun. My Shqip is definitely improving.
We had interviews with President Weidmann on Tuesday. That was so sweet. He is an inspired and powerful leader.
Also, Saturday night was TRANSFER CALLS. So, Elder Larsen is going to Lushnjë. He will be in the branch presidency there and he is going to do so great! I will miss him though. He has been a super sweet comp. We worked hard, and it was great to end our companionship with a baptism.
I will be staying here in Tirana First Ward, with Elder Ingram. I have heard great things about him, so I am looking forward to it. I am also serving as district leader here. And, Elder Samuel is coming down from Shkodër and joining our district as a Zone Leader with Elder Miller. We are going to have some good times.
Just as you have your new motto, "I'd rather go to Europe." I also have a new motto, "I'd rather stay in Europe!" I am so lucky to be here, and I seriously love my mission so much. I feel so blessed every day to serve the Lord, and I have learned and grown so much. I hope to continue that process. I love the Lord and am happy to be a tool in His hands. I only hope that I will be worthy to do so. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ is the true church, and that President Thomas S. Monson leads and receives revelation for this church. I love my Savior. He has helped me so much, and He can help you too. No matter where you are in life, he can and will help you. I testify that He loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I love you all so much! I pray every night that you will be blessed and feel God's love for you. Love, Elder Johnson