Questions, questions, questions!

From Sarah/mom: We want to know the scoop on Amory's life! Here's a list of questions we sent her along with her answers:

1- What did you have for breakfast? Uuuhhh... well. My mom sent me pink sugar cookies. So, I had those? And... toast? Wait no. Rolls.

2- What songs have been going through your head? Oh, good one! A Thousand Years, Don't Stop Believing, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Hallelujah (the popular one), and "I'm alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic!" My companion hates that one.

3- What is your new address? Where should we send physical letters or packages? My mom has it! Send everything there. :D

4- Did you receive the package we sent to Georgia? Oh yeah! I did. But stop sending treats, haha! Too much sugar is BAD. I also don't have time to eat it, so there's that. ;P Send me handwritten notes! And pictures for my photo album! 

5- How hot and humid is it right now? The other day it was 80 degrees, but that's hot for February, apparently. It hasn't been very humid yet. It feels like Utah still.

6- Does it stay light later in the day? A liiiitle bit, but not much.

7- What new southern words have you come across so far? Oh, I've started saying "y'all." One of the APs told us a story. He said he was teaching this one lady and a couple other people, I guess, and he said, "you guys." He said she kinda freaked out and said, "Ah am naht a 'you gahys!' You gotta say 'y'all!'" So, he told us to say that. There's also just little things like the fact that barbecue out here is actually, like, smoked meat and such. NOT barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers.

8- Did you stay in the mission home the first night? What did they feed you? Yes we did! We had turkey loaf (basically meat loaf but with ground turkey, I guess), rice... and something else...? Salad? Yeah. We had carrot cake for dessert. Oh, and the next morning we had cereal. I haven't had anything weird yet.

9- What is your companion's name? How awesome is she? Where is she from? How long has she been there? Her name is Sister Hale. She extremely awesome! Is there a scale for that? She's from Boise, Idaho, and she's been out about 14 months. She's an entire foot shorter than me! That means that I'm getting double the attention because I'm already the new sister out here.

10- Do you miss having an iPad/ tablet? Yes! But the only reasons are because it has my marked up scriptures and because it made it so I could look at my emails (without replying, but still). Oh, and because of the music and family history apps.

11- Are you ready to go out there and change the world and INSPIRE everyone around you? :D :D :D YASS! I've met so many people! It's so amazing here! I'm so not ready, but I am at the same time, I suppose. I'm learning a lot from my companion.

12- Tell us about your first appointment! So, out here people are super chill, so most of them tell us they don't know when would work and just to come over whenever. It makes it kinda nice, actually, because then we just plan a bunch of people that are in the same area and get 'em all at once. ;) The first lady I visited is named Mary. She's an older black lady, and she was so hard to understand! We taught her the restoration (again. It's been a while for her), and Sister Hale invited her to be baptized. We had our first "But doesn't my baptism count?" discussion. That was interesting. We invited her to pray about it and read her BoM.

13- Have you noticed any different bugs yet? Well, not really. It's still winter out here (even though it feels like early summer in Utah), so not many bugs are out yet. There was one dead cockroach in the apartment when I got there, though. It was super gross. I vacuumed it up this morning.

14- When will you send pictures of your companion and your apartment? I'm working on it! ;)

15- What kind of car do you drive? Do you have a GPS? Yes, we have a GPS. But I can't drive because I'm not the designated driver, so it's weird. I've had to get used to being the passenger. It's a Nissan... something.

16- Did you talk to anyone at the airports or on the airplane? A little bit. I wasn't sitting in a position on the plane where anyone near me wasn't a missionary, but we were friendly to people at the airport. Mostly, we were in a hurry to get food and call our families and board the plane and didn't really have time to have a conversation with anyone.

17- What things did you buy at the BYU bookstore in the days before you left? Uuuummm... mints. And... I actually don't even remember. Oh, I got a bunch of pictures of Christ and some scripture lists or something.

18- Who drove you from Macon to your new area? We took a three-hour drive from Macon to Aiken (hah! That rhymes). The Brights, an older couple, drove us. Brother Bright is legally blind, so Sister Bright drove the whole time. Brother Bright is so funny! It was a good drive.

19- What have you learned about leadership? Leadership is leading by example, not telling people what to do. Oooohhhh, man, did I have to learn that in the first week at the MTC. That was a fun experience. I also learned it from my trainer. She's so amazing. She doesn't tell me what to do. She just does it, whatever it is, and shows me in the process.

20- Dad wants to know what the building is that you were standing in front of when you sang I Am a Child of God? Is it a garage or shed? Is it at the mission home? Yeah, that was at the mission home. It was a tiny little shed in the back yard.

Isabelle Palmer How's the weather up there? 

A: It's great! It's SO nice. Everyone I talk to about it just laughs and says, "Heh. Wait till summer."

Laine James Guy Holman Have you found out what it really means when people say "bless your heart?" 

A: Haha! Fortunately, I already knew what that meant when I got out here. ;) I actually haven't heard anyone use it yet.

Nick Ellingson Have you picked up a southern accent yet? 

A: I don't think so! I already started saying "y'all," but that doesn't quite count. I started that because of a story one of my APs told the new sisters coming in. It's in an answer to one of the other questions. :)

Mason: How are you doing? Sister Farley says hi! 

(Sister Farley is a teacher at his school and her room is next-door to his so they say hi all the time after school.)

A:  I'm great! Tell her I say hi back!

Sariah:  Is it crazy moving around all at once? 

A: YES! It's nuts. Both my suitcases weighed 49lbs when I got on the plane. It's the journals, haha. ;P