Sunday July 22, 2018
Email excerpts from the mom to Noah:

Yes - your comp looks Polynesian... (to me anyway;)

How's Daniel doing this week? What is the member name who is helping with the missionary work? How old is she? 

Never heard of the 12 step recovery thing??? Is it some booklet you've gotten? What made you think of studying that?

Pig brain??? REALLY??? Ugh... and no thank you. Holy cow. That looks disgusting. "Cream"??? Blah let me now throw up. LOL!!! hahahahaha. 

Mom

Email from Noah

Monday July 23, 2018

Yeah the members are definitely a little discouraged but they love the missionaries a lot because we try our best to a always be there for them to hype them up haha! Here we're pretty much like a little family haha, they always give us food and invite us to do things with their families, I love them a lot! That's crazy about that woman who just lived super far away! There is a Family like that here in Teruel who lives like an hour away, and we have tried to visit them a couple of times to help them on their farm but they have always said no... but we will keep trying!! 

Daniel is SUPER GOOD!! Why is he so good?? Because he got BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!! It was so good! He was seriously like a classic Spaniard when I first met him (hard hearted, hard headed, likes to argue....) but he has changed so much since we've started meeting with him and teaching him the lessons. It has been incredible to watch the spirit of God work within him helping him soften his heart to this message. Hes so amazing!! 

The member who always helped us is named María, she is from Venzuela and is like 27 years old. Buts it's kind of sad because she's in some weird program that Spain has for refugees and she got a call that she had to leave to go up to Galicia, so she left yesterday! But dang, she helped us so much and has been so helpful with all the members here!! 

The 12 Step recovery thing is on the gospel library app! Just search up Addiction Recovery and it'll come up. Another elder told me about it in Vitoria and it's super good!! It's just talks about all the different parts of repentance and permanent change and has little things you have to do to really find how you can change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! It's hype I love it! I decided to study it because I realized like 2 weeks ago that I really don't know how to utilize the Atonement effectively in my life, so I decided to go at it step by step haha! I've learned so much from it already!!

And yeah... the pig brain wasn't too bad, but probably not gonna eat it again voluntarily hahaha

Love you all!! Have a good week!!

Elder Johnson 

Daniel!!!

the promised land

BBQ in the woods

July 15, 2018

(Excerpts from the mom to Noah)

Noah-

Wow! The smallest area and 2 hours from anything?? What do you guys do on p days? How do you go about contacting people to teach? How strong are the members in your "group" ward? 

That is so awesome that you were able to Skype in for the baptisms. That is one of the great things about being a missionary these days; you can leave an area but still be a part of such great moments!! It sounds like Vitoria is ripe and ready to harvest... but it sounds like Orlando and Sandra will take over where the missionaries left off and keep the good work growing.... So you can go on to a new challenge. 

So your comps native tongue is French?? 

Very interesting that you were told by Pres Dayton you'd be staying there... but the new pres had a different impression for where you need to be. Let's see what is in store for you!

Love MOM

Monday July 16, 2018

Email to the Fam...

On preparation days we normally go to a different city called Castellón because that is where the other missionaries in my district are. But... to get to Castellón we have to take a 2 hour bus to Valencia and then a 1.5 hour train to Valencia haha so it ends up being about a 5 hour  round trip. Plus it's super expensive!!

Normally to contact, the trick is to try to get the Spaniards to stop haha so I normally try to look super happy or almost urgent sometimes to get them to stop haha! We pretty much just walk around in the street all day doing that just because right now we are not teaching a lot of people. 

The members in our group are ok. I think they just feel alone. We're technically part of the ward of Castellón, but it is 2 hours away from here. It's pretty hard for the members, but we're doing our best to keep them hyped and grow this group into a branch. 

My companion speaks French and Tahitian where he lives, so in the mission he has learned to speak English and Spanish haha. I would say he looks Polynesian... I don't really know what Polynesians looks like but I imagine they look like him haha!

This week was long but fast at the same time. 

Also, this week we bought some pig brains at the store and cooked them up and ate them. They taste super weird haha! Not too horrible though.. it was almost like a cream haha! 

Also we're hoping to have a baptism this weekend of our friend Daniel! He's a Spaniard from Teruel and he's super good! He's progressing super well and he's almost read all the Book of Mormon! He has a friend who is a recent convert in Teruel and she is super good! She was baptized about a month ago and she's been sharing the gospel with EVERYONE!! Such a beast. I love member missionaries. 

Also, this week I've been studying a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and trying to apply it more personal in my life. I decided to start reading in the 12 Step Addiction Recovery thing and it's super good! So far I've read about honesty, hope and trust in God! It's amazing how we can apply all those things in our everyday lives (not just if we have an addiction) and how we can apply the power of the Atonement in all we do. 

Love you all and hope you have a good week!!

Elder Johnson 

drinking a granizado to cool down because it's hot 

me and Elder Chin Ah You

pig brains 

I'm excited to eat some brains

Monday July 9, 2018
Prayer #believe.ask.act

This week has been super good, but way hard too! Here in Teruel the work is a lot more difficult than in Vitoria, but I've already learned so much here!! It's crazy how when times get tough and we persevere and continue working hard and doing the things God wants us to do He will bless us! And one of the best ways to really see how God has blessed us and ask for increased strength and faith to the the things necessary is to ask in faith. (Aka: prayer)

There's a talk by Elder Bednar called "Ask in Faith" that he gave in April 2008 and it's beast.

▪As we speak of prayer, I emphasize the word meaningful. Simply saying prayers is quite a different thing from engaging in meaningful prayer. I expect that all of us already know that prayer is essential for our spiritual development and protection. But what we know is not always reflected in what we do. And even though we recognize the importance of prayer, all of us can improve the consistency and efficacy of our personal and family prayers.

▪Please notice the requirement to ask in faith, which I understand to mean the necessity to not only express but to do, the dual obligation to both plead and to perform, the requirement to communicate and to act.

▪Understanding that faith is a principle of action and of power inspires us to exercise our moral agency in compliance with gospel truth, invites the redeeming and strengthening powers of the Savior’s Atonement into our lives, and enlarges the power within us whereby we are agents unto ourselves.

▪We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say “amen,” by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father. #truthbrotha

▪Discerning and accepting the will of God in our lives are fundamental elements of asking in faith in meaningful prayer. However, simply saying the words “Thy will be done” is not enough. Each of us needs God’s help in surrendering our will to Him.

▪Humble, earnest, and persistent prayer enables us to recognize and align ourselves with the will of our Heavenly Father.

I have seen the power of prayer so prominent here in Teruel and I know that prayer works. I know that God loves us and he wants us to talk to Him and He wants to help us. I know that as we humble ourselves and do our best to align our will with the will of God, we will be blessed and we will be able to find happiness and joy even in the hardest of times. God answers our prayers. 

Love you all, have a good week!!

Elder Johnson 

Family Email:

My new area is the smallest area in the mission! We are 2 hours from pretty much everything haha! It's kinda of an older city and there are a lot of parties here. For example, this week the party was Las Vaquillas and the people pretty much just partied all day and all night and then on Saturday and Sunday they were in the street all day dumping wine and beer on each other and in the road... crazy Spaniards. 

My new compañero is Elder Chin Ah You and he is from the French Polynesian islands! They're tiny islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and he's crazy haha. Before the mission he did lots of spear fishing and crazy stuff in the ocean. He actually has a video of him that he took with his GoPro killing sharks when he was swimming... he's crazy. Super strong too haha so we do some good workouts in the morning and at night and he makes some good food! We eat a ton of meat at every meal haha!

This transfer for me was not expected at all haha! And I don't think President Dayton expected it either, because in my final interview with him he told me I was gonna be leading the area thee in Vitoria... so I was caught off guard by the transfer call haha! 

Orlando was super sad, and I was super sad to leave him. He's a super good brother. Also we had like 4 investigators that were gonna get baptized in the coming weeks so I was sad to leave them as well. I actually got to Skype in to the baptism of 2 of our investigators on Saturday so that was super good to be able to see the fruit of my labors there in Vitoria! And then 1 more of the people I taught for all my time there is getting baptized on this next Saturday so I'm hyped to Skype into that as well!! GOD IS GOOD!! 

I love you all and hope you have a super good trip in China!!

Elder Johnson 

                               Snazzy                                                                    Teruel Existe

The group plus 8 extra people from Valencia haha 

Monday July 2, 2018

Hello my family!

So this week's been a rollercoaster hahaha. We got transfer calls last week on Saturday night and I was in a bus ride back to piso from an eating visit! My companion, Elder Barlow (who is done with his mission this week), picked up the phone and asked what was going on in transfers and who was coming to be my new comp. Haha I new something was up when he got a really surprised look on his face and he told me they were closing our area and sending me to Teruel. I yelled. Loud. Hahah I was not too happy. 

I was super confused and sad to leave Vitoria, but when I got to Teruel I felt like it was right where I need to be. I feel like there's so much I can learn here I'm super hyped. 

My companion is Elder Chin Ah You (no he is not Chinese) and he is from the French Polynesian islands in the Pacific Ocean haha. He's crazy. But he makes good food so I like him. We work well together, eat lots of meat and work out a lot! It's a good life!

Also, this week there are a ton of parties going on here in Teruel and there are gonna be a lot of drunk people running around and it's gonna smell bad (that's what the members tell us). They also told us that if we go anywhere near the parties and the people see us (because of our impressively clean, white shirts) they will throw food at us, wine at us and all sorts of other stuff at us. I love it here hahaha! 

Also, the ward here in Teruel is not a ward. It's a group! And there are 8 members and we have nowhere to do our church meetings... so guess where we do them! You guessed it, we do it in our piso haha! So that's kind of nice that we don't have to leave our apartment to go to church on Sunday haha!! #blessings

Teruel is the promised land and we're gonna see and ton of miracles here. I'M HYPED!!!

Love you all and hope you have a good week!!

Elder Johnson 

Excerpts from the letter to the Mom:

Hello mother dear!

No, I didn't know I was getting transferred hahaha!! It was a very big surprise... we got the call on a bus ride home from a visit and I'm pretty sure I yelled super loud when I heard the news... I was quite surprised!!

I do not know my new address yet but its kinda in the middle of nowhere so it would probably be better to send stuff to the mission home (If that's what you need it for) but I'll get it for you next week!

Yeah we have our new president here now!! We will have a conference with him on wednesday so that will be super good! And I guess there are supposed to be a ton of changes so I'm kinda excited/nervous to see what they are....

Wow trek was such an amazing experience for me too!! And I remember reading the letters from you and dad and I may or may not have shed a few years haha. I think that's something I've learned in the mission is that we really do need to express our love more! I literally tell everyone I love them and appreciate them and that's something I didn't do a lot at home... life is a highway haha, and you learn something new at every turn.

Love you mom, have a great week and a safe trip in China! Watch out for communists!

Elder Johnson 

Pics from Vitoria...

me, Sergio and Fernanda

 me, Ronald, Elder Hunsaker, Carlos Gaona 

weekly planning swag                          us and Felipe   

 the elders and Lenin (ward mission leader) aka Elder Uchtdorf  

(LtoR: Jones, Johnson, Lenin, Barlow, Hunsaker)

Elder Barlow's funeral

(He has finished his mission in Spain...)

Tuesday June 26, 2018

Yo I don't have a ton of time to write today, I got transferred from Vitoria because there are not enough missionaries in the mission so they closed a couple areas. I am now heading back to the south to a place called Teruel haha I've heard it's the hardest area in the mission... #hype. My companion will be Elder Chin-Ah-You!

Monday June 18, 2018

Hello family!! How are all of you this week? I hope everything is going well and that everyone is getting tan now that it's summer (except Taylor... don't get too burned buddy). This week was super good, and we spent a lot of time in the streets haha! I think since the Mundial (world cup fútbol) is going on right noe it's been kinda hard to get people to commit to meet with us. They eat, sleep and breathe fútbol... they also drink and smoke but I don't think they do that because of fútbol. Hahaha not much to talk about this week, but today we had a super fun zone activity here in Vitoria, we played volleyball, basketball and ate some home made Café Rio!! It was sooooo good haha! We also made some fun videos haha, so enjoy those! 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week. 

Here's a super good talk by Elder Uchtdorf, y'all should give it a read!!

- Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear. April 2017 Dieter F Uchtdorf

Love,

Elder Johnson 

this is the real commercial on Spanish TV... (seriously!!)

This is the vid Noah and roomies made...

Noah and Elder Barlow... eating with Sandra y Orlando

(my skills won't let me rotate this pic...sorry😅)

Elders Hunsaker y Jones asleep on the bus

Monday June 11, 2018
Homie G's...

Yo yo yo what up gangsters?

Wow this week was super long and definitely the most stressful week of my entire mission haha but I loved it.

I'll throw down some good old highlights for y'all: 

1. We had Orlando progressing towards his baptism this Saturday, so we literally met with him every single day in Sandras house to try to help him be prepared to get baptized. This is a highlight because every time we go to Sandras house, she makes us food. #fatandhappy

2. On Friday, we had zone conference. It was the last zone conference that we will have with the Daytons... it was super sad. But I learned a ton and I am so grateful for the Daytons and for the sacrifice they have made to help me progress and work towards becoming the missionary and the person that God needs me to be. #thebest #daytonsgohard

3. On Saturday I had my final interview with President Dayton and wow.. it was amazing. He's such an inspired man. He told me 3 things that really stuck with me: 1) He told me he was grateful to have a missionary like me here in Barcelona because of how hardworking and low maintenance I am. He said he was grateful that he never had to worry about me because he knew I was always doing the right thing. #thefeels. 2) He told me that I really am an El Faro missionary. In Barcelona we're super focused on consecration and obedience and giving all that we have to the Lord, so hearing him say that seriously made me almost cry. Almost. 3) He told me he knows that Christ lives. When he said that I felt the spirit so strong. I know without a doubt in my mind that Christ lives and he is our savior and redeemed.

4. We were blessed to see the baptism of Orlando on Saturday!!! And I had the blessing of being the one who baptized him. Wow, the feelings and thoughts I had during that are seriously indescribable. I called him before the baptism to see how he was doing and he told me he felt so good about this decision. He said it just felt right. And then after the baptism he got up and bore his testimony and it was seriously so incredible. Also, President Dayton was able to be there for the baptism and congratulated him after and it was sooooooo good. Orlando is already trying to share the gospel with his friends and family and is seriously such a good member missionary already! #authorityofGod #baptism #FollowChristsExample

5. The last highlight is from today! For preparation day today we got up at 3:30 to go to a city called San Sebastian. Definitely look it up on Google, it's pretty neat. But we went up there and took a hike with our district and some other missionaries to a little lookout over the city and did our personal study up there. Then we went and rented bikes and rode them along the coast, and wow! San Sebastian is literally the prettiest place I have ever been to!! It's such an amazing city! Also, me and Elder Hunsaker decided that it would be fun to rent a tandem bike hahaha, so we sent it! It actually wasn't as hard as we thought it would be and we got going pretty fast sometimes haha! But then on the way back to turn in the bikes, it started DUMPING RAIN. We were riding as fast as we could and we couldn't see because of how hard it was raining! There were a bunch of old people all over the bike path so we just weaved through them and luckily didn't kill any old ladies. We did get pretty close a couple of times though haha! So then we got back to the bike shop soaking wet and had to run to catch our bus back to Vitoria. Overall, a super good preparation day to end a super good week! #watchoutwoman! #sendit #tandem #SanSe 

Hope y'all are doing well! Les quiero a todos!

Elder Johnson 

Swaggin thanks to mom and grandma.                      Money team...

      

Orlando pt2 with President Dayton               E Barlow, Orlando, Noah 

the morning squad

Classic...

San Sebastian Bay...

 the bay... the lookout 

Jesus statue                                                              San Se

Me and Elder Hunsaker 

                 neatest town ever                                                                      tandem crew 

Monday June 4, 2018
Holar, como estar?

Hello everyone!! How was the week? From what mom told me, it's been a lot of packing hahaha I'm glad I don't have to be there for that part of moving

I don't have much time this week, but I have 2 major highlights of this week.

1: It rained every day... Not really a highlight but it was interesting when I'd go out in a short sleeve white shirt and then 10 minutes later it would be pouring rain... I've learned to carry an umbrella everywhere.

2: Orlando is preparing to be baptized on Saturday!! We're so hyped. He's seriously so prepared, every time we meet with him he asks us about the baptism and just tells us he will be prepared for that day. He's a baller. He's Colombian and he's lived here for 10 years now. The reason he is now investigating the church is because his friend Sandra (aka the beast) is an amazing member missionary and has been putting in work with him!!

#prayforhimporfavor

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! Keep me updated on the move haha! And the playoffs 

Elder Johnson 

My buddy Jaime who got soaked by some rain

getting artsy for some pictures for the Daytons (mission pres and wife)

I have very bad balance

we out here in castle town 

we visited sketch town (if you zoom in on the door, there's a baby head stuck on there...WHAT??)

Monday May 28, 2018

A dank talk and a fireside

Some good old highlights from the week are: 

- We've been trying to meet more Super Hard With more members and get references from them. A member WHO has-been working hard in Super That is Sandra. She is a woman from Ecuador and she literally invite anyone and everyone she knows to come to church and listen to the missionaries. It's kinda scary, but she's a beast. Anyways, we've Been Meeting with her friend, Orlando, and he's super-good! I have tells us every day how much I wants to be Baptized and how excited I is to be in the true church. #blest 

- On Sunday, I HAD to give a talk in sacrament meeting and it went ok haha! Giving talks is definitely not my favorite thing to do. I think the last talk I gave was my farewell talk haha! Here's the talk for Anyone Who wants to try to read in Spanish. 

El Ayuno (fasting):

Abstenerse voluntariamente de ingerir alimentos y bebidas con el fin de acercarse al Señor e invocar Sus bendiciones.

Los principios del Evangelio

Desde los tiempos de Adán, el pueblo de Dios ha ayunado con el fin de estar más cerca de Él y adorarlo. Jesús demostró la importancia del ayuno por medio de Su propio ejemplo. Mediante la revelación de los postreros días, hemos aprendido que el Señor todavía espera que Su pueblo ayune y ore con frecuencia. Ayunar significa abstenerse de comer y de beber. (Cuando nosotros ayunamos, lo hacemos por 24 horas). El ayunar de vez en cuando es saludable para el cuerpo y ayuda a la mente a estar más activa.
El Salvador nos enseñó que el ayuno con un propósito determinado es algo más que abstenerse de comer y de beber; es también concentrarse en asuntos espirituales.

▪¿Cómo debemos ayunar?
- Oramos cuando ayunamos
Hablando de como el había recibido su testimonio y conocimiento de Dios y Cristo, el profeta Alma dijo, "46 He aquí, os digo que el Santo Espíritu de Dios me las hace saber. He aquí, he ayunado y orado muchos días para poder saber estas cosas por mí mismo. Y ahora sé por mí mismo que son verdaderas; porque el Señor Dios me las ha manifestado por su Santo Espíritu; y este es el espíritu de revelación que está en mí."
- Ayunamos con un propósito
 El propósito de nuestro ayuno no debe ser el de impresionar a los demás. Más bien, debemos ayunar para recibir ayuda o respuestas de Dios.

▪Cuando estamos ayunando con un propósito, el ayuno tiene más poder y será más eficaz.

Mateo 4:1-11
 1 Entonces Jesús fue llevado por el Espíritu al desierto para ser tentado por el diablo.
 2 Y después de haber ayunado cuarenta días y cuarenta noches, tuvo hambre.
 3 Y se le acercó el tentador y le dijo: Si eres el Hijo de Dios, di que estas piedras se conviertan en pan.
Y Jesús le dijo que no lo haría.
 5 Entonces el diablo le llevó a la santa ciudad, y le puso sobre el pináculo del templo
 6 y le dijo: Si eres el Hijo de Dios, échate abajo, porque escrito está: A sus ángeles mandará por ti, y te llevarán en sus manos, para que no tropieces con tu pie en piedra.
Y otra vez, Jesús rechazó la tentación del diablo.
 8 Otra vez le llevó el diablo a un monte muy alto, y le mostró todos los reinos del mundo y la gloria de ellos,
 9 y le dijo: Todo esto te daré, si postrado me adoras.
 10 Entonces Jesús le dijo: Vete, Satanás, porque escrito está: Al Señor tu Dios adorarás y a él solamente servirás.
 11 El diablo entonces le dejó, y he aquí, los ángeles vinieron y le servían.

▪Nosotros aprendemos de la experiencia de Cristo en el desierto que cuando ayunamos, no estamos libres de la tentación. Las tentaciones de Satanás vendrán, pero si las aguantamos y las sobrellevamos tendremos más poder espiritualmente y más fuerza para superar estas tentaciones. Como vemos en el ejemplo de Cristo; después de haber resistido el diablo, "ángeles vinieron y le servían." Porque el había ayunado y permanecido fuerte en su propósito, Él fue bendecido. Y es lo mismo con nosotros. Cuando estamos ayunando y estamos tentados, tenemos que aferrar a la barra de hierro aún más fuertemente para que
podamos crecer y recibir las bendiciones que nos esperan.

▪Las bendiciones que vienen con el ayuno:

- el dominio de sí mismo
Él señor nos promete que tendremos la habilidad de controlar nuestros deseos, acciones, pensamientos y sentimientos por medio del ayuno. Él nos promete que podremos controlar el hombre natural y llegar a ser verdadero discípulos de Él.

- nos da poder espiritual
   Alma 17:3
También recibiremos el poder necesario para superar las tentaciones que nos enfrentan y tendremos el espíritu Santo con nosotros más a menudo,

- fortalece nuestros testimonios y nuestra habilidad de superar nuestras debilidades y tentaciones.
   Helamán 3:35
Como vimos en la experiencia que tuvo Jesucristo después de haber ayunado, cuando nosotros ayunamos aún tendremos tentaciones y pruebas. Pero al superarlas, Dios nos promete que nuestros testimonios serán fortalecidos.

- I know that fasting truly has a power. I know that we can recieve spiritual strength and help though fasting and pleading with God to support and aid us in out trials and struggles. I know God lives and that He listens to us and wants us to succeed.

- Something I thought about this week was that Christ gave everything and sacrificed everything for us, and the best thing we can do to pay him back is to sacrifice a little bit for Him. #consagración #GraciasaÉl

And in English.... ;)

Fasting (fasting): 

Voluntarily refrain from eating food and drink in order to approach the Lord and invoke His blessings.

Gospel Principles

Since the time of Adam, God's people have fasted in order to be closer to Him and worship Him. Jesus showed the importance of fasting by His own example. By revealing the last days, we have learned that the Lord still expects His people to fast and pray often. Fasting means abstaining from eating and drinking. (When we fast, we do it for 24 hours). Fasting occasionally is healthy for the body and helps the mind to be more active.
El Salvador taught us that purposeful fasting is more than just abstaining from food and drink; also it concentrates on spiritual matters.

▪¿Cómo we fast?
- pray when we fast
Speaking of how he had received his testimony and knowledge of God and Christ, the prophet Alma said, "46 Behold, I tell you that the Holy Spirit of God I make them know. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days to know . these things for myself and now I know for myself that they are true; for the Lord God has shown me by his Holy spirit. and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me "
- We fasted for a purpose
The purpose of our fasting should not be to impress others. Rather, we should fast for help or answers from God.

▪Cuando are fasting with a purpose, fasting has more power and be more effective.

Matthew 4: 1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 And the tempter came to him and said: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
And Jesus told him that he would not.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
6 and he said, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written shall give his angels charge over you, and they will take in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And again, Jesus rejected the temptation of the devil.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,
9 and said unto him, All this will give you, if I prostrate worship me.
10 Then Jesus said unto him, Go, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

▪Nosotros learn from the experience of Christ in the wilderness that when we fast, we are not free of temptation. Satan's temptations come, but if we endure we will endure and spiritually more power and strength to overcome these temptations. As shown in the example of Christ; after having resisted the devil, "angels came and ministered unto him." Because he had fasted and remained strong in purpose, he was blessed. And it's the same with us. When we are fasting and we are tempted, we must hold on to the iron rod even harder to
we can grow and receive the blessings that await us.

▪Las blessings that come with fasting:

- the self-restraint
The Lord promises us that we will have the ability to control our desires, actions, thoughts and feelings through fasting. He promises us that we can control the natural man and become true disciples of him.

- it gives us spiritual power
Alma 17: 3
Also we receive the necessary to overcome the temptations facing us power and we have the Holy Spirit with us more often,

- strengthens our testimony and our ability to overcome our weaknesses and temptations.
Helaman 3:35
As we saw in the experience that Jesus had after fasting, when we fast we still have temptations and trials. But to overcome, God promises us that our testimonies will be strengthened. 

- i know that you truly fasting to power. I know that we can recieve spiritual strength and help though fasting and pleading with God to support and aid us in out trials and Struggles. I know God lives and That He listens to us and wants us to succeed. 

- Something I thought about this week That was Christ gave everything and sacrificed everything for us, and the best thing we can do to pay him back is to sacrifice a little bit for Him. # Consecration # GraciasaÉl 

I love them and I hope everyone has a good week !! 

#GoCavs 

Excerpts from Family Email:

Hello family how artest thou this week? I is good, and is you good too? Yo hope that y'all is enjoy your week!

Wow it's getting really hard to write in English. 

Nah not really I just thought it would be funny to start the email like that hahahaha.

This week was pretty tranquilo, not a whole lot went down. We've had to drop a lot of our investigators just because they haven't been progressing so we're kinda starting over again. But it's been super good and we have been very blessed!! 

One of the biggest blessings that we've had has come from a member named Sandra. She is literally the most hyped member-missionary I have ever met haha she pretty much guilt trips her friends into coming to church and meeting with us... it's awesome. Right now, we're meeting with her friend Orlando and he is progressing toward a baptismal date for the 9 of June! I seriously think he's gonna go down on this day, he is so prepared and is so open to the message! The only hiccup i see in his progression is just that it's kinda hard to find time to meet with him, but WE HAVE FAITH. 

Also, on Sunday I had to give a talk about Fasting and I think it went ok haha! It's definitely been almost 8 months since I've given a talk haha it didnt go too bad, I'll send it in my group email so y'all can read it in Spanish haha. 

On Sunday evening we did a Charla Fogonera (fireside) about sharing the Book of Mormon led by us, the missionaries! We had about 30 members show up and it was super good! All the members who showed up were super hyped about the ideas we had and they were super enthusiastic about sharing the Book with a friend or family member! #BookofMormón #truth #moneyteam

I love you all and hope you have a super good week! GOD LIVES.

Here's a good talk I read this week, y'all should give it a read: 

What Manner of Men? April 2014 Donald L Hallstrom

Elder Johnson 

Sitting in church I got this text from a mom who lives in Heber. I have never met her but she was kind enough to take the time to take this photo and send me this sweet note about my boy. I love her even though I've never met her 💕:

Hello Sister Johnson :) I met your son in church today while visiting with my son who served in Vitoria about a year ago. We attended the missionary fireside this evening as well. He is a wonderful young man doing a wonderful job! I loved seeing these missionaries in action💙
He gave a wonderful talk in sacrament meeting on the blessings of fasting. 

Lads

 the other Elders meth STEVE NASH 

Classic Picture...        Noah & E. Barlow

Fireside