Super Missionaries

Funny: Finally scout camp planning paid off. We were asked to do a little skit for the baptismal review for the Tuba wards. What did we do? Superheroes! We became the super heroes Faith, Hope, and Charity (and Knowledge). We taught the kids about the diabolical plan of Satan to prevent us from living with God again. Thankfully God sent Jesus to show us how to get baptized and for the superpower of the Holy Ghost. It was super fun, took me back to them good old days, 8-year-olds and me think at the same level.

Spiritual: It's garden season baby! There are so many miracles that come planting gardens with people. We spent a lot of time this week with a shovel out there tilling gardens by hand. We did it for an older gentleman and it was great to see his attitude change. At first, he was almost hostile but by the end there were tears in his eyes of how grateful he was that someone would help him. We were able to set up a return appointment and now his whole family is interested in our message. Moral of the story, never underestimate the power of a few well-placed carrots and peas.

Where I am at: Up here in Tuba we have had short sleeve weather. However, when I was down in Polacca we received about 8 inches of snow. It was nice to see that water still can fall from the sky. We have had a great week and are excited for this next week. We have a lot of appointments with new people and finally have more than a day and a half to work together. I hope you all have a great week and stay warm.

Love ya
Elder Black 

Miracles of Miracles, Wonders of Wonders

Funny: The irony of the release of the communication change was priceless. We were in zone conference and they had just finished going over the email policy for the mission and had started talking about things that cause stress on missionaries when President Ackerman stood up and read aloud the letter from Salt Lake. It was possibly the funniest timing for the letter.

Spiritual: We had a great lesson with a lady who we thought was a member. We were trying to get her info so that we could find her record. Well she told us that she was baptized in the lake that dried up many moons ago by a preacher from a protestant church. It was a great answer because we had prayed a few minutes earlier that the Lord would put someone in our path who is ready for baptism. It was another example that God's hand is in this work.

Where I am at: I am sure that by this time you will have all heard much about the communication change so I will tell you my thoughts when I call 😉. This week was absolutely incredible. We had an incredible zone conference and a great week of finding! Tuba City is such a great place and the people here are so nice. We also got a dusting of snow this week. Not enough to actually mean anything but it was still fun to experience what the rest of you experience as we walked around in our short sleeve shirts. Well I hope you all have a great week sorry these emails have been a bit short. We are going to the Grand Canyon and are leaving soon.

Love ya'
Elder Black

President Nelson's Devotional

Funny: We had an escort when we were walking to the church for the special devotional on Sunday night. He was 5 and had a very funny attitude. We complimented his new shoes and he told us the proper term was his "fly kicks" and they were also his speed shoes which proceeded to show us how fast he can run. Haha, he also told us his name was Theodore but once we started calling him that he told us that Theodore was his not in church name, it was actually Henry and since we were in the church, we were to call him Henry. It was my favorite walk into church yet.

Spiritual: This week was a memorable one that was filled with many spiritual experiences. One that I loved was the broadcast with President Nelson. It was fantastic but the best part came after. We had a family we were teaching there and they expressed to us afterwards that that didn't understand most of what was said (the Abrahamic Covenant and Gathering of Israel is kinda complex) but told us that they could feel a power that came off of President Nelson as he spoke. What a great testimony builder that even though people might not totally understand the message, the Holy Ghost will still testify of its truthfulness.

Where I am at: We have had a blustery week and i know that I will be feeling sand in my hair for a long time. It has been fun to walk around in the stiff wind. The work down here is doing great! We met a lot of new people this week and we are chuck full of appointments. This upcoming week should be another good one. We have zone conference and interviews coming up and we are excited to learn how to be better missionaries. Hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Black 

Culture and Sheep Slaughter

Funny: It is interesting to see the cultural difference it here. We were helping clean a lady’s car and her cousin drove up. They started talking and eventually one of them said "I'm hungry, do you want to go get something to eat?" The end result was that they decided to go slaughter a sheep and have a cookout. The funny part was that they were discussing it with the same tone of voice as if they had decided to run down to McDonalds and pick up some burgers. What a great place this is!

Spiritual: The Native American people are blessed with some incredible spiritual gifts. Their culture of close families and remembering their ancestors is so very strong. We had several experiences this past week where as we shared a message you could feel the presence of their ancestors in the room and several of those we were teaching told us later that their ancestors came either in a dream or in a vision and they bore testimony that the message we are sharing is true. It is a powerful witness to me that the Plan of Salvation is real.

Where I am at: Life is beautiful! We have been enjoying the 50 - 60-degree weather and have been doing a lot of walking. We had a bit of another slow week but we are once again fired up to go out and do the work. We got the numbers from our last month’s goal. The mission goal was to baptize 40 people a month and last month we had 36 which is a big improvement from a few months ago when the mission average was 20/month. This upcoming week we have a lot of appointment set up with new people and some people we haven't seen in a long time so it should be an exciting adventure.

Love y'all
Elder Black