Happy Thanksgiving!

I really miss these two cute little girls!

I was able to be home for 10 DAYS at thanksgiving this time around. It was AmAzing! I didn't get anything done on my to-do list, but I did get to spend a lot of time with the family. That made it all work I had to frantically do when I got back worth it!

I took the girls on bike rides a lot, Sophie even fell asleep once! It was hilarious. She loves it. We went to the park and various other places. I love those little girls!

This year we had Thanksgiving next door at Grandma and Grandpa's. It was so nice not to have to travel . Tammie and Jeff and their girls came, so did Bobby and Sarah and their girls and Debbie and Jennifer. It was a full house but we had a good time and we had LOTS of good food! Grandma and Grandpa are always such good hosts. Nobody does without, that's for sure. We also celebrated Aunt Tammie's, Brittany's, my mom's and Tatum's birthdays. That was fun. Brittany set up her computer and we all talked to Rocky on a video. She is going to make a DVD and send it to him. I know I would have LOVED that! I love my family.

I can't wait to come home in 13 days! I love Christmas Time!!

i'm back

yes. i know! it HAS been forever since i updated my blog. i actually can't remember the last time I posted something on here! It was long before my mission! thank-you to Brittany, my favorite sister, for keeping it up to date while I was in Wisconsin.

I just took some time to go back and read old emails from the mission. I have a terrible memory these days and that was proven upon reading those emails! They seemed new and exciting to me all over again, I had forgotten! I was a great writer.

Well, So much has happened since I got back [almost exactly 5 months ago!!!] SO MUCH.

Here are the highlights:

homecoming, i returned home from my mission... get that? i had to LEAVE wisconsin. i miss it.
s.warner came to visit, she was there when i got home! she felt like family.
culvers... hiked north mountain.
gave homecoming talk... had a party after. family came. fun.
Britt did a HGTV number on our room=beautiful
got to see chloe and sophie...[they're SO old and even CUTER now, didn't think it was possible!]
taught mission prep... super jealous of those soon to be missionaries!
kent and peter came to take me to dinner, good times.
trip to Mexico with the Stake
britt graduated from ea
got a goat
took over at the king household for a week... like old times! love those kids!
turned 23
went to sonya's wedding, she looked like barbie... but more beautiful!
worked with my dad a little bit
taught fhe at the donnors
tatum graduated from eighth grade
i was called to be ward camp director, went to girls camp with my mom [so fun]
i did 6 sessions of efy all over the west
spent a week in provo, stayed with sister roth, alyssa
taught with the elders from the CV ward a bit, colleen was baptized saturday! YEAH.
went to the GILA VALLEY TEMPLE dedication. [and cultural celebration] best. thing. ever.
best fam vacation to encinitas ever, minus rocky was mia
brodie married a girl from my stake... it was fun to see everyone at his reception
spent time in the woods with my grandparents. love them.
went on tour as a guest speaker w/ the high council... kinda fun, talked about my mission
had a sleepover at the weaver's. they're like family. my favs. i missed them for 18 mos. a lot.
spent lots of time with simba, my newest bff.... never thought that would happen
reorganized every room, closet, cabinet, square inch of my house [stephanie weaver inspired]
spent time with my family, especially mom, dad, britt, grandma and grandpa
made new friends at efy... kris and erin and lots more.
got in touch with old friends [asu institute w/ ryan & caroline]
played with chloe and sophie, bobby and sarah! we laugh a lot.
missed wisconsin.
talked on the phone with moriah, melindy, brady, & melanie. they keep me sane. BFFS.
got ready to come to the Y, packed and repacked. i have a lot of stuff!

and then i moved back to provo... so here we are!

there is SO much more to come... this post will probably change too...

it's good to be back!

face to face...

Good monday morning! Today is my last pday in the mission... i have so much to say, but John says it so perfectly...

I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee... 3 John 1: 13-14

isn't that priceless? thanks for that reference warner.

here are some real quick highlights:

we had two baptisms yesterday. Cathey and Joey. One in the Rhinelander ward and one in the Antigo branch. It was AmAzing. Sister Cousin doesn't know how great that is. It was the talk of the members in the northwoods, they were shocked we had 2. We still have 5 investigators with a date. It was exactly what I envisioned for my last sunday in the mission... president pleshak, the stake president, said, "well what a way to go out!" i agree.

we found cathey 4 weeks ago while we were tracting. she is AmAzing. i have learned so much teaching her... Joey is 10 and is part of a part-member family. He is so wonderful... he is a bright kid. i spoke at his baptism... he always has GREAT answers!!! it's such THE LIFE to FIND TEACH and BAPTIZE. i love my calling.

we called president barrett this week to let him know we set a baptismal date with Jim... he said, "well sister black, it sounds like you're not slowing down. How's that for sprinting to the finish line?! You're doing great work up there!" Oh i love him.

sister johnson is coming here... that's sister Bjohnson. She is fairly new in the mission. she was trained by bryner, served with warner and little j [3 transfers. 3 different companions.] and now she's comin' to my sister COUSIN! she will love it here. hopefully they'll be here together a while. little j is training again, only in madison this time. President Barrett told sister bjohnson, "Put your running shoes on, the place you're going has 7 dates" I love to hear my area talked about like that! this is the best place ever!

The zone leaders yesterday said, "it doesn't seem like you're going home... you're still working so hard!" Yep... my thoughts exactly. I don't feel like I am going home either. We still have LOTS of teaching appts this week, just like every other week!

YET... i am SO excited to see all of you! I have BUTTERFLIES in my stomach!!!

i will give a better update of this past week and this coming week soon... probably this weekend. i just don't have the time or energy to today! we have so much to do. we're going to wausau to play with the elders today. :) my last pday here and we get to be with PEOPLE!!! [ our whole zone!] YAY!!

i love you ALL!

Thanks for everything you've done for me while I have been here serving in Wisconsin... it would have been a very different experience had i not had your support. I have learned and grown so much. I am so blessed to have such good examples at home! thanks for being AmAzing!!!

LoVe, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps... grandma... FeeL betteR! you'll be in my PraYeRs!!!

Sister Black's Posts!!!

Holla Readers.

Don't get excited, it is just Brittany, the faithful, under appericated, dedicated blogger. These last few weeks I have apparently been slacking on my blogging. But if any of you read my own personal blog, it hasn't been updated for months. So I am not just ignoring this, I am busy (mother). But Since it is 8 days until we are going to be reunited with the dear Sister Black, I felt it was nessecary to give out some upcoming dates.

Date 1.

The Arrival
April 16
12:35PM
Terminal 3
Delta Airlines
Sky Harbor INT
After we will meet
at the Casa for lunch.
Casa Address:
1116 W. Grovers

Date 2.

The Homecoming

April 25
9:00 AM
214 W GROVERS
PHOENIX, AZ 85023
After we will meet
at the Casa for lunch.
Casa Address:
1116 W. Grovers

Now, if you having any questions, just give us a ring. We would LOVE for as many people as possible to be at the Airport! It's our first homecoming and we don't want to blow it!!!! We loveeeee seeing our family and all of Pamella's friends. (So come or die! haha, I joke.)

Love,
Brittany.

p.s. but seriously, come!

SpRinG has SpRunG

Hello family! How are you all doing? Spring HAS definitely SPRUNG here in Wisconsin.

This past weekend was general conference... do you know what that means for all the sisters in the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission... ?? NO MORE TIGHTS or NYLONS... yet another sign of spring! I already put all mine in the donation pile I've started in my room... I don't care that it is still really nippy outside. I am done with those things! I contemplated buying spring colored ones and then thought... WHY? there is NO point. so it's all about footie socks now! just trust me... ITS A BIG DEAL to me, ok?

General Conference was AmAzing. There is something to be said for being able to hear the counsel of prophets and apostles for 8 hours straight... AmAzing!!! I learned so much. I am so grateful for the visitors we've had in our mission lately... as I heard them speak in conference I was felt like i KNEW them... at least better than before. Elder Hallstrom, Elder Perry, Elder Holland and Elder Christofferson! They are good guys! I love that conference gives us that renewed desire to be obedient and follow the counsel of our prophet and apostles! How grateful I am to belong to the restored church of Jesus Christ: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful that I know the FULNESS of the gospel is here. This is a hard time in the world, this I know... BUT we are to have JOY! I find that comes as we do what the Lord asks of us and seek to find the good in every situation. Sometimes it's HARD... that's just life.

Here is the week in review...

lunes*

last pday was "operation skirt" for sister cousin. she said she was SICK of being amish... haha i do remember those days. we went to goodwill, maurices, jcpenney, walmart and payless. She ended up with a new skirt and new shoes and was happy with her purchases! We came home and took a nap and wrote letters. I am always so tired lately... i don't know what that is about. i think my body is telling me that it needs a little TLC! Later we heart attacked sam's car and then taught cathey at 8. She is amazing... she has a love for the gospel. She prays and reads faithfully. She is preparing for baptism April 11th. That night we got a phone call from abram. He is such a good kid. We were able to teach him a lot about faith and we decided we just need to start over with him... back to basics. He's got all the knowledge in his mind, but not in his heart. Well the gospel requires more of us than just knowing good information! It was so nice to be able to have that conversation with him. He is ready to reboot things! He'll be at BYU next fall with Scott... that will be so fun!

martes*

we studied. taught cathey. had district meeting. went to eat with our elders at the filling station [really cute burger joint... Amazing bread & great chocolate malts!]. Then it was off to ANTIGO... we taught joey and reviewed with him the baptismal interview questions. . . What a good little boy! he is SO ready for baptism! We then had a lesson with Gatton's ... their kids were so calm this time... AMAZING! After Antigo we went back to Rhinelander to teach Allen. He stood us up. SO we went to his house, Sam was with us and it sounded like he was about to drop us, then we talked about how even though he's really busy and his baby is really sick that he NEEDS the gospel. It will help him. Sam testified of the power of prayer. She is a single mom. He is a single dad. They really related to one another. It was AmAzing.

miercoles*

we stopped by the stevens... they weren't prepared for us to teach... we made an appt for tomorrow. then we did a little weekly planning. we taught cathey and then headed to minocqua to teach abram at Culver's with sister jones and her daughter allison. SO FUN! then we went to help sister sturma again, but she still wasn't home from the UP. We tried to see Allen to see how praying went, he was home... but downstairs. His mom told us he has too much going on in his life and that we need to get off her property, never come back and stop calling or she was going to call the "cops". Oh please! that was the 3rd time we've heard that schpeel in the past couple weeks. what do we look like? we're just girls in skirts!So we stalked Brian at his house and THEN... we tried to go home... we were LOCKED out. Our landlord said she was not coming in to town. She's real sweet. So we stayed at Sam's! SLEEPOVER! it was fun, but i think she saw how lame we were... she was talking talking and we were dozing! haha i love her.

jueves*

landlord unlocked apt. we went to the stevens home to teach them. it was good. Sam came with us and took little joshua [2] to the library so we could have more of their attention. Bro Stevens didn't come out... it was sad and frusterating. Sister Kagie came and taught with us... lets just say going in to some homes makes me so eternally grateful for the home environment/ family i grew up in! At 2 we drove to Antigo and had a meeting with brother schreiber... such a sweet old man. Then we had JOEY'S BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW... there was a little bit of drama with that. Elder Tracey and Elder Goldsmith drove from Marshfield to do the interview... that's a long way. THEN holly had a bit of an emergency with her friend so she wasn't around. BUT 2 hours and a couple mint chocolate chip blizzards later we finally were able to do the interview at Joey's house. HALLELUGIAH! all went well and he is ready for baptism! Elder Goldsmith is a great district leader, have I mentioned that yet? we had to cancel our evening appt and so we had dinner at subway with the elders and we headed for the hour drive home. President Barrett called tonight. It was so great to talk to him. He congratulated us for the good work we're doing up here in Rhinelander and said things like "Well I am proud of you, what a way to leave your mission!" I love him... he didn't know how much I needed to hear him say that! I got lots of mail in the mailbox today! thank you!

viernes*

we studied, then picked up sister adams, then we taught cathey about LEHONTI and about Staying on TOP of the MOUNTAIN... don't ever come down! that was good! She is so ready to be baptized. then we had lunch and then taught Ray and then Andra. Then we went to visit the lindners. sister lindner just found out that she has a cancerous lump on the back of her leg. OH i love that family, they've been dealing with so much lately... so we sang them "I feel my Saviors love" ... let's just say we only got thru two verses. MAN... that was hard. We all cried. I love her... it's scary to go thru things like that... but she has a good doctor and she'll be ok, I just know it. We continued on and went EASTER CAROLING... just because we can! I loved it... song of choice? "HE SENT HIS SON" from the primary hymnbook... same one we did last year... so good.

sabado*

CONFERENCE... the church building in Rhinelander had a problem with it's satellite so we couldn't SEE anything, but we had audio, so we HEARD it all! I was kinda sad at first, but actually I think I paid attention better because I HAD to listen closely. I love general conference. we got locked out again. no bueno. landord was evil... no surprise. the maintenance man let us in and we got keys made!!! :) today dan and genni officially went mia. they have baptismal dates for apr 11th, but we haven't seen them for a week. they moved to pelican lake and just stopped returning our calls... sad! i hate that. BUT THEN... Genni came to conference with Martha this morning and Cathey watched both sessions at home and Joey watched it too! We spent A LOT of time making sure all our people had a chance to watch conference!

domingo*

HAPPY EASTER [ i loved my easter box family! thank you!] we had breakfast [waffles] at the LINDNER'S... I LOVE THEM... I always laugh so hard there that I cry! THEN we watched [yes i actually go to see the picture] conference at the JONES'... I LOVE THAT FAMILY TOO! it was fun. Then we had easter dinner [lunch?] with them! SO YUMMY! My favorite was the desert! we Sacrificed a lamb! haha she had a lamb cake and cherries that we smeared the sauce on the top of our plates! so fun! i love them... and mom, we used ROYAL ALBERT CHINA... it made me think of you. I told them it was the same china used on princess diaries ... they didn't know that! ahh... uncle albert!! :)Then we drove to antigo and watched conference there. it was a REALLY small group... but holly and mikey came in at the end. she's a great mom. We had easter DINNER with the Bloechl's and dyed easter eggs with them! I love the Bloechl's! We wanted to spend more time there... but we had to head to the drivers in minoqua. It was kind of a crazy lesson, but we committed them to having family prayer. I know it will help them if they will do it!

Sundays are often our busiest days! We stress and struggle to be sure all of our investigators make it to church. Last week sister cousin even volunteered to sew a guys pants last week... HILARIOUS... we picked the pants up EARLY sunday morning and dropped them off before church... good thing the rip was on the seam!!! :) It's a constant effort to get people there. Last week we had 7 people there... this week 6! That is AmAZing! The most i have ever had! Satan works so hard to distract people on sundays. I love what elder Foster said yesterday... "distraction doesn't have to be evil, just effective"! so true. oh the work of a missionary! We're doing so well here! i love my life.

Our biggest concern this coming week is those that have baptismal dates... Cathey, Joey, Dan and Genni. Cathey and Joey seem to be fine... but Dan and Genni need a little TLC... They can still make it, but we need to meet with them. Last week we taught them the Law of Chastity. I love teaching that principle. We had them read the 2 paragraphs out of Preach My Gospel, its pretty straight forward there and then we talked about it and the blessings that come. When I committed them, "Will you live the Law of Chastity?" I first asked Genni and she said yes, then I asked Dan and he must not have heard her because he looked at Genni and said, "Did she say yes?" SO HILARIOUS! We all laughed. Martha, dans mom, was looking up a scripture and couldn't find it... irritated, she said, "WHAT CHANNEL" oh, it was SO FUNNY. we all cried... i love martha. I know dan and genni can do it. The Lord always asks his children to do hard things, but He always BLESSES US!

It was such a good week! such a good easter! such a good conference!

Grandpa! HAPPY BIRTHDAY APRIL 8th!!! I will be thinking of you!

MOM: can you get us tickets to the Gila Valley Temple open house and dedication? please? or get britt on that or something? i want to go to that!

I love you all!!! Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps. great job on the mail this week! keep it comin' ... it still has plenty of time to get to me! :)

Miracles...

(my favorite picture -britt)

HOLA my people....

how's it goin'? I have SO much to tell you this week. Let's get started.

First off, I want you to know how much the Lord is blessing us here in this area. When I first came to Rhinelander, things were moving, but they were slow. Sister Bishop and I worked hard and then by the time Sister Cousin came things just caught fire. We set high goals... AND we are MEETING them!!! It is amazing to see the miracles that come as we put our FAITH in CHRIST, have HOPE , EXPECT those ANSWERS to PRAYERS and EXPECT MIRACLES. We have been doing that. I recommend it. There are days when I get scared thinking, "oh no, what if this or what if that..." but then i remember that FEAR and FAITH cannot coexist. so i REPENT! :) try it.

We have been teaching Dan & Genni... more on them to come. But last night we taught them about Alma the Younger, per Dan's request. It was AmAzing. I realized as I was sitting there, how much I LOVE the scriptures now. I didn't love them like this before. Anyways, we taught him how Alma saw the angel and for 3 days and 3 nights was in a coma of sorts. We flipped from Mosiah 27 to Alma 36 and read what he taught his son Helaman about being in bitter darkness, but that it wasn't until he remembered his father teaching about Christ's atonement that he prayed ... and is Mosiah he accounts, " 29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the references to DARK and LIGHT in the scriptures. That has been a theme with dan and genni. I know that we can find ourselves in the darkness, in our own personal states of apostasy ... the only way out is Jesus Christ. Elder Holland says he is the way OUT he is the WAY up he KNOWS the WAY because HE IS THE WAY." As we seek Jesus Christ and REPENT or CHANGE... we will find ourselves in a place of LIGHT and understanding, peace and comfort! That's the ONLY way Alma the Younger could escape is previous life... REPENTANCE. Aren't the scriptures just AMAZING?

I love serving up here in Rhinelander. I have learned so much from the people here... THEY ARE SO RESOURCEFUL. Most people here hunt and fish and that is what they live off of all year long. its amazing. I have had some most amazing venison steaks and things lately. It's so not like me to enjoy that... but it actually tastes BETTER sometimes. Also, more recently many ward members have had baby chicks delivered. The popular amount is 100. They are SO CUTE... but they feed them and then they harvest them and live off of that all year too. It's AmAzing. No preservatives, no nothin'.... that's the way to do it! It's just a different way of life... and i like it!

it's just so small town, ya know? like last week we went in to BB JACKS in antigo and there were probably 25 old men around the bar and surrounding tables with their eyes glued to the big screens because the antigo high school boys basketball team was competing in the state championships in milwaukee and they all wanted to see it! hilarious. you just don't get that everywhere you go.

so i have been having clothing malfunctions lately. oh the joys of wearing a skirt everyday! TWICE since sister cousin has been here I have had my skirt tucked in wierd or twisted funny and she has to fix me. It's mortifying at the moment, but hilarious afterwards. we have a lot of fun together! all we do is laugh... laugh so hard we cry!

Here is the DL on the week...

monday the 22nd

we still had no car. we walked to sam's house for breakfast. we emailed and then walked home. on our way home we got the most delicious ice cream cones from a cute little ice cream shop here in rhinelander... its all chocolate and candy inside... SO YUMMY! that was the best waffle cone i have ever eaten! THEN... it finally happened... WE GOT OUR CAR BACK!!! George at the Chevy Dealership and I are best friends, BFFS if you will. We don't even talk it full sentances to eachother now... it's all code. Like we can communicate in a matter of 2-3 phrases. so funny. He is the best and takes such good care of us. He said we should be set now... no more problems for a while. THANK GOODNESS! To celebrate we had lunch at Casa Real. . . THE MEXICAN RESTAURANT in town. I knew it was a good sign when i walked in and they all spoke spanish! FINALLY... i must say this is the first legit mexican food place i've eaten at in 18 months! i got my usual... 1 deep fried bean burro and a side of beans! it was a good day! we taught Cathey Bayer, a lady we met tracting and set a baptismal date with her for april 11th. i love cathey. we have to teach her more simply... but she is a sponge. such a good lady.

tuesday the 23rd

we had district meeting. Elder Goldsmith is a great district leader. It is so obvious he takes time to prepare to teach us... he always seems to talk about JUST what i NEED! I love him. He brings a good spirit to our district meetings. Then we headed to Antigo. Some appointments cancelled, I HATE THAT, but that's the way it goes, so we taught Holly & Joey & Theresa. Joey is preparing for Baptism April 11th. He is 10 and is so excited about the gospel. I love the faith of a child. We contacted some referrals, one was in SPANISH!!! It was so fun to whip that out again... it's been a while! We then went to the Peters' home for dinner to teach their friend Jim. Jim was challenged by the stake president to take the lessons because he came to the church on the sunday that was branch conference. SO COOL! He is going thru some hard family stuff, him and his wife are separated... but he sees a NEED for the gospel. He works with Bro. Peters' and he loves and respects them so much. You can just see it. Jim brought his daughter and his daughter's friend to the lesson as well. We taught the plan of salvation. It was such a great lesson and they had so many questions. They don't have a strong background in religion so it was all new to them. I LOVE TEACHING THE PLAN OF SALVATION.

wednesday the 24th

basically every single thing we had planned today cancelled. seriously, from members to investigators to EVERYTHING... but we made the best of it and headed to crandon to visit with Andrea. She has MS and gets really depressed, she's been a member of the church for a while, but she has forgetten much because she no longer attends... we committed her to come to church and to pray. I so much just want to do things for people like Andrea... but she has to do the work. SHE HAS TO PRAY and FEEL the ANSWERS, I just can't do that for her... she has no idea the blessings she is missing out on. We then headed to Minoqua to visit with Abram and Scott for a bit on the golf course... that was fun! ABRAM is FINALLY BACK from Utah! He had a great time and plans on moving there this summer. I love Abram. I just wish he too could see the blessings he is missing out on from not committing to baptism. The blessings are AmAzing! He'll get there.. hopefully SOON... i want to be here for that. Then we taught the drivers family the plan of salvation... they are less active and just having a hard time... their kids are wild. In fact, they sent them all away while we taught. so sad, we intended on teaching the whole family... bishop is going to work on that! Family is so important, we don't care if they're wild... we like that! i love a challenge. ha then we came to the church and taught brian with breanne. i love those two. We talked about the book of mormon, how to study it, how to mark your scriptures... etc. it was good. He is such a great convert to the church. Brian is going to be a faithful leader in this church, you can just see it in him. Our last lesson was with Genni and Dan. WHEW... every lesson we have with them is so intense. They are STARVING for the gospel and they are so desperate to get out of the dark... we talked about the relationship between faith and miracles. Dan has a drug addiction problem and we told him how only faith and repentance can really heal him. He just looks at us with so much faith and hope in his eyes. such a good kid. He is so ready for this. i love dan and genni and martha. We told him that we love him and have faith he can do it and he believes us. I'll do anything to see that kid succeed.

thursday the 25th

we did service for sam... helped her sort baby clothes and stuff for her garage sale. Then we Heart attacked the lindner's... he is bishop and his family has been going thru SO much lately. I just love them. They are such honest, sincere people and they have a real love for the gospel. They are so good to us as missionaries. that was fun. ONly their daughter's dog, bruiser was going ballistic... we thought nobody was home. WELP... sister lindner was there and so we had to go in and talk with her for a while. After that we still did the heart attacking. it was fun. on sunday bishop said, "what was that mess on my front door?!" ha we all laughed. Today we were fasting for dan and genni. well i got SO SICK... i had a migraine and was in bed and throwing up the rest of the day. No more fasting for this girl for a while. it was so awful. Dad, can you fast? You get sick too, don't you? Man, sister cousin suggested I don't fast anymore either! haha poor girl. she was stuck inside again.

friday the 26th

we studied. we taught cathey in her home and then went with sister Kagie to the HUNAN for lunch. I had the best SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN i have ever had in my life there. so yummy. that's in eagle river. Then we taught allen at the church with Breanne. We taught him the plan of Salvation. He asked so many good questions. i love that guy... he is a good dad to his little girl Haylie. As we were leaving the church, a man walked in and asked us if we could give him some info, his daughter is in a religions class in Oclaire and is coming home for the weekend and wants to study mormonism. He said he had a good experience with the mormons when he was in salt lake, he toured temple square and he wants his daughter to get some good info too. We invited him and her to churhc sunday. He said she'd be there. what a miracle... we're usually NEVER at the church at that time. so interesting. Vicki taught us at her home with AJ... that was fun. SHe read us the talk she gave last week and taught us the visiting teaching message. New Converts to the church are so amazing. they are constantly building my testimony. I want to be like them... faith so strong they could do ANYTHING! Then we heart attacked martha! we were so smoothe... she didn't even know! We also saw Ray today. He's like the Where's Waldo guy of Rhinelander. We see him everywhere. He finally committed to church! woo-hoo! The Racine sisters called me today! They said, "You are very missed here!" I love that place. They said that president calderwood told them, "i miss sister black, i had some of my best arguments with her!" haha HE is in BALLET now... yes i laughed so hard i cried. i love that man. i love his family!

saturday the 27th

we studied. then we drove to elcho and then went the rest of the way with the palmers to wausau to the STAKE ROADSHOW... both JIM and JOEY from the ANTIGO branch went. it was a lot of fun... why doesn't our home stake do those anymore? i loved it. To end our day we went to arbor vitae to help sister sturma clean her home. she is preparing for open heart surgery on friday. she is a hoarder, everything she has is really really nice, she just has SO much it's in piles and piles everywhere. one person had to distract her while the other packed boxes and put them in her garage. She is a great lady and we had a lot of fun.... but it was a lot of work! we were SO tired!

sunday the 28th

SO MANY INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH....

the man's daughter: justine

ray

dan and genni

cathey

joey

jim

AMAZING...

we have 7 investigators with a baptismal date!!!!

we had a bomb lesson with dan and genni on chastity... more on that next week!!!

they are kicking me off....

remember, i still check the mailbox everyday and my email every monday!!!! WRITE ME!!!!

i love you all!!!!

love, your little missionary girl

just another day ...

in PARADISE!...

I saw a robin today, my first one this year, Do you know what THAT means? SPRING IS HERE!!! oh the signs of spring, i love them! AND... the lakes are all black! Do you know what that means? The ice will all melt off soon! The past three weeks the snow has all melted off, there was several feet of snow... there is still about a foot of ice yet, but it will be gone soon... Did you know that Three Lakes [a town in our area] has a chain of 27 consecutive big lakes, that is the biggest chain of lakes in the whole world? So ya, we're famous up here.

I am convinced i live in the prettiest area in wisconsin. It is absolutely stunning here... especially now that all the snow is gone and we can see all the water, it still has ice, but it's BEAUTIFUL! We were talking about the creation last week in relief society. I have really come to love the landscape of wisconsin: TREES everywhere, so thick you can't see thru them... lakes and water galore... deer and squirrels and skunks and you name it we have it.... BUT i also LOVE the desert. I MISS THE MOUNTAINS... I hope i am in decent enough shape to HIKE them when i get home... i miss that! I miss cactus and dirt and sand and coyotes and lizards and swimming pools and red rock and desert sunsets! ... I LOVE THE CREATION... what a great topic to study. And God made it all ... for US!

This week we taught AJ [a recent convert] and he thought I was WAY older than 22... oh dear. can i not come home and date and just be a sister missionary FOREVER?! :) [ok aj's not the best with words, but still. he says i "act older"... oh dear.]

Last week we had interviews and now i realize i didn't even tell you how that went... I LOVE PRESIDENT BARRETT... he is so AmAzing. I know I say that a lot. BUT it is so true... He told me he loved me and he was so grateful that I was training sister cousin. He thanked me for my energy and excitement for this work. He talked to me a lot about Alyssa and what to do and how to help her... he is so kind. He is on her team, for sure. In sister cousin's interview he told her he wished she had more time with me! :( THAT KILLS ME! I wish I had more time with her too! 6 WeEkS is not very long to teach someone everything you know! Hopefully she'll get the most important stuff and that will have to be good enough. At the end of my interview he told me i looked good in the navy blue get-up i was wearing. the man is so thoughtful. i love him. He told me to finish strong, like he knows i will... of COURSE!

Speaking of sister cousin, little J says i haven't told ya'll enough about her. She is 21 from South Jordan, Utah. She is TALL, like 6'10" tall. SHe likes to play volleyball. She went to SLCC for 2 years and then did a semester at BYUI before her mission. She is amazing, we get along like peanut butter and jelley and I just love her. [i have a new fav missionary song: it's called PBJ! I heart it... i have to listen to it at least once a day, sister cousin isn't the biggest fan, but she deals with it! :] She has 1 sister and 2 brothers, She's the middle, 2 older and 1 younger brother. So there ya go... i love her! It's a lot of fun to train!

Sister Skinner called me from Green Bay last week. She was trained there and now she's training there. She said she was at Bishop Huzzey's and he told her that her and i should serve together because we're his 2 favorites! HAHA i LOVE bishop HUZZEY! That man has such an ability to love! It felt good to know they all hadn't forgotten about my time there... a big part of my missionary memories take place in THE GREEN BAY! I love sister skinner. i hear she is doing a great job there. I miss the GB when i hear stuff like that... i wish i could have just a week there! time and a season ... time and a season... i have to keep telling myself that!

This is an email President Barrett just sent me:

I just love to see the missionary you have become and are still becoming - in RHINELANDER, of all places! :o)

Thank you for your sterling work and for being such an amazing FINISHER! But we would love to have you stay forever! Because we will love you forever!

...

I love him. He still teases me for my lack of desire to come here in the first place. He's such a good mission president. the best.

SO on to THE WEEK...

lunes... the 15th...

pday. breakfast with sam. it was our turn to cook, we made omelette's and biscuits. It was good. we emailed, went to walmart and took our CAR IN because the BRAKE LIGHTS and CRUISE CONTROL still do NOT work! Apparently there is a short in one of the wires, but there are six wires that feed in to the same place so every time they touch one wire... it stops shorting and they can't figure out which one it is... so they just give it back to us and tell us to bring it in when it breaks again... do they know what it is like to be a missionary in the LARGEST AREA in north america without a car? YA... not fun. To end our night we had an appointment with alyssa, brianne drove us out there. We taught her about forgiving cindy and unloading any extra rocks she was carrying in her backpack... it went well. Alyssa is AmAzing. One of the strongest little 18 year olds I have ever met. I could never live in the home she does.

martes... the 16th...

we had no car. we studied... the elders drove up from Wausau for district meeting, we had it at our church building. Then we went to taco bell with them. There were 7 of us in a truck that seats 5.5 essentially.... not fun! We then walked ALL oVER the town of Rhinelander the rest of the day inviting everyone we saw... literally. We told the elders where the hodag statue was because they wanted to take a picture with it... so they did and they met a girl, Jess, that works there at the chamber of commerce. they gave her a copy of the book of mormon and taught her briefly. later that day we walked to the chamber of commerce because they will set us up with service opportunities there. it was really great... we met jess, not knowing the elders had talked to her and she got us all set up for service. Then another man came in and we never got to finish talking to her and we left. Well, the elders called that night and said they had a sweet referral for us... it was jess... i felt so DUMB! we were there and talked to her and never invited her and she knew EXACTLY who we were the whole time. ugh! haha

alyssa was supposed to have her baptismal interview today. but ended up in jail... long, sad story. she didn't do anything. i could refer you to some chapters on unrighteous dominion... but i won't. Bishop was so upset by it too, so we just went to his house and "raked feverishly" as he said, the leaves in his yard... then he made us grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles and chocolate milk shakes... it was the BEST. Bishop linder is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. He is working hard with alyssa's people to get her out of there and in to a good home environment. i love him.

miercoles... the 17th...

no car. study. visit allen. He's a new investigator we met last sunday when we didn't have a car and walked all over ... get the drifT? we never have a car these days. we had a mtg with brianne about mormon mythbusters. we had lunch at DQ and visited brianne. We went to the church. They let us pick up our CAR! we went to Chris LIndners surprise birthday party! with vicki. it was lots of fun! to end the night we had a bomb lesson with genni and martha. i love my calling. ps... my legs were SO sore from the MILES of walking we did today and yesterday!

jueves... the 18th...

study. we had to GO BACK and get our oil changed. they told us they put 6 little brakers, one on each wire, so our car will probably have to come in one last time, but this time they'll know which wire it is... at least they used their problem solving skills! we didn't even get 4 miles out of town on our way to antigo and cruise control didn't work, neither did the brake lights. lame. we weren't going back though... we HAD to be in antigo. we contacted referrals there, ate pizza at BB JACKS and visited holly and the gatton's and then ended our night in tomahawk with mike barnes... good guy.

viernes... the 19th...

we took our car in. had breakfast with sam... did weekly planning... had an appointment with allen at the church with sister kagie. we committed him to baptism for april 11th! yEaH! we taught dan and genny, it was amazing, he's on day six of being clean, drug free!!! then we taught brian, with sam. we watched the reflections of christ dvd. AMAZING. We were so bold with all these lessons... and it was such a GOOD THING! brian said he will be ready and WORTHY to go to the temple the next time we go! yeah!

sabado... the 20th...

no car... study. we taught andra at the church with sam. we committed her to baptism april 11th! FINALLY! after 3 years of meeting with the sister missionaries she has a baptismal date! sam helped her with the whole quitting smoking and drinking coffee thing. it was good! we went to the lindners to have lunch with their family. All the kids were in from all over the place. it was so fun! Kids and grandkids galore. i love that. we had the best chicken salad of my LIFE THERE and his daughter, marci, convinced me my next vacation must be to JAMAICA MAN! i love the lindners ... so much is going on with them in their lives, but they have so much faith and are such a great example to me. We went home, the lowthers picked us up and drove us to elcho. we had dinner with bonnie palmer. i want to be like her when i grow up. she is amazing. i love her husband art and his best friend tommy. good people i tell you. then we stayed the night at the bloechls.

domingo... the 21st...

still no car... bonnie took us to church. i love the antigo branch. The peters brought Jim who we taught the restoration and we'll

meet with him again on tuesday. what good missionaries they are! thats 1 new investigator!!! then we taught joey afterwards and then the schreibers drove us back up to Rhinelander. our appts fell thru. we ate lunch. i took a cat nap, i was dying, and then we headed out to WALK and invite. it was such a nice day. We saw allen... Brianne picked us up and we went easter caroling to andra and then tried to find jess... she is nowhere to be found. Then we taught genni and martha. Dan skipped out. i hope he is still clean... :( something tells me he isn't. that's so hard. brianne is amazing. i love teaching with her. we taught about nephi and the boat... my go to story! we ended the night at bishops for dessert. he is so amazing. i laugh so hard there i cry!

i love my life here ... i really do. in the prayer before we left his house, bishop blessed me that i would be able to finish strong be ok ending my mission and blessed s. cousin to love her "good trainor". He is amazing.

This was one of the best weeks i have ever had on my mission. here are our numbers...

5 investigators with a baptismal date allen, genni, andra, joey & alyssa

3 Investigators at sacrament meeting

12 lessons with a member

12 others

8 progressing investigators

3 new investigators

12 lessons to LARCS [less active or recent converts]

110 invites

IT WAS A GREAT WEEK! Things are ON FIRE HERE!!!!

i love you all! SEND MAIL!

love, sister pamella jo black

i LOVE my LIFE

Hello Family! How are all of you! My goodness, this library we're emailing at is getting a little crazy, they are kicking us off these computers in a few minutes, so this will be fast... I don't know HOW fast it will be because SO MANY good things happened this weekend! First off, I just love my calling and I love being SISTER BLACK... my time here is so SACRED to me. It is spring in wisconsin. I love being up here in the northwoods. Northern wisconsin is just beautiful. All the snow is melted. All i've worn for the past few days is a cardigan, no coat! They say that we may have a few more storms here and there, but people here are wearing short shorts and tank tops! It was hilarious to see that and then to walk down to Hodeg Park, while we were tracting yesterday, and to see that there is still 15 inches of ice on the lake, the snowmobiles are still riding on it and people are still walking and fishing on it. We just had the World Championships for ice fishing here, 11 different countries... little Rhinelander was BOOMING with foreigners! Remember when you told me about that, mom? mon mar 8pday. we had breakfast with sam and then emailed. We went grocery shopping and then hung out at the apartment. I was still feeling a little ill from my bout with sickness the days before. We taught Martha and then we did a chapel lesson tour with Abram... it was AmAzing! The spirit was so strong. we taught the restoration using the foyer, the chapel the over-flow, the baptismal font and the relief society room. We used the lights [on and off] to show apostasy and darkness and then light for restoration. I love doing chapel lesson tours! In the relief society room we made it the temple room... we had tons of pictures of temples and then we had pictures of our families. I was able to tell Abram and the Mehrs the story of my family going to the temple. It was AmAzing. The spirit was immense. I love the MEHR'S. I love Abram. I love the gospel. ps. I love the Rhinelander ward. SO many of them called to make sure I was feeling better. It was just the sweetest thing. Almost made me cry... I missed my mom, but they were all a good subsitute! It feels good that someone is concerned about you, ya know!? tue mar 9 we taught andra. then we drove to timbucktoo and back with sister mehr and sister kagie. . . ok actually it wasn't timbucktoo but it was LAC DU FLAMBEAU and MANITOWISH WATERS... gotta love the names here! We contacted referrals and had lunch with them. The members here are the BEST! I love them.We had dinner with Deb Kazmarski and then taught Brian. wed mar 10zone conference. It was my LAST zone conference. so sad. I love zone conference. it is the spiritual boost I need for the coming transfer! We talked a lot about repentance and baptism. President and Sister Barrett are my FAVORITE! They were all on one that day, teasing me like crazing! President told everyone, "Sister Black has prayed an apostle in our midst!" and sister Barrett said, "We have to trust the missionaries we send to outreaching places like those here in the Wausau zone, you're far from the heart of the mission. All I have to do is look at sister black and I know we're far from milwaukee!" I was asked to bear my testimony on what I would say to an investigator that says living the gospel is hard. Anyone that says that should have a chat with the Savior, he could teach us a lot about doing hard things. Sister Cousin gave her arriving testimony and I gave my departing testimony. SO SAD! Elder Caldwell also gave his departing, as did elder goldsmith. MAn, I don't want to leave my mission! We had interviews and then drove home. We drove both ways with the elders... that was fun, quite the adventure. the fog was really bad, but they got us there safe to wausau and we made it the rest of the way back to rhinelander, slowly. i love sister cousin. we just laugh and have the best of times together! she's a FAV! thur mar 11we taught andra. we taught alyssa and then went tracting with her. That was HILARIOUS. She'd say, "HI MY NAME IS ALYSSA AND I'M A MORMON. WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO OUR CHURCH!" i love her... we're still role-playing that one. We ended our night with the relief society activity. i just love this ward. fri mar 12study. weekly planning. I ate a PASTY! yum... its a yooper thing, sorta like a pot pie... very good. we went to antigo for some appts and helped president thompson and his family clean the church.... then to PLOVER to spend the night at the PyRah'S... they're a senior couple here. I love them . It was like a sleepover at grandmas. sometime when i get back ask me how annoyed i was at the elders today. I have never gotten mad at any of the elders, but today they were punks... big time, and they knew it. sat mar 13We woke up early and drove to NEENAH. D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON came to visit our mission. His son Ryan lives in appleton. He was SO AMAZING. he taught me so much. HE talked about how we are his companion in this work. We are his arms and legs. He told us our contribution to the world is greater than any other force ... we hold salvation in our hands. When we knock on the door of someones house, we literally offer them the kingdom of god. "You hold the Kingdom of God in your hands." Appleton, Green Bay, Madison and Wausau Zones attended. SO we saw almost the whole mission. It was SO fun. IT was overwhelming to walk in to a chapel full of misisonaries singing hymns, i am never going home from my mission! Elder Christofferson made me want to be a missionary FOREVER... but he did say there is a reason we came to WI WHEN we came... so i suppose it's that time and a season thing again! i just don't really like it! Elder Christofferson made us all feel like a million bucks, i love that man. I got to see my old mtc district and all the sisters, well most of them and all of my old favorite elders ... SO FUN! elder warr, who is serving in Adams now and lives with the caldwells and told me sister caldwell calls me the "DIVA MISSIONARY" ... apparently because I have so much STUFF! so funny.We drove back to Plover, got our car, then went to Wausau to have dinner with president thomposn. We ended the day tracting in Antigo and visiting toby. I love my life here. We are striving to meet our lofty transfer goals, and having lots of fun while doing it!!! sun mar 14we went to church in rhinelander. we had lunch. we tracted in the beautiful weather... JUST AMAZING. everyone was outside! we had dinner with the kagie's and taught aj and then had the most AMAZING lesson with dan and genny. I just wrote presdent barrett about it ... this is what I said: I LOVE ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON! ... I love being a missionary. Thanks for letting us be there, I will never forget that. He makes me want to stay in Wisconsin FOREVER as sister black, how great is our calling! Sister Cousin and I are working hard here. Last night we had the MOST amazing lesson with Dan and Genny. Dan is the daughter of a less-active woman in our ward who is making her way back and Genny is his girlfriend. We've taught them the restoration and the plan of salvation and had AmAzing discussions about the atonement with them. We knew they were struggling with something, we just didn't know what. So, we taught about the Tree of Life and being on the straight and narrow path last night. We asked SO MANY inspired questions and were able to see exactly how Dan and Genny have been prepared. Dan is struggling with a drug addiction and is just so lost in the mists of darkness. We showed him the picture in the gospel art book of the tree of life and asked him where he was at on the path and he said in a very dark place. We kept asking questions, really good questions, and then committed them to really pray, to have a conversation with their heavenly father and to ask for help, to tell him their struggles and their plan and then to listen. They need help, divine help. We are doing a chapel lesson tour with them wednesday night with lesson 3, the gospel of jesus christ. THe spirit was SO strong. When I asked what they would give to taste of the fruit of the tree, they said ANYTHING! Dan said, "I would give everything." He had tears in his eyes, we then committed them both, with a soft commitment, to baptism. [dan was really turned off by missionaries last fall because he said they just wanted him to be baptized.] I think he finally is beginning to understand WHY he needs baptism. It is the only way to have those burdens lifted. We talked about how it will be hard, but also how he can learn from the Savior how to do hard things, He knows all about that and can help Dan. President, I love being a missionary. I could just FEEL the Savior's love for Dan and Genny. I can see they want to change and I KNOW He is ready to help them if they will just ask. This lesson strengthened me too. Alyssa is so sweet. I hear you were able to talk with Bishop Lindner last night, i love that man. He LOVES alyssa and has saved that little girl's life. She is so ready for baptism... we are teaching her about repentance & forgiveness tonight [using her burdens and rocks and a backpack.... it's going to be a great object lesson] We need to be sure she has forgiven Cindy... that is a BIG, heavy rock she's carried in her backpack and we want to be sure she's unloaded that one. She doesn't know everything, but she knows enough. She needs the gift of the Holy Ghost. sorry for the novel [i know you expect that from me!] BUT so many EXCITING things are happening here. i love this work. love, sister black .... anyways. it was amazing! I LOVE THIS WORK PEOPLE! I KNOW I WILL SEE YOU SOON, BUT IT FEELS SO FAR AWAY! WE STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO HERE! Rocky tells me, "yep i am gald to here your not dieing a trunky mess way to finish out strong" so funny. that is the goal! i love you all! you are the best! keep that mail coming!!! Love, sister pamella jo black ** This is a SHOUT OUT to ABRAM SMITH and SCOTT MEHR who have apparently found my blog! I love this work! Go on missions! Love the Gospel! I love serving in your ward.

Beginning, Middle, End ...

So last week I was freaking out about when I decided to go home... WHY did I choose to go home in April? Was that too earlier? Should I have chosen May? You see, sisters, unlike elders don't get a set time to go home. They get to choose at either 17.5 months or 18.5 months. Well, last year April sounded like a great time to go home. . . it was so far away, I'd get to go to Mexico, visit Brittany at college, etc. . . THAT WAS LAST YEAR. as the time got closer and closer I didn't even let my mind wander as to if May should be an option. Then when I was helping sister bishop PACK to GO HOME from her mission I began to FREAK OUT! All these things ran through my mind. I sent my mom an email with the dialogue. She probably thought I was crazy. She told me to do what I felt was right and they'd support me either way [of course, no help! haha such a mom answer!] Then, the last email she sent me said, "As with all things I suppose... There is a BEGINNING, a MIDDLE and an END!" hilarious... that was the best. so blunt.

I SUPPOSE she put that just perfectly! I feel good about April now. I finally prayed about it and just got a peaceful feeling... so I am just going to EMBRACE this last transfer of my mission! I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left. This is the life. I picked up my new little missionary girl on Wednesday... SISTER COUSIN. She is wonderful. I love her. She is so READY to GO! - Just loving being a missionary. I never told her I was going home in 6 weeks the whole day... even though President Barrett and the Assistants kept alluding to it with phrases like, "Since many of your trainers will be going home very soon, you must learn from them all you can before they leave." She didn't ever get it and in the parking lot she asked me if I had been out 9 months? SO CUTE! all the other sister missionaries just looked at me, but knew that I didn't want my greeny to know I was OLD and going home. None of this TRUNKY nonsense!!! [definition: TRUNKY: prematurely packing ones bags, literally and figuratively] I just kept saying I had been out a little over a year, all the sisters would laugh. That's what all the elders say that are a few transfers away from going home. It WORKS! anyways, I had to tell her in the car, because I couldn't lie when she asked me straight out... "when do you go home?" HAHA she couldn't believe I hadn't told her... I just didn't want her to think I was DONE... ya know:? BUT she is excited to work and so am I ... we have SO much to do in the next six weeks... we have got to get on it RIGHT NOW!

Sister Bishop went home Friday. Oh how I am going to miss her ... She was such a great companion. I love her! Her and I got along so well... She understood I needed to EAT regularly. Skipping meals is just not in the cards for sister pamella jo black. She always said I was like a boy! just like her brothers, she said she could see it on my face... that is was TIME TO EAT ... haha I admit, I do get cranky if it's been too long since meals. I don't do well on an empty stomach!

full time missionary + skipping meals = bad combinatiion! write that down rocky!

She made fun of me for calling quesadillas "cheese crisps" ... i just grew up calling them that! I don't know how or why... i just did! She made me meals! She was the BEST... just give her the music she likes and she's a happy girl! i will miss her! It's wierd being here 6 weeks and having to take over... AND TRAIN... sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed about what to do and where to go since I am soo new here... but life is good. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

As I was helping sister cousin unpack, I was thinking of what I came with on my mission... much of that stuff I don't have anymore... I LOVE MY MISSION CLOTHES NOW... [when i came out i looked amish, that's what the packet makes you think you have to look like!!!] I LOVE MY MISSION BAG... This is what you would find in my super CUTE HURLEY BAG my family sent me in the summer, I haven't used a different bag since...

1 green folder. it's plastic and it's the best. I can keep EVERYTHING in there... ward rosters, important papers, pictures of my family, transfer packet and calendar, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.

Preach My Gospel. Don't leave home without it. I take that thing EVERYWHERE.

Gospel Art Book. The church published those in the summer... it is spiral bound and has every pic you'll ever need in it. It's AmAzing. So great for teaching lessons.

Book of Mormon. Bible. I always have those with me. They're our FaVoRITe BoOkS!

Plaid journal for note taking!

Lint Roller. Sewing Kit. Triple Card Reader [for my camera chips]. zip drive. White Handbook [in eng & spa]. Mini Hymnals [in eng & spa]. Pen Box [FULL of Pilot G-2 colored pens] (i am famous for my colored pen box... its a must as a sister missionary! a girl needs variety!) Striped Bag with the essentials.

GPS. wallet. gloves. gum.

sharpies in the front pocket [best for writing on passalong cards]. planner. post-its. small ntbk to write down words i need to look up in spanish!

water bottle. car keys.

...

That is one full bag! it's like mary poppins bag. i love it. i always have everything i need! and EVERYTHING everybody else needs too! its AmAzing.

ok ok... on to the week...

.monday.

we started out siter bishop's last pday with Breaksfast with Sam.. YUMMY . she made us homemade banana pancakes... my goodness those things were HEAVENLY. sam is a great cook! then we emailed. went to wal mart. sister bishop packed, i took a nap! :) or tried to. our neighbors were home and having world war III. i am convinced. I got my haircut fixed by sister lindner... it was a little long in the back [japenese animae character anyone?] and she fed us dinner. I love the lindners. he is the bishop. they're a great family.

we taught martha, Genny and Dan the Plan of Salvation. i got so excited as we were praying in the car before we went in to the house. I thought about how much I LOVE the GOSPEL i get to teach about! What am I going to do when 24/7 I don't get to do this anymore? Ok... lets not think about it! I love that excited, butterflies in my stomach feeling. I got that when I first came and I still get it. It's the best! i love this gospel! I love the excitement of feeling the spirit and restoring to our Heavenly Father's spirit sons and daughters the truth they once knew and loved!

then we taught brian. brianne and aj came with us and we talked about the temple. i love them! they are the best YSA [young single adults ever!]

.tuesday.

sister bishop packed all her things. i cleaned the apt like it's never been cleaned before [you'd be amazed, i cleaned it the way my mom cleans before we go on vacation... in about 2 hours. bleach city! so great.] then we drove to wausau for district meeting. many of our elders are being transferred. i love serving around the missionaries i do. they are such great examples to me. Elder Ferris, my district leader brought me a family size box of strawberry pop tarts! my favorite! everytime he'd call to check up on us he'd ask what we need and I would say pop-tarts! he'd laugh. since he was being transferred he came through! so nice. i love missionaries! We went out to eat at culvers with the district and afterwards we headed to MADISON, WISCONSIN! sister bishop served six months in Mad-town so on our way to milwaukee [to pick up my greeny] we stopped to have dinner and visit some of her old peeps there. I got to go to the institute and the Madison capitol and see SISTER WARNER. she goes home with sister bishop! so WIERD! i can't imagine my mission without her being here! she is a great missionary and a great example to me! We did our thing in Madison and then headed to milwaukee. We also got permission to stay at the KOZLOSKY'S even though sister missionaries don't live there anymore [the ward is on a rotation and fights for who gets the missionaries!] I love the K's! I miss them! Everytime I stay there it's like going home! It's the best. I miss them!

.wednesday.

TRAINOR'S TRAINING! We got there at 8am and it was so fun to be around so many missionaries! I miss that being up here in the northwoods. we were trained for about 2 hours and then we got to meet our NEW FRESH MISSIONARIES. We all stood on the stand as the new missionaries walked in to the chapel behind the assistants and we sang them "Called to Serve" [yes it was super cheesy]... but i almost cried! we are CALLED to SERVE... we gotta live this up! so I met SISTER COUSIN! [sister bloechl, who we live with when we go to antigo wanted to know if she was from arkansas with a name like "sister cousin!"! haha i love her] We did training and orientation with our new missionaries. i love them! I remembered my first day meeting sister warner. it was very similar. I remember she told me, "we have a baptism this transfer!" that made my day! I was able to tell sister cousin, "we have two baptisms planned this transfer, and many more we're going to plan!" I love being a missionary! i love sister warner even more know. I remember her telling me that there is no such thing as a junior and a senior companion... its just one has the phone and the other the keys! That also helped me to feel so comfortable as a newby. I did the same for sister cousin! After training we had lunch and sister barrett told me that as soon as sister cousin came off the plane she told president barrett, "that is sister black's companion." and he said, "i think so!" haha I love that they know me so well. I love the barrett's. I was able to talk to some of the elders serving/ training in my old areas, specifically elder vialpando in Racine. He said, "people sure like you there!" he has no idea what a difference that made to me! I also got to tell each of the sisters how much they'll love the areas they're going to be trained in... because I have served in them already. so wierd! i feel so old!

We ran to the k's after training to pick up my perfume that brittany insisted on using! i love her then we got gas on our way back up to Rhinelander. as we were gassing up a school bus window flew down and a girl was yelling, "SISTER BLACK SISTER BLACK!" it was becky kozlosky! i love her! i love milwaukee. we drove to rhinelander. 4 hours later we got here, just in time for the ROAD KILL CAFE or the WILD GAME FEED. aka the ward party! it was a great place for sister cousin to meet the ward. so many people came that we had invited! I love sister cousin! have i said that yet?

.thursday.

study. lunch. sister cousin emailed her family to tell them she is here. lunch. we taught ABRAM [armor of god, using our homemade armor]. we taught ALYSSA and CINDY. and had dinner with them. then visited with the Jones family. SIster CouSin Is a great teacher. i love her. she doesn't seem new at all.

.friday.

study. teach andra about miracles... moroni 7. transfer planning. weekly planning. 6 hours of PLANNING! i was going stirr crazy. so was sister cousin. but it was good. needed. then we went to CULVERS for her first time and then taught AJ with Brianne about nephi and the boat [my trademark]. It was good. i missed sister bishop today. i have only been here six weeks! i need her knowledge about this area!!! i don't know everything, but i know enough, so all is well!

These are the transfer goals we made:

6 baptized and confirmed

2 with a baptismal date

25 investigators at sacrament meeting

72 lessons with a member

60 other lessons

10 investigators progressing

12 referrals received and contacted

18 new investigators

60 lessons with less actives and recent converts

840 new invites [thats 140 a week, 20 a day! that's our mission standard] i thought 100 a week was going to kill me last trasfer!!1

these are high goals, but we have FAITH they're possible and we have names behind the numbers. like P.Barrett says, better to shoot for the moon and miss than to shoot for the dung heap and make it!! :) sister cousin and are a great pair. a match made in companionship heaven! she's the best.

.saturday.

we met the ward at the temple at 6:30am. we headed to the St.PAUL MINNESOTA temple. It was amazing. we were expecting brian and martha to come, but they couldn't make it. BUT sam and AJ were there. It was AJ's first time. It was so wonderful. We drove down with Bishop and his wife and got to talk with them about a lot of things. Then we helped out in the Baptistry in the girls locker room, hurrying them along through the showers and getting their wet suits to the washer and stuff. FUN! those temple workers can get a little uptight sometimes! She was yelling at the girls a lot! so we calmed them down and assured them all is well. so funny. We all laughed. Then we did a session. I love the temple. THe temple president spoke to the youth during baptisms and told them that the salt lake temple is 26 times the size of the ST. Paul Temple. He also said that the SLC temple still only has 1 baptistry. We do the same work they do. ST. PAul is the 3rd smallest temple in the world, tied 15 times over! haha It's cool to be serving in the Wausau stake because they're in the ST. PAul temple district. only stake in wisconsin that is. I had never been to minnesota... it was fun!

THEN on the way home it happened. all at once. like a flash of lightning. I GOT THE FLU. i thought i just had a migraine from the lack of eating... but that was not so. Bishop was convinced i just needed to eat, he knows how i get! :), and i would be fine. . . but we stopped at A&W, a cool one too where it was all decked out and they wait on you... and i threw up... i never even ate... and that process happened about 5 or 6 times in the car, on the side of the road ALL THE WAY HOME on our 4 hour drive. those poor people. they were so good to me. when we got to the church bishop asked if he could give me a blessing. OF COURSE! he did and in the blessing told me to stay DOWN for 24-48 hours. I love him. i think i scared bishop, he always says i am "High Energy and Quite a Character"... i was so opposite today. he knew i was sick when i had "no fight in me"! bad! He gave my companion instructions to cancel our trip to antigo and to stay home on sunday. love him. as soon as we stumbled in the door to our apt i went to bed. i gave up on even sipping water because i knew i'd just see it again in 5 minutes. rough day i tell you. i loved the temple though!

.sunday.

sick day. i got up 4 times. i was so out of it. i drank some water... and i was able to keep it down. then i drank some gatorade. i finally ended my night with mac & cheese and went to bed. i slept all day. sister cousin called and made appts for us and was a trooper. poor girl, her first sunday in the mission and she was on lock down! i felt kinda bad, but i was too sick to care. I haven't been that sick in YEARS!

i am sore because of it! goodness. it's good to be alive and healthy! our district leaders and our zone leaders called last night. They complimented us on our service here and say we're just dominating the zone. ha. i told them we just do our job, no secrets. They think we're amazing. i enjoy that. it feels good to hear that every now and then, ya know!? especially from your peers.

I love you all! you're the best!!!!

Love, sister pamella jo black

ps... it's spring here... But everyone says "march: in like a lamb, out like a lion". so i am holding my breath. i'd kinda like one last wisconsin snow! it's all melting. our walkway is clear!

pss...remember WWPD, PBS.... i have SIX whole weeks left to check my mailbox EVERY SINGLE DAY! don't forget about me!!! WRITE ME PEOPLE! i love you all!

"I hear the retirement benefits are AmAzing!"

We took some young girls out tracting with us on splits [more on that to come] and they thought is was just SO awful that people were so rude and it was so cold and they said they could never be missionaries... etc and all sister bishop said was, "I hear the retirement benefits are AmAzing!" hilarious.

ON TO the more MeAtiEr MatTeRs...

I love the counsel Alma gives to his son Helaman in Alma chapter 37. He says:

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

As members of the Church I think sometimes we forget that! The scriptures are our LIAHONA! They will LEAD us and GUIDE us in the wilderness of life, just like the Liahona did for Lehi and his family. Let us not be slothful because of the easiness of the way! We can be pointed straight to the promised land, even the Celestial Kingdom! Is that not our goal! I love that I get to teach people this each and EVERY day! The gospel is SO incredibly simple.

This has been such a great week. Honestly, I'd say one of the best on my mission.

monday the 22nd

pday. email. walmart. walgreens. dinner. then... MARTHA. Martha hasn't been active for many years and was a heavy smoker. Just about 3 weeks ago she decided to quit smoking and prepare herself to go to the temple. She's been smoke free for almost 2 weeks now and will be going to the temple with us on March 6th! How exciting! We went to teach her the restoration. We got about half-way thru when her son came home and asked us if we could wait until his girlfriend came so we could teach all three of them. We said, "OF COURSE!" What a pleasant surprise! [that NEVER happens!] We started over with a prayer. We taught Dan and Genny and Martha the restoration. We watched the DVD. Martha cried. The spirit was OVERWHELMING in Martha's little apartment. We committed all of them to read from The Book of Mormon and pray to know of it's truth. It was AmAzing. I love Dan... he is a great boyfriend! We hear Genny's been reading, Dan apparently has not, we'll work on that. He's been taught before and said the missionaries were too pushy about baptism. We're really following the spirit! It was a great experience. We teach them again tonight.

tuesday the 23rd

today was an antigo day. We had lunch with Bonnie and Art Palmer. They're the best. Then we saw sister Bloechl. I love her. Then we visited Toby and then taught Joey and then visited the people we met tracting the week before. It was a long, good day and we topped it off by watching Scott Mehr's hockey game with Sister Mehr and Abram and his WHOLE FAMILY. it was AmAzing. Abram's mom accepted the invitation to have lessons in her home and said she has lots of questions for us! ExCiTinG! When we taught Joey today we taught him about he Armor of God from Ephesians 6:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

I love LOVE lOVe the promises in those verses! We made armor and dressed him and his little brother, Mikey, up in it. It was a lot of fun. HIs older sister Theresa, who was just baptized a couple months ago helped and his mom taught with us! She is such a great teacher!

As for the HOckEy GaMe ... it was the championships, they lost... but they did so well and scott played AmAzing! He's a great goalie. It was a lot of fun to watch. SupEr INtEnSe!!!

wednesday the 24th

elder abe cut my hair. he did such a good job. it had been since August! well needed. i have lots of BODY lets just say that! It was an experience to let and ELDER cut my hair... not as bad as the time I let Jennifer cut my hair though!!! Remember that fiasco? haha good times. We had lunch at Hmong Style, a hmong restaurant, owned my members, in wausau with President Thompson. THEN... ELDER PERRY CAME TO VISIT OUR MISSION. HE WAS IN MILWAUKEE. [ive known he was coming for 6 weeks and for 6 weeks I worked on getting to milwaukee to see him in person. it just didn't happen. he requested all missionaries not travel, that sealed the deal! the assistants even called me tuesday to make sure i wasn't planning on driving down! so funny! like i'd REALLY do that! ok, maybe i would! :)] BUT they broadcasted it and it was AmAzing! I sat in the relief society room in the Wausau building with my little zone, all 18 of us, so tiny! It was wonderful to hear an apostle of the Lord speak to us! He spoke about the Restoration of the Priesthood! THAT MAKES US DIFFERENT was his main message! I loved it. Just like when elder Hafen came, he spoke on simple doctrince too! I learned so much. We went through the scriptures to see how the priesthood was given in the new testament times and then we talked about now. It was cool. He also told us our missions just keep going after we leave the field. He told us not to lose touch with our companions. I love ELDER PERRY! He reminded me again why i love being a missionary! The truth we know sets us free! We ended the night having dinner with our zone at Buffalo Wild Wings, a little ironic isn't it? Whatever! it worked. good food and i got to see elder love. he's the best! I see how he's grown so much since we were in the mtc. I hope people can say the same for me!

thursday the 25th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOE! I love you! I thought about you ALL the DAY LONG! YOu are FOUR! that is NOT allowed!

we had to take our car in to be fixed from when sister behrends ran it into a ditch back in december. We felt carless and stranded in our apartment, but then sister kagie picked us up and we did some visits. We visited penny and mike who are both sick and won't accept meals being delivered. SO sister Kagie said, we'll use your food, make some meals and freeze them. I thought she was crazy. That was going to take FOREVER! In an hour we were out of there and we made spaghetti, a roast, porkchops, tuna noodle casserole, cherry chocolate cake, & sloppy joes. She's AMAZING. THey were very thankful.

WE had lunch with sister Kagie and I had a little taste of home: a taco salad! I miss mexican food! then we helped her clean moth balls out of her pantry and then we went home and sister bishop packed. I made dinner... jiffy blueberry muffins and some noodle stuff. such a typical missionary dinner. so funny. we took pictures.

THEN... PRESIDENT BARRETT CALLED AND ASKED IF I WOULD TRAIN A NEW MISSIONARY. of course i said YES! and he said, "I think you'll do a great job!" He is so great. I just love him. I am SO excited to get a greeny! How fun! i had the best trainor ever, i hope she'll be able to say the same! Elder Hallstrom of the 70 came and spoke with elder perry and said the position of a trainor is the MOST IMPORTANT position in the mission! NO PRESSURE! He read an amazing letter of a 65 year old man to his trainor 40 years after their missions... the jist of the letter was, "Dear Trainor, your dilligence and work ethic changed my whole life." no pressure, eh?

friday the 26th

Study. weekly planning. Sister Lowther picked us up, we picked our car up, they even washed it for us!!! and we taught Alyssa with her! WE had a great lesson.

We then taught Abram at the Mehrs. It was a wierd lesson. He wasn't in it. at all. We taught about the spirit. We've got to mix things up with him... a chapel lesson tour will work best i feel. He's not reading either. you can't gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon if you don't READ IT and PRAY ABOUT IT!!! Then we all went to "FRIDAY NIGHT FISH FRY" with the Mehr's. IT was the first week of Lent so it was SO BUSY. IT was so fun. SO expensive! I had fried Haddock! YUMMY! It was so good. I usually loathe fish... but that was good. i suppose i don't like the smell and I don't like the bones, this had neither! in wisconsin it's FISH FRY every friday. that's just what you do. Catholic or not. and it's not going to "a fish fry", its going to "fish fry". SO FUN, SO YUMMY! I love the Mehrs! It was fun to be with abram and scott too. They're hilarious. THey'll both be at BYU when I go back. I love them... they said they'll even be my friend there! haha I will need that.

saturday the 27th

study. tracting. we committed to get 100 invites again this week. so we embarked late in the week, again on saturday! We needed 70 more invites before sunday. . . We started in Three lakes, and then we nt to Eagle river and went on splits with brittany lindner and cassie nutter. We got double the invites and lessons WITH members that way! It was good. Cassie went to work and then we went with brittany to the ICE SCULPTURE.. a huge castle in eagle river. THey cut ice out of the lake and build it. so cool. Then we visited her friend morgan and her family. Brittany is a great missionary! We got quite a few invites ... then we went home, took a bunch of stuff to goodwill and made brownies. I went to bed at 9:30 ... I was SO tired! tracting drains you!

i don't want to hear...

I have my own church

I don't need another bible

We're already Christians

I'm already saved

... ANYMORE! oh, the things you learn while tracting!

Sunday the 28th

CHURCH. brian received the AARONIC PRIESTHOOD AND WAS ORDAINED TO THE OFFICE OF A PRIEST! so exciting! HE isn't thrilled about having to be up in front of people to prepare the sacrament... but he'll do it! He gets to come to the temple on saturday too! We spent FOREVER at the church so sister bishop could say goodbye and take pictures. We taught the sunday school lesson on TEMPLES. i showed a picture of the mesa temple and my family and talked about how we were sealed. IT was a great lesson! Martha, Brian and AJ were there!!! All three going to the temple for the first time on saturday! We finished tracting and found SO MANY good potentials! We have 4 return appointments! I know it is because we prayed with faith, knowing people are prepared... we had a better attitude this time!

I love my calling. i love this mission, the WMM! i love rhinelander. i love sister bishop. [i am very sad she's leaving. she's so fun]

I am excited to train. I am Sad this is my last transfer. I love seeing shanty's covering the BAJILLION lakes around here... I saw a WHALE shanty the other day! I love seeing bars and churches quite literally on every corner... this is a great place... so prepared for the message we share!!

I love you all!

Love, sister pamella jo black