Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

(Aspen '08)

HelLo! How are each of you? I am on a computer this week that has microsoft word… hallelugiah! It makes my life so much easier… so now I can type freely without fear that my email will be erased off of myldsmail. [president barrett said that sometime soon myldsmail is switching to use the gmail server… I can’t wait for that to happen… this thing is SO slow and it ALWAYS erases my emails.]

SO last week I had a lot more to say… but didn’t have the time or desire. So here it is…

First off though, Don’t you just love Christmas? Goodness, I am sad it is over, but I feel like I throughouly celebrated it this year! We went caroling EVERY night we could since the day after Thanksgiving… that’s pretty impressive. I think the elders are done with me and caroling; I can’t help it if I LOVE it and it’s an EXCELLENT finding activity. Plus, it was an AMAZING way to see all of the people we needed too, unannounced! NOT TO MENTION that people LOVED it… they were so happy to have carolers at their door.

I know that we caroled a lot for two reasons. The first is in both my spanish and english hymn books the book naturally falls open to the Christmas Carols. The second is that sister johnson and I were singing with some people last night who obviously hadn’t caroled much and they were singing at an incredibly SLOW tempo. We both looked at eachother and just helped them speed that song right along… our audience was losing interest! I love caroling.

Last Sunday [12/20] we wer e caroling/tracting… we knocked the door of an elderly couple and sang them a christmas hymn; at the end of our song she said, “Merry Christmas, and it’s ok to say that- It’s not Happy Holidays, it’s Merry Christmas!” She was a cute little lady and she was all fired up. She is right though… That is why we have so much JOY this time of year: because we are CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS!

Last Sunday [12/20] was the Christmas Program in the Racine Ward. I had to speak and sister johnson sang a solo: “O Holy Night”. It was beautiful. My talk was to be 5 minutes on “What Christmas Means to Me”. I liked that topic a lot. I first spoke of my Christmas Traditions: going to see temple lights [did you guys do that this year?], baking sugar cookies, decorating the tree, gma & gpa lighting a fire in the fireplace even though it’s already plenty warm in the house and things like that.

Then I talked about how as a missionary Christmas has come to mean a little bit more to me. I read the scripture from Luke 2:10
…
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. …

I based my whole talk off of that scripture. It was glorious. I talked about how the gospel is the good tidings of GREAT JOY! Let’s just say I said the word JOY a lot… I know that the birth of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made of His life is the reason we are able to feel so much joy and happiness in our own lives. We can be with our families foever, we know we can repent and CHANGE, we know how to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I love the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! My talk went well.

This is definitely a Christmas I will not forget. Last Christmas sister Barrett challenged us to make that a Christmas we wouldn’t forget. It was. I remember making a MILLION sugar cookies with elder jolley and elder pulley and delivering them. I remember taking corry and her family a christmas tree and all the decorations for it… so fun.

I remember the year before that when I was at BYU. Michelle and I, after attending the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, decided to do an act of service each day for someone. What a difference that made- what a good Christmas that was, it made the fact that I didn’t get to fly home until the 22nd or 23rd of december a little easier.

And then this Christmas with all the caroling with the elders. . . unforgettable! It was freezing cold… yet we felt warm and bundled as we shared the joy the gospel brings at each doorstep. We were often invited in, given some kind of treat and that made it so worth it! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time of year. There is truly nother better! I can't explain it... I was so happy as we did that... all singing together songs about our savior as it snowed! seeing peoples faces light up as they saw what we were doing... one house even recorded us!

I am sorry that I didn’t send out Christmas Cards this year, there was no snow! I will be sending out some other greeting cards sometime soon… now that we have snow! I can’t stand to take a winter picture in wisconsin without the white stuff… we do that at home all the time.

Here’s the DL on the week:

*lunes* pday. Email. Play soccer with elders at the church. They made me mad so I got a lot more letters written! They felt bad afterwards, sometimes they forget I am a girl… goodness, I do have feelings! We had dinner and FHE with Temika and her family. They read a story and sing a song every night in december from one of those book things. That was fun to do with them. We taught nancy and then we went caroling with the elders!

*martes* we went to seminary! We got up at 5a. ugh. Remind me to never do that again. I don’t know how those kids do that! It was their last day… we had bkfst with them then we taught them about marking their scriptures and the elders taught them about paying attention in seminary. I could tell it was a little early for e. stribling, he was a bit intense with those kids. So funny. We taught Marka, saw some referrals, or tried to at least, we taught raygon taylor and then We had dinner with the abbott’s. We ended the night going with Fani to Nancy’s choir concert at Park HS. Little J wasn’t feeling good, so we came home and she went to bed.

*miercoles*we studied, stopped by to see vicki and then we were off to milwaukee. I had to go to the dentist, I saw Dr. Knutsen, he’s the spanish branch president in milwaukee and he took good care of me. I fractured my back molar. When I got in there he started working on the other back molar, apparently that tooth is fractured too and that one has a cavity.. ugh. So he is going to fix both of those problems for me tomorrow, 12/29. We then came back and caroled with the elders the rest of the night. We ended our night with the first snowball fight of the year at the aquinos! It was a surprise attack on the elders! It worked out well… smith got me good in the face though… it was SO FUN! It snowed so much this day! Driving wasn’t so pleasant.

*jueves* CHRISTMAS EVE we had 6 appts! Brkfst at Temika’s… then the Sura’s for lunch… then the Crowther’s… then we went to kenosha with our family… that was SO FUN… then to the FLORES… then to the Davis’. Everywhere we went we were showered with FOOD and GIFTS… it was a good day. I felt like I was with my family, it was so fun… I love this area! I am so glad I got to be here for Christmas!

*viernes* CHRISTMAS DAY … I got to talk to my family. That was so wonderful. Everyone sounds like they are doing great. WE had breakfast with the Brigg’s, lunch at the Ngorney’s and then with the Schlitz’s then dinner at the Petriceck’s… GOOD DAY! I love Christmas… same thing as christmas eve… we were showered with food and gifts.

*sabado* SOCCER. STUDY. CAROLING. [who cares if it’s the day after!] [& dinner with the elders and sisters warner and pluim at culvers, they were passing thru on the way back from an appt.]

*domingo* CHURCH. Brother and sister Cabrales gave talks in the branch! It was so adorable. They did such a great job. Brother Cabrales said his life completely changed once the elders taught him, That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does for us… AmAzing. We ended our night… CAROLING for the last time. We caroled to the calderwood’s in kenosha and to their neighbor with the kenosha elders… and then in racine with our english elders… they are much better carolers! … they’ve had A LOT Of practice. IT was snowing last night. We parked our cars and walked up and down to those we needed to sing to. As we did that, Sister Johnson, Elder Zobell, Elder Stribling and I, I thought, “This is the LIFE!” I thought about Rocky! I can’t wait for him to walk up and down cold, dark streets in Maryland and think the same thing… “This is the LIFE!”

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary. I really do. I get to share the greatest message this Earth with ever know!

Happy New Year!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

Feliz Navidad

Buenos Dias Mis Amigos!

That has become one of my favorite phrases these days! I love speaking spanish... just in case any of you were wondering. Just in case I haven't made you all aware of that fact!

OK before I get down to the happenings of the week... here are some seperate items...

*MOM: I NEED SHARON MASONERS ADDRESS... [perhaps if I put this here you will remember to send that to me... thank-you!]

*SO all this week I have constantly been drinking hot chocolate... because it's COLD! well... I was drinking hot chocolate at denny's the other morning [sister johnson and I went there to do our weekly planning] and with just one little sip it reminded me instantly of the mornings when I'm home, when I am hungry, but don't want to make anything and I sneak next door and grandpa and grandma make me hot chocolate and we sit on the front porch swing etc etc... those are the days! I can't wait for that to happen again soon! i do miss that! I love you grandma and grandpa!

*We have been asked, since about July, to commit each of our new investigators to baptism on the first lesson! ... That was a big change for our mission... now it has just become what we do, our faith has definitely increased. Well, tonight we have a first lesson with a spanish investigator family, BKA "our Family". We have taught them a couple of times, but tonight we are teaching them the restoration and plan to committ them to baptism. I AM SO NERVOUS. I haven't been this nervous in such a long time! It's crazy how much SOUL STRETCHING has taken place since I have had to teach in spanish! I WAS SO COMFORTABLE teaching in english. President Barrett always says, "There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone". How true is that! But I have seen how much the Lord makes up the difference when we do our part.

He promises us in D&C 84:85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." Then he continues in that section, "88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. 89 Whoso receiveth you receiveth me; and the same will feed you, and clothe you, and give you money. 90 And he who feeds you, or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward. 91 And he that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples"

I love those scriptures, they are so comforting and SO TRUE... I have seen them come to pass time and time again... especially as I have been speaking spanish!

This is a great work we are doing here... I absolutely love it.

This week..

[lunes] we played soccer at 8am. . . IN THE CHAPEL'S GYM... it was really fun. I was so tired afterwards, it's so exhausting. we play teams of 3 and rotate out after 2 goals are scored. The winning teams gets to play a second game... the teams are constantly changing. If a team wins twice they leave the court too and a new team comes. it's good fun.

The elders taught sister Johson how to ride a bike. that was fun. She is a crack-up. She ran in to SO MANY WALLS in the gym. She was such a good sport and they were so patient with her. Elder Stribling, ELder Petrie and Elder Smith should feel so privileged, I know she just wouldn't let anyone teach her... by the end of the day she wasn't running into any walls and she could turn both left and right!!!

we had lunch with all the elders, it was our last pday all together. we went to culvers. we ended our night having dinner at fhe at the davis'. I love that family. Bro Davis made homemade pizza... it was SO YUMMY!

[martes] we volunteered in the doll room at toys for tots again. that was fun. then we had lunch with the elders, then district meeting. we taught vicki and luis and leslie with elder smith and elder trauntvein. Those elders did such a good job teaching luis and leslie... they are SO knowledgeable! I was so impressed they know the whole gospel of Jesus Christ by heart ... in order. FAITH REPENTANCE BAPTISM RECEIVING THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST AND ENDURING TO THE END... so cute. We had dinner at the Abbott's and ended the night visiting some of our kenosha peeps.

[miercoles] english class! we taught everyone there to sing silent night in english. It is so amazing to me how none of those people are being taught the gospel and some may be unfamiliar with what the Holy Ghost is... but as we sang that song the spirit filled the room. it was incredible. We plan to invite them all to the christmas program at church this sunday. . . i hope many will come.

[jueves] toys 4 tots. meeting with bishop crowther. we had dinner with Raygan and Mike Taylor with all the elders. It was a lot of fun. She is such a sweet lady. I love teaching her and her family. we played volleyball that night. It was transfers too. I am so going to miss those elders. more on that next week!

[viernes] english class. planning. we taught vicki. We tried to commit her to baptism. she said no. she's not ready. her kids know more than she does... etc etc. she makes me crazy! she is SO READY! sister johnson told her she's not leaving til she commits... she said... oh great! stay! i love company! grr! we then met with the elders at culvers for a planning meeting... then taught heidi higginbottom and went caroling the rest of the night. i love caroling.

[sabado] soccer. study. jessica's baptism [kenosha elders taught her] she's sweet. young. pretty girl. she looked like she was glowing at her baptism. then the ward christmas party. it was really good. it had a good them.. .a night in bethlahem. fun. we ended this night caroling too.

[domingo] church. lunch at the sandovall's for some yummy guatemalan food. more church. dinner with all the elders at lilyan barry's. we ended the night caroling! we saw tiffany baumstark. i love her. we caroled to her. she's amazing.

i love you all. i love this work! I love this season! Merry Christmas!

Con Amor, Hermana Black

CANTAN SANTOS ANGELES...

... That's Hark the Harold Angels Sing... in spanish. I have had that song stuck in my head all week! Probably because we've been caroling all week in Spanish. Everything is just better... in spanish! :)

SO... Wisconsin still has NO snow! I mean there has been a dusting here and there... but it mostly melts... it's wierd. mom was telling me that we're supposed to have snow tues and wed! good, it's time! It snowed the day before thanksgiving [NOV 25] ... that was my ONE YEAR MARK IN WISCONSIN and I was so HAPPY. Sister Johnson was not really thrilled... I LOVE THE FIRST SNOW! it snowed a little this week... but not enough to count. we can't even have a snowball fight yet! COME ON WINTER! [we are however getting the bone chilling winds and cold, the big coat has been taken out of storage and is hung up... just WAITING for it's winter '09 debut!]

This week I learned that for my Team Scoopie meal at Culver's I can subsitute HOT CHOCOLATE [with whipped cream] for my drink! [ps there is no extra charge] That's the best news ever! [I'm not a big soda drinker, i only like rootbeer and i don't like culver's rootbeer, it's too sweet, so i always just got water]Then I get my refill in my to go cup on the way out the door to keep me warm for just a little bit longer. It's the little things in life, you know!?

We got our transfer calls Saturday Night. I am STAYING IN RACINE for 6 more weeks. I am so happy. I really wanted to stay for Christmas and New Year's!! Petrie is leaving. very sad. Elder warner is leaving from racine, Elder gates from Kenosha and Trauntvein is GOING HOME from racine spanish. Every companionship but us is changing. it's going to be very different... I love this area.

[lunes] we went for Pday in MILWAUKEE. it was fun. I love our elders. WE went with all 8 of them. We went to the Sprecher's Factory [they make the best rootbeer] and then to the elders' old area [petrie, trauntvein and smith all served there] to eat at a place called Antiago's. It was SO YUMMY! Best Mexican Food I've had in Wisconsin. I ordered in spanish too... thanks to the elders: they get to uptight when i don't use my spanish... i just get NERVOUS to speak it around them! Then we went to the MIL South Stake Center to play with the rest of our zone... we saw sister warner and sister pluim. it was fun. we ended the day with dinner at the Davis' with the sura's. then we taught FHE with them.

[martes] district meeting. splits with the relief society sisters. we taught michelle cabrales.

[miercoles] english class. we taught janelle king. we had the Guillonta's for dinner. WE saw vicki... her daughter angeli turned one! then taught trinidad and ended our night teaching michelle cabrales.

[jueves] we volunteered with the 4 elders in Racine for TOYS 4 TOTS. [not to be confused with the marines thing] This is a local organization. They collect toys year round, then clean them, repaint, re organize REDO them... make them new... then package them up for families and give a family a christmas. it's wonderful. it's like santas workshop. Really, it is. Just like the movies. I felt like an elf: we worked in the doll room. YES there is a room for every kind of toy you can think of. THey clean and redo dolls hair. We dressed the dolls and found them a second outfit. it was SO fun... like i was 5 again! I can't wait to come home and play with Chloe, Sophie and Ellie! it made me think of them! Christmas really brings out the best in People. I love that.

we saw raygan taylor. love her. more on her next week... then the seiverts, then sister maine then we played volleyball. michelle had her baptismal interview: they didn't even get to the questions, she said she wasn't ready. .. more on that next week. I love her so much. i just want her to do what is right.

[viernes] english class. studying for 3 hours:the norm. weekly planning. culvers. caroling with the racine elder = SO FUN!!!! We saw so many people.

[sabado] we spent all day at the church. Soccer was cancelled. We had the Kenosha Ward Christmas Brunch. Then Maurcelino, a guy petrie and campbell taught was baptized. he's so sweet. then we studied. then we caroled with the kenosha elders... SO FUN again. Then we had a meeting with bishop crowther.

[domingo] fast sunday. the branch found out petrie and trauntvein were leaving. They invited them to bear their testimonies first. Hno. Cabrales was sobbing. he loves petrie so much. it made me cry. i love this work. i love these people. We were at church all day and then ended the night with e. stribling and e. warner at the calderwoods for dinner. we completely missed the christmas devotional. it doesn't feel like christmas... we'll watch it this week!

I love you all! have a good week!

YOu are the BEST... keep those letter coming!

Love, sister Pamella JO Black

I love this Season!

Happy Thanksgiving! What a great way to start the holiday season! Bishop Crowther, our new bishop in the Racine Ward, talked about this last Sunday. He talked about how we start with a day of saying thanks and end with a day of giving! It is true! This is my FAVORITE time of year. I get so excited, like a little girl. I love the holidays! I thought I'd tell you all a few things that I am grateful for....

* my family: I truly have the BEST family in the world. I am not sure what I would do without them. They say when you are on a mission your life seems to take a little more perspective and direction. That has definitely happened for me. I am in contact every day with so many people that are lacking the wonderful support I have. The beauty is I have the opportunity to teach them how to cultivate an atmosphere of love and care in their families.

* I am SO GRATEFUL to be a SISTER MISSIONARY for THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS! I say that at least once a day, usually more! Being a missionary is the BEST. I am not sure what I'd be like had I not had this opportunity to learn and grow. There are so many days when I just pause and think... I LOVE THIS, this feeling I have RIGHT NOW! ...

*THE RESTORED GOSEL OF JESUS CHRIST. . . because of this knowledge I know Where I Came From... Where I am Going and Why I am HEre. I know I am a daughter of God. I know how I can return and live with Him and I know that that is only possible because He sent His Son Jesus Christ. He sent him to atone for my sins, your sins, but also to suffer the atonement: allowing Christ to feel every hardship, pain, disappointment, sorrow, trial, doubt, depression, we've ever felt. What a blessing that is.

*Lastly, I am grateful for this SEASON! I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHRISTMAS! I love it. Really, I feel like a little girl. I am a little concerned because Racine is still sunny, green and warm. I didn't wear tights yesterday! today I am just wearing leg warmers and flats and a 3/4 sleeve cardigan [and a SKIRT.. come on people! haha]. It's warm! ANYWAYS... i love the Christmas Season. You should all read Elder Eyring's Ensign Talk "Home for Christmas". It is really good! Last Christmas Sister Barrett challenged us to make this a Christmas we'll never forget. It was. And my Christmas before that was too... more on that next week... but I plan to make THIS Christmas just as good as those in the past. What a special season.

King Benjamin talks to his people in Mosiah Chapter 2... and in verses 17-22 This is what he says:

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?
19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

King Benjamin is SO AmAzing. What a powerful speaker. I am grateful to focus this month on being in the service of my fellow beings, and by so doing, focus on being in the service of my God. How blessed are we! We have SO much to be grateful for! Let's show grattitude and serve one another!

SO .... you want to hear about a miracle? Ok... I will tell you. About two weeks ago we were in district meeting. I am convinced I have the best district leader ever, perhaps because e. petrie and I have served in the same area my whole mission [and he's from AZ], but none the less he is AmAzing. He challenged each companionship to find a family to teach by our next district meeting. That is no small task my friends. finding a family is a really big deal, every missionary wants to be teaching a family.Sister Johnson and I took this challenge very seriously. We wanted to find a family. Petrie promised us we would as we were dilligent and applied the trainings we had received in zone conference [which were all about interactive commitment based teaching and inviting]. So we made a plan. We knew that SACRIFICE BRINGS FORTH BLESSINGS. You all may know this, but sister johnson and I don't go tracting. Not because we are SO ABOVE THAT or anything, but because we are so busy. President Hinckley said it himself, tracting is not the most effective way to do missionary work! [now if you don't have anything to do, you better tract, but that's just not the case for us.] SO we decided in order to break our normal patterns, we'd go tracting from 6-8 every night that week 'til we found our family. We also committed that we would talk to EVERYONE we saw. So we prayed, told the Lord our plan and asked Him for His help. We were so excited. We knew He'd help us find "OUR FAMILY". We carried out our plan. We talked to everyone, in english or spanish. We constantly prayed for OUR FAMILY. It was AmAzing. We tracted, i loathe tracting ps... but we did so with FAITH and that HELPED. One night we were walking out of an appt and we saw a man and his young daughter raking leaves. It was dark [but then again it gets dark here at 4:30, no joke] and it was cold and we were in Kenosha and had to drive to Racine to go home and we were tired ect ect... BUT we remembered our promise to eachother and the Lord and we went and talked to them. They spoke Spanish. We told them who we were and what we did and they invited us to come back and TEACH THEIR WHOLE FAMILY later that week. What a great blessing. We've been teaching Reina, Fransisco and their 2 young daughters. Reina is pregnant and due in January with a little boy. They are a great family. I love them! We are teaching them in SPANISH... I Know that MirAcLes HaVe NoT CeAseD... see Moroni 7. The Lord blesses us when we have FAITH and EXPECT answers. He blesses us to be able to communicate thru the spirit as well... no matter what LANGUAGE they're speaking!

So here is the low-down on last week. I am just going to tell you straight... IT WAS ROUGH. So bare with me...

[mon 11.23] worst day on the mission. just a BAD day. "I hate stupid people". [e petrie says that all the time] and SO DO I. we'll just leave it at that. we went to the birches for breakfast. then emailed. then culvers-to eat large amts of chocolate custard to make the day better! :) then we had dinner with the new bishop crowther and then saw ted and cheryl. the evening ened well.

[tue 11.24] district mtg. s. johnson was sick so we took a nap. suras 4 dinner. we saw vicki.

[wed 11.25] Happy ONE YEAR in Wisconsin to me. This time last year I was trudging around in snow with President Barrett... it's so different this year! I LOVE WISCONSIN. we taught english, ted and cheryl, saw Nancy Herman with sister sue johnson from the ward and then had the Hancocks 4 dinner with the elders. I love the Hancock's... they are so utah and I lOVE it! also, this morning elder petrie gave me a blessing, i needed it. I felt so much better afterward... more on that next week. I love the Priesthood.

[thu 11.26] HAPPY THANKSGIVING. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! My mom always makes thanksgiving ...[any holiday really] ...But especially thanksgiving so perfect for everyone, it's fitting it was on your birthday! I missed your YAMS that are like CANDY..... and your ROLLS.... but i didn't miss your COOKIES... wed night we came home to find a box on the stairs. it was overnighted to me and it was your sugar cookies. i cried. that was the best surprise ever! thanks mom and dad. We had thanksgiving at the costabiles and the Calderwoods... both really good. Sister Calderwood gave us advent calendars... so sweet. I love both those families. we ended the night at the birches for every kind of dessert you could think of and games. It was fun, all the elders were there. good times. it was a great thanksgiving.

[fri 11.27] Black Friday. We steered clear of the malls! we studied, did weekly planning. every appt cancelled...bad week, everyone is crazy with the holiday and family. We taught OUR FAMILY and then had an FHE with the Cabrales and elders petrie and campbell. I love the cabrales. We played mafia... IN SPANISH... it was really fun. even more fun when i was the narrator- it doesn't matter if its in spanish or english.. ahaha i always get confused!

[sat 11.28] soccer. every appt cancelled. we caroled with the spanish elders. they had an AmAzing appt with the Navarros, cleared up sister navarros doubts, hopefully we'll have really good news about them next week.

[sun 11.29] church. all day. bro cabrales received the aaronic priesthood and was called to be our gospel principles teacher. amazing. we taught our other FAMILY... the SOENS [they're the blakes old neighbors] then had dinner with all the racine elders at the Dehahns... i love that family. They're so faithful and missionary minded. The spirit is very strong in their home. Then we went caroling with the Racine english and spanish elders. i love caroling.

I love all of you! you are a great strength to me... especially in a hard week like this one! This week is ALREADY 100X better!

Thanks for all you do for me!

I love you!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

PS... tatum... TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH... i do believe it is YOUR TURN to write me missy!!!! I hope you have a good day! I am thinking of you!

A few days late...

Ok ok everyone... here is the email I promised. I meant to do it earlier this week... but I just didn't have time tuesday or wednesday and everything was closed thursday and friday, . . so I had no WAY of emailing.

Sorry mom for making you wait an eternity for this email! I want you to know, mom, that I thought of you ALL day on THANKSGIVING... for two reasons- the first being it's your favorite holiday [it is your favorite holiday, right??] and the second because it was YOUR BIRTHDAY! [a little something is in the mail for you... i hope you get it real soon]. I want you to know that you really are THE BEST MOM EVER. I feel after 22 years of being your daughter, I can say that! Thanks for all you do for me... it never even phased me all growing up when people would say, "Pamella, I just love your mom!" I'd just think, "ya, me too!" But really, there is a REASON they said that to me all the time... you have such an ability to be helpful and loving! OH HOW I MISS YOU! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This past week was a REALLY good week. I just love serving here in Racine and Kenosha! I feel like I am SO AT HOME HERE! I hardly even use my GPS at all anymore, it's wierd! K, here is the DL...

[lunes 11.16]

what a day monday was. what a day. we got up for our last time at the BLAKE'S and packed half of our belongings in the car... THen we WENT and played SOCCER! but.. all the elders are half - dead... they've all gotten "THE SICKNESS". mind you, there are 8 of them down here so when one gets it... the rest are pretty much doomed [because they're always together]. SO only a few played. it was AWFUL to see them just sit in the car and watch us... but we had a lot of fun playing.

Then we went to UW Parkside and emailed. The elders called us and invited to come to Brother Jenkins' home, a member in the Racine ward, he's single, a doctor and SUPER nice. We went and watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" [e. trauntvein has a secret copy] in his home theater... it was amazing. Then brother Jenkins' offered to take all 10 of us to lunch at Infusinos, the BEST pizza place in Racine. its so good, such a nice place too. I kept hearing about it, it was nice to finally go.

On the way there I noticed our gas light came on [i have always been bad about that]... so we just determined that after we ate we'd get gas. Well we got there before the bro. jenkins so we waited for him in the parking lot. The elders pulled up beside us and we talked to them for a bit. Bro. Jenkins pulled up. We got out of the car, I got something out of the backseat, and we went in. We sat down, ordered... waited for our food... played games on the paper table cloths, so fun, love the dot game! .... we ate our ginormous portions, talked, ate some more and then it was time to go. I couldn't find my keys anywhere. Naturally, my first reaction was to blame the elders. which i did. they're always doing stuff like that to me. but they didn't have them ... so I just walked out to the parking lot, and as i approached the car I heard a humming and I saw the lights were on.. i thought NO WAY> NOW WAY is OUR CAR ON!!! yep. it sure was my friends. I left our car UNLOCKED with ALL our BELONGINGS in it RUNNING on an EMPTY TANK OF GAS for TWO HOURS in one of the SCARIEST PARTS of RACINE. not to mention that I was eating with 8 elders and a MAN from our ward. KILL ME. you should have seen their faces, they were more shocked than me! needless to say I have yet to live this down. I will never EVER live this DOWN! . . . I KNOW THAT GOD LIVES because our car was NOT STOLEN. little miracles people. God even loves us when we act like morons! We drove to the gas station and all was fine. good times. it still makes me laugh. seriously, who does that?

we had dinner with the blake's, then we finished moving. they helped us. it was a LONG day to say the least. Now, we are at the Brigg's.

[martes 11.17]

we had district meeting and interviews with President Barrett. I LOVE president BARRETT. he is such a great man. I had the BEST... the LONGEST interview with him. We just talked. more like ChAtteD! You know when you talk to someone and you can just FEEL how much they love you? Yes, that's how I feel when I talk to my mission president. The man is AmAzing! He talked about how much my companion, SISTER JOHNSON loves me... He said she speaks very highly of me, said we were best friends and that she desires to serve with me the duration of my mission! so cute. He sorta hinted that I may be transferred coming up december 10th... he was driving me NUTS! He'd just laugh after he'd say some AMBIGUOUS statement and say, "come on, your mission president has to have a little fun!" HA he kills me. so we shall see. I love it here, but if I am supposed to be elsewhere, elsewhere I will go... I told him if I have to leave I would love to go up to Green Bay SPanIsH! We find out saturday dec. 5... so I will know in two pdays... not knowing KILLS ME! but for now, I am just loving the Branch. Also in my interview president talked about how he vividly remembers one year ago walking around down town milwaukee and me wearing "flimsy" shoes and being SO COLD... He even remembered giving me his scarf to wrap around my near FROZEN feet that night when we got in the van. Oh the memories... this mission is just going by so fast. I said that the other day and a lady in our ward said, "that's good! you wouldn't want your mission to DRAG ON would you?" I guess not! The rest of my interview was about working with the kenosha english elders more, he commended us for working so well with the other elders, it has proven VERY SUCCESSFUL! i love this work. After interviews we went to Quiznos and Wal.Mart and we taught Vicki and had dinner at the Abbott's and then we went to MUTUAL... ERICA and VERONICA NEVARRO came... It was a GREAT DAY. Interviews always give me a good boost. Sister Johnson told me sister Barrett said i was one of her favorites... AHH... I LOVE sister BARRETT... I interviewed with her too... I love her, she's a great mom subsitute.

[miercoles 11.18]

we taught english. We taught Michelle... she's so pumped for her baptism. We went to racine's mutual.

[jueves 11.19]

we studied. We met the elders at the church for a planning meeting, the kenosha english elders to coordinate how we can help them. sister johnson had elder petrie translate the talk she had to give sunday... he was way under the weather, poor kid. we took him a coloring book and crayons too. we visited elizabeth martinez, she's doing so good... fighting that depression SO WELL! then we taught OUR FAMILY. It was the first time I had ever taught A NEW FAMILY the RESTORATION in SPANISH by myself... i def STRUGGLED, it's so hard having a companion that is not fluent... but we made it. It was great. THe spirit was so STRONG! They committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! They are so prepared. The Lord really HEARS and ANSWERS our PRAYERS!

[viernes 11.20]

we met TIFFANY BAUMSTARK! it was so incredible. Tiffany is a media referral. SHe got on Mormon.org and ordered a Book of Mormon after reading CJANES blog! SHE KNOWS THE NIE NIE DIALOGUES... the elders visited her once, she says they were a little over whelmed by her... haha. I called her. we clicked... we've been TRYING and TRYING to see her... ALAS it happened! We met her at WILSONS COFFEE and TEA. [racine does have some charming places, i've been shocked recently!] Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have owned the place... forever. They have GREAT HOT COCOA... ps. :) .... We talked and talked and talked. we answered her questions and never before in my LIFE have I seen someone so EXCITED to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. She is just the cutest thing ever, I can't wait to meet her whole family! She has two children. She is AmAzing. I love her. We're BFFS already, I feel like I have known her forever because we've talked on the phone so much.

we then visited Daysi and her new baby,,, Leah Michelle. They're bothdoing great... Daysi is reading her scriptures and praying everyday... she says she does it for the baby! WHATEVER THE MOTIVATION... it's good! this baby has changed her! so cute.

we taught michelle cabrales about keeping the sabbath day holy, she felt the spirit and went right away to talk to her boss about getting saturday off for her dad's baptism and sundays at least until 2 so she can come to church! It worked. She left right after our appt to go talk to her boss about how she needed to be able to attend all 3 hours of church. She was so scared. Apparently, her boss is an angry angry man and he said no to her in the past, but we talked much of faith and she felt prepared, she had hope that the Lord would provide a way. That's all it takes. He did provide a way! She attended her dad's baptism and ALL THREE hours of church on Sunday and loved it. Faith is power!

then we saw vicki. oh vicki, she is SO PREPARED to be baptized. She could be baptized TOMORROW! she just keeps saying, I don't know when... just not yet! ... someday! .... AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

The most exciting news of FRIDAY? ....

ROCKY LEE BLACK... soon to be ELDER BLACK got his mission call!!! THE MARYLAND, BALTIMORE MISSION is So BLESSED to have him! Rocky, you are going to be a great missionary! I can't wait for you to go! You are going to LOVE it... I just know it! I am so grateful that we will have a period of time where we are both serving together! It's going to be a really special time! I seriously can't wait for you to go!

[sabado 11.21]

SOCCER Brother Cabrales said we MUST play soccer before his baptism! so we did. it was fun. He said he didn't sleep all night... he was nervous!

He was Baptized along with Luis, Vicki's son, at noon. It was a beautiful baptism. I love going to baptisms, the spirit is so strong. Vicki came and so did Michelle. They felt the spirit too. Michelle is so excited. I asked vicki if the next baptism i went to would be hers... she just laughed and said "NO CREO!" which means I DON'T BELIEVE SO! haha

I love Bro. Cabrales and Luis so much. I have been here the whole time start to finish for their teaching. It's wonderful! I love them! I have had the opportunity to teach them both. What strengths they'll be to our little branch!

we had dinner with bro cluphf. our WML in the racine ward. we had a good mtg. to end the night we taught his neighbors who were on their front porch as we were leaving with the elders. I love to hear other missionaries teach. elder stribling is such a good teacher.

[domingo 11.22]

we had church and meetings all the day long [8:30-5:30]. sister johnson gave her first talk in spanish and did a great job. After church we checked our mail at the Blakes and then went and talked to their neighbors, the Soen's. They are a great family and we will be going back to teach them next sunday! they love and miss the blakes just as much as we do! we ended the night teaching the NAVARROS. they didn't come to church. it's so frusterating. they are so close. we got to talk to the mom a lot. i love her. they just need to all COME TO CHURCH and feel the spirit that is there... they are still having doubts.


As you can see... we are never too worried about what we should do each day... we are SO BUSY! I just love serving here. I love being a sister missionary. I am so thankful for this time in my life to serve!

I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and steered clear of the malls on the infamous BLACK FRIDAY! I will tell you all about mine on monday!

i love you all!

Love, sister pamella JO black!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy thanksgiving to ALL of you! I have so much to be thankful for.

I am not feeling well.

I will write this email sometime later this week.

Love YOU ALL!!

Love, sister pamella jo black

ps. i am fine. no swine flu. just not feeling well! I am going to take a nap.

GRANDMA... I got your dearelder. you are the best! I am loving all the mail I am getting lately!

CONGRATULATIONS ROCKY!!! THE MARYLAND, BALTIMORE MISSION IS SO LUCKY!!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM on the 26th! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY And BLAKERS on the 30th and HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATUM on the 1st!!!! I will be thinking of ALL of you!

FAITH

Hello Hello All!

What a week this has been! This week has been all about FAITH for us. We are striving to be like those described in Ether chapter 12 by Moroni... he explains all the miracles that faith has wrought among his people. In verse 15 he says, "Behold, it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites". We can be like Ammon and his brethren. Our faith can change people. In my scriptures I have "FAITH! my faith can change people" written next to those verses. I love Ether 12. read it... another favorite verse is 4... HOPE for a BETTER world... hope cometh of FAITH... which maketh an anchor, an anchor that will ANCHOR the SOULS of MEN... good stuff. I love Hebrews 11, Alma 32, Ether 12 and Moroni 7 ... they're all about Faith FAITH faiTH!

The elders we serve around are the best examples to sister Johnson and I of Faith. I am so impressed and inspired by them. They wake up early to get extra study in, they've fasted for us before an important appointment with an investigator family that we both teach, they have faith the size of a BASKETBALL [according to e. hatch!] they are just spiritual giants. We are blessed to serve in the same units as Elders Smith, Trauntvien, Petrie, Cambell, Warner, Stribling, Gates, and Vance! They are AmAZing! I love these eight elders. I see their willingness to be EXACTLY obedient and to do whatever it takes to help their investigators progress and I think of ROCKY and I just can't WAIT for him to go!!!

We are moving today. The Blake's are moving to Utah on Friday. SAD DAY! I will miss them so much. I've lived with them since june. They are a great family. I will miss have scripture study and family prayer with them sometimes at night... or hearing the hustle and bustle of children in the morning on their way to school. I will miss Jackson greeting me as I come in the door throughout the day. I just love the Blake's. They are already well aware that I will be a visitor when I come back up to school in the fall... especially for sunday dinner!!!! :) AND bishop blakes famous doughnuts! They're the best. [the elders came over for a planning meeting last night and got in on the doughnut action too, there is nothing better!] Bishop was just released yesterday. It was so sad! They're a great family and a great contributor to this RACINE ward! I will miss hearing Jackson cry when his mom vaccumes saying, "MOOOMMMMM, STOP that! I Don'T like it WhEN you DO that! MOOOMMMM stop DOING that!" It's hilarious to hear a 3 year old speak so perfectly. or I remember the time in september when the power went out at about 9:30 and Jackson and Madison were scared and NOT very happy. I gave jackson my BYU "torch" as he calls it [flashlight] and then we read books together on the couch while sister blake cleaned the kitchen. good times. i love that family, they're like my own!

We're moving to the Brigg's.

I must go now... my email next week will cover all the bases I missed. I promise.

Last piece of Good News... we set a baptismal date with Michelle Cabralles for December 5th! We're teaching her, the elders teach their parents who were both being baptized on Saturday, November 21st. ONly, sister cabralles' records were just found... SHE REALLY IS A MEMBER... haha so now just Hermano Cabrales is being baptized. I love him. He plays soccer with us twice a week. Now he'll be able to baptize his daughter on dec 5th. Michelle is 16. It was a good appointment. I have really learned about facilitating an environment for the spirit. The spirit was DEF there. I asked Michelle if she felt it... she said yes.


I love you all!


Have a good week!


Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps mom and dad! I LOVED my package! and GPA and GMAX5 ... i loved my tape!! thank you!

One Year...

Can you believe it? I have officially been a sister missionary for ONE WHOLE YEAR... I can't even believe it. Time flies. This time last year I was in the MTC learning all about what I would be doing for the next 18 months of my life. Now I have only 6 months LEFT! What? I have so much I want to do in the next six months. This has been a great year in my life, like I always say, I never knew I would love it this much. While I have the time I just want you all to know how grateful I am to have such wonderful support on my mission. I get a great deal of mail for being out a year [in case you didn't know that's how missionaries measure love: the amt in the mailbox! :]. It means a lot to me!Thanks for all you do.

This week we have worked so hard. We have SEVENTEEN investigators... thats a 1 and a 7. Not all are progressing as fast as the others, but they are all coming along. We teach a lot, all day everyday. We are going to need some serious member help in the coming weeks. We plan to involve the relief society this sunday. We are going to set up splits once a week [that means we'll pick a time like 1-3 on Wed and have 2 sisters meet us at the church and we'll split up and go out with them]. We'll get twice as much accpmplished and our investigators will meet members... i love killing 2 birds with 1 stone! We have been trying to do this for a while now, but things have finally evened out and we are ready to set that up! It's long overdue. We need to have daily contact with all of our investigators. That is near impossible with 17 investigators... that's why we need the members. [i know i know, it didn't just happen overnight that we have 17 people in our teaching pool, but it wasn't until we did transfer planning the other day that we realized really how many there are] We are focusing the most on our most progressing, but all the investigators need our TLC ... they are all important to us.

[lunes]

pDAY. It was a good preparation day too. We played soccer in the morning. Then we went to Sister Birch's home. I LOVE sister Birch. She is in the Kenosha ward and she loves missionaries. She is so good to us. Her son Kyle is serving in Jacksonville, Florida right now. She will do anything for us, I really appreciate her willingness help us in any way she can. She made us cinnamon rolls and everyone played risk. Minus me [and elder smith who took a nap] ... I am just NOT THAT INTO IT... i played a lot in Green Bay at the Ribbens home, but that was different. So I wrote a lot of letters that were long overdue. I am ALMOST caught up. FINALLY! We were at her house forever, [she always has Jack Johnson playing in the background. my favorite.] then we emailed and went to target. We had a taco dinner, [my request, but dad... nobody makes them like you- yours are still the BEST!] taught her mom Deborah and then went home. It was a really good day.

[martes]

We had district meeting. Elder Petrie is such a great district leader, I always learn so much from him. He committed us to practice our Interactive Committment Based Teaching style and to role play that in companionship study & to make sure we were having effective companionship and personal studies. Those were good refreshers for us. After district meeting we went to eat at El Caporal. . . it's a good place, good mexican food. We taught Vicki at 3:30. Vicki is one of our spanish investigators. She sees a lot of dreams and tries to interpret them... we don't.It makes it really hard because so much of her decision making weighs on her dreams... I think she just eats too many spicy things right before she goes to bed. . . I know that dreams are a way the spirit can teach us. . . But God is a God of Clarity, Light and Knowledge. He does not work through confusion and doubt- that comes from Satan. We teach her about the spirit: how to recognize it... how to follow it and the teachings of the prophets in the scriptures concerning how to receive revelation from God.

We then stopped by the Nevarros home... they're also spanish investigators. They have been taught for about a year. The elders, Elder Trauntvein and Elder Smith... are AmAzing. They have so much faith. I just learned the other day that they wake up at 5:30 or 6 [at the latest] every day to study. No wonder they're so faithful. To get up early is a BIG deal, 6:30 is early enough for me. ANYWAYS, they just started teaching the Nevarros again, and by the end of the lesson the Nevarros were willing to stop meeting with missionaries from the Jehova Witness church. They recognized the spirit they felt and wanted to change. That was a week ago. Their lesson with them on Tuesday was also AMAZING. THey set baptismal dates with two of them... Bro Nevarro and one daughter Veronica. The mom was not home and Ericka wasn't ready to commit [elder smith said she told him she wants to read more of the BOM. He grew up with sisters and said, "I think actually she's just an insecure teenage girl, but instead of saying 'I'm an insecure teenage girl', she said, 'I need to read more of the BOM'" It was hysterical, i still laugh at that comment. THe thing is... he was probably DEAD ON!

Our lesson was short and spirit filled. We sang joseph smiths first prayer as well. It was wonderful, we set a return appointment and left.

[miercoles]

we taught english in kenosha with the elders...

many of our appts cancelled...

we had the BOMB.COM lesson with amy. [yes i just said that brittany, i am around 19 year old boys all day, give me a break] She knows she needs to be baptized. She is getting closer and closer... and now she's even PRAYING... woo hoo. She told us she has her "happy place" where she likes to pray. We taught her she could pray anywhere and especially before bed at night in her room. She said she'd try it.

Sister Johnson went on splits with sister Stephanie Aquino and taught Trinidad. It was our first lesson with her and it went very well. Then we all played volleyball... WE HAD 3 INVESTIGATORS THERE. . . marka, amy and jessica.it was amazing.

[jueves]

we did our normal study routine in the morning... 1 hour for each personal, companionship and language study. We took a break and went to Temika King's for a really good lunch. She made my favorite thing she makes... frozen fruit with chocolate melted all over it. AmAzing. Then we went home and did our weekly and transfer planning. We taught Janae at 4p at her house and then JEssIcA at the Brigg's.

Jessica is a cool girl. We met her one day after leaving Marka's house after an appt. We were walking really fast to the car, we were late to our next appointment. I saw her and another girl walking a little puppy in their yard out of the corner of my eye. I felt like we needed to talk to her, but we were LATE so I tried to just keep going. BUT I HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE AND I LOATHE THAT FEELING so now that I was already at our car with my companions close behind I stopped and turned around ... i think they thought i was crazy [later i found out they felt it too]. I thought "think fast, think fast" I needed an "in" for this conversation so these girls who saw us leave and now come back didn't think we were creeps! SO I said, "CUTE PUPPY!" haha I told them I just couldn't get in the car withought talking to them. Jessica was very interested. She said she had been looking for "churchy people". It was amazing. HOw thankful I am for the Holy Ghost. What a blessing it is in my life.

SO we taught Jessica the Restoration at the Brigg's home. She loved it, didn't accept a baptismal date, but came up with the idea of reading a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon on her own.

After that lesson we visited the Cobrales Family. I love them.

[viernes]

we taught english....

WE TAUGHT VERONICA and ERICA NEVARRO with the Flores girls and it was such a powerful lesson. The elders left them Jacob 7 to read. We reveiwed that and then taught about the For Strenght of Youth Pamphlet. THe promises the First Presidency leave for those who follow those standards are amazing. Erica committed to be baptized November 28th. This is a BIG deal. Having the Flores girls made all the difference.

we taught vicki. she's the same. we need to do something different, we just don't know what yet.

WE had DInnER with the Sandovall's. He is from Guatemala, he is the principal of a spanish immersion school. pretty cool idea those immersion schools. Him and his mom made us some good Guatemalan food. I love his family... he has cute little girls.

[sabado]

we played soccer. we had the best turn out ever. so many people there! the nevarro girls came!!!

WE then spent some time with sister birch. Sister johnson is going to russia on wednesday so she took us to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit [sister johnson's choice]. We then had lunch at the Milwaukee Public Market... yum yum. I love milawukee. We came home in time to go back up to the Adult session of Stake Conference. Sister Sievert, our investigator came. It was such an uplifting conference.

[domingo]

we fasted today ... the elders had another great lesson with the nevarros saturday night and committed them to fast that their mom/wife would accept the gospel and allow the family to be baptized together. THey agreed. I'm telling you- these elders are AmAzing. They said at the beginning of the lesson they thought the Nevarro's were going to drop them... by the end they were FASTING... that's faith my friends. I love fasting with the purpose. I felt the spirit so strongly all day today. The gospel is AmAzing.

WE had stake conference in milwaukee. Jessica came and loved it. I loved it. THis is a great stake. WE had dinner with the Petriceck's after. Our time was short so we left a homework assignment instead of teaching our lesson. Brother Petriceck has been investigating for a long time. His wife is a member. We hope to bring a SpArK that he hasn't felt before.

We ended our night with a Chapel lesson tour with Amy. It was Amazing. We taught her lesson 3: The Gospel of Jesus Christ using the Baptismal Font and the Chapel. She loved it. The spirit was so strong. Sister Johnson gave an amazing invitation from the savior, Matt 11, to be baptized. Amy knows she needs to commit. She is scared to give us her WOW issues : coffee, cigarrettes and alcohol. I know it will not be a problem once she makes up her mind. I love LOVE love being a missionary!

I love you all... thanks for all you do for me! YOu are THe BEst!

Have a Good week!

Rocky I am DYING to know where you get your call to! YOu Better OPEN that SUCKER the same day you get it!

Love,

sister Pamella Jo Black

PS

dad: you dead mon? [said in cool runnings accent] email me

grandma! i loved your letter! I will write you back!

Reg... loved the email... there is a letter coming your way too!

What sets us apart?

This week we had mission tour [big name for zone conference w/ a gen authority]. Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the 70 came to visit our mission. He is AmAzing. He told some really funny jokes, he won our favor right away with those. I love him. He addressed that very question... WHAT SETS US APART FROM OTHER RELIGIONS? Well, we believe that man in born neither inherently good nor evil, rather man is born whole and innocent. We then use our God-given gift of agency to choose whom we will serve. I learned a lot from that talk. How grateful I am for the conditional and unconditional blessings of the atonement. The atonement is truly the greatest news we can share with anyone... that no matter what we will all be resurrected, we'll all live eternally with our bodies, and that we are all cleansed from original sin. Everyone will receive those gifts. Now we have the opportunity to do all we can to live righteously and Christ, being the mediator, will make up the difference. Heavenly Father wants us back, we must do ALL we can to go towards truth and light. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! The gospel is good news! I truly couldn't be a missionary for any other church. We have the truth and we have the proof... without the Book of Mormon and the knowledge we have of prayer, how do people really know things are true?

I loved mission tour. Madison, Milwaukee north and Milwaukee south stakes were combined. It was wonderful. I got to see all my former companions except for sisters roth and behrends, who were having mission tour the next day. There were eight of us sisters there. At one part of one of Elder Hafen's talks he was speaking about how we honor Eve. Eve paved the way, Eve took the first step. Then on a side note He talked for a minute about women and how we need not feel any less for not having the Priesthood and divine roles etc. It was at that very moment when the WHOLE ROW OF 8 elders [who all serve here in racine/kenosha] sitting behind us started DYING laughing. Why might you ask? Oh it's because EVERY little thing I do ends up being some kind of joke about myself not having the Priesthood. IT was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. The Barrett's were sitting right in front of us and sister Barrett asked what all that was about. I told her and she laughed too. funny elders. JUST FOR THE RECORD: contrary to popular belief I do not want the Priesthood. I love the Priesthood, I respect all those who hold offices in the Priesthood, but I do not want to hold it myself. I have enough responsibility thank you very much.

The sisters all sang "Nearer My God to Thee" as the special musical number, it was pretty. Elder and Sister Alder are going home this month. I can't even believe it! I called sister alder quite often before my mission asking her questions here and there about coats and luggage and boxes, etc. I will miss the ALderS. I have grown quite fond of them!

As for the rest of the week...

[mon] PDAY! it was a really good pday too! we played soccer in the MUD and RAIN. It was the BEST! We also went to Kohls, I got 2 cute new shirts, I think it is time for a few new things, I haven't shopped in FOREVER! We printed pictures at Wal Mart and we spent some time with sister calderwood. i love her. We emailed and then we had appts with Vicki and the Davis'.

[tues] we studied. taught Marka, she is doing really well. She know the Book of Mormon is True and Jesus is the Christ. She just needs to marry her boyfriend! :) I love teaching her. We had dinner with the Spanish Elders at the Abbott's and then went to Culver's for custard. We took the english elders some custard too, they were both deathly sick with colds.

[wed] we went and taught english in kenosha. then we taught elena. Elena speaks only spanish. She works at the Centro Hispano so she comes to english class twice a week. She started reading a Restoration Pamphlet the Elders left there. When we started coming we asked her if she wanted to be taught and she was game. She is learning to read as she reads from The Book of Mormon each day. I love her. We had dinner with the Seivert's afterwards, sister seivert is not a member [though her kids both go to BYU-I and her son is about to go on a mission and her husband has been a member their whole marriage] and committed to READ and PRAY to know the Book of Mormon is True. That's a BIG deal! Then we played volleyball. Our investigator amy came.

[thu] mission tour- see above. then we ate at Noodles and Company, go there... get Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with Breaded Chicken... YUM! Then we had an AmAzing lesson with Amy. She is so faithful, she's had a lot of hard life experiences lately, I can't imagine life without my mom. She now knows that her mom is being taught in the spirit world what we are teaching her here! I love that!

[fri] english class. we taught suzie about the importance of going to church. we had the trunk or treat for the Kenosha ward and the branch! so fun!

[sat] HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Cleaning day for us... but our house is for sale so we clean for showings and open houses EVERY DAY. so we played soccer with the elders [FREEZING COLD AND SUPER MUDDY. way WINDY TOO!!!!] and then went to the calderwoods and wrote letters for the day and just hung out. We met the elders [and octavio], all eight that we serve with here, for PiZZa at Ruffalo's... so YUMMY!, best pan pizza EvEr! Then we went to the church and played a game called speed ball in the cultural hall with them. It is unsafe for us to proselyte on Halloween so we were asked not too. It was a wierd day... but fun!

[sun] we only had 2 hours of church, as opposed to the usual 6! the building is under construction so we just went to our two sacrament meetings. It was great to fast! Then we went to the Calderwood's for dinner and afterwards to the Flores for "pan dulce" and "chocolate". YUM! it was NoV 1st... Dia de los Muertes! A mexican holiday. FUN! They celebrate their dead, wierd, but cool. Study it ... i learned about it in HS.

It was an AmAZing WEEK. but then again, when don't I say that! i love being a missionary! I love all of you! I love my family and all of you who I consider family! Thanks for all you do for me!

Love, sister pamella jo black

ps ... the Blake's are moving in the next couple weeks, thus so are we [only not to UT with them! :] send all mail here:

SISTER PAMELLA JO BLACK
5651 Broad St Ste1
Greendale, WI 53129

Have a good week! YOu are aLl in my PraYerS!

WE ARE...

... BUSY!

super busy.

we have more investigators than i have ever had in any area of my mission. AmAzing.

there is no such thing as downtime!

i love it. this is what this work is all about.


Today I don't have a whole lot of time to email... like 40 minutes as of right now. SO I may be brief... which i know many of you don't believe is possible. but oh, it is! [and if you wrote me an email this week or last week and i didn't respond... i am sorry! i just don't have time... expect a hand written letter this week!]

i just want you all to know what a hard time all of the elders give me for writing such long emails... post-mish i know i will be happy i did this, and i told them if i didn't my mom would get on a plane to be sure i was OK! they laugh, i'm serious. so brace yourself mom... when rocky is gone you may get 3 paragraphs on a good day (they say their paragraphs are at most 5 sentances! HA) PLUS i don't do a very good job of writing in my journal... so this is like my journal!

Speaking of ROCKY and MISSIONS... his papers are IN! MY BROTHER, ROCKY LEE BLACK... is WAITING for his MISSION CALL! Hallelugiah! I am so excited for him... it makes me so excited my heart beats fast when I talk about it... Are you having people guess rocky? I will tell you my guess next week. I need to think about it.

[lunes] we spent pday last week in milwaukee. we had to take our car in to get so recall thing on the brakes fixed on our little corolla... i am not sure, i just drove it to the dealership. SO we got to spend a whole day with the milwaukee sisters. We emailed at the Muskego library, ate lunch at Kopps.... it was Russian J's first time.. yum yum!!! [sister warner and i have a perfect system when we go there... we share a burger and fries and custard. it's perfect] Then we went to wal-mart... sister warner and i let the other sisters stay together and we did our own thing. oh how i love her. it was good to have that hour with her. THEN.. we went and took fall pictures at a park in milwaukee... so BEAUTIFUL! I love the wisconsin fall! EverYday I say at least 5 times... it is SO beautiful here... There is a tree lined street that we always drive down to see colors of RED, YELLOW, GREEN, PURPLE... it's AmAzing. Best SEASON ever! After pictures we went to the mission home for a bit and visited with sister barrett... then we were back in Racine to have a dinner appointment with Mitesha. We met her non-member mom and she is making us Tacos in two weeks... YUM!

[martes]
district meeting... we also took more fall pics. We were on our way out to contact a referral in Caledonia when we saw a beautiful place so we stopped and took pics on our way back. We taught janae and julie and tyra for the first time [more on them next week] and then saw Vicki. Vicki was the first person I ever taught here in Racine... She is great. Since that time in june her daughter Leslie,11, was bapitized and her son Luis,9, has a date for november 14th. The spanish elders are teaching him. Vicki has had so many life experiences ... she is great. She has remarkable faith. We ended our night with a meeting with president calderwood. We, all 6 of us missionaries, set a date with him to have 10 more baptisms in the branch before the end of the year. I know it is possible... I love president calderwood, he has a lot of faith too! I love associating with so many people who have SO MUCH FAITH... it strengthens my own faith.

ps i taught vicki in spanish with sister russian johnson... it was AMAZING. i feel so blessed to be able to be a spanish missionary. i was shocked with what came out of my mouth... AMAZING!

[miercoles] highlights: we taught english. [ i love teaching english. it's so fun. the students always tell me i am a good teacher... it's nice to hear that sometimes! I know being a missionary has greatly improved my teaching skills. I loVE teaching.] we played volleyball.

[jueves] weekly planning. taught vicki and the kids again. we went to the Silva's to help them "tract" their neighborhood. It is the third time I have been tracting on my mission. It was at night in the RAIN... they were trying to collect supplies for the salvation army warehouse that is depleated here... we were there to teach them about the church! I think it was fruitful. We passed out many pass-a-long cards and bore testimony.

[viernes] we taught english. visited daysi's BRAND NEW BABY GIRL, Leah Michelle.. the name Leah is so pretty in spanish. she is a doll. we taught elena the plan of salvation... I TAUGHT AGAIN... LIKE MORE THAN ONE PRINCIPLE... i was shocked myself... this language is COMING! then we had dinner with tyra, janae and julie... talked about commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy. we visited vicki again and called it a day.

[sabado] We played soccer in the mud and puddles... fun. then we volunteered at the zoo for the BOO at the ZOO event, service with the elders. we stood outside and passed out candy. it was freezing! FREEZING. the wind was blowing SO hard. Longest THREE hours of my life. We then went to a baptism... ANGEL. he is such a cool kid elders petrie and campbell taught. To end the day the Racine ward had a Trunk or Treat! so fun! I wore the halloween stuff you sent us britt, so did my companions! I love our Johnson, Johnson and Black TRIO! [ps elder stribling was wearing a pretty cool ghost tie!! :] happy bday gma!

[domingo] we had church starting at 8:30 ... it was the Kenosha ward primary program combined with spanish branch! so fun. It was the BEST primary program I have seen in a long time... One little girl got up to the mic and said, "When your family repents, they are clean, when they don't, they're dirty!" and sat down. HILARIOUS. One little boy got up to the mic, said his schpeel about temples and forever families. at the end he said, "we should all go to the" [in normal voice] "TEEEMMPPLLEEE" [in a low creepy wispery voice really close to the microphone]. I was dying laughing. It is so touching to see those kids sing and testify, in their own words, about what they know is true. Families can Be TOgether Forever. made me cry when all the kids sang the 1st verse in spanish and the 2nd in english to accomodate both language needs in the congregation. i love this area! then we had church with the racine ward. then we taught amy at the farleys... and had dinner. bro farley is a great cook!

Just in closing because I must go... last week I was having a rough time. I was STRESSED out... we have SO much to do, so LITTLE time, i have less than SIX months left on my mission and so much i want to do, i can't communicate near as easily in spanish as i can in english and i was frustrated ... etc SUNDAY i was just seeking a little peace and comfort. President Calderwood came in to our sunday school class in the branch right when elder smith asked me to read. I read the two paragraphs and didn't think anything about it. As i was leaving after class he pulled me aside and told me my spanish was "greatly improving" ... just what i needed to hear... no more than 5 minutes later i was in the chapel getting spanish hymn books for relief society and a ladyfrom the kenosha ward that i didn't know came up to me and said, "I just have to tell you, you remind me of my sister who served her mission in Argentina. You are always so bright and happy and your face just looks lit up! Thanks for serving your mission." It was SO nice of her! I really need just those two little comments. it made me day to say the least.

I am all good now!

it was an AmAzing week!

I hope it doesn't rain all this week like it did last week!

I love you all!

Love, sister pamella jo black

PS... MEG: Congrats your new arrivals... TWINS... I want to meet those sweet little babies! Ruby and Lucy... I LOVE THOSE NAMES, I can't wait to hold them... they'll be so old by april!!

Cleave unto ChArItY...

Do you remember my mission scripture?
Well here is a refresher! ...

Moroni 7:45-48 ...

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I absolutely LOVE these SCRIPTURES!!! Charity is where it's at! I want to be described as one who is kind, not puffed up, not easily provoked and thinketh no evil! SOme DaY!!! It's a SLOW process! HA. As true followers of Jesus Christ, I know we can PRAY [with all energy of heart] to be filled with that love and WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, just like Moroni says! what a blessing that is. I love the power of prayer.

This week went by so FAST. Every week seems to do that lately.

Here are some short updates before I get into the nitty gritty of the week:

*Tina is no longer one of our investigators. She has many problems in her life that are beyond our expertise. She is not psychologically, mentally, or emotionally able to meet with us. Sister Crowther has been so AmAzing in helping her to receive the help she needs, but she won’t even accept that. She is living in a shelter now, we think, we don’t really know where she is at. Sister Crowther keeps contact with the family and after all of the testing and things is done and Tina has overcome some addictions, or at least is on her way to doing that, we will be able to meet with her again, Sister Crowther said she would let us know.

*Suzie is doing well… except she didn’t come to church on Sunday. She, however, cannot be baptized until she either marries Adam or moves out. Moving out just isn’t going to happen… she just had a baby four weeks ago. They can’t get married because Adam was just recently divorced and they have to wait six months, by Wisconsin law, to marry again after the divorce. I HATE SATAN. SO, we will continue to help her recognize the blessing of living the commandments and following the gospel of Jesus Christ and keep her working towards her baptismal date… IN 6 MO… ugh.
*We had SIX new investigators this WEEK! Diante, Marka, Janae, Tyra, Elena, & Fransisco! The work here is going SO WELL… we can hardly keep up with member referrals and media referrals [people who call in to the MTC call center after watching a commercial, getting a pass-along card or seeing a billboard] We also have some new SPANISH SPEAKING INVESTIGATORS for English classes! Quick FUNNY AmAZING story. We got a media referral for a lady named Tiffany for a Book of Mormon. She called in after reading CJANE’S blog post about how the Book of Mormon helps her thru EACH day! She has been a faithful reader long before the crash, but has fallen in love with the family and makes it a daily read. Well, I called her to set an appointment and we DEF had a bonding moment about our love for the NieNie Dialogues, Cjane’s blog and Mindy Gleadhill… did you know that Stephanie Nielson HIKED THE Y? Yes friends, and she was on Oprah, ok, I have thoughts about Oprah, that I will keep to myself… but NIENIE STRUTTED ACROSS THE STAGE ON TELEVISION! …. So cool, Tiffany filled me in … anyways, maybe only my family and Steph will realize how AmAzing [I am thoroughly convinced there is no such thing as a coincidence when doing the Lord’s work] it is that I get to teach this lady, but we are meeting her in a coffee shop later this week. I can’t wait. [Apparently, the elders got a text about her too and visited her and they “just didn’t get it”. Well I did. And this lady is SO READY!]

ok ok…

MONDAY
We played soccer with the elders [my favorite thing EVER!] Had breakfast at the flores at about 11… tacos yum! Then DISC GOLF… I am not too bad at it… only I don’t go chase my Frisbee if it flies into the brush, I go get, come out … then THROW. It’s like golf… you are supposed to stay where you are at and throw.. ya right. That is so not going to happen. We then emailed, taught Susie, then had the golden arches for dinner, first time in a long time. They changed their chocolate shakes, I didn’t really care for them…

TUESDAY
We had district meeting. I know I say this a lot, but I have had some of my most productive district meeting down here in Racine, Elder Petrie is a great district leader. [he also told me this week that I speak before I think… burn! … perhaps it is true sometimes, if anyone else had said that I would have been mad, but for some reason from him it was ok…so I have tried to THINK … BEFORE I speak.] We then had some appointments in Kenosha with the elders. One was their investigator, Marta Garcia, who we are trying to help them with… she has no obstacles to getting baptized… she comes to church EVERY week… when we asked her WHEN she planned to be baptized she said, “Cuando Dios Quiere…” Meaning, when God wants…. AHH! Drives me nuts… it’s a phrase Latinos use ALL THE TIME.

Later on we taught Raven and Diante, referrals from Temika, her family. The lesson was AmAzing. I love to teach the Restoration.

WEDNESDAY
We taught English, saw Daisy and Hma Martinez [all 3 things we do IN SPANISH] then we taught Marka for the FIRST time, she is related to the Briggs…Ariel taught with us. It was a great lesson. We had dinner with a new family in the ward, the Murdock’s [they are great people, they’re going to be a great help in missionary work] and then we played volleyball… so fun.

THURSDAY
We did weekly planning at the church. Spanish Class with Sister Calderwood. We taught Michelle Cabrales with the elders, She is a great young girl, her parents are investigating too. Then we taught the Sura’s and had dinner with them. Afterwards, we had hot cocoa at the Petriceck’s. Their daughter, Sarah, was visiting from UvU and wanted to talk about going on a mission. She went on Splits with Little J [brown haired sister Johnson] and taught Susie while we were at the Sura’s.

FRIDAY
We taught English again, then taught Marta Garcia, then Had lunch with Elena and Fransisco, people we met at English class…Sarah Petriceck made us a salad, so we stopped by there and visited her and her family [her dad is not a member, but is reading the BOM and the elders teach him] then had dinner with Ted and Cheryl. They let us choose dinner. So we chose Salad and something with Pesto… she made us THE BEST Chicken Pesto sandwiches, they were hot with red peppers and provolone cheese.. yum! And a caesar salad! Oh sarah… she reminds me SO much of you! Then we visited Janae… we met Janae at the beach 2 months ago [when I was still with sister Behrends] and she knew who we were, she said her mom used to meet with missionaries a while ago. So I got her info and we’ve just never been able to touch base again with them, until Friday! Her MOM is a MEMBER! It was a great night. We sang, upon her mom Julie’s request, Joseph Smith’s First Prayer and ended with a prayer, her mom cried the whole time. It was AmAzing… the Lord really does put people in our PATH… Janae needs the gospel, her mom has forgotten the blessings that come from living the commandments.

SATURDAY
We played soccer, we cleaned the Martinez’s yard… since I got here to Racine, IN JUNE, I have noticed their yard needed a little TLC… well it finally happened. The elders flaked out on us, so we did it ourselves. It took us about 3 hours. We raked and mowed and trimmed bushes and cleaned windows. They fed us afterwards; it was a surprise to them. They were so happy! Sister Martinez is doing so WELL… she is overcoming her depression and they’re getting her meds straight. Afterwards we were TIRED and SORE … we came home, showered took a little nap and studied. Then we Taught Elena and Francisco with Octavio Garcia [he’s amazing, more on him next week] and then had dinner with the Silva’s. . . members of the Kenosha ward.

SUNDAY
…church… long… then a potluck for OctaVio because he just got home from his mission in Ogden Utah. We contacted one referral and then came home…

WHEW… a good week… lots more to tell you next week! We must go … we are in Milwaukee today… our car has an appt at the dealership!!!

I love all of you!

GRANDMA HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY! I WILL BE THINKING OF YOU AND MISSING YOU! just another year younger! Ps I got my Halloween card from you and grandpa… you guys are the BEST!

LoVe, sister pamella jo black

Nobody ever said...

... I would LOVE it this much!

I LOVE MY MISSION. I LOVE IT. I feel like Rocky, in his last letter [yes folks the boy sent me a HAND-WRITTEN letter, happy day!] he said, "I just want to shout it off the roof-tops, the gospel has been restored!" I too feel that way. On Friday I will only have six months left to share that message. I LOVE being a full-time representative of Jesus Christ. It is truly an AmAzing experience. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 4 talks all about our work as missionaries, it says:

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;
4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.
6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.
7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

I love those scriptures! Especially verses 5-7. I truly feel like I am learning to posess those qualities as a missionary. Sometimes I have to really REALLY stretch to have TEMPERANCE or PATIENCE with certain people or certain situations, but I feel a power beyond my own helping me to be CALM and to RELAX and speak and act as the Lord would have me... even when it's REALLY REALLY hard and I could easily be irritated or angry. The spanish elders often say to me "CALMATE or TRANQUILA" while we play soccer... haha. I am learning to incorporate those in to all allys of my life. It's good for me... but sometimes stretching HURTS!

This was one of the best weeks on my mission. It started and ended well. I truly have been so HAPPY in this work this week!

[MON] play soccer. i was DYING Of sickness [a cold], but i HAD to play.. so I did. We then made breakfast [pancakes] at the FLORES for them and all the elders and helped her plant flowers. we emailed. we went to Target. We had ENCHILADAS with TED and CHERYL and then I went to bed.

[TUE] I did not get out of bed. I was SO sick. I slept the day away. It felt so WIERD... but so good. The wierd thing was, no matter how long I slept, I was STILL TIRED!! I planned on going out that night, but then I just couldn't, so the sisters had dinner at the Ngorney's and taught AMY without me. I stayed home, slept, showered, and ate homemade chicken noodle soup courtesy of sister blake. Kassidy was sick too, she's the Blake's oldest daughter, so she was my companion. We both went to bed early.

[WED] we had district meeting and interviews with President and Sister Barrett. I love them SO much! They both expressed to me how much they love me, how grateful they were to have me in the mission, but specifically how grateful they were to have me in Racine. President mentioned the first time he met me, oh how I love that he still remembers street contacting with me in downtown Milwaukee that COLD November night! He loves that I was so bold, which is true, but i was SO new I didn't know there was another way! haha He says I haven't lost it! He said I am just so happy and enthusiastic in the work! It was a great interview, one of the best I have had. Sister Barrett made me a CD! I love it... I DEF needed new music! I love the Barrett's. It's so good to hear you are loved and appreciated sometimes, that is what I needed. It has been a little stressful having the Sister JOhnsOn's here... they are both great, but both new to the area. Russian Johnson is BRAND NEW... I always have to be on my A GAME! ... which is good... but stressful sometimes.

Elder Petrie gave us great training at district meeting. He committed us to PRAY with pen and paper and write down inspiration/revelation we receive, to update our area book EVERY night and use it in planning and to practice ROLE-PLAYING teaching scenarios in companionship study. We role-played during district meeting too. We did finding ideas. At one point I was paired up with on of the assistants, elder carter, he was the missionary and I was pretending to be a girl walking on campus. He did SUCH a GREAT JOB of bringing the spirit and testifying! Even in a role-play the Lord will bless us with the spirit as we bear testimony of Him.

[THU] we painted our room at the Blakes to make it more generic so it would sell... it was brown and TEAL... BRIGHT TEAL OR AQUA OR SOMETHING... my luggage colors!... NOW it is a beautiful brown. Then we taught TINA and SUZIE. We set a baptismal date with SUZIE for OCT 31st. It was a great experience. Suzie just had a baby. Her boyfriend is a less-active member who is coming back. They are a great couple, good hearted people. I am excited for Suzie to see the fruits of repentance in her life over the next couple weeks as she prepares for baptism. We had the Sura's for dinner and we had a GREAT lesson with Dave. We found out his concerns for not being baptized and remaining the "most non-mormon MORMON" [as he calls himself] we know. We gave him a calendar. I hope and pray he prayfully considers this decision and makes a plan, we can't do it for him.

[FRI] we taught english in kenosha with the elders. It was really good, we had such a good turn-out. It helps my Spanish so much. We are even going to begin teaching the gospel to some of those whom we teach english. Elaena is one of them- she is older and has a really big family. we left the RESTORATION pamphlets in English and Spanish in the classroom. She works at the Centro Hispano, where we have class and she has been reading a page a day, reading is really difficult for her, in both english and spanish. SHE IS SO PREPARED! We taught Suzy again and Tina too. We set a date with Tina again, [she had a date when I first got here] for NOVEMBER 1st. I know she can do it! We had dinner with Vivian Maine, a sweet older lady. I love her.

[SAT] WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE... sister Blake dropped us off in Chicago at around 7 am... we left the house at 6... we got up at 5! BUT it was SUCH a GREAT day! We did initiatories... IN SPANISH... then an endowment session at 8am. At 10:30 the FLORES family was SEALED together for TIME and ALL ETERNITY. I love the Flores family. They have been members for a little over a year. They have 4 children Fernanda [15], Lupita [13], Sofi [9], & Brian [6] . They are such a wonderful family! I have grown really close to them. We play soccer with them every saturday and have breakfast at their home every PDAY. The last time i was in a sealing room was when I was Sofi's age...that's 13 years ago. It was a very spiritual experience for me to remember my family and my own sealing. THe last thing the Sealer said to them, after the children left was, "Your children don't have to make covenants, they are yours forever!" WOW! What a blessing that is as members of the church. How grateful I am for forever families. My favorite thing to teach when we teach the Plan of Salvation is that God allows us to learn about our relationship with Him as our Heavenly Father by giving us families. We love our parents and our children unconditionally, thru that love we come to know His love for us.

I love the temple. Doing initiatories [it was my first time since I did my own initiatory last year this time] in Spanish made me pay attention better, what blessings come from attending the temple and making and keeping our covenants there! Heavenly Father desires to bless us SO much, I always think of that when I am at the temple. I am so grateful for parents who LOVE me and brittany and rocky SO MUCH... and for their willingness to keep the commandments and live the gospel in order to bless us as an eternal family!

Speaking of FAMILY... it just happened to be GREEN BAY STAKE TEMPLE DAY! Right before the sealing we came out of our session and I got to see EVERYONE I LOVE from green bay! [President Kreihbl, P. & S. Biolo, S. Doucette, S. Roberts, the Carlsruh's, and MANY MANY MORE] WHAT A BLESSING! If a year ago someone told me I would love the people this much I wouldn't have believed them. My companions were laughing at me because I was so excited. Practically our WHOLE ward was there! They all hugged me and we caught up. I love them. I pray I get to end my mission serving there... we shall see. I was looking for Lisa Robertson, she wasn't there though. After the sealing I was changing in the locker room out of my temple clothes and someone put their hand under my door and said "Watcha doin' in there?" Oliva Robertson used to do that whenever we went to the bathroom. I was ecstatic to see her... Little J said she was the same to see me! THOSE PEOPLE ARE MY FAMILY IN WISCONSIN. OH HOW I LOVE THEM!

The rest of the day/night was filled with partying. We came back with Hermana Calderwood, went to her kids' soccer game for like 10 minutes, it was FREEZING... then we went to her house and had HOT CHOCOLATE AND BAGELS... then off to the church for the FLORES FIESTA. She wore a wedding dress, he a TUX, There was TONS of GOOD mexican food and a HUGE CAKE! Strobe lights and LOTS of dancing... so fun! I LOVE SERVING IN THE BRANCH!

[SUN] We had FOUR INVESTIGATORS at CHURCH! Suzy, Tina, Tiana [tinas oldest daughter] and Marka! IT was a really great fast and testimony sunday! After church we had SOUL FOOD at Temika's cousin's house here in Racine. They were having a big family party. I didn't know what SOUL FOOD was until last night... yum. When we came in the house everyone just stared at us... there were at least 40 people there... we were the only white people! haha they thought it was HILARIOUS my name was Sister Black. They had all kinds of jokes. None of them are members but we had a great time. We are teaching two of temika's cousins who live there, Raven [15] and Darneesha [11]. We teach our first formal lesson to them tomorrow. They asked me to bless the food and to keep it short, no discourses! haha it was funny! It was a lot of fun, AND I LEARNED WHAT collard greens are! I even ate them... and fried fish! ya i know, AmAzing. . . and i liked it. haha

The rest of the night we spent at the Crowther's with Tina. When we got there Sister Crowther said there would be no lesson; tina confided in her about a lot of problems in her life and couldn't make any kind of cognative decision. She just cried a lot. All of the kids were there too. We sang her Abide with me 'tis Eventide. That calmed her down and then she was willing to accept a blessing of cousel and comfort from Bro. Crowther... IT WAS AMAZING. I really know that the Lord loves Tina SO much. He blessed her to have strength to make hard decisions... it was so specific. He told her to move out of her mom's, get a job, find stable housing, work peacebly with her children's fathers and to not live with another man outside the bonds of marriage. AmAzing. It was SO specific and she was counseled to pray and ask specific questions and wait for the answers. I love the Priesthood! I am pretty sure Tina stayed at the Crowthers last night with the baby. She has no heat or electricity or food at her apt. The members have really stepped up again. Oh how grateful i am that Tina has realized that strength in her life and will now accept help and begin to repent. We hope to teach her tomorrow.

That is the FULL scoop! I love my mission. I love all of you! Keep the mail coming!

Love, sister pamella jo black