Snow Already

Highlight of my week: On Thursday we met with our investigators. We taught them about prophets and read Thomas S Monson's talk from this past General Conference. He is still working on quitting smoking, but other than that they are progressing well. The best part was when he said the closing prayer. He opened with Dear Heavenly Father and Closed in the name of Jesus, which we had been trying to get him to do (he kept forgetting) for a while now. It was AWESOME!

Friend of the week: Sister D! She is an amazing lady in our ward who I didn't know very well until we were able to go visit her. She was in the army when she first was introduced to the church. She and a friend had just gotten their lunch trays and for women in the army back then you had to be careful where you sat so you wouldn't get harassed. The tables with their friends were already full so they spotted a table with a lone guy. They figured the two of them could take him. Turns out he was a really nice guy and invited them to the Singles Sleigh Ride that night and soon after she started taking missionary lessons. She and her husband were eventually sealed in the Switzerland temple (you can't be married in them), and lived happily until he passed away a couple years ago. Her testimony of the gospel is so strong! She is a big sweetheart!

Spiritual thought: In Relief Society this past Sunday Sis M taught. My favorite part was the story she shared. There was a man on a beach with thousands of starfish that had washed up. He took them one by one and threw them back into the ocean. Another man came and said, "Why are you doing that? You will never be able to throw them all back in and it doesn't matter." The first man simply picked up another starfish and threw it back into the ocean before saying, "It mattered to that one, and it matters to this one," he said throwing another starfish in. The point of the story was that even if a lot of your friends reject your invitation to come to church there will come a time when you find that one friend how it will matter too.

We also went and saw the BYU devotional/fireside. That was surprisingly good. My favorite line was

"This earth is not our home."

A simply yet profound statement. This is not where we belong! It's no wonder we often feel alone, out of place, and confused. This earth is not where we are meant to stay, we are meant for better things beyond our comprehension. Never forget, who you are, where you come from, and where you are meant to go.

Other News: It's that time of the year already for the Wisconsinites out here. The first real snow of the season started right in the middle of our morning walk and stayed until about noon today. It's going to be a long winter! Last week we were in line to by groceries when the lady in front tells the cashier, "Add their groceries to mine, I'll pay for all of it." Turns out this incredible woman was a member up in Sturgeon Bay! She thanked us for what we were doing and before we could do more than say a quick thank you she was gone! Oh and for the Zone Conference this Thursday my companion, I, and our Elders are singing..again. Not sure how this keeps happening, but if people keep asking us to sing then we can't be that bad right? Not too sure how I feel about this. First Sacrament, then District Meeting, now Zone Conference. What's next singing for the prophet?! A fun thing we saw, besides snow, this morning was a group of 9 wild turkeys lazily crossing the road without a care in the world. 

With Buckets of Love,

Sister Kern