16 May 2012

*Note from Talon's mom - You can tell by reading his letters that the Spanish grammar (and some spelling) is taking over.  Go Talon!

¡Hola!

So it was great to be able to talk to you guys this past Sunday. I wanted to bring Vincent van Gibco though to put his charming face in front of the camera for you guys, however, I unfortunately forgot to bring him with me. So maybe next time in 7 months. It seems like such a long time away, but at the same time, I am a month and a half short from have a quarter of my mission finished. The time goes by so fast here. We always have something to do which helps too. Well, tomorrow we will have zone conference. The first that I will have, so my companion has been studying and preparing for that a lot lately. Also, this Friday we will be baptizing the Family! It´s super exciting and I will be performing my first baptism ordenance (don´t remember how to spell it) and my second confirmation. I will be baptizing the ~16 year old son and confirming the mother. It´s really exciting. Unfortunately after this baptism we don´t really have another investigator that is close to baptism for a little while. Unfortunately almost all of them now are new investigators. And, we are dropping a lot of the other ones because they aren´t exactly progressing, and in an effort to find the prepared we can't exactly use all of our time teaching someone that refuses to grow.It is a little disappointing, but then, that is how it is.

So Monday we did a service project for a Spanish family in the ward. And the mother of one of them told me that she could believe it if I was 15 years old. It is a little disappointing, but I think that after I have 30 ish years that I will start to enjoy it. It is somewhat funny because a lot of people say that I have about 17 or 18 years and that my companion is 25.

So also, I made myself, and my companion, some of the fettuccine that you sent me. Though I did put in a little too much butter unfortunately. And the milk was chemical milk. But other than that it wasn´t too bad.

After I talked to you guys on skype, my companion started talking with his family, but the laptop ran out of batteries. So I went to ask the member if they had a cord to charge the computer, and she showed me how to flush the toilet instead... That was pretty funny, and rather disappointing at the same time. The words I used weren´t bad, I think it was just my accent that the people here can´t understand.

So hopefully next week I can send you guys some pictures. We tried going to a different locutorio today to do so, but their internet was down, so maybe next week it will be back up.

Well, I don´t think that I ate anything strange this past week.

Just so you know, it will probably take about 7 or more days for the mail to get here. Papa is sending letters through Dear Elder and they have taken 9 and 7 days so far.

Well, I am getting a nice tan in the sun lately. Spain is rather warm and humid right now, and the summer has only started. Soo, it could be a really fun summer.

Well, I don´t know what else to say right now, when I get your questions I can have more to write too.

Well, that is also all the time that I have,

So until next week, and or 7 months

Elder Johnson

9 May 2012

 Hello.

So I will be talking with you guys this Sunday so this letter will
probably be answering the questions that I have from you guys. So this
week has been pretty exciting so far. We have a baptism on Saturday
with a girl that we found about my 3rd day here. She is really ready
to be baptized, its really exciting. She sends us messages saying
thank you and at least one time she has sent us a message with
scriptures for us to read. It´s really exciting. Also our family is
doing good. The mother has resolved her doubts that she had for a
little bit and now the only problem is that the husband drinks coffee
and doesn´t really like the alternative stuff, so it could be a little
difficult for him to quit because he drinks it when he is tired at
work...

Also, thank you for the note about the talk from the stake president I
shared that with the mother in the family to help her realize all of
the blessings that she has received after doing the things that she
should.

Also, I am pretty sure that I will be calling at 8 or 8:30 or at least
some time near there. And I am pretty sure that we are not going to be
late because me and my companion both want to talk with our families,
obviously. But if it doesn´t work out then I will just call you guys.

So that golden contact will be baptized at the same time as our
baptism on Saturday, though in a different service. Which is somewhat
disappointing because I had kind of hoped to be at his baptism.

So something fun that happened this past week is that I ate shrimp,
for the first time, that I remember. And it was actually pretty good.
But the part that you guys would have really enjoyed is that I got the
pleasure of looking at the entire creature and then de-heading it,
de-shelling it and breaking off its tail and legs before eating it. It
looks rather gross to see an entire creature, eyeballs and everything
sitting on your plate. I didn't eat the eyeballs because I didn't think
that they would be that appetizing, but maybe next time. Actually
maybe you guys can do somewhat the same thing with the moles from the
pool. I think that that would be a great family growing opportunity,
making you own mole sausages and cooking them together... delicious.


Also, could you thank Brother Bowman for the letter that he sent me.
It was great to hear from him after all this time. If you feel like it
you can tell him that I still have my retainer, and wear it
occasionally.

So our other investigators are doing alright. The next baptism won't be
for a few weeks because it is either with a new investigator or with a
family that is waiting for their father to return before they get
baptized. The son is iffy and the mother is going to get baptized but
she wants her husband to see her go into the water.

So, thank you for the package, our piso has enjoyed the starburst
jellybeans and I have enjoyed to other treats and hopefully will be
making a good meal with some of those materials.

So something else that got me excited was that our baptism that we had
a few weeks ago, she gave us thank you cards, and her grandma gave us
each something. and she gave me a small guitar like instrument key chain
with the word Bolivia on it (because that is where she is from). So
now I want to try to get something from every country from South
America that I can, though that is going to be a little difficult I
think. Well, I don't have much more time, but I will be seeing or
talking with you guys on Sunday, so until then.

Love,

Elder Talon Johnson

And something that I though was interesting this week (I already knew
it, but didn't think about it that much): If the bible was perfect in
translation then we wouldn't have the book of Mormon, and if the bible
didn't exist then the book of Mormon would have more in it. We have the
book of Mormon to fill in the gaps that have been put into the bible,
so with those two we have the entire gospel, they are both just as
important

2 May 2012

So, I received your package on Monday! (though I am sure that it would have normally taken longer, but on Monday there was a district leader meeting, so my district leader was able to get it to me without too much of a wait. So thank you for the ingredients to make food that you sent me. Also, thank you for the snacks and Vincent Van Gibco ( pero yo pensaba que no me odian tan mucho que quieren que tenga él, ¡que ?hosco?!).

So also this week, we had companionship exchanges, so I was able to go with an Elder from Mexico, named Elder Tolentino. ( it was actually the second time, and this week I will be going with him for the third time). It´s always nice to have a companionship exchange every once in a while, to learn more about your companion, how you teach, and to avoid falling into habits.

So also today we had the opportunity to cook a Chilean dish with a family. It was pretty cool to find out how to make something foreign.

Also, yesterday the ward had an activity to learn how to make cheese, so we were able to visit there at the end, and then help with a service with putting covers on the Hymn books. (Cheese is rather tasteless without the flavors in it that the companies put in).

So also, we have a baptism a week from Saturday! It´s pretty exciting because it is with an investigator that I helped to find (on my second or third day out too!). She is progressing pretty well and she has friend in the church to support her. Also, she sent a message to us yesterday saying thank you for helping us to change and help her life, because she feels so much better now than she did before. The family that we are working with has a date for the week after her, but they are having some trouble with their testimonies, so we are going to have to work really hard to get them ready for that date. The son is willing to get baptized now, but the mom is starting to have doubts (we think that it could be because her mother is a strong catholic). However, I really want to sit down and talk with the husband and son, because the mother is the only one that we know how her testimony is, the others don´t share it too often. The son I am not super worried about, but I am not sure how the husband´s testimony is, he kind of seems to just be going along with the crowd at times, which is kind of worrisome. Also, that golden contact that we made will be getting baptized on the 12th as well ( though did I happen to say that he is in the ward right next to us, rather disappointing because that means that he gets taught by the other Elders).

Well, that´s great to hear about your trip Dad. It sounds like you guys had a good time and a true family car ride, full of everything but the peeing or puking all over the car. That´s almost too bad, because those are the things that make the trip truly memorable.

Well, I don´t know what more to put down at this moment, I´m doing fine and the work is going, slowly but surely. I think in about 10 to 30 years that the work here will start to grow really big.

Well, until next week, and in two week to see your faces. (Quizas traeré Vincent Van Gibco comigo entonces pueden verle también, porque estoy seguro que les hecho de menos un poco).

Love,

Elder Johnson.