Greetings From Paradise!

From an e-mail sent Sep. 29th

Well, after the last day and a half in the MTC, we were all shipped off to Michigan on Wednesday. Funny story from Cincinnati - we had a really quick layover and none of us really felt up to giving out a pass-along card. The one elder who did, Elder Barney, was about ready to give one to the man sitting next to him, when the man actually turned to him and asked Elder Barney where we were all headed and then explained that he had served his mission in South America somewhere. Those darn mormons are everywhere!

Anyway, we got into Grand Rapids about 4 Wednesday afternoon and were greeted at the airport by President and Sister Jones and the three assistants: Elder Kunz, Elder Sweat, and Elder Belliston. After a few pictures (which you should get in the mail sometime soon), we loaded into a couple vans and drove about an hour to Lansing. That evening we did a little bit of orientation with the assistants, had a pizza dinner, and went to bed a little early. The next morning, we headed over to the Stake Center a couple of blocks away for more orientation. There we met the office staff - Elder and Sister Brunner, Sister Fredline, and Sister Rogers, who told us all about how we should spend money wisely, take care of our mission vehicles, etc. and then we went over into the gym where the President announced where we'd be going and who our trainers would be.

The night before, he had actually told us what the possibilites were and who would be training, but we met all the trainers Thursday at the church. He had them step out one by one and tell a little bit about their areas and then he would assign one of the new Elders to the area. My training companion is Elder Weston Williams of Elko, Nevada and we are serving in Petoskey (pronounced puh-TOSS-key), Michigan! After lunch, we went and picked up our stuff at the mission home, dropped by the mission office to have my driver license copied, and then headed up to Mt. Pleasant where we would spend the night. We were met there by Elder Mineer and Elder Seely, the zone leaders for the Midland zone (which I believe covers the area of the Midland Stake). We went with them to a dinner appointment with a really nice family there in Mt. Pleasant. After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to get a pillow and blanket for me and then we went for a run on the track at CMU (Central Michigan University).

Anyway, Friday morning we were picked up by a Petoskey branch member, Bro. Rutterbush, who is actually the first counselor in the branch presidency. It was about a two-and-a-half hour drive up to Petoskey but it was really nice. The leaves are just starting to change and this is truly a beautiful part of the country. Literally EVERYONE has told me I'm really lucky to be starting out in Petoskey, which everyone calls the paradise of the mission. It's a beautiful coastal town and a major Michigan tourist attraction, although the tourist season is mostly over with winter coming on. I'm especially lucky to be in the only part of Michigan with hills. Elder Williams has told me not to get used to it - everywhere else he has served (Badaxe, Battlecreek, and Cass City) is completely flat so that you can never see over the trees. Fun fact: The home at which the final scene of Gone With the Wind is filmed is in Petoskey! I have, in fact, driven by it about a hundred times already!

The branch here in Petoskey is pretty strong. In the summer they have a large crowd but it has apparently dwindled. I'd say there were probably thirty people there yesterday. The members are fantastic though. I've had a chance to meet a lot of them already. So far, I've only had to feed myself for breakfast, so they definitely take care of our temporal needs. We've had a chance to do some service, helping out Bro. Law and the Ellsworths - Bro. Ellsworth is the branch mission leader. Yesterday I also met our investigator, Tori. She's dating Sherman, the branch president's son, and has said she wants to be baptized. She even bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon in Sacrament meeting yesterday! I also got a chance to meet the two converts that were baptized over the last two transfers - Brandt and Kelly. We taught Kelly one of the new member lessons yesterday with Bro. Ellsworth.

I haven't had a chance to knock doors or do any kind of street contacting yet, which I can't say I'm too disappointed about. Apparently, President Jones has actually asked that we do very little door-knocking, simply because it's completely ineffective here in Michigan. I guess we're supposed to come up with more creative methods of finding.We did, however, leave the apartment last night with the intent to do some door-knocking. We were going to walk around and look for a street that we felt good about working on and on our walk we stopped at the pier since I hadn't really seen Lake Michigan yet. Gorgeous! Anyway, we were looking for some Petoskey stones (fossilized coral found only here and in the Middle East somewhere) when a man walking toward us called out "Hey, Elders!" It turns out that his daughter is a member, married to a return-missionary, and seeing as his family had just finished a turkey dinner, he invited us in to have some. They were on vacation from Midland. We ended up just eating and chatting for fifteen minutes because we had to hurry to get to our actual dinner appointment with the Belfords, after which we were STUFFED! I don't know if I can handle two dinners every night without getting super fat.

Anticipating your possible questions, this is almost entirely a car mission. There are 60 cars for 70 missionary companionships and we are one of the many companionships with a full-time vehicle. It's an '07 Malibu (only the Sisters get to drive '08s). It's 100% necessary because ours is a pretty large area and definitely rather rural. For instance, we had (our real) dinner at the Belford's farm last night out in Boyne city - a good 20-minute drive, but in beautiful country. Driving out over those rolling, verdant hills was breathtaking. I can't wait for fall to hit in full force. It will be terrific!

Sorry for the length of my epistle. I am doing well and enjoying Petoskey so far. I do sort of feel like we should be working harder, though. I'm not exactly sure how we would do that though. Everyone tells us to "work hard, but work smart". I guess I'll figure that out in time.
Love you all,
Elder Joseph Cloward