GREEN BAY IS GREEN!

(Pam and Payton. I love this picture)

Ok Everyone… I am trying something new… I am going to write my weekly email BEFORE I write everyone back. I think that might help me to get in everything that I want to say- I always seem to have to cut my emails short because I spend so much time reading your emails and laughing and organizing my emails or playing with my pictures that I forfeit time on this piece.. AND let’s face it this is SO important. It is your window to my life… HAHA

So briefly, before I address this week… I just want to fill in things I missed in last week’s email. These are some highlights I missed.

I GOT MY HAIR CUT. [don’t worry grandma… it’s not too short. But its WAY cute.] Gretta Krehbiel cut it in our ward and did a great job. It was needed. It had been about 6 months. It is a slight A line. I love it.

Last week we volunteered 2 days in a row at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens. [we’ve gotten to know them quite well since we did the festival of lights at Christmas with them and then the Soup with Substance dinners with them in FEB and MAR] We loaded soil into people’s cars, people are serious about their gardening here. It was a lot of fun. It was CoCoA soil so it smelled SO good. People even bought 5 or 25 pound bags of WORM CASTINGS. [ya that’s a really nice way for saying worm poop. GROSS] It was so nice on Friday when we helped, I dare say it was even hot… but on Saturday it RAINED all day. We were there from 7:30-12:30 … we got soaked. And the wind was blowing so it was cold- BUT it was fun. Between the zone leaders and us sisters we were able to teach so many people and even set up a BBQ for this week with the staff from GBBG. They are so great, I LOVE them!

Missy was baptized last Saturday. She is a YSA we worked with a little bit. Her baptism was great. She asked us, and 4 other sister missionaries she knew to sing “Come Follow Me”. It was awful. We never got to practice. I hope the spirit was there. I will never sign up for that again. Haha She was so happy though, great girl.

Last Sunday we went to Catholic mass with Barb and then she came to Church with us, we had lunch in-between at the Cozzen’s home. They are so great and good friends of Barb’s because their sons are in scouting together. Barb says we owe her 2 more hours… haha. SO I offered to come help her install her base boards and grout the tile in her kitchen… two things I have had a bit of practice with J She accepted. Great lady. I know she felt the spirit at church… change is hard though.

Later Sunday night we had dinner at the Huzzey’s. They are so amazing; just invite us over anytime they hear that we don’t have dinner. It feels like home there. That night, President Krehbiel, did a fireside for all our YSA’s at the HuZZey’s about making life’s important decisions. It was really good. I love that man; he has such a love for the gospel and missionary work. .. He is really good at teasing me too. He tells the elders that he naps during the time he listens to the messages I leave him because they are SO LONG… well hello, newsflash. I am wordy!!! Haha funny man. One time I left a thank-you not on his office door. It was a mini not e and he said he laughed and laughed because he thought, “thank- goodness they only gave her that much space, she could write a novel”. Those are my words but he said something to that effect.

I had to say goodbye to Jrib that night. . . she is going back to BYU-I to school. DEVASTATING. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I will miss her, but we are going to be great friends after the mission.

ON TO THIS PAST WEEK… WHAT A WEEK…

[Tuesday]

WE WALKED… k my companion was not so down with that… but I LOVED IT. It was a PERFECT day and we only live 4.2 miles from the church building. We had an hour to get there. Yes, we had to walk thru Baird Creek and Yes there were lots of hills, but hey… it was fun. At least I enjoyed it… she was 2 blocks behind so I finally just called the Messick’s [the senior couple] to come get us so we wouldn’t be late. The elders laughed at me, they thought walking 4 miles uphill in an hour was a bit of a lofty goal… ha WE COULD have MADE IT! [lets just say we haven’t walked since L haha] We had a GREAT district meeting. Elder Petrie, our district leader (he’s from gilbert! Woo-hoo), had us each study and then teach the district one teaching skill out of PMG and then committed us to study one of them throughout the week and apply it in our teaching. I love district meeting because there is such a spirit of learning and understanding there and I am always able to learn SO MUCH from the elders in our district. Later that night we went to the last soup 4 soul for the semester at the ecumenical center at UWGB. We have met so many great people there, built friendships and now are teaching Dan, Jeremiah, Stephanie and Rachel. What a difference from when I got here late fall semester. The work we’re doing on campus is just really taking off. It will be even better next year. At institute we had 16 YSA’s there.. 16!!! When I got here there were 3. The Lord is really blessing this area. I love that in my six months here I have been able to see that growth.

[Wednesday]

We played volleyball with the women, it was my best game yet! I love to play now, and they have taught me well haha. We spent the day with sister bartell seeing people and then we had dinner with her. She reminds me so much of my mom, I love being around her. Julianne Klinger came to dinner with us too. I love her. She is a YSA that just started coming back to church, it was her New Year’s Resolution. She is one of my best friends here. I love her. I am going to miss her when she goes home for the summer to Milwaukee… hey maybe I will serve down there in her singles ward. That would be great.

[Thursday]

We planned. Yuck. Not my favorite 3 hours of the day- but they are very effective, just tedious. That night we had dinner at the Miller’s. I love them, they are young BYU graduates and have twin 3 year old boys. Great family. We also hit Culvers with Jilena and Joey Ribbens since they are home alone while the rest of the family takes Jennifer back to school.

[Friday]

We spent all day with Brianne Everett. I love her and her daughter Jaimie. They are so fun. We saw lots of people and determined that I am Jaimie’s favorite! J That night we went fishing and had a BBQ at the Carlsruh’s… I caught a 14 inch wide mouth bass. WRITE IT DOWN. I caught something!!! Haha I even stuck my fingers in it’s gills to hold it up for a picture. GROSS… fun though. I love the Carlsruh’s. [he calls me “Rocky’s daughter now since he met you dad!!! Haha]

[Saturday]

We volunteered at the special Olympics… IT WAS SO FUN. I loved it. We did the softball toss. Brookie Robertson and I were a great team at getting the participants to and from where they were supposed to go. I loved it. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Panera with sister huzzey. Yum yum. I love sister huzzey. She is the best. We taught Vanessa at the deans that night and extended the baptismal commitment. She is setting the date with her parents this week! YEAH! She knows all the interview questions and has such a testimony for an 11 year old. So cute.

[Sunday]

Fast Sunday was great. Vanessa AnD Jeff came to church!!!! After church we taught Jeff at the Millett’s and had dinner with them. It was so great. He too is ready for baptism. We committed him to ponder and pray what his next step should be. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith and of the reality that we have A Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Lives. SO EXCITING. He knows he needs to be baptized. Then we went to a CES broadcast at the church. Elder Bednar spoke on the reality that Satan really wants what he can’t have so he manipulates the children of god to use their bodies in inappropriate ways; especially through cyberspace. I was shocked at some of the things he said that go on. Devastating how people live in these CYBER worlds and forfeit reality, computer gaming is out of control. It was a great talk. It is important to be aware that the adversary works in subtle ways.

TODAY we are leaving the UWGB library, going to Target [yeah] , then going to play at a park with the elders, Frisbee, soccer or personally I am thinking of a nap on a blanket! J I love that Wisconsin is SO GREEN!!!!!!!!! Tonight we have a YSA FHE at the Carlsruh’s!!!!

Jess is being baptized on SATURDAY! At church yesterday she asked me to give a talk on baptism. YEAH. I love her and feel so happy to participate in her big day. Britt… you want to send me your notes? Haha jk.

Tomorrow, MAY 5^th, marks SIX months I have been a missionary. That’s 1/3 of my mission! Wow. So weird.

Saturday night I find out if I am being transferred or not… exciting! Kind of.

SUNDAY I call home! Yeah! HAPPY EARLY MOTHER’S DAY!

I love you all! I love my mission. I love this gospel.

Love, sister pamella jo black