Elder Black : Jan 13th email

So far 2014 has treated us well. We have seen the Lord bless us many times already. We had the opportunity to Confirm Desiree a member of the Church which was fantastic. I love being able to stand in the circle as a blessing is given and feel the spirit flow through you, out your hands, and into the person being blessed. Desiree is such a great girl and is very smart. She tried teaching a lesson to the 80 year old dying Lady she lives with. We asked her what lesson she taught and she said, "The Law of Chastity!" Elder Johnson and I started laughing because we thought it was so awesome that a 10 year old girl was teaching an 80 year old the Law of Chastity. Desi says it is the one she knows the best! That's always good...

This week we tracted an entire town that we didn’t even know existed. There was a part of our area that I had never been to during the 5 months I have been here, so we decided to check it out. After driving about 20 minutes on a dirt road out we came across this old mining town from the Gold Rush called Michigan Bar. We tracted the whole place fairly quickly. It helped that is has a population of 3. But we still tracted the entire town. There were wells and chimneys from houses that were built in the late 1800's out there which were pretty cool. We tracted an entire town in a day. In 10 minutes, actually. That was our big adventure for the week.

Work in Wilton is picking up quite a bit which is exciting. We have added a few new investigators that really seem to be promising. While we were at the gas station one day we met a lady working there who said she remembered the pre-earth life, and remembered choosing the life that she lives. That is what helps her make it through all her struggles, which she has many. The spirit was so strong as she told me about those memories. Definitely a cool experience.

I have noticed that there are many people that have false ideas about our religion and love to attack our faith because of it. Satan has attacked Joseph Smith so hard as he has spread so many terrible things about him that people can’t seem to get over. They have so many false ideas about religion and what it takes to be saved, and not many people will even let us tell them what we believe. I have grown to really hate the scripture in the book of Revelations that says something like you can’t add or take away from this book. We get that so much and no one will listen to our explanation to overcome that. But when we encounter these people, we try to testify and leave quickly because we are looking for the Elect and those prepared by the Lord, and people like that certainly aren’t it.

Elder Johnson and I have loved the Mini basketball hoop I got for Christmas. We have spent many nights before bed playing games of PIG in the hallway. Thanks for that, Mommy :)

We had exchanges this week which were fun. I was able to spend two different days with two elders in their area. It was actually fun getting out of the car for a little bit and spending the day on a bike. We ran into the "Foney Bologna" guy that those elders always see. He is some crazy insane guy that always comes running up to the missionaries yelling what we teach is foney bologna. that was pretty exciting. The member we ate dinner with that night had a little 7 year old daughter named Mia. It made me really miss my own sister named Mia. I told them all about her and was able to testify about eternal families. That was fun. The second day we had exchanges, I forgot my coat in the car. And of course, it was the first day in months that it rained and didn’t get above 50 degrees. We have been so spoiled with amazing weather here, usually getting up to 65 every day. I felt like it was a classic mission experience biking around in a short sleeve shirt drenched and freezing. I just told myself, "YOSO (You Only Serve Once)" and kept biking. It ended up being a really fun day.

I am really enjoying my time as a missionary. The past 5 and a half months have flown by. I am having so much fun serving the Lord, and look forward to the many adventures I will have out here in Sac-Town!

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

Truly All of Y'alls,

Elder Gage Black :)

PS, This is a picture of Elder Johnson and I with Desiree :)