Ooh, ooh, half way there! (and living on a prayer!)

Hello family and friends! Wow, what a week. I'm glad to hear that you guys went to the Newell's homecoming. They are the best! Lemme tell you about my week and how I passed the Hump!

Mån: We helped the apartment couple carry in some new desks for us, because ours were falling apart. And we got some office chairs and they are a lot better than the wooden ones we used to have:) Ha, I'm so spoiled. It's crazy. We met K at the church  and taught him. We later met up with N again and taught her the Restoration. She accepted the invitation to be baptized when she knows it's true. That's interesting what we do as missionaries with the baptismal invitation. We say "will you be baptized...when you know it's true" instead of "if". It's bold, it's powerful, but that's because we know it's true.

Tis: My mission is focusing a lot on family history. We have received a booklet called "My Family" and it is simple and easy and everyone can do it! I think I have finally begun to catch the Spirit of Elijah and I am really happy about it!:) I've already begun to put some information on familysearch.org and put up pictures. You all should look into it!

We have had some difficulty with our bikes lately -we've taken them to the shop 4 times in the past month. We now walk -which is a lot slower. Such is life. By the end of the week we would have 15 scheduled appointments get cancelled. So getting 16 lessons this week was a miracle. We should have had at least 30!

We got into this building but our investigator wasn't home so what did we do? We tracted it of course! We found a really cool Palestinian guy. We told him about the Book of Mormon and he let us in so we did a basic Restoration lesson. Afterwards he said, "What happens to me if I don't follow your beliefs?" I said that we are a church of invitation. We don't force anyone to do anything, we just invite them to try it out and see if it is true for themselves. He was totally down with that and immediately began reading the Book of Mormon after we left!

Ons: Well this day was a trying one. We had 7 lessons scheduled for today -all of them cancelled. We swungby a lot of people -no one wanted to meet. It was pretty warm -about 85-90 with humidity. We contacted 30 people and only 1 of them actually listened. But we kept working hard and doing what we know was true. I remembered something that Pops told me a while ago that really has helped me with situations like this. I remember when I was in 8th grade, playing in the Allstar Football game, I had sprained my ankle, pulled my hamstring, and jammed a couple of fingers. I was done. I had no desire or energy to finish the game and it was only halftime. Pops came down and I told him how I was feeling, expecting him to be sympathetic. Nope. He just said, "Suck it up." I was so angry and absolutely mad at him for saying that. But I used that frustration to carry me through the rest of the game, and I believe I ended up scoring as well. When life gets hards and is beating upon you, just suck it up. Now I know not everyone can do this, but I am very grateful for that opportunity to learn to never give up when times are hard, when the world is beating on you and denying everything that you have to offer. I have learned to press forward with hope that something good is coming up. How sad it would be if we gave up just before the finish line, when we could not see it because you first had to cross a giant mountain. Do all that you can and leave the rest to Christ.

Tors: 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!! Man, how crazy is that! Just one year ago I was pulling up to the Mtc and saying goodbye to the worldly world. Now when I think, "what was I doing this time last year?" I respond, Oh yeah, I was on my mission ha. Weird. I thought of all the things that I have done so far in just one year. So many memories were flooding in and testifying to me that what I have done is pleasing to God. I laughed out loud at times thinking of certain things, and I cried as well. There is still so much more I can give and do until the end. It's like having a midlife crisis, or so I imagine. I wouldn't know, I'm not in my 50s or whatever.

Zone Meeting

We had zone training where we got to wear sports clothes. We had an egg toss, relay race and talked about our vision with the new mission president. "Hastening the work of the 2nd Harvest by helping others live the Gospel of Jesus Christ" or as I like to call it HTWOTSHBHOLTGOJC:) hahahaha. We then took some time to re-evaluate what we have done on our mission so far and what we want to do to better ourselves. It was fitting since I was already thinking about that today with it being exactly 1 year. 

Found a cannon in the hills

We decided to hit up this outlying town in our area. Way far out, but it'd had been 6 months since I've been in this area and have not been to Åkers Styckebruk, it reminds me a lot of Pocatello Idaho. We had a referral there -turned out not so interested. We had a TU, who was gone. And then we had some less actives who were very friendly. They are from Chile and don't like how the church isnt the same here as there. They are like a lot of people here who think that there are too many good people in the world that there couldn't possibly be one true church. Man, that is so sad. I then had a conference call with my MTC group. It was good to hear from them all and it we realized that our sisters only have 6 months left. :O crazy. It was a good "birthday" here-I wore my elephant tie and it looked good.

Fre: We did some swingbys and language study and then sports night. 

Lör: Sometimes I have sleepless nights and don't want to get out of bed, but I do it and give my all to God and he helps me. I have a burning conviction that I could not do any of this on my own. I rely so much on God for absolutely everything, he is able to work through me to fulfill his purposes. It's truly remarkable. We met an old (not age) potential named N. She loves talking about Christianity so she was ecstatic to meet with us! She was able to find God on her own after her mother died, though none of her family is religious at all. She was really cool and respectful, so we'll see how it goes. 

Sön: At church today we were able to have K, D an B AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY!!! Whooo, it was great to finally see them all again! And even better, we had 2 families from Switzerland and Germany visiting. So it was a full house! We didnt have enough english translators, so elder C took the visitors and I took B's family ha. It was quite a lot to deal with but it all worked out. Things look promising for B to get out of his current circumstance. He was so happy to be at church and feel the spirit again. It was amazing. After church we decided to call some people while sitting outside on a bench. A lady saw us and came down to talk because she loves seeing Mormons but never really knew what they believed in! Ha, well thats wonderful! We taught her the restoration and she took it all in. She was super funny and awesome (she's half Swede half Finn.) Sometimes people are guided to us rather than us guided to them. Either way, it is always so fun!

I'm on a soccer pitch - I'm in heaven.

Well, it's true. I'm halfway there, and I'm living on a prayer day to day. I got over that hump and I feel very happy with what the Lord and I have accomplished. Am I gonna plateau? Absolutely not! There is still so much more for me to do here and learn and grow. I have loved all that has happened to me so far: the good and the bad, and I'm excited for the trials ahead to continue to shape me into the missionary and person I am meant to be. I know this work is true with every fiber of my being. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here. If it wasn't I wouldn't be able to get through the hard times, as well as the good. Jesus Christ is my Savior, he is your savior. God lives and loves us so much. The biggest thing that I want to happen this year of my mission is completely give everything I have to God and let him work through me. Let the mission go through me and change me. I love this work. I love you all, have a great week!

Med Kärlek

Äldste Johnson