life

Bye-Bye Cami

2011-04-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Cami is leaving. School is out and she is doing a spring term in England. I am staying in Provo until late May to finish off my job at The Boys and Girls Club. I am going to miss her SO much. Things worked out so perfectly this year. I had just gotten home from my mission in April and no longer knew a soul at BYU. They were all married, graduated, or moved away... or any combination of the three. Cam had gotten home from her mission two days prior to moving in to our house. I thought she was a crazy musician girl and she thought I was just a nice girl [no depth]... but Cami is now one of my BEST friends! [I got so lucky, well so did she... :]AND I am not sure how I am going to live in this room without her for another month! I shed more than one tear at our parting! At least I got to come home for Easter prior to her leaving. It's always better to be the first one to leave!

Bye, Cam. Have fun in Europe! Love You! <3

Brittany's Visit

2011-04-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

Brittany came to visit this weekend! It's so fun to see her! We hung out, ate out and talked! ... a perfect weekend! <3

Sunday Dinners

2011-02-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ok I realize this isn't really that flattering of a picture of a couple of us... however, we LOVE our Sunday dinners. It is so nice to come home from church and cook together... recently it's been Taco Sundays! We're on a kick with that lately. <3

I won't EVER grow up...

2011-01-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight Cami and I went to see Peter Pan on campus. It was SO good I tell you... SO GOOD. All the little kids were sitting on the edge of their seats the whole time. I hope when I am a mom I do fun stuff like that with my kids, all the kids did really well thru the whole 2.5 hours.

The girl who played Peter [it's usually a girl ps] did such a good job. She was like a wild little boy... so much energy, so much fun. I don't EVER want to grow up!!! :) The best part is when Captain Hook poisons the medicine Peter promises Wendy he'll drink. To save Peter, Tink drinks the poison and is slowly dying, her light is fading. To save her, she needed children to say "I believe in Fairies!!" So when Peter asked us, the whole audience answered!! It was fun. I love BYU.

On a little less light note- I feel the same as Wednesday. Whatever this is that i have ... i am SO done with it. Done with achiness, Done with fevers, Done with the engine in my lungs. DONE. But I couldn't stay home another night. I am SO over that. I never get sick like this. I hate it. But... I've got to get better, I have missed 3 days of school and work. I have a lot to catch up on and I have to teach mission prep tomorrow... which means i really do need to GET READY. [i haven't done that in a while!]

A Smorgasbord...

2011-01-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a smattering, a smorgasbord, a collection, random thoughts of the past 5 months.

i LOVE my roommates. love them.

i LOVE my major. MORE than you can imagine. and i LOVE the idea that i finally have one.

i LOVE my family and it is SO hard to be at school and AWAY from them .... but i LOVE byu.

there you go... enjoy!

... Here is a little photo catch up of everything that happended last semester... sorry it has taken me so long to get caught up!!!!

Sammy's... Sammy's has great burger and SWEET POTATOe fries. I LOVE this place!!!

It snowed in Provo, A LOT, in the middle of October!!! Cami and I broke out our mission coats... She went to Finland, I went to Wisconsin... Tara and I went to watch her flag football game, but it was cancelled!!!

These are the icicles that grew on our front porch... aren't they huge?? They just fell off last week... we are currently experiecing a thaw in Provo!

It was snowy and icy in UT, this was my flight home to AZ in December... I lOVE the desert. warmth.

The last day of finals, Cami and I were SWAMPED! I had two of 7 left to take and I had to work that day. Tara was done with hers and made us Christmas Crepes for breakfast! Mmm my favorite!

This deer visits our backyard sometimes. Lots of deer come down from the mountains, some live on byu campus.

Cami overwhelmed with homework. beds make the best desks.

Temple LIGHTS! We attended the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was fun to go, I've never been there in person before! The SLC temple lights were just as beautiful as always! Thanks Erin for the tickets! It was fun to see my old EFY friend David and his fiance. They get married today! Congratulations!

Cami, Terra, me, Erin.... Merry Christmas! The Christmas Devotional always puts me in the REAL Christmas spirit!

We introduced ourselves at ward prayer [its an activity BYU wards do every sunday night. It's like a little devotional with a song, thought and prayer.] thru a song cami played and terra sang. The rest of us helped out on the Chorus. It was fun. Emily, Me, Ali, Cami, Terra

Emily is really good at baking.

The Recording Studio.

I went on a little trip with Cami and Sandberg to visit Rexburg... I stayed with my sister and it was SO fun. It's cool that she is so close at school at a University that is so similar. I love you Britt! Rexburg Temple.

Sammy's in Rexburg...

We LOVE our front porch... by FAR the best part of this whole house!!!

We went up to Sundance Ski Resort in the fall to take photos in the pretty fall leaves. It's not quite like Wisconsin, but a pretty good subsitute!

Me, Layne, Jenni, Meesh

Lunch together at Kneaders... yum! I was so good to see her, I haven't seen them since their wedding before my mission.

Mission Reunion... one day we went out to eat at this really great place for breakfast in orem, the guy in the middle is the owner and he is HILARIOUS... it SO reminded me of Milwaukee!!!

Amy Brown came for conference! She is a girl I had the great privilege to teach, she taught me the most though. I LOVE her!

We attended most sessions of conference. BUT for one we layed on the lawn between the north visitor center and the tabernacle on temple square. We just had lunch and listened to the sunday pm session on the big speakers. I have always been jealous of people who do that so we tried it... i am a big fan.

Erin, me, britt at the Sunday AM session

Bobby and Sarah Came down too! SO FUN!!! It was Sarah's first time... They stayed with the Wesche's, the parents of one of our favorite elders, who was still serving in our ward at the time. I am so glad you came guys!!!

Britt came down with BK! My two favorite Brittany's are besties. I love it. I like with BK and her family in Milwaukee as a missionary.

Amy and her missionaries. I love ALL these people!!!

Hood trained warner and warner trained little j and I... our trainees are still in wisconsin!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-01-21T18:09:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this is my first Christmas at home since 2007! When I say it that way it seems like FOREVER since I have celebrated Christmas at home... that's because it HAS been forever!

It was really wierd to have Christmas without Rocky this year. I know my family did it without me but this was the first time I have had Christmas at home without a family member. It was strange, but such a blessing to know where he's at and what good work he's doing. Sometimes I would think about him and think of what fond memories I have of being a servant of the Lord at Christmas time. It is a special feeling, nothing quite like it. Whenever we sang Christmas hymns/ carols in church or in my classes I would think of caroling every single night last December as missionaries. We wanted so badly to shared good tidings of great joy! We became pros, and I LOVED it. [thank goodness others in our company could sing!] President Barrett would always say something to the effect of, "The weather is cold, but the the gospel warms our hearts and those of whom we share it with". I miss that place a lot sometimes, but it was good to be home with my family!

It was nice to be off of school and have a break for two weeks. I didn't even THINK about school during the break. I did a lot of shopping and hanging out with my family. I got to spend time with each person. I really like that. It's so fun to be with Grandma and Grandpa and the whole family together. We don't get to do that very often any more.

Christmas Eve we went next door and did our usual Christmas celebration at the grandparents. It was REALLY fun. Especially since Brittany edited the video from thanksgiving and gave us a debut showing. I was truly hilarious. So much so that uncle jeff asked to watch it again. I'll have to get the link to it, I am pretty sure she put it on you-tube.

Christmas morning we woke up and the jolly old fat man from the north pole came thru again! Chloe and Sophie were SO excited. It's the first time I have been around them when they really get what Christmas is all about. so fun.

Talking to Rocky was wonderful and by far was the highlight of the day. We talked to him for about 2.5 hours. He sounds great, the consensus is... he sounds much older and mature. I agree. I love that boy. We laughed and I cried, I don't think he did... it's been over two years since I have seen him now. I can't believe it. I miss him. He's a great missionary, it's obvious in his stories. He even TALKS like a missionary- cute.

My mom and I made a trip to Thatcher New Years Day to see Regina and the kids. I also got to see Kamala & Chad... but we didn't take a picture :( I am not sure why. .. I think I was too distracted with the little guy. Their baby boy, Gunnar, is SO dang adorable. It was fun to see them and Regina's crew and the great place of EAC... those were the good 'ol days. Nothing but tether ball tournaments to worry about while I was there! :)

It was fun to see everyone. Amanda Monk, well Phillippi was home for Christmas too on their way to Texas for Brian to start school this semester. They are some of my favorite people, hilarious and their baby is cute too... see the trend? The year 2010 was BABY year. Everyone I know that is married, now has a baby!

AND i must say... you can’t beat a desert Christmas! It was wonderful to be outside so much, I think I got a little color too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

*** Here are some pictures of the highlights! ***

We had breakfast with grandma at the Deer Valley Airport on New Year*s Day Morning. It*s a tradition. They always throw coins on the floor for the kids to pick up... it was really fun, we barely missed the Air Show.

While they were visiting for Christmas Aaron chose to be baptized around all the family! It was so good to see everyone. Barry and Moon Jung*s kids are SO stylish and smart. It was a good sunday activity.

Chloe got Sophie a Justin Beiber shirt for Christmas. Brittany helped her search and search to find just the right one, she was an instant diva upon putting it on. SO CUTE.. Good Job Chloe!

Playing Ladder Ball at Grandma*s on Sunday

Christmas Eve PJ*s!!

Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpas... the whole crew, minus Rocky, plus T*s bf.

Grandmas tree... a cactus! I love it.

Annual trip to see the temple lights with my moms side of the family... DQ outside after, I LOVE the desert. I LOVE my cousins.

The temple is so pretty... especially with lights and nativity all around it.

Sophie and my dad are two peas in a pod. She adores him and she has him wrapped around her little finger. It*s pretty cute.

Britt got them these outfits... i love them.

We were killing time waiting for everyone to finish eating in the restaurant. They were so sick of me taking pictures, so Sophie chose this pose. hilarious. Chloe is a pretty good poser too!

It was really important for me to see my family and I think we can say that we saw just about everyone! It was a GREAT Christmas Break!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-12-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-09-12T22:24:00.001-07:00

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...

2010-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-04-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

(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 ...

2010-03-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2010-03-08T17:14:00.001-08:00

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!"

2010-03-01T11:55:00.001-08:00

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

Happy Pday Morning!

2010-02-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

Good Monday Morning!!!! Is sprin here yet? I am so READY for GREEN GRASS... the kind I saw on Brittany's blog!!!!

Just a precursor... mom and dad... THANK YOU for my Vday Package. I loved it. That was a great little surprise!

Here's the RUN-DOWN!

[lunes] pday! President's day! BUT... the library was still open. Happy Day. The things you appreciate as a missionary... :) I made sure to give president barrett a shout out for the holiday... haha

[martes] district meeting. Elder Ferris, our disrict leader, put our transfer goals on the chalkboard and our actuals underneath... and it was apparent we were lacking in invites [def: anytime you invite someone to come closer to Christ usually by means of street contacting, talking to someone in line at the grocery store, tracting, etc.] We decided in order to meet our goal each companionship in our district needed to get 100 invites for the next two weeks left in the transfer. We all agreed. That's 14 a day. so doable! those elders better keep up... i know we will. We had lunch at subway with President Thomspon. I love him. We contacted a referral in Tomahawk and then taught Alyssa. We met Cindy. That went really well, we'll be teaching her after her trip to SLC. We then met Brianne and went to Minocqua for Scott Mehr's Hockey. IT was the Playoffs... they won! It was really fun. Abram and his dad were there... so was sister mehr's mom and brother. It was a good missionary opportunity and a LOT of FUN!

[miercoles] we volunteered at the food pantry, sorted food and I fixed Frank's phone. We taught Abram in Minocqua. He's scared to committ to baptism now. He says he's "selfish". Then again he keeps saying things like, "At my baptism..." We gave him a tour of the font tonight at mutual... he's not so scared of that now. I love Abram and Scott. We learned infant and adult CPR.

[jueves] we did weekly planning. We met Sam at the Belts and went and taught Alyssa... we taught her the Armor of God. We made Armor out of tinfoil. It worked quite nicely. She loved it... Ephesians 6:11-20. very cool. We had dinner with the Belts and then taught Brian. He's doing great.

[viernes] We went to Antigo and attended the funeral of Terry Woods, a member in the Antigo Branch. It was a wonderful service celebrating his life. We then helped at the luncheon at the church and then went TRACTING to get our 100 invites. We had dinner at Culver's and then visited with the Gatton family. That was a lot of fun. We stayed the night at the Bloechl's.

[sabado] Still in antigo. study. TRACTING. we had dinner at the Bloechl's and played Heroscape with them. I rock at that game. It's a good mix of Risk and some kind of Pokemon thing. wierd but fun.

[domingo] We spoke in church in Antigo. THe spirit was so strong. I spoke on being a missionary to members just as much as non-members. It went well. I told the story of my family... our journey to be sealed in the temple. I even cried... i hardly EVER cry on my mission. wierd. but SO good and powerful. If it wasn't for the WARD MEMBERS who helped our little family along, we wouldn't have made it... it was great to testify of that. I prayed I could be bold and direct. I was, Antigo has 100 less active members, it went well.

We taught seminary afterwards and Joey too, then we went with the Heinz' to visit the Connors. Two great families, i got to hear both their stories. very cool. then we came back to Rhinelander and went TRACTING. Then we taught aj and vicki and visited with tony.

We got 100 invites people. It was amAzing. we talked to the elders, they did not. I might hurt them. I will keep you posted! :) They better make up for it this week. I mean it! We didn't do all that tracting so they could slack, punks!

We recite this in every missionary meeting: [we call it the Standard of Truth, The Prophet Joseph Smith stated this...]

The standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble and calmuny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth Nobly, Boldly and Independently, til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear. Til the purposes of God have been accomplished and the Great Jehova says, Amen.

I've felt this as I was tracting so much this week. I strived to be the kinds of missionary that left EVERY person with the agency to ACT in ONE way or the OTHER... it was good for my testimony. I love the Standard of Truth. There is SO much power when we recite it!!!

I love my calling!

I love each of you!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

Da HODEG...

2010-02-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yes my friends that would be how we say "THE HODAG" here in Rhinelander... we're so close to the UP that we talk a little different! i love it.

This week I have felt the spirit so strongly. The Lord is really blessing us here. You'll see why...

Monday february 8th

pday. the usual: email, post office, wal-mart and then...

THE DENTIST ... AGAIN! this time i went to brother demill in Merrill, wi. He serves on the high council here in the stake. he was SO GOOD to me... i hate teeth problems and I am seeming to have to many of them lately... well the only problem was that my teeth were too high in the back where i had fillings put in a month or so ago... so he just sanded them down and sent me on my merry little way and ever since I have been fine. I just can't believe that was the only problem... i thought for sure i was going to have to get a root canal. BUT when you've been biting down too hard for a month on teeth that are too tall... it's not a good situation! so i am all good now! don't worry about me!

we ended the night with dinner at bishop lindner's and then we taught brian! we planned his baptism! He's very excited.

it was a good day.

Tuesday february 9th

we had district meeting. it was my first real d.meeting in this district. they are crazy, a bunch of YOUNG missionaries... they helped me remember how much older I feel than them!... because I am OLD compared to them, it's so apparent too. President Thompson, the branch president in antigo met us for lunch at subway then we had to rush to antigo for an appt with joey and theresa. Theresa was baptized with s.behrends here about 2 months ago, and joey had a date in february. We reset Joey's date for March 20th and talked with his mom about the importance of coming to church and helping him stay on top of all his commitments. Joey is 10 so we need her help, she knows it, it's just hard when she juggles so much!

Today is also the day I found out that there is MSG in Campbells SOUP! NO WONDER I ALWAYS GET SICK WHEN I EAT THAT STUFF... I HAD NO IDEA. There is MSG in most canned soups. I can name at least 5 different experiences in the last 10 years where i was ill and ate that stuff and got REALLY sick... efy, on my mission, in college... goodness! It just took the shine right off that stuff for me! childhood favorite DESTROYED... i even used to have a campbells soup thermos, so cool...

Wednesday february 10th

We volunteered at the food pantry, sorting food. Then we taught Abram at Scotts. Abram is so AmAzing. SO is scott. I have so much fun with them. I love the age they're at, still in HS, but realizing that they're about to hit the real world. They both have plans to go to BYU... this fall when I do. SO WIERD. I told them i know i will be the OLD lady, but that they will just HAVE to be my friend. they consented. Abram is so cool. We have a date set with him for february 27th. But i don't think he really understands that too much. SO we will probably move it back a little. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He asked lots of questions and really loved it. He said it just made sense! We get that a lot... it should make sense... we knew this before this life.... we were advocates for THE PLAN!

We had lunch at culvers and then headed back to Rhinelander [the mehrs live in minocqua] in time for YW in Excellence. Alyssa gave a talk on Self-Worth. It was AmAzing. She talked about how she never knew she was worth anything until she started learning about the gospel. man, that kills me! The gospel really does change lives. She said in her talk, "I am living proof that people can change physically, spiritually and emotionally." The YW all sang "Walk Tall, You're a Daughter of God" a capella and sounded great. I love this ward.

DEER are everywhere here in the rural NOrtHwOoDs! We see them crossing the street ALL the time! or just laying in the woods, seriously. its amazing. i love it. i just don't want to hit one. we drive real careful thru any woodsy area. don't worry!

Today I FINALLY GOT A LETTER FROM ROCKY! IT WAS 2 PAGES. He is going to be a great missionary! But I can see I will get 1 letter from him for every 7 i send... ugh.

ALSO... I got what missionaries call my "TRUNKY CALL" in the mail today. It almost made me sick.... it was a wierd feeling of excitement and dread! It's like the opposite of your mission call... a big white envelope in the mailbox with your flight plans and instructions on what to do as you prepare to go home and a talk by President Monson called "Finishers Wanted", talking about finishing with GuStO! President Barrett also sends out a letter to all the missionaries, but at the bottom of mine he wrote in ink, "Baptize a couple of families if you expect to be released from Rhinelander" with a smiley face next to it. Have I mentioned enough how much i love that man? In my interview last week as I walked in to the high council room he pointed me to the 2nd coming picture of Christ descending from the clouds with all the angels and asked "Why is it that all angels appear to be female?" It was cute. I assured him i saw at least one more manlier angel in the back! :)

We also took a few pics in the snow in minocqua today! The snow was SO DEEP... I got a little panicked when I stepped off a log and sunk it to my thighs... i couldn't move. it was scary. i won't be doin' that again! I even saw an ice shanty shaped like a HUGE whale today. it was cool... it's all so new to me- this snow sport stuff!!!

Bro. Santa Cruz from the Adams-Friendship Ward sent me the picture he drew of me today too. It was nice. I will send that home soon. I didn't expect him to do one for me since i was only there 3 weeks, but he did. such a cool guy.

Thursday february 11th

We taught Andra at 10. She is so close, but doesn't have a whole-hearted desire to change... we can't get the blessings without making the sacrifice in this life!!!

We had lunch and did some planning and then met Alyssa at her house to teach her. We had a whole lesson planned, but when we got there other needs arose, so we changed our plans! I love teaching with sister bishop... she's a seasoned missionary and can just go with the flow and pay attention to needs and change plans on a whim, we both did it without ever talking about it, it just happened... that's teaching with the spirit i tell you! Alyssa had a whole table full of snacks out for us. It was nice. I just love her. I here stories about Alyssa a year or two ago and I just can't even believe them. SHe was in an institution at one point. She is AmAzing. We ended up going over all the baptismal interview questions and then setting a date with her for March 20th! She is so excited, ECSTATIC if you will.... i just love that little girl. We have some things to work on, repentance and forgiveness... but I know she will be ready. She knows the qualifications and is working hard, she never knew it could happen this soon.

To end the night we had a "Relief Society Meeting" as we have now been taught to call them. We just had dinner: soup and salad. It was good. I made the mistake of asking the women about the holes in the ice when someone gets done ice-fishing. It's so fascinating to me... i wanted to know HOW them cover them up so "ski- doos" don't fall in. [a ski-doo is a jet-ski, my first mistake! i meant to say snowmobile!] anyways they told me they make different size covers like 8", 10" and 12" like pizzas and then they said you just slide the ice you cut out right back over it ect ect... they LIED to me for like 15 minutes!!! haha then they told me the truth, it just freezes back by itself! They had a lot of fun with that, they couldn't believe I could be so naive... i told them... i am from PHOENIX..... the only things we have that look like ICE SHANTY'S there are port-a-potties! they laughed.

Friday february 12th

We studied. did weekly planning. then we taught abram about the Liahona. It was a great lesson. He really soaks in what we say. He's been doing his own reading too. After the lesson I got talking with sister mehr. I was telling her what a great son she has and then somehow we got on the subject of her dad who just passed away last week, we were both BAWLING! a good cry though, a "i'm soo grateful for the gospel" cry. I have met some high quality people on my mission. She is a great example to me.

AMY BROWN came to visit me today. Yes she drove 4 hours to Rhinelander from GB and got a hotel room and came teaching with us. We started our night having culvers with her... like old times! Then she came with us to teach Brian and to teach Samantha after that. I am AMAZED at how much Amy has learned since I left GB in May... she knows her scriptures SO well... She just gets it... she always has, but now more so than before. She was in the RS presidency and now she's a RS teacher. I love amy brown. She was so good for brian and sam too... a recent convert who is a ysa who lives the gospel... it doesn't get much better than that for a good example for them!

Teaching sam was so good. SAM is such an example of someone who truly has become a "new creature in Christ". SO is Brian and so is Alyssa. I know I came to Rhinelander to meet them! WE talked about how great blessings will come to sam because she introduced brian to the gospel and then stuck to her guns to live the standards. At first he didn't care about church after him and sam broke up [lets just say they didn't have the most righteous relationship] ... but then he noticed he wasn't as happy. So he began to investigate again. . . that was just a little before i came. the sisters taught him the first lesson, committed him to baptism and then i came and taught him his second lesson. it was great to be so much apart of his teaching, i love brian. i love sam and I am so grateful for the decisions each of them have made to respect themselves and each other and rise to higher ground!

PResident Barrett returned our call today ... we called him yesterday to tell him we set a date with alyssa. He was happy with March 20th, he said that gave her plenty of time "to prove herself". He told me I should be seeing all the reasons I needed to come to Rhinelander about now!!! He also said I have 3 words for you, " HI MINUS TWO!" Its so cold here! haha I told him We have WARM HEARTS and COLD HANDS! he laughed.

Saturday february 13th

BRIAN'S BAPTISM DAY!

we taught vicki at 11... she is amazing, president barrett told me from the very beginning to come here and "baptize tony!" well that's her husband and he's not even investigating yet... so we're working on it! she was just baptized a few months ago. She is strong, seems as though she's been a member forever!

We picked up the font keys from the Lowther's and then went to the church, filled the font and set up our church tour.

We took a break to get Taco Bell for lunch and take pictures at the big HODAG with AmY. That was fun, i love her like a sister!

THe baptism began at 3:30 and all went as planned. Brian invited his parents and his sister. He also brought his daughter, Skylar, she's is AdOrAble! AND he invited his best friend from high school. He came with his wife and daughter too! We had a full house! Bishop's welcome to the ward made me cry! He is such a good bishop and told brian he could see the change in his eyes... at this point skylar went running out to the hall with the ntbk i had given her to color in shouting "BYE!" We all laughed, I think Brian's parents were a little unnerved until bishop said, "Don't worry! We are all quite accustomed to Skylar!" we all laughed again and you could see his parents relax. THey couldn't come early so afterwards we went on a tour of the building and went to each and every room and explained what it was, who met in there and what was taught there... intertwining doctrines of the restoration like PROPHETS and TEMPLES and such. We asked questions and the spirit was strong. We plan to follow up on that this week. Bishop told us we did a great job, i love him. Amy was at the baptism, and during the time when Brian was changing out of his wet clothes we watched the mission testimony dvd. Amy was on there! it was so cool to sit next to her during that. I love amy! I felt the spirit very strong during brians baptism.

we ended the night going to a party at the Belt's that sam's sister was putting on. It was fun. Bro. Belt was in the basement reloading bullets... i told him my job used to be to pull the lever! he laughed.

Sunday february 14th

HApPy VaLenTiNe'S DaY!

We had church in Rhinelander! Brian was Confirmed and received a great blessing from bishop! He was blessed to find an eternal companion, to raise a righteous family and to be a leader in his circle of influence to bring others to the gospel... WONDERFUL! HIs mom came to the confirmation. Abram was at church too!!! He asked us to sit by him, so cute! Sister Mehr said that in Priesthood Abram said the closing prayer because Scott called on him! [SO GOOD! i love those two boys, they remind me of my brother... he'll always be a senior in HS to me, that's how i left him!] ...so he did and he felt like he did a good job too! AmAzing! Scott informed me we need to explain the sacrament to Abram... so we will this week, we'll do chapel lesson tour with him.

We came home from church, had lunch and went tracting! a good day of LOVE!

I love my calling. i love this work! I am excited to have a few more "brian-like" experiences here in the coming weeks! that is MY PURPOSE ...

at every missionary meeting we stand and recite

MY PURPOSE as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them received the restored gospel thru FAITH in Jesus Christ and his atonement, REPENTANCE, BAPTISM, receiving the Gift of the HOLY GHOST and ENDURING to the END!

I love my purpose!

I love all of you!

Keep all the mail coming.. i got twelve pieces this past week... it was an all time record! :)

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

HOW COLD IS IT?

2010-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hello! Life here in Rhinelander is going great as ever. just cold.
and we're getting a TON Of SNOW lately. a ton!

My dad asked me in an email today about the weather and if I was adjusting better this winter than last winter. I just laughed when I read that because I was thinking about that this morning as I took the trash out to the road at about 8:30a.My hair was wet from just taking a shower, I had my PJs on still, which included a short sleeve shirt and I threw on my boots. As I trudged outside thru the snow to the street with the trash can I could feel my hair freeze. Sure enough, as I touched it, it was super crunchy … and FROZEN … after only about 2 minutes outside, not even two minutes! It had been snowing all night and all this morning. It was at that moment I knew… I have adjusted! I can go outside and not DIE of the cold! So funny. Today I am sending Rocky a little package with hand and foot warmers in it… he’ll want those. I lived and died by those things last winter… this winter I haven’t touched them. Don’t think I’ve gotten all tough or anything, I am still a wimp, I just talk about it less. For me, that means something!

Monday feb 1

We emailed at the library. Then taught Abram. He is so amazing. He is 17 and a friend of Scott Mehr. I love those two kids. They’re hilarious. They are such good kids and scott is a great example of living the gospel, Abram looks to him as an example. They’re just cool, and they don’t even know it! We taught him the restoration. He had SO many questions, which we loved. As we taught him about prayer he said, “Even though I am not a member of your church, God will still answer my prayers?” OF COURSE! It was so AmAzing to teach him such simple truths and to feel the spirit testify so powerfully of their reality. It was amazing. We committed him to baptism February 27th. We can’t wait to meet his family. Scott said Abram’s mom is interested in the Book of Mormon too… I just have had the strongest feeling that we need to meet his whole family. Hopefully that will happen soon.

We visited some other less-active homes and then taught Brian. We did a chapel-lesson tour in the church building with Bishop Linder. It was amazing. Bishop testified so powerfully of the reality of a living prophet, of the power of the priesthood and of the strength the Book of Mormon brings when one reads it daily! I was so happy with our lesson. We went over all the baptismal interview questions, he’s good to go! We called President Barrett and he wanted to chat with Brian for a bit before the interview, he called us back and said their talk went well and that he is so happy for Brian and the changes he made in his life to be prepared for baptism. I feel the spirit so strong when we teach Brian. It’s amazing.

Today we went to the Post Office and I was amazed at how nice they all are. I love the Midwest! There are such nice, good people here. They held the doors for us, the workers were FRIENDLY! People say hello goodbye please and thank-you. It’s amazing.

Ps I use that word a lot. I know. I am just in an AmAzing time. Ok?

Tuesday feb 2

We taught Andra at 10. She is so close to being ready to commit to baptism. We try every appt, but she won’t yet. She told us today that she knows that this is the church she needs to be baptized into. She has searched for many years and has finally found it. She has the strongest testimony of Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon. The members love her. Even though her daughter was offended, she knows the gospel is true and people aren’t perfect. I am telling you, she is SO ready. She needs to obey the W.O.W. and we’re game. Someday ask me my opinion of cigarettes and coffee… I HATE THEM… they hold so many people back! One of satan’s biggest tools! A lady in antigo, Bonnie [she is so much like grandma black it’s not even funny. I love going to her house] loved coffee and it was hard to give it up. She found great replacements at the health food store that she likes, and the replacements have HEALTH BENEFITS! Here we go again… AMAZING. She likes Caffex. It smells so good, she gave me some to try.

Wednesday feb 3

Today we had district meeting and interviews with President and Sister Barrett. I love them. I had three questions for President Barrett, I told him I would ask him two and then the third I’d ask AFTER the prayer because it wasn’t important! He laughed and said if it’s important to me then it is important to him… sweet man. I asked him How we should split our time between Rhinelander and Antigo [he said go where the work is, could be 50/50, could be 70/30!] right now we just have lots more going on in Rhinelander, but that could change, and if it does, we’ll re-split our time. Then I asked him if he thought it was possible for me to see the promise in the new standard of excellence fulfilled. . . Could I really see a family baptized in 2010… even if I leave in the 4th month of the year? He said, OF COURSE! I was happy to hear that, we talked about how we needed to find and complete families as well… that I don’t need to look far. As we expand our circle we could find a family through the investigators we already have. He told me he was proud of me and the work I was doing in Rhinelander and that God trusted me with His children here. After we said a closing prayer, I asked him if we could go down to Milwaukee in a few weeks when elder Perry comes, he laughed and said he’s working on it and he would love to have us come… remember, everyone in the mission minus the Wausau zone [my zone] and the green bay zone were invited. Elder perry doesn’t want anyone to die on their way to see him speak because we all live so far out, that’s a legit concern, but I am willing to take a risk! Haha we shall see, I am staying on top of it!!!

I LOVE PRESIDENT BARRETT [he’s the man that told elder smith the way he stays awake in really boring meetings is to stab a pen in to his thumb… ha! Ouch. Must be boring! And once sister barrett told me how particular he is about his hair… he only likes LA LOOKS PARTY HARD GEL because it makes it all stay, she says he’s picky! Haha I love that!]…

here is the email he sent me today:

Makes me smile when I think of Sister Black in Rhinelander and the marvelous work and a wonder you are doing up there.

Best to Brian this week. Get his family there an hour before for a building lesson tour.

…

That was it! Two lines! I love him. I have a great mission president and his wife is equally as wonderful!

Anyways, I interviewed with Sister Barrett too, which is always just much more of girl talk… shoes, clothes, how’s your companion … etc!

Which, while I am at it: I LOVE SISTER BISHOP. She is a great companion. One of my favorites, all we do is laugh and have a good time together. It’s the best. It’s like we’re having a sleepover in the woods, camping if you will, every single night! 

We finished up with interviews, had lunch at fazolis, ran to target so I could get some sunglasses because they have a target here!!! And then headed back to Rhinelander. We taught Alyssa, I feel the spirit more strongly when we teach Alyssa than anyone I’ve ever taught. She is 18 and nothing short of amazing. She has had a really REALLY rough life, and she is just now learning to deal with all of it! She is absolutely amazing. She is on parol and so we didn’t think she was baptized, president barrett looked her up and said it is possible, as soon as we feel she’s fully repented we can set a date and she can be baptized! SO EXCITING! We talked about the tree of life in 1 Nephi chapter 8. She showed us the picture she drew of it and she interpreted to us what each thing meant. I am telling you, this girl is bright. We then went in and helped in Young Women’s. It was fun.

Thursday feb 4

Study. Plan. Take our Car [and by car I mean truck, chevy Colorado that is] to be fixed: brake lights and cruise control went out. They called us and said they’d be keeping it overnight, so we got a ride with the Lindner’s to Brians. Brian is so excited for his baptism. We re-taught him the Plan of Salvation. That is my most favorite thing to teach… God has a plan for each and every one of his children. It’s amazing to see investigators internalize all that is being taught, he got it! It made a lot of sense to him especially when we talked about his 2 year old daughter Skylar… of course she came from the Presence of God!

Friday feb 5

Sister Kagie took us to visit Andra… she was sick and watching the twins, so we tried to go over the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I am pretty sure it didn’t take… she was WAY too distracted. Her twin granddaughters woke up early from their naps, their 11 mos old. Cute, but a handful or two! We then drove FOREVER with sister lowther to Phillips… we saw sister houlebeck [invited her to come back to church and quit drinking coffee] and then had dinner with sister o’brien. It was fun. Sister o’brien drives an hour and a half in to church every Sunday and Wednesday for church and mutual. That’s commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We came back to Rhinelander for Brian to have his interview at the church building with elder ferris, our district leader. They had to drive up from Marshfield, 2 hours… long drive. They were in there a while, but all went well… THE BAPTISM IS A FOR SURE! E. Ferris said Brian is “SO COOL”. Ha… that is not something we weren’t aware of. He knows the doctrine and understands the commitment he is making so well! I love teaching people like Brian. Brianne picked us up at the church and we went and had “date night” with Sam. It was fun. We talked about how she will be getting her Patriarchal Blessing this Sunday! So exciting. Sam was just baptized last December. And Brianne is living with the Bishop, her family comes up every summer because they have a cabin here. She is my age and from PAYSON AZ!!!

Saturday feb 6

I was sick as a dog. SICK. Head ACHE! We took the shuttle and got our truck back. On the shuttle the radio was on and the guy said Baltimore Maryland got 28 inches of snow! Wow… I am sure they’ve gotten much more since then. Rocky is in for a surprise!!! We got our truck, I got some Excedrin Tension Headache at the Walgreens and I went home and slept… ALL DAY. That night we taught Alyssa at Dairy Queen! I say all these different groups there: a boyfriend and girlfriend, a group of high school girls, a family and then us with our LOUD investigator Alyssa. She walked in and from across the restaurant yelled, “SORRY I AM LATE I WAS ABDUCTED!” haha she meant she was walking to dq and her friends gave her a ride. We both just laughed though, everyone was STARING AT US! I thought, man I only have a few more months to be a missionary and be teaching at dq. Then I will slip back in to real life and be part of any one of those groups there… I AM LIVING THE LIFE RIGHT NOW! We taught Alyssa about repentance and told her that baptism doesn’t have to be a year away after her parol. She was so excited. I can’t wait til we set a date!

Sunday feb 7

We went to church in Antigo. Met with President Thompson [he’s the coolest]. Drove all over the country to visit referrals, members and less actives we never have time to see… and then ended with having dinner with Bonnie Palmer. I love her. She is so sweet, so willing to do anything for us, so warm. She is just like grandma! She made us chimichangas and cake. YUM! Her husband, Art, was watching the superbowl. GO COLTS! We stopped by the Bloechls [who we stay with in Antigo] and they were having a SB party. WE got there at half-time… cheered! GO COLTS! That’s who they were rooting for too, met all their non-member family and left.

Colts lost. Sad day. I only cheered for them bc dad said to!

I love my calling! I love being a missionary! I love you! Write Rocky. Write me.

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

It's GO time!!!

2010-02-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hello there family! How are you all? Are you enjoying the AZ sun? Ya… the norm here is anything below 0*…. Fun! BUT… this year I have learned how to dress… it’s amazing what that will do for you! Elder Stevens lectured me a few months back about how wearing 4 pairs of socks does nothing, it just makes your feet sweat and then you go outside and it makes you COLDER… after being grossed and trying to convince him that MY FEET DON’T SWEAT I made a silent pledge to try the “less is more theory” this winter! Lo and behold… he was right! My feet are so warm and snuggly in my boots with just my tights, sometimes I do tights and wool socks on really cold days and my problems are SOLVED. AmAZing!

This week has been really prosperous! I feel like I am getting a little hold on this area. Here’s the scoop:

Monday January 25th

PDAY… it has been a LONG time since I have had such a chill pday! We just emailed, went to the grocery store and hung out at home … AMAZING! I wrote lots of letters and I even took a nap! It was glorious. We had FHE with Rebecca, her 3 daughter and her mom Andra and finished up our night with Tess Brunner. It was a good day. In the evening I got to call Tiffany Baumstark and Lupita to say bye… it was really nice. I love them. I will miss them greatly. Tiffany is so wonderful, I can’t wait until the sisters get in to teach her family. They are so prepared. Lupita wanted to move the day she went to the temple to do baptisms so I could be there! I told her NO WAY! It was cute though… we have a baptism here that day. I just can’t make it… it stinks!

Tuesday January 26th

We went to ANTIGO… we serve in that branch as well… We work all over this area. It is known to everyone as THE NORTHWOODS… it’s fun up here. It’s snowmobile country! I want to do that when I am not a missionary. It looks SO FUN! All you see around here are snowmobile trails and at night you can here the buzz of their motors all over the place, they have the cutest little stop signs!!!!… we taught TOBY [she is LA and has started to come back. She is a single mom with two young children. I admire her… she is a strong lady] and JOEY [he is 10 and has a baptismal date… cute SMART kid]. We then came back to Rhinelander and taught AJ… he was just baptized a few weeks ago. He’s 25 and has a burning testimony. His mom was baptized as well.

Sister Johnson called me tonight! Marka is PREGNANT… AND her and caleb are getting married in june after the baby is born… then she can be BAPTIZED! AND the elders set a date with NORMAN in RACINE and HEIDI was at church with AARON, so his baptism is still on! YIPPEE I love good news like that!

Wednesday January 27th

ZONE CONFERENCE with just the Wausau zone. All of 18 missionaries were here… the good thing was it was here in RHINELANDER so we didn’t have to drive far at all.
I saw elder peckham! He served in Sturgeon Bay [that was his only area!!!] for over 6 months [he was just a visa waiter, but his visa for India never came, so he’s here for good now!] and he was SO pumped to see me! He said he felt the same way when he saw sister warner the day before! He said he LOVED the way we kept up that area book! It felt good to hear that that was helpful! We didn’t do much in that area, green Bay was pretty demanding, but we did keep up the area book! They reactivated SO many people and had a baptism!

I was able to tell elder Villanueva all the good things I love about Rhinelander! It was a good long list. I love him! He’s one of my most favorite assistants, I love his comp elder carter too… they are so involved in our work and I can tell they love the missionaries they serve. He told me that that challenge helped him to think about WHY he loved his area too. We had a good talk. I love missionaries!

We got a new standard of excellence. It is one sentence long. Just like the LORDS STANDARD in MOSES 1:39. check it out. Ours is “10 in 2010: With enduring love for Jesus Christ, the power of the spirit and faith to follow the prophet and unite with local leaders my companion and I commit to find, teach and baptize one of God’s children every transfer and 1 family in 2010” That’s 10 people a week for every zone! It’s so exciting! I have faith that though my time is short… if I work hard I can accomplish that as well! That means two people baptized and a family baptized before I leave! This work is SO exciting! It’s GO TIME!

We talked about how our calling gives us AUTHORITY but keeping our covenants gives us POWER. . . this work thrives on those two things!

We talked about being bold… I reminded them “DON’T BE A SALLY!” and to have FAITH to go and do … FAITH to invite to be baptized … FAITH to plan … AND FAITH to plan!

We talked about expanding the circle of our investigators … Sister Barrett taught us about doing the work of the restoration… WE are RESTORING truth to those we teach and REMINDING them of who they were before this life! I love that! President taught us to be meek and lowly of heart and to PLEAD for help. He told us we have our companion, other missionaries, the spirit and the LORD to help us. WE ARE NOT ALONE. He talked about all the people who went on missions NOT of their choosing… abinidi… the savior… He said we are where we are because the LORD needs us HERE! I guess many missionaries are still struggling with transfers. That’s rough! I am so glad that was just a day or two spell! He laughed at me, that I was so happy. He must think I am SUCH a GIRL! Ha.

After zone conference We taught Alyssa at the church and then had dinner with Brian and President and Sister Barrett. Brian will be baptized Feb 13th. He is AMAZING! It was a good dinner!

Thursday January 28th
We studied. We planned. We taught Mike at DQ. We went to the SOUP THROW-DOWN in 3 lakes at the high school, it was good soup. Sister heidi lindner entered her soup. WE met a FAMILY there that the LInders daughter, Brittany, knows. They are so prepared! They just moved here, are looking for a church…  … They have been to SLC for a steven covey seminar… They’re going to Wausau on Saturday for a “Modest Prom DRESS fashion show” with the linders at the stake center. It should be good. They have 3 children. I am excited to teach them.

Sister warner called me tonight and said in the Madison Zone conference President Barrett gave me a shout out! He told the whole zone how I did not want to come to Rhinelander… but now I love it. Goodness, at least I can be a good example of a CHANGE OF HEART? I emailed him today and told him thanks for the shout out!

Friday January 29th

We taught Andra. We taught ABRAM. He is SWEET. He’s a friend of Scott Mehr’s and is SO prepared. He had lots of questions, we gave him a BOM, answered his questions and invited him to take the lessons. We meet with him next week. Scott is amazing .the only active young man his age.. he said here in Rhinelander they call it “YOUNG MAN’S” … it’s tough… but he has a good attitude. He’s a great example to Abram. We had Martha for Dinner and then taught Brian again. HE’s SO AMAZING. We taught the 10 commandments, the LAW of CHASTITY and Keeping the Sabbath day holy. He is going to live all of them!

Today I studied PMG page 156. There is a line that says, “Wherever you are called to serve, remember the Lord has “suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in [Him] for the salvation of souls.” How AmAzing is that? If I still had a battitude about Rhinelander, that would have changed it. It helped me to be excited to FIND those who need the gospel here in RHINELANDER. Heidi Linder also helps me to remember that as missionaries we are Called of God by a PROPHET… We are literal REPRESENTATIVE of Jesus Christ to do HIS work. She says that all the time. It’s a good reminder. There is power in those statements! I love my CALLING! I love LOVE lOvE being SISTER BLACK a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My life is good!

Saturday January 30th

We went to ANTIGO again. We visited Mike Barnes and Coleman. We went to the church and planned. We had BONNIE for dinner. She is AmAzing. I love her . Such a cool lady and she reminds me SO MUCH of Grandma Black, so that’s doubly good for her! We stayed the night at the Bloechls. I love their family. They have 2 young girls. It’s a fun place to stay. We helped sister Bloechl with her essay she had to turn in for online school! She is still learning all the ins and outs, I felt so computer savvy, I really am not though! That’s britts job!

The SNOW SPARKLES here it’s so cold! It’s like GLITTER! It’s AmAzing and BLINDING all at the same time! I left my facewash in the car accidentally over night… it FROZE solid… so did my “CHEWY” granola bar and my WATER BOTTLE and our LOAF of BREAD [I was starving on our way to church, remembered we had that really good loaf of cottage bread, I reached for it and it was like a BRICK… I was so mad!] CRAZY… this is all so NEW to me! THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN PHX.

Sunday January 31st

We had Church at 9:30… then a potluck afterwards. I love the Antigo Branch. There are black’s in the branch. Brother Black is in the branch presidency and he gave a talk. President Thompson calls HER OLD sister black… I told him she wouldn’t like that… she didn’t. he said it anyways! There was a 5th Sunday potluck afterwards. Then we met with the branch mission leader and president Thompson. I went to ask the ward clerk to print me some lists and he said, “I read a letter about you, they said you’re the ENERGIZER BUNNY!” Ha, I think that was the same letter President Thompson said he got from P. Barrett. Apparently they send all leadership a letter when they get new missionaries. He said, “You don’t want to see what he wrote in ink on the bottom!” He never did tell me, but I am sure It’s something about being feisty or spunky or something… goodness! I laughed though… ENERGIZER BUNNY? Ha, I just like to be busy!

We made some visits and had dinner at the Peters… she is a REKOW! I love the Gresham REKOWS! That is sister Bartell’s mom! Sister Rekow is the CHICKEN FEET queen and houses the elders there. I’ve heard so many good stories from Grandma Rekow herself, the elders and sister Bartell about life on the REKOW farm! Sister Bartell is the BEST and her and her neice, Lindsey rekow [sister peters sister] are in the GB 1st ward! SMALL WORLD! I love being a sister missionary!!!! They made us HOMEADE PIZZA! It was so yummy. They live in a cool house that looks like a barn! They have 5 kids… such a great family! They must be if they’re REKOW related!

The moon WAS SO CLOSE, SO ORANGE and SO BRIGHT TONIGHT! It reflected off the snow like the sunset does on the beach. It was beautiful. We drive about 2100 miles every month, so I get to see LOTS Of COUNTRY! It’s great here… did I mention we drive a four door 4x4 toyota truck. I feel like a country girl!

I love all of you! WRITE ME! Be good.

Love, Sister Pamella JO Black

The Church is True in Rhinelander Too!

2010-01-26T11:50:00.001-08:00

The church is true in Rhinelander too!... my mom informed me of that!haha

GREETINGS FROM RHINELANDER!

I just wrote you all a novel email on Saturday… I am not sure if I am up for another… but I need to be. SO here it goes!

Brittany informed me these emails are too long. This is the last long email ... sister Bishop is applying to school so I have had some extra time. I have just had a lot to say/ catch up on!

This has been a week of adventures… Here and there and EVerYwHEre!

Here are the happenings of this CrAzY week:

Sunday the 17th:

I know I talked about this day in my last email, but I forgot to mention that after church we started the rounds of saying goodbye. I don’t really enjoy that, but the members would be so mad if we didn’t stop by, plus I really wanted to take a picture with them! We had dinner at the Costabiles and brother Costabile stuck around for the lesson afterward! It was AmAzing. She has been a member for 19 years and he’s just stubborn! Everyone is convinced that he’ll be the next bishop as soon as he’s baptized! He is Italian and made us the BEST lasagna ever. He invited all the Racine missionaries, so there were 7 of us: a small army and there were still leftovers! Elder Smith taught the lesson. He is such a good teacher. I learn a lot from him. We then went with elder stribling and elder zobell to say bye to the hancock’s and to the furners. I love both of those families SO much. It feels like elder stribling and I have always served here, did I have other areas of my mission? =) They didn’t like saying bye to us either. I love the Hancock’s, they’re young and from utah out here for his job. She just told us she is 6 mos pregnant… you can’t even tell! They’re kids Rowen and Ruby are adorable. And the Furner’s are AmAzing too. I am going to miss Mary Furner… she is about my age and I just love her! The sisters need to take her out on splits more. Good people.

Monday the 18th:

Preparation Day! It was Martin Luther King Jr Day so we couldn’t email… everything was CLOSED. Which, was kind of annoying, but kind of nice because it was my last pday in racine so it made it so I had a lot more time! At about noon we went to Denny’s with the elders. I should have been packing all that morning… but I had no desire, so I just did other random things that I had been needing to do! After lunch, I had breakfast!, we went to the Racine zoo. I had never been there all my time in Racine, except once at Halloween and it was so dang cold by the time we were done passing out candy I was so ready to be out of there. Today it was pretty warm, lots of snow on the ground, but not too unbearable! We were the only ones there, the elders volunteer there so we got in free… otherwise I think we would have had to pay a dollar. That zoo used to be the only free zoo in the country. ANYways, we saw the monkeys and the lion and the tiger and the BEAR! The tiger and Canadian lynx were totally playing with the elders! … Like they would run back and forth and so would the lynx or the tiger.. .they would come up to the fence and growl and stuff. Hiliarous. We were there forever! Then we went bowling. That was fun too. After bowling we got custard at culvers to end our pday. We visited the Farley’s and then went to the Davis’ for FHE at 7 with the elders. I love the old and the young davis’! [although they’d prefer I say SENIOR davis’, but whatever! Haha] We took pictures and said goodbye, I gave the lesson on charity. Then we all went to the Hansen’s to say goodbye and take pics. The Hansen’s are like my family. I sure will miss them.

TODAY, JANUARY 18th was STEPH’S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH! I THOUGHT OF YOU ALL DAY. I HAD IT WRITTEN IN MY PLANNER!

Tuesday the 19th:

MY LAST DAY IN RACINE! L we had district meeting, we were late, because we went to wal-mart so I could get a pic cd made of elder smiths pics. He’s the district leader so I called him and told him we’d be late and he was SO PATIENT! All he said was “drive safe!” I love people like that when I am frantic and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. He recommitted us to memorize the First Vision in Spanish, because none of us did it… it was a crazy week! So we all recommitted. . . sister Johnson made some comment about how I wouldn’t have to do it and he said, “No it’s still your commitment too!” I was already planning on doing it anyways, so now that’s just more motivation! After district meeting the elders did a tie trade, because that’s what elders do to get a little variety in the 2 years that they sport white shirts and ties. At the end elder stribling gave sister Johnson and I each a sweet wool tie with an argyle print on it… I am going to make mine into a headband I think … I am excited about that. It was fun to see them all trade and barter and stuff. We all went to McDonald’s for lunch and then sister Johnson and I visited Pam Umhoffer… her name before her divorce was Pamela Black… weird huh? She is from England, she converted there, and has been away from the church for quite some time. She knows sister gambles and they decided to come back to church together. We had a great visit. I taught her from Mosiah 18 about her baptismal covenants. She says she really misses church, the spirit, the people. She is excited to come back. We ended our visit with Hot cocoa and cookies, kinda like tea and crumpets! She collects English china, she even had some Royal Albert mom! She’s only lived in the states for a handful of years, her accent is to die for. I love her!

We then had a meeting with Bishop Crowther. He is such a great man. He thanked elder stribling and I for being such good missionaries. He thanked us for teaching to ward how to work with the missionaries and for working together so well ourselves. He saw that it made a great difference in the progression of our investigators and the less active families we worked with! I am so happy he saw that! That was one of our goals: to work well together and to teach the ward. IT HAPPENED! He told us the new missionaries had a lot to live up to, it was nice to hear. It’s been a really REALLY good 7.5 months. He picked our brains about a few other things just to be sure he had the right info. It kinda stunk, we would talk about things and I would start to write something down we needed to do, then I’d realize I AM LEAVING TOMORROW… so I just started making a to do sticky note for sister Johnson! She laughed at me. Elder stribling just put his notebook away, he said he was doing the same thing! We said goodbye to Heidi Higginbottom at 5, Aaron is SO cute and wants to be baptized SO badly! His mom was at church for the first time last Sunday in 7.5 months. I almost fell over! As she begins to come back, Aaron will be at church, and then he can be baptized. He’s 10 and he’s so ready. He is one of the first people I taught here in Racine. We then went to the Abbott’s, Raygan’s, Marka’s the Aquino’s [we said bye to Vicki, remember she is the one that thought I was a mute my first time EVER being in racine. She was my first Spanish investigator!] and to Fani’s work to say bye to her… it was exhausting, but good. I almost cried at every stop, but managed to hold it together! WE ended our night at the calderwoods. I love that family. They are so good to me. We had dinner and dessert and we talked and took pictures. We also got transfer calls. I still had one tiny ray of hope that maybe sister duhaceck was wrong and I wasn’t going to Rhinelander, but Smith got the call and he just looked at me and said “Banished.” HA he later told me that when elder hatch was about to tell him where I was going he took a big deep breath and then said it! AH! I am really going to Rhinelander. I wrote all the elders I was leaving a little note to say thanks, and to my surprise elder smith wrote all of us one too! It was nice of him, he’s a thoughtful kid. The calderwood’s got a crack up out of my new destination. At least president calderwood did, sister calderwood was worried about me. I assured her I would be ok and that Rhinelander couldn’t be SIBERIA! We had to stop at Kenosha’s apt to get some pics from sister birch, and then I was off. She gave me a little present, a hat too, it was nice of her.

I then got home about 10 and STARTED PACKING. I finally got to bed at one. Whew! It all fit, without vaccume bags! It was amazing. I gave a lot to goodwill. I figure, with only 12 weeks left, I can let some old, worn things go that I had been holding on to for those “just in case” times! Sister Johnson spent her time putting all the info from my gps into her gps… that took forever. But we laughed and talked the whole time. I sure am going to miss her. I love her like a sister!

Wednesday the 20th:

We woke up, showered and drove to Milwaukee. We got to the church and nobody was there so we hung outside and talked to the elders. Little j was pretty nervous, SHE’LL DO GREAT! President Barrett drove up and got out and said, “That looks like a perfect coat for up north!” I said, “You mean a perfect coat for the middle of nowhere? Why are you sending me to the middle of nowhere president? Why?” He said, “that’s not the middle of nowhere! That’s the FAR OUTSKIRTS OF NOWHERE!” ugh! Haha he would comfort me that way! Elder Villanueva and Elder Carter were giving me a hard time too… punks. I walked in to the church and later on I sat next to president barrett on the pew…He asked if I was excited and I told him I was TRYING to be.. he laughed and then started telling me all the good things about that place… so I was a bit more excited. I was still having a hard time though.

Sisters Warner, Pluim and I left little J and we went to the library to email and burn cds of pics and music. Then I went around visiting people with them. We had KOPP’S for lunch, my fav, and then they took me to the mission home to be sister barrett’s companion! It was so fun! I just love her! Elder Astle and Elder Valentine were there because they were going home Friday so I talked and cleaned the kitchen with them. Then we ordered pizza and sister barrett and I went and picked it up. We had to stop and get her favorite crab dip at sendick’s too! President always makes fun of the way her and I just talk and talk, but I love it. She’s as CLOSE as I can get to talking to my mom! We had dinner and during the middle of dinner she noticed elder valentine’s suit coat was ripped. She went to get sewing stuff [you can tell I am not a sewer!] to fix it so his mom wouldn’t worry about him when he got off the plane and then she just brought this whole tub out and plopped it on the coffee table and came back and kept eating. When I finished I was just sitting there and she pointed to the box and said, “That’s my sewing box, will you organize it? I was going to wait ‘til you came back right before you went home, but we’re not doing anything else right now!” I was so excited. I love stuff like that. She sat in the recliner and talked to me and I organized… I first had to make a huge mess, but then it got better! I got to see all the ties she’s cut off of elders they’re last day in the almost 3 years they’ve served here as mission president, she’s making a quilt out of them! Every time president saw me at the mission home he’d laugh and say “banishment” or “exile!” ha. Mean! Elder Perry is coming to the mission and the only two zones not invited are mine!, the Wausau zone, and the green bay zone because we’re too far away… I was whining about that and he looked at elder bratt and said, “I bet you’ll take good notes for her, won’t you?” HA I just said, “All you people in white shirts and ties are the SAME!” punks. At one point he was about to walk in the family room and sister barrett was telling him to come sit down and he said, “I don’t know if I can, is sister black going to mock me for sending her north?” haha we all laughed. It was so good to talk with all of them: especially elder astle, elder valentine and elder chapman. Elder astle has just been around my whole mission, he loves gb like I do. Elder Valentine has had so many problems on his mission, he has borderline autism, but is now medication free! Elder jolley trained him. He is so amazing for being able to do the work amidst his health issues. I admire him. Elder chapman was there my first 6months in greenbay. He plays the piano so AMAZING. I love to hear him play waterfall. He played it for me last zone conference. I used to make him play it everytime I saw him in gb. He told president and sister barrett how I was a nazi on cleaning day! … About how I threw away his “favorite chair” in their apt… mind you it only had 3 of it’s 4 legs and they had 2 other good chairs. It was propped up on phone books. I remember carrying it to the dumpter and him following behind me trying to talk me out of it. HILARIOUS. Boys. We were all laughing SO HARD! We then started talking about how earlier in that day elder mcclung picked up my tub and in the process of setting it down in the church RIPPED HIS PANTS [it had all my books in it, English and Spanish! It was HEAVY!] . Poor guy. I felt so bad. His finger was bleeding, he couldn’t go to the bathroom because we were all there and he had a big hole! Then president barrett started telling us a story of how he did the same thing in a home depot and had to staple his pants together and make sister barrett follow closely behind to cover him. Oh it was hilarious. I was crying. I couldn’t breathe. I love those two.

This night I stayed with sister warner and sister pluim at the Kozlosky’s. The sister are moving out on Thursday. Sad, but it’s time to let someone else in the ward have them. It’s fun that both sister warner and I have lived there… they love us. We made hand puppets on the wall with a flashlight like old times… and laughed A LOT! I am dang good at hand puppets… I have been my whole mission.

ALSO.. today rocky went to the MTC… he flew out this morning! HE is going to do great! I am so jealous he is just STARTING!!!! Woo-hoo! It goes so fast!

Thursday the 21st:

TRANSFER DAY. I was late to transfer point… every elder and their mom called to see where I was! J Then We went from Milwaukee to Oshkosh to Appleton to Green Bay to Wausau to Rhinelander… It was a LONG day. But fun. IT was my first time ever riding the transfer van… or “FUN BUS”. In Green Bay I had to get on the “special bus” that takes people to Wausau. It was fun, I sat by elder abe who is going to Wausau to be my zone leader. He wasn’t too pumped to come either… But elder carter, one of the assistants kept giving me the HARDEST time about how he served in the UP and how he’d love to come to RHINELANDER yadda yadda. I joked around but told him I was excited because the Lord must need me here! He didn’t believe me, told me I was mad [he knows this because I remind him of his cousin? Funny.] and that I would learn to like it! I love elder carter, he was very positive and upbeat, and it’s true. If elders like him and elder stribling can go to the up and love it… I can love it in Rhinelander. But… what can people expect… this is what I’ve heard about Rhinelander:

*It’s banishment or exile [from every elder… and one time P. Barrett!]

*I may or may not be eaten by wolves!

*It’s the home of the HODAGS… look it up! [it’s ugly!] Sister Barrett asked that I take a pic of one and send it to her…. I can’t wait to mail her that postcard!

Elder Perry is coming to speak to our mission and my zone and GB aren’t invited … I am still working on that one… I want to go!

Elder Villanueva, the other assistant told me that when he sees me Wednesday at zone conference I need to tell him 5 good things about this place… I agreed I’d do that. I kept telling him I am coming her to be a loner and he said, “I am pretty sure you’ll have a companion, I am pretty sure you’ll have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and I’m pretty sure there will be people for you to teach!” UGH. He is so right! He was good. He assured me I’d be fine and that I would live. Love that kid.

I got here to Rhinelander and met Sister Bishop! We served together in May in a trio in Adams. I love her! This is her last transfer! She is from Brigham City, a great missionary. Her dad is Rob Bishop, a Congressman for Utah… it’s fun to here her side of things. I think I am going to like Rhinelander… even if it’s just because of her!

I sent an email to president barrett telling him I know I was being dramatic, but that I am excited to be here and I know it was through revelation I was sent here.

HERE IS MY EMAIL…

I didn't get a chance to email this week, the libraries were all closed monday for MLK day so we stopped by the library on our way to some appts so I could let my family know I am alive...

However, I wanted to send you a short email too. After the past couple of days of me being dramatic I just want you to know that I am happy to be here in Rhinelander. I know that this mission, this work, is accomplished by means of revelation. While I love to tease and joke around, I don't mean to mock that fact in any way. Please know that!

I want you to know that I will work just as hard here as in any other area I have served in. I will find the reason the Lord has sent me to the "far outskirts of NOWHERE" for the last two transfers of my mission!

Also, I am grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in Racine/Kenosha. I vividly remember my first interview with you as I entered the mission. I told you if you ever had a need I would LOVE to speak spanish. . . I never dreamed it would happen. I am grateful my Heavenly Father knows me so well. I am grateful I was able to teach in spanish for 7.5 months that was a great blessing. I learned many lessons through that experience and truly learned to love that branch.

I had a very similar experience in the Racine ward. So much is happening there, I was so sad to leave. I suppose that's the best way to leave an area, but it was hard. It made all our work and struggle worth it when Bishop Crowther thanked elder stribling and I for helping the ward understand how to work with misisonaries and for working so well together ourselves as missionaries the past 7.5 months. He said that made a great difference in helping meet the needs in the ward and of investigators. That place will always be sacred to me.

I love being a missionary president! I know I say that a lot ... but it's true. I am so grateful to be here in this mission and to be able to learn from you, I am constantly learning something from you.

Love, hermana black

THIS WAS HIS REPLY:

Thanks for helping take care of the wonderful members in Rhinelander. I love them! And you will too. I have many sweet memories of that area, including late one night driving far north of Antigo through the woods to find my way to the YW Camp. I was glad I went even though it put me late into Stevens Point some time after midnight.

Terrific Bishop Lindner! Tremendous Stake President Pleshek.

Please take care of those wonderful Saints!

And baptize Tony!

………………………………………………………………………………

……………....

I love him! He’s the best.

Friday the 22nd:

Friday we unpacked, we live in an apartment! I love it! Then we went out to Crandon, about 45 minutes away with the relief society president and a ward missionary to do some visits, It was really good. The ward here is amazing. They are so involved.

Saturday the 23rd:

We emailed… finally! And then we did transfer planning ALL the day long. To end the night we had Chinese food with sister Kazmarski. . . no msg = no headache… I was so happy! I never eat it because I always get worried. But I was fine!

Amy called me tonight. I love amy brown. She is the reason I went to GB… perhaps for my whole mission. She told me lots of good news. First off that she was coming to visit me. It’s her fault I am in Rhinelander, you know! She called when I was still in Racine and said she had to come down to Milwaukee for something so while she was so close she would be coming to visit. I was ecstatic, but then remembered transfers were coming up. She assured me that if I went to Madison she’d come visit because she goes there a lot for events/ concerts etc. If I went to Appleton I’d constantly see her because that is the branch she attends now, and she said there was NO WAY they’d exile me to Rhinelander. Welp… there you go. Amy’s fault. However, she did amend that saying that if I so happened to come to Rhinelander she’d still come see me… she’s so diplomatic. Good thing!

She is coming to visit SOON! Yeah. Jeremiah James got the Melchezidek Priesthood, and is elders quorum President. She is getting her Patriarchal Blessing! The institute in Green Bay has 18 non-members attending now! She now goes to Osh Kosh institute because GB is more like the “beginners” institute. This year they’re studying the Book of Mormon. SO COOL! SO AMAZING… it all started just a year ago, at least this fire did! They won best booth at orgsmorg at UWGB and they anticipate to win BEST NEW ORG this year. AmAZing! I love hearing news like that!

Sunday the 24th:

We went to church… it was cancelled after sacrament mtg. The weather was bad and people have to travel really far to get home. Such devotion. They even cancelled the talks. However, sister bishop and I were asked to bear our testimonies. Bishop called us to the stand, met me then gave me the mic. Kinda cute. The spirit was really strong. I had just met brian before the meeting started. He is a YSA with a baptismal date for February 13th. He just glowed. I couldn’t help but talk right to him… I got the best feeling. I am so excited to teach him! I met many others in the ward. We then went to Bishop Lindners for dinner and stayed for some time. The roads were really bad and the snow fell heavily all morning. The night before we had freezing rain so it made for a day we needed to stay indoors. We finally went home after a great visit with bishop. President Barrett loves that man. I do too. He is such an excited Bishop, he loves the work. We finished transfer planning that night. We’ve set really good goals for this transfer! FAITH is our motto! Faith the size of a basketball! [e.hatch] to BAPTIZE THE WORLD [e.stribling] I think sister bishop thinks I am a bit crazy sometimes when I say we are going to invite 420 nonmembers to hear our message this next 6 weeks. But she loves me, so she goes with it. It will happen I tell her!

To end the night I got the BEST PHONE CALL EVER from sister Johnson. My little J! She is so cute and is doing such a great job training. She is learning a lot. She’s called me almost every day since we parted to ask me questions. I love it. I love her. She told me that on Sunday morning all the branch missionaries (all 6 of them) had a meeting with the branch president, president calderwood, and his counselors. He said during the middle of the meeting he looked at sister mazariegos, the new sister, and said, “You’ve got big shoes to fill. Everyone in this branch really loved sister black.” It was sweet to hear he said that… I felt bad for sister M though… goodness.. no pressure eh? Sister Johnson and I laughed about that. I love President Calderwood. I miss his leadership.

She also told me lots of good news… daysi got a calling! RS chorister… One day as we left an appt at Kathleen Oakley’s I had a VERY strong impression to stop at her neighbors…they were Spanish speaking… but we couldn’t because we HAD to go. I reminded little j to go back. They did! They are new investigators along with MANY OTHERS on that street. AMAZING. Heidi Higginbottom, miss “I don’t want to be a hypocrite” was at church AGAIN … aaron’s baptism in on! SO many good things happening there.

After I talked to her I thought about why I was sent to Racine. Little J reminded me when she got there we had about 20 active investigators we were teaching, she was so impressed by that… when I got there we only had 3. three people. It was SLOW. We changed a lot in the 3 months before little j came. But I didn’t baptize but two people while I was there… Cheryl Johnson and Zachary Cruz-Taylor. That’s not too many in seven and a half months.

So WHY did I go there? WELL.. baptisms aren’t everything as we know. Daysi and Lupita were both less-active in the branch. I got to teach them in SPANISH, they got it. They understood and applied the principles and lived them! They are BOTH prepared to go to the temple in 2 weeks because we worked with them. I was able to meet Tiffany Baumstark! She read NieNie’s blog too! That was not a coincidence. I know she will accept the gospel, I love teaching her and right before I left I asked if we could teach her whole family in her home.. she consented and was excited! I was able to teach Cheryl and Zachary. TWO AmAzing experiences. I saw their lives change. I met Raygan Taylor. I saw her physically [and spiritually] change from visit to visit. From moment to moment even as we read scriptures together. What a good mom she is. She was someone as well that I just know I was supposed to meet. I know someday VERY soon her husband will be baptized and they will be sealed in the temple. The list goes on and on! I know the Lord knows us and puts us where we can touch the hearts of those we serve, but also where they can touch ours. I learned and grew just as much if not MORE than all those whom I served. I love my calling!

The answer of WHY did I go there is simple… It is found in the many letters I sent while serving there. It is found in my well-worn scriptures and PMG. It is obvious as I wrote the paragraph above. It was inspired. That is why I went there...

And that is why I am here in Rhinelander. There is no coincidence about it! No irony. It is not a sick joke. It is inspired. Just like I wrote to President Barrett, this work runs on inspiration, so I will embrace Rhinelander! I am excited to do so.

I love you all! You're in my thoughts and prayers! WRITE ROCKY!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps. there is one thing I will definitely miss up here in the "NORTHWOODS". That is the hustle and bustle of the racine area and all those missionaries I served around! Do you know what a hard time those elders gave me? [These elders remind me of rocky, that is why i love them so much.] I can't believe I am writing it... but I will miss it. I was serving in the heart of the mission around so many missionaries. I loved that; there is such a good spirit. I have to write down a few of my memories or I will forget them...

They called me the abominable snowman, or the snowmonster in my long white coat. I thought they were going to DIE laughing when they saw me wear my mini white coat. They called it the mini snowmonster! I remember when we were at the Aquinos with elder trauntvein and elder smith. Fani was giving Luis a hard time for not eating but he seemed so nervous to take a bite. Finally he just said, "I'm sorry trauntvein, I have to do it!" He looked so distressed and took a bite. Trauntvein just looked at him and said, "Just say your own prayer" so matter of factly. So he knelt down on the kitchen floor and said his own praying leaning against trauntvein's leg. It was so cute! what an example he was to that little boy. I loved being a fly on the wall for that little interaction.

I will miss going to the Cabrales. I loved going there. The last time we were there sister Cabrales answered the door and said [in spa of course], "I asked Anapaula who was at the door and she said 'PETRIE'". We all laughed, she could see us coming thru the window. Elder Petrie had been transferred, but she thought all missionaries were named petrie. she loved him. They would tell us the funniest stories about the elders constantly being at their home, they said they were going to adopt them! Woo hoo for daily contact!

I will miss elder smith always wanting to sing hymn number 210, "buscar con fe" or "search with faith". It doesn't exist... but he would switch around saying it in english or spanish and it would get sister johnson EVERY TIME!

One time Elder Bratt and Elder Johnson, who were then serving together in Oak Creek, we called it "Oak Creep", told me they named their car "PAM" in my honor because it whined a lot. They thought they were really clever.

I will miss teasing the elders with the phrase, "donde esta la sacerdocia" and finding post its all over our car at random parts of the day that said, "donde esta el sacerdocio". I will miss teasing them that they might have the keys to the priesthood and the church building... but i have the keys to the library! :) I will miss finding FREE signs all over our car. everytime they passed us and saw us at an appt they'd leave one [that stems from the time i left the car running, remember that?].

I will miss teaching english. I remember the time Jaime told me in English, "I am your father." I started laughing [made me think of star wars!]... his english wasn't the best. I then realized what he meant as he explained it this way, "When you married you have new father. He is your father" He even drew me a pic on the board. Ha you can imagine i was floored! I told him you work together, he couldn't wrap his little mind around that. he said that's not how it is in El Salvador. SO we sought elder petries opinion and of course to be funny, he sided with the "father" menality and laughed. punks. that became our joke with jaime. hilarious.

I will never forget elder smiths and elder trauntveins faith as we prayed and fasted for the nevarros. they are spiritual giants and were great examples to me. that was a sweet experience.

Elders still get a kick out of my cynicism: All sister do is CRY, ask for BLESSINGS, and TALK about their FEELINGS! ya right. Being a sister missionary is the best! I love it!

irony.

2010-01-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ok family, sorry that it is SATURDAY and I am just sending my weekly email! The library was closed on Monday for MLK Jr. Day. That is a big holiday out here, especially in Milwaukee/ Racine.

Well my life is one big irony. I was transferred. To Rhinelander. Middle of nowhere. That is the ONE place I did NOT want to go! More on that to come…

The mutual theme this year is BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE {Joshua 1:9}

President Barrett Spoke about that at youth conference [more on that below] and told the you [I still add myself in that category] that they are the HOPE OF THE WORLD. They are of Infinite Worth because they were bought with an Infinite Price. Isn’t that Amazing. I love President Barrett! That is my purpose out here… to teach that: each of God’s children is priceless and special to Him. I am to be STRONG and of a GOOD COURAGE. Every week in district meetings and in zone conferences we recite our purpose as missionaries as found in PMG. We recited it with the Youth… it goes:

“My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End.”

I love my purpose!

Here are the happenings of last week:

Monday, January 11th

We studied, emailed and then met the elders at Brother Jenkins’ home to watch a movie. We watched “Mountain of the Lord” in his AmAzing in home theater in his basement. Sister Johnson and I get a leather couch all to ourselves because we have cooties, so we curled up with our blankets and it was the best hour and a half of my day! We then went and had dinner at Raygan’s. She made spaghetti for us and all the elders. Elder McClung and Elder Carter came down to interview Zachary for baptism… he passed! He was SO nervous! We told him we’d pray for him Sunday night, we did and he said he’d pray too. To end our night we went sledding with the Hansen’s. Elder Stribling and Elder Zobell came too. It was a lot of fun. I love that family. I love their granddaughter Kalie. She is adorable. I went down the hill with her quite a few times, the problem with that is I had to carry her back up… that hill was steep [mind you it was a man-made hill… Wisconsin is FLAT] she’s two… it was a good workout. We knew it was time to go home when elder stribling took Brother Hansen out about half way down the hill. He hit his head so hard. Then his son Sean hit him in the head as he was lying there, then sister Johnson hit him, then Elder Zobell hit him. MY GOODNESS. I stood at the top of the hill and had to turn around. It looked AWFUL. Poor guy. The elders gave him a blessing at home and we drank some hot chocolate. He was ok, but he teased them relentlessly. They deserved it!

Tuesday, January 12th

My last district meeting in Racine!  I don’t like transfers. Elder Smith is such a great district leader. He committed us to memorize the first vision in Spanish. I was excited for the challenge. I am familiar with it in Spanish, but I read it when I teach it in spanish… in English I know it by heart… so it was a good push. It was nice to get back to basics… the important stuff. He’s good about helping us to do that. Afterwards, we went out to lunch with both districts. We taught Raygan and Zachary at one. He is so ready for his baptism. We visited Lilyan Barry. She made us eat dinner! She told us that at 4:45 and we had to be at a mtg at 5. Sister Johnson and I are both really slow eaters, but we were both done in 15 minutes. Ugh. It was a good dinner, just fast! We had a meeting with Bishop Crowther at 5. He is a great bishop and really loves his ward. He looked at both elder stribling and I and said, “We are probably losing both of you, right?” NO! I don’t even want to think about that. We stopped by and had cereal at the abbott’s and then went to the church for the branch’s mutual. We needed to talk to Sofia C. and Fernanda F. about teaching with us on Saturday at youth conference.

Wednesday, January 13th

We went to English class. I love teaching English. It greatly helps me improve my Spanish, but it also gives us AmAzing opportunities to share the gospel with those we teach. The gospel comes up so naturally, many of those at English class have come to church. It’s such a good tool. Afterwards, we went to the church for lunch and then to visit the martinez family and daysi betanco. I love daysi! She has come so far. She is such a great member of the church and has such a strong testimony. She taught us the Restoration out of PMG and said she learned a lot about apostasy and authority. Isn’t it amazing that when we have to teach something, you end up learning the most yourself? I think so too! That’s why we asked her to teach us! We taught Marka and Caleb at 3:30. Marka is so smart. She asks the best questions. We taught about the Word of Wisdom, Caleb had questions too. It’s so good to see a family learning together. She said that the WOW just makes sense! Ha. Yes it sure does. We had dinner with the Sura’s at 5, and then went to the Calderwood’s and planned out what we’d be helping Sofia and Fernanda teach on Saturday at youth conference. We ended our night going to contact a referral elder Campbell [bka SOPA] gave to us... might I add we went out of our way to do that. Well, it was the ELDERS APARTMENT. Elder zobell and Elder stribling answered the door! He got us! He got us good!!! We are still trying to think of how to get him back. . . It will be good!!!! Elder Trauntvein and Elder Smith did that to us once too! Grr… we counted both of those referrals in our numbers. Punks.

Thursday, January 14th

We studied, at lunch and did weekly planning. Then we Had an appointment with the Gambles. She is a sweet lady who does it all for her family. Her husband has had 3 strokes and can’t talk now, I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be. She does everything for him and then also watches her daughter’s two little girls as well. She hasn’t been active in years and wants to come back. She has a man come as a caretaker for her husband for a few hours on Sundays. This man just so happens to be married to a woman [sister Pamela umhoffer] who is also a member of the church and hasn’t been back in years. He suggested they go together while he stays with brother Gambles. I love little miracles like that!

We bought Zachary a journal at Barnes and Noble and then headed to the church. We finished weekly planning there and helped the elders set up for the baptism. Elder stribling made Zachary a hat [he is dang good with yarn and a loom!] and he also made me one! It’s pink and white and black. So cute. I love it.

The baptism went very well… there is nothing like seeing someone you love and have taught the truth to enter into the waters of baptism, be made clean, and make covenants with their Father in Heaven. My joy was full! It was especially special because we worked so closely with the elders to make this a success. We both played specific, vital roles in teaching. Mike, Zachary’s dad was there. He is taking the lessons from the elders. We are teaching Raygan. It was wonderful to see all of Zach’s family there and to see how much support we had from the ward. The room was packed full. No room to sit at all. AmAZing and it wasn’t even announced at church because he hadn’t had his interview yet. His family was invited to bear testimony after the baptism while Zachary and his uncle [Justin, who baptized him...] changed their clothes. Raygan bore her testimony as did her brother John and her mom [all of which have been seriously less active, they bore testimony that they know the church is true and that it is worth it to live the standards]…

Zachary has no idea what an influence for good he is to his family. Justin is a priest and still in HS. He has a learning disability and stutters really bad, but was worthy to baptize… so Zachary asked him. It was so special to see them in the water together. Justin was really nervous, but Bishop Crowther said the words to the prayer, and Justin repeated after him and then got Zachary all the way under. AMAZING! We took lots of pictures with everyone there and then I printed them and put them in the journal we bought Zachary. I had everyone write to him and he loved that. Bishop Blake worked with that family very closely. He was out here for business, so we scheduled the baptism so he could attend. It was fun to see him. We went out to Culvers with him afterwards. He invited all the youth he used to work with and all the missionaries. It was really a good day!!

To end the night we got a call from President Barrett… Sister Johnson will be TRAINING a brand-new missionary. She is a NATIVE SPANISH SPEAKER. Do you know what that means? I am LEAVING racine…. So the drama begins. I have to say goodbye. I hate that.

Friday, January 15th

We woke up… studied and PACKED. We went to Milwaukee for a night. I had a dentist appointment today with President Knutsen. WHAT A NICE MAN. Elder Smith calls him the “jolly fat man”. Whatever, he is I like him. He had to give me 10 shots in my mouth. Did I mention I HATE going to the dentist? I had a fractured tooth on one side and on the other side I had a hole in my tooth and a cavity. SO both of my back, bottom molars were worked on. Let’s just say the numbing didn’t work all the way, but I just dealt with it after shot 10 because my face was numb all the way to my forehead! I didn’t want to be numb for a year… I hate that feeling. He fixed my teeth though. He has this cool new machine that takes a digital impression of my tooth, then he uses a computer screen, that is on wheels to adjust the picture, he then sends the info to a machine that takes a tiny block of porcelain and makes a tooth. Then he cemented it on! Amazing. So I have to new teeth in the back. I am not sure how 15 months ago my teeth were perfect and within that time my teeth have just fallen out? Don’t ask me! Stress… probably. That little event at the dentist took me 4 hours! He is such a good man, didn’t even charge me. Missionaries are SO blessed. What a service.

We then went and ran some errands in Milwaukee… went to Wal-Mart, went to the mission office and got a chocolate shake from McDonald’s, which makes any dental visit better! We had dinner with the Milwaukee sisters at Katie Basset’s. She is a YSA in her residency as a dermatologist. We had a lot of fun. I love Katie. We ended our night with a sleepover at the Kozlosky’s! I love the K’s! They are the best… like my 2nd family.

Saturday January 16th

Saturday morning we woke up, then we went to visit the Scarbouroughs! It was fun to see them and meet their children, I had never done that. They are adjusting to Wisconsin! We took a picture outside for proof of all the snow we’ve endured out here! Brother Kozlosky teased us for being late to that appt and told me I had to let the car warm up, WHY? We don’t do that in PHX. Apparently, I am ruining the car, so I will let it warm up now. AND he said my tires and rims are too beat up! HA just like my dad! I told him to back off! Haha We went to the library and made copies of some cd’s and then had lunch at NOODLES. O how I love that place. The mac and cheese with parmesan chicken is the BEST!

THEN we went to The Milwuakee South stake Youth Conference. The theme was Member Missionary work. They all had missionary tegs too! The north stake was invited too! It was a lot of fun. Most of the missionaries from our zone were there. We, all the missionaries, were paired up with youth companionships and given a topic to teach in 3 thirty minute intervals. What fun it was to teach the youth how to teach. It was totally their thing… we just assisted. Ryan Mortimer and Brittany Kozlosky were on the planning committee. They did I great job, I love those two. We were paired up to teach with 2 girls from the branch, sofia and fernanda. They did such a great job. Our topic was “Ch 7 PMG Learn your Mission Language”. Sister Johnson and I got to share our experiences of learning Spanish. I shared my study plan and little tools I used to help me learn [like carrying around a ntbk that I wrote all the words I didn’t understand in, then I would look them up later] It was fun. The girls did such a great job teaching! I love teaching HOW to teach! I have been learning to be a good teacher for 15 months now! We listened to President Barrett speak after classes, then had dinner.

At dinner I sat next to sister Duhaceck. Big mistake. I love her, but she works in the mission office and she told me I was going to Rhinelander. I wasn’t supposed to find that out ‘til Tuesday night. I thought I was going to throw up. I just left the table and I went to the bathroom to cry, but all these 15-16 yr old girls were in there getting ready for the dance.. it felt like efy! So I couldn’t cry. Sister Johnson knew I was struggling. SO we went home to get our stuff at the K’s to go back to Racine. I just layed on the floor and thought, “How could President Barrett send me to Rhinelander, I am NOT a Rhinelander kind of girl!” I was having a major pity party. We are all entitled to one of those every now and then! So we packed our stuff… I may or may not have cried… and then drove to Racine. I was dang well convinced I was going to Appleton or Madison… nope. I was jealous little j got to stay in racine. I had a badittude! AND I was so anxious.

So I called elder stribling and asked him to give me a blessing of comfort. He did. He is amazing. I love him like a brother. That is only the second time on my mission [or my life for that matter] that I have ever ASKED for a blessing. But I needed to calm down. He blessed me to trust in my priesthood leaders and to know that the Lord needed me in Rhinelander for a purpose I would find out as I labored there. He blessed me to feel peace and to relax. It was a long, beautiful blessing. I felt so good afterward and felt like I could breathe again. So I left and went home and slept SO WELL that night. I love the Priesthood!

Sunday, January 17th

I was dreading today since Thursday night. I had to go to church and say goodbye! I feel like a member of both the branch and the ward!

I thought I was in the clear with our 8:30A sacrament meeting. The murdock’s spoke in sacrament meeting. I love that family! Even their 7 year old spoke! She did such a great job. It was adorable, she used such big words. The elders were in the pew in front of us. But at the end of sacrament Brother Hancock got up and said he wanted to “give a shout- out” to elder stribling and sister black for all our hard work the past 7.5 months. He thanked us and said we helped them feel the spirit of missionary work. Elder Stribling and I were both doubled in in June. That was forever ago. It has been so great working with him and his companions. He’s trained 3 times in a row in Racine. He’s a great missionary. I said by to the ward and took some pictures after our meetings.

All the Spanish missionaries had a mtg with P. Calderwood before sacrament meeting started. He didn’t know we were leaving yet. I was talking about a LA girl we’ve worked with who is now ready to go to the temple. In Spanish I said, “Ella esta aprendiendo mucho.” She is learning a lot. He said, “Hay alguien mas quien esta aprendiendo mucho, tambien.” There is someone else who is learning a lot too. I thought he meant Daysi’s brother or something. He said, “No you! Your Spanish is greatly improving. Especially your conjugations!” He almost made me cry. I have to leave my Spanish peeps! I have been working so hard on my language skills! I will still keep them up. In this same meeting a week previous President Calderwood was talking about how he was needing to marry off all the single priesthood holders in the branch. I of course protested that! We are not matchmakers! He gave me this shpeel about the celestial kingdom and eternal marriage.. yadda yadda. I was Especially riled up when he threw out an idea he had of getting two recent converts together. HE is 42 SHE is 20. NO WAY! Haha all the elders were dying laughing. So then President Calderwood turned to me and said, “Sister Black, what are you doing after YOUR mission?” HAHA I laughed … then said OK it’s TIME for US to GO! IT was hilarious. But awkward. When the branch is trying to find you a husband, perhaps it’s time for a transfer?

In the branch sacrament meeting P. Calderwood mouthed to me from the stand and asked if I was being transferred. I responded… SO, after the passing of the sacrament he announced that he had sad news. He told them that E. Campbell and I would be leaving and asked us to come up and bear our testimonies. I felt so overwhelmed with the spirit. I was able to do that without help! I told them that I remember my first Sunday in the branch. P. Barrett asked sister behrends and I to stand and told the branch that he loved them so much that he sent them sisters to help them in whatever way we could. I specifically recall writing in my journal, “I love that President loves and trusts us… but HOW! I can’t communicate effectively with these people. Someday I will be able to talk freely to these people. I will tell them I love them and am so grateful to have been switched Spanish!” It happened! I did just that! So did Sopa… he did such a good job. I love that kid. He spent the first 6 months of his mission in the branch… what a good place to start! He speaks very well in Spanish now! Then as the closing song in sacrament meeting we sang, “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again”, Sofia’s choice and her dad came to the mic and dedicated it to us. MY GOODNESS…. IT WAS BRUTAL! [Rocky thought saying goodbye now was painful, wait ‘til he leaves an area!] I took pictures with practically the whole branch afterwards. I will miss Bro. Sandovall calling me, “Chiltepe” [a name of a really hot chili that he used to call a sister in his mission] or hearing all his CRAZY mission stories from Guatemala. I will miss hearing him call us the “Missionegras!”

We got a lot of comments like, “Sister Johnson, where are you going?” or “You’re FINALLY LEAVING?” haha People thought if I was leaving she was leaving too, or that it was impossible that elder stribling and I ever would leave! I have loved being the first sister in Racine/ Kenosha in 10 years. It was a great blessing to open this area, even greater to have been able to speak Spanish. I recall my first interview with President Barrett. I told him if he EVER had a need I would LOVE to speak Spanish. I never dreamed it would happen. I thought the closest I would ever come was when I was able to work a little with the Spanish branch in Green Bay. . . little did I know the Lord always has a plan, better than any plan I could have dreamt up myself!

I love LOVE being a sister missionary! I love all of you!

SEND MAIL TO ROCKY IN THE MTC!

Elder Rocky Lee Black
Provo MTC
Box 145 Dept Dat Feb 9 2010
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

Love, Hermana Pamella Jo Black

Ps… here are some little Wisconsin things that I just love:

*In Wisconsin we use YET whenever possible ex: “I am young yet” Sister warner has picked this up, painfully so!

*In Wisconsin chili, they put noodles. All chili in Wisconsin is made with noodles!

*Bag = beg and Tag = teg [I like using this one!]

*Wisconsinites say things like:
*Come here once
*I stay on Woods Rd [instead of I live on woods rd]
*I am going by Lauren’s house [instead of I am going TO Lauren’s house] One more example: Did Becky go by Ashley’s? Is she still there? I learned this from MAMA K! she says that a lot!

*a stop light is called a stop and go

*an atm is a TYME machine

*then last but not least the yooper, “YAH DER EH” “DON’T YA KNOW!”

I heart Wisconsin.

GO CARDINALS!

2010-01-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

SO yes, it is true… all week long I try to think of what the headline of my email will be… this week the Cardinals definitely make the headlines. Normally, I would never know who is playing who or when… but last night, Sunday the 10th, we went to teach at the Taylor’s and they had the game on… CARDINALS vs PACKERS… I must say I was a bit distracted, I am pretty sure I watched the whole fourth quarter and over-time. Mike was rooting for the Cardinals too, so I didn’t even feel like that big of a trader! I can’t believe the Cardinals win things, that is new since I have been on a mission… I grew up knowing we watch the Cardinals, but they always lose… now things are different… THEY BEAT THE PACKERS!

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

Happy 2010!

2010-01-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it is 2010? I’m old!

This has been a great week. I feel really rejuvenated, it being a new year and all. I think everyone does, and our investigators are finally coming out of their holiday hibernation, I love it when that happens!

This week a scripture that I have come to love is Ephesians 4:29. It reads:

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

I love that scripture and have been focusing on edifying and uplifting. Every time the elders say something I don’t enjoy, I refer them to Ephesians 4:29. It's working well. :)

[Lunes] it was a weird pday. We studied, emailed and then went to the mall… that was only my second time at a mall… EVER… on my mission… impressive wouldn’t you say… I almost went in to shock! I do love that place. You’ll never guess what we found at the Racine Mall…. A CHICK-FIL-A! I have been in Wisconsin for almost 15 months and we just now discovered a CHICK-FIL-A. Man, it was a good day. We had just eaten, but it was still a good find! Our Racine Spanish elders are also covering elkhorn so they were there that day and the kenosha elders were being lame... so we were on our own... it was a fun, girly pday.. we never get that! In the evening we went to an FHE at the Hansen's, Raygan and Zachary came too. The Hansen's are such a great family, so warm and welcoming to anyone and everyone... I love them, I want to be like them: so relaxed when 800 kids are running thru their home, I'm not sure that's possible for me, but a girls gotta have some goals. Madison, 8, taught the lesson and did a great job.

[Martes] we studied, then we taught Sister Holeton. She was baptized about 10 years ago and has just sorta lost touch with the church. She told us she has no real reason she's not there. She started smoking again and wants to quit. We promised her as she builds on a sure foundation and makes Christ her priority, all other things will fall in to place. I love her. I sincerely hope that if anyone I have taught on my mission just lost touch missionaries would track them down and teach them again. . . with that in mind my love for Sue grew ten fold! We saw vicki and then went to Raygon's again. Raygon also was taught by missionaries long ago and is now preparing herself for baptism again. She is so amazing. Truly, I have never felt such a difference in a home/ environment as I do when we go to Raygon's. She can be stressed, yelling and mad at her husband or just done with her kids and the dog ... but as soon as we sing and pray the spirit comes, she is quiet and she feels it. We are also teaching her son Zachary [well it's the elders investigator, but we're always there]. I love teaching children. I love it. They are so sweet and sincere. The gospel is so simple and I realize that so much more when I teach a child, I've been blessed to do that often on my mission. Raygon gleans a lot from watching Zach learn. The first time we taught him he said the prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for letting his mom feel the spirit to go back to church. Precious. Zach is so stressed about memorizing everything we teach him... but we keep telling him that's not necessary... however that doesn't penetrate his 10 yr old mind. He's adorable. He'll be baptized Jan 14. Last night he even prepared a talk and presented it to us. He loves primary but told us he just wants to talk about the gospel, he doesn't know why they have to SING so much. haha. We had CHICK-FIL-A for lunch, went to some unplanned appts and then had the Furner's for dinner. THey are another solid family. SUch great parents and AmAzing children. As I left sister furner hugged me and told me that they loved me and I am such a fun sister. It made me feel good.

[Miercoles] Sister Johnson had spanish class with sister calderwood. Then we did weekly planning. We taught Raygon and Zach and then spent the rest of the night trying to see people. President Barrett has promised us as we use the hours from 5-8 to visit people, even though it's dark and cold, that we will find many people to teach, specifically families. We have been doing that and it's true, we are being blessed.

[Jueves] We had district meeting. Elder Smith is a great district leader. I love him, we can really tell he plans and prepares for his district meetings. He really cares about our investigators and is always striving to remember and ask about those we are teaching. We ate lunch as a district afterwards at Buffalo Wild Wings, I am pretty sure it was just because it was New Year's Eve and some of our elders wanted to see what was going on with football... but the food was good. We spent the rest of the day in Kenosha visting all of our Spanish investigators and branch members. We saw Daysi, Lean, the Cabrales [Michelle too!], the Martinez's and ended our night at the Calderwood's. We played a fun game with them, tuttifruitti, had cookies and banana splits and laughed a lot. We were home around 10 and in bed at 10:30. I was tired and knew that I had a good excuse to not wait for the new year! haha I am normally lame at home too... but i get flack for that... sister johnson and I enjoy this time in our lives to act like old ladies and be in bed between 9:30 and 10:30 every night... that's never been a hard rule for me to follow!

[Viernes] HAPPY NEW YEAR! we studied, wrote 20 thank-you notes to all the people that did nice things for us over the holidays and then went to the branch party from 12-5. It was a lot of fun. There was food, a picture slide show and then we played Charades under the direction of elder campbell. It was a lot of fun. I love how tight the branch is with eachother. Many of them have known eachother for ever. The best part was the Flores made the slide show... they've only been in the branch a little over a year! THey collected photos and scanned them in, It was great to see pics of priesthood holders in the branch when they were only a year old! hilarious. Sister Johnson and I went to dinner at Panera Bread, I love that place and then went to the Aquino's and played UNO... i love the Aquino family. They are so fun. We played one game of UNO for two hours... the SAME hand. It was killing me. I had the best time there... they love the gospel and love eachother. I swear there are 12 people that live in that house, uncles, cousins, gma, parents, kids.... that's why it is SO fun!

[Sabado] We went to a baptism for the kenosha elders, kathy brown is going to be a great assett to the kenosha ward, she's amazing. we had a mcdonald's breakfast at sister birch's... that was nice of her and then played soccer at the church. we got in trouble for playing with a real soccer ball in the gym, it leaves marks on the walls... [oops!] ... so now we have to play with a nerf soccer ball.... it's not the same, but we are staying positive. You can just step on that thing and it squishes down... but i am learning to be more gentle???! a gentle soccer player. theres a concept. We saw sister oakley with sister schlitz, who is amazing, and sister holeton. I had an impression to stop and see jessica, we did, she was home, it was amazing. We ended our night teaching Jackie. She was a lady the elders tracted in to in July... we could never reach her. This night she was home, we taught her. She loved it. She had know missionaries before, but was still in her first marriage and her husband didn't like religion. Her husband now is great and lets her do as she pleases! She is very promising.

[Domingo] CHURCH church ChUrcH... Jessica came! Sister Johnson wasn't feeling well so we went home and took a nap/studied. We had dinner with the Brigg's, I love them... they're hilarious. A great family. Then we went and visited some people. I love fast sunday .... it really helps me focus.

ok... i must go. sorry i sent this email a day late... i didn't have time yesterday. we must go to district meeting now... but here is an email I sent to President Barrett... it will cover anything I missed and you might be curious as to what we tell him. I love that man. He is the best.

Here it Is:

Hello President,

Things are going quite well in Racine. This week we really focused on using the hours of 5-8 in the most effective ways. What a difference that made! We found 4 new investigators [really solid investigators too], all between the hours of 5-8.

SIster JOhnson and I really focused on following the spirit as well. We were able to see an investigator, Jessica, who we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving. She said she had been thinking about us. We weren't going to stop at her house because we were on our way elsewhere, but got an impression as we were driving by. We stopped, she was FINALLY home, and invited us in. We ended that appointment with her taking us to meet her grandma, now a new investigator, who used to meet with missionaries last year.

This past week in the Racine ward a lady who hasn't been to church in years, Sue Holeton, came to "start her year off right". We have been teaching her and rekindling the spirit she felt when the missionaries taught her, she is amazing. So many members are willing to come teach her with us, they love her and just want to see her active. She had 10 different offers of who to sit with during sacrament yesterday. Every time I turned around someone was hugging her! Her husband is not a member and has had some bad experiences with the church, we hope to meet him soon.

Also, a girl in the branch, Lupita, has started to come back. She was baptized a little over a year ago. She works a lot and said she couldn't to make it to church. We've always had a pretty good relationship with her, we visit her with Sister Calderwood. President Calderwood loves her too, but we could never seem to get her to meet with him and he was often too busy to come to our appointments. The last time we were there she wanted her home dedicated and wanted a blessing. We relayed the message to President Calderwood and he suggested to send the elders. We told him how much it meant to Lupita to know that he prayed for her and was concerned for her well-being. We told him it would mean more if he gave the blessing. He agreed and visited Lupita with his wife a few days later. What a difference that made. Suddenly Lupita is at church every sunday and even came to the branch party new year's day! It was sweet to see her feel the love of the branch, it made the difference.

happy new year.

love sister black

...................

I love all of you. Thanks for all you do for me! I am such a lucky girl to have all of you! I love my mission. Rocky I think about you every day... JUST RELAX... you will be a great missionary. don't stress. You can't learn it all at once.

Brittany I loved your email. MOm and Dad: yours too... you have letters coming soon.

Sister Roatch [she's a great penpal ps] mailed me the Scarbrough's information. I called and talked to sister scarbrough last night... i used to serve in the building they attend in milwaukee... just a different ward. They just moved here two weeks ago. I will get to see them later this month when I go up to the dentist. funny how things work out. she was shocked to hear rocky leaves so soon. i am excited to see them.

I love you all!

Happy New Year!

Love, SIster Pamella Jo Black

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

(Aspen '08)

HelLo! How are each of you? I am on a computer this week that has microsoft word… hallelugiah! It makes my life so much easier… so now I can type freely without fear that my email will be erased off of myldsmail. [president barrett said that sometime soon myldsmail is switching to use the gmail server… I can’t wait for that to happen… this thing is SO slow and it ALWAYS erases my emails.]

SO last week I had a lot more to say… but didn’t have the time or desire. So here it is…

First off though, Don’t you just love Christmas? Goodness, I am sad it is over, but I feel like I throughouly celebrated it this year! We went caroling EVERY night we could since the day after Thanksgiving… that’s pretty impressive. I think the elders are done with me and caroling; I can’t help it if I LOVE it and it’s an EXCELLENT finding activity. Plus, it was an AMAZING way to see all of the people we needed too, unannounced! NOT TO MENTION that people LOVED it… they were so happy to have carolers at their door.

I know that we caroled a lot for two reasons. The first is in both my spanish and english hymn books the book naturally falls open to the Christmas Carols. The second is that sister johnson and I were singing with some people last night who obviously hadn’t caroled much and they were singing at an incredibly SLOW tempo. We both looked at eachother and just helped them speed that song right along… our audience was losing interest! I love caroling.

Last Sunday [12/20] we wer e caroling/tracting… we knocked the door of an elderly couple and sang them a christmas hymn; at the end of our song she said, “Merry Christmas, and it’s ok to say that- It’s not Happy Holidays, it’s Merry Christmas!” She was a cute little lady and she was all fired up. She is right though… That is why we have so much JOY this time of year: because we are CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS!

Last Sunday [12/20] was the Christmas Program in the Racine Ward. I had to speak and sister johnson sang a solo: “O Holy Night”. It was beautiful. My talk was to be 5 minutes on “What Christmas Means to Me”. I liked that topic a lot. I first spoke of my Christmas Traditions: going to see temple lights [did you guys do that this year?], baking sugar cookies, decorating the tree, gma & gpa lighting a fire in the fireplace even though it’s already plenty warm in the house and things like that.

Then I talked about how as a missionary Christmas has come to mean a little bit more to me. I read the scripture from Luke 2:10
…
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. …

I based my whole talk off of that scripture. It was glorious. I talked about how the gospel is the good tidings of GREAT JOY! Let’s just say I said the word JOY a lot… I know that the birth of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made of His life is the reason we are able to feel so much joy and happiness in our own lives. We can be with our families foever, we know we can repent and CHANGE, we know how to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I love the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! My talk went well.

This is definitely a Christmas I will not forget. Last Christmas sister Barrett challenged us to make that a Christmas we wouldn’t forget. It was. I remember making a MILLION sugar cookies with elder jolley and elder pulley and delivering them. I remember taking corry and her family a christmas tree and all the decorations for it… so fun.

I remember the year before that when I was at BYU. Michelle and I, after attending the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, decided to do an act of service each day for someone. What a difference that made- what a good Christmas that was, it made the fact that I didn’t get to fly home until the 22nd or 23rd of december a little easier.

And then this Christmas with all the caroling with the elders. . . unforgettable! It was freezing cold… yet we felt warm and bundled as we shared the joy the gospel brings at each doorstep. We were often invited in, given some kind of treat and that made it so worth it! I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time of year. There is truly nother better! I can't explain it... I was so happy as we did that... all singing together songs about our savior as it snowed! seeing peoples faces light up as they saw what we were doing... one house even recorded us!

I am sorry that I didn’t send out Christmas Cards this year, there was no snow! I will be sending out some other greeting cards sometime soon… now that we have snow! I can’t stand to take a winter picture in wisconsin without the white stuff… we do that at home all the time.

Here’s the DL on the week:

*lunes* pday. Email. Play soccer with elders at the church. They made me mad so I got a lot more letters written! They felt bad afterwards, sometimes they forget I am a girl… goodness, I do have feelings! We had dinner and FHE with Temika and her family. They read a story and sing a song every night in december from one of those book things. That was fun to do with them. We taught nancy and then we went caroling with the elders!

*martes* we went to seminary! We got up at 5a. ugh. Remind me to never do that again. I don’t know how those kids do that! It was their last day… we had bkfst with them then we taught them about marking their scriptures and the elders taught them about paying attention in seminary. I could tell it was a little early for e. stribling, he was a bit intense with those kids. So funny. We taught Marka, saw some referrals, or tried to at least, we taught raygon taylor and then We had dinner with the abbott’s. We ended the night going with Fani to Nancy’s choir concert at Park HS. Little J wasn’t feeling good, so we came home and she went to bed.

*miercoles*we studied, stopped by to see vicki and then we were off to milwaukee. I had to go to the dentist, I saw Dr. Knutsen, he’s the spanish branch president in milwaukee and he took good care of me. I fractured my back molar. When I got in there he started working on the other back molar, apparently that tooth is fractured too and that one has a cavity.. ugh. So he is going to fix both of those problems for me tomorrow, 12/29. We then came back and caroled with the elders the rest of the night. We ended our night with the first snowball fight of the year at the aquinos! It was a surprise attack on the elders! It worked out well… smith got me good in the face though… it was SO FUN! It snowed so much this day! Driving wasn’t so pleasant.

*jueves* CHRISTMAS EVE we had 6 appts! Brkfst at Temika’s… then the Sura’s for lunch… then the Crowther’s… then we went to kenosha with our family… that was SO FUN… then to the FLORES… then to the Davis’. Everywhere we went we were showered with FOOD and GIFTS… it was a good day. I felt like I was with my family, it was so fun… I love this area! I am so glad I got to be here for Christmas!

*viernes* CHRISTMAS DAY … I got to talk to my family. That was so wonderful. Everyone sounds like they are doing great. WE had breakfast with the Brigg’s, lunch at the Ngorney’s and then with the Schlitz’s then dinner at the Petriceck’s… GOOD DAY! I love Christmas… same thing as christmas eve… we were showered with food and gifts.

*sabado* SOCCER. STUDY. CAROLING. [who cares if it’s the day after!] [& dinner with the elders and sisters warner and pluim at culvers, they were passing thru on the way back from an appt.]

*domingo* CHURCH. Brother and sister Cabrales gave talks in the branch! It was so adorable. They did such a great job. Brother Cabrales said his life completely changed once the elders taught him, That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does for us… AmAzing. We ended our night… CAROLING for the last time. We caroled to the calderwood’s in kenosha and to their neighbor with the kenosha elders… and then in racine with our english elders… they are much better carolers! … they’ve had A LOT Of practice. IT was snowing last night. We parked our cars and walked up and down to those we needed to sing to. As we did that, Sister Johnson, Elder Zobell, Elder Stribling and I, I thought, “This is the LIFE!” I thought about Rocky! I can’t wait for him to walk up and down cold, dark streets in Maryland and think the same thing… “This is the LIFE!”

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary. I really do. I get to share the greatest message this Earth with ever know!

Happy New Year!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

Feliz Navidad

2009-12-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

Buenos Dias Mis Amigos!

That has become one of my favorite phrases these days! I love speaking spanish... just in case any of you were wondering. Just in case I haven't made you all aware of that fact!

OK before I get down to the happenings of the week... here are some seperate items...

*MOM: I NEED SHARON MASONERS ADDRESS... [perhaps if I put this here you will remember to send that to me... thank-you!]

*SO all this week I have constantly been drinking hot chocolate... because it's COLD! well... I was drinking hot chocolate at denny's the other morning [sister johnson and I went there to do our weekly planning] and with just one little sip it reminded me instantly of the mornings when I'm home, when I am hungry, but don't want to make anything and I sneak next door and grandpa and grandma make me hot chocolate and we sit on the front porch swing etc etc... those are the days! I can't wait for that to happen again soon! i do miss that! I love you grandma and grandpa!

*We have been asked, since about July, to commit each of our new investigators to baptism on the first lesson! ... That was a big change for our mission... now it has just become what we do, our faith has definitely increased. Well, tonight we have a first lesson with a spanish investigator family, BKA "our Family". We have taught them a couple of times, but tonight we are teaching them the restoration and plan to committ them to baptism. I AM SO NERVOUS. I haven't been this nervous in such a long time! It's crazy how much SOUL STRETCHING has taken place since I have had to teach in spanish! I WAS SO COMFORTABLE teaching in english. President Barrett always says, "There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone". How true is that! But I have seen how much the Lord makes up the difference when we do our part.

He promises us in D&C 84:85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." Then he continues in that section, "88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. 89 Whoso receiveth you receiveth me; and the same will feed you, and clothe you, and give you money. 90 And he who feeds you, or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward. 91 And he that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples"

I love those scriptures, they are so comforting and SO TRUE... I have seen them come to pass time and time again... especially as I have been speaking spanish!

This is a great work we are doing here... I absolutely love it.

This week..

[lunes] we played soccer at 8am. . . IN THE CHAPEL'S GYM... it was really fun. I was so tired afterwards, it's so exhausting. we play teams of 3 and rotate out after 2 goals are scored. The winning teams gets to play a second game... the teams are constantly changing. If a team wins twice they leave the court too and a new team comes. it's good fun.

The elders taught sister Johson how to ride a bike. that was fun. She is a crack-up. She ran in to SO MANY WALLS in the gym. She was such a good sport and they were so patient with her. Elder Stribling, ELder Petrie and Elder Smith should feel so privileged, I know she just wouldn't let anyone teach her... by the end of the day she wasn't running into any walls and she could turn both left and right!!!

we had lunch with all the elders, it was our last pday all together. we went to culvers. we ended our night having dinner at fhe at the davis'. I love that family. Bro Davis made homemade pizza... it was SO YUMMY!

[martes] we volunteered in the doll room at toys for tots again. that was fun. then we had lunch with the elders, then district meeting. we taught vicki and luis and leslie with elder smith and elder trauntvein. Those elders did such a good job teaching luis and leslie... they are SO knowledgeable! I was so impressed they know the whole gospel of Jesus Christ by heart ... in order. FAITH REPENTANCE BAPTISM RECEIVING THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST AND ENDURING TO THE END... so cute. We had dinner at the Abbott's and ended the night visiting some of our kenosha peeps.

[miercoles] english class! we taught everyone there to sing silent night in english. It is so amazing to me how none of those people are being taught the gospel and some may be unfamiliar with what the Holy Ghost is... but as we sang that song the spirit filled the room. it was incredible. We plan to invite them all to the christmas program at church this sunday. . . i hope many will come.

[jueves] toys 4 tots. meeting with bishop crowther. we had dinner with Raygan and Mike Taylor with all the elders. It was a lot of fun. She is such a sweet lady. I love teaching her and her family. we played volleyball that night. It was transfers too. I am so going to miss those elders. more on that next week!

[viernes] english class. planning. we taught vicki. We tried to commit her to baptism. she said no. she's not ready. her kids know more than she does... etc etc. she makes me crazy! she is SO READY! sister johnson told her she's not leaving til she commits... she said... oh great! stay! i love company! grr! we then met with the elders at culvers for a planning meeting... then taught heidi higginbottom and went caroling the rest of the night. i love caroling.

[sabado] soccer. study. jessica's baptism [kenosha elders taught her] she's sweet. young. pretty girl. she looked like she was glowing at her baptism. then the ward christmas party. it was really good. it had a good them.. .a night in bethlahem. fun. we ended this night caroling too.

[domingo] church. lunch at the sandovall's for some yummy guatemalan food. more church. dinner with all the elders at lilyan barry's. we ended the night caroling! we saw tiffany baumstark. i love her. we caroled to her. she's amazing.

i love you all. i love this work! I love this season! Merry Christmas!

Con Amor, Hermana Black

CANTAN SANTOS ANGELES...

2009-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

... That's Hark the Harold Angels Sing... in spanish. I have had that song stuck in my head all week! Probably because we've been caroling all week in Spanish. Everything is just better... in spanish! :)

SO... Wisconsin still has NO snow! I mean there has been a dusting here and there... but it mostly melts... it's wierd. mom was telling me that we're supposed to have snow tues and wed! good, it's time! It snowed the day before thanksgiving [NOV 25] ... that was my ONE YEAR MARK IN WISCONSIN and I was so HAPPY. Sister Johnson was not really thrilled... I LOVE THE FIRST SNOW! it snowed a little this week... but not enough to count. we can't even have a snowball fight yet! COME ON WINTER! [we are however getting the bone chilling winds and cold, the big coat has been taken out of storage and is hung up... just WAITING for it's winter '09 debut!]

This week I learned that for my Team Scoopie meal at Culver's I can subsitute HOT CHOCOLATE [with whipped cream] for my drink! [ps there is no extra charge] That's the best news ever! [I'm not a big soda drinker, i only like rootbeer and i don't like culver's rootbeer, it's too sweet, so i always just got water]Then I get my refill in my to go cup on the way out the door to keep me warm for just a little bit longer. It's the little things in life, you know!?

We got our transfer calls Saturday Night. I am STAYING IN RACINE for 6 more weeks. I am so happy. I really wanted to stay for Christmas and New Year's!! Petrie is leaving. very sad. Elder warner is leaving from racine, Elder gates from Kenosha and Trauntvein is GOING HOME from racine spanish. Every companionship but us is changing. it's going to be very different... I love this area.

[lunes] we went for Pday in MILWAUKEE. it was fun. I love our elders. WE went with all 8 of them. We went to the Sprecher's Factory [they make the best rootbeer] and then to the elders' old area [petrie, trauntvein and smith all served there] to eat at a place called Antiago's. It was SO YUMMY! Best Mexican Food I've had in Wisconsin. I ordered in spanish too... thanks to the elders: they get to uptight when i don't use my spanish... i just get NERVOUS to speak it around them! Then we went to the MIL South Stake Center to play with the rest of our zone... we saw sister warner and sister pluim. it was fun. we ended the day with dinner at the Davis' with the sura's. then we taught FHE with them.

[martes] district meeting. splits with the relief society sisters. we taught michelle cabrales.

[miercoles] english class. we taught janelle king. we had the Guillonta's for dinner. WE saw vicki... her daughter angeli turned one! then taught trinidad and ended our night teaching michelle cabrales.

[jueves] we volunteered with the 4 elders in Racine for TOYS 4 TOTS. [not to be confused with the marines thing] This is a local organization. They collect toys year round, then clean them, repaint, re organize REDO them... make them new... then package them up for families and give a family a christmas. it's wonderful. it's like santas workshop. Really, it is. Just like the movies. I felt like an elf: we worked in the doll room. YES there is a room for every kind of toy you can think of. THey clean and redo dolls hair. We dressed the dolls and found them a second outfit. it was SO fun... like i was 5 again! I can't wait to come home and play with Chloe, Sophie and Ellie! it made me think of them! Christmas really brings out the best in People. I love that.

we saw raygan taylor. love her. more on her next week... then the seiverts, then sister maine then we played volleyball. michelle had her baptismal interview: they didn't even get to the questions, she said she wasn't ready. .. more on that next week. I love her so much. i just want her to do what is right.

[viernes] english class. studying for 3 hours:the norm. weekly planning. culvers. caroling with the racine elder = SO FUN!!!! We saw so many people.

[sabado] we spent all day at the church. Soccer was cancelled. We had the Kenosha Ward Christmas Brunch. Then Maurcelino, a guy petrie and campbell taught was baptized. he's so sweet. then we studied. then we caroled with the kenosha elders... SO FUN again. Then we had a meeting with bishop crowther.

[domingo] fast sunday. the branch found out petrie and trauntvein were leaving. They invited them to bear their testimonies first. Hno. Cabrales was sobbing. he loves petrie so much. it made me cry. i love this work. i love these people. We were at church all day and then ended the night with e. stribling and e. warner at the calderwoods for dinner. we completely missed the christmas devotional. it doesn't feel like christmas... we'll watch it this week!

I love you all! have a good week!

YOu are the BEST... keep those letter coming!

Love, sister Pamella JO Black

I love this Season!

2009-12-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! What a great way to start the holiday season! Bishop Crowther, our new bishop in the Racine Ward, talked about this last Sunday. He talked about how we start with a day of saying thanks and end with a day of giving! It is true! This is my FAVORITE time of year. I get so excited, like a little girl. I love the holidays! I thought I'd tell you all a few things that I am grateful for....

* my family: I truly have the BEST family in the world. I am not sure what I would do without them. They say when you are on a mission your life seems to take a little more perspective and direction. That has definitely happened for me. I am in contact every day with so many people that are lacking the wonderful support I have. The beauty is I have the opportunity to teach them how to cultivate an atmosphere of love and care in their families.

* I am SO GRATEFUL to be a SISTER MISSIONARY for THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS! I say that at least once a day, usually more! Being a missionary is the BEST. I am not sure what I'd be like had I not had this opportunity to learn and grow. There are so many days when I just pause and think... I LOVE THIS, this feeling I have RIGHT NOW! ...

*THE RESTORED GOSEL OF JESUS CHRIST. . . because of this knowledge I know Where I Came From... Where I am Going and Why I am HEre. I know I am a daughter of God. I know how I can return and live with Him and I know that that is only possible because He sent His Son Jesus Christ. He sent him to atone for my sins, your sins, but also to suffer the atonement: allowing Christ to feel every hardship, pain, disappointment, sorrow, trial, doubt, depression, we've ever felt. What a blessing that is.

*Lastly, I am grateful for this SEASON! I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHRISTMAS! I love it. Really, I feel like a little girl. I am a little concerned because Racine is still sunny, green and warm. I didn't wear tights yesterday! today I am just wearing leg warmers and flats and a 3/4 sleeve cardigan [and a SKIRT.. come on people! haha]. It's warm! ANYWAYS... i love the Christmas Season. You should all read Elder Eyring's Ensign Talk "Home for Christmas". It is really good! Last Christmas Sister Barrett challenged us to make this a Christmas we'll never forget. It was. And my Christmas before that was too... more on that next week... but I plan to make THIS Christmas just as good as those in the past. What a special season.

King Benjamin talks to his people in Mosiah Chapter 2... and in verses 17-22 This is what he says:

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?
19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

King Benjamin is SO AmAzing. What a powerful speaker. I am grateful to focus this month on being in the service of my fellow beings, and by so doing, focus on being in the service of my God. How blessed are we! We have SO much to be grateful for! Let's show grattitude and serve one another!

SO .... you want to hear about a miracle? Ok... I will tell you. About two weeks ago we were in district meeting. I am convinced I have the best district leader ever, perhaps because e. petrie and I have served in the same area my whole mission [and he's from AZ], but none the less he is AmAzing. He challenged each companionship to find a family to teach by our next district meeting. That is no small task my friends. finding a family is a really big deal, every missionary wants to be teaching a family.Sister Johnson and I took this challenge very seriously. We wanted to find a family. Petrie promised us we would as we were dilligent and applied the trainings we had received in zone conference [which were all about interactive commitment based teaching and inviting]. So we made a plan. We knew that SACRIFICE BRINGS FORTH BLESSINGS. You all may know this, but sister johnson and I don't go tracting. Not because we are SO ABOVE THAT or anything, but because we are so busy. President Hinckley said it himself, tracting is not the most effective way to do missionary work! [now if you don't have anything to do, you better tract, but that's just not the case for us.] SO we decided in order to break our normal patterns, we'd go tracting from 6-8 every night that week 'til we found our family. We also committed that we would talk to EVERYONE we saw. So we prayed, told the Lord our plan and asked Him for His help. We were so excited. We knew He'd help us find "OUR FAMILY". We carried out our plan. We talked to everyone, in english or spanish. We constantly prayed for OUR FAMILY. It was AmAzing. We tracted, i loathe tracting ps... but we did so with FAITH and that HELPED. One night we were walking out of an appt and we saw a man and his young daughter raking leaves. It was dark [but then again it gets dark here at 4:30, no joke] and it was cold and we were in Kenosha and had to drive to Racine to go home and we were tired ect ect... BUT we remembered our promise to eachother and the Lord and we went and talked to them. They spoke Spanish. We told them who we were and what we did and they invited us to come back and TEACH THEIR WHOLE FAMILY later that week. What a great blessing. We've been teaching Reina, Fransisco and their 2 young daughters. Reina is pregnant and due in January with a little boy. They are a great family. I love them! We are teaching them in SPANISH... I Know that MirAcLes HaVe NoT CeAseD... see Moroni 7. The Lord blesses us when we have FAITH and EXPECT answers. He blesses us to be able to communicate thru the spirit as well... no matter what LANGUAGE they're speaking!

So here is the low-down on last week. I am just going to tell you straight... IT WAS ROUGH. So bare with me...

[mon 11.23] worst day on the mission. just a BAD day. "I hate stupid people". [e petrie says that all the time] and SO DO I. we'll just leave it at that. we went to the birches for breakfast. then emailed. then culvers-to eat large amts of chocolate custard to make the day better! :) then we had dinner with the new bishop crowther and then saw ted and cheryl. the evening ened well.

[tue 11.24] district mtg. s. johnson was sick so we took a nap. suras 4 dinner. we saw vicki.

[wed 11.25] Happy ONE YEAR in Wisconsin to me. This time last year I was trudging around in snow with President Barrett... it's so different this year! I LOVE WISCONSIN. we taught english, ted and cheryl, saw Nancy Herman with sister sue johnson from the ward and then had the Hancocks 4 dinner with the elders. I love the Hancock's... they are so utah and I lOVE it! also, this morning elder petrie gave me a blessing, i needed it. I felt so much better afterward... more on that next week. I love the Priesthood.

[thu 11.26] HAPPY THANKSGIVING. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! My mom always makes thanksgiving ...[any holiday really] ...But especially thanksgiving so perfect for everyone, it's fitting it was on your birthday! I missed your YAMS that are like CANDY..... and your ROLLS.... but i didn't miss your COOKIES... wed night we came home to find a box on the stairs. it was overnighted to me and it was your sugar cookies. i cried. that was the best surprise ever! thanks mom and dad. We had thanksgiving at the costabiles and the Calderwoods... both really good. Sister Calderwood gave us advent calendars... so sweet. I love both those families. we ended the night at the birches for every kind of dessert you could think of and games. It was fun, all the elders were there. good times. it was a great thanksgiving.

[fri 11.27] Black Friday. We steered clear of the malls! we studied, did weekly planning. every appt cancelled...bad week, everyone is crazy with the holiday and family. We taught OUR FAMILY and then had an FHE with the Cabrales and elders petrie and campbell. I love the cabrales. We played mafia... IN SPANISH... it was really fun. even more fun when i was the narrator- it doesn't matter if its in spanish or english.. ahaha i always get confused!

[sat 11.28] soccer. every appt cancelled. we caroled with the spanish elders. they had an AmAzing appt with the Navarros, cleared up sister navarros doubts, hopefully we'll have really good news about them next week.

[sun 11.29] church. all day. bro cabrales received the aaronic priesthood and was called to be our gospel principles teacher. amazing. we taught our other FAMILY... the SOENS [they're the blakes old neighbors] then had dinner with all the racine elders at the Dehahns... i love that family. They're so faithful and missionary minded. The spirit is very strong in their home. Then we went caroling with the Racine english and spanish elders. i love caroling.

I love all of you! you are a great strength to me... especially in a hard week like this one! This week is ALREADY 100X better!

Thanks for all you do for me!

I love you!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

PS... tatum... TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH... i do believe it is YOUR TURN to write me missy!!!! I hope you have a good day! I am thinking of you!

A few days late...

2009-11-28T07:24:00.000-08:00

Ok ok everyone... here is the email I promised. I meant to do it earlier this week... but I just didn't have time tuesday or wednesday and everything was closed thursday and friday, . . so I had no WAY of emailing.

Sorry mom for making you wait an eternity for this email! I want you to know, mom, that I thought of you ALL day on THANKSGIVING... for two reasons- the first being it's your favorite holiday [it is your favorite holiday, right??] and the second because it was YOUR BIRTHDAY! [a little something is in the mail for you... i hope you get it real soon]. I want you to know that you really are THE BEST MOM EVER. I feel after 22 years of being your daughter, I can say that! Thanks for all you do for me... it never even phased me all growing up when people would say, "Pamella, I just love your mom!" I'd just think, "ya, me too!" But really, there is a REASON they said that to me all the time... you have such an ability to be helpful and loving! OH HOW I MISS YOU! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This past week was a REALLY good week. I just love serving here in Racine and Kenosha! I feel like I am SO AT HOME HERE! I hardly even use my GPS at all anymore, it's wierd! K, here is the DL...

[lunes 11.16]

what a day monday was. what a day. we got up for our last time at the BLAKE'S and packed half of our belongings in the car... THen we WENT and played SOCCER! but.. all the elders are half - dead... they've all gotten "THE SICKNESS". mind you, there are 8 of them down here so when one gets it... the rest are pretty much doomed [because they're always together]. SO only a few played. it was AWFUL to see them just sit in the car and watch us... but we had a lot of fun playing.

Then we went to UW Parkside and emailed. The elders called us and invited to come to Brother Jenkins' home, a member in the Racine ward, he's single, a doctor and SUPER nice. We went and watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" [e. trauntvein has a secret copy] in his home theater... it was amazing. Then brother Jenkins' offered to take all 10 of us to lunch at Infusinos, the BEST pizza place in Racine. its so good, such a nice place too. I kept hearing about it, it was nice to finally go.

On the way there I noticed our gas light came on [i have always been bad about that]... so we just determined that after we ate we'd get gas. Well we got there before the bro. jenkins so we waited for him in the parking lot. The elders pulled up beside us and we talked to them for a bit. Bro. Jenkins pulled up. We got out of the car, I got something out of the backseat, and we went in. We sat down, ordered... waited for our food... played games on the paper table cloths, so fun, love the dot game! .... we ate our ginormous portions, talked, ate some more and then it was time to go. I couldn't find my keys anywhere. Naturally, my first reaction was to blame the elders. which i did. they're always doing stuff like that to me. but they didn't have them ... so I just walked out to the parking lot, and as i approached the car I heard a humming and I saw the lights were on.. i thought NO WAY> NOW WAY is OUR CAR ON!!! yep. it sure was my friends. I left our car UNLOCKED with ALL our BELONGINGS in it RUNNING on an EMPTY TANK OF GAS for TWO HOURS in one of the SCARIEST PARTS of RACINE. not to mention that I was eating with 8 elders and a MAN from our ward. KILL ME. you should have seen their faces, they were more shocked than me! needless to say I have yet to live this down. I will never EVER live this DOWN! . . . I KNOW THAT GOD LIVES because our car was NOT STOLEN. little miracles people. God even loves us when we act like morons! We drove to the gas station and all was fine. good times. it still makes me laugh. seriously, who does that?

we had dinner with the blake's, then we finished moving. they helped us. it was a LONG day to say the least. Now, we are at the Brigg's.

[martes 11.17]

we had district meeting and interviews with President Barrett. I LOVE president BARRETT. he is such a great man. I had the BEST... the LONGEST interview with him. We just talked. more like ChAtteD! You know when you talk to someone and you can just FEEL how much they love you? Yes, that's how I feel when I talk to my mission president. The man is AmAzing! He talked about how much my companion, SISTER JOHNSON loves me... He said she speaks very highly of me, said we were best friends and that she desires to serve with me the duration of my mission! so cute. He sorta hinted that I may be transferred coming up december 10th... he was driving me NUTS! He'd just laugh after he'd say some AMBIGUOUS statement and say, "come on, your mission president has to have a little fun!" HA he kills me. so we shall see. I love it here, but if I am supposed to be elsewhere, elsewhere I will go... I told him if I have to leave I would love to go up to Green Bay SPanIsH! We find out saturday dec. 5... so I will know in two pdays... not knowing KILLS ME! but for now, I am just loving the Branch. Also in my interview president talked about how he vividly remembers one year ago walking around down town milwaukee and me wearing "flimsy" shoes and being SO COLD... He even remembered giving me his scarf to wrap around my near FROZEN feet that night when we got in the van. Oh the memories... this mission is just going by so fast. I said that the other day and a lady in our ward said, "that's good! you wouldn't want your mission to DRAG ON would you?" I guess not! The rest of my interview was about working with the kenosha english elders more, he commended us for working so well with the other elders, it has proven VERY SUCCESSFUL! i love this work. After interviews we went to Quiznos and Wal.Mart and we taught Vicki and had dinner at the Abbott's and then we went to MUTUAL... ERICA and VERONICA NEVARRO came... It was a GREAT DAY. Interviews always give me a good boost. Sister Johnson told me sister Barrett said i was one of her favorites... AHH... I LOVE sister BARRETT... I interviewed with her too... I love her, she's a great mom subsitute.

[miercoles 11.18]

we taught english. We taught Michelle... she's so pumped for her baptism. We went to racine's mutual.

[jueves 11.19]

we studied. We met the elders at the church for a planning meeting, the kenosha english elders to coordinate how we can help them. sister johnson had elder petrie translate the talk she had to give sunday... he was way under the weather, poor kid. we took him a coloring book and crayons too. we visited elizabeth martinez, she's doing so good... fighting that depression SO WELL! then we taught OUR FAMILY. It was the first time I had ever taught A NEW FAMILY the RESTORATION in SPANISH by myself... i def STRUGGLED, it's so hard having a companion that is not fluent... but we made it. It was great. THe spirit was so STRONG! They committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! They are so prepared. The Lord really HEARS and ANSWERS our PRAYERS!

[viernes 11.20]

we met TIFFANY BAUMSTARK! it was so incredible. Tiffany is a media referral. SHe got on Mormon.org and ordered a Book of Mormon after reading CJANES blog! SHE KNOWS THE NIE NIE DIALOGUES... the elders visited her once, she says they were a little over whelmed by her... haha. I called her. we clicked... we've been TRYING and TRYING to see her... ALAS it happened! We met her at WILSONS COFFEE and TEA. [racine does have some charming places, i've been shocked recently!] Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have owned the place... forever. They have GREAT HOT COCOA... ps. :) .... We talked and talked and talked. we answered her questions and never before in my LIFE have I seen someone so EXCITED to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. She is just the cutest thing ever, I can't wait to meet her whole family! She has two children. She is AmAzing. I love her. We're BFFS already, I feel like I have known her forever because we've talked on the phone so much.

we then visited Daysi and her new baby,,, Leah Michelle. They're bothdoing great... Daysi is reading her scriptures and praying everyday... she says she does it for the baby! WHATEVER THE MOTIVATION... it's good! this baby has changed her! so cute.

we taught michelle cabrales about keeping the sabbath day holy, she felt the spirit and went right away to talk to her boss about getting saturday off for her dad's baptism and sundays at least until 2 so she can come to church! It worked. She left right after our appt to go talk to her boss about how she needed to be able to attend all 3 hours of church. She was so scared. Apparently, her boss is an angry angry man and he said no to her in the past, but we talked much of faith and she felt prepared, she had hope that the Lord would provide a way. That's all it takes. He did provide a way! She attended her dad's baptism and ALL THREE hours of church on Sunday and loved it. Faith is power!

then we saw vicki. oh vicki, she is SO PREPARED to be baptized. She could be baptized TOMORROW! she just keeps saying, I don't know when... just not yet! ... someday! .... AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

The most exciting news of FRIDAY? ....

ROCKY LEE BLACK... soon to be ELDER BLACK got his mission call!!! THE MARYLAND, BALTIMORE MISSION is So BLESSED to have him! Rocky, you are going to be a great missionary! I can't wait for you to go! You are going to LOVE it... I just know it! I am so grateful that we will have a period of time where we are both serving together! It's going to be a really special time! I seriously can't wait for you to go!

[sabado 11.21]

SOCCER Brother Cabrales said we MUST play soccer before his baptism! so we did. it was fun. He said he didn't sleep all night... he was nervous!

He was Baptized along with Luis, Vicki's son, at noon. It was a beautiful baptism. I love going to baptisms, the spirit is so strong. Vicki came and so did Michelle. They felt the spirit too. Michelle is so excited. I asked vicki if the next baptism i went to would be hers... she just laughed and said "NO CREO!" which means I DON'T BELIEVE SO! haha

I love Bro. Cabrales and Luis so much. I have been here the whole time start to finish for their teaching. It's wonderful! I love them! I have had the opportunity to teach them both. What strengths they'll be to our little branch!

we had dinner with bro cluphf. our WML in the racine ward. we had a good mtg. to end the night we taught his neighbors who were on their front porch as we were leaving with the elders. I love to hear other missionaries teach. elder stribling is such a good teacher.

[domingo 11.22]

we had church and meetings all the day long [8:30-5:30]. sister johnson gave her first talk in spanish and did a great job. After church we checked our mail at the Blakes and then went and talked to their neighbors, the Soen's. They are a great family and we will be going back to teach them next sunday! they love and miss the blakes just as much as we do! we ended the night teaching the NAVARROS. they didn't come to church. it's so frusterating. they are so close. we got to talk to the mom a lot. i love her. they just need to all COME TO CHURCH and feel the spirit that is there... they are still having doubts.

As you can see... we are never too worried about what we should do each day... we are SO BUSY! I just love serving here. I love being a sister missionary. I am so thankful for this time in my life to serve!

I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and steered clear of the malls on the infamous BLACK FRIDAY! I will tell you all about mine on monday!

i love you all!

Love, sister pamella JO black!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2009-11-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

Happy thanksgiving to ALL of you! I have so much to be thankful for.

I am not feeling well.

I will write this email sometime later this week.

Love YOU ALL!!

Love, sister pamella jo black

ps. i am fine. no swine flu. just not feeling well! I am going to take a nap.

GRANDMA... I got your dearelder. you are the best! I am loving all the mail I am getting lately!

CONGRATULATIONS ROCKY!!! THE MARYLAND, BALTIMORE MISSION IS SO LUCKY!!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM on the 26th! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY And BLAKERS on the 30th and HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATUM on the 1st!!!! I will be thinking of ALL of you!

FAITH

2009-11-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello All!

What a week this has been! This week has been all about FAITH for us. We are striving to be like those described in Ether chapter 12 by Moroni... he explains all the miracles that faith has wrought among his people. In verse 15 he says, "Behold, it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites". We can be like Ammon and his brethren. Our faith can change people. In my scriptures I have "FAITH! my faith can change people" written next to those verses. I love Ether 12. read it... another favorite verse is 4... HOPE for a BETTER world... hope cometh of FAITH... which maketh an anchor, an anchor that will ANCHOR the SOULS of MEN... good stuff. I love Hebrews 11, Alma 32, Ether 12 and Moroni 7 ... they're all about Faith FAITH faiTH!

The elders we serve around are the best examples to sister Johnson and I of Faith. I am so impressed and inspired by them. They wake up early to get extra study in, they've fasted for us before an important appointment with an investigator family that we both teach, they have faith the size of a BASKETBALL [according to e. hatch!] they are just spiritual giants. We are blessed to serve in the same units as Elders Smith, Trauntvien, Petrie, Cambell, Warner, Stribling, Gates, and Vance! They are AmAZing! I love these eight elders. I see their willingness to be EXACTLY obedient and to do whatever it takes to help their investigators progress and I think of ROCKY and I just can't WAIT for him to go!!!

We are moving today. The Blake's are moving to Utah on Friday. SAD DAY! I will miss them so much. I've lived with them since june. They are a great family. I will miss have scripture study and family prayer with them sometimes at night... or hearing the hustle and bustle of children in the morning on their way to school. I will miss Jackson greeting me as I come in the door throughout the day. I just love the Blake's. They are already well aware that I will be a visitor when I come back up to school in the fall... especially for sunday dinner!!!! :) AND bishop blakes famous doughnuts! They're the best. [the elders came over for a planning meeting last night and got in on the doughnut action too, there is nothing better!] Bishop was just released yesterday. It was so sad! They're a great family and a great contributor to this RACINE ward! I will miss hearing Jackson cry when his mom vaccumes saying, "MOOOMMMMM, STOP that! I Don'T like it WhEN you DO that! MOOOMMMM stop DOING that!" It's hilarious to hear a 3 year old speak so perfectly. or I remember the time in september when the power went out at about 9:30 and Jackson and Madison were scared and NOT very happy. I gave jackson my BYU "torch" as he calls it [flashlight] and then we read books together on the couch while sister blake cleaned the kitchen. good times. i love that family, they're like my own!

We're moving to the Brigg's.

I must go now... my email next week will cover all the bases I missed. I promise.

Last piece of Good News... we set a baptismal date with Michelle Cabralles for December 5th! We're teaching her, the elders teach their parents who were both being baptized on Saturday, November 21st. ONly, sister cabralles' records were just found... SHE REALLY IS A MEMBER... haha so now just Hermano Cabrales is being baptized. I love him. He plays soccer with us twice a week. Now he'll be able to baptize his daughter on dec 5th. Michelle is 16. It was a good appointment. I have really learned about facilitating an environment for the spirit. The spirit was DEF there. I asked Michelle if she felt it... she said yes.

I love you all!

Have a good week!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

ps mom and dad! I LOVED my package! and GPA and GMAX5 ... i loved my tape!! thank you!

One Year...

2009-11-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? I have officially been a sister missionary for ONE WHOLE YEAR... I can't even believe it. Time flies. This time last year I was in the MTC learning all about what I would be doing for the next 18 months of my life. Now I have only 6 months LEFT! What? I have so much I want to do in the next six months. This has been a great year in my life, like I always say, I never knew I would love it this much. While I have the time I just want you all to know how grateful I am to have such wonderful support on my mission. I get a great deal of mail for being out a year [in case you didn't know that's how missionaries measure love: the amt in the mailbox! :]. It means a lot to me!Thanks for all you do.

This week we have worked so hard. We have SEVENTEEN investigators... thats a 1 and a 7. Not all are progressing as fast as the others, but they are all coming along. We teach a lot, all day everyday. We are going to need some serious member help in the coming weeks. We plan to involve the relief society this sunday. We are going to set up splits once a week [that means we'll pick a time like 1-3 on Wed and have 2 sisters meet us at the church and we'll split up and go out with them]. We'll get twice as much accpmplished and our investigators will meet members... i love killing 2 birds with 1 stone! We have been trying to do this for a while now, but things have finally evened out and we are ready to set that up! It's long overdue. We need to have daily contact with all of our investigators. That is near impossible with 17 investigators... that's why we need the members. [i know i know, it didn't just happen overnight that we have 17 people in our teaching pool, but it wasn't until we did transfer planning the other day that we realized really how many there are] We are focusing the most on our most progressing, but all the investigators need our TLC ... they are all important to us.

[lunes]

pDAY. It was a good preparation day too. We played soccer in the morning. Then we went to Sister Birch's home. I LOVE sister Birch. She is in the Kenosha ward and she loves missionaries. She is so good to us. Her son Kyle is serving in Jacksonville, Florida right now. She will do anything for us, I really appreciate her willingness help us in any way she can. She made us cinnamon rolls and everyone played risk. Minus me [and elder smith who took a nap] ... I am just NOT THAT INTO IT... i played a lot in Green Bay at the Ribbens home, but that was different. So I wrote a lot of letters that were long overdue. I am ALMOST caught up. FINALLY! We were at her house forever, [she always has Jack Johnson playing in the background. my favorite.] then we emailed and went to target. We had a taco dinner, [my request, but dad... nobody makes them like you- yours are still the BEST!] taught her mom Deborah and then went home. It was a really good day.

[martes]

We had district meeting. Elder Petrie is such a great district leader, I always learn so much from him. He committed us to practice our Interactive Committment Based Teaching style and to role play that in companionship study & to make sure we were having effective companionship and personal studies. Those were good refreshers for us. After district meeting we went to eat at El Caporal. . . it's a good place, good mexican food. We taught Vicki at 3:30. Vicki is one of our spanish investigators. She sees a lot of dreams and tries to interpret them... we don't.It makes it really hard because so much of her decision making weighs on her dreams... I think she just eats too many spicy things right before she goes to bed. . . I know that dreams are a way the spirit can teach us. . . But God is a God of Clarity, Light and Knowledge. He does not work through confusion and doubt- that comes from Satan. We teach her about the spirit: how to recognize it... how to follow it and the teachings of the prophets in the scriptures concerning how to receive revelation from God.

We then stopped by the Nevarros home... they're also spanish investigators. They have been taught for about a year. The elders, Elder Trauntvein and Elder Smith... are AmAzing. They have so much faith. I just learned the other day that they wake up at 5:30 or 6 [at the latest] every day to study. No wonder they're so faithful. To get up early is a BIG deal, 6:30 is early enough for me. ANYWAYS, they just started teaching the Nevarros again, and by the end of the lesson the Nevarros were willing to stop meeting with missionaries from the Jehova Witness church. They recognized the spirit they felt and wanted to change. That was a week ago. Their lesson with them on Tuesday was also AMAZING. THey set baptismal dates with two of them... Bro Nevarro and one daughter Veronica. The mom was not home and Ericka wasn't ready to commit [elder smith said she told him she wants to read more of the BOM. He grew up with sisters and said, "I think actually she's just an insecure teenage girl, but instead of saying 'I'm an insecure teenage girl', she said, 'I need to read more of the BOM'" It was hysterical, i still laugh at that comment. THe thing is... he was probably DEAD ON!

Our lesson was short and spirit filled. We sang joseph smiths first prayer as well. It was wonderful, we set a return appointment and left.

[miercoles]

we taught english in kenosha with the elders...

many of our appts cancelled...

we had the BOMB.COM lesson with amy. [yes i just said that brittany, i am around 19 year old boys all day, give me a break] She knows she needs to be baptized. She is getting closer and closer... and now she's even PRAYING... woo hoo. She told us she has her "happy place" where she likes to pray. We taught her she could pray anywhere and especially before bed at night in her room. She said she'd try it.

Sister Johnson went on splits with sister Stephanie Aquino and taught Trinidad. It was our first lesson with her and it went very well. Then we all played volleyball... WE HAD 3 INVESTIGATORS THERE. . . marka, amy and jessica.it was amazing.

[jueves]

we did our normal study routine in the morning... 1 hour for each personal, companionship and language study. We took a break and went to Temika King's for a really good lunch. She made my favorite thing she makes... frozen fruit with chocolate melted all over it. AmAzing. Then we went home and did our weekly and transfer planning. We taught Janae at 4p at her house and then JEssIcA at the Brigg's.

Jessica is a cool girl. We met her one day after leaving Marka's house after an appt. We were walking really fast to the car, we were late to our next appointment. I saw her and another girl walking a little puppy in their yard out of the corner of my eye. I felt like we needed to talk to her, but we were LATE so I tried to just keep going. BUT I HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE AND I LOATHE THAT FEELING so now that I was already at our car with my companions close behind I stopped and turned around ... i think they thought i was crazy [later i found out they felt it too]. I thought "think fast, think fast" I needed an "in" for this conversation so these girls who saw us leave and now come back didn't think we were creeps! SO I said, "CUTE PUPPY!" haha I told them I just couldn't get in the car withought talking to them. Jessica was very interested. She said she had been looking for "churchy people". It was amazing. HOw thankful I am for the Holy Ghost. What a blessing it is in my life.

SO we taught Jessica the Restoration at the Brigg's home. She loved it, didn't accept a baptismal date, but came up with the idea of reading a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon on her own.

After that lesson we visited the Cobrales Family. I love them.

[viernes]

we taught english....

WE TAUGHT VERONICA and ERICA NEVARRO with the Flores girls and it was such a powerful lesson. The elders left them Jacob 7 to read. We reveiwed that and then taught about the For Strenght of Youth Pamphlet. THe promises the First Presidency leave for those who follow those standards are amazing. Erica committed to be baptized November 28th. This is a BIG deal. Having the Flores girls made all the difference.

we taught vicki. she's the same. we need to do something different, we just don't know what yet.

WE had DInnER with the Sandovall's. He is from Guatemala, he is the principal of a spanish immersion school. pretty cool idea those immersion schools. Him and his mom made us some good Guatemalan food. I love his family... he has cute little girls.

[sabado]

we played soccer. we had the best turn out ever. so many people there! the nevarro girls came!!!

WE then spent some time with sister birch. Sister johnson is going to russia on wednesday so she took us to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit [sister johnson's choice]. We then had lunch at the Milwaukee Public Market... yum yum. I love milawukee. We came home in time to go back up to the Adult session of Stake Conference. Sister Sievert, our investigator came. It was such an uplifting conference.

[domingo]

we fasted today ... the elders had another great lesson with the nevarros saturday night and committed them to fast that their mom/wife would accept the gospel and allow the family to be baptized together. THey agreed. I'm telling you- these elders are AmAzing. They said at the beginning of the lesson they thought the Nevarro's were going to drop them... by the end they were FASTING... that's faith my friends. I love fasting with the purpose. I felt the spirit so strongly all day today. The gospel is AmAzing.

WE had stake conference in milwaukee. Jessica came and loved it. I loved it. THis is a great stake. WE had dinner with the Petriceck's after. Our time was short so we left a homework assignment instead of teaching our lesson. Brother Petriceck has been investigating for a long time. His wife is a member. We hope to bring a SpArK that he hasn't felt before.

We ended our night with a Chapel lesson tour with Amy. It was Amazing. We taught her lesson 3: The Gospel of Jesus Christ using the Baptismal Font and the Chapel. She loved it. The spirit was so strong. Sister Johnson gave an amazing invitation from the savior, Matt 11, to be baptized. Amy knows she needs to commit. She is scared to give us her WOW issues : coffee, cigarrettes and alcohol. I know it will not be a problem once she makes up her mind. I love LOVE love being a missionary!

I love you all... thanks for all you do for me! YOu are THe BEst!

Have a Good week!

Rocky I am DYING to know where you get your call to! YOu Better OPEN that SUCKER the same day you get it!

Love,

sister Pamella Jo Black

PS

dad: you dead mon? [said in cool runnings accent] email me

grandma! i loved your letter! I will write you back!

Reg... loved the email... there is a letter coming your way too!

What sets us apart?

2009-11-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

This week we had mission tour [big name for zone conference w/ a gen authority]. Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the 70 came to visit our mission. He is AmAzing. He told some really funny jokes, he won our favor right away with those. I love him. He addressed that very question... WHAT SETS US APART FROM OTHER RELIGIONS? Well, we believe that man in born neither inherently good nor evil, rather man is born whole and innocent. We then use our God-given gift of agency to choose whom we will serve. I learned a lot from that talk. How grateful I am for the conditional and unconditional blessings of the atonement. The atonement is truly the greatest news we can share with anyone... that no matter what we will all be resurrected, we'll all live eternally with our bodies, and that we are all cleansed from original sin. Everyone will receive those gifts. Now we have the opportunity to do all we can to live righteously and Christ, being the mediator, will make up the difference. Heavenly Father wants us back, we must do ALL we can to go towards truth and light. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! The gospel is good news! I truly couldn't be a missionary for any other church. We have the truth and we have the proof... without the Book of Mormon and the knowledge we have of prayer, how do people really know things are true?

I loved mission tour. Madison, Milwaukee north and Milwaukee south stakes were combined. It was wonderful. I got to see all my former companions except for sisters roth and behrends, who were having mission tour the next day. There were eight of us sisters there. At one part of one of Elder Hafen's talks he was speaking about how we honor Eve. Eve paved the way, Eve took the first step. Then on a side note He talked for a minute about women and how we need not feel any less for not having the Priesthood and divine roles etc. It was at that very moment when the WHOLE ROW OF 8 elders [who all serve here in racine/kenosha] sitting behind us started DYING laughing. Why might you ask? Oh it's because EVERY little thing I do ends up being some kind of joke about myself not having the Priesthood. IT was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. The Barrett's were sitting right in front of us and sister Barrett asked what all that was about. I told her and she laughed too. funny elders. JUST FOR THE RECORD: contrary to popular belief I do not want the Priesthood. I love the Priesthood, I respect all those who hold offices in the Priesthood, but I do not want to hold it myself. I have enough responsibility thank you very much.

The sisters all sang "Nearer My God to Thee" as the special musical number, it was pretty. Elder and Sister Alder are going home this month. I can't even believe it! I called sister alder quite often before my mission asking her questions here and there about coats and luggage and boxes, etc. I will miss the ALderS. I have grown quite fond of them!

As for the rest of the week...

[mon] PDAY! it was a really good pday too! we played soccer in the MUD and RAIN. It was the BEST! We also went to Kohls, I got 2 cute new shirts, I think it is time for a few new things, I haven't shopped in FOREVER! We printed pictures at Wal Mart and we spent some time with sister calderwood. i love her. We emailed and then we had appts with Vicki and the Davis'.

[tues] we studied. taught Marka, she is doing really well. She know the Book of Mormon is True and Jesus is the Christ. She just needs to marry her boyfriend! :) I love teaching her. We had dinner with the Spanish Elders at the Abbott's and then went to Culver's for custard. We took the english elders some custard too, they were both deathly sick with colds.

[wed] we went and taught english in kenosha. then we taught elena. Elena speaks only spanish. She works at the Centro Hispano so she comes to english class twice a week. She started reading a Restoration Pamphlet the Elders left there. When we started coming we asked her if she wanted to be taught and she was game. She is learning to read as she reads from The Book of Mormon each day. I love her. We had dinner with the Seivert's afterwards, sister seivert is not a member [though her kids both go to BYU-I and her son is about to go on a mission and her husband has been a member their whole marriage] and committed to READ and PRAY to know the Book of Mormon is True. That's a BIG deal! Then we played volleyball. Our investigator amy came.

[thu] mission tour- see above. then we ate at Noodles and Company, go there... get Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with Breaded Chicken... YUM! Then we had an AmAzing lesson with Amy. She is so faithful, she's had a lot of hard life experiences lately, I can't imagine life without my mom. She now knows that her mom is being taught in the spirit world what we are teaching her here! I love that!

[fri] english class. we taught suzie about the importance of going to church. we had the trunk or treat for the Kenosha ward and the branch! so fun!

[sat] HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Cleaning day for us... but our house is for sale so we clean for showings and open houses EVERY DAY. so we played soccer with the elders [FREEZING COLD AND SUPER MUDDY. way WINDY TOO!!!!] and then went to the calderwoods and wrote letters for the day and just hung out. We met the elders [and octavio], all eight that we serve with here, for PiZZa at Ruffalo's... so YUMMY!, best pan pizza EvEr! Then we went to the church and played a game called speed ball in the cultural hall with them. It is unsafe for us to proselyte on Halloween so we were asked not too. It was a wierd day... but fun!

[sun] we only had 2 hours of church, as opposed to the usual 6! the building is under construction so we just went to our two sacrament meetings. It was great to fast! Then we went to the Calderwood's for dinner and afterwards to the Flores for "pan dulce" and "chocolate". YUM! it was NoV 1st... Dia de los Muertes! A mexican holiday. FUN! They celebrate their dead, wierd, but cool. Study it ... i learned about it in HS.

It was an AmAZing WEEK. but then again, when don't I say that! i love being a missionary! I love all of you! I love my family and all of you who I consider family! Thanks for all you do for me!

Love, sister pamella jo black

ps ... the Blake's are moving in the next couple weeks, thus so are we [only not to UT with them! :] send all mail here:

SISTER PAMELLA JO BLACK
5651 Broad St Ste1
Greendale, WI 53129

Have a good week! YOu are aLl in my PraYerS!

WE ARE...

2009-10-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

... BUSY!

super busy.

we have more investigators than i have ever had in any area of my mission. AmAzing.

there is no such thing as downtime!

i love it. this is what this work is all about.

Today I don't have a whole lot of time to email... like 40 minutes as of right now. SO I may be brief... which i know many of you don't believe is possible. but oh, it is! [and if you wrote me an email this week or last week and i didn't respond... i am sorry! i just don't have time... expect a hand written letter this week!]

i just want you all to know what a hard time all of the elders give me for writing such long emails... post-mish i know i will be happy i did this, and i told them if i didn't my mom would get on a plane to be sure i was OK! they laugh, i'm serious. so brace yourself mom... when rocky is gone you may get 3 paragraphs on a good day (they say their paragraphs are at most 5 sentances! HA) PLUS i don't do a very good job of writing in my journal... so this is like my journal!

Speaking of ROCKY and MISSIONS... his papers are IN! MY BROTHER, ROCKY LEE BLACK... is WAITING for his MISSION CALL! Hallelugiah! I am so excited for him... it makes me so excited my heart beats fast when I talk about it... Are you having people guess rocky? I will tell you my guess next week. I need to think about it.

[lunes] we spent pday last week in milwaukee. we had to take our car in to get so recall thing on the brakes fixed on our little corolla... i am not sure, i just drove it to the dealership. SO we got to spend a whole day with the milwaukee sisters. We emailed at the Muskego library, ate lunch at Kopps.... it was Russian J's first time.. yum yum!!! [sister warner and i have a perfect system when we go there... we share a burger and fries and custard. it's perfect] Then we went to wal-mart... sister warner and i let the other sisters stay together and we did our own thing. oh how i love her. it was good to have that hour with her. THEN.. we went and took fall pictures at a park in milwaukee... so BEAUTIFUL! I love the wisconsin fall! EverYday I say at least 5 times... it is SO beautiful here... There is a tree lined street that we always drive down to see colors of RED, YELLOW, GREEN, PURPLE... it's AmAzing. Best SEASON ever! After pictures we went to the mission home for a bit and visited with sister barrett... then we were back in Racine to have a dinner appointment with Mitesha. We met her non-member mom and she is making us Tacos in two weeks... YUM!

[martes]
district meeting... we also took more fall pics. We were on our way out to contact a referral in Caledonia when we saw a beautiful place so we stopped and took pics on our way back. We taught janae and julie and tyra for the first time [more on them next week] and then saw Vicki. Vicki was the first person I ever taught here in Racine... She is great. Since that time in june her daughter Leslie,11, was bapitized and her son Luis,9, has a date for november 14th. The spanish elders are teaching him. Vicki has had so many life experiences ... she is great. She has remarkable faith. We ended our night with a meeting with president calderwood. We, all 6 of us missionaries, set a date with him to have 10 more baptisms in the branch before the end of the year. I know it is possible... I love president calderwood, he has a lot of faith too! I love associating with so many people who have SO MUCH FAITH... it strengthens my own faith.

ps i taught vicki in spanish with sister russian johnson... it was AMAZING. i feel so blessed to be able to be a spanish missionary. i was shocked with what came out of my mouth... AMAZING!

[miercoles] highlights: we taught english. [ i love teaching english. it's so fun. the students always tell me i am a good teacher... it's nice to hear that sometimes! I know being a missionary has greatly improved my teaching skills. I loVE teaching.] we played volleyball.

[jueves] weekly planning. taught vicki and the kids again. we went to the Silva's to help them "tract" their neighborhood. It is the third time I have been tracting on my mission. It was at night in the RAIN... they were trying to collect supplies for the salvation army warehouse that is depleated here... we were there to teach them about the church! I think it was fruitful. We passed out many pass-a-long cards and bore testimony.

[viernes] we taught english. visited daysi's BRAND NEW BABY GIRL, Leah Michelle.. the name Leah is so pretty in spanish. she is a doll. we taught elena the plan of salvation... I TAUGHT AGAIN... LIKE MORE THAN ONE PRINCIPLE... i was shocked myself... this language is COMING! then we had dinner with tyra, janae and julie... talked about commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy. we visited vicki again and called it a day.

[sabado] We played soccer in the mud and puddles... fun. then we volunteered at the zoo for the BOO at the ZOO event, service with the elders. we stood outside and passed out candy. it was freezing! FREEZING. the wind was blowing SO hard. Longest THREE hours of my life. We then went to a baptism... ANGEL. he is such a cool kid elders petrie and campbell taught. To end the day the Racine ward had a Trunk or Treat! so fun! I wore the halloween stuff you sent us britt, so did my companions! I love our Johnson, Johnson and Black TRIO! [ps elder stribling was wearing a pretty cool ghost tie!! :] happy bday gma!

[domingo] we had church starting at 8:30 ... it was the Kenosha ward primary program combined with spanish branch! so fun. It was the BEST primary program I have seen in a long time... One little girl got up to the mic and said, "When your family repents, they are clean, when they don't, they're dirty!" and sat down. HILARIOUS. One little boy got up to the mic, said his schpeel about temples and forever families. at the end he said, "we should all go to the" [in normal voice] "TEEEMMPPLLEEE" [in a low creepy wispery voice really close to the microphone]. I was dying laughing. It is so touching to see those kids sing and testify, in their own words, about what they know is true. Families can Be TOgether Forever. made me cry when all the kids sang the 1st verse in spanish and the 2nd in english to accomodate both language needs in the congregation. i love this area! then we had church with the racine ward. then we taught amy at the farleys... and had dinner. bro farley is a great cook!

Just in closing because I must go... last week I was having a rough time. I was STRESSED out... we have SO much to do, so LITTLE time, i have less than SIX months left on my mission and so much i want to do, i can't communicate near as easily in spanish as i can in english and i was frustrated ... etc SUNDAY i was just seeking a little peace and comfort. President Calderwood came in to our sunday school class in the branch right when elder smith asked me to read. I read the two paragraphs and didn't think anything about it. As i was leaving after class he pulled me aside and told me my spanish was "greatly improving" ... just what i needed to hear... no more than 5 minutes later i was in the chapel getting spanish hymn books for relief society and a ladyfrom the kenosha ward that i didn't know came up to me and said, "I just have to tell you, you remind me of my sister who served her mission in Argentina. You are always so bright and happy and your face just looks lit up! Thanks for serving your mission." It was SO nice of her! I really need just those two little comments. it made me day to say the least.

I am all good now!

it was an AmAzing week!

I hope it doesn't rain all this week like it did last week!

I love you all!

Love, sister pamella jo black

PS... MEG: Congrats your new arrivals... TWINS... I want to meet those sweet little babies! Ruby and Lucy... I LOVE THOSE NAMES, I can't wait to hold them... they'll be so old by april!!

Cleave unto ChArItY...

2009-10-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

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

Nobody ever said...

2009-10-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

... I would LOVE it this much!

I LOVE MY MISSION. I LOVE IT. I feel like Rocky, in his last letter [yes folks the boy sent me a HAND-WRITTEN letter, happy day!] he said, "I just want to shout it off the roof-tops, the gospel has been restored!" I too feel that way. On Friday I will only have six months left to share that message. I LOVE being a full-time representative of Jesus Christ. It is truly an AmAzing experience. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 4 talks all about our work as missionaries, it says:

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;
4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.
6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.
7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

I love those scriptures! Especially verses 5-7. I truly feel like I am learning to posess those qualities as a missionary. Sometimes I have to really REALLY stretch to have TEMPERANCE or PATIENCE with certain people or certain situations, but I feel a power beyond my own helping me to be CALM and to RELAX and speak and act as the Lord would have me... even when it's REALLY REALLY hard and I could easily be irritated or angry. The spanish elders often say to me "CALMATE or TRANQUILA" while we play soccer... haha. I am learning to incorporate those in to all allys of my life. It's good for me... but sometimes stretching HURTS!

This was one of the best weeks on my mission. It started and ended well. I truly have been so HAPPY in this work this week!

[MON] play soccer. i was DYING Of sickness [a cold], but i HAD to play.. so I did. We then made breakfast [pancakes] at the FLORES for them and all the elders and helped her plant flowers. we emailed. we went to Target. We had ENCHILADAS with TED and CHERYL and then I went to bed.

[TUE] I did not get out of bed. I was SO sick. I slept the day away. It felt so WIERD... but so good. The wierd thing was, no matter how long I slept, I was STILL TIRED!! I planned on going out that night, but then I just couldn't, so the sisters had dinner at the Ngorney's and taught AMY without me. I stayed home, slept, showered, and ate homemade chicken noodle soup courtesy of sister blake. Kassidy was sick too, she's the Blake's oldest daughter, so she was my companion. We both went to bed early.

[WED] we had district meeting and interviews with President and Sister Barrett. I love them SO much! They both expressed to me how much they love me, how grateful they were to have me in the mission, but specifically how grateful they were to have me in Racine. President mentioned the first time he met me, oh how I love that he still remembers street contacting with me in downtown Milwaukee that COLD November night! He loves that I was so bold, which is true, but i was SO new I didn't know there was another way! haha He says I haven't lost it! He said I am just so happy and enthusiastic in the work! It was a great interview, one of the best I have had. Sister Barrett made me a CD! I love it... I DEF needed new music! I love the Barrett's. It's so good to hear you are loved and appreciated sometimes, that is what I needed. It has been a little stressful having the Sister JOhnsOn's here... they are both great, but both new to the area. Russian Johnson is BRAND NEW... I always have to be on my A GAME! ... which is good... but stressful sometimes.

Elder Petrie gave us great training at district meeting. He committed us to PRAY with pen and paper and write down inspiration/revelation we receive, to update our area book EVERY night and use it in planning and to practice ROLE-PLAYING teaching scenarios in companionship study. We role-played during district meeting too. We did finding ideas. At one point I was paired up with on of the assistants, elder carter, he was the missionary and I was pretending to be a girl walking on campus. He did SUCH a GREAT JOB of bringing the spirit and testifying! Even in a role-play the Lord will bless us with the spirit as we bear testimony of Him.

[THU] we painted our room at the Blakes to make it more generic so it would sell... it was brown and TEAL... BRIGHT TEAL OR AQUA OR SOMETHING... my luggage colors!... NOW it is a beautiful brown. Then we taught TINA and SUZIE. We set a baptismal date with SUZIE for OCT 31st. It was a great experience. Suzie just had a baby. Her boyfriend is a less-active member who is coming back. They are a great couple, good hearted people. I am excited for Suzie to see the fruits of repentance in her life over the next couple weeks as she prepares for baptism. We had the Sura's for dinner and we had a GREAT lesson with Dave. We found out his concerns for not being baptized and remaining the "most non-mormon MORMON" [as he calls himself] we know. We gave him a calendar. I hope and pray he prayfully considers this decision and makes a plan, we can't do it for him.

[FRI] we taught english in kenosha with the elders. It was really good, we had such a good turn-out. It helps my Spanish so much. We are even going to begin teaching the gospel to some of those whom we teach english. Elaena is one of them- she is older and has a really big family. we left the RESTORATION pamphlets in English and Spanish in the classroom. She works at the Centro Hispano, where we have class and she has been reading a page a day, reading is really difficult for her, in both english and spanish. SHE IS SO PREPARED! We taught Suzy again and Tina too. We set a date with Tina again, [she had a date when I first got here] for NOVEMBER 1st. I know she can do it! We had dinner with Vivian Maine, a sweet older lady. I love her.

[SAT] WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE... sister Blake dropped us off in Chicago at around 7 am... we left the house at 6... we got up at 5! BUT it was SUCH a GREAT day! We did initiatories... IN SPANISH... then an endowment session at 8am. At 10:30 the FLORES family was SEALED together for TIME and ALL ETERNITY. I love the Flores family. They have been members for a little over a year. They have 4 children Fernanda [15], Lupita [13], Sofi [9], & Brian [6] . They are such a wonderful family! I have grown really close to them. We play soccer with them every saturday and have breakfast at their home every PDAY. The last time i was in a sealing room was when I was Sofi's age...that's 13 years ago. It was a very spiritual experience for me to remember my family and my own sealing. THe last thing the Sealer said to them, after the children left was, "Your children don't have to make covenants, they are yours forever!" WOW! What a blessing that is as members of the church. How grateful I am for forever families. My favorite thing to teach when we teach the Plan of Salvation is that God allows us to learn about our relationship with Him as our Heavenly Father by giving us families. We love our parents and our children unconditionally, thru that love we come to know His love for us.

I love the temple. Doing initiatories [it was my first time since I did my own initiatory last year this time] in Spanish made me pay attention better, what blessings come from attending the temple and making and keeping our covenants there! Heavenly Father desires to bless us SO much, I always think of that when I am at the temple. I am so grateful for parents who LOVE me and brittany and rocky SO MUCH... and for their willingness to keep the commandments and live the gospel in order to bless us as an eternal family!

Speaking of FAMILY... it just happened to be GREEN BAY STAKE TEMPLE DAY! Right before the sealing we came out of our session and I got to see EVERYONE I LOVE from green bay! [President Kreihbl, P. & S. Biolo, S. Doucette, S. Roberts, the Carlsruh's, and MANY MANY MORE] WHAT A BLESSING! If a year ago someone told me I would love the people this much I wouldn't have believed them. My companions were laughing at me because I was so excited. Practically our WHOLE ward was there! They all hugged me and we caught up. I love them. I pray I get to end my mission serving there... we shall see. I was looking for Lisa Robertson, she wasn't there though. After the sealing I was changing in the locker room out of my temple clothes and someone put their hand under my door and said "Watcha doin' in there?" Oliva Robertson used to do that whenever we went to the bathroom. I was ecstatic to see her... Little J said she was the same to see me! THOSE PEOPLE ARE MY FAMILY IN WISCONSIN. OH HOW I LOVE THEM!

The rest of the day/night was filled with partying. We came back with Hermana Calderwood, went to her kids' soccer game for like 10 minutes, it was FREEZING... then we went to her house and had HOT CHOCOLATE AND BAGELS... then off to the church for the FLORES FIESTA. She wore a wedding dress, he a TUX, There was TONS of GOOD mexican food and a HUGE CAKE! Strobe lights and LOTS of dancing... so fun! I LOVE SERVING IN THE BRANCH!

[SUN] We had FOUR INVESTIGATORS at CHURCH! Suzy, Tina, Tiana [tinas oldest daughter] and Marka! IT was a really great fast and testimony sunday! After church we had SOUL FOOD at Temika's cousin's house here in Racine. They were having a big family party. I didn't know what SOUL FOOD was until last night... yum. When we came in the house everyone just stared at us... there were at least 40 people there... we were the only white people! haha they thought it was HILARIOUS my name was Sister Black. They had all kinds of jokes. None of them are members but we had a great time. We are teaching two of temika's cousins who live there, Raven [15] and Darneesha [11]. We teach our first formal lesson to them tomorrow. They asked me to bless the food and to keep it short, no discourses! haha it was funny! It was a lot of fun, AND I LEARNED WHAT collard greens are! I even ate them... and fried fish! ya i know, AmAzing. . . and i liked it. haha

The rest of the night we spent at the Crowther's with Tina. When we got there Sister Crowther said there would be no lesson; tina confided in her about a lot of problems in her life and couldn't make any kind of cognative decision. She just cried a lot. All of the kids were there too. We sang her Abide with me 'tis Eventide. That calmed her down and then she was willing to accept a blessing of cousel and comfort from Bro. Crowther... IT WAS AMAZING. I really know that the Lord loves Tina SO much. He blessed her to have strength to make hard decisions... it was so specific. He told her to move out of her mom's, get a job, find stable housing, work peacebly with her children's fathers and to not live with another man outside the bonds of marriage. AmAzing. It was SO specific and she was counseled to pray and ask specific questions and wait for the answers. I love the Priesthood! I am pretty sure Tina stayed at the Crowthers last night with the baby. She has no heat or electricity or food at her apt. The members have really stepped up again. Oh how grateful i am that Tina has realized that strength in her life and will now accept help and begin to repent. We hope to teach her tomorrow.

That is the FULL scoop! I love my mission. I love all of you! Keep the mail coming!

Love, sister pamella jo black

The Heavens are NOT closed!

2009-10-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

[this is definitely a theme of conference.. more on that to come! ... The Heavens are NOT closed!]

Hello HEllO!

How are each of you? I want you all to know that I pray for you each often! I hope that you are all enjoying the wonderful fall season... ok it's more fall for me than you- but you can pretend and enjoy the cute decorations. The leaves are changing colors and it is simply beautiful, I have been looking forward to this season for a long time.

This email is going to be significantly shorter than other weeks. I have a cold and honestly just don't even feel like emailing... i think i could have passed on playing soccer this morning... BUT WHY? It is a highlight of the week! Now I am just all tuckered out.

We have dinner with Ted and Cheryl tonight, it's like my Bobby and Sarah here in Wisconsin. She is making enchiladas, one of my FAVS [britts usual request!] so that is sure to make me feel better! we are teaching her the new member lessons now, the ward is supposed too, but they're just getting the hang of it, so we will start. Tonight we teach the restoration- so powerful, i can't wait! Didn't you love Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon yesterday? I thought, do I testify of the Book of Mormon like that? WELL... i will sure try from now on to be SURE that those I teach KNOW how much I LOVE that sacred book! I know Cheryl loves The Book of Mormon.

The HIGHLIGHTS... September 28- October 4th!

monday:
*President called and said little j and I would be getting another companion!
*we had breakfast at the Flores, courtesy of Elder Petrie and Elder Campbell.... hotdogs and Eggs... i am not such a fan of the hotdogs, but loved the eggs, beans and tortillas!
*we emailed then drove to milwaukee and had Kopps with the Milwaukee sisters [sisters johnson, pluim and warner]
*we went to the mission home and picked up sister.... JOHNSON! I have 2 sister johnsons now! Red-headed J is from Washington, the Seattle area [Burlington to be exact] . She is visa-waiting to go to her mission in MOSCOW RUSSIA! She is a BYU student and is pretty fluent in Spanish. I have so much confidence teaching with her. We have done quite a bit of teaching in spanish. . . it's a lot of fun. She is also pretty fluent in Russian, thus she was only in the MTC for 5 weeks... so she'll get her visa in about 4 weeks, when she should have been leaving the MTC [she was supposed to stay for 12 weeks, but was put in the native class, because she can speak it, thus they LEFT to RUSSIA over a week ago, but she'll go when she was supposed to in NOV] I love her. She is a young missionary and very green! ... but so excited about the work. She is a nice addition while we have her! We had testimony meeting and dinner at the Barrett's ... then drove home to Racine. Three girls in one room = fun.

tuesday:
*district meeting
*lunch at culvers with elder bratt and his companions [they're in a trio with a visa waiting elder to russia too. it's good for him] i just love elder bratt... he is a good elder from my mtc district.
*Appts with Tina, Daisy Christina, Abbotts (dinner), Temika

wednesday:
*english class [a real highlight in the week] we taught SO many people there, not only english, but the gospel too! Jaime, Oscar & Claudia are my favorites... they play soccer with us on saturday too! Last week I invited Jaime and him and his wife and son came to church! so cool!
*Tina
*Sura's for dinner
*went to mutual: it was at the furner's: night games and a bonfire...fun!

thursday:
*ted & cheryl
*tina
*contacting referrals

friday:
*english classes
*appts with daisy, nancy herman, & tina

saturday:
GENERAL CONFERENCE
*session one at BLaKe's [crepes with nutella, bananas and whipped cream, YUM!]
*session two at the Sura's... so fun.
*dinner at Culver's
*contacted Tina and referrals

sunday:
GENERAL CONFERENCE
*session one: davis's. I love them.
*session two: at the Crowther's with Adam and Suzy and their BRAND NEW BABY! so fun. Suzy is our investigator. Sister Crowther made us lunch too... yum, stew and rolls.
*we visited amy at joanie farley's... they watched conference together! what a good friend joanie is, she doesn't even know!
*dinner with the Cluphf's... he is our new ward mission leader, we had a good meeting/dinner with him and the elders

I don't know if you can tell [because there was a bit of brevity in this email]... but we are SO busy! There is so much work for us here... it is AmAzing. We got FIVE new investigators this week. It's so wonderful how the Lord is blessing us as we are faithful and do ALL he asks and Put are Trust in HIm! Almost every single one of our investigators is progressing, that is wonderful. i will make a point to tell you about each one of them next week! I love them all.... My mom tells me every week, "Keep loving your investigators!" I love that. I think of her saying that each time one of our investigators does something to frusterate me.

I loved Conference... these are some themes I saw: LOVE, REVELATION/LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT, PUTTING OFF THE NATURAL MAN, and the MESSAGE OF THE RESTORED GOSPEL. I can't wait for the Ensign to come out. I feel so uplifted and inspired ... I love watching conference AS A MISSIONARY. I am grateful for the prayers of so many all over the world for us as missionaries! It is the BEST CALLING in the WORLD! I am convinced.

The work here is going really well, it has really picked up in the past two weeks. I love my companions, i feel like they have both been here with me forever. THey are really good missionaries and love their calling as well! Here is a quote that describes our work lately:

"When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed... The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take the people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christs changes men, who then change the environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."
-Elder Ezra Taft Benson

This is what we've been teaching a lot lately to the people here in Racine/ Kenosha... we can't take these people out of the slums, but we can help them allow Christ to take the slums out of them, giving them the POWER TO CHANGE for GOOD! In turn, I too feel Christ changing me!

I love you all! Have a good week!

Love, sister pamella jo black

CHANGE...

2009-09-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

Alma teaches us all about CHANGE...

In Alma 5: 12- 15 He says, speaking of his father, Alma, and his hearing the words of Abidinadi and acting on them, he says,

12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

13 And behold, he apreached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

I love the way Alma so PERFECTLY asks those thought provoking questions... I also like that he teaches us CHANGE is a GOOD THING... apparently that is something that I am supposed to learn on my mission!

SO, here it is... the latest change: President Barrett called this morning, love those phone calls!, and asked us if we had room for one more sister! HA we sure do! So i guess we are going to be 3 now and not just the 2 Racine Hermanas! Who she is, where she is from, how she shall get here... we know NOT! We know there is a visa waiting sister coming in today, but we don't know if we will get her, or a different sister in the mission! I will let you know next week... and in case you are wondering, as I was, no, my mission will never be NORMAL! What is normal anyways?

OK... so here is the DL...

[MON] WORST PDAY EVER... those stinkin' elders don't get to plan pday anymore! we emailed here at UW parkside, then went to the church and made the lasagna sister KASPAR left us in the fridge! It was so cute, she even had garlic bread and instructions... so we put that in the oven for it's alloted time, 45 min, did our language study and then got excited to go play with the elders... well they were on hole 15 of the 18 hole disc golf course here at the university. are you kidding me? so we wanted to go play games or something afterwards, ya they had to finish emailing, but promised it would be fast. Ya, it so WAS NOT fast, by the time they were done pday was over and we wanted culvers, we invited them, they had an appt. SO basically we waiting for them in Kenosha ALL day for no reason! LAME SAUCE! never again! that night we had an AmAzing visit with Tiffany McGee who is starting to come back to church. She realizes the church = stability in a not-so-stable world!

[TUES] We finally saw Tina, man, it's been forever. She is doing good, still struggling... but she is MOVING! yeah! It's a really GOOD thing! She needs to get AWAY from her mom! Tina has a lot of faith, she just needs to understand the added strength making the covenant of BAPTISM will give her. God promises us power from on high, even the Holy Ghost, when we fully accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and are baptized. We me a new investigator, Kim, one of Temika King's friends, I LOVE THE MEMBERS HERE. The elders were able to give Kim a blessing of counsel and comfort. It was good. i love the priesthood. 4:30pm: dinner with the abbotts ... then off to Union Grove to contact some people that nobody knows on the ward list. It was so sad to hear some of them say that they wanted their names removed from church records, devestating actually. Do they know what they are giving up?

[WED] sister calderwood taught us spanish at nine am. i love her. She is the BEST. I learn so much from her. we taught english at ten am, which really = we learn spanish. Jaime and Oscar took us out to lunch after at a chinese buffet [it was a nice one, AND i didn't get sick, AmAzing] We went and helped Tina clean/ pack. We had The Farley's for dinner at 4:30 ... we taught Amy the Plan of Salvation there, so good ... then we went to the church to play volleyball. my favorite.

[THURS] We again helped Tina. she needs a lot of help, we really want to get a member involved, she's not up for that yet though, we keep asking. We then did weekly planning and caught up on the area book. Afterwards we had the LONGEST dinner appt ever with Brother Jones and Sister Barrett [married- she didn't take his name, long story] BUT The food was YUMMY and the CONVERSATION was good. I love meeting converts of the church. Their Strength is Commendable!

[FRI] ZONE CONFERENCE with the Milwaukee north and south zones, here at our Kenosha building. [i got to see the milwaukee trio: sisters WARNER, pluim and johnson] it was amazing as expected. the spirit was so strong. we learned out to make this work the members work and how to make our investigators their investigators, i learned a lot. Then we taught Tina about holding to the rod, staying out of mists of darkness and HOW to partake of the fruit. We had culvers for dinner. yum.

[SAT] we played soccer at nine. i get better every time... man, it's been FOREVER since i have played, but these people are intense... and they coach me in SPANISH... so it's like killing two birds with one stone. I learn spanish AND how to play. Elder Smith is like a gazelle or something, he can get down the field SO fast in like 5 strides [haha a vampire maybe?] anyways, i got the ball away from him a few times, it was fun! It does so much for me to get dirty and sweat and play hard- it's a must!

At 2:30 sister wren picked us up at the Blake's and we drove to the stake center in Milwaukee for Stake Women's Conference and then to watch the Relief Society General Broadcast afterwards. It was a great night. I LOVE BEING A GIRL! I LOVE BEING A SISTER MISSIONARY! We saw the milwaukee sisters again, and i got to see all the people i worked with in the two wards in milwaukee. it was a good time. Each ward did a presentation of some sort, sister johnson and I were in three musical numbers! so fun! did i mention... I DON'T SING! haha ... i am starting to think I DO though... ahaha The broadcast was amazing too. On sunday, when President Calderwood asked me what happened at the broadcast, what was said, i said, "oh they taught us women are better than men." HAHA it was HILARIOUS. He always teases me. He like that comment though...

[SUN] LONG DAY AT CHURCH... on top of that... I HAD TO SPEAK! ... IN THE SPANISH BRANCH! IT was a GREAT opportunity! I wrote my talk Saturday morning and sister calderwood edited it saturday night at the broadcast. She wrote me the cutest little note afterward, she is so encouraging... I LOVE HER. did i mention that?

My talk was on missionary work, I addressed these 3 questions, Por que es importante hacer la obra misional?, Por que queremos hacer la obra misional? y Como podemos hacer la obra misional? ... It went well... elder petrie spoke too.

After church was FLIGHT 409 with the english ward. We went on a flight to Hawaii,it crashed, and we visited each of the three kingdoms. AmAzing. so good for the kids! they loved it and learned alot. it was a great spiritual experience for me. At 6:30 we had dinner with the Furners, yum yum... and then taught Michelle Cabrales with Elders Petrie and Campbell at eight, it was a full night, but it was a GREAT DAY! We ended the night making doughnuts at bishop's with Elders Stribling and Warner. I love being a missionary.

Sister Johnson and I are trying to get through the Book of Mormon in Spanish as fast as possibe, it's fun, we read it every spare moment.

I love this work! I love being a missionary! [do i say that enough?!] I love my family! I am so grateful for eternal families! LIfe is GOoD here! I pray for you all constantly!

Love, sister pamella jo black

Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es Verdadero!

2009-09-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

[translation: I know The Book of Mormon is True... too bad myldsmail doesn't let you do accent marks or cosas como asi! ...]

That truly is my thought this week! The Book of Mormon is SO powerful!

I couldn't be a missionary without it.

seriously.

Here are some excerpts from the Introduction of The Book of Mormon:

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.

...

How could I help people come to know their Savior without The Book of Mormon? I couldn't. Through this AmAzing book people can come to know, by the power of God, thru the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith is a prophet and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true.

I love the Book of Mormon.

Recently, I have been choosing a story a day to study out of the BOM. I have studied Lehonti, Nephi and the Boat, The Brother of Jared, Alma the Younger, Korihor and many others. Each time I study a story I think about how I can apply it to my life and how I can apply it to the lives of those we are teaching, it's SO effective. I am learning so much from stories I have read time and time again, that's what makes the Book of Mormon the best, you'll never learn everything, there is always more to gleen [sp?] from it! Even one phrase can make a profound impact in someone's life! [remember elder bednar and "tender mercies" from 1Ne 1:20?]

This was such a good week. So many changes. So much good...

[mon] pday. our last pday with our district... :[ ... we went to the library, emailed. played disc golf with the elders in Kenosha at UW Parkside [we want to start working there on campus... it would be fun. we need an LDSSA there] Disc Golf was a lot of fun, 18 holes, and surprisingly, i am not too bad at it! it's all the ultimate frisbee practice! Then after we were hot and sweaty from disc golf we went to the church which is like 2 minutes away and watched the Joseph Smith Movie: Prophet of the Restoration. One of the elders had a copy. I love that movie! Then we headed back to Racine for dinner at the Konieczko's [she is an abbott] and AMY was there! I love amy. We had a really good lesson with her talking about nephi building the boat and the plan of salvation and how all her questions/ concerns were answered and talked about when she attended church the day before. amazing. God really does hear and answer our sincere prayers.

[tues] combined district meeting w/ the english district. We talked about D&C 4 and the qualities a missionary must possess. It was a really good meeting. I love elder petrie and elder hutchins, they're really good district leaders. we then had lunch and went and tried to visit a part member family. . . they live on jacato street. IT WAS BY FAR THE SCARIEST PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN TOO! it wasn't 'til later on that i found out that people say DON'T GO THERE... we won't go there again. the apt building we went into was FREAKY! Trash lined the stairs and it was dark and the carpet was NASTY... anyways, we learned our lesson- and the people weren't even there, thankfully! We had dinner at the Abbott's, love that family, visited Tiffany McGee and then had our last appointment with elders stribling and julian and Temika's house with janelle.

[wed] we taught english in kenosha with elder campbell and elder petrie. so fun. i learn so MUCH. way more spanish than they do english, that's for sure. then we came back to the Blake's so sister behrends could pack to go to RHINELANDER [out in the boondocks!] [[ps... did i tell you the BLAKE'S are MOVING? ya they announced it last sunday! so SAD! He is being transferred to SLC with his CO, he works for CASE, the tractor company, he's an engineer. They are sad to go, but happy it's SLC... they've lived all over. I am happy they are going there... i told them I will be having sunday dinners at their house when I go back to the Y! The ward is devestated though. They will move before thanksgiving. He starts traveling next week. ]]We went out to Pizza with the SUrA's at 5:30. I love them. They are so good to us. Then we went to volleyball at the church... amy came. i love playing volleyball.

[thurs] sister behrends last day in racine. we went and said goodbye to s. calderwood ... then JAIME and his wife, from ENGLISH CLASSES, made us and the elders POPUSAS... YUM! They are like the best thing you have EVER eaten in your life. It's a tortilla with beans and meat in the middle, then you put cabbagge and salsa on top and eat it ... YUM! It's a food from El Salvador... SO GOOD! being a HERMANA has it's pluses! I said the prayer to close... en ESPANOL! [ e. petrie was trying to make me give the scripture/ thought in spa! i am not quite ready for that yet!] then we met the racine elders for lunch at the beach and they played scrabble... LAME! i took a nap with my blanky on the sand.... heavenly... we said goodbye to ted and cheryl and joannie farley and then janelle and then headed to the Crowthers for a relief society dinner! yum yum! [ i love the racine ward sisters! we had such a good time! ]

[fri] TRANSFER DAY! We drove up to Milwaukee... sister behrends left on the transfer van [aka the fun bus] to go to GB to meet sister roth there to be her companion in RHINELANDER... sianara sister! ... I hung out all day with sister WARNER... it was the best!, while waiting for my new companion sister johnson [little j] to come! I was so excited. Warner trained little j two transfers after she left me... i got to know little j pretty well because they were down 45 minutes away in appleton and i was in GB. [we call her little j bc there are 2 sister johnsons in the mission!] While waiting for j to come we went to KOPP'S for lunch... mm mmm my favorite. Then we stopped by at the Kozlosky's and i got some pics off of warners camera and vice versa at the library ... then sister warner had to go to the church to pick up the NEW MISSIONARY she's be training... THIS IS HER FOURTH TIME TRAINING!... we stayed with her [we meaning me and BIG J, who will be in a trio with warner in MIL] and listened to the training, helped the assistants track down their backpacks etc etc... it was fun. I love the spirit of new missionaries. Then we went to the mission home and helped sister barrett make dinner for the missionaries going home... i miss that- the mission home being SO CLOSE! FINALLY sister J came! I LOVE HER... we drove back to Racine and had dinner with the petricecks... poor elder STRIBLING was VERY sick, so we ate and left promptly so he could go home... He's training a new missionary too, elder Warner. [e. julian went to Onieda. .. sad] ps i am the driver now... no more CAR SICKNESS... sister behrends was the WORST DRIVER I HAVE EVER MET IN MY WHOLE LIFE... it was a challenge. I am learning to look at the GPS... sometimes i forget about it.

[sat] SOCCER AT NINE AM! so fun... elder Trauntvein's new companero, elder smith, is AmAZing [elder kelly went to mil, again... sad.] ... between him and elder campbell and the hispanics, we can barely keep up... I LOVE PLAYING SOCCER.... but... i was SO SORE AFTERWARDS... good sore. Hermano Cabrales came up to me afterwards and said in his thick accent, "wow, you play better this time!" haha it was funny, it's only because i stayed with him, even knocked him down once [i thought i was kicking the ball... didn't know it was his ankles :] I love little j, did i mention that- we had a great first full day together. we went to a baby shower in the branch for daisy betanko, then visited some people, invited lupita, a RC, to come to the branch. THEN PLANNING... and DINNER AT THE DAVIS'. . . i love that family! we had fajitas... yum yum.

[sun] we spent from 8 am 'til 7 pm at the church. we lived there yesterday. president calderwood made me report on our area in spanish. . . it went well... we practiced our three different musical numbers we will be singing at womens conference next saturday [GO TO THAT... it's the ANNUAL 1st Presidency broadcast to the RS before general conference!]... remember how i don't sing? doesn't matter when you wear a teg!! they think you can play the piano too! we studied a little at the church... then we went to the calderwood's for dinner and dessert with the elders to celebrate the beginning of Yom Kippor [his mom is jewish] good day. long day. lupita came to church. amy came to church.

i love little j! it' so great serving with her, she's been out six months.. finally a breath of fresh air! sorry this email is so choppy. i am starving.. i must go eat, i forgot to eat breakfast! a member brought us lasagna yesterday, she made it just for us, so nice... it is in the fridge at the church... then we're playing disc golf... i love pdays like this, busy and fun! we gotta make the most of this good weather while it lasts! we are emailing today at UW parkside... first time, i LOVE these computers, we play disc golf here too and the church is less than a mile away, why didn't we think of this before? It's way better than the ghetto computers at the racine library!

i love you all! You're always in my prayers!

Love, sister pamella jo black!

FULL WEEK!

2009-09-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

milwaukee north & south zones

Hello ALL! prepare yourselves! this is a LONG EMAIL.... it was a really FULL WEEK! Things here are SO GOOD! I love Racine/ Kenosha! and my Spanish is getting better each and EVERY day!

[mon] LABOR DAY … PDAY… that’s why my email was a week late last week! … it was actually kind of relieving not to have to email and know I could do it on Tuesday because that gave us like 3 more precious hours in the day! It was AmAzing! We had all these plans, which I told you about… but they changed a little bit on Sunday. Elder Petrie invited us to come play soccer in Kenosha with all the elders and members from the Spanish Branch… of course I was all over that. We played from 9-11:30a. We were all disgusting after that; hot, sweaty and tired!

Sister Flores invited us to her home to have lunch… there are SO many of us missionaries here in Racine/Kenosha! Just as many as we had in green bay, I never realized that. So all 10 of us [Racine English: Elders Stribling & Julian, Racine Spanish: Elders Trauntvein & Kelly, Kenosha English: Elders Hutchins & Ross, Kenosha Spanish: Elders Petrie & Campbell (bka e. SOPA :) AND US] went to her home just around the corner for lunch. She ran to the store with her mom so we stayed and hung out with their kids [I tried to tell her in my make-do spanish way that she didn’t have to do that, but she didn’t get it and insisted… I said in my little sarcastic, “Where are you going? Then… “Adonde Vas?” She understood both, but just said, “the store, would you like to come?” HAHA] so I gave up… they have 4 and they will all be sealed in the Chicago Temple in October. What a special day that will be! I hope we get to go! We just laughed and laughed with the kids, they loved having all 10 of us in their home, we loved it too. When they came home we helped her make a feast, a great little Labor Day picnic, sandwiches, chips, salsa, watermelon, lemonade… the works! We had a great time with them… and I got to practice my spanish a lot. I love serving here.

We then headed to the Abbott’s. I LOVE the Abbott family. They will do anything for us as missionaries. Sister Abbott has 11 kids and they all live in Racine now, first time in a long while. There are a lot of them and they’re loud… and I love them. I am still trying to figure out all the people in the ward that belong to the abbott clan, I only know about seven of the kids right now. Their son, tommy, just got home from his mission, provo, spanish speaking… they are so proud of him and his missionary spirit has really inspired them… it’s cool to see that.

After the party at the Abbott’s we headed to Grafton, Wisconsin… it was a little far from us… but we HAD to go! Natalia Kahmann, a YSA from MIL, lives there and her sister, AnnaLisa, cuts hair. She went to VICI hair school, assisted for a long time, and has been doing it on her own for about 5 years now. OH how wonderful it was to be there… first they made huge dinner… after we were stuffed she went to town on my hair. Nothing big… the cut I had wasn’t horrible, I just have A LOT of hair, and when it’s short it appears I have 10X more on top of that! It just didn’t lay right. She took a ton of weight off, evened out the sides, stacked the back and gave me bangs… yes, at first she said I didn’t need them, then she said, “It will open up your face.” I said do whatever will look best. I was desperate… I am glad she did it. My hair looks ADORABLE now. It is SUPER short… but my hair grows like a weed. I plan to let it grow grow grow til I get home now! I can’t tell you enough though… this is the most AmAzing hair cut I have ever had… I don’t use any product. I don’t use a flat iron or a round brush… all I use is the blow dryer and my paddle brush. I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO TEASE IT! It just goes… it’s hits just below my chin… yeah, AmAzing! [I pin it up sometimes still on the sides and it looks really cute! I could get used to short hair… [GMAX5: don’t worry… I am GROWING it out! Haha] Sister Behrends got hers cut too and I played with Anna-Lisa & Peter’s baby, Tyler. He’s a cutey. She is pregnant and due in January, she’s a great mom. THANKS ANNA-LISA! YOU ARE A LIFE-SAVER!

This was by far one of my favorite Pday’s on my mission.

[tues] life here in Racine is really good. We had district meeting in the park... on top of the play equipment... my idea! haha so fun. . . until all the kids came at the very end. It was hilarious... one of the really new elders, he’s been here almost 6 weeks now… said, "LETS GET OUT OF HERE, THEY'RE GOING TO THINK WE'RE CHESTERS!" ahhahaha (as in chester the molester!) Maybe you had to be there... but i was DYING LAUGHING. HE was SO uncomfortable... but as we were ending with a song, then praying, just six of us missionaries [4 elders and us two sisters, our little spanish district] a whole group of kids ran by us and were yelling and one kid said, "SHHH they're PRAYING!" it was hysterical... their parents must have thought we were lunatics... haha i didn't really care though. the park was at north beach... right on the sand. you could see lake michigan perfectly on the tower we sat on... the sand, the low rolling bright blue waves and the lighthouses... i love it in racine... it's so beautiful. [i never want winter to come! haha the leaves are already changing though... i am excited to see a fall here... i hear they are the best. .. i've loved summer... it was so perfect and mild.]

After district meeting we headed to Kenosha to the Calderwood’s. Sister Calderwood teaches Spanish at a college nearby, I don’t know the name, and she interprets. She is from Argentina, so she has that accent. For example, hispanics would say this phrase, “Yo me llamo Pamella.” , phonetically as, “yo me yamoh pameyah” … she says it as [just like all people from argentina do] “jo me jamoh pameja”. I LOVE HER. She is going to be SUCH a help to us; she is going to teach us spanish once a week and give us homework etc etc… next week she is going to give us a test to find out where we are at and then go from there. Oh how I love her.

We then came to the library and sent our emails. As we walked out of the library you again could see the lakefront in front of us. It was such a beautiful sight, I said, “Sister Behrends, we are serving in the most beautiful place in the mission.” She agreed.

Now if we had turned around, and looked behind us that would have been a different story- Racine has some SUPER ghetto parts. [The Sura’s are both teachers in the school district here and they send Abby, their daughter, to a private school… it’s just a rough area… we learned that Racine is stuck- there is no room for the city to grow, the economy here is really tough… no room for new developments or anything] BUT we didn’t LOOK behind us!

UNTIL we went to Joannie Farley’s for our dinner appt!!… on our way we saw the BIGGEST cat fight I have ever SEEN in my WHOLE LIFE! We drove on to this street… and in the really ghetto parts of racine the houses are so close together so the streets are so NARROW….. a stoplight behind us and one in front of us about 6 cars or so. WE WERE STUCK… as were were turning on to the street we saw a MOB of black girls just going at it… fighting like crazy. Sister Behrends asked if we should call the police, but everyone on the street were outside of their houses watching, even out on their third floor balcony’s listening to the yelling and screaming, and people standing around also could have called… there were at least 50 girls and probably 20 boys [the boys just stood on the outside of the circle laughing.]

I was starting to get really mad [because everyone was just watching these girls kill eachother, when I realized that they were just pulling eachothers’ hair. Head to Head just pulling as hard as they could.] The girls in the car in front of us got out, and went to join the excitement. It was crazy. When two girls would fall to the ground the next two would start. I have NEVER seen anything like that in my whole entire life! Finally, FINALLY the fight ended… mind you we couldn’t go anywhere bc every now and then the fight would shift over into the street… so all cars just had to stay still. The mob dispersed down either side of the street and people got back in their cars. FIFTEEN minutes later we finally could continue on! AND the street and sidewalk was littered with all kinds of hair pieces in all kinds of lengths and colors… some straight, some curly. So gross! I was a little scared! You never know if things like that could escalate.

SO we continued on to Joannies. We had a great dinner there with her family and 5 kids, and she invited her BFF Amy. Amy is such a cool girl. We invited her to be taught and taught her lesson one[Heavenly Father loves us, There have been Prophets in every dispensation, The life and mission of Jesus Christ, Apostasy, Restoration and The Book of Mormon] Amy loved the lesson, she is looking for something more in her life. I just love Joannie for loving her friend so much so that she would want to share with Amy what makes her so happy. That’s how missionary work SHOULD work!

[wed] We taught Simeon with the spanish elders, Elder Kelly and Elder Trauntvein. That was such a good experience for us. It was so funny because Simeon saw sister behrends and started talking to her right away, because she looks latina… which she is, but she is still learning the language. You should have seen him when I responed. He was so confused! Haha He was making fun of us the whole time because sometimes we responed the wrong way… it’s such good practice. I love to hear the spanishes [that’s what we call them… haha] teach. It helps me so much. Simeon was just baptized about two months ago, we want to meet his daughter Deena, she’s in her twenty’s… she has an interest and we’d love to teach her.

Then we went and taught Stefani [Fani] Aquino’s friend, Nancy. Nancy went to girls camp, youth conference and to nauvoo. She is quite familiar with the church. I love those two girls, all they do is LAUGH and GIGGLE. It is hilarious! She loved lesson one. She wants to be baptized, but is afraid her to tell her mom so she wants to wait til she is 18. That is not really going to solve any problems though, she’ll still be living with her mom. We’ve have seen that it is SO much better to have the parents acceptance NOW… it helps new member STAY. So we plan to challenge her to talk to her mom. If she let her go to all the activities… why not let her be a member? I’ll keep you all informed!

We met a few less active members and then we ended our night teaching another new investigator, Samantha. We met her at the corn roast last week, she is the neighbor of the Davis’s. She is 13 and is so cute and fun. She lives with her mom and they are from Mexico. Her mom was at work so we taught her outside on the trampoline, lesson one. She was very receptive, we will be teaching her again soon. We invited her to church, but she’ll be at six flags this Sunday.

[thurs] today was planning day! We went to Jimmy John’s for subs [sister behrends absolute favorite] then went beach, ate lunch and planned all afternoon on our little green blanket. It was beautiful. Heavenly. . . just us and the seagulls…. Everyone else was at work or school ;]The elders came for a while and we talked about the investigators we share.

At 4:30 we taught Cheryl Johnson about 2 Nephi 31…

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.
17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

She was telling us how she was struggling a little bit, post baptism… she was shocked to hear us say that is NORMAL! Yes it’s true, Satan know us well and he will NOT give up, even after we’re baptized. . . after we’ve entered the GATE and know that it is NOT ALL DONE! We must still PRESS FORWARD, with UNSHAKEN FAITH, FEASTING UPON THE WORDS OF CHRIST… ENDURING ALL THINGS to the END… until we too hear the voice of the father saying, “Ye shall have eternal life.” Isn’t that exciting!? We have HOPE in our Savior who is “MIGHTY TO SAVE”! I love teaching people that… we will be “struggling” our whole lives. God will always ask us to do hard things! … However, He will always help us too. He has provided a way. Elder Holland always says, “Jesus Christ knows the way because He is the way. He is the way out and the way up.” Love that.

We ended our Thursday with an AmAzing dinner at the Costabilles. They are a part-member family with a grown family. Sister Costabille has been active in the church for a really long time. We had lasagna and all the sides, so yummy. Then the elders taught about sharing the gospel with your family, Elder Julian and Elder Stribling are such good misisonaries. I learn so much from them!

[Fri] We taught ENGLISH in Kenosha with Elder Petrie and Elder Campbell… I think we learned more spanish than we taught english… but it was SUCH GOOD PRACTICE! At the end Jaime asked if we’d come ever y time… “por su puesto!” of course! I am happy they invited us.
WE then went with the Racine elders [all 4] to the County Fair Grounds to help with the Sportsman’s Fair. We helped with Fishing For Life… It was a lot of fun! We helped set up and helped kids catch fish and have minnow races and shoot rubber band guns at targets etc etc… we actually did most of the playing though because there weren’t a lot of kids… they were all at school!

We ended the night teaching Janelle with the Elders. She has them wrapped around her little finger. It was HILARIOUS. They taught her Helaman 4, about king Lamoni’s father. . . like I said they’re good teachers. We played referree, keeping all the kids settled and happy and not interrupting janelle’s lesson. It was fun.

[sat] we played soccer in Kenosha. Lots of fun. A good work out. Whew… I am sore to be honest. We played hard! For like 3 hours too! So fun! We spen the rest of the day contacting people we needed to meet or get appts with. Saturday night was also transfer calls! Sister Behrends is LEAVING! It was a shock, because she only has 6 weeks left on her mission… but the man upstairs is in charge… so we go with it! It is His work… so we do it His way! Also, Elders Ross, Kelly, & Julian are being transferred too… I Hate transfers, people I love always leave!… but such is life… we find out where everyone goes either Tuesday or Wednesday night.

[sun] we had the normal schedule. Mtgs starting at 8am at the kenosha building. Spanish Branch 10-1. Racine ward 1-4. Then we usually get out of the church about 5. We stopped by to try to see a less-active branch member that we’ve been TRYING to see for WEEKS, she is NEVER HOME… so it was no surprise she was gone… then we went to Temika Kings home for a big dinner. She invited EVERYONE. She is such a good missionary. We met her family, almost all of them, and her neighbors etc etc. We will be teaching some of them soon I am sure, I love her. We were there a long time. She has so much faith… such a good example to me. We took pictures with the kids and the elders and went home! [tired, her children get SO wound up when we’re there… it’s a workout!]

… another good week!

Ps.. we met a lady at zone conference last transfer named Joanna, she was an investigator. We then met her again at Mexican Fiesta. She was baptized AUG 29th with her 3 kids. She is AmAzing and I just need to document that! I love her! I am so HappY she found Happiness, her faith is truly AmAZING.

Also, Leslie, who was the FIRST person we EVER taught here in Racine with the spanish elders, was baptized in August… she is 10 and I love her. She is such a good example to her mom and siblings… her faith will be a great support to them… she is a trail blazer for sure. Her mom is still meeting with the elders.

This is such a SACRED time in my life! I am so thankful for it. I get to be surrounded by people like Leslie and Joanna! I learn so much each day and I have the BEST support EVER! Thanks for all you all do for me!

I love you! Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

PS… sorry this is so late… it was a LONG … but really FUN… PdAY

...by small and simple things...

2009-09-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hello hello!

I first want to tell you that it is the LITTLE things that really make my day! [notice ALMA 37:6 … Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. I love this scripture… I am the small and the weak! … the Lord makes me strong… and through me great things can and will come to pass! What a blessing!] SOOO… they make baby goldfish… yes it’s true… try them… they taste better than the others, i promise… made my day a few days ago… they’re the best!

[mon] PDAY! What a great pday it was too… we went up to milwaukee to email, I like the library there so much better in muskego… the one here in Racine is SO willy tango [that one’s for you steph:] then we went to VALUE VILLAGE… the bane of my existence… a thrift store. Now I am NOT above thrift stores or think I am better than that… I am freaked out by them and they make me feel dirty, ok? And I have ZERO patience to find that GEM among the clothing… sorry I just don’t. but my compy was set on going so we went with the milwaukee sisters and Mom and Brittany Kozlosky [BK]. It made it worth it that I could walk around with the warner, I love her, her new compy is a crack-up… [oh ya, I bought a skirt there for $1.50, I know… against my whole plight… but warner tried it on.. it was a little big for her, I tried it on… it fit JUST RIGHT… and it’s cute… so I washed it in HOT water and dried it a long time… I don’t want LICE or something you know? Anyways, it was funny] then we went to president orne’s for a BBQ with all the missionaries in the north and south zones pretty much. We played sand volleyball and ate a good lunch and visited a lot… I love milwaukee…. It was nice to be there!

[tues] district meeting… ALL IN SPANISH! … lots of fun. . . then Daisy Betonka, she is from Honduras, it was good spa practice there…. Then we taught CHERYL with ted and natalie… I love them. We taught Janelle with the elders… man, she has SUCH an attitude… I love watching them with her… sometimes they don’t know what to say… she’s 10! Haha oh how I love her!

[wed] met with Joanie Farley, love her like a sister. She has 5 kids; 3 boys and then twin girls Kate and Addison… they’re adorable. She schedules our meals for us now… it’s amazing. Then we met a new investigator, Nancy, she went to girls camp and youth conference wit h stefanie aquino! Then we played volleyball at the church… it was a good day!

[thurs] I got a haircut by tina hansen… cute girl… then we had lunch at Christina Davis’s with Tamika king… that was fun but I was itchy from my haircut… I went home and showered…. Then we did weekly planning.

[fri] we visited tina… what a GOOD VISIT… she was doing good, made me happy, she hasn’t been like that for a while. Then we met the nevarro family[spanish speakers], really great family, really strong, they’ve been taught before… we have a return appt with them this week… I hope they keep it! Then dinner with the Sura’s at charcoal Grill… Abby turned 6! It was a lot of fun, we met lots of their friends, they’re such a great family.

[sat]we went around inviting people to the ward corn roast that night… we met some people as we were walking up and down the street. It was cool, they invited us to come back and teach them! [more spanish appts! Woohoo.] Then we went to the ward corn roast at the davis’. I dare say I love this ward as much as the GB 1st ward. It’s so fun! I ate some REALLY good SWEET CORN! Yum yum!!!! We played volleyball til dark, jumped on the trampoline and then met the neighbors, Betty and Samantha, [spanish speakers] who are now our new investigators!

[sun] church … mtgs mtgs and more mtgs…. 8-5!! … then dutch oven dinner at the Calderwoods! [he’s spanish branch president] … we were supposed to have a mtg and homemade doughnuts at the blakes and the racine english elders, but we were too late! Bishop called us when the first hot doughnuts came off and left us a message about how good they were and that they ate all ours! So mean! Haha luckily when we got home at 9:30 … he had saved us a FEW!!! they're the BEST thing you've ever tasted.

Whew… what a week!

I love you all! You are all always in my prayers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH ON AUGUST 29TH! I miss you! I hear you had a great experience at the temple! Write me!

DAD… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW… I love you!!!!

Love, Sister Pamella Jo Black

I'll be a day late...

2009-09-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

... but not a dollar short!!!

hello family.... today is saturday... i ran in to the library here in Racine to let you know that I will not be sending an email on monday because it is LABOR DAY! so don't work... PLAY!

On monday we are going to go to milwaukee [with my s.warner!] to play in the north vs south zone football game... then at 3 we are going to go to a YSA's [young single adult... from the YSA ward we used to serve in there] house in Milwaukee, Natalia, for a BBQ and her sister, who cuts hair, is going to fix my haircut because i got a bad haircut on thursday... i sacrificed my hair to meet a girl who's family is active but she doesn't come anymore... she is 20 and in beauty school. HAHA [mom and especially YOU grandma... don't be mad! i can see this upsetting you!] i wanted it short... like to my chin, which she did... but it looks REALLY BAD straight... it just lays wrong... so i have curled it and pinned it up both yesterday and today... it looks really cute like that [some kind of prom hairdo]... but i don't want to have to curl it like that everyday. i just sent some pictures home of that. Anyways, natalia's sister will fix it, whew... i am contemplating bangs, we'll see... now that i just typed that I am thinking NO! they'll take so long to grow out... which brings me to the next point. I am now letting my hair grow til the end of my mission! woo hoo!

ok... well i am excited to hear from all of you. . . this gives you plenty of time to send me an email before then! Gma... i just got ANOTHER letter from you yesterday! you are on a roll!!! thank you. did you get the one i just sent you? Mom and Dad i sent you out letters today... i hope you get them soon... before wednesday for DAD.

k we are off to a corn roast... yum yum... it's a ward activity. CORN. HAMBURGERS. HOTDOGS. CORN. MORE CORN. ICECREAM. YUM YUM!!! We have invited a lot of people and lots of our less-actives and investigators... i hope they come. it's so nice and warm today... finally, i was scared winter was coming sooner than expected.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I'll be nice and chatty on tuesday and give you a FULL update!

love you!

SISTER PAMELLA JO BLACK

We are no LONGER PART-TIMERS!

2009-08-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

(sorry that I have been repeating pictures)

People in Racine were calling us the PART TIME SISTERS!!! Hello! I am A FULL TIME MISSIONARY! President Barrett appreciated that too! He wants us to be FULL TIME! Good thing we have a FULL TIME PRESENCE IN RACINE NOW!

Ok ok… this is going to be a marathon email… I have prepped myself for a typing-fest. Ring off… bracelet set aside… water bottle full… sitting up straight. Like I said last week, I am filling you in on two weeks worth of stuff! It might be the readers digest version, that could be nice for a change. J

On a small side note though, we went outside this morning to run at about 7am and I could see my breath!!! Can you believe it??? UGH. I was so mad! It is AUGUST 31st! I should not be seeing my breath yet, GO AWAY FALL, it’s not time for you yet! I am scared for what this winter is going to be like if I am cold and seeing my breath in AUGUST!!!!

[Mon AUG 17th]
leave racine and drive to milwaukee . email . wal mart . go back to the K’s house and make cookies for elder love [aka papa love as he prefers! Ha he was in my mtc district, now he is in the office. I love him. I made what we now call “pancake cookies” the other day and they came by and ate all of them… so they requested more… those cookies couldn’t be duplicated if I tried… but Tollhouse did the trick] 4:30 dinner at the ducharmes [wml] . then a visit to the mission home to talk to president and sister barrett about the “hot one” as sister barrett called her, a referral, they met at taco bell, Chandra!

[tue AUG 18th]
district meeting . lesson tour at the church with Lauren Squaires a recent convert- it was AmAzing! We taught the 1st lesson using the pictures and the different rooms in the church. We ended with the font and pictures of the temple. I LOVED it, we all felt the spirit so strong. Sister warner did a good job of teaching us how to do those- we’ve been asked to do that more often, it’s powerful and gets our investigators in the building. We then visited Debbie Pruzinski and Helen Gardner. Mtg at bishop Fannons and ended the night at the family history center getting training from sister orne on FH for the Mexican fiesta coming up.

[wed AUG 19th] We were in Racine for the day! We had appts with Christina Davis, Tamika King [lunch at her home too! YUM… she is a good cook!] Cheryl & Ted Johnson and The Sura’s [dinner, fish and burgers, we always have good meals there!] We had a busy busy day in Racine!

[thurs AUG 20th] we went to the zoo with Helen Gardner and her grandson Michael. I love the Milwaukee ZOO! I had a great time… the animals were SO close! It was fun to go with them… I love the zoo, I felt like a little kid, I got so excited. My favorites, the giraffes… they’re mesmerizing! We had dinner and a lesson @ the ducharmes with the menters. It was SO good… and yummy. The elders were there too… I love elder vogan and elder stevens…. They’re both so new and such good elders… they keep me on my toes. We ended the night at institute.

[fri AUG 21st] we went to the barretts at 11am after studying and cleaned the mission home and post-it noted it EVERYWHERE! It was fun, we wrote funny things on the notes, the Barretts were out of town in the UP so we new we had the green light. It was a nice surprise for them and fun service for us to do. On our way home to change we stopped at a SWEET CORN STAND on the side of the road. Dad Kozlosky has been requesting some corn for quite some time! [he always asks us when we go to racine because once we brought him some back from there… now he thinks the best comes from Racine! Ha] They gave us a whole bag for 4 dollars… we had a HUGE thing of corn, like 15 ears! Dad K makes the best corn, he made us some the next day! YUM YUM. At 4p we met Mom and Dad Robertson as we call them, or Paul and Lisa, in Milwaukee on National Ave at a really good Mexican food place that I can’t remember the name of. They were on their way back up to GB from the temple in Chicago and stopped in to see us and take us to dinner. So nice of them. They love sister warner and I, we love them. They are a big part of my mission- like family. She called us the other day just to tell us about the weather… haha like old times in Green Bay. I love her.

[sat AUG 22nd] we played volleyball at the Ornes then we went to Mexican Fiesta on the Lakefront in Milwaukee at the Summerfest Grounds, same place as German Fest, to help in the genealogy tent. It was a blast. I got to use my Spanish quite a bit and eat some really good food! Although, it was quite a different crowd than German Fest, they were all still pretty much drunk, but a different kind of drunk! Haha you know what I mean!

[sun AUG 23rd] I went on splits with Lauren Major, a YSA in Milwaukee. She is so fun. A BYU graduate and now working here at the Kohls corporate office. We went down to Racine, tried to see tina, with no luck, left her a note… my fort¢e… then we had a meeting at Bishop Blake’s, I love him, I love the elders down there and Bro. Hancock, our Ward Mission Leader. We are a great team. It was such a productive meeting… then we headed to CHURCH in Kenosha, there is only 1 building for Kenosha and Racine. After the 6 hours of church, and a short coordination meeting, we headed to Milwaukee because the we had Mexican Fiesta again that night! Good times. I love serving with sister Warner, we have the best times together!!!

[mon AUG 24th] PDAY… the day that I found that the trio was NO MORE! Sad. But good… needed! We went to the Ducharmes and played games for a little while, I was kinda in a lame mood, then we went home and packed. We spent the rest of Pday hanging out at the Kozlosky’s!

[tues AUG 25th] was filled with packing and saying goodbye or SEE YA LATER! We saw Janice, I love her… then Spencer Twilmeyer… I love that boy, it was fun to serve in his ward, talk about worlds colliding. I went to UWM and got a camelback water bottle [my AmAzing PINK nalgene I’ve had for 9 months just bit the dust] this new water bottle fits PERFECTLY in my cute new Hurley bag that the FAM just sent me! I love it. The best part about it is that sister warner bought the same water bottle only green, from UWGB about 6 months ago [after my mom sent me mine, we were trying to drink more water… it worked!] and just RAVED about it to everyone. I got so sick of hearing about it that one day I said, “Why don’t you just take a picture with it and send it HOME!!” haha she did. Now I love it too… she is QUICK to point that out… one of those I told you so moments! Haha I said goodbye to Marilyn at culvers [s.warner and I just had to have our last dinner there- it’s tradition]. I love Marilyn, she is AMAZING… she always makes fun of missionaries for saying, “You’re great.” Haha she says “WHY?” you have to say WHY! Apparently we use that phrase TOO MUCH! Then goodbyes to the MENTERS and DEBBIE PRUZINSKIE and FAM. Sister Behrends has served her for a YEAR…. So we had lots of goodbying to do. I didn’t feel such a big need, only to a few people… I wasn’t hear long enough or consistently enough to get attached to too many people, I did to a few though.

[wed AUG 26th] we met President and Sister Barrett at the mission home and drove with them to Kenosha for district meeting… the last few hours of the trio nation. We went to our new Spanish District Meeting [president calderwood, our branch president in Racine just requested it be formed and Pres. Barrett gave it the thumbs up! So as of this transfer we have district meeting in Spanish! We’ve only gone sometimes when we’re down there on Tuesdays… but now we’ll get it 100%… I am excited] then we went to lunch with the Spanish elders at El Campeon [Spanish elders always know the best places!] while president and sister barrett interviewed the English elders. We then rushed back to Milwaukee to pick up SISTER EARL from the airport. She is a visa waiting sister on her way to Madagascar. We found her with the assistants… TEACHING AWAY in the baggage claim area! She learned French in the MTC and was there for NINE weeks… once you get out of there you are SO HAPPY to see REAL people!! Haha She is on fire… a great missionary. We all four went to the Donnich’s [dj & tracy] for dinner… we almost cancelled… good thing we didn’t… it would have been BAD! Dj Donnich’s dad, President Donnich even called President Orne [who called President Barrett] and said if we didn’t come missionaries weren’t welcome in their home anymore! AHH! So we went… it was good. THEY ARE HILARIOUS and he made the BEST Vinegar Smoked Ribs I’ve ever had… and I usually don’t like ribs… mmm mmm… and Mashed potatoes. MY FAVORITE. We stayed our last night at the Kozlosky’s… all four of us. It was a party, so sad for me to say goodbye to the Kozlosky’s though! Tragic. I love them. They are my family in Wisconsin… they’ve treated me like a daughter. They remind me of my family, my parents. They are good people, some of the best. I will miss them.

[Thurs AUG 27th] breakfast with the Assistants, Office Elders and Milwaukee Sisters & interviews at the mission home before we headed to racine. President is AmAzing. He knows me so well. I told him I was excited to go to a place where I knew I would be for a while… I feel so tossed around since GB… he said, “ Yes but we needed you in Adams, those were 3 crucial weeks, we needed you here too.” I love him. He also knew I was sad to leave my warner girl. It was so refreshing to serve with her for 3 weeks. He told me to work hard, that Racine needed me and to “let the ward do the work” basically not to go in and take over… haha, What is he suggesting??? I think if he has taught me anything on my mission it has been to “Make it their idea!” Get them to do things that need to be done, and let them think they came up with it… ask lots of QUESTIONS! Example “Bishop Nelson, what do you think would be the BEST way to help the Allen family feel more involved? Do you think they might need a calling? Do you think they’d benefit from a dinner at your home?” HA it works! I love him… sometimes it makes me think of when my mom says to me “down girl” haha I just get so excited about things and want them done NOW! I am learning though…. Like a stone in the riverbed… slowly polishing those rough edges… sometimes it’s a little faster on the mission! …We then said bye to Kris Hall and we were off to Racine!

[fri AUG 28th] FIRST DAY IN RACINE FULL-TIME… we taught English in racine with the Spanish elders… visited Hermana Martinez from the branch… then went to the Racine Volunteer Center to sign up for some service. Then… I had a migraine so I went home and went to bed for the rest of the night… I think I was just sleep deprived from the crazy week[s], being in a trio seems to = less sleep. It was just what the doctor ordered. I woke up feeling SO much better!

[sat AUG 29th] we stopped by to see a member, she wasn’t home, but we met her neighbors… “Talk to EVERYONE”… that is straight from Preach My Gospel… I don’t know if we will end up teaching them, but we invited them and talked for a long time… he used to work in Phoenix for a printer, the Lofgreen’s, we have Lofgreen’s in our stake… he had a good experience with Mormon’s, she is interested in genealogy, you never know… I love being a missionary and not feeling awkward to talk to ANYONE… I think I have my grandpa’s blood in me! Grandpa Black is SO good at that… so is Rocky… I learned from the best. We stopped by at LOTs of people’s homes and I even left notes in SPANISH at the homes from the Branch. It was my FIRST time! Haha whew… what a long day… in and out of the car.. lots of people were not home… it was Saturday… understandable! But still LONG. I left lots of STICKY NOTES… my trademark… gotta love POST-ITS… they’re the best!

[sun AUG 30th] We got to go to church together! FIRST TIME IN 2.5 MONTHS! It felt SO good to have my companion there… so much less stressful, we’re in twos for a reason!! President Calderwood called on me to comment in SPANISH SUNDAY SCHOOL… so I answered best I could, with a little English… the language is COMING… I love it. Afterwards we stopped by Tina’s … I am not sure she is ready to change, I love her, but her life is crazy and she blames it on everyone else… but we met her son, he needs the gospel just as bad as she does, I hope to be able to teach him. Then we had dinner at the Sura’s and taught about Temples… actually Abby taught us. I got to share my experience of being sealed to my family… how special was that… I am so thankful for ETERNAL FAMILIES. I love my family. Also, last night sister Hamblin called from GB to let me know that Barbara Bostwick passed away Friday afternoon. So Tragic. My heart hurts for her, more so for her sweet daughter Holly, whom is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. When I left GB Barb sent me a photo she just had taken of Holly and some art she made me, adorable. I would do anything for them, I love them. The Messick’s taught Barb and she was baptized just before they went home, it was a special day. Thank goodness for the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation!!!

I love you all…. Whew… my hand hurts… grandma and grandpa- you are the BEST… thanks for everything… expect mail this week! … Rocky and Britt… good luck in your Second WEEK! I think of you daily! MOM and DAD! HOLD UP! You can do it! No childrens at home to keep you straight! Borrow the Johnson girls! I miss them too! BRADY BLAKE AND ELLIE… I LOVED MY PACKAGE… made my DAY! Love the pics! ThANKs steph! I love you all!

Love, sister pamella jo black