Sumthin Called Charity

Hey guys, gals, and everybody somewhere in between. I've missed you.

This has been one of those busy weeks that fly by and it's so crazy you can hardly remember what happened. I can't remember much so I'm just going to share whatever it is that comes to my mind. Brace yourselves. 

Today for P-day Elder Wallace and I went and explored the North Woods in Central Park, and visited The Cathedral of St. John The Divine with Elder Beardall and Elder Burton. Elder Burton is the cool cat that I trained that one time. It's fun having him in the same district as me. Especially now that he is my district leader. It almost makes me shed a tear seeing all the progress he has made over the last year. 

My Companion is a Lovely Deseret

Anyway, it was awesome being able to spend time in Central Park. Central Park is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable things for me to do in the city in my opinion. As you walk through the North Woods you would completely forget you were in the city if it weren't for the sirens going off in the background. 

City or Forest? I'm so confused.

I think I found the lamp post from Narnia. Call me Mr. Tumness.

After Central Park we went to The Cathedral of St. John The Divine which is the largest cathedral in the world. This place is YUGE. They have been constructing it without using modern methods. They have been working on it for the last 100 years and it's projected completion date is in about 100 years. You kind of don't feel as cool saying it took the saints 40 years to build the Salt Lake Temple when you compare it to that. It was funny because when we went inside the cathedral we bumped into a school group from Utah Valley University that was visiting for a trip. Basically all of the kids were LDS. There were more Mormons inside of that Episcopalian chapel than Episcopalians haha. 

Man oh man. Look at the church on that one.

President Morgan goes home in three weeks and pretty soon President Smith will be taking the throne. The Assistants wanted to do a special split with Elder Wallace and I to get a better feel for the area so they can let President Smith learn more about the unique hints in every area. I spent the day with Elder Reid from Hawaii! Elder Reid and I served together when I was in Scarsdale, so it was fun being able to be companions with him for the day. Even back towards the beginning of my mission I remember thinking how cool it would be to be companions with Elder Reid. With the way things worked out I was able to experience a little of what it would be like to be his companion. I wanted to make sure the split was a memorable experience for him. That's why I took him down to Hunts Point hehe. Don't look it up on a map mom. 

I don't know what was in the air that day but everybody was willing to talk to us for some reason. Miracles happen in splits I'm telling you. Elder Reid and I were able to have some great conversation talking about what qualities are truly important in a good leader. One of the things that was brought up was charity. I feel as though I have been slapped in the face with talk of charity. It's been brought up in so many instances. It's been brought up with other missionaries, members, even in emails that I have received from my friends (Shoutout to Elder Garrett Lewis. His email on charity was on point.) Elder Reid was sharing how faith, hope and charity are all linked together. Not only are they all interconnected, but they are also interdependent. As we develop one of those qualities it will affect the other qualities. When we excel and use faith naturally we gain hope. When we have faith and hope we are compelled to bless the lives of others by being charitable. As we are charitable toward others it helps us develop greater hope and faith. Crazy stuff man. Crazy. 

Sorry this email is short but I don't have a lot of time with all the shenanigans we've been up to. 

Bye n stuff. 

Elder Tyler J Johanson