I can't imagine NOT choosing to come on a mission.

oh how i love that little peninsula of Wisconsin.

one of us together @ the famous little red lighthouse in Algoma !

Hello Family,

1st off .... the cardinals are going to the SUPER BOWL? WHAT? that goes against all I have been taught my WHOLE life? Crazy!!!! They actually WIN? Dad has been giving me the full updates in dearelders and emails! Church is cancelled so he says? HAHA ....GO CARDINALS!!! -go to church dad, they'll win if you do!- :)

How are you all? Sorry I couldn't email yesterday! It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and all libraries (which are the only places we're authorized to email from) were closed! I know you were probably expecting it, sorry! but today is the day!!!

This week there were record lows! Thursday and Friday it was in the negative forties! Scary story---Sister Warner and I CoUlDn't EVEN TELL! I was expecting to fall over dead?!! Ya no, same. I think I am so shocked by the cold everyday that it wasn't too different at all! School was cancelled for kids both those days, they can't go to school if the temperature approaches -30*, this was well beyond that. We were instructed as missionaries to stay inside unless we had scheduled appointments, our crazy zone leaders went tracting!!! dumb. dumb. dumb. BUT ... they had success- people thought they were crazy and of course invited them in!

on January 12, 2009 .. CORRINE GRACE SCHRAP entered the waters of baptism ! It was a beautiful program .. all of Corry's family that she invited came ! her mother, her brothers, even her grandparents and aunt from Wauwatosa [down by Milwaukee] .. they enjoyed and supported Corry with all their hearts .. her grandpa was even brought to tears during the program [we gave him the elders # down in Wauwatosa and he said he is gonna do some "investigating" about the church] ! the YW bore there testimonies on how the gospel of Jesus Christ has improved their life and how blessed they were to get to know and be friends with Corry ! it was an AMAZING night. She was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost on January 18, 2009 by Brother Paul Robertson [our WML] the blessing he gave her was so beautiful and inspired. RIGHT AFTER she was confirmed a member of the church she gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting about the Book of Mormon ! it was AMAZING ! She spoke with the WHOLE Bishopric of the Green Bay 1st Ward and every single person referred back to Corry's talk .. seriously it was SO good. Corry is so amazing .. i cant explain just right how great she is ! we have also had really good talks with her brother JOHN about the gospel and Corry's example to him ! Corry is such a blessing to her family and will be to so many because she knows the truth now and wants to share it!

on the 13th we had an amazing ZONE CONFERENCE .. all about faith in Jesus Christ .. it was just what i needed to start this transfer off right .. our spirits were fed by our wonderful President and Sister Barrett, President Jensen, The Assistants, and our Zone Leaders. i really love zone conference .. it is so fun getting to see other missionaries and exchange stories about areas but the training is def always needed and so helpful. this zone conference was with the Wausau Zone and us .. the Green Bay Zone .. we got to spend time with 3 other sisters in the mission, s.hamblin, s.bryner, & s.bishop .. they are all so great and its SO fun being SISTERS !

we had a wonderful dinner that night with the SPRY family .. RON SPRY is a convert and was active for 12years .. he hasn't been to church in over 20years and is now remarried to PAT SPRY who is an ex-nun and is very involved with the Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church. we talked to Ron a lot about faith and testimony .. that is what we are working on for him .. Pat is just so sweet and open and her faith in God is very strong. we invited both of them to come to Sacrament Meeting on 01.18.09 and Pat invited us to her Catholic Mass on that day as well .. SO we went to a Catholic Mass in the morning on 01.18.09 and it was very interesting .. the building was beautiful and it was different but a very good experience. Pat came WITHOUT Ron to Sacrament that afternoon and she said it was different but very good. it was SO good for Pat to be at Sacrament also b.c. ALL the talks were on THE BOOK OF MORMON ! it was really really good and the spirit was SO STRONG. She really wants to work with us to help Ron find faith in Jesus Christ. She told us it will just take baby steps, it's true, that's how everyone finds their faith. One little baby step at a time. Pat is great. Dad- I WENT TO A CATHOLIC MASS! I was so glad to go and to be able to see for myself how it is ran. The spirit was definitely there, but it strengthened my testimony of our religion and of the importance of the priesthood.

i LOVE so much CARALYNN and JENI RIBBENS who come out on exchanges with us .. their willingness to come and be missionaries with us is beyond appreciated .. i love them .. and we always have funny stories to tell afterward ! JRIB and i got SO lOST~ mind you she had lived in Green BAY her WHOLE LIFE... and it's really NOT THAT BIG OF A CITY! she has no idea where she is going, really. I called so many people for directions ..I even called e.pulley who is now in Appleton b.c. he knows GB like the back of his hand ! We only ended up seeing 2 PEOPLE THE WHOLE TIME BECAUSE WE WERE SO LOST! we laughed a lot, but I definitely think I need a GPS like sister warners... some day I am going to be the driver and I will need one for sure... it's all about the GARMIN! I like that model. At one point we had just left the west side and we were on the east side looking for DAY st. A very popular street. Jenni claimed to know where it was. after driving in circles for AT LEAST 20 minutes I saw us approaching a bridge and said "Jrib, is that the Fox river? are we going to the West side again?" HAHA she laughed and said yes, needless to say I called S. Andrus for directions. Jenni's dad had already given us directions on the west side from his work computer on the google live map thing. SO ridiculouS!

We were SO lost, but it was a really good time! I love Jennifer Ribbens and her family. S. warner and Caralynn ANdrus saw lots more people! NExt time we'll know. . . whoever goes with Jrib takes the GPS!!!!

i LOVE the YW .. they are so good about inviting their friends to come and participate in activities, it helps our missionary work SO MUCH!

we are getting everything organized and planned out for UWGB .. the semester and institute starts NEXT WEEK ! i am so excited for the activities and progress that will happen. It's SO fun to serve on a college campus!

STURGEON BAY ! STURGEON BAY ! STURGEON BAY ! oh how i love that little peninsula of Wisconsin. we have SO much to do there ! its so hard to split our time up between areas .. BUT we got to do it .. we had great visits with KIM STRUCK and TOM KRUCK and CAREY OTTO and the rest of the STRUCK family @ CULVERS .. oh how my love of CUSTARD grows more each day--- It's addicting!!!!

we had 4 non members come to church on Sunday 01.18.09 .. Corry's mom and brother, john .. pat spry and FARRAH ! FARRAH is 14 and was introduced to the church through a member in the GB 2nd ward .. her mom is IRIS, she is PERUVIAN and she is investigating the Spanish branch but Farrah her daughter feels more comfortable in the English ward so we are working together with the Spanish elders for both of their progression. the Spanish elders told us that she cooks amazing Peruvian food so we are definitely having dinner appointments there! Good thing the Spanish elders are nice and invite us!

YESTERDAY WAS THE BEST .. it was Martin Luther King Jr Day and here in Wisconsin the kids DO NOT get the day off- wierd, we always did .. DIANE's church was having a HUGE CELEBRATION and she invited us to come .. [so in 1week s.warner and i went to a Catholic Mass and a Pentecostal Church and YES we are still very much MORMONS !] it was the coolest thing ever .. they did have JAMES JONES .. wide receiver for the GB Packers come and speak .. they had tons of music and one man read MLK's "I have a Dream" speech .. it was pretty amazing. Diane is going to come to the Mormon Church this coming week ! she is doing better on the quitting smoking .. she just needs to quit ALL the way.

we spent some time at the RIBBENS yesterday playing some games and of course getting CUSTARD @ CULVERS ! later we had a wonderful FHE with Corry and the Carlsruh .. oh how i love being a missionary seeing and the gospel of Jesus Christ changing peoples lives.

Steph: Happy Birthday this past SUndAy ... I thought of you!

ANd Brady McEwan Weaver! I never told you happy Birthday December 26th!!! You're 9 now! stop growing! I can't believe you've been baptized for a year!!!!

i love my life. I am reaching my goal this year of "losing myself in the work" ... it's happening and it feels great! I can't imagine NOT choosing to come on a mission. It is the best decision i have ever made! I see miracles here everyday and see the way it blesses my family to to have a missionary out!

sORry ... I never have enough time to write! I have more to say! NEXT WEEK FOR SURE! I LOVE YOU GUYS! YOu're IN my PraYers!!!!

... so is our country! ... our new President was inaugurated today!

Love,

SIster Pamella Jo Black