Hi Family,

Here is the real email. I have a little more time to write, so hopefully I can get it all written down. A lot has happened since last Monday, but I'll answer your questions first.

If you could deposit my check that would be best. I have nowhere that I could deposit or even cash a check here. Apparently, Wells Fargo is not a southern thing. And, I will definitely let you know when I get my debit card. I was thinking about that this week.

The weather turned a little bit cooler this week. But, it still is a lot warmer than where you are. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. I'll try and get some more. Pictures just don't capture the beauty of this area.

Have you happened to find me a job yet? I don't think I need anything permanent when I get home, but some thing that pays nice would be wonderful. After I spend the summer with you I'm going to move elsewhere. I'm not sure where yet, but somewhere else.

Do you think that you could send me the recipe for The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford and also a recipe for Taco Salad? A member here has requested that they feed us on our birthdays (Sister Hartman's is today) and she will make whatever we want. That is what I want, and I want it exactly the way you make it. That is why I want a recipe for Taco Salad. I don't want the member to mess it up. I love Destin!

I can't believe that I'm almost done. I spent a little bit of time with President and Sister Summerhays this week (I'll explain in a little bit), and we talked about it. President says it is a terrible thing that my time is almost over, but he knows it is right. Today I have been on my mission for 16 months. That is so hard to believe! It has gone so much faster than I thought possible. I guess that is the way life is. Jacob, in the Book of Mormon, describes it as a dream, and that is what it feels like. It will be fun to continue on with my life, though.

So, all of the excitement of this week resulted in me going back to Andalusia for a little bit. President Summerhays called me up Tuesday morning and told me that he had been thinking about me and how I need to go back there for a little bit. he also needed me to help him with some things there, so he asked me if I would go. He told me to figure out when would be best for us in Destin for me to go. Later on Tuesday evening, we talked again and decided that leaving the next day would work out the best with transfers and everything. One Wednesday morning, the three of us met President and he took me up to Andalusia. It was so great to be back. I got to spend time with the members I love so much, the investigators I love so much, the area I love so much, everything! And, such great things happened while I was there. Melissa, Donnie's wife, set a baptismal date of 15 February. We taught a lesson to a part-member's sister-in-law. That was a realy miracle, because that is how we can get the part-member a member. I was there until last night, when President and Sister Summerhays picked me up on their way home from a Stake Conference and dropped me off back with Sister Stowers and Sister Hartman. I had such a good time back in Andalusia. It was like I never left. Things hadn't changed at all. Here is a little bit from my letter to President Summerhays (sorry it is kind of long):

"The work is truly amazing! It's the Lord's work, so it has to be amazing. The whole time I served in Andalusia, I worked on having faith to produce miracles there because that was the only way to have anything happen, and this past week I saw that those miracles are still happening. It was amazing to see that it is still the same. Andalusia really is my own waters of Mormon. I learned so many things there and will always be remembering the things I learned there. I know years from now I will be reminded of things that I learned in Andalusia, and I will cherish those memories for all eternity. Thank you so much for letting me go back. I love Andalusia! I love the members! I love the investigators! I love the demands of missionary work found there!
Things have to be done the Lord's way or else the don't work out the way they are supposed to work out. No matter how much I want to do things my way, following the counsel in the white handbook, really being a Preach My Gospel Remember This... missionary, praying, studying the scriptures, heeding your counsel as the mission president is truly the only way to find success and happiness in the work of the Lord. Obedience and being fully committed to our purpose is how we can find happiness now and how we will always find happiness. It is so simple, but people don't realize how simple it is. I guess it is the easiness of the way that blinds them. That is so sad.
The Spirit was so strong. I had some of the most personal personal studies where I learned so much about the Savior and the reality of the Atonement in my life, some of the most powerful testimonies of the restoration of the gospel, some necessary insights for the work here in Destin this next week, and above all I was strengthened beyond what I thought possible. As I have reflected on the past 5 days I have seen how the Lord does bear us up in our times of need. It was tough. But, I am grateful for the things the Lord placed before me to learn. I have no idea about what my future will hold and the experiences that will happen, but I am so grateful for the things the Lord has helped me learn since I have been here on my mission. I know everything will work out for my good the way Heavenly Father sees it. I feel like I am in the best class for my life."

I love being part of the Lord's work. I am so grateful for the decision I made to serve a mission. I would be so under equipped to live my life if I didn't come. We have Zone Conference this week, and I am really excited for it. I love Zone Conferences! They really are the best things ever!

While I was with President and Sister Summerhays driving in the car we had some time to talk. President and Sister Summerhays asked me to tell them about my family. I gave them a glowing report. It wasn't hard because y'all are a really great family! I couldn't have asked for a better one. I told them I was going to spend some time at home after I get home and then they asked what I am going to do when I get home. I told them that you said I would have to get a job and President laughed. He said that I would be so bored if I didn't work because it is part of who I am. Remember how before my mission I wanted to go early enough so that I would be home before I turned 24? Well, I'm glad I didn't because I needed to have President Summerhays as my mission president the whole time. Things work out wonderfully in the Lord's plan.

I love you all so much! Sarah, I'm going to write you a letter this week, so be watching for it.

Love, Joanna