Things got quite cold once the sun went down.January 31, 2009
January 24, 2009
Jeff's first appartment. It is a brand new area so they are in a brand new appartment. They went without power, a fridge, stove, furniture for about a week until they were dilivered. They had to purchase everything such as pots, dishes, etc. that they would need in the apartment and be reimbursed for it.
Jeff's Email 1/21/2009
Dear Family,
Things are going good here in Rio Bonito. It's a town where there is one member. The other 18 members live about a half hour bus ride away. It's kind of terrible, but what can you do. We're planning to set up a booth in town square in Rio Bonito and try and get the name of the church out there to as many people as we possilby can.
On my first Sunday out here I had the great privelege (it sucked) to give a talk in church......in portugese.....it was so intense. The good news is that I survived and here I am. I had to give a prayer last Sunday so I have no clue what's in store for me this Sunday.
We have a mission conference next Thursday! I am very excited for it. Our mission president is way awesome and told us that if we play an instrument we should buy one as to not lose our talents. So I got a guitar for 75 reals. That's roughly about 30 dollars. They are very cheap here. I'll have to take a picture and send it to you.
Well Russ....the big 18 is coming up! Now is the time to get as much crap out of your system as possible because you can't do it after 18. We can tell the parents about all these stories like 20 years from now when the statute of limitations is up. Haha. Don't do anything stupid...I was kidding.
Well Rachel, in every email to me you are complaining about how I don't just talk about you the whole letter, so here's a dedication to you. Hello my friend. How are you Rachel? Are you good Rachel? I hope your good Rachel. There you go Rachel. I talked about you Rachel.
Susie. Little miss 4.0. Following in your brothers footsteps I see. Congratulations! Keep up the good work and maybe you will be like me, all successful and stuff!
Niles, my main man. I sent you some pictures of lizards and stuff. You would love it here catching them and stuff. I think there is monkeys living in the forest behind our house because there is something screaming out there every night. I'll try and get a picture without getting eaten. I'm like the flipping crocodile hunter out here.
Emma, I love getting your letters about how much you miss me out here, even though it is all your FOUR emails said today! I miss you too! I'll see you in a few years! It will fly by!
Lex, man you would love it out here. There is alot of good looking female dogs our here.
Mother! Thanks for everything! All of us out here, if we wouldn't have been trained by our mothers, we would be starving every day and our appartments would look like a pig pen.
Dad, I hope the speach of Obama wasn't too boring. The first few weeks out here have been rough, but I know that because I followed you and mom's example of never giving up, I was able to get through it!
Thanks for everything and I love you all!
Love,
Elder Jeffrey Todd Johnson (the choosen one, spiderman, the hulk, superman, and batman)
Things are going good here in Rio Bonito. It's a town where there is one member. The other 18 members live about a half hour bus ride away. It's kind of terrible, but what can you do. We're planning to set up a booth in town square in Rio Bonito and try and get the name of the church out there to as many people as we possilby can.
On my first Sunday out here I had the great privelege (it sucked) to give a talk in church......in portugese.....it was so intense. The good news is that I survived and here I am. I had to give a prayer last Sunday so I have no clue what's in store for me this Sunday.
We have a mission conference next Thursday! I am very excited for it. Our mission president is way awesome and told us that if we play an instrument we should buy one as to not lose our talents. So I got a guitar for 75 reals. That's roughly about 30 dollars. They are very cheap here. I'll have to take a picture and send it to you.
Well Russ....the big 18 is coming up! Now is the time to get as much crap out of your system as possible because you can't do it after 18. We can tell the parents about all these stories like 20 years from now when the statute of limitations is up. Haha. Don't do anything stupid...I was kidding.
Well Rachel, in every email to me you are complaining about how I don't just talk about you the whole letter, so here's a dedication to you. Hello my friend. How are you Rachel? Are you good Rachel? I hope your good Rachel. There you go Rachel. I talked about you Rachel.
Susie. Little miss 4.0. Following in your brothers footsteps I see. Congratulations! Keep up the good work and maybe you will be like me, all successful and stuff!
Niles, my main man. I sent you some pictures of lizards and stuff. You would love it here catching them and stuff. I think there is monkeys living in the forest behind our house because there is something screaming out there every night. I'll try and get a picture without getting eaten. I'm like the flipping crocodile hunter out here.
Emma, I love getting your letters about how much you miss me out here, even though it is all your FOUR emails said today! I miss you too! I'll see you in a few years! It will fly by!
Lex, man you would love it out here. There is alot of good looking female dogs our here.
Mother! Thanks for everything! All of us out here, if we wouldn't have been trained by our mothers, we would be starving every day and our appartments would look like a pig pen.
Dad, I hope the speach of Obama wasn't too boring. The first few weeks out here have been rough, but I know that because I followed you and mom's example of never giving up, I was able to get through it!
Thanks for everything and I love you all!
Love,
Elder Jeffrey Todd Johnson (the choosen one, spiderman, the hulk, superman, and batman)
Excerpt of Jeff's Letter 12/29/2008
So on Friday while prosolyting, I gave out 55 pass along cards, and 3 Books of Mormon. The most out of anyone in our entire district, which is weird because I'm a really shy person and going up to random people on the street should be very hard for me to do, but for our entire 2 hours prosolyting I was always teaching someone. Elder V and I broke 100 cards together. There was this man that we stopped and gave him a Book of Mormon that someone from our district hadn't given out yet. He seemed interested so we went into deeper discussion about it. I had him read the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction of the Book of Mormon. After I asked if when he got home if he would read 3 Nephi 11 and after he read, if he would pray to know that it was true. We then explained the feelings he would feel afterward. This was all in Portuges mind you. It just shows me how far that I have come in these short 2 months. I then bore my testimony to him about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith. I loved that experience and I will never forget it!
I love being out here and I can't wait to get to Rio and have experiences like that every day. I feel the blessings from my service everyday and I hope that you all do too.
Elder Johnson
I love being out here and I can't wait to get to Rio and have experiences like that every day. I feel the blessings from my service everyday and I hope that you all do too.
Elder Johnson
January 18, 2009
Presidential Inauguration Detail- January 18-21, 2009
Jan. 18th
We all met at the Salt Lake UHP office at 3:30 A.M. The first order of business was taking care of the paperwork so that the federal government could pay us for this detail.
UTA transported us all out the the Salt Lake Airport, where we had to go through a special screening.
After connecting in Denver, we finally made it out to Washington D.C. ! Here's a shot from across the Potomac. Having never been here before, this was quite exciting!
At the hotel (up the road in Virginia), we were given a briefing by a Lt. from D.C. Metro (in the dark jacket). He told us exactly what we would be doing during the Inauguration Parade. He also told us that he has "Connections" at the White House, and that he would see if we could assemble there for a group photo out on the lawn. We'll have to wait and see if he really has the connections, or not? He seemed a bit too sure of himself.
Jan. 19th
We were bused out to the American College, in Washington D.C., for the briefing and swearing-in ceremony. Notice the different police agencies in full uniform and looking sharp?
At the direction of our two Lt.s, we arrived in what is called the Training Uniform. I really wished that we had come in full uniform!
4,100 officers, from around the nation, were sworn in as U.S. Marshalls. This had to be done in two separate meetings. While here, I purchased my official U.S. Marshall badge. We were briefed on what would be happening on the day of the Inauguration, and were given training on how to handle different situations that might arise. A video taped message from Pres. Bush was played.
After the swearing-in, we tried to make our way over to see the Law Enforcement Memorial. Traffic in downtown D.C. was at a near stand-still. Lt. Shelton, our D.C. Metro Liaison, jumped out of the bus and went out into the intersection and held up the crossing traffic so that our bus could get through. We gave him a loud cheer when he hopped back onto the bus.
At the Law Enforcement Memorial, we were able to look up the names of some of our Fallen Troopers on the wall. Near the center of this picture, you can read the name of "JOSEPH S BRUMETT III". Joey was the first Trooper to die in the line of duty after I hired on. He died in December 1992 after being hit by a pickup truck in Salt Lake on I-15. In all, the UHP has the names of 14 Troopers on the memorial.
Jan. 20th
After waking up at 1:45 A.M., we eventually made it down into D.C. At 6:00 A.M., we were on Post at the corner of 15th Street and Pennsyvannia Ave. The temperature at this early hour was somewhere around 12 degrees.
Getting brighter. The Washington Monument is in the background. Seeing it in person, it is quite a bit larger than it appears in pictures.
Lt. Shelton came through and got permission, from the Secret Service, for us to walk in just outside the South fence of the White House. This was still the "Bush" White House--- at least until 12:00 P.M.
We all took our coats off and quickly posed for a picture in the freezing cold!
Getting closer to parade time. It warmed up to a blistering 32 degrees. I had to put my camera away after this one. When the Obamas came through this area, they were riding inside the Limo due to one man in the crowd that was acting weird. I DID NOT get to see the First-Family as they passed by because my job was to watch the crowd. When the Limo was passed by, I turned to look and could only see Mrs. Obama's hand waving through the window as they drove away.
All in all, this was a great, once in a lifetime experience! Even though I supported McCain in the election, I could sense the excitement that the people were feeling in having the first black person sworn-in as President of the United States. It was almost like a party atmosphere all around town. I don't look forward to doing this again--- once is enough. I would like to someday go back and spend some time seeing all of the historical sights and monuments in and around Washington D.C.!
We all met at the Salt Lake UHP office at 3:30 A.M. The first order of business was taking care of the paperwork so that the federal government could pay us for this detail.
UTA transported us all out the the Salt Lake Airport, where we had to go through a special screening.
After connecting in Denver, we finally made it out to Washington D.C. ! Here's a shot from across the Potomac. Having never been here before, this was quite exciting!
At the hotel (up the road in Virginia), we were given a briefing by a Lt. from D.C. Metro (in the dark jacket). He told us exactly what we would be doing during the Inauguration Parade. He also told us that he has "Connections" at the White House, and that he would see if we could assemble there for a group photo out on the lawn. We'll have to wait and see if he really has the connections, or not? He seemed a bit too sure of himself.Jan. 19th
We were bused out to the American College, in Washington D.C., for the briefing and swearing-in ceremony. Notice the different police agencies in full uniform and looking sharp?
At the direction of our two Lt.s, we arrived in what is called the Training Uniform. I really wished that we had come in full uniform!
4,100 officers, from around the nation, were sworn in as U.S. Marshalls. This had to be done in two separate meetings. While here, I purchased my official U.S. Marshall badge. We were briefed on what would be happening on the day of the Inauguration, and were given training on how to handle different situations that might arise. A video taped message from Pres. Bush was played.
After the swearing-in, we tried to make our way over to see the Law Enforcement Memorial. Traffic in downtown D.C. was at a near stand-still. Lt. Shelton, our D.C. Metro Liaison, jumped out of the bus and went out into the intersection and held up the crossing traffic so that our bus could get through. We gave him a loud cheer when he hopped back onto the bus.
At the Law Enforcement Memorial, we were able to look up the names of some of our Fallen Troopers on the wall. Near the center of this picture, you can read the name of "JOSEPH S BRUMETT III". Joey was the first Trooper to die in the line of duty after I hired on. He died in December 1992 after being hit by a pickup truck in Salt Lake on I-15. In all, the UHP has the names of 14 Troopers on the memorial.
Jan. 20th
After waking up at 1:45 A.M., we eventually made it down into D.C. At 6:00 A.M., we were on Post at the corner of 15th Street and Pennsyvannia Ave. The temperature at this early hour was somewhere around 12 degrees.
Getting brighter. The Washington Monument is in the background. Seeing it in person, it is quite a bit larger than it appears in pictures.
Lt. Shelton came through and got permission, from the Secret Service, for us to walk in just outside the South fence of the White House. This was still the "Bush" White House--- at least until 12:00 P.M.
We all took our coats off and quickly posed for a picture in the freezing cold!
Getting closer to parade time. It warmed up to a blistering 32 degrees. I had to put my camera away after this one. When the Obamas came through this area, they were riding inside the Limo due to one man in the crowd that was acting weird. I DID NOT get to see the First-Family as they passed by because my job was to watch the crowd. When the Limo was passed by, I turned to look and could only see Mrs. Obama's hand waving through the window as they drove away.All in all, this was a great, once in a lifetime experience! Even though I supported McCain in the election, I could sense the excitement that the people were feeling in having the first black person sworn-in as President of the United States. It was almost like a party atmosphere all around town. I don't look forward to doing this again--- once is enough. I would like to someday go back and spend some time seeing all of the historical sights and monuments in and around Washington D.C.!
January 8, 2009
Message From Jeff's Mission President
We are very grateful to have Elder Johnson with us in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro North Mission . He arrived on Tuesday from the CTM in São Paulo . Although a little tired due to an early plane flight, he was anxious to begin his service in the mission field. After a morning of interviews, we met in our home for lunch and an afternoon of training. Attached is a picture taken from our veranda following our training session. Once again, it was a pleasure getting to know your son and we look forward to serving with him as we invite others to come unto Christ and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. If in the future you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.President and Sister Pickett
January 7, 2009
Jeff's Email- 07 January 2009
It's about time my letters got there. I haven't gotten any for almost three weeks now! woo hoo go me! I don't feel bad for church being at 9 because I'm up at 6:30 every day. Well, I'm in Rio de Janeiro now....in a city called Rio Bonito....about two hours away from the main city. Yesterday morning we boarded a plane for Rio. We met the President here and spent the day at his house. That night we spent at a hotel. This morning we had a transfer meeting at the bus station. I met Elder Myers (new companion) and then we headed off too Rio Bonito. There were no bus rides so we had to take a public bus with all our luggage which really really sucked! Got to a different place and then there was a bus that came here. Our apartment is brand new, and there is absolutely nothing in it (no beds, refrigerator, stove, etc.). We have to go buy everything today and get re-imbursed. We're the only missionaries that have lived in this area. The president gave us the opportunity to open a new Branch here.....well there has been a Branch opened here like last week. There is 32 members spanning 52 miles. We cover this entire area by ourselves. Tonight we have a meeting with the Branch President. Hopefully he will have an area book for us to know where to start teaching. Today I rode in my first taxi and saw the Cristo statue during my trip here! Legaou! Cool! You should be getting an email with a picture from my President soon! Sorry about no call! Just wait until May and you'll get one maybe. Well in D&C 4 it says the field is white and ready to harvest...I'm sick of hearing that it 's white and ready. I'm going to chop it down right now!!!!! Well there you have it. This is my long email for the day. Hopefully by next Wednesday, I'll be fluent in Portuges! You can count on it
Love you all!
Elder Jeffrey Johnson
Love you all!
Elder Jeffrey Johnson
January 5, 2009
Audi
So...... I was traveling to work this morning around 10 am on Geneva Road, when I came upon the intersection of 400 S in Orem. I had a green light and had for a bit, when a woman in a car that was stopped, stepped on the gas and broad sided me. Her excuse was she was pregnant and had looked down, and without looking up, stepped on the gas, realizing too late that she was running a red light. Now I am waiting for the insurance companies to do their job in a timely manner. Although, I do have to say that talking with both companies was rather pleasant considering the situation. I can only hope that it continues!
January 4, 2009
Jeff's Letter- 02 January 2009
How goes it in the Great United States of America? I hope all is going well up there in the cold, cold States!
Well, down here is the same as always. Not much can change when you have a set schedule, but I love it here none the less! I'm used to the hotness down here finally. In Sao Paulo it's always so polluted in the air that you can barely see the buildings in the distance so it makes everything stuffy, so I'm hearing that Rio is way nicer than here! Only 3 more weeks till I get to go there and I can't wait! To finally get to feel like a real missionary! The language is coming along very nicely! I know enough here to at least survive. Hopefully these last 3 weeks I will learn a whole lot!
Elder K is ready to get out of here! Haha, I'm thinking it's because he hasn't gotten a letter from his girlfriend, or anyone else in a while.
How's Christmas going? I hope you've got everyone everything! PS I still haven't gotten my package. It's the 15th and it's been out about a month I think. I'm starting to think that it may have been held up or stolen or something. Hopefully not, but oh well if it did. It wouldn't be the 1st Christmas I've been let down! Just kidding, just kidding. Anyways I hope all is good and I enjoy getting your mail every Friday, the day it usually comes!
As always I love you!
Love,
Elder Jeffrey Johnson
Well, down here is the same as always. Not much can change when you have a set schedule, but I love it here none the less! I'm used to the hotness down here finally. In Sao Paulo it's always so polluted in the air that you can barely see the buildings in the distance so it makes everything stuffy, so I'm hearing that Rio is way nicer than here! Only 3 more weeks till I get to go there and I can't wait! To finally get to feel like a real missionary! The language is coming along very nicely! I know enough here to at least survive. Hopefully these last 3 weeks I will learn a whole lot!
Elder K is ready to get out of here! Haha, I'm thinking it's because he hasn't gotten a letter from his girlfriend, or anyone else in a while.
How's Christmas going? I hope you've got everyone everything! PS I still haven't gotten my package. It's the 15th and it's been out about a month I think. I'm starting to think that it may have been held up or stolen or something. Hopefully not, but oh well if it did. It wouldn't be the 1st Christmas I've been let down! Just kidding, just kidding. Anyways I hope all is good and I enjoy getting your mail every Friday, the day it usually comes!
As always I love you!
Love,
Elder Jeffrey Johnson
January 3, 2009
January 2, 2009
Jeff's Email- 30 December 2008
This is going to be my big email for the week.
Christmas was way cool. We woke up around 8 oclock and went and ate breakfast. The whole day was a free day. We played volleyball for a while then ate lunch. After lunch we played guitar for a little bit then went back and played volleyball for a few more hours. For dinner, we
had some crappy attempt at pizza and that night there was an awesome fireside. We got tons and tons of candy that day! I'm so sick of chocolate!
Well next Tuesday I'm out of São Paulo and off to Rio de Janeiro. I can't wait to get out there! This two months has flown by but I'm still ready to leave. I feel like I know enough portuges to talk with everyone. I just need my vocabulary to grow a bit. I know all the lessons by heart and everything about the gospel in portuges and I'm able to talk with Brazilians about almost everything in portuges.
How was Christmas and everything? What did everyone receive? I hope it was a great day for all of you! I had a blast here!
Christmas was way cool. We woke up around 8 oclock and went and ate breakfast. The whole day was a free day. We played volleyball for a while then ate lunch. After lunch we played guitar for a little bit then went back and played volleyball for a few more hours. For dinner, we
had some crappy attempt at pizza and that night there was an awesome fireside. We got tons and tons of candy that day! I'm so sick of chocolate!
Well next Tuesday I'm out of São Paulo and off to Rio de Janeiro. I can't wait to get out there! This two months has flown by but I'm still ready to leave. I feel like I know enough portuges to talk with everyone. I just need my vocabulary to grow a bit. I know all the lessons by heart and everything about the gospel in portuges and I'm able to talk with Brazilians about almost everything in portuges.
How was Christmas and everything? What did everyone receive? I hope it was a great day for all of you! I had a blast here!
Jeff's Email- 23 December 2008
I'm finally getting used to the heat down here, so snow sounds so terrible right now. I'm not sure what goes on here on Christmas? I just know we dont have class that day. As you heard, I got the packadge today and I'm excited to open the letters on Christmas. I only have two more weeks here, then I'm flying out to Rio with most of my district.
On Christmas, the cafateria is open all day so me and Elder Valeriano are going to sit in there and gain more weight than we have ever had. Hopefully, I can gain my goal, five pounds and finally break 180 lbs.! I'm sure it will all leave me in the field so its good to bulk up right now.
Right now in class were working on the 3rd lesson portugês. It's a lot of help with the language memorizing the lessons. A few weeks ago, I finished the Book of Mormon again! I love reading it as much as I can every day! I've gained such a great testimony of this gospel during my short time here and I pray that during the next 22 months that it only gets stronger and stronger.
Elder Jeffrey Todd Johnson
On Christmas, the cafateria is open all day so me and Elder Valeriano are going to sit in there and gain more weight than we have ever had. Hopefully, I can gain my goal, five pounds and finally break 180 lbs.! I'm sure it will all leave me in the field so its good to bulk up right now.
Right now in class were working on the 3rd lesson portugês. It's a lot of help with the language memorizing the lessons. A few weeks ago, I finished the Book of Mormon again! I love reading it as much as I can every day! I've gained such a great testimony of this gospel during my short time here and I pray that during the next 22 months that it only gets stronger and stronger.
Elder Jeffrey Todd Johnson
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