{1.19.16} Soy un perdedor

What's up friends and family! So I have no time this week. This email is going to be really short, but I need work on college applications. For anyone who cares, I'm considering other pastures for post-mission life: specifically back to Provo or possibly Utah State. Feel free to send me pro's and con's of either if you've been there!

Also I need to give a shout out to my boy Mario Quesada in the Fontainebleau Ward. He got his mission call to BRAZIL! I'm jealous. I want to learn Portuguese after the mission. He's probably gonna lose all those muscles though, just like I did:)

This week was very good. Elder Davis and I found A LOT. We are currently working with a 12 year old and an 8 year old named Brandon and Jordan. Their special kids. We are also working with an old Cuban man named Guillermo. Neither of us can understand a word he says. But it works.

The work goes forth. Everything is great in Doral. Love you all!

Also, I posted the wrong address last week. But I still got a letter from Mom even though it was "NW" instead of "W" 20th Lane. But yeah.

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

5841 W 20th Lane

Hiahleah, FL 33016

{1.11.16} El Doral

HAPPY BDAY MAMA! LOVE YOU! 
a windy November day in Rexburg!

Hey everybody! I made it over to Hialeah and I'm back in another country! Its great being fully immersed into the Latin Culture again. The Doral ward is really awesome.. there is so much work to be done. Our area is kinda weird... because half of it is Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens (basically the new Little Cuba) and the other half is Doral.. which is super new and super nice. It's ALL Spanish. Occasionally you run into English Speakers, 9 out of 10 of them are just second generation and still speak fluently in Spanish.

And no one at Walmart Speaks English. It feels so good to be back.

It's also been kinda humbling. I realize my Spanish isn't quite as good as I thought it was. It's hard adjusting to all the different accents. My "gospel vocab" isn't suffering at all, but this will be a great area to really up my conversational Spanish.

I'm district leader and living with a new greenie who is...... Elder Spotts!!! For those who don't remember, Elder Spotts was actually my first companion in the MTC. He had to go home for awhile, but he's back! It was an awesome experience getting to see him again and be back with my brother. I'm really proud of him. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Also, having a greenie in the house, we will be speaking A LOT of Spanish all the time (that's the only way I learned).

We are doing lots of Finding again, but we have a ton of potentials and references to contact this week! Right now, we are working with this Cuban get named Michael. He's not much older than me, and he played college football for Minnesota as a Safety. He made some wrong choices and wrong turns in his life, and so he's currently sitting on 4 months of House Arrest. It's actually a huge blessing in disguise... he was facing 25 to life. He's a really good kid, and he's really grateful for this second chance God has given him. Right now his Monitoring officer is being a bum and won't let him Go to Church (he's given him permission to go plenty of other places) so we will get that taken care of this week. He really wants to be baptized.

Other than that... life is good. Oh, Elder Gomez (my trainer) is my Zone Leader. So that's really fun! I get to talk to him all the time. He should be coming down today so we can go play some ball at the church.

Hope everyone has a great week! new address is below.

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

5841 W 20th Lane

Hiahleah, FL 33016

{1.5.16} transferred

Nice so what's up folks! So this week was transfers. Elder Oaks and the missionary council changed it up a bit so I already know where I'm going. I'm headed to Doral South! Back to Miami in the land of Cubans and Spanish. I'm pretty excited for that, i'll continue being DL over there.

I'm pretty distraught about leaving the area, though. Aura's baptism is on Saturday and we won't be able to see it. In fact, we haven't even told her we are leaving yet (we are both getting transferred out). We don't know how she will take it.. she really loves us and calls us her ''Ángels" and always refers to us as her Grandkids. She was super excited about us doing the baptism and confirmation, and when I suggested earlier last week that her Member friend, Alex Perez, do them, she replied that she wouldn't want anyone else to do the ordinances because we were the ones who "taught her the truth." There's a lot of work to still be done. This week we had a really good week, and saw a lot of success and have 3 people lined up for baptism. I'm just really sad I won't get to see all that happen. I am however, grateful that I got to be part of it and that most importantly the branch is growing and that Andres, Aura, and Edin are changing their lives and coming closer to Christ.

I know that God has a plan, and I'm needed in Doral for some reason. It is right next to my first area I served in--about a stones throw away. I will be able to see Felix, Juan, and some of my other recent converts. i'm excited to solidify my Spanish a bit better as well, as I'll be back in the best of another country that is Miami. I'll have my new address next week.

Elder Juanes