I can ride my bike with no handlebars

Aloha!

Man, what a week! This has been our first week on bike for both Elder Paxton and I. We are serving in an area that is notorious for its many hills, but we're getting the hang of it! 

Whitewashing into an area is kind of tough, but we're getting to know the area pretty well. We just got one of our investigators on date for baptism next month, so we are really excited about that! 

There is a cool less active member from the ward, Brother Davies.  He has created his own board game that he intends to publish soon called Chess Capades. It's like a 4 player chess  with a twist and has a mix of chance and strategy. It's pretty fricken sweet! He is an ex-convict and served us up some of his Prison Ramon. He told us about how they don't feed you enough in prision and the food is terrible, so EVERYONE is hungry ALL THE TIME. However, if people from outside prison put money on your account, you may go to the prison store once a month. They don't have a lot there, but the best thing you can get the is Top Ramon. It's real cheep and it fills you up. Brother Davies would buy hundreds of packs of Ramon every month. Ramon is like currency in prison, Brother Davies would always give someone a pack of Ramon if they came to him and were hungry. In prison they'll make a big batch of Ramon and pretty much put anything they can into it, which is what we had at Brother Davies home. It was actually really good! He through in crab, shrimp, and all sorts of ingredients from his kitchen. He really knew what he was doing!

We met our investigator, Jeremy this week. Jeremy is one of the most interesting people I've met my whole mission. He tells us that he doesn't see himself as a person and doesn't feel like he can be a part of a human society. He calls himself and artist and a philosopher, but says that most people don't understand what that means. They think they know, but they don't know. We walked past his collection of large telescopes and microscopes. He's not sure if he should get baptized at this point because he doesn't want to ruin the freedom and peace he's found in the spirit of the golf course next to his house. I feel bad for the guy. He says he doesn't talk to people too much, so I think it's a good thing for us to see him. 

I have a feeling this is going to be a great transfer! Elder Paxton and I have been doing some great work and have a great time doing it!

Stay positive and love your life!

Aloha ke akua

-Elder Johnson

Mojave Mansion.....

New companion...Elder Paxton

Transfers! (from 4/11/16)

Aloha!

Boy, what a week! First off, Transfers were this week. Since I just barely got transferred to the Green Tree ward I figured I would be staying there again. Nope. Elder Whitelock and I were Whitewashed and the two Green Tree ward areas are now combined into one. We were all pretty surprised about that, but that just goes to show that you never REALLY know what's going to happen on transfers haha. I didn't move far, though. I am now serving in the Mojave River  ward, whch is actually in the same Hesperia zone that I was in before, but now my area actually covers Hesperia rather than Victorville.

It's always mixed emotions when you're being transferred. There are the nostalgic feelings of leaving the people that you became really close to. It reminds me of the lyrics of a Nahko song. "The road will teach you how to love and let go. It can be lonely, but it's the only thing that we've ever known." However, there's the excitement of experiencing a new area and meeting new people as well.

I'm serving with Elder Paxton, who is a stud. He's from Bountiful, which isn't too far from where I lived before. We actually went to the same elementary school for a couple years haha. Should be a friggin aweosme transfer!

As far as the work goes, these past couple weeks have been really cool. We recently picked up a young family that just moved into a less active member's home. They have newborn baby an have had some real stuggles in life. It's kind of interesting how as missionaries people tend to open up to us fairly quickly.

Stay Positive and love your life!!

-Elder Johnson