Baptism!!

Just going through Facbook and found some neat pictures of Cody:

Mission Tour

Amazing Week!

Yup this basically sums up my amazing week!! hahaha i'm doing good got the package sunday!!!:DDD From you! And THREE letters! I'm sending you a letter! Hopefully you get it soon!! 

But NEW COMPANION his name is Elder 'Iloa he is from Tonga. Elder 'Iloa, my companion, has been here for seven months.. it's his 5th transfer.  I bet I stay here for 8 months in pulupandan! That's good because I like it!! All the people here are amazing!!  I'm still in the same area tho!!! All is doing good!!! 

I'm really picking up on the language now! Taught four lessons to kids 8-13 about six of them! It went really well! They can finally understand me hahaha!  I'm doing good!  

We have an investigator and he is 11 years old.  He was playing with all his friends and we were on exchanges and I was with a kid his name is nok-nok he is 19 and is in a wheelchair.. he can't use his legs.. but the most spiritual humble kid ever. I asked the kid if we could teach him ...I said Five minutes lang, "only five minutes".  He said, "okay".   I invited his friends to come over and join us, which was about five of them.. all 8-13 baptizing age. They all listened and I taught them about JesuCristo and about the atonement.  They all loved it and we now have five new investigators! But only thanks to the Gift of Tongues, was I able to teach clearly and fluently... so that they could understand my message!

Love, Elder Cody Johnson

Three letters and our package got there in two weeks! He is so happy and he hasn't even opened it, yet! 

Family Home Evening playing "Sala" or Mistake. If you mess up, you get a mark of coal on your face. Nok-Nok is far left and his companion (first) is middle back.

These Things I Know

I'm doing great!!! But yes, we had two earthquakes!!!! They were fun! hahaha.. bad I know! But they weren't bad at all where we are located! They were very bad in Cebu...but not any cleaning up here.. nothing was damaged in Bacolod Mission Area.  We just were in our house and it started shaking a little! I thought I was dizzy at first.   Then I looked over at my companion and he was laughing at me because my reaction.   He said it was an earthquake.. and right after that I was like.. oh I know mom will love to hear about this hahahaha!! And I can tell that you do!! But don't worry, it's all good here!!! 

Zone conference was amazing!!! We had the Philippines Zone President here!! He was great!!! Elder Neilsen taught us how families can be together forever through Heavenly Fathers Plan. I learned new things and am grateful for the knowledge I have that my family will be together forever.

Something new I learned as I finished the Book of Mormon and started again... taking it slow and trying to get everything this time! But what I learned in 1 Nephi 1:2-3 is the very first testimony in the Book of Mormon. Nephi, probably the most faithful and diligent person I know, bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon.  I never really noticed that as I read it.  But he says,  And I know the things I write in this book are true. 

" 2 Yea, I make a record in the alanguage of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

 3 And I know that the record which I make is atrue; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge."

How cool is that? He hasn't even written anything.. but he KNOWS and has received witness from Jesus and his Heavenly Father that this book is true.  

Also, later on in chapter 1Nephi 13:23-24... Nephi bears testimony about the bible!  

" 23And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The abook that thou beholdest is a brecord of the cJews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the dplates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.

24And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the abook proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God."

Then in D&C: 10:44-46 Jesus Christ, Our Lord, bears testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. 

"44 Behold, they have only got a part, or an aabridgment of the account of Nephi.

 45 Behold, there are many things engraven upon the aplates of Nephi which do throw greater views upon my gospel; therefore, it is wisdom in me that you should btranslate this first part of the engravings of Nephi, and send forth in this work.

 46 And, behold, all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my agospel which my holy prophets, yea, and also my disciples, bdesired in their prayers should come forth unto this people."

We also had an investigator come to church!!!!!!!!!!!!! Three more weeks and he can get baptized!! He is 12 his name is Jamse.  That's our only experience this week and Zone conference! We didn't have much time after that!

The language is great though!!!! I can carry on most conversations and I lead  lessons!!! They go alright... but it will come! All is great here!! Love you all tons!!! Share the love!!

Love Elder Johnson

Zone Conference

Zone Conference (top all the way to right) good to see his face after reports of the earthquake!

Bohol Earthquake 2013

CEBU, Philippines -- CEBU, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippines rose to 85, police said Tuesday, as more reports trickled in about toppled buildings and historic churches near the epicenter.

Bohol police chief Dennis Agustin said that 69 of the deaths came from the province, where the quake hit near the town of Carmen. At least 16 others died in nearby Cebu province and another on Siquijor Island.

The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. and was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen on Bohol Island, where many buildings collapsed, roads cracked up and bridges fell.

Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu city, across a narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a building in the port and the roof of a market area collapsed.

The quake set off two stampedes in nearby cities. When it struck, people gathered in a gym in Cebu rushed outside in a panic, crushing five people to death and injuring eight others, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.

"We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong," said Vilma Yorong, a provincial government employee in Bohol.

"When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed," she told The Associated Press by phone.

As fear set in, Yorong and the others ran up a mountain, afraid a tsunami would follow the quake. "Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill," she said.

But the quake was centered inland and did not cause a tsunami.

All Missionaries are Safe

Look Ahead and Believe

By Elder Edward Dube

Of the Seventy

 

In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been but much more where we are willing to go.

While I was a boy working in the fields with my mother, she taught me one of the most important lessons in life. It was late in the morning, the sun was up, and we had been hoeing for what I thought to be a very long time. I stopped to look back at what we had accomplished and said to my mother, “Look at all we have done!” Mother did not respond. Thinking that she had not heard me, I repeated what I had said a little louder. She still did not reply. Raising my voice a little higher, I repeated again. Finally, she turned to me and said, “Edward, never look back. Look ahead at what we still have to do.”

My dear brothers and sisters, the covenant we made with the Lord when we were baptized, “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in” (Mosiah 18:9), is a lifelong commitment. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf counseled, “Those who have entered the waters of baptism and received the gift of the Holy Ghost have set their feet on the path of discipleship and are charged to follow steadily and fully in the footsteps of our Savior” (“Saints for All Seasons,” Ensign or Liahona, Sept. 2013, 5). The Lord through His servants calls us to serve in various callings, which we accept with total commitment. When a release has been extended and a call in a different assignment has been issued, we joyfully accept it, knowing, as our forebearers knew, that “in the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how” (J. Reuben Clark Jr., in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 154).

Thus when a stake president or a bishop is released, he joyfully accepts his release, and when a calling is extended to serve in any way which the Lord, through His servants, “seeth fit” (Mosiah 3:19), he is not overshadowed by his previous experience, nor does he look back and think that he has served enough. He is “not weary in well-doing,” because he knows that he is “laying the foundation of a great work” with a clear vision that such efforts bless lives for eternity. Thus “out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33).

We should all be “anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (D&C 58:27).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counseled: “The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future” (“The Best Is Yet to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 24; or Liahona, Jan. 2010, 18).

While my mother’s lesson of looking ahead was directed toward the visible weeds in the field, that challenge was minor in comparison to what the early Saints went through. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin described this experience so well: “In 1846, more than 10,000 [people] left the thriving city [of Nauvoo] that had been built on the banks of the Mississippi River. With faith in prophetic leaders, those early Church members left their ‘City Beautiful’ and struck off into the wilderness of the American frontier. They did not know exactly where they were going, precisely how many miles lay ahead, how long the journey would take, or what the future held in store for them. But they did know they were led by the Lord and His servants” (“Faith of Our Fathers,” Ensign, May 1996, 33).

They knew how it was to look ahead and believe. A decade and a half earlier, some of these members were present when a revelation was received:

“For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

“Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation” (D&C 58:2–3).

We too can look ahead and believe. We can embrace the invitation of our Lord, who with stretched-open hands invites us:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Our dear prophet, President Thomas S. Monson; his counselors; and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have extended an invitation for us all to participate in the work of salvation. The new converts, youth, young adults, those who have retired from their professions, and full-time missionaries need to be equally yoked in hastening the work of salvation.

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once attended an ox pulling contest, where he drew out an analogy. He said of the experience: “A wooden sledge was weighted with cement blocks: ten thousand pounds [4,535 kg]—five tons. … The object was for the oxen to move the sledge three feet [91 cm]. … I noticed a well-matched pair of very large, brindled, blue-gray animals … [the] big blue oxen of seasons past.”

In speaking about the result of the contest, he said: “Teams were eliminated one by one. … The big blue oxen didn’t even place! A small, nondescript pair of animals, not very well matched for size, moved the sledge all three times.”

He was then given an explanation to the surprising outcome: “The big blues were larger and stronger and better matched for size than the other team. But the little oxen had better teamwork and coordination. They hit the yoke together. Both animals jerked forward at exactly the same time and the force moved the load” (“Equally Yoked Together,” address delivered at regional representatives’ seminar, Apr. 3, 1975; in Teaching Seminary: Preservice Readings [2004], 30).

As we look ahead and believe, we need this same teamwork in hastening the work of salvation as we invite others to come unto Christ. In our individual capacities, we need to follow the counsel of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf to “stand close together and lift where we stand” (“Lift Where You Stand,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 56). We can tap our full potential, just as was observed by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve: “As I travel throughout the Church I marvel at all the positive things that are occurring. Yet I never feel that we, as a people, are living up to our real potential. My sense is that we do not always work together, that we are still too much interested in aspirations for personal honors and success, and show too little interest in the common goal of building the kingdom of God” (“United in Building the Kingdom of God,” Ensign, May 1987, 35).

May we all unite in a common objective “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, who sees from the beginning to the end, knew very well the road He would travel to Gethsemane and Golgotha when He proclaimed, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been but much more where we are willing to go.

Our guiding principles were taught to us by the Prophet Joseph Smith: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 49).

I testify that as we follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and raise our hands to the square with action in sustaining our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, we will find peace, comfort, and joy, and we “shall eat the good of the land … in these last days” (D&C 64:34). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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Loved Conference

My week was good!! I loved conference this week!!! It was AMAZING!! My favorite talk was by Elder Dube!  I loved his saying "Mom, look at all we've done"..."No! look at all we still have left to do"!

--Elder Dube "Look Ahead and Believe"

That part was soooo strong to me!!! I loved it! I like how President Monson said, "It was the most inspired general conference yet" I loved all the songs that were sung! They are all my favorite and so powerful! It was amazing and it was packed!! A full cultural hall on the 9:00 am session!! Yes, it is still hot and humid!! It's monsoon season!  It's been raining sooo badd!! Our ceiling is leaking!! We have to place bowls all over! Hahahaha... it's great!! 

My body is finally adjusted now! No problems now!! All is well!  I feel like God gave us extra strength in our ankles!! Whoever goes to the Philippines on their mission... haha I've had situations where I should've rolled it at least twenty times but I didn't! It's a blessing!!! But I know it's so close!!!

This week has been a good week though.  I loved all of general conference!! Don't have my notes but it was truly amazing!! Almost done with the Book of Mormon. In Ether and last week I was in the start of Alma on monday!!! Been studying like crazy! I LOVE reading! You can always learn something new from those little passages that don't seem important ...even if they are small. Every scripture has a meaning! If you were to sit and read one scripture that you thought had no meaning about 10 times ... you WILL find something new and inspiring from it! 

We are trying to get four investigators to church this Sunday, so we hope that will work out!!

Everything is great here! I love you!!!!

Love Elder Johnson

A popular dish in the Phillipines "Uga"

A close up of "Uga"

A little therapeutic and calming after all his studying is done.

Spaghetti and meatballs

Elder Cody Johnson and his Ward mission leader, Brother Jhon 

Climbing a coconut tree

In the rain

Closet because the actual closet is infested with bugs and rats

Money holder that his companion bought him...fancy!

First prayer in Hiligaynon

Good morning!!!  

 We got 10 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!  We made sure we worked extra hard this week! We will continue to work hard so we can keep improving!! They all seem really interested in what we have to say! The language is coming along great... Wayyyy better tho!!! I'm so happy!! This week was AMAZING!! 

President Lopez gave us an assignment to try and have five minute lessons with everyone we come in contact with. I can defiantly testify to the power of those short powerful lessons! They are so amazing! We have been working hard this week and it will all be worth it! Can't wait to do better next week! Everything has just been getting better! 

Also I said a prayer at a members house because she asked me to.   I started to say the prayer and it was ALL Hiligaynon!!! Everyone was like "where did that come from"? And quite frankly,  So was I!! It was amazing and taught me that The Lord knows me and will provide a way to teach his people in their language!!

Yes that is, Brother Jhon, the Ward Mission Leader! He is so helpful!! He continues to help with the language. The Philippines is great!!! Just getting everything down!! The members are awesome! We don't eat with them a lot! Just at our house usually.. I'm gaining though! So, I guess I'm eating good! But it is chicken pork adobo! Soooo good! Love it! 

Those are about all my spiritual experiences! We haven't watched conference yet soo yeah looking forward to it! I'll tell you what my favorites are next week!!

Love, Elder Cody Johnson

The neighborhood monkey.

Notice rice with every meal!