Le dernier mot d'un missionnaire

Bonjour à tous 

There are several things I want to express but there is way too much, so I have the difficult task of choosing what to share! I've had so many experiences. 

I don't know why I have been so blessed to have been able to come to this mission, at this time. Looking back at my mission, I've realized how everything that has happened to me, has been crucial to my spiritual growth and testimony of the Savior. It has been like a perfectly designed puzzle. My life will never be the same thanks to President and Sister Roney (and the Browns), all of my companions, the faithful French members, who everyday face the challenge of living in a country apathetic towards God, the Amis I've come to love as family, and even the random person on the street. 

If I've learned anything during the span of my mission, it would be this; love is the key. I have genuinely come to love the French people and their culture. The exquisite food, flawlessly balanced in taste and consistency. The pâté fois gras, escargots, all of the patisseries, bread and chocolate. The French affinity for family and friends. Their family is the most important thing of their life. I love how initially awkward they are when you don't know them. I love how they have  practically zero spatial awareness and are nearly incapable of guessing if something will fit somewhere (except whilst parallel parking). I love the members and their courage to stand up for Christ's doctrine in the face of ever present secularism. They are pioneers of the church and I have gained a huge respect for them. They are incredible. 

I am forever grateful for the lifetime friendships I have created. The word 'ami' for investigator is more than appropriate. To even think I would have not had the opportunity to meet the people I have greatly saddens me. There are so many incredible people! I've learned great lessons. You can't just "deal with people", you have to love them. 

I know Heavenly Father made it possible for me to gain a sincere love for the people and even my mission. For every beautiful experience, every kind, sincere person, for every good day there have been innumerable bad ones. Days that are unbearably long where people yell at you to go home and keep your dirty sect. I've had things thrown at me. I've been laughed at.  I was assaulted and even stabbed. These experiences weren't fun. But they didn't define my mission experience. 

They weren't able to... Because no matter how tired I was or how mean the people were, I knew and I will always know that I was never alone. Not once. The atonement of Jesus Christ can turn the greatest tragedies to the most beautiful experiences. The difference between misery and happiness is an eternal perspective. On the days where I felt like I couldn't continue, I felt divine support from my Heavenly Father through His son, Jesus Christ. 

I long to see my family. I love them much. I'm excited to see them. At the beginning of the mission, you look forward and feel like your mission is never going to end. Two years seems so long. But then you look backward and it seems it has been about two weeks. 

I love you all and I am eternally grateful I was able to share a tiny bit of what I have experienced. I hope you have been uplifted and strengthened in your faith in Christ. 

Que Dieu vous bénisse! À bientôt :) 

Elder Cameron Johnson 

Watching the 185th Semi Annual General Conference 

Short and Sweet

Bonjour à tous!

I don't know what to talk about this week. We had a really good week. I've been blessed to have a lot of good weeks lately.

I guess I'll start with our Amis this week! Guess what?! We fixed a baptismal date with Moïse and his wife and family! We scheduled it for the 14th of November. It was so cool. They really want to come to church but because of general conference we will be in Toulouse. When we set the baptismal date, it made me sad how I wasn't going to be there but then I really thought about it and I felt really dumb. I still feel super happy that they are going to be baptized even though I'm not going to be there. It's the same joy.

I didn't realize how fulfilling being a missionary was going to be. As hard as it is, it is so rewarding... Anyway! Brigitte is doing pretty well. Her daughters are still being super annoying. Brigitte said a really good prayer in front of us for the first time ever. She is so shy she thought it was going to kill her. But afterwards she felt so good because she realized that she has been capable of doing it for a long time. The spirit was super strong after she said her prayer. It was cool because she realized how much progress she has actually made!

... Hmm what else happened this week? Oh! We went to Bordeaux zone conference, which was pretty cool. We had an area seventy come. He was really cool. It was kind of weird just because a lot of the counsels given to me where good but it is hard to apply everything knowing I only will be applying them for a couple of weeks. It has also been hard with all of the changes that president has made. It's not bad that he is changing things because he is moving the mission forward but I'm just like… I've been doing it this way for so long. But anyway! I got a lot of good stuff out of it. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was "the atonement leaves no trace."   After this life, we won't remember the sins that we committed if we have repented of them. I never really thought about that. God is that merciful that he is going to take away the guilt completely in helping us forget!

Elder Johnson reunited with the first Elder he trained, Elder Acheson.
Elder Acheson has been very ill with a lung infection and has not been able
to get out and work.  Please keep him in your prayers.  

I don't have a ton of other stuff to talk about. I'm working hard! No dreams with Johnny Depp this week but I'll keep you posted if I have another one.

I love you!

Elder Johnson

Killing it with Kindness

Elder Johnson and Elder Wall

Wow! This week was pretty insane! We did so much work. It was stinking awesome. I've never been more exhausted at an end of the week during my mission than this one. We set some crazy goals and had two blitzes (where two equipes work in the sector all day) so we went really hard all week.

Les Exhanges

We started our first exchange with the Rodez Elders on Tuesday. I went with elder Wall (who is a bleu in his first transfer) and Elder Omohundro and Elder Robards went with Elder Pittsenbarger. Elder Wall is an excellent missionary. He doesn't have any fear at all! It was really good. We talked to so many people and met some people that were pretty interested. Hopefully we will be seeing them this week. There is just something about exchanges and bleus that makes miracles happen. Bleus are so full of faith and so ready to work and I think that is why there are so many miracles that follow them around.

The very next day we had a blitz with the Chinese elders. We brought them here from Toulouse. Elder Zhu, the Chinese elder, tells me every time he is in Albi he realizes how much he loves Toulouse...  Hahaha. I guess it is good that it makes him thankful? Lol. I actually went with Elder Leon and we pretty much contacted all day. It was a lot of walking but we also met some people that were nice and possibly interested.

After our exchange with the Chinese elders we all drove to Toulouse on Thursday morning for district meeting. It went pretty well. I didn't have a ton of time to prepare (Elder Johnson is still district leader) but it still ended up running smoothly. After district meeting we went to Chez Vong which is this extremely delicious Vietnamese food. The owner, whom we call Tati, loves the missionaries so much. She gives us food for really cheap and gives us free drinks and has pictures of missionaries all over her wall. She really loves us. Hahaha. She calls us her children :) she is really adorable. We ate so much food. I thought I was going to die. Holy cow. It was my favorite part of district meeting.

District Meeting

Nos amis

We found a ton of new people this week.... Guess how many new Amis we have?  Go on, guess! We had five! Probably the most I've ever had on my mission. I think the reason behind us finding so many new Amis was because we were really pushing to teach people on the street. We were more aggressive and really testified in contacts and it worked super well. Hopefully we will get to see all of them this week. I'll just tell you about my favorite and most promising.

Look, we worked hard!

 After our exchange on Tuesday, we took the car out to Carmaux. It is about a 30-minute drive from our house. We decided to do some pass backs of potential and ancient Amis. The first pass back was really embarrassing because this guy opened the door and we asked him if he knew the woman we were looking for and he was like... Yeah, she moved to Ireland like 7ish years ago. Hahaha. Oops.

The next one was super cool though! I told you about an African family Elder Steadman and I found last transfer... But then nothing really ever happened with them. Well! We tried passing them just one last time before writing them off and they were home and let us in to teach a lesson. Moïse and his family are really cool. They are from Congo. It was the perfect way to end the day after having contacted for hours.

Since then we've seen them once with the entire family. We gave them a

Book of Mormon and they were so touched. By our second rendezvous they already knew that the Book of Mormon is true. They are awesome. We just need to find a way to get them to church because they don't have a car and they are a family of six. Pray so that we find a way!

Brigitte doing okay. Her daughters are so frustrating. I have a hard time not resenting them. They do things simply out of spite towards their mom who would do anything for them. Brigitte has made contact with the addiction recovery program in Toulouse so that should be good. She needs to find a new house before winter because it is super expensive to heat and it doesn't have any insulation. She is so faithful. She reads and prays everyday and comes to church. She wants so badly to stop smoking but life has been making it really hard for her lately.

Elder Johnson labeled this "Weird Cat Picture" lol

 D'autre choses

Recently I have felt kind of panicked with how much time I have left on my mission. Members keep asking me how I feel about going home and it's weird! Of course I'm excited to come home and see my family and friends but I am more nervous about coming home than when I left on my mission. Going on a mission you have a general idea of what your goal is. Help others come unto Christ. You understand what you will be doing for two years because that is how it is. Then all of the sudden you have to go home and figure out your entire life and there are way more choices than just before.

But I just need to calm down and trust the Lord. I think what is making me feel so weird is because of all of my dreams. They are super weird mixes of the mission and coming home. Every time. Sometimes I'm running through the airport looking for church members because I need to go teach a lesson. Other times I'm home but I know my mission time isn't up and I feel bad that I left early. I think the weirdest one I've had was we were walking around Toulouse as a family and then Johnny Depp drove by and I was like..."Look! Johnny Dep!" And then he yelled out the window "tais-toi!" Which means shut up! Lol. Then

Sierra was like... “Yeah, be quiet!” Lol.

Anyways! That is it for this week! I love you all! Thanks for your support. AND a special shout out to everyone in the ward that sent me a care package.

Je vous aime

Elder Cameron Johnson

Week 23 in Albi!

Bonjour à tous! C'est incroyable qu'une autre semaine soit déjà passée! I say it every week but really, the weeks just run together!

NOS AMIS

So! Brigitte got back from Marseille at the end of this last week but we still don't have our stinking car. I honestly don't know what we would have done if we actually had a job where we could get fired because honestly no one cares if you don't have a car to go places here. One thing I don't really appreciate about European culture is the total lack of customer service. If it is broken it is your fault and your problem. Oh well... I'm just bitter about not being able to see amis we would have been able to see. But! I digress, Brigitte is doing well. She is excited to come to church this next week. It has been a while.

Zone p-day Volleyball

 We had two lessons with Elisabeth this week and she was progressing really well. She is still praying about her baptismal date. It's funny mom that your brought up the elders teaching Marisa and how they extended the invitation really quick and how we were kind of upset and in disbelieve that they would do that so early... But as missionaries we are supposed to invite people to baptism no later than the second lesson. Elder Kearon of the seventy came to our mission and told us we should be inviting people to baptism as often as we are inviting people to pray. Hahaha. Pretty crazy. But that is what holy boldness is all about. :)

Anyway, Elisabeth was supposed to come to church this week but she called the members that were going to bring her an hour before saying she wasn't feeling well. We sent her a text asking how she was and she said that she was tired and needed to rest and take a break from lessons and that she is going to re contact us :( But it doesn't make any sense that she would say that! We really think she is having family opposition to her taking the lessons. She said she feels really good when she is at church and with us and she said that every time we leave her house she waits with anticipation for our next visit. I just hope it works out. Pray that our suspicions aren't true. I would say through out my mission the number one reason people drop us is because of family. We will see. I just need to have faith things are going to work out.

Still looking for new amis! The weather is cooling off and I think people are starting to be nice again. Haha. 

Paris Temple

When the mission shifted its focus to temples and the ordinances we do inside of the temple, it was kind of weird at first that in contacts we are talking about baptisms for the dead and eternal marriage. But it works really well! We have been showing people pictures of the temples in contacts and then talking about how we do ordinances by proxy for our ancestors and others and it works so well! People are captivated by the temple and when we tell them there is going to be one in Paris they get really excited. We are really tapping into one of the big "F's" of the French culture... (FAMILY, friends, and food... Unfortunately it isn't always in that order but that is besides the point). It's cool to see that our mission president truly is inspired.

L'ECHANGE

I did an exchange with elder Hansen this week, on Monday actually. After we did p-day in Toulouse elder Hansen and I caught a train to Carmaux to visit the famille Allal. I really like them. They are such a fun family. One thing that I have really appreciated in staying in a ville for so long is all of the friendships I have made with members

and Amis. The Allals are really fun because they love to joke. They have this never-ending game called "blague pourrie" which means rotten joke. Basically whoever says the dumbest joke wins but you never really officially start or end the game. No one can officially win but periodically you can take the lead. I think we as missionaries are pretty good at it because our jokes in French are pretty basic. And almost all jokes in French are play on words so if we can come up with a joke. It's always really dumb.

Zone P-Day Volleyball

Anyways! We had a good rendezvous with them and then rode home with Frere Allal. Elder Hansen is a really good missionary. He was in the same district as me when I was in Marseille. I love that despite how big the mission is, you still get to see people again.

The next day we taught Elisabeth, contacted and we were suppose to have another rendezvous but it fell through and we had brought the Famille Billet with us. So we ended up doing a spiritual thought with them before barely catching our train back to Toulouse to end the exchange. We ended up staying with the zone leaders again because we missed our return train. Oh well. I fight the little "if we only had the car voice…" Pretty often but now I'm like a billion times more thankful for it.

LA RESTE DE LA SEMAINE

Saturday we went over to Eda's house for the first time since she got back from her emergency trip to Maurice. She fed us so stinking much. She makes food for like ten people and only invites four. Eda cracks me up but sometimes she stresses me out too. Sometimes she asks questions or pretends to be for something that isn't compatible with the gospel just to "test us" as missionaries. She is a stinker.

We are slowly reteaching her all of the lessons and slowly correcting some of her odd theological ideas. I mean she has been catholic for like her entire life in France so I understand why some of her ideas are mixed up with half-truths, but we are just super bold with her because she knows that we love her and only tell her the things we do because we care.

After stuffing our faces with Eda we were invited to Mimi's to eat. We cooked with her and it was really fun. She told us how to do everything and we did it. We made this really good pasta sauce with sundried tomatoes and pickles... Sounds odd but it was good.

We felt like giant fatty pants afterwards though because of the back to back meals. We were joking how it was probably better that we didn't serve in Utah because our bodies simply would not have handled all of the meals. Hahaha.

We drove our car this week... and it was super sketchy! But we had to. Eda sent a friend to look at it. He replaced the battery and then we drove it about 30km to his house. Hahaha. We were praying the entire time that it wouldn't explode. The power steering went out several times but then it would come on right before we needed to make a scary turn. Haha. It was an adventure.

One other thing! Today I got a call from Elder Schneider! Which is totally against the rules but it was him that called me so I talked to him. Hahaha. The phone call was super funny because I didn't know who it was at first. I answered and we made small talk and then he asked... Elder Johnson de l'Arkansas.. Il est là? And I said oui and then asked who it was because the entire time I was trying to match the voice to the person because I recognized his voice but just couldn't put my finger on it.

He is doing really well. It was so great to hear from my trainer. He was amazed at how much better my French was. Hahahah. I would hope it has gotten better considering he had me for my first three months. He said that he thought it was another person on the phone :) I'm going to have to visit him. He is so awesome. It pretty much made my day. It made me realize how fast time goes by! We served together forever ago!

Anyway! I love you all! That was it for this week!

Que Dieu soit à vos côtés.

Elder Johnson