New York State of Mind

Konichiwa,

I hope you guys made some memories this last week because I sure did.

My roommates Elder Gleason and Elder Smith are in the Spanish program and they get fed rice and beans out the wazoo. They have been inviting us to a Spanish members house for weeks because she makes enough food to feed them 5 times over and they have to eat it or else she will get offended. We decided to do some service and go over to this Spanish lady's house and eat her food. She made us mangu. Mangu is made out of plátanos which are basically bananas that taste like potatoes. Mangu is thick and sits in your body like a brick. On top of that she made us fried eggs, fried salami, fried cheese, and Dominican spaghetti. She threw it all on my plate and I attempted to eat it like a boss.

This is right before the Spanish lady released The Kracken on my stomach. 

When I started getting close to finishing she would slap some more food on my plate. It wrecked my body. Thank goodness I'm not in the Spanish program because I don't know if I couldn't take a beating like that frequently. She made us wear her clothes over our shirts and ties so we wouldn't spill. She was nice enough to give me a schmedium pink blouse. Good times, good times.

Us missionaries at the Spanish lady's house wearing her shirts (bibs)

I was able to go on my first split as District Leader. I went on a split with Elder Holtom from.... Highland, Utah! He went to Lone Peak too but he graduated in 2012 so I never knew him. He came out with my companion Elder Burton so he is a brand new missionary but he is a great missionary already. Last night I went on a split with my Zone Leader, Elder Garibay from El Paso, Texas. We both served in The Bronx at the same time so we are pretty good friends. It was fun to spend some time with him and learn how to be a better trainer, district leader, and overall missionary.

#SplitSelfie with Elder Holtom

Thursday we have zone conference and it's going to be at the Kingsbridge chapel in The Bronx. Even though we will only be in the chapel I can't wait to go back to my first area.

Tuesday we had a district APF in White Plains. We were giving away free lemonade and had a large Plan of Salvation banner. While the folks were sippin on lemonade we were able to talk about their purpose here on Earth. It was going great until the people from the city shut us down. They told us that we couldn't do our lemonade stand there unless we had a permit. I wanted to tell them that God would be ok with it but I don't think that would've gone over well. It was good while it lasted... If y'all are wondering I'm pleading the 5th.

Moments before getting shut down by the city of White Plains #PleadTheFifth

Sorry I don't have much time to email today, I'm taking Elder Burton to experience the city. We are going to go to Times Square and Central Park. I will flash you the pics next week.

Elder Tyler J Johanson