"Come to teach. Come to be taught. Come in the likeness in the image of God." -Nahko

Aloha!!

Man, It's been another great week down here in the desert! It actually hasn't been as hot as it was last week. The wind has picked up a bit, so instead of burning in the sun, the struggle has been trying to stay to the side of the road and to NOT get blown into the cars wizzing past us on Main Street! I'm just kidding, we stay safe :)

My leg has been healing up real nice, and we've been able to be out on our bikes! We've had some pretty great lessons. Visits with Jeremy are always interesting. I really feel bad for the guy. He recently escaped from what he always refers to as his "20 years of darkness" where he didn't take take care of himself and was hooked on crystal meth and dope. He's been clean for a year, but still doesn't see himself as a human and doesn't feel like he can function in a human society right now. He wishes he could just be an accountant and have a girlfriend. He feels like he needs to leave and go over the "silent mountains" so he can finish his novel that he's working on. He's had a hard life, doesn't get along with his family, and doesn't really have any friends, so we're just trying to help him the best we can. 

We picked up a couple new investigators this week that we're pretty excited about! We knocked on their door week 1 of the transfer and they said they'd like to hear our message. We and haven't had much luck catching them home, but finally on week 6 we were able to meet with them! They are a nice young couple that have a strong relationship with God and are open minded to seeing other people's view. It's really neat being able to share your beliefs and listen and get a better understanding of what other people believe as well.

Life is good. Never forget that your Heavenly Father loves you. Stay positive and love your life!

Aloha Ke Akua

-Elder Johnson

Sunset

Elder Paxton

"Punch him" -Elder Jarvis "... I'm like Gandi" -Elder Johhnson

Aloha!!

Boy, what week.. It's progressively getting hotter, which makes biking around more intense.  I'm pretty sure Peach street was created by Satan himself. Any time we tell people we bike Peach the reaction is almost always, "wait, you mean you ACTUALLY bike Peach??" There was a day this week we ended up and down THREE TIMES. But as the wise words of 311 say, "challenge comes and goes; there will be another. I say bring it on!" 

I ended up taking a little spill on my bike. We were biking home from an appointment and we just turning into our driveway. I was coming in hot right as I was turning on a patch of sand on the asphalt. My bike slipped and it was game over.. I got some minor road rash on my hands, but the worst is on my knee. It tore my pants and it kind of looks like I have a quarter-sized swamp right below my right kneecap. But I'm alive :)

We had some pretty awesome lessons this week!  We are teaching this couple, Gretel and Raul. The missionaries in this area before us had taught Gretel a little bit, and Elder Paxton and I have met with Raul a little a couple time. They each have pretty busy schedules, but this week we were able to catch both of them together! Raul is a smart man. He is really curious about the Book of Mormon and had actually done a significant amount of reading from it. From the last time we saw him he had read 1 Nephi THREE TIMES! I have NEVER had an investigator read that much on their own in such a short period of time. He had a lot of great questions from his reading; a lot of which where somewhat skeptical, but I say all questions are good questions.

Yolanda is still making progress! She has fallen a few times, which has been really hard on her and she hasn't been able to make it to church the past couple weeks. However, she is understanding the Word of Wisdom more and is making progress with letting go of coffee.

Missionary work is good. Sometimes it's hard, but it's good. I love what I'm doing out here and I love the chance I have to make a difference in other people's lives :)

Stay Positive and love you life!

Aloha ke akua

-Elder Johnson

Bowling

This picture is blurry...sorry

Tree house

Took a spill on my bike....knee and hands were injured

"A life for a life, I give mine to you" -Nahko

Aloha!!

We've had another great week here in Hesperia! The highlight would definitely have to be the Skype home! So great to see them and hear their voices :) In a way, it kind of reminds me why I'm out here as a missionary. I'm helping others bring their families closer together by living the gospel. But man, it's crazy what can change after just being out a short time.. Biz is taller than Kiley and Mom.. Kiley's graduating.. and Dallin has already grown and shaven a full beard!! 

This week we got to go do service at the Lord's Table agian. It's a program that the Catholic church puts on to provide food every morning to the homeless and those who are in need of food. It's a really neat thing seeing the unity of people coming together to help people without looking for anything in return. 

Afterwards we went down to Apollo Burger, which is close by and serves the most creatively insane burgers! There are a variety of burgers, including the Manimal, which has an 8 oz burger with two grilled cheese sandwiches for buns. They have a burger called the Luther, which is a a bacon cheeseburger with Krispy Kream doughnuts as buns.This time I decided to go for the Double Luther, which has two patties and an extra doughnut in between :D

We are still having some great progress with our investigators. Yolanda is still progressing toward baptism. Giving up coffee has been a real struggle for her, but she is making progress. Jeremy still doesn't think her needs to be baptized yet, but I just think it's going to take some time.

Stay positve and love your life!

Aloha Ke Akua

-Elder Johnson

Sunset

Apollo Burger

The Double Luther...Krispy Kreme donuts for buns and in the center

"In this great future you can't forget your past, so dry your tears I say" -Bob Marley

Alooooha!

Man, this has been a pretty awesome past couple of weeks! Fist of all, after wandering 8 months in the Mojave Desert, I FINALLY found a drum set!! We were doing service at Brother Orosco's place with some other missionaries and they invited us inside for some lunch. During lunch one of the Orosco boys mentioned something about his guitar. He invited us into a room where I beheld such a beautiful sight.. A drum set and several electric and acoustic guitars. I was speechless. We asked if we could play and then had a riot!! It turns out Elder Brown is quite the musician! We were switching off jamming with each other and with brother Orosco and his son! It was a good time. I had missed playing music so bad :)

 Our investigator, Yolanda is doing really well! She is in her 60s, has been taking lessons since July, and has finally made the commitment to be baptized! She is seriously awesome. The only thing holding her back at the moment is giving up drinking coffee, but she has faith that she can quit.

Our investigator, Jeremy, is also making some progress. It's really interesting going over there. He feels like God is telling him he doesn't need to be baptized right now, and that he should "take a break." We are still working with him and helping him overcome his challenges. 

The missionaries in the Arrowhead had an awesome baptism for Sue on Saturday!! Sue is awesome! She is 24 and a little mentally handicapped, so her parents are still technically her guardians. She has been investigating the church for about a year and her parents have now given her permission to be baptized! Both Elder Coburn and Elder Infanger, who had taught Sue before, came up for the baptism. Man, I missed those guys! 

I really do love missionary work. I feel like I understand the purpose of missionary work more and more each day. Of course there is the purpose written in Preach my Gospel, to "invite other to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel...," which is true. But I think the basic principles of missionary work are charity and love. We are out here trying to help people better there lives and come unto Jesus Christ so that they can experience eternal joy. It is impossible to do that, or at least do it well, unless we truly love them. 

Stay positive and love your life!!

Aloha ke akua

Love,

Elder Johnson

My bike

cruising down the street

Hammocking at our place