Week #3

Hey Mom!

From the letters I've received, it sounds like things are still crazy at the house! It's nice to know the shenanigans hasn't stopped! I'm sure you guys will have just as many stories for me as I'll have for you.

The portuguese is coming along better. It is so interesting to experience this. As soon as I feel like I know what is going on with Portuguese, we learn something knew that makes me feel like I know nothing at all. In Portuguese, there is 2 past tenses, 2 present tenses, and two futures. And the endings are all different. And that doesn't count the irregular verbs (verbs that don't follow the ending pattern). But it is all getting better!

Thank you so much for the package! I got it yesterday and just in time too! I think I should be good for now. I don't really need a sweatshirt because I am wearing a suit jacket or I'm inside all day long. I think I have a slight cold and some of the guys are getting atheletes foot so yay... right? But I'm getting better and so is everyone else.

Today was the last day the Provo Temple was going to be open while I'm here and we got to go. I did my last endowment session for two whole years today! People who have a temple so close are so lucky. When I get back, we should go to the DC temple more often.

Elder Perry was so great! He talked a lot about companionships and how important they are. Afterwards, we had a "devotional review" where we talk about what we learned and the branch president said that not only does his remarks apply to mission companions but they also apply to our eternal companions too. It was really great!

Oh, on Sunday I finished the Book of Mormon! All 531 pages in 19 days! It is possible! My love for that book has grown exponentially and the answers I have received have helped me so much. I know for sure that the BoM can help us in all aspects of life.

So we have two teachers that also double as our investigators that we teach every other day. One of them has his character be an atheist. Of course, we would get the athiest. But we talked about prayer with him last night and how just like how if he has questions about numbers he can ask his boss, he can ask God if he is real. I told him about how I asked God when I had questions about the church and stuff. I told him how I got my answer but stressed that how people get  answers is different everytime. At the end, Brother Nothum was in tears (he is Jameson as an investigator) and told us he would pray. Then Elder Clark asked if he would give the closing prayer and he did! It was an incredible experience and I'm so grateful for it.

I miss you guys like crazy! but we are only 101 weeks from being together again! There's so much to do in so little time!

Hope all is well at home! I'm so lucky to have you guys as my family.

Eu amo voces!

Elder Johnson

PS.
Oí minha família! Eu gostaria de falar um pouco português como vocês! Como vai? Tudo bem? 

Eu sou gratos por vocês. Eu amo vocês muito e eu espero que vocês estão feliz!

Eu sei que a igreja e o evangelho é verdadeiro. Eu sei que José Smith (pronounced SMEETCH, it´s so funny) é um profeta verdadeiro de Deus. Eu sei que o Livro de Mormon é verdadeiro.

Boa Noite! Tchau tchau!

Elder Johnson