March 29, 2010

Subject: Can you taste the rainbow?

Hey there!

Dad’s absolutely right. I would have no idea where to take you in England. My first area was a giant chemical plant with smoke stacks and refineries all over the place. It was also a suburb of the worst place to live in England (Middlesbrough). My next area was a small town just outside the second worst place to live in England (Hull). Then I went to Leeds, a big city where I pretty much stayed in or around the university. Now I'm in Harrogate. I'll probably take you to see Harrogate. It's really nice. It's what I expected England to be like. I walked through a field the other day and went and knocked on a cottage door. There’s not much of it, but it's there.

York, the next city, also has some nice things; like a giant minster and something with Viking history, I think. They even have a train musim, museum, muesim (how on earth do you spell that). I haven't gone to see any of that really. Elder Thomas doesn't want to so we do other things.

Did I tell you we had springy stilt shoes? We borrowed them from a member so that’s what we've been doing the last few p-days. They’re a lot of fun. The ward still loves us here which is great. It's nice to be praised instead of on the defensive.

I really don't have much to tell you. I wrote in my journal every day last week. That’s a first. It was hard. I also really hate daylight savings. I'm exhausted. I was already going on half an hour less sleep and that finished me off.

You’re giving a talk on disabilities? You should send it to me. There are a lot of special people in Harrogate. It’s pretty ridiculous because half the people in England don't work for a living and are supported by the council. The government chooses their houses and they tend to group them. My first area had all the people who had just fled their countries. Harrogate has all the old people and handicapped people. The population of Harrogate is literally made up of the really wealthy old people handicapped people and the people who care for the old and handicapped people. We teach the care-givers. It makes life fun. I have a lot of interesting conversations each day.

Last week was really good. We helped an African family peel wallpaper. We knocked on their door and they were peeling wallpaper. Elder Thomas said we are going to help you with that and in we went. English people won't accept service, but foreigners will.

We also found a flat of 7 people from Latvia. I left one of them the restoration DVD and when we went back, they said everyone in the flat had watched it 3 times. We gave them a Book of Mormon in Latvian and Russian. They got excited and said it was the book Joseph Smith translated after seeing God and Jesus Christ. They were going to come to church but here was some confusion do to the language barrier. But it was miraculous.

Helena, our investigator who dropped off last week, came to church and is back on track. Miracles. Another investigator, David, we dropped a few weeks ago because he wouldn't come to church. He always called and cancelled in the morning. We felt we should go back and see him. We took him on a chapel tour on Saturday and he came to church the next day. And there’s Susan, a lady from South Africa, who said she found her church and wasn't going come with us anymore. We went and tried to explain the apostasy but she didn't understand it, but she ended up coming to church on Sunday and said she felt good there and knew it was where she needed to be, she just doesn't know why. We were so incredibly blessed. The more we sacrifice, the more the Lord blesses us. We wake up half an hour early, He blesses us. We take shorter lunches, He blesses us. I know He's there and He answers prayers.

Your conference idea sounds great. We do it to investigators all the time -- ask them to write down a question and bring it to church and promise them they'll receive an answer. It really works. I have a testimony of that.

You should go skiing. It’s worth it. One of the members of our ward used to ski at Alta. We figured out that we were up there on a lot of the same days so I probably have met him before and would recognize him in ski gear. The ward’s great here. So supportive.

I recommend bouncy castles for Kasey’s birthday. Great idea. Not cheap though unless friends pitch in. Tell dad to get working out already so we can ski when I get home. I'm glad grandpa is doing well. Tell him I love him and tell Sandra thanks for all the letters. Thanks to Kasey and Caleb too. You’re all amazing. I love you all. The Church is most definitely true.

Elder Cody Scott Johnson