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!