Week 71 - the week of mosquitoes

Hello, hello! This week has been awesome! Each week just keeps going by faster and faster...not quite sure how I feel about that. Monday all of our appointments cancelled so we tried to contact this less active woman the relief society president asked us to visit and we met Jimmy! What a cool guy! All tatted up with gages and everything. He was very open minded and after a great 45 minute conversation with him he said that he wanted us to come back and teach him and his family! The coolest thing ever is being able to feel the spirit touch someone's heart and be softened. Their body language changes, the words they use change, and even their countenance changes. The spirit really is able to work wonders within us as we allow it to. 

Tuesday we saw a former investigator, Tammy. She's a gem! Let us right in and tried to feed us fajitas. She and her kids were home and so we talked to her about all sorts of gospel things, but mostly about the family and how sacred and important it is. We left her with a family proclamation and committed her to come to church, too. She said she would. But spoiler, on Sunday morning we called her to confirm that she was coming, but she said her husband got sick and so she had to stay home to take care of her kids. Darn it. Hopefully she'll come this week. 

We saw S & R again this week and taught them about the Word of Wisdom. Such a great lesson. They both committed to follow the WoW! I know that as they follow this commandment that they will be more receptive to the promptings of the spirit! R was a little sad that she couldn't drink her Starbucks any more, but we gave her a list of non-coffee things she could get there and that made her feel better :) We also saw Cayla and I met Nick, her husband. He's a funny guy. He kind of comes off like he doesn't like us there, but once he gets into the lesson we can tell he really enjoys having us over. We read out of the Book of Mormon with them and the spirit was just so strong testifying to them both that they are missing something big when they don't come to church. Nick works 3rd shift so he decided to sleep rather than come to church, but Cayla brought her daughter and came. She loves coming! And everyone loves her there so she has a lot of great fellowship. Which I am so grateful for, cause you will not believe how much of a difference that can make in someone's conversion. 

We also went to this way too good chocolate place my Lambeau Field and got these chocolate bars with POP ROCKS in them. That place is dangerous. Then we headed to dinner with a part member/less active family. They were super nice and Brother P has a nephew serving a mission right now. They lean more toward the atheist side, but they did say that we could come back and "practice" the missionary lessons with them. They're not opposed to learning more though, so that is a huge blessing. 

On Wednesday we had THEEEEE most awkward law of chastity lesson with a returning less active/recent convert family. Seriously. I usually love teaching the LoC, but this time was painful. Not because of us (I hope) because the spirit was definitely testifying through us, but they were just super awkward. It's okay. Cause the church is still true haha. We also had a great lesson with LILLY! I love her oh so much, but man, we got eaten by mosquitoes! I would have put on bug spray if I would have known we'd be sitting outside for an hour! My legs seriously still itch. But hey, you know I love you when I sit outside and subject myself to the zika virus for you. ;) 

Thursday the Marquette sisters came and we blitzed the area with them. SISTER GARNER came and we were reunited! It was glorious and SO MUCH FUN to spend the day with her! We saw a less active/part member family and had a pretty good lesson with them and just got to know them. We then headed out to DePere to see a cute young mom in the ward. She has two super cute, sassy girls. Her husband is less active so we're trying to start the lessons with them. Then we went to TACO BELL for old time's sake. We had to. Just reminisced about our days in West Allis and it was just the best. We also saw one of my faves here in GB, Katie! Her boyfriend isn't a member and she's starting to come back to church more so we're just starting to visit them more. I'm just super excited for him to start learning more about the gospel. We ended the night with pizza with the Hermanas! It's so fun to be near old friends! I love Hna Martinez and Hna Brian! They're gems. 

Friday was MISSION TOUR! It was just what my spirit needed!! So many wonderful things were spoken! Some by those who spoke, and others by the spirit. Elders Ringwood and Cordon came and it was such a neat experience to have them there. We were able to have a Q & A session with them and Elder Cordon said, "Just say "yes" and the Lord will give you the strength to do it". I know that there have been countless times when I'm asked to accept a calling or given an assignment that I feel I'm incapable of doing, but I know without a doubt that the Lord truly will qualify us as we "just say yes" and try our very best. It shows obedience and trust in the Lord, and because of that He will strengthen us. Elder Cordon also reminded us that obedience is the first law of heaven and shared the account in John 9 of the blind man being healed. We know that Christ could have healed the man, but he wouldn't have learned the valuable lesson that would heal him for a lifetime - obedience!  Also remember last mission tour how I got to have an interview with Elder Shwitzer? Well, I was able to be interviewed by Elder Ringwood! It was so neat and such a humbling experience. He had a lot of great counsel to give and the spirit witnessed to me that he was definitely a man called of God. Plus, mission tour was great to see some of my favorite sista friends I've made out here! 

Saturday was busy, busy! But I'm kind of out of time right now, so I'll just leave it at that :) We'll just sum it up by saying FOCUS ON THE ROOTS. Met with Luke and tried to help him understand that we must focus on the roots (Christ, the Book of Mormon, etc...) before the leaves of the tree (outer darkness, the temple) even matter! As our roots deepen, our capacity to understand the other parts of the gospel will increase. 

Sunday I gave a talk! Cayla and R & S came to church! The Vanderheyden's had us over for dinner again 👌. We went to the Mills' home for Book of Mormon club and I just wish I could express how much I love the Book of Mormon. I have learned so much from the inspired words it contains! 

I love you all so much!! You are such lights and examples to me! 

Have a wonderful week. CTR. 

Xo,

Sister Quist

people really love their packers here. i'm only a little scared for football season #gopackgo 

me and sister osburn at mission tour! 

me and sister peterson!

me and my baby child! so fun to go on exchanges with sister garner and then get to hang out at mission tour!

with sister killian!

 me and sister carlini

 POP ROCKS CHOCOLATE BAR blew my mind

at the Vanderheyden's

a little p-day fun! 

Week 70 - land of the packers, home of the dairy

I'm coming at you live from Green Bay, Wisconsin. What a great week it's been! Monday and Tuesday were crazy busy full of goodbyes and appointments. It was crazy, but so fun/sad because I had to say bye to some of my faves). We had FHE and did a "Sacred Grove" activity at a park. It was a neat concept, but the mosquitoes didn't help with the execution. But we all went to get chessecurds after because they're the best.  

Tuesday we met with Monique, Will, Nyreesha, Maria, Cherie, Nicole, and had BoM class. Such a solid day. Then I finished packing and Wednesday we headed to transfer point in Oshkosh. I took the fun bus up to GB and then Sister Carlini and I were off! She and I came out together, so we have known each other since the beginning! It's been fun! :) And holy smokes I LOVE GREEN BAY. Wednesday evening we set a baptism date with S and her daughter, R! Ahh, they are so cute. S grew up a member, but was excommunicated a while ago. She has since found the church though and wants to be re-baptized! Her daughter is 12 and is so darling. We're so excited for them to be baptized together on September 10th! They've come to church for the past monthish or so, so we're pretty stoked!! :) 

Thursday was jam packed! We saw the Moore family and read scriptures with them. They are doing so good and are working towards the temple! We went to contact a referral and met a cool guy, CJ, from Jamaica! He's very humble and ready to start rebuilding his relationship with God! We drove out to Denmark (no, we didn't go to Europe) to see some recent converts, Mariah and Daylin. Mariah is such a sweetheart and Daylin is such a punk kid haha, but we were able to get them all involved...which was a win! We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and Mariah just had the sweetest answers. She is so tender. There is just so much power in a child's testimony. No wonder Christ asks us to become as a little child! We had dinner at the Cooks who are wonderful and crazy! Haha, Sister Cook is from Texas and is the sassiest human. We love her and her fam so much! We also saw our investigator, Luke, who is possibly moving this weekend, so that stinks. But our lesson was good. Although it began by talking about outer darkness, we brought it around haha. He's a very sincere guy. And he's a YSA! So that's pretty cool. He and his friend, Cory, came to sports night on Saturday so that was great for them to meet more members. 

Friday had a lesson with a recent convert, Lori. She's my fave!! Talk about prepared. She is preparing to go to the temple soon and so we're helping her with that. She was so cute on Sunday. She had this necklace on and it was like a chain with a little silver bar. I told her I liked it and she was like, "It's my straight and narrow necklace"! Haha, YES! She's the only member of her family, but she said that her daughter would be okay with us talking to her soon! Her husband is coming around...he gave us some fresh veggies during the lesson and Sister C said that was a big step. So we'll take it! Veggies now, baptism later! ;) We went back out to Denmark to see Dawn and Brian and their family. They are a part member family who are sooo cool! They said that this year is their "rebuild year" and this gospel fits in with that perfectly. They have an 11 year old and a 7 year old. Both boys. They all came to a family history activity the week before I came then stayed for the adult session of stake conf! We're pretty excited to see them progress. I know this gospel unites families and strengthens them! We also went to the Pyper's for dinner and I love that family so much! They entertained us with riddles and mission stories and great food. It was lovely!

Saturday began RAINY and early! We headed to the church for a ward activity. The BACON RUN. Basically a little one mile fun run and after we ate bacon and fruit! It was a blast! We all got soaked, but it was worth it. Plus, it was so fun to get to know more members! :) We saw a recent convert in the rain...so he let us borrow his Badgers and Packers ponchos! Haha, we looked ridiculous, but hey, we were dry! 

Stopped by really quick to meet our investigator, Cayla. Basically she knows this church is true...she's just having a tough time giving up Satan's drink of choice... coffee. Apparently she was doing really well until a couple weeks ago and she's kind of backed off :( We're not super sure why but we are seeing her tomorrow so hopefully we (+ the Spirit, obviously) will be able to help her overcome any reservations she has. We also had SPORTS NIGHT. And Luke and Cory came. Plus I got to see Karlene and Malia from the YSA!! :) Totally made my day! We played some really fun games and it was so good for Luke and Cory to meet some members and get to know them!

Yesterday was a great Sabbath day!! We had church and S and R came!! :) And then we went to the Vanderheyden's for dinner and it was the best dinner ever. Bro. V made these like all natural cookies with blueberries in them and they were actually the most delicious thing of my life. 

Okay well now I'm done writing this novel. Man, just so many good things happening here!! I love Green Bay! I love my Savior! I love my family and my companion and just being a missionary is the bomb. Hope you all have a super rad week! CTR. LOVE YOU!

Xo,

Sister Quist

🐄🧀🏈

Saying goodbye to this cute girl! Monique is a gem and is such a wonderful example to me of Christlike service and love! I <3 her!

 Aviana came to a lesson with us and we took a pic!

 home of the dairy

 land of the Packers

Week 69 - Teaching the Midwest the Ways of Fry Sauce and Leaving Winnebago

Hi All!

Got the news today that I'm being transferred to the home of the Packers. GREEN BAY! And I couldn't be more excited. Of course, I'm super sad to leave some of my faves here in Winnebago, though. These past four transfers have been some of the best. I have learned quite a bit about myself and about my Savior. First of all, we are who we are and where we are for a reason! Heavenly Father has created us and placed us in certain areas to touch the lives of our friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Sometimes we think we have to conform to a certain image in order to bring the spirit or teach the gospel, but in reality the spirit can more easily testify through us as we are ourselves.  

Also, I've definitely learned that our faith is either growing stronger or becoming weaker. There is no stagnancy. It's sooooo essential to our progression and overall happiness to be consistent in our gospel living than to binge on scripture study or prayer or anything like that once a week. I've seen that even if it's the smallest righteous action it strengthens us sometimes even more than the big acts, as long as it's constant. Had a lovely lesson with Sam last night. We roasted marshmallows and I even found a couple starbursts! That brought me back to my girl's camp days. We talked a lot about doing the small a simple things. Again, goes back to consistency.

Elder Holland said, "With the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can escape the consequences of sin and stupidity". YES. Young single adults are sinful and stupid. I am one of them. It's just the nature of the age group (but not limited to as we all are affected), but the Atonement is real. It frees us from our sorrows and pain. It strengthens us in our shortcomings and weaknesses. So thankful for Christ and his willingness to take upon Himself the heartaches of the world. Grateful that we don't have to struggle alone because He knows exactly how to help us! 

This week has been lovely. We had our zone training meeting, exchanges with the Appleton sisters, lots of cool people coming out of the woodwork, and Nicole came to church! Exchanges were soooo fun cause I was able to go to Appleton with SISTER WISE! She's still as fabulous as ever. We saw their investigator, Jim, whose bird totally pooped on my skirt. So that fear was realized on Wednesday. Cool. He has been meeting with sisters for over a year now and is just the most classy old man you will ever meet. He knows this church is true! He has even written thesis statements about how it's true! It's just softening the heart of his wife that is the task now. I'm so happy that Sister Wise and I got to go on at least one exchange together. I always learn so much from her whenever I'm around her, so having 24 hours to be around her was quite the treat!

At St. Thomas' this week chicken tenders were on the menu and since these Midwest people don't know what fry sauce is we made it for them and they loved it! We thought we were pretty cool. We also have to use latex gloves to serve the food and so we taught the old man serving food next to us about the Plan of Salvation using the glove as our body and our hand as our spirits then proceeded to talk to him more about it. He wasn't too thrilled with us talking about religion, but what do you expect? I mean, we are missionaries. And plus, it did spark some conversations with some other people there. So... you never know where gospel conversations can come from haha :)

We met with Will on Thursday. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was so cool to see him receive revelation as we went through the lesson! Also, at church the Stake President spoke and afterwards Will was sooo full of the spirit. He was just like, "I am SO glad I came to church today. I heard a lot of things that I needed to hear". SAME. President Kindt is a rockstar and his talk was nothing short of amazing. I'm so happy that Will is recognizing the spirit more and more. A skill that we all need to develop!

I'm so thankful for the chance I got to serve here and all the people I've been able to meet. A huge part of my heart now for sure! But on to new adventures in Green Bay! :)

Much love! 

Xo,

Sister Quist

had to get my UWO swag before I leave!

zone training

Pretty building on Lawrence campus

Went to a baptism in Oshkosh and got invited to the Murphy's farewell party so we went over for a few minutes because I love these people! 

cute YSA's

Sister Graves is a gem for letting us come over every Monday morning to do our laundry and eat her food! I love her dearly!

megan & riley's wedding reception

Megan & Riley part 2 

Karlene and I <3 

we do dumb things and make people take pictures of us 

meaghan, aviana, and I cheesing it up at sports night

Me and Bethany matching! :)

Week 68 - Happy in the WI!

Apologizing in advance for the lack of words this week! Hopefully I'll make up for it with lots of pictures! This week was wonderful. We had our Mission Leadership Council and it was exactly what I needed. President Williams has brought such an exciting vibe to the mission and it's so contagious. Since we are having our mission tour this month we weren't going to have an extra zone meeting, but with all the new information brought up at MLC we decided that it would be best to hold a zone training meeting TOMORROW. So not a lot of prep time, but we're looking forward to it nonetheless. :) 

What else happened this week. Oh yeah. Well, we met with Nicole, and had a REALLY GREAT LESSON. Holy cow, it was so good. She was excited to come to church then bailed last second, which we were super sad about. George had an accident at work and is currently in the hospital. He will be okay, but could use some extra prayers right now! So, he wasn't able to attend church. We met a cool girl named Sally this week. She was sooo interested in the gospel and coming to church then we texted her Saturday night and she bailed, too. Rough week. Coming to church is so great, guys! 

Actually, that was a big part of MLC on Friday. We've been reading Moroni 6:4-6 with people and just sharing how many blessings will come as we worship Christ together and especially as we partake of the sacrament! The sacrament has become such a sacred ordinance to me. Our weeks are so busy and crazy and the sacrament is just my time to reflect, restart, and recommit. I love it!  

Lots of YSA are headed back out to school soon, which will be sad. But that also means the campuses will be full of students who are ready to hear our message!! :) We're looking forward to that. We had exchanges with the Oshkosh sisters this week and I was able to go back to my first area! What a weird experience. It was so fun to be back and to serve with Sister Roskelley for the day. She is super committed to this work and such a wonderful example of charity! So thankful for good sisters who are working hard for the Lord. I was able to see some old friends and it was wonderful. Quincy is doing so good and is very interested in family history. He's excited to attend the temple sometime soon. We also saw the Murphy's! Well, some of them, and that made me so happy. We even saw a super LA family in the ward and it was a huge tender mercy cause her son is a very active YSA and he was there. So basically the only reason she even let us in was because he was there. The Lord works in the most mysterious ways. I love this work and I love this gospel! Christ is our Savior. There is not one of us that is too broken that He cannot fix. 

Have a good week! Be safe! Choose the right! Love you!

Xo,

Sister Quist

exchanges!! look who I found! Sister Ah Mu! (a fellow Lone Peak-er)

 exchanges with sister roskelley!

Perks of going on exchanges in my past area: going to dinner at this cute lady's house! I love the Murphy's!

 from our hike last week! definitely one of my favorite places around here.

sam, sis k, and me being blinded, but loving life! ;)

 just a bunch of crazies having a lesson in the hot, humid park!

#squadpic

I love Sis. Giff! ❤ 

 said "goodbye" to my cute trainer! see you in idaho!

 all the STL's at MLC on Friday!

cutest people everrrr. see you in utah, stacy! ;(

Week 67 - Consider Something Better

THIS WEEK FLEW. Holy smokes it's already Monday. And August, what!? This week was pretty normal. I mean, relatively. Normal isn't really a thing in the life of a missionary haha. It was a good week. We tracted and biked and walked. Just living the dream here in Wisconsin! :) 

As a companionship we've really been trying to focus on having sacred studies! Especially companion study. They're never bad, but we just want them to be a time of revelation and inspiration! And they have been! Yesterday I was reading a talk from the October 2014 General Conference called, "The Lord Has a Plan for Us" by Elder Carlos A. Godoy. He said, "Just because things are going well does not mean that we should not from time to time consider whether there might be something better". That just really resonated with me. Because for the most part we are not all going through major life crises at all times in our lives. There will be times when life seems to be going pretty good. I've thought about this a lot and just wondered how I can progress even when life seems to be okay. And not only that, but how can I help others progress when they feel their lives are pretty good. Sometimes I feel like we think that progression and growth only comes in or after a trial, but we know that we can continue to improve even when we feel content. He referred to Elder Oak's talk about choosing the good, better, or best choice and mentioned how the best paths in life are rarely the easiest. And as I reflected on that and talked about it in our studies I came to the conclusion that maybe the best path is the easiest, maybe it's the hardest, but no matter the difficulty level all we need to do is counsel with the Lord, follow His will, and we will succeed and grow in whatever path He has planned for us! :) 

We had an investigator, Jake, show up to our sports night on Friday. He even stayed to help clean the church building after with the YSA and went out to eat with them after. WHAT!? When we started teaching him he made it clear that he wasn't really interested in converting, but said he'd be interested in coming to activities. So we invited him and he showed up! We also found out he is interested in family history, so we're going to work with him on that and we know the Spirit of Elijah will soften his heart! Also, the spirit of sports night lol. 

Christ lives and loves us and I know He is guiding us!! I love this great work and I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ restored once again on earth! CTR. Be good. Read your scriptures! I love you! 

Xo,

Sister Quist

 no miles left for our car = a good day for a bike excursion!

companionship nail painting party