Flat Stanley, Hillbilly days and a pants burning!

its POURING rain today and the thunder is constant and loud! its fun!! We do tracting. We tracted up this mountain yesturday! we parked the car at the top, tracted down then walked back up! 2 miles round trip!! thats really awesome about the sweet peas! i love how you tied it into the gospel. The did apartment inspections the other day! it reminded me of when i went with you! It was a senior couple and they took us and the sisters out to lunch! then we had a flat but fixed it right up! ill send ya some pics! loveya!

The Easter Bunny Dropped off a huge box of delicious candy at my door!!! He said that you told him that i love sees ;)
Well i Forgot my satchel at the Capeners last night so i dont have any pics from this past week :( 

This week went by really fast! We went on excahnges with  the District leader, Elder Prince went with Elder Hurt and i went with Elder Rodriguez. they went to go see the Capener. when  i saw Ryker on sunday he ran up to me with a huge smile  and was like " Your back!!!!! " hahah  Me and Elder Rodriguez were in the MTC together and were in the same dorm so we were excited about that. Id say the highlight of my week was yesturday with the Capeners and it being Easter! She went all out for us! when  we got there we helped her finish up dinner then the Easter bunny had left some Easter eggs for the missionaries to find! And he made some really cool Easter baskets for us! She read us a story about the first Easter basket. Then this other family came over (the Shezzlys) theyre a non member family, friends of the Capeners We ate dinner with them and we had a lesson cuz Sarah was hoping that we'd teach them and expose them to the gosple. So we watched the Videos about Easter on the home page of Mormon channel then talked about the Atonement. It was really awesome because the spirit was really strong and the Non members were participating and their kids were to! it was so great! then Sarah gave her a Book of Mormon with her testimony in it! 

    This week was good. We met with Tammy and her son Robby. He reminds me a lot of Grant haha. Shes been struggling and dosent have a car to get to church in. Her daughter, Virgina was in  her room with her baby but came in every once and a while. Ross has been progressing really well and is trying to get his wife interested to! We havent met her yet. Sonny is really cool! We have an appointment with hm tuesday! his wife should be able to sit down with us this time. Shes been studying at UPIKE to become an RN ;) 

      We drove all the way to Elkorn to see a less active lady. The drive was amazing. All the trees are leaving and the colors of the bushes and everything is sooo beautiful! just like the pics me and mom looked up before i left. There was this abandon school with busted windows and all the doors open so of course we went in and explored! It was SUPER creepy and so awesome! we didnt go all the way through 1 cuz there was a pitch black hall way and we werent gunna go doen it cuz we didnt have a flash light and also it was time to meet with that lady. She was really nice. We shared a Mormon Message and she asked for a blessing. 

   Well i hope yall are doing good. i think about the family all the time and also members of the ward. and the Burdens. How is everyone? dont forget to send the pics of the family!!!! i wanna have them on my desk! :) OH! have you recieved my DVM thing yet!?? im itchin to drive!! Love you and dont forget to write. Love, Elder Johnson

       

Here is Elder Johnson, Elder Prince, and "Flat Stanley"  Cadence had to send Stanely on a trip somewhere and then make a report with pictures about his travels.  Im sure she will get an "A"

              

 This is a video of Elder Johnson at a "pants burning"  when a missionary hits the one year mark they burn a pair of worn out pants as a rite of passage. Glad to see he is still himself.

A Hillbilly Days parade float

"Hillbilly Days" is a big festival in Pikeville every year.  Elder Johnson was lucky enough to be there when it  was going on

Kentucky Fried chicken is taken seriously in these parts!

I guess there is some room for a word of wisdom lesson.

The long and winding staircase

Elder Johnson thought this place was pretty impressive.  

Elder Johnson and his companion met this man who happened to be from Huntington Beach.  He used to play basketball at Mile Square Park with Jareds dad!  Small world! He has met lots of interesting people.  Elder Johnson and his companion met a man who is a biker, they went to church together.  The man fishes with the Duck Dynasty family.  I 'm sure there are some good stories there.

Crazy staircase!! There is Elder Johnson at the bottom 

This sign was on the door of a house they saw.

Can you spot Elder Johnson on the right ?  They were doing a service project at this house.
He has had the opportunity to do lots of service.  He and some other missionaries attended a funeral for some people they met.  The family asked them to be the "funeral choir" so they did.  I guess you just need to be willing whenever the need arises.

This is a business right across the street from Elder Johnson's apartment.  He thinks the name is pretty funny.

Squirrel Anyone???

Elder "Soggy Bottom" Johnson fell in the mud again!

I have fallen in the mud a few times already and the other missionaries are starting to call me Elder Soggy Bottom.  At least I was in my preparation day clothes.  I was offered squirrel for a dinner appointment.  I can't wait to try it!  I NEVER say ewww or judge, or anything.  If I think something is gross, I clean my plate, say thanks, and drink lots of water hahaha :

Me and Elder Prince went on splits with president Roberts and a guy named Alex  from the branch.  I went  with Alex.  I was nervous cuz it was my first time taking the lead and running the show all by myself,  but with a prayer and faith I was able to do it.  Knowing that Heavenly Father is on my side and has his angels helping me at all times gives me a lot of confidence.   I was reading the book, Jesus the Christ the other day and found some notes in the margins written by Joseph when he was on his mission!  It was cool to think that same book went with both of us on our missions!  I've learned  a lot of things out here.  One is that money isn't everything.  People with less are always more humble, happy, and grateful to the Lord.

That was a close one!

Here is a little story Elder Johnson sent to his brother, "So,I went on exchanges with my District Leader,coolest guy ever!!! He reminds me of you're friend Mike C.  Anywho, we were driving back to Pikeville but we entered the wrong address on the GPS cuz it took us up a holler, through a patch of mud, through rocks and dirt!!!  We were so lost.  It was crazy scary cuz he had to floor it through the mud or we would have gotten stuck!  We were slipping and sliding and almost went off the mountain a few times!!! We had no signal and called our companions to tell them what happened and

The hills and hollers of Pikeville Kentucky

that we were thinking we might have to camp in the car that night!  We then prayed and found our way back to the four lane a couple hours later. 

March 17 2014
An excerpt from Elder Johnsons letter this week.  "We tracted a lady and her son and they let us in.  The son said he didn't believe in God and didn't like religion because of past bad experiences. We taught them about the restoration of the gospel and he was really engaged and asking questions.  He said he believed and liked alot of what we were saying!  So did his mom!  So we asked her at the end if she would be baptized on April 20 and she said YES!!!! It was awesome.

Elder Johnson Begins his Mission!

Elder Jared Ernest Johnson received a call to be a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He will be serving in the West Virginia Charleston Mission which covers portions of  the states of  West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  His mission began on January 29th 2014 with his arrival at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.

Elder Johnson and his first companion pointing to their mission on the world map at the MTC according to long standing tradition .  We have one of his dad in the same pose

Elder Johnson seeing snow fall for the first time!

A group of fellow missionaries at the Provo, Utah temple

Some happy Elders on thier way

Elder Johnson with his President Pitt and sister Pitt after arriving safe and sound in West Virginia.  The group of missionaries he was traveling with spent a few nights in the Atlanta Georgia Mission home when all the flights were cancelled due to an epic storm