Update from Elder Johnson–July 2017

Monday, July 3, 2017

I love you all so much. I really miss you and miss being a part of your lives, but I am glad I can still hear about your adventures. You all bring me so much joy. I am giving my all here in Albania and look forward to the day when I can focus on being a better brother and son. I care and understand more about the importance of family and the temple.  I don't feel older, but at the same time I have changed so much that I can't explain it. Well, anyway, love you all. Have an awesome and exciting week. Have so much fun in Canada and say hi to everyone for me.

And thanks for the pictures and amazing cards for my birthday.  Definitely the best birthday gift I could have gotten. That was so sweet.  And thanks so much to Ashlyn for a nice package with some cute Albania cards.

Dad, That is so cool to hear about your mission presidents. I am definitely looking forward to learning from another amazing servant of God. We are going to meet President and Sister Anderson tomorrow. We are all looking forward to it.

It is crazy that I have already been with Elder Percival for four weeks. It feels like we just got together. We have gotten some awesome work done here. This week, we had some solid lessons with Koli and Eri, District Meeting, lots of members lessons, service, and lots of time on the bulevard passing out Kurs Anglisht flyers (English Course) It is fun stuff. One of my favorite parts of the week was starting our mission prep class. We have three members, Rigers, Aglend, and Irini, who are preparing to serve missions. They are studs, even though they are easily distracted and pretty crazy. I love them. We are going to whip them into shape for their missions. We just want them to be better prepared than we were. We are trying to emphasize consecration.

My mission has changed my life (and continues to do so). I love the incredible feeling of deep scripture study and wise time usage. Christ is the center of everything. I love Him with all my heart. I love you all. Have a great week.  Love, Elder Xhansën

Monday, July 10, 2017

Hi everyone--  O Berat. I love Berat. It is going very well. Well, lots of fun stuff going on here in Berat. Actually, this week, we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders from Thursday to Friday. Elder Benson came here, and I went to Fier with Elder Maurer. It was fun and we worked hard and had some awesome lessons. They are good Zone Leaders. Fier is not doing so great as far as active members go, (in fact it is sometimes called Ferr instead of Fier) But, it was fun to spend a day there. There are some beautiful colors and cool people there. The Branch President there is awesome. We went out into a fshat for a lesson with a family. The dad just complained about Albania the whole time (which is normal) , but we were able to teach by the spirit, about the Plan of Salvation. It was also beautiful, as we were there as the sun went down. Getting home from Fier, I just felt at home. I love Berat. I do not want to leave. But I could pretty soon.

I love Albania, and Albanian, and Albanians.

We have activities every night here in Berat:   

• Monday - FHE
• Tuesday - Kurs Anglisht and Book of Mormon Reading
• Wednesday - Self-Reliance Program (which we started this week and was great. Lots of members are there as well as some nonmembers from Kurs Anglisht. They could have some potential)
• Thursday - Kurs Anglisht and Book of Mormon Reading
• Friday - Mission Prep (still going great - we role-played the Restoration lesson and it was awesome)
• Saturday - Branch Activity (unless we have a Baptism-usually Futboll.-I got really dirty this time(see pictures))

Throw in weekly planning, an exchange in Fier, and Branch Clerk Business, and time is limited. But it has been a great week nonetheless, and we had great lessons with Tomi, Nino, Eri, the Xheladini's, and Neri.

As for my language abilities, this is just my personal thought. I am extremely good. Especially for not even a year. I have a lot left to learn, and some days are better than others, but I understand most everything of what people say. I hear, understand, and use grammar, and I am using my language study wisely. I am now just doing some fine-tuning and lots of PRACTICE. I just need to speak it. But, I would say I am doing awesome. I was taught well. Elder Samuel was really good, and we read the entire Book of Mormon out loud together in Albanian. That helped a lot. That does loads for pronunciation, reading, and understanding. Then, both Elder Larsen and Elder Ingram were incredible at the language and helped me improve loads. In Berat, I have just been fine-tuning and practicing, especially by studying a grammar book Colloquial Albanian cover to cover (I am in Chapter 7) It has helped and taught a lot. One area I may be lacking in is vocabulary. I understand everything, but sometimes I can't find the words when I am speaking. I love Albanian, and am encouraged because I am consistently improving. I hope to keep that trend throughout my mission. As for thinking in Albanian, It depends. I can, if I want to. It just takes a bit more energy and focus, just like speaking.

Mom and Dad, Everything sounds awesome. I really miss Canada. I feel like I have not been in SO LONG. Always great memories at that house. Looks like an awesome hike. I am impressed with Luke. Sounds sweet. Whitney looks so cute.

I started the New Testament last week, again marking every reference to Christ in Red, and everything He said in Yellow. (like I did with the Book of Mormon) I love it. It brings more meaning to my study. Christ's words are so profound. I am so grateful for Him.

We listen to Piano Guys every day during lunch and we love it. Piano Guys are the best. Every time I hear Waterfall, I really want to learn it, and to improve my piano skills in general. Sadly, there is no time for piano practice here.

I know that this is the work of the Lord. Have a great week. Have fun in Canada. Say hi to everyone. I love you all.

Elder Johnson

Pictures of Berat…

Salmida is here at email, as usual. She is awesome. So, we got a photo.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Hi everyone!

Happy Birthday Dad!  I love you so much. Thank you for raising me and teaching me so well. It seems like a lot has changed since I left. But, it sounds like all the changes have been for the better. I am so grateful for you and for all the fun things we have done (and will do) together. Travels around Europe (and America), Boards Games, Movies like Gladiator and the Godfather, Pool and Ping-pong (and fusboll when I get back) some Golfing and a few lunches talking about your mission. You are the best. I am so excited to see you again.  I hope it is a great year. Make it a good one!

So, Big News,  I am being transferred. I wasn't surprised, and I am handling it quite well. But, Berat will always hold a special spot in my heart. So, anyway, Guess where I am going. Back to Tirana! I will be serving with Elder Nielson. He was in our MTC group (but the other district). He is a stud, and a pretty funny kid. I am looking forward to it. He and I will be Zone Leaders there in the Tirana Zone (which includes Shkodër, (my first area) Durrës, and the two Tirana districts) I am so excited. So, before, I was in Tirana 1st Ward, now I will be in Tirana 3rd Ward, so, same church building, I already know the area pretty well, and I will be able to see people like Përparim and Egzon a lot. I am so excited. I will also be able to go on exchanges to Shkodër and Durrës, so that will be fun. This makes sense. I honestly had no idea where I would go, I had thought about everywhere, but nothing stuck. I did not expect to be sent back to Tirana, but I am so excited to go back. I love Tirana. It is the 2nd best city in which I have served. (Berat will always be #1)

Today was my last pday in Berat, we had an activity with the members in the morning.   The mountainside in Berat has been burning the last two or three days.  They finally sent a helicopter to help stop it and the helicopter landed right in the middle of our soccer match to refuel.  It was cool.  I took some video of it filling up with water and then taking off towards the mountain. 

I packed today and am leaving tomorrow morning.  Elder Percival is staying here and Elder Stapleton is coming here from Pogradec.  I am going to Tirana, and Elder Samuel (who was ZL in Tirana) is going to Pogradec.  It was a great transfer here with Elder Percival though.  He is a stud.

President Anderson is AMAZING.  He is so cool.  I am excited to learn from him.  We got to have a zone conference on Saturday and he came to Berat for church yesterday which was awesome.  We also had interviews and he stayed for district lunch.

Service at Maksims…

The mountainside in Berat has been burning the last two or three days.  They finally sent a helicopter to help stop it and the helicopter landed right in the middle of our soccer match to refuel. 

The helicopter coming to pick up water and help with the fire…

A farmer burning his field…

Last day in Berat – an activity with the members…

Elder Percival and I in the elevator up to our apartment

Monday, July 24, 2017

Hi everyone!!  Everything is great. As for challenges with moving, it wasn't hard. I love Berat, but I also love Tirana, and I know would love it anywhere I could be, so I am good. I am honestly so glad to be back in Tirana. It is such a great place. Lots of time for finding. Lots of walking. Good shopping and lots of other missionaries, too. I was expecting a transfer, but I was so excited that it was Tirana. There are 3 zones.

1. North Zone - all of Kosovo and Skopje, Macedonia
2. Tirana Zone - Tirana, Durrës, and Shkodër
3. South Zone - The rest of Albania (plus Ohrid, Macedonia)

Our zone has only 20 missionaries and 4 districts. Elder Nielsen is awesome, and yes, I replaced Elder Samuel. He is a stud. Hard worker. Funny guy. Good at discerning needs by the Spirit. We have a nice apartment. I'll take pictures soon.

Our area is pretty great. I already knew that because I have served here, but we do have some good investigators (if you were reading Elder Benson's emails from when he was with Elder Samuel, you will have heard about some of them), including Gentjan, a man who was in prison, and while he was in prison, read multiple times the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. He and his wife are so great. He is still waiting for his wife to be ready so they can be baptized together, but their son, Tedi, age 9, is super sweet and he is getting baptized on August 5th. He understands a lot and reads from the normal Book of Mormon (he would rather read the normal one than the picture one) and he pulls cool insights from his reading.

We are also doing a lot of finding and seeing some miracles there, especially one day when we looked through our area book and found a bunch of sweet people who are still interested. Our hard work over the week payed off Saturday and Sunday when we got a bunch of great spirit-filled lessons. We don't have a car. We won't visit other areas that often. We will go on an exchange with Shkodër (Elder Harris) and maybe Durrës. Other than that, everyone is in different wards in Tirana. We will be having an exchange Tuesday night to Wednesday night with the Elders in T4. And, on Saturday, we will go up to Shkodër for a baptismal interview. Yesterday night, we did call-ins for my first time as Zone Leader, which was great. It is so fun to be in contact with the other elders. I got to call Shkodër and T1, the two areas I have been, so it was great to hear about old members and investigators that I knew. There is a lot of information to gather. It takes a long time, but I need to try to be faster next time. President Anderson added some new numbers (investigator lessons, less active lessons, and less actives in church), which should be great to record and improve. Because Albania has such a low retention rate, the Stake President makes a big push to work with Less Actives and Recent Converts. It will be great to have that as another focus.

That party sounds fun, and I love your goal to read the New Testament this year, but also, don't forget to read the Book of Mormon every day, because the Prophet said that we should, and their are great blessings attached to that invitation, for you and for our family.

My year mark is this week and it has gone fast. too fast. It flies by. Elder Nielsen and I are in the same group, so we were talking about it, and it is crazy. I have loved my mission so far, and only look forward to another great year. I will do my best, and make it worth its while.

Other stuff. We have an amazing district. Elder Riepel and Elder Ward are studs. Motra Haggard and Motra Godfrey were both in my MTC group. Motra Godfrey was also in my distict in Berat. It will be a great time. I love love love this area. Tirana is awesome.

I got to see Përparim on Sunday! He is doing so great. He has not missed a Sunday, and he wears the tie that I gave him every week. He is a stud. (He is also good friends with Jona, a girl in the ward, so hopefully they get married. They would be so cute together. Anyway, Përparim is my favorite.) I also got to see Peshkopi (Bishop) Dervishi and Vëllai Toska and a few other people I knew from first ward. So great to see them. I am back in the same church building, so I will be seeing them a lot. I love it. I also love all the members in T3. There are some strong members there.

Today we went bowling. I didn't do so great, but it was still fun. Elder Nielsen is really good at bowling. Good to be back in Tirana. We also ate some delicious gelato and suflaqes and crepes. I love Europe, especially Albania.

Well, that is it. I love my life. I love my family. I love the gospel and the Book of Mormon, and sharing the message of the Restoration.

 

Monday, July 31, 2017

Putting Luke and Matthew to bed last night, I asked them if they thought about and prayed for Ryan. They said they did every day and then Luke said "Mom, if you email him, tell him that he is a good example to me and I can't wait to serve a mission just like him."    

-----

Well, Luke's comment made my entire two-year mission worth it. (Of course it was already worth it and such a blessing) I am so excited for Luke and Matthew to be missionaries too. It is the best experience ever.

So, today we went to a place called BunkArt. It is a really cool history place about the communist oppression and other hard historical times for Albania. It is in an old military bunker just outside of Tirana. They have been taken over a lot of times by a lot of people, and then the worst of all was the terrible and isolated times of communism, very harsh communism, where faith and any expression of faith was completely illegal. Very few mosques or churches are still standing from before communist times. I have been in a few that are still here, but those ones were used as recreational centers, with ping-pong tables and the like. It is crazy stuff. It has been crazy to hear the stories of the people, (even young people) who lived through those times and the civil unrest that followed them. President Xhindi is one of those. The Albanians have suffered. There is an investigator in our district (named Ded - sounds like Dead) that was in jail for years because of his faith in God, and he is being baptized this Saturday. He is very poor, but helps others and is like a modern-day Job. I love my Shqipëria.

Speaking of people who are getting baptized this Saturday, Tedi Fejzi, the coolest 9-year-old ever, is getting baptized. His parents are not members, yet. His dad, Gentian, is waiting for his wife, Frida, to be ready to be baptized with him. We had some sweet lessons with Gentian, Frida, and Tedi this week. It was great.

So guess what. My companion is Tate Gillespie. basically. The longer I have been around Elder Nielsen, the more I hear how he sounds exactly like Tate, in everything he says. Especially when he laughs, or shrieks, or makes any noises (He is like Tate's twin.) It is crazy. Definitely lots of fun.

Elder Nielsen wanted to burn a shirt on Thursday, (our year mark) so we did. I burned one too.  It was actually a cool experience. It really gets you thinking. The mission is so short, we have got to make the most of it. You see a huge difference between missionaries who went forth to serve and missionaries who just wasted two years. I love being a missionary. This church is true. We are going to endure to the end. Anyway, We went to Trashegim's house and it was so beautiful. It was awesome. Trashegim is so cool, too. He served his mission in England. It was such a beautiful view up there.

I did an exchange this week with Elder Taylor (from our MTC group) and that was fun. We did lots of street contacting. I have talked to some great people this week. We had lots of sweet lessons with less actives this week too. We also did service for Ded, and we are doing service for someone else tonight. We played soccer on Saturday and went to church on Sunday. I love church. It is a great time to reflect on the week and on our efforts to come unto Christ. I love my life. I love Christ, and His virtue and charity, and I hope to someday have virtue and charity like His.

I encourage you all to make Christ the highest priority in your life, and to help others come unto Him. He suffered for every one. (see D&C 18:10-12 - emphasis on all men in v. 12) We can't let that infinite and eternal sacrifice go to waste, for anyone. If you are reading this email, you know what you need to do, you just need to act. Make Christ and His church a more important part of your life, and don't let other distractions get in the way. Read from the Book of Mormon every day, and pray with humility and desire. I love you all! I miss you, and I hope that you are feeling and accepting the peace and joy that Christ continually offers to you.        Love, Elder Johnson

Reorganzing paperwork on my bed…

Shirt burning – Elder Nielson and Elder Johnson – ONE YEAR!