CANTAN SANTOS ANGELES...

... 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!

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...

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!

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

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...

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?

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!