OUT ONE MONTH!! Nov 30, 2013

November 30

ok so i have officially been out for a month now! pretty crazy huh!! seems like yesterday i was getting dropped of at the provo mtc! so wild!!

thanks for all your emails this week i really enjoyed them! and mom you can send more than one line!! haha just dont make it too long! haha i would love to hear more!! ***

but as the mission goes on, the more and more i love it! i am having so much fun out here! so this week i went to the police station and got all my fingerprints and such! and now its official, im in the brazil system and can go to jail!! i guess i better not do anything to stupid now right?? haha this week we even had a thanksgiving dinner (well lunch, because that is the main meal of the day here) but it was seriously so amazing... and best of all.. NO HAM!!! it was a miracle!! haha but for real i was so happy, we had turkey, potatoes, and best of all... Ice cream! haha it was the first time that ive had it since i left the grand old nation of USA! we also get to go to the sao paulo temple everyweek, which i think i already mentioned, but my greatest accomplishment this week was not falling asleep during the session! hahaha! score one for elder Johnson! haha also my district has been practicing a musical number to sing at the farewell deviontional when we leave! so that will be way fun, even though my district lacks some musical talent! haha but they try so that makes up the difference right?? haha

to be honest, its time for me to leave the MTC! i mean its been great and all, but i jsut want to get out into the field and start doing the real thing! even though im not fluent in the language, i feel like i can communicate pretty well, and when it comes to church vocab,i am pretty much fluent and can teach about all the principles and such and feel like i could teach a whole lesson in decent portuguese.. but when people start speaking fast... uh oh.. haha its like they speak a million miles and hour, i have to ask people to speak slower like ten times before i understand them! haha but other than that, the language is coming pretty nicely and i feel like im improving daily! its been awesome!

last night i was helping this elder from ecuador, i was teaching him how to do a rubiks cube, and he messed up, and he yelled, "damn it" hahahhahaha i seriously laughed so hard! i almost wet my self! I was like rolling on the floor! so funny! haha

well that is it for me! i miss you all and am a little jealous i didnt get to go to san diego with all of you for thanksgiving! it was weird not being with you! but i love you all and am so greatful that you are my family, eventhough we struggle and are real weird.. i wouldnt want any other family than the one i am a part of!! i love you all so much and hope everything is going great back home!

Elder Johnson

PS mom here is my scripture for my plaque. Ether 12:27, and can you call the bank and tell them im in brazil.. i forgot to do that before i left! haha thanks so much!!

*** Mom's email for this week--after last week's complaint about my NOVEL length emails.  

Dear Ryan,

I Love you!!!  We love your letters-- Send me your mission scripture for the plaque. Send a note for Chandler's mom.  I LOVE YOU.

Short and sweet,  MOM

MOM NOTE:  Ryan you also forgot to vacuum the excursion and the Jeep Club....and that laundry....hmmmm forgot or turfed???  It must be LOVE!

Brazil MTC address

To Write to Ryan: 

You can send letters directly to ryanej210@myldsmail.net*** 

He can read your letters online...but he has strict Mother orders to reply only to me!!! hahaha

****Remember that he only has about 1 hour to spend reading and writing emails so here's an alternate way to contact him:

1.  IF YOU HAVE 5-10 days: you can send him a snail mail letter to his current address below. He will be there until December 10. I will update his addresses as I get them. 

2.   IF you have info he needs in less than a week or you want to write a long epistle that he can chew on during the week....

You can forward your email to me and I will include it in my emails to him through my missionties.com acct-- I email it to Brazil...they print it out and send it to Ryan via snail mail.  He can snail mail it back to them and they will email it back to me.  They promise not to read your letters...but I'm pretty sure that I might sneak a peek if it comes to my email box and I actually have a moment... but in reality I barely read the soccer practice alerts so you might be totally safe to say all kinds of bad things about me in the email and I won't have a clue!!!

Ryan's  MTC address is currently :

Elder Ryan E Johnson Brazil Maceio Mission

Brazil CTM, Box6 District 44-A

Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo

Casa Verde

02516-040 Sao Paulo-SP

Brazil

Thanks to all of you for your love and Support of Elder Ryan!

the update! 11-29-13

ok so i have officially been out for a month now! pretty crazy huh!! seems like yesterday i was getting dropped of at the provo mtc! so wild!!

thanks for all your emails this week i really enjoyed them! and mom you can send more than one line!! haha just dont make it too long! haha i would love to hear more!!

but as the mission goes on, the more and more i love it! i am having so much fun out here! so this week i went to the police station and got all my fingerprints and such! and now its official, im in the brazil system and can go to jail!! i guess i better not do anything to stupid now right?? haha this week we even had a thanksgiving dinner (well lunch, because that is the main meal of the day here) but it was seriously so amazing... and best of all.. NO HAM!!! it was a miracle!! haha but for real i was so happy, we had turkey, potatoes, and best of all... Ice cream! haha it was the first time that ive had it since i left the grand old nation of USA! we also get to go to the sao paulo temple everyweek, which i think i already mentioned, but my greatest accomplishment this week was not falling asleep during the session! hahaha! score one for elder Johnson! haha also my district has been practicing a musical number to sing at the farewell deviontional when we leave! so that will be way fun, even though my district lacks some musical talent! haha but they try so that makes up the difference right?? haha

to be honest, its time for me to leave the MTC! i mean its been great and all, but i jsut want to get out into the field and start doing the real thing! even though im not fluent in the language, i feel like i can communicate pretty well, and when it comes to church vocab,i am pretty much fluent and can teach about all the principles and such and feel like i could teach a whole lesson in decent portuguese.. but when people start speaking fast... uh oh.. haha its like they speak a million miles and hour, i have to ask people to speak slower like ten times before i understand them! haha but other than that, the language is coming pretty nicely and i feel like im improving daily! its been awesome!

last night i was helping this elder from ecuador, i was teaching him how to do a rubiks cube, and he messed up, and he yelled, "damn it" hahahhahaha i seriously laughed so hard! i almost wet my self! I was like rolling on the floor! so funny! haha

well that is it for me! i miss you all and am a little jealous i didnt get to go to san diego with all of you for thanksgiving! it was weird not being with you! but i love you all and am so greatful that you are my family, eventhough we struggle and are real weird.. i wouldnt want any other family than the one i am a part of!! i love you all so much and hope everything is going great back home!

Elder Johnson

PS mom here is my scripture for my plaque. Ether 12:27, and can you call the bank and tell them im in brazil.. i forgot to do that before i left! haha thanks so much!!

Temple Trip 11/27/2013

Forgot to share these awesome pictures of Ryan at the São Paulo Temple during his time at the CTM--

Dear Family,

We are pleased to be able to send you a picture of your missionary´s recent visit to the São Paulo temple.  This is always a special moment, entering the temple with other missionaries engaged in the Lord´s work.   We know they will treasure this remembrance. 

It is a great honor to serve with each of these fine young people and to watch their growth as they learn more about their sacred calling of a missionary.  We have a great love and respect for each one of them.

Thank you for your support for them.  They love to receive emails and letters from you, and feel of your love.  We know that your family will feel the blessings of their service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Degn

The Update 11-22-13

Ryan Johnson <ryanej210@myldsmail.net>	11/22/13
to me, Cathryn, Ken

ok first off mom... that was the biggest email i have ever gotten!!! its like you where writing the fifth harry potter book! i dont even have enough time to read the whole thing beause we only have like 30 minutes to write in this place!! its madness i tell you!! ;) haha but everything is going well

 

wednesday we got to place books of mormon and it was awesome!! i placed 7 books!! it was so legit and i swore i spoke fluent portuguese!! the gift of tongues is way legit! oh and just so you all konw, im short on time for this email because moms email took so long to read! haha! so sorry if im short on details! but im loving it down here in brazil! i have gained 8 pounds.. so hopefully i stop gaining wait or else my pants will no longer fit me! haha but i swear we eat ham in like every flipping meal... it is safe to say that i hate ham.. i meant i HATE ham! hahah it seriously is the worst.. we even eat ham sandwihes for breakfast.. its a joke! haha

 

Cathryn. you have to marry my instructor brother Alvino.. he is serously that most amazing guy ever and he so freaking funny. he is planning on going to BYU so you have to find him this next year and marry him!! but for real he is awesome and should totally meet him!

 

other things that have been going on this week

fell asleep at the temple.. oops! haha seriously like the story of my life here!! i swear im so tired! haha

my district had an awesoem testimony meeting on tuesday where we all started crying because the spirit was so strong.. dang it spirit.. make us all cry! haha

well that is pretty much the most excting things that happen in the CTM here in brazil! its hot.. the next day its even hotter. the portuguese is gettign better and better everyday and i can teach a lesson about almost anything in portuguese and actually make sense! its so awesome!!

 

tell andria, cat, and rachel that i miss my best homies a lot and that im sorry that i couldnt respond to their emails personally this week! i will try hard to respond next week! its just crazy busy! but i love them and am missing you all like crazy!

 

love you all and miss you and appreiciate all your emails! keep sending them.. even if they are longer than the book of alma! haahha.. mormon jokes! hilarous :)

 

love

 

Elder Johnson!!

Sweating in Brazil .....and Rachel???? Nov 15, 2013

hey family!!

 thanks for all your emails! i loved them all so much!! it was great hearing that everyone is missing so much that they can barely function without me!! ;) haha but it is going great down here for me! i really love it down here even though i swear its like 600 degrees! haha its seriously so hot im surprised i havent melted yet! haha but i miss all of you so much and am really hoping that you will all keep writing! tell rachel she is dead to me though because she is the only one in the fam who didnt write me!

but the language is coming so much better! im so glad im in the brazil mtc because i really am forced to speak portuguese so much more here! its hard to understand the people down here though becuase they talk so wicked fast! its crazy! its like.. how the devil do they move their tongues fast enough to talk like this? haha its hard to understand sometimes but if i can figure out what is going on, i can almost always respnd! so that is a good sign!

my district here is really awesome! we have 2 sets of sister missionaries, and another set of elders! but they have been super welcoming to me and i feel like i fit in really well with them so that is really awesome! Me and my companion have started clicking better this last week too! we have started teaching with more unity and we actually play one on one every day for an hour! he is really good at basketball so it is really fun!

we have 2 investigators... AKA our instructors.. Brother alvino, and sister monique, but we were really having a lot of trouble teaching this last week until thursday, we talked to both of them for like 40 minutes without notes and we commited them both to be baptized!! it was so awesome! even though they arent really getting baptized i got all excited! haha i cant wait to teach people and actually get them to be baptized! it will be so awesome!! i cant wait!

really it has been such a great experience down here! i love it so much! its a lot of fun and its also really challenging! studying for like 11 hours a day is sometimes really hard, but when you know that if you learn the language you could change peoples lives for the better, it makes you really motivated to learn and work hard! so thats good!

Maelyn got her mission call to mexico! i forgot what city but she leaves in april! and she is super excited!

i hope everything is going well at home and that every one is doing well, thanks for the updates on chandler and for keeping him and me in your prayers! i hope you all are keeping my room nice and dirty for the whole time im gone and that you are constantly using all my various quotes!! i love you all so much and miss you all like crazy! but this is the best decision ive ever made! i love serving so much! I feel that i learn and grow so much everyday! but dont worry, im not too werid yet!! haha! keep writing!

Love you all!!

Elder Johnson (elder GREEGG)

PS please forward this to grandma and grandpa, and let them know that i love and miss them!!

Ryan Is In Brazil! Nov 7 2013

hey familia!!

i made it to brazil!! the plane ride was wicked horrible beccause i had to sit in a middle seat with not nearly enough leg room for 10 hours over night! why doesnt the world make things for big people, i mean people are generally bigger now! haha but it was fine.. im not bitter at all haha! but brazil is cool! it feels pretty sureal because it feels like yesterday that i was just being dropped off at provo! but the MTC here is hard because they speak almost no english, so i dont really know what the heck is going on! so hopefully i cant start really understanding the language soon! so yeah all is well i guess! how is everything at home.. i cant figure out how to do questionmarks, because im typing on a portuguesse keyboard.. soo yeah sorry if there is any confusion! so all you need to know is that im alive and surprisingly in brazil befroe 6 months of my mission are up! haha!

Love you all!!

Elder Johnson

Surprise the Visa came! 11-4-2013

November 4th

I GOT MY VISA!!! i leave tomorrow! so i can call you guys from the airport, so lets plan on talking then ok?? ill tell you all about everything then, so i'll keep this email brief! please forward this to dad as well!

But the mission has been a great experience so far, and i feel like i have learned so much already! in just five days of portuguese, i can already teach a brief lesson about the restoration, say a prayer, and bear my testimony... and i also know a bunch of random phrases as well! haha! but the spirit is strong here and i love it! i miss and love all of you guys so much! i'll make sure to write more next time i write, i just don't have a ton off time because we have so much to do before we leave tomorrow! oh my companion is Elder Coronado, he is a great guy but a little bit socially awkward.. but its fine, it makes me laugh sometimes! and we had to teach an investigator our 2nd day here! it was crazy hard because we knew no portuguese but it was so fun!! haha

i have been laughing so much, learning so much, and having so much fun! cant wait to talk to you tomorrow!! love you!!

Elder Johnson...

IM ELDER GREEEGGG!! haha

 PS i'll send pictures next week!!

Write to Ryan

I know you are all so excited to write to Ryan so here are the addresses where you can reach him.

You can email Ryan at:

ryanej210@myldsmail.net

MTC address:

Elder Ryan E Johnson

DEC10 BRA-MAC

2007 N 900 E Unit 70

Provo UT 84602

Mission Home address--mail letters and packages to this address

Brazil Maceió Mission
Av. Dom Antonio Brandão, 333 Sala 402
Ed. Work Center, Farol
57051-190 Maceió-AL
Brazil

I will post his letters here on the blog so that you can check in and see how he is doing!  

Thanks to everyone for your incredible love and support! 

My BOY!!  This is a moment when I'm glad I only have one boy...but sad that I don't have another one to keep me company while Ryan is gone.  The Piano is soooo quiet!  Rachel and Andria are trying to keep it going, but their volume level isn't quite the same!

We forced Ryan to do two quick pictures...no retakes allowed (by Ryan!!!)

A Beautiful day for a send-off.  So many families doing the same thing that we had to walk a little from the car to find a spot where we weren't photo bombing. 

Handsome Elder Marshall Henrie met us at the MTC for the handoff!  He leaves next week from the MTC to serve in Minnesota (speaking Hmong).  Handing Ryan off to Marsh made it so much easier for Mom--and seeing all the waiting HOST missionaries made me love all the Moms and Dads out there that have sent their sons and daughters on missions...if they can do it so can we!!!