This last week has probably
been the best week of my mission so far! I got my new companion, Elder Schneider, he is the
coolest. He is super duper witty,
patient, and easy to get along with. He is a champ. He has been a blessing this last week as I have taken
over the area. Now that Elder Reynolds is
outie so that means it is up to me to get us where we need to go... That's not always easy in the Bronx.
Do you know the difference between an
avenue and a parkway? Hey, neither do I! But I am learning. Elder Schneider's patience and easy going attitude has
been a tender mercy.
Wanna hear the highlights or lowlights first? Oh what's that? You guys don't have a choice because we are not talking in person and I am the one writing the email? Ok, let's do the lowlights first to get them out of the way.
Lowlights:
A guy on the street told us he killed a man once.. (Not the first time this has happened)
We bought Jarritos for Cinco de Mayo and it ran out way too fast.
Elder Schneider is too funny and sometimes my jaw hurts from smiling.
We were licked by a pit bull. Everybody here has pit bulls for protection. Most of the time they hold them back on chains. The other day this huge pit bull came up and we thought it was going to eat us, instead it licked us… The guy holding the pit bull back on a chain kept saying sorry, then I said, at least he didn't lick us twice!
Highlights of the week:
A woman we bumped into on the street kindly told us to be careful in her neighborhood because we are white and they don't like "us" there. That was the nicest racist thing I've ever heard.
My roommates: Elder Schneider, Elder Griffiths, and Elder Kia.
The sisters gave us a new investigator that looks like Santa Claus.
I get to be a missionary and help change people’s lives for the better whilst doing the same thing for myself in the process.
On Sunday Elder Schneider and I were walking back to the church for the CES devotional and some guy stops us on the street and asks us who won the fight between Mayweather and... Some other dood. Obviously we didn't know, but when we walked away we started talking about if the apostles had fighting nicknames. They could get up during general conference and have them announced with a deep raspy voice.
Wanna hear the highlights or lowlights first? Oh what's that? You guys don't have a choice because we are not talking in person and I am the one writing the email? Ok, let's do the lowlights first to get them out of the way.
Lowlights:
A guy on the street told us he killed a man once.. (Not the first time this has happened)
We bought Jarritos for Cinco de Mayo and it ran out way too fast.
Elder Schneider is too funny and sometimes my jaw hurts from smiling.
We were licked by a pit bull. Everybody here has pit bulls for protection. Most of the time they hold them back on chains. The other day this huge pit bull came up and we thought it was going to eat us, instead it licked us… The guy holding the pit bull back on a chain kept saying sorry, then I said, at least he didn't lick us twice!
Highlights of the week:
A woman we bumped into on the street kindly told us to be careful in her neighborhood because we are white and they don't like "us" there. That was the nicest racist thing I've ever heard.
My roommates: Elder Schneider, Elder Griffiths, and Elder Kia.
The sisters gave us a new investigator that looks like Santa Claus.
I get to be a missionary and help change people’s lives for the better whilst doing the same thing for myself in the process.
On Sunday Elder Schneider and I were walking back to the church for the CES devotional and some guy stops us on the street and asks us who won the fight between Mayweather and... Some other dood. Obviously we didn't know, but when we walked away we started talking about if the apostles had fighting nicknames. They could get up during general conference and have them announced with a deep raspy voice.
Anyways, moving on to more spiritual things. At the CES devotional Elder M. Russell Ballard laid the smack down on young adults for using technology way too much. He talked about how technology dulls our sensitivity to the Spirit. We shouldn't have our faces crammed in our iPhones all the time. He talked about how if there is somebody else in the room we should not be ignoring them and using technology. We need to talk about life experiences with others while we still have them around. So many times before my mission I would waste time with family and friends and be on my phone. I wish I would have talked to them more and built stronger relationships. I encourage each one of you reading this to limit the technology you use, for when you constantly
use technology it is harder to feel the Spirit. When you're in the room with somebody, talk to them (no I do not mean texting or through social media.) "I pray that we won't wait till we are ready to die before we truly learn to live." (without technology)
Have you guys ever noticed that The Spirit rarely prompts us to do stuff in our comfort zone? For example, I have yet on my mission to have The Spirit prompt me to get on the subway and not talk to anybody while I daydream about playing flag football.
When we are prompted by the Spirit to do so etching, we should do it. It may not always be the easiest but we are being prompted for a reason, who knows, you could be the answer to somebody's prayer.
Loves and lollipops,
-Elder Tyler J Johanson
Before he left me. The last known photo of Elder Reynolds and myself.
Me trying to be super trill next to street art.
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