Repentance and Rubix Cubes

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Good morning everyone! I hope you're all doing great. This week flew by. I don't really remember what happened, but it was good. This week we had some fantastic lessons with people. I heard in a talk recently from Elder Holland that people are not converted because of what they know, but rather by what they feel. In the past when teaching people that God has restored His true Church and priesthood authority, I focused more on helping them understand it conceptually than anything else. My testimony at the end was kind of an obligatory addition without much power in it. This week I tried to put more effort into actually testifying of what I know to be true, and it was amazing. The Spirit was there so much more than usual and and it felt really good. 

We taught a guy named Emmanuel for the second time this week. He's an SDA Sunday school teacher and before the second lesson, he was like, yeah I like what you teach and I'm sure it's nice but you should focus your efforts on other people instead of me, because I'm busy and I already know Christ. He said he'd call us over anytime he needed clarification or additional teaching. This experience, coupled with the eight or so people who promised to come to church but didn't come, made me remember hymn 240. Any missionaries reading this email should read that hymn when their investigators let them down. God will force no man to heaven! 

It's been a great week though. We are now teaching 3 different people named Isaac which is kinda fun. We have Isaac Aluminum (because he sells aluminum), Isaac the Keke Man (because he drives a motorcycle taxi or "keke") and Isaac. He gets to be just Isaac because he's progressing the most of the three and wants to get baptized. Why didn't we just collect their surnames, you might ask? Honestly I don't know. Maybe next time we'll do that. 

Another exciting moment this week that will shock those who love me and know me well is that I learned how to solve a rubix cube this week. Shoutout to Elder Guercio and Elder Carr for teaching me. Their patience and intelligence are astonishing. If you would've told me a year and a half ago that I'd spend multiple hours figuring out how to do a rubix cube, I would have laughed at you. Maybe this is an unexpected side effect of becoming a "new creature" in Christ or something like that. 

That brings me to my last point before I close this email: repentance. The few weeks have shown me that God will forgive our every stupid little sin if we repent with real intent and seek forgiveness. No matter how big or small the sin is. Whether it's stealing someone's car or getting out of the apartment a few minutes late or being short with your companion, He'll help us through it. I'm so unbelievably grateful for that. I'm so grateful to wear His name on my chest and proclaim the marvelous truth of His atonement every day. It's amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone. I love you all! 

Love, 
Elder Johnson

1. Elder Momoh, the west African jungle, the town of Elubo, and me. All of the above are looking fresh.
2. West African jungle looking fresh. 
3. A side view of our Chapel. Rumor has it that the owner sacrificed a human to a pagan God and subsequently went crazy, but you never know. I'm excited to move to our new building. 
4-8. Pretty sunsets and also me and Elder Momoh looking fresh once again. I love this man. 









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