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

The Browns and Sunflower Power

Bonjour à tous!

This week was good! It flewwwww by. Holy cow. We did quite a lot of random things this week. 

ZONE BOWLING 

We started out this week by going to Toulouse to go bowling with the rest of the Toulouse Zone. It was so stinking fun. I think of all of the zones I have served in, this is probably my favorite one. It is one of the smaller zones geographically so we can hang out more than usual. We know how to have a good time :) 

I can't believe how much I love and hate bowling. I think it is because I pretend like I don't care but actually I care a ton and I'm super competitive. The trick is just to be super silly when you throw the ball down the lane because then when you are really bad it is okay... and when you do well it is amazing. 

The first game we all bowl(ed) around the same score of about 100ish except Elder Sorensen, who killed us all. He doesn't even put his fingers in the holes an he just hucks the thing down there and kills the pins. 

The second round we all got better. I think I ended up getting around 140ish... but, I mean, we are missionaries. We don't keep score and aren't competitive because as the white handbook says "don't allow the game to become competitive, as competitive games lead to injury." hahaha

It was a great way to start out the week. I love being a missionary. Being around other missionaries is the best thing ever. 

BIENVENUE A PRÉSIDENT ET SOEUR BROWN 

Thursday we finally got to meet our new mission president and his wife! They are so nice. I kind of wished they were mean so then I had a reason not to like them because the Roneys are so great but I found myself loving them too... haha. They have SO much energy. I was really surprised. They are so full of excitement and readiness to go out and baptize people. 

I think they will bring a lot of good changes to the mission. I'm not going to lie and say it isn't weird the Roneys aren't here anymore but I think the Browns are exactly what we need right now to push the work forward. Soeur Brown is hilarious. She loves to laugh and joke. President Brown is more reserved and serious, so they balance each other out well. 

In my interview with President he asked me how much time I had left on my mission and I told him. He paused for a second and then said, "Have you ever ran the 800m?" And I say "Yeah..." And then he asked me how you are supposed to run the 800. I told him, the first lap you go out as hard as you can to get a good lead and then the second lap you swing you arms and pray until you make it across the finish.

He paused, and then said, "That's what you've got to do right now." I really appreciated my interview with him. I am so happy to be a missionary and to be serving. When I had older companions earlier in my mission they would talk about how tired they were all the time and I would judge them super hard for not working hard or for "being lazy" and now I feel really bad because I understand what they were talking about. You just get tired. It is a physical and mental fatigue! 

But! I'm swinging my arms and I'm praying! haha. The final stretch is the most important part of the race. 

NOS AMIS

We are still searching for amis. Last night I sent a mass text to all of our potential amis in the phone asking them if they were interested in an English class and a ton of people responded! We shall see if anything turns out. Pray that we find some elect people :)

Brigitte is moving forward. She is making some significant steps towards quitting smoking. Her and Eda have become friends and it is really funny. They are so different and they would have never had met if it weren't for the church. It is interesting to see how people come in contact with each other because of the gospel.  

This week we invited Brigitte to pick a date to stop smoking. We are going to follow up tomorrow. It is difficult because everyone in her house smokes :/ but I know she can do it. We are probably going to have a branch fast for her.

Eda fed us this week, as usual. She LOVES to feed us and she makes food for like 30 people and then expects us to eat all of it. She is doing well. She is working on going to the temple in the near future. She wants have the ordinances done for her husband so bad. It is in the near future. 

D'AUTRES CHOSES 

Well! I have a new "assignment" because as a missionary, you don't hold callings. I'm now the ward clerk because they all think I know how to work MLS (church record keeping system) really well when in actuality I guess a lot of the time until I figure it out. 

Transfer calls are this Friday and now since I'm not the 2nd counselor anymore I have felt like I'm going to leave to go die somewhere else (To die is when your mission is over). There are 24ish missionaries who are dying this transfer and only 12 coming in so there are going to be a lot of people moving around. 

I'm pretty nervous for this transfer call because this is going to decide where I'm going to die in the mission (logically speaking). If I stay here, I will more than likely do my last two transfers here but if I leave then I will die wherever they send me. Goodness... I just want to know right now! 

Anywayyyyyy

Je vous aime! Merci pour votre soutien! 

Elder Cameron Johnson

TRANSFER # 3 in Albi

Well! Transfers have rolled around again and I'm staying in Albi! This is the first time that I will stay for more than three months in a ville since I started my mission in Lyon. Pretty crazy, huh? I can't believe how fast this last transfer flew by. Elder Strong and I have had a great time together. But all things must come to an end... Elder Strong left for Valence and now I have Elder Steadman as my companion. He is pretty cool. He is from Sandy, UT and he came in the same group as Elder Acheson so he is starting his fourth transfer. His French is really good for how old he is in the mission. I'm excited to serve with him. I hope he is excited to drive. 

This email is kinda going to be a huge blob of disorganized though and feelings. I'm trying to think what happened this last week and I honestly couldn't tell you. Is that bad? I think I am turning into my mom. C'est la vieillesse. ;) 

Ami hunting has been kinda tough recently. I don't know why. There is quiet a bit of oppostion recently. I think it is the summer heat... maybe? But we aren't letting ourselves get down. We are just going to keep talking to as many people as possible with the faith that God has prepared people in our area. 

I've been thinking a lot about my time left in the mission and how now is really my time to shine. I speak the language. I know all of the lessons. I have a solid doctrinal understanding of the scriptures. Now it is just time to give it my all. At the beginning of the mission you struggle with the language and the lessons. You struggle with the scheduling and the logistics of being a missionary. Those things aren't even worries anymore. Just full speed ahead. 

Something cool that happened this week...we FINALLY got to see the Famille Leroy! We weren't able to see them the entire transfer up until now, because of their baby and work. We were a little worried it was because we had invited them to be baptized and then they got cold feet but it ended up just being life that got in the way. They were really happy to see us and we, happy to see them. Every time I see them I see this little celestial family just waiting to happen. I want so desperately for them to join the church and go to the temple. 

That is about it for this week! I love you all! I hope you are not melting in the heat like I am. I have just been sweating perpetually since Monday... it is fantastic. :) 

Avec amour,

Elder Johnson

Burritos & Biscuits and Gravy

Hello everyone! It is kind of weird writing this email just after having Skyped yesterday. But it was great to see my family. You motivate me to be a better missionary :) 

This week was better than last week. We still had a two-day "business trip" to Lyon for the legality of Elder Strong but other than that it was really productive and good :) 

TRIP TO LYON PART 2

Trip to Lyon was very efficient and fun! We went out to eat with all the other missionaries that had to come back as well. We went to this place called Master Taco, which is more of a burrito place but still super good. You can order numbers 1-5 as far as size goes. I got a number 3 and it was hard to finish but a couple elders got the 5 (which is more than a kilo or 2.2 pounds). I will attach pictures. Souer Tupai doesn't really know what to think about it :) 

Also, riding the train, I was just looking out the window, admiring the French country side, when we pass this house and in the yard there is a completely naked man, just chilling walking around his yard. I tried to wake Elder Strong up in time to see it but he just barely missed it. I laughed so hard because I was just enjoying this beautiful landscape and BAM... naked man. #OnlyinTheSouthofFrance

NOS AMIS

Our amis are all doing really well. I recently realized how many miracles have been coming our way. It is a great comfort to know that the Lord can work in ways that we could never accomplish ourselves. 

Brigitte and Aurelie- They are going really strong right now. Brigitte is still trying to stop smoking but she is making great progress. They have seemed to have finally made the "click". Everything just makes sense now. They don't have weird questions or concerns in lessons anymore. We are still working on trying to fix a baptismal date for them both but they feel like they aren't ready because they still need to stop smoking. I really think we are getting close to a date. They have a friend named Eric who kind of floats in and out of lessons. He was there when we invited her to fix a date. Brigitte was like, “I don't know....” and then Eric is all like "This is what you need to do. And you know it is what you need to do. It will bring you great peace in your life!” It was super cool because he actually has been listening in lessons enough to testify to Brigitte about the importance of baptism :)

Eda- Eda cracks me up. She is so nice. This week we went and cut her lawn. It is a pretty big lawn but not THAT big. Afterwards she asked, “How much do I owe you?” After I told her that she couldn't pay us and debating for like 15 minutes she was resolved to saying "Well, this is just an extra blessing... I don't see anything wrong with paying you!" I told her she could pay us in food but not cash. She agreed but wasn't happy. hahaha Her baptism is coming up in two weeks. She is excited. It is going to be a great experience for her. She has already invited like 20 friends. No joking. Now we just have to teach all of them. :) 

BISUITS AND GRAVY

Sooooo... for Zone Training, each equip had to bring some type of food that represented their equip. Elder Strong and I had the idea of making biscuits and gravy because we are both from the south, it is easy to make and it is cheap. Well, sadly enough, biscuits don't exist in this country. I was NOT about to make biscuits by hand so we abandon the idea until we got to the imports section where we saw scone mix and they look exactly like biscuits on the box. We buy all of the boxes and take them home where I accidently dump too much milk into the mixture and then have to add flour and roll them out like biscuits. They actually turned out really well and everyone was impressed with Elder Strongs gravy making skills. I'm blessed to have a fellow southerner as a companion :) It was nice to eat biscuits and gravy as well, it had been a while. 

EXCHANGE

This last Friday, after zone training we went on exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went with Elder Duckworth and Elder Strong stayed in Toulouse. Elder Duckworth is in my MTC group so we had a ton of fun on exchange. We just talked a lot about our whole group and how weird it is that time flies so fast. We taught Ambre, a really cool less active that we are going to reactivate this transfer. She has so much potential. There are some things she needs to do before she comes back to church but she has so much potential. She is such a jokester. We are going to play a funny joke on Elder Strong this week. All in good humor of course. I'm excited to tell you about it :) 

PENSÉE SPIRITUELLE 

This week I have been studying faith vs fear and I found a scripture that really touched me. It is in

2 Timothy 1:7 It reads:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

I really like this verse. God isn't someone who wants us to be afraid, He doesn't want us to worry or fear about the future or what decisions we have to make. He has given us the blessings of love, power and a sound mind through the comforts of the Holy Ghost. I know the more fully we put our trust in him, the more fully He can bless us with these comforts :)

Anyway! I love you all! Have a great week! 

Que Dieu soit avec nous

Elder Johnson