35 this morning and I felt WARM

"I love being a missionary. . . in case you didn't already know that! It's so fun!"

This is a video Pamella made while she was at BYU in Provo Utah. This is when she thought she know knew the cold. I just found it and thought it was so funny. 35 is warm now... Haha.

Well HeLLo EveryONe!!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I know that mine was great! I was able to celebrate differently than ever before, I had a simple, yet fulfilling Christmas! I, of course was not left without all the traditions! Mom sent me her famous cookies! I bought some of Grandma Johnsons hard candies to put on our counter, it wouldn't be Christmas without them! Grandma Black sent me tamales- I was feeling so "at home" in such a different place here in Green Bay this Christmas. It's crazy how the little things can do so much for you! Thanks family.

On Monday Sister Warner, E. Pulley, E. Jolley and I spent our P-day making cookies at the church, 200 sugar cookies. It was quite a fiasco at first with S. Warner's idea to use neon colored frosting :) ... but after a few changes and coloring sugar crystals to sprinkle on top of the cookies instead of lime green and purple frosting it ALL WORKED OUT! It was stressful at first, the cookies were way ugly and we were afraid people would think twice before eating them and that we would scare our investigators, but in the end they looked/ tasted great.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday caroling and delivering them to people, IT WAS SO FUN. We visited SO many people, it was a great excuse to just drop in! We went to President Jensens house for Christmas Eve. He is in the mission presidency. They are so good to us. She had stocking made for us and filled them with all kinds of hygeine things that we would need (he's the mission doctor!). We ate a great dinner then read the Christmas story and sang lots of carols at the piano. All the missionaries that serve in Green Bay were there. It was so fun. Afterwards we went with the elders and delivered a tree to Corry and her brother because it was CHRISTMAS EVE and they still didn't have one up. I love Corry. She was so surprised and was really touched. It made me really feel the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Day we woke up... opened our presents! I loved all of them by the way! I love my soft Pajamas mom, and we wear our "boots with the fur" anytime we're at home. And I've worn both of my sweaters, I love them both. BUT: the greatest gift of all this Christmas was being able to call HOME! I loved talking to Grandma and Grandpa and Mom and Dad and Brittany and Rocky! Sarah- I am sad I didn't get to talk to you too, but I may have been too emotional! I was so ridiculous that day when I was talking to everyone! They were happy tears, but there were A LOT of them! It was so good to just talk to everyone and see that the house is still standing and life as I knew it is still going forward even though I am not there... I was shocked. haha I thought for sure you all would crumble in my absense! haha Talking to you gave me an extra boost and I should be good now until May!!! When I talk to you in May I will have less than a year left, that's crazy, may feels just around the corner! I love you guys!

We are breaking records here as far as snow goes. There hasn't been this much snow in Green Bay in 100 years, since 1887! And they started keeping track in 1886! ahaha Of course, they'd get this much snow when I come! This little AZ girl who thinks she is going to DIE here from the cold, amazingly I am getting used to it. With my great white coat that goes to my ankles and warm scarves, gloves and boots, I am set. It was 35* this morning and I felt WARM: that's sick, i KNow! (mom do you miss that hearing that word? sick sick sick sick sick!!!!!!!)

I've received more letters/cards from people: Thanks to the Roatches, the Grizzles, Doreen and Kassie, the Gundersons, Cami King, and the Knudsens for remembering me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE on the 23rd and ROCKY on the 27th! 1 yrs old and 18yrs old! I thought of both of you on those days! A LOT! Wish I could have celebrated with you!

Britt- send me pics! I am dying without them! and send me your senior picst too please!

Dad! Thanks for all the emails! mom- where are your emails? the one dad said you were sending from the couch on the NEW laptop? ya, never got that!!! :) Dad! You're a high priest! haha that's funny, they finally got you! I am glad you helped with the sucess of the surprise b-day, that sounds like fun, I like that route you took home, hilarious! Mom and britt- good job pulling it off.

Sarah! It was so good hearing an update on "my girls" haha that's what I refer to them as here! I MISS THEM THE MOST! because I know they are growing... i miss hearing sophie's laugh. I went to a house where they were watching happy feet the other day and I almost started crying!!! haha I am glad they're both doing SO well! What Smart and CUTE little girls you have. My kids better be that cute, or I am trading you!!! deal?

I love you all! I have to go! I am a busy little missionary girl! Plus, we are trying this new thing to be on time! S. Warner and I are always late!!!

Love you!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black!

ps I love being a missionary. . . in case you didn't already know that! It's so fun!

Tis the Season...

"You rang?"

Sister Black's Christmas card

Today, being Christmas, we received a phone call from Sister Black. I was thinking she would call around noonish (which happened to be my desired time of waking up). But not our missionary. 7 in the morning my father was in my room waking me up to talk to her. It was so exciting to have her on the phone. Almost like she was here. (This is said because she still was telling me what to do). My mom talked to her companion Sister Warner and heard how much they loved the mission. Anyways. I apologize for not updating the blog, I will do better!

Merry Christmas.
Love, Brittany!

Week 4

Merry Christmas!

Can you believe that Christmas is already here? I can't! This week I will have offically been in the mission field one month! I am SO happy to be here at Christmas time! I truly have felt the true spirit of Christmas this year, more than ever. I love doing service and seeing the way it softens people's hearts. Especially at the time of year, I can see people are just more willing to give of themselves. Having the perspective of a missionary is so different, I love it, I feel like it's so much easier to see the good in people.

Yesterday was a crazy day. Friday & Saturday we had another huge snowstorm. Saturday night the elders (E. Pulley & E. Jolley) called us and asked if we would be shoveling peoples walks before church... HAHA we don't even have shovels and that was SO not in our plans seeing as church starts at 9am. (plus, we've only shoveled in skirts once before!) But, we said we'd go if they went with us. SO they apparently woke up way early and were shoveling at like 5am. They met us at our Ward mission Leaders house at 7am where they had already shoveled the driveway, we knocked on their door and asked to borrow shovels. Bro. Robertson thought we were crazy, his house was still sleeping, but he directed us to the garage to the shovels. We took a couple and we were off. We shoveled the Trujillos first. It was cold outside, but I figured I was just a wimpy Phx girl. We got in our cars and just then Bishop Huzzey called us and informed us that church was cancelled due to severe weather conditions! He asked what we were doing, so we told him and he said BE CAREFUL! It's -25* outside with windchill, and there is lots and LOTS of snow on the road. In that kind of weather any uncovered skin can get frostbite in 15 minutes!!!! HAHA suddenly I was VERY COLD!

I HAVE NEVER HAD CHURCH CANCELLED BEFORE! It was wierd! SO we continued shoveling: the Alcortas, the Ribbens, the Bartels, the Erbs... inbetween there I called the Robertsons and asked if they were making us breakfast! :) they said they were! haha so we ended up there. Bro. Robertson made breakfast, then we had a sacrament meeting. I love the Robertson family. They feel like my own family. Sister Robertson makes me laugh, we get along great and always laugh at the same things. They have 6 kids: Jocelyn 16, Annie 14, Brooklyn 12, Jed 8, Eliza 6, Olivia 3. I LOVE THESE KIDS! They make me miss "my kids" back home, but they fill the void well. I think that is why I was so touched during the sacrament meeting we had. The spirit was SO strong in such a humble setting in the living room with the Robertsons and us four missionaries. We had a little sunday school activity before where each of us paired up with someone else, discussed a passage from a christmas talk and then shared. The missionaries got the little kids, it was fun. Then we had the sacrament, then a testimony meeting. I cried through the whole thing.

THIS CHURCH IS SO TRUE! What a blessing it is to be able to feel the spirit so strong in a setting like that. We went aroung the room and each person took a turn, little Jed was just baptized saturday and his testimony was so powerful. I love being a member of this church and I love being here in Green Bay and getting to know people like the Robertson family. They are such a great family. Afterwards, we watched a video called The Fourth Wise Man. That was powerful too. Even though church was cancelled, I got my dose of church in for the week through those activities.

Being with that family and hearing their different life experiences & testimonies and hearing the missionaries I serve with bear their testimonies and their absolute LOVE for this work we are engaged in I just felt SO good. It was at that very moment, singing Christmas carols, sitting with Olivia, with tears in my eyes, that I thought, "This is what it is all about, right here." Sometimes I get a twinge of guilt because I feel like this with this family that is not my OWN, but then I remember that that is why I am here, to feel the blessings of the gospel and to grow close to and to have an absolute love for people I have barely known 4 weeks! This is what has strengthened my testimony THE MOST this past week.

We stayed in side for most of the rest of the day as we were advised to by many locals. I am new to this whole cold thing!

Corry came to Jed's baptism on Saturday and feels less anxious now about her baptism date coming up on the 12th of January. She is so great, the other day she taught ME out of the scriptures! It was so funny, she rebuked me for saying something like "that scripture always confuses me, lets move on to the next one" (we were reading in Psalms, her choice). She took time to reread it and to read scriptures before and after it and then explained it to me! ha! we were talking on the phone so I was just trying to get a meaningful verse or two out, kind of in a hurry, but I just started laughing. She is so impressive! I love her.

Diane Anthony is another woman we are teaching. She moved from Milwaukee here to Green Bay for work. She called in for a Joy to the World video, we have been teaching her ever since. She recently lost her favorite aunt, lost her job and her kids are not doing good things in their lives which stresses her out. GOODNESS! She is having a hard time. On Saturday when we taught her, I shared with her Alma 7: 11-13 whichs talks about how Christ knows EXACTLY what we're going through because he suffered it in the flesh too. We also shared with her Doctrine and Covenants 122: 7-9 and promised her that Heavenly Father is aware of her and knows her troubles and the His son Jesus Christ has felt her pain.She loved those scriptures and was going to read the Book of Mormon on her many bus trips from here to Milwaukee and then Milwaukee to Detroit for the funeral. She'll be back before New Years looking for a job. She prays often and knows her bible well, we always pray with her and she'll be attending church when she gets back. I am so impressed with her faith. We're praying for her too.

There are so many other things I could say, but mostly I feel BLESSED. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ here on the earth. I know that because I have felt the spirit of God witness to me and because of that I can not deny it. I love this time of year and know that thru giving of ourselves we find the Christmas spirit, which is the spirit of Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Love Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps thank you to everyone who has remembered me this season! ... My family- Grandma and Grandpa* Mom and Dad* Brittany and Rocky* Sarah and Bobby!*The Storks, Sister Lee* the Weavers* the Afflecks* the Andersons... sara and deonne* Tiffany Kieth* the Gundersons* Spencer Wagner*Michelle Anderson*Amanda Phillippi* Brittani Clonts*

*Jennifer Morgan*Ally Snow*Kassidy Stevens*Alyssa Badertscher!* Melindy Jones*

You guys are SO great! I feel so Loved!

"Each day is a miracle out here!"

(Sorry this is week 3, a few weeks ago. I am failing at the blog. Sister Black Has yelled at me.)

Hello, sorry i didn't send an email yesterday... but i was WAY busy. So I am sending one today! :) so i don't have time for a marathon email, nor do i have a desire to type that much!!!! so here we go with the highlights from last week.

Tuesday morning we woke up and it had snowed 10 inches monday night, it was still snowing and snowed pretty much all day tuesday. 10 INCHES! It was insane, school was cancelled and everything... of course as missionaries we don't get to just take a day off so we were out and about, mostly we just made visits and we had a really intense snowball fight with the spanish elders, the elders we serve with and a woman named Carmen and her son Christian from the spanish branch. We all had lunch there and then we put our coats on and went outside. it was really fun! the snow here is so different than in utah... its so dry and hardly packs when it falls! All of our evening appointments were cancelled, of course because people in GreenBay stay INSIDE and hibernate for weather like that! sO, we went to Bishop and Sister Huzzeys house and had dinner and visited. It was good, since they have 2 children out serving I think they are really aware of us and called and just knew we might be needing a place to come for the night. I LOVE them!

Wednesday was a good day too. Some roads still hadn't been plowed so we had to plan our routes carefully, but we played volleyball with the women in the morning (I'm getting dang good PS, taylor & tatum it's on when I get home!!!) then we had interviews with President Barrett. He's great. Later that night we went to the Young Women's Christmas Party at the Huzzeys... that was really fun. It was good to meet all the YW finally.

Thursday was zone conference. I felt like I was back at the MTC! It's one whole day spent at the church in different training meetings. However, I learned so much. Since it was Zone conference we had our zone come and the Appleton zone. There were lots of us and I got to see Elders Love and Turney who were in my district at the MTC. That was great. It's fun to get to meet so many other missionaries. All of the new missionaries and the missionaries going home bear their testimonies at the end. It was so cool to hear from the missionaries that will be going home and know that in just a few short months that will be me! I want to live this time up while I have it!!! We also did a zone presentation on enduring to the end and we were to share an experience we had with that. I was able to talk about little miss Jaydie King and what a good example she was to me of enduring to the end of her trial and making the best of a bad situation. It was powerful. Its so interesting that all of the experiences we have in our lives really do prepare us for the future. I see that each and everyday as a missionary.

Friday we had dinner with the Cozzens family. They are SO cute. Bro Cozzens has been out of a job since march. He was just hired on to manage a wal mart store about an hour away from GB. SO he is only home on weekends. He has the cutest family of 6 kids ages 12 - 3 months. They are some of the most faithful people I have ever met. Can you imagine being out of a job for 10 months with 6 kids? Some people never even knew they were dealing with that. I love the Cozzens family. After dinner we went to the Carlsruhs home to teach Corry (our 17 dynamite investigator who gets baptized in early january) and a lady named Heidi who is one E. Jolley and E. Pulley's investigators. She has three small boys. Danny 6... Reese 4... Sam 2. They are so rowdy! I love them but as we watched Joy to the World the elders maintained them. It was intense, at some points I didn't think the house would still be standing thru that short video. I finally convinced Sam to sit by me and told danny if he sat still and watched the video i would have a snowball fight with him after. SO then E. Pulley just had Reese, who is most active of all!!! Ha it was a good teaching appt though. Both investigators committed to pray to know if the B.O.M. is true and and to act on the answer they receive despite what other people tell them. Heidi gets a lot of anti- mormon comments, daily. I love to teach, my testimony is always strengthened as I do! PS i held true to my promise, and we had a good snowball fight with the kids after the lesson!!

Saturday we did a LOT of service. we went to a neigborhood christmas activity at the elementary school and I passed out prizes. It was fun. Its so good for people to see us out in the public like normal people and not like mormon robots that just knock on their doors or something.

SUnday we went up to Sturgeon Bay... it's so beautiful there! look at it on the map, its a peninsula and they have great apples and cherries there! Apparently its even more beautiful in the fall. mom we'll have to go there in the fall when i get home!! We cover the branch there too. There have been missionaries there for 28 years, they just took them out a couple transfers ago bc nothing was progressing. It's so TINY. There were 5 of us in Relief society. That's what I thought church was like all over Wisconsin. Oh how I was wrong. Greenbay has really big wards with lots of children in primary and in nursery. The Young womens has at least 25 active girls. It's great. But sturgeon bay is teeny. They meet in a progressive building. SO right now they are in a phase 1 building. THe seminary building in pima is about the size of this building. when the branch gets bigger theyll add more and more until it can get up to a stake center size building. Kind of cool. The church is so amazing how well they plan EVERYTHING including how they buy land and build churches. We vistited less actives and investigators there and then stayed the night at the Seelys home. Grandma and Grandpa- they remind me of you! It made me miss you!

Monday morning we drove to Algoma, visited referrals and then came back to finish our Pday yesterday in GreenBay. We cover a lot of area and sometimes it's frusterating because I want to stay in Sturgeon Bay or Algoma and work there. The church NEEDS to grow there! We visited a really cute couple, she's 23 he's 27 who just don't attend church mostly bc he works sundays but also bc the branch is so tiny and they feel out of place being the only young ones! It would be hard for me too i think! Last night we went and made dinner with the elders at the home of the Ribbens family children. Their parents are in North Dakota with their daughter who was in a really bad accident on her way home with kids from other families in the ward from BYU Idaho for the semester. They hit black ice and rolled. It's just scary. FLY home if weather is bad. It's worth the money. THe weather is still so bad there that the parents slept in the hospital the past couple of days while jenny was there because nobody could leave the hospital. She gets to come home today. It was a really scary situation and they all should have died. SO we made dinner with the kids bc their parents were away. We made spaghetti- 1st time i've had it on a mission!!! and then we played RISK. Rocky- I played risk and I get it now!!! I can play! UGH i told everyone about my bad experience with the game of risk one christmas day. haha they all laughed. We only played it because the elders and Joey, whos 13 insisted!!!

Today it dropped from 41* in our underground parking to -6* in about 5 minutes in our car as we drove out of the pking garage. -6*, everyday i say at LEAST once "Why do people LIVE here???!! It warmed up to -2* now. SO WARM!!! haha Actually though, with all my layers and gloves it's not too bad at all!!!

I love you all! I love being a missionary. Each day is a miracle out here! Love Sister Pamella Jo Black

Week 2 in the Field!

I LOVE THIS GOSPEL...

Hello Hello Family~ how are you all? Well Life for me is SO good! really it is just amazing. I am so blessed as a missionary! There is nothing else I would rather be doing right now! However, I do miss my family! It's a different kind of homesick though... I miss you all, but I know you're taken care of and I know that you're receiving blessings for supporting a missionary. Today is a busy day for us... we are here at UWGB (university of wisconsin... GREENBAY!) emailing and stuff... then we are going to go visit a man named Robert Gay... he was a media referral. We took him Joy to the world and talked with him a bit. He lived in Milwaukee before he lived here and the missionaries taught him for about a year. I am excited to get the opportunity to teach him. After we visit him, we are going to do a little shopping... target, again! haha, a sports store for sis warner to find some boots (i love mine by the way... i bought them at columbia and they will keep me warm up to -25* which is so good! They are the custest possible. i am learning to redefine my style requirements... 1st necessity:will it keep me warm... 2nd necessity:is it somewhere scratching the surface of MAYBE being cute? OK DONE AND DONE... i'll take them! haha, now these are cute. they have buttons on the sides and fur too... it's just the bottoms of them, like the bottom inch or so is all rubber and sometimes i feel like i should be out chopping wood or something. whatever, they keep me warm!!!) and for both of us to get earmuffs that go behind your hair! yeah... bc hats and over the top earmuffs make my hair SO staticy.... then we are going to the church to play volleyball with the elders... that's always fun! (and my thumb is almost completely healed so it will be lots more fun this week.) then we are going home to eat this amazing chicken and rice soup and rolls and then going to visit some referrals from the Millet family in our ward! Busy busy day! but so good. I love to be busy.

Last week was SUCH A GOOD WEEK! I love Greenbay. I love missionary work! Tuesday we had district meeting. It was my first one! so good. Did i tell you there is an Elder Black in my district?! ya... from Kayesville UT. I sat right next to him not knowing and we started introducing ourselves and everyone made the connection. it was funny. He felt awkward, like we were a couple or something..... i am so happy i never had to be a 19 yr old boy! Sometimes they're just so AWKWARD! haha he said he gets some of my mail bc sometimes my family puts ELDER pamella Jo Black on my dearelder things! haha my district leader in the mtc (who is in charge of checking the mail there) would always get SO mad bc he'd think the mail was for him bc it said elder... then it was for me! so make sure you always put SISTER when you do dearelders... otherwise elder black gets my mail! :) He said he's just been sending it to the mission office in milwaukee and then sis alder in the office is forwarding it back to me... but i told him from now on just to bring it to district meeting and give it to me. We learned ideas for contacting people in these bitter wisconsin winters! And that if we're not having fun ... we're NOT doing missionary work! I love this mission. Afterwards we went to eat at el serape. I thought i'd be on an 18 month fast from mexican food, but it actually wasn't that bad! it was pretty good! After not having mexican food for about a month It was great. the elders chose to go there just for me! haha After that we visited some Less active members and then went to "Soup 4 the Soul" here on UWGB. It's at the Ecumenical center, kind of like an institute building, for all faiths. It was fun and the soup was really good. I was able to teach the whole first lesson to my table because they just kept asking more and more questions. it was great. Sister missionaries have only been in this area for 5 months, that was when it was opened to them. AND we have only been on UWGB campus for 3 months. the progress here is immense already. We are making friends here on campus and really have a presence here. People recognize us! This coming tuesday we are doing a Mormon Mythbusters activity here on campus. We have been advertising it all over campus and put out question boxes for people to submit any myths or questions they have about our faith. Right after soup 4 the soul this tuesday we are going to have a panel of members answer their questions. It is going to be good. we already have lots of questions... mostly to do with polygamy. the church is so new here that SO many people have false ideas. I think that this is going to be great. Also, we might have Brady Papinga (He plays for the packers?) come and be on the panel as well. However, they are still in season and they lost yesterday so he might be busy. He is LDS and a great contact for us. The missionaries do a lot of service with them and work with them a lot. They love the missionaries, because they both served missions.

Wednesday we woke up and went to the church and played volleyball with a bunch of women. There are like 4 members and 10 non members. One of the women, a member, started the group like 8 years ago. She wanted to play volleyball with women, but there weren't very many people interested. so she put an ad in the paper and 8 yrs later they're still going. The women are SO nice, but VERY competitive. SO here i am the new girl, thrown in with all these women and have NO idea how to play... but they taught me and I am going to get good. I still need a lot of work but hey... i am improving! :) I had to... i was afraid they'd get mad I was making us lose!! haha They all said I act like i have played before, I told them it was my fight or flight insticts kicking in! haha I either had to play hard or get out... they were scaring me! haha well one of the girls... Ellen.... (good name eh?) CAME TO THE WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY SAT NIGHT... THEN CAME TO THE SPANISH BRANCH (even though she doesn't speak spanish!) AND SANG SILENT NIGHT (in spanish) WITH TWO OTHER MEMBERS THAT PLAY VOLLEYBALL! that is huge. she has been playing volleyball for 8 yrs with these women and someone invited her to come.. .and she did! So great! The women ask us a missionaries lots of questions and we really have a good thing going there! i am excited to see the progress that is going to come of that activity. Since sisters have only been here less than 6 months, we are just getting started there. It's so fun though. i actually like volleyball! :)

Later on Wednesday sis warner and i went with the spanish elders to teach a girl named Brenda... she is 17 and has investigated the church for a while. then stopped. Now she is interested again. She was our investigator,,, but then the spanish elders tracted in to her so we taught together. it was a good lesson. She is just afraid to make changes in her life. that's hard. Because we can see how much better her life could be if she stopped doing some things and started doing others. she'd be SO much more happy.

K... so thurs was pretty uneventful... we did a service activity with a couple old ladies for the Greenbay Newcomers Club. We did it in the basement of this ladies house and put together packets for new people. it was fun.. the ladies asked us lots of questions. they didn't know there was a mormon church her in GB! haha Then the rest of the day we spent inviting people to the ward christmas party on saturday. we invited investigators, less actives and recent converts ... it was good. I was able to meet a lot of people. OH.. but thurs night we went to the trujillos house with bro robertson our ward mission leader. he teaches their two daughters ESL in elementary school (this ward has lots and lots of school teachers! elementary, HS and College). They are the sweetest family. they live right around the block from him,... He made us walk there ... I WANTED TO KILL HIM~ IT WAS FREEZING COLD! HAHA I TOLD HIS KIDS TO DIG A HOLE IN THE BACK YARD FOR ME! HAHA But.. when we got there I fell in love with the trujillo family. The dad speaks both spanish and english (but his english is shaky) and the kids all speak both, but the mom only speaks spanish! I got to use my spanish SO much! I loved it~ they are SO great. We stayed there for like an hour and just talked. they have 5 girls. 1 who is 14, twin13 yr olds, then a 5 yr old and a 3 yr old. They are so adorable! Beautiful girls... and I lvoe the parents! I lvoe how excited they were that i was from phx, they used to live there and that i could understand them! haha the mom talked to me forever and was so patient with my spanish! SIS warner was not a fan of the fact she couldn't understand anything we were saying. we are going to start reading the B.O.M. in spanish outloud to eachother. it will be good. she is determined to learn. I think the spanish elders will still teach them, but we won't lose contact either. I think the girls would do better in our YW program, but the mom needs to go to the branch! but the moral of the story is ... I GOT TO USE MY SPANISH!!! a lot.

Friday we went to the west side... across the fox river. It was good. we were able to visit a few potential investigators and go to steve and barrys (which is going out of business... every store. It's the store that carries Sarah Jessica Parkers line... so good. cute stuff. I got 2 new skirts and a shirt..... i am sad it's going out of business... but she is looking for a new store to carry her line) We bought my boots at columbia (sis brudnicki works there and gave me an amazing discount) and then we went to teach Corry. I love Corry. She comes from a home that is kinda rough. She is the strong one there. She does the cleaning/ decorating for Christmas ect... She is getting baptized Jan 12th. I am so excited for her. it is going to be good. Then we went to teach/eat dinner with the huntleys and the elders. It was good... but we didn't get to teach. Mr. Huntley is all about us teaching him... sis huntley always talks about HER church, thus i think she is trying to send us a message. we'll keep working on them though. When i met them i thought they were mormon... Missionaries have been working on them for years... but they keep their commitments, they read and they have questions... so it's good.

Saturday we did a service project here at UWGB. We passed out soup and bread (this is where our yummy chicken and rice soup is from) for the Arthritis Foundations's Jingle Bell Walk/Run. People are CRAZY IN GB!!! They ran a 5k outside in a snow storm! seriously! the trail had a foot of snow on it. the runners were mad bc their times were slow! GAG ME! haha they were in a blizzard. (it's just like that run we helped with on thanksgiving... it was SO cold. i don't know why people do it!) But we were inside the gym so life was good for us. We were able to talk to a lot of people. So good. After that we went to the YMCA... we teach the youth strength training there. its and hour and a half class with about a7 kids. they have to take the class before they can get their own pass to the Y if they're under 13. we teach them about eating healthy and exercizing and how to use all the machines... plus we get to work out too! it's great! and people see us with our tags and start to recognize us. Its fun. Being a missionary is SO fun!

Then we went and taught diane anthony. She is pentecostal but WAY in to "learning more truth". (that's a phrase sis warner always uses and its so perfect. people here are very religious, but usually open to learning more truth) We taught here about the restoration and committed her to reading the book of mormon. I told her to find out for herself she has to read and pray. She said, "and i want to!" haha she is so great. she was a media referral too. It was fun to teach her. I can just feel the spirit working in me... sometimes i have no idea what i say... but i know it was good! We teach her again next saturday. We're going to watch the movie the restoration with her. She already said she wants to come to our church and wants us to come to hers. I was way excited at first, but the elders are freaking me out now!! haha oh well... we're going. My nametag and the spirit will protect me!!! :)

Saturday night was the ward christmas party. I LOVE THE GREENBAY 1ST WARD! I feel like i have been in theis ward forever. ANd i have been here less than 2 weeks! We had lots of investigators come. The Trujillos (the spanish fam) came... i sat with them. Tons of less actives and recent converts came... plus the elders had some investigators too. I was SO all over the place. I sat and ate (kind of) with the trujillos. I couldn't really eat because Heidi, the elders investigator, came with her 3 boys and they were a total handful. haha we were trying to make it a good night for here so we refereed the kids. It was intense. I love to see the elders with these little boys though. They are so good with them. The kids love the elders! By the end of the night little sam (2) fell asleep on me as we sang christmas carols! it made me miss sophie and chloe SO much... but, i was also so happy to be in wisconsin as a missionary. After dinner the primary kids put on a live nativity scene with narration and we all sang christmas carols. it was so good. Corry was there and it was the 1st time she'd ever sang them! I loved it. I loved seeing heidi sit with her oldest son, who's 7, (who i am guessing rarely gets attention bc the other two are so dang demanding) holding hands and singing songs about the baby Jesus. Meanwhile Reese, her middle son was climbing ALL over Bro. Carlsruh, who later told me the elders take him along to all their visits to be the human jungle gym for the kids so the elders can teach Heidi. too funny. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL... I love to see from a missionary perspective how important ward members are. It's a team effort!

Yesterday we went to church... then we went to Bishop Huzzeys house for lunch. I love sis Huzzey. They have 2 missionaries out right now. Their daughter is in Argentina, she went out in may, and their son is leaving the MTC this tuesday to go to San Fransisco, he is spanish speaking! She said it is hard having two missionaries out at the same time, but it is also SO good. Mom- that will be you this time next year! Bishop Huzzey never made it home for lunch... he couldn't get out of the church and then had other meetings. Being a bishop is a lot of work! The huzzeys have us over for New Years Eve. I am excited.. they have the youth all coming too. Of course we'll leave at 9:30, but we'll get to play with them for a while. It is SO important to build good relationships with the ward members.. especially the youth! they will be the ones to introduce you to their friends! After the Huzzeys we went and took our Christmas Card Pictures. The elders met us, we took theirs, they took ours. it was fun. we took it on Baird Creek Road, here in GB. Google Map it. It is the most beautiful street you have ever seen! tree lined...snow on all the branches! there are cross country ski trails all over that start and end on this road! AND get this: there are two big hills that people snowboard and sled on. they have 1 designated for snowboarding and 1 for sledding. BIG hills! they both have pull ropes on them so you don't walk up the hill!!! even the sledders sit on their sleds/tubes and hold on to this rope that is really low to the ground and it just pulls them right up the hill! crazy! AZ needs to invest in those! I get so jealous when we drive by. the snow here is so perfect all the time! powder powder powder. almost every day there is fresh powder! too bad they only have hills and no mtns~ haha but the hills would work for me. After taking pics in the FREEZING COLD all four of us went to the Robertsons to drink hot chocolate, make sugar cookies and decorate their tree! I love the robertsons. there are 6 of them. the oldest is 16, the youngest 3. All girls minus, Jed who is almost 8. THe youngest Olivia and I are best friends ... she always sits with me, at the ward party, church whatever. She is the cutest. When we walked in Sis Robertson was it the recliner with a blanket. She said sis black you are in charge. haha so funny . I felt like I was at HOME! I told her that! she was like queen bee or something! haha Elder Pulley did the dishes, i made hot chocolate with the kids and sis warner and elder jolley decorated the tree with some of the other kids. We were only there for a couple hours but it was so good for me to get to know them, he's the ward mission leader, and they are such good missionaries. all of them. By the end the little kids were running around like wild (probably due to the amt of sugar they had: starbursts dipped in hot chocolate?? that was so NOT my idea. & sugar cookies!!!) Sis warner was singing hymns with the older girls while the oldest played piano, elder jolley was stringing popcorn on a stringfor the tree and elder pulley was helping little eliza put the angel on the tree. Bro Robertson was making up some christmas poem for their christmas card and I was playing referee with Jed and Olivia and laughing with sister robertson (who was still in her chair)it was the perfect moment. like one where you just want to freeze and replay over and over again. it made me think of home SO much! but also made me so thankful for eternal families and for the christmas season. all that came to mind was "this is what it's all about." SIs robertson was laughing at how i was with all the kids. i told her i used to babysit/nanny alot. haha it just comes second nature now. I LOVE THE ROBERTSON FAMILY. Olivia is my favorite! she knows it too!

After that fiasco we went to the church for the YSA Christmas party. i feel like all i do as a missionary (especially at christmas time!!!) is eat! and everyone these days is serving ham! I HATE HAM!!! but they had pasta salad and mashed potatoes so i was fine. Lots of inactives and a few investigators came. Some had to travel really far since the YSA program here covers lots of land. ps did you know that we are the largest land mission in the united states? yep. we are. (MY HAND HURTS! THIS IS THE LONGEST EMAIL EVER! i am so so Sorry. goodness. you'd think i don;t get to talk to people or something! haha maybe grandpa is on to something with that vow of silence talk) We played bingo, i filled my card out wrong, the only one in a room full of people... bro torbenson proceeded to call that to EVERYONES attention!!!! haha lame. I won some cute baskets for my apt though... then we watched the 1st presidency christmas devotional. Did you all get to watch it? It was SO good! The robertsons came for that part and little olivia came and sat next to me. so cute. I loved the devotional. It helps so much to remind you of what christmas is ALL about! its about sharing with others something you have... that they need.. whether it be a meal, a batch of cookies or a gift! If you didn't get to watch it watch it on the internet or see when it replays on the BYU channel. it was so good for me to hear. Being a missioanry i really get to do a LOT of service. it truly does make me SO happy. Are you guys doing the 12 days of christmas again? You should!

Well that was my week in review! Whew! seriously i might not be able to play volleyball today due to the onset of arthritis! I love my companion... she's great! i LOVE being a missionary. The church is SO true. i know it more now that ever before. Heavenly Father loves us and hears and answers our prayers. I know that. Joseph Smith lived to restore this gosel, the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the book of Mormon is true. I find I can never have enough time to study it! I love this season. It is my most favorite time of the year! I love that i am having a white christmas! (remember our white christmas in Taylor!? we woke up and it had snowed christmas eve? oh the memories!) I LOVE MY FAMILY.... and i hope you each know how much I miss you! and so many things each day remind me of one of you. I talk about you all the time! I am so thankful i come from such a GOOD family! Ok before i wrote this sentance this email was 3,897 words like! that's almost essay length... that IS essay length! Iove you all! -Sister Pamella Jo Black

Update through pictures...

THIS IS AN EMAIL SIS WARNER SENT TO her FAM. MY WORDS ARE IN RED. HERS IN BLACK! I LOVE HER.

time for the unveiling of baby girl black ! (mission lingo is super wierd, when you train someone you are considered their "kid". The person that trained your trainor is your "grandmother". so wierd. freaks me out. haha but before i got here she referred to me as baby girl black)

ENJOY !

1

1...s.barrett, s.warner, s.black, & president barrett ! us and the mission pres and his wife.i love them too! they are great!
2

2...i LOVE the barretts !

3

3...s.hood & her daughters & grandaughters ! sis hood is in the middle in red, she trained both sisters in green who now are training sis murray and I! yeah! i feel like i know sis hood bc sis warner talks about her ALL the time. sis warner has only been out 3mos. sis hood was her trainor and only companion before me. sis hood went home the day after thanksgiving.
4

4....nana hood, my baby girl & me !
5

5...s.black & i with diantha & whitney on exchanges ! this is when diantha (brwn hair) and i went on exchanges and met JO
6

6...our crazy ZL's elders jolley & pulley ! elders i spoke in sacrament with... love them
7

7...s.black & i @ service @ the botanical gardens !

gma- i got my package today! thankyou thankyou! i loved hearing everyone! A. tammie is still a brat, gpa gave me a play by play! my dad thinks i threw away the turkey suringes things for deep frying the turkey, i didn't hear from rocky at all and ya.... it was a crazy house! it made my day! i can't wait for more! i will send you one soon too! lvoe sis black

you gotta ALWAYS feed the missionaries

"I love being a missionary"

Blake I tried to find a picture of you and Pam, but I couldn't! Sorry :[

HEY family and all those who i consider family!

I have so much to tell you! thanks for all the emails! i loved them! SO... the rest of friday was good. MINUS The fact that after i was done here at UWGB emailing we left and went to the grocery store.. then we went home. we have underground parking which is SO nice ps. OK so the not so nice part. the object of the game when we go from the parking lot to our 3rd floor apt is to get everything out all at once. which we have always done. but this time sis warner had her hands full and so she started walking towards the elevator (k yes we take the elevator when our hands are full) I had to just close the trunk. when i did the facewash i just bought go stuck in the trunk as i closed it.. like the spout part. so we were laughing about that. she popped the trunk again and then i retrieved only the white spout that was stuck in there and then (mind you my hands were SO full of my bag and my coat/scarf/gloves/groceries ect ect) and we were still laughing (side effect of being tired missionary sisters) and I CLOSED MY THUMB IN THE TRUNK!!! yes on the side part where there isn't ANY rubber! i was still lauging(shock) then I saw the blood. I dropped everything (ps my thumb didn't get stuck in there, i pulled it out) and was like "sis warner ahhh... sis warner, still kind of laughing, in shock, not knowing what to do, then wanting to cry or hurt someone, AH. so i just started walking towards the elevator with me myself and I. sis warner had to grab all my stuff plus hers. i am still bleeding . we get upstairs i put cold water on it... it's still bleeding, has a heart beat and feels like it's going to explode, i finally get the blood to stop and see that i split my thumbnail in half about halfway down the nail bed. Sis warner has since retrieved her 1st aid kit and want to play dr. she is pulling out all kinds of stuff and has crazy (helpful?) ideas! haha this scared me (so like something brittany would do to me!) so i went in to my bathroom and clipped the part of the nail that was hanging off. this released more trapped blood, which made it bleed a ton more, but felt SO good to relieve the pressure. SO now i have an ugly left thumbnail. tragic. it hurts all the time and is still bruised all the way through. i HATe buttoning buttons! so annoying!!! but i keep antibacterial stuff on it and keep it covered... so hopefully it will grow back fast and stop hurting!!!! this was a long story. sorry. haha but i just thought you'd like to know!

Saturday my comp and I woke up and worked on our TALKS! YES I WAS assigned to SPEAK in sacrament before I even got here! Crazy! All four of us (the elders too) were asked to speak by the ward mission leader. Then we went and visited some referrals. Barb Erb was one of them. she has mutual friends through boy scouts, she was referred by a member in the ward. we taught her, gave her a BOM and are goin back this week. I am excited about her.

We also visited A woman named diane. Diane lives on Day Street (which apparently is the ghetto in Greenbay. i think it's hilarious because it's the prettiest ghetto i have ever seen, colonial homes and all, I guess there were 2 murders on day street in a row so now people are all fired up about it. it doesn't scare me at all, hello South Phoenix anyone? and my comp is from LA.. MOM- don't worry, i know when places are scary, this area is NOT scary). she called in about getting the joy to the world video at the mtc, so they texted us and we went to see her. we only had the lamb of god video though so we gave her that and said we'd come back and give her joy to the world! thats one way to get a 2nd appt! haha so we went back and we're going to start teaching her. she's going to be great.

Then we went on splits with the YW in the ward and went tracting. (sis warner says i have to do it at least once, but she has only done it once in her 3mos here, it's just not the most effective way to find people) BUT i was with Diantha Andrus and we tracted around the church building for 2 hours, i was tired and ready to go back , but said a little prayer that Heavenly Father would make my last 35 minutes effective and then we knocked on JO's door. Jo is presbyterian, but told me he made friends with the Jehova Witness missionaries so i told him we'd be his friends too. he even said he'd go to church with them. and he did. so i told him to come to church with US. I made him promise! we shook on it. I told him I was speaking, the deal was I had to talk about angels, He has a strong belief in angels bc he was in a car accident and knows that angels helped him live, he should have died. SO i agreed, he said sometimes he thinks about coming to our church (he lives one street up from the church) but we were all so dressed up. I told him he could come AS IS! so... he agreed. Diantha was SO excited. so was I! I lvoe jo.

Then we went to the Youngs home for dinner. They're a young couple, he's in the marines and she's pregnant. they're recent converts and have a hard time sometimes, the marines are sometimes crude and hard to feel the spirit around. but they're doing good. they made us salmon (i hate fish) and i ate it (and I LOVED it) so. ya. then we went to the botanical gardens with the elders and volunteered selling tickets, that was way fun. I loved it. After we were done we walked around too (they had horse drawn carriages too, but the horses were already put away) and looked at all the lights. It was fun. Minus the mean old lady that kept saying I was letting people pay the child rate for their kids when their kids were over age 12. WHATEVER, i am not a nazi about it! but... she liked all the other missionaries, it was way funny.

Sunday am we woke up, finished our talks, got dressed (SUPER FAST) bc we were running late, and then went to church... and JO was there! I almost cried! I was so Happy! He sat with Diantha's family (her mom said it was only beginners luck... WHATEVER, it was the spirit!) and we spoke. Elder Jolley (withouth me even telling him to) talked alot about how there are angels around us to bear us up, both mortal and not! It was WAY good. he got a little emotional too (i'll tie that in in a minute) then i spoke last and talked about the blessings of baptism, my bapstim day, how the Holy Ghost is the 3rd member of the godhead and Elder Holland taught us at the MTC what a great privilege it is to have a God walking and talking with us each day as missionaries, how we just have to live worthy of HIm and that he's the next best thing to Jesus Christ. I love elder holland, I also quoted him saying "This gospel is not an imposition on ANYONE!" I love that. i have to remember that sometimes, then i bore my testimony of angels too. (for Jo) and for my gratitude for a family that supports me as I am on a mission, and then closed. JO loved Church! he's going to let us teach him! Sis warner says she already sees him wearing white!!! yeah. but he had to leave to take an old lady to his old church (that's what i refer to it as now!) so he didn't stay for the rest of the block. he shook our hands before he left and thanked us ... so good and he told E Jolley to buck up and believe in himself and it would be OK! haha HIlarious! Jolley didn't so much appreciate that. i thought it was funny. Jo thought he was crying bc he didn't believe in himself... haha i love jo. can't wait to teach him.

Correy, who is 17, and has a baptismal date for January 12th was there too. and one of the elders investigators. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I love this GB 1st ward for being so supportive of us too! it feels so good!!! MOm- you gotta ALWAYS feed the missionaries if they don't have an appt. it sucks when you don't have a dinner appt ... tell them to always call if they don't and you'll ALwaYS feed them! they'll love you! also, if they need a place to go for christmas... invite them! play games, give them a present or two... if they need you. it's so good. we are going to the brundickies for christmas too. i am excited.

Ok... so it started snowing yesterday (my 1st WI snow) at like 3 and is still snowing!! and the snow sticks like crazy!!! its so wierd. it's not like ut snow. ( and they dón't hardly ever have snow days for school here.... just 2 hour delays! crazy!!!) I love it! we just have to drive super careful. the wind blows crazy here. CRAZY!!! everything is covered in snow, roads (they only clear main roads), street and stop signs trees ... everything. today we have to get a window scraper and shovel for when we have to dig ourselves out after appts (that's how much it snows here) luckily we are hardly ever IN the weather! so it's nice. i get so SICK of putting my coat on and off, so sometimes i just don't take it!!! haha

We are going to go skating outside on Pday. can't wait. People definitey have accents here! and everyone drinks milk at meals... even the parents, its wierd to me. i ALways drink water. no milk for me! :)

Dad- remember your crazy theory about hollywood and fake smiles! I have one now! but it looks real! sometimes I am too tired to smile... but i do it anyways. it's good. haha i always think of you!

Mom- can you send me a list of Birthdays so I won't forget them, like of everyones! (steph you too!) I am so bad about it, it's even harder here! But I hate HATE hate forgetting!

BLAKE MICHAEL WEAVER! ... Happy 7th Birthday yesterday! What did I tell you about growing? NO MORE! You have to stay 7 forever now!!! ok? Did you know your birthday is the same as Burtney's? I love you Blakers! Learn some songs on that keyboard to play for me when I get home ok? I miss you! Tell your brother and sister hi from me! give them big hugs and kisses!

Also, I am in dire need of a tote/ bag or something cute to carry my stuff in. Can you send me one? It's not urgent, wait till you find a cute one, but i need something to carry just like my wallet, scriptures, cell phone, scarf in. SO not too big but not too small and cute! thanks! You are the best! plus can you send me one beach tote? I need it to take stuff in when I go workout at the YMCA. Whenever you have time, no big!

MOm I lvoed the email about thanksgiving! good job with details, and dad yours too! Tell rocky girlfriends are for losers! AND tell that punk to write me! also- steph... good work i throughougly(spelled wrong i am sure) enjoyed the email! I miss talking to ALL of you on the phone! Britt- you're great, and 19. wierd! Grandma!!! Write me! i am dying for a letter/ tape from you and grandpa! I have yet to get a single letter while i have been here!!!!

k i love you all! Missionary work is the greatest work i have ever done! each day i learn to listen to the spirit more and I feel so blessed and know that those that support me while I am out here will be blessed too! thanks! love, sister pamella jo black

Your LIttle missionary girl

Pam-cakes!