Cool Rule

Wed, Aug 26, 2015

Heya, 

We had zone conference this week. So many good things were talked about. My favorite was when President Smith talked about the difference between doctrine and principles. Doctrine is eternal, unchanging, simple truths of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Principles are doctrinally based guidelines for what we ought to do. He talked to us about how all the rules that we have been given as missionaries are to help us live the doctrine more fully. 

"Rules" clicked with me in a way that I have never looked at it before. Because honestly there are some rules as missionaries that I'm not the most fond of. I don't necessarily think they are "cool" and "swaggy". However because missionaries are held to a higher standard because we represent Christ and His church it is actually a blessing we have so many specific rules to help us live The Doctrine of Christ in a way that others will be able to recognize Him through us. 

Then President Smith went on to talk about the fact that just because we don't have a specific rule or commandment on every little thing doesn't mean we should do stupid things. We still have to rely on the Spirit to help us. He shared a story about this idea: "At a conference full of just bishops and stake presidents in Texas. Dallin H. Oaks came to address. There was a question and answer session and one of the bishops asked the question,"When are they going to update the word of wisdom? There are countries around the world that have certain drinks such as kava and maté that aren't mentioned in the word of wisdom, but probably should be." Dallin H. Oaks response to that was, "drinking gasoline is stupid. Do we need to add that to the word of wisdom?" Haaaaa LOLZ #GotHim

I was on a companion exchange and I was able to be with my Argentine roommate Elder Michia. In the morning we had planned to meet with a member named Arlene, and her husband who is working towards baptism. We went by and nobody answered. We gave them a call but nobody answered the phone either. We continued to go on our day as usual, spreading the good word and stuff. 

Elder Michia and I were the only ones on the train car,
so we decided to get a pic to prove it

And then I was like, "Quick Elder Michia! Look tough!!"
haha something like that #StraightOuttaArgentina

Later that evening we had planned a lesson with some other investigators but they ended up not being home. That appointment fell through. It had been a long day, so I decided that I would take my foreign companion for the day Elder Michia out to eat at McDonald's, his all time favorite restaurant. 

As we were walking by the same street that Arlene lives on the only thing I could think about was Arlene. We walked past the street and the name Arlene kept going off in my head. I kept trying to rationalize the feeling I was getting thinking, "We already stopped by today and we called. They will get back to us when they can." But that didn't work. At this point of walking I kept thinking back to times throughout my life when I have had a good thought, acted on it, and then later realized that it was the Spirit. I decided that it must be The Spirit so I asked Elder Michia if we could postpone the Mcnuggets for a bit and go swing by Arlene's again. He consented. 

We knocked on Arlene's door a couple times and nobody answered. I was confused as to why I would feel a prompting to come back to her house if she wasn't there, so being a little stubborn I sat down on her front steps and decided I wouldn't leave until something happened. Sitting on the uncomfortable stone steps I whipped out our trusty dinosaur. By dinosaur I mean cell phone. I began to call her when she came out to the door. Arlene has been home alone with her kids and she has recently been diagnosed with whooping cough. She was at a very dark time and we were able to talk with her and reassure her that God is aware of her. I know for a fact that was a spiritual prompting. The Holy Ghost is real. 

K. Bye. 

Elder Tyler Johanson

Will sumbudy prety plz bai me those jean shoritz wit 2Pacs fayce on dem?

God Doesn't Choke

Wed, Aug 19, 2015

I had the opportunity to go on a companion exchange with Elder Unice from Pleasant Grove, Utah. His area is Hunts Point. Don't look it up on a map mom. :) Elder Unice is a great guy, but we both agreed that it was a loooong and hard day. It was hotter than a box of rocks outside. All of the appointments we had set up fell through which led us to do finding literally the whole day. 

To top it off, toward the end of the split we were on our way to the train when a shirtless man, wearing a purple wig, with Bonos sunglasses, and a Tupperware container full of beer approached us. Yes, I did say a Tupperware container full of beer. He stopped us on the street and started asking us what we knew about Jesus. We tried to give a short and sweet explanation so we could get out of there quickly because 1. We were running late and 2. I've been in enough weird situations during my almost 10 months in the Bronx to know that nothing good comes of crazy situations like this.

He then started telling us that he knew everything about Jesus because he was Jesus Christ. Side note: if I had a dollar for every time somebody told me they were Jesus I would have a pretty fat wallet. The crazies here just like to talk on and on and on, so you have to eventually cut them off and leave. I cut in while he was talking about the crusades or something like that and told him we had to go. I asked his name and he said,"my name is Blessed." In my mind I was thinking,"That's weird cuz I thought you said you were Jesus." We bid him farewell. As were were walking away he kept yelling at us that we weren't Christlike because we weren't taking time to help those in need.... *sigh* I don't know how many more of those situations I can take. 

We are teaching a guy named Damien. His wife Arlene was baptized in February. They have become good friends and the progress they have made is immense. I've had the opportunity to start teaching Damien from the very beginning. At first he wasn't really interested in religion at all. Now he has a baptismal date for September 12. The thing about being a missionary is that just because we have the tag on and are supposed to be the ones "teaching" doesn't mean that we don't get taught too. Damien and Arlene both said things this week that made me think about life a little differently. 

Arlene said that in her Puerto Rican family they used to have a saying that translates into something along the lines of, "God squeezes but He never chokes." Meaning that God applies pressure sometimes. He turns up the heat a tad and wants us to react in a way that is consistent with the truth we already know. He will allow us to have trials and temptations but He will never give us more than we can take. 

I've been learning from Damien too even though he isn't a member of the church yet. Damien has some Word of Wisdom issues that he has been dealing with for years. He has been doing really good lately and weaning himself off of these things that are holding him back. His key? Every time he feels tempted to break the word of wisdom he prays and then he goes and he holds his baby daughter. Love is stronger than any craving or addiction. It made me want to do better for whenever I'm tempted to think of those I love who would want me to make the right decision. 

We felt like we needed to go look up a woman that we met a few weeks back. It's actually kind of cool how we met her. We were knocking an apartment building. Nobody was answering as usual even though you know they're home. We knocked on her door and nobody was home, but as we were walking away she was exiting the elevator. In talking to her we found out that her sister is a member of the church and her nephew is a missionary out in Utah. She told us she wanted us to come back because we reminded her of her nephew. 

Anyway, we felt like we needed to go look her up because we haven't been able to have contact with her since then. When we showed up to her apartment she answered the door and was in tears. She could hardly speak to us. Through her sobs she told us that she was 4 months pregnant. She was looking forward to the birth of her first child, but she was going in the next day for surgery to terminate the pregnancy because the doctors had found that there was severe complications with the child. Earlier that morning for studies Elder Wallace and I had both studied about the question of the soul,"Why does God allow pain and suffering to occur?" This woman was obviously in deep spiritual pain, suffering from heartbreak that no pill or medicine could cure. The only thing that would/will be able to cure it is The Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, directed her to read 2 Nephi 2, and testified of the plan that God has in store for her. We couldn't go inside because she didn't have another male there, but we prayed with her in the doorway of her apartment building. The spirit was there in abundance. The Holy Ghost testified to me that Heavenly Father had sent us to go looking for her at the specific time. How cool is it that when this woman needed the comfort that only Christ provides, God sent His disciples? I'm humbled and grateful that God trusted us enough to send us there. Nothing in life feels more satisfying than knowing that you obeyed a divine prompting. Nothing. 

My life is good. Reeeeaaal good.

Elder Tyler J Johanson

Whiter than Bob Ross

Wed, Aug 12, 2015

Hey hey hey, 

I've been with the same companion for 3 months and I'm going at least 6 more weeks with him. When you are with a companion for that long 24/7 you get to know them real well. You talk to them a lot. Sometimes you run out of stuff to say. I decided to come up with a little game to keep us entertained. The game is called, "Who is the whitest?" I was inspired to create this game one day when Elder Wallace and I were walking down the street and we saw a white person. We both looked over at each other and asked almost simultaneously, "What are they doing here?" It made us laugh because we forgot for a little bit that we were white, which is probably the way the world should be if we are being honest. The game consists of us asking a question and whoever gives the whitest answer receives one point. The person with the most points at the end takes the crown. Some of the questions include things like:

-What is your favorite flavor of hot chocolate? (If you say pumpkin spice you automatically get a point.)

-How many episodes of Full House have you seen?

-If you were a food at a pot luck dinner what would you be?

Honestly there wasn't a ton of crazy things that happened this week so I thought I would make a top ten things I love about serving in The Bronx. Just like a list David Letterman does only probably a lot less funny.

10. Ball is Life

 9. The background music. There is constantly music playing as you walk down the street. It comes from cars. It comes from the swarms of people hanging outside of the barbershop. It comes from portable radios placed in the front basket of little kids bikes. Everywhere. 

  
  8. Coco Helado. There's little stands set up on the corners that sell a little piece of the Celestial Kingdom. Coco Helado is like Sherbet with class. 

  
  7. Elder Ave. There's a street in my area named Elder avenue. Hehe. 

  
  6. Singing at the Bronx center every week. We go to a rehab center and sing to the patients there. It's always a good experience. 

  
  5. "Aks". No need to pronounce ask the way it is spelt. Just say "aks" it does the trick.

  
  4. Street Art

  
  3. The Watermans. The senior couple here is incredible! They take care of the missionaries 
      super good. 

  
  2. Diversity

  
  1. Bearded Ladies. The fact that I've seen women that grow better facial hair than half of my 
      companions is pretty cool. 

 

Elder Ave for the win

Haha it's fun. On the real though, the diversity here is great. It's one of my favorite parts about New York. It's just kind of funny that we are beginning to forget that we stick out like sore thumbs. 

New addition to my area
It's cool seeing the guys out there painting this modern day Mona Lisa's

Church or Bakery? So confused!

I just want to let you know that living the Gospel does in fact bless your life tremendously. Elder Wallace and myself went to see a less active member of the church the other day. The rest of her family aren't members. She began to unload a bunch of problems going on in her life. It was about 2 hours of us listening to her with us saying very little. This is a situation that we come across quite often. For some reason as soon as we put on our missionary name tag certain people think that we are also qualified therapists. Which I'm not knocking on them for that. I'm glad they trust us enough to talk to us. 

We hear people's experiences and struggles all the time. Their lives often seem bleak. I have sympathy for these people. I really do. But for the case of many and especially in the case of this less active member, most of the problems that they have going on right now would be solved or maybe never even happened had they been doing what they had previously promised God that they would do when they were baptized. 

Living the gospel doesn't mean you won't have any problems in your life, but I can promise from firsthand accounts that it prevents tremendous pain. It solves a lot of already occurring trials as well. Just live the gospel and it will be alright. Everything will be alright, and if it's not? Everything will still be alright because it's in Gods hands. 

Have a stellar week. 

Elder Tyler J Johanson

  

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

Mind Blown

Wed, Jul 29, 2015

Wut da?

To all the Mormons in the place with style and grace, 

Pioneer Day was this last week. The missionaries in conjunction with our Ward Mission Leader planned an epic ward party to celebrate the glorious little brother of the Fourth of July. We have been planning this thing for almost three months now.  We had it set up like a county fair, which I've actually never been to but apparently they are a big thing out west? There was food out the wazoo, competitions for a chance to win a blue ribbon, games for the kids, square dances and performances, and then to end it we had certain members from the ward tell their conversion story and tell how they were pioneers in their own life. Highlights from this:

-Tons of members showed which is a big deal here. 

-There was a solid number of less actives and investigators there. Great for fellowshipping. 

-They played Michael Jackson over the speakers :)

-The arm wrestling competition. They made me and my companion Elder Wallace duke it out. It was the most intense arm wrestling match I've ever been apart of. It was in front of the whole Ward. People were yelling, biceps were almost tearing, I think I heard someone swearing. Just kidding about that last one. It was a close match. Elder Wallace won.... But it's ok cuz he is from a small town in Idaho. They are bred for that kind of stuff. I have no shame. 

Arm Wrestling Competition for the Ages.
Moments before my companion embarrassed me.

-I won the blue ribbon for the best photo! 

The photo that won the blue ribbon. 
Johanson's get ribbons. That's just what we do.

-The young men and the missionaries performed the Haka. We have an Elder here named Elder Pulu who is Tongan so he taught us. It was cray. Call me that one kid from Forever Strong. 

Shot Calls are coming up this Saturday. I'm guessing I might be out of here but you never know. I have come to like change as a missionary, it keeps me on my toes. At the same time the work here is incredible. There are some great people here. It would be hard to say goodbye if I am transferred elsewhere. I will give you the juicy details next week. 

In district meeting this Monday, I had the blessing and privilege of attending the Spanish district’s district meeting. It was on prayer. We read through the talk "Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer” by Elder Richard G. Scott. I've studied this talk multiple times before but something about reading it this time around blew my mind. Right off the bat, he says, "Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul." We talked about the definition of the word "Supernal" and it means "relating to the heavens or celestial". 

Dood. If prayer is a celestial gift and we know that God dwells in the Celestial Kingdom then we know that prayer is our link between this Earth life and the potentially eventual Celestial home we can have. If it is a gift from God then that also means that He didn't have to give us prayer. He chose to so we could receive guidance and aid. Can you imagine how much more difficult life on Earth would be if we couldn't communicate with our Father? God could have given us tough love and been like, "Hey niños, I'm gonna send you to Earth. I'm not going to let you talk with me and ask for help but don't worry you will get the hang of it." But no, He didn't do that. He prepared prayer before the foundations of the world to be used as an aid to us. Prayer is our tool for understanding eternity. The thought of prayer blew my mind that day. 

"He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer." -Elder Scott

You guys rock. 

Elder Tyler J Johanson

Am I hardcore yet?

Hotter than a Box of Rocks

Wed, Jul 22, 2015

Hey Everybody,

It's been hotter than a box of rocks out here. The thing about the city is that the heat doesn't just come from the sun up above. It gets you from all directions! You can feel the heat radiating up from the pavement and from the buildings as you walk past. The humidity doesn't help either. I think God was trying to teach me to not complain this week though because every time I wanted to complain about the heat we would pass a Muslim lady completely dressed in black with the black head covering and everything revealing nothing but her eyes. After seeing that I was like, "Well ok then. Cram it Elder Jo. Yes you're wearing a collared shirt and tie, but at least you don't have to wear one of those." I'm gaining mad respect for the Muslim ladies out here.

Last P day was one of the more exciting P days of my mission. Elder Wallace’s sister sent a list of movies filmed in New York City, so we went around Manhattan seeing the sites that have been in movies. We ran around getting selfies with every site we could even if we hadn't seen the movie. I have pictures of me with stuff in movies from Ghostbusters, BIG, The Day After Tomorrow, Godfather (I haven't seen it mom. I promise.), Home Alone 2, Spider-Man, and a bunch of other places that I'm too lazy to write out right now.  Good times.

My favorites were seeing the famous Plaza Hotel from Home Alone 2 the one that Macaulay Culkin stayed in when he played Kevin.

"I'm going to give you to the count of ten to get your ugly, yella,
no good keister off my property.." #HomeAlone2

We went to FAO Schwarz the Yuuuge toy store that is in Home Alone and Big and a ton of other movies. It was actually the famous toy store's last day in business at that location, so it was crowded. There were news reporters everywhere and huge lines. Elder Wallace and I got asked to be interviewed by a news reporter when we were there, but we didn't know if that was Kosher so we had to turn em down. 

You wanna hate? Have a nice time.

Then to top off the day we went and ate at Joes Pizza Place which is the Pizza Place that Peter Parker worked at in the Spider-Man movies. It was a pretty good slice. The only bad part is that I expected Tobey Maguire to feed me my pizza out of the palm of his hand and that didn't happen at all.

I went on a companion exchange with my roommate Elder Michia. Elder Michia is from Argentina. I love going into the Spanish program on exchanges! After that split with Elder Michia I have now gone on enough splits in a Spanish area to total one week in the Spanish program. That doesn't mean that I know how to speak the Spanish language yet. That just means I'm really good at saying "Si" and nodding my head and calling myself a gringo. It was a good time. No rice and beans were eaten in the making of this companion exchange.

Me and Elder Michia

Elder Wallace and I were knocking an apartment building the other day. We were having no success. The only person that had answered the door the whole building was a Muslim man that we couldn't even communicate with because he only spoke Iranian. We literally got to the last door and knocked on that thing and guess what? Nothing. Nobody answered. Just as we were about to walk away a woman came out of the elevator and was super friendly to us. We started talking to her and she said that she has a Nephew who is serving a mission out in Utah! She was saying that it must have been a sign that we showed up. She invited us to come over to teach her and her boyfriend. She promised that she would feed us too :) God always pulls through, even if it's last minute.

Two of the coolest girls named Daniella and Joy
who moved from our Ward this week.
Youth like this give me hope for the youth in the Bronx.

This gospel is incredible. I know we hear that as members of the church all the time. The gospel can fix and improve parts of our lives that nothing else but the gospel can. #TeamGospel

Elder Tyler J Johanson

#ManlyActivities

Wed, Jul 15, 2015

Pip pip Cheerio my exquisite lads and ladesses,

This week consisted of a lot of service. On Friday we helped a couple move into the ward. It's cool because they are moving from the New Rochelle Ward and since I already served there we already knew each other. It was one of the trickier moves that I've been involved in. 

Here's the dealio... They are moving into the top floor of a home that is already owned by the wife's parents. The wife's parents lived on the top floor already and needed their stuff moved from the top floor to the bottom. They had a heaping spoonful of large items to move downstairs the problem is that it's an old and tight cornered house. 

We couldn't for the life of us get their couches and their bed out of the upstairs doorway. After struggling with it for a while and throwing out multiple jokes about how it would be easier to just toss these large items out the window and get them down that way, the member decided to do just that. We took out he windows and the screens, tied a rope around the couch and the 5 of us that were there lowered the couch down out of the window. We used that same technique with the bed haha. I guess that is how you do a move in New York.

On Saturday we had the privilege of helping a member build a shed in her backyard. Yes, I said backyard. Backyards are a very rare thing around these parts. Even though her "backyard" was really just a small piece of land covered with rocks it is still considered a backyard here. 

Shed Raising Selfie

My experience building that shed was a lot like how I imagined a good old fashioned Amish barn raising. There was a bunch of men there erecting a structure and stuff. #ManlyActivities the member is from Guyana and she fed us some spicy food from her native  Country. I was almost convinced that day that I should go AWOL from the mission and run away to Pennsylvania and join an Amish community. Almost...

Raising Sheds like the Amish Raise Barns

I was asked to speak at church this last Sunday. I was given the topic of the third article of faith. My studies for the last 3 weeks or so have been focused on the teaching so of the third article of faith and I've been learning a fair amount. The third article of faith says, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." My talk was focused on how ridiculously amazing the Atonement is in our lives and how it is through obedience that we can tap into the power of the Atonement make he Savior and His love a reality in our lives.

I used an analogy that Brad Wilcox once used:

"Christ's arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.

If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.

In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15). If we see his requirements as being way too much to ask (“Gosh! None
of the other christians have to pay tithing! None of the other Christians have to go on missions, serve in callings, and do temple work!”), maybe it is because we do not yet see through Christ’s eyes. We have not yet comprehended what He is trying to make of us."

Obedience is how we show our appreciation for Christ. Our job isn't necessarily to "pay Jesus back". Our job is to appreciate the amazing gift he has given us by using it through obedience to the commandments. 

Bye. 

Elder Tyler J Johanson