COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 146-150

Day 146: 8-6-20 (Thursday)

Today was move-in day at the store. Tyler and the girls were such great helpers. We were able to unload pretty quickly. They were able to drive back home so that I could set up my booth and Tyler could get back to work. I worked all day setting up my booth. It was fun to see my friend Megan and later in the day I got to see my friend Tiffany who is also a vendor there. Tyler came back that evening to help me with the trailer.

It felt weird...but nice... to think that all I have to do is set-up the booth and leave! The store employees take care of everything else. Vendor nights are on Thursdays to restock booths although you can come in any time to add new items. The thought of NOT having to tear down the booth in two days is heaven! It was a busy but good day and it felt great to be back at it!

Here are a few pictures of my booth that Megan posted online:

Day 147: 8-7-20 (Friday)

Today is both Kirk and Kirin's birthdays! I wish that we were in Utah helping them celebrate. I slept in this morning after my long day yesterday and it felt great! Tyler and the girls made a big batch of raspberry freezer jam with all the raspberries from the lake. So good!

Today was sunny but cooler. I'm glad. Tyler and I had an awesome date night. We decided to drive up and check out another part of the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes. This part of the trail starts almost in Kellogg, Idaho. My friend Rebecca told me that this is where she used to get on to ride the trail. Tyler and I thought it sounded like a fun date night to explore that area. The Bull Run area is really pretty and I think the girls will like biking up there. This part of the trail doesn't go by Lake Coeur d' Alene but you are by the river that feeds into it and you ride past several smaller "chain" lakes. Maybe we will do this ride next weekend.

We found a fun drive in for dinner called The Humdinger. We had cheeseburgers, fried mushrooms, and shakes. Not a bad date night at all! I also found out that I sold a bunch of items in my booth on my very first day! That was exciting and encouraging!

Day 148: 8-8-20 (Saturday)

Today Tyler and I ran some errands and then I spent the rest of the day painting furniture and working on projects. Kam sent me a great talk to listen to which I enjoyed! He is sending us such great and uplifting things. It has been fun! I sold a bunch more items in my booth and covered my monthly booth fee. It felt great to have done that by Day #2.

My awesomely supportive friends texted me this today! Shannon and Mary are the BEST!

Ailey went on her first date! She went out with Preston and they joined a larger group of their friends. She wore a mask and brought plenty of hand sanitizer. They ended up bowling and then playing night games at her friend Savannah's house as a group. She said she wasn't the only one wearing a mask the whole time. I guess we don't have to worry about a good night kiss!! Ha ha! Life is weird... right?

She refused to take any kind of date picture. I don't blame her. Lol. But she did allow me to take a picture of HER prior to being picked up. This is her pose du jour.

Day 149: 8-9-20 (Sunday)

We went back to church for the first time in 5 months! Well a few of us did. Tyler had home church. He's going to give it another couple of weeks before he goes back. It's good that he did because one lady in our ward coughed and practically hacked up a lung the entire meeting. Hello?!

Church was significantly shortened and strange. We had to use hand sanitizer before entering the building. We sat in family groups every other bench. It was very weird not to sit in our regular bench and we had to sit on the back row of the overflow. (Yes, we are THOSE people who have a regular bench. Annoying, I know!) There was no singing. Instead the bishopric blasted the Tabernacle Choir singing each song. It helped with the awkwardness of not singing but those songs are LONG. It was also semi-comical seeing everyone in masks. Everyone looked like some kind of flock of bizarre exotic birds. I had to laugh. Am I the only one who looks around at the people in masks and laughs at how ridiculous it/life/masks are? For the Sacrament, the priests did not use gloves (Kam's ward does) but they made a big show of using hand sanitizer and rubbing their hands vigorously for all the ward to see. LOL. Then the deacons passed the sacrament. Each deacon had two trays in their hands. The bread was torn and each individual piece was put in a little sacrament cup. Another deacon trailed along behind with a basket/garbage for the cup. They did the same with the water. It was interesting. There were two talks...one youth and one adult. My friend Annie and her daughter spoke and it was nice. The Tabernacle Choir blasted once more, we prayed, and we were done. About 50 minutes total and yet it felt like a full day!

The girls and I came home and we did the Come Follow Me lesson with Tyler. We listened to the awesome talk that Kam sent. It broke down the apostasy and how it all intertwined with history. So good! It was a nice relaxing family day! And... I sold more things in my booth! No, I am not going to document this every day but the first week... yes!


Day 150: 8-10-20 (Monday)

Today was crazy chaos but fun crazy chaos!! Tyler and I went walking earlier today and while we were at the park I got a text that my big hutch sold! My largest and most expensive piece of furniture! Exciting!! We hurried home so that I could grab another larger piece out of the storage unit to take to the store. Then I painted and worked on more projects.

Today was Kam's P-Day so we had some funny emails from him. He is meeting all kinds of interesting characters and doing a lot of service work. All of that is so good for him! He and his companions (their trio) are teaching lessons and there is a guy who is *this close* to baptism which is both exciting and frustrating. I thought Kam might just email us very short and precise emails but I was wrong! They are thoroughly entertaining! Especially his emails to just our family. Tyler and I were cracking up!

After Tyler was done with work we headed to Coeur d' Alene to check out my booth. No need! One of the glories of being in a store is that when a large item sells they will clear it, pull it out, and then  rearrange. Tyler and I walked into the store just before closing to see what the booth situation was and I was DELIGHTED to see that not only had the furniture been rearranged but the booth had been fluffed and revamped where needed and it looked LOVELY! That might be worth the 15% commission. That and the email that I get every day telling me what I sold that day. Very nice. We were able to just turn around and leave. I'll come back on Thursday night during vendor hours with another big furniture piece and will rearrange things then.

One thing that is helping me get back into reading during quarantine has been doing some buddy reads with my friend Rebecca. She moved to Wisconsin two years ago. She is a lot of fun and an avid reader! We recommend books to each other all the time and discuss them but since quarantine we have started reading the same book at the same time. We have now done two buddy reads: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. I LOVED IT. 5 Stars for me! She HATED it! That was crazy because normally we have similar taste in books. We just finished our 2nd buddy read book: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. We were in agreement on that one! Review to come. Our 3rd buddy read will be American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins.

We got to video chat with Kam last night. It is so great to see him and hear all about the mission in more depth. It helps to feel connected to him and he stays connected with all of us. He is enjoying the mission, the people, and the work. He works hard and says he falls asleep exhausted every night. He said that the days and weeks go by really fast. He's learning a lot and building his confidence. He says that his testimony has grown by leaps and bounds. It is great to hear all of the details. He's doing good and is being well-fed! He has barely spent any money on groceries at all. Meanwhile his companions from online MTC, who are also serving in his mission but not his area, are poor and starving. LOL. They are learning how to budget and make *meals* with very few ingredients. Meanwhile Kam and his companions are eating like kings! They are always stuffed and they can barely finish their leftovers before another meal comes their way. Even today on their P-day they were playing sports at the park with a bunch of other missionaries and several ladies who were at the park had pizza delivered to their big group! Enjoy it while it lasts kiddo!

FYI--he never takes pictures. If he does it is of the sunset or an amazing SuperTarget that he went into. Ugh. Hopefully some of his companions will take some pictures and tag him in them.

We saw this a few days ago:

Kam confirmed that it is legit. He said that they have all been asked to follow these guidelines. Hard to believe but there are missionaries serving in downtown in Minneapolis. Terrifying.

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Email from Elder Johnson #3

Group Email:

Stay on Target...Stay on Target

What's up good people? Man this week has flown by fast! How are you guys? I miss y'all big time. Feel free to email me back at times. I do enjoy hearing from you too:) Anywayyy this last week has been pretty good I'd say, lots of good things fell into place. 

I had my first zone conference this week and really got to get to know my mission president more. It was a very cool experience I had a lot of feelings i had been having and questions that I had come across answered through out the conference. It was insane to have just constant answers to everything I had been feeling or thinking being thrown at me😂 God works in mysterious ways! Haha. The main focus was the line, "Stay on target...Stay on target" from Star Wars. Just remembering why we are here and although we have all these distractions going on in the world around us we have to stay on target and we will be blessed for the work we are doing.

We also met Shermicia! She was a referral sent to us from some Salt Lake sisters. She had requested a Book of Mormon and a Bible in big print. So we called her set up a time and we met her and holy fetch she was so excited to see us. She said that she had been praying for someone to reach out and give her the word of God and then we called her just a few minutes after that. We set up times to come visit her twice a week and she wants us to teach her sister, and her grandkids and on top of all that she wants to come to church so we got a big W! She's so awesome and is the most eager person to learn and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ that all 3 of us have ever seen. It's pretty dang exciting.

Also, at zone conference I finally met Elder Gunnell and Elder Robison in the flesh for a few brief moments. Which was pretty flippin exciting, if I do say so myself, cause we missed each other at the airport by like 10 minutes. So we finally crossed paths. Good times for the red tie gang! 

Anyway sorry for the long email but I'm having a great time in the great state of Minnesota, where they say the mosquito is the true state bird. Boy were they not lying😂 Yikesss! Last I counted I have 10 on just one of my legs but it's all good right? It's alllll gooood pain (or I guess in this case itchiness) It is temporary but the work goes on forever. Take it easy my peeps, be safe, don't get the Rona, and know that I love ya. 

Till next time,

-Elder Johnson

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 141-145

Day 141: 8-1-20 (Saturday)

Picture of "Harold" courtesy of Shey

Today started off okay. We did some work at the property. It was cooler and overcast. Tyler and I picked a bunch of raspberries. The raspberries from my grandma's berry patch are THE BEST.

Around 1:30 pm I got a HORRIBLE migraine out of the blue. Usually I can feel them coming on and then I will take something to stop the migraine from becoming full blown. I missed the window and ended up lying down and feeling nauseous in a darkened room the entire day and on into the evening. It was a complete waste of a day. I think I need to up my migraine prescription. I used to be able to take one or two doses and my migraine would be gone. The last few times I have to take the max dosage and I still will have a migraine. Ugh...I started feeling better later in the evening.



Tyler and I were able to enjoy a little evening dock time. We listened to taps and watched the moon rise.

Day 142: 8-2-20 (Sunday)

Today was the last day of our week at the lake. We deep cleaned and did yard work. The day was nice and sunny. It was not as brutally hot as the previous few days. It was only 90 degrees and there was a refreshing breeze. We finished our work and enjoyed the water.

We spotted some little tiny creatures in the water. The girls were quick to try to catch some and attempt to classify them via the internet. Were they tadpoles? Baby fish? It was cute to see them enjoying a little science lesson and having so much fun doing it!

Conclusion: baby sunfish

We went into town and got take out for dinner so that we didn't have to cook. We pulled the boat out at 8 pm and then loaded up and headed home. The day ended up being pretty relaxing and enjoyable. I'll tell you what though... it felt good to be home!

Day 143: 8-3-20 (Monday)

I got the best night sleep that I have had in a LONG TIME. It felt good to be back home and in our own bed. As you know... I enjoy Mondays. They are productive and I love that...AND... now they are also Kameron's P-Day and since we get to talk to him so they are my very favorite day of the week!! Kam sent out his group email earlier in the morning and it was fun to read. Tyler and I went walking at 10:30 am and it felt great to be back in the swing of things.

When we got home the school district sent out the sad news that the kids won't be going back to school in the fall. They will start the year doing "real time" distance learning. This was not good news for the Johnson girls. Both girls were in tears. I teared up too. I am so sick of this COVID-19 business that I could SCREAM!

I get that things are a bit more normal for other families but they certainly aren't for mine and I am SO SICK of being in quarantine. I feel like we are the only family still doing this sometimes. But Tyler isn't back at work, we aren't back at church (although we are supposed to go back 2x a month starting on Sunday), the kids can't go to school, we aren't seeing friends socially...we have only hung out with our kids (and Abbey and Hunter)... my brother's family...and very few other people. It's lonely and boring and hard.

On a positive note...we talked to Kameron tonight and it did my heart good to see his face! It sounds like things are still going okay. It's hard to be the inexperienced one. He wants so much to do a good job.

Day 144: 8-4-20 (Tuesday)

Today we moved Kam's old bed into Ailey's room. I repainted it so that it would match her room. Today the girls and I went shopping to find some new bedding to give her room a little update. We found some really cute bedding and pillows on sale! Score! While we were out shopping Bryn saw her best friend, Audrey, so that was really fun for her! She also saw another friend and was able to chat for a bit. She is such a social butterfly and deeply misses her friends. Thank goodness for FaceTime and Marco Polo. We also did a bunch of yard work. That felt great! Anything that gives me a sense of accomplishment helps during these weird and frustrating days. We also washed and deep cleaned the boat!

And in some super exciting news... Ailey got asked out on her first date! COVID has really messed up all of the fun things about turning 16! She still hasn't taken Drivers Ed. She hasn't been able to date or hang out with friends. Tyler and I talked it over...heard what the plans were for the group date...and decided to let her go. She was THRILLED! It is really hard balancing physical health vs mental health in this COVID-19 world. I second guess every decision we make to venture out into the world. But Tyler was adamant that she should be able to go if she takes the necessary precautions and he is the one whose health we are protecting.

Day 145: 8-5-20 (Wednesday)

Today we walked early because it is so hot! We also had to walk to process the news that Tyler got from his boss this morning. She told their department that they are going to continue working from home until JANUARY. He enjoys working from home especially now that he has a better office set up but even he was taken aback at how long he will be out of the office. Processing what the rest of the year will most likely look like is surreal, frustrating, and kind of defeating.

Thank goodness this afternoon I got some GREAT NEWS! Since there are literally no vintage markets or antiques shows in the foreseeable future and my business has ground to a screeching halt...I talked to my friend Megan who has a SUPER CUTE vintage store in Coeur d' Alene called Midtown Home and Vintage Market. My mom was a vendor there when she passed away. Megan called me today with all of the details for me to move into my booth space at the store! I move in tomorrow! I am so excited. Tyler and I spent the evening at the storage unit loading up merchandise to take tomorrow. I am so grateful that Kam and Tyler loaded the trailer with my heavy furniture pieces right before Kam left for Minnesota. I am excited to be busier and doing things that I enjoy. I hope it helps and quells the constant sense of frustration that I feel.

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 136-140 (I got out of order!!)

Day 136: 7-27-20 (Monday)

Tyler and I worked all morning cleaning out crap from the property. My sister ordered a giant dumpster and there is so much *stuff* to throw away. I come from a large family of hoaders and pack rats. I have no idea why my great-grandpa, grandparents, and apparently my mother saved so many empty boxes and packing peanuts. The older generation never threw away any empty containers or cans or jars. There is so much actual garbage. It is mind boggling. Once it got too hot we stopped working and enjoyed the water. It is supposed to be in the 100s all week.

Today is Kam's Pday. We had two funny emails from him and got to video chat with him! It was so good to see his face and to hear his voice. Sounds like things are going well and that he is enjoying his area and his companions. He is in Oakdale, MN. His area includes the temple. He is in a trio companionship with two Elders that he enjoys. One is from Utah. It is hilarious to hear about "Utah Mormons" and to hear his bafflement about the things they do and say. They are a different breed. He really had no idea! LOL. He is staying busy and teaching people. They do a lot of service work and try to exercise each day. Their ward feeds them well! The members provide dinners to them most every night. He is learning a lot and growing a lot. I am so glad that we get to have these weekly video chats!! What a gift!

It's a very weird feeling to be down to only two kids in the house. Johnsons Party of Four is going to take some getting used to.

Day 137: 7-28-20 (Tuesday)

Today was another hot one. It was in the 100s. Tyler and I continued to work and get rid of garbage and junk at the lake property. Not a good day with sibling interactions once again; just when I think things cannot get any worse they amp up ten times as bad. I turned off my phone and headed out to enjoy the beauty of the lake and the lovely water.

It worked! We enjoyed the day as a family!

It was such a pretty night when the sun started to go down behind the cliff wall. The light was gorgeous!

We did another lovely sunset boat cruise on the lake and played games. Tyler taught us all to play Yahtzee. I used to know how to play. It seemed sort of familiar! The girls had fun learning a new game!

And apparently eating chocolate! Ha ha!

Day 138: 7-29-20 (Wednesday)

Today was yet another hot 100 degree day! We have had to use two umbrellas on the dock all week.  We boated most of the day and did a bunch of wakeboarding.

This is prime time out at the lake and it is super busy with boats everywhere like this fishing boat that was coming right at Bryn! Good grief! We did some paddleboarding when the sun started to go down and the lake quieted a bit.

We also attempted to cut Beverly's Freddy Kruger claws via a way the girls saw on YouTube:

Yes, that is Bryn with her head wrapped in Saran Wrap with peanut butter on her head hoping it would keep Beverly occupied and licking away while her nails got trimmed.

It worked for like 1 minute and then Bev was over it and we had to do it the usual way which she hates! Every night we go out onto the dock at 9 pm (sunset) and listen to someone on the lake play taps. It's beautiful and we love it. Sometimes someone else on the lake will play the bagpipes...like tonight...even better! Then we came in a played more Yahtzee!

Day 139: 7-30-20 (Thursday)

Today was weirdly quiet on the lake but I'm not complaining. It was perfect to wakeboard without dodging boats. Reilly and Hunter came out and we had so much fun! It is weird to be a small group out at the lake. I had high hopes for sharing our lake time with friends and cousins. COVID has really messed that up. But nights like this with just our family are also awesome!

Hunter in his now infamous *lake attire*. LOL!

Ailey showing off her color coordinated bathing beauty attire!!

We boated, wakeboarded, and tubed for hours!! Those Johnson girls are some hard core tubers!! The three of them in one tube was HYSTERICAL! Reilly and Bryn demanded a wild ride and Ailey was holding on for dear life! Tyler and I laughed our heads off!



We stayed out so late on the water that Tyler had to turn the boat lights on and by the time we docked it was dark and around 9:30 pm. We realized that we never even stopped to eat dinner so we did what my mom and grandma always did on nights like this... We made hot buttered cheerios and chocolate malted milk shakes. This was also the go-to for game nights and movie nights. Hunter had these delicacies for the very first time and he enjoyed them!! Hot buttered Cheerios sound weird but they are delicious. My great-grandpa started doing this... you melt butter in a frying pan and cook the Cheerios in butter until they are crisp and browned. Then you salt them and serve. They are so good! Our family would rather eat them than popcorn.



Day 140: 7-31-20 (Friday)

Another super hot 100 plus degree day! It definitely was the right week to be at the lake! We have been downing these popsicles like crazy! They are the Monster Pops Sours Blue Raspberry Lemonade. We highly recommend!! Reilly and Hunter came out again. We had swimming competitions, dinner, and then a fun game night. We played the infamous Quelf.

I have so many funny memories of my mom playing this game. We laughed all night! Another fun night with the kids!

Emails from Elder Johnson #2

Group Email:

My First Week-ish

These first few days have been absolutely amazing! Saying goodbye to the people I love most in this world is hard. Harder then I could have ever imagined but I know that in order to grow and become the man I am to become and the missionary Jesus Christ wants me to be I have to be uncomfortable because that is where we grow. When things are difficult and you want to turn back but you don't you stick to it because you know what it's what you're suppose to do. So I take each step knowing that this is right! Anyway...Minnesota is flat! So dang flat i thought it was North Dakota when I was flying over it! Hahaha but! I digress. It won't ever been Washington, North Idaho or those beautiful Utah mountains so I have to move forward. Haha! But it is hot and humid so I'm a happy camper. 

I landed in Minneapolis got scooped up by my trainers at the airport and went right to work all in the matter of 30 minutes. My trainers are Elder Moses from New Mexico, he's been out for 13 months. He's an absolute party and my other trainer is Elder Taylor from Syracuse, Utah who was originally called to Bolivia/Colombia. He served for 9 months, came home for 2 months, and then got reassigned here 6 weeks before I came. They are the coolest guys and I have already learned so much from them. I live in Oakdale, Minnesota currently. Our area is the only area in the entire mission that has a temple! Too bad I can't go in it. So close and yet so far. I've already met some amazing people and have been apart of some cool lessons as well. 

We're allowed to teach people as long as it's outside or we do it via zoom, Facebook video call, or just a normal phone call. We try to get out as much as possible which is nice. Exercise is keeping us sane😂 the first lesson I taught was about how we have to "look at others not as who they are but rather as who they could become" from a conference talk by President Monson. Just reminding us that we need to embody the love of Christ as much as we can and to be quick to love and slow to judge. I'd say it went pretty swell but I'm still learning and boy do I have a lot to learn! To wrap this up I absolutely love it, I'm having a blast, and I miss you all so dang much!

Talk to ya next week!

Peace, Elder Johnson

Family Email: 

What's up Fam!

Heyo! Man I love you guys so much! I miss you all a freaking ton but lil man kam is hangin in there. So far Minnesota is treating me well! My companions are cool, the weather is nice, lots of mosquitoes tho. But I get to hang around the temple all day which eerily looks exactly like the Spokane temple...hmmm interesting.

Also I got to go back to church for the first time since March. And of course following new missionary standards they had me say the opening prayer for both sessions of sacrament meeting and pass the sacrament. Corona church is wild tbh. The ward is cut in half the meeting is 30 minutes long, 2 speakers and then it's over. The Missionaries (us) sanitize everything and then do it all over again! Passing the sacrament is weird too. For bread we all wear gloves and we go down every other row cause it's taped off cause of distancing and we place the piece of bread in each hand and then with the water they can grab it but they hold on to the cup and dispose of it later. And on the 25th masks became mandatory if you're inside some where so we are all wearing masks. Woot woot. But it felt good to be back.

I haven't been into the city cause that's not our area and we have a mileage limit but when I got picked up we drove by the Vikings stadium and the training facility which was pretty cool to see. Every Friday we meet up with the Spanish elders and have Taco Bell together so that's epic! Gotta get those beefy 5-layers in me somehow. But I got to try a new fast food place called Canes! It's a chicken fingers place. It's got like 4 things on the menu but the line for the drive thru is soooooo longgggggg. It's insane. But it's like a missionary go to for the peeps here so they told me I had to try it and it was pretty good I'm not gonna lie. 

Oakdale is pretty cool but you thought Spokane had bad road construction. Woooooo Minnesota road construction sucks so bad. My companion Elder Moses was telling me that Minnesota has 2 seasons: winter and road construction. He was definitely right. It's horribly confusing. Anyway the members are super cool. The bishop is nice and kinda trying out the hipster haircut but he's like 50? Idk he's interesting.  We've taught some recent converts and taught/met some referrals which is exciting. The work is good but the work is slow. Or I guess average? Idk it's hard to tell what is and what isn't but we are fairly busy so that's good. 

I miss you all so much, it sounds like you guys had fun at the lake which makes me happy. I hope all is well, thanks for getting me that sign I appreciate it. I love you all. I'll call ya sometime tonight so just lemme know on Facebook messenger what time you will all be home! 

I love you!

-Elder Johnson