NAUVOO!!!! (May 14, 2017)

Dearest Family and Friends!

Wow! Just Wow! What a week!

I'm back in Nauvoo and it feels so good! It feels like home and like I have never left! I just love being here in the beautiful place and feeling the constant peace and spirit of the saints! And more than anything else, I LOVE being missionary! It is so great to be able to completely forget myself and my life basically and just to serve others! I feel I'm a lot happier than I have been in the past few months and just loving living in the moment and being surrounded by the spirit and in a Zion community where everyone is so loving and all are focused on the same goal.

Coming back to Nauvoo a second time has been quite an experience. I knew with our previous directors, The Camps, gone that it would be completely different, but I don't think I really prepared myself for how different things would be. But it is good and I just have to stop myself every so often during the day and tell myself to let go and that it is okay that things are not like they were the first time. In many ways it is a lot easier than this time the first go round, but also us former YPMs are finding new challenges and trials that we never expected. I am so so so so so grateful for my friends Sister Hipwell who served with me before, and Elder Sykes. We have all been a really great strength to each other through all the changes and we have been able to support and uplift on another when things get rough. I honestly don't know what I would do without them here and it is a true blessing sent from above.

In talking with some of the other former YPMs, we really feel that one of the reasons that we have been called back to serve this year is to help this group of YPMs really learn how to be missionaries. Our directors and leaders are so focused on getting the shows together and making sure everything is set, that it is really up to us to help our Elders and Sisters be missionaries and how to take part in this work. I think it is a really cool responsibility we have and I have just loved getting to know everyone and watching out for them. One of my greatest joys so far has been to just talk with the elders individually and see how they are doing and help build them and share experiences to encourage them to keep going. Most of our Elders are younger around 18-20 and most have not served previous missions, so this is their first experience being full-time missionaries.

We have been going non-stop with rehearsals and it has been intense! We have already learned all of our music (over 30 songs), blocked 2.5 shows, and started working on choreography for our Sunset show. And that is only week 1! It feels like we have been here for months already and we still have 2 more weeks left of rehearsals. It has been exhausting and even though it feels like you can dance anymore or like your voice will give out at any moment, it's NAUVOO and the Lord is blessing us so much and giving us the strength we need to do His work. We cannot do this on our own.

I love these Elders and Sisters so much already and we have so much power singing together! Everyone is so talented and on top of things and it is awesome! When we do our choral numbers, it is so cool to hear how resonant and in tune we are with one another and the spirit is so present. Although I know not all those voices are ours, and there are angels close by on the other side of the veil singing and testifying with us.

I absolutely LOVE Nauvoo, I LOVE being a missionary, and I LOVE being able to testify of joy and of the hope of the gospel through song and dance! We have already had so many special experiences and miracles just in one week, and I can't wait to see what kind of amazing opportunities and experiences await us for the rest of the summer!

 Love you all!

 Sincerely Yours,
 Elder Joyner
(that sounds so good..for the 3rd time! Ha)