Subject: Sorry
I really am sorry about last week’s email. I really did write a nice long one but then the computer crashed and it all went away, never to be expressed again. I started writing this email and then thought it might be a good idea to write it in Word and copy it over. So that’s what I’m doing. See I learn. On the positive side, at least now you can say that my emails are getting longer. This one’s already better than the one last time so I can stop at any time and it will be an improvement.
So I got my son, Elder Webb. He’s from Bristol, England. It’s pretty weird because he already knows a lot of the YSA in the ward. Some of them went to his farewell back home. We went to a meal appointment with some of the YSA the night I picked him up and they were able to start telling me stories about him. He was definitely a little uncomfortable. He’s great though. He’s going to be an amazing missionary -- a lot better than I am. It’s like I’m not even training. It’s really good.
He is tall, though. Every time I get transferred ,I just pray that my companion won’t be tall. When I was told I was training, I think that was the only thought I had was he better not be tall. It makes me feel like a little kid when I have tall companions. It’s not good for my self esteem. The last tall companion I had, people asked if he was my dad. That was really awkward. But I’ve got a boy now so I don’t have to try anymore. I can just let my legacy live on through him.
Training’s different. I forget that I need to explain how to do things. I also tend to get us lost a lot. Directions have never been my strong suit. The first day of doing actual missionary work with him, I got food poisoning and puked for the first time in like 6 years. I forgot how not fun it is. My greenie enjoyed it. He got to sleep for an hour while I puked, sweated and pooed out everything that was in me. I think he was upset that I wasn’t out for longer. He definitely wasn’t praying for me to be alright. So that was his first day. That was fun.
I don’t eat eggs anymore because of that. So I don’t actually know what I’m going to eat now. That was pretty much all I ate before and we have 0 meal appointments this week so I’m probably just going to fast for a week. I used to eat toast but I puked up basically liquefied wheat bread so that’s out. Oh yeah, I eat whole wheat now so that’s an improvement. You spent a long time trying to get me to do that.
Also the rubbish men are on strike over here so our house is full of a lot of trash. There’s little piles of rubbish building up all over the place. Alley ways are full of it. We saw one grassy hill that was just covered in trash. I honestly can’t see any way that they could ever clean everything up. I don’t even know how to get rid of what’s in our flat. It’s a lot like that episode of Monk. It’s pretty crazy. It’s real life but it’s like t.v. The only option I see is burning the whole place down and starting over again. I have seen a fair number of people trying to burn their rubbish problems away, but then they’re just left with a big pile of burnt rubbish.
Conference has been really good. I didn’t get to see the last session but I hear Elder Holland’s talk was amazing. We had kind of a crazy night after the Saturday session. One of the missionaries I live with had a seizure. We just finished eating some take away and he walked out into the hall, turned, looked at the light like he was going to sneeze, and then sunk to the ground and started shaking. I feel bad because I thought he was joking around and was rather annoyed at first.
We rushed over just as he stared banging his head on the ground. He was out shaking for like 15-20 minutes. Giving a blessing is a lot more intense when it really matters. After like 20 minutes, the ambulance showed up. He was starting to come around by then. He was really out of it. He went on about Chinese people for a while then said happy Christmas and collapsed and went to sleep. It took a while to explain to the paramedics that he hadn’t been drinking. I think that’s the only kind of phone calls they get over here.
By the time they took him to the hospital, he was starting to come around; but he was still behaving like a drunk person. It was terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. It was pretty intense. He’s alright now though. Apparently when he went to the hospital, it was full of drunk people covered in blood. There were people actually drinking in the emergency room. Two people were drinking glasses of wine and talking about how this was better than soaps. That’s England.
Anyways on the positive missionary work side of things, we met an amazing lady from Ecuador. That morning I felt like taking a Spanish Book of Mormon with me. I’ve only met like 2 people that speak Spanish so far but I was determined to find someone. We had a few minutes before tea so we knocked on a few doors. She opened and immediately let us in. We taught her and scheduled her for baptism so we’ll see how it goes.
How are things going back there? How was the trip? Has Caleb given up on school yet? I got a letter from Tim and family the other day. That was nice. I am going to write back someday I think. I’m pretty sure this might be the longest email I’ve ever written. I expect some serious praise when you read it. I think if I just write every other week then it will be easier.
Time is going by so fast. My companion asked me the other day why I always tell people different times when they ask how long I’ve been out. Sometimes I say 6 months other times 7. The other day I told someone I had been out for just a few months. And I had to tell him that it was because I honestly forget. It feels like I just left, like I should be the one getting trained. It’s crazy how quick it goes. I realized that I’m probably done serving with people who have been out longer than me and it’s a weird feeling.
Well the computer is about to kick me off soon so I better send this so you actually get a letter this week. Thank you for everything you do for me. I real do appreciate it. I love you all. The church is true.
Elder Cody Scott Johnson
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