Hola familia!
Sounds like there was bad weather everywhere! We had some pretty cool thunder storms this past week. One woke us up in the middle of the night when it sounded like there was a bomb going off right outside our apartment. Kind of scary, but pretty cool. We are back to doing the same old, same old. We picked Sis. Osburn up on Thursday and got her moved in and situated. She is from Nephi, UT. She is great and will be great addition to our companionship. It is good to have three again because we were restricted on who we could see and where we could go. I'm glad the first Scoresby Scamper went well. Sis. Mickelson was sick that day so we actually weren't even able to go outside and exercise, but I ran as much as I could the next day. Congrats to Preston! I got the shirts today, so we will make good use of them. Well, that's about all. Due to it being New Year's Eve, we had to find a different place to email. It isn't as good as our normal place, but at least we can email. We are going to a part-member home for a little New Years Eve party, but other than that it will just be a normal day. It was good talking to y'all. I love you! Joanna

Dear Family,
Since I will talk to you tomorrow, this email will be brief. Thnks to everyone who sent me special surprises. They were all very much welcomed. We did our normal stuff this week, but we also got to take Sister Chadwick down to go home. Sister Mickleson and I have adjusted well, but we will be getting a third companion this Thursday. We don't know who she is, but it will be good. Tonight we are having Christmas Eve with a family in the branch, and then tomorrow after our Christmas Conference we are going to some other member's home. Well, I guess I will talk to you tomorrow. I will probably call sometime around 7:00 pm. I'm glad everyone is h ome and safely accounted for. Carry a picture of me around as you do all your fun activities. I love you all! Love, Joanna

Dear Family and Friends,
Things here in Southern Alabama are going along just like normal. Everyone is in the Christmas Spirit. It seems that as a missionary you notice it more than when you aren't a missionary. People are more willing to listen to us and our message about Jesus Christ and the Restoration of his Church because Christmas is all about Christ. It makes missionary work a little more fun.

It has finally gotten cooler-mid 40s for the high. It isn't that cold, but at least it feels like winter instead of the summer heat we had last week. We actually saw some frost when we went out for our exercise this morning.

This past week allowed us to work hard to earn the trust of both our members and investigators through our weekly service. It is great to see the friendships grow as they see that you sincerely care for them enough to work for them. It is great! Andalusia is the home for the World Championship Dominoes Tournament. When we do our community service on Fridays, we help serve lunch to senior citizens. Before lunch time, we get to talk with them, or play any games they might be playing. One group always plays dominoes, so we usually will sit down and play with them a game or two.


The primary presentation went so well. It was pretty short and Sacrament meeting got out early, but that was alright. We had one of investigators who doesn't normally come show up and he said he wished his wife had been there. She would have really enjoyed it. I had to sing one verse of This is My Beloved Son and forgot the words, so I made up some that sounded right. I was too worried about making sure the kids would be able to sing. We had the Young Men and Young Women sing Love is Spoken Here with the kids and it turned out so much better than the practices we had with them the Sunday before.


Sister Chadwick is going home on Wednesday. It will be strange to not have her here with me, but I think it will be good to work with Sis. Mickelson. She is great and works really hard, so I am excited to have her as my companion. She even said that she would bike with me as I ran the Scoresby Scamper on the 26th. I love her. I love Sis Chadwick as well, but she is ready to go home.


I don't think Christmas will be as hard as I imagined. Everyone is so good to us as missionaries. We are having Christmas Eve with an extended family in the branch, so it will be good. Then we have our Christmas Conference the next day. I'm excited. I can't wait to talk to you all either.

I hope all of you are enjoying the week before Christmas with finishing up school and preparing for Christmas. I love you all! Love, Joanna

Dear Family and friends,
This week was a little more exciting. Well, I guess you can't really say if each week gets more exciting because every week holds a variety of surprises. But, the excitement doesn't stop in Andalusia, Alabama.
In our last Zone Conference, the assistants focused on doing service, especially for members (less-active and even active) and going through the Relief Society president to know who to help and what we can do. This week we decided to rake leaves and pick up pecans for our Relief Society president without her knowing. It was so good to be able to serve her. She does so much for us and is always willing to help us with our missionary work. She was so happy when she came home and saw her yard raked and the two big buckets of pecans on her porch. Even though we weren't our proselyting, we were still doing missionary work and serving God. Mosiah said it right, when he said "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." This week we are planning on helping the "YW President" wrap her Christmas presents. I hope it works out :)
We also did some publicity for the Church here in our small town. We entered a float in the Christmas parade. The branch was so excited and they all pitched in to help. We had a good turnout and had fun during the parade. It was Friday night, and Saturday morning we got phone calls telling us we had made it on the front page of the newspaper and the internet site for the paper. We won second place in the religious float division! It was such a good thing that we were in the parade. If you get a chance today check out the website http:/www.andalusiastarnews.com or http://www.andalusiastar.com/. The picture should still be there and if not, I have a copy of the newspaper.
To top off the week, we had our first baptism here on Saturday. It was so sweet. Out little investigator was so cute as he entered the waters of baptism. Nikki said there is nothing as good as seeing your investigators be baptized, and it is true! He is a good kid and will do well in life if he remembers what he has learned. It is important to remember that importance of our baptismal covenants. I'm so glad we have a weekly reminder in the Sacrament every Sunday. It helps us recommit ourselves to living the Lord's way.
Love, Joanna

Hola family and friends,

This past week was almost work as usual. We had the excitement of Zone Conference, two birthday parties, and the Christmas Devotional to add to the usual rush of missionary work. Sister Mickelson turned 25 yesterday, and we celebrated with her and with the entire branch at the potluck right before the Devotional. The branch takes care of us very well and loves having us here. The other birthday party was for a 16 year old member whose parents are not members. This week the son asked his Dad if he(the son) could baptize him, and the Dad said that would be great. It was such a great experience to be there when it happened. Almost everyone was in tears. Don't worry, I resisted and no tears fell, but the Spirit was SO strong there! It is great to see such amazing things happen. The Christmas Devotional was good. It was hard to be sitting in the little Church building and watching it over the satelite when last year I was actually there in person. However, I know I am supposed to be here for some reason. Zone Conference was great. I love my President Summerhays and Sister Summerhays. They are great! I was called to repentance during it, and am no longer speeding when I drive. We'll see how long that lasts.

A snowstorm that dropped 8" of snow? I'm jealous! I haven't even broken out my jacket yet. Andalusia had a tree lighting ceremony Saturday night and I didn't take my jacket. It was wierd being at a Christmas function and not being bundled up. That's the south for you.

We do have a cell phone. It's nice because we can call people whenever we need to. That is also how I'll be calling home on Christmas. But, due to it being a cell phone and not wanting to use our precious minutes, I'll have to call after 7 pm. We are having a mission conference on Christmas Day so I'll be busy during the day any way. But, just so that you are aware, I will be calling sometime after 7:00 pm on Christmas Day. And, we only get 30-40 minutes. The First Presidency says so. I'm glad the basketball season is off to such a good start. Knowing that my sister is the star of the team is exciting. And, from the other emails I didn't get, I'm just assuming everyone is really busy doing their own missionary work that they couldn't find time to send me an email ;). Life is good and the work keeps moving forward. I love you all, or as they would say here, I love y'all! Joanna