A Smorgasbord...

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

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!

I really miss these two cute little girls!

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

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

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

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

i'm back

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

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

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

Here are the highlights:

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

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

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

it's good to be back!

face to face...

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

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

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

here are some real quick highlights:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

i love you ALL!

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

LoVe, Sister Pamella Jo Black

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

Sister Black's Posts!!!

Holla Readers.

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

Date 1.

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

Date 2.

The Homecoming

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

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

Love,
Brittany.

p.s. but seriously, come!

SpRinG has SpRunG

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

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

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

Here is the week in review...

lunes*

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

martes*

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

miercoles*

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

jueves*

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

viernes*

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

sabado*

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

domingo*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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