Elder Johnson's Journey: 1 YEAR!!!!

Y'ALL,

I've been out one year. ONE YEAR. UNO ANO... 365 DAYS, 52 WEEKS... ONE YEAR. woah...

I've learned a lot. And by a lot I mean that I've learned so much that I have changed. This year full of experiences, hardships, sweet moments, bitter losses, hardwork, awkward situations, and a blast of fun, has changed who I am, and has prepared me so much for the life after the mission. Wow. Well, I suppose I could make a list of a few things I've learned...

Musical Talent: With a lot of downtime between meals, and waiting on other missionaries I've picked up the harmonica, sight reading hymns, beat boxing, and I've been singing my heart out to the keyboard in my apt.

Social Skillzzz: I have talked to some of the scariest people in the WORLD. I mean it. 7' tall sketchy dudes w/ teardrop tattoos, Gang members, drugged out women, hobos, and the scariest of all... College girls. I can have a decent convo in Spanish too! Well, it's more like Spanglish here in TX, but still.

Perception: I have gained an eternal perspective that has come from careful study of the gospel. I understand who I am, what I need to do, and that my decisions have a consequence. A lot of them have eternal consequences. Scary, right?

Prioritization: The mission has taught me so much... SO MUCH about prioritization and organization. That's one of the keys to being a good missionary. PRIORITIZE.

LOVE: Training Elder Lake has taught me so much about love. I feel like I'm a dad. I really do. Since the day mijo was birthed, and enter into the field, I have felt responsibility over him. More than responsibility... real Love. It's something hard to describe with words. I love him so much, and would be devastated if anything happened to him. Haha I even find myself saying things to him that my parents said to me. Weird.

And the list goes on and on, but I have learned so much. Really, I promise.

The list of people we are teaching regulates like the temperature here in Lubbock. One day it might be 12, the next it's only three, and then back up to eight with 3 bap. dates. The only three that we have consistently been are the two recent converts in the area; Sam and Louis, and then our investigator Latasha. Sam is homeless as of right now, and it has been CRAZY trying to teach him consistently. We meet with him WHEREVER. At McDonalds, Chic-fil-a, The corner of 19th and W... wherever haha! Louis might as well be homeless. He lives in a shack just outside of town that's infested with roaches. We had a lesson with him one time, and I counted three roaches crawling around ON LOUIS. Haha and during the last lesson we taught him, a rat ran out from under the couch my comp was on, and darted into the kitchen. DISGUSTING.

Latasha is our only legit investigator, and I love this woman. She is the mother of like 6 kids, and most of them are from different dads. Since the time we started teaching her, she has attended two of her cousins' funerals who died from gunshot wounds on the east side, and her son got locked up for stabbing someone. Welcome to the East Side. She has a bap date for the 26th and she is stoked out of her mind to be baptized.

Well, that's the majority of what's going on. We're teaching a ton, and loving the area. Elder Lake and I (#DreamTeam) are living the dream.

This week I:

- Ate 12 Costco muffins.

- Set 3 bap. dates

- Got dropped by all 3 of our investigators that we set bap. dates with

- Got chased by one dog

- Went to MLC and was instructed by president heap

- Received one letter and one package

- Taught a lesson to our drunk neighbor last night

- learned 4 songs on my harmonica.

Succesful week in my book. Gotta go. Love y'all!

Elder Johnson