Elder Justin Michael Goodale: Mickey Dees with a Hitching Post

It sounds like Elder Goodale is off to a strong start in his new area. He just transferred on Friday of last week. We also got a SD card from him last week; as soon as we ship Christopher off to Basic Training this evening, I'll start working on going through those photos and posting them. Here is his e-mail from just a few moments ago:

Hey! How's everything going? Life is great here! It's been a tough few days, but I really love this ward. Ava is a little tiny town of about 3000 people. My area is about 70 miles from east to west, and from the northern tip to the southern tip it's about the same distance. In spite of that huge distance, though, Ava is the biggest town in the area. There are only 2 towns in the whole ward boundary that have over 1,000 people. (the other is Seymour, which is about 20 miles north of Ava. It has about 1800 people. There are also a couple of Amish clans up there. When I went to Seymour I'm pretty sure it was the first time I've ever seen a McDonalds with a hitching post...) So most of the area is extremely rural. Everybody lives out in the country, including us. We live a couple miles out of town in the Bishop's barn. It's a pretty nice set up we've got here. The ward is amazing though. I was blown away at how strong it is. There were a good 200 people at church on Sunday! For a town this size, that is incredible. Especially considering the size of my last two wards. And the members are awesome too. They are all really supportive and will do just about anything we ask. There are a whole bunch that are transplants from California and Idaho. So it's a very good ward.

It's so beautiful out here, too! We're right in the middle of the Ozarks, and it's amazing how green everything is. It's a really beautiful area. And the most amazing thing is the fireflies! They are everywhere! I can't wait to bring you all out here during the summer so you can see them. As far as missionary work here, it's a little slow, but it'll get better. We don't really have any investigators to speak of right now, but that will change soon. We're working our butts off, and I'm sure before long our teaching pool will be back up to where it should be. We'll definitely need your prayers, though.

The truck we were given to drive

As far as my new companion, his name is Elder Brian Davis, and he's from Maple Valley, Washington. As I said last week I'm training, so this is his first area, but he's doing really well. He's a good missionary. We have a new mission president now, too. His name is President Merkley from American Fork, Utah. I haven't met him yet, he just barely got here. In fact I'm pretty sure President Seal flies home today. It will be sad to see him go, but I'm sure President Merkley will be awesome as well. Two weeks ago I got to have my last interview with President Seal, which was really neat. He gave each of us a blessing, so it was a pretty special experience. Well that's about all for this week! Keep praying for us, we need all the help we can get! I love you all!