it truly was a miracle

Dear family and friends,

This week was crazy! We had so much happen that I don’t think I could write it all in this email. (OK I could but I don’t have enough time) But there was so much good that’s happening in are area, the Lord is really blessing us. What grate news I have for all of you:

This week we were not having the best of days, I was pretty down and I was wondering if things were going to get better then it all changed. On Sunday we met Trey, Trey is in the army, 55^Th combat -cams division and has a sweet 3year old named Jasmine, she is the most well behaved 3 year old I have ever seen! Anyway he was in Italy when he met a member of are church and he called a number and talked to a girl and she told him where to go and how to find a church. So he just showed up, we taught him in Sunday school the plan of salvation and the restoration and answered some of his questions then he asked if he could be baptized and I just wanted to cry then! I told him of course you can and he said, "I will be coming back here for as long as I can. I feel good about this church, I have been on this spiritual journey for a long time but I think I found the right church."

Music to my ears I love guys like Trey and I know that he has been prepared and that we were suppose to meet him. We have a meeting with him on Thursday and we are in contact with him daily. And he loves to read he is already in Nep. Chapter 18 and understands almost all that he is reading. He said that he had a question about it but forgot it because he was so wrapped up in the book that he just wanted to read more and more. He calls us now and tells us what he read and that’s cool to he is so excited to learn more. It's awesome it made my whole month, it truly was a miracle.

Well I got to go hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Love elder black!

Do You Love Me?

[19th Bday 2009]

6-6-2010

Remember I said I was going to finish what I was talking about? Well here is the punch line: Elder Holland went on to say, that we can not come home from are mission and go back to were we where... no! We don’t have time for that, we are expected to carry on this work even after the name tag comes off and break down this idea that once your mission is over you no longer have to find people or in other words do missionary work. Well he is right and he also said I have sung “Called to Serve” 10000 times so what? What does it mean? Well it means what is written in D&C 4. Read it, I think you will know what he means.

I love this mission that I have embarked on and I don’t want it to end and it won’t end! So let’s stand a little taller and see what miracles we can bring in to some ones life. This church is true and it will forever be true, it has not changed from day one! God stands at the head of this church and He and His son truly did come down to see a 14 year old boy in a grove of trees. I believe that with all my heart and sole!

Some time this month we are having Elder Packer come to our mission and I am so excited about that! This week was incredible, we did not baptize anyone or anything like that but we found a great source of strength through the members here. They're all trying really hard to help us find more people to teach and it is so helpful. We just recently were at our ward mission leaders house and asked him if he had any one for us to teach. He said, "I actually do, my neighbors right crossed the street have wanted to know more. I just have not been able to approach them about it, but we will have them over for dinner soon. Will you also come by?" Of coarse we will I said! And we did come by for dinner. They were not all that interested, but they were grateful and they were glad that we invited them over so the night over all was great. Then Elder Thomas got a flat tire and I was able to make some phone calls and set up another dinner with the Davis family and that was cool because last week we had dinner over there and they had brought a family over there for us to teach and they liked the message. The spirit was there and hopefully they will be back again tonight. I cant wait!

Other news is that we will soon have someone on date to be baptized this month and they are the Colstens, Richard and Nicole was that not the same name as Brittany’s friend? What ever happened to her? Anyway I just thought of that. Well besides all of that I can’t think of what else to say, besides what we're going to be doing to day for p-day and that is what we all ways do: hang out and be bums. There is nothing to do here in the city they say. But come on, I may be a country boy but still... country boys still go “in town to have a good time” there is more that just b-ball for us to do! Anyway that’s what were doing and I am going to have fun! Ok well I better get running now.

But I love you all and I will try to talk to you all on a more personal basis next week.

Love you all and have a great week!!

Elder black

Hello Family

[moving me into college 2008]

Dear family and friends,

Today is May 31, 2011. The weather is hot; something like 95 degrees with 85% humidity. So yea, it's hot. More than I would like, but life will go on right?! Well I don’t have a lot to say. This was an exciting this week, I do have some miracles that happened.

So me and my companion were walking to go to our next appointment and the family we were going to see just so happened to be home (its very exiting when you can get people at home). And they invited us in and we taught them the restoration and after we were wrapping up the lesson she said, "Hang on," and she called down her 2 other daughters and she told us to tell them the same thing we told her. So we did, we explained the book of Mormon to her and we talked about the prophet Joseph Smith to them and gave them both a copy of the Book Of Mormon. They all said they would read and we said we would come back. But it was so cool to be able to get in to teach this family.

We also had a real cool experience with the bishop and his family. The bishop in this ward is real stern and strict, but we got in his home and shared a power full lesson with them and then he loosened up and we gained his trust. I think we showed him that we were for real! But the remainder of the week was spent sweating and working. There’s a lot to be done in this area and there’s a work to do, I'm just glad to be a part of it.

We were instructed buy Elder Holland recently and he said to the affect of this, 'I have been studying the early apostleship and I have learned this about the apostle Peter. After the death of Jesus Christ all of the apostles looked at Peter to lead them. Well he did not know what to do, he had only been in the church for 36 months. Could you imagine calling someone to be a apostle after only being in the church for only 36 months? They deserve a break here, but they did not know what to do and neither did he. But they all looked at Peter and said now what now what do we do? Well he said it has been great, we have seen lots of miracles and have seen healings and seen some amazing things, let’s go fish. That’s what we did when Christ found us, that’s what we're going to do now and that’s what they did. So we turn to the scene where they're on the lake at Galilee, and on the lake your sight is very good and so is sound. So they're out fishing all night and they have caught no fish. 0, zip, nada. No fish, but they see this figure and he has made a fire and he calls out to them and said, "How is the fishing going?" (Oh and by the way this is at night because that’s when you fish on Galilee) But he calls out and they respond lousy, "We have not caught a thing." And he said, "How about casting your net on the right side of the boat?" and I bet one of them said, "Now who is this guy that has this cute idea about were to cast are net? and there he is safe on the shore and here we have been working all night!", but they needed a catch so they threw it over the right side and they cant bring the catch in. It starts to sink the boat. One of the miracles is that the nets did not break and John said, "It's him! It’s him!" And Peter looks at John and then at the shore and just jumps right over the boat and said, "You all paddle if you want I am going in." And then he gets to the shore and Christ starts this little interrogation with Peter and he said, "Peter do you love me more that these nets and your boats?" and he said yes I do. And he said again "Do you love me more than these fish and your ores?" He said yes I do, I do! and then he looked him dead in the eyes and said, "Now may I ask you for the 3 time, DO YOU LOVE ME!" And he said yes I do then Christ said, "THEN FEED MY SHEEP! I ASKED YOU ONCE TO LEAVE YOUR NETS DO NOT MAKE ME ASK AGAIN AND WHEN I CALLED YOU TO THE APOSTLESHIP IT WAS FOREVER. YOU ARE TO FEED MY SHEEP FOREVER!"'

I have to go, but I was going some where with this, but be posted. I will continue this next week

Love you, bye!

Love elder black

Good in the MBM

Good afternoon to y'all!

Looks like it's going to be a hot and humid one today! Can't believe that it came so fast, soon July will be here and you will have to peel me off the black top because I am going to melt there! Well the good news is I am back in good old Odenton area. Yea, remember the bikes? Well it's time to dust them off and start peddling again. Which is not all that bad because I was going thru all my planners and I discovered that I have only 5 months left. So time to start that 6 month beautification process right now, the bikes are going to help.

Well family I will update you on my life here. Really there is not much to tell you, I am so new but I can tell you that we live right next to this army base and we go an it all the time. They check our ID cards and when we have the car, they make us pop the hood and they check for bombs. It's kinda cool. I sometimes think it would be funny to just yell, "Cut the red wire! Hurry! He's getting away!" But something in the back of my head tells me that would be a bad idea. I don't know, but ever since the assassination on Benladen they're at force protection condition bravo. Such a long word, why can't they just say "Guys that want to blow us up in this lane. Others in that lane." You think it would save some time? I don't know, it must just be the army. I don't know were they come up with all of these acronyms, but I think they're funny!

Anyway, besides trying not to go to a federal prison for the rest of my life, I am having a good time here and trying to stay out of trouble! What's going on back there folks? Any news from the out side world?

Life here as a missionary could not get any better. We have no one to teach but that's why I am here; to add some life to this party and kick it in to high gear. Oh yea dude, we're going to have a blast. Oh my new comps name is Elder Tommis and he is from Rexburg ID. He is a very good singer and he likes to bike (well I think he does). Other news is I think Fort Mead (my official area, that's whats it is called) is trying to kill me. The moment I got here, BAM! really bad headache, like really bad. BAM! Then came the allergies and they're not going away. I don't know what's going on, but I think some days I just won't pull through. But sure enough... I do. I never had this before, I guess there is no plants in Arizona that are growing so I never had to worry about it. But I think I will live. (I think)

So what else? Oh my companion makes for a really good wind blocker. I discovered this as I was behind him. I think it's called drafting, but I thought it only worked for nascars. But I was wrong. It works for bikes too. It helps a lot when your going up hill in the wind. Just get as close as you can to his back tire and you'll just zip right up that hill. Works every time. Except I almost crashed into him a couple of times, but I still perfecting it. Soon he will never know that I am back there! ha ha ha ha!

Anyway life is good. It is out here in the MBM, that's an acronym for you army people! It means Maryland Baltimore Mission.

Well time is running out so I got to hurry, but a quick shout out to my Sis back home. Pam sorry I am late, but Happy B-Day! And to my cuz back in Texas, Jennifer and Heather Happy B-Day! as well. Hope you all have a wonderful time and know that I think/pray/love all of you. If you ever get sometime and think of me, just drop me a line or two. I will get back to you. Well got to scoot!

love ya

elder black

just what comes with being a missionary

[going to the temple 201o]

Well family and friends, it's time for me to pick up and move on to another area. It is just what comes with being a missionary. I wished I could of stayed in Cumberland, but the Lord wants me here and I believe that. I am not going to lie, I was sad leaving it all behind and I was only there for a few weeks, but I will have more joy here. I am sure of it. Anyway there is great things I hear about this area. And a little about my new comp. is that his name is Elder Tommis and that he is in to singing and playing the piano. But that's all I know so far. Anyway, I will be keeping you all up to date on all the adventures that we get in to. Just a side note: that my dad (trainer) is gone. He is at home right now in Utah. Anyways I got to go but I love you and I will talk to you soon.

I hope you all have a great week. Love to here from you all. Thank you for all that you do!

love elder black

What a wonderful life!

[Waiting to get his wisdom teeth out 2009]

So here I am again family!

I was shafted the first go around, so I got another chance to do this again. This week has been crazy, we still have no word on where we will live but that hopefully will be decided soon. There is so much work to do in this area that we just need to go to work and we're doing that! I have been reading in The Book of Mormon in Alma, man I could read that book all day if they would let me. It is the only book that I could read over and over again with out ever getting tired of it! There is no greater work in this world than this work and like Ammon in the Book of Mormon, as he said, "Let us glory in the Lord for who can glory too much in the Lord in this great work"! And like the prophet said, "If you have not read the book of Mormon READ IT!" It truly is the word of the Lord. This is just a small time in our lives. The life here on this earth is just speck in the eye of eternal life. There is more to this life than just death, that's just the beginning. I just love this gospel. It's true and I know it's true. And like Elder Holland said, One way or another God will have his voice heard." And we are the mortal angels that have to do that. What a great calling, I love it! Well I got to go, but I will write to you all very soon. Till then God be with you till we talk again.

love elder black

We got lots going on

[beach 2007]

Well this week has been real hectic. From changing apartments to having an Elder go home early because he did not want to be out here. Wow that's all I can say. We go to 2 sacrament meetings and so that's 8 hours of church for us. That's crazy! Well were trying to change it and were trying to find an apartment that's close for us all. There is 4 elders that need a place to stay and our lease is up at the end of the month and nothing has been done to locate a place to stay. They're still "looking." So the 30Th is going to come around and we're all just going to be with out a home. Anyway it's crazy over here. We got lots going on and it soon will settle down soon I hope. I am sending you a package. I just put it in the mail today and a letter will be on its way explaining in more detail just whats going on in my crazy life. For now I just go with the flow and do what I am told. I have lived a long time by doing that and I think its one of my best qualities. Anyway, I got to go but I will talk to you later.

I love you all and I will talk to you soon

elder black

p.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA

I LOVE THIS GOSPEL

[eagle court of honor 2009]

Dear family,

It's the start of a new transfer, "well soon to start" and in a soon to be "new area." But I know where I am going. I am going to be in... well I forgot, but somewhere around Hancock. It's going to be fun, but I just got my feet wet here and now I have to move again. That's the hard part. I liked it here, but oh well. The Lord needs me another way and I am glad to be doing the Lord's work. It's a great time to be out here. Lots that is going on. Lots that we missionary's can use, like Mormon.org and other sites and movies. We have so much to be thankful for. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL, I WANT TO SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS! THIS IS THE TRUE AND LIVING GOSPEL! CHRIST LIVES AND HE HAS NOT ABANDONED NOR FORSAKEN US! This gospel is so true and it needs to get down in to the marrow of are bones as Elder Holland put it. This week was great, we had lots of fun. We went to the bounce gym and then we went to play v-ball that was fun. I talked to Elder Garfield for a long time. He will be going home soon and I will not be too far behind him. Well I will talk to you in my next area. When is mother's day? Does anyone know?

I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

love elder black

"chillin like frillin"

[mission papers]

Dear family,

This week went by pretty fast. We had a lot going on. I'll tell you about it in a sec., but first I want to note that this is truly the best time of my life... why? Well just cause we have lots of people coming to the waters of baptism and because we have a lot going on in our area. Let me tell you a story: we had this referral for a long time and we did nothing about it. (Pam would call me a slacker, I know) but we decided to try him out. His name was Don. Don goes to school in Shepperd University and is a cool guy but when I called him on the phone though, he hung up on me. So I thought that this guy hated me, but we went anyway and taught a great lesson and he is coming to G.C. with us to "see this said prophet." I hope he comes! Well the time is passing well here. There is an elder that is in our apartment that goes home this transfer. This is my second time "killing an elder" and he is defiantly ready to go home! He is a Spanish elder, he was trying to teach me Spanish but i failed, so we stopped. Anyway today we're not doing much, just hanging out and "chillin like frillin." (baltimore slang for havin a good day) Well I have a nasty cold and just a few days ago I had to give a blessing to a 12yr girl in the ER that had some bad case. I don't know what it was but I hope she did not give it to me! Last week we also had Pres interviews, they went well. (I think I passed) What else? We tricked out our car. Well as tricked out as you can make a mission car. I will send you pics some time. Well that's all for now folks. I will be talking to you all later. Know that I love you all and be looking for your letters because I am turning on the letter writing machine. Love you all and have a great rest of the week!

elder black!

It was cool too.

All right now, let's get ready to rumble!!! So this week was awesome! From Elder Dallin H. Oaks granddaughter coming to play the violin, man she was good. I wished that you all could have been there. She had her 3 little girls come out and play with her. It was cool too. That was the highlight of the week. We are going to the bounce gym today for pday but I don't know if I want to go. I hurt my back last time doing a back flip. Man that hurt and it hurt all week. That was the problem any ways. I think I will sit this one out. Well I don't have a lot of time left and my comp. is gone, so I have to make this quick. I love you all and I miss you lots. Thank you for all that you do. I look forward to hearing from all of you soon!

elder black!