HELLO ALL!!!

Welp I don't have much time AT ALL today, next week will be better... I promise. So today I will just give you highlights of the week:

*s.warner was transferred. K that is NOT a highlight, but a reality rather. I miss her more than I ever thought possible. She was transferred down to Winnebego which is near appleton. SHe works with the Young Single Adult Branch. I was happy she's only 45 minutes away. She will still work with the YSA's here in GB too. so that's good. I get to see her tonight, she's coming up for Family HOme EVENING and tomorrow we have Zone Conference with the appleton zone so I will see her there! We have talked every day on the phone. she's a keeper.
*s. bryner is my new companion. transfers are always hard. we're adjusting. It's hard not to compare her to s.warner but i am learning. she has been out 7 1/2 months. She's from Idaho Falls and she is a BYU-I student studying interior design, she's the youngest of 5. nice girl. She’s still the driver, she’s been out longer, not a big deal to me BC I get the CELL PHONE!!!!! I still sleep with the thing, ha!
* I was way stressed about how I was going to find my way around minus s.warner and her GPS. S. bryner came on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning I got a package from GRANDMA and GRANDPA with my very own GPS in it! I love my new garmin. Thanks- you guys are the BEST.
*We had a sockhop on Saturday, it was a tri-ward thing. I taught them all how to do the cotton-eyed jo line dance. It was SO fun. And we had 4 nonmember UWGB students come and they fit right in. Joselyn and Annie Robertson, and Jessica Dean did an AmAzing job decorating and setting up and planning. [We came and helped them sat afternoon and I kinda got bossy and Sister Lisa Robertson just laughed at me. Her oldest Joselyn and I are a LOT alike. I love the Robertson family. ] The sockhop was a definite success and lots of non-members and less-actives came despite the foot of snow we got that day! Woo hoo!
*I gave olivia Robertson(3) a big lollipop at church yesterday and she smiled, hugged me and said, "You're DA best!" haha
*Today I got the best package from Sarah! I love the letter and the Pictures! I miss my little girls! I got a great v-day package from steph last week too. Thanks! I love getting mail!!!!!
*Today we are playing volleyball with the elders and team black is SO going to win!! I’ll give the score next week! I have a lot of pent up energy I am excited to dispel!!!
*Tonight we are teaching Heather MIlletts friend Jeff the 2nd lesson and having the 1st ever YSA[young single adult] FHE [family home evening] at the church [and s.warner is coming and bringing a bunch of ysa’s from winnebego]

SO there you go… there are the highlights, I gotta go! Today I am TAKING A NAP! Thanks for the advice mom. She told me to rest… I am doing it! Haha
I love Green Bay! I can’t imagine leaving! Hopefully I am here the rest of this transfer and next. We shall see!!!! I love the elders we serve around. They are such great examples to me, they don’t even know it. They are my lifeline since s.warner is gone. I am constantly bouncing ideas off of them.
I love the work I am able to be apart of and see the blessings in my life, the lives of those around me and definitely in the LIVES of my FAMILY! It is such a blessing to be out here! I LOVE MY LIFE!!!
I will write a better email next week!!!!! I love you all!

Love, sister pamella jo black

This is a week of A LOT OF CHANGE…

WHAT A WEEK! There is so much to write and so little time!

OK… Monday we were able to teach JEFF at the Millett's home. Heather Millett knows Jeff really well and has brought him to several activities, they are both high school students. Jeff comes from a very strict Catholic family, yet has a lot of concerns and desires to know more about the Mormon Faith. Heather is such a good example to him and S.Warner challenged her to ask him to take the lessons. She did and he said YES! Heather is so bold and Jeff is SO brave. We taught him the restoration by watching the "Restoration" DVD and bearing testimony. The spirit was so strong in the lesson. We would ask Jeff a question and at times there would be up to 2 minutes of silence [which is a LONG time in a lesson] where the spirit testified to him and to us that the things we were teaching were true. Jeff struggles with telling his parents he is taking the lessons. It is hard for him to pray to know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet because he knows if he receives an answer he will have to DO something about it! When asked if he wanted to continue to learn more he was quiet for a long time and then said, "I have come too far to not learn more." We are teaching him again next Monday! He is an amazing young man, so smart and so close to the spirit.

Tuesday was Soup for the Soul at the Ecumenical Center (EC) at UWGB. The EC is a place where college kids of all faiths can come and worship and the EC staff is VERY friendly to us as missionaries! They have Soup every Tuesday evening at 5, it is free for students and it is a great place for us as missionaries to meet UWGB students looking for more. During Soup we FINALLY held our MORMON MYTHBUSTERS event. It was phenomenal. It was really funny, as we were starting tons of kids hurried and left, BUT a good 40 students stayed! The panel was all members of our ward: Bishop and Sister Huzzey, Sister Louthaine, Brother Carlsruh, Jennifer Ribbens, Brandi &Megan! We had one box on campus and a big poster at the LDSSA booth and one box in the EC for people to leave questions… the turnout was incredible and we got so many GOOD questions. The event was a big success and one girl even told S.Louthaine, "Everything I knew about Mormons wasn't true!" haha We got one new investigator because of the event! It was the first time anything like this has EVER taken place on campus. This is HUGE! Tuesday we also went to Ethan Hyden's high school hockey game! Go GB united! Go Hydo!!! I get really worked up during those games, they are intense, I don't think I could ever let my kid play that game! It's really fun to watch though, Ethan is a great player.

Wednesday we went to ORGSMORG at UWGB. It is an event where all the different organizations have booths and promote their clubs. Well, we as missionaries pretty much ARE the LDSSA here at UWGB. We have two members, Elaina is the club president and Andrei is a member too… other than that we've got nothing. S.Hood and S.Warner got the club going when they first got here. The two current members are really busy with school and were kind of just the means to an end for the missionaries- meaning they didn't necessarily WANT to be part of the club. However they joined so the club could get started and we could publicize things like institute on campus and have booths and posters up. SO, because they did that last semester, this semester we went to ORGSMORG and 22 UWGB students signed up for our club! TWENTY-TWO! I was so excited, we all were. Elder Jolley and Elder Oldham and Jenni Ribbens came to the booth too. We talked to everyone that walked by and had such a good day. I was so shocked at how many students I knew on campus that were at the orgsmorg. It's so great to have a presence on campus, to have people notice us and to build relationships with the students. I feel so blessed to be a part of bringing the church out of obscurity here in Wisconsin and especially at UWGB!

That night we had dinner at the Jensen's. Sister Jensen showed me her scrapbooking room… we will FOR SURE be spending a P-day there!!! It's InCreDiBle! Also that night I taught the YW how to make bracelets. They would always comment on mine and one day asked if I could teach them. It was fun.

We spent Thursday and Friday in Sturgeon Bay. Friday night we went to Sturgeon Bay High School's Musical "The Wizard of Az" directed by President Robertson, branch president of the Sturgeon Bay Branch (Pres. Dave Robertson, brother of Paul Robertson [WML, who lives here in GB]) It was fun to see President Robertson in action. At the last minute he had to cut the kid playing the tin man and he had to play the part! HE wAs such a GREAT tin MAN! I love their family, it's that whole Robertson clan! THEY are GREAT! I t was AmAzing to see how many people were staring at our tags. Even earlier that day a lady was staring at my tag so bad that I walked over and introduced myself and gave her a mormon.org passalong card. It's crazy how much attention our tags bring us and how brave you are as a missionary because of your tag and your calling! She was grateful for the introduction!

Saturday we volunteered at the Science Expo at Shopko Hall called the Einstein Project. Sister Warner and I helped pass out bags and fake tattoos at the front door and then helped the elders with their booth which was an experiment using litmus paper and basic water. The kids dipped their hands in this water-like substance and then put their hand print on this paper. If the liquid was acidic the paper would turn yellow, if basic, it would turn red… welp the substance was made with water and windex, which is basic, so the paper turned red. So fascinating to these kids. Another favorite at the expo was the Corn Starch and Water Booth. When you run on a 2parts corn starch, 1part water tub the mixture appears to be a solid, when you just stand there it is a liquid and you sink… it's the COOLEST THING EVER! I played with a little tub of it "FOR DAYS!" [elder Oldham always says that and now s. warner and I have really picked it up!!! We say it all the time, much to his dismay!]

That afternoon we taught Vanessa at the Deans. Sarah was there of course and Brookie Robertson came too. Apparently the night before they all had a big party together and Hannah Torbenson came too, complete with Pizza, Madagascar 2 and lots of noise! SO fun… the deans are GREAT! We watched the living scriptures cartoon video about the tree of life and Lehi's dream… it was so good. She really wants to partake of the fruit… her baptismal day is coming closer and closer! She just has to work out a date with her dad!

We also taught Farrah at the Hyden's home. We taught her the restoration. She was very receptive and this week is working on gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith… I am excited for her!

Saturday was also VALENTINE'S DAY! I had such a great Valentine's Day… Mom and Dad and Rocky I loved my package… it was like Christmas all over again(plus it had SOFT candy hearts. My favorite!) ! Grandpa & Grandma I loved your card & gift! Brit- Your card made me laugh… a lot. Then Jenni Ribbens met us at the church and gave us Roses and cookies! How nice of her to think of us! She is amazing!

That night we had dinner at the Cozzens with the Huntleys. We had such a GREAT dinner and visit with them. I love both of those families. We exchanged crazy mission stories with Bro & Sis Cozzens and laughed a lot with Sis Huntley. I taught them how to braid their girls hair in the twisty braid and Spencer Cozzens sang us one of my new favorite songs, "Somewhere there is a Mountain". A damper on the night was that Sister Warner and I got transfer calls and she will be getting transferred Thursday! We won't find out where she is going or who my new companion will be until Tuesday! I am SO sad, but excited at the same time. I will miss her SO much and probably more than she knows, but change is good and having a new companion will be fun. [Side NOTE: this night on our way home I was calling someone and left them a message and I always have the HARDEST time getting off of the phone and hanging up so I said, on accident, "I say these things I in the name…" then just started LAUGHING and hung up! I was trying to end the message like a prayer! I was really tired! Haha]

Sunday was nothing short of AmAzing and a topper to an AmAzing WEEK! We had 4 UWGB students at church. THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. The ward was shocked. I was a little surprised too! I have such a testimony that hard work pays off and that the Lord blesses us for our efforts! We had LOTS of less actives at church as well! Elder Oldham, Elder Jolley, Sister Warner and I were so busy! IT was a great feeling. Three of the students we met at Soup for the Soul and orgsmorg. One girl, Amy, we had never met. She kind of blew off elders in Wausau and never read the Book of Mormon they game her. She was at the public library here in Green Bay, saw a Book of Mormon, and said, "It was like a flash of lightning, I had to take that book home", so she did! She talked to missionaries on mormon.org AND she came to church on Sunday. The Lord really has Prepared people here in Green Bay! I am SO happy to be a part of this work! Sister warner was able to bear her testimony, courtesy of Bishop Huzzey J. She loves the people here in GB. This has been her 1^st and only area and she's been here for 6 months! She's really seen the work progress and the ward loves her, she'll definitely be missed. Bishop kept looking at me during her testimony with tears in his eyes, my eyes matched his! She'll definitely be missed, but has left her mark here!

We had dinner at sister bartells last night… and I WASN'T SICK like last time!

I will leave you with this thought:

Nephi talks about the vision he also saw of the tree of life. He says in I Nephi 15:36:

"…that ^atree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most ^bdesirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the ^cgreatest of all the ^dgifts of God."

I get to teach people how they can partake of that fruit and share it with others! What a blessing! I love being a missionary! Especially a sister missionary! [I was talking with some elders from the 2^nd ward yesterday and they were teasing me, what's new, so I sarcastically said, "That's right elders, all sister missionaries do is cry, talk about their feelings and ask for blessings!" They laughed so hard they couldn't breathe and said I made the quote board! HAHA I didn't know I was so funny, that's the stereotype for sisters, but we have definitely broken the mold her in GB!] I love relying on the Lord and seeing the blessings of doing so, since this is HIS work!

This is a week of A LOT OF CHANGE… I am excited. Good things are happening here in Green Bay. The flood gates are opening. Put your life vest on! I am excited for my new companion to be blessed by serving in the BEST area EVER!

I love you all! Thanks for your love and support! I love my calling!

Love , Sister Pamella Jo Black

Pictures:

*the amazing cast of WIZARD OF OZ ! [aka blackmail for president robertson !]


*valentines from the RIBBENS !


*the snow USED to cover our whole entire DECK .. now it is TINY !


*our sweet VANESSA in the middle! Brookie on me and Sara on the far left...


*jeff, heather millett and US !


*FARRAH and paige hyden and us with valentines treats ! farrah = the one with 2 heart krispies!


*service at the einstien project ..so fun!

Oops, I am BEHIND!

Sorry! The letter right under these pictures was from LAST week, I am behind on the posting!

-brit

Here are some pictures from 2 WEEKS ago!

*the amazing YW of the GB 1st Ward !

*the Miller Family! Sister Warner took pics of them Saturday Morning. They are SO cute-

*us sisters with the Kade and Ky .. i really dont know who is holding who?! They are SO cute & SO smart!!!


*taking pics in the car!

*us with the ZL's we serve with: Elder Jolley and Elder Oldham

I am excited…

We'Re HeaTiN' this PlaCE Up!!!

We're experiencing a mid-winter thaw apparently! I like to call it a TEASE. I said it was "SpriNG" yesterday in Sunday school and everyone yelled, "Don't Jinx it!!!" I had no Idea!!! Haha apparently we'll get right back to TONS of snow and -40* TEMPS soon! Joy! It's nice to see snow melting and to see peoples' yards though! The wind has been out of control here! Tuesday I was running into the wind to get the the car and I ALOMST DIED! I couldn't breathe! The air was SO cold it takes your breath away.

Sister Warner and I had a GREAT week! We were able to get lots done on Monday ( 02.02.9) and we had a VERY BUSY P-day! Lots of laundry at the Ribbens, shopping at Wal*Mart and Sam's Club, playing volleyball with elders and going to a dinner at the ecumenical center at UWGB. It was a busy day… so TODAY I am making our p-day schedule. It goes a little something like this:

6:30 Wake up, go work out at the Y

8:30 e-mail at UWGB

11:30 return home and RELAX

3:30 go play volleyball with the elders

5:30 go to dinner/ FHE at the Milletts and teach JEFF 1^st lesson!!!

7:30 have FHE with Farrah and Iris!

I definitely think it is NEEDED. I am excited… I even have plans for a NAP!

Tuesday was Jenni Ribbens birthday, she's 20! Happy Birthday J-RIB! She is such a great friend and missionary out here. I love her and her family and I am secretly happy that she can't go back to BYU-I yet so we can still see her EVERYDAY! She is so much fun! We met her and her mom at the hospital early that morning and had breakfast before jrib's physical therapy- she tore her ACL and her PCL in a car accident right before Christmas. We also had district meeting that day and we learned about DILLIGENCE and OBEDIENCE… two very important principles of the gospel. Afterwards, s.warner and I went to eat at El Serape (my favorite Mexican restaurant here that we go to EVERY Tuesday!! my choice!) with Elders Olson and Petrie, Spanish speaking & Elders Chapman and Boam, Hmong speaking. They were a lot of fun. We've been spending a lot of time on campus working on Mormon Mythbusters… it's an event on campus we're doing, I am SO excited… it's this Tuesday! woo hoo! It's going to really help bring the church out of obscurity here on campus!

Wednesday we played volleyball with the women at the church and then went on splits with Arlene Marker and Tamara North. We were able to see lots of people and get to know these women better! That night we had dinner at Adam and Gretta Kreihbl's home… we had the best Potato Soup EVER with homemade rolls and really good yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting (Adam's request!) After dinner S.warner did dishes with Lilly and I fed Joey. It was so fun. Lilly gave us our own private violin concert, she has the tiniest little violin ever and plays JUST LIKE HER MOM! So, so cute.

Thursday was a day FULL of planning… not always the most fun activity, but it ALWAYS pays off! That afternoon we went to Annie's basketball game at Edison Middle School and then to dinner at the Fuhriman's in the 2^nd ward… the 2^nd ward elders were so MAD that we stole their dinner appointment… haha. I told them it wasn't MY FAULT that sister fuhriman tracked us down and asked us if we, as 1^st ward sisters, could come to dinner at her house! OF COURSE we said YES!!!! Brother Fuhriman is Sister Jenson's (president Jensen, a counselor in the mission presidency) brother, so they are VERY missionary oriented. We had a great time. Elder and Sister Messick (a senior couple that serves in 2^nd ward) were there as well… good times. We talked a lot and the Messick's told us funny stories about the elders they serve with (chapman, boam, ross & harrison).

Friday we had bible study at Sister Lisa Robertson's. Lots of women came and Jenni Doucette brought her non-member mom: Ruth. We taught about love. It was really good and Ruth asked lots of questions. That afternoon we scheduled a teaching appointment for us and the elders, but we were stood up L… so they gave us a girl to visit, Antionette. She is SO great. She's 17 and very interested in the gospel. We taught her the whole first lesson and the spirit was REALLY strong. We have another appointment with her tomorrow. That night we went and did service at the Botanical Gardens event, "Soup with Substance". It was great, we have really grown to love Martha, the events coordinator there.

Saturday was a day full of SERVICE. We started off at Lambeau Field painting faces at a kids event called Project Leap. There were TONS of those jumping inflatable things and kids and parents galore. I am a dang good face painter … but after an hour of it I was DONE! Immediately after that service we walked across the street to Shopko Hall to help at Arti Gras, a craft fair. Guess what our job was?? THE KIDS CENTER! Just picture this: One table for face painting and balloons and beads- I avoided that table at all costs, I was already sick of face painting. One table to make valentine cards fully equipped with TONS of those foam sticky back letters & shapes, markers, crayons and glue sticks. Another table, the worst one of all, had GLITTER. Glitter was EVERYWHERE! The kids were able to make Marti Gras masks, they had feathers, elmers glue and GLITTER. Mind you right when we got there some little girl tried to put her newly finished masterpiece on her head and got glitter all in her eye and her dad was trying to get it out, bad news. Needless to say I was sick of kids, parents and GLITTER/ any form of art by the end of the day! Haha Sister warner was in heaven at the art show (she has a BFA in Photography), most of that stuff is WAY too abstract for me! We did get to talk to lots of people though… the best part of that day however was- Vanessa! We had dinner at the Dean's and taught Vanessa. We did an object lesson involving brownies and sister warner doing push-ups to represent the atonement and then talked A LOT about the atonement and how we access it: through repentance and baptism. At the end of the lesson we asked Vanessa to be baptized… and she said YES, she'd be baptized on Saturday if it was up to her! I almost started crying! She's 10 and she's SO GREAT! We talked to her dad that night and he said he'd talk to her more about it and then get back to us with a date. When we started teaching Vanessa she had no concept of Christ or of God or anything. Now she has a strong testimony of both and of the restoration and the Prophet Joseph, but she's never prayed about the Book of Mormon. So, we got our little Sara involved: Sara Dean (also 10yrs Old) is calling Vanessa every night this week and they are reading the Book of Mormon together and then Vanessa is praying to know the Book of Mormon is true on her own, and we are praying she receives and Answer! I know she will. (I wish I could listen in on their conversation!) [side note about the Dean's- they are an AmAzing Family! They have raised such great children. They are SO welcoming to EVERYONE and they love Vanessa. I am so GRATEFUL they are in this ward!!!]

Sunday we didn't have any investigators at church… it was kinda sad. But we did have some Less-Actives there so that was good. We taught Sunday School and then we taught the Mia-maids YW lesson. I LOVE THE YW. I love that we get to teach SO much. After church we went to the Robertson's for dinner, Sister Huzzey came to because Bishop was out of town with the Reserves. I LOVE THE ROBERTSON FAMILY. They truly have become an extension of my own. Since I can't call my mom when I am at Sam's and need to know how much Hot Chocolate to buy to fill a 5 gallon orange drink cooler thing, I call Sis. Robertson. When I need to know the weather, I call S. Robertson! I love their kids too! Joselyn is going to TONGA this summer for 2 weeks to build a school!!! I AM SO JEALOUS! … but SO excited for her. Jed and I are BFF's recently and OliVia is such a CutiE! I could keep her, she has such an ATTITUDE! i love it! Eliza turned 6 on Saturday and she is a MONKEY! Brookie and I could talk together for hours about anything. Annie is so fun and people LOVE her. S. Robertson always says that I am like Jos and S.warner like Annie. It'S SO true. We love being with them! Bro Robertson just got called as the High Council Rep for the Spanish Branch, grr. He's going to be released as Ward Mission Leader and I am NOT happy about it! He's so great. But I already told him, I can feel him switching gears and I DON'T LIKE IT!!!! Here is a quick cute story about Olivia. This past week Lisa put her in her car seat and was driving and away when Olivia told her she didn't buckle her. SO she stopped and got out and was telling Olivia how good it was of her to tell her mom that and on and on and Olivia said, "It was the Holy Ghost [Lisa is now feeling so proud of her daughter], and the Holy Ghost wants to go to CHUCKIE CHEESE!" HAHAHAHA

MORIAH got MARRIED on Saturday to BRAD! Congratulations you TWO! I wish I could have been there! You better email me some PICS!!!! I am so HAPPY you're HAPPY moriah!

I am starving now… time to go home for lunch… TAMALES [thanks grandma &grandpa!]

I Love You ALL! Thanks for all you do for me!

LOvE, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ALL PICS WILL BE POSTED ON MY BLOG, I HAD A PROBLEM EMAILING THEM LAST WEEK... GRR... SO JUST LOOK AT THAT, I EMAILED THEM TO BRITT AND SHE'LL POST THEM! THANKS. LOVE YOU GUYS.

It's February Already?

Hello All!

It was another BIG week here in Green Bay and up in Sturgeon Bay! so many GOOD things are happening here! I can't believe it's February Already! I have officially been in the mission field for 2 WHOLE months! Time is definitely flying by! so CraZY!

It is still very cold here, I snuggle up with my hot chocolate and a blanket by the fire every night...Earlier this week, the man on the radio seriously said, "Good News in Green Bay! It is going to actually WARM up today to ALMOST FreeZing!" We were at President and Sister Kreihbls home a couple weeks ago and she was saying how she didn't like their log or their flame in their fireplace (and it was her husbands fault! :), well I LOVE our log and our flame in our gas fireplace, it's just PERFECT... haha. I love the Kreihbls, they're hilarious and the remind me of MY parents!

I have yet to see Green Bay without snow! I came when it had already snowed and snow is still EVERYWHERE!! Is there green underneath it all!?! I sure hope so! I am going on month 3 of the white out... it's so pretty... but kind of wierd. I am READY for some GrEeN!!!

Despite the cold we still find plenty of opportunities to go to CULVERS... we are addicted. and the Strucks who are a member family that own the Culvers in Sturgeon bay are ALWAYS giving us free custard certificates! It's ridiculous how much we eat custard, we purposely skip dinner or lunch so we can have a "NEED" to eat some custard! haha I highly recommend the chocolate custard with hot fudge and rasberrys... it is my FAVORITE! ps... did you know there is a CULVERS in surprise, phoenix & mesa?

Britt this will make you laugh, Sister Warner and I were eating custard at a culvers the other day and a red Christopher Lynn Dobbs car came pulling in! :) For a minute I was expecting her to get out of the car!!! haha It made me miss thatcher SO much at that instant! hOw is thatcher? Anything changed lately? I am excited for the temple grounds dedication in Pima on February 14th! I wonder who will come!?!! That area is RICH in church history... I bet it is the talk of the town... I figured it would be in Pima! Where is it at? Near the Church owned land by the ball fields? That's my guess!

I am loving the accent here in Wisconsin: The Yooper Accent is DOMINANT in the UP.... they say things like "ya der hey" or "eh"! Basically, you start every sentance with "Da" and end with "eh" !!! Down here in Wisconsin they say BEG, TEG, REG and elongate all their O's! It's so fun to finally be able to understand people and know what the heck they're talking about!

These are the Rules of Life... according to T-O Double Trouble (Todd Barrett), our mission President's son who is a senior in HS. We have been teaching them to everyone:

RULE # 1 Don't Be a SALLY. never be a sally!

RULE #2 Keep it REAL. always keep it real!

RULE #3 Handle your BIZ. always handle your business!

*** Ha we just taught the three year old Miller twins that last week, those little boys ate that up!

Here is an update on our investigators ...

Vanessa

Vanessa is AmAzing! She is 10 years old and loving the gospel. Her parents are seperated, but her dad is a member. Her mom is not, but allows her to take the lessons and will allow her to be baptized. We taught her last week at the Robertsons for the first time, the elders used to teach her, but handed her to us bc... we could RELATE better! We did an object lesson involving an obstacle and two different people (Brookie and Annie ROberTsoN) who were blindfolded and spun around so they were busy. I stood on one side and S warner on the other. I called for Brookie to come to me and she stumbled and almost fell and took the hardest route possible. Then it was annie's turn, except Joselyn held her hand and walked her thru the obstacle course- the easier way. It represented the Plan of Salvation. We can go thru life on our own and stumble. Or we can follow in Christ's footsteps, having the Holy Ghost to guide us; we'll still have obstacles, but we'll know what to do and how to overcome them. It went SO well! She knows nothing, so we get to start from the beginning. We taught her about the miracles of Jesus on Friday night at the Deans, that was so good too!

Iris & Farrah

We are working with the spanish elders with these two. They are so amazing. Iris is from Peru, she understands and can speak english, but prefers Spanish, so she attends the Spanish Branch. Farrah is her 15 year old daughter. She prefers the english ward and since there is only one YW in the branch, the ward is better for her. She know many of the girls in the ward from school anyways. Farrah is such a beautiful and HAPPY girl! AND.. she AlWaYs answers her phone when we call her... which is rare. (since i have been on my mission i have gotten a complex- everyone avoids the MISSIONARIES phone calls!!!!) She is loving mutual and YW and coming to church.... her mom is struggling with gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith. She believe that the Bible is the only true book we should study from. SHe does however, enjoy church and the friendships she's made there. SHe feels the spirit. We taught them with E.Olson & E.Petrie Friday Night. It was SUCH a good LESSON! We committed them to read the BOok OF Mormon and pray to know if it is true. THey are going to LA for 10 days, so we will stay in contact thru phone calls. They are escaping the frozen tundra!!1 I love these 2 people. They are so genuine and happy: Iris can be a little stubborn- that's the Peruvian side of her! :)

Sarah & Rachel

Sister Warner and I prayed that we would have enough faith to be able to find two new investigators tuesday night at soup for the soul and that we would be led to them. We took in some copies of the Book of Mormon and some restoration pamphlets. We got our soup, sat down and ate and mingled with the students. Neither one of us found an investigator at the tables we ate at. But after we were both able to find one and BOTH were SO prepared to hear the message we teach! They both took a book of Mormon. Sarah has been to our church several times, she had a mormon friend in high school and she loves the layout of our sunday service. Rachel came to institute that night and plans on being at church this coming sunday, as does Sarah! Miracles REALLY do happen EvErY day!

Yasmin & Mickey

Yasmin and Mickey are 2 great Young People who are in love! They both just graduated from high school not too long ago. They have a desire to know more about the Book of Mormon and committed to pray to know if it's true. Mickey came to church on sunday and loved it, Yasmin is really sick with all kinds of infections, the elders are going to give her a blessing either today or tomorrow. It's going to be great!

nEw BeGinnInGs

The youth in our ward are SO amazing. The YW had new beginnings on wednesday and we got to be a part of it... first of all they involved 2 non-members: Nikki and Farrah. Nikki shared a scripture and then her and Farrah sang the special number with all of the YW, the YW leaders and us... the SIster MissionAries. The whole program was about being light to others thru example and virtue! It was beautiful and made me think about how righteous the Youth are.... How the world can sometimes be SO discouraging, but when you see a group of 20 YW like them, you can't help but have hope and feel joy! So many of the girls sang solos and shared their testimonies.. even CORRY shared her testimony of the gospel, the church and the Book of Mormon. It was a very strenthening night! Everyone was touched by the spirit we felt there that night!

Volleyball with Spanish Branch is always a Treat! They are so fun to play with. We play every Thursday night at the church building. We are trying to teach them to NOT use their feet.... it's an ongoing struggle! SO this week we might just play soccer in the church gym... we shall see how that goes! haha I love getting to use my spanish SO much here.

Sister Warner wrote this in her email last week, "we had an INTENSE PDAY VOLLEYBALL game last week ! team warner and team black are pretty competitive ! i think it was a tie last week but today TEAM WARNER will win !" I want you all to know that is SUCH A LIE! We are always the team captains, because we're the only two girls and TEAM BLACK definitely WON last week and we are DEFiniTely winning Today too! haha ... she didn't think i'd catch that!

This week we had great dinners! We had dinner at the Whitneys, the Markers, the Roberts, the Deans, & at Texas Road House with the Strucks & the Millers. I LOVE THE GB1st ward! They are SO good to us!

Sturgeon BAY with Heather Millet:

Sunday, Sister Warner and I had to divide and conquer. She stayed in Green Bay with Jenni RIbbens and I went to Sturgeon Bay with Heather Millett. We Saw SOO many people. There is a girl that just moved to Sturgeon Bay last week, PHILOMENA. She was baptized January 21st in Nome, Alaska. It is SO great to have such a NEW member of the church who is so young to LIvEn up that branch! I was able to call and talk to her missionaries last night in Alaska. THey were so excited to hear she is doing good. They laughed when i told them that the sturgeon bay branch was small. In Nome, they have tracted the entire village. Everyone knows them. They are the only missionaries for 800 miles and in order to transfer they have to fly... they have district meetings and zone conference via conference calls. I can't imagine! Heather and I were able to visit and teach A LOT OF PEOPLE! also, when i got to the branch they asked if i would teach sunday school and YW's! Welcome to the branch! It was so fun... in GB we had tons of investigators and nonmembers at church... the Ribbens children- ALL 3 of them!!!! Mickey, Vanessa, Nikki (diantha andrus's friend) ... and SO many more! It was a great fast Sunday!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! .... love sister pamella jo black

ps I am WAY sad about the Cardinals.... but today i am still sportin' my conference champs shirt... haha mostly bc i am so impressed they make cardinals paraphernalia... i didn't know they did! haha There is AlWaYs next year!!!!