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Am I an Idahoan? Or Am I a Wisconsinite?

Whatever I am I know Christ made it. The past 18 months has been a celestial ceramics class! Christ has sculpted the people I have taught, and done things to them and turned them into EXTRAORDINARY individuals through the ordinances and teachings of His gospel!...I could write a NOVEL on what a project I'm sure I have been to Him! He has sculpted me into someone with potential! He has turned me into someone who has been saved FOR something...not just FROM something! 

Truly it is all about Christ.

I could teach the Word of Wisdom, or Plan of Salvation, or Law of Chastity till I was BLUE IN THE FACE...but it would mean nothing without the sweetness that Jesus Christ brings! I love Him.

I can be like Him! HOW COOL!!!!

I KNOW the Book of Mormon teaches about and testifies of Jesus Christ! The Bible (Which once did contain the FULNESS of the gospel) and the Book of Mormon (which now DOES contain the fulness of the gospel) used together bring us to Him.

THINGS THINGS I KNOW FOR A FACT!

Wisconsin is dear to my heart. Always. Forever! THESE PEOPLE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE SOMETHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful part of my country! I know that the same Christ that appeared to Joseph Smith...is the same Christ in Jerusalem...and the Christ in Jerusalem is the same Christ who redeemed me from physical and spiritual death!

I'm not well spoken by any means and am not the greatest with words but i DO have a testimony! I love you all and look forward to seeing dear friends and family and being brothers and sisters in Christ!

"BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN MUCH I TOO MUST GIVE"

-Sister Ashton Wise

PIC: The District at my "Funeral"

PIC: me on Halloween....I call this "The old RM"

Wounded Foot Ain't Gettin Me Down

So after we ran one morning we came inside and I was cooling off and was laying on the floor in our bedroom and Sister Rosenblum comes to me and says "Here you do a handstand and I will hold your legs!" So of course I'm down for that so I go up into a handstand....and maybe she wasn't expecting it...i don't know but she and I both lost our balance and she ends up falling on top of me....and pushed my foot into the corner of my metal bed frame and I couldn't walk and my foot started to bleed a lot....hahahhaha so we just wrapped it and because we did that none of my shoes fit.....so I just walked around all day with one shoe done up and the other unlaced...and i walked like a fool...but WHATEVER! "No Unhallowed hand (or foot) can stop the work from progressing". Truth!

Anyway! The work of God continues...

When sister Christensen and I were together over the summer we contacted a woman named Debbie! Debbie lives in New London and is a massage therapist! She said we could come back! anyway! It was hard to get in contact with her after that! But last week sister Rosenblum and I just contacted her out of the blue and she said we could come back and as we were about to walk away she said "Wait! can you explain to me the book of mormon??" and we said of course! so we gave her one briefly explained and then asked to come back and talk about it in detail and so this week we did just that! And she was SO EXCITED to read it! It was incredible!!! I love teaching about the Book of Mormon! It is interesting historically of course!!! but it brings us closer to Jesus Christ! It fills gaps that are there! It contains the FULNESS of the gospel! No other book can do this for the human race!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! what a gift!!!

So I know that it is almost voting day!!!...and its annoying that EVERYONE wants to talk about it with us and get our opinions! But it makes sense, because people are worried you know? SO its been SOOOOO Cool to teach people about Thomas S. Monson!!!! We teach that he is not paid, He is constant because God is constant! and he is not in it for power nor is he in it fir wealth or popularity!! I've seem it bring many people solace this week!

Also! EXCITING NEWS! Jim....brother stapps friend....who we slaughtered chickens with???? Brother stapp came up to me at church and said "hey swing by my house....I need you to help me draft a text asking if jim wants to meet with the both of you in my home!"

as i sat with this brother and helped him make this text message...i was reminded how simple sharing the gospel can be! Be an example...send a text...thats it. :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!

"Because I Have Been Given Much I Too Must Give"

-Sister Wise

PIC: Randy, and Cami and Myself!

PIC: Last Missionary Club of my Mission!! (BEcause next week is stake conference)

PIC: my foot. Thankfully sister rosenblum wants to be a nurse and nursed me back to health...

PIC: MADE OUR DAY!!! A MEMBER GAVE US FLOWERS FROM HER GARDEN!

PIC: Wisconsin Tracting............

Mwisha.

What a name eh?? haha so sister Rosenblum and I were tracting and street contacting at 4:30ish (and its been getting darker and darker sooner and sooner btw) and we see a guy riding his bike toward us! and Sister R. says "sister you should totally stop that guy!" (she was joking of course because he was going pretty fast) but i just said "OKAY!" and so went in front of him and held up a card and started talking and he stopped! (Miracle 1? He stopped and i didn't get hit! CHECK!) and we started talking!! His name was Mwisha, He is 21 from the Congo and was in refugee camps over there and is now in the states going to school! (Miracle 2? He made it to the states! CHECK!) We set up a return appointment!! (Miracle 3? He showed interest!! CHECK!)

So we go to his apartment and meet outside in the hallway and as we were talking he said (in very broken english) "i was reading in the new testament about peter...Christ said that He would give peter keys...who has those keys today?"...AMAAAAZZZINNNGG! usually those are the thought-provoking questions WE ask people and HE asked it!!!! and so we taught more about priesthood!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Sunday was the Primary Program and that was so great to see the sweet sweet sweet children of the church singing praises to a God who they know and have faith in! I, at times, really do wish i could be like them (and i say this in the LEAST sappy way possible haha) they have such faith! They are SO impressionable!! Its incredible! Truly! It makes me think of "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" when it says:

"O'errule mine acts to serve thine ends.

Change frowning foes to smiling friends.

Chasten my soul till I shall be

In perfect harmony with thee.

Make me more worthy of thy love,

And fit me for the life above."

I want to be more like this and want to share this message with people so that they can come to be more chastened by the Lord and more fit for His courts above!!! 

Also! I have been noticing a lot lately that people, when they tell us that they are not interested, also say "I'm comfortable" or "My faith works for me", etc. but i think that FINDING GOD means FINDING ALL OF HIM!!!  many Christians have a very skewed perception of who and what God is (as did I for a long time!) SO to me, Joseph Smith did much more than reveal some plates that were hidden in the ground by dirt...He revealed the Nature of a Father in the Heavens who had been hidden for years by the ideologies and theories of man!

ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!! Love you all!!!!

"Because I have been Given Much I too Must Give"

-Sister Wise

Sister Rosenblum and I practicing door approaches....and failing! but that is cool!

sister killian and i on exchanges!!! :) 

The Book of Mormon Came to Town!!!

Thanks to the Book of Mormon Musical coming to Appleton...we have definitely gotten some good and bad publicity! ....hey...bad publicity is better than no publicity?? anyway! That has made tracting interesting but that is okay!

Some people just don't like saying "yes I need help" right? which, i get it! Its hard...so that is something we have felt strongly that we should do for different young families in the ward to build trust and things like that....but when we ask "what can we do for you???" many say "oh, just keep being good missionaries!" and I just think "NO! TELL ME TO SERVE YOU!" hahaha.....so we have been going around homes and being dish fairies...we knock on the door...they let us in..give us a drink of water...and we do the dishes for 15 minutes and leave and it has been GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we have seen over all trust from the ward increase! I have been so grateful!

I have learned a lot this week! about myself...about my Savior...about His atonement about His word... I love being a missionary....from the very first day I have loved it! I was reading back on some journal entries from the MTC....and it is amazing how DIFFERENT I am...very different...Rather I should say...How different CHRIST has made me! I explained it to sister Rosenblum like this:

A mission is like throwin on an adult shirt and you are 9 years old....it doesn't fit! hahaha you feel awkward! people tell you its the best shirt ever...and it seems great...it just makes you look awkward and feel awkward...you hope one day you will not feel weird in it.

after time though, you grow into the shirt and suddenly you don't feel awkward at all. the shirt is broken in! It is the same shirt though!...but you grew into it and it has become your favorite shirt...

Such is a mission! -"Can I get an Amen?" -"Amen!" -"Thanks!!" for real though!!!! I LOVE this. I love God! I love teaching people about Joseph Smith! I love opening my mouth!! I love sitting in people living rooms on the floor and blocking their view of the packer game and saying "We have something important, can we share this with you?" and seeing them TURN OFF THE TV truly is a miracle....and i don't say that to be funny! The packers and Wisconsin culture are peoples LIVES here!..so its only through the power of Christ that peoples hearts can be softened!!!

I love you all! See you in a few weeks! 

"Because I have been Given Much I too must Give"

-Sister Wise

PIC 1: The book of mormon came to town!!! (in more ways than one!!!)

PIC 2: The hottest Curry I have ever had

PIC 3: Sister Kirchhoefer having lunch at "taste of Thai" on an exchange!! LOVE HER! we had a good time when we were companions down in MKE

PIC 1:The Rogers' Boys with some Idaho Spuds!

PIC 2:Campus Contacting at Lawrence University!

PIC 3:Beautiful Fall day and my cactus named "Ruth"

Families Can Be Together Forever

So for those who don't know...in my family I am famous for always being the one to cry when we sing "families can be together forever" and we were singing it in church on sunday and it made me think back on the week...

     This week sister Rosenblum and I worked with a lot of young moms and a lot of young wives, who are about my age! and a lot of them were just talking about how rocky their marriages were...and so we, not knowing much about marriage nor knowing what to say, just asked about scripture study and how that was going...and it was amazing to see the correlation! The scriptures truly are the iron rod...not the crummy aluminum foil rod...I said this last email and I will say it again! THERE IS A LITERAL POWER TO THE BOOK OF MORMON! and i know that and have felt that!....so that was something valuable i think we brought up to the struggling women this week!

      Also! went on exchanges with Sister Kirchhoefer! (we were companions for 13 weeks down in MIlwaukee YSA) and i LOVE her!!!! it was a blast! It was fun to be back working with young adults in the Winnebego YSA ward where she now serves! Good times!! i learned a lot from her!!! fun to be back knocking on doors with her too! 

      Funny Story: So i went on exchanges and packed for that really quickly. and in the morning on exchanges we got up to go running and i realized that i forgot.....yeah....running shoes...kinda need those eh?? haha so sister Kirchhoefer said "thats okay we can just work out inside" and i said "pppsshhh...no way!" work out hard in the morning=work hard in the day!!...so i found some shoes in their apartment that fit me....(they were like...mary jane type shoes) and so i was wearing these white nike crew socks...these black mary jane shoes and some running pants...hahahaha and she said "no....no way..are you kidding" and i said "LETS GO!!!!!" and so we are ruunning and i got so many looks hahahha it was wonderful!.....kinda....because running for an hour in THOSE...was not fun but we did it! Good times!!!

I love you all! I know why I am out here! It is for others!!! So often many missionaries say "oh i am the #1 convert" but i tend to look at it a little differently....if i don't even think about me...and think about helping others be converted...i will be a byproduct and THUS become converted myself! I KNOW THAT! i love you friends and family!!!!

"Because I have been Given MUch i Too must Give"

-Sister Wise

PIC #1: took Cassie out to work and tract with us! She was great!!!

General Conference Weekend = Christmas!

 I love general conference and was so happy to see and listen to the prophets of the Lord speak with power and authority! I know that the messages they gave, have given and will continue to give are entirely true! I love this church and this work! I love being a missionary!!! SO MUCH! I know that this is the service i need to be rendering right now!

    Well! Sister Christensen got transferred! she is now in Fon du Lac,WI! It is at the bottom of lake winnebego and I am at the top of lake winnebego!!! SO FAR!  I really really do love her!!! but no worries i will see her again!!! but now for the last weeks as a missionary I will be working with Sister Julia Rosenblum! She is from Memphis! and is a sassy southern belle! We are good friends! I had the opportunity to be her sister training leader down in milwaukee! She is wonderful! Excited to work hard this transfer!

     One wonderful miracle we saw this week actually occured today!! We were shopping for groceries and picking up medications..you name it! and at walgreens today a guy starts talking to me and saying "Sister Wise?.....what does that mean??" and I say "It's my last name! you know....a good german last name!) (p.s. EVERYONE here thinks i'm joking when i tell them my last name....or they think that church gives me my last name haha) but then he expressed interest in the name tag and the church and we got to teach him over that cash register.....and then we were grocery shopping and a guy comes up to us and starts asking about the Book of Mormon and asks about Joseph Smith! So we taught him there in the middle of the store! And THEN same grocery store...same day..we see Jim! (Jim is a friend of the Stapps in the ward....we slaughtered chickens with Jim and the stapps and he showed interest in the church!) it was SO COOOOLLLL!!!!! I just kept thinking "MY GOODNESS WHAT IS GOING ON???" hhaha i wasn't complaining though! I am so grateful to teach truth to everyone regardless of where and when!!!

       we also went tracting on a rainy night and it was amazing to see doors opened unto us so that we could open our mouths and teach! We have bee working very closely with the youth and continuting Missionary Club every sunday after church! And then this morning in seminary it was Missionary Monday so we went and spoke to the youth about conference and then we all played trivia!!

        Its been great! I love the Lamb of God! I know HE is real! Whenever i see the grandeur of General Conference (the amount of people, the pipe organ, the massive conference center) I just think "wow...if He were here right now He would be taking His rightful place on the stand right next to President Monson! I also can't help but realize "wow...all of this happened because of a young 14 year old boy!". This work is true.

"BEcause I have Been Given Much I Too Must Give!"

-Sister Wise

PIC 2: MISSIONARY CLUB!!!

PIC 3: Sister Rosenblum were attempting a "Tilt Tuesday" and she fell on the floor....so i laughed. #bestattemptyet