Matt and mormon.org

"One day we were walking and a guy came out of his house. He started spewing out every anti Mormon thing I have ever heard. Apparently, he had been looking up the church on the internet the night before"
(If he wanted to know, he should have gone to  mormon.org  )
"After telling him that the things he read weren't true, for example, "Mormons hate black people", "My parents live in Africa and love black people." He let us in to teach him about the restoration and he actually liked it. It was a super awesome lesson and I felt the spirit so much. We had a really good week and I just love being a missionary!!"

"I did a work visit with an elder and
learned that it's not a good idea to
leave your dirty plates out for more
than a month." Elder Johnson

Transfer Week in Ethiopia

It's transfer week and we are moving 10 minutes away but we are still companions. We love serving with the youngElders and the members in the branches here. We love the good people throughout Ethiopia. Here is a slide Dale made about a conference we attended.

'Our conversion is a lifelong process as we strive to become like our Heavenly Father.'

"The Lord's Team"

Elder Johnson was able to attend this family's sealing in the Temple
last week.
'This week, we had to teach a zone meeting and I always love
preparing to teach because that is when I really feel like I learn the
most, when I'm teaching. I know this is the Lords work and He isn't
going to fail. Because I am on His team, it means I can't fail either.
I love the Gospel and I know that sometimes we feel like we are
failing or the world is beating us but all we have to do is remember
whose team we are on and that He will never lose." Elder Johnson  

Saving Newborns in Nazaret

Training Dolls
We attended part of a Neonatal Resuscitation and Newborn Care
Training given to nurses, midwives, doctors, and professors. LDS
Charities works with Ethiopian Pediatric Societies to teach people
to save newborn babies and then train others to do the same. They
teach ways to help babies breathe, stay warm, get nourishment, and
teach kangaroo care to the mothers. Many newborns have been saved.

Matt

"I had transfers and am in a place called Los Olivos (still in Lima).I am with a
companion from Peru named Elder Quezada. My area is super awesome and so
is my comp. Something fantastic that happened this week is that I went to a
sealing in the temple of a family that I was working with. It was the first one
that I have been to and it was awesome!!! I love the temple!
"I also ate guinea pig so that was also pretty tasty. I love you all!" Elder Johnson

Table Tennis in Ethiopia

Yes, they do have ping pong in Ethiopia.

Speaking Spanish

"Bueno hoy voy a escribirles en español porque no tengo mucho para decirles y esto lo hace mas divertido!!! entonces ayer acabamos el cambio y era mi cuarto aquí en el trébol. Hoy me llamaron y me dijeron que tengo cambios pero no se adonde hasta mañana en nuestro reunión de cambios. Estoy muy feliz por esta oportunidad a ir a otro área pero también estoy medio triste que tengo que salir este área y dejar esas personas que quiero tanto acá. Los cambio siempre me hace pensar en el trabajo que he hecho y de verdad puedo decir que he dado todo de mi en los últimos 6 meses que pase en esta zona. Amo la obra y estoy agradecido por poder participar en ella." 

Haha I love you guys tons and have fun translating!!!!!! have a great week!!!!:)

Love

Elder Johnson 

Visiting Members of Our Church

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them."      Mathew 18:20
"We have been visiting people who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints. Recently we traveled outside of Hawassa to meet with a
small group of faithful members who are so far from church that they don't
usually get to attend. They still read the Book of Mormon and study the Gospel
 Principles book every Sunday. Everyone who lived nearby came to see us too. 

Happy 24th of July!

Here are the grandchildren together for the 24th in Utah and
Owen in Idaho. I don't know how to photoshop him in.

Eleven Grandchildren!

Elma Clare McDaniel: Born July 15, 2015
6 pounds 12 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.

The Tanner and Kristine McDaniel family now have 3 girls.
People talk about the blessings families receive when
someone is serving a mission. What better blessings than
having 3 new grandchildren while we have been gone. Even
 our family friends living in our Utah home had twins in April.
We are so thankful for all of our blessings.

Elder Johnson in Peru

Elder Johnson had a work visit with this Elder.
"I will tell you about one man who is 28. We met him because we contacted his
 dad in the street and he invited us to his house. We taught him and he got baptized
but the really awesome thing is how the Lord prepared him to receive the gospel.
He is a mining engineer who had been out of work for 6 months when we found
him. His family was pretty down and were worried that he wasn't ever going to
find work. After he got baptized, he received two job offers and is now working
and a member of the church. I know that at the Lord prepares people to hear the
gospel (even if he has to take away their job for six months so that they have time
to listen to the missionaries)."                          Love you guys!      Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson has been serving One Year !

Matt needs to start sending photos soon. This is one of 4 cousins from 1996. Where are they today? Elder Tyler Brown in Argentina, Elder Ethan Brown soon to be in Japan. Cassady in College, and Elder Matthew Johnson in Peru.
"In honor of having one year in the mission this week, I want to share my testimony with you all."
"Here in the mission I have learned lots of things, but most of all I have grown in my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the atoning sacrifice that he offered for us. I know that the purpose of our lives here on earth is to make and keep covenants with our Heavenly Father personally and as a family.  I know that Heavenly Father loves us and because He does, He has called inspired servants to help us pass our earthly test in this fallen world. I know that if we listen and follow the prophets, we will never be led astray. We will be able to receive the greatest gift of all the gifts our Heavenly Father has for us which is to become like Him. I am grateful for the temple and the fact that we are going to be able to enjoy all of these blessings as a family. I love each and everyone of you and I pray that we will always have the strength and resolve to keep the sacred covenants we have made so that we can be an eternal family.
 I testify of these things in the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen."                      Elder Johnson 

Share the Gospel!!!

"Happy Birthday to the United States of America!!!
To celebrate, I bought a snickers, drank a coke and then made
a peanut butter sandwich. It was possibly the best 4th of July ever."
 ****FLASHBACK PHOTOS*** (Matt didn't send any)

"Awesome Moment of the Week:"
"Yesterday we were walking and we saw an older lady washing her bus
with a broom and a rag but I noticed that she couldn't reach the top. So I
asked her if I could help her, but she just shook her finger at me. (Which
 means, I'm Catholic, leave me alone.) But instead of leaving, I started to
explain to her how God made me tall and gave me long arms so I could
help people clean their buses, ha. After about 5-10 seconds, she turned
around and gave me the broom!!! it was awesome because I got to clean
her bus and my companion contacted her and now she is way excited to
have us visit her. Haha, I love being a missionary. There is nothing else in
this whole world that I could be doing than being a missionary!! Ha,
I love you all and you should all look for dirty buses and opportunities to
 SHARE THE GOSPEL!!!"     Elder Johnson 

July

Matt didn't send photos this week. So here's a pic from a flag ceremony a few years ago.
 Happy 4th of July everyone in the United States!
"Well another week has come and gone here in the beautiful city of Trebol and we are still
doing really good. We found some really awesome families to teach. This last week was a
little crazy for us because we had some meetings and we were trying to get everything
ready to move some missionaries before the end of the month. This week we have to do
the actual moving of the Elders, take care of all the finances for our zone, go to an all day
meeting, and do a zone training. We officially lose the northern zone of our mission July
1st. Even though I would have liked to have been high up in the Andies, I'm good with
staying in Lima next to the sea. I love you guys tons, have a great week!" Elder Johnson

Trujillo Temple Dedication

"Wow, what a week in El Trebol. We had transfers on Tuesday and on Sunday we
got to watch the broadcast dedication of the Trujillo temple which is 8 hours North
 of Lima. It was dedicated by President Uchtdorf and he was accompanied by Elder
Bednar. It was super, super awesome and I really liked something that President
Uchtdorf shared. He said everytime we dedicate a new temple, the power of God
increases on the earth and the power of the devil decreases. He also said that for
having a new temple that the work in the whole world speeds up a little bit. ...
TEMPLES ARE AWESOME!!!
It really made me appreciate the opportunity that we have to know the temple
and the blessings we have for participating in the ordinances there. You should
all go to the temple this week and enjoy it for me."      Elder Johnson
  

33rd Anniversary

Elder Carl B Cook, the SE Africa Area President, and his wife
came for Mission Tour with President and Sister Chatfield. It is
such a great opportunity for us to be able to attend conferences
and meetings here. One thing we learned was how we change
from being self-centered to wanting to do God's will as we
become truly converted.

We get to feed the missionaries
when the zones come together.
We usually make soup for the
crowd. It's nice that young elders
 are always grateful for food
 and will usually eat anything.  

We also celebrated our 33rd Wedding Anniversary June 12th.
We both agree that we have the best companion ever and never
want a transfer. We love our life together and love serving our
mission together. We look forward to being together for eternity.

Still in the Peru, Lima West Mission

The Lima West mission split this week but Matt stayed in the original one. The
new Trujillo, Peru Temple being dedicated June 21st is in the new mission.
"This guy started talking to us and so I started joking around with him and it
made him so happy that he put his hat and jacket on me and wanted to take a
picture. He also likes watching BYU TV." 

They found a super smart 24 year old man and had an awesome experience.
"I ended up teaching him when I was on splits. During the whole lesson, he just
kept telling us how much sense the restoration makes. When we got to the first
vision, I was teaching. When I shared it, I could see in his eyes the spirit working.
I know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I love the
 Gospel!  Share it with everyone!  They want to hear it!"  Love, Elder Johnson

Young Elder Johnson

"Things are pretty good for us here in our area and we are
really progressing. The ward here is starting to get excited
about the work. Its great to see a lot of newer missionaries
get the hang of things, especially their Spanish. This week:
 Tuesday, we had a 9 hour meeting with all of the zone
leaders, Wednesday, we had district meeting, Friday, we
had a zone meeting, and baptisms on Saturday.
 I love you guys tons and have a great week!'

Portuguese Bridge in Ethiopia

We visited Portuguese Bridge, 100 kilometers Northwest of Addis.
It was built by Ethiopians in the early 19 century in an old
Portuguese style. Unfortunately, the mammoth waterfalls were
dry so we hope to go again after the rainy season.

Prickly pear cactus grows on the mountains. There were a few flowers but the oblong fruits (kulkwll) were not ripe yet. The cattle didn't mind, they ate the needle covered leaves along the steep slope.

Cold in El Peru

"It is finally getting colder here and it just makes me want to drink hot chocolate."

'This week was pretty good here in El Peru, we had a training with
President Archibald and I always love learning how to be a better missionary,
how I can help more people come unto Christ and know Him and the Atonement. "