80 Dollar Cheese and Tracting Miracles!

October 19, 2015
hahaha okay so first things first!..... I.saw.cheese.for.80 dollars! no no....not 18....80! YOU HEARD ME! hahaha that is CRAZY! Cheese....its whats for dinner! Every night....for 18months! hahaha its the best! It was aged sharp chedar! and i...bought it! 

ha kidding!

     OKAY BUT REALLY! So Sister Peterson and I, one fine thursday morning were out and about and the spirit said "Go knock on some doors and teach truth!"...so i told sister peterson! "Okay...lets tract!" keep in mind! She is from Arizona! Its cold here! hahaha So bless her soul! She agreed and we were knockin on some doors!.........i wish i could say that it was successful...hahaha but...not the case.....and so sister peterson said "Alright lets go!" and then i said "Wait wait wait wait! ONE MORE! I PROMISE!" and i felt such a STRONG desire to go to this rather sketchy lookin house!....and so we did! I knock and out comes one of the most PLEASANT MEN I HAVE ENCOUNTERED ON A MISSION! He reminded me of MY father! :) He was so nice! He had all daughters (Like my father) he was tall (like my father) but he didn't believe in God (Definitely not like my father! hahaha) and we were talkin and he said "Yeah i know all about you mormons!" and i said "Yeah?? What do you know???" and he starts talkin! Then i mention that we have a prophet and he said "Wait!....you believe there is a prophet on the earth??? Whats his name???" At the beginning i was skeptical and i thought he was going to start making fun of our beliefs but i said "Thomas monson!" and he was SO EXCITED! and it was genuine! He invited us to come back this week! and talk about it! IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It went from being a not so great tracting experience to being AWESOME! :) pretty exciting! Or in the words of my dad "THATS PRETTY NEAT!"

    

    So something pretty funny that happened this week was this:

There was a new missionary meeting up in Oshkosh wisconsin for the missionaries who have been out 6 weeks and their trainers! So sister Peterson and i drove up there with some other sisters and were trained by President and sister cutler and the assistants to president cutler! So president cutler wanted all of the new missionaries to practice teaching on a trainer who is not your companion! And so an elder comes up to me and he starts talkin to me! He asked me what my "Name" was! (usually when you role play you use a fake name) but this time i just thought "What the hey! I will just use my real name" and so i told him "My name is ashton" and he said "Okay really sister wise, a boy name???" and i said ...."yeah....thats my real name......" and he just got SO EMBARRASSED and then all of the others were giving him a hard time! But he taught well, so that was good! haha but he spent the rest of the meeting making apologetic remarks! hhahaha it was hilarious!

    

     One of the MOST INCREDIBLE experiences occurred this week!!!!! We found a man named Richard on the side of the road a few weeks back! He was in his yard pickin up acorns and we started talkin to him! Richard came to church yesterday! He loved it! We had a former stake president speak, a harp musical number, and a missionary farewell! (emerson ellsworth Shout out!) but he totally felt the spirit! Then he went to priesthood meetings with my mission president! and then we took him on a  church tour!!!! So we got into the chapel and the thought came to me "Sit him down, play the piano, and let this man feel the spirit!" so we sat him down and i began to play!...I am NOT confident in my piano skills and didn't really think i had a talent for it, but here i was using a talent to bring a man to Christ! It was cool! after that we asked how he felt and informed him, that if we felt prompted by the spirit, we would invite him to be baptized at the end of the tour! So we take him to the font and invited him and he said yes!!!!!!! We knelt and prayed right there!!!!! it was so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is like a grandpa to me! The man is like 76! He is great! :) 

     This is incredible! This work is incredible! I am so happy because " I repent everyday!" like they said in the womens broadcast! :) i am so grateful for this gospel! It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we unlock the blessings of the Savior's atonement! I am so grateful for that atonement! I love you all!!!!!!!! Shout out to my ridiculously adorable niece and her parents for dressing up like wisconsin cows for halloween! :) (well played) LOVE YOU!

Because I have been Given Much I too Must Give!

-Sister Wise 

HOLY SMOKES!!!!! CHARLENE IS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!

October 12, 2015
WOW! okay! SO FIRST THINGS FIRST! My Zone Leaders called us on sunday night and asked two things 1) Sister Wise, can you put together a musical number? and 2) can charlene speak at Zone Training Meeting?? IN FRONT OF LIKE 50 MISSIONARIES! ahahha and so we said yes to both requests and proceeded to call Charlene! 

    She was a little hesitant, but she put her faith in the Lord and said yes! Which is a big deal for her! Even though she really is actually a fabulous public speaker! so she came, come tuesday morning, and she did SUUCCHHH AN AMMMMAAAZZZINNNGGGGG JOB!!!!!! She said some things I never had hear before! She said that she was feeling really depressed before we knocked on her door! She said "My whole life has been a struggle! I thought it was always going to be!" And she talked about how the church has changed her life! SHE BORE SOLEMN TESTIMONY OF THE MASTER! I was so grateful! It has been amazing to see her grow! To see this woman! Who had no concept of her divine identity prior to the restored gospel of Christ entering her heart and life, come and strengthen MY testimony TREMENDOUSLY! of course she was in tears and so were all of the missionaries! I love that woman! She has become my dear friend! AND GET THIS! SHE IS MOVING TO IDAHO with her daughter! She can never get rid of me now! I told her that i will be there when she goes through the temple! :)

     Okay! So another sweet experience! We had a lesson with our investigator is tate! We didn't know what to teach because he has been taught EVERYTHING! his mom just wont consent for him to be baptized! :( but that is okay! We continue teaching! But we totally wrote him a song!!!! Its to the tune of "I hope they call me on a mission" and we sang it for him:

      We know that you want to be baptized

       you want to show the Lord you care!

      We know your strong desires to serve Him

       He knows your heart He knows your name...and Tate, HE CARES!

(insert guitar solo here) haha ...kidding.....i'm more feelin the bongos

       We know that one day when you're baptized,

       You'll feel a light you want to share!

       You'll get your nametag and your best suit! 

       And serve along with the Lord! You'll sure make a great pair!

YAY! hahaha so we sang that to him! It was awesome! He loved it! We had fun! And it is something he will always remember!!!!!!!! But the really sweet thing was AFTER the lesson we always race tate and his little sister to the end of the drive way and they say bye to us at our car and we drive away! And this time i opened the door and Teirny,Tates little sister, saw our pass-along cards we give away! It had a picture of Christ on it! She said "Can i have some!?" and i said "Yeah you have any friends you want to give it to???" and she said "YEAH!" and then we got in the car, and i was typing some things on the GPS and we watched her go across the street to some neighbors playing with their dad and she gave each of them pictures of Christ! Then she pointed at us and we waved! hahaha It was SO SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sharing the gospel is EASY! :) we make it a little hard sometimes! :)

    ANYWAY! It has been a fabulous week! I thank each of you for your love and support!!!! these have been the GREATEST MONTHS OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!! :) they are going far too fast! but i just want to bear my testimony on the sabbath day! It really is a delight! I am so grateful for the SACRAMENT! What an incredible gift! THINK OF IT! It is the only ordinance that is repeated for ourselves!!! It is special! It is a gift! I am grateful for sacrament meeting and for the spirit that is felt in it! I was thinking back and realized that it was in a sacrament meeting in Nampa, Idaho that the spirit bore witness to me that my Father wanted me to serve a mission!!!!!  SACRAMENT MEETING CAN BE A TIME TO RECEIVE REVELATION IF WE LET IT! :) I love you all! I KNOW that Jesus is the Christ! I KNOW that joseph smith is a prophet of God! I know that when people talk bad about him, it is only evidence that the prophecy is being fulfilled that his name would be used for both good and evil! I know that President Monson is a Prophet of God and that he and his counselors and the 12 apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ! I am grateful to be in a dispensation that is lead by a living prophet! I KNOW that this email is super duper long! I LOVE YOU ALL!

From America's Dairyland to you! 

Sister Ashton Louise Wise

"Because I have been given much i too must give!"

"EXALTATION IS OUR GOAL, DISCIPLESHIP IS OUR JOURNEY" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Wow! what a week! GENERAL CONFERENCE IS LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I woke up Saturday morning singing "ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!" haha which may surprise many of you because i never was a morning person! But I have repented of my irritated morning person ways and wake up at 630 every morning EXCITED TO BE ON A MISSION! 

      General Conference was INCREDIBLE (as it always is)! What was really incredible was seeing 3 new apostles being called to take their place on the stand! WOW!!!!!! I was with my mission president while we were watching it and he just kept saying "Wow....What a brother hood!" 

     I personally loved President Russel M Nelson's address about female leaders in the church! It has inspired me to be a little better! And each time I get better and repent and grow, my sphere of influence grows that much more! And when our sphere's on influence grow, we are able to share the light of Christ with MORE PEOPLE! Isn't it wonderful??? Leadership, or should i say Christ-like leadership, is never for the man or womans personal gain! It is for the service of our fellow man and  ultimately for our God! HOW COOL!

       I really need to go.....BUT i just want to say ONE MORE SUPER COOL THING! Charlene Downey! OH MY HEAVENS THAT WOMAN! hahaha Charlene was just baptized over 2 weeks ago! We have started teaching the new member lessons! We decided to make it more interesting we would have her roleplay with us....we would be people investigating the church, and she would be a full-time missionary! hahaha so we sat on her couch and I put my nametag on her, and she just WENT! SHE TAUGHT BEAUTIFULLY! She taught us where we came from! Why we were here! Why we go through hard times! and where we go when we die! And I just thougt "Holy taledo! This woman needs to serve a mission dang it!" And so i said "Charlene!What if you served a mission?????" And she said "That would be GREAT!" So we will see if this happens! But she wants to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D and ALSO! Charlene has aggreed to speak to our zonetomorrow!!!!!!!!!! And tell her conversion story! CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU ALL!

I KNOW MILLIONS SHALL KNOW BROTHER JOSEPH SMITH AGAIN! I KNOW THAT GOD IS WAITING FOR ME AND PREPARING A MANSION ABOVE FOR ME I KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Ashton Wise