This week was a little hard because both Elder Juarez and I were eagerly awaiting news of the transfers. And yes, I had forgotten that word until an Elder recently told me. They are called cambios in Spanish and that's how I always refer to them. The last week of a transfer is often called the Week of the Dead because less work gets done because nobody is motivated. This was a little true for Elder Juarez, but we still had some good lessons. We met with Chica, who we can never find, and I´ve never seen someone with so much faith. Her child has muscular dystrophy, which is sad, and she is single and has to work all the time, but her face just lights up at mention of the Bible. Also, with Enrique, after a really good Plan of Salvation lesson, he walked us to the gate of his fraccionmiento (read: neighborhood) and told us that he doesn't understand it, but every time we visit he feels peaceful. Booyah! Baptism for him as soon as he gets married to Gabi, who I can tell has been saying her prayers. Finally, we had a really, really good lesson with Adolfo this week. Adolfo has problems, to put it nicely. His marriage is falling apart. He has no job. He had a really bad haircut. He thought he was going insane. His daughter is pretty sick. He wants God's help. So he started looking for a church. He had narrowed it down to Cristianos (the general term for Protestants) and us. Then he started going to church and he just loves hymns. He's got some weird viewpoints and I think he wants to know more, but he does not deny that he feels more peaceful now. So he started making some changes. He started praying. He started reading the Book of Mormon. He got a haircut. He went to the LDS Employment center. HIs daughter got a blessing. And now, he says, his life is looking up. He still has a lot of problems. He still doesn't have a job, his wife still isn't enamored with him, his daughter is still sick. But things are better. He has a direction. He has goals. He has the means to achieve those goals. Now he just needs to draw the connection that our Church is right for him. I'm thinking he'll be prepared for baptism this week. Let's hope.

Oh yeah, I got the package. I should have told you that earlier. I love it. It almost made me cry with joy. I do not want to give Elder Juarez the second box of legos (no, I havent opened them yet, but I know a box of legos when I feel it). I want to wear my Christmas hat but I can't because I'm a missionary. I feel so loved. Thank you so very much and I've already eaten all of the nature valley bars. Oh, I also want Karisa Saunders and Spencer Gunnell's email address. I want to write them real letters because they wrote me real letters, but that might take a while as I explained to Colton, so an email in the meantime is a good idea, right? Thank you so very much and I am doing much better this week. Oh, and if I keep up my progress, there's a good chance I could be a trainer next transfer, thanks to the 12 week program. I would be the first one to do it if that's the case. Let's hear it for the Heaven sent ability to understand Spanish and Preach My Gospel, which I'm pretty sure can help everybody with every problem ever. Thanks all and I love you!
Love,
Elder Johnson