Christmas party, Movie night, Skype!

Hey! Thanks for the email! Christmas was pretty great but I didn't
even feel like Christmas because I wasn't with my family oh well.
Christmas Eve was a non pros day so it was a day off. So we went to a
family's house and ate dinner there. After dinner we acted out the
nativity, that was fun. After we were done with that we were invited
to a party in Chevy chase which is the rich part of Washington, D.C.
Long story short the guy who invited us is kinda off. So he invited
tons of missionary's because he loves missionary's. We were having a
great time, the food was awesome, the games were fun, but at the end
of the night Harold, they guy who invited us, ended up being super mad
at all the missionary's. I guess he wanted to eat with the
missionary's so he set his plate down next to me asked if he could sit
there I told him yeah for sure. He went to sit down and he forgot a
drink so he got up to get one. In the meantime another elder sat down
in his spot and when Harold came back the elder who sat in his spot
told him sorry, but Harold told him no it was fin. That little
incident ruined his whole night. I feel bad for him. And what makes it
even worse he bought all the missionary's who came to the party ties.
     On Christmas Santa visited me and he gave me some awesome gifts
like Basketball shoes and cup stacking game. After the apartment got
done opening up there presents we got ready and went to the visiter
center for our mission Christmas devotional. It was really good. At
the end of that we were able to watch How To Train Your Dragon 2 and
it was a pretty sweet movie. I did not realize how much I miss movies.
After the movie we went over to the stake center for our mission
lunch/ talent show. There are lots of talented missionary's. There
were lots of singing, dancing, and even some rapping haha. The dinner
was really good. We had tons of turkey mash potatoes, and tasty salad.
After dinner we opened our Christmas presents form the mission. We got
a t shirt and a nice water bottle. Both of them customized for the dc
north mission. After we were done with all the mission stuff we went
to the church and Skyped our family's yay! Haha that was really great.
Only problem with that was my iPad died and I had 20 minutes left so I
had to borrow one of my roommates iPad. After we were done with that
we went to a family in the wards house and ate dinner. It was really
good! And they were very nice and gave us some nice watches. I think
that is pretty much everything that happened this week.
   Thank you so much for the email and all that you do have a great week!
Love Elder Johnson

Christmas Concert, Oh Christmas Trees, and a Christmas Eve Package Delivery - 12/21/2014

I'm really excited really excited to talk to all of you guys on Christmas! It's gonna be a great day. I still don't have really any details but I will let you know over email. It's good to here all the fun things you are all doing. I love it so much.

This week has been pretty good and also really exhausting. We got hit our 20 lesson quota and we talked to tons of people. We also got to go to the visitor center and listen to a Broadway singer who was in my last ward. It was so sweet. Other then that I don't have to much more to say. 

I am so excited to talk to everyone on Thursday. Oh and I forgot to tell you last time but I have 6 "Oh Christmas Trees" (23 total) you can add to your count ha ha. I also sent the Christmas package and it should get there on Christmas Eve. I had to send everything in one package. So the things you can give to Terlynn will be 5 of the something something's I sent. One of them is different and that is for her. Sorry this will make a lot more sense when you see what it is. I also got Dexter one, Dax, Taj, Jossie one, and one for each of our family members. Well I love you dad but I gotta get going. 

Thanks for everything. I'll tell you the details in the upcoming days. Love you dad. Have a great week!

 Love,

Elder Johnson 

Cinnamon Challenge

Boys will be boys.

Elder Elliot is an Anacostia vet & Starting the New Testament - 12/15/2014

Sounds like it has been pretty great for you guys! I love hearing all the things going on. This week has been pretty good! Not much has happened because it's transfer week but I did get a new companion. He is really cool. His name is Elder Elliott. He served in Anacostia for 9 months before this go around. He asked if he could come back and so they put he here because you can't really find missionary's that want to come here ha ha. So this week has been a lot of him catching up with people he use to serve and this week is going to be great.  We will being making a lot of progress this transfer compared to my last transfer.  We are going to turn this area around because it's kinda dead right now. 

In other news I started the new testament because I finished the Book of Mormon. I'm really excited, I have never read it before so I am enjoying that. I will be for sure sending out a scripture of the week on Facebook. They are now going to be coming from the New Testament instead of the Book of Mormon. 

I will be sending Christmas packages this week so they should get there on time for Christmas. They should probably be arriving hopefully early next week or late this week.

Have a great week! 

Love elder Johnson 

PS. I met a member of the Crip Gang, and we got gym passes at Golds Gym (oh yeah!)

Lots of Christmas Packages

Spoiled missionary... (:

Slow Going With Investigators, A Bunch of Christmas Packages, and Transfers this Week - 12/08/2014

Wow that sounds like you have had a fun week. Our week has been pretty good. We were able to teach 18 lessons and talk to 80 people on the street. So those were the highlights of the missionary side. 

The other highlight was getting all my packages. I got 4 of them on the same day so that's awesome. Ha ha it was really funny too. 

This week I don't know why but I haven't had the desire to work out. I don't know if it's because I have less energy or maybe because it's cold in the mornings.  I don't know.  I will try harder this week. 

The one down side to this area is that we don't really have anyone progressing toward baptism. Hopefully we will find someone soon. We do have a lesson with a soon-to-be investigator so hopefully it will go well. 

This week is transfers and I will be staying and getting a new companion once again. Ha ha ha, well that's all that's going on right now. Hope you have a fun week.

Talk to you next week!

Love,

 Elder Johnson 

Thanksgiving, He Is the Gift, and Decking the Halls - 12/01/2014

Thanks Dad! I love those things! This past week has been good!

Thanksgiving was awesome! We had tons of food. We also found out about He Is The Gift Initiative. Have you heard about that yet? It's so sweet! The Church is taking over the YouTube front page on Dec 7 and for the whole month of December, the Church has a huge billboard on Times Square. It's gonna be big.

I'm really excited for Christmas! It's going to be so fun. I already have some gifts picked out. I might get a few more but for the most part I'm done. I'll probably wrap a few things then send them. Well,

thanks so much for all you do! I love getting your emails. Have an amazing week!

Love Elder Johnson

 P.S. Thanks for the Thanksgiving card! It was awesome!

Tyler's Christmas Tree

I am sure Tyler's bed was made that morning...

Hopefully they won't decapitate themselves.  Clark Griswold would be proud...and so am I :)

DC Visitors Center, Exercise Does a Body Good, White House Tour, & Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl - 11/24/2014

Hey Dad! That talk was awesome!! Hahaha I loved it! It literally made me  lol. Good job! I'm proud of you, and thank you for the diet stuff.  That is going to help me out a lot! Oh and one more thing if you aren't too busy could you set me up a work out plan? If not that's okay but that would help a lot. We have mostly the basic stuff. Like some dumb bells and a bench press. Things like that. 

This week has been fun but it has been slow on missionary work and I'm sure this week is going to be even worse because of Thanksgiving and all the other mission stuff. Last week we were able to go to the White House. That was really neat. But the tour was really really short.we could have finished it in like 5 minutes. We also went to the VC for a Christmas concert and it was sweet!! Haha it was a bunch of little kids playing violins and they sounded really good. 

Today we played in a mission turkey bowl. It was great. I did pretty well towards the end. I am, so sorry but I need to be getting ready for our lesson that is coming up. I love you dad! You are so great have an amazing week and a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Love Elder Johnson


Tyler is the third missionary from the left:

Haircuts, Dennis Pitta, and Thanksgiving - 11/17/2014

Thanks for the email. It means a lot as always. It sounds like you guys are really getting into the Christmas spirit the hard way hahaha. Oh I remember those long days for stringing lights up on the trees hahaha. It was for sure a love hate relationship, but I am going to look forward to do that again in a couple of years. This are going to same way here. The Washington DC temple visitor center is getting all holiday upped and it is looking awesome! There are tons of Christmas trees and there is this exhibit that shows all the manger scenes from all around the world. I will for sure get pictures and send them to you guys next week. 

     I am excited about your talk. It should be a good one just as always. Yes please send me a copy haha. 

   I was wondering if you could send me a diet plan for me. I have had a hard time deciding what I should eat. haha trying to put on some muscle.

   This week hasn't been to exciting but last night we were able to go to a fireside. And guess who spoke. It was Dennis Pitta and his wife. They were awesome!! I loved it. They are awesome members of the true church.

   Anyway I gotta go. I will for sure miss you guys on thanksgiving but you will have a great time. Tell Zach not to kill himself if he goes out Black Friday shopping. 

Love you dad so much. Sorry this email is all over the place.  Have a fantastic week! and I will talk to you next Monday.

Love Elder Johnson 

This week has been pretty good! I found out that two of the people I was working worth in my last area are on date for baptism. So that is freaking awesome! Now we just gotta find some people down here to get baptized. We did teach this one guy who wants to be baptized but he doesn't want to become a member of our church soooo.... That is kind of a weird position but he seemed more willing to think about it at the end of our visit. A funny experience that has happened this week was my companion and I were taking the bus back to our apartment and it was pretty late at night. We were talking with this cool guy and then all of a sudden this other guy butts in and he said "hey! Do you think some time in the future we will be able to communicate with Aliens? Cuz I think we will" then he starts yelling to everyone on the bus " hey everyone! Do you think we will be communicating with aliens in the future!" And everyone was just laughing at him. It was pretty high.

      Yesterday was my talk and it went pretty well. I talked about weakness. It was a pretty short talk so it wasn't to bad. I can send you my talk if you want. Well I guess we are going shopping now:/

Elder Johnson rocking his new scarf, shirt, and smolder.

Bye bye Love Elder Teej 

From November 3. New place, Same Happy Attitude!

Things are going pretty good around here. Right now I don't need anything but if things change I will let you know haha hmmm I'm not sure I have a favorite things yet... I do love the library of congress! That has been one of the coolest things I have done here. My room isn't too messy and not an entire meal but I will have to because of the area I am in now hahaha.

      This Wednesday I got transferred to the ghettos! Haha I haven't seen any white people (besides missionary's) for a week now. People are totally different down here. They are all living in poverty. I have already had some funny experiences with people yelling and cussing us out. Hahah it's pretty funny. The area I am in is called Anacostia central. It's in south east D.C. Haha this is one of the places I dreaded to go but now that I am here it isn't too bad. I have met with some of the members and they seem really cool! I like them a lot! They are such good people with humble hearts.

       The place that I have moved into is sweet!!! It's the only town house in the mission. There is so much space! It feels like a mansion compared to the apartment I was in last time. The worst part about this area is that it's a bike area and we are coming into winter... So that should be exciting! My new companion is a pretty good guy. He has been out for only eight months so he still needs to work on things. This is his first time being a senior companion so I find my self doing a lot of the planing still. 

     The holidays are in full swing it seems like. Well from what Zach tells me. It doesn't really feel that way with us because we are missionary's and we don't really do the normal holiday stuff. I will sure miss it but what we are doing is great. The VC is getting ready for the Festival of Lights up on the temple grounds. It's basically exactly like temple square just a little smaller. I am really excited for it because they have concerts literally every night in December so I am sure we will be going there a lot with members.

     Love Elder Tyler C Johnson  P.S. Remember Mr. Biolo, the vise principal from last year? Well his parents are serving there missions here and they are in the same ward as me! I will get you my scripture of the day at a later time Bye bye!

Weakness

Golden Investigator is Already Baptized??? Say What??? And Hoarding Up All The Service Opportunities...10/27/2014

Anyway this week has been pretty crazy yesterday I found out that I will be getting transferred to a new location. I am still not sure where I am going but I know it is going to be great. It kinda stinks leaving behind people that you have built up a relationship with, but I guess that is how missionary work goes. 

A few crazy things have happened this week first off we were giving the first lesson to are golden investigator. She is so solid! We went through the whole first lesson and the spirit was so strong. We then concluded with talking about baptism and the importance of being baptized. My companion asked her "when you find these things to be true would, you follow the example of Jesus Christ  and be baptized by some one holding the proper authority?" Her mom, who is a member, butted in and told us she was baptized 😱 we looked in the records and she was no where to be found. We need to check with the ward clerk to see if the records are just floating around out there. So there goes my best chance for getting my first baptism, but if she is already baptized then that is a good thing too.

Next crazy thing that happened this week happened towards the beginning of the week. We had a referral come In and it was pretty specific. It wasn't a referral for lessons or for the Book of Mormon or anything like that. It was a referral for service and the funny thing is, it wasn't even in our area. Anyways my companion and I went to check out what we had to do. Well when we got there we find out that the house was condemned  because of nastiness. We go into the basement and it turns out she is a hoarder!! Her basement is piled to the ceiling with crazy stuff like boxes and boxes of makeup, brand new clothes, piles of newspapers, and piles of garbage bags full of garbage just chilling down in her basement. And to make things worse all these things were covered in mouse droppings and everything is water damaged because there is a leak in one of the pipes. It smells sooo bad down there. We are using those masks that go over your mouth and nose and that does help a lot but it still smells nasty. There is so much crud that we called 3 other companionship's in the surrounding areas to come and help. We have worked on that place for three days now and we have barley made a dent, man things we do as missionary's. 

Well that is what happened hahaha pretty crazy. 

Love,

Elder Johnson

p.s. Scripture of the week. 4 Nephi 1:15 As we look for God's Love in our lives, we will be able to better understand our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Doing so we will have a greater respect for the people around us. 

Elder Johnson relaxing after an eventful week. Still working the selfies!

Happy Birthday!!! The Amazing Race, Why I Believe, & An Investigator With Potential - 10/20/2014

Thank you so much for the email and update on life. It sounds like there are some great things to look forward to. Today has been really good. It has been a very relaxing preparation day and I like it like that. Today we did have our zone activity early in the morning. We got up around five and headed down to the Lincoln Memorial for some sunrise photos. I did forget my camera, but I believe I'll be able to get some pictures from somebody else. Sorry about that. I didn't want to have to worry about something getting lost or stolen. For our activity we did the amazing race. We broke up into groups and went on a scavenger hunt all around the Washington Monument. We took pictures at different monuments doing different things. It was great. After our activity, we went to go shopping and then we went to Chipolte. The burrito I got was really good. After that we haven't really done much. Just relaxing and taking a break, but that is always a good thing.

     

Last night there was an event at the visitors center called "Why I Believe." Why I Believe is an event where recent converts talk about their conversion into the Church. Last nights guest speakers were two former pastors for different churches. They were very good at speaking to the people in attendance. Their testimonies were very powerful and very inspiring. It was really enjoyable. This past week has been very great. We were able to teach 23 lessons to all kinds of people. We were able to teach members, plus actives and investigators. It's been a very exciting time. We do have one decent investigator who has potential. It is just really hard to teach them because we are always occupied with helping them move things. We met our investigator because she is one of the daughters of a less active. She just had a baby so it is perfect timing for us to teach her. I hope we will be able to make some progress with her this week.

Thank you so much for the package that you guys have sent. I did get it and it was awesome. I loved everything inside it. I have already gotten to use the jacket that was in there. It was super warm and comfortable. And also thank you so much for the pillow pet...ha ha it's flipping awesome! So I should probably get going. Thanks again for everything you do.  Well I should probably get going I will talk to you next Monday. Have a great week!! 

Love Elder Johnson

The scripture of the week is Omni 1:26. As we live the points in this scripture, we will be able to give our selves to the Lord. As we do so, God and Jesus Christ can mold us into who we need to become.

General Conference & a Trip to the Zoo - 10/06/2014

Hey Dad!!

Thank you so much for your great emails! They are always full of good stuff. That is too bad about BYU.  Hopefully they can pull it together before it is too late. This past week has been pretty good! I got to watch all the sessions of conference and all the a talks were super good!! I loved every minute of it. It is crazy that is already over. Anyway other than conference, not much has changed. We did get some information on some family's that we are going to try to help out. So it seems like we will probably focus mostly on members this week. Which is okay cuz everyone needs to come unto Christ. Well I should probably go. I am running out of time. Have a fantastic week and keep up the hard work.

Love elder Johnson

P.S. The scripture of the week is Alma 38:5. 

Put your name into the scripture and really ponder what this scripture means and how you can put your trust in the Lord. 

P.S.S.  We went to the zoo today 

20 Lesson Goal Met For the First Time Last Week!!! - 09/29/2014

Sounds like you guys have been having a blast!! I am glad to hear it.

This week has been super good. We were able to teach 20 lessons and that is our mission goal so that is pretty good. I have never been able to do it before. We have also been doing lots of service. We helped out with a food drive and it was really fun. There was a ton of food. This next week we don't have much planned but we do have general conference. It is going to be so awesome. I have never been this excited for it. It is kinda weird ha ha. I guess I am turning into one of those missionary's. Well I've got to get going. I am running out of time. Have a fantastic week!

Love Elder Johnson

P.S. 11700 Falls road Potomac, Maryland 20854-2823   

P.S.S. Scripture of the week Alma 26. Probably my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. V 22, (29,30), 35 are all super good. But I love the whole chapter.

A Ute Football Player for a Companion??? Now the Missionary Work Really Begins - 09/22/2014

Hey!! That sounds like you have had a lot of fun this week!! I can't wait to hear more about the Cougars and all the fun things coming up.

This week has been super good! My trainer, Elder Loveless went home on Thursday. It was really hard but I got an awesome new companion. His name is Elder Tavana. He is 6'4'' 300 pounds and he is going to play football up at the U. He is super funny and an awesome missionary. Everyone loves him so it makes it easy to talk to people. I have already learned so much from him. The only bad thing is that he is leaving in December so the is getting to the end of his mission.

This week we were only able to teach 11 lessons, but they were very good lessons. This week will be much better and hopefully we will find some investigators. I am serving in probably the most wealthy county in the country so that makes it super hard because everyone is set and they think that they don't need God in their life. We were talking to this lady on the street and she flat out said that we probably will not get into any houses around the area. They don't let anyone in. But we know that this gospel needs to be spread so we will keep working our tails off. Thank you so much for the email. Sorry this one is so short. I hope you all have a fantastic week. Keep up the hard work. 

Love,

Elder Johnson

ps Scripture of the week:

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. 

Random Pig Picture

Gutenberg Bible and Elder Loveless is Heading Home - 09/15/2014

Wow it sounds like some exciting things are going on. Thank you for updating me on everything. This past week has been pretty good! Nothing too new. We have been giving lessons to members and less actives usually. We taught 9 lessons so we were on the low side, but I am sure that will pick up.

We have been spending a lot of time with members this week because Elder Loveless is going home on Wednesday, so everyone's been talking to him about life and setting him up with people they know that are going to BYU...ha ha it's pretty funny. It's crazy to think that I have been out in the field for 6 weeks now! It seems like yesterday I just got out of the MTC.

I have been having a great time. I can feel my self growing in some way each week and it really has shown me that a mission isn't just for the people that you are teaching but it is also about your own personal growth. I have been able to learn how to live on my own, ha ha it's kinda crazy.

Today has been so fun! Elder loveless, our roommates, and I were able to go down into DC today. It was awesome being able to see things that I haven't seen before. We went to the Library of Congress and that is probably one of my favorite things in DC that I have seen. It is truly amazing. 

This is a picture of one of the very first bibles ever printed. There are only three perfect (no missing pages) copy's from the very first batch of bibles printed in the world.

P-Day Pedicures???? - 09/08/2014

Thank you so much for the update dad! That sounds amazing!! ugh why did it have to be this year when BYU is actually doing amazing ha ha ha. Oh well it sounds like a great time. 

This past week has been pretty good. We have been able to teach 14 lessons and all of them have been awesome. We were able to teach President Cook's Family and that went super well. I feel so spoiled that I get to see them like more then once every week and then the rest of the missionary's don't see him very often.

Last night (Sunday night) we stopped by this less active family's house to see how they were doing. One of the girls (shes in her early 20's) has started coming to church. She seems like she wants to become active again. We talked to her and we were able to get her to make a couple of commitments. We asked if she would be willing to read some scriptures out of the Book of Mormon and she was more then willing to. It turns out that she has not read much from the Book of Mormon and she mostly just focuses on the Bible,  so I think that this is going to be a great thing.

Today we had one of the Senior Sister Missionaries invite us out to get pedicures...ha ha ha...it was so great!! It felt amazing. I think she took pictures so I will try my best to get them to you.

Thank you so much for the support that you have given me. It really does make a difference. I love being able to see what is going on back home so thank you for updating me and thank you for sending the my coat. I can tell I am going to need it. Oh and about my white pants....I kinda have them with me...Oops ha ha I guess I was in a rush and I totally packed them in my suitcase. So what do you think I should Do about that??

Love Tyler   

Brother Bolton and Prayer - 09/01/2014

Thank you for the message:) Things have been great!:) This past week we were able to teach 10 lessons. Most of them were to active and less active members in the ward. My favorite experience from last week was when we visited a less active. His name is Bro. Bolton. He is a mad scientist! He loves physics and everything to do with science and he also loves to talk about his Russian girlfriends. He is a very unique man to say the least. Anyway we went over to his house just to chat and it was going pretty well. He was giving the same spiel that we heard last time at his house anyway we finally were able to get him back on track and we were able to teach a very very short lesson. At the end of the lesson we asked him if we could end with a prayer and he could choose who he wanted to say it. And he said that he would like to give it a shot so we were like sweet, go for it. He puts his hands in his pockets and looks up to the stars and just starts talking. It was a really good prayer, just in a different way. We'll this goes on for about 2 minutes and I decide to look up for a second. I looked up and I found him starring at Elder Loveless and me. He had forgotten that he was praying and he was just talking to us. He was giving us the same talk to us that we just barely heard. Anyway it was pretty funny and I hope you are able to understand what happened ha ha. 

Other than that this past week was pretty normal. We were able to go to the spy museum and it was pretty cool. I think the whole family would have enjoyed that.

Thank you for raising us in the gospel :) I am so blessed to have this in my life. As I continue to serve I can see how it applies to everyone. And every single time I get to teach my testimonies grows:) I KNOW THIS CHURCH IS TRUE. I know Christ is my savior and everyone's savior. We just have to let Him into our lives and he will fill our lives with blessings:). Thank you for your email and I am so sorry that it is so late but it has been super hard to email people. And don't worry I was able to email Terlynn :). I love youuuu!!:))

Love, 

Elder Johnson  

Companion selfies :)

Riding on the Metro.

Companion bonding exercises.

 From the top of the Washington Monument?

 I am afraid to ask what this is.

 I am sure his eyes are on the road!

 Smokey the Bear and sweet socks!

Steaks for Sunday Dinner and a Visit to the Washington Monument - 08/25/2014

Thanks for the update Dad! It really means a lot. Things have been going pretty well. We were able to teach 16 lessons last week and that is a lot. Our goal is 20 so we are getting closer and closer each week.Today has been super long but pretty fun. Elder loveless, Elder Wang, Elder Lian, (not sure how to spell that last one) were able to go into the city! We went to the Holocaust Museum. That's not my favorite but it was pretty cool. Then we walked all around and waited for our time to go up to very top of the Washington Monument. That was so cool! You can see everything from up there!

I am looking forward to this week. We have some plans set up already and I will finally get my ipad tomorrow! yay! I'm most excited for one of our lessons we have set up for on Wednesday. His name is Carlos, he is a non member that we found trying to visit a less active. He sounds very interested in the gospel. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he started reading it as soon as we left. I think he is very promising but I guess we will have to see.

The members are so cool in this area. Just yesterday we had a dinner with the Hanson Family. He is very very very well off. He has probably thee nicest backyard I have ever seen. He is so humble and down to earth which makes him really cool. For dinner we had Steaks and then we shared a spiritual message about honesty. We basically retold our lesson that we had to teach in Gospel Principals. I think I forgot to tell you that we had to teach that class for two weeks in a row now haha. They went super well and it helps us practice our teaching.

Thank you so much for messaging me. It really means a lot. I really like to heir what is going on at home. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission. I have learned so much already and i have only been in for a month now. I can feel my testimony grow every single day and it is just amazing. We are all so blessed to know the truth and to have the knowledge to live Christ centered lives. Because of him we can be happy even in the hardest of times. And because of him we can live together forever as a family. Please keep messaging me. It always puts a smile on my face. Well I guess I better get going.

Love Elder Johnson

Neanderthal Night and Other News - 08/18/2014

Everything has been going awesome this week. We were able to eat at a new converts house and they made us eat spaghetti with only our hands. They told us it was a family tradition and they did it only once a year and they call it neanderthal night. But we found out later it was just a total joke. Ha ha, but it was really fun.

This week we were able to teach 11 lessons which is a lot better then what we did the week before. We also tracked a few homes and actually the first door I have ever knocked.  We got in and taught an awesome lesson. The Spirit was so strong. The name of the lady was Agnus and she seems really interested. We are teaching her again tonight so lets hope that she is still interested.

I have been able to sleep very well. Thank you so much for your payers! It means a lot. We have been getting up at 6 every morning so we can go to the gym in our apartment complex and that has been very nice to have. The very first day I got to meet the Cooks and they are awesome! I have gotten to meet them quite often because the ward that we are serving in is their ward. We even got to teach a lesson in there home and that went super well. 

Thanks for the update, It really means a lot. I'm glad to hear the family didn't scare Terlynn too bad. Well I guess it is probably time for me to go:( Thanks for the email. I love you so much! I'm glad and kinda sad that this mission is going to fly by. it feels like just yesterday i was being dropped off and now I have been out for almost an entire month.

Sorry that this letter is so short but I am running out of time and I still have a few email I have to get to. I will be so happy when I get an iPad so can email more throughout the day. Hopefully my comp will let me borrow his. The only thing that i can think of that I kinda need is more P day cloths other then that I am set.

Thank you for all the support. It really helps out,

Love Elder Johnson P.S. the address you want to send all the letters and packages is:

11700 Falls Road
Potomac, Maryland
20854

Love you and have an awesome week :)

First Email from DC! - 08/11/2014

Hello Mother ha ha ha,

DC has been amazing so far:). I met my trainer almost as soon as I got
off the plain. His name is Elder Loveless. He is so legit! He was an
Assistant to the President right before I got him as a trainer so he
knows everything. 

This week has been slow. Elder Loveless and me are starting an area over again, so we have to start from scratch. It kinda stinks,but oh well, it just gives me more experience.

On Saturday we were able to go to a ward party at this mansion. It was HUGE!!! It was really
fun and a good way to start to get to know the members. On Sunday we went to church and my comp and I had to give the opening and closing prayer in sacrament and I was not nervous at all!! It was soo great! I can feel the spirit working on me so that I can become a true missionary. 

Today for P day we went to the Washington mall and played football with 40 other missionary's. It was a really cool sight. We noticed a lot of people were taking pictures of us instead of the
monuments.  Ha ha, kinda funny we must be famous or something. 

Well that is all for this week. I'm really enjoying and learning how to be a missionary. I love you all:)! have an amazing week!

Love Elder Johnson,

ps we are rooming with the Chinese Elders!! Ha ha, they are soo funny:))

Pre-MTC Departure...

The MTC has been amazing. The spirit is everywhere and being in the presence of Gods army is speechless at times. It is still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that i'm one of them. The first week in the MTC was challenging for me. Not because of the stress that I have felt, not because of the non stop schedule, and not because of the early mornings. It was hard because of the pain I have felt because a infection that I had. I discovered this Thursday. The next day I was riving in pain. I walked like a ninety year old man for a week ha ha it was quit funny. On Friday Aug 1, I got surgery and what comfort that brought into my life. After the surgery I was so out of it that I would shake hands and thank all the nurses multiple times in a row ha ha. Because of the surgery, I have been feeling a great relief of pain. But while I have had this problem I have been on my knees a lot more and I believe that is why I got it. So I could come closer to Christ and God through pray.

While I have been recovering I have been making my comp push me all over the MTC in a wheelchair, what a life. I doubt many people have the blessing of being escorted everywhere you go in a wheelchair for a week ha ha. 

To conclude my thoughts I would just like to say I am so thankful for this gospel. I know that Christ is my savior. I know that God gives us trials to make us better people. I love you all and I hope this week is fantastic for everyone. I go in for my follow up appointment tomorrow so I will let you all know if i'll be leaving this week. I pray that everything checks out. Thanks for all the love and support:)

Love Elder Johnson PS I'll make it more spiritual next time... 

Visit to the Doctor while at the MTC

Tyler was scheduled for a visit to the surgeon to have a bacterial infection drained today.  He was surprised to see a familiar face to give him a ride to his appointment.  We had joked around that it was possibility that Tyler Eyre might be the one driving Elder Johnson to the airport when he flies out to the mission field, but it turns out he did at least drive Tyler to the surgeon's office.  Thank you Tyler Eyre for sending the picture! This made everyone's day!

MTC Fun

Tyler's stay at the MTC has been eventful.  On the Monday after we dropped him off, we received a phone call from the MTC telling us that Tyler had been taken to the doctor, blood work had been done, and he would be seeing a surgeon on Friday, but we weren't allowed to speak to him.  That call literally sent a very concerned mother to the brink of insanity with worry.  Alice called back to the MTC and was read the medical report and that Tyler had been diagnosed with a boil.  While very painful, a boil is hardly life threatening and Alice was soon backed off of the ledge she had worked herself out on.

Elder Johnson has finally had a P Day and was able to reply to the slew of emails that have been waiting for his attention.  Because of the number of emails he had and the limited time that he had to respond, most were brief, but very touching and it was great to hear from him.  Loves his companion, Elder Porter, and they are getting along really well.  The overriding tone and message of his emails is that he is having an amazing, spiritual experience.  He's excited to actually get out into the mission field.

Last night I received a phone call from Brother Mark Waite.  Mark was serving in the Stake Young Men's Presidency while I was a Young Men's President and actually came and officially opened Tyler's Eagle Court of Honor.  Since serving in Young Men's, Mark and his wife were called to serve in the MTC and they are Elder Johnson's District Advisers.  They assist at the MTC to get the missionaries ready to go into the field.  Mark had several stories to tell and assures us that Tyler is going to be an incredible missionary.  Mark was able to provide a picture of Tyler with his district at the MTC:

All of these missionaries except the Sister in the green shirt are called to serve in the Washington DC North mission.  Tyler is standing next to his companion, Elder Porter (kinda reminds me of Tyler Ashton to me, but it is just one picture). I also found out that Elder Porter is the district leader.

MTC Dropoff

Heading out the door.

We've been looking forward to this day for over 18 years now, but that doesn't make it any easier to send a child out into the mission field.  We are so grateful to the friends, family, church leaders, and everyone else that contributed there time, talents, and love to make this day happen.  Elder Johnson is out the door and into the MTC.

Friendly goodbye :)

These two are so cute.  What good kids.  Tyler has been luck to have such a good friend supporting him in his decision to serve a mission.

The Brothers

These are Tyler's biggest fans. The Brothers won't all be together again for 2 years.  That doesn't mean the younger two aren't cheering Tyler on.

A Mothers Love

This is a Mothers reward for a job well done.  It may not feel like our parenting is complete, but this little bird has left the nest and is heading out into the world. We'll miss not being around you Tyler, but our love and support goes with you into the MTC and to your mission in Washington DC.

One Last Look

They have another Elder waiting for you at the curb when you pull up.  There is just enough time to unload the luggage, grab a quick hug, and if you are quick enough, a couple of pictures and then they are off on a new adventure.

It's official, Elder Tyler Johnson has been set apart as a full-time Missionary

Tonight, surrounded by friends and family, the Stake Presidency set Tyler apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, serving in the Washington DC North Mission.  We heard testimonies from Tyler's parents, Bishop Chamberlain, Bishop Jones, and President Rich.

We are so excited for our missionary to get to work.  We'll be dropping him off at the MTC at 1:15 PM tomorrow morning.