Crikey

Wed, Aug 5, 2015

Hey and stuff,

Shot Calls happened this last Saturday night and nothing happened. I will be going a third transfer with Elder Wallace. The only downside is that I like change as a missionary. Whether it's a different area or a new companion or what, it keeps me on my toes. At the same time I have been coming to really love the people in the ward here and the work is absolutely positively bumping. A plethora of work! It will be a sick next transfer. 

What is sad is that the sassy and classy, but never trashy Elder Price has been transferred to the West side of the Bronx. He has become a good friend as I have lived and served with him the last three transfers. Good friend. He will be missed. 

My birthday was a good one. Since it was fast Sunday I was able to go without food and water all day. It was great. Seriously though it actually was pretty great. Even though you are physically hungry and thirsty it feels like the Spirit is enhanced on fast Sunday's. The first Sunday of every month never ceases to amaze me. The best part was that we had a member have us over and feed us steak. Other than the Senior couple The Watermans who have us over every week for dinner we rarely ever get fed and this week we had a member feed us steak on my birthday. Tender mercies folks. I can't believe I'm 20. Not that 20 is super old or anything, but just 3 or 4 years ago I was sitting in a sandbox in a diaper, playing with hot wheels and getting sand all over the fake cheese in my lunchable. Now look where I'm at. It's crazy how time works. 

Last Wednesday for P day our district went with a member and her husband out bottle hunting in nature. Or should I say neature? See what I did there? 

Bottle Hunting with the crew

The member and her husband are called the Kriegs. The Kriegs for years have been going hunting for bottles on the shores of the Eastern Bronx near an island called city Island. It's beautiful out there. They have trees and stuff. You forget you are in the City. When the tide is low you can go out digging in the mud and find all sorts of bottles. Some of them are antique bottles that have been floating around for years. Out on our adventure we found bottles that are 100 years old. It's actually really cool. You can find a bottle and since Brother Krieg is such a historian he can tell you when your bottle was made, what company made it, and other historical facts that happened associated with it. Mud was stepped in. Old bottles were found. Memories were made. 

Get on your bottle hunting hustle
I'm holding what they call a horseshoe crab #Crikey

I finally got my interview with President Smith this week. Everybody else had theirs at the beginning of the transfer but for whatever reason ours kept getting pushed back. 

Zone Pic

In the interview I asked him the question, "how to I continue to stay motivated in area and with a companion I have been with for a while?" Not that I dislike the area or am struggling super hard with my companion, but you know. I wanna stay fresh. His answer blew my mind. I can't remember exactly what he was saying obviously cuz my mind was blown, but he was talking about how sometimes we can't change our surroundings but we can change ourselves. He led me in a great direction and then asked me what my thought were. As he was talking it led me to thinking about how The Atonement has the power to not only change our actions but change our desires. Because I could hide any feelings of unhappiness or lack of motivation while I'm here and go through the motions but that wouldn't solve the problem. I don't need a change of actions, rather a change of desire. The atonement has the power to do incredible things.

Take care. 

-Elder Tyler J Johanson