Eighteen Months, Rain and the Government is Shut Down

What up everyone?

Hey, I wonder if the government is shut down??  You would never guess living in Oregon!  Nah, I'm playing.  Everyone and their dog has been complaining to us about it and it's real annoying.  Plus, they shut down a homeless camp under the Salem bridge so now there's even more crazy homeless people out and about.  We good though!  Gotta love Salem!

Other than that, our week was really good.  We taught some good lessons and found some sweet new people.  We had a lesson with Sarah this week and it went really good.  We moved her baptism date to February 16th just because we still need to teach her a bunch.  She came to church this week and loved it again.  We haven't been able to see Jeremy a whole lot this week because he was up in Seattle for work.  His progress is kind of stalled so hopefully we can continue to help him progress this week.

Sunday after church was probably our best day this week for finding.  First off, we found a new person to teach online proselyting which never happens so that was pretty hype.  She talked with missionaries before and is super interested still.  Then we went and walked for about an hour.  We found a super cool rapper named Stewart.  He was interested but we had to send him to another area.  Then, we talked to a lady who had been given a Book of Mormon by missionaries in Dallas, OR and she has already read half of it!  Pretty cool to see the Lord work through us.

We had an exchange this week with the Jan Ree elders.  I was with Elder Robbins in our area.  We had a really good time.  We got dumped on though.  It was raining non-stop.  We had to come home and throw all of our stuff int he dryer because we were so drenched.  Good times!  We taught the homie Gene on that exchange.  He is such a stud, I freaking love him!  Super good exchange.

I also hit my 18 month mark on Saturday!  Can't believe how fast time is going.  The members who fed us on Saturday hooked it up with some sushi!  I was super pumped about that!

Well, that was the week.  I hope you all have a good week!  I love this work and I am so grateful for this gospel.  It truly brings so much joy!

Me and Elder Robbins after getting destroyed by rain

Post exchange Pic

The gang boolin at Ross

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303

Reminiscing About Cache Valley

January 14, 2019

What up?

Hope you all had a good week.  Everything is all good here in Oregon.  We have been seeing some miracles and having a blast.  This week started off with an exchange with the Hubbard Spanish Elders.  I went up there to Woodburn with the homie, Elder Morrison, who has been out for like two months.  He is from Lewiston so we reminisced about good old Cache Valley for most of the day.  He played football for SV so he knew some of the homies.  We did some work over there.  We walked on this super whack street in Woodburn that made me feel like I was walking around in freaking Mexico.  It was tight.  Super good exchange.

The rest of the week was really good.  On Friday, we had five lessons so it was a really busy day.  We taught Sarah and she is doing super good.  She came to church again and loved it.  We are probably going to have to move her date back a week.  Jeremy didn't come but he is still doing good.  We had a lesson with him this week that went really good.

Our two new people are super cool.  One is Kathy.  She met with missionaries in the past and was almost baptized but they dropped her for not keeping commitments.  We met with her this week and she is super open.  We are meeting with her again this week.  Another one is Matthew.  He also met with missionaries before and is super open.  He is a stud.

I love you guys and hope you have a good week.  I am so grateful for this time I have to serve the Lord.  It is going so fast!

Exchange picture

Sandlot Baseball with the B Elders and Spanish Elders Such a good time!

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303

Good Things Happening in Salem 1

January 7, 2019

What up everyone?

This week was really good here in the OSM!  We have been seeing a lot of miracles here in our area.  It has been super cool to see.  We have been following up with people that were taught in the past and that has been super successful.  We set up a bunch of lessons with the this week so that should be good.  Good things are happening here in ole Salem 1.

We had MLC this week up in Newberg which was such a good time.  There were so many new zone leaders and STLs this time so that made it real fun.  It is always good to see some homies.  I saw the man, Elder Hunt, who I haven't seen much since we were trained together in Salem 5th.  MLCs are always a good time.  President Tateoka is always droppin doctrine on us.  I learn so much every time.

We had a couple lessons with Sarah this week and she came to church.  She just soaks everything up.  She enjoyed church and even invited her mom to come next week and she is gonna come!  Her mom was in one of our lessons this week and she seemed pretty open.  Jeremy didn't come which was pretty frustrating but he is still doing good. Love the guy.

That is about it this week.  I love you guys and hope you have a good week.  I love this work so much.  It brings so much joy, I love it!  I know the Savior lives and loves each one of us!  The church is true!

The new OSM plaque

MLC

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303

2019!

December 31. 2018

What up?

Hope you all had a good week.  Ours was pretty good. We have seen a lot of cool things happen here in our area.  It was so dumb tho because people use the excuse "it's the holidays" to not talk to us.  They act like the holiday season is busy smh!  We had some of those people say we could come back after the new year so we will be good.

Christmas was sweet.  It was just a nice chill day plus got to talk to the fam!  So sweet!!  The only bad thing was Wal Mart wasn't open so we had to go to freaking Mega Foods and it was straight trash.  Everything was in Spanish and it was expensive.  Other than that, it was super good!

I don't know if I talked about the girl we are teaching named Sarah last week.  She is planning on being baptized on the 26th but we weren't able to meet with her.  She came to a baptism with us this week though.  The baptism was so freaking sweet.  It was probably the coolest baptism I have ever been to.  It was of a dude named Marcaisse.  He just barely moved to the US from Haiti at the beginning of December and he is already getting baptized.  He hardly knows English too so the whole baptism was translated into Creole.  It was so sweet!

We are starting to teach the man Jeremy Scott again.  He is progressing pretty well now.  He is committed to coming to church consistently this new year.  He is on date for March 2nd right now so hopefully he will be able to make that!

Other than that, there wasn't too much going on this week.  We have been having so much fun with four elders in the area now.  It is honestly so nice, I love it!  I hope you all have a great week!  I know this gospel is true!  I love it!

The squad plus Marcaisse and Brother Baptiste.  Dudes freaking destroy in soccer

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303

'Twas a White Christmas!

December 25, 2018

What is going on everyone?

This week was such a good one!  It was so wild, holy cow!  I got a new companion named Elder Joyner from North Ogden.  He is a stud and we get along really good so far.  We also got two new elders in our ward which has been a blast.  We got Elder Wagoner from New Mexico and Elder Steidley from Blackfoot, ID.  We have had such a good time.  I have missed having a 4 elder apartment.

Gene was baptized this week!  It was so awesome to see him take that first step on the covenant path.  He has gone through so much in his life so it was so cool to see him come unto Jesus Christ.  It has been awesome teaching him.  He was confirmed the next day and also received the Aaronic Priesthood.  It was super stressful though because he was like ten minutes late for church so we thought he wasn't going to show up.  But, luckily, he made it and was able to receive the Holy Ghost.

We had an awesome lesson with one of the people we are teaching named Sarah.  She is super interested in the Book of Mormon and absolutely loved the Restoration.  She committed to be baptized on the 26th of January.  She didn't come to church though which is sad but it's all good.  We also recontacted the man, Jeremy Scott, this week and he is ready to get back into things.  We are teaching him on Thursday which should be good.

Other than that, it was pretty busy with transfers.  On Christmas Even, we treated ourselves with some Applebees and then went caroling to some people we are teaching and less active members. It was sick.  I love you guys and hope you have had a Merry Christmas.  It was so good talking to the fam today.  I love them so much!  Have a good week!

Saying deuces to the man, Elder Rasmussen

Squad

The four elders

Gene's baptism!  (What a guy!)

At Applebees

Our sick little tree

Merry Christmas from the Salem 1st Elders

Some chumps vandalized the church smh.  Merry Cripmas tho!

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303

Transfers!

December 17, 2018

What is up everyone?

This week was sweet.  Lots of stuff is going on here.  First off, we got transfer calls on Saturday and I am staying here for my 5th transfer!  Elder Rasmussen is peacing out to Newberg to be the new assistant!  I will miss him a ton.  We had a fun 6 months together.  My new companion is Elder Joyner.  He came out a transfer before me.  I hear he is a stud so I'm pumped.  Our ward is also getting a second set of missionaries so I'll be in a 4 elder apartment again!  I am so excited!  Should be fun!

So, this week we had another exchange.  We went with the Jan Ree elders.  I was with Elder Cathemer from Ogden.  He has  been out for a good 4 weeks so it was super fun.  We taught this super cool dude named Marcaisse.  He is from Haiti and moved here like three weeks ago and he is going to be baptized in a couple weeks.  We also taught this super solid lady who moved to Salem from Burns.  She has read the Book of Mormon, D&C and Pearl of Great Price and knows they are all true.  She wants to be baptized as well.  Good things happening over there in Jan Ree.

We had some more lessons with Gene this week and we also had his baptism interview and he passed!  So he will be baptized this Saturday.  Good stuff!  He met with Bishop on Sunday and is going to get the Aaronic Priesthood and a limited use recommend next Sunday as well.  It is gonna be a sweet weekend!

We have been working with this super cool part member family and they came to church on Sunday!  It was a pretty nice surprise.  They are continuing to progress, it's awesome!

Other than that, nothing much happened this week.  We are super pumped for this next transfer!  Hope you all have an awesome week and Christmas!  I love this time of year.  I love my Savior and all that He has done for me.  I'm so grateful for this time of year we have to celebrate His birth.

Dinner and a lesson with the Browns and Wyscavers

Me and Elder Rasmussen

The legend Brother Shock

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd #102
Keizer, OR 97303

Elder Cook

December 11, 2018

Family and Friends

I hope you all had a good week this week.  I'm writing super late because we moved our pday to Tuesday so we could go to the temple.  I love the temple so much.  It is so amazing and always brings peace.  I wish we were able to go to the temple more often as missionaries.

So, this week was amazing.  We had two exchanges.  The first one was with the Assistants.  I was with Elder Hinck here in our area.  We saw some really cool miracles.  we went to a lesson with one of our new people being taught, Debbie.  We get there and she tells us that she has a friend who would like to learn more so we weren't complaining.  We waiting for about 15 minutes and she didn't show up so we just went ahead and got started.  A few minutes into the lesson, the door bell rings and it is her friend.  When she walks in, I immediately recognized her.  she was someone we contacted one time and were never able to get back in touch with!  We taught them the Restoration and it went great!  They both said they'd be baptized when they received an answer from the Spirit!!  Elder Hinck is a powerful missionary and I learn a lot from him.

Next exchange was the very next day.  I stayed again and was with one of the district leaders in the zone named Elder Shiozawa.  He is awesome.  He is from Nevada and we came out together.  He was just a zone leader in the McMinnville zone so he's a great Elder.  He asked me to give him a haircut and I was like aight.  So, I did during dinner and I straight up butchered his head!!  It looked so bad.  All good though...good thing it's cold so he can wear a beanie!!

So, we had our mission conference with Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder Scott D. Whiting of the Seventy (again) and Bishop Dean M. Davies of the Presiding Bishopric (the one who spoke about prophets at conference).  It was amazing, my goodness.  Elder Cook was so powerful.  He said some really profound things to us which was really cool.  I will tell you one thing he said because I thought it was so cool and the Spirit hit me so strong as he said it.  He said that most of the time, spiritual experiences are to be held sacred and personal but he wanted to be directly honest with us.  He said, "I want you to remember for the rest of your lives that you heard an apostle say this.  I want you elders and sisters to know that I know His voice...and I know His face."  To hear that come from an apostle was super cool to me.  Apostles are truly special witnesses of the Savior!

Well, that's about it from me.  There's a lot more I could say about the week but I don't know if I have time.  I am very sorry if I didn't email you this week.  It has been pretty crazy here lately so I will make sure to email more next week.  Also, we have transfer calls this week.  Will the companionship last for its 5th transfer?  Find out next week!

The OSM with Elder Cook

Ballin with the Spanish Elders

Exchanges with Elder Hinck

Exchanges with Elders Hinck and DeHart

Exchange with Elder Shiozawa (ha ha he put his beanie on right after the haircut!  He didn't know what he was getting himself into when he asked for the snip!)

We needed to house some elders coming over the mountain from Redmond for the mission conference.  It was a blast!

Love,
Elder Johnson
3647 River Rd N #102
Keizer, OR 97303