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

Week 66 - Happy Pioneer Day + Will's Baptism!

An emotional roller coaster of a week, that's for sure. We've experienced some huge lows and some very high, highs this week. All I'm saying is that the adversary is real and will do just about anything to keep us from following our Savior, Jesus Christ. Ugh! Satan is the worst. BUT. Good news is, is that as we surround ourselves with God and the scriptures and prayer and faith that we can overcome the adversary and his sneaky ways.

This weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate Pioneer Day! Although Wisconsin doesn't do the holiday like Utah does, we still had some great talks in sacrament meeting about the early saints. We were reminded that we can all be pioneers! Maybe we're not crossing the country to escape mobs and persecution, but we are facing our own challenges and trials that are unique to us and through those situations we can become examples to those who are around us and family members to come! 

And you know, Pioneer Day is pretty cool, but I think the highlight of this week was definitely seeing someone we have grown to love enter into the waters of baptism! Ahh, Saturday was a glorious day! WILL WAS BAPTIZED and then, on Sunday, confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost!! He was just beaming the entire service! It was lovely. My testimony of the priesthood increases as well as my testimony of the Restoration of the gospel! God is a God of order and I know that Will was baptized by His power here on earth. His whole family came to show support and I think it was a really eye-opening experience for them. On Sunday, he was confirmed and given a really neat blessing full of so many cool promises. Then he was given a calling and is really excited about that!! Sometimes missionaries believe that we knock on doors just to fill time, and at times I've thought that, too, but holy cow tracting works! Grateful for Will and his choice to listen to two random girls in skirts talking about Jesus on his doorstep! I know his life will be so blessed because of that choice :)

Now for my ungraceful transition to other things that happened this week...

+ We had exchanges with the Sheboygan sisters. I was back with Sister Osburn for the day! It was great. 

+ Had a very lengthy conversation with an 8 year old about Harry Potter.

+ Nicole came to Will's baptism!

+ Juan came to church!! 

+ Had Mexican food four meals in a row. #winning

+ We had the musical performance and it turned out so well! Never thought I'd be in a play about the pioneers, haha, but it ended up being a wonderful experience. 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. CTR and have a wonderful week!

Xo,

Sister Quist

 your little pioneer! ;)

 🧀-heads 4 LIFE. 

Week 65 - Spreading the Good Word

What a week, what a week! Oh where do I begin? Well, Monday seems like an appropriate day haha. SO. Monday was p-day, we had a great day napping. That evening we went over to the Stoehr's to have dinner with them and a less active YSA and his non-member girlfriend. We were really excited about it cause he hasn't had contact with missionaries foreverrrr. It was great to just establish a relationship with him. Neither he or his girlfriend were very interested in our message, but like I said...good to just get to know them for now. 

Tuesday we had Zone Training meeting in Oshkosh. It was GREAT. And I got to see my favorite Sister Wise! She's a gem and I'm so glad she's in the zone now! We had a jam-packed meeting full of the spirit. We talked a lot about exact obedience and how it really does bring miracles! One of the missionaries said, "with every commandment or rule comes direct and indirect blessings". Yes! I believe that one thousand percent. Unfortunately people think of commandments as suggestions and not as, well, things that are commanded to do by God. But I know that when we keep the commandments, whether they be mission rules, the Word of Wisdom, or the 10 commandments that we will see obvious and direct blessings and also blessings that come in other ways. 

Wednesday we saw Nicole! She's been so busy lately and had also been going through some personal things that have made her distance herself from us. But we're back on track and meeting with her regularly now. Hooray! We had a good lesson about the power of prayer and scripture study. She's still a little stand-offish to the idea of coming to church. I'm not sure why. Well, yes I do. Something about organized religion, but she's been twice in Steven's Point, so not sure what her hold up is there. She does work most Sunday mornings so that's a major roadblock :( She'll get there...we're sure of it!

Thursday we did service then we went to the farmer's market for lunch and ran into some Jehovah's Witnesses. Funny story. So it was supperrr windy that day and we were walking down the street and see that their sign stuff had blown over and all their pamphlets were flying every where, so we decided to help catch runaway papers. The lady said how one had gotten away, but I was like, "nope, I've got it"! Then she said, "Oh...well maybe you're supposed to have it". Hahahahahaha, nice line, lady, but no. I gave it back to her and then she saw my tag and we actually got in a good conversation. She wasn't really interested in our message and we weren't interested in hers, so we told her what time/where church was and left. 

We also had our interviews with President Williams! What a cool cat. We talked a lot about many different things and he had some things to say that I definitely needed to hear. It was a grand time. That night we had dinner with Maria and she made us breakfast stir fry and NUTELLA PUFF PASTRIES. We died. She also told us that once her third grade teacher told her, "a day you don't learn something is a day that you're dead." Hardcore third grade teacher, man.

Friday we tracted into a YSA in a family neighborhood so that was sweet and now he's a new investigator! Luis. Just moved here from Florida and is looking for a church to attend. Music to a missionaries ears! He's way cool and we're excited to go back and share more of this wonderful gospel message!

Saturday was Crazytown, USA. We picked up Meaghan and headed to Oshkosh to have a lesson with WILL. WILL IS SO STELLAR. He's gonna get baptized this Saturday!! My heart is just so happy for him and the changes he has made to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He has seriously changed a lot since we first met him 6 weeks ago. He kind of blows our minds with how willing and accepting he is. Great miracles, my friends!

Church was lovely and we had a few investigators there!! After our long day full of two sacrament meetings, Sunday school, and relief society, and a missionary fireside with the YSA we went to the Espinosa's for dinner. I love Hispanic people! We had the yummiest tacos of my life and both Sister Killian and I were in taco comas for the rest of the night. It was worth it though. I'm so amazed at the sacrifices people make to provide for their families. And just like eating a million tacos for dinner was worth the comas, the gospel is so worth any sacrifice we have to make. It brings so much happiness and so much peace in the Pokemon obsessed world.

I love you all tremendously and wish you a happy week!! Make good choices! 

XO,

Sister Quist

zumba with the relief society!

 selfie with alvin lol

 we braided our hair together

my place 

Week 64 - #miracles

Hello to all my favorite people! Happy Monday! It's been a rad week. We didn't really have a ton of time to find this week, which was lame. But we have planned out lots of time this week! Not gonna make this email a long one, but here are a few updates!

- Taught Will about the Law of Chastity. Which wasn't as awkward as we though it might be. It was actually really good! We had a couple of members there, one of whom is now good friends with Will, so I think that made him feel a lot more comfortable. I love the law of chastity. Yeahh, I realize that might sound weird haha, but it's so GREAT. There is just so much heartbreak in the world and although the Law of Chastity doesn't guarantee a heartbreak free life, it does provide protection, guidance, and a better chance for healthy relationships. I'm a fan. 

- One of the biggest blessings of my mission has definitely been getting to know all sorts of people. There is no way that I would ever meet YSA members from Wisconsin if I hadn't served in a YSA ward. It's amazing how much love I feel for them (and others in my past areas) and it's so sad when these people that I love so much don't make the best choices. There is one gal who is struggling hardcore with a recent death in the family as well as some other issues. We, along with other branch members, have tried to reach out multiple times to her, but she hasn't been very receptive :( On Thursday those we had a strong impression to text her about the progress of one of our investigators cause she had taken us to one of their lessons. So we did, and in reply she asked if she could come over to talk to us. HECK YES. That was a huge tender mercy even though we all were eaten by mosquitoes. 

- Friday we had Mission Leadership Conference in Oshkosh. It was SO GOOD. I was anxious to hear from President and Sister Williams, and I was not disappointed. They are incredible teachers and disciples of Christ. The spirit was very strong and I'm excited to assist President Williams in his vision of becoming a "Zion Mission" by trying to become a "Zion missionary"!!

- Later had a lesson with Will about Temples and family history. We were so excited to teach this lesson cause it's the TEMPLE. There were lots of good questions asked that even made me think about why we go to the temple. I love learning new things from the spirit! In one of her trainings, Sister Williams, talked about how we need to set TWO baptismal dates with investigators. One for their own baptism, and another to do baptisms for the dead. That makes so much sense! Because although we do put much emphasis on getting investigators to baptism, it's really the temple that we want them to go to. In the temple we learn of who we are and who we can become and how to do it! (*crying cause I miss the temple so much*). We committed Will to go to the temple with the branch for the August temple trip. We also had to move his baptism date to the 23rd, which is a good thing and will give him more time to prepare. 

- Saturday basically all of our appointments were either cancelled, moved, or no shows. It was rough. But we were able to see Juan and committed him to come to church!! It was a powerful lesson and the spirit was totally there. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Which is one of my faves! It's so frustrating though because he seemed so excited about coming, but didn't show up Sunday morning. We're not quite sure what happened. 

- Found out our investigator Nicole doesn't hate us!! We have had basically zero contact with her for the past few weeks which has been really sad. We have been praying and praying that she would get back to us, and last night she finally did! Woohoo! So we're meeting with her on Wednesday so pray for that to go well. 

- Yesterday had three huge miracles! One, Will wasn't going to be able to make it to church, but ended up coming and it was fantastic. Two, GEORGE. He's kind of been off the radar lately, but yesterday we just stopped to talk to him for 3-4 minutes after church and later that evening he texted us to see if we could meet! Yes!! So we head over to the park we usually meet him at and wait for him there. Then he calls us and tells us he's at the other side of the park talking to some people. So we get up and go find him. And in the distance we see him talking to this couple on a bench and we were like, "Oh that would be so funny if George just found us some new investigators". So that's miracle three, we come up to him and meet Dan and Jenny. A.K.A. The coolest couple ever! We then proceed to have an hour long discussion with them about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was crazy! Everything we shared they were like, "Yes! We agree with that"! Dan even knows a member in one of the Appleton wards. We gave them a Book of Mormon and shared Moroni's promise with them. I wish you could have been there as Dan read those scriptures. Those words hold so much power. They had told us that they were searching for the truth and Dan asked us if we felt whole with the gospel. I can confidently say that I feel 100% whole. The complete gospel has been restored and with it I don't have to search for something to fill any sort of empty feeling inside of me, but I know that I have access to it, as do we all!!

Haha, so much for being a short email. Whoops! Just lots of cool miracles and hard work happening here. I hope you have a fabulous week and that you make good choices. To quote Connie, "Jesus loves you and so do I"! :) XO

Xo,

Sister Quist

 we're cute I guess

 ... sometimes

THIS IS WHERE I LIVE 

(ignore geese poop everywhere haha)

Week 63 - staying in the YSA + happy independence day!‏

What a crazy, busy week. I don't know how weeks can go by so slow, yet so fast at the same time! So much happening here. Will is doing amazing and is progressing so well. He is so willing to accept the gospel, commandments, laws and ordinances. We had a couple lessons with him this week. Talked about obedience, prayer, and scripture study on Tuesday. Pretty basic stuff, but some of the most important! It's so crucial to do these small and simple things. They'll bring great blessings. On the opposite side, it can be devastating to one's testimony and progression if you don't do them. So that lesson went well. We also taught about the Sabbath day and following the prophet on Sunday after church. It was kind of funny cause earlier that day he had mentioned how he was soooo excited to go to Piggly Wiggly after church and get a sub. Then during the lesson we asked if he had any questions and he was like, "sooo, I'm just gonna ask this cause it keeps coming to my mind, but does this mean I can't go get that sub at the Pig"? We explained that Heavenly Father gives us commandments and expects us to keep them, of course there are circumstances that happen, but for the most part we need to be obedient. We told him it was his choice though. He was kind of heartbroken, haha, but he said, "Well, alright. I guess it can wait". (YAY!) We were so proud of him. Ahh, I just love how the gospel changes hearts. 

Had exchanges with the Fond Du Lac sisters on Wednesday. So many unexpected things happened...including a trip to the ER. No major casualties, just a cyst that ruptured. Ouch, so thankful for good health care. We were still able to teach some great lessons that day, Sister S is a champ and I was just in awe of her diligence to get to work after being poked and tested all morning. 

The next day we drove down to Oshkosh to have a lesson with this LA, which went super well. And while we were there the Oshkosh sisters called us and we needed to do a quick exchange! So Sister White and I headed back to Neenah to do some service at St. Thomas. It was a good exchange and we got a lot of things accomplished. 

Said goodbye to our favorite President and Sister Cutler, but welcomed President and Sister Williams on Saturday in Green Bay! We had a nice time meeting them and getting to hear from them a little bit. I really like President Williams and I'm looking forward to knowing him better over the next few months! 

Remember that cute Hispanic family we tracted into last week? Well we went back and had a wonderful lesson with the mom, Patricia. We also asked is she would prefer to be taught in Spanish and she said she would prefer English (woohoo!). It might be a little tough to get them to come to church, she did mention how it was "sooo early". But hopefully she'll be able to recognize the blessing of the gospel are so worth the 9:30 am church service. =

Of course, yesterday was the Fourth of July! We had a great time at the Neenah ward breakfast and got to know some of the members better. A LA YSA invited us to come and get some cherries from his uncle's house, so we did that. We got to check the transfer board and looks like I'll be staying another transfer here in the YSA with Sister Killian! Which we are happy about. We had a little get together with some other missionaries and Alvin and Betty. Played some volleyball and ate some decent burgers. Then we went to this tax office party. I know, tax office party? Yes, haha, a lot of active and less active members work for this tax office and they invited us to come. So we made an appearance and it actually was the most effective part of our day! Heavenly Father has a funny way of making things happen, sometimes. 

I'm excited for all the adventures this next transfer has in store. Will is gonna get baptized and we're gonna find more people to teach and they're gonna get baptized and it's just gonna be all sorts of fun. I can't say it enough, but the Lord's hand truly is in every aspect of the work here...and really every aspect of our lives. This is His gospel!! I love you family! Keep choosing the right and reading your scriptures. 

Xo,

Sister Quist

 cherries right from the tree!

 finally met Ashley's brother-in-law, Elder Newbry!

 weird hmong rice patty thing...never again

happy 4th!