What a week! One of the most frustrating things during the mission is when you sit down and set up the perfect day in your planner, with all the visits and lessons that you need to do, just to have everything fall through during the day. You're left scrambling to get the essential things done, and sometimes you end up reorganizing everything. But as we say here in Brazil "faz parte". It's good to know that the Lord recognizes our efforts!

There's not many out of the ordindinary experiences to tell this week, but we had a great moment yesterday that I'd like to share. We've been working hard to build trust with the church members here in Corumbá, and we feel like things are beginning to kick in gear.

Example- two weeks ago we met this girl on the street and invited her to church. She went, and we proceeded to teach her. In the first visit she accepted baptism and everything. Next step...involve the members. This Sunday was her 18th birthday, and we spent the week giving a heads up to all the youth leaders. Yesterday we called on a few members to bring cake to her house and give her a birthday suprise. The members answered the call!!! We ended up with not one, not two but three different birthday cakes, and thanks to a couple of great famies we now know that this super special girl will be well taken care of after her baptism this coming Saturday.

I love seeing families participate in missionary work like that. It's gratifying to know that you don't need a nametag to help in the work of the Lord.

That's really all I got to say about this week!

Até mais!

Elder Johnson  (pictures are of the fiesta for the girl who was recently baptized and up top a real Alligator!)

Hey everybody!!! What a great week. We had a chunk taken out of it thanks to a Zone Conference in Campo Grande, but it was well worth the 7 hour bus ride. This Zone Conference was the last Conference of President Reber in the Brasil Cuiabá Mission. As such, both he and Sister Reber gave their "last testimonies" along with a powerful training given in the format of the "last interview". He bore a powerful testimony on the true meaning, purpose, and potential of the family as an eternal unit.  he invited all of the elders to "earn a queen" by dedication to the work of the Lord.

Returning to Campo Grande was more problematic than it should have been.  The bus broke down at 3:00 in the morning in the middle of the Pantanal (largest wetlands in the world).  Needless to say we were just about eaten alive by mosquitos.  But I was able to get a peek at an incredible region, with some amazing wildlife.
We got right back to work as soon as we got back to Corumba.  Just about immediately we ran into some roadblocks.  Turns out there were some comments made to our Spanish-speaking investigators last Sunday and a number of people were deeply offended.  We spent the weekend cleaning up this mess along with a number of other problems and finally, against all odds, we had a successful baptismal service for V.  We hope we can use this momentum to bring her entire family back to church, along with a number of other less actives that we are working with.
The miracles continue. I continue to be amazed at how the Lord guides his work even with incredible opposition!
That's all for now!  Until next time!
Elder Johnson

Zone Conference in Campo Grande!!!

1. companion & true friend, Elder Stephens

2. my "brother" Elder Phipps

3 & 4, District CORUBMÀ

Hey everyone!! This week has been great! It started out a little bit shakey, with my new companion getting here at 1:30 Wednesday morning, but he's getting the hang of things here in Corumbá very quickly. He's from Pirnambucu (nordeste), and he's very exited to be working in what is now his second area! 

As for our work here in Corumbá, we're seeing progress with a number of different families, the only problem being that two of these families are Bolivian and as such speak very little Portuguese. If we speak slowly enough they can understand pretty well (and we can basically understand the Spanish) but that's not nearly as much fun as learning a new language, so now we're both learning and practicing a little bit of Espanol. What fun!

Othen than the norm, this week we've been really trying to work with and strengthen some of the priesthood holders (men) in the branch. As missionaries we get to see good examples and bad examples. We see fathers and husbands that strive to strengthen and help their families by living and following the principles of the gospel, and on the other hand we see other men who seem to be dragging the family down. This week I was really struck by the essential role of "father" or even "husband". As "guys" we have really got to get it together. The blessings of faithful fatherhood are aparent, and the results of slacking are tragic. 

The mission is teaching me sooooo much about what kind of man I want to be. I hope I can carry these lessons with me to one day bless and sustain my own family! Christ truly was "the man". He set a perfect example for each one of us. It's definitely a high standard, but it's one we all have to strive for.

Ate Mais pessoal!!!

Elder Johnson

1. Me and my new companion, Elder Alves

2. Elder Viana e Ellis washing dishes

3. A catholic Deacon/Marine Coronel

Hey everyone! Transfer uptates comin in!! Elder Viana and I are splitting up to divide and conquer the city of Corumbá. I'll be with Elder Lucas, a Brazilian, and Elder Viana will be with Elder Ellis, an American. Our week was focused on getting people to Conference, and we were blessed with success! We were able to help one family come back to church, and we marked the baptismal date of their 9-year-old daughter. Now we just have to help the father get prepared so that he can be the one to perform the baptism!

This week we taught a guy who said something along the lines of "how can you believe in a modern prophet? I asked around and no one even knows who Thomas Monson is. How can he be a prophet if he is not recognized at large by the world?" I explained to him that getting the word out is our (as missionaries) part of the deal, the decision to listen and obey is an individual choice. 

How grateful I am for a modern prophet, and for up-to-date instruction direct from God. That particular moment taught me a little bit about the importance of our "restoration" message. He was (in part) right! How many people have heard the wonderful news that there is a living prophet on the earth TODAY and not only that but there's twelve living Apostles!?!? Not a whole lot is the answer. 

I was touched and inspired by this last session of General Conference. I left with the desire to be and do better. After all, that is, in essence, what God wants us to do. Continually improve, fix our mistakes, and trust completely in Christ to do all that. 

As for Christ, how about Easter for a chance to remember him and apply his sacrifice in our lives. I know that Christ lives and as a living Savior exists to bless our lives today. I love my Savior, and want so badly to make his sacrifice "worth it" in my own life. 

That's the week!

Happy Easter to everyone,

Elder Johnson

Hey everybody! It's been quite a busy week. First of all, let me explain the situation of Corumbá as to date. For the past two weeks my companion and I have "technically" been working in the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission, but yesterday both President Reber and President Willard (from the other mission) met here in Corumbá to make the change official, so as of today, I am once again working in my own mission!!

 The Bolivian missionaries will be working one last week with us because their transfer is next week, and President Willard doesn't want to have to do an emergency transfer. The four missoinaries from Bolivia are helping us out a lot, and are working hard to have this transition go by as smoothly as possible. 

Other than the visit from the two Mission Presidents, this week has been pretty normal, but I'll get to the details in the group letter.

Yup, there's a mini Cristo Redentor here in Corumbá.

What to write...what to write...why is it so hard to remember things that happened in the past week? Anyway, here we go from the start. 

This week we stuck with the Bolivian Elders in Trio for only two days, and the rest of the week we decided to brave the city on our own. But, now that we've walked around a bit, We both feel pretty good about things. Now we have an idea of all those that the Missionaries have been teaching and following up on. 

To get to know the area even better, we did some good old-fashioned door knocking. There's simply no better way to get to know a lot of people than to talk to everyone. We met some neat families, but it looks like we're going to have to bring in the reinforcements (members) to get them to church. 

Another bummer is that our high-potential family took a big hit this week. The father of the family went to jail...which makes things a whole lot more complicated, but hey, it happens. I feel so bad for the kids in the family though. They've been through enough already. At least now they have some support from the Branch!

Clearly the biggest news of the week was the official turn-over of Corumbá from the Bolivian Santa Cruz Mission to the Brazil Cuiabá Mission. Both Mission Presidents came into town for our sacarament meeting on Sunday, and I was honored to meet Presidente e Hermana Willard, who have done an incredible job of helping this branch until now. Needless to say, Sunday was a powerhouse day, and we were thrilled to have a great turnout at church. We hope we can use this new surge of energy to get some excellent work done!

That's all for now!

Have a great week!

Elder Johnson

 1. streets of Corumbá

2. Recent Convert (and ex-pastor) 

3. with Pres.

4. Missão Brasil Cuiabá meets Missión Santa Cruz Bolivia.

Well everyone, this week is full of NEW. New area, new companion, so let me get you all the info.

First off, I'm with Elder Viana, from the Northeast of Brasil (Piauí). He's got 9 or 10 month on the mission, but he's 22 years old, and was studying law. So, basically he's super smart. 

And now for the report on Corumbá. Here, our area is actually two cities, Corumbá and Ladario. One right next to the other. Together, there´s over 150,000 people in our area, and we've got a lot of ground to cover. Until recently, the Branch here in Corumba was part of a the Bolivian District (three branches) on the other side of the border. The missionaries from the Bolivian mission (who live in Bolivia) cross the border every day to work here in the city.

Now Corumbá will be a part of our mission, but because it's far away from EVERYTHING, it's not part of a stake nor District. Which means once again we are on our own. No Zone, no nuthin. Thank you Alta Floresta. 

But, the branch here is actually pretty strong (if you call 70 people strong). But, as is the norm, there is plenty of work to do, helping the church leaders, and strengthening the members, as well as finding new people to teach.

This week, we've been working with the 4 Bolivian missionaries. Boy are they troopers. With absolutaly NO training, they have to work in another country with another language! I've got a lot of respect for each one of them, and I've been impressed with their work here. This week was a lot of getting to know people and places, and I'm loving it so far!! 

 

Ate mais!

Elder Justus Johnson

Pictures:  the river (and pantanal) next to the city!

The pictures really don't do the scene justice.

Companion,

Bolivian Missionaries,

Family of the Branch President

My week was great. We were able to find some great new investigators, but as always there were new things that kept us busy here in the Mission Office. The biggest change is that a new city was recently transferred to our Mission from Bolivia. The city is called Corumbá, and it already has a branch, but has always been part of the Bolivian Mission. After a number of petitions by the members in Corumbá, the branch was finally transferred to our mission last week. To re-open the branch, President Reber is sending me there with Elder Viana. Because of this transfer, there's been a lot of changes in the mission this week, and we spent a lot of time working out the kinks. I for one, head out for Corumbá tomorrow. GOODBYE ESCRITORIO!!!

Other than that rather significant change, a bishop of a nearby ward also asked Elder Zárate and I to give a training in Gospel Principles. So, we missed out on our own Sacarament meeting, but were able to help out in another ward, and have a great meeting with the missionaries in that District. But enough jabber...

Lastly, a funny story. We were at lunch this week with a sister in the Ward, and she happened to have one of her friends there.  This would have been a great thing if this lady hadn't been so SNAKEY!  Among other things, she remarked a number of times on how attractive I am, and din't just give me her number but also her e-mail, facebook, and "whasapp" (Brazilian social networking thingy)...what really put the cherry on top is that she already has a 9 year old daughter daughter.  Talk about the need to get a life.

 1&2. sunset in Cuiabá

3&4. fun times with friends

PS from mom: Corumba, the gateway to the wetlands called the Pantanal is a city 96,000 by the border of Bolivia.  The mission president and his wife visited Corumba a few weeks ago. The branch there has been part of the Bolivian mission and after years of deliberation has become part of the Cuiaba mission so Justus will be the first missionary from the Cuiaba mission to help the branch in Corumba.  

Well, that's it for now, next week I'll be writing from Corumbá!!

Love, Elder Johnson