I was thinking...

Hello ALL!

This past week i was thinking a lot about this time last year. This time last year I finished my papers and I turned them IN! I was SO excited to serve... but wanted to pick just the PERFECT time to leave so I wouldn't miss ANYTHING! [anybody who knows me knows that i don't like missing things- Moriah reminded me of that in an email this week- SO TRUE] haha isn't it so funny how that works. I ended up reporting to the mtc November 5th. I left right before Thanksgiving and Christmas. My fear this time last summer was that I would go on a mission and all these exciting things would happen at home and i would MISS THEM! That was the only thing holding me back. well ladies and gentlemen- it happen. I am missing things left and right. I don't like that the babies aren't babies anymore and my little brother is going to be GONE when I get home... BUT you know WHAT? I wouldn't have it any other way. What I didn't know THEN that i know NOW is it's OK! [i love that I have realized this] I am OK to miss some things... what I get to experience here on my mission is AmAzing... and there is NO subsitute. This time in my life is sacred to me and to my family- we just wouldn't have it any other way. I wish i knew that then...

[mon] i saw the dermatologist. apparently being a sister missionary = acne. i am not a fan... i think dr. bahtia got it under control. hallelugiah. (i never spell that word right, but i don't care to look it up either) the elders did not want to play outside. i was SO SAD! but we played CATCH PHRASE at the kozlosky's. I haven't played that for 3 months, since i was in GB. elders oldham & jolley always had it in their van, i miss that. i love that game. Katie wenzel picked us up and we went with her and her friend LIZ to YSA FHE in Elkhorn. I love YSA's. FHE = spiritual thought, outdoor volleyball and a campfire with SMORES. I was SO happy. [i got to play outside & i got to have the SMORES that I've been wanting all summer! S. kozlosky and s. behrends were making them in the microwave and in the toaster oven!!! LAME!]

[tues] district meeting about setting goals. sister ducharme (whom the muskego elders live with) gave us a great little presentation about goal setting. i learned a lot. i love love love setting and achieving goals. we visited an investigator named debbie and also taught the menters. I love the menter family, they have to be so strong.

[wed] SISTERS CONFERENCE in OSHKOSH! i love being a sister missionary. we rode up with sister barrett and sister alder (from the office... we were BFFs before the mish because i would call her ALL the time and ask her questions! I highly recommend that to all new missionaries... call the mission office! they're so helpful!) We met with all the sisters in the mission! I had 5 companions there! it was a party. That is CRAZY! 5. I loved it. I also feel like I have served with sister johnson, she is warners companion. that little girl is a fire cracker. i hope that i get to serve with her. she's amazing. It was fun to get together and talk about ways we can improve ourselves. I learned a lot. On the way home we stopped at the Oshkosh outlets! :) that night we went to racine and had dinner with the sura's. i love them. we are going to start teaching her husband who told us, "I am the most non-member mormon you know." good guy. we love him. we then taught heidi and aaron higginbottom with elders stribling and julian. good times.

[thurs] we were still in racine. we taught tina and cheryl. tina is going through a really rough time and fails to see that the gospel is the ONLY thing that is going to help her- it's so hard to watch her struggle. Cheryl is on top of it. She is a Sarah Johnson. She is an Amy Brown. She is running with it and wants to have ALL the answers. We sometimes can't keep up. i love her. that afternoon we left and went to GERMAN FEST in Milwaukee... it was SO fun. more to come on that.

[fri] we had SO much to do... errand type stuff... then in the evening was the WARD PICNIC! sister menter brought us taco bell and we at lots of watermelon too! We played volleball and kickball and ended up with a water fight! It was a lot of fun! I love little red-headed Jeffrey- he's about 5. We are best friends now. Nobody compares to my little Olivia in GB... but he sure is cute. I taught him to run bases, i was the base coach...haha It was fun.

[sat] we played sand volleyball at the Orne's... then off to German Fest again! I LOVED german fest. Part of it probably was because my companion is from Berlin so she was able to teach me a lot about what was going on. Milwaukee is SO fun though! we were right on the lakefront... THere were several stages and german bands playing and GERMAN FOOD EVERYWHERE! yummy. little stands with souvenirs (junk)and of course... lots and LOTS of BEER! I have never smelled it that strongly before in my lIFE. people wore lanyards with big boot shaped cups hanging from them full of beer. ha, kind of funny. We were there to help in the Geneology tent. I now love geneology. we were trained on it last week. It is addicting. I was really good at the talking to the people part- and s. behrends helped them on the computer. People got SO EXCITED! The church is amazing. Did you know we have the largest collection of geneology records in the world? even the FBI uses the ctr in SLC. We were able to teach a ton of people, hand out copies of the Book of Mormon and invite lots of people to the Family History Library. We helped them find passenger lists of their ancestors that come on boats from Germany to America. We were able to see how their names were changed. We found Census records and birth certificates and ALL KINDS OF STUFF. The people were so excited. Our 4 computers were working overtime... i even got sick of hearing myself talk, can you imagine that? haha i KNOW!, me either.

We also had a little time to explore. Bro & Sis Kozlosky and Kris, the neighbor came and we felt like we were walking in Germany! It was like vacation. We watched the airshow (it was fascinating, how do jets do stuff like that? they are SO loud too! and there was one act with these 4 tiny planes, how do they not hit one another as they're flipping and flying?) We ate Schnitzel and Pototoe Pancakes and Rode the Gondola over the park and watched the fireworks show. It was SO fun! I love the Kozlosky's. They remind me of my own family, did i ever tell you that their oldest daughters name is Brittany Lee? YA. freaky. Bro. Kozlosky reminds me of my dad, a ton! I just love their family, so MUCH! Becky, 13, and I are BFFs. i love her. I loved GERMAN FEST.

[sun] CHURCH. this week i stayed in muskego. Katie wenzel was my companion. we went to SED in the evening. President Barrett spoke about missionary work. They showed the "Called to Serve" dvd. man, it made me cry. they show parts of that movie at the mtc when you say bye to your family. again i thought, if i only knew then what i know now... I LOVE MY MISSION. i am so blessed to be a missionary. What a privilege it is to serve!!!!

*on a little side note: i have the BEST friends EVER! I love to hear from them and get updates on their lives! Thanks! [an email from moriah made me think of that today] Also, here in WI i have met some great people. Amy Brown sent me the BEST letter ever this week. I LOVE her... we'll always be BFFs! thanks, amy. You are my "favorite convert"! as you put it haha

i love my life. i love my family. i love my friends. i love my mission.

thanks for all you do for me!

Love, sister Pamella Jo Black