Thursday, June 18, 2009

June 15 - 1st Birthday on the Mission!

Michael had his 20th Birthday last Friday. I attached a picture. One of the members took them to a Mexican restaurant and they donned the sombrero on him and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. Hopefully you can open the picture. I pasted in some excerpts of his e-mail today.

This week was good- we got a new investigator John- he says he likes to hear anything about Jesus but just doesn’t like Jehovah witness' - We taught him the message of the restoration and he’s starting to see how we stand apart from other Christian churches-

We had a really good lesson with Tasha- she is our best candidate for baptism right now- she missed church last week and said she'd be there this Sunday but again she missed- we even had a sister go to go pick her up- we are going to try and teach her in a member's home this week- the bishop's home actually- she wants to get baptized- she’s a little shy and I guess has trouble waking up in the morning.


We had dinner with a family the Stoelting's. They have two little girls and a boy- The little girls ages 4-7 always remind me of Jenna- their daughter named Elana is 5- she likes me a lot- we went to an activity Saturday and she asked me "Elder can you sit next to me?" haha

We had zone conference- it was our last one with President Hobbs- June 30th he'll get replaced by president Thomas- it seems so weird to happen- I’m really going miss the Hobbs' - Sister Hobbs is just a ray a beaming light- she just lights up a room wherever she goes- she really is an example of matt 5:16- and pres. Hobbs is probably the most spiritual man I’ve ever met and had a relationship= he’s amazing- I know he was called of God and I know that president Thomas is also called of God to come takeover- He gave us some really good advise for the rest of our lives in his closing remarks-

Well I had an ok birthday- Bro. Isenhour took us out to a Mexican place Casa Grande- it was pretty good- the guys came around and put a big sombrero on me and sang to me and put icing on my nose- I attached a picture to the email

We had a really good lesson with Kenan again at the Messisco's. We taught him the plan of salvation- He really liked it- he understood that we lived with heavenly father before and that we learned his plan for us and that this earth life was part of the plan for our spiritual progression- and now he has been lead in this life to know the plan again- Just because we know the plan doesn't make it easy to follow the plan though- but it gives greater understanding and peace which does provide the fuel to our fires to give our best efforts to follow the plan-

We taught Lewis Wallace again- He actually invited us over for a cookout after church- So we had some burgers- - He doesn't understand the restoration completely- and if he does he's not accepting it- He loves the Book of Mormon- that was why I had hope for him- but he thinks it's just another bible out there- He says there's the Holy Bible, the Catholic Bible, the Presbytarian Bible, the Book of the Mormon’s bible, and many many more bibles out there that haven’t come forth yet. I told him he really only named two records there- the Bible and the Book of Mormon- There are Many different versions and translations of the One Holy Bible but that there is only One Book of Mormon. I explained that with one dot you can draw numerous lines different sizes and angles going through the dot- but when you add a second dot you can only draw ONE line through the dots- That’s why God brought forth the Book of Mormon. With just the Bible it is confusing because it contains the Gospel but many plain truths have been taken out and that's why many different churches are using this ONE book but some pull it this way and others pull it that way- With the Book of Mormon in the picture they solidify one another- The book of Mormon covers things not covered in the bible and the bible covers some things not in the book of Mormon. We emphasized that either it's true or it isn't. And he needs to read and really pray for that witness for himself. We then bore testimony of that we knew it WAS true.
We also went to the Passmore's and helped them around their house with some cleaning and stuff- They are continuing to progress once again and come back to church- After away from the church over 8 years they said it felt good to come back- and that they knew God had forgiven them for falling away- And it’s true - God is a loving God- As we are willing to repent he is willing to forgive- He is always longing for the lost sheep to come back!
Love Elder Michael Johnson

June 8 (sorry, delayed a week...)

Michael finished his first full week in his new area-----I’m just pasting in what he wrote pretty much----his birthday is June 12th---missionaries love cards for their birthday---here’s his new address again:

210 Sunset Dr. #516
Salisbury, NC 28147



“Well this week was good- The ward is getting to know me and I think we have already gained a lot of trust with the bishop and leaders that has been lost a little bit lately- A lot of GREAT missionaries of passed through this area of Salisbury and this ward is really great for missionary work when we get them rolling- so I feel a little like I have to prove myself in a sense but I don’t know-

The ward had 6 baptisms last year- we had a goal of 14 for this year but are only at 4 so far- Hopefully we can get things rolling-

We got 4 new investigators this week- One I’m excited about is Lewis Wallace- He was an old media- I’m guessing that he just fell through the cracks- no one ever went to see him- but he had been reading the Book or Mormon on his own for the past few months- he is loving it- One problem is that he is STUBBORN and PRIDEFUL and it is on his own time and his own way so he has a little problem with commitment- we click pretty good though with our personalities-

We had a lesson with a recent convert named Tay- she’s a black girl about 20- she is a former Crip(the gang) it was amazing that she was able to get out of it the way she did- usually the case is you get out either hospitalized or dead-

There is a less-active couple that is trying to get active after 8 years of inactivity- they are trying to get back to the temple- They are just like a couple kids arguing over dumb little stuff haha- I hope I don’t get like that haha-

I went on an exchange to Albemarle- That is the small town where my love Kellie Pickler is from- AHHH I was hoping to run into her but we didn’t haha- I heard she visits there a lot to her grandmother- There is a girl in the ward over there who was friends with her in high school so I can’t get sent there because all I’ll try to do is get the information of where she stays haha-

We had a good lesson with a new kid named Kenan Johnson- he is 13 years old- we taught him at the Messisco's house or should I say land- haha- it is so nice- like 4 or 5 families live in houses next to each other, they own 300 acres where they are- they have a private lake- it is so beautiful= brother and sister Messisco went visiting teaching riding together side by side on their harley davidson's- it was pretty awesome- they are such a cool family- they have 2 daughters' age 14 and 12- they play like every sport there is haha-

But Kenan wants to try to get baptized mid July- he lives with his mother in concord but come to Salisbury for the weekends with his grandparents- his father is also over here- his mom is not a member and his dad is but is less-active- his grandparents are both active- he waited outside the church doors for like 1/2 hour until his dad got to church a little late- he’s awesome for the circumstances that he came out of-

I’m really impressed with the youth in this ward- a lot are converts- it amazing- a lot of the members as well- its so cool so see the difference in the church out here in the south- Well I love you all

That’s it for now"

Monday, June 1, 2009

Elder Johnson Update: Transferred!

Family and Friends:

Michael was a little sad and excited this past week. He was transferred from Charlotte to Salisbury North Carolina, about 42 miles northeast from Charlotte. Below are Michael’s comments from this last week: His new address:

210 Sunset Dr. #516

Salisbury, NC 28147

“Well I had a good first Sunday- Salisbury seems like a great ward- they are definitely pretty good missionary minded- the ward is a mix of older people and then also a lot of YOUNG YOUNG couples including returned missionaries within 5 years- so I think that’s pretty cool- The Bishopric seems great- the first councilor pulled me aside and was like "I’m glad to have you-" one of my first AP's Elder Burton started his mission here in Salisbury and his parents came this weekend to pick him up and he visited the first councilor's family and told them they were in good hands because I was here now- so he said he had great respect for that elder and that he knows ill do great here and to give elder Nielson( my companion) a good push – I’m excited to be here now- I feel like a lot can happen here- So my companion is elder Nielson- he's been out for about 18 months- he a pretty good teacher but isn’t the best at talking to random people SO again ill have to carry the load- I am glad though I am still a senior companion and DRIVER- I’m driving my nice 2006 Chevrolet Mailbu- :) Elder Nielson is a real neat guy- we have hardly anything in common but we get along great- he’s a video gamer- that’s basically all he’s ever done- he’s from Syracuse, Utah- he went to a little charter school over there- No sports- No choir BUT he does like to sing- he wants to be in the choir here with me so we'll probably start that soon- he reminds me SOOOOOOO much of Christian- he has the same body structure- the same demeanor- he walks around the same and moves how Christian would- I can’t explain it- it just is haha-

Well my last week in Charlotte was sad- I basically said bye to all my favorite families and investigators and got some pictures- hopefully I’ll have some exciting news to report next week- love you all.

As you can see----it looks like Michael being able to be ‘Driver’ helps a lot!!!----oh the little things in life has always helped to keep the Johnson spirit alive!!----lol---The exciting news that Michael is referring to is finding out whether a Mother and three daughters that he was teaching were able to get baptized in Charlotte.

Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughts on Michael’s behalf---