The Lord uses missionaries: it's super effective!

Funny: as it turns out not only can you catch Pokémon on Pokémon Go but you can catch some new people to teach! We were visiting a former and he invited us to a Pokémon go raid. Well, we didn't actually play Pokémon go but we sure talked to everyone. Turns out that a lot of them were returning members or non-members and most were interested in meeting with us Haha. Also, they did catch their Pokémon too.

Spiritual: there is always something very spiritual about whitewashing. It seems as though there is a new sense of energy and purpose here. Everyone was commenting how they can feel it. We have had a slew of spiritual miracles. Everything from spiritual help in guiding us in the new area. To people being home at times when they told us they usually are never home. It is often in these small miracles that the hand of God is most manifest.

Where I am at: it has been a big week of culture shock! There are lots of things that are different here than my last few areas. One of the best is that there is drinkable water! Oh, it is so nice. We also get fed dinner by members almost every night and we have a massive ward of about 150 active members. It is so different but such a great place. Thankfully Elder Curtis and I are going to keep our rez skills sharp by planting a garden in our back yard. We are both very excited for this transfer.

Love y'all
Elder Black

Cortez Homeboy

Funny: Well, this week we convinced the Senior Couple that we indeed had the best area. We took Elder Walker out a few times this week and each one was filled with food. The highlights were taking him out to Tonelea and the Whiterocks fed us massive Navajo Tacos, and we helped rototill a nonmember’s garden and they fed us 24 oz steaks. It was incredible and forever will Elder Walker be saying that Tuba City 2nd Ward is the best haha!

Spiritual: We had an incredible visit with the White family. We had gone over a few times in the past but only the daughter had seemed very interested. It was getting a little bit frustrating. When we went over this last Wednesday, we only were able to catch the Father home. He invited us in and for the first few minutes we just sat in silence. It seemed that whenever anyone tried to speak, they couldn't. Finally, the Father broke down. He told us that he used to be an active member but after some bad mistakes he just felt that he wasn't able to come back. We talked and by the end of the lesson we had helped him to understand that God loves him no matter where he is or what he has done. It filled my soul that I get the chance to be a witness of such miraculous change in people and to have the Holy Ghost to guide me as to what they need.

Where I am going: I am sadly being booted off of the rez :( I am headed instead for Cortez Colorado! From everything that I have heard it sounds like a great place to go. In addition to that I am fulfilling the old curse on the Durango Zone, that is that if you serve there once you are destined to serve there again. Well, here I go... In other news, Tuba is being left in the capable hands of Elder Standley and Elder Sorensen so I have no doubt that great things will continue to happen. It is such a blessed area and a great place to have served. I will miss these people a lot!

Love ya'

Elder Black

Fasting and Feeding

Funny: I had kinda a funny experience while fasting this week. In my prayer to open my fast I had asked that I could have the opportunity to gain a stronger testimony of fasting. Well the fast started and I woke up the next morning starving. It was rough, I was beginning to wonder if I wasn't going to make it, it felt like I was back in priest quorum. Well after church we did some studies and were preparing to go see some people when a member family texted up asking if we had eaten. We went over and had some Delicious ribs, afterwards we went and saw a returning member family. While we were there the other ward elders told us that a member was insisting that we come to their house for dinner. We did so joyously. We had just gotten in the truck when yet another member texted us telling us that they had made pizzas for us and that we were required to come over and eat. Well, in the end we were bloated and my testimony of fasting has grown quite a bit haha.

Spiritual: Once again the miracles that happen on exchanges are endless. I was able to go with Elder Asher this week and it was fantastic! We went to a couple that we had been trying for a long time to start teaching but we just hadn't been able to get in. Well, we pulled up and this time we noticed that they had a garden that wasn't tilled yet. We knocked on the door and asked if we could till their garden. They couldn't today but we rescheduled for another day and then as we were about to turn around and leave, we heard the door open again and they invited us in for a glass of water. The conversation turned to the Gospel quickly and they expressed how they had done some research of their own and had gotten into some bad information. We were able to clear it up and we are excited to go over and have another meeting. I am so grateful for chance to serve this people and see such great miracles!

Where I am at: We got some rain down here but now we are back to the warm and dry, life is great and we are enjoying all it offers. For transfer predictions, I am thinking that I am gone. I can feel it in the air that I am needed somewhere else, but we will see. There are a lot of good things going on this week. The Whiterock family is on date to be baptized this week and it seems that they are going to make it! It should be a great event! We are very excited for this adventure.

Love ya'

Elder Black

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