It's a Christmas Miracle!

Spiritual: Christmas is a time for Miracles. I have learned this Christmas that the Lord lives. He Loves us and wants to give us miracles, especially when we can do nothing to change the situation and we have given everything to the Lord and trust in Him. The moment He intervenes and changes something for us that we cannot do for ourselves that moment is a miracle. About one month ago I had gone down to Monterey for P day. President decided to give the Pleasanton elders a chance to go down to the beach for a change. When we got down there we had a great time playing in the sand and enjoying the ocean. It was a great day! When we went to go back to Pleasanton, I walked over to my bag to find it empty. My heart stopped. I had left my journal of three months of my mission in there. It was awful. I had faithfully recorded every single day an entry of what I had learned or some miracle that had happened and now it was gone. Three months of my life had vanished. Stolen. Never to return. I was distraught. I definitely didn’t want my parents to worry or have anyone else feel bad for me so I didn’t mention it in any letters home or anything like that. I was just going to rely on the Lord and His infinite goodness for comfort. When we got in the car after looking around for a long time for it I was sure it was burning in some trash can somewhere. We left and while we were driving away I said a prayer to Heavenly Father, not asking Him to find my journal for me or to have vengeance on the person who stole it, but to use it as a tool to further his work. After that, it was amazing the feeling of comfort i received. It was like having an umbrella placed over me. I knew I should be really sad about what had happened, but i really didn’t feel that bad at all! It was so strange. Time passed and on Christmas day, while skyping my family, they said they had one extra Christmas gift for me. They reached around and pulled out a journal that looked exactly similar to mine. It was my Journal!! It had come a few days before in an unmarked envelope with my name and address on it. The Lord loves us immensely. I have no idea if that thief read what I wrote, or what the circumstances were where he would risk returning a stolen item, but I know that the Lord Loves me. He is so kind to us and wants to bless us. I felt so comforted and blessed to receive that great of a miracle. If you do not know that Heavenly Father loves you, I would invite you to kneel down and ask Him. If you listen with your feelings, the Holy Ghost will speak in a language that is just for you and He will tell you. 

Funny: We were talking to a family about what the Holy Ghost feels like and we described it as a warm feeling coming over you. The little boy around 5 years old said that he wanted to share something. We obliged and he proceeded to tell us about this time he was swimming in the hot tub and he felt a warm feeling come over him. We were laughing so hard. Just for the record, the Holy Ghost can feel SIMILAR to peeing in the hot tub, but not exactly like it. It was really funny and very obvious that he had just let go in the tub. His parents were embarrassed. It was very funny. 

Where I am at: More Christmas miracles are happening in Pleasanton! Robert was baptized on Saturday and it was amazing! He is definitely not fitting the Pleasanton 2nd ward stereotype but he is integrating okay. It’s so cool. It’s kinda a fun problem to have to have no investigators left because you have baptized them all. I like it. haha I love you all and wish you have a wonderful time of year and remember the Savior in all that you do.

I love you all!

Getting Ready for Christmas

It’s been a really fun week being a missionary in California at Christmas time. It’s been really fun to see all of the California Christmas trees and all of the materialistic personalities coming out. I love it!! I think a lot of other missionaries are really having a hard time for Christmas. There are a lot of emotions going around. There are only three missionaries in my zone who have been out for Christmas and so we are all new to this Christmas away from home idea. Some are taking it harder than others. I am doing okay. It comes in waves. Longing, then the next moment ecstatic joy. The best way to avoid it is to just not think about it. It’s easier said than done. I have some super cool stories to tell over Skype!! 

 Spiritual: We had a baptism this past week. It was so cool to have a "White Christmas." Oh it was awesome. Baptisms are so much fun to go to. I had a really strange week leading up to this baptism. There were so many days where all of our regular appointments fell through and we were left out to dry with no plans. Our backups to our backups fell through. It was a new experience to follow the Spirit and see where we went. It was a time of real stress. I kept feeling like I was falling short of what I should be doing. It was hard. The baptism was not even very fun. There were a lot of things that just kept going wrong. It fortunately was not my fault but it sure reflected poorly on us. It was hard to feel the Spirit during the baptism because of all of the other things that were going on and not going right. It was a long service but the ending song really changed the whole program. The closing song was I am Trying to Be like Jesus. It hit me that I had always thought about that song as the song of someone who was a "Super Mormon." Someone who was so good but might have had a bad thought once in his life and that’s why he was not being translated right on the spot. It’s not at all that way!! That song is the song of the sinner!! It’s about someone who feels he is trying but not even trying hard enough. It was so comforting to realize that Jesus does not expect us to be perfect, or even have perfect desires. It’s a tender mercy that He is always willing to help us and love us even when we are not trying our best. The important thing is not the speed, but the direction. That’s the beauty of this Christmas Gift that our Heavenly Father has given us. The gift is always there and He is always wanting to help us. It’s all about where your heart is. I have really felt the beauty of the Grace of our Heavenly Father this past week. It’s been an incredible experience having him so close and helping us through all of the strange things that have happened. 

 Funny: The picture. Can you name the Christmas song? 

"Oh come let us a door him!"

 Where I am at: Things are awesome here in Pleasanton. The Christmas blues are coming in but that is to be expected. There are so many kind members and fun things to do here; it’s amazing. Robert is so close to baptism!! It’s amazing. He is 4 days sober and is progressing well. He should be baptized on Saturday if everything goes well. He is making great leaps and bounds. We picked up a new investigator named Rena. Oh she is so golden. She will be baptized in January for sure. The work is really good right now. Unfortunately we have baptized all of our progressing investigators!! haha so looks like we need some more. Things are looking up. I love you all and am so grateful around this season to have such a strong loving family and friend support group. I can feel your love and prayers every day. I love you!!

Love you all!

New companion and a glimpse into the secret life of Relief Society

Funny: My new companion is Elder Baumert, as in bow down, hit your head and get hurt, but with an m. He is a funny elder for sure! He grew up in Dahlheart Texas. It’s in the most northwestern part of Texas. Three hours away from any Walmart. Crazy. He has never owned a dishwasher before and he was amazed to see one in the missionary apartment. haha He was last serving in East Palo Alto, the most ghetto spot in the mission. He is a hoot! Funny kid; likes to read. Anyway, his first night in Pleasanton we were invited to dinner at the Relief Society dinner. It was held up in Ruby Hill, the most posh place to live in Pleasanton. Not only was it in Ruby Hill, but it was also held inside the CEO of Safeway’s home. Very nice home. The original Greg Olsen paintings were really cool to look at while dining. So there we were in an exquisite place eating the most luxurious food with 80 old women. It was so funny. There was us and the Bishop for males. The look on the poor elder's face was so funny. I think he said 5 words that night. I probably overdid it. Needless to say it was quite comical to watch his expressions and it was way cool being allowed to see the secret life of the Relief Society. It was a fun night. 

Spiritual: This week we have been working a lot with Robert. He has not been baptized yet and he is still working on his smoking problem. We met with him on Wednesday and planned on teaching the first lesson with him. Just as a refresher. When we got there, Laura who is our recent convert had invited a friend to come hear the lesson!! It was incredible! The Spirit was so strong. After we finished the lesson I felt inspired to just testify of how much God actually loves us and how much he wants us to come back to him. It was amazing. The Spirit really struck a chord in her heart. She started to tear up and when we asked her if she would like to be baptized she replied with a fervent yes. It made me so happy to see her starting to change her life!! Oh it is such a good feeling to see someone feel the Spirit and desire to change. It is incredible. I love it! We would love to baptize her but unfortunately she lives in Livermore. Oh well. The Livermore elders got an awesome referral that day. All is well in Pleasanton!!

Where I am at: Things are looking up here in Pleasanton. The ward is on fire!! There have been a ton of amazing members who have been talking to friends about the gospel and the ward has really got the vision. It’s incredible. Last year the ward goal for baptisms was 6. This was definitely a stretch goal because the year prior, they had only 3 convert baptisms and for the previous 5 years not a single one. The actual for this year in Pleasanton was 12 convert baptisms. The new goal for this year is 24 convert baptisms!!!!!! This is a goal set in faith and with the Lord’s help we will be able to attain this goal! I love this work and I love this fire that has come into the hearts of these members. It makes me so happy to see the ward really catching the wave as it were. We are looking forward to another baptism this week and another the next week. I will let you know how it goes!

Seriously this work is really fun. It’s hard because there will always be opposition, but when it’s really good, it’s REALLY GOOD. It’s an interesting transition from a fast moving Elder Kerby to a more relaxed Elder Baumert. Things will be good though. This will be a really good companionship. With Christmas coming there have been a lot of missionaries who are a little bummed about being away from home and you get the occasional pang for home, but I can feel the Lord sustaining me in my labors. It’s incredible.

 Baumert and Black. Not the Ordinary!

 California I love you!!!!!

 There was an...Incident. 

Christmas tree oh Christmas tree! How Mormon look ye!

Mountains to Climb

The title of this week’s email should be Mountains to Climb. Or the Loving the Mountains I Have Climbed.

This week was awesome, it was sad, it was crazy, it was funny, it was every emotion you can possibly imagine, and it’s opposite. It was one of those weeks.

Funny: Last night we went to the Outgoing Fireside for returning missionaries and it was super fun! We took a recent convert, Jeff, with us and as we were driving back it was very apparent that there was absolutely nothing to talk about. So what did Elder Black do? Elder Black did what he does best. Start telling jokes. For the most part it was really fun but, an hour of Elder Black’s comedy routine was getting pretty old by the end of the drive and he started to progressively go faster and faster down the road. I could tell he really was not finding these jokes very enjoyable. We finally got to our destination and he let us out of the car and made a quick escape inside the house. I thought they were really funny. tehehe I hope he doesn't go inactive. 

 Spiritual: I want to tell you about my mountain. His name is Elder Kerby. Not going to lie, the first time I saw him I stopped and had to ask myself how long I would have to be with him. It was from the beginning a challenge to love him not because of anything that he did, but because of where my heart was at. I was too overcome with pride and independence to really allow myself to love him. It was hard. so hard. I had to be humbled and I promise that if you really want something, and stick with that problem for a long period of time and pray for help from the Lord, He will bless you abundantly. I love Elder Kerby. A lot. It didn’t start like this. We didn’t get along for a long time, but I had a desire for it to get better. That was about all I had. I wanted our relationship to get better and that was it. I was willing to work for it and pray for it but that was about all I had going for me. It was really hard. I poured my soul out in prayer to the Lord asking for him to strengthen ME and change ME so that I could love him. I couldn’t do it on my own. I tried really hard. Now Elder Kerby and I are BEST of FRIENDS. I don’t want to sound selfish and say it was all me that changed and I found a magic way to work together because in no way shape or form was it me. This blessing of a more solid relationship was a true gift from the Lord and I was but the tool to make it happen. When you are faced with a problem the Lord will often times not change the problem you are going through, but will change you to get you through the problem. The only things I had was 1) a desire for things to get better. 2) Humble, personal, real intent prayer. 3) Drive to do anything the Lord asked of me. 4) Faith that the Lord would hear my prayer. He did. I love Elder Kerby so much. He has truly changed me and set a definite course for the rest of my mission. I look up to him so much. Few men are as inspired and as powerful and as incredible as Elder Kerby. No matter the mountain, the Lord will help you climb it. 

Where I am at: As per the way the Lord works, right after I get super attached and learn how to truly love Elder Kerby, he leaves. Sigh. Oh boy. Yep! He is getting transferred and the zone is completely changing. It’s crazy! There is a lot of change coming. He leaves on Tuesday and I will find out then who my new victim, I mean companion will be. ;) Things are really going good. We have another baptism planned for the 21st and besides that we have a few people who are very good potentials. Pleasanton is AWESOME!!! 

 From the beautiful beaches of Monterey, Elder Black wishes a Merry Christmas. 

Bryan and Brandon's baptism (not sure which is which...)

Thankful to be a missionary

Funny: Thanksgiving was amazing. I ate so much food. It was awesome! We woke up Thanksgiving morning and desired to eat these two chocolate turkeys that we had been saving for a rainy day, or a celebration. We decided that it was finally time to indulge. We pulled out the turkeys and went to get the cameras and unfortunately found that Elder Kerby’s camera had in fact gone missing. OH NO. It was not a fun time at all. It freaked him out. We tore the apartment apart trying to find it, to no avail. We, being the astounding yet humble missionaries that we are, decided that the only other option was to pray. We acknowledged that if it was Heavenly Father’s will that we find the camera, we would find the camera. We then proceeded to go to two HUGE thanksgiving dinners. The reason this is funny is because of the dinners that we ate. The first family slaughtered three different animals to feed us. The quantity of turkey, ham, and ribs was incredible. Needless to say we were absolutely stuffed! I know that the Lord answered our prayers and allowed our stomachs to be able to handle another dinner! This time it was in a very nice part of town with some amazingly good and traditional food. Both of these dinners were amazing! It was so delicious and so absolutely filling that we were dead by the time we had to leave. So we went home after all that food and what did we find there waiting on our tables when we got there? Most of you would go for the typical missionary answer of the Lost Camera!!! That is absolutely incorrect. It was the two chocolate turkeys that we didn’t eat that morning. So what did we do? Ate them. BAD BAD BAD Idea. We were sick for the rest of the night. Just for reference, Elder Kerby’s camera was found and delivered by a member safe and sound two days later.

Spiritual: This week has been so centered around the plan of salvation. On Saturday, we, as a zone went and drew the plan of salvation in chalk down Main Street. What a cool experience! It was so interesting to watch people walk by and internally wonder to themselves, "What is the purpose of life?" We had it drawn on a gigantic piece of cement right below them. We taught several good lessons from it and in gospel principals we got to teach it as well. When we testified about the plan there was a super strong spirit that entered the room and not only were the teachers crying, but the members in the class, some of whom are active members and have heard this plan their entire lives, were in tears. It’s so true. The spirit that comes when we share truth that is not only sacred but relevant is powerful and perfect. I want to testify to you that the Atonement of Jesus Christ helps people cope with loss. Not just a death in the family or something like that, but of material, mental or emotional loss. I am so blessed to have the atonement not just as a band-aid solution to some little problems that a good doctor can heal, but an eternal perfect solution to life's most difficult problems. This past week has been full of a lot of weird opposition from the adversary and as we have pushed through lost cameras and stolen soccer balls we have noticed how the Atonement has filled the gap where lost things were and where healing was needed. The most important thing we can do is to learn how the Atonement of Jesus Christ works in our life. It does. I promise. 

Where I am at: There is something big about to happen in Pleasanton. It’s so cool to be a missionary and see when adversity comes we get to rejoice because something else bigger is on its way. It might be due to the fact that we have three baptisms on the 7th. YAY!!! Robert and Brendan and Bryan are all getting baptized. We are so excited for them! It’s going to be awesome. There is the sad looming fact that Elder Kerby has been here for 6 months and by President Watkins schedule, it’s just about time for him to go. There could be a chance that he could stay another transfer, but it’s pretty slim. Dang. Just as we learn how to really work well together, he might go. Sigh. Oh! In fun news, yesterday for P-Day President surprised the Pleasanton elders with a chance to go down to Monterrey for the day. It was so cool! Livin’ it up on the beach in Cali! It was so much fun. We could get in to our ankles and we enjoyed the life down there. Now we know why everyone wants to serve there. It’s beautiful!!

This week has been really good. Really dramatic, but good. I love this place so so so much! I am so excited to share what I have been learning. There is a lot of growth happening not only in myself but in the people around me. I have had so many miracles happen recently and I am so blessed to be where I am. I appreciate your prayers and love.

Elder Black and Elder Kerby. No, We are not the ordinary, in fact Fearlessly Extraordinary. 

In our humble Way. 

Our plan of Happiness.

Eating at the Blue Aguave club. the most prestigious place to eat in Pleasanton. 

Gonna Need Bigger Pants

*Note from Ammon's mom: Ammon gave us his Christmas list and asked for more ties. His were all in his missing carry on and he is getting a little tired of the limited ones he has inherited. So if you were already thinking of sending him a package, he would be grateful for a little more variety in his wardrobe choices. 

This has really been an awesome week and the time continuum is starting to get messed up. It seems like this week has really flown by. It’s really starting to wig me out to see how fast time is going. It’s CRAZY!!

Spiritual: This week was an interesting week full of miracles. The most surprising thing that happened was the fact that we went to Catholic Church!! It was good! I’m definitely not going to convert though. They wouldn't let me take communion. It was a very strange experience. We went there because one of our investigators is very involved with the church and his dad is actually fairly high up in the clergy there. We wanted to see what the change would be for him to convert and he wanted us to see what it was like. So we went! We were really nervous walking through the doors and worried that we might damage the church reputation but it ended well. The crazy part was when we were sitting there in the congregation and I paused and I started to get really worried. I was feeling the Spirit!! It was super strange!! I was internally freaking out. How could this be?? I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the right church, but I was feeling the Spirit in a different church! Once I started getting more comfortable there I noticed that the Spirit was in fact there, but it was very different. It didn't feel whole or complete. Something was missing and something was just different. I also noticed that once the church was done, I felt chaotic inside, not calm and peaceful and as drained as I did when I usually go to church. When I got home I prayed about what I had felt and I realized that what I was feeling was indeed the Spirit, but the fact that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith is a prophet will overcome any doubts or bad feelings that will come my way. I know that this church is true and nothing will change that. As president Uchtdorf says, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your Faith."  

Funny: This week besides going to Catholic Church, we also got the chance to teach a street contact we had made. Our boy, Chris, was sitting there shooting hoops and we saw him, pulled a U turn and went over to talk to him. We had met him several times before and one time given him food. He is about six foot and black. We are also about 80% sure he is a drug dealer. We ended up teaching him the first two lessons while sitting there in the park shooting hoops. He got really into it. We ended up feeding him lunch at a burger place down the road and while there he paused for a moment and said; "Now you boys are my friends. I don’t have very many friends round here, but you boys are my real friends. Most people call me their friend, but I ain’t their friend, not even their acquaintance. You boys, you are my friends. If anyone comes and starts messin’ with you, man I am on them. So fast." Oh Chris. So don’t worry, we are being protected by the Heavens, and the drug lords. Things are great. haha 

Where I am at: Thanksgiving is coming up and boy howdy we are going to have a lot of food that day! We are super excited for it! We have breakfast, lunch, first, second and third dinners all scheduled. Wow. I might need some new pants mom. haha The largest miracle this week happened at church. Not the Catholic Church, but the Mormon one. haha I was sitting next to Robert, Laura our recent convert’s ex-boyfriend, and he started asking about Brendan and Bryan. I told him that they were being baptized on the 7th. He said "Cool. Hey, can I be baptized with them?" "YES!!!!" It was awesome! Right out of nowhere he wants to be baptized! We are so excited for him! He is down to half a cigarette a day and is really prepared and ready to make the covenant. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! That means we will have three baptisms that day. The Lord is truly blessing us with prepared people. It’s seriously nothing we are doing but being obedient and working hard and the Lord does the converting. All is well here in paradise and Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat. Don’t worry, we will eat it on Thursday. :) I love you all! Thanks for the wonderful letters! This week has been full of them! I love it.

November 18, 2013

This week has been an awesome week with a lot of planning and a lot of preparation. 

Spiritual: This week we taught Brendan and Bryan, two thirteen year old twins. They are the younger brothers of Laura, our recent convert. We went over to their hotel this week to just check up on them Saturday night to make sure they were coming to church. When we got there, there was a weird spirit that was there. There were a lot of bad feelings in the family and not a very happy place at all. We sat back and observed for a while. The Spirit then inspired us to not be dormant any more. We had to do something. They were being horrible to their sister and we just couldn't handle it. We called them out on it and committed them to be nice this week and had a super powerful lesson on why family is important. We had an awesome lesson. It was so spiritual not because we were in a church, or because it was a calm peaceful place, but because they really needed this message. We ended and were walking away feeling uplifted and like we had done a ton of good, even though we were next to the pool sitting at this glass table in the freezing cold. We had taken the umbrella out of the table to teach as well. When we were walking away we heard this huge smash and we looked back to see our investigators standing over this broken pile of glass. They had tried to put the umbrella back and had broken this table! The next second they were both gone. I have never seen anyone jump a fence so quickly. They disappeared just like true "hood rats." Sigh. In the end it was a good time to teach about repentance and we left on a good note. It’s crazy the background some people come from, but everyone needs the gospel. This church is not a perfect place for only perfect people; it’s a hospital for the humble. 

 Funny: This week was also Zone Conference! It was incredible to hear all of the senior couples talk about proper care of vacuum cleaners and teach us once again how to care for our bikes. Tehehe. During zone conference we also have the car check where they make sure you are keeping the car clean. We have a full time car now and we make sure sure sure it is way clean. The night before the conference we were backing out of the apartment and for some strange reason, Elder Kerby missed and the right side mirror got hit by a large pole. Awkward zone conference for sure. haha 

 Where I am at: This week we have got a ton of new investigators. One of the more notable ones is Abram, our maintenance man. We needed our pilot light lit so we called him over and we started talking to him. (I know it’s an evil, tricky way to force someone to listen to you but we had him trapped so what else were we going to do??) At the end of the visit he turned to us and said that our heater was officially broken. Dang. It’s getting cold. But, he invited us over to his house so he could learn more!!! I am okay with the cold if it means someone is going to join the church. We are planning on a lot of things breaking over the next little while so he will just happen to come by. :) Our other miracle this week was a 17 year old boy named Matt. He is a super devout Catholic and his dad is fairly high up in his parish. We had met with him for a while, and we just barely this week decided to pick back up with him. We were asking him about his church and he told us that he hadn't been to mass in over a month. WOW. He said that he just keeps telling his dad that he has homework or something like that. We invited him to church and we have extremely high hopes for him in the near future. It’s so cool how the gospel makes a serious impact on people. I know the reason these two individuals want to come closer to Christ is because of the truthfulness of the gospel and the spirit prompting them in the right direction. I am so excited for them!! We set a zone goal of having 20 baptisms before Christmas. It’s amazing how the Lord is blessing us to actually accomplish this goal we set in faith. It’s going to happen. As you can tell the work is really picking up and miracles are starting to flood in. The Lord blesses us for righteous obedience.  

Baptisms!

What an exciting week this has been. Lots of things going on and tons of blessings have happened. It’s been a definite season of rewards and looking forward to the future in the work in this area.

 Spiritual: Wow! Good heavens- it happened. Two baptisms this week! So cool! The first was Gavin who is 10 years old with a slight learning disability. He is the cutest kid you can imagine. As we have been teaching him we have been helping his older brother prepare for his mission. He is turning in his papers here soon. Such a great family! This is my home away from home family and I really love them so much. Gavin’s baptism was an amazingly powerful experience. His brother got the chance to baptize him and unfortunately had to do it three times due to the hand popping up. We really love Gavin and his family a ton. That baptism was not too stressful except for the fact that, out of the blue, the brother conducting the meeting called on me to give a talk and testimony. That’s why I took improv!! I loved it! The Spirit was super strong and absolutely powerful. The second baptism that day was much more of an adventure. Laura finally got baptized! But it was not without trial and tribulation. Two days before the baptism we got a call from one of the members saying that not only did Laura’s family not have a home, but Laura was out on the street with nowhere to live. It was a crazy couple of days with lots of prayers and anxiety. Finally things got sorted out temporarily and she found a place to stay. The members were so incredible jumping in at a moment’s notice and helping her out. There are still temporal things that we have to figure out for her to find a place permanently to stay but it was truly a miracle that she did get baptized. It was amazing. The devil tried so hard to stop her from making this promise with God, but she despite a place to stay, a supportive family, temptations from the word of wisdom, and many more struggles was able to get baptized. The Spirit that was there was incredible. There was an incredible peace that came into the room after she was baptized and she after was calm, happy and finally at peace. There will be opposition that comes our way, boulders in our path and many more metaphoric hindrances to our goal, but the important thing to realize is that God will provide a way for the righteous desires of our hearts to be fulfilled. 

 Funny: This week was also exchanges. I went with Elder Irvine and we went to visit this less active. Turns out he wasn’t home. So we took a small walk around the block just seeing what we could see. We saw this man putting a Bunch of tequila into this cooler. He had a ton of alcohol. So what did we do? We talked to him about it! Our first comment was "Wow! That’s quite a stash you have there!" After proceeding to talk about his horrendous alcohol consumption habits, we progressed to talking about the gospel. I don’t think anything will come of it, but we definitely planted a seed. So now whenever he is drinking alcohol from his stash he will think of the missionaries talking to him about his drinking patterns. The key is just opening your mouth. God will put things to say into your mouth, the key is for you to open it. 

Where I am at: This ward is amazing. We have quite the diverse economic population here. We have some of the wealthiest people in the world, but also some of the people that need extreme financial help. It’s such a blessing. The ward council is awesome at identifying those who need help then progressing to help them. I do NOT want to leave this area! It’s such a good place! The work is really taking off! We have investigators coming out of the woodwork and things are really looking up. We will probably have two more baptisms by the end of the month. Things are going great! We have a Car!!!!! Our prayers were answered and we have a car. It doesn’t have a ton of miles left before its retired, but it’s got four tires and moves. We are very blessed. The weather here is getting colder. It’s starting to turn into winter. It’s crazy! The other night it got down to 40 degrees! That’s Cold!! haha Okay, yeah, Elder Black has been acclimatized. I love you all and am really loving it here! Thanks for your prayers and love.

Halloween treats

Good week. It was a little spooky just because it was Halloween and all.  In fact, we had a little trick instead of a treat come our way. 

Funny: This week we did a lot of work with the less active list. We tried to go visit all of the people on the list and we made some serious headway. It was an excellent week for visits. We did some amazing works. One of the funnier visits went like this: Elder Kerby and I went up to the door of Brother Turner. We knocked ( this was a fellow that we have been trying to visit for a long long time) and finally some old lady came to the door. We asked if Brother Turner was there. She paused for a moment and then replied that he had been dead for the past two years. Oh dear. We were a little taken aback to say the least. We then wished her our condolences and went on our way feeling bad for the grief that we had caused. We felt like we had just reopened a nasty paper cut and poured lemon juice on it. We were feeling bad for ourselves till about an hour later we got a call from Brother Larson who asked us what we knew about a "Brother Turner." “Brother Turner?” I asked, "Brother Turner is DEAD." "Oh. “He responded. "Well, I just left a loaf of warm homemade bread on his porch.” “I don’t think he will be needing it anytime soon.” I replied. I didn't feel that bad anymore. The Halloween spirit was abound for sure! haha

Spiritual: This week was rough on my companion. He was sick the end of Monday night, Tuesday night, all Wednesday and all Thursday. It was really difficult for him to endure this. He is a real go getter and being sick was super hard for him. On Monday night I was reading in the living room and I got the feeling to go into the room where he was. I went in and he was just in a rough place. The devil had been getting to him and he was not feeling well, mentally and physically. I sat down and talked to him for a while. It was different from a regular investigator because he was my good friend and I felt that I could actually do some good. We had quite a long discussion about why this illness had come to him and in the end I gave him a blessing. It was a sweet sweet experience and a powerful one. It got worse for him because while he was sick I went on exchanges with the Chinese elders because their companion was sick as well! (Yes another day in Chinese makes for a long day.) haha I loved the food though! The next day we made contact with a ton of less actives! I was wondering why the Lord would put him in this place where he had to just watch as all these miracles took place. I believe one of the reasons is that he got to really pray and ponder the word of the Lord and now he has come out of it with an intense vision of what the work in this ward can be. The Lord gives us trials for a reason. (That reason might have been that I needed to see if I knew the area enough and was able to do the work on my own) The Lord will bless you in your times of trial and affliction if you turn to him instead of wallowing in your grief. 

Where I am at: I survived the plague!!!! YAY! The work here is going super well! Laura who is 19 has a baptism date on the 9th and she is so solid! She prays every day and reads her scriptures and is just so happy about the gospel. We just started teaching her two younger brothers who are twins and are getting into gang things. Not good. We are confident that the gospel can help them in their life. Today also celebrates my two moth mark in the mission field! Yay! Happy day! According to elder Pak, the elder that is on his last transfer, I am as green as can be. It’s okay. But it’s also not easy being green. My orange trick has come in handy so so so many times! I did it for the stake president, the zone, and a lot of families. I guess i am getting the nickname of the Black Orange again. haha

Things are really going well. There are a lot of technical things that I need to work on but I am really doing well. I have a direction, know where I am going, and am running to the end goal. I love you all and the season here is beautiful! It made me laugh that on Halloween my companion was sick and I got to go to a really wealthy member’s house in Ruby Hill and eat candy. I got the treat and he got the trick. 

I love you all!

October 28, 2013

Spiritual: This week was awesomely spiritual! It started out with a baptism on Saturday for a lady named Dawn. She wasn't actually our baptism, she was in the Pleasanton 3rd ward and she is super solid. She has cancer and was really struggling for a long time with it and she found the church and her cancer is now in remission. She was so happy to join the church it was really inspiring. The service was very powerful and it was interesting to see how important it is to fully live the law of consecration and give everything away, including your pride, and invite people to a spiritual event you are having. She invited a ton of non-members and there are some very good opportunities in store. The next best spiritual part of my week was Sunday. Holy cow it was so cool! We had a missionary homecoming during Sacrament meeting and we had a less-active member there. The less-active, Alex, is a super cool guy! He is 33 and not married but absolutely loaded! He is rich, buff, ballroom dancer, funny, and just overall a stud. Every time we leave his house we sit in the car and say "Why in the world is he not married??" Super cool guy. He hadn't been to church in a long time and one day we just decided to drop by and invite him. He said yes and came! It was amazing. That night we went to the outgoing fireside for departing missionaries. Wow. These elders have grown so much! It was a contradiction of emotions. It was super intimidating to see so many strong powerful missionaries who were departing super solid in the church, and to know that I will grow to that level if I keep trying and pushing forward, but it also made me realize that two years is really short time to do that in and how little time we actually have and to not waste a moment of it. All in all it was an amazing week.

Funny: This week has been the "Best Week of My Companion’s Mission" as he calls it. He has gone through the ringer and I have had the chance to sit back, chuckle and really serve him and love him with my whole heart. He went to the doctor this week and found out he had excema. It was super funny to be sitting in with my companion while he had to have an examination by a female doctor. hahaha. Last night was a long night for him as well. The plague has hit and he has the stomach flu. I have loved helping him and enjoyed completely making him feel good. I love it. We had a good laugh about our predicament and then moved on. Last night as well the sisters called. They had mixed ammonia and bleach and had created a hazardous gas and had to evacuate the apartment. Oh it was so funny. 

Where I am at: The transfers didn’t change much. There was one sister who is getting transferred from our whole zone. The boundary changes are easy as well. We are still going to be in P2 but we will help P3 as much as needed with anyone that the sisters can’t teach. The sisters are now strictly P3 and will help out in P2. The P3 elders were moved to cover P4 and the P1-4 sisters are now over P1 only. It was a pretty anticlimactic change. It was very nice. Rather dramatic still, but anticlimactic. I feel awesome. I feel like I know my way around the area and have a pretty good hold on how things work. I am really doing very well. We have had a lot of success in finding out what less-actives live in our ward. It’s been a fun little week. My companion and I get along really well. We have figured out what makes each other tick. It’s all going much better. Life is grand! The more I am out here the more I realize how simple the gospel really is but how important that simplicity is. For example, the statement that the church is true is probably the most uttered statement in the church, yet is the foundation for a solid testimony and for a lifelong commitment to live the gospel. It’s incredible how important that is- to a whole people, i.e. Pleasanton, or to a person. i.e.: elder Black. I Know the Church is True. I love it and I live it. 

Visit to the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center

Preface: We got a paper letter from Ammon on Saturday and the following is my answer to part of his letter, and his response: 

My tee hee moment for you today is about your last letter home. Emma was reading it aloud to Caleb and Micah yesterday morning and they all started laughing really loud and calling out “Mom! Mom!” I went in and they said that they could not believe that you said that your mission is hot sisters. I quickly corrected them “40%! 40%!” It made a lot more sense that way, but I thought it was hilarious the other way.

Lock your heart Elder.

Love, Mom

Okay, not going to lie. That 40% is pretty funny. My heart is locked. For sure and for certain! Don’t worry at all!

Spiritual: The highlight of the week would have to be the temple tour we were able to take with not just one, two or even three investigators, but a whole four investigators! It was awesome! The Oakland Temple Visitor’s Center was amazing. There was such a good feeling there and the Spirit was really strong. We watched the Restoration movie and walked around the center. The Spirit was so strong there and there was a good feeling in the air! Robert has gone from 2-3 pack of cigarettes a day to 1 cigarette a day in just short of a week! We are so excited for them to get baptized!

Funny: My companion and I decided to have a  "s’mores night." We took a night when we were feeling a little down and we just had s’mores! It was pretty fun. As I am sitting here I also noticed on the keyboard some graffiti from some hooligans who wrote their names on the library keyboard. Coincidentally, these happen to be the same names as our investigators that have an upcoming baptismal date. So I ask, coincidence?

Where I am at: Things are going well here. Our big focus these past few weeks has been the Rescue and cleaning up the ward list. There are so many members here and so few of them go to church so we have been trying really hard to get them to come to church. There have been a few surprises and a few doors slammed in our faces but for the most part we are finding a lot of people who have kind of  slipped through the cracks. The big gossip in the Pleasanton zone is that there are going to be some crazy drastic changes coming up in this next week. President Watkins wants Elders and Sisters in each ward and right now there are p2 elders, p2-3 sisters, p3 elders and p1-4 sisters. We don’t know for certain, but the plan is that either Elder Kerby and I will just take on p3 as well and the now p3 elders will take on p1-4, or the companionships will be split up so as to not whitewash any of the wards. So Elder Kerby would be transferred to p1-4 with the other p3 elder and I will stay in p2 with an elder from p3. We will find out by Saturday and no matter what it should be interesting! I love the work and have come to realize more and more that the reason I am here is the invite others to come unto Christ. Some come out here with the purpose of baptizing and running. Every day I learn how instrumental Christ and his Atonement are in my life and how much I want others to come experience that. I found a talent I possess. That is to love; to be kind and just love. It is my job to love these people as much as I possibly can and it’s the Spirits job to teach and testify of truth. Although we work hand in hand, both things are instrumental to becoming converted.

This week has really been uneventful. Sorry about that. Things between my companion and I are good, but I feel a bit overshadowed. It’s tough, but I have complete faith in the Savior and I think that is why I am going through this; to build my faith even more and to become proficient at leaning unto the Lord. I always knew my biggest challenge would be companions and I pray for love every day and I have found it but it’s still hard. I am doing well otherwise, and I feel very close to the Lord and really want to get as close as I can. Don’t get me wrong, I completely love love love it here and no matter what happens with the area changes I will be happy. I love you all and can feel your prayers and love. Thank you so much for the letters and the love. Keep Christ close. Don’t worry about me too much though. It’s more of a pride issue but I love how humble I have become! I can’t wait to become even more submissive to the Lord! Love you all so much!

Chinese Exchanges

Hi family!

Funny: Okay so this week has contained a lot of really exhilarating experiences followed by a lot of really unfortunate events. On Thursday I had the chance to go on exchanges with the zone leaders! It was awesome! The problem came when I realized that they spoke Chinese. Oh goodness. It was a funny funny day. I taught the craziest English class I have ever been in. It consisted of a whole bunch of old Chinese ladies yelling at me and me having no clue what they were saying. So so so funny. They would say things like "fash" and I would say "No, fast." They would reply with "Fashed." Me: " No, FAST." Them: "FASHED FASHED FASHED." Me: Okay, let's move on. Haha, it was super fun! We next met with this old man whose name was Hung Bo Bo. He has a total of six teeth and doesn't speak a word of English. Oh it was so funny. Firstly, when we walked in he had a pineapple sitting on the table next to him and his wife started to take it away but he yelled at her and she brought it back. Some dialogue happened and after I asked what happened and they had said that he wanted us to pray for this pineapple. So that's just what we did! We prayed for that pineapple and then cut it up and his wife made it into a drink full of banana and pineapple. That's it. It was a little hard to get down to say the least. It was a funny funny day and a rather long lesson. haha

Spiritual: This week was way spiritual because it was fast Sunday. We began with a zone fast Saturday night and it was super powerful. They had me and two other elders and a sister bear our testimonies. I didn't quite know what to say because I was just feeling rather alone and rather distant from everyone and everything. I bore my testimony about how Jesus is my friend and it was so powerful. I felt so loved and so close to our Heavenly Father throughout the whole experience. It was amazing. Another experience was that we got the chance to teach a lady named Carmen who has a crazy rough family situation at home and doesn't speak any English. We had to teach her through a translator and when we taught the first lesson she really felt the Spirit and we could tell that the things that we said went completely over her head. The Spirit was the one that really was doing the teaching. It was very powerful to give her the knowledge that she is loved even when her life is falling down around her. 

Where I am at: Things are going well here in Pleasanton and I am coming up on the end of my first transfer. We just got a new Chinese elder in our zone and it feels so so so good not to be the new one round here. I still have a lot to learn but things are going well. This morning we got up at a brutal 5:00 and went on a sunrise hike to the top of a mountain. Its a California mountain so its really just a large hill. :) It was really fun to have a testimony meeting at the top and cry repentance (literally) to all of Pleasanton. We sang some hymns at the top and had a great time with each other. 

Things are going well here for the most part. we have interviews with President Watkins tomorrow and I need a haircut! haha I am getting along okay with my companion but its hard because we have such different personalities and such different styles of life. He likes to argue and I do not. Things are okay. It's hard because I know enough to want to do things a different way but don't have the experience to back up my ideas so I end up getting rejected a lot. I feel like things are getting better though. Just pray for me to have a more humble heart. Our lessons have decreased to about 26 this week due to a lot of cancellations but we can get that back up for sure! I know my stuff and really want to show it now!  I appreciate all of your prayers and your love. I feel it very strongly out here. I am getting better at all aspects of the lifestyle here and I am very humbled by all that God has trusted me with. Right now I think God wants me to develop a much more personal relationship with him and he is giving me the opportunity to do so. I love you all so much! Things bug me here but I kinda just let it go by. Learn now so I can help someone with this same problem. Love you all!

Conference Capers

Spiritual: Oh goodness. This week was such a personally spiritual week. There was such a strong spirit that abounded all week long. We were able to go to the Oakland temple this week due to conference and it was so so so cool! The blessings that we had when we were there were so powerful and just so simple that it was incredible. It was really nice of  Brother Jensen to take us and we actually got to do some sealings as well as a session! (witnesses.) haha This and conference were the spiritual highlight of the week and the mission. Conference is like the duel between Darth Maul and the Jedi in Star Wars Episode 1. It’s the climax of the entire thing. We got to use it in tons of lessons through the week. Priesthood was so cool to see my brothers! Oh goodness! It was quite the adventure just getting there! We were taking a member who was baptized about a year ago and still struggles with the word of wisdom and he was super excited to go. I think this was his first one. To start things off, our ride was 10 min late. I was freaking out so I said a quick prayer and I just felt okay. The ride finally came and as we got into his car, my companion ripped his pants. This was not just a broken thread; this was more along the lines of the Grand Canyon! Right down the rumpus. Poor guy! haha So we stepped out and took the walk of shame and suit jacket dress to the apartment where luckily he had another suit. We finally got to conference and it was way into it. I saw most of it and what I did see I just loved. I really wanted to see Jonah and Caleb though and I was really sweating it that I wouldn't be able to see them! So I did what missionaries do. I prayed. Then the final song came on and I saw Caleb at the very end of the song. My heart was so full. I realized that it was perfect. I am where I needed to be sitting next to a man who smelled of cigarettes and in a place where I didn't know more than 5 people and I was happy. The Lord knows where I am and I am where I am supposed to be. I love it!

Funny: Yep pants ripping was funny, but not as funny as the yummy treat we got from a Chinese member. Yep. Green Bean Ice Cream. Yuck. This is the first time I have not finished an ice cream bar in my life. Oh! The yellow things are not jelly beans by the way. :)

Where I am at: So I keep meeting a lot of member of the ward and finding out what their story is. The other day I had dinner with a rocket scientist. Who works for NASA. Can’t actually talk about his job or he literally would have to kill me. He can’t even tell his wife about his work! Crazy right!? Things are going really well here! We found two families who are so close to baptism and its going so well. We have a church tour set up with them this week and they are getting dunked, I can tell! Our other family is progressing great as well! They will be baptized on the 19th and it’s great. They have changed so so so much of their life to be to this point! We have a total of 12 investigators and the work is about to explode with Baptisms! I love this area!

Family: I am doing really well and am super excited for everything. The Spirit is so strong when you are a missionary and I love it. I have finally been able to teach by the spirit and I am baffled at how incredible it goes over. I love getting mail from all y’all and I enjoy hearing about your experiences. Life is good here! Can’t complain! Love you all! Elder Ammon Black

Oh! one more thing, here in Pleasanton we don’t just go out to Apollo burger after priesthood, we go to Outback Steakhouse. :) and yes. I did have crepes for breakfast Sunday morning. Love You! 

The Miracle of the Pen

(When asked what was lost in his last bag and what we needed to send.)So president Watkins is super nice and asked me for a list of the things that I lost and it was actually quite the miracle. I only lost the Gospel Library, a Bible, 1 shirt, all of my ties, a pair of garments, a few posters, a pair of pants, and that huge binder that had all of my seminary notes and things in it. I also lost my wonder journal (a journal where he recorded times every day when he felt the Spirit.) It was really hard to get through losing that. My heart just aches for it. I had all of senior year in it. But other than that I didn't lose anything else! All of my electronics and other stuff was in my other bags. I am very blessed. Unfortunately it was stolen along with two other missionaries stuff. So I don’t know if they can get it back. It’s been quite a while.

Funny: So awkward moments are a lot of the mission. I was contacting on the streets and I like to talk to people about their children because, who doesn't like to talk about babies? It’s a really good way to start a conversation. So I was walking and I saw this lady ahead of me pushing a stroller and I looked inside and said "Wow! What a cute little guy! He is quite the stud!" She turned to me and said (with a hint of malice) "It’s a girl." then stormed off. Awkward. My companion really likes this story and its gotten all the way to President Watkins. Sigh.

Spiritual: It’s been an intensely spiritual week this week. We have had so many miracles happen to us and to our investigators. It’s really amazing. On Thursday we went over to an around 85 year old brand new convert named Shirley. She is absolutely bonkers. She is so so so funny! Oh my goodness. I love her to death. She talks to everyone she meets about the gospel and she still wears a cross to church and we love her. So we went over to her house and she asked for a blessing. She had a really hurt back and so we gave her a blessing. She has so much faith. It was so cool. My companion in the blessing commanded her to be healed. We came back the next day and asked her about it and she said she was perfectly fine.

            That was more of just a mission miracle; a personal miracle for me is about my pen. Strange I know. I will send you a picture next week (I forgot) but this pen is almost out of ink. It’s the only pen I have used for my entire mission basically and this is the first time I think I have ever run a pen out of ink before! When I lost my carry-on I was in a bad place. I really was cut up about losing my journal and it hurt just a little bit more that I had the thought to not take my journal with me on my mission. I ignored it and went forward. Bad idea. It was stolen, along with a few other items. I needed some serious comfort. I prayed really hard that the Lord’s will should be done and I put all my trust in him to just make me feel okay. Not even to have it back, I just needed to feel okay. It was a rough loss. The Lord answered my prayer in a very strange way. I got the feeling of comfort like everything would be okay and from then on it was. It still saddened me to think about my lost journal, but at the same time in my heart I just felt okay. The other part of this blessing was that this pen that I guess I kinda treasure, can’t get lost. It’s amazing. I can’t lose this pen! I love it! I feel amazed that it’s almost out of ink and I really believe it’s a tender mercy from the Lord to give me this strange blessing. I lose it all the time, but it keeps coming back! (It’s a tender mercy for sure!) and yes it’s weird. :) The Lord looks out for his missionaries!

 Ammon and President and Sister Watkins upon his arrival.

Where I am at: Things are going well here in the Pleasanton 2nd ward and we have three baptisms lined up! Laura and Robert are the first two and Gavin is the second. I eat really really well here. It’s crazy! The houses here are gi-freakin-antic! It’s awesome! I met the CEO of Safeway yesterday and I found out the bishop works for Google and there are people here that work for Ebay in the legal department! It’s so crazy! There are also a lot of interesting people around here. I was in a house and they live next to a golf course on a place called Ruby Hill. Look it up. It’s awesome, huge huge homes. They had a Steinway just chillin there that was worth more than our cars at home! It was intimidating, especially since we did service there.

Family: I love you. I am doing well, paper letters are easier to respond to and so might want to switch to that. Keep the faith! I love you all! I sleep well, have a cool bike and am happy as a clam. I feel like I am gaining more confidence in teaching and talking. It’s just the scheduling I still don’t get. My comp is not liking my new independence. Tehehe still love him though! It will be good. All is well! Scripture of the day: 2 Nephi 25:26. Love you!

Life is Pleasant

            San Jose is awesome. The bomb.com. I love it here! The members are super kind here. My companion is an awesome guy. Elder Kerby is his name and we don’t have a ton in common but we both enjoy deep doctrine, being on missions, working hard and eating well. Elder Kerby is my trainer or my "dad" and he has taught me so so much. I have grown dramatically from him. I love him. It was sad to leave the MTC but it really is an empty sea when it comes to missionary work. The real fishing is out here in the field. :) My companion has been out for only three weeks and he is the district leader and is training! Super solid good guy. My mission president is a super nice man. Super kind and really loves his missionaries.

            Pleasanton is amazing! Everyone here is super nice. I feel so at home here? We have had dinner every night. There are two million dollar homes all over. It’s so crazy! The CEO of Safeway is in my ward. I am in the very best area in the mission. The Pleasanton 2nd ward is incredible! There have been so many cool cool missionary moments! There are a bunch of really missionary minded people and really wealthy people as well. I love it! I am so happy here. There is nowhere else I would rather be. It’s not a huge area, but not a tiny one at the same time. I will get some more specific details once I figure them out. I love, love, love the work! The members are friendly and I have already seen the change that happens in people’s lives from the gospel! I love it so much! So much stuff happens every day that it’s hard to write it all down. It’s crazy. I love it. The Church is true, the Book is blue, God love you and I do too! Missions rock!

            I have been learning a lot from my trainer and I honestly feel 100% comfortable with being here and I feel that the ward is turning into my family. I still have a long way to go to being a real son, but I am on the right path.

            We have lots of success upcoming. Three investigators with a baptismal date already! It’s really good. We had 30 lessons this week which is quite impressive. We taught a lesson to a couple who had been married for 3 years and it was on the plan of salvation. Laura and Robert were really willing to listen. It was really cool because I got to teach the lesson and I asked them what they would be willing to do to attain the celestial kingdom. Robert without pausing looked me straight in the eyes and said "follow the gospel" I have no doubt that he will follow it all the way! It’s really amazing to see the change that the gospel can bring to people. I know that the Lord is working through me and that brings me the most joy out here. 

We are on a car share so we get the car Tues-Thurs. Other than that we walk or ride bikes. It’s awesome!  The weather is seriously perfect. Never a bad day! We come home tired every day.

          A spot of bad news. My carry-on got either lost or stolen. It’s gone. The good news was that it was only ties, my books, letter writing stuff, and a binder that was lost. The bad news is that my Wonder Journal (a journal he kept of when he felt the Spirit each day) is gone. It breaks my heart. I have faith though. Believing is something that at first seems impossible is true faith! My mission president is super kind. I told him it was gone and he went out and bought me more ties! He also said to get him a list of what was in there and he will get it for me. Don’t worry. I am well taken care of over here. There were three of us who lost stuff. I got off the easiest. Another elder lost his gps, electronics and scriptures. I am really doing fine.

          The food here is super super nice! We generally have steak once or twice a week and there are a lot of really nice places that members take us out to eat at. It’s super cool! I can have anything I basically want to eat and we have so much candy at our house. It’s awesome.

          I thank the Lord for this chance to serve and although it’s been hard at moments, I am so so so blessed to be here and be serving where I am. 

Ammon and Elder Kerby at a member's house. They sent us the photo. Tender mercy.

Safe and Sound

Hi family! I am in San Jose, in the mission home and doing fantastic! I love it here. The weather is incredible and it seriously is heaven on earth. I am so happy to be here. All is well. The plane ride was fun and everything is fine! 

Funny: Well, all of the missionaries are here at the mission home right now sleeping. Haha. They were all super tired after getting up way early this morning so they are all sprawled out and crashed.

Spiritual: I had my first chance to contact people today at the University of San Jose! AH! it was so much fun! We got two out of five people who said they would like to learn more and actually gave us their contact info. It takes a lot of zeal to be able to go out and have that kind of courage, but I know that by the time I finish this I will be a professional.

Where I am at: I met the APs and my mission president and at the airport. I am still getting used to this whole new world. It's absolutely beautiful here! There is a gigantic fig tree with real figs to eat here and it is stunning. Million dollar homes are all right here. Wow. I have no idea who with or where I will be serving. It's going to be awesome! One difference here than other missions is no tracting.

September 13, 2013

 I am loving life here for sure!

Funny - Elder Tupua is the funniest kid ever! One day during lunch he was sitting there and boy, that elder knows how to eat! He was eating and all the sudden he stopped and said "What am I eating?" It was so funny. He also one day said, "Elder Black, I want you to try Samoa food." So he pulled out one of those packages of tuna that we buy in the store and he gave it to me and said "This is what we eat in samoa. It makes good food. " I love him so much! He is my official companion now and I am very glad about that. It's really funny as well, being a zl. I have the chance to be able to greet the new missionaries who come into our zone and we just got two new districts! I love them so much already! It's really funny to see through them where I was at just a week ago. I feel like I have really grown and become much more spiritual than I ever have been before. The new districts are funny. I have already had two questions about "If I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, does my companion have to go with me too?" Hahaha. "No, Elder, you are fine to go to the bathroom by yourself. Thanks for being responsible though!" 

Spiritual: I have had an intense period of spiritual growth this week. I feel like I have really grown a ton. I had the chance to teach a TRC this week (teaching resource center.) That's basically a faux investigator and the first lesson failed dramatically. It was a real bummer for Elder Tupua and I. He wouldn't let us pray, read any scriptures, or even talk about religion at all. It was a very humbling experience. So for the next lesson we learned a ton and went in and just listened. It went really well! He asked us to sing a song for him and as soon as he said that I thought "I Am a Child of God." So I turned to my comp and asked what song he would like to sing and he said "I Am a Child of God." Amazing experience. Here at the mtc alone, I have had to give a blessing to one elder and consecrate two bottles of oil. The blessing was really inspired and because it was for healing it was very powerful. I loved every experience. I feel the Spirit more in my life guiding me every moment than I ever had before in my life. I love this place. It's a lot of hard work, but the teachers really work with you and they really are good at what they do.

What's up: So being Zone Leader I have the chance to help out those new districts I was talking about. It's really rewarding work. Elder T and I prayed for days for them each name by name and it really seemed to make the difference. They really are a good group. I also am the eyes and ears for the branch presidency and help them. I organize sacrament and priesthood meetings. I love the work. The mtc is a rollercoaster and it's really really draining. Your attitude can change on the hour. This last little while, since Sunday has been a very tiring and much more rewarding period. Some of the elders here are starting to fade out in the work and the obedience. I will not let that happen to me. It's really good to be able to push myself and some of the times where I have really learned the most and felt the most have been when I am dead tired and absolutely beat. I have never been so fulfilled and happy in my life. Weird right? My district was on shaky ground for a while. We had two incidents where there were some tears, but now, since the new districts have been here, things have gone much better. I am very happy with them. I love the work and the learning here. 

The longer I stay here the longer I realize how long two years actually is. I think it's going to be weird not coming home after two weeks. I feel though if I did come home right now I would be a totally different person. I feel that I have learned how much Christ actually means to me and to the human race and how much of a difference he is in our lives. I love it though and there is no way I am going to come home. I am grateful for p day and the chance to be able to take a nap. Haha. I feel like I have so much to tell you all and that I have so many good experiences that I can barely remember them all. I feel as if I am on fire. I keep thinking that I am so blessed to be here and to be someone that the Lord trusts to be doing his work. The emotions here are crazy! Love, fear, exhilaration, and fatigue. Don't worry, there is no way I am slowing down. I just keep pushing! The work is easy when you have the right mentality and it's been such a blessing to be able to serve these new districts. It's been able to take my mind off of so much. I love you all so much and it's really hard because I don't have a ton of time for email so letters would be easier to respond to. I have more time to think about them. I just am so grateful to have my family and be in the situation that I am in. The Lord's atonement has really blessed our family. 

I love you all so much and i would not want to be anywhere else. 

 Elder Tupua, Elder Black, Elder Schnell

Elder Tupua, President Boone (branch president), Elder Black

HIs district

September 6, 2013

This week has been amazing! I feel like I am in Disneyland. so much to do so little time and its turning into a big huge blur because of how intense it is. All in all though, its AMAZING!!! I love the MTC! I am so so so happy to be serving the Lord and I am so blessed already in the work. 

Funny: Well, until last night I didn't have a companion! haha I am in a trio, the trifecta, the three musketeers and all it entails. My other companion never showed up! I sure hope he is okay. Everything worked out alright though. 

Spiritual: Wow. It's seriously like going to a huge lake with a drinking straw and trying to take it all in. It's really spiritual work we are going into. The first night we were here we met our district and were able to get to know them. Ihen after dinner we went to a huge meeting with a ton of people. This was where we really learned that it is teaching by the spirit that makes the work really progress. I knew that before but I really didn't understand it until we were in this meeting with a lot of districts and we were all group teaching three investigators. Even though they were just actors, it was amazing to see how they reacted and how the Spirit was there. There are a bunch of really amazing spiritual experiences around every corner. Last night my companion stood up and bore his testimony. He has such a powerful spirit around him. His name is Elder Tupua (too-poo-ah) He is directly from American Samoa. Amazing. He bore his testimony in broken English about why he was here and he was really powerful. 

Where i am at: I am in Zone 59 and last night I was selected with Elder Tupua to be the new Zone Leader! I am very excited and ready to serve. Tupua is a super humble guy and an inspiration to our whole district. My other companion is Elder Schnell and he is way cool! He is a theater kid and reminds me of Treyson Lyon without the puns... fun guy! We get along really well. the two other elders are Elder Thomas and Elder Hessal. Very cool kids, both from the same stake and now companions. Elder Schnell's comp was originally Elder Tupua but he only showed up last night. so for awhile we were faux companions. haha The mtc is such a holy place. I am really learning how to go by the Spirit and how to use it in my work. 

I love you all and am so happy! P day is today and you better believe it's Hawaiian shirt Friday! Yes! haha I am doing great! I am really tired though. its a lot lot lot of work. and all coming so fast. Exact obedience means a lot of work. That's good! I feel awesome about it. I am happy and well. I saw Elder Dijjitt, Elder Nelson and Elder Beardall. They are doing great. 

In closing, I love you all! You are in my prayers! Church is true! We focus a lot on D&C 88:11, first part especially. Church is true! How about you?

 Elder Schnell and Elder Tupua

 Elder Didgit. Perhaps a skit night?

Finally got the badge!