"Excerpts from Austin first letter from Fayettville:

"My new companion is an older guy named Elder Kayden Tabil. He turns 21 next month. He is Phillipino. We have the same purpose and we should be able to get along, and so far we are pretty good friends. He has only been out 5 months next month, so he started off our relationship by saying that we are actually there to train each other. He is a great guy and together we have grown spiritually to a height that I haven't before. We are serving in the Fayetteville 4th Ward. It has been a slow area ... so Elder Tabil and I are working double time to catch up, but overall our mission is on fire. Well my first baptism is this Saturday. We only have 2 other investigators, so the theme of this transfer has been to find."

"...we prayed and decided to pack a lunch and spend our day right in the heart of the ghetto. 15 min after we prayed, we received a phone call from a member telling us an address for someone to visit. The house was on the street that we had decided to go visit- if that isnt neat! The next morning we received a referral and this one was for the street right above the last street. Sufficeth me to say, we needed to go there and the Lord was telling us that. As soon as we got there we instantly found success as people were interested in our message and wanted to learn more. I am very humbled by the power of prayer and obedience. It works, it really works. That was the most successful day I have had so far."

"As for my transition, it has been different. I spent the first night at the mission home where President Cotteral interviewed me. As I was leaving he pulled me aside and said "you are a different missionary. You will be one of the greats here. I look forward to serving with you." I thanked him and he insisted his point. I hope I dont let him down."

"The ward has been very warm to me. They love to help the missionaries, and while we don't have very much money, they fill in the rest. The lord provides for his own. I am convinced that one reason why missionaries live in such humble circumstances is so that they can bear witness of this to those who struggle with principals such as tithing. It may not make sense to us, but it does workout."

I feel the lord's love in my life and am doing fine. Please don't worry about me. One amazing scripture is 3 nephi 18:32. Read it and see what you can gain from it and then tell me. I will tell you next week what I have learned from it."

"Share this with everyone. I love you all and wish you the best. - Elder Johnson"

Austin leaves everyone with a challenge-
His challenge: leave a message with every member of our extended family; grandparents, cousins etc.; simple say "we just wanted to say we love you and are thinking of you. Have a great day." You'll be suprised at what this can do!

"A Letter from the Mission Home"

Dear families of missionaries in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission,
We are thrilled to have welcomed your missionary to our mission! We received 14 new missionaries so it has been a very exciting and a very busy time!

After they all arrived on Monday we took them to the mission home for dinner, interviews with President Cotterell, a testimony meeting and dessert. After that everyone was ready for bed. All stayed here in the mission home, Sisters upstairs, Elders in the basement.

After breakfast on Tuesday morning, all of the missionaries were taken to the mission office to meet the office staff and to be oriented in some of the things they need to know to be a missionary. From there everyone traveled to the Apex Stake Center (the stake center right next to the Raleigh temple) to meet their trainers. This is a wonderful experience for them to meet the missionary who has been specially picked to train them and to set the course for them to have a successful mission. Everyone had pictures taken with President Cotterell and I, and then with their trainer. They had some practice role-playing and finally I served them lunch.

The transfer meeting began at 1:30. At this meeting all of the missionaries in the mission who are being transferred come to find out where they are going. They then leave for their new areas. Many of our new missionaries asked me what they would be doing when they got to their area on Tuesday night. I assured them that they would get right to work with either teaching appointments or contacting.

It is a pleasure to serve with your missionary. We felt a strength from each one of them and look forward to getting to know them individually, working and learning with them.

These are the missionaries, their companions and the area they are assigned to:

Elder Armacost is serving with Elder Owens from Orem, UT in Durham
Elder Bartlett is serving with Elder Nielson from St. George, UT in Zebulon
Elder Dalton is serving with Elder Scott from Rochester, MN in Goldsboro
Elder Forsey is serving with Elder Brown from Mesa, AZ in Raleigh
Sister Gallego is serving with Sister Dodge from Highland Village, TX in Durham
Elder Garrard is serving with Elder Weichers from Apple Valley, CA in Knightdale
Elder Jaros is serving with Elder Crowley from Midvale, UT in Greenville
Elder Jenkins is serving with Elder Kopp from Lake Havasu City, AZ in Henderson
Elder Johnson is serving with Elder Tabil from Magna, UT in Fayetteville
Elder Koplin is serving with Elder Maughan from Queen Creek, AZ in Smithfield
Elder Loftin is serving with Elder Worthen from Syracuse, UT in Hope Mills
Sister Matthews is serving with Sister Joseph from Hinckley, UT in Hope Mills
Elder Pace is serving with Elder McKensie from Sandy, UT in Raleigh
Elder Rigamoto is seving with Elder Casper from Basin City, WA in Pembroke

Your missionary will fill in more details in their next email to you. Our preparation days are on Monday. They will look forward to an email from you at that time. They will use the same "myldsmail.net" address that they used in the MTC. Emailing privileges are for immediate family only. Missionaries have a limited time to read and respond to emails. Be aware that most use computers at the public libraries. On holidays those libraries are usually closed so the missionaries wont be able to email until Tuesday of that week. We encourage you to write uplifting and positive letters that will help them to keep focused on the important work they are doing here.

All other mail should come through the US Postal system and be mailed to the mission office using this address:

Missionary’s Full Name (we have several with the same last name)
North Carolina Raleigh Mission
6508 Falls of Neuse
Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27615

The day the mail is received it is forwarded on to your missionary. This can only be done if the mail is sent by First Class, Priority or Express mail. If you choose to use UPS, Federal Express or parcel post mail it cannot be forwarded. Those items will get to your missionary, but they must wait at the office until someone travels to your missionary, which could be 3-6 weeks.

Once again, it is a pleasure serving the Lord in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission with your missionary.

With love,
Sister Cotterell (Mission President's wife)

"With one minute to spare..."

Austin suprised us with a phone call from the Dallas, Texas airport Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. Evidently, the missionaries are allowed to make a phone call during their airport departure. How sweet it was to hear Austin's voice and to hear how ready he was to get to Raliegh to serve. Austin and 6 other missionaries from his district reported to the MTC travel office at 3:30 a.m. to catch the 6:30 flight out of Salt Lake. They had a smooth trip to Texas, but somewhere either at the Salt Lake airport or Dallas airport, two missionaries missed their flight. We are assuming the increased security checks at the airports might have given the missionaries a challenge. Austin told us, "...the other 4 of us made our flight with one or two minutes to spare, PHEW!" So, Elder AJ is off to North Carolina. We assume it will be a week or two before we are able to receive mail as he will be receiving a trainer companion, new assignments and settling in. The excitment continues and Austin says that he is more than ready to get to work. He had had enough of the brick walls of the MTC classrooms. He is psyched to have a chance to use his discussion skills and said that those he worked with at the MTC commented that he and Elder Dalton really invited a strong spirit into their discussions. Those that were taught and approached by Elder Johnson and Elder Dalton felt they were two very strong missionaries. What a great start!

Busy, busy...Learning alot..."

November 15th and Elder Johnson continues with his enthusiasm for the training. "I'm doing fantastic! I love the MTC and the spirit that prevails here. My district is amazing. 1/2 are going to Raliegh like Elder Dalton and I, but the other 1/2 are going to the Farmington New Mexico Mission. (That mission happens to include the Flagstaff Region) Cool right? So, keep an eye out for Elders Chapel, Smith, Juarez, Bessendfer, Jeske and Adams. The others and myself will go to Raliegh...."

"Everyone has adopted my study journal technique. Elder Dalton and I always get our stuff done quickly and have time left over, so we have been stoppping elders walking around and practicing giving them a short message. This week we taught 7 mock discussions. Next week we have 6 more mock discussions and 2 discussons with real investigators. Ha Ha, they don't mess around at the MTC. The schedule is rigid, but I feel good. What I am most pleased about is that Elder Dalton loves to be busy."

"Pretty exciting. So ya, Learning alot."

Doing amazing at the MTC!

Elder Johnson's first letter home and he's on fire! "...Frankly, I'm loving it here. My companion, Elder Dalton is a great guy, and my roommates are great too. My district is already best friends and it is only the 2nd night here.... The more we do, the more I feel I already know how to do this. That is what my teachers have seen too. I am doing amazing!" MTC IS THE PLACE TO BE.

"The First Day of the Next Two Years"

Well, there he goes...

Austin reported to the LDS Provo Mission Training center (MTC) with three suitcases, a backpack and a big grin on his face. Our day began with snow, low lingering clouds and beautiful colors on the trees - Austin's favorite kind of day. A 6:30 a.m. rise and shine, a special father's blessing, a lingering lunch, pictures by the Provo Temple, lots of hugs, a few tears and tender hearts, and then the final launch. We drove up to the MTC in line with hundreds of other missionaries and their families and took our spot on the driveway. A host missionary quickly met Austin at his door, helped him with his bags, swiftly engaged in him conversation, as we snapped one last photo and said goodbye. Ready as ever can be, he began his first day at the MTC.

Austin will keep us posted on his P-Days (prep days) hopefully once a week and we will post his updates and status on his facebook and this blog site. He will be at the MTC from November 10th through November 29th and then he goes to Raleigh, North Carolina reporting on December 1st for his first assigned area.

"A Farewell and Words of Inspiration"

Austin gave a wonderful talk in church as his farewell talk on October 31, 2010. We were blessed to have family and friends join us that day and give support. Austin's friend from U of A drove all the way up to lend his support, as well as uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and flagstaff friends. Austin shared examples from the scriptures and from his life of those who have exemplified characteristics that helped to shape his life and inspire him. We were inspired by the reminder of the brother of Jared, Benjamin Johnson (great great great gr?? grandfather), Joseph of Egypt, his experience shoveling snow for widows in the ward and his scout leaders when he was young. Each example demonstrated a quality of Christ that each of us must master if we hope to be like Christ; faith, hope, obedience, charity, virtue, dliligence, knowledge, humility and patience. Austin concluded "...all of these stories have one thing in common, these people all did their best to follow Christ. That is what we are here to learn- how to follow our Savior." He showed us a plain piece of paper and talked about what it takes to make this piece of paper into a paper airplane with the features to fly. He then molded it into a paper airplane and encouraged us to allow Christ to help mold us and point us in the right direction. "My hope," he said, "is to allow myself to be molded into what the Lord needs me to be."

It is evident that Austin is ready to serve and we were inspired to do our part here at home inorder to support his efforts in the field.