iMi Alma Canta!‏ - Week 5

Family and Friends!

I leave to Argentina on Monday! Mom! I will be able to call you! So pretty please 

charge your phone the night before :) After I get to Buenos Aires, I have a 10 hour 

bus ride to Resistencia, Argentina. Boy this is getting so exciting! 

This week has been amazing. After the temple last week, this lady came up to us and 

asked if we spoke spanish. We all said "Un pocitititito" and she continued to talk. Basically 

she needed to load more money on her prepaid phone with a card she bought, but the instructions 

when you called were all in English. Everyone kinda looked at her... 

Then dududududa!!! (superhero noise) I stepped up and talked to her! She was so smiley and 

happy (she was probably laughing inside how white I am) but it was awesome! I carried on 

a conversation with her in Spanish!

Oh! And a new Elder that actually got moved up to the intermediate program because he's 

from Columbia originally (went to Westwood High momma) came up to me after I said 

the prayer in priesthood and said that I sounded fluent during my prayer. A Columbian 

was impressed!! Awesome huh? These experiences have been so comforting to me and  

just have gotten me so excited to go to Argentina!

One thing that I love about Spanish is praying. As missionaries, we have to talk in the 

formal tense Usted. However, when you pray, you talk in Tu, which is how you would 

talk to a close friend. I love that! Isn't that so true? We should talk to God like he is our 

closest friend. In all reality, he is, or should be. I've been praying more and more in Spanish,

 just because I love the way that I can feel closer to my loving father in Heaven.

The zone is doing amazing. We've been working so hard with HSI (Hable Su Idioma) 

and it's going great. The district and zone averages are slowly improving, and I feel like 

it is becoming something fun for everyone to do rather than a chore. I love Spanish!

I think a concern could be to fellowship each other. Often times it seems like there are little 

groups forming in the zone, when in reality, we should be working together as a team. 

Other than that, I think our zone is doing amazing. I hope the Sister Training Leaders see the 

same.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be zone leader! It's such a blessing. It forces 

me to my knees often times, which I am so grateful for. It's definitely a humbling experience. 

I realize more and more every day that I need my Savior's help to be the leader that he wants me to be. 

I love our zone!

The MTC has changed me. It's been one of the most humbling experiences I've ever gone 

through. Our "investigator" Eloy was so excited to be baptized yesterday! When we challenged 

him to keep improving with his word of wisdom problems he was receptive. He told us that he

wants to live better, come unto Christ and be baptized. Right then and there I wanted to get up 

and high five him or chest bump him or something! It was seriously one of the happiest moments 

I've had for a long time. I cannot wait to go out into the Argentina, Resistencia Mission and invite 

people to come unto Christ. People NEED this gospel and I can't wait to share the joys of it with them!

I feel like I'm so much more in tune with the spirit. I listen more. I pray harder. I study with the 

most intent that I can ever muster. I work as hard as I possibly can. I was reading in the Bible 

dictionary under Grace yesterday. The atonement talks so much about grace, and I realized t

hat I didn't really understand it. I love how grace is an enabling power, and I have felt it so 

much lately.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

I love you all and I love this Gospel!

-Elder Tyler Johnson

Oh, here's my address!

Elder Tyler Kenneth Johnson

Argentina Resistencia Mission

3800 Clubhouse Dr. #8

Chandler, AZ 85248

United States

Argentina

Happy Fall Y'all

Travel plans!!!

FAMILIA!! :)‏ WEEK FOUR

Hola!!!
How's everyone doing? I'm so happy to be out here. It's been incredible.
Sunday I was released as the District Leader, and Elder Harding and I were
called to be the zone leaders. It's pretty exciting actually. I've realized the
importance of praying so much for help with your callings. There is no
possibility of doing this ourselves! So it's so important that we turn to the Lord
for everything.

Sister Hemi (the Hermana from New ZeAland) pulled a muscle in her neck that
has prevented her from turning her head left (hahahaha Michael-- i can't turn left!)
for like three days. It was so bad that the doctor told her to take 12 anti-inflammatory
pills every day so that the swelling would go down. She asked me for a Priesthood
blessing last night, and within an hour, she could almost look over her left shoulder.
Awesome. During the blessing, I said words I never would have said before. The
spirit is real. And her pain went away almost immediately. The priesthood is real. Isn't
it amazing that God has trusted in us this power to act in his name? My testimony
of it has grown so much this week!

So after a long day of trying to learn Spanish, I pulled out that envelope you guys gave
me on the Trek when I was fourteen. I read your letters first, and man.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST PARENTS IN THE WORLD!
Any of my friends that are reading this? Sorry. Your parents can be second best ;)
You both have always loved me so much and set the greatest examples ever! Those
letters definitely got me going! After that, I pulled out the letter Great Grandpa Douglas
Johnson wrote to all of his kids, Grand kids, and great grand kids. Wow. What a powerful
man. He's just incredible. I've just been so blessed to have great people that came before
me to help me in my life, and especially help me in this work. We sing High on a
Mountain Top all the time in the MTC! And every time we do, I just can't help but
think of Great great great great something Grandpa Joel Hills Johnson being proud of me
for being here. I know that people like him are watching over me, and over every other
single missionary in the field right now!

I ran into two friends! Elder Joseph Babbel and Sister Giles from mission prep! So nice!

We taught our pretend investigator Eloy about "La Palabra de Sabiduria" (the word of wisdom)
yesterday. I was so nervous. However, the spirit was THERE! Man was it incredible!

We drink so much IBC soda it's a little ridiculous.

OH! So I only gained 3 pounds this week! Anyone proud of me??? All you do here is eat, sit,
eat, sit, then get half an hour of gym. I love it though!

Shoot.. I was going to say something super cool and important but I forgot..

Oh! Shout out to the Country Gables ward primary! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF
THE LETTERS AND COLORINGS! Everyone in the district loved them!

Oh, and guess who I'm going to be for Halloween! One of them Mormon missionaries!
Clever huh? Maybe I'll wear a cool tie or something to stay a little on the festive side.

The gospel is so incredibly true, amazing, and peaceful! I find so much joy in the scriptures!

Oh! I read the Book of Mormon again! It was incredible. I focused on the love in it, and man.
I just loved it. I learned so much!

Well, Hasta Luego!

Love you all!!

Alma 26:27

Elder Tyler Kenneth Johnson

 District at Provo Temple

Notes

este semana (is that spelled right?)‏ Week Three

Family and friends!!!

I love you all! Thanks so much for the Dear Elders, letters etc. They're like Gold 

here at the MTC!

So I totally forgot to say it last week, but guess who came to the MTC for the Sunday 

devotional last week?!! VOCAL POINT!!!! So exciting huh? It was awesome. They 

sang all these hymns and it was just a fantastic experience.

Last night Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the 12 apostles came and spoke to us. Wow was it 

amazing or what?! I loved it! I got within like five feet of him. PLUS I was in the MTC 

choir. There was 588 singers in it, and we all sang Praise to the Man. Oh boy oh boy. 

That was an amazing experience. 588 missionaries bearing their testimony of the prophet 

of the restoration, Joseph Smith and glorifying our God. I loved it. My testimony of the 

reality of the restoration was fortified during this. I love experiences that build my faith. 

Oh mom! Do you have any more of those twisty highlighter pencil/pen things that hold a 

bunch of colors? They sell those here, and I guess those work best for Argentina because 

the crayon kind will just melt in your apartment. So if you still have any, could you send 

them and I could just buy the refills here? If not, i'll just buy one here. We get 40% off  

everything.

So I guess Argentina has this new thing called a travel visa that the church is taking 

advantage of for the missionaries? Basically you get a temporary 6 month visa, and you 

go to Argentina while you wait for your real visa. It still doesn't work for a lot of missionaries, 

but for the majority, it does. So probably 70% of missionaries head straight for Argentina, so 

I don't know if I'll get to serve state side for a while? We'll see!

Oh mom, can you take the SD card out of my phone and stick it in the safe? I want all my 

pictures from my phone to be safe.

I always have so many things I want to write throughout the week, but then forget once I'm 

sitting down at a computer! Oh well. Maybe I should start making lists.

We are teaching two "investigators". Pure spanish. It's hard, but so rewarding all at once. 

Members of the church come once a week for us to practice teaching, but they don't pretend 

to be investigators. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite OTHERS to come unto Christ. 

Not just people that aren't members of our church. So we just gave them a lesson on faith in 

Jesus Christ and it was amazing! They're so sweet. We taught this native Mexican lady who 

was just visiting the states, and I couldn't understand a word she said. But we taught an RM 

from Chile and she was just great, and a lady from my companion's stake. And they spoke 

slow for us :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHOCOLATES!!! :) They were so amazing! And the 

postcards were great :) 

Being district leader is so rewarding. It's great to have the opportunity to serve and love those 

in my district. I just always remember that I need to forget myself and turn outward toward 

others and just love them. So I'm doing that more and more every day!

Pues, tengo mucho amor por ustedes!!!!!!

Su misionero favorito,

Elder Tyler K. Johnson

 Ty's poor companion nodding off in class

                                      

 With zone leaders before they head into the field

 Package from Oregon!

Donuts for the district from Grandpa and Grandma!

Este Semana!‏ Week Two

Familia!

Como le va?! 

You have now witnessed the extent of my abilities to speak Spanish. Just kidding.

I'm actually learning so much. It's crazy! My brain is always on an overload, but 

it's a happy overload. Makes sense? Maybe?

So this week was great and tough. It's hard to feel adequate for the work of the Lord, 

but at the same time, I know that he called me to do his work. This gospel is just so 

incredible!

So the government shut down?! Uhhhh... can someone fill me in? Dear Elder me por 

favor so I can read it before the whole US explodes.

Wasn't conference amazing? I went with some speicific questions I just really needed 

answered and some help I needed. A pretty extensive list actually. And every single 

point was answered thoroughly and more than once! I was just spiritually edified. 

Wasn't Holland's talk amazing? Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood was also great. And the 

Harold talk... the one about the cookies? Wow. I want to be like HIM! He is just so 

excited and happy about the gospel.

So we have two investigators right now. Jorge and Eloy. Neither can speak a word of 

English. It's difficult, but as Dad always said: "Mind over matter." It's just great to know 

that I have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost at all times, and that this is what 

Heavenly Father wants me to be doing. 

I keep eating and eating here. It's a problem... Hermana Davidson is like my new mom. 

She controls how much I eat, so it's all good :) Besides, I'll probably get a parasite in 

AR and look like the grinch when I come home anyways. So I might as well eat crazy 

well now :))

Thank you so much for the Dear Elders and the package with my camera in it! I'll send 

your camera back ASAP momma :)

Sorry for sending so many pictures! I couldn't leave any out! Maybe I'll start taking them 

at a lower resolution so I can send more at once? I'm not sure.

I have had so many incredible experiences throughout the week. Isn't the gospel just so 

amazing? I just love how happy it makes me.

Oh, so guess what else was amazing about conference.... *drum roll*. 

I SAW KAJ!!! (Astre Johnson). All the west campus missionaries went to main campus 

to watch conference, and while waiting for lunch, I saw him. Man, I was just so happy! 

It was just great to see such a great friend from home. We hung out basically all of conference 

weekend, and he is doing amazing. I sent a ton of pictures of us. Hope you enjoy :) 

The gospel is  amazing. It has given me so much peace this last week. The power of 

prayer is so good.

In the MTC, little things like checking the mail "cartas?!?!?" 6 times a day, "spooning people" 

(sticking spoons in their pocket and they find out later) and the chocolate milk serve as great 

entertainment. I'm trying to just think about serving and the work, but sometimes I catch 

myself singing Disney songs, thinking about Military Surplus, school, being warm again, etc. 

But I'm working at it!! 

Everything is going amazingly. We sing tons of hymns, and talk Spanglish all the time. 

We have a goal to speak as much Spanish as we know. So if we know a word in Spanish, 

we throw it in our sentence. It's ridiculous, but it works and it is awesome!

My BOM reading has helped me so much throughout this week! I love the 

Book of Mormon so much. I'm so glad that we have a Heavenly Father who 

loves us so much and gave us these incredible tools so that we may return to 

live with him one day.

Some of the Elders and Hermanas here think that I don't know a crap load about the

 gospel, but I DO. (If only we had an Elder Libre in the field...)

I know the Gospel is true! I know that we have a loving Savior and that the gospel 

was restored by God through the prophet Joseph Smith. It's so comforting!

I love you all! Dear Elder me, write me letters, email, send smoke signals, carrier 

pigeons, etc!

Read the end of  Matthew 11! It's helped me so much this week!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Tyler K. Johnson

                                     

 Johnson boys reunited! 

Ramone and Elder Johnson studying hard

Tyler's first letter!!!

HEEYYYYYY!!!

Guess what! I'm still alive!! Isn't that exciting? 

Everyone, let me just start out by saying that the gospel of Jesus Christ is so true and that he loves every one of us. I can't wait to start teaching people this and working as hard as I possibly can so that others may know this as well.

An hour flies by when you're trying to chat back and forth with momma, upload pictures and make this email all at once! So sorry if it's short.

The MTC (CCM en espanol) is amazing. Truly awesome. The spirit is so strong!!! I've been learning so much. What a blessing it is to be here. I love it.

They have so much food here. SO MUCH FOOD!!!!! :)))))) I've gained 8 pounds since you saw me last week! Proud of me?! :) Wait... actually like 10... Oh welll. I know I'll burn it off in Argentina! I need to really just stop drinking the leche chocolate. It'll mess you up.... But it's heavenly.

My district is amazing. 

We have a progressing investigator named Felipe. Friday we had our first lesson with him in ESPANOL!!! So cool huh? I know how to bear my testimony pretty well in spanish, so we just did that. It was awesome that you could feel the spirit even through all of the broken spanish. Felipe tears up every time we come and teach him. Today we are going to ask him if he would like to be baptized. Cool huh? Pray for Elder Harding and I! The spirit is so strong, and even though Felipe is a teacher pretending to be an investigator, I know that the spirit helps us with the don de lenguas and to know what to teach.

I love singing Los Himnos! They're so fun. Everything we do is in spanish now. Even my prayers, then I say english words if I don't know how to say it in spanish. But we sang english hymns at the devotional.. and they're definitely not as fun. I love sunshine in my sol today, or Jesus es mi luz. So exciting and fun. Our district is really good as singing, so it sounds awesome with all the harmonies.

Basquetbol rocks! I get to play every day! Yeah, it's in the parking lot, but still. It's a blast.  

The gospel just makes me so excited. I smile so much here. It's frustrating, especially since I'm so impatient and want to know Spanish right now, but boy is it incredible. 

We got to watch a talk given by Elder Bednar that is just available to the MTC and it talks about the character of Christ. He turns out when the natural man turns in. Like how he asked for his mother to be taken care of when he was suffering on the cross. Or how he healed the minuscule wound of the soldier when his ear was cut off after suffering every single pain and sin of  every individual who had lived on the earth and who will ever live on the earth. Isn't that incredible? Elder Bednar said to forget ourselves, get out of the way and let the Lord do his work through us. I thought that was amazing. I'm working so hard on that. Just loving others and coming to know that I'm doing the right thing if I just focus on inviting others to come unto their Savior, Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing and exciting? It is to me!

Here's my address! I love letters :)

Elder Tyler Kenneth Johnson

NOV05 ARG-RES

2023 N 900 E Unit 817

Provo, UT 

84602 

or Dear Elder me!! :)

I love you all! Read D&C 84:88! What an amazing scripture! And MATT. 11:28-30

TENGO MUCHO AMOR POR (PARA?) USTEDES!!!

HASTA LUEGO!

-Elder Tyler Kenneth Johnsonn

Ty and Ramone on the airplane from Phoenix to Salt Lake

 On the shuttle from the MTC to MTC west.. Check out the newbie dots

 Elder Johnson with district.