Nov 30th 2015

This week was awesome. Just sweet. Start off with saying we got the Ensigns babayyyy!!! Soo my favorite speaker (elder Uchtdorf) gave a killer talk/parable/story in the womens general conference where I invite everyone to read it! Its called "A summer with great aunt Rose" JUST AWESOME. part that stook (how do you spell stook?) out to me was this quote..

"NOW is part of eternity. IT doesnt only begin after we die! Faith and hope will open your eyes to the happiness that is placed before you"

Love that. Sometimes we think that the part of eternity will finally get there where we dont die and have perfect bodies and all that, and we will be just so happy but no hombre! NOW is part of eternity! I was like "oh ya. duh." hahah So we've got to learn to have joy here or how in the world are we going to have joy in the next life!? That's what I'm talking about Willis.

OKKKKKKKKKKKKK SO HIS NAME IS LEDRIN!! HES 37! HES FROM THE MESQUITIA. HE SPEAKS 5 LANGUAGES. AND IS GETTTING BAPTIZED ON CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE GREATEST PERSONS I KNOW. SO HUMBLE SO AWESOME. I LOVE HIM! WE FOUND HIM DOING THAT ACTIVITY WITH THE YOUNG MEN IN THAT PICTURE THE OTHER DAY! ah man he's so awesome!

Also had Joshua's baptism this week and it was SHWEET.!

andddddd thanksgiving! definitely was the best thanksgiving I've had in my entire life. Nothing like a Thanksgiving on a mission:) 

good stuff this week.

I'm thankful for chicken that tastes like turkey, my fam, elder blake, elder garrido, xmas musis, THAT WE ARE IN DECEMBER PEOPLE, Ledrin, the work here, conf talks, hope, prayer, the Sabbath, email times, my Savior, Alma, the blessings of sacrifice, little notes, candy, anddddd math. 

LOVE YOU ALL.

--

-Elder Alec Johnson

the church is true.

this was what we did for thanksgiving! play ball, eat mashed potatoes and chicken (turkey), had the best view everrr, went to a family in the night where they made us steak and platanos babayyyy!!

This is a story for another day.

Nov 23, 2015

So. 2 things to start off. Thanks to Elder Bingham and him having p-day on Saturday's found out the flipn Herriman High Football team won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! HHS BABY!!! #gorandall #pforpierce #frontrowshmows
When I heard that I was so pumped but so upset not to see it! But atta baby H-town. And against Lone Peak! Good thing I'm serving a mission because I would be going crazy if I was there haha! AND THEN! MY BROTHA, MY BROTHA! IS A MUSTANG!!! YES.YES.YES! I get to see him play ball! Nobody knows how pumped I am to see Cart-man playing the sport of the gods... no just kidding, that's kinda apostasy haha! But proud of ya Cart! Herriman basketball baby. Man this was one good week at my favorite school. #hhs #herrimantakeshonduras

But speaking of apostasy! Come on people. So on the mission a lot of people around you kinda do what the pharisees did with exaggerating the commandments and rules...now I know, and we all know obedience is the first law of heaven and we're trying to become perfect and I kinda had an inner battle within myself this week about this because something happened that made me upset and made me think "if we're all gonna be perfect, aren't we all just going to be robots with no fun?" And so I studied and have been praying about it and now I understand. I don't understand/know what happens when we enter into the Father's presence and become perfect, but here, we are trying to show God we want it by our obedience. And yes, we need to be obedient. If not, then we are not convincing the Lord we want eternal life. But then comes the comment/tip that my aunt/uncle Kasey gave me before the mission... "Lose yourself in the work, but don't lose yourself. Be your self." That's so important I think because so many missionaries are crazy with the rules and become almost robots, losing love for the people and the work. And then replacing it with a programed frame of mind when Heavenly Father doesn't want that! We need to show we are willing to obey but also willing to shine that light that he has given us instead of hiding it beneath a wall of rules that don't exist. So just remember that future missionaries. Be yourself, but be your best self.

But ya! Me** and An** who we baptized are doing great. We had a stake conf. and I think my new favorite song is "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?"

Alsoooo because this week is Thanksgiving I'm gonna do a list of what I'm thankful for.:)
Our Savior Jesus Christ, Heavenly Parents, Earthly Parents, blankets, icy hot, water, High School, My fam, Christmas, platanos, music, paintings of Christ, da uke, Mama J, Papa J, Carter J, Savvy J, Luke J, Mimi, Papa, Nana, Papa, Ricky, Lee, Dawn, Cyndy, Lee, Kasey, Taygin, Knox, Vanilla Rafer, Jason, Ashton, Aurora, Tritan, Adam, Indy, Nick, Lauren, Mikey, Little Ricky, Aiden, Alliyah, Audrey, Ambree, Jaren, Oaks, Kimmy, Dan, Maddie, Matt, Sissa, Addi, Emery, Hals, Ry, G-pa Bean, G-ma Bean, G-pa and G-ma Johnson, G-pa and G-ma Uribe, G-pa and G-ma Sroka, Bevaly Smith, Cessia Smith, Fam. Jimenez-Reyes, Gustavo, Mario and F.Flores, Fam. Raudales, Fernando, and Esteffani, Valentina, Brittany, Tiffany, Ingris, Miguel, Maria, Vanessa, Pres. Mejia, Fam Martinez, Denis, Danieca, Mama, David, Fam. Treso, Modesto, Kevin, Jessica, Celeste, Tuki, Jean Carlos, Pres Zunica, Fam. Mendoza, Fam. Mesa, German, Jacki, Melvin, David, Bryan, Victor, Andrea, Eda, Joshua, Rubia, Elder Borge, Elder Garcia, Elder Montejo, Elder Gonazales, Elder Montero, Elder Paiz, Elder Hale, Elder De la Rosa, Elder Terrazas, and many more people I can't fit on the list.:)

Also interesting thing that I learned this week. I think I always knew this but not in the way that I learned this week! So in D&C 6:16 we learn that God is the only being who knows what we think... so Satan has no idea what we are thinking! Awesome. Joseph Smith taught that "the devil has no power over us only as we permit him." Soooo remember that so we can have good thoughts! Go agency!
Love this work. Love the Gospel.
-Elder Alec Johnson

Scrip of da week Alma 37:6

We were signed by Honduras!

The church has the greatest youth!

Best district and district leader!

Nov. 16th 2015

Que Pedo everyone. All in favor of being tired say "I." "I." This week was good/interesting. My comp got Denge for half the week so we were shut in for like 3 days. That stunk. But we had 2 baptisms babayyy! Man baptisms are so different in the city from the pueblos...like people come to baptisms in the city! Um did all of you do what you had to do with the less-active?! If not, well you just rejected an invitation from the Lord to do his will and will suffer the consequences.! Was that a little rough? But I bet you didn't think it like that! We need to change and it's not going to happen over night. But we change with the little things like invitations/challenges like that. That will help build our faith. But man! 6 weeks till Christmas! say whaaa!? That's unbelievable..and on Sunday I saw tons of people from La Vega because there was  a multi-stake choir thing and it was the greatest/weirdest thing ever! The mission is soooo fast! A little more than 7 months is all I have! Saw all my fam from there and these last weeks, more than ever, I've just thought how genius and unbelievable the mission is. Sending 18 year old kids out in the world to bring it the truth and then the millions of consequences it brings. Just pure amazement. This is His church people. If you don't know that it's because you haven't read the Book of Mormon and prayed. That's the spiritual confirmation that it's true.
But have a cool story wanted to share. Knocked on a door in the afternoon and there's not many men home at this hour but a guy let us come in and he is pretty Catholic. We got to know him a little bit and started testifying of prophets and how Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today and he was like, "I'm Catholic and they say we have prophets but I still don't know who they are, so props to you guys!" And we just shared a simple message with testimony and promises and connected with him and put a day to come back because he's a security guard and we asked him to say the closing prayer and in the middle he paused and started to cry and then out of nowhere said "thank you for sending these 2 angels to my house." and closed. And wow...that was new. First visit with someone who's pretty Catholic, and that happened. My heart was full of love for Mr. Freddy. Just show we're not here to change the beliefs of people. Just here to share a simple message and increase their faith and let the spirit testify to them of the truthfulness of this great message. Had a lot of time to think this week and it's true. Everything you are starts with your thoughts. So have good thoughts this week.:)

I'm thankful for families, Christmas, La Vega, rest, our zone meeting, the importance of a name (I'll share next week about it!), that my shoes have lasted, $5 pizza, coco baleadas, hamburgers, the area with all the restaurants, my first Fast Break in 16 months!, Jesus the Christ, and our prophet Thomas S. Monson.
Scrip of da week: Mosiah 4:30
-Elder Alec Johnson

9 Nov 2015 Dan Smith/BYU

"I hope you enjoy my letter more than the cookies the young women made." Wise words from Dan Smith whom I don't know...hahaha Thanks adopted ward for the package! Great stuff! Want to know what else is great? Hot water. Hot water is a blessing from the heavens.
But anyways! So it was a life changer week. Elder Kevin R. Duncan, pres. of the Area de Central America, came and I got to have 2 mtgs with him. Wow! He made me feel like what I've done in 16 months was nothing. But 1st he said that I don't care why you're here on the mission, we all have our reason. BUT, he said, YOU must obtain an unbreakable testimony of the Book of Mormon and this restored Gospel. Then he said, we need to change! Because the Lord is accelerating His work. Then he talked about how we're going to change...holy smokes, did he teach us what we need to do. Honestly this guy is amazing. One of my favorite General Authorities. He talked about how to plan for every 30 minutes, how to teach, and focusing on the priesthood in Central America. Then he talked about having 3,300 missionaries serving in CentroAmerica and there are 3,200 FROM CentroAmerica and President Spencer W. Kimball made a prophesy when Central America has the same amount of missionaries that are serving from CentroAmerica that are IN Central America, they will start sending more and more Latinos to countries on the other part of the World! 100 more! Then he talked about teaching the law of justice and mercy and whoo! We did it this week and have a way of doing it in 10 min. and it's worked soooo well! The spirit is so strong and the investigators are so intrigued and we're in and out in 20 min with them wanting more! Alma 42:22-23! Then he blew my mind with the meeting with the zone leaders, talking about ministers for our zone and doing divisiones and just tons of things we need to do as zone leaders.
Andddd what he talked about more than anything was the less actives. Hoy si papa. My invitation to all at home is that you can go up to the Bishop BEFORE SUNDAY and ask him for one person or family that is less active that you can go visit. Then on Friday you're gonna make cookies or do whatever us Utah Mormons do and go to their house and talk with them, deliver the goodies, be their friends, sing a hymn, and say a prayer, ok? Y'all are gonna report back the next Monday oyó? Perfect! :)

Well this week I've thought a lot about change. Change is so good. I'm so glad Elder Duncan taught us how we can change and help this great work hasten. From the 4th Missionary..."one way that you are immediately blessed is that you are changed, and change may be the greatest blessing of all. You are the sum total of all that you have thought, done, said, seen, heard and felt in this life and before. You change immediately with each good thought, each good act, every good word changes you for the better. When you willingly obey the principles of the Gospel, you are changed by the Spirit of God to become incrementally more like Him. The degree of change with each small act of obedience may be small, but it is real and immediate." :)
Love it. Love the change in me. Love looking back a year ago and my dreams and desires then and the dreams, desires, and visions I have now. They've changed! Change is good! We're always changing! I love repentance. It's so tough to look back on things you did wrong and know you should've done something else, but it's so glorious to know Christ's mercy is there for things like that if we just come to Him and are willing to change. Where is your heart? :)

This week I'm thankful for hot water, my awesome companion, when he talks like a gringo, our area, the baptisms we are going to have this week!!!, Elder Duncan, Pres. Ferman, the package from Sandy UT, justice, mercy, tithing, obedience, my sweet tender mercy from the Lord-my mission, this area! (becoming one of my fav areas ever), that I'm not in places in the world where nobody talks to missionaries (props to all in Europe haha), chastity, soccer jerseys, juice, my fam, the '3 tips' to have a good companionship, SVU, the Utah Jazz, church, candyyyyy, funny videos, the church's growth, andddd my Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
-Elder Alec Johnson

Scrip of the week 1 Nephi 15:11

Nov 2, 2015

Elder Holland once said, "if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." I testify and echo his words. Well! Back to where I started! The #1 most dangerous city in the world! Tegucigalpa! In Jardines De Toncontin! With Elder Terrazas as my partner in crime! He's from Mexico but lives in Memphis and is a crazy basketball Fan! 1st Comp! Also plays college soccer and he's awesome. We got here in the same group, and we're zone leaders of the office and AP's...speaking of! Elder Duncan is new AP! #calledit #herrimantakeshonduras
So Elder Duncan, Elder Bingham, and I are all in the same zone! Also! Jardines De Toncontin is right next to La Vega, my 1st area. Literally just down the street! It's so weird because I was here exactly a year ago! After 9 months of pure pueblos, the city is way different! So hot, so many mountains, so many people. But the people progress a lot faster! We are going to have baptisms every week this month. Investigators from before I got here and we found 2 this week that will be ready the 28th! And the whole time I was like..."are you kidding me!" Do you know how hard it's been to get baptisms and how I've had to fight and fight until the very day so they could be baptized? I've given everything to have baptisms and it's not been easy. And all a sudden all these people want to be baptized! And are willing to obey all the commandments! I'm confused. But I'll take it for what it is and be grateful.
But not going to lie. My heart sure has hurt this week. A lot. I'm good now but man...leaving Siguatepeque was almost like leaving my home and La Vega...leaving the investigators, the members, the elders, and sisters in the zone. It was a tuffy Tuesday and Wednesday. But I know God has other plans for me to grow and he can make me into something more than I ever could alone. But it stunk. But I love my new area and I love the young men here who are so stinkin' awesome, love our inv., and love my new comp. Also! Our zone is part of the Temple baby!! 10 min. away! Every Sunday with investigators!!! We also went and I saw part of my Sigua family on Wednesday because they went on their Temple trip! Such a surprise! Also saw Mario my fatty from La Vega! I was so pumped! And he told me Fernando and Steffany are going to get sealed! That's the family from La Vega with the 2 little girls!
But ya, my message to all you this week is simple. If you want to be really, extremely happy this week, get a pamphlet, Ensign, Book of Mormon, or whatever and give it to a friend, neighbor, enemy, teacher, doesn't matter. I promise if you do, you will feel the power of the atonement in your life even more. "As your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase." (P.M.G.)
Just take a deep breath and do it. The Lord is promising joy if you do.

This week I'm thankful for a whole bunch of things. For my time in Sigua, for the new time I have to be in Los Jardines, for grass, for a piano people (went 9 months without a piano at church), my new aweomse comp, FOR THE FIRST HOT SHOWER IN 16 MONTHS!!!!! We have a hot shower!, for being an instrument in the Lord's hands, for the old zone, for the great new zone, for the states, for airplanes, for Elder Borge as he finished his mission this week, companionship study, for the power of service, for being so darn close to the Temple, for John Stockton and his legacy in Utah, for the new fav drink Morirsonando, for Elder Blake, the young men in our ward!, for the inv we found and have, the Atonement, for Halloween, andddd the Liahona.
-Elder Alec Johnson

Remember! For the Warmth of the Children!!

This is Fam Per** who's going to get baptized in Sigua!

And my beautiful Fam Castillo...Tuki, Jean, Allison, and Karen

The lineage in La Vega!

My Papi's gone!!!! 

Best kids in the entire world. Remind me a lot like Cart. They went and started knocking on doors to get contacts for us!

Got to see family Mesa at the Temple!

YOU KNOW WE DRESSED UP FOR HALLOWEEN AND YOU KNOW I WORE THE JERSEY THE ENTIRE DAY PROSELYTING UNDER MY SHIRT

This is my comp getting hugged by a little drunk guy for 5 min straight..I was dying of laughter..it was Hilarious