December 30, 2015
Hey,
This
week has been crazy. Crazy awesome. Crazy busy. Crazy.
Christmas
was amazing! It started with Christmas Eve. We went caroling with a family in
the ward to some of their neighbors and friends. They were totally serious
about it. They had us go over and practice with their family before hand so we
could sound good. They were giving us a pitch at the beginning of every song
like we were the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or something. We weren't nearly as
good of singers as I think they initially thought we were but it was still cool
to be able to brighten people's Christmas. After that we went back to their
house and they fed us dinner and we decorated Christmas cookies.
Christmas
Day was unreal. In the morning we woke up and had a conference call with
President Smith where he talked about Jesus and stuff.... I realize I'm being
super vague about it but I promise it was good. After that we opened up our
packages that had been sent as we pretended it was Santa that shipped those bad
boys to us through the U.S. Postal Service.
 |
| Christmas Morning with the Crew |
Then we headed over to a
family in our ward named the Ailleries! The Ailleries are the sickest. They
feed the missionaries a lot and it is their tradition of taking a picture every
time. You might've seen them tag me in some stuff on Facebook.
Then after that
skype. Skype was trill. Always was. Always will be.
 |
| Skyping the Fam Bam while nibbling on a Lunchable. Welcome to the good life! |
Later in the evening a
family in the ward had us over for Christmas dinner. They fed us filet mignon
and lobster and a bunch of other stuff I can't pronounce. They went hard in the
paint with Christmas dinner that's for sure. It was an amazing Christmas.
On
Monday Elder Casela and I were able to meet with a family in the ward. It was a
pretty good lesson. The spirit was present. Nothing too out of the ordinary
though. At the end of the lesson we asked the famous,"Is there anything we
can do for you?" That question rarely if ever gets a response and
sometimes I think we say it rarely ever thinking they will ask for help with
anything. This time was different. The father told us that his only daughter
who was 4 had been giving them a hard time lately. She wasn't in a good mood.
She had been giving the parents a hard time. She was having a hard time
herself. The father asked,"Could you give my daughter a blessing? I don't
know how. I've been inactive for so many years and it hasn't been until
recently that I have come back. I remember my dad doing it but I was never
taught."
Instead of us giving the blessing ourselves we offered to teach
him. We pulled out our white handbook with the directions on how to give a
blessing and went over it with him. We then held the white handbook out so he
could look off of it if he needed while he layed his hands upon his daughters
head and pronounced a simple, but beautiful blessing on his daughter. It was
one of the more humbling experiences I've had being able to witness a father
that we had just taught give his very first blessing to his troubled daughter.
The spirit was strong. I could tell the father was feeling it. I could tell his
wife and daughter were feeling it. It was a very neat experience that I'm
grateful the Lord let me be a part of.
With
this being my final week in the mission I have been feeling an array of
emotions. One moment I'm excited. The next moment I'm torn about leaving here,
NY and Connecticut the place that has become my own personal "Waters of
Mormon". I had my exit interview with President Smith this week. Before
that interview I was feeling that array of emotions I mentioned. Being able to
talk to President Smith about everything really calmed me. I was able to walk
out of the interview with only the excited happy feelings of returning home. At
the end of the interview he asked me if I would like a blessing. This was
probably the best blessing I've ever received. So humbling. Exactly what I
needed. The craziest part was as he was getting ready to close out the blessing
he paused for a couple long seconds.... And then to finish he quoted a line
almost word for word out of my patriarchal blessing. It was nuts. It caught me
off guard and I realized then that the spirit really does play a huge role in
priesthood blessings.
Two
of the most beautiful priesthood blessings I've ever witnessed were given in
this last week.
Well
folks. I come home in two days on January 1st. I'm so excited. I can't wait to
see you all in person.
I
could sit here and write my testimony on this iPad until my fingers would fall
off. So I will keep it short. But just know that even though it is short I type
with all the conviction that one can possibly type into a touch screen without
cracking it. I know my Savior lives, He is closer to us than we realize. One of
the reasons I came on this mission was so that I could in a sense pay the Lord
back for all he had done for me. Over the course of these two years I have
never been more aware of how indebted I am to my Savior. I will never be able
to pay him back. The beautiful thing about it is that Christ never expected me
to pay him back. He just wanted me to appreciate the gift he has given me. I'm
eternally grateful for the things the mission has taught me. I'm coming home
and big surprise..... I'm not perfect yet. I'm not. Just cuz I will be an
"R.M." In two days doesn't mean I will be. But I now know how I can
more fully keep my covenants. I love the Lord. He is my best friend.
See
you in a quick minute!
Love
you.
-Elder
Tyler J Johanson
