Taylor’s Email #11 May 31, 2010

Family! Dad thanks for the updates and the thoughts. We are always trying to think about how we can improve our finding teaching and converting... focus! Oh this world can be distracting no? Good Luck with the Mercedes.... and I got a good chuckle when I imagined Nate’s face while trying to drive the red truck! Oh... and tell Mom that because it is my money... she can own the Mercedes for one day... now she can say she has owned her dream car! She always used to point that out in my hot wheels... "I want dad to buy me one of THESE" hahha LOVE YOU MOM! AND DAD! I’m glad the family is doing great! I pray for you... even with my investigators haha so I know the Lord is watching out, no doubt in my mind! Our Mom! She is a machine is she not? Always thinking about others and go-go-going. I didn’t realize until now that everyday of her life was like a missionaries daily life! minus the tie and for me minus the sweat. I love you all and I see your faces everyday. Haley sent me a picture of all the girls. First – Jeanine and Steph - love the Hair! Second... my goodness I have the prettiest sisters, nieces, and mother. I just wanted to stare at that picture and think about all of our fun times, how blessed we are, and shed a few tears... time only allowed for one of those... I’ll let you guess which it was!

My love Elder Johnson

Everyone - Jumpin Juh-ho-za-phats. This week was an adventure and a half. As to save you all from worrying about my life, especially my Mother. I’m not going to tell you any of it, I'm alive : ) haha. So don’t worry. Just now that the Lord is watching out, always! This week is crack down week; My Mom asked me if we have been able to teach people, and will they listen... That is one problems here ... everyone wants to 'hear the good word of the Lord' hear... so it is hard to know who is prepared to receive the restored gospel and who just wants to talk. That is where the Spirit of the Lord comes in. We all, those who have been baptized, have received that gift, and we cannot forget! For this reason we are reminded with the same words every Sunday in the sacraments prayers. And for that reason, we need to be there every week! I don’t have too much to say, but I want to relate a story quickly. We are teaching a family that has nothing...why? because before the father accepted the gospel, he drank, and he sold all they had to buy beer. Their lives have changed immensely. They still don’t have furniture, we still sit on the floor to teach, and they still only have a fan and a hammock... but they have the gospel, and one more thing...the Book of Mormon. They have found so much strength in the Book of Mormon, so much that Betanha (Mother) told us yesterday that she began to see a change in her husband when he went 3 days without reading with her. We challenged them to read EVERYDAY together and personally. Don’t take advantage of this gift that we have! There is TRUE POWER within the pages of that book...It cannot be explained, but the results can be seen, in endless numbers of different cases. This family is trying for the 3rd month, to gather 40 Dollars, so they can be baptized, and eventually go to the temple... why? Because they have SEEN the change in their lives, and I have too. Alexandre always says to us "tudo alegria"... or "all joy." That is our purpose. And we have been taught how to make it happen. We are truly blessed, and truly responsible to act upon the things that we know. I have a challenge... Watch only Disney movies this week, and read the book of Mormon for at least 10 minutes, and see if the spirit increases in your life, I promise it will : ) I love you all.

-Elder Johnson

P.S. If you take the challenge and you have an experience you’d like to share. Go ahead and tell me at this address! I can’t respond but I'd love to hear!