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!!!!