Week 14, April 15 - April 21, 2013 - 1st baptism - Michael is baptized!

Hey family, I'm feeling the love! Thanks for all your e-mails!

Its great to hear how everyone's doing! Props to the new Attorney General at Alta High!

This week was pretty great, guess what, through lots of work and through faith, We got a baptism! Michael was baptized on Saturday, and I had the opportunity to perform the baptismal proper, It was so great! He's one of our deaf investigators. The service was simple, but beautiful. The spirit was strong, It was so great to see that glow in him afterwards. Its fun to be able to talk to him in sign language and see how he is feeling. Hes a good kid and he was so prepared. I gave him a polo and a tie and he was looking sharp when he got confirmed on Sunday. I really don't think I've felt as much Joy as I do right now in my life. It just feels good to share this happiness, the absolute, unvarying, truth of the gospel with other people. It just feels good to do good. That was the first of hopefully many opportunities I'll have to see someone commit to god, and make that change. Thats what its all about, a change of heart. Through hearing the word of god peoples hearts are changed and "they have no more disposition to do evil.. but good continually" I love It!

Were teaching a man who is Muslim. I was a little sketched out at first because here in the Philippines, the people of Islam aren't usually regular Islamic followers, they're radicals who aren't too open to other faiths! But we called president about it and we've been teaching him for awhile, hes read a little bit in the Book of Mormon, but its rough because he dosent have that strong belief in Jesus Christ. But on thursday we stopped by his house and taught him Lesson 2, The plan of salvation. We had the focus on Christ and his atonement. We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and explained that absolutely everything we teach hinges on that book. We promised him that if he read it he'd get an answer. He says that he knows he will, He said he knows the plan of salvation is true, It makes sense, he said. Its been so great to see him open up little by little, and see that faith in christ that he didnt have before, become planted, and start to grow.Its a beautiful thing!

Those are kind of the spiritual highlights of the week!

We havent struggled with spiders much up until now, but this week it was terrifying! There was a wolf spider or gumba in tagalog that was as big as two of my hands! Elder Knight is terrified of spiders, and im not going to lie, we wouldn't go up the staircase for about 10 minutes until we finally got the courage to run up there and shut the door to our room behind us. After another 10 minutes of wondering what to do about it we decided we'd leave the light on on the back porch and open up the screen door a little bit and hopefully it would be attracted by the light and slowly move out! When we woke up in the morning it was gone, but now I feel im paranoid that its going to crawl out when im using the bathroom! but its alright, this is the philippine! Im just glad to be here!

Tagalog is coming great, the accent dosent bother me anymore, and I love talking with people! I keep learninjg new words to improve my teaching, but it feels good to finally be conversational.

The gospels true and the book is blue, If you havent read it, please read it and if youve read it do it again!

I love all of you so much

With love from the Philippines,

Elder Johnson

Week 13, April 8 - April 14, 2013 Michael has a baptism date!

Hey guys!

The work was really good this week, We watched conference down in Lucena at the stake center on Saturday and Sunday. It was great! Really inspiring. Im excited to study the talks a little further.WE HAVE A BAPTISM next week! It's our deaf investigator Michael and he chose me to baptize him! Everyone else that we had scheduled for next week we felt aren't quite ready yet. They just have to show some more change and get a little bit more spiritually ready. We want converts, we don't want to baptize anyone else that will come to church for 3 weeks after their baptism and then go inactive. There are too many of those already here in the Philippines. We work with all of those kind of members now that were baptized 10 years ago because a missionary thought they were ready when they came to church for one week or read a few pages from the BOM. Its got to stop. These people will be baptized that's not a problem. They are so willing that I could have 100 baptisms by the end of my mission honestly, but what would be the use if we don't hold on to the fruits of our labor. We've been working hard on reactivation. Thats what is really fun, is getting in there with a less active, you really just get to know them, share a little message, and use the inspired teaching method. We sit back and be quiet for a little while, let the spirit come in and if you listen, the spirit will give you the question you need to ask.Its amazing that way. And you just ask the question, help them open up a little bit, and often times, these people have a testimony, but they haven't felt the spirit in so long that they have given up. They went the way of the world, and as Elder Ballard talked about, the gap between the church and the world is increasing each and every day, so the world swallowed them up, and they lost that spirit they had felt. How do they get that spirit back? The Book of Mormon. If they read they can feel that spirit again. Its really amazing when you see that light come back in to someone who hasnt felf it in so long.

Thats the good part of the work is when people do come back, Thats when your spirits are high, but there has been times where spirits can drop a little bit, when Im sweating, and hot, and weve walked 5 kilometers up a mountain to find a less active family that we thought was progressing, just to find that they are drunk, asleep, hiding from the Elders, or not home, Theres been frustrating times when almost every single appointment in our planner fell through, and theres been mornings when I wonder what Im doing when I wake up all sticky, in a pool of my sweat, But its all about your attitude, Its about turning outward in the character of Christ, when you do that, your spirits cant be down for too long. I received some really great inspiration from Joseph Gibbons Letter this week. He said, Its all about waking up for someone else. Right now for our investigators, In the future for my wife, and then even further down the road, for my own family. When your waking up for someone else, sleeping in becomes quite a task.

Thats what its all about. Becoming selfless. Its about turning everything over to god, but the only thing god cant get without your permission is your will. If you turn your will over to god, he can make you so much more than you can be on your own.

The church is true,

Love you all,

Elder Johnson

Week 12, April 1 - April 7, 2013

Hey guys!

I hope everyone is well! This week was good, a lot more productive than last week, We have a baptism coming up in two weeks! Michael, he's one of our deaf investigators, over the next few weeks we should have about 12 people baptized! Its pretty exciting.

This week we tried to go find in the outskirts of our area, that was pretty shocking. We went out to whats called the basurahan, or the dump in english. It is where every bit of trash goes from the town of Lucban. There were families living there in this dump, there was this woman living in a broken down garbage truck with her two kids, it was pretty sad, I kind of had a hard time with it, it seemed so unfair, and as we talked with people, It was just one bad choice leading to another and before long, you have a situation like this single mom, 25 years old, no income, with 2 little kids living in a garbage dump. But the gospel can give them hope. We taught them, but its so hard for them to progress because they cant make it to church, they hardly have enough money to get any rice, It was pretty rough to see, but I know gods got a plan for them.

How was conference? we don't get to watch it until next weekend! and we have to travel about an hour by Jeepney to get to it! You guys are so lucky to have conference on TV, Its truly a blessing! I've realized alot of things back home are huge blessings! but the philippines is getting better each day as I get better in the language.

The work is going forward really well here in Lucban, were making progress with our less actives, we got a new less active coming to church every week, and the Members are becoming strengthened through our visits. People are changing for the better, and you know what the secret is, reading the Book of Mormon. That book is amazing! We don't even invite people to church, we just invite them to read and pray to know if its true, and as they read, they change! They become better and as Alma says, they had no more disposition to do evil, but do good continually. Its so great to see people change, It makes all the days of being chased by the craziest looking dogs, sweating profusely, and getting sunburned so worth it.

The gospels true and the book is blue!

With Love from the Philippines

-Elder Johnson

Week 11, March 25 - March 31, 2013 Zone P-day, visit to the SM and PASKO BASAHIN

Kumusta family,

Everyone looks so good in the pictures!

Im sorry we didnt get to talk back and forth today. We had Zone P-day, It was a blast! Its the only P-day I havent been in proselyting clothes! President petersen likes us to be in proselyting clothes if we go out, but Zone P-day is an exception. We came down to Lucena, and played some basketball in the morning, then went to SM, SM is the supermarket, it has a ton of stores! Its the filipino equivalent of a Mall.We had some pizza hut, with rice. Every fast food resturaunt here has rice, Its taken a few weeks, but I love it! Rice is great! We just ate, and talked as a zone, bonded a little. It was nice to see other people, see another place.

Im feeling real good Mom. Ive stopped biting my nails (in large part because theres no toilet paper here in the Philippines and theres only one other alternative, but really its very clean if you do it right haha) and im brushing and flossing everyday! Almost all the people in my Zone are close to the end of their mission, so the onlything emotionally is that as they talk about home sometimes, my thoughts turn to home, But when were out working and having a good time, its hard to think about anything but the work!

So this past week was holy week here in the Philippines, They have some crazy festivities! All week it was hard to get appointments, because many of our investigators had left Lucban because of how crazy the ferstivities are! One thing here in the Philippines is that there is really no restriction on alcohol. Many of our less actives were very honest with us this week. We said a time and asked if we could drop by, and they told us straight tht they will propboably be Drunk at that time... at least they are honest! but it does frustrate the work a little bit. The festivities got crazier and ctrazier as the week went on, until Sunday, Yesterday was the craziest festival of all! its called Pasko Basahin. which means the Christmas of Water. To celebrate christs ressurection, basically the entire city of Lucban is drunk, and they have a pool of ice water infront of their house, and as cars and people walk by, they drench them with the "holy water of the ressurection" It effected our investigators that came to church, all of them were terrified of getting soaked so we didnt have too many at church, but its all good, we'll get them there again next week...So during this basahin usually people have ok judgement, and if they see a filipino in church clothes they'll have the decensy to not drench them, but not us, within two minutes, we heard, AMERIKANO! and before I knew it, every part of me was completely covered in water! And the worst was we still had to walk through half the bayan (town) to get to our apartment. There was one guywho I didnt see, but he had a huge 5 gallon bucket that was filled, and he threw the entire thing right onto my back, I almost fell over! It was crazy! SO we decided that Lucban was too crazy to work in yesterday, so we abandoned it, we rode a jeepney over to another bayan in our area call Luisiana where we found some really cool members, Its hard for them to pay to get to church all the way in Lucban, but many are still faithful, and hopefully we can start up a branch started over there soon!

We have 13 people with a baptismal date, so hopefully with the Lords help they all go through! Weve worked hard, and that would be a great harvest for just 6 weeks! So hopefully on the 20th and 27th ill get some baptismal pictures!

It was a great week! I'm looking forward to general conference! The gospels true and the book is blue. I love it! I hope you guys had an amazing easter, thanks for the pictures! I'll send some next week, this internet shop is pretty sketchy, and I dont want any virus to wipe out my pictures, so i'll play it safe and wait! Sorry!

I love you guys, hopefully Ill get on a little earlier so we can go back and forth next week!

I dont need much, Im doing well! The mission is great! Im loving it!

Talk to you next week!

Week 10, March 18 - March 24, 2013 Zach finds a piano to play!, blessings for the Diego family, and cockroaches:)

This week was great! We had Zone conference on Wednesday. It was at a nice stake center in Lucena, they had a really great keyboard, it was cool to play the piano again. Learned alot from president, we talked about becoming a Zion mission, one in heart, one in mind, one purpose. It was a good meeting, it was cool to see other people too, It was a good break from the daily grind. We are having alot of success with the deafs, we have 14 people who should be baptized on the 20th or 27th. Pretty exciting! The sign language is coming good, It easy to comunicate, but im far from fluent, Tagalog is coming great! I can speak pretty well. Im trying to learn 25 words a day. Im having a hard time understanding. Elder knight says there is a time lapse, but one day you just start understanding it. It will come through prayer! I get a little better every day.

We had a miracle happen this week. Two of our investigators are a newlywed couple, Joel and Kathy Diego. Joel has been in Lucban looking for work., but hasn't had much luck. They have found hope in the gospel, and truly are golden investigators, but they told us Thursday that if Joel couldn't find a job in the next two days, they would be going to Manila to find work for him! We were pretty crushed at the news, but we prayed and fasted for Joel to find a Job. They are too good of investigators to lose! I saw them as a sealed family, as a relief society president, and ward clerk! They are way to good to just lose to lack of employment! Heavenly father heard our prayers, Joel's neighbor likes them alot, and he gave them a field to plant whatever they need, to provide a little income until Joel can get back on his feet. It was amazing, They are continuing to read, and will be baptized on the 20th!

I had my first encounter with a large cockroach this week! That thing was huge! I opened up the cabinet to get my oatmeal in the morning, and I heard a rustling. I moved our brown sugar, and he darted out, It scared me so bad! it was about 3 knuckles big! we got a spatula, flung him out, and squashed it with a shoe! pretty cool story ha, We are teaching the kids with the duck still, they are progressing well. I was able to pet their duck and play with it like a dog, it made for some cool pictures!

The work is good, the gospel is true! hopefully I will get your letters this Thursday. We have a training meeting at the mission home! I hope I do, I want to read my patriarchal blessing again! Im looking forward to conference!

Love you guys.

Week 9, March 11 - March 17, 2013

On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 7:56 AM, Zachary Johnson wrote:
Its so good to hear from you guys! Im glad everyones doing well.

So i was thinking this week, and The church has been releasing alot of news about the church in asia lately, It makes me think that we are close to opening up this part of the world. There are chinese congregations all over asia, and with the new influx of missionaries, I think it cant be too far away. The area 70 for the philippines had a challenge for our mission, he told us to fix the philippines. The baptismal rates here are crazy good, but member retention is hard. Weve been working hard at completing families as well as reactivation. The goal is to have china open, and the church wants to send philppino missionarys there. Its close, and they will have the best job opportunities through learning mandarin, but the only way that will happen is through re-activation, good bishops, good wards, and families centered in the gospel. It makes sense, and it is cool to have an overall goal that we can see what all our work is going toward.

The work is going amazing here in Lucban, We had 10 investigators attend church yesterday, and had 14 new investigators this week. It looks like we will have 6 baptism's on the 20th and are hoping with the lords help to get our other 4 investigators who attended church to baptism. We are teaching between 23 and 25 lessons a week, Its been exhausting, but so great! The lord has really prepared people to hear the message.

Its cool, me and elder Knight call it spiritual sonar, But its a real thing. President talked about it. He said, Heavenly father has placed childeren of israel in the world, and put them in places where they have the best opportunity to hear the gospel, and If you are in tune with the spirit, as a missionary you can literaly feel if someone is one of the childeren of israel. One of our deaf members comes from a family with 6 kids, him and his other deaf brother are members, but the other four are still searching. We had them take us to their house one night and as we got inside and settled down, I felt it. I felt that these 4 kids in their house out in a rice field, with a tin roof, 4 beds, a small stove, and their pet duck, had been prepared to hear the gospel. It was a great lesson, and we have a return appointment as well as 2 of the 4 came to church yesterday. It was an amazing experience.

The sign language is coming great, but tagalog is coming more slowly. Each day, I understand more and more. Each person speaks a little bit different, but as my ears become more used to the accent, I can understand better what theyre saying. The hardest is when you get a 75 year old nanay with no teeth. It just sounds like swishing water around in your mouth! But I know through prayer Ill get it, Its hard, but nothing easy is worth it.

Its been easier this week, Ive adjusted a little more to philippino life. The more I understand of the language, the funner it becomes. I talk to little kids alot, its easier because you dont feel as judged, and its helped me alot.

I know the gospels true, I love it so much, and im thankful to be a missionary!

-Elder Johnson

Dad, two answers to your questions:

A) life with a companion is great! Elder Knight is awesome. Preach My Gospel says to learn all you can from your companion. He has some great ideas, and as ive focused on everything good tht he has to offer, Ive learned alot more and grown to love the guy! Its all about the attitude like you've said

B) LIfe in the philippines is different! Its so crazy, I write down the things that I think are strange in my journal each knight, and every day the list gets smaller and smaller ha. If you guys want to hear what it sounds like, look up and listen to the songs, "Call me Mabey" by Carly Rae Jepsen, "Gangnam Style" by Psy and "Pusong Bato" , I dont know who that is by, as you listen t those songs, picture people yelling, some horns honking, and lots of dogs barking, and thats how it sounds here! Here in the philippines, those 3 songs are blasted through every speaker everywhere! ha its so crazy, Ive adjusted to the food pretty well. Im growing to love rice.. Thats what they have here, rice, fish, pork, and sometimes beef! Not too many veggies, but I try and eat some carrots and green beans when I can, and the Mangos here are amazing! Its still different, but I like it more and more each day!

Week 8, March 4 - March 10, 2013 Moving into 1st apartment with 1st companion, Elder Corrick Knight, learning sign language, bucket showers, and apparently eating a popular street food - balut - boiled fertilized duck eggs:)

(This week we happened to be at the computer at the very same time as Zach! So we went back a forth for a little bit. The following is some of our conversation):

I good, im alive, and happy, still trying to adjust, but I love it!

Hey Bay, Yea hes a good guy! it is weird to be in the philippines! I wake up each morning and say that same thing ha! How are you?

Hey guys!

Its been a great week here in the philippines! We did some good work. Im getting more adjusted each day. Its funny, sometimes I will forget where I am, and then I hear "hey Joe," and I see a toothless, small, old, phillipino man grinning at me. And I remember, Im in the Philippines Theres so much to get used to, but its such an amazing experience.

We are working hard at finding with people that are deaf here in Lucban. Its been pretty tough mentally to try and learn two languages, But I feel like as Im learning sign language to help these people, the Lord is blessing me with the ability to pick up Tagalog a little quicker.

Its been a really cool experience to teach these people! They are so ready for the gospel. We teach them what we can in sign language, and with the help of our translator, and the pamphlets, they get the message. Its a group of 4, and all of them have their own personality's and it comes out through their sign language.

After lesson 1 on Monday We had a member, Raymart, who's deaf, bare his testimony to the group. His testimony is so strong, and even though there was no words, the spirit was so strong! It was truly amazing. After Raymart bore his testimony I had the opportunity to invite each of them to baptism, and they said yes! It was such a great feeling. They each got up after and talked about how they felt during the lesson, and I have no doubt that all 4 of them will make it to their baptismal date on April 20th.

The gospel is true, ever part of it, and the feelings of the spirit are universal, regardless of who you are or what language you speak

On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 5:17 PM, Michelle Johnson wrote:
Us: Isn't it amazing that different personalities can come out through sign language too!! That's so neat. So are you strictly assigned to people with hearing disabilities ?
On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 5:20 PM, Zachary Johnson ‪‬ wrote:
Z: No, we have other investigators as well! we have 8 people with baptismal dates, its been really cool!

Us: When is your first zone conference? Did you get a good chance to talk with your mission president when you arrived? How do you like using the weekly planner? Has it gotten to be a habit yet? I can't believe you have 8 baptismal commitments, awesome! Are you working with a branch or ward? Do you think your next companion will be Filipino? Is it unique to have an American companion?

Z: I have zone conference on the 20th, and yea I got to spend 2 nights at the mission home, and we had a good interview when I first got here. He and sister are really great people! Were working with a ward, its a really good ward to with strong priesthood, and an amazing bishop, Bishop Alpuerto!

On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 5:13 PM, Michelle Johnson ‪‬ wrote:
Us: That is such great news. What is your companion's full name? How can I reach his family? Are you enjoying him and how long has he been out? Is there a ward or a branch where you are?

Z: My companion's name is Corrick Knight. I sent his moms e-mail, This is his last 2 transfers, after me, hes going home! Hes a good guy.

On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 5:29 PM, Michelle Johnson ‪‬ wrote:
Us: How is the weather there? Is it humid? Are the towels too big ? Do they work? What is your apartment like? bucket showers ??

Z: Yea! bucket showers every day! and the weather is not too bad, its really humid comparative to utah, but were up in the mountains so theres a nice breeze sometimes. Because were in the mountains though, the water is SO cold! Its like jumping in a lake! you have to phsych yourself up for 10 minutes before you pour that water on yoursaelf!! haha but the towels are great! our apartment is super nice.It was humbling. When I first walked in It was so different from what im used to, I was like, I have to live here? but then elder knight said it was one of the nicest in the mission, and it really is. We got it cleaned up and i really love it. ill send pictures in a minute
I good, im alive, and happy, still trying to adjust, but I love it!