Como foi Natal para todo mundo?!  How was everyone´s Christmas?!  Did you guys get the presents you wished for?  Were you happy?  Did you spend time with family?  

 For me it started off like any other day: woke up at 6:30, prayed, did pushups, situps, squats, more pushups, took a shower, made a milkshake thing(complete with eggs, yogurt, bananas, ice, and chocolate crunch cereal), and then went to church (how great a blessing it was to have Christmas on the sabbath day to remember our savior Jesus Christ all the more)! Afterward we all opened presents that we had prepared for one another (ties, nutella, tapioca, chocolate, and a homemade-Elder Johnson style scripture case)!  I recieved a tie, chocolate, LOTS of FLOSS (thanks dad, I have enough to give to all the dogs in the city...ps there are more dogs than people here),  a card, a pendrive with music, m&m´s, my White Baptismal Clothes, and BEST OF ALL 1 hour to talk to my family face to face!

All these presents truly brought great happiness to me, but something special that I´ve learned on my mission is the importance of giving!  When we give, there´s an undescribable feeling that we will feel in our hearts that is more potent than just recieving presents.  King Benjamin taught,`When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God`.  Whe we give, we are serving others, we are helping them find happiness and the feeling that we have deep within us is poignant because it is good...IT IS OF GOD.  I know that Christmas is over, but now, a new year will begin, and I plead with each one of you to ponder on the gifts that you will give to God this new year, and for the rest of your life.

 

Beijos, 

Elder Johnson    

 pictures:
Enjoying Christmas
Playing Santa
Service missionary work
fellow missionaries