Happy 4th!!!

Just want to begin with a shoutout to America!!!!! We've been singing the three patriotic songs from the back of the hymnbook every day for about a month now, and my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE thing ever is the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner: 

"Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand/between their loved homes and the war's desolation. Blessed with vict'ry and peace, let the Heavn'-rescued land/ praise the Power that hath made and preserved it a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: IN GOD IS OUR TRUST!!!!!!" 

I LOVE AMERICA! I love that my father taught me to honor and revere our Founding Fathers. I love that he served in the military, that he is so familiar with the history of the nation and that he teaches us to remember the sacrifices of those before us. I didn't realize until this year that I will always think of my dad on July Fourth. So I guess this is also a shoutout to my dad! :) (Also: Something I really missed this year: our special Passover-esque Independence Day celebration that has become a family tradition! I reflected on it often over the holiday!)

So! Back to missionary work! We've been doing lots and lots of finding... which is good! We've been so busy that I've gotten rather rusty. We're back on the streets of Milwaukee tracking down YSA aged prospectives... and it's fun! (P.S. Transfers are this week, but no fear! I'll be here for another round with Sister Gifford!) Also, in Brookfield we tracted into Mayor Steve Ponto and he accepted a Book of Mormon! So THAT was cool!

Highlight of the week! Exchanges with Sister Hall in Port Washington. She is wonderful and the day FLEW! Exchanges are incredible because I ALWAYS see myself in EVERY Sister I work with. They often are dealing with things I dealt with just the week before... SO cool how God prepares both of us so we can relate to each other on a deeper level. Half the Sisters in our zone are getting transferred out :/ This has been my favorite zone of Sisters yet on my mission... I will miss them!!!!!

ALSO! On Thursday night Sister Gifford and I had the privilege of taking out our new mission president's wife Sister Williams to work with us! We took her to see Maria (RC) and Bailey! It was wonderful! Sister Williams is a convert herself, and it was amazing to hear her experiences with finding the church. She is so sweet and lovable. So is our new President! Friendly and personable and a great leader! We are all sad to see the Cutlers go, but we love the Williams already!! :)

Can't wait to see what this next transfer brings!

Happy Fourth! Have a great week!

xoxo

Sister K.