Week 5

Hey momma! Well I was glad to get to read your letter. I'm so glad
Cody had a good time at EFY and went to the temple. I'm so happy
he's dedicated to serve and wants to go to BYU, he just has to go
through the struggle of high school! Haha that's so crazy he is
already driving by himself! But I know he's smart and can do it, he
is after all better than me on a dirt bike now (don't tell him I said
that) lol. The vans breaking down doesn't sound very good at all
but that's awesome Barron can do it himself and save lots of money.
Tell that Nate Harman he needs to flippin write me! Ha it would be
cool to talk to him so if you get a chance to do that it would be great.
Okay, so I got Aunt Mary's package yesterday and also my bag from
Missionary Mall. It was zone conference yesterday and it was at the
mission office in Boise. Mary out did herself, Sister Young (the lady in
charge of mail) came and told me I had a package and it was the
biggest one she had ever seen, then when I came back out I had one
from missionary mall and one from Cara on top of it. So I left zone
conference yesterday with 3 packages.

So this past week has been a lot slower than the week prior. The first
few days of the week are a lot slower and harder to do work because
we meet with most of our investigators the same day of the week and
those are usually Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So
Wednesday both of our appointments canceled on us and then we
went to go contact some of our less actives and recent converts
but every single person we tried wasn't home. So that was hard. We
got 1 new investigator this week. Well kinda, he's been ex'd and now
wants to get back into the church and the bishop wants us to teach
him the lessons, which he wasn't happy about because he told us he
knows them already. So on Sunday we went over and taught him the
first lesson and he pretty much taught us it which was great that he
actually knew the stuff because most the time people say they know
all the stuff and when we start teaching, they realize that they really
don't lol. But teaching him was awesome, the spirit was so strong
and there were some tears and he loved it. He is such a good guy,
so humble and so faithful, he's gonna be a great member again. Oh
and I needed to ask you if you knew Brother Miller. He was a GM for
Applebee's the same time you worked there. He opened up 7 stores
in Las Vegas, some in Boise, and in Nampa. His name is Troy Miller
and he said he knows your name and doesn't remember if he ever
met you though.

So Thursday our closest investigator, Melissa, canceled her appoint-
ment with us, we were so bummed because we planned so hard for
this lesson because she's had all the lessons, she knows it's true,
she bears her testimony on things every time we teach her and then
she still doesn't think she's ready for baptism. So we planned on
going over the baptismal interview questions with her so she could
realize that she is ready but we have to wait for next week now.
They also weren't at church which wasn't great because she said
they would be so we gotta work on her husband Brian, who's
less/inactive.

Then we met with Brent. Brent is in his 40's. His wife and kids are
members and just less active. He decided awhile ago to take the
lessons, so we've taught the first 2 lessons. He is so amazing, he
is so analytical and puts 110% in everything he does. So last
week we gave him a reading assignment to read the Book of
Mormon, and this week we asked him if he read and he said he
didn't read much just got to 1 Nephi 16, we were like wait, what!
We were so happy because usually we're excited if a investigator
reads one chapter. So he is a guy that will read and study so deep
and  it may take him awhile to join the church but he will join and
he will be a strong member for life so we're excited about him.

We also taught the Shiner family. We're helping them kick a
smoking habit. The mom is a member but has really been
inactive her whole life, so we're teaching them and it's going
really well, they came to church this week which was awesome.

Sean is a guy we love teaching. He's in his 30's, has been ex'd,
but wanting to get back in the church, so we're teaching him
the lessons. He is so great, I love hanging out with him. He
wants his family to join the church and his kids to grow up in
the church so it's gonna be great teaching him. He came with
his 4 year old son to church this week which was awesome!

So we had 6 of our 7 planned investigators come to church this week
so we were really happy about that. We have been trying really hard
to meet with the ward mission leaders for the wards and the bishops.
I guess Kuna had some really lazy and bad missionaries in the past
and lots of the bishops and members didn't trust missionaries, so
Stepherson has been working hard to do that and now we're trying
to get the last of them to meet with us and start giving us referrals
because we have tracted out all of the sub-divisions here. So we've
been working hard and seeing some good results.

We have 3 investigators that are close to baptism this week so we're
hoping to set 3 dates this week for the middle/end of July. The
weather has been absolutely insane, its been 90-100 everyday for 5
days and is only gonna get hotter. So biking is gonna be a big work
out this week.

We had zone conference yesterday (Monday) and it was awesome.
We had 4 or 5 zones there so there was probably 50-60 missionaries
there. It was an all day thing 9-4, but it was great. The topic was on
sacrifice and faith and how they go hand in hand. I heard a great
quote by Bruce R. McConkie- "the tests and trials of mortality are
designed to determine whether men will use their time and talents
in worldly or spiritual pursuits. The crowning task in this field is the
task of sacrifice". It was a great experience.

I got so much candy and food in Aunt Mary's package it will last me
my whole mission lol. I don't really need anything in particular, I am
always buying stamps so I guess I need those and other than that
I don't think I need anything, thanks for everything I love you and
miss you, I don't have Barron's e-mail so could you give it to me or
maybe tell him to write so I can get it? Love you.

-Elder Johnson

Week 4: First Full Week in Boise

Hey there!

So I have survived one week of the mission! It has been great, very
exhausting but I know I will get used to it. So we have been doing
car/bike everyday. We usually drive our car to town, then get on our
bikes and ride around. We've been getting a lot of good miles on our
bikes! So I have met lots and lots of our families/investigators. We
have about 16 investigators right now which is a lot to handle! We
have a big range of backgrounds, we teach a lot of part member
families, a lot of inactive/less active, and a lot of excommunicated.
They are all so great though, this is nothing like what I thought a
mission would be like, I thought when we taught somebody it would
be like intense and they're like drilling us with questions, but its so
much fun and a good environment. Elder Stepherson told me the
other day, don't worry about forgetting a principle to teach or
something, they don't have any idea what you're suppose to teach,
so be confident with what you say and if you leave anything big out,
that's what your companion is for. So teaching has been lots of fun.


Thursday night we went and contacted a inactive member, a guy in
his 40's, he is way cool, he was headed out for a bike ride when we
got to his house and we were on our bikes so we went out with him.
We got to do some other contacting while we were with him, but it
was mostly just fellow shipping with him. Then we went to the bmx
track with him and rode that for a little while. My mountain bike is so
sweet I love it , but bmx tracks are definitely made for bmx bikes, the
rhythm section is pretty hard to do with 26" wheels lol but I was
jumping some doubles so it was awesome.

We went on Wednesday night to a Meridian Stake Center, a couple in
the ward was having their farewell that Sunday, they got called to be
the Mission President of the Baltimore, Maryland Mission. So we sang
Ye Elders of Israel, Army of Helamen, and Called to Serve for them in
Sacrament meeting. There were two zones there, so about 30
missionaries.

Sundays are probably the longest days because we have to go to 3
Sacrament meetings, we cover a whole stake, so we get to pick 3 of
the 7 wards to go to. We usually try and go to the wards where we
have investigators going to church. It was Father's Day so most of
the people we committed to come to church didn't come. So this week
we're lowering the hammer on them lol.

Yesterday we had a miracle happen to us. We had a dinner appoint-
ment all the way north of town and we were on bikes all day, we
left our car at the house. So time flew by us and it was 8:45 pm
when we left their house to go home, so we had 15 minutes to get
home on time and the ride is about 5 miles and either flat or up hill
and we were already exhausted from riding all day (we got odo-
meters on our bikes and we had ridden 20 miles already) so we
were riding back and Elder Stepherson turned down a random road
that we never turn down so I yelled up ahead "where are we going?"
and he said "I don't know, I just felt we should go this way". Not a
minute later a big truck rolled up and asked if we wanted a ride!
Haha, it was so great so we put our bikes in the back and he drove
us back and we got home right at 8:59 pm! Miracles happen, I see
them every day here.

So Saturday the Ramos family got baptized! It was awesome! There
were so many people there, people had to stand in the back. Oh and
that morning President Yardley had called to check up on me since I
was a greenie and we told him about the baptism and he said he was
gonna come! Man we were nervous having our Mission President there!
But it turned out great and it was such a spiritual experience!

The best address to use is my mission office address still, since I'm so
close I get it either that same day or the next day so it works fine,
plus with transfers, we still get letters for missionaries that used to
live here so just use the mission office one even for packages, just
make sure you use priority mail or first class so that they can be
forwarded to me (UPS, FEDEX etc. can't be forwarded so I have to
wait about a week to get those packages).

I'm glad YC went great, Cody is a good helper, he's got a good
head on his shoulders.  I still haven't gotten my back pack from
Missionary Mall yet, but Elder Stepherson gave me his old one
so I have one I can use for now. I asked my district and they
have heard of Elder Fletcher, they had never met him but they
do remember the accident last December.

Well I love and miss you!

-Elder Johnson

Week 3: Part II.....Boise is Home!

Hey family and friends!!!

I made it Boise! So we had our flight here at 9:45 AM yesterday. The
flight here is a joke, the lady wasn't even 3/4's of the way done giving
out drinks before the captain said we're making our descent to Boise.
President Yardley, his wife, and 4 AP's were there when we got out of
the concourse. They seem so great and nice. One of the AP's drove us
to the mission office and on the drive he told us that in February
Jeffrey R Holland came and spoke to the mission and that he is friends
with President Yardley. He told the missionaries that he would do
anything to have his kids or grand kids serve as a missionary under
President Yardley. So he sounds pretty amazing.

We dropped off our stuff at the mission office and then we headed
over to the mission pres home and we had a great lunch of taco
salad and ice cream and fresh fruit. Then we had interviews with
President Yardley and then we headed back to the mission office.
The mission office is right next to the Boise Temple. That temple
looks so cool! It's a cool blue/gray granite. Once we got back we had
meetings with the office staff who are elderly couples serving missions.
We got our missionary debit cards, health cards, and a bunch of other
stuff.

Then all of the trainers came in with us and President Yardley read
who will be going with who. So you ready? drum roll.......My trainer
is Elder Stepherson, he's from Pensacola, FL. He's been out for
7 1/2 months. We are serving in Kuna, Idaho (pronounced like quena).
It's about 20 miles southeast (maybe but I don't really know) from
Boise. Its a little tiny farm town and I love it! haha It has a mix
of old farmers and new subdivisions with people who drive in to
Boise for work.

We have a car here, a sweet Mazda 3. But I will get to use my bike
here because we're only given 40 miles a day and we cover a huge
area! We cover 7 wards!!!! That's 3 different buildings. There's four
elders in my district, Elder Bly is our District Leader. I got to meet
them last night at dinner. We had dinner at Brother Miller's house.
He's a great guy, he's in one of the wards here and he drives us
places, opens his house to use, and feeds us if we don't have a meal.

So right after I was told my area we headed there. I got to drop
my stuff off at our house. We're living in the basement of an old
elderly couple named the Thorntons. We live in middle of no where
up on a big hill. Our drive way is dirt and is 1/4 mile long lol. We have
wheat and alfalfa fields in every direction. The house is nice, the
basement is...I don't really know (lol)... lots of old furniture and smells
like cat pee but I guess I'll get used to it. I have a queen size bed
and it is so comfortable, I slept like a baby last night.

So we dropped my stuff off then we had to rush off to an appointment
we had at 5:30 PM. We were teaching the Ramos family. Brother
Ramos is a member but his wife isn't and they have 3 daughters
(ages 12,9, & 6). We taught them the 4th lesson.  I have never taught
that one before and had never really even thought about it before!
I was so scared, but I did a pretty good job I think. We split up each
topic and lesson 4 is the commandments lesson so luckily I wasn't
the one who had to talk about the law of chastity! (haha) Well we
taught them the lesson and challenged them to baptism (they had
talked a while ago and had set a date for this Saturday) and they still
want to be baptized so they are getting baptized this Saturday and
their dad is gonna get to do it! It was so great. So we're meeting
with them later today to go over all the details and get them
interviewed.

After that we tracted for over an hour. I guess we have to do like
2 hours of it per day. We didn't have any luck but we talked to some
nice people. Then we had dinner at Bro Miller's and then we went
home and I finished unpacking. This morning after we had our
personal and companion study we went out and built my bike, it's
so awesome... I love that bike! Oh, and there's a BMX track in Kuna
and on p-days we get to ride it and we can even go contact there
on the days we ride our bikes. I guess they've had some success
there and Elder Stepherson told me I could enter the races
there... lol! So we'll see what days those are on and maybe if I
have any skills left!:) Well we're at the stake center in the family
history center, that's where we get to write e-mails. We're gonna
head to Walmart after this. There isn't one in Kuna. The nearest one
is pretty far so Brother Miller is gonna drive us there. I need to get a
few things, so no worries about me, I'm in one piece and excited to
get to work. Yesterday was hard because I had a sore throat and
had a headache most of the day but today I feel great. Oh, and
my p-day is Tuesday so that's when I'll be writing.

Mom- Thanks so much for the package I really needed some
vitamins so that was great!
Dad- Happy Fathers Day! It's a few days early, but I won't get
to write you till next Tuesday.
Cody- Have a blast at EFY!
Barron- Happy Fathers Day too!!

Week 3: Goodbye MTC!

Hello there! I am no more Mr. swine-pig haha! I am completely healed and back
to normal, if I was ever normal to begin with... haha. Well I leave tomorrow morn-
ing at 6!! My flight is 9:30 and I get to Boise at 10:40. I'm so excited to get out
there! I'm packing all up today, it's my p-day so today is really easy and I've just
been writing letters and packing and doing laundry. You can still write me, just
use the mission home address and they'll forward it to me. Last night we had a
departure devotional and there were 503 missionaries there leaving today or
tomorrow! Semi psych! There's 71 going to Mexico, 66 going to California, and
there's 14 of us going to the Boise mission! So I guess there's lots and lots of
missionaries in my mission! I got to go to the temple today which was great, the
celestial room in the Provo Temple was so amazing! Yesterday we went up there
on the grounds and took pictures and stuff, we got a picture of all the guys that
were in my ward at school. There were 9 of us! It was cool seeing them again. I
got to see Elder David A Bednar last Tuesday, I don't know if I had told you that, it
was so amazing, those MTC devotionals are crazy spiritual!


My bag hasn't shown up yet which really stinks because I don't have a backpack
so I will have to cope with it till they send it up to Boise, or there's a slight
chance that it will come this afternoon so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and I
get to call you from the airport tomorrow!! It will probably be between 830-9. I
report to the travel office at 6 and my flight is at 9:30 so I'll try and get a
call to you in between that time. Will you please have dad's phone number ready
also, I want to call him too but I don't have his cell phone memorized and I
didn't write it down anywhere.  Well I will find out tomorrow who my trainer
will be and where my first area will be, I think I stay at the mission home for
the first night so I will likely go there on Wednesday.


Uncle Janis- thanks so much for your letter, my mission includes, ID, UT, NV and
OR, it's huge! I have two temples in it, Boise and Twin Falls. I think I get to
go to the temple every 6 months there.


Aleks- thanks so much for your letter! Congrats on graduating from DARE, that's a
important thing to do! I hope you have been enjoying summer, are you on summer
break yet? If not that was probably a mean thing to say huh? Well hope you
enjoy all those crazy siblings! I miss you guys!


Aunt Cathleen- you were the only person to figure out I got the swine flu so I
could skip out on class and all that hard work! haha don't tell anyone my true
motive. I have heard of that kissing rugby game before, I have never played it
though.  Tell Tory congrats on graduating and I that said good luck on
the dance camp, BYU is the best anytime of year, but I bet its even better in the
summer, I don't know what it's like then, but I bet amazing.


Gregory- thanks for the letter, I'm hanging in there just barely with the sleep
deprivation. Good luck on those long and early shifts you've been doing.


Barron- it sounds like you're really getting the miles in with the rides. I'm
glad there's work coming in. I don't know if mom told you but we had Elder Bednar
talk to us, it was SO amazing. He's so funny and so smart. He showed us
D&C section 80, verse 3 I think it is, is pretty awesome from a missionary
stand point, I know that I will always be in the right spot.


Well I must go and get my laundry out so I wish you all the best and thank you
for all the prayers! I miss you but I like it here so I think im gonna stay a
little longer ;-P haha bye love ya!


-Elder Johnson

Week 2: I Beat the Swine Flu!

Hey mom! I beat the swine flu! Haha I got released from quarantine this morning which was amazing!!!! Five days stuck in a closed area was torture! But I got to study a lot which was great. I got to have lots of spiritual experiences in there weird enough! But I guess it was my liberty jail! It was funny getting some of your letters while in there; you guys had no idea what I was going through lol. They gave me this inhaler like thing and I was totally fine the 2nd day in there so that made it so much worse. I can say that the swine flu ain't nothin!

Haha, well I’ll try and answer some of your questions now. I only have a time limit on e mails while here at the MTC, out in the field I can spend as long as I want reading/writing emails. I’m getting enough to eat, I’m eating smart and sparingly because I don’t have much time to work it off here.

The Provo Temple was awesome and we can't ever leave MTC grounds,
but the area between the MTC and temple is MTC grounds as well 
and we go out there for gym time. We would play beach volleyball a lot,
before I was forced inside lol.
I was in there with about 50 other sick elders. It was an experience to
say the least, but I know I can do anything after doing that! On 
Tuesday night we have General Authority Devotionals and last night, 
the one night I can't go, my favorite apostle comes, go figure lol, 
David A Bednar came!!! We got to watch it live on TV which was still
good, his talk so so amazing, now I know what those elders who told 
you about the devotionals were talking about. I have been praying 
a lot for you and Barron about getting work, so I was very happy to 
see in your letter that he has got work! I'm glad the kids are coming 
out soon to see you guys, and I hope Cody gets out there soon! 
Oh and I got my flight plan, I leave Tuesday morning! I'm so
excited to get out of here and start bringing people unto Christ! 
While in quarantine I got to study and read a lot, I was reading 
in Joshua and found such an awesome scripture, its 24:15, look it up 
it's pretty blunt and straightforward. Elder Bednar talked to us about 
a question he gets a lot by members and it's, "How do I know it's the
Holy Ghost or just me thinking?" and his answer was simply, 
"stop worrying about it and get to work!" it was blunt
but he told lots of stories where the decisions he made ended up 
helping others out down the road and he said that as long as you're 
being a good boy or good girl, everything you do will be right, he said 
that the holy ghost starts to trust your decisions as you choose to 
obey the commandments and follow Christ's example. He gave us a 
promise that said, as long as you are being a good boy/girl, your steps 
will be guided, your words will be blessed and you cannot
go amiss, everywhere you go as a missionary will be the right place.



So I just want you to know I received your dear elder package, thank 
you so much, the Martinelli's is awesome! I am completely healthy
and back to normal now so no more worrying, I don't know if you ever 
were worrying though because I don't know when you got my letter :) 
Well I love you and hope all is well, don't worry about me I'm swine flu 
free!


-Elder Johnson

  Oh and I forgot one thing momma, the week after I got here they put 
in a new procedure for ushering in missionaries. They now no longer  
allow parents or friends inside any of the buildings. I guess that's how 
all of the MTCs around the world are and Provo was the last one to 
still do that and now they don't do it anymore with the flu. So just so 
you know, you were the last mom ever to get to go inside and watch 
the video so I thought that was pretty cool.
Well love you and hope you are doing well!!!

Week 1.5 - in the MTC

Dear Mom, Dad, Barron, Cody & Aleisha, (June 6th, 2009)

Hey, so I think by the time you receive this letter, I will have been bored out of my mind for 3 days already. So I have some bad news, and I don't know if they called you guys yet, but I have the swine flu. But don't worry too much. I am fine and gonna live still. Yesterday, Friday, I was feeling really sick and I went into the health clinic and they took my temp and it was 100.7. So then they did a flu test, which was really not fun. They took an industrial size Q-tip and stuck it up my nose, like 4 inches!! I swear the thing touched my brain! (haha) So it came back positive so they took me to my room to get stuff for 5 days quarantine. So I am stuck on a floor of a residence hall with 49 other elders, sick with the flu. So I have a lot of time to study now! LOL
So I think I will get out on Tuesday or Wednesday so I might be out before this letter reaches you. Don't worry too much. I am gonna be just fine. They have me on this inhaler-like thing that's really weird but I already feel better. Mom please call Dad, Cody & Aleisha. I forgot my envelopes & had to borrow this one so I couldn't mail them letters telling them. This is just a opportunity for me to learn and grow so I am just laughing about it all now.

Love and miss you all!
Elder Johnson

Week 1: I'm a Missionary Now!

Hey Family and friends!!!

It is so good to finally be able to write you! We're only allowed to
write on our Preparation days, even hand written letters, so sorry it's
taken so long for me to get this out. So now you know, my p-day is
Monday. I get to check my mail everyday (I do it 2-3 times a day lol)
so don't hesitate to write. I now understand why missionaries love
mail so much! So I have been in the MTC for 5 days now and there's a
saying here that the days drag on but the weeks fly by, which is
definitely true! I've been told as long as you make it to the first
Sunday you're set, so I guess I made it!!!

I really love it here though! I'm in zone 6 and district A. There
are 9 missionaries total in my district. Four of us are going to
Boise and the other five are headed to Riverside, California.
The days are so full of different activities.

My MTC District

Everyday I have to be up at 6:30, this has not gotten easier as the
days go on but I hope it does within 2 years lol. We have breakfast
all together and then we have classroom time which is where our
teachers teach us. We are so lucky to have Brother Williams and
Brother Volmar as our teachers. They are amazing teachers.

My companion is Elder Nelson, he went to BYU and I had seen him
around before. We get along great and are good friends. He's
from Houston. Our District Leader is also going to Boise and
went to BYU too, I had never seen him before but he's a great
missionary. I've seen about 6 other guys I know from BYU here,
it's awesome. Elder Nelson and I have been doing push ups every
night us a deck of cards and going through and doing the suit and
number of the card. Its been around 200- 300 push ups depending on your
luck so I'm getting good at push ups lol.

My MTC Companion Elder Nelson

Buddies from my BYU Ward who are at the MTC at the same time

Our district is on the floor below us and we are one floor above us in a
all Spanish speaking hall. That was a funny surprise when I first
checked in. lol What happened was that 3 elders who are suppose to
be going to Australia haven't received their visas yet and are stranded
here at the MTC til they get them, so I think they're gonna be in our
hall the whole time here because it doesn't look very promising for
those elders. There is also a very heightened flu watch on the MTC
right now. There's hand sanitizers on every single wall and currently
there's several elders on quarantine because they either have the
swine flu, type a flu or are feeling sick. There are four cases of swine
flu here and seven Type A flu which can also be swine they just need 
to do more tests. So I really hope I don't get sick!
Knock on wood for me! lol

Some Elders from my MTC District....Boise here we come!

Sorry I have to write one big letter for everyone right now, I don't
know many e-mail addresses and I only have 30 minutes
to write. But thank you so much for your letters! They
really are so helpful and brighten my day. If you haven't
heard, my mailbox number is #233 so put that on the
letters and I'll get them much faster. I'm so glad to be
here and be a missionary!

Mom- I'm so glad you made it home safe! Thank so much
for flying out here with me. I miss you a lot, but I really
like it here too! lol I'm glad you found the car in one piece still.
I got to go to the temple today and Elder Nelson and I did
initiatories. That was cool to get to do those again.

Provo Temple

Dad- Thank you so much for all of your support! I really
miss you all and look forward to getting a letter from you.
It's great here and I hope you guys are having a blast up
at Bear Lake. Drive safe and give all the family my love,
especially Caleb, I miss that little crazy kid so much!

Broha- thanks so much for the letter! It was awesome to
get to hear from you! Have fun up in Bear Lake and enjoy
your time there with the family! The MTC is great, really
hard work but I love it! Really hope you choose to serve a
mission, you will be so blessed. Too bad about the
Nuggets, I heard they lost 4-2 in the series. love you

Barron- thanks so much for your letter. I did get to
see Elder Hutchins when we first got to the MTC, he's
going to Portland, Oregon. I am writing down every
thought I have and writing in my journal every night.

Grandma P- thank you so much for coming to Utah
with me. I loved it and I love you!

Thank you all so much for everything! This week has been
so spiritual and I wish I could share more but I'm a slow
writer and only have a few seconds left on this clicking
clock so I got to go!!! Love you all so much and thanks for
all your prayers!

Pre-MTC hike early one morning up "Y" Mountain with my Mother

-Elder Johnson

Email address: Tyler.G.Johnson.IBM@myldsmail.net