Piles of Leaves!!!!!!!!

There is NOTHING better than Wisconsin in the fall! Today Sister Killian and I went on a Pday hike in a nature preserve with Jon, a kind older man we volunteer with. It was beautiful and brisk... about half of the leaves have already fallen...and there are PILES n PILES of leaves on the streets in every neighborhood! NOTHING better. :)

I wish I was better at taking pictures of all the Sisters we go on exchanges with! This week I went with Sister Passey in Oshkosh and Sister Rosenblum in Appleton. I learn so much from them - not only about the work, but about myself. It's cool to hear different perspectives on missionary work and how the mission affects us all in so many ways. Sometimes I get a little sad feeling like I've lost myself, but then I remember... that's kind of the point! 

Karina's date has been pushed back til November 5th so that she and her sister Charlotte can get baptized together!!! It's so cute, when we were teaching both of them the Restoration, Charlotte asked when we were gonna talk about "taking the dip" (baptism). We showed her a painting of Christ being baptized and she said, "Is that what will happen to me when I'm... 'propatized'...?" baha. She's the cutest and understands the gospel so well and LOVES it! And Karina loves it and needs it too.

On Tuesday we had a cool experience with a YSA, Meaghan Quigley! Meaghan is preparing for her mission in Little Rock, Arkansas, and she came out with us for the whole day on Tuesday - including morning studies and everything! She was our little mini-missionary! She's a convert of 3 years and has an absolutely rock solid testimony and gospel knowledge - I love her and know she'll be an INCREDIBLE missionary! It was SO cool to have her with us and reflect on my own mini-mission more than 3 years ago... and my first couple days in the field. Sometimes missionary work becomes so much what we DO that it's hard to remember the WONDER and excitement of it! But having Meaghan spend the day with us really brought that to my remembrance. Missions, man. :)

I got to give a talk in the YSA on Sunday about "finding a testimony." I learned a lot and it was really interesting to ponder on that... the meaning of the phrase "finding a testimony," because it implies that we already HAVE testimonies, we just need to LOCATE them! And I know that to be true - we all have testimonies of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the gospel... but because of our earthly experiences, our testimonies have been clouded. When we're praying, studying scripture, and attending church meetings, we're not learning things we don't know - we're uncovering the truth that's a part of us! And I LOVE thinking about that!

Well, that's all folks! Go eat something with pumpkin spice!

xoxo

Sister K.