All right everyone, I don't have lots of time, so here's 2 quick stories. When we went to teach a lesson last night, we just talked with the kids mom on the porch cuz he was busy. We were talking for about 5 minutes and while we were talking, the neighbor came out and asked us to come over when we were done. to give you an idea what it's like, CA is a mix of Florida (with the palm trees) Texas (heat), Utah (cools down at night, and pretty dry), Virginia (lots of people), and the Azores (the way the houses are built). Anyway, we went over and she and her husband just started talking about their 22 year old son. They pleaded with us to help him out of his addiction to drugs so he could get back on his feet for life. He's had trouble keeping jobs because of drugs and he always cant resist going out with his friends even though he knows they're bad influences on him. He's trying ot get into a rehab program, but according to his parents all he ever does is say he will, but then he starts again. It was incredible. They recognized us not as just some random feel good missionaries, but as representatives of Jesus Christ. We proceeded to talk with R (the son). He said he's always being judged by people. People tell him he's trash. I told him, and the same goes for anyone who reads this, that he is, above all else, a son of God. He has divine potential. We are all sons and daughters of God. We can't allow anyone to convince us otherwise. We then proceeded to read some of Ether 12 with him. We talked about how faith can help him overcome addiction, and specifically faith in Jesus Christ. I told him that part of having faith was acting. I told him that fear is the opposite of faith. That FEAR IS SOMETHING UNWORTHY OF A CHILD OF GOD. We left him with a Book of Mormon with a chapter to read. We encouraged him to start reading his bible again (he used to be really involved with his church), and to begin praying regularly again. We gave him our phone number and we're going to stop by his house again. The second story I have happened earlier that day. We went with the Zone Leaders to a nearby college to talk to students as they walked between classes. I finally found a use for my French skilz. Tell you what, if you talk to someone in French, 8 times out of 10 they'll stop and talk with you. It was awesome. One of the zone leaders came up to me and whispered, 'how did you talk to that girl? She just walked right by me!' I'm tellin' you, it's the French. Then this XC (cross country running) group from high school ran by, so I just started running with them and talking to the kids up front. After about a minute I realized I was kinda far from my comp so I headed back. It was a blast. Love you all a ton!

Elder Hunter Johnson