Week 2

Dear Family,

Thanks for all the emails and letters! I was super surprised and impressed my district leader when I got 4 letters at once-one from each of my sisters and then from Mom. I really appreciate hearing what is going on outside of the MTC.

We get to email for half an hour on p-day. This might be a little shorter because I had to read all the emails.

We got our flight plans. We fly out on Tuesday the 2nd at 6:30 AM and go to Atlanta and then on to Tallahassee. We get to meet at the travel office at 3:00 that morning, so I'm sure everyone will be super cheerful. There will be 16 missionaries going to Tallahassee, so hopefully we will have the whole plane converted by the time we land. I received a postcard from some sisters in Mobile saying they were excited for me to come. I also received a letter from the Murrays and the newsletter from Sister Noble. Thanks to everyone for the letters. It is nice to feel loved by so many people.

Last Tuesday Elder Ballard spoke at the devotional. It was really good. He spoke about how we need to connect with the people we teach so that they can truly understand the message that we are sharing with them. It had a lot of great things that have helped me to teach better and relate more with those we teach.

We have gone to the TRC twice and taught the first lesson twice. Both times were incredible, and Sister Carpenter and I have really felt the spirit guide us in teaching the people there. We actually committed two to be baptized, but unfortunately it was just make believe. It was a really amazing experience to follow the Spirit to ask her to be baptized, though.

I have been working hard to be humble. I have seen how pride can really get in the way of the work, not just between the teacher and student, but also between teacher and teacher. I hope that I can really be humble so that I can have the Spirit tell me what to do.

My district is now the oldest district in our zone. That is what happens when your entire zone is English speaking. The new sisters are great! Three are from Utah and one is from Nebraska. They are going to Canada Toronto East and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. They have been really easy to work with.

I'm happy things with the baby are going well. I guess having a big head will be alright. Hopefully, by the time I get home it will have grown into it's head :)

I have seen several friends from BYU here. One of the new elders was in my ward last summer a year ago. he is the one that kicked my foot when we were playing soccer. Remember that? I have also seen Elder Brereton (is that how you spell his name, Ben?), a Sister Putnam, who knows Ben and Shannon and the other BYU-I cousins, and Sarah's friend Brother Menasco watched me teach the other day. I hope he had good things to say about it.

I had a little bit of a cold, and two of the Elders have been sick-one has bronchitis and the other has pink-eye. I am trying to stay away from all real sickness as much as I can. This place in kind of like a big germ pool because you are stuck in classrooms with people all day. After next week I can at least get out more and enjoy the fresh air.

I'v heard about the BYU game. YEAH! I was way fully invested on Saturday wearing the DSORB and white dress.

The work keeps on going even if it is just converting ourselves and Sisters and Elders right now. Being in the MTC has been great. Hopefully next week I'll be able to email again. I am going to try to send pictures sometime as well. I love you all!

Joanna

Dear Family,
I get to start emailing herein the MTC! Isn't that wonderful? Mom, I sent this to both accounts just in case I got the Charter one wrong. Have you guys already received my letter letter? I hope so. I talked about my companion and getting settled. I won't spend too much time on that. SO,... Things here have been going very well. I was afraid that I would be very miserable, but it hasn't been bad at all! I have really enjoyed the experience I have been having. Classes are great! I have two really good teachers that really know what they are teaching us, and they have really helped us get in the mind set of being missionaries. Sarah, your apartment friend Sam is a teacher in my Zone. He teaches the district that came the week before mine. I have also seen Elizabeth Vernon and Rachel Blackmer, EMily and Preston.
My Branch President here got released on Sunday. Even though I had only known him since Wednesday, I felt that I got to know him very well and wish I could have continued to get to know him and serve under him the whole time I was here. The new Branch President is going to be a very good one. I was called as the Relief Society Coordinating Sister. It is pretty much the Relief Society President for the Branch. I get to make sure the sisters are happy, and that they are following the rules. It is kind of overwhelming to do that AND learn everything I need to learn, but it should be good. Right now, there are only me and my companion. We are getting four more sisters on Wednesday. My district has eight people in it. We are all going to Tallahassee. They are a good group of guys. The Branch presidency has asked Sis. Carpenter and I too look out for them and to not intimidate them. They are a lot of fun, so it has been good being with them. It is kind of strange to be around 19 year old boys all day. They sure act like it, but I have seen that even in the few days we have been here they have grown immensley. Hopefully, I have also grown that much as well.
I have really seen how the Lord has blessed me being here and my willingness to serve a mission. I think that He has made being here at the MTC a great experience so that I know He is happy with my decision to serve. I am grateful that I have come. I have also had some good practice at patience. It is hard to have to always be with a comp who doesn't have the same beliefs about being on time to meetings and keeping focused during study time. I kind of feel out of place because I haven't met anyone here who is a college graduate-especially from BYU. The time that I have had learning how to study somewhat effectively while I was at BYU really shows as I am ready to move on to different things while others are still trying to get through the begninning material. It is hard, but it will help me a lot. We had our temple day and it was good. It is different renting clothes, but we get them for free. I accidently put the dress on backwards. I thought all dresses were supposed to zip in the back, not in the front. The nice lady helped me put it on the right way-dumb zipper in the front.
Here a few things you might find interesting. They provide sheets. There were hangers in the closet. We get to do our laundry for free (unlike the good old dorms). We have an allowance each week of $8.00. The food is BYU food. Yep, the same stuff I made for the last two years! It is free though so I have eaten. I don't think Ihave gained any weight yet. Good. Hopefully I have lost some. I don't think I have gain You get one free haircut and style while you are here, so I guess it was kind of pointless to get my hair cut before I came! Oh well. We only have half an hour to get ready in the morning. That has been a huge adjustment. There really isn't enough time to do everything that you have to do, even if you do stuff the night before. Sisters don't always follow the clothing rules, but so far I haven't had much of a problem. Remember how we were going to make that other skirt? It would be great if I could get that and a jumper. It doesn't have to be while I am here in the MTC, but sometime during the next 18 months it could come in handy. Also, I feel I need more sweater vests. Almost everyone wears them all the time. I have yet to wear one though. And, I think I might invest in some trouser socks instead of knee-his. Wearing nylon fabric on my toes for 15 hours is kind of bothersome, but I can live until I can get some of my own. Thanks for the package, and the letters you have sent. I got them today. I was so excited! I get to do laundry later and then I think I will take a quick nap. I need to get some things ready for the new sisters, and I need to do some letter writing and some studying. Well, my time is almost over. You can email people this email address so they can email me. Also for posting, everything should be fine to post.
Love, Joanna

Dear Family,

I am writing my first letter from the MTC! Things aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Once I got going on all the paperwork, it felt like the same old stuff I've been doing. There really was nothing to be nervous about.

I met a sister and her family who are from Mobile, Alabama. She told my companion and I about it and about the Mission President. She said when she left it was 100 degrees and 90% humidity. Her father said if I was ever in their ward, he'd make sure to feed us dinner.

In the "say goodbye to your family" meeting, the father sitting next to me told me that even after 43 years the feeling of that meeting is still the same.

My companion, Sister Carpenter, is nice. She is 22 years old as well. She is from Mesa, Arizona and the youngest of 10 kids. She is also going to Tallahassee. We are the only two in the room which is extra nice. There is room for two companionships in each room and they provide sheets, blankets, and pillows. There were also hangers waiting in the closet.

I was just made Senior Companion. I hope I can be a good leader. I'm sure it will be a good experience for being a "shining star". I have also met the Branch Presidency. They are good.

I hope this makes it home before Sunday so you can find something to share for the missionary report. I didn't give the pass along card away. I had a seat to myself from Detroit to Salt Lake.

My time has run out for this letter. I love you all a lot!

Love, Joanna

Memphis

Last weekend, we made a trip down to Memphis to spend Labor Day weekend with Ben, Shannon, and Tiger Kitty. I think my tolerance for car trips is quickly declining because it seemed like forever before we finally reached our final destination.

Even though it was long, the drive down was pretty fun. Janet and I played gummy bear football, jammed out to the cool music while trying to block out Mom and Dad's music, and fought over who got to sleep on the console in the middle. We also got to stop at Cahokia, one of the things I remember from all my history classes. It was fun to actually see my college experience paying off in the 'real' world. We also drove past the St. Louis Arch which I didn't remember seeing the last time we were there. After driving late into Thursday night and a quick scenic detour through Memphis, we finally made it to Ben and Shannon's.

Friday we went downtown the Mud Island where they have a model replica of the Mississippi River. We traced the river through the southern United States and got to wade in the river. Once we were back in the car we drove past Graceland. That was good enough for all of us, but Janet and I did reminisce about Uncle Jesse and his love for the King. We enjoyed a good southern barbeque. The food was great, but after working inVeg Prep and smelling barbeque chicken on Wednesdays, I couldn't eat as much as I would have liked. We finished the night off with a visit to the temple.

Saturday we fully invested ourselves in BYU football. Watching the game from a tv sure was different than being in Lavell Edwards Stadium. I'm confident that the Cougars can keep up the winning while I'm gone. That night we took a dip in the Meadows Pool. It was great, especially since the airconditioning went out earlier that day. Shannon, Janet, and I spent several hours talking that night catching up and just have sister bonding time.

Sunday we went to church, where I was as old or older than quite a few of the relief society sisters who had children! I felt just a little uncomfortable, but I managed to survive. The rest of the day followed the Scoresby tradition-games, games, and more games. Karaoke Revolution was the hit of the day.

Monday we drove home. I gave my services by sleeping most of the way home, but was saddened to think that Joleen had to suffer through the Cubs' loss.

It was a great weekend and a good way to end my summer and time at home before I leave for the mission!