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