Life Is A War

Pretty interesting couple of weeks. I'm not going to get into too much detail, but I'll give a small run down. First- One of our missionaries got assaulted. The Elder is about 5" 6'... maybe. Little did the guy know that he's a double black belt in some kind of martial arts. So everybody was kung fu fighting and he easily defended himself and his companion and knocked the guy out. Needless to say, he's awesome!!

Changes! Halle-Freakin'-Lujah! My new comp is Elder Freitas from Brazil and he's pretty cool. He is now the third comp I've had twice in my mission... Are you kidding me...? I mean, I love the guy! He's great, and I'm glad I'm with him. But that's unheard of!!!  It's rare to be with ONE companion twice. Even weirder to be with TWO companions twice. But THREE?! Some people here might say "loco". Any ways, let's get down to business.

Tuesday we got the changes done.

Wednesday. We went around collecting money from all the Elders in our zone. Backstory on that is that we have a sports day on Monday. So we had to pay for our jerseys. It took way longer than it should have, and while handling all that money, I realized that I will not ever become an accountant. For my sake AND the sake of others.

Thursday??? It felt a little bit more like The Bangles "Manic Monday"! And I WAS wishin' it was Sunday, cause that's my "I don't have to run" day. We were huffing it from our area, to Chalco, back to our area, to the stake center, to the middle of nowhere, ect. And the sun decided to be the hottest it’s been for almost my whole time here in the Valle. So that was lovely. We did however have a zone practice in the morning to prepare for sports day Monday. I've decided that I will not lose my last sports day on my mission so I'm taking this one pretty seriously!!

Friday was one of those lovely zone leader meetings that takes the whole day away. But it's always fun being able to hang out with Elder Reading and Elder Searle! Elder Reading goes home next Friday, and it’s going to be really weird not having him around the mission.

                                Elders Reading, Searle and Johns

Saturday. We had to do a contract in the morning. That was a long and painful process and took forever. But we didn't even finish because he had to leave and talk to his brother who owns the place. So we leave, we eat, and there hadn't been a call.  So we decided to go chill and watch a baptism we had in our zone. We didn't even get through the first hymn before I get a call saying, "it’s now or never with the contract"!  So we tear out of the baptism and grab a moto taxi and haul over to the house. The story stops there. And I don't know how it ends yet because we still haven't finished the contract...

Monday. Sports day. The most important day of the year... right behind conference...  We lost though...

Lastly, I'd like to share a thought I had this week. It was that sometimes, life feels like a war. We may have periods of rest, but there will always be another battle we have to face, until Christ our Savior and Redeemer comes again on that Great and Terrible day. But until that happens, we must fight. And it ain't goin' be pretty. We have to claw, scratch, bite, and yell with all our strength. Now luckily, we have the freedom to choose who we fight for. Christ or Satan. Either way it’s going to hurt and there WILL be tears. Thankfully God has given us the answer to who will win. So it should be an easy choice. But we all know it’s not that easy. And just like the 2000 sons of Helaman, every one of us is going to receive wounds, gashes, and injuries. However, like the example of those 2000 warriors, we can all come out alive according to our faith and diligence that God requires of us. This is His gospel. We are His children. And I am His witness. He loves us. As Always!!!

Stay Classy,

Elder Johns

Another Miracle

Hello one and all! Another week has come and gone, and I’m STILL alive here in the Valle De Chalco. Not a whole lot happening here right now, but we did see one miracle this week! 

We had contacted a family about a week or two ago and they accepted a visit from us. We tried twice to pass by with them and they weren’t able to talk to us either time. I started thinking it was just another person who really didn’t want to listen to us. So we passed by for supposedly the third and final time with them. This time, they were there and willing to listen!!! We walked into their home and it smelled a little odd and you could clearly see they were very poor. It’s a family of 3 who lives there. The father Antonio, mother Ana, and the little girl Lupita. We began talking and found out that they had never accepted anyone to come over and teach them before from any religion. When we had contacted them, they didn’t know why they accepted, just that they had felt something different when we talked to them. The whole time we were there, the spirit was so strong! We invited them to baptism and, without hesitation, both of them accepted. (Lupita didn’t because she’s only 7) Then we invited them to church and they said yes! That they would not go to work that day because they needed a good place to raise their daughter. The spirit was so very strong and their faith so much better than mine. I fought tears back the whole time as I watched a family who truly has nothing, sacrifice work to go to church. 

Please pray for them. And please follow their example in some way this week. That will be my invitation for this week.

This gospel is true. We all need it. And we should all WANT it, but I don’t believe that is always the case. Find a way to sacrifice this week, even if it’s for someone you don’t know. 

As Always,

Stay Classy

Elder Johns

Bits and Pieces from Mom's Email from This Week

My week was pretty good! It’s getting better with my comp, but I’m trying to get him out of here. haha And with our investigators it’s a slow boat to china... but we did have a miracle and had an old investigator come up to us and tell us that he wants to be baptized now, so he’s planned for the 25th of February!!! His name is Mario! He drinks but wants to stop! Please pray for him! And an investigator from my last area, Jorge, wants me to baptize him, so I’ll be heading there this Saturday! He is Remedios son. I’m hoping Remedios is baptized as well, but will see. And I’ll take a bunch of pics!!!  I thought that was pretty cool!!! Armando is still working and Julia knows this is the church and knows she will get baptized, but doesn’t know when! She still has the date for the 25th as well! fingers crossed!!! And yes, my watch has been stolen.

The watch deal was a while ago, when I wasn’t as experienced. And you’re telling me you WOULDNT give your watch up living in the 2nd most dangerous mission in Mexico? I call bull!

It’s hard to take pics here in Valle De Chalco. It’s a little sketch, so I don’t have that many!

The weather is hotter than where you guys are. I have a weather app and it sounds beautiful where you guys are right now!!! It’s like 70s 80s here I think.

Those two guys are freaking awesome. They’re the reason my comp didn’t die the first few weeks here.  haha  They’re the ones that live upstairs.  Elder Wilson and Elder Francis. 

Pats for the Win!!

Alright, so things have been running kind of slow lately around here. We don't have much success and those we're teaching who ARE progressing, are progressing very slowly. But let’s talk about what we do have, shall we?

Tuesday we were able to visit a couple named Armando and Patty. Patty is a member coming back to church and Armando is ready to get baptized. But I know what you're thinking. "There's got to be a catch!" And you're right. There is. Patty needs to get divorced from the guy that left her 9 years ago, and then those two have to get married. Also, Armando has to drop smoking. Our goal is to do all this before the 18th of February. Luckily we have help with the divorce and marriage part. So it's all up to Armando to drop the cigarette!!! Please send a prayer his way! He's ready and deserves to be baptized!!!

Wednesday was horrible. We had appointments with several people and I kid you not, every single one was the same. They'd say, "Oh, well I read your pamphlet and I think I’m good how I am right now. Plus, I don't want to waste your time if I’m just going to end up saying no." Then don’t say NO!!! I was pretty mad by the end of the day, so when I got home I went straight in and prayed. That's all I could do.

Thursday we were able to pass by with Julia. I don’t remember if I said who she is. But, she has been listening to the missionaries for about three months now. She feels great about the church and likes to go. Her only problems are first, she wants to know that this is the true church. And second, she is afraid of what her family will think. Her baptism is set for the 25th of February, so a prayer her way would be sweet!!!

Friday was one of those lovely leadership meetings, so not much action there.

And that just about wraps up the week. Hoping for a better one this week. #thedeflep #patsforthewin #ilovetom As Always!!!

Stay Classy, 
Elder Johns