12-02-13 Scripture Power Does Not Substitute for Electrical Power

Hey  Y’all

So I’m trying to type this on a French keyboard so it’s pretty rough.  This one might be a little shorter.  As the title suggests we have been living African this week.  About a week ago we got an electrical bill from a drunk guardian for our landlord.  Thinking they were trying to scam us (which happens) we didn’t pay it. Well, turns out the drunk guy was serious, and our power got cut this week on Wednesday.  This year Thanksgiving included some humble pie.  haha.   Also the new senior couple was out of town and so they couldn’t help us fix the problem; and I have yet to mention that we had money problems this week and were running out of money for a lot of things!  So all in all, we haven’t had power for the week which means bucket showers, fanless nights, and no water.  But overall the problem is fixed and we all had some good laughs (and also really good scares as it’s pitch black in our apartment).

With that as a backdrop it is crazy that we had a normal week of work. We had another baptism this week.  It was for a young man named Elios.  He was a contact from other missionaries in Pointe Noire, but he is solid. We taught him at his work, which is an old garage with a bunch of grease monkeys.  Usually during our lessons there are 3 or 4 other people joining with us.  Elios has already introduced us to his friend who has agreed to baptism in January!  The work continues to move along!

For thanksgiving we just played basketball again, I love basketball now but I’m still dying to learn how to play soccer like a boss!  Maybe in the coming year.  And then we just bought a bunch of food and had a fun hangout with the zone.  This week President Cook, is coming, so the parties just keep going on and on, haha.  As for transfers, I’ll know next Monday before I email. I have been in the same place for 6 months so everyone thinks I’m out of here.  Part of me wants to leave but part of me feels/hopes I haven’t finished my time in Congo.  But wherever the Lord wants me will be fine by me :)

I hope that’s all your questions answered, if not sorry but there is always next week and the week after. In fact there is a lot of time.  Also, is it true that Michigan went bankrupt?  An African told me that on Saturday and I don’t know.  Let me know how life goes for you all there and I’ll do my best to let you know how I am doing down here.

Love you all,
Elder Johnson

11-25-13 Interesting Things Happen in the Congo

Lundberg and I have been praying for interesting things to happen every day to help keep our spirits up, and Heavenly Father has heard those prayers without a doubt.  We have been laughing so hard almost every day!  Lundberg has even started drawing comics to keep a record of our adventures.  So to start - we may have set a record this week. 1 lesson interrupted 4 times by crazy/drunk people!  We were teaching at the church in its courtyard.  The big gate was open so everyone could see what we were doing.  (we were teaching a young lady so we had to have the lesson in public view - but that’s not a problem at all).  So, the lesson commenced on the Atonement, a pretty deep subject.  A drunk man walked by and then asked, "Is that the word of God?"  We said it was and he approached us asking for a brochure, we gladly gave him one and then he left staring at the brochure repeating "I love this, I love this".  So we continue, and reached another spiritual point in the lesson when a local drunk lady, who interrupted us last week, walks right into the courtyard, stops in front of Elder Lundberg and says, "Give me 100 CFCA!" (money).  At this point she knows we speak French so we can’t play dumb and she won’t leave.  We kept telling her to leave because she won’t find money here.  At the same time I notice an old lady walking by the gate who looks totally normal, trying to diffuse the situation in an attempted cry for help, I yell out, "Hello mama, bonjour!" (adding in an extra sharp missionary smile). FIRST thing she says..."give me a 100 CFCA!". What!!! We told the grandma to go, and after we got the drunken crazy lady away too!  At this point we and the investigator are all laughing and having a good time.  We are about the close the lesson when Elijah Green (a crazy Congolese man who was deported from America years ago, does drugs, drinks, and is 100% crazy.  (He also knows the church because of his friend)  He walks by the gate, notices us and begins talking to us and he said, "Listen to me….listen to....listen to me man! I got a friend here who don’t know about the Gospel, give me a book an' I'll teach him."  So we did and sent him on his way.  Now, why did I share this story?

1 - it proves God not only answers and hears prayers but that he also has a sense of humor :) ALSO MISSIONARY WORK IS FUN!  During that lesson Chanelle explained her desire to be baptized and we set a date for 7th of December.  The 4 crazies were hilarious, but those are just funny moments among awesome spiritual experiences!

The week only got better! (hopefully that made you laugh a little) Half way through the week I found a shirt of Top Gear!  We were walking through a market and I saw it hanging up, I ran to the stand and said "I will give you 2000 CFCA for the shirt".  Not caring about the size I bought it and was so excited to try it on that night.  Luckily it fits! - Julius style that is.  Haha.  And the best part is the shirt simply has written on it - "I am the Stig" :)  New favorite shirt.

We attended a youth activity and got to see some African culture, at least from the youth.  And surprisingly it’s not that different from our culture at home.  They danced and it took me back to church dances with Gabbie and Drew and Kaleb.  Haha.  Dollar for dollar the same!

Spiritually we are working hard in the sector.  5 baptismal dates and more to come.  We are currently preparing an 11 year old girl Delicia.  I love Delicia, she is so smart and funny.  She wears innumerable amount of bracelets ever day and is just always smiling.  It’s also fun because she is in the exact same situation I was in when the missionaries found us in Centennial Apt. Almost the same set up as well.  It has been such a blast teaching her and being where Elder Hellewell and Kuafauna were, almost 9 years ago for our family!  Sshe should be baptized this week :)

Sadly, we had a less active start some trouble at church, so this week we will be doing damage control with him and the others he affected.  He was arguing in church, apostate doctrine.  Claiming that we should not be teaching about "American or European marriages".  That this is Africa so we shouldn’t be taking advice from American/European leaders on marriage.  The members handled it marvelously and courageously defended the standards the church holds on marriage.  Expressing that we are learning about marriage in the way God views it, not American, European, or African.  And they also defended the sanctity of marriage!! WOAH MEMBERS!

Thanksgiving this week!  We will be playing soccer most of the day on Thursday - so I am pretty excited :) I hope the holiday is just as great for you all there as it is here.