First Email From the Field

Email from Elder Johns

I don't have a lot of time. Since I have recieved no mail in the field ( ,'8^/ ) I can't get a library card and am bumming 15 minutes off of Elder Clark's time (the library computers have a 1:15 minute time limit)
Remember: Long emails recieve short answers. If I get a letter beforehand I can read, process and reply. So I will probably hand write a better answer to your emails when I get the hard copies. Anyhoo...

Did you recieve the letter I sent? 

I don't know the address of the apartment complex where I'm staying so just send letters to the mission office. They will forward them. that address is:

Elder Bryce Johns

California Riverside mission

5900 Grand Ave

Riverside CA 925041328

My first week has been excellent. My trainer is Elder Clark from Inkom Idaho. He's really cool and we work together really well.

We are serving in a town called Highland. It is in between San Bernadino and Redlands. The palm trees are really weird I have sworn never to get used to them haha. We are covering both the highland 1st and 2nd wards so we have a car. Half the town is semi-ghetto and the other half is fairly nice. The split between the two is very apparent, and the wards are split along similar boundaries. 

Anyway we have been busy We have a couple progressing investigators. who I will have to write about later. I haven't gone tracting. In our mission we do a thing called OYMing, (open your mouth) or street contacting which I am getting used to. Our mission has been promised that if we do 20 OYMs a day we will get a baptism a month. So far our numbers vary depending on how many appointments and such we have. We have been stood up several times which is kindof funny. I saw the most ghetto icecream truck i have ever seen lol. I really wish that I had learned spanish though, I'm not sure how I am going to learn it.

The work is going excellently though. I am taking an active part in lessons. Teaching lessons isn't very hard if you "teach your testimony". It's great to have the spirit guide you. I'm excited and ready to do this for the next two years.

Oh yeah, they had me speak in sacrament last sunday. I learned about it saturday after study time. So I pretty much winged it and took most of Elder Clark's time. But it was a good talk.

That's cool that you got to go to the beach. I'm kindof jealous because it's really hot. Thankfully I have a car though, and i'm not in the real desert. 

Haven't gotten the part for the bike, The front axle thing with the quick release handle was missing.

Cool with the cd's the sooner the better. Ship everything through the post office. Because they can't forward things through UPS or Fedex so it could take weeks for me to get it.

We'll time's up. Once I get the hard copies of your letters I will write a more focused response and send it snail mail.

I'm not very happy with the Post office though. I put outgoing letters in teh box saturday morning and they didn't go out. So they will probably get out tomorrow.

Love you guys,

  Elder Bryce Johns

Write back soon (letters are best)