Simba

So we found this....animal the other day. I wish I would have gotten a picture. It was big and lay itself proudly on the roof of a house. Its fur was gold and bushy, curling around its head in what definitely was a mane. I'm not sure what the laws are here, but I'm pretty convinced that it was a lion and not your typical dog. At least it was half lion. There's no other way. Maybe it was the mysterious lion of Oaxaca, who wisely watches over its shores.....or maybe it was a very lion-like dog. Whatevskis. To business.

I'm staying!!! I'm very happy about that. I love Bosque. I love my ward, the members, inactives, investigatores, strange people I meet, everyone. I love how big it is, I love the challenges that make me think. I love the Spirit here. I love how the work is progressing. I love the hope I have for the future. Bosque will be great. Here's the kind-of-bad news: Elder Edwards is leaving. I say kind of bad because I had a really good time with Elder Edwards and I learned a lot from him. It will be sad to watch him go. He's off to Yayaupam with Elder Castellano, who I have heard is very strange. Good luck to Elder Edwards. He's a good Elder and I'm sure he'll be fine. It will not be so sad to greet my kid because I'm training this transfer! Yay! My district will still be small, but instead of Elder Nataren and his kid, it will be Elder Nataren and Elder Graves, the second nicest missionary from my generation (the nicest is Elder Jolly, who loves up to his name like a rockstar. I don't know if you've seen the Scrubs episode with the guy who nobody wants to give bad news to, even Kelso, but that's Elder Jolly. Best smile ever). Elder Graves is also awesome and I'm excited to work with him. I don't know if you remember, but I did divisions with him in my first transfer. He's a cool guy. Taggart met him briefly in the temple once.

Oh, speaking of Taggart: guess who is going to be the compeñero de Elder Harris, the child of Elder Nataren? A certain Elder Fuenzalida, who served briefly in the Ogden Utah Spanish speaking mission. Yes, Elder Fuenzalida is still alive and kick and it is giving my president a headache. Fuenzalida is the headcase of the mission. He has a lot of time here but is still junior companion. He's never had a companion longer than a transfer. His kid, the only one he has ever had, went home after his transfer with Fuenzalida. So good luck to Elder Harris (by the way, I should probably explain to those who don't know that a kid is a missionary who you train in the field. They don't talk much because they don't know the language, but generally they are super eager and awesome. Being a trainer is the goal).

Those are the transfers. I really don't have much to say because we had a highly enjoyable forty five minute conversation yesterday. Yesterday, we had our services with Ixcotel, the other ward in our building. Adolfo got confirmed. Let me just tell you that Adolfo is wayyyyyyyyyyy happier now. He makes jokes. I see him smile every time we meet. He is active and things are looking up for him. Let's here for the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in people's lives. Then, after the meeting, we baptized Pati and we actually did it with no major mistakes, other than using the same water from our last baptism because we don't know how to drain the font in Spanish. After that, we rushed off to Tlacolula in order to see the newly built chapel that opens next month and to give the worst Christmas performance ever. Half of our soloists returned home this transfer, so we had like six stand ins. The mikes would cut in and out at random intervals. We couldn't hear the piano, so we always rushed ahead of it. I'm pretty sure we ruined Christmas in Tlacolulu. And destroyed whatever missionary work they had. But hey, on the bright side, they gave us really good tamales.

Anyways, thanks for all of the Christmas presents (I got a super cool singing tie that impresses everybody here). I love and miss you all, but to be frankly honest, I've got some work to do. Talk to you next week. Bye!

Love,

Elder Johnson