{1.17.17} The Next Episode

Yeah, so.. I did it. I honestly didn't feel like I was really going home until last night, despite all the trunky jokes I made and egging on I gave to the trunky-finger-pointers. But it's real, I guess. I'm honestly pretty excited! Some good stuff happened this week though.

We had to go down to Miami for 2 days for Zone Training, on the way down the bus blew out a tire, I got offered weed 3x, and a guy on the bus overdosed on the side of the road. He ended up being okay, don't worry.

Also, TRISTEN GOT BAPTIZED.  It was super hard saying good bye to that kid. I'm really gonna miss him, and he's grown so much in the Gospel. 

I honestly don't know how to put into words how grateful I feel. For my mission, for this transfer, for my Savior, for his Gospel--everything. These last 5 weeks may have been the best of my entire mission. Idk if that's because they were any more special, because I say that every week and every transfer, or just because I'm constantly amazed at the Lord's hand in my life and how he for some reason consistently chooses to use me as an instrument. Doesn't matter how much  I mess up, or how imperfect I am. The Lord has blessed me so immensely on mission, that I'm leaving feeling like I'm indebted to him even more so than I left--and that's after trying to give him my all for 2 years. King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon was right.. we will always be unprofitable servants. But I know God's love for us is infinite. If we do our best to serve him, and to humble ourselves before him, he will provide is with more than we can imagine. That humility and humbleness is pretty key though, hahaha and more times than not I've had to be compelled to be humble. Nevertheless, I have been blessed. I'll just quote Ammon in the 26th chapter of Alma:

Peace out Florida!

Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Elder Juanes

Paradise City

Key West, FL 33040

{1.9.17} Pics or it Didn't Happen

Alex's Baptism

Too Tired to Type so Here's mi Voz (I have attempted to transcribe his voice recording)

Good Morning Friends & Family

Me and Elder Peteresen out here, we’re siting on the members house that we are staying at… we are sitting on their back porch on the deck looking at some turquoise blue water.  Key West is pretty Rad! 

Zone Leaders down chillin with us in the Keys.
If all turns out well, we'll have pics of Fish for next week!

So today we are going to be heading down to Miami, so we’re not going to have much of a P-Day, so I m not really going to have time to type up an email, so I thought I’d just do a voice recording, so you can all know whats going on in the life of a missionary in Key West. But we had a really, really great week this week.

Alex got baptized yesterday, Alex from Venezuela. He’s the 22 year old.  It was an awesome, awesome baptismal service. There was a lot of people from the branch there.  It was after church. We did the whole thing in Spanish which the ward mission leader loved cause he is Cuban. So it’s the first one he actually got to do. Alex was stoked, He was really excited about it. He is excited to officially be a member of the church.  He really feels the love and support from the branch. He is really excited, his girlfriend is working on getting her visa right now from Venezuela and they have plans for her to come down in March as long as everything goes well with the visa and she’s got plans. She wants to get to know the church, and they want to get married. And we taught him about temples last night with one of our members who served his mission in Argentina, and Alex is super stoked  to prepare to marry his girlfriend in the temple. So he is great! he is awesome!  I’ve been really blessed this transfer to get to teach people my own age, people like Alex, who really don’t necessarily feel like people that I'm teaching the Gospel to but just friends, really good friends, best friends, lifelong friends.

As well, Tristen came to church yesterday, and it was fast and testimony meeting so all the members were getting up and sharing their testimonies, and Tristen got up and bore his testimony which you know is…  I mean he is basically a member of the church, he’s just not baptized yet.  But still, to have an unknown member get up and bare their testimony is really cool.  He shared his experience of how he’s always known the church and how, you know, when he came here to Key West, you know, in the military… he was expecting to enjoy the party life but just felt empty, and so he came to church one day.  Started coming to church and he felt that peace that had been missing. He found peace that he wasn’t finding anywhere else and then, luckily, they put us missionaries back in  and we were able to teach him and so he’s getting baptized this Thursday.  And again, its like, it’s not like some of the other people I’ve taught where I’m teaching people who are older than me and I’m just kinda teaching them the Gospel,  just really like helping friends.  Tristen is going to be a life long friend for sure.  I mean all the people that I’ve taught will be, but I mean, Tristen, he is 19, he’s from Preston, ID.  He is gonna go to school in Utah, so I’ll get to see him a lot when he finishes up his time in the military.  But really just feeling super, super blessed with everything that has happened this week.  This has by far been one of the best weeks of my mission. I know i say that a lot but this week was great we taught a ton of people; we were able to help a lot of people to come to church and…  I don’t know… I just feel blessed.

A Key West Horse.. The Deer are small, but the Dogs are large.

The Zone Leaders are up here with us right now.  So they are sitting here on the back porch with us accounting. And we’re headed down on the bus with them here in a couple hours, so I  got to get going, but love all you guys and until next week … talk to ya later

Elder Juanes

Paradise City

Key West, FL 33040

{1.3.17} Last Night Was Awfully Crazy, I Wish We Taped It

I can't even remember what happened the rest of the week. But yesterday was one of the top days of my entire mission. I know I've said that a lot, but this time just know, I mean it.

To start of the day, we went and taught a lesson to our good friend Breklyn. So Breklyn is a LA 18 year old who's hear working for an internship. She had some really big trials in her family where her mom got really sick, so they didn't go to church much for a lot of years and so she never learned those "primary answers" and when she got to Seminary she didn't know anything, got embarrassed, and quit going. But her store managers are super active, super good friends in the Branch, and we did an FHE with them and it impacted her big time even though it went in one ear and out the others for most of the girls. Anyways, we've been teaching her and helping her figure out what her true priorities are ever since. She heads back to Utah in a couple days, buuuut she's decided to get her Patriarchal blessing! Not only that, but she's reading and praying every day and she's got her records moved to her new ward in Maui and she's going to ask to receive a calling. 

Afterwards we had dinner with the Branch President and his family. We brought Breklyn and Tristen along, and had a great time. We taught a great lesson that everyone got involved to help Tristen keep prepping for his baptism next thursday. He's super stoked! But President Rengiil during dinner was cracking the funniest jokes I think I've ever heard. We've really been able to develop a good relationship with him, which is going to be really good for the missionary work and the branch.

After dinner, we were supposed to have an FHE with the Delph family, but they had some things come up and had to cancel last minute. So he calls and apologizes and says "I called my Yacht Club. They're expecting you, and they know to take very good care of you. Don't worry about it, it's on us." whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. So we took Tristen and Alex to this crazy nice Yacht Club for dinner and I taught Alex and Elder Petersen taught Tristen over Mahi Mahi and Lobster...

Alex is seriously one of the coolest people I've ever met. He's really ready for his Baptism on Sunday, so we just reviewed some stuff. We talked a lot about the challenges of living the Gospel. He told me about how when he was 11 his parents split and it was really hard on his family, and his older sister started drinking a lot and partying and his family was fighting a lot and he got really sad. He was raised catholic but had never really went, so when his friend invited him to go to a christian church, he just went for it. Got overwhelmed by the Spirit and was super active in Christian Churches ever since. He basically already lived and understood the Gospel and all the commandments when we taught it to him-we only really added to his conviction in living them. Why we don't drink, have sex, etc, and he loves the Book of Mormon and the organization of the church and that it's lead by Prophet and Apostles. He saw a lot of corrupt churches in Venezuela that turned him of. But he's really been feeling the Spirit a lot, he's solid. To give you an idea, he broke up with his Girlfriend back in Venezuela because she wasn't progressing with him spiritually. Last night, she called him and begged for him back, and he told her that he couldn't do it unless she's willing to wait until they're married and put God more as a priority. She replied, "Fine! I'm going to america, you're taking me to church, and we're getting married!" Alex is a boss.

Life is good. What more can I say?

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

{12.27.16}

Who's 'Yeti' to party?

This last week was memorable! Elder Petersen and I saw a ton of success. We taught a lot of crazy people, but I definitely felt we were on the Lord's errand and doing his work even though many of those people chose not to continue to listen or to act on what we shared with them.

Christmas Eve with Tristen!

Tristen is doing super good! We had 3 pretty powerful lessons with him this week, and really helped him identify his vision and purpose in life that he's always known he has. He put it down on paper, and wrote down the daily habits he needs to develop to get there spiritually. It boosted his confidence drastically--he feels confident he can overcome the temptations and has game plans to escape them. he set his own baptismal date for the 12th!

Good Ol' Cuban Cookin

Alex is doing great as well. He missed church because he probably stayed out too late on Christmas eve, but he told us that he's decided to Stay in the US. He really sees God's hand directing his life. He broke up with his Girlfriend in Venezuela and wants to make his life here in the States, and focus on putting God central in it by preparing to be baptized. 

It's been really fun teaching Alex and Tristen. They're 22 and 19, and I feel like I can unload some of the lessons I've learned on my mission and help them apply it. It's been cool to see them get excited and make changes, even in a place as crazy as Key West.

Sorry for the short one. Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

{12.19.16} Paradise

Lisa baked me a cake

 We landed in the keys! but first, before I left Deep Side, I was able to say good bye to a lot of awesome friends made during my 8 months in the area.

Gavin and Shavonne!

The House Family

Zapata Fam

About how our lessons went, too...

​Down here in Key West, things are going better than I could have ever imagined! Elder Petersen and I are loving it. Honestly the people are sooo friendly, and everyone is super interesting. Some people have never left the Keys their whole lives, and you can tell hahaha, but as a majority, the peole are awesome.

We've seen a ton of great miracles this week! First, if you remember Sunny, we were able to make contact with her. She's the lady that almost got baptized when we came down to visit. We're going to see her tomorrow night. She's been out of town all weekend for her birthday, I was super happy to see her again and we're excited to help her and her family out.

Big miracle # 2. Tristen! He's from the great Potato State of Idaho! He grew up surrounded by members his whole life, almost was baptized awhile ago back in Preston, but never went through with it. Now he's stationed down here in the Navy and he's been coming to church for a few months. He's seriously going to become one of my best friends.. he's a great kid! Tonight we're going out to eat, and then we're gonna teach him and help him overcome some fears he has about getting baptized. We aren't exactly sure what they are, but that's the purpose of tonights visit.

Then we got Alex, straight from Venezuela! Elder Petersen doesn't speak Spanish, so i've been teaching him one on one. It's been super weird, I keep saying "we" and waiting for my companion to teach as well. But he's one of the most elect people I've ever met! I love Venezuelans. He loves the Gospel so much already, so all the new things were teaching him are making perfect sense to him and he's super excited to keep learning more. He's already accepted a date for baptism! He wants to be baptized before he heads back to Venezuela.

The members down here are great. We're really trying to work closely with them, and they don't mke it too hard! I already love them a lot, and they're trying really hard to give us tons of people to teach! They're great examples of being disciples of Christ.

We're off to have some Key West good times! We'll try and stay out of the water...

Elder Juanes

{12.12.16} If I Die Young, Send Me Down to Key West..

...For the Wynwood Alley-Oop

So it's official. The Mission President is sick of me, the missionaries are sick of me, everyone just wants me to "die" (mission lingo for ending your mission) already, so they've banished me down to the southern most regions of the Continental US to re-open the Florida Keys for mission work.

I'm not complaining though.

Before I got persecuted, I want everyone to know this was 100% President Richardson's revelation from the Lord--I simply agreed to it. That being said, I'm so excited! It's going to be a big change of pace. It's a little island, and you can only knock it so many times. There's a lot of tourists, and also a lot of people who don't like the LDS church..

But God prepares people everywhere!

I texted one of the Branch Members who recently returned from his mission, and he's been working with a young man (19 yrs old) stationed down there in the Navy, from Idaho, who apparently went to Seminary in high school. There's also Sunny--the lady we visited, taught, and who almost got baptized a few months back when we went to visit--and I'm really excited to see her and her family again and help them learn more about the Gospel. The Branch members love missionaries, and are so excited to have them back. It'll be a lot of fun working with them--I've been bad most my mission and relied more on finding and teaching through my own efforts. I'm really excited to team up with the members!

My new comp is going to be Elder Petersen.. so stoked. 

This last week in Deep Side was definitely one to remember as well. We got bombarded with Bible Referrals, taught a a lot, visited some formers, and ended up with tons of new friends to teach, a lot of which came to church. We also were able to visit the Reyes family--Edwin and Isela--who we lost contact with and had to quit teaching for awhile. After visiting them, their situation is SO much better. Edwin has a steady job, they've got a car, and Isela prayed at the end that "the missionaries will keep coming by again." That was such a happy moment. I loved that family so much and was so sad when we stopped teaching them. It just shows God works on his time and in his way!

We had a pretty crazy P-Day last week. We teamed up with the Doral North and Hialeah West Elders and played some 7-On-The-Line (it's a basketball shooting game)... but instead of being confined to a gym, we took a plastic hoop, taped it up in different well known Landmarks all throughout Miami (Pork-and-Beans, Miami Beach, Calle Ocho, Little Haiti). It was a memorable way to get back into Miami one last time and make some good memories with good mission friends.

Pork and Beans.. it's a place. It's a little sketch.

from Riggs to Johns...

From "downtown" @ Calle Ocho

Life is Good.  I love serving the Lord. Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

{12.5.16} Doral For Life

I have no time to write, but I'll share 2 quick experiences from this week.

About 6 months ago, Elder Christensen and I knocked into a lady named Alana. She was baptized as a teenager on a small Caribbean island (i can't remember which one)  but when she had turned 18, she moved to new york but fell away from the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her life got pretty difficult after 10 years up there, so she moved down here to Florida to be closer to her daughter (who lives with her ex) and her mother, which is when we found her.

Doral For Life

We started going by to see her and she started having really strong desires to come back to church and live the Gospel, and to have her daughter become involved as well. Unfortunately, things took a really bad turn--her boyfriend she was living with was abusive, and things got so bad she told us she was going to leave and not come back. She had no phone, and we went by several times to see if she was ever there but we never heard from her again.... until a couple nights ago. I was driving by where she lived and I saw her door was open and a I saw a woman who lived there that looked just like her. I didn't think it was possible, but it kept sticking in my mind, so after we dropped off Elder Toews and a member from the branch to visit recent converts, we went back instead of knocking doors. Sure enough, Alana was back! She'd completely flipped her life around. She's been reading in the scriptures daily, has a job, a car, and is out of the bad relationship. Her daughter is also with her now, and they're coming to church next week!

Awhile ago, we were also teaching the Reyes family. They're an awesome family, but when we were teaching them, life was coming at them 1,000 mph from 11 different angles. They had just moved from New York as well--had 3 kids, 1 on the way, and the father was working double shifts every day detailing cars. They got too busy and too distracted and stopped meeting with us. After Alana, we went and stopped by their house, and the situation has completely changed--they have a car, the father has a 9-5 job selling insurance, their house has furniture now, and they seem a lot happier, and less stressed. We shared the #lighttheworld christmas video with them, and the spirit was instantly there. They asked us to pray and bless their house, and invited us to come back and start teaching them again. 

It's amazing what time can do in peoples lives! It's also amazing how God can work in our lives over time. But what really stands out to me is all the little seeds that we sow, what they can really develop into. Sometimes as a missionary, I can get frustrated. I'm giving my all to serve people and give them what I KNOW will help them have more peace and happiness, and they just don't want to be served or they just don't understand. Serving in this area for 7 & 1/2 months has been a huge blessing, because normally I wouldn't have been able to see those seeds I planted develop into what they are now. Never underestimate small acts of service and the ripple effect they can have on someone's life, or their eternity.

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324