July 26, 2015

Dearest Loved Ones, Well, I guess Elder Murset emailed you about the next few Sundays, but let me clarify. This email will be my last email of substance if that makes any sense. My last email with good info/experiences (if I even get any in with the remaining few minutes I have). Next week is our Sociable (Fireside in Nauvoo terms) and we rehearse all day and then do 2 performances that night. That being said, they are only giving us 15 minutes to email next week. So...what to say in my last email with the 3 minutes I have left... One thing I have been working on a lot recently is de-cluttering. We live in a cluttered world with many distractions and things competing for out attention and it is hard to hear the spirit sometimes. Elder Camp shared with me something I have been trying to implement and that is taking time each day to just turn everything off and clean out the noise and garbage and distractions from our minds. It may only be 10-15 min. a day but as we do this and pray, we can receive answers and be in better communication with our Father in Heaven. That is all I have time for sadly. I love you all. It is all true, I know it! Sincerely Yours, Elder Joyner

July 19, 2015

Dearest Loved Ones, Elder Holland was here this past week on his family vacation and he came and saw our show. It was sad because he was trying to enjoy time with his family since July is the General Authorities' month off yet there were still mobs of people going up and bugging him and trying to talk and meet him. He snuck him in right before the show started and we were at the top of the stairs in the theatre waiting to go on and he entered that way so we were able to see him and he shook each of our hands and told us good luck. It was very nice. That night we had a special meeting with the mission and he shared his feeling with us about Nauvoo and how we really do live Zion here and how special this place is. I believe it! This really is Zion and it has been peaceful and perfect and I don't look forward to going back to the world in 3 weeks. Going off of Zion, pageant is really enjoyable backstage with the family casts. We try to make an environment similar to that of the temple where it is sacred and we whisper and can listen to the show and learn and have gospel discussions. One thing we do also is have random prayer groups for those on stage. Just randomly we will pull a few families together and ask them to join us in prayer with us to pray for those currently performing onstage. It was wonderful and that truly is a Zion atmosphere. I hope you all enjoy your week here in beautiful Nauvoo and that you let Nauvoo change you and you can feel of the wonderful spirit here. You have your own opportunity to live Zion for a week! Love you all! It's all true, I know it! Sincerely Yours, Elder Joyner

July 12, 2015 - One month left!

Dearest Loved Ones, Welcome to Nauvoo where we have 50F nights and 70F days! Gah! This weather though! We have been so blessed and fortunate to have such great weather and rain! From what we are told this is unusual and very rare for summer here in Nauvoo. What a blessing! Although today is hot and this week will apparently be quite warm. I forgot to mention last week a really sweet gift we all received that I will treasure forever. They recently re-roofed Carthage Jail and one of the Senior Elders who was apart of that took the original wood from the Jail roof and mail each of us picture frames. How cool is that! So I can say I have original wood from Carthage Jail! I only have time for a quick story. So yesterday before our first show I saw a lot of our group very tired and sleepy and lethargic and I decided we all needed some energy and pumping up. I remember many times on my first mission how hard it was some days to leave the house and have the energy and desire to go out, but some days you just had to force yourself and do it. Same here! We have to serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength even when we are tired so I decided to remind everyone! I went around and individually gave every member of our cast a pep talk and sending them good energy vibes. I don't' know why but I had a lot of energy and that helped me. I began pumping them up an inspiring and reminding them to serve and preach the gospel through our show with everything they got. By the time we performed everyone was pumped and we had great performances the rest of the day. During the show I was backstage giving mid-show pep talks to keep up the energy and I also passed out the cookies mom sent in the package I got yesterday so it came at quite an ideal time. Thanks mom! By the time I went to bed I was exhausted from helping everyone else but I went to bed happy knowing that I tried to serve with all my might and strength. Well, I love you all very much and am thankful for you support! I can't wait to see you all this week and share my mission with you! It is all true, I know it! Sincerely Yours, Elder Joyner

July 5, 2015

Dearest Loved Ones, This week has been quite a week! We have seen so many miracles in so many ways this week and I receive more and more a confirmation of how much God loves us and is watching out for us. I don't have a lot of time because I was taking care of some other business, but we really did have some amazing miracles this week. E. Hendrickson hurt his ankle pretty bad and within a day he was back dancing and even on the raked pagaent stage. I had a rough week being over exhausted and fatigued and had no physical strength. I received a blessing and was able to feel better. Elder Camp always tells us to pray and call on the spiritual angels to helps us because we will receive help and we deserve it especially when we are tired and can't feel like we can go any further. Mom, I have always read in my emails and letters on this mission and my 1st how my great-grandparents and ancestors are watching over and helping me but I never understood how or why. Well I said a prayer before one performance asking for physical strength and help. Well at one point during the performance I was feeling out of it and need a boost and I just had a thought or image of Great Grandpa ED. It was very random and very brief, but now I feel like he as one of the spiritual angels sent to help me and I'm grateful for that. Pagaent Starts this week! It is all true, I know it! Sincerely Yours, Elder Joyner