There is Hope Smiling Brightly Before Us

This is from an e-mail Joseph sent on Oct 6 I just took awhile to post it

Well, I've just completed my first full week in Petoskey. Since you all seem curious to know a little bit more about the area, I guess I can start with that. From what I understand, our area goes West to Bay Harbor, South to the Charlevoix county line, East to the Cheboygan county line and north to Cross Village. Petoskey isn't quite as small as the census would suggest because the town limits are actually pretty small. Right next door (literally) is the town of Bay View, I think it's called, and Harbor Springs, Walloon, and Boyne City are just a couple of miles away. All the areas in between seem as densely populated as rural farmland is apt to be, so, rural as the area is, it doesn't feel anything like Holden or Fillmore. Maybe it's just all the trees though.To be honest, mom, I can't answer any of your questions about the city of Petoskey. I don't know if I've really been to the downtown area or not. Actually, I'm positive I've driven through it (I think it's about one square block) but I didn't notice any tunnels.

I'm glad to hear your trip went well. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. I'm surprised to hear that the leaves were all still green. They're changing pretty nicely here, although it's not as impressive as I had hoped because there are so many evergreens this far north. (Incidentally, driving up to Petoskey we passed the 45th parallel - I'm closer to the North Pole than to the equator!)

This past week has been pretty good. On Tuesday, I met one of our investigators. We helped her move (out of our area) but didn't end up having any time to teach her. We may still be visiting her, even though she's in the Cheboygan area now, because she's only spending the winter there and is keeping her house in Alanson. She, like a lot of people I've met, can't afford to heat their homes this winter. She's just lucky to have a friend she can spend the winter with in Indian River.

We've also been working with a recent convert (and former Strangite). We went to her home yesterday to tear out some mold-infested dry wall, hoping to replace it so her home would be fit to live in, but discovered that the mold is also in the flooring, making the situation a whole lot messier.

We helped a branch member, move. He, like lots of others, is living with another family to save them all money. Perhaps that sort of thing is more common than I had ever realized or maybe it's just a Michigan thing.

I got to teach my first lesson this week! Thursday night we visited Tori and taught her about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life and the importance of prophets in preparation for General Conference weekend. Elder Williams tells me not to expect many of my teaching appointments to be as easy as those with Tori. For the most part, teaching her was just like the simulations we did in the MTC.

General Conference was awesome! We had two elders from Kalkasska, where there is no church building, come spend the weekend with us. It was fun to have more than just the two of us. In conference, I especially enjoyed President Uchtdorf's priesthood session talk. I think his suggestion to "lift where you stand" was exactly what I needed. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk on prayer and Sister Dalton's talk on virtue. And Elder Holland's talk. And ALL of them! I think I finally get why dad always says "I can't believe it's already over" on Sunday night. I'd always thought he was just feeling a little goofy after the ten hours of church or something

Well, my time's almost up, but I love you all and trust that you are doing well. May God bless you always!

Love,Elder Cloward