Elder Johnson's April 2, 2012 E-mail

TRIO

E. Flynn, E. Johnson and E. Tonga

 

Mom,

 

Yes, I think Elder Lawson's hope was that you write him. You should send him a bunch of funny pictures of the family. He'd enjoy that. Have Brittany and Chandler do something funny over picture or something too. He's a cool guy. He complained that you hadn't written him back when we were in Soldotna this week. He's the zone leader there in Soldotna, and he and Elder Adams (both former members of The District) gave a great training for their zone conference.

 

Your questions:

 

1. Where you able to get a break from travelling this week or was it another rush rush week?

It was another rush week. We started with Chugach on Tuesday, Soldotna on Wednesday and Wasilla on Friday. It was good to be back in Wasilla for really the first time since I left. I had an opportunity to see Roger and Lisa Lehrman-Bon. Lisa, whose conversion I was blessed to be a part of, is going through the Temple for the first time this Friday. I will be attending that Temple session. I imagine it will be one of the great moments of my mission.

2. Any way you can put your camera in your pocket today and take a few pictures around the office or of your apartment or something? Not to nag or anything, just a gentle reminder.

Yes, Elder Flynn and I decided we'd make a greater effort to take pictures. Sister Beesley is really good at taking pictures and has taken a lot from all the zone conferences. I'll have to download some. But here's one she sent to the entire mission in her e-mail this morning.

3. Last week you had two baptisms and a wedding! Awesome! What’s going on this week with your investigators?

And guess what? We're going to have another wedding and baptism this week. NAME and NAME. Elder Witt and I found NAME and NAME right when we arrived in Inlet View. They've been investigating since. NAME's ready to be baptized; NAME needs a little more time but is excited for his wedding . [Please subsitute the exact names with NAME if you're going to put it on my blog. We've had problems with investigators finding out what missionaries are writing about them to their parents. A couple of times it's been bad.]

4. Anything funny, exciting or scary happen this week? Do tell.

 

Elder Flynn and I had a miracle occur. It was a similiar miracle that Dad had on his mission. And immediately when it occurred I recalled Dad's similiar experience.

 

Elder Flynn and I were driving back from Wasilla after our zone conference and spending some time with people that we know in the area. I was driving. About halfway through the trip, our gas-light came on.

 

We weren't concerned because Wasilla's only about 50 miles away from Anchorage. I figured that we would wait to fill up until we reached the gas station that was closest to our apartment; it most convenient and time-saving.

 

We didn't think about it again.

 

As we were approaching the right-hand turn to get into the gas station, the car died--completely shut off and started to roll powerless. I tried pressing the gas and received no power, so I didn't press on the brake; we wheeled around the turn quite rapidly, but after the turn, much of our speed was taken away. We were about 30 yards from the pump.

 

Luckily, our tank is on the left-side, and there was a pump open on the left-side--a near straight-shot from where we were at. We started yelling and screaming, encouraging the car to keep pushing, keep moving. Go! Go! Go! It started to slow at an incline in the gas lot. It was eeking forward. I just had my hands on the wheel; I didn't even want my feet close to the brake.

 

We rolled and rolled, and without pressing the brake the car rolled to a complete stop. I put the parking brake on and got out of the car. We were parked perfectly to get our gas. It was almost comical. The gas hose had a perfect amount of slack to be off the ground yet not too far from the car to make a difficult reach to our tank. It was absolutely a perfect park job, and I didn't even hit the brake to park.

 

We saw it as Divine support. Apparently, the Jeep we were driving didn't have as much reserve gas space as other cars do--we only went about 25 miles after the gas-light came on. We were simply obedient missionaries on the Lord's errand, trying to be efficient with the His time. Heavenly Father watches over us, and he used this opportunity to show us that he's there.

 

Love,

 

Elder Johnson     

Elder Johnson's March 26, e-mail and Shoe Shine Boy Video

This was at a Zone Conference were all the missionaries

were given a shoe shine kit and they each shined their

companion's shoes.  Awwww.

Hi Mom,

Thank you for the e-mail update. When you get a chance can you send me a picture of Lauren and this new guy? He's a return missionary--is that correct?

JA's looking beastly. He looks like Jason Stathan.

Oh, we had two baptisms this weekend. And a wedding before. It was a great time. The Root family. Elder Wallace and I started teaching them and did so for a month. And then Elder Duvall and Elder Wallace took over for the past two weeks.

How was the trip to Juneau?

It was good. We did our training and then messed around for a couple of days. Saw the Medenhall Glacier--a particularly special one for some reason. Forgot my camera for the entire trip, but we'll see if I can bum some pictures off someone else. Elder Flynn didn't bring his camera either. 

Tell me who Sister Schindler is who took the video?

She is a senior couple missionary. She and Elder Schindler are the CES Missionaries in Juneau. That's like her thing to send videos each time we have a zone conference in Juneau. The only problem about the last two times I was there was I couldn't remember your e-mail. This time I had the capacity to log-on online and get it.

Did you eat the big burrito?  (I hope not).  Or the big burger (I hope not)

No way. Elder Flynn made the attempt. Key word--attempt. He failed miserably.

Is the ice breaking up yet?

It appears that's the case. In Juneau there was none. It was like spring. But up here in Anchorage there's still a lot of snow to melt--a lot. It's record-breaking snowfall. But it has been melting the past couple of days, but everyone says it will probably snow some more still. We'll see. 

Tell me something funny or something you enjoyed doing this week.  Also, please actually write it yourself.  Haha!

Something funny. Hmm. The Juneau zone leaders were really pumped about an activity that they had planned during their training. It involved going into the thick forest behind the church--thick like a fairy forest thick--moss, green, brush, stumps of fallen trees swallowed by undergrowth--and going through this Lehi's-dream-like progression until you advance to the end. They used me and Elder Flynn for the first part; Sister Beesley acted as the large and spacious building, and President Beesley was like Lehi at the end. 

Well, it was all good and well initially for the Beesley's. They may have found the forest walk a little difficult early-on--mainly due to the fact that we were all still in suits and dress shoes. But Sister Beesley's a big outdoors person, so she was cool; President Beesley didn't mind too much. We did our thing. And then the end came, and it was time to head back to the church.

The only problem was the fastest was back was down a steep hill with rocks and slick ice that had yet to thaw. I made it down with great difficulty as did the other Elders. But when President Beesley made the attempt, he slipped, landed on his rear and slid all the way down. Sister Beesley, when it occurred, said: Just keep slidding, Jon! Then she made the attempt. Hers was much more graceful. She hung-on to the trunk of a tree, took a step down to a slick rock (she was wearing semi-high-heel boots), did a little twirl once her balance shifted and began to fall; President Beesley, having just risen from his fall, caught her with his left arm and shoulder and then carried her to flat ground. Then we brushed off the dirt and twigs from President Beesley's nice trench coat and went back to eat lunch.

Story Two:

Word on the street was that if you drank 2 liters of water with 3 tablespoons of salt mixed it would act as a natural colon cleanser. Elder Flynn and I tried it. I got 3/4s the way finished before regurgitating all I drank.

Love,

Elder Johnson     

Elder Johnson's March 19, 2012 e-mail

E-mail update:  What Elder Johnson left out in his previous e-mail is that he was called as the newest Assistant to the President and serves in this capacity with E. Flynn.  What a great honor and priviledge.  He will be working closely with President Beesley and will be a large part of the leadership in Alaska for the next few months.  :)

Hi Mom,

Thanks for the e-mail. 

This week was pretty fun. You can get a more detailed description of the goings-on with Elder Flynn's e-mail to his family--but--here's what happened in brief.

Sunday: We were up till like 2 AM with President and Sister Beesley planning for the next week.

Monday: At the mission home early--prepped for the missionaries arriving from the MTC--they arrived in the early afternoon--we had a little orientation deal we took them through--we stayed with them all till about 1030 that night. 

Tuesday: Came and had studies with the new missionaries at the mission home--then we got them ready to go to our transfer meeting--had our transfer meeting--then took the departing missionaries (the ones going home, including Elder Witt) to the Temple--went through a session with them--took them back to the mission home (I got to drive a big huge van, seats like 10 or 12)--had dinner with them--had testimony meeting with them at the mission home--took them to the airport--waited with them for 2 hours until it was time for them to go through security--watched them until we couldn't see them anymore (President Beesley and Sister Beesley like to do that)--went home and slept around 2 AM.

Wednesday: Acted as our P-Day--we ran a few errands--then we got on a plane and headed to Fairbanks--arrived in Fairbanks and planned for zone conference.

Thursday: Had a leadership training meeting--I did some training--then went on exchanges with a new missionary and his companion--arrived home later on and prepared for zone conference--Elder Flynn and I stayed up till about 3 AM making preparations for our part.

Friday: Had zone conference--got to see elder tonga--did training--yada yada yada.

Saturday: Went on another exchange with missionaries--flew out of Fairbanks in the evening.

Sunday: Went to church--worked in our area for a few hours--then had two zone conference planning meetings

 Love,

 Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson's March 12, 2012 E-Mail

Questions:

Any changes in location this transfer?

Yes, I'm serving in Inlet View with Elder Flynn. 

Is it starting to get warmer or will you have another snow storm?

No, it's pretty cold here today. Bout 9 degrees. Yes we will have another snow storm. So much snow here. 

What did you do for p-day today?                            

Today? We're going to pick up the new missionaries coming in at the airport. Take them through the new missionary introduction to the mission routine.  

Who is your actual companion?

Elder Witt was my former actual companion. But because Elder Duval and Elder Wallace were in our area as well, I also served with them a lot. (They got sent midway through the transfer because we were very busy, and they didn't have companions.) But since Saturday, Elder Flynn is my new companion and will be for at least the next 3 to 4 and a half months.  ...He might be leaving out an important detail about this companionship, be we will wait until we get official word on what his new calling might be (what a sneaker)...

There was a solar storm this week.  Did you see any Northern Lights?

Yes, saw them twice. They were very prominent in the city. It was pretty neat. 

Did you TRY to take a picture of anything this week?  Well try!!!!!  Take pictures of the office, your room, your companion -   Anything!  You will go this whole transfer and not take any pictures and think, “I don’t have any pictures of that great time I had in Anchorage.”  And you will be sad. 
No, but I will. 

Love,

Elder Johnson
Note from Mom:  Hmmm.  Elder Johnson seems to be holding back some important details in this e-mail, but I know how he truly feels about his new companion.  Lets hear what his new companion has to say about him ...
This is from Elder Flynn's letter to his mom (which she forwards to me every week) ...
Hello my friends,
I will begin by allowing you all the opportunity to know that my dreams have come true. It is transfer week this week and we finished putting transfers together during the week. I have a new companion, and nothing against Elder Yang; who i love dearly, but my new companion will be the one and only Elder Bradley Allen Johnson! For those of you who may not understand this excitement, if you take Bryce and try to clone him, this is your boy. We have been around each other our whole missions and now we are rollin together. Elder Yang will be training a new missionary in the Hmong branch, so he will be close by. I am very excited about serving with Elder Johnson, we have big plans.

Now thats how you write a letter to your mother ... good job, E. Flynn!

Elder Johnson's March 6 E-mail

1.         How are you?

 

                     -Good

2.         Is your excel project done?

 

                    -no

3.         Elder Lawson said you and Elder Flynn presented something to the other missionaries?  Was that your project?

  

                      - It is a book for District Leaders and Zone Leaders. Generally when someone is called to such positions, they are left with no info or organization. But, with our new books put together they have it all in front of them to allow them to work with all the diligence and love that should be a part of that call.  

4.         We may be misunderstanding what is going on with your eating out, please explain if we are misunderstanding.  (Actually, you are still cheaper in Alaska than you would be at home, but Dad says he wants you to more closely follow the mission rules.) 

 

                        - We have to eat out because we are super busy. We have 2  companionships in our area so we are running both of those and trying to keep it all going. If you haven't for some reason realized yet, this is mostly Elder Flynn typing with answers from Elder Johnson. :) And as a side note...Elder Johnson is a remarkably obedient and hard working missionary that is really trying to run a lot of stuff in a very busy area. He blows me away with how good of a missionary he is. In fact he blows everyone away. He is awesome! p.s. much love!

5.         Are you eating out for lunch because you are working too hard to go back to your apartment?

                     - refer to #4

6.         Your life must be a whirl wind right now (assuming since you didn’t write me last week), why are you so busy in this area?

  

                   - Because i am a boss

7.         How many investigators came to church on Sunday?

                     - 4

8.         Have you done anything creative in your zone like you did in your district?

                     - We had a bit of a friendly competition to get us all to our goal of 200 lessons this week as a zone. We set up everyone's goals and through the week the district leaders called and pushed everyone through...turns out we got 236/200 lessons!

9.       Why do you get to be in the office and see Elder Flynn so much?

                     - Nothing but God himself could separate a love like this.

10.       Why do you get to see the president so much?

                     - He has me do a lot of projects to get things going smoothly. He likes to use everyone's talents.

11.       What vehicle are you driving now?

                     - a muddy-white chevy colorado

12.       Are you using your exercise book?  How is that going?

                     - Yes...i am yoked

13.       Are you getting any pictures?

                     - No not currently...well elder yang just took one, does that count?

14.       Lauren got aletter from Elder Wallace.  Is he your current companion?

                     -  He is a part of the 2 companionships we have here in Inlet View, so we are together a lot.

Love,

Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson's February 13, 2012 e-mail

Hi Mom,

 

Thank you for your e-mails. I read every word. It's good to get the update on everyone and everything. Please keep writing me, notwithstanding my weak e-mails lately. They will get better, but right now, I do not have time.

 

My preparation days are spent revamping the reporting system in the Mission Office. Right now we have to go to see President Beesley. We're going to talk about bringing an additional companionship into our ward because we've made it so busy. We taught 50 lessons last week. In one ward, mind you.

 

I didn't even send President Beesley a Weekly. We do not have time.

 

Please keep sending e-mails. I'm glad to hear everyone's safe. I'm confident everyone will remain safe.

 

Love,

 

Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson's January 30, 2012 E-mail

Lights in Whitehorse, Canada

More Whitehorse lights -- pretty ...

 

 

Dear Mom:

 

Thank you for the e-mail. Let's get going on those questions, and I'll think of other things as well.

 

1.         Specifically, what are the cross roads of where you live in Anchorage?

 

We live on Denali and 15th Ave. There is a Masonic Center just east of us, one block down. 

2.         Did you see the northern lights this past week?  There was a huge solar storm, so there should have been some lights.  Newspaper had pictures.

 

No, but I saw them in Whitehorse, and they're pretty cool. I've got pictures. Didn't I send you some? Here's a few.

3.         Do you enjoy reading my letters?

Yes, I do.

4.        What did you eat today? 

I have yet to eat. I have spent a lot of money lately, but it's been all for the mission effort. Tell Dad I'm really sorry.

5.        What did you do for p-day today? 

I haven't done anything for p-day yet. It's just starting. But what I will do for p-day will be work on an Excel project that I've been doing for the past month each p-day. I come in on p-day, into the mission office and (don't know what happened to the rest of that sentence.)

7.         What do you and your companion talk about?

 

I don't know. We've had a member in the ward named Kali Lomu with us the entire week. Kali is a 20 year-old guy preparing to go on his mission, and we worked it out with President Beesley to have him serve a mini-mission for a week. So he stayed at our place with us. It was pretty cool.

 

We don't really talk about anything except the Work. 

 

Elder Flynn was called as Assistant to the Mission President. He and I will be in very close proximity now. We are in the same district. And we'll occasionally go on exchanges and things like that. 

 

I don't know if I had a chance to mention, but we were blessed with the opportunity to participate in two baptisms the past two weeks. Marquita Carroll and Jason Lee Welle. Both adult parents, part-member families. It was a great experience. We have more great experiences coming up.

 

Love,

 

Elder Johnson 

No E-mail this week!

I guess no e-mail this week because of the holiday, so here is a picture of Elder Johnson's family instead!

Brittany, Mom, Dad and Lauren

Ok, Dad got the e-mail instead.  Here it is!

Hi Dad,

Tell Mom I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to e-mail her today. Tell her
to be on the lookout tomorrow for one. It was MLK Day, which means the
library isn't open.

I've been pounding away on Excel all day. I'm doing a system revamp for the
way the Mission Office reports baptismal stewardship and other things. My
Excel skills haven't digressed in the slightest--they've probably gotten
better. I've worked on Excel a lot so far on my mission. All with
permission of course.

They are just like the originals. The black pin-stripe is slightly

different, but that's okay. They are also both two buttons. I'm looking way
fresh right now: brand new white shirts and suits. I'm looking good, feeling
good. Thanks a lot.

Love,

Elder Johnson

P.S. Tell Mom that her e-mail comes tomorrow

Hi Mom and Dad,

 

Thank you for my suits! I got them in the mail. They fit perfectly and look great. It feels so good to walk around in slacks without holes in them. I want to take care of them. I'm considering just wearing different slacks and suits each day, separate the wear a little bit. Dad: How often should I get these things dry cleaned, as they are dry-clean only? Two months? 3 Months? Things are much cheaper in Anchorage.

 

The reason I don't have much time is because in Anchorage the only public computers are in the library, and they only allow you to be on for one hour. 

 

Yes, Elder Witt wrote the article. And I will ask him about it.  (google Deseret News article "One Missionary's Open Letter to the People of Alaska")

 

The "aw" portion in Elder Lawson's name is short for awesome. He's awesome and a wonderful missionary. I look forward to serving around/with him in the future.

 

As for your questions:

 

Did you have fun going out with E. Flynn.

Yes, we have a natural ability to teach in unity. We got to hang out from 5 PM to 9:30 PM. It was fun, and I imagine we'll get to do that each time we have Zone Leader Council.

What did you do exactly?

We went out and worked in my area. We taught two lessons to less-active members.

Did you get to go to Wasilla with him?

No. He was doing that the next day. Elder Witt and I simply had a normal day working in our area.

Who did you see in Wasilla?

No one. But the Harman's e-mailed me last week.

Did E. Flynn talk about Brittany?

Yes, he did. And we basically planned out all of our activities for the month of October. It entailed coming to AZ around when I return. Saying hi to me and then hanging out with Brittany for the rest of the time.

Okay, I'm running out of time now. A lot of great things occured this week. I'd be undermining their significance if I tried to rush through and tell you here and now.

But just know this: The sun comes up now around 8:30 AM; things are looking bright. The weather's cold, not too cold. There's a lot of snow. I'm in the company of good people. And I have ample amount of support in the Work.

Thank you for everything. For the suits, the shirts, the future book--and everything else. I'll keep plugging away and tell you all the stories when I get back.

Love,

Elder Johnson

No E-mail this week!

Didn't get anything from Elder Johnson this week, but check out what Elder Lawson wrote on his blog!

 

Note to Elder Johnsons mom! (please post on blog) I am indeed greatful for your support and faithful subscription to my blog. I would also like to inform you, in case elder Johnson didn't, that your wonderful son is currently a zone leader, along with your potential son in law, elder Flynn. These are two of my best acquaintences that I have been blessed to meet on my mission and I am requesting to be an adopted son some day. I know there is quite the waiting list and that the credentials are pretty strict but I am hoping that someday... you might lower the standard to my level of just ordinary missionary! Once again, I am thankful for your continued support and reading of my blog... I think you might be the only one that does read it! Co that makes me feel good!

 

Adoption approved!

 

WE LOVE OUR MISSIONARIES!