Naivety

Dear Elise:
No, you do not go jogging at night, especially in Southern California.
No, it is not okay to leave the door unlocked, even when you are in the house.
Yes, a rape whistle is a good thing to own.
Yes, people drink wine with dinner (aka everyone isn't mormon ;P WHODA THUNK?!)
Yes, people may ask if LDS people are allowed to drink soda. At least they didn't ask if you have horns. In other words, they could have much more surprising questions about your religion. They are simply trying to respect your beliefs- lucky you :)
Yes, people swear. Not enough to be offensive, but those words do come out in pleasant conversation, and not only during scripture study when reading from the bible. :P
No, the creepy man staring at you from across the casino is not thinking, "What a nice girl. I'll be she gets good grades in school and knows her value as a daughter of God."
No, you should not judge people based on piercings, tattoos, or color of (supposedly white) wife beater. Because those are the guys that will hold the door open for you when they don't even know you.
Yes, people of all ethnicities live here in Southern California, rather than your basic mix of majority white and a few other minority races that you find in Boise and Provo.
No, you cannot simply allow the person who runs into you to take your wallet and run. You hold onto that thing, Christlike love is not the action that is effective in keeping your money to yourself!
Love, The sound of that bubble finally popping (Happy, Josh?)
PS It's all good. You have to learn it all someday. Life rocks ;)
PPS I would like everyone to know who is reading this that I took all of these things very calmly and am prepared to learn more. And that I am still thoroughly enjoying myself. I love this family! They are fun and intelligent and I am learning so much. They are so kind to me :) It's wonderful. And Baby-E is such a little cutie, it kills me :)
PPPS No one tried to steal my wallet. This is an inference that I made based on other observations from prior life experience.