WHAT A WEEK!!! and more pics

3.22.10

Well what a week!!!  Oh my goodness it was amazing.

First off last monday was the best p-day ever. Alec Bart, my best friend from back at home, was here in North Newark! It was so awesome being able to catch up with him and talk just about life in a way other than through letters...and for the record it was all approved by the mission president so no worries about potential disobedience :) It was a great P-day...and involved a lot of Tallarin Verde (too much actually, it made for a lovely lunch a couple days later :)) Although it was slightly gloomy of a day climate-wise the sun was shining all too brightly in North Newark for lil ol' Elder Johnson. But I'll be honest, even though my President had said it was okay and I felt it was okay, I wasn't sure exactly how the Lord felt about it. Like maybe it wasn't wrong but I was being frowned upon, or losing blessings ya know? Well I had that answered for me. Because of Alec's visit we ran our p-day very abnormally....including going to a grocery store and a library that we literally never visit. As we walked into the library some woman leaving asked me if we were the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Naturally I said yes. It turns out that Silvia Padilla, the woman that stopped me, was going to get baptized in Puerto Rico but moved here only 4 days ago--just 4 days prior to running into us at the North Newark Library! We ended up visiting with her almost every day this last week and she is going to get baptized this Sunday (the 28th). She is so amazingly prepared and ready I cant even believe it. And what's crazy is that if Alec hadn't come we would not have gone to that library, let alone would we have gone at the exact moment we did. Truly miraculous... I see it as the Lord showing his stamp of approval to my p-day with my best friend, Alec.  What a great day!

Also, during our Zone Conference on Thursday Elder Taylor (one of the assistants to the president) specifically told me that he was very excited for me because of a guest speaker that was coming to speak to us... Naturally I got super excited and tried guessing in my mind who it could be all throughout the meeting (while still paying the utmost attention of course lol). Turns out I guessed right and Bryan Kehl of the New York Giants (former BYU linebacker/hero of mine back in the day) came and spoke to us about a few things. Exercise (go figure right) and being effective missionaries. It was way cool and he is truly an amazingly down to earth/awesome guy. Not like super cocky or arrogant or anything like that. I really liked what he had to share/the conference as a whole really. It was a nice pick me up in just about every way shape and form. And crazy small world story about Brother Kehl, he actually served back in the day with Tyler Cannon (from my ward back home) in Canada. I learned this because he involved us a rubix cube race in his little training break out session with us and he said he learned it on his mission. And I remember that Tyler Cannon gave an old bishops youth fireside about a rubix cube (which he learned how to do on his mission). So I asked Brother Kehl after if he knew Tyler Cannon and he said that Tyler is actually one of the guys who taught him how to do it! How crazy is that?!?!?  Totally small world right? ....And who knows how I remembered all of that/put it all together.

Anyways time is up for me and I've gotta go. The week was pretty dang awesome....even the climate (sunny and about 70 all week long basically). I hope for nothing but the best for all of you...

Elder Johnson

Alec and Elder J. are pictured below:

I don't think I've seen Ben look happier ever!  Alec, what a huge boost you gave Ben!  

And you lived the life of a missionary for one day too!    

...kinda, sorta...   :)

Where Elder Johnson and Elder Pascual and Alec met Silvia!

...who gets baptized this Sunday.   Love it!

This is the picture, above, that Alec sent me, (Karlyn/mom) from his phone a week ago today.  Ben had written an earlier email last Monday morning saying to Vaughn and I:  "Hey, mom/dad, I have a question, are you sitting down?"  Vaughn replied simply, 'yes'.  Then Ben wrote a response email... Mom/Dad, "ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?"  To which my stomach started hurting and I was NOT sitting down; and Vaughn, who WAS sitting down but not for long, wrote, 

"yes, now talk to us!"

No reply on the email....but my phone started ringing, and there was this awesome picture above.

Vaughn and I stared at it for a looong time...then both looked at each other saying, "This looks like Alec, but COULD this be Alec?"  And as we kept staring...."cuz it sure looks like Alec".

  But it was hard to see on the phone.  So I texted back to the phone number:  "Is it Alec?"

When I got the confirm it was Alec, I'm not going to lie, tears started welling up in my eyes in complete and total surprise/happiness for Ben and Alec both!  

So there was no question in the end, just the classic Ben distraction, 

and him having fun with his good news.

We're guessing this is what Ben referred to as:  Tallarin Verde.

We can't decide if it looks yummy or not--  was it Alec?

oh, but the company was all that mattered anyway :)

okay, as you might have guessed, 

this picture made Ben's mommy cry a bucket, nay nay, a few buckets of tears 

for these two friends.  The look of Ben's face says it all.

Many gazillion thanks to Alec for taking the time to track Ben down and visit him.  Alec is an extraordinary jazz pianist who is going to school at the prestigious North Texas State studying music there.  He would play a mean piano at our home when he would be over with Ben, and puts Vaughn to shame.  Vaughn would sigh....'O for the good ol' college days'.

We know Alec's career is really going great places. 

So Alec's trip to the East coast was a family visit to New York, and Ben as well.  

That President Bahr allowed these two to spend a day together tells us even he could feel the goodness and positive vibe of their friendship.  

Thank you Pres. Bahr,

Love, V and K