God loves you. Know it, feel it, live it.

My district saying goodbye to my companion...
My weight rack for squats, hahaha....

Dear Family,

May I please say how much I love you all? Because I do.

My companion was telling me we can't write letters for the moment, so I may only have this email privilege and only to family. So I will publicly say thank you to Kelli and Dashawn for sending me Dearelders. I probably won't be able to write back for a while but thank you! Dashawn, I was number 23 junior year for football, so go ahead :) And Kelli that is so cool about Bloc Studios, I know all about them! Jk, but good luck!

I love hearing from friends, I want everyone to know how I feel about what I am doing. This is the most important thing I have ever done, and will ever do in my life. To be in the service of Jesus Christ, guided by the Spirit and trusting in the Lord and his designs is the most fulfilling thing and greatest blessing I could have ever asked for. Sadness comes when we don't recognize what Jesus Christ did for us. Investigate for yourselves what He did and you too will come to a knowledge of the truth.

This morning I woke up rather early and left my companion on the curb of a busy highway here in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Sad, but it's his time to move on from this part of life. My new companion is from Oregon/Washington and born in New York. He's got a year in the mission. It's been a long while since the ward here has had two Americans. For everyone who ever said I was Latino, I have to tell you that everyone here immediately recognizes me as a "Gringo" and not from the way I talk! I've got the best of both worlds. I love my Peruvian heritage and my good ol´ American heritage back to Sweden and Denmark. I feel such a love in my heart almost all the time and I think it comes from my family. All of my family.

We had a good last week of good hard work here for my companion. I was happy when he told me he had been praying before my arrival to get a companion who would help him work with everything he has been working on for his last transfer in the mission. I was even happier when he told me I had done that for him. I don't think I could ever be satisfied with myself if I didn't give it my all, all of the time. Now of course there are times when my body doesn't want to give, or I've got to force out the emotions of love and joy. There are a lot of things in this world that can get you down. But like our beloved Prophet said, "Es mejor mirar para arriba". (I listened to conference in Spanish) Look up, cheer up, God loves you. Know it, feel it, live it. We have divine potential. If you don't know that yet, study it, investigate it. Wouldn't that be something important to know about? Yes, it would.

No baptisms this week because of conference but we've got two scheduled for this Saturday. Everything can go according to plan if we look up. Just gotta try and get your plan in line with God´s plan and you'll see the finish line more clearly. Our planning sessions really are so important, they need to be inspired. I've got a little pressure this week to be able to plan every day out since I'm the only one who knows the sector. They never said it would be easy.

The mamitas here finally understand that I really don't eat a lot. It was really funny one day when I asked for a little bit and when me and my companion compared plates they were exactly the same. During lunch yesterday with a family, I finally got a plate with my "normal" amount of food and finished with everyone else on time. We were laughing about that. There are some really good families here in this ward. They just need a couple more good strong families and from there it can grow. We've got to teach the Doctrine clear cut and without shadow of doubt. Jacob in the Book of Mormon does it best ;) I really do relate a lot to his words, and appreciate them. Thanks for giving me the name Jacob, mom and dad!

Well, know that I'm having fun. Know that I'm working hard. Know that I'm sweating too much, haha. Nah, my body is just really good at cooling itself off, that's why I use less gas (food). I love this work. I'm excited to see what can happen when I put complete trust in the Lord. I will be satisfied as long as I do my best. Only the Lord knows how far I can go if I don't slow myself down. Too many times that's been my problem. Don't slow down your own personal progression! A day without growth is a day de-growth (can't remember the word, haha).

I love you all. Te quiero much mami, tias, papa, Jenna y Jonathan, brothers y Alondra. Study the scriptures. In  them we find answers to the most specific questions.

Elder Johnson