Monday, December 17, 2012
Elder Black visits Santa
I love this picture! What a cute kid! I just wish he had his Ernie the Elf suit :) love seeing his cute happy face! Love this missionary so much!!!!!
December 17
GREETINGS
Howdy ya'll. First of all I would like to inform you that yes I will be able to skype on Christmas and Bishop Caldwell's house. His skype address is brian.caldwell473 so you'll need to send him a request-a-majig-thing. We don't know for sure what time it will happen yet because they have a son who is also on a mission and we're probably gonna work around when he is skyping and stuff. We should have a time for sure by next Monday but if not I'm sure the necessary arrangements will be made. Father, I'm super jealous that you have already been skiing. That's one of the things I'll miss quite a bit. I'm definitely jealous about surfing too, that sounds like something I'm going to have to do someday for sure. Make sure you dedicate your greatest run of the day each day to me.
We had an awesome Christmas Zone Conference this week which was at the Rio Rancho stake center so we didn't have to travel anywhere really. It was really great. President and Sister Miller did a training on how we can make relating the first vision with our investigators (and anybody) a very sacred and spiritual moment. They did a roleplay with some of the Elder's and had us all say prayers in our hearts for them to bring the spirit into the room as they taught some sister missionaries. The spirit was so strong. Half of the mission all praying for the same thing makes a pretty awesome experience. I also got to see a lot of the missionaries who came out into the field with us. Elder Kendall is in a bike area and has lost 30 pounds since the MTC so he's looking sharp. It was really cool though. We got fed awesome food, gained weight, and felt the spirit in grand abundance. Now that's what I call a killer triple combination. Not a cool triple combination, a killer one. Remember that. We have two Christmas trees. They young men in the ward came over to our apartment and decorated a tree so we had to hide our other tree in the back room so that they couldn't see it. It was pretty funny. So now we have a tree in our front room and the other one is in the kitchen. I don't really know why it's there but that's where it is. We might give it to the ZLs. Remember how in Mazatlan we eat at Pancho's and they feed you those stuffed jalapenos? Well, a couple nights ago we ate a stuffed green chili. They pretty much look exactly the same but green chili has way better flavor. I have not received any boxes yet but I will be impatiently waiting for those to arrive.
Anyway, it snowed really hard one night here in Rio Rancho. We were down in the ghetto and it was time to go home and we started biking up the hill home and all of a sudden it just dumped on us. Mother nature destroyed us and annhilated my face with the snow. It stung. I couldn't look straight ahead it was that bad. We were planning on biking up the whole hill and not getting a ride but when we were covered in snow we decided to stop at the John's and get a ride the rest of the way up. I love snow, but not so much when you have to bike in it.
This week was a decent week as far as the work goes. One of our highlights was teaching a part member family named the Harney's the night we had our zone conference. Chris is the member and he has a solid testimony of the BoM but because of work he hasn't been able to attend church for quite a while. In January his work schedule will change and he will be able to come to church every Sunday so I'm way pumped for that! His wife Justyne is very Catholic and knows her stuff about Catholicism. Catholics are either hardcore or don't go to church ever but she she is staunchly Catholic. Anyway, they've been married for like 2 years and they're in their early twenties and have their first kid on the way. The first time we saw Chris we asked him if he would be willing to hear the lessons and he said he would be glad to but then he warned us that Justyne is Catholic and might not want to hear us out but when we went there she was all for listening. We brought a member with us who was a former Catholic and I'm not kidding when I say this but this dude could probably logically, scientifically, theologically prove that the church is true. That doesn't really matter but this guy is just crazy and knows pretty much everything. Anyway, to get back on track the spirit was definitely there as we talked about the Restoration of gospel and the first vision. I know that everyone felt it there for sure. We asked Justyne what it would mean to her if Joseph Smith was prophet and the BoM was true and she basically told us that she is content where she is at. Elder Jacobs and I apparently drank some bold sauce that morning because we said some of the boldest things I've ever heard either of us say. One of the things we told her was that we know for sure that this message is true and that. It's either the biggest lie ever or the greatest truth to ever come to the Earth and we made sure she knew that. Then out of nowhere, Chris bore a super powerful testimony about the BoM and how everytime he picks it up and reads from it he knows it is true. Chris wants his wife to know that this is true as well. We're not sure where this all will go but I'm so excited to work with the Harney's. They are gone till about January but it will be awesome. That was one of the coolest lessons we've had but I don't think my description really did it justice.
As for the Malachi and Cowboy situation, this week nothing much happened there. We tried by their house almost everyday during the week and they were never home until Saturday night. All we had time for was to re-invite them to church and they said that they'd be up and ready. We had arranged for a member to go and pick them up yesterday morning and when he got there and knocked on the door nobody answered... Later that night we went back over and they both said they were really sorry but they slept in. Malachi was pretty sad and the first thing he asked us was if he could come to church with us next week. Of course he could!
I forgot to mention that we both spoke in church yesterday too. We spoke about giving and receiving gifts so naturally as missionaries, we talked about giving the gift of the gospel to others and receving spiritual blessings for that. We invited like 10 people to come to church and hear us speak and they all said they would come and that they were excited to come but in the end only Shariy showed up. Gordon was super sick so he wasn't able to make it. We taught Gordon the word of wisdom this week and he knows that he needs to quit smoking and he really wants to. Gordon loves the BoM and has his copy of it all marked up. He's the man. We also kind of touched on the law of chastity a little bit but we definitely need to go over that more in depth with him.
We had a lot of other cool things this week too but I don't have much more time. We're gonna go play some tennis and bball. I'm excited for tennis but I'll probably be horrible. This week I was reading in 3Nephi and what really impressed me was chapter 19:28-29. It's when Christ prays for those who have been given out of the world as His servants. I know that Christ pleads for all of us and wants what is best for us. He wants us to feel the power of the Atonement which makes it possible for us to become like Him and our Heavenly Father. I know the Savior lives. I know our Father in Heaven loves us and answers our prayers and pours out so many blessings on us that we can't even notice them all. I love the gospel and I love this church. I'm so grateful to have been born into it!
Now it's time to go smash the ZLs in tennis!
Elder Black
Howdy ya'll. First of all I would like to inform you that yes I will be able to skype on Christmas and Bishop Caldwell's house. His skype address is brian.caldwell473 so you'll need to send him a request-a-majig-thing. We don't know for sure what time it will happen yet because they have a son who is also on a mission and we're probably gonna work around when he is skyping and stuff. We should have a time for sure by next Monday but if not I'm sure the necessary arrangements will be made. Father, I'm super jealous that you have already been skiing. That's one of the things I'll miss quite a bit. I'm definitely jealous about surfing too, that sounds like something I'm going to have to do someday for sure. Make sure you dedicate your greatest run of the day each day to me.
We had an awesome Christmas Zone Conference this week which was at the Rio Rancho stake center so we didn't have to travel anywhere really. It was really great. President and Sister Miller did a training on how we can make relating the first vision with our investigators (and anybody) a very sacred and spiritual moment. They did a roleplay with some of the Elder's and had us all say prayers in our hearts for them to bring the spirit into the room as they taught some sister missionaries. The spirit was so strong. Half of the mission all praying for the same thing makes a pretty awesome experience. I also got to see a lot of the missionaries who came out into the field with us. Elder Kendall is in a bike area and has lost 30 pounds since the MTC so he's looking sharp. It was really cool though. We got fed awesome food, gained weight, and felt the spirit in grand abundance. Now that's what I call a killer triple combination. Not a cool triple combination, a killer one. Remember that. We have two Christmas trees. They young men in the ward came over to our apartment and decorated a tree so we had to hide our other tree in the back room so that they couldn't see it. It was pretty funny. So now we have a tree in our front room and the other one is in the kitchen. I don't really know why it's there but that's where it is. We might give it to the ZLs. Remember how in Mazatlan we eat at Pancho's and they feed you those stuffed jalapenos? Well, a couple nights ago we ate a stuffed green chili. They pretty much look exactly the same but green chili has way better flavor. I have not received any boxes yet but I will be impatiently waiting for those to arrive.
Anyway, it snowed really hard one night here in Rio Rancho. We were down in the ghetto and it was time to go home and we started biking up the hill home and all of a sudden it just dumped on us. Mother nature destroyed us and annhilated my face with the snow. It stung. I couldn't look straight ahead it was that bad. We were planning on biking up the whole hill and not getting a ride but when we were covered in snow we decided to stop at the John's and get a ride the rest of the way up. I love snow, but not so much when you have to bike in it.
This week was a decent week as far as the work goes. One of our highlights was teaching a part member family named the Harney's the night we had our zone conference. Chris is the member and he has a solid testimony of the BoM but because of work he hasn't been able to attend church for quite a while. In January his work schedule will change and he will be able to come to church every Sunday so I'm way pumped for that! His wife Justyne is very Catholic and knows her stuff about Catholicism. Catholics are either hardcore or don't go to church ever but she she is staunchly Catholic. Anyway, they've been married for like 2 years and they're in their early twenties and have their first kid on the way. The first time we saw Chris we asked him if he would be willing to hear the lessons and he said he would be glad to but then he warned us that Justyne is Catholic and might not want to hear us out but when we went there she was all for listening. We brought a member with us who was a former Catholic and I'm not kidding when I say this but this dude could probably logically, scientifically, theologically prove that the church is true. That doesn't really matter but this guy is just crazy and knows pretty much everything. Anyway, to get back on track the spirit was definitely there as we talked about the Restoration of gospel and the first vision. I know that everyone felt it there for sure. We asked Justyne what it would mean to her if Joseph Smith was prophet and the BoM was true and she basically told us that she is content where she is at. Elder Jacobs and I apparently drank some bold sauce that morning because we said some of the boldest things I've ever heard either of us say. One of the things we told her was that we know for sure that this message is true and that. It's either the biggest lie ever or the greatest truth to ever come to the Earth and we made sure she knew that. Then out of nowhere, Chris bore a super powerful testimony about the BoM and how everytime he picks it up and reads from it he knows it is true. Chris wants his wife to know that this is true as well. We're not sure where this all will go but I'm so excited to work with the Harney's. They are gone till about January but it will be awesome. That was one of the coolest lessons we've had but I don't think my description really did it justice.
As for the Malachi and Cowboy situation, this week nothing much happened there. We tried by their house almost everyday during the week and they were never home until Saturday night. All we had time for was to re-invite them to church and they said that they'd be up and ready. We had arranged for a member to go and pick them up yesterday morning and when he got there and knocked on the door nobody answered... Later that night we went back over and they both said they were really sorry but they slept in. Malachi was pretty sad and the first thing he asked us was if he could come to church with us next week. Of course he could!
I forgot to mention that we both spoke in church yesterday too. We spoke about giving and receiving gifts so naturally as missionaries, we talked about giving the gift of the gospel to others and receving spiritual blessings for that. We invited like 10 people to come to church and hear us speak and they all said they would come and that they were excited to come but in the end only Shariy showed up. Gordon was super sick so he wasn't able to make it. We taught Gordon the word of wisdom this week and he knows that he needs to quit smoking and he really wants to. Gordon loves the BoM and has his copy of it all marked up. He's the man. We also kind of touched on the law of chastity a little bit but we definitely need to go over that more in depth with him.
We had a lot of other cool things this week too but I don't have much more time. We're gonna go play some tennis and bball. I'm excited for tennis but I'll probably be horrible. This week I was reading in 3Nephi and what really impressed me was chapter 19:28-29. It's when Christ prays for those who have been given out of the world as His servants. I know that Christ pleads for all of us and wants what is best for us. He wants us to feel the power of the Atonement which makes it possible for us to become like Him and our Heavenly Father. I know the Savior lives. I know our Father in Heaven loves us and answers our prayers and pours out so many blessings on us that we can't even notice them all. I love the gospel and I love this church. I'm so grateful to have been born into it!
Now it's time to go smash the ZLs in tennis!
Elder Black
December 10
Howdy Ya'll!
I haven't eaten anything super amazing yet but I am growing more fond of this green chili business. I'll show you a picture of a typical New Mexican breakfast for missionaries with no money. It's awesome. New Mexico is basically the only place in the world that you can get green chili so the green chili and the balloon fiesta are pretty much its only claims to fame. It's awesome though. I don't like ovaltine as much as Nesquik. Nesquik is more chocolatey and MUCH more satisfying, ovaltine doesn't even deserve to be capitalized like Nesquik does. Anyway, I have a question. Grandma sent me a letter and I threw away the envelope so I don't know their zip code. If you could let me know, that would be greatly appreciated.
This week was quite the week. At the start of the week I went on exchanges again with a missionary newer than myself and it was in our area again. This missionary kind of doesn't really want to be on his mission so my goal was to pump him up about missionary work and ever since he has seemed to be in higher spirits than before. I decided that we were just gonna work super hard all day and that's what we did. We had basically no appointments, we dropped by almost everyone of our potential investigators within a reasonable range, and didn't accomplish much that day but we worked hard and had fun. We did a lot of tracting also and that's where we met a lot of rude people but honestly I think meeting really rude people is kind of entertaining. This one man opened the door and we gave one of our different door approach missionary shpeels (if that's a word) and then he just angrily looked at us and said "i'm already saved, are you?" We told him that we believe we definitely could be saved by living the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us through prophets in our age. Then he asked us what bible we read and we said King James and then he told us it must be the "new" King James bible (which does exist) and we told him we read the normal one. Then he didn't really know what to say and just shut the door on us. We thought it was funny and we just started laughing afterwards. People have some interesting beliefs and it's interesting to see how the Great Apostasy has created so many different interpretations and ideas of the truths of the gospel. That was something that I learned this week. Basically, every religious belief or idea can be traced back to the truth. Funny how that works eh? Maybe it's because our church is the true church!
We had some really great things happen this week also and some things that are impeding the progress of certain investigators. Cowboy's family made some pretty awesome progress this week. This week we met with Cowboy twice and these are the only times that we ever brought members with us to lessons with him. Bringing members with us to lessons adds so much to the quality and spirituality of a lesson. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that went really well. I can tell that Cowboy really wants what is best for his family and he knows that for his family to be happy he's gotta be the one who makes the changes. He seems to be doing better with his drug addictions as well. Anyway, we invited them to our ward Christmas party on saturday and they really wanted to come. Tanya couldn't because she works Saturday and Sunday which makes things pretty difficult. Things happened and Cowboy wasn't able to make it but we were able to bring their 9 year old son Malachi to the party with us and he loved it. Malachi made some friends and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well. On Sunday, Malachi came to church with us also. At first he was a little apprehensive and nervous about the new atmosphere of church. He didn't really want to go to primary but he went anyway and at the end of it all he had a really great time and loved it at church. After church he asked if we'd bring him with us again. It was sweet. Later that night, we invited Malachi to be baptized and he was literally jumping up and down and it was super sweet. Cowboy seemed to be happy for Malachi as well. Cowboy won't be able to be baptized for at least a year because he is on probation but he thinks a year is probably the time that he'll need to prepare for baptism anyway. Malachi is on date for baptism on the 29th of this month so that is totally sweet!
As for Geno and Shariy, we invited them to be married again and we had a very great lesson with them. We read the Family Proclamation to the World with them and they both understand the importance of marriage and that it is a commandment. However, the response we got was yet again not what we had hoped for. They both said that they need some time to prepare for marriage and they are both unsure about it. We believe that we have finally found the reason why they are scared about marriage as well. Geno has never divorced the woman he was/is married to. That's a problem and apparently it can take quite a while to have a divorce go through and be legal and whatnot. That's a major bummer. We were hoping to at least have them married before Elder Jacobs dies but it's not looking that will be possible. Especially if they don't even know if they really want to be married. Missionary work is stressful. On the bright side though, we started teaching Shariy's grandson and he is now also on date for the 29th. We are not entirely sure if he will make it by then because he is afraid of going to church. The Catholic church told him that he is going to hell and we are pretty sure that it is because he is gay. It's a bit of an awkward situation but if he comes to know this is the path for him he will be able to resist his temptations in life and find strength through those trials. Gordon is awesome though and really wants a "new" life and he knows that baptism is the avenue that will get him there. I've come to realize that even if people receive spiritual witnesses of the truth of the things we teach, Satan is still pretty powerful in keeping people for progression. Missionaries are there to help people through this process and there is a reson that it's called Missionary WORK.
Anyway, it's been a good week. This morning I read in 3 Nephi 9 and I really like verse 14. Read it. 'Tis good stuff. I love reading about the Savior and the love He has for all of us. I especially love reading about His ministry in the Americas because I know it's true. It verifies His divinity that the Bible testifies of. I really KNOW that He lives and loves and that through Him we can inherit the Kingdom of God and live in His presence with those we love. The gospel is great. It heals people and provides them with strength that they need. I never want to take my knowledge of the truth for granted ever again in my life like I have before. I Love the Savior and I love all ya'll.
Peace and Love ya'll!
Elder Black
P.S. pic- typical NM breakfast (MMMM green chili)
Double P.S. pic- one of the hills we bike up daily
I haven't eaten anything super amazing yet but I am growing more fond of this green chili business. I'll show you a picture of a typical New Mexican breakfast for missionaries with no money. It's awesome. New Mexico is basically the only place in the world that you can get green chili so the green chili and the balloon fiesta are pretty much its only claims to fame. It's awesome though. I don't like ovaltine as much as Nesquik. Nesquik is more chocolatey and MUCH more satisfying, ovaltine doesn't even deserve to be capitalized like Nesquik does. Anyway, I have a question. Grandma sent me a letter and I threw away the envelope so I don't know their zip code. If you could let me know, that would be greatly appreciated.
This week was quite the week. At the start of the week I went on exchanges again with a missionary newer than myself and it was in our area again. This missionary kind of doesn't really want to be on his mission so my goal was to pump him up about missionary work and ever since he has seemed to be in higher spirits than before. I decided that we were just gonna work super hard all day and that's what we did. We had basically no appointments, we dropped by almost everyone of our potential investigators within a reasonable range, and didn't accomplish much that day but we worked hard and had fun. We did a lot of tracting also and that's where we met a lot of rude people but honestly I think meeting really rude people is kind of entertaining. This one man opened the door and we gave one of our different door approach missionary shpeels (if that's a word) and then he just angrily looked at us and said "i'm already saved, are you?" We told him that we believe we definitely could be saved by living the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us through prophets in our age. Then he asked us what bible we read and we said King James and then he told us it must be the "new" King James bible (which does exist) and we told him we read the normal one. Then he didn't really know what to say and just shut the door on us. We thought it was funny and we just started laughing afterwards. People have some interesting beliefs and it's interesting to see how the Great Apostasy has created so many different interpretations and ideas of the truths of the gospel. That was something that I learned this week. Basically, every religious belief or idea can be traced back to the truth. Funny how that works eh? Maybe it's because our church is the true church!
We had some really great things happen this week also and some things that are impeding the progress of certain investigators. Cowboy's family made some pretty awesome progress this week. This week we met with Cowboy twice and these are the only times that we ever brought members with us to lessons with him. Bringing members with us to lessons adds so much to the quality and spirituality of a lesson. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that went really well. I can tell that Cowboy really wants what is best for his family and he knows that for his family to be happy he's gotta be the one who makes the changes. He seems to be doing better with his drug addictions as well. Anyway, we invited them to our ward Christmas party on saturday and they really wanted to come. Tanya couldn't because she works Saturday and Sunday which makes things pretty difficult. Things happened and Cowboy wasn't able to make it but we were able to bring their 9 year old son Malachi to the party with us and he loved it. Malachi made some friends and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well. On Sunday, Malachi came to church with us also. At first he was a little apprehensive and nervous about the new atmosphere of church. He didn't really want to go to primary but he went anyway and at the end of it all he had a really great time and loved it at church. After church he asked if we'd bring him with us again. It was sweet. Later that night, we invited Malachi to be baptized and he was literally jumping up and down and it was super sweet. Cowboy seemed to be happy for Malachi as well. Cowboy won't be able to be baptized for at least a year because he is on probation but he thinks a year is probably the time that he'll need to prepare for baptism anyway. Malachi is on date for baptism on the 29th of this month so that is totally sweet!
As for Geno and Shariy, we invited them to be married again and we had a very great lesson with them. We read the Family Proclamation to the World with them and they both understand the importance of marriage and that it is a commandment. However, the response we got was yet again not what we had hoped for. They both said that they need some time to prepare for marriage and they are both unsure about it. We believe that we have finally found the reason why they are scared about marriage as well. Geno has never divorced the woman he was/is married to. That's a problem and apparently it can take quite a while to have a divorce go through and be legal and whatnot. That's a major bummer. We were hoping to at least have them married before Elder Jacobs dies but it's not looking that will be possible. Especially if they don't even know if they really want to be married. Missionary work is stressful. On the bright side though, we started teaching Shariy's grandson and he is now also on date for the 29th. We are not entirely sure if he will make it by then because he is afraid of going to church. The Catholic church told him that he is going to hell and we are pretty sure that it is because he is gay. It's a bit of an awkward situation but if he comes to know this is the path for him he will be able to resist his temptations in life and find strength through those trials. Gordon is awesome though and really wants a "new" life and he knows that baptism is the avenue that will get him there. I've come to realize that even if people receive spiritual witnesses of the truth of the things we teach, Satan is still pretty powerful in keeping people for progression. Missionaries are there to help people through this process and there is a reson that it's called Missionary WORK.
Anyway, it's been a good week. This morning I read in 3 Nephi 9 and I really like verse 14. Read it. 'Tis good stuff. I love reading about the Savior and the love He has for all of us. I especially love reading about His ministry in the Americas because I know it's true. It verifies His divinity that the Bible testifies of. I really KNOW that He lives and loves and that through Him we can inherit the Kingdom of God and live in His presence with those we love. The gospel is great. It heals people and provides them with strength that they need. I never want to take my knowledge of the truth for granted ever again in my life like I have before. I Love the Savior and I love all ya'll.
Peace and Love ya'll!
Elder Black
P.S. pic- typical NM breakfast (MMMM green chili)
Double P.S. pic- one of the hills we bike up daily
December 10
Howdy Ya'll!
I haven't eaten anything super amazing yet but I am growing more fond of this green chili business. I'll show you a picture of a typical New Mexican breakfast for missionaries with no money. It's awesome. New Mexico is basically the only place in the world that you can get green chili so the green chili and the balloon fiesta are pretty much its only claims to fame. It's awesome though. I don't like ovaltine as much as Nesquik. Nesquik is more chocolatey and MUCH more satisfying, ovaltine doesn't even deserve to be capitalized like Nesquik does. Anyway, I have a question. Grandma sent me a letter and I threw away the envelope so I don't know their zip code. If you could let me know, that would be greatly appreciated.
This week was quite the week. At the start of the week I went on exchanges again with a missionary newer than myself and it was in our area again. This missionary kind of doesn't really want to be on his mission so my goal was to pump him up about missionary work and ever since he has seemed to be in higher spirits than before. I decided that we were just gonna work super hard all day and that's what we did. We had basically no appointments, we dropped by almost everyone of our potential investigators within a reasonable range, and didn't accomplish much that day but we worked hard and had fun. We did a lot of tracting also and that's where we met a lot of rude people but honestly I think meeting really rude people is kind of entertaining. This one man opened the door and we gave one of our different door approach missionary shpeels (if that's a word) and then he just angrily looked at us and said "i'm already saved, are you?" We told him that we believe we definitely could be saved by living the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us through prophets in our age. Then he asked us what bible we read and we said King James and then he told us it must be the "new" King James bible (which does exist) and we told him we read the normal one. Then he didn't really know what to say and just shut the door on us. We thought it was funny and we just started laughing afterwards. People have some interesting beliefs and it's interesting to see how the Great Apostasy has created so many different interpretations and ideas of the truths of the gospel. That was something that I learned this week. Basically, every religious belief or idea can be traced back to the truth. Funny how that works eh? Maybe it's because our church is the true church!
We had some really great things happen this week also and some things that are impeding the progress of certain investigators. Cowboy's family made some pretty awesome progress this week. This week we met with Cowboy twice and these are the only times that we ever brought members with us to lessons with him. Bringing members with us to lessons adds so much to the quality and spirituality of a lesson. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that went really well. I can tell that Cowboy really wants what is best for his family and he knows that for his family to be happy he's gotta be the one who makes the changes. He seems to be doing better with his drug addictions as well. Anyway, we invited them to our ward Christmas party on saturday and they really wanted to come. Tanya couldn't because she works Saturday and Sunday which makes things pretty difficult. Things happened and Cowboy wasn't able to make it but we were able to bring their 9 year old son Malachi to the party with us and he loved it. Malachi made some friends and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well. On Sunday, Malachi came to church with us also. At first he was a little apprehensive and nervous about the new atmosphere of church. He didn't really want to go to primary but he went anyway and at the end of it all he had a really great time and loved it at church. After church he asked if we'd bring him with us again. It was sweet. Later that night, we invited Malachi to be baptized and he was literally jumping up and down and it was super sweet. Cowboy seemed to be happy for Malachi as well. Cowboy won't be able to be baptized for at least a year because he is on probation but he thinks a year is probably the time that he'll need to prepare for baptism anyway. Malachi is on date for baptism on the 29th of this month so that is totally sweet!
As for Geno and Shariy, we invited them to be married again and we had a very great lesson with them. We read the Family Proclamation to the World with them and they both understand the importance of marriage and that it is a commandment. However, the response we got was yet again not what we had hoped for. They both said that they need some time to prepare for marriage and they are both unsure about it. We believe that we have finally found the reason why they are scared about marriage as well. Geno has never divorced the woman he was/is married to. That's a problem and apparently it can take quite a while to have a divorce go through and be legal and whatnot. That's a major bummer. We were hoping to at least have them married before Elder Jacobs dies but it's not looking that will be possible. Especially if they don't even know if they really want to be married. Missionary work is stressful. On the bright side though, we started teaching Shariy's grandson and he is now also on date for the 29th. We are not entirely sure if he will make it by then because he is afraid of going to church. The Catholic church told him that he is going to hell and we are pretty sure that it is because he is gay. It's a bit of an awkward situation but if he comes to know this is the path for him he will be able to resist his temptations in life and find strength through those trials. Gordon is awesome though and really wants a "new" life and he knows that baptism is the avenue that will get him there. I've come to realize that even if people receive spiritual witnesses of the truth of the things we teach, Satan is still pretty powerful in keeping people for progression. Missionaries are there to help people through this process and there is a reson that it's called Missionary WORK.
Anyway, it's been a good week. This morning I read in 3 Nephi 9 and I really like verse 14. Read it. 'Tis good stuff. I love reading about the Savior and the love He has for all of us. I especially love reading about His ministry in the Americas because I know it's true. It verifies His divinity that the Bible testifies of. I really KNOW that He lives and loves and that through Him we can inherit the Kingdom of God and live in His presence with those we love. The gospel is great. It heals people and provides them with strength that they need. I never want to take my knowledge of the truth for granted ever again in my life like I have before. I Love the Savior and I love all ya'll.
Peace and Love ya'll!
Elder Black
P.S. pic- typical NM breakfast (MMMM green chili)
Double P.S. pic- one of the hills we bike up daily
I haven't eaten anything super amazing yet but I am growing more fond of this green chili business. I'll show you a picture of a typical New Mexican breakfast for missionaries with no money. It's awesome. New Mexico is basically the only place in the world that you can get green chili so the green chili and the balloon fiesta are pretty much its only claims to fame. It's awesome though. I don't like ovaltine as much as Nesquik. Nesquik is more chocolatey and MUCH more satisfying, ovaltine doesn't even deserve to be capitalized like Nesquik does. Anyway, I have a question. Grandma sent me a letter and I threw away the envelope so I don't know their zip code. If you could let me know, that would be greatly appreciated.
This week was quite the week. At the start of the week I went on exchanges again with a missionary newer than myself and it was in our area again. This missionary kind of doesn't really want to be on his mission so my goal was to pump him up about missionary work and ever since he has seemed to be in higher spirits than before. I decided that we were just gonna work super hard all day and that's what we did. We had basically no appointments, we dropped by almost everyone of our potential investigators within a reasonable range, and didn't accomplish much that day but we worked hard and had fun. We did a lot of tracting also and that's where we met a lot of rude people but honestly I think meeting really rude people is kind of entertaining. This one man opened the door and we gave one of our different door approach missionary shpeels (if that's a word) and then he just angrily looked at us and said "i'm already saved, are you?" We told him that we believe we definitely could be saved by living the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us through prophets in our age. Then he asked us what bible we read and we said King James and then he told us it must be the "new" King James bible (which does exist) and we told him we read the normal one. Then he didn't really know what to say and just shut the door on us. We thought it was funny and we just started laughing afterwards. People have some interesting beliefs and it's interesting to see how the Great Apostasy has created so many different interpretations and ideas of the truths of the gospel. That was something that I learned this week. Basically, every religious belief or idea can be traced back to the truth. Funny how that works eh? Maybe it's because our church is the true church!
We had some really great things happen this week also and some things that are impeding the progress of certain investigators. Cowboy's family made some pretty awesome progress this week. This week we met with Cowboy twice and these are the only times that we ever brought members with us to lessons with him. Bringing members with us to lessons adds so much to the quality and spirituality of a lesson. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that went really well. I can tell that Cowboy really wants what is best for his family and he knows that for his family to be happy he's gotta be the one who makes the changes. He seems to be doing better with his drug addictions as well. Anyway, we invited them to our ward Christmas party on saturday and they really wanted to come. Tanya couldn't because she works Saturday and Sunday which makes things pretty difficult. Things happened and Cowboy wasn't able to make it but we were able to bring their 9 year old son Malachi to the party with us and he loved it. Malachi made some friends and really enjoyed the atmosphere as well. On Sunday, Malachi came to church with us also. At first he was a little apprehensive and nervous about the new atmosphere of church. He didn't really want to go to primary but he went anyway and at the end of it all he had a really great time and loved it at church. After church he asked if we'd bring him with us again. It was sweet. Later that night, we invited Malachi to be baptized and he was literally jumping up and down and it was super sweet. Cowboy seemed to be happy for Malachi as well. Cowboy won't be able to be baptized for at least a year because he is on probation but he thinks a year is probably the time that he'll need to prepare for baptism anyway. Malachi is on date for baptism on the 29th of this month so that is totally sweet!
As for Geno and Shariy, we invited them to be married again and we had a very great lesson with them. We read the Family Proclamation to the World with them and they both understand the importance of marriage and that it is a commandment. However, the response we got was yet again not what we had hoped for. They both said that they need some time to prepare for marriage and they are both unsure about it. We believe that we have finally found the reason why they are scared about marriage as well. Geno has never divorced the woman he was/is married to. That's a problem and apparently it can take quite a while to have a divorce go through and be legal and whatnot. That's a major bummer. We were hoping to at least have them married before Elder Jacobs dies but it's not looking that will be possible. Especially if they don't even know if they really want to be married. Missionary work is stressful. On the bright side though, we started teaching Shariy's grandson and he is now also on date for the 29th. We are not entirely sure if he will make it by then because he is afraid of going to church. The Catholic church told him that he is going to hell and we are pretty sure that it is because he is gay. It's a bit of an awkward situation but if he comes to know this is the path for him he will be able to resist his temptations in life and find strength through those trials. Gordon is awesome though and really wants a "new" life and he knows that baptism is the avenue that will get him there. I've come to realize that even if people receive spiritual witnesses of the truth of the things we teach, Satan is still pretty powerful in keeping people for progression. Missionaries are there to help people through this process and there is a reson that it's called Missionary WORK.
Anyway, it's been a good week. This morning I read in 3 Nephi 9 and I really like verse 14. Read it. 'Tis good stuff. I love reading about the Savior and the love He has for all of us. I especially love reading about His ministry in the Americas because I know it's true. It verifies His divinity that the Bible testifies of. I really KNOW that He lives and loves and that through Him we can inherit the Kingdom of God and live in His presence with those we love. The gospel is great. It heals people and provides them with strength that they need. I never want to take my knowledge of the truth for granted ever again in my life like I have before. I Love the Savior and I love all ya'll.
Peace and Love ya'll!
Elder Black
P.S. pic- typical NM breakfast (MMMM green chili)
Double P.S. pic- one of the hills we bike up daily
December 3rd!
Greetings from the land of Enchantment (or entrapment as others call it)
To answer questions, the most exciting thing to happen this week was probably that we started working more with some part-member families. Nothing has really happened with Geno and Shariy (I'll tell you why later) but we got some pretty solid referrals to contact so I'm excited to see where that will go! My favorite scripture I read this week was one I read this morning, It's 3 Nephi 5:13 and Mormon is talking about his role and what his purpose is. It's the same purpose as mine and it's the same purpose every member of the church has! I just really liked that one. I liked reading about Samuel the Lamanite this week and his great prophecies about the coming of the Savior. It fit in perfectly with everybody starting to get excited about Christmas and whatnot. I don't know if you were able to see the Christmas devotional last night but it was very good. They focused a lot on being giving and sacrificing for others and being a gracious receiver. I think that is something that we all need to work on. The natural man is selfish and the Christmas season is one of the best times to put off the natural man by remembering the true spirit of Christmas and serve others just as our Savior has served us!
I do have one more request actually of something you could send me. If you could send me some size 8 basketball shoes that would be great. We play a ton of basketball down here in the Querque and my tennis shoes have like no traction or anything. If that is possible for you to send I would greatly appreciate it.
Anyway, this week and last night in particular we had some interesting things happen. Earlier in the week, Geno and Shariy's grandson Gordon were helping a woman put up their Christmas lights and on their way back a ladder fell out of the back of their truck. Geno got out to put it back in and Gordon backed up the truck, nailed Geno, and as a result Geno now has a broken arm. Not good stuff. It didn't help our lessons with them this week either because he's all strung out on his meds or just in a lot of pain so it's hard for him to focus. Pretty unfortunate but it is ok, he should be well enough this week so we can have some good lessons with them and hopefully the spirit will be able to make known the importance of marriage to the both of them. The goal is for them to be married and baptized before the end of the month when Elder Jacobs dies. It's a good goal and it might be hard but I think that it can happen and I pray that it will.
This week we were able to meet with Michael again finally! I was on exchanges with Elder Armstrong who is even newer than me and we had a really good lesson with him. We read Ether 12 with him which talks a lot about faith and talks about how are weaknesses can become strengths. The spirit helped Michael to understand what it was saying. He said he never really knew what that meant but it made a lot of sense to him. Michael has a really strong testimony and it's cool to see him grow and to see his desires change in life. He wants to quit smoking and I know he can! He will do it because he knows it's something that will really help him to come unto Christ and be a better person. He went to church in his home ward with his dad so that is good! We're going to teach him the stop smoking lesson next time we see him and that will be awesome!
We also met with Cowboy again this week and that went well. We brought a member with us who is really supportive of Cowboy and the changes that Cowboy wants to make. The thing with Cowboy is we aren't really sure how sincere he is sometimes. I really think that he is trying to change his lifestyle and one of his great motivators is his family. His biggest fear is of losing his wife and kids and he would do anything to have them in his life. We watched a Mormon message about the atonement with him and how if we use it in our lives that burdens can be lifted from our lives. Cowboy made the comment that he can't do it without the Savior and he is absolutely correct. Trusting in the Savior and utilizing the Atonement is the ONLY way that we can make lasting changes in our lives and become what are supposed to be. We invited Cowboy to church and he said that he would come if he could get a ride and we found him one but his kids woke up in the morning sick so he wasn't able to make it. He promised that he would be ther next Sunday and I really hope he actually comes! This journey for Cowboy could take years but I am happy that I have been the Lord's instrument in helping him start his journey. I have learned a lot about Cowboy and I've learned a lot about the Atonement from him. I've seen him grow and it is great! I remember a missionary in my district in the MTC asked us once, "is it better to be 2 feet from Christ and walking away from him, or 1,000 feet away and walking towards Him." Walking towards Christ is what brings happiness in our lives and true peace. I know that is true. In the short time I've been a missionary I have changed from believing in the restored gospel and in Jesus Christ and His Atonement to knowing it is all true. I know it and I feel the spirit confirm this to me each time I bear my testimony. My testimony has grown so much just by simply bearing my testimony. I love it. I love the gospel and I love all ya'll and am extremely grateful for your support!
Peace and love,
Elder Black
P.S. have fun in Hawaii
Double P.S. you've asked for a picture of me so here's the goofiest picture I could find you
Triple P.S. The other picture sent to you is a picture of the Rio Rancho/Santa Fe zone at zone conference last month.
To answer questions, the most exciting thing to happen this week was probably that we started working more with some part-member families. Nothing has really happened with Geno and Shariy (I'll tell you why later) but we got some pretty solid referrals to contact so I'm excited to see where that will go! My favorite scripture I read this week was one I read this morning, It's 3 Nephi 5:13 and Mormon is talking about his role and what his purpose is. It's the same purpose as mine and it's the same purpose every member of the church has! I just really liked that one. I liked reading about Samuel the Lamanite this week and his great prophecies about the coming of the Savior. It fit in perfectly with everybody starting to get excited about Christmas and whatnot. I don't know if you were able to see the Christmas devotional last night but it was very good. They focused a lot on being giving and sacrificing for others and being a gracious receiver. I think that is something that we all need to work on. The natural man is selfish and the Christmas season is one of the best times to put off the natural man by remembering the true spirit of Christmas and serve others just as our Savior has served us!
I do have one more request actually of something you could send me. If you could send me some size 8 basketball shoes that would be great. We play a ton of basketball down here in the Querque and my tennis shoes have like no traction or anything. If that is possible for you to send I would greatly appreciate it.
Anyway, this week and last night in particular we had some interesting things happen. Earlier in the week, Geno and Shariy's grandson Gordon were helping a woman put up their Christmas lights and on their way back a ladder fell out of the back of their truck. Geno got out to put it back in and Gordon backed up the truck, nailed Geno, and as a result Geno now has a broken arm. Not good stuff. It didn't help our lessons with them this week either because he's all strung out on his meds or just in a lot of pain so it's hard for him to focus. Pretty unfortunate but it is ok, he should be well enough this week so we can have some good lessons with them and hopefully the spirit will be able to make known the importance of marriage to the both of them. The goal is for them to be married and baptized before the end of the month when Elder Jacobs dies. It's a good goal and it might be hard but I think that it can happen and I pray that it will.
This week we were able to meet with Michael again finally! I was on exchanges with Elder Armstrong who is even newer than me and we had a really good lesson with him. We read Ether 12 with him which talks a lot about faith and talks about how are weaknesses can become strengths. The spirit helped Michael to understand what it was saying. He said he never really knew what that meant but it made a lot of sense to him. Michael has a really strong testimony and it's cool to see him grow and to see his desires change in life. He wants to quit smoking and I know he can! He will do it because he knows it's something that will really help him to come unto Christ and be a better person. He went to church in his home ward with his dad so that is good! We're going to teach him the stop smoking lesson next time we see him and that will be awesome!
We also met with Cowboy again this week and that went well. We brought a member with us who is really supportive of Cowboy and the changes that Cowboy wants to make. The thing with Cowboy is we aren't really sure how sincere he is sometimes. I really think that he is trying to change his lifestyle and one of his great motivators is his family. His biggest fear is of losing his wife and kids and he would do anything to have them in his life. We watched a Mormon message about the atonement with him and how if we use it in our lives that burdens can be lifted from our lives. Cowboy made the comment that he can't do it without the Savior and he is absolutely correct. Trusting in the Savior and utilizing the Atonement is the ONLY way that we can make lasting changes in our lives and become what are supposed to be. We invited Cowboy to church and he said that he would come if he could get a ride and we found him one but his kids woke up in the morning sick so he wasn't able to make it. He promised that he would be ther next Sunday and I really hope he actually comes! This journey for Cowboy could take years but I am happy that I have been the Lord's instrument in helping him start his journey. I have learned a lot about Cowboy and I've learned a lot about the Atonement from him. I've seen him grow and it is great! I remember a missionary in my district in the MTC asked us once, "is it better to be 2 feet from Christ and walking away from him, or 1,000 feet away and walking towards Him." Walking towards Christ is what brings happiness in our lives and true peace. I know that is true. In the short time I've been a missionary I have changed from believing in the restored gospel and in Jesus Christ and His Atonement to knowing it is all true. I know it and I feel the spirit confirm this to me each time I bear my testimony. My testimony has grown so much just by simply bearing my testimony. I love it. I love the gospel and I love all ya'll and am extremely grateful for your support!
Peace and love,
Elder Black
P.S. have fun in Hawaii
Double P.S. you've asked for a picture of me so here's the goofiest picture I could find you
Triple P.S. The other picture sent to you is a picture of the Rio Rancho/Santa Fe zone at zone conference last month.
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