Dear Family,

Things here in Andalusia are going great! I think this week I will start with Sunday and work my way back to last Monday. Yesterday we got to have our first Sunday in Primary and Young Women. It was a little rough. We do singing time in primary, which is tough because there are only two kids that really participate and sing. It was fun to sing primary songs again! Young Women was great. We taught about the Theme. The YW President is great. I really like her a lot. Oh, I took the fabulous wedding picture and people loved it. However, they did ask the old question: if Sarah was older than me :) People here are really excited for us to be here. We didn't quite realize that until after Testimony Meeting. After Church we went and had dinner with a member and then we met a less-active family. We don't know why they don't come to Church, but they are pretty set on not coming back. They were really friendly and told us to come back. We can help on their farm.

Saturday, we ventured out to the 'country'. There we learned a sad thing that is tearing this branch apart. There was an old Church built a long while ago which had a cemetery next to it where members used to be buried. About thirty years ago, they built the building we have now in town. The other building just sat in the country. A few years ago (I think about 7), they sold the old building. This caused a huge uproar and division between the people that live out by the old Church whose families did so much to get the Church. Most of the people who live out in that area have just stopped coming to Church because they are upset that it was sold. They are so bitter and can't forgive anyone. The saddest thing is that they still believe and know the Church is true, but because the man who sold it is active and goes to Church every Sunday, they refuse to go. Instead they go to the Baptist Church just up the road from the old Church building. It is like Thomas Marsh and the milk skimmings. How sad that they will give up all the blessings of the gospel and coming to Church just because their feelings were hurt years ago. We also had a great lesson that evening with our investigators about the Atonement. They still haven't come to Church because one is scared about making the decision to join. That is perfectly understandable. She wants to know for herself that this really is the true Church of Jesus Christ. We have a member that goes with us to those teaching appointments. She and her family are great! Friday, we did service serving lunch at an adult center. It was fun. We also went out into town to talk to people. It was your typical missionary day.Thursday we had our appointment fall through. It was disappointing, but it happens. Wednesday, we tried to meet some more less-active members and check up on some referrals. We also had Enrichment meeting and another lesson with our investigators. It was good as always. They are so eager to learn more. Tuesday, we had our district meeting. They are great! We said goodbye to a senior couple who are moving areas. They actually will only be a few miles from us and said they would see if we can get together for Thanksgiving. We also did some more service at a nursing home in Opp and ran into two members from Dothan, AL. One of them gave us two referrals to work on. And that brings us back to Monday. We chilled and then had dinner with a member family and met their neighbor who had a few discussions a while back when there were missionaries here before.

This week we were planning on having a district P-day but unfortunately it fell through. We were a little bummed because we live in the sticks and never get to see any other missionaries. But, we have new missionary orientation tomorrow, so we get to meet with missionaries and with President and Sister Summerhays. We are excited! I love President and Sister Summerhays. They are great! Then we get to have district meeting on Wednesday because three of the four companionships will be at new missionary orientation tomorrow and will be unable to go to the regularly scheduled district meeting. I'm excited. And, Wednesday is Halloween. We have an appointment with our YW president and family. I'm excited. It will be good to be with her.

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well with everyone. I was so excited to know that people are keeping me updated on their blogs. I feel like I am almost up to date on everyone's lives. People here are preparing for the Alabama-Auburn game. I am still deciding what side I want to join. We got a great vocabulary lesson yesterday day. I'm going to write a book so we can all practice when I get home. Be prepared for some good language:) Oh, here are some pictures. They are of the cemetery and the old Church.It is now part of a house. There are some more as well. I can't remember what ones I have sent you, but I hope you enjoy them! Have a great week! I love you all and am grateful for your support!

Love, Joanna

Dear Family,
This week was an adventure! Tuesday, we had Zone Conference. It was great. Pres. and Sis. Summerhays were there. I really like them. President is really determined to make the south rise again, this time in membership in the Church. He is working really hard to implement "The Better Way", having the members get more involved with the missionary work. They also really care about each one of us. We have two Elders in our Zone who are plagued with health problems. President Summerhays gave them special blessings during Zone Conference. The Spirit was so strong!
Wednesday was just the normal ho-hum until an appointment we had that evening to teach a family. One of the sons through a previous marriage is a less active member. As we went to met him, we got talking to his father. His father had invited us back for another lesson and we taught him the first lesson. We committed him to be baptized, but his "wife" wasn't very happy about having us there. When we called him the night before to make sure we were still on for Wednesday night, he said his "wife" didn't want us coming back. He wanted to hear another lesson, but didn't know if it would be a good idea. We told him to talk with her and then let us know Wednesday before we went over there. We heard nothing until we called him right before. She said she didn't want another lesson taught, but would be okay with us teaching her what the basic beliefs of the Church are and answering any questions. We took a sister from the Branch with us and headed over not knowing what to expect. Our investigator's brother and girlfriend were there as well so we ended up teaching the first lesson; since that is our basic beliefs to 5 people (they have another son who is 9). It was amazing. You could see the people change as we taught them and bore our testimonies about the gospel. The member was very helpful. She is a convert, so she could relate with their fears. Everyone accepted a Book of Mormon and we are going back this week. It was amazing to see the fear she had disappear as she just listened. She told us she had her doubts and originally didn't want us coming back to her house, but she told us she felt peaceful and not afraid about anything. As long as she holds onto those feelings, she will be fine. We are happy for them and hope things work out with them.
Thursday we tried teaching more lessons. One of them wouldn't listen to a word we said. She kept contradicting herself and saying how she didn't need anything that came after 33 AD. It definitely was not the most spiritual lesson ever. We keep praying that her heart will be softened and will understand that we have so much more that we can offer her. We also visited a media referral and had a good talk with him. He has invited us to come back this week and that he would try and have his brother there as well. It would be great if that happened.
Friday was when the real fun started. It rained all day Thursday and Thursday night and Friday morning, so things here were kind of soggy. Sister Chadwick and I have been working on a booth for the county fair that is going on this next week. We were working hard on it, and as we were out Friday afternoon, we decided that we would see some less active members who lived somewhat near us. They weren't home, and I started to navigate us home. I found a shortcut that would allow us to see a new area that we hadn't been to yet. Now, they have a lot of dirt roads here and it isn't the normal dirt. It is a sandy red dirt. As there are so many dirt roads, you can only imagine what things are like here. And they are within city limits, as well! With no clear differentiation between paved and dirt roads, we headed down this one particular road that just so happened to be dirt. We had no problem until we got far enough along to not be able to turn around. The dirt road was so muddy and unstable to drive on. We were just hoping that we could make it. We ended up running across a guy whose car had gone into the ditch and there was no way we could get around him. We couldn't turn around either so we backed all the way down the dirt road. He was kind and helped us so we wouldn't go in the ditch either, then we walked all the way back down the road in our skirts and dress shoes to help him get out of the ditch. It was a great experience! Mission life is great. I do feel that the Lord did want us to go down that road so we could meet him and help him get unstuck.
Saturday, we worked on our fair booth and tried to find less active members. We met a really sweet old guy at Wal-Mart. Some of our best conversations happen at Wal-Mart and we almost always leave feeling good about the time we spent there talking with people.
Sunday was Church. It is strange because we don't have any investigators who have come to Church yet, so we just go about regular old Sunday School and Relief Society. We did get a major wake-up call yesterday. We are now the Young Women and the primary counselors! There are only two kids in each who come, so it will be a struggle. The Primary President doesn't know what to do with the Primary program. One of the girls is 4 and the other is 7. The two young women are 12 and 13 so as we were talking last night trying to figure out what we can do to help them, we had a hard time remembering what it was like to be that old. Also, the Young Women President isn't even a member. She was just given a special assignment to work with the young women. It is great for us because we can work with her and hopefully help her understand that she needs to be baptized. We are also trying to help some of the members overcome their prejudices about how no missionary work can be done here in "the South".
That pretty much sums up my week. It is raining again. It has been nice to see rain so frequently. They are in a pretty severe drought. Sounds like life in the world seems to be going like it always has been. This week I got great letters from the family (okay, it was only Mom and Grandma this week, but I did get one from Emily the week before and an email from Ben and Sarah last week, too) and from my friends. It is great to feel your love and support!
I can see this work changing people's lives here. I know it is true. As we studied this morning, we talked about the Atonement and how perfect Heavenly Father's plan is. I'm so grateful I was raised knowing this. It has made my life so much better.
I love you all!
Joanna

Missionary thought for this month

I remembered that this next Sunday might be the missionary report so here is something you might be able to use. We taught the teenager Sunday school class. There is one young man who is 18 and preparing to go on his mission (he is still in high school). The rest were 14-15 year old boys. As we taught the lesson you could tell that the one who is preparing for his mission really wanted to learn and know all that he could so he could be prepared to serve the Lord. Shouldn't we all be like him? We all have been called to share the gospel, as we were reminded in conference last week, so shouldn't we all be preparing ourselves by studying the Lord's words? As I have spent time each day studying the scriptures I learn more and more things that will help me as I go out to teach. There is such power in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. By knowing that it teaches about Christ and has answers to questions that people are asking we can help them come to know Christ. Chapter 5 in Preach my Gospel is amazing and I suggest everyone reads it so they know how to better use the Book of Mormon when sharing the gospel. I love you again! Joanna

Dear Family,
Things here in Andalusia get better and better every day. I am excited to see the work progress. The members are excited for us to be here and are ready to have us teach their friends.

This past week I felt more like a missionary. We went contacting and tracting and checked up on media referrals and taught lessons. It has been great. I have really seen how we can be strengthened to meet the goals we have set. We taught the first lesson to a man whose son is a member. We have some follow-up appointments this week. As we have met the active and less active members, it is amazing to see how they all agree and know that the things that we have taught them are true. If we could only work on getting those less active members to be active.

We had some fun this week. We went to get a feel for a little town in our area and got to go into a cotton field. I picked some cotton and also a pecan! I just picked it up off of the ground, but it was cool. I never really thought that pecan trees would be so prevalent, but they are. We have quite a few in our neighbor hood. Andalusia is not pronounced like it would be in Spanish. Imagine a southerner pronouncing it. It is great to hear that southern accent. I have not had tons of southern food, but I am sure it will be coming.

Things are going great. I have to write a letter to President Summerhays, so I should finish with this. I loved the letters and emails that I got this week. They had very good advice in them, and I thank you all for them. Thank you for your love and prayers. I can feel them for me everyday! I love you all!
Joanna

Dear Family,
Well, I am now in the mission field and doing missionary things. I will start from the beginning, which is from when I talked with Mom and Dad on Tuesday morning.
The flight to Atlanta was good, but long. All the missionaries, there were about 25, sat together in the back of the plane. One of the passengers, most likely a member, told us that he felt really safe having all of us missionaries on the plane with him and his family. The landing was rough, though. It made me a little nervous about flying into Tallahassee because I would be on a smaller plane, but everything was fine. We got to go outside to board the plane to Tallahassee! I have always enjoyed doing that. The flight to Tallahassee was shorter, thankfully, and I didn't sit next to any other missionaries. However, the man I did sit next too went right to sleep as soon as he sat down. I guess the elders who are in Tallahassee will have to find him and teach him the gospel. Once we got to the airport, we met President and Sister Summerhays and the APs, got our luggage and went to the mission home. Because Sister Carpenter and I were the only sisters, we got special privileges and rode with President and Sister Summerhays to the mission home in their car. It was nice to have that extra time to get to know them. They are very nice people. Sister Summerhays took us right up to our bedroom right when we got there and we got to take a nap until dinner. It was great, but I couldn't fall asleep in that short of time. We had dinner and then we started in with the new missionary training and interviews with President Summerhays. When I had my interview he told me that I would be going to Andalusia, Alabama and Sister Chadwick would be my new companion. I will have to admit, I was disappointed that I would be starting in Alabama. President Summerhays also informed me that Andalusia was an area where there hasn't been missionaries for over a year and only about 40-50 members out of 160+ attend each Sunday! What a way to start your mission! He said that he had confidence in me that I could handle it and that as long as I loved the people everything would be okay. He also told me that the Branch President, who is retired, had promised that if President Summerhays sent missionaries he would find investigators to teach.
Wednesday morning, we packed everything up and headed along I-10 to start dropping missionaries off at the transfer spots. There are three spots and then the missionaries go to their respective areas from those three spots. I met my companion Sis. Chadwick. She is great! I am so blessed to have such a great companion as my trainer. She is from Ririe, ID and goes to BYU. It is nice to have someone who knows what it is like to be at BYU. She actually lived in the condos across the street from Heather Heights. We get along well and have been able to learn from each other everyday. It will be a good companionship. After we met up, we loaded out car with our luggage and bikes and drove to Andalusia. We didn't know where we were going, but there was another companionship of sisters who are in the area next to us, so we followed them to their apartment and then on to our own little town. When we got to Andalusia, we got to meet up with the Branch President and set up the utilities and our rental agreement. We ran to the store to get a little bit of food and some cleaning supplies and began setting up what we could of our apartment. We had no furniture, but the Branch Presidency got us furniture and other things from an apartment that Elders in a different area had moved out of.
Thursday we still didn't know anything about members/investigators/referrals anything, so we continued to get the apartment set up and met with President Newton to discuss the branch and how to go about missionary work here. This area has started having wards and branches collect the same information about missionary work as we do and the pass it on up through stakes and area authorities until it reaches the Quorum of the Twelve. It is great to have the members involved in missionary work. It should help out greatly to find people and truly convert them to the gospel. After that we did more to get situated-got maps of Andalusia and Covington County and marked all members, found out where people who wanted referrals lived, etc. Friday we finally got out and started visiting people. It was hard because we didn't know exactly where to begin, but we got in the car and headed out. We met a very active family that night, which really lifted our spirits after we had found no one else.
Saturday we enjoyed conference. We watched it at the chapel. The chapel is very unusual. It is so tiny, even smaller than the Marysville building was! There is one central room with a couple of rooms and offices coming off of it. It is cute though and we know where all of the classrooms are after only being for a few hours. Conference was excellent! It is great to seeing continuing revelation in action as President Eyring was called to the First Presidency and Elder Cook was called into the Quorum of the Twelve. The talks Saturday were excellent as well. Everyone said that Conference was good as a missionary, but I never believed it. It was amazing to see that everything spoken about was related directly to the gospel that we are to preach to all the world. The afternoon session was amazing, and provided great stuff on missionary work. I hope all of you are doing your part to be missionaries, because I am doing all that I can! Member missionary work is one of the greatest things to help further the Lord's work. We visited more members Saturday evening.
Sunday we met with President Newton again to go over more missionary/member stuff. Conference was great again! Sunday morning there were more members and we got to meet some great families. We visited some more members and have started setting up appointments to meet with members to teach them lessons(and have dinner :) ), and help them get involved in missionary work. We also have been trying to see less-active members. That is where most of our work will be focusing right at the beginning, but we need to make sure we have that solid foundation to bring investigators into. What President Summerhays told me about love has really made a difference. Even though it isn't the strongest ward in the Church, the branch here in Andalusia has people that are trying to do their best to live the gospel and build the branch. I really admire them and love them for the effort they are putting into the work. Everyone here, member and non-member, is so nice and there isn't any reason to not love them.
There are a lot of older members here. I feel like I am in Mt. Vernon back in the day a long time ago. Heavenly Father must know that I have lived in this type of situation so I should be able to do me part to help build up the area. The town is really cute. They have the greatest homes here. Unfortunately, our apartment isn't on of the beautiful homes, but it is nice. The weather hasn't been unbearable, and it really hasn't been raining at all. They say they are in a drought, but it is a lot greener than Utah. My address here if 132 Captain's Quarters, Andalusia, AL. I can't remember my zip code. Sorry!
We have been able to go out contacting (meeting people where ever, like Wal-Mart, and then introducing ourselves and inviting them to listen to our message, etc), and it has been a good experience. I have really been forced to break out of my comfort zone and actually talk to people, but I imagine that this is a good thing. Heavenly Father has blessed me to be able to handle it and not have any problems. It is scary, but teaching the gospel has made it better.
Love, Joanna

Hi Family,
So, today is my last day here in the MTC. It seems crazy, like I just got here. Now all of a sudden I am leaving. I got your pictures and don't really like any of them. And, I don't care for the pic on my plaque. If you could find another one where I look good, could you change it? It is just a thought.
We fly out of Salt Lake City at 6:30 on Delta. It gets in at Atlanta at 12:05 or 12:30. Then we have about a two hour layover before we fly to Tallahassee, once again on Delta. I'm not really sure of the flight numbers. Maybe the one to Atlanta is 1793. It's a good guess. I think I am going to try to call home tomorrow between 5:30 and 6:00 your time. I figure you will be awake getting janet ready for school and seminary. I'll use my change. And, I can let you know what my flight numbers are so you can track them, Mom :)
Classes are good. We have our last class tonight. Elder Vaughn J Featherstone came to our Tuesday devotional tonight. It was really good. Last night's fireside was also really good. We listened to a mission department person. He spoke about our names and that we are representing our families and Christ. I'm grateful that I come from such a great family.
The temple was great this last time that we went. It is sad to think that I won't be able to go for 18 months. I will, however, remember how great it is to be in the temple.
It has been great teaching "investigators". It is a great experience teaching the gospel and bearing testimony about it. Even though everyone here knows the gospel, you can always share your testimony and maybe you will teach them something they didn't know.
I'm not sure what else to write. Things are the same everyday in the MTC. Oh, there is an elder in my branch who is from Fargo. He is really good friends with Aunt Becky and Uncle Todd's family. Garrett actually dropped him off here at the MTC. His last name is Brayton and he said his family has been there. Do you remember any Braytons?
I'm glad everything is going well with the fam. Congrats to Ben on passing boards! I'm glad you felt you did well on the LSAT, Preston. I am also happy to know that both the grand puppy and the grand kitty are doing well. They were both mentioned in letters from Shannon and Tracy.
I guess that will be all since I'll be calling home tomorrow. I am going to send some stuff for my scrapbook home today.
I love you all! Thanks for your love and support!
Joanna