Hey everyone! This week has been crazy and fast and slow all at the same time. I think we taught 10 lessons this week, which is more than last week and especially impressive since this week was Christmas! Biking takes up a lot of time, but I am now intimately familiar with my area.....I know it like the back of my hand! 

Note from Mom:  Here is another letter from Hunter to his Dad.  This is the missionary we know and love!  He now has to go by Elder Hunter because his companion is Elder Johnson.  Saturday the 27th one of his investigators, A, was baptised.  It was a beautiful day!  Sorry we don't have pictures. 

Hey Dad! I definitely enjoyed seeing the Christmas devotional. It was super cool. I especially liked President Eyring's address. Afterwards, my comp and I were talking to a guy that had converted 30ish years ago or something. He told us some really cool stories and gave us some insights to the minds of investigators. Mmmmm, yeah, the burke choir wasn't the best, but the people were!! I miss VA. I still get the monthly emails the Annandale Stake sends out to the missionaries of the stake. That's a really cool quote by Pres. Kimball. There's one guy we're teaching that could use that. He's got huge drug problems. And he doesn't really have a huge desire to stop. He's just about droppable. But we're trying to stick it out. It's so true though. With some sins, they become an addiction, so part of repentance is having the desire to stop, which leads to doing everything in your power to distance yourself from the temptations that you know you are still susceptible to.

I also love that quote by Joseph Smith! It's when a couple guys from church were over at his house and they were talking about the persecutions of the saints and of how many of the persecutors were former members. The Brother Joseph was talking to said that if he left the church he would basically go and live in the mountains all alone and forget about it, which is what inspired Joseph to say what he did. It's so true! There are many Less actives we are trying to re-enlist to serve God, who have just lost their testimonies completely. Our investigators are many. And extremely frustrating. We will hopefully have a baptism this month and at least two next month so far. A is going to be baptized on the 27th of this month. All her older siblings have been baptized, and we are teaching her older sister who is returning to activity. They are going to be awesome!! A is completely ready to get baptized. She and her returning sister came to church yesterday. N is 94 and turns 95 on Jan, 2....her baptismal date!! She wants to join the church to do something more meaningful with...what she has left of her life. She prayed about it and felt it was the right thing to do. She has a hard time hearing and I'm not sure if she completely understands everything because when we ask her a question she mishears it and goes on some tangent. Sigh. But she understands the commandments at least....the only thing we really have to worry about is her understanding the significance of baptism!! that it's not JUST joining the church. Then we have M. She has a date for the 10th of January. She had a son that died a year or two ago. He would be about 18 now, and he was born on Jan, 10. So it's extra special to her. She came to church along with her 6ish month old and her 10 year old and her extremely less active husband/boyfriend. Unclear on that right now. She is so open and willing to do anything to be with her son again. She's gotten over it, but like any mother would, she still aches for him. Those are all the ones I'm going to write about right now b/c they are the only ones with baptism dates. Hopefully we will have many more by next week!!!

We are both better right now...but Elder Y is just a tired guy. He has to take about an hour nap every day. I just have rough mornings. I'm not a morning person as you very well know. and it doesn't help that it takes me at least an hour to fall asleep. So I just don't talk until about 9:00 because that's when our comp. study starts. The best nights I had were when I was sick b/c I was taking some medicine that also made me sleepy. Might get some more today....it's just Niquill.

This fast sunday was awesome!! Some can be questionable...you know because you have people that will go up there and say crazy stuff, so I was a little worried about our investigators there, but it was awesome!! So many testimonies of families and temples, which is what our investigators and returning members needed!!! Fasting works!! As for Skype....yeah sure!! I have no idea what we're doing. It'll probably have to be sometime later in the evening. We still got almost 20 days...but I figure the earliest I could do it would be 6:00 my time/7:00 Justus time/8:00 y'all's time. Lots of love!

Elder Hunter Johnson

Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't email last week! We had transfers, and
I am now finishing training another Elder and we are now on
bike....sooooooo, last week was just a 'hot mess' as Mr. McCarthy
would say! So I have 2 weeks of cool stories and experiences to share!
So first story....when we were shopping 2 weeks ago, as we were
checking out there was a guy buying over 100 watches next to us. It
was just interesting. Just had a cart completely full of 'em! Story 2.
As we were checking out, an awesome Samoan guy from church, who just
stopped smoking and drinking decided to come out ver and pay for our
groceries. A solid $70 when all was said and done. The Lord truly does
look out for His missionaries. That is just a simple example of the
many experiences I've had similar to it. I recently had the
opportunity to play at the Korean Branch Christmas party with elders
Shawcroft and Choi! Elder Choi is an incredible pianist. I gave him
the piano accompaniment part and he sit read it flawlessly. So I gave
him an even harder piano accompaniment to my favorite violin piece
ever (all creatures of our God and King) and he sight read that
flawlessly too. Completely mind blown. In other news....TRANSFERS!!!
Elder Young is no longer my companion. I am staying in good ol' P3 and
have been called to train! Actually to finish the training of.....none
other than ELDER JOHNSON!!! It is quite confusing, so I now have to go
by Elder Hunter. We are on bike, so it is CRAZY! I love it. We have
done a lot of extra loops and stuff because I'm still figuring out the
quickest ways to get places. And where the places are. The first 2
days on bike we had a total of 6 or 7 flat tires. One night I got a
flat tire and an appointment fell through. Our mission leader was
going to come in about half an hour, so instead of waiting we just
went home! Elder Johnson rode his bike and I ran next to my bike! Let
me tell you, running 3 miles in nice clothes while holding a bike is
no fun. My zone leaders saw us and decided my bike either had problems
or I just wanted to run. Some other zone leaders in our same complex
saw us and laughed at us after deciding I had been mugged.

Anyhoo, it's CHRISTMAS!!!!! The best time of the year! Angie, (age 16)
one of the girls we've been teaching is getting baptized on the 27th
of this month! She is super excited about it. Other than that, we are
working ourselves into the ground! Mostly pumping up flat tires, but
still......

I want to wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and remember what
Christmas is really about. Since I can't send everyone a present,
although I'd like to, I will give you all something much more
valuable, and that is my testimony. I want to testify of a number of
things, the first of which is the reality of the divinity of God, our
Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I know they are both real,
tangible, immortal beings of flesh and bone. I know Jesus Christ is
the greatest gift our Father could ever give us. I know Joseph Smith
was a prophet called directly by God to restore the Kingdom of God on
earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is proof of that. I know our
Father continues to show His love for us by giving us a prophet just
as He has done throughout all time and apostles as he instituted in
Jerusalem. I know these things are true, not only because they make
logical sense to anyone who takes time to think it out, but because
our Father has given me His witness of these things through the power
of the Holy Ghost. I've been called by God and set apart by someone
who has authority to do that, to be a representative of Jesus Christ,
and to testify, as that representative, of these things. And so, this
Christmas, I leave you all with my gift and witness, and do it in the
name of Jesus the Christ, the Greatest gift our Father has given us.
Elder Hunter

Hullo everyone!!! This week has been kind of normal, so I'm just going to write as stuff comes to my head!!! Nothing particularly crazy happened, but....I made some awesome cookies!!! I am getting SUPER good at cooking. I mean, I was alright before but now...jeez, I'm amazing! That's just me being modest. We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday, and it was THE BOMB!! Someone in our ward is a caterer, so whenever we have parties, they are parties. Everyone wanted chocolate cheesecake for dessert though...what's with that? Because we're missionaries and we are obviously starving for want of food, we got about 10 pounds of rice and carrots and green beans from leftovers. So now we don't have to worry about what we're having for breakfast, lunch, or dinner for the next month!! Sooooo many leftovers....we still haven't finished the pumpkin pie... 

I jumped over a bush and got scratched by it when I was on a run...N, the 94 year old we're teaching wants to get baptized on January 2nd. She (and we) hope she lives long enough! R relapsed...again....

I went on splits with one of the guys from the ward and.....2/2 of our teaching appointments fell through!! Just our luck. But it was in Cinnamon Tree, so we had 18 other people to choose from to visit. So we visited the E!! Sister E is super nice. She has 2 kids. Brother E has some drug problems.....He's a great guy. He doesn't like Christmas, birthday parties, celebrations of any kind. He thinks it's all kind of fake. A show. I've never met someone who doesn't like Christmas before. I'm still trying to get over it. A small part of me died when he said that Santa Claus didn't actually exist. Speaking of Christmas!! There is an awesome Christmas video the church made. It's about....(drum roll) you'll have to find out by watching it!!! It's at Christmas.mormon.org. Hopefully we will get to go caroling sometime in the near future......if anyone has any questions or suggestions of things I could elaborate more on, please tell me because I'm not sure what to write about.

Grosses Bisses!!

Elder Hunter Johnson

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! You may now start listening to Christmas music! I don't know what it is with pumpkin pie. Everyone is giving us pumpkin pie. So either it's the only pie anyone buys around here and they just had too much, or no one likes the pumpkin pie so they use us as a food disposal squad. This last week has been uneventful except for the sickness that has plagued my companion. He's been completely out of it for a bit over a week, but is feeling better today!! I forgot to mention in my letter from last week that I was able to ride a motorized bike. It was pretty cool. It did about 25 mph and matched Southern Cali. in it's run down, ghetto demeanor! Interesting things that happened this week....1. we are now teaching a lady that turns 95 on Jan. 2nd!! She asked to join the Mormon church, and she just hopes she lives long enough to. 3. It rained for the first time in forever yesterday!! It's been about a year since this place has had a good rainstorm. So now the temperature has dropped to a frigid 65 degrees!! Better get those winter short sleeve shirts ready...3. A guy gave me a guitar.That's really all that's happened this week. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I always feel like that. I love you all!!

Elder Hunter Johnson

Hello everyone! This week has been awesome! Now that our area has doubled, we have twice as much work to do, so we're getting twice as much done, so I'm twice as happy! Even though my companion got me sick. But whatever! I met another guy that had gotten stabbed yesterday! Jeez, it's just happening to everyone around here....I was able to do a 3.5 mile run in 19.5 minutes again, so it wasn't just a one time wonder! On my pday run, I found a lime, so I picked it up and when we finished I ate some of it! And then I attempted to get others to try it as well. It was the sourest thing I've ever tasted. We are teaching so many people right now, it's crazy! In Cinnamon Tree (for those of you getting my emails for the 1st time it's...the ghetto place and lots of interesting things go down there) one of the kids (8th grader) wanted a book of Mormon, so I brought him one. He said, Actually I don't need one anymore! I found one laying around on one of the benches so I took it! That's how often we're there. There's probably 100 of them floating around that place. It's awesome! I haven't had a chance to take a pic. with gang buddies, but hopefully in the near future...That's really about all that's happened. There are so many people eager to hear what we have to say here, and equally unfortunately, there is an even greater number that have no idea what we're gonna say and don't want to have an idea of what we're gonna say. We could be offering them a million bucks for crying out loud!! I have time to send pictures, so that is what I shall do !!!! 

Elder Hunter Johnson

 

1. Sister S with Elder H and I

2. me and Brother A

3. Brother P and I

4. Me and Elders in MTC!!

So, I had to send this to myself in order to send it...this was the one that was supposed to go out 2 weeks ago, but it didn't work for some reason...

Hey everyone! This week was somewhat less eventful than last week. To lead into the first story, I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that we were talking with our ward mission leader one night. And then a rat
ran from underneath his car straight through the front door and into his house. It was sooooooo funny!! Then this past week there was a rat at the church....elder U almost stepped on it, so Elder C
and I chased it away. We were so brave. Rats are fast.....jeez. My dog deserves more credit for catching and killing 2!! On Thursday last week I got to go on splits with Elder C, and it was awesome! Not only did we get to ride bikes around but at one of the houses I just
got this feeling and asked the teenager at opened the door "are you M?" And he was!! It was really funny. I also had the opportunity to make some rice crispies and banana bread that were the bomb!!!
They were perfect. There's this guy in the ward that's a cop. He showed us this green eggs and ham book. In it he had put a sticker of the Book of Mormon over all the places where there was some green eggs and ham. All the words were changed so Sam was a Mormon trying to get
someone to read the Book of Mormon. He's going to make me one for Christmas. :) I'll send pictures of it. It is sooooo funnnnyyyyy!!  Halloween was interesting. Everyone goes all out here. Craaaaazy. I'm enclosing some pictures of me at our ward haloween party. That's really all that went on this week. Ill try to have better stories next week!
Elder Hunter Johnson

The pictures are of 4 generations of trainers, me and one of the kids
from he ward at the Halloween party...notice what my tie says....and
Elder U!

Note:  I could not read what the tie said.

Hey yall!! How's it goin? Sorry I didn't email Monday, I had a zone conference, so p-day got moved to Wednesday!! I got to play a violin again!! A nine year old girl decided she wanted to get baptized, so Elder Uchida and I sang/played Savior Redeemer of My Soul. It was pretty sweet. A few days ago a lady, probably early 40s came into our mission office and asked if some missionaries could talk to her. She was freaking out about the end of the world and so we talked a while. She was just so scared of the influence the devil has in todays world. And it's true. In so many subtle ways. There are so many counterfeit paths around us and we have no idea we're on them. Just one quick example. This story might sound familiar to some of you because I wrote about it recently. This is more of what I learned....last night in fact! Some 19 year old moron got someone's 15 year old daughter pregnant after 4 restraining orders were filed. He had shoplifted, and almost killed the dad of the 15 year old by stabbing him with a knife (and we're talking a big hunting knife. The stab wound was about 1.5 inches/4-5 cm.). He went to court and got a wopping 3 months in prison. Hmmmm....Anyway, this next story is somewhat more lighthearted. At zone conference Elder Cardon of the 70 wanted to do a role play. My comp. and I volunteered and then we got 2 sons and 2 daughters and together we made up the "Young" family. (at this point you might have realized that elder young and I were the 'parents'. He and President Taggart were pretending to be the missionaries and they were teaching us about prayer. Near the beginnig Elder Cardon said something along the lines of 'you and you're....(guesturing to me...and then after a pause everyone else)...family'. It was mildly amusing. Then near the end he asked, 'how has prayer helped you in your life?' Elder young being as robotic as he is started playing as a person from the District videos (for those of you unfamiliar with that, they're videos about missionaries teaching people) and said, 'well I love my family, and when we got married we knew we would have trouble having kids...' and at this point everyone (including President Taggart) lost it completely. It was soooooooooooooo funny!!! Elder Cardon wasn't too amused though.....he's a great guy, he just needs to loosen up a bit....kinda like my comp!! Anywhoo, also this week a new elder came into our district! Elder C was replaced by Elder J who is being trained by Elder U! It is extremely confusing to everyone in the ward, they are making up names for us or calling us Elder H and Elder Z

These are the most recent pictures we recieved from Hunter.  Including pictures of him in the MTC and his trip to the mission home.

...or Elder HoJo and Elder ZoJo. I ask you....yup, that's about all that's been interesting this week. I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but this weeks been extra long. Hard to remember. Sorry I didn't email last week! My email was messed up. It was weird.

Elder Hunter Johnson

Halloween was pretty legit here. People go all out on decorations...I have a good picture from the ward Halloween party I'll send next week.

 I did express my concerns to my companion. We actually have 2 hours of comp study, but still....on Saturday we had service in the morning. Then we went back to our apartment from 2:00-8:00 to finish our comp studies, and our weekly planning!!! On a SATURDAY!! I was having a conniption in my head and trying not to show it because my companion stresses enough for our whole zone. I told him that time would be better used teaching or trying to contact people because hello!! It's a Saturday!

He said, " I understand where you're coming from, but I know this is extremely important and it's the most important thing we can do to help you learn how to be a missionary" we basically wasted the entire day. That's what I mean by he's 'exactly obedient'. He follows the outlines of the handbook regarding study and preparation to the letter, but when it comes to action we do almost nothing unless I'm a jerk and say ok, let's go do this. It's so frustrating. I like what you said about things of the soul. It reminds me of elder Bednar's Christmas devotional entitled character of Christ. You can only see it in the MTC. He talks about note taking in terms of large plates and small plates. That's a good thing to keep on mind when taking notes in general conference. Write what the spirit teaches you, not what the speakers say. I haven't written much about stuff like that because we really don't have anything to write about...again because we....don't get anything done. Quick thought about cars. They're good, but specifically with my companion they are not. They encourage laziness.

It makes it too easy to say, let's go back to the apartment and take a nap or finish our o so important studies, causing us to get nothing done. I suggested to my companion that I get a bike and we drive to the library and just bike around using that as our Forward Operating Base He said, yeah, possibly. So he doesn't want to do that. Facebook is useful for teaching friends back home. We're trusted to use Facebook. We're expected to use it 'on purpose' I'm sure you understand what that means. Basically start a conversation with someone and guide the conversation to your mission and try to teach them. I'm so grateful for that. It's made it possible for me to start teaching some of my track friends for example, and I'm trying to start teaching Miles again. Avery I love you!!! I love the pictures you send me, but I think you would look cuter in a ninja to tae Kwan do outfit! Thanks for the emails everyone! I love you all!

Elder Hunter Johnson

Ok, so 3 quick stories. 1. I accidentally threw our brand new cell phone off the fourth floor of our apartment. We were coming up and it slipped. I caught it and was then like, well it's a good thing we weren't close to the edge! That would've been like....and I mimicked having the phone slip out of my hand....except it actually slipped. I watched fall. It seemed like forever. Jeez.it actually survived. It only got scratches! Miracle!! Story 2. We tried talking to a girl in her early 20s in cinnamon tree 2 times. Then one day she came up to us and asked if she could meet with us and just learn more. We were flabbergasted. She's an atheist, and so she's been to lots of different churches just for fun. We taught her about the restoration of the gospel and she asked to come to church on Sunday. She came!

After the meeting ended (we were having stake conference) I turned to her and asked her how she liked it. She had tears in her eyes, and almost unable to speak, she said she loved it, and that it was different than any other church service she'd ever been to, and that it was amazing, and she couldn't describe why. That is what the power of the Holy Ghost feels like when it testifies of truth. Story 3. We (elder S and I were on splits) had a quick lesson we some ward members and then asked them to point to a place for us to tract on a map. We went. Long story short, we had a lot of people impolitely say no thanks, not interested. What they didn't know was that I was going to give them all the cash I had on me if they actually talked a little with us. Just kidding, I wouldn't have done that, but it's so sad to see people say no thanks, not interested, when what we have is literally the best thing, and only thing that matters in this world.

Anyhow, last house there was a guy and his girlfriend putting away beers like no one's business, and the guy was talking on his Bluetooth. We let him finish, then he said, "you m&@$/&;$&)/;@& f@&?!&!&!ing Mormons! You f&?&!?&&$ing Mormons!" So we ended up talking to him for about 80 minutes. He opened up a lot. Not sure if it was because he was drunk or not...but he's a really nice guy, name is Spencer. He's a gifted mechanic and he's all about work and loves how we have a food storage and have guns and ammo and stuff. He said he loves Mormons and works for some. He's a felon, (probably stole a watermelon or something...) and he's got the biggest work ethic I've ever seen. These were all super awesome, but this last one especially was the result of direct inspiration from God and faith. The week was awesome. Other things that happened...my 3.5 mile run time is now 20:11. Jeez. I'm setting the bar kinda high with that. Thank you all so much for writing me! I love reading all your emails. They make my p-days super happy. :) I love you all!!!!

Elder Hunter Johnson

Ok, I don't have lots of time, so the story of the week is this. On Saturday my district got a booth for the annual festival that the city of Placentia has. We were handing out family history research stuff. The guys next to us were Indian, except for this white guy and were handing out cool books on yoga and karma. AWESOME!!! Anyway, long story short, I talked to Peter for a little over 3.5 hours. We talked about physics, religion, running, working out, deep doctrine, karma, the book of Mormon, yoga, and pretty much anything else you can think about. And we tied it all together. And now for this weeks letter because I didn't have time to send that stuff ^^^ last week!! This week has been crazy. Lots of planning and more teaching than usual. I got a bike with loose parts and holy tires up and working so I can take my companion on real runs finally!! A couple days ago we went 3.5 miles in 20:52. That's a 5:58 pace. So phew. I'm still in shape.  Stories. While at dinner at a families house, the mom asked us each if we wanted a coconut or strawberry popsicle thing. When she asked my comp., he was so out of it he said 'sure' with a completely straight face. I lost my composure completely. 2nd story. When we dropped off the other elders at their apartment after dinner we went home. We stopped to get gas, so we got home in about 25/30 minutes. Then we realized we'd left the phone at our apartment all day. I checked the messages. The elders left their keys in the car. We went back....so 45 minutes after we dropped them off, we let them in. It was hilarious. Earlier this week someone in the ward told us about how someone that got stabbed a few houses down. I'm sitting next to the guy right now in the library talking to him about it. He's awesome!! I gave him 10 cents. He has to call the detective. 4th story me and the zone had a confusing conversation about sandwiches and mustard, mayo, and tartar sauce. They thought I was asking them what they wanted on their sandwiches when in fact I was offering them bottles of stuff. It was funny, but it's too confusing to write about so I'll leave it at that. Last and best story, except for the stabbing one, omygosh that guy is so awesome, Cinnamon tree. The ghetto condominium complex. There are 2 different gangs operating there. Lots of drugs. Lots of poverty and problems. You can smell the marijuana at night everywhere there. But....there are so many people there that are humble and willing to hear about the Restored Gospel, prophets, and Jesus Christ. We're replacing drugs and problems there with Books of Mormon and happiness. My companion and I are the rock stars of cinnamon tree with the kids. It's hilarious. Every time we're walking around, kids scream our names and run over to say hi. I'm actually famous. They take our Books of Mormon and can't wait to read them. May of them are. They think it's the coolest thing in the world that there's another book like the Bible. All the other elders before us have called it the black hole because of all the stuff that goes on. I don't see it like that at all. Even though a security guard was attacked by the gangs and literally had his face broken. I think I heard someone fire a 12 gauge last night. Not really sure. We also burned Elder Uchita's pants because he's been out for 18 months now. That's a tradition out here. I'll have to buy a cheap pair, because I don't have the pants to spare!! love it so much down here!!!! My companion gets really nervous whenever we're out at night. That's about everything that's going on right now. I'm sending pictures for reals this time!! Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God!!

Elder Hunter Johnson 

1. My MTC comp. Elder H

3. Elder T. That guy is an incredible pianist. makes up his own arrangements.

2. Me and D S at the Provo

temple!! We just ran into each other there! It was awesome!!

4. Theeeere's my whole district! Left to Right again: Elders T, N, W, B (our district leader), H, me, D, N, and J.

That all sounds awesome and like it was a ton of work! Correction. I went to the Newport Beach Temple. We have non investigators coming to church. One came to a baptism yesterday. That was a huge miracle. Thanks for sending the music and stuff!! I love the letter that mom and avery and Zenock sent in the mail a few weeks ago. forgot to mention that. My companion is a robot. He wants to plan and study to help me learn how to be a missionary. I've tried telling him that I don't really need that and that I've already prepared for one. He was a very sheltered kid, and at almost 23 and 15 months out, he still isn't very good at talking to people. He stresses very easily. HE reminds me of Mom, but Mom actually gets things done. I'm trying not to complain, but honestly, we're wasting the Lords time. He constantly wants to replace visiting and contacting potential investigators that we already have on record with planning and/or tracting, which gets us nowhere. He hasn't read the bible, D&C, or P. of G.P. I think President Taggart put me with him more for his benefit than for mine. He's like a little kid. Takes long in the shower, brushing his teeth and getting ready. Takes about 35 minutes. So I cook breakfast for both of us. I usually cook us lunch too, while he takes a 20-30 min. nap. I'm working on building his endurance. The ZL's are in my district. They're awesome. They live a few doors down from us, so we visit them a few times a week. The other companionship is Elder C and Elder U (you cheeta'). U has the funniest laugh and C is awesome. He told me about a story my comps. last comp. told him. They were out knocking and there was a guy standing by a car. Young is socially awkward, so he says, "Hey, you've got a car there." That's what he's like. C has got a good sense of humor. And he's spiritual. good combo.  President Taggart is by the book, but he's not so by the book that he only allows people to listen to music on pday. Trust me. My comp. has it memorized. It's scary. It keeps us from working to some degree. He is literally the most obedient missionary in the mission. He just has no idea how to act. Only to plan. And he listens to music. Story of the week. R. His mom asked us to com over when we were at the neighbors. He's got drug addiction probs. Bad. It has taken away his agency so much that to get him to keep his commitment to pray by himself we had to tell him to kneel down and start praying before we left. Just about out of time. I love you all!!

Hunter

Alright 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) 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

Hey everyone! I'm glad that you all were able to have fun with the L and everything. A, I love the way you wrote that story, K, just be an example. Never let go of your standards, but don't be afraid to go do things with other girls and show them who you are and what you stand for. I wasn't there, so I don't know anything about this girl, but if you feel like, um no, then there you go. Just be careful not to rule things out right off the bat. Here's a story. We went to see if some investigators were going to come to church and they weren't. we were late in picking up the other Elders and church started in 20 minutes. I was calling them, so I finished and then jumped into the car. Then I heard from outside and behind the car, "Hey, do you want to come to church?! It starts in 20 minutes!!!" Elder Y (my trainer) just walked up to this guy smokin' a cig. and invited him to church!! We talked to him and he and his girlfriend are having a baby boy. He's 20. HE wants to be a good father, and he knows he needs God moere in his life. We exchanged #s and we have an appointment with him in about 8 hours!! This story also shows how both companions need to be in tune with the Spirit. I felt prompted to go invite the A to church, and Elder Y felt prompted to go invite C to church. It was incredible. I'd prayed for a miracle earlier that day, and BAM. Just like that. The Lord blesses those who are obedient if they ask for blessings. T, your glasses got there before I left, remember? Tell me something new bro!!! Z, why don't you tell me about what's going on in school? You just summed up everyone else's letters in 2 sentences!!

Elder Hunter

Hey family!  Sorry I haven't written much.  I really haven't had much time at all.  My companion, Elder Hamby is really awesome.  He has a hard time forming his thoughts into words and he's really quiet, but his personality and actions remind me so much of Randall.  My teachers are Sister Smith, Brother Garcia, Brother Parry, Brother Roberts and Brother Anderson.  They are all super awesome.  I've been way busy.  Elder Hamby and I have taught 4 TRC lessons and 15 Progressing investigator lessons.  The TRC is an investigator who may or may not be a real investigator.  As explained in my email, and following the direction of the Spirit, I get her to commit to baptism as she feels prepared in our 2nd lesson.  The other 3 PE's also committed.  My comp and I tried a short fast today for our lessons, and I think it helped a lot.  We're all getting ready to leave right now.  I seriously cannot think of anything else to write.  It's the MTC.  Some stuff every day.  But in My Time with Christ has been awesome.  How's Ranger?  I hope he's getting plenty of exercise and being treated nicely.  Dad about the music, I asked Mom to put stuff on the little 1x1 inch thing you got me for Christmas.  It would be nice to just have something to listen to if I get the chance.  Music brings the Spirit and helps me feel at peace.  That's why I asked Mom to put the BYU CD on it as well as Prince of Egypt.  Mo. Tab any other gorgeous music.  Speaking at music, I played Savior Redeemer of My Soul in Sacrament meeting with Elder Thompson, Neff, and Jacobs.  Elder Thompson is INCREDIBLE.  He makes up his own renditions on the spot and they are way cool.  It's too bad we're not going to the same mission.  I really want to meet up with him after my mission.  He's a not super serious guy, but he has a strong testimony.  I love you all!  I'm learning things every day.  Quick thoughts.  Eternal sacrifice = GOD sacrifice.  The Power of the Holy Ghost can work with anyone anywhere.  Even (and often) with those who are baptized.  It does not stop operating on those who have been baptized.  I feel that that's something a lot of people misunderstand.

Hello everyone! Week #2 has been intense. I've gained so much experience in the short time I've been here. I don't have any pictures yet because I don't think we're able to upload anything here at the MTC. Sorry my letters are lame. My schedule goes as follows. wake up. Eat. go to class for 3 hours. Eat. Run. go to class for 3 more hours. Dinner. Go to class until 9:30, but now we are teaching people in classes called TRC. then we go to sleep and do it all over again. Once I get out to CA I'll have more interesting stories! And pictures.

Elder Johnson

Hunter's first letter came in the form of a sticky note by regular mail.  I'm just happy to know he is well.  As this is the trial run for his blog I'll decided to record it as the first entry.  This is what it says:

Dear mom and dad,
Sorry this is on a sticky note.  I didn't have any paper.  My first companion is called Elder H.  He reminds me of R a lot.  Classes were fun.  Role playing was amusing.  The best line was one of the Elders..."What did you do with them?" in reference to the babies' investigator Kenzi worked with in the ICU.  It was pretty funny.  Can you call DS and tell him that I'm doing TRC on Monday and Wednesday and Friday from 8:45 - 9:30  he and M want to come teach while I'm here.  I love you guys!  It's so much fun here!!
PS Can you call B and make sure she has my email?  I don't think I gave it to her.

comments:  Hunter left the San Antonio Airport and arrived in Salt Lake City Airport where he was met by AWESOME family members who drove him to the MTC.  My sister was there in Provo to see Hunter off as well.  We are so grateful for family!  Thier kindness and support mean more than words can say!  Thank you so much!