Doctor Johnson

Hey everyone! This week was definitely interesting to say the least! Last Monday after we emailed, one of our investigators took us to Costco! I never thought I would be so happy to go to Costco in my life! We bought a ton of food and messed around in the store (see pictures) and just felt like we were back in the states again!

 We had a lot of good lessons this week too! We’ve had trouble in the past bringing members with us in this area to lessons, and we had a good amount this week for the lack of members!

A few of the lessons came from a family who we call "the problem children". They fight a lot and have problems sometimes (obviously), but this one takes the cake. The husband (not husband they’re not married but) stepped on some glass about a month ago and didn’t do anything about it. So it got infected and he waited a week to go get it checked on. Doctors look at it to do their thing, and end up cutting his big toe and the toe next to it completely off, bone and flesh and much more. So when they finally got back home for us to visit, they ask me to help them clean the foot and change the bandages. At first I thought they were kidding, and then they hand me a pair of latex gloves, which I snap like a doctor when I put them on, and then we clean it and re bandage it.

My comp has a weak stomach so he stays as far away as possible while it goes on because the foot is pretty nasty to be honest, but they ask me to do it EVERY TIME WE GO. Then they ask us to come back, so I’ve done it almost every day this week. I’ve actually seen changes in the muscle and stuff that’s growing back it’s so blech.

My question to Bryce: So I'm confused why the "wife" isn't changing the bandages?   She is but I guess they like it when we help? We’ve kind of started taking turns doing the different processes.

My question to Bryce: Does it gross you out to change the bandages?  You’re the kid that gets grossed out when we open a can of tuna.  No it doesn’t gross me out because I don’t have to eat it.

Then we had a normal week aside from that. We are trying for a baptism this week and are helping the dude to find answers about baptism, so we fasted with him Saturday and Sunday. I have faith that he will know baptism is right for him, because he really likes the church and he comes and just walks right into the meetings without us and is right at home there. So we are super excited for him!  President Snow is still committed!  I'm hopint we can baptize him on Sunday after church.

Q:  Did you have both prospective members before Preston was your companion? We already had Pres Snow, but we found Nain together. Who’s Preston again? (Bryce tells me his name is Fowler.  Not Elder Fowler, Not Preston, Just Fowler).

OH!!!! It’s been super cold this week so I’ve been wearing sweaters, I bought a jacket at Costco, and I’ve been using my electric blanket! Holy cow it is like heaven!!!

Elder Fowler and Elder Johnson teaching English in sweaters :)

There are a lot of new missionaries coming so there are going to have to be a lot of changes, a lot of trainers, a lot of new areas opened, stuff like that. 

I feel like I’m getting changed this cycle, but who knows what’s going to happen!  I’ve definitely been spoiled from this area with the house and the comps. Fowler thinks I’m getting changed too. He thinks I’m going to be training. Who knows? I’m kind of hoping that if I do get changed and am training that I get a gringo comp, because 15 of the 18 coming are American. Word got around the mission quick that 15 new Americans are coming, because that’s almost unheard of!  One is Elder Fardos right? If I have a gringo then I’m hoping I can continue teaching English lessons wherever I end up.  Our English class went well this week! We had a lot of people show up Thursday which was awesome! I’m sad that I probably won’t get to keep teaching it though.

Q:  Is it normal to change companions after just one six week cycle?  Yeah it’s completely normal! Before the Presidents changed, there would be mini changes 3 weeks into the cycle.  
Q: Is it normal to train right when you just get out of training? Yeah it's normal.  My first comp just finished his training then trained me!

Q:  How long have the guys in your district been there? Gibson is about to finish his first cycle in the mission. Harrison got here 6 weeks after I did, Nicoll has 6 months here, so I think we are both gone.

Today was our last zone activity before changes.  We went bowling and had a blast! It was so much fun goofing off and throwing bar for a bit for the last time as a zone!  The bowling alley was closed when we got there so we went and ate while we waited. 

  

We at at Boston's.  The best burger I've had since being in Chihuahua!

 Back to Bowling 

Elder Johnson and Elder Nicolls

Elder Harrison, Elder Johnson, Elder Nicolls, and Elder Gibson

Question from Bryce:  Who are the missionaries in our ward? Elder Purchase told me a while back that they got transferred out, so I dont know who’s in our ward? Who do we have? Could you send pictures of them? I like to know who is in our ward.

Answer:  We have sister missionaries now.

We have sister missionaries in the ward? Since when? I dont think that’s happened before!

Q: If we send any clothes for Christmas do you want them washed before we send them?  Sure! I would love to smell home again! And fabric softener and machine dried clothes.

I’ve been really happy here the last few weeks! We’re working hard and doing well here.

I hope all is well at home! Love you all and miss ya tons!

Week 22 - Lucky Shirt Lives!!

Hey everyone! This week was pretty cool la verdad (the truth)! We walked a lot and taught a bit less than usual, but that’s ok because we have a few for sure baptisms coming up in the next few weeks. 

For Halloween we decided to clean the house for a while because we hadn’t had the chance in a couple weeks, and we then went out to look for pumpkins to carve. We found some and carved for 2-3 hours sharing knives, sharpies, using pages of a phonebook to cover the floor, anything we could find to use basically! Then we set them outside all week to show off from our gated porch.

On Wednesday and Thursday Elder Fowler and I started something new: we started teaching English! We started teaching English classes 2 days a week and are going to continue them until the end of the cycle and hopefully after - if we both stay here. The lessons went well but there weren’t very many people because we didn’t have much time to advertise, but announcing it in the ward was good too! I’m excited for the classes this next week to see what happens.  We had 3  and 5 the first 2 days. So not bad because it was easier to teach what they needed and wanted to learn.

Both investigators are doing well! They both came to church this week again, and after we write today Nain is going to take us to Costco! 

Other than that we had a normal week and we are super tired! The mornings came super-fast every single day!  We’re going to try super hard to keep finding new investigators this week and find more people to teach.

I’m definitely nervous because life is good here! We have people getting ready to be baptized too in the next cycle and I want to be here for Christmas. We get along really well! We have the same sense of humor and are always joking around and laughing. It’s a super fun companionship. 

Oh something I left out too, we haven’t had power in the house for 3 days because we may or may not have forgotten to pay the power bill... it’s getting turned on today though so we should be good for washing clothes and shouldn’t have to iron in the church anymore hahaha We kind of forgot to pay.... but it was fun because last night we were playing some games with a headlamp hanging off of one of the chandeliers and it was like playing by a campfire or something!  I really don’t want to have to keep going to the church to iron, so I’m ready to get it back. 

When I asked Bryce if Elder Fowler cut his hair…No it was a barber, but I’m so white that with my hair short like that it looks like I don’t have much hair in pictures. I still have sideburns kind of... and yes I took my lucky shirt! 

Bryce and some of his best friends each chose one shirt and wore it EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY their junior and senior year.  Bryce Picked this shirt (Why I have no idea).  He grew out of his Junior year shirt so this is his Senior year Lucky Shirt.  I was so excited to see he still had it! Great memories for mom.

When asked where the extra large hat came from :).....Oh I bought that at the big garage sale thing for like 80 pesos ($4)

Last cycle the District went shopping and bought fabric that said Mexico and someone in the ward was going to make ties.  My guess is this is what the pictures are of?

Elder Nicoll and Elder Johnson

I have no clue what they're doing??

The Gumby hat was part of a mascot costume that some members had out so Fowler and I tried it on and took pictures.

In response to Youth Conference in Arizona and Savanna (Bryce's sister) playing a quartet at the Fireside

It sounds like the weekend with Youth Conference was super spiritual for you guys. Wow I wish I could’ve been there to hear it! I love meetings like that! It’s amazing how the Lord works like that. (The song was not assigned so Savanna chose it and all the impromptu speakers talked about Satan's side or the Lord's side and making a firm and strong choice) I saw you put the song in my drive so I’ll go listen to it really fast! That was beautiful! Yeah it was amazing! I’m downloading it right now to my memory card to listen to later so I hope it finishes in time because its big. The song was amazing and I loved it! I got it all and I can’t wait to listen to it again! I see why President Jobe and President Wold cried! Question to sister: How long did you practice for that? Answer: We had two Sundays and wrote most of it ourselves. Mom had us record it in the hall real quick since we can't record in the chapel.

Lianna Foliaki - Viola,  Malina Susim - violin,  Savanna Johnson - violin, Emmalyn Jones - Cello

I actually kind of miss the violin practicing to be honest... it’s really weird not having constant violin or piano or whatever all of the time. 

I want you all to know that I love for ya and pray for you guys constantly! 

Week 21.5 Sweet Message from Mother in Chihuahua

From time to time residents of Chihuahua will send me updates or photos over facebook messenger.  It's always such a sweet surprise.  I was at work and just having a hard week and all of the sudden three photos of  Bryce came onto my phone along with this message.  So of course I cried!  Love my Elder and appreciate the thoughtfulness of Sister Monse Dominguez.

Message from Monse: Today I had the privilege of feeding the missionaries and thought you would like to see these photos. They are excellent missionaries!

 I congratulate you on having a great son. He always thinks of giving extra. Tomorrow, Thursday, he will be teaching English to members of this neighborhood.

He is an excellent missionary and a great person. The Spanish almost has dominated. This Sunday said a great speech and everything said in Spanish.

Bless this sweet, thoughtful woman!

Week 21 - First Talk in Church

Hey friends and fam! so I’m still here hahaha sorry I’ve been so horrible about emailing the past few months I haven’t gotten that great at managing email time yet. So far things have been good on the mish! I’m learning Spanish and am actually able to communicate with people. I can basically understand everything that anyone says to me, and can pretty much express myself while talking or teaching. It’s super cool being able to study in another language and actually understand what I’m studying. It really helps a lot with learning new words and how to better teach.

One thing I’ve noticed here is how important the spirit is in missionary work. I never had any experience with it before, but now I can’t do anything without it! It’s crazy how many times scriptures have popped into my head or some of the things I’ve said to people in lessons, or the questions I’ve asked, because all of these things are given by the spirit when we need them, (D&C 84:85; 100:5).

Another thing is the results we are seeing right now. I haven’t had a baptism yet, but we’ve been so close so many times and at times it has been super frustrating when the people we are teaching don’t progress or don’t want to talk anymore or when things like that happen. But we have a few super awesome investigators right now that we can baptize this month! One is named Naín, and he is super excited to get baptized! We told him yesterday that he can get baptized as early as the 19th, and he just about died of excitement it was so cool! Another investigators name is Ernesto, but we just call him President Snow, because he looks exactly like president snow from Hunger Games, just older and in a walker. They’re both excited to get baptized and we’re doing all we can to help them in this step.

Also about three weeks ago I got my first American comp! His name is Elder Fowler from Reno, and he’s a super cool dude! We’re pretty similar so we have a lot of fun during the days!

Yesterday I gave my first talk in Spanish, and had about a day to prepare it. My topic was the word of wisdom. It was my first talk in this ward and I was the last speaker. I filled the last 15 minutes. They called my Friday night to give it Sunday, so I was up kind of late doing that. It went really well though and I felt the inspiration that the Bishopric had to call me and for the words that I said in the moment.

It’s a super good life being a missionary and I still have a ton of time! Five months already gone and the rest going just as fast! I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you!



So we have a softball field right by our house, and one night two teams were playing so we were watching them outside.  We decided to go sit in the stands and watch. It reminded me of Dad’s softball games at Field of Dreams! 

The graffiti is just random graffiti we saw

We were planning and some companionships were drawing things on the desk and erasing them, and they told us to draw each other so we did haha

In response to my question of  Bryce meeting with the Mission President: I didn’t have time to mention it last week. It was just a normal see how you are doing interview though. We had a zone conference the he went to, and he and his wife asked everyone who hadn’t had an interview recently, and asked me if I had had one since I got here. I said no, so they scheduled one for me. He just asked me how I was feeling and how I was handling everything in the mission. Then he asked if I had a scripture to share with him, so I shared one that I had just studied, Ether 12:4, and talked about faith. then he asked if I had any other questions, and I asked why we weren’t having baptisms or seeing results in our area, and He shared a scripture with me, Jacob 7:24, which says sometimes we can’t really do anything, we just have to keep going, and it really helped me. I didn’t explain the scripture very well, but you should go read it!

I would like more photos of us and of home that I can keep in my scriptures or have when I’m feeling discouraged or down. You guys are a great motivator for me that’s why I like to know about home. So I can try to be more obedient and work harder to hopefully help send some blessings your way. 

We are teaching English starting Thursday.  We will teach anyone and everyone right now. We haven’t done this before so we don’t know how it’s going to work out really. Basically we want to see how many people will show up and how we need to adjust based on that. If there are a lot of people who don’t know any English we´ll teach basic classes. If there are more advanced people then we might add more classes for them. They want to learn English for more job opportunities or maybe to go to the US who knows?

Elder Fowler and Elder Johnson

Week 20 - Train Tracks

Everything is good and all and the days and weeks are starting to go faster, but its still a lot. My comp is awesome! We like a lot of the same stuff and like to joke around and goof off, so we have a good time but still get stuff done.

In response to Jenna asking what Bryce does on Pday:  In the mornings we go to the church and play basketball and football or soccer. Then we come home and shower, change, go eat, write, buy food.... stuff like that. Today I had an interview with President, so we had to do things a bit differently, but it was still good!

These are all the housemates

Elder Harrison, Elder Fowler, Elder Chan, Elder Johnson

We ate at lunch at the Ward Mission Leaders house yesterday, and he asked us if we had any other appointments after, and we told him no, so he asked us if we could help him make goodie bags for his son's birthday party like a factory. So we had a bunch of bags of candy each and had an assembly line of candy going. It was kinda fun..

So we have some train tracks that come through our area, and we were walking back from the food one day and we were passing the tracks, and a train was coming. So we pass the tracks and take out some Pesos and put them on the tracks to smash them. So we waited for the train to pass then we got our smashed Pesos. You can't really tell, but yeah they are pretty flattened.

President Montoya was at our Stake Conference and I had a question about something we were talking to an investigator about. He asked how long I had in this area, and I told him 14 weeks, but that I still want one more transfer here hint hint.

Bryce's response to some trials going on at home:

Ether 12:6  I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

This will pass. ether 12:6 this is just a trial of your faith. press on and don't let up. Ever. This will pass I promise.

Week 19 New Companion

My companion is awesome!!  We’re super similar and like a lot of the same stuff! This week was super hot and a bit harder because I was making all of the same appointments and had to take us everywhere, but it was super good! We actually team teach. My last companion didn’t really trust in me that much I don’t think so he would talk a lot or make the plans, or change them and not tell me, stuff like that. Idk if it was because he thought I was a greenie, but this week was a lot better.

In response to is Elder Fowler wearing your shirt?  No he has one too! He and his little sister love the flash like Jenn and I do! He has that one and I have it too, but I wanted to wear the blue one. They are a little big though, but they are stinkin awesome!

Yeah its super funny because his little sister loves the flash and I told him Jenn loves the flash so he was telling his sister about Jenn and stuff. It’s kind of weird how similar we are and like what our families like and do and stuff. 

Oh and I forgot to say that Fowler and his family always watched Survivor and Amazing Race.  hahaha

We were welding at the investigators house that we are trying to get married.

In response to the name of the kids car we got a few weeks ago…You named the car dolphie?! What kind of a name is that? 

Bryce being Bryce