- Letter from Sam to Family
- Evon is moving
- First General conference on mission
- Brother Welcher convert/missionary
- Elder Bednar's talk on Tithing
- 80,000 missionaries
- Watermelon on bike
- Thoughts from Psalms 24:3-4
- Letter from Sam to Mom
- Lake Cities 1st ward in the Denton stake
- Letter from Mom to Sam
- Reflections on General Conference
- Letter from Dad to Sam
- General conference focus on missionary work
- Got boat motor running
- Mom and I camping at East Zion
- Rob and Tracy Serria
- 19th boy at school
Letter from Sam to Family
Hello :) Wow this week went by so fast! I can barely remember what happened. I guess that is why they tell us to write in our journals every night.
We found out this week that Evon is moving :'( I'm going to miss him. But he is moving in to Denton 2nd ward and the elders for that ward live in the apartment right behind us so we will still get updates on him :)
Oh my goodness it was cold on Saturday!! I haven't felt cold in months!! I didn't know how to handle it hah The weather is beautiful here in Texas. I've been wondering why anyone would want to live here but now I see why :) I thought it was just hot :)
Conference was amazing this weekend! We watched it with Brother Welcher. He is the best. We hang out with him more than anyone else. He is a convert of three years and he is 72 years old. He is our exchange at least once a week so we love him :)
I loved Elder Bednar's talk on tithing. It wasn't the tithing part that hit me but the unseen blessings that we get from keeping the commandments. I know there are some commandments where we see direct blessings from keeping them, like being healthy from living the word of wisdom, but I never thought that maybe I have always been healthy from paying my tithing or from going to church. I thought it was cool :)
80000 missionaries out right now that is pretty amazing! The field is white and all we have to do is go out and harvest!
Here is a funny story for anyone that cares to hear :) Yesterday we had dinner with this guy and he has a watermelon patch and after dinner he said he wanted to give us a watermelon. Sweet I love watermelon! So he gives me this watermelon then we leave and I realize I only have my bike hah how the heck am I supposed to get this watermelon home!? We weren't going home yet so we just left it in some bushes on the side of the road then at the end of the night we went back to get it. So picture this in your head haha a missionary riding a bike down a pitch black road steering with one hand and holding a watermelon in the other :) It was no easy task! I thought I was going to die a few times but we made it home safe and sound :) It was totally worth it too because it is like the best watermelon I have ever eaten! Adventures in the life of the missionary :)
I found a pretty cool scripture in Psalms this week I think it was Psalms 24:3-4. It said (or something to this effect) "Now therefore if ye shall obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation..." I thought it was cool because I thought of my most prized possession and how I feel about it and that is how God feels when he thinks about us if we keep his commandments :) It made me want to be better so that I can be that 'peculiar treasure'.
Well I hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed conference. If you found something that the spirit told you you need to improve on make a plan of what you are going to do today to improve. It's not too difficult if you take it one day at a time. The church is true so share it with your friends and loved ones!
Love,
Elder Johnson
Letter from Sam to Mom
Hey Mom :)
Conference was pretty amazing! It goes by so much faster now. I remember before my mission those two hour sessions used to seem like an eternity! Just to answer your question,
I cover the Lake Cities 1st ward in the Denton stake. Every ward here has a set of missionaries and some even have two.
Well I hope you have fun in Thatcher :)
I love you!
Elder Johnson
Letter from Mom to Sam
Sam,
Wasn't conference wonderful. I love hearing the church leaders speak, they are always so positive and make me want to commit to doing better in keeping the commandments without making me feel guilty for my shortcomings.
I especially liked President Eyring's Priesthood session talk on the Good Samaritan and fulfilling our callings. I would never have put those two together.
A lot of the talks were about listening to the spirit in our lives so that we can do our Heavenly Fathers work and I came away with a commitment to filling my mind with good thoughts, scripture reading, listening and reading uplifting faith based talk, speeches, and conference talks. That I may be more worthy of the promptings of the spirit.
I was wondering about the missionaries in your area. Are you over 1 ward or what? In Cottonwood we had a set of missionaries for every ward but here there is only a set for the whole stake.
Not much happened this week except we went up to the Ponderosa yesterday afternoon after we worked on the yard. It was beautiful up there and we went for a quad ride all over the mountain. We saw quite a few deer but they were just doe's and fawns. This morning the Sierra's came up and we enjoyed visiting with them.
We are going to Thatcher next weekend for Kameron's baby blessing. I am looking forward to seeing the new baby and Jeter. Nat and Cade will be coming to so it will be good to see them. I will send pictures next week.
Well I hope you have a good week.
I love you,
MOM
Letter from Dad to Sam
Hi Sam,
Congratulations on your first baptism. That is the highlight of being a missionary. Sounds like this was an exceptional young man. He is lucky to have someone like you as a good righteous example to pattern his life by.
I'm sure you listened to conference this weekend. Much focus on missionary work and how the time is now to hasten the work. They are really starting to put the guilt trip on us to do better. It also seemed that they spoke a lot about overcoming discouragement and life's challenges. I think many people are feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done and I think people become discouraged, when they can't seem to get it all done. The conference was uplifting.
Yesterday I got the boat motor back together and put it into a can of water and tried it out. Worked like a champ. Now I just need to get the floor back into it, purchase a propeller, put new carpet down and it will be good to go.
Your mom and I went up to East Zion last night and did some scouting for deer. We seen a few, no buck though. Probably hiding out. A man stopped by our camp and said he had a cabin on the next lane down and we should come and look at it. We stopped by after we went on a quad ride. It was about 7:30 or so. These people, Fred and Diane, really liked to talk. We didn't get out until after 9:00 pm. They did have a beautiful cabin, I have to admit.
Rob and Tracy Sierra came up to East Zion today for breakfast and lunch. Their daughter Briana that married BJ Russell who lived in Cottonwood, was living back home. I guess they are having a hard time. To bad. BJ had real potential, but was another of those that we lost along the way. Of course that wasn't to uncommon in Cottonwood.
We got our 19th boy at the school this week. I haven't met him yet, but Darren said he was a pretty good boy. That is probably relatively speaking. Things are going pretty good at the school now. Things are getting pretty well lined out.
I spent much of the week working on wheel lines at the school. The wind blew it over some rocks and bent up some of the water pipes. Then McKay and Josh Pettus were pushing one of the lines and broke one in half. We had to call a company out by Enterprise to come and patch everything up.
BYU stomped Utah State this week in Football. They actually had three touchdowns by passing the ball. That is one more than they have had all year prior to this game. It was a little bit of a bummer, the quarterback for Utah State hurt his leg in the first quarter and is probably out for the year. When he went out, you could see the wind go out of the sail of Utah State. The final score was 31-14. BYU's defense is awesome.
Well that is a rap. Take care and be obedient. Can't remember which talk it was in conference, but the speaker said there were three things a missionary needed to do to be successful. One was obedience, can't remember the other two, but you probably caught them.
Send Pictures.
Love Dad.
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