Dear Family,
Another week has gone by and Saturday was my four month mark. It's hard to believe that I've been out that long, but then again, it feels like I've been out forever. We had a pretty good week this past week and are looking forward to another one this week.

Tuesday we had Zone Conference. It was really good. We talked about work and working and how this is missionary work we are doing. I'm glad we were taught to work. Several times this past week, I have thought about what Dr. Scoresby told me at the big Scoresby reunion a year and a half ago. He said, in regards to the grade I got in his class, "I expected you to work hard because you are a Scoresby and have that hard work ethic in your family. Your ancestors worked hard and so I expect you to work hard too." I have definitely seen how that is true. Even though I didn't always look forward to Saturdays when we had to work around the house, it was good to have that instilled in us. It has definitely paid off so far here on my mission.


We had some very good lessons this week. We talked about eternal families with our investigator family. It was a really good lesson. We had a member go with us, and she bore very strong testimony of the importance of families and going to the temple to be sealed to them.
Sunday was also great. When you see your investigators make changes in their lives, you know they are starting to be converted. That same family was at church yesterday including the less-active boy that led us to meeting the rest of the family. It was great. An 8-year old girl in the branch got baptized after Church. The spirit at baptismal services is so strong. Even though this little girl had been raised in the Church, she was still entering into the first of many covenants that she'll make thoughout her life. She has opened the gate to the path that she needs to follow throughout the rest of her life. As her Mom was giving a talk about the Holy Ghost, her mom told her about how she is going to have to be an example for her little brother. She has to act in a way that Christ would. We have all entered into that same covenant being baptized into Christ's Church. If we are not faithful to that covenant, we start to wander away from the path back to Heavenly Father. There are a lot of members here who are not active. It is an astounding number that no longer do the things that they promised to do when they were baptized. They have lost sight of the end goal--celestial glory. As we were at the baptismal service, I thought about the future for all who have entered into the covenant of baptism. Things won't be a piece of cake, but there is great peace that comfort from being true to those covenants. And, it isn't just with our baptismal covenant. All of the covenants that we enter into here in this life are to bless us and to help make things easier to handle. They are guideposts along the "strait and narrow way".

It sounds like things at home are, well, normal. I love you all! Love, Joanna