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| Elders Aboki, Kennedy, and Johnson visiting Takinoa and Kueita |
This week has been crazy busy!
Monday we celebrated "Thanksgiving" with pancakes, eggs, spam, and juice! We all ate together as a district it was awesome!!
The rest of the week was spent splitting our time between Temwaiku 1 and Temwaiku 2, since my companion didn't come until last Friday. We didn't teach much because the areas are super big, but the people we did teach were really solid!!
Not much to tell for the week other than it was super busy and hot. The days go by soo fast because we stay busy all day, which is a blessing and a curse. I am still improving on the language, and have even been able to answer questions during lessons with the help of the spirit. The days have been blurs, I love this work.
Thursday was service, we got to dig a hole for a member for a well. I felt like I was in the movie Holes cause it was super hot, and there were a ton of lizards that were down there with me!! haha I cut my hand because there was glass down there when I was grabbing a huge log! It is all healed up now!!
Friday My companion showed up, his name is Elder Kennedy. I also found out that Elder Aboki would work with us until he gets his visa for the U.S. He is serving in Washington!!
This has been good because he doesn't speak very much English, so it forces us to speak more Kiribati! We try to teach him English and he tries to teach us Kiribati! haha It's hard but I have already learned so much!
We have tracted a ton these last few days and have found a ton of new investigators!! The area is booming! There are so many places we haven't gone and there are a ton of people we can teach. The Lord has definitely prepared so many people to hear his message!! I love this work, not going to lie it is rough and really taxing but the work is worth it! I am so glad that the Lord has trusted me with so great of a work!
Saturday we had a baptism, the power has been out in Temwaiku since they are working on the roads, so I got to do the Baptism in the Ocean!! It was So cool!! Except Elder Kennedy dropped my camera in the Ocean and it completely died! Sooooo... hahah its alright he said I could use his camera every once and a while!!
Super good week!!
I love you all and I am Praying about you!
Love Elder Johnson
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| Sunset on Tarawa |
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| Elder Johnson getting a Haircut |
I'm glad everything is going well at home, its been tough I've been thinking about you guys a lot. It makes me feel down sometimes, but then I try to get lost in the work. It's been good with my new companions, yep I'm in a threesome! We have worked hard, have lessons all day and tract a lot!!
I am going to focus so much on the true meaning of Christmas this year. Jesus Christ is literally the greatest gift the world has ever had and will have. I have a strong testimony that as I focus on the true meaning and keep working hard it will all be okay. *I love you guys soooo much!!
I am going to learn so much from these people, I know it! I already have, I know that I can be happy with so little! The people from Kiribati have so little, and they give sooo much!
One thing that I forgot to tell you last week, last Sunday was their primary program in the branch. All the little kids gave little talks, and they only sang one song! Guess what song??? An article of faith song XD it made me laugh because I know how much you love that song!! (I am a primary teacher, Elder Johnson was my teaching partner before he left for his mission. I cannot stand the Article of Faith songs, they drive me nuts!)
I have a 2 new companions, one Elder Rodger Kennedy from Indiana, and then an Elder that is waiting for his visa from Kiribati. He is going to serve in Washington! It has been really good because it has been forcing us to speak more, we are also trying to teach him a little English.
I asked Elder Johnson a few questions in my letter to him this week. Here are the questions with his responses:
What has been the most spiritual experience you have had so far?
The most spiritual experience has got to be my lesson yesterday, They talked about Elder Openshaw, who is the AP, who had his parents, and one sibling die in a plane crash while he was serving. He found a letter from his mom the day he found out about the accident saying "we pray that you remember that who you are". He stayed out on his mission even though he has two little brothers who are alone. He put God first, he knows the plan. I learned that if he can have enough faith to keep pushing forward, so can I.
What has been the scariest experience so far?
The scariest, there really hasn't been, probably the fact that I have warts on my feet still and I don't want them to get infected, that and knowing the computers have viruses and they could delete all my pictures!!
How is the food treating you?
The food is still really good, I am learning to cook more, the other night I cooked some really good chicken and rice flavored with tomato soup!
What is your branch like? (A branch is a small congregation of members of the church.)
The branch is amazing!! There are a good 60 plus people who attend and we roughly get four to six investigators attending each week. Sometimes it starts on time other times it doesn't. The leaders are good. The branch president, Taubure has a lot on his plate because his counselor's are at work, but we are working to strengthen the branch!
How are your investigators doing?
My investigators are amazing we had a baptism last week and I got to perform it in the ocean!! it was sooo sweet, we found a lot more investigators over the last three days just tracting, it has been super amazing/hard.
I love you dad,
Love Elder Johnson
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| Thanksgiving Dinner |
Mom,
Last week we had eggs, pancakes, hash browns and spam in celebration for thanksgiving it was super amazing!!! I want to let you know that you and the family are what I am the most thankful for during this Thanksgiving season!! I love you so much!!!
Mom, your email helped me so so much, this week has been kind of a struggle because I have a hard time knowing if I am really doing the right thing because I can't speak this language. But I know that by working hard and continually praying it will all work out in my favor. I have been striving to be more thankful in my prayers, and let me tell you it feels a lot better than just asking for things. It really opens your eyes to all those things that you do have and all that the Lord has blessed us with.
I know that I have to try first and that I have to give it my absolute best and then the Lord will qualify me.
I am trying to work so hard, but there are things that make it so difficult, the language, homesickness, and knowing I have to be here for two years, but yesterday we had a lesson. They talked about Elder Openshaw, who is the AP, who had his parents, and one sibling die in a plane crash while he was serving. He found a letter from his mom the day he found out about the accident saying "we pray that you remember who you are" He stayed out on his mission even though he has two little brothers who are alone. He put God first, he knows the plan. I learned that if he can have enough faith to keep pushing forward, so can I. \
I love you mom with all my heart,
Love your son,
Elder Johnson.
P.S Elder Kennedy dropped my camera in the ocean and it mate, (died) and I can't send pictures because there are viruses on the computers that will delete all the pictures on the SD card, so if you guys could send a hard drive Ill back them up then when my SD card is full I'll send it home.
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