2nd Email: 1st week in Salem, Virginia

Well, Hi!

How's the weather over there? Oh that's nice. The weather over here is HOT. And HUMID. Mostly humid. But it's great! So, I know you've all been dying to hear where I am so....(drumroll).....I'm in Salem, Virginia! Yup! I'm sure none of you know where that is, but that's where I am! It's in the Roanoke area, and guess what. Nevermind. You'll never guess. So remember how Aunt Sherry was like, "Oh hey, my parents live somewhere in your mission. Maybe you'll bump into them!" And I was like, yeah! But in the back of my mind I was thinking probably not, it's a big mission with a lot of people...what are the odds that that would happen. Um....guess who's in my ward in Salem? Yeah. Brother and Sister Turner. Sherry's mom and dad. So crazy! But yeah, they're super nice.

So anyways, wanna hear something else super crazy? Of course you do. So my companion's name is Sister Tuckett, and she's from good old Payson, Utah! I know, right?? She's three years older than me and she went to Payson High, but her senior year she went to Salem High (also crazy because we're in Salem, Virginia right now) so we never crossed paths. But if she hadn't gone to Salem we totally would have because she played soccer so we would have been on the same soccer team! So I guess I probably saw her at soccer games but I never knew her. But she's good friends with some people I know, like Candace Rowley and Rylee Johnson (Rosenbaum...?). Yeah. Super crazy. We get along really well though.

The first week out here has been a little rough because we got "doubled in" to this area, which means Sister Tuckett is new to this area too, so neither of us have no idea what's going on. We basically started going through the ward directory and started trying to figure out where people live, and we've been going around introducing ourselves to the members and trying to find less actives and nonmembers. So it's been fun! We taught a lesson to these two girls, Stacey and Caitie (they're our investigators and they already have baptism dates because there were taught by the elders that were here before us), and it went really well. They're both great. Especially Caitie. She's 16 or 17, I think, and there's just something special about her. She doesn't really have any religious background, but I can tell she really needs and wants something in her life right now. She seems a little hesitant, but I can tell she really wants to believe that our church is true. She's very hopeful.

Let's see...what else...Oh I know. I'll tell you some things I've learned since I've been here:

1. Knobless dresser drawers are super hard to open.

2. Humidity has the ability to seal envelopes.

3. The people who made the movie Avatar probably came to Virginia to brainstorm ideas for how the creatures should look. (I have seen some weird looking bugs out here.)

4. Oh, and the church is true! Oh wait, I already knew that...

Seriously though, I'm loving it out here, and I can't wait to get some more investigators and just start spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! I hope all's well in Utah, or wherever you all are, and I want you all to know that I love you! A lot!

~Sister Myers