Elder Blake Johnson

Aloha friends and family!!

Sorry I wasn't able to send out an email last week. In case you haven't heard, after serving down the hill in Ontario for 6 months, I have now been sent back to the Hi Desert! I guess the desert can't get enough of Johnson ;) As always, transfers are full of mixed emotions. I'm sure going to miss my companion, Elder Golden, and all the friends I made in Ontario. I have met to many incredible people and it's been hard to say goodbye. Before I left, my good friend Jose, who is recent convert in the ward, had Elder Golden and me over for dinner at his very fine dining Italian Restaurant. Also my good friends Sergio and Yvonne, who we'd been teaching, took us out one last time to a very nice Mexican Restaurant. I'm going to miss them and so many others in the area a lot, but as my good friend Nahko Bear says, "I believe in the good things coming."

Apple valley has been awesome! Elder Jairl and I whitewashed here into the Desert Knolls ward, meaning that we are both new in the area, so it has been really fun getting to know the people here and the ward. The ward here is AMAZING. They are so kind and gave us a warm welcome to the ward on Sunday :)

We have a car in this area, but it's mainly for dinner appointments and preparation day. We don't have a lot of miles, so we have been doing a quite a bit of walking, which actually hasn't been too bad. It's kind of peaceful walking through the desert, and we get our exercise ;) We cover a place known as "felony flatts," which has a little bit of a bad reputation, but honestly I've felt really safe here. There are actually a lot of really great people.

Stay positive and love your life!

Aloha ke Akua

Much love,

Elder Johnson