Conference in the States

Conference

Dear Mother,
We had a great week!! Every week is great as a missionary being able to share the gospel with those around us! Did ya'll get my notes for the boys this week? General Conference was amazing!!! I loved every second of it. We watched the second session on Sunday at the Houseman's home. They fed us dinner right before and then we watched conference. This ward is amazing and I have loved every single one of my areas!! My favorite speakers were Elder Robbins from the first session and President Uchtdorf form priesthood session! I also enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk as well! Conference really is an amazing experience! 
These last couple of weeks we have been getting a lot of questions about grace and being saved!! I love talking about grace

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and being saved! I also love how most people don't believe

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that WE believe that we are saved through grace!! As members of The Church of Jesus Christ, we believe that we are saved through grace!! This is where

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most of Christianity

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goes

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wrong.... What does it mean to be saved? There are many different types of Salvation talked about in the holy scriptures, but in order to understand what it means to be saved we first, have to understand what will happen after we die! So what happens? Lets take a look at the life of Jesus Christ. When He willingly gave His life on the cross, in Matthew 27 verse 50 it says, "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." What did he yield? In Luke it clarifies this in chapter 23 verse 46, it says, "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." What did he give up? His spirit. Every one on earth has two components that makes up who they are, the spirit and the body.
So what happened to both of these things after His death. The body was placed in the tomb, where it laid until he was resurrected. (Matthew 27: 59- 63, Matthew 28: 6-9) In Acts 1: 11 it says, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." So after he even ascended into heaven he took His body with Him to one day return WITH His body. 
So during all this where was his spirit? In 1 Peter 3: 18- 20 it says, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit: By which also he  went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing," So during the time of His death to His resurrection he went to a place we call the "spirit world" and He there preached the gospel to those who were disobedient. So following the example of Jesus The Christ. When we die our bodies will be placed in a grave and our spirits will go to the "spirit world" where the gospel will be preached to all. 
There in the spirit world we wait, we wait for the second coming of Christ when all who believed on His name will be SAVED from death! This is through the grace of Christ's resurrection. This is only according to His grace that we will be saved from death. Through the grace of the resurrection of Christ we will be saved from death. Then we will stand before God to be judged of our works! As it teaches in the Bible in 2 Corinthians 5: 10 it says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." This is where the majority of Christianity errors. There is more than one meaning of the word saved. Yes what is says in Romans 10: 9 is correct, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." People just don't understand the scriptures! If we believe in the resurrection we will be resurrected when Christ comes. Then after the 1000 years of Christ's reign called the Millenium. Those other people who did not confess Christ's name will be saved from death by being resurrected!

​ But in order to be saved in the Kingdom of God we have to do more than just believe. Look at the difference between what Paul said in Romans to what Jesus said in John 3: 3-5, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the KINGDOM OF GOD. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily​, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the KINGDOM OF GOD." In order for us to be saved in God's Kingdom we have to have faith in His name, Repent, Be Baptized, Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 19: 1-6) and Endure To The End. (if you want more references just ask me) Now what about those who don't do this but are saved? That is why God has prepared three different places in heaven for all of us. Because all of our works are different. "What three heavens?? How can that be?? Its heaven or hell!" Sorry sir but you need to read the bible more and understand what you read! In 2 Corinthians 12 verse 2 it says, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven." Wow!! The answer right there in the bible! Crazy right? Paul taught us more about these 3 kingdoms in 1 Corinthians 15: 40-41' "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory." Can you refute the teaching of the bible?? If you don't believe this you don't believe in the bible.

I wish I had more time and could even explain further but I know that God Loves us and He wants each of us to be saved! We can only be saved through His grace. But there is more than one meaning to being saved. We need to study the scripture and follow the things they teach. We need to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to receive the proper ordinances, such as baptism, by proper priesthood authority. Which is only found in this church! Love ya'll if you have any questions or want to learn more contact me! -Elder Michael Johnson​

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Baptism

Hows it going gentiles!!! We had a super good week!! We found, we taught and we BAPTIZED!!! I could literally stay in the water all day long!! Alberto asked me to baptize him (one next to me) and Max asked brother Nickel to baptize him. Alberto was confirmed by brother Groves and Max asked me to confirm him! It was an amazing week! We work so hard to baptize here that when we are blessed with a baptism, they are the most memorable experiences! With Max and Alberto, Elder Carroll and I knew they would be baptized from the very first lesson! They are the most amazing people! They have the most sincere desire to follow Jesus Christ and are soooo humble. Every lesson we had with these two they would let us know they were never going to leave this church. Both are so excited to do missionary work and spread the word!! I love these two! I feel like they are two long lost brothers of mine!! Its amazing how much the gospel changes people. The change in these two is amazing! They are ready to take on the world now! Many people will join the church because of these two!!
We found several new investigators this week and taught some great lessons. A man named Ozzie came to church. We are working with him and his family. On Sunday morning Ozzie was going to sleep in and skip church! But Ozzie's little 9 year old sister came into his room ready to go to church and woke him up and said, "Lets go!!" They both came to church and had an amazing experience! I love the faith of little children!! Its so pure and amazing!! This has been a good week and I look forward to what the future holds for them all! Love ya'll!!!

No Regrets

So I will try and be better about doing weekly updates!! As ya'll know I am the worse at writing/emailing! But all is well here! The work is progressing and we are experiencing miracles! We were suppose to have a baptism this week but because of a huge opportunity to work that Max and Alberto had, they had to postpone the date to this weekend! We are  so excited for them. I am sad Elder Carroll is not here to see them. We worked so hard together to teach them and prepare them for it! Yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and I hope it went well. I think it did. I talked on extending commitments. I love talking and teaching in church. I enjoy it now. I love using scriptures to teach and basing my talks off of what they say. Its crazy how now when I give talks in church all I have is like a note card of outline and not anything what I need to say on it. I use to have to write out word for word what I have to say and now wham just follow the spirit.  

I am staying focused... 80 days left!! I read a scripture today in my Book of Mormon reading in Jacob 7: 26 it says "By saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream" I feel the same way!! Time is flying so fast and it feels like a huge dream. For 19 years all I wanted to be was a missionary and now I have to look in the mirror just to see myself with a tag on and remind my self that this is real!! Its going way to quick. Some one told me that while on your mission you don't have time to think about what you are doing. That time to think of what you did will be for the rest of your life! Its true, just means I need to keep repenting and be better and better each day!

We were on bikes this weeks and it had to have been the most humid week of my entire mission. We biked to go visit people and wow. I wasn't biking in the rain or walking in rain water up to my knees like Cody but I was soaked! Looked like I had went swimming in my church clothes. We were very successful though. We set up an appointment with a family we have been trying to visit for like weeks! It was great! I love working hard. I love this quote that Elder Carroll shared with me, "Hell is when the man you are meets the man you could have become!" I don't want to have any regrets and I am super excited for the miracles that we have this week! 

This week we taught a new family. The Lopez family! Ozzie their son came to church with the a family here in the ward. We set up an appointment with him to come and see his family. He called us twice in the week to make sure that we were coming and even offered to drive 30 minutes to pick us up! When we got to their house they had a huge meal prepared for us and were super kind and received us so well. Sister Lopez is a joker and she kept talking about how we can't drink coffee, and she loves here coffee, so she could never be a Mormon! Well as were eating a member who drove us out there, Brother George, was talking about his son serving as a missionary in Ecuador. Well he was telling 'em how his son eats lots of guinea pigs over there and Sister Lopez looked so disgusted! So I made the comment, "We cant drink coffee but we can eat guinea pig!" She got up from her seat and was like I'm leaving! Of course she was joking but it was funny! This family is amazing and we look forward to seeing their progression in the gospel! After dinner we taught the resturation and they love it!! They want the peace it brings and the joy so bad!! We go back on Wednesday to teach 'em! We are super excited for them!! Love Ya'll!!

Time is Flying

 The work is progressing and we are experiencing miracles! We were suppose to have a baptism this week but because of a huge opportunity to work that Max and Alberto had, they had to postpone the date to this weekend! We are  so excited for them. I am sad Elder Carroll is not here to see them. We worked so hard together to teach them and prepare them for it! Yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and I hope it went well. I think it did. I talked on extending commitments. I love talking and teaching in church. I enjoy it now. I love using scriptures to teach and basing my talks off of what they say. Its crazy how now when I give talks in church all I have is like a note card of outline and not anything what I need to say on it. I use to have to write out word for word what I have to say and now wham just follow the spirit.  

I am staying focused... 80 days left!! I read a scripture today in my Book of Mormon reading in Jacob 7:26 it says "By saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream" I feel the same way!! Time is flying so fast and it feels like a huge dream. For 19 years all I wanted to be was a missionary and now I have to look in the mirror just to see myself with a tag on and remind my self that this is real!! Its going way to quick. Some one told me that while on your mission you don't have time to think about what you are doing. That time to think of what you did will be for the rest of your life! Its true, just means I need to keep repenting and be better and better each day!

We were on bikes this weeks and it had to have been the most humid week of my entire mission. We biked to go visit people and wow. I wasn't biking in the rain or walking in rain water up to my knees like Cody but I was soaked! Looked like I had went swimming in my church clothes. We were very successful though. We set up an appointment with a family we have been trying to visit for like weeks! It was great! I love working hard. I love this quote that Elder Carroll shared with me, "Hell is when the man you are meets the man you could have become!" I don't want to have any regrets and I am super excited for the miracles that we have this week! 

This week we taught a new family. The Lopez family! Ozzie their son came to church with the a family here in the ward. We set up an appointment with him to come and see his family. He called us twice in the week to make sure that we were coming and even offered to drive 30 minutes to pick us up! When we got to their house they had a huge meal prepared for us and were super kind and received us so well. Sister Lopez is a joker and she kept talking about how we can't drink coffee, and she loves here coffee, so she could never be a Mormon! Well as were eating a member who drove us out there, Brother George, was talking about his son serving as a missionary in Ecuador. Well he was telling 'em how his son eats lots of guinea pigs over there and Sister Lopez looked so disgusted! So I made the comment, "We cant drink coffee but we can eat guinea pig!" She got up from her seat and was like I'm leaving! Of course she was joking but it was funny! This family is amazing and we look forward to seeing their progression in the gospel! After dinner we taught the restoration and they love it!! They want the peace it brings and the joy so bad!! We go back on Wednesday to teach 'em! We are super excited for them!! Love Ya'll!!

Last Transfer

Dear Mother,

My week has been super good! I am getting transfered tomorrow to probably my final area!! I got the package! Thank you so much it was amazing! It was perfect! I will definitely join ya'll in fasting! I am glad that I am good for something and every now and then say something inspired. So this was my last week here in the area and it has been a good one. A less-active family we have been working with for the whole time I have been here came to church yesterday! I love this family. They are the Rosas. Pictures will follow next week. They are the last family we will visit tonight! They are the best! I am doing good and super excited for everything that is going on! I love change! Because change puts us out of our comfort zone and "There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the  growth zone"! I love that quote.

So lately as I have been studying the scriptures, I have been keeping a dictionary near by and looking up words. Even if I know the meaning. From this I have found new meaning to words and I have been able to see what the author is trying to teach me. I love this verse in Omni. Its verse 26 it says, "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." I love this verse for many reasons but one point I want to point out is the, "Come unto him, and offer your WHOLE souls as an offering unto him." Is what I did this time was look up the word whole in the dictionary. Whole means;  having all the parts : not divided or cut into parts or pieces. So I thought about that and what it means to offer up our WHOLE souls. I thought about this an what are all the parts of offering our whole soul. The answer is in doctrine and Covenants 4, "see that ye serve him with all your HEART, MIGHT, MIND and STRENGTH" That is what it means to offer your "WHOLE souls". These four things are the elements or parts that consist our "whole soul" The two hardest to sacrifice is the heart and mind. When we think about how we do our callings we give ALL our strength and Might into it but we hold back part of the whole offering, our mind and heart. We have the bite the bullet approach. 

Do it and do it well, but in my mind and heart, I want to be somewhere else. For example at church:  How often do we think about other things than that which is shared?  Christ or the Gospel? We instead think about the game thats on, whats for dinner, nap time, and what ever thought that crosses our minds. I don't remember which teacher did this but when I was younger we were invited to write every thought that crossed our minds on a note card. I remember at the end of the day the note card was filled but not with things that pertained to church. There were a couple of things but the majority was worthless things. I remember from that day on I tried a lot harder to keep my thoughts in church. It has been such a blessing. I also love this quote, "if you want to know where your heart is, look to where your thoughts wander" That quote is so true. Try it watch where your thoughts wander and you will be amazed!

 I want to finish with a quote by Neal Maxwell, "Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!” I know these things are true! Love ya'all!!

Finishing Strong

Dear Mother,

Thank you so much for your email! Thanks for all you do! Mom I am finishing strong! I am not just moving toward the finish but I am sprinting. I am doing my best to not let up! I LOVE serving and being out here! I LOVE teaching others about Christ and helping them receive the ordinance of baptism! We are working hard, its hard, but its not the mission that is hard but the agency of others. 

We had a baptism scheduled for this week with an investigator named Victor! He is so golden and solid. He is scheduled for July 26. This Saturday, he was suppose to have his interview yesterday during 2nd hour of church but he did not show up!!! So we tried to hunt him down but it was to no avail. We could not find him anywhere. We finally got a hold of him and talked to him on the phone. We set up another interview for tonight. If he shows up tonight he will be baptized but if not we will have to push it back and I will not be able to witness it because I will transferred. Story of my mission though! The important thing is that they are baptized though ...that is all that matters! 

So this week as I was studying the word of God. I came across this verse and it struck me a lot. Its the last verse of Alma 5:62, its says, 

"I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life."

As I read that verse and pondered on what Alma is inviting us to do. He is inviting us to come and be baptized unto repentance. Who is he inviting? EVERYONE!! "Those who do not belong to the church" and those that do. I love how he words it though. He invites those that do not and he "speak[s] by way of COMMAND unto you that belong to the church. I find it kinda strange and wonderful that he does not invite but "command . . . you that belong to the church: Come and be baptized unto repentance" As I was pondering that and what all that entails , I realized why he invited and command us to "Come and be baptized unto repentance" and it is so that we can be happy!! In Alma 41:10 it says, "Wickedness never was happiness." 

Everyone wants to be happy but no one wants to abandon their personal wickedness. No one wants to put in the time and effort for everlasting happiness but wants the quick and easy way. What the world has to offer. The quick and happy pill. Do what the world say and be happy while doing it. Do what God say and be happy for ever! So how is it that we become happy? It is easy as Alma taught us we "Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life." So in essence, we get baptized, we repent, and we partake of the sacrament so that we may partake "of the fruit of the tree of life." What is this fruit well its the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus Christ is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. Now what will happen when we partake of this fruit (the gospel)? As Nephi said in 1 Nephi 8, this "fruit was desirable to make one happy."It was most sweet above all that I ever before tasted." And "it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy." This Gospel changes peoples lives! As Ezra Taft Benson said, "“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.... Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world."

“Men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ. Like Paul they will be asking, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ (Acts 9:6). Peter stated, they will ‘follow his steps’ (1 Peter 2:21). John said they will ‘walk, even as he walked’ (1 John 2:6).

“Finally, men captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. To paraphrase President Harold B. Lee, they set fire in others because they are on fire. (See Stand Ye in Holy Places [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], p. 192.)

“Their will is swallowed up in His will. (See John 5:30.)

“They do always those things that please the Lord. (See John 8:29.)

“Not only would they die for the Lord, but more important they want to live for Him."

​I love that Quote so much if we want to be happy we need to embrace the gospel, which can only be found in its fullness with God's authorized permission in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Because it is Christ's church! ​So now I speak as Alma did to all those who do not belong to the church who want never-ending happiness and a "fullness of joy." Come and hear what we have to share. Talk with the missionaries and act on what they have to say and you will be blessed beyond what you can imagine. And now "I speak by way of command to those that belong to the church." Embrace the gospel once again, no matter what stage you are in life, embrace the gospel once again and be "captained by Christ." I know these things are true and I hope ya'll will do what it takes to draw closer to the Savior. Love Ya'll!!!

 

Our BIG Rescue

Dear Mother,

Mom I love you so much!!! I am doing fantastic! Transfers are coming up and I thing Elder Medina is getting transferred and that I am getting a new companion. We don't know yet for sure though. 

We had a super good week though! We taught 18 lessons that is huge for this area!! We have three people who will be baptized in June!! We are super excited! The work is progressing!! 

So this week we were walking back from a family dollar that is down the street from us and we started to hear this loud screaming noise from this bush so I got down and noticed a HUGE snake trying to squeeze the life out of this cute little mouse. So Elder Snell one the missions we live with grabbed the snake and pulled it out and we saved this little mouses life!! So we did our good dead that day! We tried to catch the snake but it was to quick and to much foliage, we were going to eat it. 

Everything is going well and we are blessed to be able to be teaching! I love you hope all is well!!

Chiasmus

Dear Mother,

The library was closed yesterday so I was unable to email. This week was great! We found five new investigators and set a few more baptismal dates. We are working hard! 

This week I have been studying as I always do. And I learned some thing new :O (Like I always do) So this week I was studying about Chiasmus. Its an ancient Hebrew form of writing. The way it works is that there are corresponding word or phrases starting on the outside and work there way into the center which is the main point like a-b-c-d-e-e-d-c-b-a. Well as I have been doing my reading in the Book of Mormon. All the sudden I started noticing a pattern in 3 Nephi 19. It goes like this.

a-21. I PRAY thee

    b-21. in their WORDS.

        c-22. FATHER, thou

            d-22. and they PRAY unto me

                f-22. I AM with them (JESUS)

                    g-23. I PRAY unto for them

                        h-23. on their WORDS

                            i-23. THAT I MAY BE IN THEM AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, THAT WE MAY BE ONE.

                                   j-24. thus PRAYED unto

                                    k-24. the FATHER 

                                        l-24. many WORDS

                                            m-24. should PRAY 

                                                n-25. that JESUS blessed them

                                 o-25. HIS COUNTENANCE

                                         o-25. COUNTENANCE . . . OF JESUS

                                                n-26. and JESUS said

                                            m-28. I PRAY for

                                        l-28. their WORDS

                                    k-29. FATHER

                                j-29. I PRAY 

                            i-29. THAT I MAY BE IN THEM AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, THAT WE MAY BE ONE.

                        h-30. these WORDS

                    g-30. did PRAY steadfastly

                f-30. even as JESUS

            d- 31. PRAYED unto

        c-31. the FATHER

    b-32. the WORDS which 

a- 32. he PRAYED.

Is it not amazing!! When we read this part we can truly see what the author was trying to get across. He wants us to pray unto the father as Christ (His son) would! So that we may be blessed to be one with the Father and the Son. We do this through prayer which brings "His" countenance upon us. We then become one with God and our Savior as we bring the countenance of Jesus upon us. Christ wants us to be ONE with him! How amazing is that! 

Another interesting fact is that this form of writing also strengthens my testimony of the Book of Mormon! How could Joseph Smith who had a 3rd grade education write in a Hebrew form of writing when NO ONE else in america knew what a Chiasmus was! Its just proof that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the Gift of God. Because God knows all and is able to get the authors point across a lot better than a normal translator. 

I know the Book of Mormon is true with all my heart and not only because of this but because I have read it and have prayed and asked God if it is true. I have received an answer from Him, THAT IT IS HIS WORD! I know it with all my heart!!  I also know that any honest seeker of truth ... will find that it is as well! 

Love Y'all!!

Transfer and Baptism

So this week I got transfered to a new area called Valladolid! It's very familiar to me because my first area was Pulupandan and Valadolid is RIGHT under it.. so it's good to be back in the same zone as I was at first! My companion is Elder David.. you don't say it like David and Goliath...  you say Elder 

D-uh-vid  (that's how you say it in the Philippines)! He's the best companion I've had so far in the mission. We are exactly the same.. he's been in the area for five months.  So, he will probably get transferred soon. This week has been great.. had a baptism last week and have one each week until July!!! The people are prepared here in this area and everything is great here! 

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Love, Elder Johnson