Oh the Weather outside is frightful....but the fire is slowly....or not so slowing "burning..the latter day glory begins to come forth"

So it snowed....hardcore! haha it was a blizzard! shards of glass were hitting my face it seemed! hahha but anyway! besides the point! it melted the next day anyway! hahaha

Okay first! SHOUT OUT to my sister Madison HULLINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE!!!!!!!! Happy wedding day on the 25th!!!!!!!! oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!! you looked stunning! Loved what you were wearing! Maddy you looked good too! ;) hahaha joking! Really though! So grateful for the two of them!

      so the general womens conference was on saturday! and since "Charity Never Faileth" i thought it was highly appropriate that the theme of the meeting was Service! It caused me to reflect back on an experience i had earlier this week!!
   
    I was on an exchange with sister Dawn Gross (N Ogden Utah) and we were on the bus coming back from UWM...and it was snowing hard! We stopped at the bank of america (tallest tower in Wisconsin) and i see a man outside the window hanging on to the shirt of another man...he got on the bus and as soon as i saw his guide stick, i realized that the man was blind!  he told the driver which stop he needed and then he came and felt his was toward me! he sat by me and i said "Hello there!" and then we started talking and he was the NICEST MAN!!!!!!!!!! his name was Dan! He worked at the bank of America! he is a former officer in the navy...must have lost his sight in the navy...idk...but he and i chatted and started talking about the gospel! 

    and then it happened! aahhhhh! this woman gets on the bus! She was older and had ice all over her shoes and so it was really slick for her to walk! she had her arms full of groceries! and I DONT KNOW HOW but Dan got up, felt that she had groceries, knew that it was a blizzard outside and said "Oh those are heavy! Here take my seat and i will take those!!!

     Dan and i continued our conversation after he found another seat on the bus with the groceries, and he told me he is Christian and it obviously didn't surprise me! I then realized that what makes a Christian a Christian is not if you wear a cross around your neck or say prayers at night or read your scriptures! Those are all things of value but what makes a Christian a Christian is exactly what Dan demonstrated! selflessness and love! It was incredible! It made a really big impact on me! i was grateful for it!

     anyway! EASTER WAS WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Know Jesus Christ lives! I know that that is why we celebrate! We show Him we are grateful by following Him! Just like Dan showed me on the bus!
I love being a missionary for the true church of Christ! I know that I am not lying to people when i say that this is HIS one and only true chuch on the earth! I know that! I have felt that! 

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and while your decorating eggs this season! may we remember who created the egg! eehhh? eh? pretty egg-citing!
hahaha HAPPY EASTER! #hallelujah 

"Because I have been given much i too must give"
-Sister Wise

PIC1:sister gross and I...(shes giving me a hug of comfort because this was taken right when maddy and mitch were being sealed)

PIC2: art!...downtown Milwaukee!
PIC3:Milwaukee Public Library

PIC:3 and 4 a church downtown and the famous Marquette university!

PIC:5 Sister Gross and I on the exchange!

"dear Sister Wise you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..."

1 Year ago a prophet of God sent me a letter in the mail! IT WAS SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no but really 1 year ago i opened my call and read that i was going to wisconsin! I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR WISCONSIN!!!!!!! I LOVE it here! Its my home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     I don't have much time but i've GOT to tell this story!!!!!!!!!! i was sitting on the bus and this guy sits by me! And i start talking to him! his name was matt and he had autism! He was so SWEET!!!!!!! hahaha we were chatting and i said "Man Matt! you are SO nice!" and he said "yes i am!" and i said "but you know who is nicer.....???" and i pulled out a picture of Jesus to give him a hint and he said "JESUS!!!!" and then proceeded to say "Yeah.....me and Jesus! We are pretty nice guys!" hahha it was so sweet!!!!! haha what a nice kid! I needed him that day! His innocence and kindness was really refreshing! haha

    It was a wonderful week though! REALLY! just the best! lots of good work going on!!!!!!!!!!! so happy about that! the YSA ward is progressing as is the brookfield ward!!!!!! 

    the most glorious thing happened this week too!!!! last night we were driving from a dinner appointment! And i just said "I feel like we should get on the bus!" and so we get on! and there was...no one...hahahaha.....and so we sit! and then this kid walks on the bus! he looked my age! and so we start chatting and i saw he had a university of wisconsin sweatshirt on! So i asked how they are doing in the NCAA tournament! and he told me theyre not doin too bad (GO BADGERS!) and then we talked about his life and then religion! We gave him a book of mormon! And he is meeting with the elders this week!!!!!!! :) YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was pretty cool!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all! Jesus Is alive! Its pretty cool to think about! He lives and breathes and thinks! Pretty sure I said that last week! but hey its just as true this week! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Wise

Pic1: Me with my call!
Pic2: Tilt tuesday again! haha
pic3: My stress relief is making sister Kirchhoefer laugh...so i do what it takes....

oh p.s. apparently wisconsin has awesome facilities for olympic winter athletes to use! so our youth in the stake had a huge activity at the petit ice arena and they brought so many friends! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! we got to go and talk to their friends while they had hot chocolate and talked! so cool!!!!!!

PIC4: petit Ice center

PIC5: us and athena at marquette

PIC6: Exchanges with sister Gross and Mansfield

"Hey! can we teach you about the Book of Mormon...yeeeah...just ignore the camera..."

OKAY! Coolest thing! So Richard (UWM film student/Returned Missionary) is in the ward and doing a documentary on us and the elders for his final project! and we continued filming on tuesday! the beginning of the documentary is him interviewing us and then on tuesday he wanted action shots! so we were on campus and he wanted to film us street contacting! so we had this camera set up and we were asking people to come and talk to us about religion and it was odd with the camera there! but we talked to 2 wicked awesome students!! Yudi from india! And David! Who was born and raised in Milwaukee and he was Jewish! It was SO interesting to teach them about the Book of Mormon and to hear what they thought! they opened up a lot more because they were being filmed...which you would think it would be the opposite but....it was great!!!

      something super cool was i was on exchanges with sister lamprecht downtown and we were street contacting and we talked to a really cool cool cool guy! And at the beginning he was cussing (you know....because thats just apart of everyday vocabulary with these students) and as we began teaching eternal truths...his potty mouth was subsided and he listened and was a gentleman actually! The elders are teaching him on wednesday! SO GREAT!

      I have just been so grateful this past week for the temple! My sister Madison (shout out) was able to go through the temple for the first time on saturday and sydney (another shout out) went through the temple exactly a year ago! I was just thinkin about that a lot this week! out excitement for them! but also having in mind the fact that a year ago on the 24th (my dads birthday) i went through the temple! I am so grateful for the convenants we make there! I know that it is a house of God! I know that! I am so happy to help families of wisconsin make it to the temple one day and eventually make it to God!

      I love Jesus Christ! He has become very real to me! Hes a man! He has a nose and arms and fingers and a voice! And thats something i have come to know that he is ALIVE! #hallelujah! HAS EVERYONE SEEN THAT VIDEO!?!?!?!? If not repent and go to LDS.ORG and watch the new easter video! Its somethin else! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Sister Wise
p.s. shout out to my companion sister Kirchhoefer FOR IT IS HER 20TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pics: me and maria! shes so cool! and super...thug? hahaha

The wheels on the bus....go around....and around....and around....and around....and around some more!

SO if you couldn't tell! WE ARE BACK ON THE BUS AND IT IS GLORIOUS!!!!!!!!!! hahaha hoorah for teaching random citizens on public transportation in the depths of the city! YES! :) i love it! got to show sister Kirchhoefer the ropes! hahaa kidding! She showed ME! shes awesome!

      it was really interesting though! I was sitting next to this older guy who looked...seasoned?....haha okay he was old..straight up looked like sant claus...haha and so we got talking and he said he is a milwaukee native...so i safely assumed "okay..this guy is catholic" and we started talking about religion and he saw my name tag and told me that he does not believe in a Christ! It was really interesting to talk to him and just to see what was missing from his life without Christ! He was nice, sure, but there was just something missing! and it caused me to think about my life! without Christ in my life i feel like there isn't much to me! Christ takes us and makes us somebody's and i am grateful for that!

     We had Mission Leadership Council up in Oshkosh (like driving from Boise to Twin Falls) and I saw SISTER QUIST AND SISTER BLAS! so good! #reunited! so wonderful! (we came out together)! and it was good to talk about the mission! About goals we have especially going into the easter season! SPEAKING OF WHICH!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH! Is anyone just so excited!?!?!??! Christ lives! Wow!!!!!!! He's alive! Living breathing! TALKING! He lives! What a blessing! too often i have focused on "Oh Jesus Died for me!!!!" But i have come to realize that its amazing that He lives! That even after living a hard life, He took HIs life up again for US!!!! He decided to keep living! For us! I think that is a miracle!

      life has been really great! We are teaching a lot of new people whose hearts, we had been praying, would be softened and they have been! WHAT A BLESSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       I had the opportunity to share my testimony in both wards yesterday! It was really a special experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for my Savior! I am grateful to always have His name on my lips! Its a name worth having on our lips! for He is the SON OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool!!!!

      I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! Hey and mark your calendars!!!!!!!!!! March 13th! Is (my companions birthday) BUT also the day the new easter video comes out from the church! ITS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU!

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

-Sister Wise

 A member gave me this shirt...SO GREAT!

Tilt Tuesday with a Book of Mormon

me sister blas and sister quist 10 1/2 months ago! and now! #beforeandafter

we both have t-shirts/sweatshirts with majestic animals on them..so it called for a picture!

"Come on and let me buy you some coconut water!"

29 February 2016

hahaha so sister kirchhoefer and i were trying to contact some people on saturday before a dinner appointment and we were walking and both of us had to run to the restroom (I may be set apart from the world but not set apart from my terrible bladder capacity!) haha so we walked to a gas station! and i was waiting for her and saw a guy vacuuming his car at the gas station and i started talking to him "oh hey nice car!! what year is it?" (like I even really know what the difference between a 2012 ford focus and a  2015 for focus is??....) hahaha but we talk and he asked what we are doing walking around in milwaukee and i told him we are missionaries and we start talkin and we read from the book of mormon and he told us that hes met with missionaries before! anyway! long story short! His name is francis and we got his number and info! and after our exchange he said "hey...welll....let me buy you something!" and we said he didn't have to but he absolutely insisted! and so he gave us some coconut water from the gas station! it was great!!!! hoorah for human interactions! :)

       so sister kirchhoefer is my new companion! She is great!!!!! shes from colorado but lived in germany for three years till she went to study at BYU! haha shes the bomb! so grateful for her new perspective on the area and her desire to work! Shes great!!!!

       I totally miss sister Tenney, my last companion, but know she will do great in the muskego lakes ward!!!!! We had a fun last few days together!!!!!!!!!!!

      One of the absolute highlights from this week was definitely Jesse's baptism! jesse is a guy in the YSA ward who the elders were teaching! he is so wonderful and he and i have become great friends and so last week he asked me to speak at his baptism! it was MARVELOUS to just bear testimony of the sweetness of the gospel and to tell every one there that I KNEW and Jesse knew that Elder Marsh (who baptized him) had the authority given by God, to do so! It was a really great experience for me! Can't wait to see jesse receive the blessings of the priesthood!

    it was cool because in the talk i QUOTED MY FATHER!!!!!!! hahaha (shout out to my dad!!!) I said "Jesse My dad always told me, "A job worth doing is worth doing right/well" and i told him that its true in regards to his baptism! Baptism (something worth doing) is worth doing right (by someone who holds the priesthood!) it was really cool to tie those things together! Thank you dad!!!!

     i love this gospel! not just this gospel but CHRIST'S gospel!!! I know that it has been restored in fullness once again to the earth NEVER to be taken away again! how awesome is that???? BAH! what a blessed time to live on the earth!!! i just want to SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am grateful though that i am not the teacher and the Spirit is!!!!!! what a BLESSING!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because I have been Given Much I too must Give!

-Sister Wise

Maria was confirmed, Holland was born, and home teachers came!

February 22, 2016

Okay! Maria was confirmed yesterday and it was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!she was just BEAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love her so much! we all agreed that she just has a confidence about her and its amazing! She has become so talkative and so interactive and we are just in awe of the wonders that the restored gospel does to people! its amazing!!!!!!!

      My new niece, Holland, was born on the 17th!...apparently....hahahha :) I am just reminded by looking at pictures of her...how precious life is! It makes me think of my sister! And her selflessness! It makes me think of my mother and her kindness to me growing up and how much she sacrificed so that i would be comfortable! anyway! I am so grateful for holland and am excited to meet her sometime! :)

       so in sacrament meeting yesterday our bishop was talking about home teaching and visiting teaching and its great importance! (Home teaching= members of the congregation going and ministering to other members of the congregation! Making sure that their emotional, temporal, and spiritual needs are met! and then they report that to the bishop). talking about home teaching made me just think of MY home teacher all through my tween and teenage years! Brent Coles! and his wife! They were there EVERY month and they taught me SO SO SO much! I am grateful for their dilligent dilligent service! I had some rough patches in high school and they helped me have courage to become more like the Savior and to do what it took to do so! I love them!
      

     okay. something kinda cool!!!!!!!!!!! So we were driving in downtown milwaukee! And we saw a homeless man! and i had nothing to give him! but felt i should! and i went up to him and gave him information on the book of Mormon! And i said "It doesn't seem like much...but i promise you that this is better than cash OR food! :)" and he took it and looked at me and said "BAPTIZE ME!"....kidding.....the man thought i was NUTS he probably was thinkin "lady youre the one who needs help! youre wearing a skirt and its 20 below!" hahahaha but for reals it made me think about the book of Mormon! and my love for it! I think it is incredible! I wake up in the mornings EXCITED to read it! i love what is taught in it! I know it is true! I am not ashamed of the book of mormon! I know that its true! i used to totally say things like "okay i know it sounds crazy but God gave joseph smith gold plates and he translated it!!" but i have realized its not crazy! What would be crazy is if God didn't communicate with His children today! THAT would be crazy! And i say that, because i know it is not so....i know Thomas S. Monson and His counselors and the 12 Apostles are honest good and chosen men! I know that through them and through my own personal revelation i can come to understand that God is not silent!

       I love this gospel! The gospel of Jesus Christ!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and shout out to one cute mom, Kennedy Nicoll and her hubby and their sweet sweet sweet baby, Holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my heart! just busted in two when i saw the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. sister tenney is being transferred on wednesday! :( nnnnoooooooooooooooo i will miss her! but my new companion is sister kirchoffer! that means keeper of the church in german! hahaahha we will get stuff DONE! it will be great!

Because I have been given much i too must give!

-Sister Wise

walkin and workin downtown with sister tenney!

and i had a smoothie making fail....:/

saying goodbye to the milwaukee 1st ward!!!!!! 

going to miss these people!