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

Oct 26, 2015

Longest, shortest, craziest, most beautiful week of my mission. Ha! So many things..well we'll start off with Monday.
Soooo Hermana Martinez sorta got sick with the pancreas so we had to stay the night on Monday at Doctor Mendoza's house while they watched her and we wok up at 4:30 in the morning with her screaming and then throwing up and then Doctor Mendoza singing hymns. Ha, we thought something really bad happened but she came in and told us she just threw up but needs to go to Tegucigalpa ASAP. So at 6:00 we left in an ambulance to Teguc 3 hours away but 1 hour and a half in ambulance. BTW we weren't even allowed to ride in the ambulance but we convinced him and good thing because we almost dies twice with him at the wheel. haha! But we got there, dropped her off and then had to take a bus to the bus stop to go back to Sigua, but we had to go to Otoro which is even farther to get the sisters things and go back to Teguc the same day. So Tuesday we spent the whole day on a bus...9 hours people. Then we had to sleep over at the secretaries house and go home the next morning at 6:00. Man Alive. But she's good now! But man was it a hoot with Elder De La Rosa. We laugh a lot. His 2 quotes for the week are 1st, as he tries my protein for the first time, "OH! This tastes like chicken food!" haha and then in the District meeting he directed the Hymns right and so he get up there and we're all ready and he says, "ok the hymn goes something like this.." and then he starts to sing, "I don't care! I love it!" hahaha now remember this is all in Spanish and out of nowhere sang that song. Too good.
But man the district meeting was poderososisimo! Best one I've been to in months! And that day was awesome as well. But oh Saturday one of the most powerful and tender moments that happened. 1st we had the baptism of the kids of a family the sisters from the other part of Sigua, and I got to baptize them with Elder Jensen! The parents get baptized next month. But then after we went to Puran and, people! Hermano Pe** straight up told us he wants to get married and baptized and be a member of the church! He has his answer and he's ready to roll! He's just so humble and loving and we're going to need to help pay for the wedding but we're going to sell taco's! and then...well we were walking and it was dark and a man was carrying 2 shovels and his 11 year old son with a bike. We contacted him and asked if he needed help. So we helped him and we asked where they were coming from and he said work and I started talking to the kid and he told me they didn't pay Papi like they said they would for the weeks work. And then we found out this man lives on a hill, like at the very top, and has 8 kids...and 5 of them less than 8 years old and they live in a house that doesn't have power, and that his wife left them. And so we get there and these kids come running and you can just see their smile in the dark and they are so happy to see their dad and they were all so good-mannered and just the cutest kids and one of them asks if they brought food. And man did my heart just break as I saw this man, humbler than humble, have to tell his kids they didn't pay him. And so we said bye and ran down the mountain and bought rice, eggs, and milk for the fam and took it back up to them and man. To help a family of 9 like that was a privilege. Moroni 7 really hit me hard in that moment.
But they said they're going to come to church next week.:)
So I kinda feel like I'm going to leave this area Tuesday. Changes are here and you have no idea how much I've begged to stay here. We are going to have so many baptisms this month. But like Alma 29:9 says, we're just instruments.:) But sure do love Tuki's fam and I wish you see their faith and devotion in only 6 weeks. Jean Carlos (who's 14) went from never going to church to being at the church every morning at 4:30 a.m. waiting for seminary and memorizing all the D&C scrips in just a week. While Tuki is literally memorizing the Book of Mormon, and Karen (the mom) is preparing to go to the Temple. If I go, I'm absolutely filled with joy to be able to help that family for such a short period butttt I don't want to leave! Also, cool thought. Want to know why there are more women than men on the earth? Because in the premarital life the 1/3 that followed Satan were made up more of men, and more women stuck to the truth. There is evidence of it in our society today!
This week I'm thankful for pineapples, Mormon Messages, my journal, the new family's we found and taught, that a lot of 'the chosen' are being found, the Temple, sleep, Puran, chopping wood, Scriptures, Preach My Gosepel, good doctors, the highway system in Utah, my comp, and the God watches over His children.
Love you all! F.I.E.
-Elder Alec Johnson

Scrip D&C 6:33

19 de Oct 2015

Crazy Week. Don't know where to start. Just flip! I'm so happy! So tired, beat up, but so happy! Man I'm tired...haha
Okey Dokey! Finally have families progressing! A lot! But they live all over the place. Taulabe, Puran, El Carmen, Santa Marta. We talk with everyone. Even the dogs know we will talk to em. But 'Meet the Mormons' is seriously helping us so much! It is perfect and helps so many understand who we are. Talked with President Ferman about Taulabe and soon there will be missionaries there.:) But in the meantime he said we need to go there every other day! Heck ya! 30 min and 50 limps = Baptisms. haha. But look Sigua was in red zone alert for flash floods and flip... so many houses got destroyed and a lot of people died because houses fell on them in the night. Our family that is sooo awesome that we found because the Hermana is a less active and lives out in the wazz and has a really awesome husband that loves the message. Family Pe**. But 5 members of the Hermano's family died. :/
This week we focused a lot on finding, and the fruits are finally being seen. Also we helped 2 families (one being fam M**) not get separated. It was super intense and I realized that I'm 19 years old and in 15 months I've helped families stay together RIGHT as they're about to leave with suitcases, helped grown men stop smoking, I've carried a grown drunk man to his bed, I've learned to deal with people of all shapes and sizes, I've learned to care for myself, I've seen the gospel change a person from the ground up as they Holy Ghost teaches through me, I have grown to love my Savior, I've made a whole lot of mistakes and also have had success, I've seen the most vile and filthy things this world has to offer face to face, I've also seen the most beautiful this world has to offer, I've learned what it really means to live the Gospel, and I've seen that God really does love each and every one of his children. And I've done it in a language that's not English. :) Was a really cool moment to ponder and marvel at that. God really does know me and has a plan for me. Amidst it all, He loves me. Cannot express my love for my mission and the wonder and awe I have for my Father in Heaven.
Well a miracle happened on Sunday that I can't really express how amazing it was. But her name is Ve** and her husband is Gu**. They are Catholic, and I'm talking about die hard Catholics. There's not many of those here and well..God know His children. They'll be Baptized soon. And if they get Baptized when I'm gone, so be it. But this woman is incredible and humble. And it's all because a member opened her mouth and made a friend. That leads to my question of the week...
Been reading in the Book of Mormon and circling every time it says 'Heart' and I shared this in the zone meeting. But, WHERE IS YOUR HEART? Where is your heart? That's a question I've asked myself a lot ever since I've started reading. If I'm here serving with all my heart? If my heart is with God or am I keeping a little bit from Him? Think and ponder on it this week.:) I've pondered a lot and I can say my heart's all in. And it's made all the difference. If there's something that's preventing you to give your whole heart to the Lord...well..change it.:)
Well Folks! It's that time of year! #forthewarmthofthechildren 2015!!! Whoooo!!!! PLEASE, please start thinking and saving your hats, gloves, and socks! I can promise anyone and everyone that service is the only way to be happy. Talk with my ma for more info!!

This week I'm thankful for condensed milk, MILK FROM THE META KNIGHTSSSS!!!, Like real milk...from cows..., for platanos, spaghetti again, Dad's Nike jacket, my comp, miracle after miracle, the power of fasting, Nephi, Meet the Mormons, Primary children, studies, stoves, my journal, water, the ups and the downs, my uke, my wonderful fam, exercise, fam Meza, anddd my Redeemer Jesus Christ.
Love y'all!!
-Elder Johnson

Scrip of da week- Ether 12:27

Partner in crime, it rained so we found bags, haha

COKE CAFFEINE FREE SAY WHAAAAAA

This is a pic of the bridge that got destroyed

THIS is my favoirte fam in the world. and yes I spelled favorite favoirte. familia mezaaaaaaa 

zona Siguaaaaa

Oct 12, 2015

My dinner when I get home will be mashed potatoes, hashbrowns, pulled pork sandwiches, brownies, ice cream sandwiches, cream soda, and gatorade. Just so y'all know. haha and Cactus Cooler! But before anything HAPPY STINKIN B-DAY TO MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD! MY MAIN FART-FACE MAN CARTER LANCE! I think I'm gonna cry. He's 16.. HE'S 16! He can flipn date!? Brigham! Did you hear that!? The kid that ate a moth can date girls! I'm going to throw up. Aw Man! Sure do miss my best friend and watching movies with him all night. Well it was more like Carter watching for 10 min. and then going to sleep and me being me, has to finish a movie, no matter what time it is. haha. This kid is the greatest kid I know and I sure am proud to call him my brother. And so help me if he gets his first kiss without me being home I will make him pay oyó Carter Lance? Sure do love ya kid. Have a blast on Thursday bud. And if the Jeep is still there, I give you permission to drive it. But don't even think about touching the Prowler. ;) 

Well! This week was super tough. Really hard for us. Don't think the fam. M** is going to get baptized. Herman Ev**, the wife, is super pilas and she's just the greatest thing. Who loves her husband with all her heart but the hermano J** is kinda ... don't know how to explain it but his whole heart isn't in it like Ev**. And we've been talking and praying and just don't feel like it'd be right to marry them in this moment. Because we don't want a marriage that lasts for a year or 6 months. We want them to be a family for all eternity, and the hermano just isn't ready for that yet. They have had and are having some troubles in their relationship and it's so stinking' hard for me to accept this because after 15 months, I still haven't found a family that is ready to make the baptismal covenant and prepare to go to the Temple. Still trying to understand the Lord's will on this one. But we keep on keepin' on! 

Some things that happened this week are, we went paint balling as a zone and my comp got wrecked. haha, super fun! Also had our zone mtg and it was probably the best one I've ever been apart of. We also took Tuki to take out a tooth...saddest thing I've ever seen, and we also moved one of the investigators of the hermanas from the floor to a bed because he drank. Crazy Stuff! Really was reminded this week how powerful testimonies really are. And the spirit can use us more when we have our hearts in the right place. I invite all to think and ponder really where your heart is. 
D&C 124:15&20

This week I'm thankful for my family, the virtue of patience, a stove, peanut butter, my new love for paintings, tajadas, good dentists in the US, stores in the US with different kind of food for a good price, our zone, my compa, email time, pictures, paintballing, laughter, jokes, finding people, my feet, good health, my Savior, the Book of Mormon, prayer, integrity, anddddd PDAYS!

-Elder Alec Johnson

Herriman Pride!! This is it!! Hahaha

Okkkkk this is the most amazing thing ever! A guy painted it on my Ukulele!!!

Leadership training at mission home.

Pobrecito Tuki... but this tooth was MASSIVE