August 4, 2015

                         H.O.M.E.    August, 4, 2015

From San Diego, California to Salt Lake City, Utah airport about 1:30 p.m.

 

July 13, 2015

Hey family!!  Everything is going great here, this week was good we had a special conference this Tuesday and I was able to see lots of my old comps and friends so that was cool!!  On Friday I went on interchanges with Elder Gove in Las Villas and it was good to go where there are paved roads and eat some solid food.   I enjoyed it!  Yesterday the stake president came to the branch, we were able to bring a few investigators and it was good. But afterwards we had to walk with the branch president about almost an hour to put the tithing in the bank.  Some times we take for granted the little things that we have everyday, like a car to drive to church in!!!  This week we also found a black widow in the house right by my desk...besides that everything has been good.   We have some investigators that are progressing good they just have some doubts about getting baptized, but I know that they will!!  We went climbing up the hill by our house on Monday with the branch president and a member!  It was good, I'll send some pics! Anyways, have a good week and I'll see y'all soon!!

 Love Elder Jacob Johnson

July 6, 2015

Hey family, this week has been good.  Just been working hard here in Imperial, its getting hotter every day, but I'm just glad I'm not in Mexicali! Everything is going great here.  I don't have much time to write cause we're going to go climb a mountain right now! I'll send y'all a picture of the mouse we killed in the house the other day, ya we have mice... I don't have too much too tell you about and anyways ilkl see you son enough so have a great week and thanks for the support!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

June 29, 2015

Hey family this week was good, we have found some new people that are really cool.  Sounds like y'all had a good week!  By the way, I might come back talking like I'm from the south cause my comps accent is rubbing off on me! Everything is going good, my comp is awesome, its nice to be with an American again! We have some cool investigators that are progressing and we are working hard here. We organized an activity but there were very few members that went but we brought a lot of investigators. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting again and taught the class! By the time Sunday is over I'm pretty burned out! The other day we went and did a service project with the zone, we picked up trash and cleaned the road in a tunnel. But anyways, sounds like you all had a good week! Thanks for everything,  we'll see you soon!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

June 22, 2015

Hey family whats up!!  This week was good, we were able to baptize Leslie, Pedro, and Diana.  It was really neat, Pedro and Diana are part of a family that had known the missionaries for a long time now but the dad had never gone to the church and when I got here I wanted to go with them and we went on Saturday and we shared a simple powerful lesson and he went to church the next day and he hasn't missed a Sunday after that, and that was 5 weeks ago.  He isn't married to his wife so he can't get baptized but in the near future. His other son is going to get baptized in a couple weeks also! and Leslie is the grand daughter of a recent convert that we started teaching a couple weeks ago!  I'm really enjoying Imperial, its fun.  I got a new companion today, his name is Elder Cronin, he is American from Mississippi, he has almost 6 months in the mission, he seems really cool.  I'm excited for this last transfer!!  Hopefully we are going to baptize this week Lucero, the sister of Ricardo!  But anyways everything is going good here!! Thanks for the pics, the garden is looking good! Thanks for everything, have a great week!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

June 15, 2015

 

cutting Ricardo's hair, President and I in the bus taking the tithing to the bank!

Hey family, this week was good.  We've been working hard here and having a good time, this week we were able to bring 8 people to church and Ricardo, our recent convert) received the priesthood! So that's was good, there definitely never is a boring moment here in the branch! This Sunday a dog came into the church during the prayer and ran up on the stand and everything haha and we gave talks again this week in the sacrament meeting.  We had 37 people go on Sunday so that's better, my birthday was just another day, walked a ton, up some mountains, ate some soup, soaked up the sun, just the normal, but on Sunday, a family gave me a cake!!  We have some really cool investigators right now that are progressing very well! We have some baptisms coming up this week and next week!  Anyways just enjoying the time I have left here! Anyways, hope you all have a great week!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

June 8, 2015

Ricardo's baptism



Hey family, this week was great we had a baptism on Saturday, Ricardo got baptized.  He will receive the priesthood this Sunday and be the only youth in the office of the Aaronic priesthood.  We were able to bring a few investigators to church on Sunday so that was good. Looks like Bri had a good time at her dance, and the graduation went well! Today we went to go eat some Birria tacos, I've got to eat all the tacos I can before I get back!!  Transfers are in two weeks but I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here, I'm good with it, I'm enjoying the branch! The few members there are make great sacrifices to serve the Lord, this last week there was only one person that came to church with a car and there were no other  priesthood holders so we had to take the tithing to the bank with the branch president but the bank was pretty far away.  The brother with the car gave us a ride to the bank but then he had to go and we walked back to the president's house, about an hour walk in the heat.  Sometimes we take for granted the little things in life, but I have learned a lot from the people here in Imperial, many of them live day to day, their worry is what they are going to eat that day. It's very humbling.  Sometimes I wish I could just build them all houses. Anyways, everything is good here, just taking advantage of the time I have left!  Thanks for everything family!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

June 1, 2015

 Our Sector

 Walking to baptism

PIG

Hey family, this week was good, had some cool experiences.  This week a member killed his pig, I was going to kill it but he decided to do it at midnight, who knows why, but we helped him prepare a little  bit and he had a get together there with the branch.  It was really good, lots of people went, they don't waste any part of the animal, they eat everything, all the skin, ears, and organs they put in a big pot and cook it.   I sent a picture, I'm not sure what I ate...but it was good. On Friday was the baptism of a boy named Angel, he's 8 years old, we had to walk to the stake center, about 1 hour walk to baptize him.  The people in the picture were the only ones at the baptism, there weren't many people but it was a very spiritual experience for me. This Sunday there were only 32 people that went to church and 9 were investigators that we brought. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, blessed the sacrament and taught the gospel principles class and said the prayer in all three hours haha it's pretty crazy being in a small branch but I like it.  We have been able to see lots of progress this week. On Saturday we found a family of investigators, we taught the kids, age 19, 17 and 12, and on Sunday they came to church, it was neat because I was sitting on the front row in the church and just felt like I needed to get up and go to the back so I did and I went out the back door and our investigators were at the back gate but it was locked and they had started to walk away when I came out and saw them and they came in.  It's important to pay attention to the still small voice.  Anyways, everything is going good here, hope you all have a great week!!

May 25, 2015

found a rattle snake, took it home and skinned it!


Hey family,this week was good.  Ya mom, my comps foot is good now, we were able to work good this week, my leg is doing fine, and actually a guy came and fumigated our house so now we don't have fleas or anything so that's really nice.  I now know all the members of the branch, I really like it here in Imperial, I think it might be one of my favorite sectors just cause its up in the hills.  We were walking up in the hills the other day and found a rattle snake, I took it home and skinned it haha I sent some pics. This week a member of the branch is going to kill his pig and is going to have a get together, its a big pig, and he is going to let me kill it, we'll see how it goes. We were able to take 5 investigators to the church we went with an old investigator that had never gone to church and we went and taught him and he went to church on Sunday with his family, it was cool! We went to eat with the branch president on Sunday, the car ran out of gas half way there so we walked the rest of the way to his house, he is really funny. It's sad because everyone here suffers economically, there is a lot of poverty, I think we can say we are fulfilling the scripture of
Jeremiah 16:16  its discouraging because none of the couples here are married. Sounds like everything is going good at home.  Anyways, thanks for everything, have a great week, love you all!!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

May 18, 2015

Hey family, well here I am in Imperial, this week was alright, my companion had an ingrown toenail fixed a couple of weeks ago so he couldn't walk this week, so I spent most of the week in the house doing nothing, it was kind of boring, I was able to go out a little bit with a member I went on divisions with. There are no paved roads and it rained the other day, all day long and the roads just turn into rivers and nobody can do anything all day long. We went to the temple the other day and today to go to the doctor for my comps toe. Looks like we will be able to work this week. We were going to baptize a man this week but we found out that he had committed a grave sin and will have to send a letter to the first presidency so that's a bummer. The branch on Sunday there were about 30 people that went, its very small. President Garcia came to the branch on Sunday, that was interesting, we had an investigator and her son come to church, it was cool cause their house is very far and they walked all the way to the church. I fell in a hole the other day and scraped up my leg pretty good. It was a where they were digging a foundation and it was dark so I didn't see anything, about 4 ft deep the hole. Felt great. Took some pictures by the temple, its just about finished!! My comp is cool, he is from Tamaulipas Mexico, he has 15 months in the mission, its nice to be done training!! There are no garbage trucks here, we have to burn our trash haha its almost like were camping, its awesome! This sector is very poor, I have never been in a sector so humble but the people are more receptive!! Anyways thanks for everything family, hope you're doing great, have a good week!

 Ya today we had to go by the temple to a doctor so my comp could get the stitches taken out of his toe, hes from Tamaulipas Mexico, ya he speaks a lot of English. The store where we buy groceries is about half an hour away, we go in bus but they are short buses and they pack about 40 people in it haha the other day we were in the very back and when someone wanted to get out I had to open the emergency exit in the back to let them out. But the bus passes by a street by our house.

It was dark and I couldn't see anything and I forgot that they had dug a foundation hole there, about 4 ft deep and I stepped right into it, and my ribs hit the top, but it didn't hurt too bad.   Ya I found my backpack!! No its not that bad here mom, my comp was telling me that in his first sector somebody broke into their house in the night and robbed them haha but this area is pretty safe, you could say.  We are e-mailing from a little Internet cafe.

 Ya I brought the fleas with me but they aren't too bad, I think I've killed almost all of them, but a guy is coming over tomorrow to fumigate the house finally!!!  I found an earwig in my clothes the other day, but it was giant! about 5 times bigger than a normal earwig it was crazy.

March 23, 2015

Hey family, this week was good. Just working hard down here with my trainee, everything is going great.  We were able to find a few people this week and bring many of them to church on Sunday so that was cool. Yesterday the stake president came to our ward to give a talk and he asked me to translate for him, so I got up to the pulpit with him and translated into English what he was saying, it was pretty neat.  We had a zone conference this week with president, it was good.  Yesterday after church we ate with a family called the family Marchan, they lived in Utah and got baptized there but then he got deported and they are living down here now.   But it was cool because the sister knows a family that we baptized their kids when they lived in Mexicali when I first got to the mission.  Besides that everything is normal.  The time is flying by.  We found a cool family this week of 5 and  they all went to church on Sunday except for the dad!  Anyways everything is good!  Thanks for everything family, have a great week!!

Love Elder Johnson

March 9, 2015

Hey family, everything is going good here in Rosarito.  This week was good, we did have the baptism of Sandra. She got married with Luis on Wednesday in the morning and got baptized on Wednesday night, I'll send some pictures.   Besides that it's just been a normal week, some cool experiences mom is that we are teaching an American guy that we found, his name is DJ, he's really cool, and he has gone a few times now to the church.  The other day I was humbled when a member less active asked us to go to their house to give a blessing to her little sister, she is about 5 years old and she has down syndrome.  She wanted me to bless her so she will be able to learn to talk, it's a family of about 8 and they live in an old little camper trailer.  It was a humbling experience to see the living conditions of the people and to see the trials that they are experiencing.   These people will receive their reward some day. We had kind of a funny experience this week.  We were walking down the street and we saw a lady digging a hole so we offered to help her, and I started digging the hole and asked her why she was digging a hole and she said to bury her dog haha so we helped her bury her dog and contacted her.  Anyways we've been working hard to contact 10 people every day and we are seeing some results from that.  My trainee is doing better I think, I don't think he wants to go home anymore, I hope not...  anyways thanks for everything fam, have a great week.

 

Love Elder Jacob

 

 

February 23, 2014

Hey family, everything is going great! I'm still here in Rosarito.  I just got a new companion, his name is Elder Torres and he is from Aguas Calientes.  I'm training him, it's his first days here in the mission.  I never realized how hard it is to train haha but everything is going good.   I think I have bed bugs or something cause something is biting my legs all over.  Yesterday it started to rain pretty hard at night and we had a long way to walk back to the house haha it was a good welcome to the mission for my comp haha.  Anyways we had some cool experiences this week with some investigators and some new people we found.  I have come to see that the Lord is preparing the hearts of the people before we meet them!  Anyways hope everything is going good at home!!  Have a great week!!

 

Love Elder Johnson

February 2, 2015

Hey mom, my ankle is fine, it doesn't hurt me at all anymore, it only hurt me for a couple days.

Nothing too crazy happened this week, I'll send you some pics of the beach haha.  This week we visited a man that had just gotten shot a few times in the face and in the back in Tijuana a week ago but he's alright, it's a miracle that he's still alive.

He just got in a taxi and some guy came up to the window and just started firing, the taxi driver died. And I don't think you want to know all the things they call us haha but everyone calls me guero too, it means like blondie. The ward is good but none of the members live in our sector, there are about 110 active members, ya they support us good. and no we are just walking all the time, and we do laundry at a laundromat and ya we bought gas this week!

Alright thanks for everything mom, have a great week! love you all.

Elder Jacob Johnson

January 26, 2015

Hey family, everything is going good here in Rosarito, this week went by pretty quick.  On Monday we went and played soccer but I hurt my ankle pretty bad and by the time we got back to the house I could barely walk and I couldn't sleep until a friend came by and gave me some pain pills. The next day we ate with a member that is a chiropractor and he adjusted my foot and my back too, and after that I was fine.  Then Wednesday we helped a guy prepare and pour a foundation for a little bit!  Other than that we've just been working, we knocked a few doors this week down by the ocean, it was pretty cool, I'll send y'all some pictures.  This week we ran out of gas so I have been heating up water over the stove to shower with, we should probably buy some gas...anyways everything is going fine down here, thanks for the update, have a great week!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

January 19, 2015

Hey family, this week was good!  This week we had a few conferences, we had a zone conference with president and then a zone meeting too. Everything is going good here in Rosarito, the weeks just seem to fly by now.  And to answer your question mom the worst time this week was probably when I went on exchanges with the other elder in the other sector, the elder had forgotten to turn off the gas to the stove and so when we got home the house was full of propane.  haha So we had to plan outside and wait outside for a bit so the house would air out.  It was kinda funny.  We have had a hard time finding new investigators but the president just told us today that from now on we can knock doors, so that will be cool!  We'll see how it goes!  We have one investigator that is progressing good that is going to get married on the 14th of   February to be able to get baptized!  I hope everything is going fine at home!  Thanks for all the support and prayers! Have a great week!!!

January 12, 2015

 

Hey family, this week has been alright.  It's pretty cool being here by the ocean, its actually a lot warmer here than in Mexicali.  We barely need to wear a sweatshirt at night, no mom we don't live with anyone else, we actually live in some apartments behind the house of a less active member. It's a pretty nice apartment compared to the others I've had. This week I've just been getting to know the members here and the people, we really don't have very many members at all in our sector. This week I have had a cold and then I think I got an infection in my stomach again but not too bad.  Anyways sounds like everything is going good at home. We have an investigator that is going to get married on the `14 of February so she can get baptized so that should be pretty cool.  We'll see how it turns out.  It was raining pretty good the last couple days and everything just turned to mud here.  Yesterday we got stuck up in a sector in the hills because the bus wasn't passing due to the mud I would think. On the way up there, the bus was sliding all over the place, I felt like I was at home again off roading haha.  Thanks for everything have a great week!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson