Cleave unto ChArItY...

Do you remember my mission scripture?
Well here is a refresher! ...

Moroni 7:45-48 ...

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I absolutely LOVE these SCRIPTURES!!! Charity is where it's at! I want to be described as one who is kind, not puffed up, not easily provoked and thinketh no evil! SOme DaY!!! It's a SLOW process! HA. As true followers of Jesus Christ, I know we can PRAY [with all energy of heart] to be filled with that love and WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, just like Moroni says! what a blessing that is. I love the power of prayer.

This week went by so FAST. Every week seems to do that lately.

Here are some short updates before I get into the nitty gritty of the week:

*Tina is no longer one of our investigators. She has many problems in her life that are beyond our expertise. She is not psychologically, mentally, or emotionally able to meet with us. Sister Crowther has been so AmAzing in helping her to receive the help she needs, but she won’t even accept that. She is living in a shelter now, we think, we don’t really know where she is at. Sister Crowther keeps contact with the family and after all of the testing and things is done and Tina has overcome some addictions, or at least is on her way to doing that, we will be able to meet with her again, Sister Crowther said she would let us know.

*Suzie is doing well… except she didn’t come to church on Sunday. She, however, cannot be baptized until she either marries Adam or moves out. Moving out just isn’t going to happen… she just had a baby four weeks ago. They can’t get married because Adam was just recently divorced and they have to wait six months, by Wisconsin law, to marry again after the divorce. I HATE SATAN. SO, we will continue to help her recognize the blessing of living the commandments and following the gospel of Jesus Christ and keep her working towards her baptismal date… IN 6 MO… ugh.
*We had SIX new investigators this WEEK! Diante, Marka, Janae, Tyra, Elena, & Fransisco! The work here is going SO WELL… we can hardly keep up with member referrals and media referrals [people who call in to the MTC call center after watching a commercial, getting a pass-along card or seeing a billboard] We also have some new SPANISH SPEAKING INVESTIGATORS for English classes! Quick FUNNY AmAZING story. We got a media referral for a lady named Tiffany for a Book of Mormon. She called in after reading CJANE’S blog post about how the Book of Mormon helps her thru EACH day! She has been a faithful reader long before the crash, but has fallen in love with the family and makes it a daily read. Well, I called her to set an appointment and we DEF had a bonding moment about our love for the NieNie Dialogues, Cjane’s blog and Mindy Gleadhill… did you know that Stephanie Nielson HIKED THE Y? Yes friends, and she was on Oprah, ok, I have thoughts about Oprah, that I will keep to myself… but NIENIE STRUTTED ACROSS THE STAGE ON TELEVISION! …. So cool, Tiffany filled me in … anyways, maybe only my family and Steph will realize how AmAzing [I am thoroughly convinced there is no such thing as a coincidence when doing the Lord’s work] it is that I get to teach this lady, but we are meeting her in a coffee shop later this week. I can’t wait. [Apparently, the elders got a text about her too and visited her and they “just didn’t get it”. Well I did. And this lady is SO READY!]

ok ok…

MONDAY
We played soccer with the elders [my favorite thing EVER!] Had breakfast at the flores at about 11… tacos yum! Then DISC GOLF… I am not too bad at it… only I don’t go chase my Frisbee if it flies into the brush, I go get, come out … then THROW. It’s like golf… you are supposed to stay where you are at and throw.. ya right. That is so not going to happen. We then emailed, taught Susie, then had the golden arches for dinner, first time in a long time. They changed their chocolate shakes, I didn’t really care for them…

TUESDAY
We had district meeting. I know I say this a lot, but I have had some of my most productive district meeting down here in Racine, Elder Petrie is a great district leader. [he also told me this week that I speak before I think… burn! … perhaps it is true sometimes, if anyone else had said that I would have been mad, but for some reason from him it was ok…so I have tried to THINK … BEFORE I speak.] We then had some appointments in Kenosha with the elders. One was their investigator, Marta Garcia, who we are trying to help them with… she has no obstacles to getting baptized… she comes to church EVERY week… when we asked her WHEN she planned to be baptized she said, “Cuando Dios Quiere…” Meaning, when God wants…. AHH! Drives me nuts… it’s a phrase Latinos use ALL THE TIME.

Later on we taught Raven and Diante, referrals from Temika, her family. The lesson was AmAzing. I love to teach the Restoration.

WEDNESDAY
We taught English, saw Daisy and Hma Martinez [all 3 things we do IN SPANISH] then we taught Marka for the FIRST time, she is related to the Briggs…Ariel taught with us. It was a great lesson. We had dinner with a new family in the ward, the Murdock’s [they are great people, they’re going to be a great help in missionary work] and then we played volleyball… so fun.

THURSDAY
We did weekly planning at the church. Spanish Class with Sister Calderwood. We taught Michelle Cabrales with the elders, She is a great young girl, her parents are investigating too. Then we taught the Sura’s and had dinner with them. Afterwards, we had hot cocoa at the Petriceck’s. Their daughter, Sarah, was visiting from UvU and wanted to talk about going on a mission. She went on Splits with Little J [brown haired sister Johnson] and taught Susie while we were at the Sura’s.

FRIDAY
We taught English again, then taught Marta Garcia, then Had lunch with Elena and Fransisco, people we met at English class…Sarah Petriceck made us a salad, so we stopped by there and visited her and her family [her dad is not a member, but is reading the BOM and the elders teach him] then had dinner with Ted and Cheryl. They let us choose dinner. So we chose Salad and something with Pesto… she made us THE BEST Chicken Pesto sandwiches, they were hot with red peppers and provolone cheese.. yum! And a caesar salad! Oh sarah… she reminds me SO much of you! Then we visited Janae… we met Janae at the beach 2 months ago [when I was still with sister Behrends] and she knew who we were, she said her mom used to meet with missionaries a while ago. So I got her info and we’ve just never been able to touch base again with them, until Friday! Her MOM is a MEMBER! It was a great night. We sang, upon her mom Julie’s request, Joseph Smith’s First Prayer and ended with a prayer, her mom cried the whole time. It was AmAzing… the Lord really does put people in our PATH… Janae needs the gospel, her mom has forgotten the blessings that come from living the commandments.

SATURDAY
We played soccer, we cleaned the Martinez’s yard… since I got here to Racine, IN JUNE, I have noticed their yard needed a little TLC… well it finally happened. The elders flaked out on us, so we did it ourselves. It took us about 3 hours. We raked and mowed and trimmed bushes and cleaned windows. They fed us afterwards; it was a surprise to them. They were so happy! Sister Martinez is doing so WELL… she is overcoming her depression and they’re getting her meds straight. Afterwards we were TIRED and SORE … we came home, showered took a little nap and studied. Then we Taught Elena and Francisco with Octavio Garcia [he’s amazing, more on him next week] and then had dinner with the Silva’s. . . members of the Kenosha ward.

SUNDAY
…church… long… then a potluck for OctaVio because he just got home from his mission in Ogden Utah. We contacted one referral and then came home…

WHEW… a good week… lots more to tell you next week! We must go … we are in Milwaukee today… our car has an appt at the dealership!!!

I love all of you!

GRANDMA HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY! I WILL BE THINKING OF YOU AND MISSING YOU! just another year younger! Ps I got my Halloween card from you and grandpa… you guys are the BEST!

LoVe, sister pamella jo black