GO CARDINALS!
[lunes 1.04] we went and emailed… went to target… and then we went BOWLING with the elders for pday… ok, I hate bowling. Bowling reminds me of something I did when I was in high school/ college when we had nothing else to do… there is smoking and drinking, loud music, it’s dark… satans playground basically. Not to mention I am never any good at it… well I actually had a lot of fun. SISTER JOHNSON AND I WORE JEANS [and they fit better than they did before my mission :] That was a plus, I had never done that before on my mision. Also, I am pretty good at it, both games we played I scored over 150 and I even beat the elders! they were making fun of me for not bending my knees,,, all this technique stuff.. hey, the ball went in a perfectly straight line down the lane… I told them it’s like shooting a gun, just follow the arrows… DUH! So that was fun. Then we went to Raygan’s and taught her and Zachary with the elders… then we went to Subway for dinner with the elders and then the rest of our stinkin’ appts cancelled… it was LAME.
[martes 1.05] we had district meeting. I love district meeting, I especially LOVED this district meeting. Elder Smith is really inspiring … it was the first district meeting I have ever had where I felt like we were being “called out” [that is such a BIG over-used term in this mission]. He taught about obedience… apparently there are some major disobedience issues within our district and in the kenosha area. He so tactfully taught with the spirit and we all felt like we could be more obedient. He put our districts weekly numbers on the board and it was astonishing, over half of them were mine and sister johnson’s… we just work hard, but apparently that’s not the case with all the companionships. We read in Alma about Helaman and 2,000 stripling warriors. He, like President Barrett has done in the past, would read the same verse after we did, only change the wording to how the story may have gone had they not been 100% obedient… it was PAINFUL to listen to that version of the story… I am pretty sure if that was how the story went, it wouldn’t have made it in the Book of Mormon! We talked about numbers, how numbers are the only way we can measure our progress. We know that numbers = people. We set number goals, and that is important to do to see success. The Lord uses numbers, He numbers His sheep, they’re all counted. He blesses us ONE by ONE… we must utilize numbers. I love district meeting… it is such an important place for learning and training… we have a great district leader, one of the best I have ever had. We then had lunch at culvers with the elders, our zone leaders too, elders mcclung and hatch and then had a bunch of appts. We saw Raygan, she quit smoking today! Woo hoo! And lilyan barry, had an appt with bishop and then went to mutual… we learned self-defense from sister grundbergh, she teaches tae-kwon-do, she’s a black belt, and AmAzing… it was a whole new side of her I never even knew!
[miercoles 1.06] we studied, had english class… for the first time since DECEMBER… then we taught Daysi, we went to the Abbot’s and she fixed all of my skirts! I love sister abbott… she hemmed a bunch of them so I don’t look Amish and she fixed zippers, buttons etc… I love HER! She is so good to me. We then taught Zachary and went to the Sura’s for dinner! I love the Sura’s… they’re such a great family. Dave committed to be at church on Sunday! We taught a media referral to end our night. Her name is April. Her son was married in september in Michigan and she stayed in a Marriott Hotel. She began reading the Book of Mormon and loved it. She wanted to take it with her, but wasn’t sure if that was ok. So she finally saw an ad on tv and called and ordered one. She is AmAzing, she loves the Book of Mormon, she’s read clear thru 2 Nephi in just a couple of days. She is not ready to committ to baptism, but told us she knows the Book of Mormon comes from God.
[jueves 1.07] we studied. We then taught the young davis family [his parents live in the ward too]. They are amazing, they’re struggling a bit right now because they can’t get a schedule with scripture reading, but we promised them that if they just try the Lord will bless them and they will feel the same spirit they felt shortly after they were baptized. We read Alma 5 with them… I love that chapter. We did weekly planning… then we taught Raygan and read Ether 12 with her. She is so AmAzing and is still smoke free! We then taught at Jessica’s grandma. She’s crazy. She just challenged us, told us the old testament isn’t worth reading and so on… it was A LONG 20 minute appt… I was so done after her first sentence… the spirit just changed, I then realized why the elders never went back to her last year! She isn’t ready or willing to listen.
[viernes 1.08] We went to english class, went home and made lunch [tortilla soup! Reginas recipe… I lOVE that stuff] then we taught zachary with the elders. After that we went and shoveled the Andreason’s walk… sister johnson and I had stopped by earlier that day and noticed it needed help and they weren’t home [we got 11 inches of snow in one storm… it was A LOT of snow to shovel!] … so we went with the elders and hoped to finish it before the Andreason’s got home… we were just finishing the big pile the plows leave at the end of drive-ways when bro. andreason and the kids pulled up… he was so happy! He jumped out and hugged us! They haven’t been to church in a long time… we hope to meet with them this week. We visited brother jenkins! He’s back from Utah… he’s been gone since november… and ended our night with dinner at the davis’. I love the davis’, they are so good to us… they treat us so well! I will always keep in contact with them.
[sabado 1.09] we played soccer! Then we went and changed at the Calderwood’s and took Sofia tracting with us [it was only like my 4th time really tracting on my mission]. It was so FUN! Friday night when I was praying I just felt like we needed to take her tracting with us… so I called her that night and she was so excited. Sure enough, we met a woman, Maria, who speaks spanish and Sofia was able to have a good conversation with her. Her husband and Sofia’s dad both work as doctors in the same hospital… I am so grateful for the spirit who told me that she needed to be with us… Sofia even took turns speaking at the doorstep! She’s a great missionary. We tracted for about 2 hours… it was SO cold… but we dressed warm. We taught sister oakley, and then had dinner at the claeys… they invited their long-time friends over for dinner too and we had such a great time! She is such a wonderful woman and told the relief society yesterday that we “opened so many doors” with her friends by talking so freely about the gospel. I love the rs in this ward. We stopped by and visited sister bahrs, who is a saint herself… what a loving woman, and then we ended our night teaching lupita! I love lupita, she is preparing to go to the temple! What a change we’ve seen in her. I love being a missionary.
[domingo 1.10] Church. We had SO many people come for the first time in the Racine ward… Raygan, Zach, Gavin & Marka (our regulars) then Kathleen Oakley, Lilyan Barry, Dave Sura! Our Gospel Principles class was SO full! And in the branch both lupita and daysi were there… they are both recent converts we’ve worked so closely with to strengthen… they’re both going to the temple the first week in february! I hope I am here for that! I love them… they both scolded us for not going to Sunday school… we took that hour as our lunch break in the kitchen! You have to do that with that long of church. It was nice to see them both there though! It makes our hard work SO worth it! We had lunch at 3 with Jamie Delevan and her family… when I first came to Racine, Jamie cried when she saw us in the halls. She was so excited. She was taught by sister missionaries. She is so missionary oriented. I love her. We have wisconsin chili with her and her husband and three boys. Bro Delevan was a bit disappointed we weren’t ping pong players like the elders… sorry! We then taught ZaCH the last 3 things he needed to know and went over the baptismal interview questions with him… he is the sweetest little 9 year old… so smart! He outsmarts us much of the time! His interview is today, Monday. He asked us to pray that he will remember everything! Such a good kid. Then we stopped at the Costabiles and then went home. Caleb and Marka were there and we played a game with them “Top it” it’s a kids game, but only the adults were playing! And then we called it a night!
Man, what a week! I truly love this area, this week we find out about transfers! I don’t want to leave! I don’t feel like I am leaving, but I have been here for 5 transfers, 7.5 months… so we’ll see. I don’t even use my GPS anymore! I know this area so well that it stays safe and warm at home…when people call they leave messages just for me… like it’s my personal cell phone or something! This place truly has become home, I never knew I would love Racine and Kenosha this much. I don’t get sick when I have to speak or teach or pray in spanish anymore [president Calderwood asked me at the pulpit yesterday if I would say the opening prayer in branch sacrament meeting, so I did, no big deal… WEIRD!] The Lord has truly blessed me. I say words that I swear I don’t even know like “de nuevo” or “pedazo” [those were two I used last week that shocked even me, they’re not hard words, I just know I learned them by listening to others, I didn’t study them!] It’s so cool! I have learned how to really teach, to ask questions, and listen in english and spanish. To ask GOOD questions, I realized that as I sat thru a LONG Sunday school class yesterday and thought about how the teacher could do better, subconsciously, it was a big “WOW I have learned a lot” moment. I love my mission!
I love my family! Rocky went through the temple Friday! How amazing! I love him! I am so excited for you Rocky! The best is yet to come! Remember, JUST RELAX!
Have a good week!
Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black
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