this is a trike :)

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

So. its week 6...wow my first offical first transfer in the field :)
Um this week was pretty slow. Not much happened, although my legs were
pretty sunburned and they ended up being being swollen pretty bad that
i had to take a sick day...but once i started soaking them in ice
water they went down dramtically and that was nice. Im sooo happy too
cause it feels nice to walk normal and not have cankles lol. We are
struggling a bit though this week just cause people wont keep thier
commitments and so we have to start tracting to find new investigators
just cause like ours are way sweet...but there is one thing that would
help them and thats all they have to do...but they wont do it...so
they arent progressing it sucks. But oh well. we'll be okay. Its neem
kinda haot lately and well the hot season is next month so we'll see
where it goes.
Oh yah so here are some wierd customs: It is normal in a public
restraunt to eat food with your hands like full on, you need to say
"Tug balay" to call someone to their home and then wait for them to
say "sunod" which means enter and then you can walk into thier house.
For small talk while walking people ask you "diin ka magkadto?" (where
are you going) and then its normal conversation to ask someone "pilang
idad mo?" (how old are you). That's all i can remembere right now
that you guys dont know. Oh yah also people constantly talk or laugh
with their mouth open or talk with it open.......oh yah and people
STARE like crazy at you...like someonestimes for a minute straight.
So, there thats all ic an remeber now. Heres a few pictures :)

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

mga 5 weeks!!!

Abow!!
I cant believe it's five weeks....and yet i feel so adjusted to
everything and yet still i dont sometimes....um its crazy...black outs
happen here quite often and thankfully there in the day but they
always last like 4 hours..so thats wierd too. But yah things are still
going pretty good. Athough even as im writing this we went to the
beach and fished with like these bamboo poles and one long string of
fishing line....we were out there for a while and i got waaayyyy
sunburned like all around my legs pretty good covering everything on
my legs...then my arms hands and stinking end of my fingers..it
sucks...cause im in a lot of pain but once i get some aloe vera ill be
good....oh well. The water was sooo warm it was crazy...like when it
slpashe don your feet from the rocks...it felt so nice...espeacially
because its sooooo hot today but oh well it was fun i caught one
little small fish lol but one of the sister caught two
eels...EELS...it was crazy...ive never seen an eel before in real
life...it was awesome..the guy had to like bash its head to get it off
then he kept it cause we might eat it but when we said we werent going
to...he chucked it back in the ocean...it was crazy...the beacj was
nice...the water wasnt verty pretty tthough looked pretty much like
the oregon coast only sunny and warm but apparently the baches here
arent treated very well and are pretty trashed...but it was still just
a cool experience :) So that was pretty much it...oh yah i had my
first stake confrence yesterday and it was very inspiring. Elder
Micheal Teh of the quorm of the 70 spoke as well as our president like
mission president and some other people spoke too, it was just way
inspiring :) i really enjoyed it....they did it all in english..like
usual..so i understood it...but um that was just cool to shake a
general authoritys hand...he shook like all the missionaries hands
:)...so that was cool.
Yah tha was pretty much the week...this week was pretty chill because
E. Williamson mayara ang sakit sa chest niya ( had a pain in his
chest) and sister pagaduan wanted him to rest for 5 days...so i went
on half day splits with the ZLs and we got punted a lot so that sucked
so it was pretty chill. We went to the Dr's a few times tis week me
and Williamson and man there is a major difference between America and
Philippines doctors...they are just like so unsure of everything and
it repeat themselves...it was crazy just how different it was...like
education and diagnoses wise...they couldnt pin what E. Willamsons
sakit (pain) was at all...it was crazy...so different. But, its still
cool here just how different it is...it was just mind blowing is all.
Elder Johnson :)

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

ONE MONTH!!!!!!!

Grabe man!!!
I cant believe I've been here for a stinkin month already...well in
three days....but still thats insane...three months of my mission
gone...wow!! anyway, this week was very interesting. Our investigators
are being kinda frusterating because one of them wont go to church and
one of them wont quit his smoking problem....they both have baptism
dates...but yet they're not doing the work in order to be
baptized....turns out one of them lied to us and so thats really
annoying cause now we have to kinda go back to sqaure one with him. We
just pray for them everyday and teach them as often as we can...and
just to find all that is just what the crap..But, on a positive note
the one who smokes is coming to church and reading...but we're not
sure if hes been truthful there either...so we might test him tonight.
But he is going to church and another one is reading finally...we just
have to help her to remember what she reads. lol. But the Philippines
has been cooler too like temperature wise...its wierd and soooooo
nice...like night time its like 73 or something...i still dont know
temperature here...but its felt soooo nice. Thats cause of all the
rain though :)...todays kinda hot though...but oh well. So turns out
on sunday i got a free pair of pants and a tie :).....there was an
elder who left them behind when he left and they were on the chair
that my fan is on...we all get fans here :) :) personal fans :) and so
it was on my chair and i thought it was someone elses but no one said
it was there...so i tried them on and found out they fit...rather snug
in some spots but they fit nonetheless :) and i got a free tie :) so
thats cool thatll make two pairs of good "Philippines" proof pants
not and now i have one more...so that makes three :) my missionary
mall pants are too hot here...so yah lol. But anyway...that was pretty
cool :) Then on friday we had an aweosme lunch where E. Latu and E.
Williamson cooked lunch a big lunch and we all ate...it was awesome :)
I am gonna try and learn some Filippino recepies so i can come home
and make them for everyone lol i definaltey want to do that...like
have a Filippino night every once in a while lol :)....i hope you all
like my pictures :) i hope you all are reading and enjoying my posts
im hope theyre not compleltey boring :). Glad to be here :) The Lord
is good. May He bless you all.
Elder Johnson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

week 3

Grabbe!
I cant believe its been three weeks since i left the MTC!! It's so
wierd. But. anyway the work is progressing pretty good and that's
awesome :). Um It's been raining a lot here lately and its awesome!!
The other day while we were walking it just like started pouring and
he didnt want to get drenched so we took cover under a
chungies...which is like a little street store that sells everything
and it was raining so hard that i almost had to shout to speak...it
was awesome :) i loved it...it was just pouring. And today it rained
for like 3 or fours hours from a drizzle to a down pour...it was
awesome :). I had my first Interview (official) with the president and
that was cool. Idk what happened but i just felt like speak =ing the
language a lot more lately and like im not to scared to speak it...it
was wierd and ive just been growing because of it.
Our investigators are progreesing much better now too. They're
finally reading what we assign and one is reading everyday and praying
twice a day...thats cool too. So, things are going pretty good. We're
hopefully gonna be really busy this week because we have 17 names of
less actives that we are gonna try and visit this week and next week
and so thats sweet too :) Then we got hopefully a new investigator
too. So, things are going good and im loving it still. The other night
we had a lightning storm and that was cool because there was no
thunder or rain! it was just beautiful flashes of light in the
distance :) it was awsome. There are so many beautiful nature thngs
here.
I think it's interesting Idol worshiping is kinda big here. Everybody
has mary stautues and they have this every three hour worship service
going on in Cagay...it actually sounds really creepy cause they just
say so monotone and with like no feeing or heart. So thats been
interesting. The rain here brings some relif to the heat which is nice
but then afterwards its rally hot and it sucks lol. ANd i went to
Fiesta the other day where i ate a bunch of free food and then ate
catfush fight off the bone on a stick...so that was interesting and
fun. I eat the food here really slow here....cause im not sure if im
gonna come across bones or not and if i do i wont be too alarmed lol.
So, its still way fun thogh here. And i saw my first banana tree with
bananas still growing on it!! that was cool. So, the beauty is awesome
here night or day...its just beautiful :)
Elder Johnson :)

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

1st official week :)

This is my fiirst official week in the Philippines. It's been fun i
love it here. Our investigators are awesome and so fun to be around.
The people are so fun and just friendly. We cant tract because the
retention rate here is 20% which means 80% of the baptized members are
inactive...so we're basically on a rescue mission. We pretty much home
teach and just help out the new members or the people wanting to be
baptized...but i love it. We have like 6 lessons a day back to back
and its great. The people here are so chill and you can just hang with
them and they just really want someone to talk to which is nice cause
we can be that. We do teach them though but its usaually just to build
thier fatih. And of course its hot...its hot all the time...but i
really dont mind that. Um my companions name is Elder Willaimson and
he leaves in like 2 months...so this is his last area and im his last
companion. lol My area is Roxas and i love it. We ride the main
transportaion which is trikes which are mainly a small 3 by 5 foot
little car that is connected to a motorcycle and people can ride on
the side by the wheel or on the back or inside the car or by the
driver. People love to pack these things completely full. IT's
awesome!!!
There is no set speed limit but everyone goes about 10-30 Mph because
theyre carrying people...and then if you want to pass someone you honk
your horn and pass them...wala blinkers lol (no blinkers) and there
are tons of stray dogs and cats walking around even babies. But you
can touch them because they are usually sick. But theyre everywhere
and there are chickens too. Um...the other form of transport are
jeepneys and they are virtually a small bus with two bunches on each
side and an open back door. Oh and seat belts dont exist here
lol...but you really dont need them either. Cause everyone goes only
like 10 -30 mph and there are surprisingly no accidents cause
everybody has safety common sense so thats nice. The people here are
big fans of car pooling...like its their main source of income lol.
Even on motorcycles they put on like 3 people on one
motorcycles...its awesome lol. Then the apartment is pretty nice..i
got a pretty good area beacuse there is a place to shop and wash
clothes and there is just pretty much everything i need taken care
of...which is super nice. Gaisonos is a big super store like Walmart a
small walmart with a small mall in it. Its two stories so thats where
everybody does thier shopping and they have pretty much anything you
need too :) Um im still walking around with this dumb look on my face
all the time but my understanding is increasing better very very
slowly everyday. They speak Ilonggo here...not Tagalog so yah...but
they do understand Tagalog..so if i can say saomething i will...btu
most of the time i stay quiet. Um they also speak english here
somewhat like the church memebers and stuff and a lot fo our
investigators...but they have no idea what you say to them in
english...so you need to speak very slowly...sometimes...very slowly
lol. So thats why i stay quiet most of the time lol. Um and so far its
nice im really loving it. Washing clothes isnt too hrd because i
havent been here for too long lol so thyere still pretty clean lol.
Heres my address if you wanna write.
Elder Daniel Forrest Johnson
The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Philippines Iloilo Mission
Osmena St, Arevalo
Iloilo City 5000
Philippines
um and yah theres just a lot to tell and not enough time to say it.
But, im loving it and the work is progressing. I gave a talk the first
sunday 10 mins before it started in really slow english and then i had
to chorus the music yesterday 1 min before church started and that
went terrible...i mean terrible...i have no sense for time lol but yah
they defiantley get you involved if your new lol...and they were
joking but i dont think they were...and i might actually be the
choruster every week lol it sucks...oh well...so im learning a lot and
im really starting to love the people they are just so awesome.
they're so nice and understanding when i dont speak complete sentences
and they do thier best to speak english when i cant understand
lol...but then i still cant understand them sometimes because thier
Filippino accents are so strong lol so its always interesting .lol
Anyway thats all for now.
Elder Johnson
Oh yah and it is always hot lol

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Kumusta!!!

    TATLO PANG MGA ARAW!!!

     Im sooooo excited!! I cant wait...Yesterday was very eventful and the day was very fun our teacher traded ties with us and hes got sweet ties so that was cool :) i got a pretty sweet one that was worn a lot by him in the Philippines, and he told us all sorts of stories from his mission. That was cool too. Then we passed on some traditions to our favorite district and that was cool. So, it was a very fun and eventful day. I'm so excited for monday though dahil i just get to leave here and really see how i can do in the real world. My teacher Bro. Lacanienta said "As soon as you hit the Philippines, be Filippino" and i definately plan on that. I hope listen, imatate, speak, and eat all they do. I really hope to serve them with all my heart and i really hope i can keep up everything i've learned here. But, i know i probably wont speak Tagalog...but Ilicano...so that'll be interesting, but the lord had helped me learn and understand a language in 9 weeks so im sure he'll help me ou there in the field to learn how ever many different languages he needs me too. I just hope i can keep the faith.

  So today is in field orientation all day pretty much and so during meals we have like two hour breaks to do some things we want to, and he said if we have P-Day normally on this day we can write or email and since we do, thats what we're doing. I met a Filippino in the wrap line today and that was cool, im just getting so excited to get out there and really put everything ive learned to the test and remember it all. So i found out you can do normal mail for the Philippines, but you might have to have an international stamp like a 98 cent stamp, or if you want you can just email me and that works too. So, its your preference im pretty sure we can still get dear elders, so mail is pretty much the same, but it will just take longer. Ill give you all my address in the field next week when i actually know lol. Well,  anyway it's been fun and i actually will miss this place because it's become my home for 2 months. But, im so excited for the field and to really start teaching. The Philippines has beaten Braziel with Baptisms, however retention rate isnt that good, but im still excited to go there.

I also met an teacher form Porto Legre Brazil where my mom served (sorry of i spelled that wrong) but so i thought that was cool :). Anyway, its been nice and im super excited. Next time i talk ill be in Philippines.

   Ingat po,  

   Elder Johnson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.