August 25, 2014

Hey family, this week was great.  My companion and I are doing great.  It's been hot as usual.   I hope you all like my pictures.  We had a baptism this week.  It's been sweet seeing her and her dad progress.  We were definitely guided by God in finding this family. I think I already told you how we found them but a little 3 year old kid came walking up to us in the street one day and his mom came over to pick him up and we contacted her and turns out she was a member but doesn't live here.  I asked her if we could go visit her grandma that she was visiting there.  She didn't want to let us, but I insisted so she took us to the house of her grandma and they were visitng.   We started teaching them and he was reactivated and she got baptized yesterday.   It's been real rough here this summer but the Lord has blessed us for our diligence and obedience. Transfers are this next Monday, I will probably get shipped out this time.   I went on interchanges with Elder Watts, we bought a pizza and mountain dew to celebrate our one year mark.   I took some videos but it won't let me send them.   There was a super bad rain storm one day this week, it was great! We got soaked, it was a pretty strong storm!  Anyways thanks for everything fam, have a great week.  I love you all.

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

August 18, 2014

Elder Watts

 Our new dog......

Hey family, this week was good.  Thanks for the pics mom, looks like you had a good time at Bear Lake. It's been pretty hot this week, I'm pretty sure these are the hottest weeks of the year and in a couple weeks it will start getting  a little bit cooler. We had a zone conference this week with President, it was good I also went on exchanges with Elder Watts again so he could do the interview for Abraham.  Abraham got baptized on Thursday, it was great, he got really sick on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday from bronchitis and he wasn't feeling up to it but we helped him and prayed a lot for him and he was able to be baptized. He is the one we found from the story I told you a few weeks ago.  It's crazy sometimes the way the Lord leads us to the people that are ready and prepared to receive the gospel. This week we are going to baptize a joven named Arleth. We found her dad and her a few weeks ago and have been progressing alot, her dad was a member less active for many years and now is preparing to go to the temple. Anyways everything is good here, just trying to endure the extreme heat, my body is fried and my feet always have problems but I'm doing fine! In 2 weeks its transfers.  This last week I ate some cow stomach soup. It's the only thing I really don't like haha it smells the same as when you're gutting an elk.  To think I was eating it almost made me sick haha anyways have a great week!!!

Ya we eat with members everyday, no they usually aren't very clean but I always bless it twice in my head before it eat it haha nah its not too bad, I'm actually a little surprised that I haven't gotten sick for a while cause with so much heat its hard to preserve the food. We walk almost everywhere!

 

Sounds fun, I hope Grandpa is doing good,  tell him hi for me, and tell him that nobody has stabbed me yet like he told my when I opened my call haha how is Bri doing?? Are you getting everything ready for the wedding? I still get psyched out when I think Brooke is getting married.

 

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

August 11, 2014

Hey family, this week was good.  This morning we went and played soccer with the zone, it was good but it was so hot we only lasted about 30 minutes. It's been hotter than ever, my nose is just peeling off completely haha but I'm doing great! This week we found a family one night and we invited them to a baptism the next day and they went.  Then afterwards he told me that he had seen me before in Tijuana, he is family of some members that I know in Tijuana.  It wasn't causality that we were able to find them, he came to church with us on Sunday too, it was a cool experience. We've been working good my companion and I, just enduring the heat, its sometimes intolerable. But anyways hope everything is going good at home!!! Have a great week!!

Love,   Elder Johnson

August 4, 2014

Hey family,

Thanks for the e-mail and the pictures mom.   Looks like you've had a good week! Congratulations Brooke, I cant believe you're getting married, seems like just the other day we were running around in diapers together. It's crazy how the time flies by. In exactly one year from today I'll be home!!! This week was good, it's been super hot, but Saturday it started to rain and it wasn't as hot, it's a miracle that it rained here in Mexicali but we enjoyed it. Nothing too exciting happened this week, we had interviews with President this week it was good! Sounds like you'll have a busy week being fair week!! Everything here is going good, this week I went on interchanges with Elder Watts, it was good, I hadn't been with him since the MTC, its crazy how much has changed since then. Anyways my companion and I are doing good together!! The heat is starting to get to me a little bit but I'm thinking I'll be leaving here in a couple weeks!! Anyways have a great week fam!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

July 21, 2014

Hey family, thanks mom for the email. It's good to hear Beau is still alive and is walking good. Jared sent me a picture of him and he looks super old now. That's pretty crazy the tree fell down! It's good to hear you were able to go boating with grandpa on the river!! This week has been good. It's been hotter than ever, we are almost getting to the hottest time of the year here.  Transfers were today, I'm staying here with my same companion Elder Algeria again.  I'm good with it. I don't know if my  body will be able to handle the heat but I get along good with my companion and we work good together.   We have a few people that are going to get baptized here soon. Yesterday we had a cool experience.   We were walking in the street at about 4 in the afternoon, it was so hot I thought I was going to get heatstroke.  I was just trying to stay alive until the sun went down hhaha ( just to let you know there isn't anyone in the street from about 11 until 4 other than missionaries and dogs haha) but a man came out of his house and yelled at us to go over to him and we went to his house and he started telling us about the trials he was going through and we taught him for about 10 minutes and he wanted to be baptized. I know that especially here in Mexicali if we work diligently the Lord will bless us abundantly. We also found a family yesterday that is super awesome that we are going to teach tonight. It's been going good here, Elder McCracken got changed to Tijuana and Elder Watts is coming in his spot, he was in my district in the MTC.  Anyways thanks for everything fam, hope you have a fantastic week!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

July 14, 2014

Hey family, this week has been good! We were able to baptize Ramona!! We are witnessing miracles every week down here. The Lord is definitely looking over us and is involved in our lives every day. The baptism of Ramona was awesome, we had various investigators at the baptism too. We have various people preparing to be baptized. This last week we had a cool experience, we were walking and a little kid that is like 2 or 3 years old came walking  up to us when we were walking in the street and so his mom came over to pick him up so we started talking with her and she let us in the house of her family that she was visiting.  It turns out that her cousin that lives there is a member of the church from Sonora  but his daughter  isn't a member and we started teaching them and they went to the baptism and to church on Sunday. We also found a family that were just waiting to have the gospel in their lives, they went to the baptism too. I know the Lord is blessing us for our diligence, sometimes my body just can't keep going because of all the heat and walking but we are seeing the fruits of our labors. I hope you all are having a great summer. I can't believe you ran over beau mom.....poor guy. We met our new president this week, he came with everything. he is really powerful  and I am looking forward to serving with him. Anyways have a great week!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson

July 7, 2014

 Elder McCracken interviewed Juan for baptism

Hey family!!  This week was good, sounds like you guys had lots of fun on the fourth of July!! Thanks for the pictures, they look great!! This week we were able to baptize Juan. It's been amazing to see the way the Lord has changed the life of this man. He has gone through so many trials and difficulties in these last few months. To be able to know that you have been an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring a soul unto him is a feeling hard to describe. His baptism was awesome. Anyways we've just been fighting the heat every day. Yesterday it was 45 degrees Celsius. It just keeps getting hotter and hotter every week.  We're almost getting to the hottest weeks of the year!!  My body is taking a hit physically, I keep getting blisters and rashes but besides that I'm doing great down here.   I ate some sting ray tacos the other day for the first time, they weren't too bad haha the work is going good, my companion and I get along good.   We work good together.  Anyways thanks for everything family, have a fantastic week, and enjoy the summer!!!

Love Elder Jacob Johnson