Dear Family,
Sorry I don’t really respond to what’s going on over there in my e-mails. I pretty much only have enough time to gather all my thoughts and summaries off [sic] the week and belch it out without checking spelling or anything. Hopefully a letter will be a little more coherent.
I’ve only been here for 18 days and yet it feels like so much longer. I’m already completely used to the missionary life. I can only imagine how weird it will be to return home after 2 years of doing this.
I do miss having a bunch of animals around that I can pet and hold whenever I want. When I look at the pictures of the cats on my calendar I get sad because I really want to touch them. And I’m sure Shadow is confused that the guy she likes to purr/rub at night is gone. Also I’m curious to see if Shamus will actually recognize me when I get back, assuming you don’t give him away or if he doesn’t choke to death from eating a rock or something while I’m gone.
Shadow, the Cat
Shamus, the Not-So-Wise
The biggest thing I miss though is being around people that think I’m funny. Nobody here thinks I’m funny and it’s really starting to bum me out. Oh well maybe they just need a little longer to get used to me.
I had an experience today that was quite extraordinary. I got a letter from Grandma last week. It wasn’t a care package with medicine, it was just a letter with $80 cash in it and the letter told me to go buy medicine with it. While we’re on the subject of medicine, don’t worry about me running out of prescription. Every Wednesday when the District Leader comes to do their nightly check up (I now live with my District Leader by the way) he asks elders who have prescription how high or low it is. I know you guys already knew that but Grandma sounded really concerned about that.
Anyway, what the heck was I talking about?
Oh, yeah. So because today (Monday) is a holiday we got the day off and had a lot of free time. My roommates wanted to go to Harmon’s and I figured I would go too and buy my medicine and lotion and junk that Grandma wanted me to buy. I only brought $40 because I’m kind of uncomfortable walking around downtown Salt Lake with $80 cash.
Anyway, to make a long story short(er), I wasn’t really paying attention to the prices of the things I was buying because I was so sure that I had enough. When everything was rung up though I was absolutely horrified that I was about $30 short, which is a pretty considerable sum to go over. I was really shocked and embarrassed and I didn’t know what to do but ask the cashier to take items off until I could afford it.
He called the manager over so he could do an override. The manager started to override the items, but when he saw me and the items he was taking off he just said, “You know what, I got this” and provided the extra $30 I didn’t have.
I was completely shocked by this overwhelming act of kindness to me that I didn’t know what to do but thank him over and over. He just smiled and said something along the lines of “You’re welcome. And if you want to pay me back then just keep doing the good work you’re doing Elder.” So … yeah it was an incredibly humbling moment for me and it’s making me want to work so much harder.
Elder Scotto said he’s had things like that happen to him too and that it’s just one of those random blessings you get from being a missionary. He told me that I shouldn’t spread it around because we don’t want other elders thinking that they can get free stuff. And that it does make you want to be a much better missionary.
Anyway, that’s about all my hand and brain can take right now so I was wondering if I could make a request. Can ya guys send me some books with pictures of animals or scenery or something so I can practice drawing? I used to use Google Images but I obviously can’t do that anymore.
Love,
Elder Eric Larson
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