Halloween Morning Sunrise!!!

Picture of Luke with Some other Elders in his mission

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

So this past week has been...well it has been really fast...I can't believe that in about 6 days I will have been out on a mission for 4 MONTHS!! That is super crazy to me!! So much has happened these past 4 months and it just flies by so quickly...our investigators who have the baptismal date next month are doing great, they have been out of town on the mule deer hunt in New Mexico, but we have been communicating via text message. They just keep amazing me on how much they were prepared and how much they are starting to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. When all of those people who have returned from their missions say that there is nothing better in this life than helping one of God's children totally change their life and gain their testimony of this gospel, they were speaking the truth. This really is such an amazing experience and it has definitely change my life. A mission is really the best thing that I could be doing now and I wouldn't trade it for anything else :) Helping people see the truth is such an amazing feeling!!

The work in Anthem has been EXPLODING!!! We have gotten 6 new investigators this month and more on the way as the " I'm a Mormon" ad campaign picks up and the new building opening in a month member referrals are starting to come up and we are teach more and more people as the weeks go by. I am so excited that the member referral work here is starting to pick up because that is the best way, I know I have said this a lot before, but it is the best way to help God's children know of His church. As me and Elder xxx work more with the wards I hope that it will still keep rolling and rolling as more and more members invite.

I got both of the boxes this week and thank you!! I will be getting my flu shot today, because Halloween is today we have to be inside by 5 so we will have a day of just being inside of our apartment and maybe taking a nice nap...:) I am hoping that I can get a bit of letter writing and cleaning done as well but the whole day is going to be preparation day!! Speaking of Halloween me and Elder xxxx went to the wards trunk r treats as each other, he was me and I was Elder xxxx.

Well I hope all has been well and that you are giving the missionaries a lot of people to teach!! ;)

Love,

Elder Johnson

BAPTISM!!! (No pictures, he forgot his cord!)

So this past week has been amazing and I think that I will tell about it in three parts:

1. I didn't get transferred!!

2. The weather is FINALLY starting to cool down!!

3. WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH OUR INVESTIGATORS!!(If you would like their names, email me!)

So the first part, I was seriously really happy when I didn't get transferred. Just about a week ago (right before transfers) the missionary work here in Anthem started booming and I really didn't want to leave that!! We got a couple of pretty promising member referrals, we found a lost investigator that likes to talk a lot but is still interested, and the mormon.org media blitz here in the Phoenix area has been creating quite the buzz about the church and members are starting to open their mouths and talk to people.

The Second part, the weather is starting to be really descent. The past couple of weeks the weather has been really weird. Two weeks ago the weather was about in the 60's and then about 4 days later it shot straight back up to 101!! Then this past week it has been starting to cool down and they are saying in the papers (because the members that we live with let us see the weather in the paper) and that it should stay in the 70's or lower for the rest of the winter!!! Which is super nice...no snow here!!

The Third part is something really, really, really, really, really AWESOME!#@e#@!$@!!!

WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH TWO OF OUR INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!! @#@!%$#@!@!!!! We had a lesson with them on Friday and me and Elder xxxx felt like we really needed to invite them to be baptized on the xxxxx, we gave the invitation and they accepted!!! I was so excited when they did that right after the lesson me and Elder xxxx were overcome with Joy!! Just like Ammon that we both fell to the earth!! (see Alma 26-27, and the pic that I am going to send you next week). They went to a baptism on Saturday of a convert that our Zone Leaders taught and they really enjoyed it and made them even more excited to be baptized!! They went to church yesterday and they LOVED that as well and they are still set for the xxxx!! The only obstacle is that one of them, is a drinker and he did say that he has only had half a drink in two weeks but he is going hunting for the next couple of weeks and am hoping that he doesn't drink while hunting...cause you know that is were the cigars and the beer come out...we are having a lesson today and we are going to make sure that he still keeps the Word of Wisdom while on his trip. So that was a real exciting thing about this week!!! They are the first people who I started to teach and who I am going to end with a baptism!!

So that is how my exciting week went. I got the package that you sent this morning and I loved it!! Elder xxxx liked the Luke Skywalker action figure too because he is a Star Wars fan like I am!! :) Thank you for the Shampoo and the all the candy!! The butterfingers didn't melt!! One of the Members that I live with gets the mail for us because the mail here is through a community mailbox thing, and when he came in with the package he thought that there was a lead weight in there because it was so heavy, he is about 70 years old so it was heavy for him.

Well thanks for all the good treats and food!!

Hope your week is really fantastic!!!

Love,

Elder Johnson

This is BIKE MILES PER HOUR! (They ticket!)

Arizona Sun!!

No, not Luke, but his dog he lives with! :)

Tuesday, October 18 Letter (sorry I'm slow this week!)

I AM NOT GETTING TRANSFERRED!!!!!! My p-days are changed to Tuesdays on transfer weeks because of transfers being on Wednesday and us knowing about transfers the Tuesday before it gives the ones who are being transferred time to pack that p-day. I managed to survive another transfer and I am now done training so my title as a missionary is upgraded from trainee to Junior Companion!!!!! haha so I am super glad that I did not get transferred because the two most solid investigators that we have, their names are xxxxx, they came to Stake Conference this past Sunday and they loved it!! They are the investigators that we found a couple of weeks ago through a referral from HQ, they filled out one of those papers that you get when you visit a Mormon historical site. So we visited them this last week and gave xxx a blessing and she didn't quite understand, but she allowed us to do it! They are super interested in becoming members and we have an appointment with them on Thursday and me and Elder N (also didn't get transferred) are going to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and invite them to be baptized!! I am so excited that I didn't get transferred because they are the people who I found and I really want to see them through!! They are such a nice couple and they are retired Federal agents so they are way cool and way interested.

So this week, two things have picked up the temps, it was a high of 101 this week, and more people asking about the Church and these "I'm a Mormon" ads that have been going through the greater Phoenix area. They are doing this just for those reasons that have come up about the Church. To get people to know that WE ARE NORMAL PEOPLE AND NOT A CULT!! If you go on Mormon.org, they show many different people who are normal people and they are a Mormon. It is a good website that gets rid of those myths about the church. I have encountered a lot of different people who try to either "Bible bash" with me or try to convince me to believe in something that isn't true. There are A LOT of churches here in Anthem and it seems like everyone has the wrong opinion about us. Almost all of the major churches here, Jehovahs Witness, Christ Church of the Valley, and Cross of Christ all teach "anti-Mormon" things and we encounter people wanting to tell us something that isn't true. But all we do is just smile and wave, and then bear our testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. A testimony is the most powerful thing that can be used when encountering something like that.

I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to teach and testify to the people of Phoenix Arizona that God loves them so much, whether they believe so or not, and that he has restored His Church back on this Earth.

I hope all is well and that everyone is doing great!!

Love,

Elder Johnson

So with it being Columbus day yesterday the library was closed, so we are doing our emails today. So this past week has been kind of a slow one. We had a lesson on Wednesday with three of our investigators, but they were going out of town this week so we didn't schedule something with them this week. We are hoping to get with them this week sometime to get a lesson in. The lesson that we had went really well. Me and Elder xxxx were on exchanges again, so it was me and Elder xxxx from the xxxx ward that is in the city just south of mine, Tramonto. We taught the whole first lesson and committed them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. They all said yes and one of them said that he has some thinking to do about all of this, but the other one basically committed himself to read it. The next lesson that we have with him, we are going to commit him to be baptized!! The other two that we got from HQ had a sick family member so they had to babysit some little kids so we rescheduled for this Thursday. They are the ones who watched all four session of conference.

So one Monday when after we were done with emailing we went shopping and then biked down to the Kohl's in Tramonto, which is quite a few miles south of Anthem if you look on a map you can see. So we went tie shopping there and I bought only one tie because my bike is having some serious issues and I had to buy a new tire because the one that came with it was worn down a lot. Maybe it was hot asphalt, but I needed a new one because I kept having flats and I needed a sturdy tie that would get poked too easily because of all of the cacti here. So we bike down there then back up to Anthem. So that was quite the adventure for me.

So I have found out that I have lost 20 lbs!!! All of this biking is really paying off!! My legs are just straight muscle now!!

This week was amazing weather!! It was about a high of 82 this week and the nights got down to the low 60s!! As I was biking around it felt a lot like fall in Utah and everyone has their Halloween decor up and it reminded me of trick-or-treating!! The wards here are doing a trunk-or-treat like the one we went to with Carlie a while back. And we are planning on going to that because there might be some non-members there!! So Halloween this year falls on our p-day so I don't know what we are doing about that, but I know that we have to be in by 6:00 because that is when it starts getting dark and all of the hooligans are out ;)

So our p-day next week is on Tuesday because of transfers and I will know if I will be then, but I have a really good feeling that I will be here for a while because there are great thing happening here and that I need to help with that. Like our new building opening up here in Anthem!!!! The Open House got moved to December, but it looks like we might be in there within the next few weeks!! I never thought that a new chapel would be so exciting but now there will be a lot more people just dropping by to go to church because it is right in the middle of Anthem.

So anyways that is the fun happening with me this week!!

Hope your week goes a bit better!!

Love

Elder Johnson

Luke and Another Elder that he went on splits with.

Two missionaries walking into the sunset...

Laughing Luke!!

Picture didn't download all the way, but still AWESOME!

Mission Work at it's finest!!!

So this week has been amazing!!! WE GOT 5 NEW INVESTIGATORS AND WE HAVE A LESSON AGAIN WITH THEM THIS WEEK!!!!! It was a real God send. Our first two new investigators were a Church Headquarter referral that said that they are a couple who went to the Mormon Battalion Historical Site and said that they LOVED it, and that they wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon and were interested in going to church. So we had a lesson with them this Friday. Me and my companion were on exchanges with our Zone Leaders, and so he wasn't there. So I was with Elder xxxx and he is from Canada. So we called some people in the Ward to get a member to that lesson. We called a young man who is going on a mission in a month and also our new Ward Mission Leader in the Anthem ward, and we got both of them wanting to come!! So because it was our first lesson with these people, I wasn't sure if we should have four men to teach these people because they might feel a little intimidated. So I decided to have Elder xxxx go on splits with the young man; and me and the Ward Mission Leader would go and teach that lesson. He, not knowing the lessons very well just sat back and let me teach the whole first lesson BY MYSELF, and he help with any questions that they had. So we went through the lesson and sat down and their first question was this: "So if I was baptized as a baby into the Catholic faith. xxx (the husband) was baptized a Lutheran...If I want to join your church would I have to be baptized in your church? and Is my baptism recognized by you guys?" Me thinking that if I said yes to the first question and not to the other that they would back down and totally say that their baptism was all they needed to do. But the spirit said to say that they do have to be baptized and by the right authority for it to be the way that God wants it...and so I said just that. Talk about putting off the natural man! So after I said that they said, OKAY...!!! Wow!!! They didn't say anything else they just said okay and that if they feel comfortable with the church that this is somewhere that they would like to be!!! So that was their first question and many more came after that as I went through and answered their questions to the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So at the end of the lesson I invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, watch Conference, and set up a next time to meet!! So yesterday while I was eating dinner with the investigator called us and I answered the phone (shocker, I know) and she said that she was reading the Book of Mormon and she read the Restoration Pamphlet, watch ALL FOUR SESSIONS of conference said that they really loved the Prophet and all the talks given (basically bore her testimony about the Prophet to me), and that she wanted to change our time to earlier in the week and that she wanted us to come and teach them more and answer some questions about conference!!! So yes that was our first two new investigators this week and they are MOST DEFINITELY ready for baptism.

Our other 3 new investigators that we got this week were a referral from our ward mission leader in the XXXX Ward. One of them is xxx, he is really interested in learning more and is reading the Book of Mormon and watched conference with us and our ward mission leader and we have a lesson with him on Wednesday. The other ones are a couple from xxx, they are really interested in learning more about the church and are way nice and also watched conference with our ward mission leader and us as well and we are teaching them on Wednesday!!

So yeah it has been the best Conference weekend yet!!! The best week of my mission too!!! My most favorite conference talk was the one by Elder Holland during the Priesthood session!! If you haven't seen it yet, you should look it up!! He talks with such boldness and authority!! I watched all sessions of conference some at our house with the members that we live with and some with our new investigators and some with another investigator. We didn't do much normal missionary work.

I hope your guys week was as good as mine!!

Love you all!!!

Elder Johnson

(I have omitted the names as the Mission President has told us to do this for online blogs as there have been issues with anti-mormon's googling names, etc and contacting them. If you would like them, email me and I'll let you know. -Teri)

Mission Interviews on October 1st! Good to see his face!