February 29, 2016

hey y'all,

its good to hear that all is well back home for all y'all.....

Dang what project did dad have to work on that kept out so late? was it cool?? how big was it??

so those dreams you've been having mom are totally false!!!!! block 'em out

I've been thinking about it as well and also had a dream about me coming home early.

it wasn't fun at all, yeah all my friends and everyone were still around but it just wasn't fun to be around them. I felt in this dream that something was missing.

so you can count on me coming home in February of 2017 on the 8th..... actually probably in march because of the push back of the MTC being 3 weeks instead of 2 i'll be home around the 14th and 15th...

but that's not important right now. I'm staying out and finishing strong.

being a self starter till the end.

this week though has been great, yeah some ups and downs but that's missionary life. its hard sometimes but I get through day regardless.

we were tracting in President and Sister Footes neighborhood and came across this long street, that had these massive houses on it.

we went up and knocked on this ladies house and she came to the door, but what was weird was this....

she came to the door and was like "I don't know who you are" we responded we are your missionaries, again she stated that she didn't know who we are.

so we said it again we are your missionaries. she had her friend come to the door and asked her if she thought we were safe, and wouldn't hurt them........

we stated that all we wanted to do was say a prayer with them. they opened the door and she said are you dog friendly I said yes I love dogs.

so this beautiful German short hair pointer came running up to us.... this dog was really smart and pretty. she invited us into her home.

asked another question, do y'all believe in the power of healing? we said yes, she then asked us another, do we believe in the laying on of hands?

we said yes. she then stated that she never lets strangers into her home.... and that she felt inspired to open the door unto us. that we had some kind of beautiful energy about us and that we filled her soul

we extended the invitation of a prayer after she told us that she has been suffering from a disease called midoconriact. and that her body has a very hard time staying standing for long periods at a time.

we left her with a prayer and a blessing included through that prayer... her eyes filled with tears. and brought a smile to my face, I don't know why but every single time that I say a prayer for someone they are always filled with tears afterwards. I really felt the spirit that day pretty strongly after we left her with that prayer, she stated that she was getting ready to move. we asked her wear and she said that her husband nd her bought a horse ranch on the other side of PTC. we extended our service to help them pack and move furniture for them and she again started to smile and tear up.... she said that they would love our help and then gave us a bottle of water and a hug, and we were on our way.

there was a couple more houses that we left prayers with and got return appointments with on that same street...

what was really weird and cool at the same time was that we ran into what was our bishops house, here in Peach Tree City, he literately lives in the white house... this house is huge and big plus its white so that's why its the white house..... he has a tennis court in his back yard and a huge pool, a full size basketball court, and some soccer nets. this house is three stories, has four car garage below the house, and there is a slide of the back side of the house to go down to the yard.... pretty sick.... but I guess that what a CEO and FOUNDER of a contracting company can get you... he has three daughters and one son...

this town is full of family's like this rich and living in huge houses..

ha well another week has just flown by but I can't wait to email y'all next week.... look on the bright side I'm getting tanner and mom your wings will be there before you know it :)

love y'all and hope that y'all have a great week.

LOVE ALWAYS JOHNNY( Elder Black) 

February 22, 2016

well another week, another transfer on its way of coming to an end.

so with the whole suit thing.... to be completely honest its getting a little smaller as i go on. the pants are becoming high waters and the jacket is getting to be a little to tight around the shoulders.

when i want to stretch it feels like i am going to tear it right up the back. i could really honestly use a new suit..

with my knee on the other hand it has felt a little better for past day an a half, but i did go to three physical therapy appointments two last week and on the previous week before that.

it hurts pretty bad, like a lot every now and again. all last week felt like my knee had a knife driving itself through under neath my knee.

i have tried so hard to keep pushing through and so far i have done that. last Thursday, i had to talk to the mission doctor who in my opinion both the mission doctor and sister mason are off their rocker!!

i told him what i have experienced  with me knee and he told me along with the PA at the doctors office, that i needed to no longer ride a bike. So i have been walking on it for a week. we finally got a car in this area and it will be here until i get transferred to another area. but the mission doctor said that if it gets worse then i would have to schedule an appointment for an MRI and if that were to happen, he said that it is an automatic ticket home!! so i asked in return what it was that i could do to prevent that from happening and he told me to stay off of it as much as possible. 

then he asked me if it pops, clicks, and or catches at all and i told it does that like all the time!!!! so then he told me that if gets any worse then to call sister mason. when i call sister mason all she ever says to do is drink more water and to take ibuprofen and to ice it. again my opinion, that does squat. in the end my knee still kills me and still pops as well as clicks all the time. in an out of the day.

but besides the point of my knee hurting, my week has been pretty good and you know how sister Foote told y'all that i have a good companion this transfer, "well to an extent"

my companion is a pretty big stiff when it comes to a lot of things.... we only listen to Mormon tabernacle Choir. and he has this stupid dog toy, thats a pig and he squeezes it every morning for our alarm!!!!

can i strangle him now?? :D no, but it kills me half the time and when he drives, he drives like almost ten under the speed limit. like we are on some kind of Sunday drive every day.

anyways he's a good missionary, he can just really get on my nerves all the time. not to mention he has something new every day that he makes up about me that he doesn't like.

who ever said that all your companions will have an attribute of your future spouse...... hahahaha yeah right if that the case i'm not getting married!!!:D

i have a couple pictures that i can send next week. i forgot my camera back at the apartment. but the area that i'm in is very rich. lots of people that work for air lines and other huge company's.

the work is coming and going through out the week. we finally had two folks come to church and two less actives are starting to come back.

i'm pretty glade that i'm not walking any more, because we didn't get to a tenth of our little tiny area on foot, it was hard. now that we have this little itty bitty red car we can finally go out and see people.

but, so dad's got some new boots right on what kind are they? are the Justin's or Double-H's what color are they? probably brown ha go figure they all are that color unless they are black........

round toe or square toe?? my boots are starting to get pretty worn down the heels are almost getting to that point that they might not make it, but we'll see. and i finally got around to polishing them again and now they look new..

yeah. 

well i hope that week go's good for y'all mom i told them that they just need to get you some rockets or some wings and then you would have to deal with this back pain... we'll see what they can do :) i put in a good word for ya.

alright well i hope that y'all have a good week and i love y'all talk to ya soon.

Love Always Johnny( Elder Black)

February 16, 2016

hey y'all,

so i did get a suit but that was back when President Harding was still here....i have been wearing it off and on because it is a pretty ugly suit at best :)

when the Foote's came into be our new mission President and his wife i was trying to pull off the suit that i came out here with for a little while, but then my huge missionary behind tore right through those pants....

haha it was a really big embarrassing day... my face got so red!!! so when the Foote's asked me when i got a new suit i told them that a member got it for me, because one really did he just isn't here any more, i just didn't tell them that part because i wasn't very fond of President Harding at all..... 

i laughed really hard when i read that y'all didn't like the place that y'all went to for Valentines day.... hahahahhahaha i about almost fell out of my computer chair.

it's true that i'm with a better companion this transfer, but will only be one transfer according to President Foote though he will be probably transferring me to to a full time car area because of my knee..

i talked with the mission doctor and he told me that if the knee doesn't get any better through physical therapy, and if they have to scheduled me for an MRI then he said that, that consist of a one way ticket home...

and so i asked him what it is that i can to do to prevent that from happening? he said that i can no longer be in a bike area which bummed me out, cause i love ridding my bike but it kills my knee to put any pressure on it while i'm peddling. so he talked with sister mason and with president Foote and they are trying to see what they can do to help me stay out here.

i went to my first PT last Tuesday, and the Physical therapist told me that prior to my surgery my knee was pretty solid and it was fine. also stating that after the surgery folks tend to baby that knee that they injured. basically "he called me a big baby" ha no but he did pick on me a lot in that session. so after the session was over he told me based on what he was seeing and feeling while he was playing around with my knee, he said that the knee is very weak now and the muscle's around it are pretty weak as well. he was confused on why it was that the church only pay's for three visit's, i told so was i on that stand point. but he did give me some home work and i tell ya what i don't think PT has ever hurt this much in my life. the stretches that he gave me really kill. 

i'm grateful that the mission is trying everything that they can do to help me, to stay out here and finish strong. i want more then ever to stay out here and to do the best that i can, as well as to continue working with those that we are teaching. i love doing this work. i love the people that are in the mission and for the many friendships that i have created. But if i had to come home because of this stupid knee injury.....

would y'all be upset with that decision?? please be honest with me!! i don't want that to be the case. i want to finish what i have started... i ant no Quitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love y'all with all my heart. and i will always stand for what i believe in. i know that this the right thing that i need to be doing at this point in time. and i know that i have a lot of folks and family members that are counting on me to do what is right. i just need to know if i was to have to come home because of this injury that y'all would be okay with that.

I love y'all and i hope that everything go's well for y'all at home. have a great week

LOVE ALWAYS JOHNNY (Elder Black)

February 8, 2016

hey y'all, so this week has been fun, to the extent of my knee......

I have an appointment tomorrow at 11am with a close physical therapy office, and I hope that all go's well...

it's good to hear that all is well and that things are still kicking over there.

so it's to bad that the super bowl this year ended up being orange and blue.... bummer I guess that Payton can finally retire now. just glade that it wasn't the panthers that won :)

it's super cool what members tell you even though we aren't suppose to know really anything about the outside world....

well at least for another year :D

so being in a bike area, with in the first three days the bike really irritated my knee enough to were I had to get a doctors appointment, they did an x-ray on it and did they're little test thing on my...you know the whole poke and bend/pull thing on my knee and they told me that my left knee is pretty weak and then they gave a new knee brace, well new to them anyway its the same one that I started out with the first time. personal opinion, I think that this knee brace sucks, all it does for my knee is squeeze the heck out of it and leaves bruise like lines all over it after I take it off at night...

so I'm really hoping that tomorrow go's well.

my companion say's hi and that he's trying to keep me in line.... haha he's a character, and which is good because I can't stand having a boring companion, that would suck again.

the new area like I said before is really rich and there are a lot of people here... luckily our area is only six miles by six miles.. grateful for that :D but its good. a pretty good area.

I really need a new suit haha this one is pretty worn and getting small. but just a wandering uhmmmm is there any possible way that I could get a home card so that I can get some souvenirs while I'm out here I really haven't been able to, and it being my last year I would like to come back with some things from my mission. if I can't get one then I guess that's fine but I was just wandering...

I hope that all continues to go well for everyone this week and that y'all have a great reat of your day I love y'all so much.

alright well i'll email y'all next week, love ya'll

always Johnny(Elder Black)  

February 1, 2016

hey y'all a lot has happened hear in that past few days.

i'm now serving in Peach Tree City-Georgia 

my new address is 8207 Merrick Dr. 30265 

i like here I've wanted to serve here since I've arrived in the mission field.

although on a bad note my knee is really acting up on me in this area.

and what really sucks, is that my knee brace is falling apart on me and it doesn't really help much of anything.

my new companion's name is Elder Edwards, also from south Jordan Utah 

went to the same high school as my last companion Elder Argyle.

he is the youngest of six and he is totally a BYU nerd... when it comes to missionary work on the other hand i don't think i have ever seen anyone that is more of a teachers pet to the mission president... he's been a zone leader twice and a district leader three times since he's been out. he came out a transfer before i got out here.

it's cool that y'all are hanging out with Shelley and Darren and that Jillian is able to have fun.. really cool that you got to hold baby goats... wish i was back in a farming community, i'm in probably one of the most richest areas in the entire state... this little town is wear delta workers come to live as well as lawyers come to practice..

there are so many huge houses here i almost feel claustrophobic just tracting down there streets.. being in a full time bike area kind of stinks because of how my knee is feeling and as well as that i'm no longer on y'alls insurance which stinks because i can't go to a good doctors office to see what the heck is going on inside my knee, that's causing the pain. it only really hurts when i'm on the bike and i don't know why:'( 

the mission nurse gave me a couple of offices that i could try and call to make an appointment and every one that i've called and have given information that's on this little card the mission gave me.... they call me right back and tell me that they don't except that kind of insurance anymore, why i don't know but it sucks!!! 

i really regret getting that surgery in the first place then i would have to worry about this stupid knee being an issue. 

the new ward that i'm in is pretty cool very rich and the missionary work is slowly improving, we're trying to get the members back in check haha if only we had an easy button...."that was easy" that would be great.

well y'all i love all y'all so much and i really hope that this week go's well.

oh yeah any news on my suit?? just wondering... 

LOVE ALWAYS (Johnny) Elder Black

January 25, 2016

so another week has flown by...

hey y'all, how has everything been this week?

anything new?? so I got transfer news last Saturday and i'll be leaving to another area!!! finally its been to long since I've gotten here. the folks are great here in all but I need a new start in another ward... transfers are on this Wednesday. I still have no idea wear I'm going but that's the exciting part. I just hope that my companion is fun and wants to do work, instead of sit around the apartment all day and talk to every member in the district for an hour a peace. then decides to leave the apartment after lunch gets over. no matter how much I like to just sit on the couch and listen to that, I don't like to be not doing anything at all... I can't stand to be sitting still...

I don't know weather or not I've sent this picture of my last baptism that I had but it'll be in these few pictures that I'm sending y'alls way, we finally got snow here and it was great reminded me a lot of home and I need it, made the best of that day.....

I'm super excited for this next transfer I don't know if I said that yet but I'm so excited to finally go to another area.....

I've learned a lot since I've served in this area, a lot from my district in what not to do, and as well as so many awesome things that I have gotten from visiting the members and doing lots of service projects... its been great to serve along side this ward in missionary work. this area and my last area have been really good with doing missionary work and helping out with the elder and sister in the area....

I hope all is well back home, and that y'all are doing great.

my suit size is a 42R for the jacket and 34-34  for the pants.

and for my shirts they are 16 1/2. the journal on the other hand thank you so much... and dad I have a picture for you to put in the race car... LOVE ALWAYS JOHNNY(Elder Black)

January 18, 2016

hey y'all another week come and gone.

i did look in the little stocking, i wear that tac on my suit when i wear it.

i'm glade that dad is getting better, now that he is getting more sleep. 

and that he gets to serve his own way and own version of his mission. 

its even more cool that if you really look at it we are serving at the same time. and if i look at it a certain way we will be returning at the same time!!

that is going to be the greatest day!!!

hey can y'all send me more pictures of the track and of the cars i'm pretty excited for this season even though i wont be there.

so i didn't get any sizes done for y'all because every store that I've gone to. I've asked them to measure me and either they don't understand Oregon or what but i haven't gotten them to do it yet so sorry about that.

and with the Wyman's I am still working on that because we are now only aloud to go over there twice a week, so i'll get that to you as soon as possible.

well y'all i love y'all so much and i hope that y'all have a fantastic week love always Johnny