{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

{11.28.16} Turkey Day

Lazy email.. be here's some pics from Thanksgiving with our recent converts! it was epic.

Lisha & Nani

Kenrick

Selisha, Alex, and Ayanna

I ate ridiculous amounts of food. It was almost like being with family.

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

Elder Toews, one of Jace's companions, shared this in his letter:

"Thanksgiving went great. Another lady invited us over as well and we had a Jamaican thanksgiving with her. Then later we went to the Zapata family's house and that was awesome. She said that they had like $30 total to buy food for thanksgiving and they weren't sure how they were going to feed their own family let alone us too; so they kept praying. Then out of the blue the Mom's work gave her a $50 gift card to a local grocery store for no reason, and the oldest daughter got a $100 bonus for Thanksgiving. So they used the money to make a nice feast for the whole family and to get food for all of them. They said it was one of the most amazing miracles. Just because they were trying to do a nice thing and feed the Lord's servants he blessed them so much. It was so humbling to hear about it."

{11.21.16} Skip

This email isn't going to have much content.. if there's an email to skip, it's probably this one.

One highlight from this week was Zone Conferences. We trained on Member-Mission work, specifically something my old companion came up with called "the member missionary game plan" that gets members involved in daily missionary work. I love the FFLM sooo much! But if there's one weakness we have, it's member work. This will hopefully combine the finding on our own efforts more yoked with the members to bring their important friends and families the same blessings Christ has brought into our lives as members of His church.

2nd big highlight was a shadow exchange with my former companions Elder Riggs and Elder Alexis. The day and night spend with mijo and tigrito was legendary. I've been blessed with amazing comps in my mission, but those two will be friends for life for sure. We had a great day working the streets of Hialeah (side note: cubans love trump!) and it was some really good mental rejuvenation to laugh so much and catch up.

As for our area--the work is chugging along! Our investigator Raul is progressing so well. He's praying more, reading in the scriptures, and making huge progress with giving up smoking. He's a good old cuban man--he has a lot of struggles in his life, and although the progress is slow, the gospel is really helping him have more peace.

Marina is doing great as well! We set some plans down for her to be baptized, and with the marriage and her boyfriend slowly warming up to us more and more, she'll be baptized by the end of December. Right now she's working towards the 3rd of Jan, but I've seen over and over with Faith and Urgency, God prepares people much quicker than they think, and they recognize they're ready much sooner than they think. The rest of her family is still rock solid. Jaylin went to the Temple wednesday and LOVED it. So boss.

Interesting experience of the week--we taught the book of mormon and the law of chastity to a lesbian couple... and they became new investigators! Truly a testimony that the Spirit is the real teacher. They want to live that commandments, even though for them it's hard to understand perfectly. They have insane faith and know when they feel the promptings from the Holy Ghost. So they're working out how they'll live the law of chastity.. should be pretty wild.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

{11.14.16}

This email is probably going to be lame.. I can't remember anything that happened this week. We've been pretty busy visiting all the zone trainings ever since the switched to interviews with President every transfer; we've been covering all the zone trainings without him. the training on faith-filled words, restored truths fufilling needs, and inviting to baptism at every door caught fire. The mission hit over 360 new investigators--the highest in at least a year.

The Zapata family is doing solid. Daiza, the oldest sister who is preparing for baptism now, brought her friend with her. We had the most packed Gospel Principles class I've ever seen, with all the recent converts and new investigators we've been working with. It's been crazy to see the growth in the Branch--when I first came in, there was a handful of 3-5 members in class weekly. This week we had around 20, and the participation was lively.

We also picked up Raul. He's a cuban in deep side! I can't explain how rare that is. But he's a really solid,huble, big hearted guy. He's seen a lot of trials in his life and is a recovering addict, but he really wants to come closer to good. He took the bus to church with his cane in hand. He was super uncomfortable all of church, because he smokes a lot and he's trying as hard as he can to give it up. He's an amazing example of perseverance in following God's commandments.

Things are going really well... I'm sorry I dont' have much more to say. I Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324

{11.7.16} Cuatro

This week was one of the best of my mission. Pretty much.

4 members of the Zapata family, Jaylin, Marie, Alexa, and Kenrick, got baptized on Wednesday! After their baptism, they all four bore their testimonies. It was a spiritual experience I won't ever forget. After the baptism, Jaylin texted us and told us how grateful she was and her family is for us knocking door, and all the postive changes she's been seeing in her life. They're so excited to be members of the church, and the rest of the family is excited for their baptisms coming later in the month. Their aren't really words to describe how happy this family makes me. For the past 3 months, I've been praying and fasting to find a full family who's looking for the truth. I definitely know God answered my prayers, and theirs, and I'm really humbled and grateful that God used me and my companions to help this family find the truth they've been looking for.

The rest of the week was crazy skressful. Elder VanCott went home (finishing his mission on a legendary note by baptizing 4 on his last night instead of spending it in the Hotel with everyone else) and Elder Toews came in as our new companion! i've always loved Elder Toews and hoped to be companions with him, so it's gonna be great transfer! Our first full day in the new trio was spent in the office making MLC, which was originally was supposed to be a week later but had to be changed because of the recent changed made by Salt Lake. 9 hours in an office and only a few hours of lost sleep later, we were able to give a completed MLC to the Zone Leaders and STLs that will help keep the fire going and keep us consistent with the mission goals and the amazing month we had in October with 86 baptisms.

Despite the skressfulness, it was a great week and a lot of fun! I have no complaints. This email's kind of short, but I mostly just want to express how grateful I am, and how happy I am to be a missionary, and a member of Christ's Church.

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324