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