What a week! It has been insanely busy, but not necessarily with prostlyting. We had two and a half whole days this week where we were out of commission. But first and foremost, the big news. I'm being transferred!!! I don't know where yet, but I get a new companion and a new area this Thursday (yes Thanksgiving). So my next letters will be from a completeally different area. This week has been one of dramatic change, both for me and for the mission.

   It all started last Wednesday. We had the incredible opportunity to hear from Elder Golden, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. We drove down to Austin with the zone leaders, and spent 5 hours being taught by one of God's servants. He was awesome! He led more of a discussion rather than a lecture by having a question and answer session! It was fascinating as he helped expound some confusing or misguided doctrines. The material he taught was pretty deep stuff, and there's no way I could explain it well, so I'll just say that we talked a lot about the identities of both Christ and his opposite in every way, Satan. On the way back from this conference, we got stuck in awful traffic, and didn't get back to our apartment until really late. It was sad to miss out on a day of prostlyting, but I learned a lot.

   Thursday was our day set aside to move to our new apartment. So, we spent the entire day packing, cleaning, organizing, moving, and then cleaning some more. There were a number of complications, and as a result, we had a lot we still needed to do on Friday. We spent most of Friday finishing the moving and cleaning. Friday night we finially had a chance to get out and do some real missionary work! But, there was one unfortunate factor...it was 38 degrees and raining hard. Within the first few minutes, we were soaked, and freezing. It was so totally miserable we just had to laugh at our situation. That night I literally couldn't feel the whole bottom half of my body. It was GREAT! I felt like such a sweet missionary!

    The biggest changes occurred on Sunday. The Round Rock Stake split into 2 Stakes, and a new Ward was formed! The Walsh Ranch Ward lost a chunk of our area, but we only lost a few families. That night we got our transfer notifications, and I found out that I was getting transferred! I havn't even unpacked from the move yet!! Which leads to my thought of the week...

    Being uncomfortable stinks. It just does. We all love to be in our ideal environments, where we feel safe, secure, with a bare minimum of worries and concerns. But, we all face uncomfortable things. Why? Now for a story. In our Ward Mission Conference this week, one of the Ward Missionaries was expressing concern about being uncomfortable. They said that they just wouldn't be comfortable inviting the Missionaries to talk with their friends (by the way- ALWAYS invite the missionaries to talk with your friends, I promise we'll try not to freak them out or scare them off). Another Ward Missionary responded, "if your not uncomfortable, you're not growing." At the time I was like, "preach it brother!!!" Of course, later that night I got the call that I was being transferred, and my first thought was, "darn, I was just getting comfortable here." Immediately, I thought of that previous statement. If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing. As much as that reality stinks, it's so true. My mission so far has been one uncomfortable moment after another, but I've learned and grown SO MUCH. So my advice this week is don't shy away from those uncomfortable moments. See them as opportunities to grow!! I know that God uses hard times, and changes to teach us and ultimetaly help us, because he loves us! He is our father, and he always has our ultimate and eternal happiness in mind.

    I love this mission. I love this work. I love and am learning to love my fellow men. I love you all, and am so grateful for your prayers and your support.

Elder Johnson