End of My First Transfer

Well I can't believe it but Sister Plante goes home on Wednesday and I will be getting TWO new companions, Sister Hunter and Sister Cases! I had the feeling this would happen because I am not super fond of trios, but I have a decent amount of practice by now so it will be great!

Do you remember me telling you about Teri? She has a baptism date for August 22nd! I have never wanted anything as bad as I want her to get baptized! She is the most incredible person ever. Plus, if she got baptized now and endowed in a year, I would be allowed to go with her to the Chicago temple to receive her endowment! I can't think of anything better. 

We got to go to a baptism in a YSA ward near us, and we brought one of our investigators with us, and she brought one of her friends to the baptism and church the next day! It was great! Except the only problem is that both of them are only 14 years old, and it's tricky to teach youth because their parents have to be totally fine with it, and also it can be hard to know for sure that they will be able to find rides to church for the next couple years until they can drive themselves. And also because with youth, it's hard to tell if they really want to join the church because they understand it and love the gospel, or just because they have Mormon friends and like the church culture.

I don't want to jinx it or anything but I am actually starting to like tracting! Miracles!!! Haha. It feels good to be out walking (even if it is a billion degrees) and knocking on doors (even when we're rejected). Plus I've met a lot of people who have strong belief in God and Christ, and even if they are completely uninterested in learning more about OUR religion, it brings me a lot of comfort to see that they are so strong in THEIRS.

This week I have learned a ton about the Plan of Salvation and I realized that it changes EVERYTHING about the way we live. If we understand where we came from and where we're going, it puts everything in life in a whole new perspective and I am so grateful for that. I am also grateful to be where I am, doing what I'm doing! :)

Well I don't have much else to report. But miracles really do happen!

Have a great week! Love you all :)

xoxo

Sister K.

So Hot!!!

If I thought it was hot last week... things are really steaming up now! It hit 100 the other day and it was so so humid too. It's funny how different people respond to different temperatures because I was dying and could barely walk while my companion was loving it. She has a kind of unfortunate lot in life because she is a redhead and gets absolutely fried in the sun (even through the car window) but she LOVES the heat! Sister Plante is so great. She heads home in 9 days, which is crazy! It's weird to be paired up with someone who is in her last transfer because she is making plans for home, and it stresses me out about MY plans for home even though I really don't have to worry about it yet! 17 months to go, baby! Haha.

I told you about Teri last week I think? Well she is having some family crises but she has amazing promptings from the Spirit. If I had to pick ONE PERSON in this area who I want to be baptized before I go, it would be Teri because she has the power to influence so many others. Also because I love her! I am always amazed by the love I feel for the people here so quickly. I had heard that happened to missionaries, but I didn't fully believe it until now!

On Friday we got to go up to Oshkosh for a New Missionary Training! So I got to see my district from the MTC! It was so much fun! I love love love those people. We went through a lot together! And the drive to Oshkosh was BEAUTIFUL... I was bummed because I was the driver so I couldn't look around as much as I wanted to. Because it looked just like Germany! Huge fields of corn and wheat and soybeans, plus I saw a REAL scarecrow and some quaint little farms ! Seeing that made me love Wisconsin so much more, in a different way than I've felt before.

On the way back from a meeting, Sister P and I went to a place called "The Wholly Cow" which is owned by a member so we got custard for free. Can I just say, I LOVE CUSTARD! It is so dangerous. And so much better than ice cream! Apparently ice cream has 10% air whipped into it, but custard is straight-up divinity. I'm going to have to write a song about it when I get back because I'm so passionate about it. I can burn the Ben&Jerry's song, while I'm at it.

On Saturday we got to go to Janesville to attend the baptism of two people Sister P taught there. I love baptisms! The spirit is so strong and I love to see how the gospel changes lives and changes people. Plus, seeing people come into the fold makes the members more enthusiastic about missionary work, which is so crucial! We're trying to find ways to involve members more.

Anyways it was a great great week and lots of blessings.

Love you all! Stay cool!

xoxo 

Sister K.

Crazy Week!!

This week we found out how many miles we are allowed to drive and it is NOT very many... so we have been walking a lot! While we walk I like to try to come up with jokes, so here are a couple!

1. There once was a woman who didn't want to try pulled pork because she didn't want to BRISKET! Haha!

2. If there was a fight between a bratwurst and a butterburger (I am in Wisconsin, after all) which one would win? --> The bratwurst, because it's PACKING MEAT!!! (Get it? Like packing heat, but packing meat?!) 

Haha okay, okay. I know they're bad! But I'm trying to be creative here!

This week we met with Teri for the first time to teach her about the Restoration. She was raised Lutheran but has Jewish heritage, and she went through the Bible and found for herself how everything in it points to Christ as the Messiah. She called up a bunch of Rabbis and found ONE who admitted to believing in Christ, and they teamed up and started teaching other Jewish Rabbis in secret about the passover and how the symbols point to Christ. Teri is amazing! And she is reading the Book of Mormon, and we meet with her again tonight! I can't wait!

We also met a sweet old man named Satnam (from India) who has terminal cancer and is really interested in the Plan of Salvation. We knocked so many doors that day and no one would talk to us, but Satnam let us in to his house and was just so sweet. We're still teaching Wendy, and there are a few other investigators who are not as promising but we are meeting with them, too.

But HERE's the part that gets crazy: On Saturday, our mission president called us and told us one of the Sisters in a neighboring area (Kettle Moraine) has to go home, so her companion would be joining us! Her name is Sister Matheson and she's great, but she has had the hardest week ever! Anyways, we are now a trio and are covering two areas instead of one, so the mileage problems continue to give us grief. But we will be fine!

All in all it was an interesting but great week! Six hours of church yesterday, and that was great! The work continues to progress. I'm learning a lot about diligence and how when we are focused and striving, we can accomplish so much more! Also, I read "On Being Genuine" by President Uchtdorf this week and it hit me really hard. I love how he says that a simple spark can become a bonfire, because I often feel like a simple spark out here, and I want to start burning more brightly! It also made me ask myself why I am really out here, and how I can dedicate my time here to the Lord.

Thanks for the love everyone! Hope your summers are great.

xoxo

Sister K. 

Happy Fourth!!

Hey Everyone!

Well the humidity here is starting to really get crazy... I feel like I am breathing water! And walking feels like swimming! Haha no, it's not that bad but I can definitely feel the moisture!

Well I was sad to find out about President Packer on Sunday! It was interesting, I was reading his talk on Thursday or Friday I think and just feeling so much love for him and so much sadness because he probably didn't have much longer. That talk is so powerful - "the Plan of Happiness" - I encourage everyone to read it again as they keep him and his family in their prayers and memories! (Also, JUST LOOK at the picture on page 27 of the MOST adorable baby in the planet... I always keep my Ensign open to that page just so I can see that pure joy every day!) (And then look at the dad's shoes... haha I love it so much!)

Anyways, remember the awesome lady we met last Sunday? the one who had lost her cat? We got to meet with her yesterday to talk about the Book of Mormon and she is SO sweet and so incredible! I love her so much. I really hope she reads the Book of Mormon like she says she will, and we invited her to come to our Pioneer Day activity on the 25th so she can meet people and hopefully be fellowshipped. She's probably the person I'm most excited about teaching.

We had an interesting lesson on Thursday with a lady who says she is open-minded and willing to learn more about our church, but she really just wants to Bible bash with us. It's just interesting because she kept asking us to please come back again so we could "strengthen each other's faith by contradicting each other," basically. We just told her that's not our purpose, that we are seeking people with real intent who are willing to be baptized when they come to know the truth. It was really sad to have to drop her but it also strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon being the way to know if our church is true! We have to read it and pray about it with real intent, meaning we ACT on the answers we get. 

Other than that, it was tracting, tracting, tracting as usual! But I am learning a lot about confronting my fears of talking to people and just doing it. 

Anyways, hope you all are well! Happy Fourth of July, I love our country!

xoxo

Sister K.

P.S. Here's a picture of me and Sister Plante on a hill above Waukesha! You can kind of see the city behind us. It really is a pretty place!

Homies in the Lord!!!

Hey Everyone!                                                                                                                     29 Jun 2015

This week was pretty great. I am tired ALL THE TIME even though I'm getting a solid 8 hours of sleep every night, which I've never done in my whole life. Anyways, the weather hasn't been too bad lately; it gets a little toasty in the afternoons, when we happen to be tracting the most, but it cools off at night. Also it has been raining the past couple days which is a HUGE tender mercy! :)

We taught our first investigator this week! His name is Tim, he's an awesome man, and he says the funniest things. He calls Sister Plante and I "the Sisterhood" and says he likes talking to us because we're all "homies in the Lord." And he says he's worried about today's youth because they're not very "receptacle" to the "Word." Hahaha he's just hilarious!

A miracle happened yesterday! So on Sundays we do our studies at night because those are the least productive proselyting hours, so we were studying in our apartment with the window open and we heard this lady calling, "Shadow! Shadow!" over and over again, like she was looking for her cat. Sister Plante and I both got the feeling that we should go out and help her look. It turns out she is brand brand new in our apartment complex and she's looking for a church in the area!!! She said she wants to meet some ladies who will be her friends and I was like... We have a whole Society for that!!! Haha. It was pretty miraculous, she is a really sweet lady and hopefully we can teach her soon!

Besides that we still haven't been teaching much. We have met with some members and that is fun, but I really just want to teach someone!!! For now though we will just keep tracting I guess :) 

Oh, something great happened yesterday! I GOT TO PLAY GUITAR!!! At a member's house. I almost cried, it made me so happy. I only had time for the Ugly Sweater song but I was content just to play at all :) Kayli you better be loving my guitar while I'm gone!

I heard about the Supreme Court and all the same-sex marriage craziness! Obviously I don't know much, but everything I've heard just strengthens my testimony that we have living prophets on the earth today! I mean, just look at how many of April's general conference talks were about marriage and family! I have been thinking about families a ton (mine especially:) ) lately because everything -- EVERYTHING!!! -- In the gospel points to families and how they make us happy. Mom, Dad, I just want to say THANK YOU for getting all us Kirchhoefer kids to church on Sundays, no matter how tough it can be to do that!

Love you bunches! Have a great week:)

xoxo

Sister K.