My first tears in the field have been shed.

Until Friday this week was pretty boring, I did make some apple sauce on Thursday, which was awesome. On Friday we had 3 to 6 week training in Oshkosh, so that was a blast! I was able to see Sister Roskelley and Elder Riley Lott (from Logan), which was so exciting, we conversed and told each other mission stories. Then we had a lesson in Sheboygan at 5 and after that we had to drive back to Fond Du Lac for exchanges. I went on exchanges with Sister Hansen from Salt Lake, she is so sweet and adorable and we had such a great day on Saturday, we were able to visit quite a lot of people. Saturday night we exchanged back and I got Sister Carlini back. Sunday Tristan didn't come to church, I have no idea why, but it seriously broke my heart.

A couple of weeks ago we met a guy, who just happened to be a pastor, that was watching the world series so he didn't want to talk to us right then, but he begged us to come back later. So Sunday night one of our lessons fell through, so I was like hey lets go visit that pastor that we met that one time. So we did. I voluntarily knocked on his door and shook his hand and went into his gorgeous house and sat on his perfect white couch and met is wonderful wife and his tiny dog named Lucy . . . and then he tore us apart limb from limb. And Sister Carlini was a complete champ and she was so Christlike and loving and she explained everything wonderfully. But I just sat there, literally, visibly, shaking. I felt exactly like Joseph did in Joseph Smith History verse 15. I had so many emotions going on inside of me, I was scared and mad and confused and I had so many verses I wanted to yell at him and my heart was pounding, but I just sat there. When we left I was so mad at myself that I didn't say anything, I was so disappointed with myself. I felt like I didn't do my part as a missionary, like I let my savior down by not defending his church. But I learned from this experience, that I must always bear my testimony. Hopefully I won't ever come across someone as heartless as that pastor, but if I do I know exactly what to do. Anyone can try to disprove the doctrine of this church, but nobody can tell me what I do or do not know. And I know that a fourteen year old boy had a question about which church to join and I know that he received an answer because Heavenly Father is the same yesterday today and forever and if he talked to his children yesterday then that means he talks to them today and he will continue to talk to them. I know that Joseph was a prophet of God and he restored the original church of Jesus Christ along with the priesthood power of God. And people have doubts about this, that is why I know the Lord provided evidence of this, and that evidence is the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is the most true book on the earth, and that it can bring great peace to those who read it. I invite you all to read it and to pray to know if it is true, with the intent to act on the answer that you receive, and you will receive an answer that it is true. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Koyle

Just a sign with lights that spell Sheboygan, so I had to take a picture by it.

This is Sister Hansen, and she is awesome!

​This is one of the many typical red barns that are found EVERYWHERE in Wisconsin. . . also silos. 

What on earth is Hardee's?!! . . . It is called Carl's Jr.

Taking the SIN out of WisconSIN

Hello everyone! I am starting to get the word of wisdom lesson down pretty well. It is weird because apparently this is beer country and there is a bar on every corner that there isn't a church, but we keep running into people who smoke, I haven't had anyone with a drinking problem yet, but everyone here smokes. It is a really hard thing to work with because they are so reliant on it and I know that if they will just read the scriptures and pray for help and go to church and show some faith that the Lord will help them get over their addiction, but they just don't believe me. 

We got an Evangelical Pastor to step inside of our church yesterday so that was super exciting! His name is Bennett and his wife's name is Holly and they were both born and raised in Sheboygan, they have a 4 year old and 2 year old and a 2 month old and they are thee cutest little family and I just want them so badly to be eternal. Someday they will be, but it might take a while. The sisters before me tracted into them and they were interested in learning about what we believe, so we have been teaching them ever since. They are the sweetest people and they are actually pretty open to our church, he basically told us that if he knew that Joseph Smith was really a prophet then he would be baptized. They have been keeping all of their commitments even when we asked them to live the word of wisdom and not drink coffee, they said they would give it a try, which is super hard for them because they live off of their coffee since they have a 2 month old who is always awake during the night. 

Also Tristan is a single Mom with 7 and 9 year old boys and she is so cute and genuine and she really wants God in her life I love her so much, we have a lot of hope for her, she has a smoking problem as well, but before we even taught her the word of wisdom she has been trying to cut down on it and stop smoking so that is good. 

Things are good here in Sheboygan, the weather has been surprisingly nice, and so have the people. Have a great week! 

With love from Wisconsin!

Sister Koyle

A lot of the street names are named after states, but I haven't found Idaho yet, so I guess Wisconsin is second best. Also I have only driven the wrong way on a one way street twice since I have been here. 

Apparently the thing that I am standing on is like the Hmong symbol. Hmong is an Asian culture, there are a ton of them here! So many that we even have Hmong missionaries.

 Here are some pretty fall trees . . . enjoy!

Happy Halloween and time change

Hello Everyone! 

This week has been great, I am starting to get the hang of things a little bit more. Of course Monday is Pday, and every Tuesday we have district meetings, every Wednesday we volunteer at Bethesda, it is kind of like a goodwill or DI, we just put clothes on the racks, it is pretty fun. on Thursdays we do our weekly planning, Friday we volunteer at Above and Beyond, which is a children's museum, it is so much fun, and the rest of the time we study and sleep and teach and tract. It is so cool to see how the Lord leads us exactly where he wants us to meet the right people. I have seen that basically everyday that I have been here, when we go somewhere to see a referral or a less active and they aren't home so we knock doors around there or talk to someone on the street and that is when we find the people that the Lord has sent us here for. He leads us right to them. We hardly ever reach our goals for the day, but that doesn't really matter as long as you are following the spirit and going and doing what the Lord wants you to. An experience from this week is that we found this 60 ish year old lady tracting named Lauralee, I actually just knocked on her door because I thought her house was cute (there are so many cute houses here) anyways and it turns out she has been to some of the church sites in Nauvoo a she said that she felt a good feeling there we gave her a book, and we agreed on a return appointment, well she cancelled on us, like they all do, but later on in the week we happened to be over on her street contacting someone else and we saw her outside of her house and she let us in and we taught her the restoration and committed her to baptism. So that was super awesome, now we just have to get her to quit smoking . . . we will see what happens. The time changed on Sunday and Sister Carlini is from Arizona and knew nothing about it so that was kinda funny, I was confused why she was so confused about it and then I remembered that they don't do that in Arizona. Also Sister Carlini did something to her shin or ankle or something and it hurt for her to run, but she claims that she MUST RUN, so she ran on it even though it hurt and so then it hurt worse, and yesterday she could barely walk, but she said that it feels a bit better today so that is good. Halloween here is weird, Everyone decorates their houses, but nobody is very good at dressing up. Also the town of Sheboygan set a time frame for trick or treating, which I thought was interesting, so the kiddos could only go between 4 pm and 7pm, it was still light outside. So that just made me happy that I didn't grow up here, because of course you have to go trick or treating in the dark. I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you all had a great Halloween! Happy November! The gospel is true!

Love Sister Koyle

At Above and Beyond they have a giant pinscreen, so of course we had to leave our mark.

This is basically a members front yard, two week ago those trees were full of leaves of all different colors.

Jesus Prepper Preparing for the Return of Jesus Christ. This was on someones front stairs, and I thought it was pretty interesting, I think it is a legit religion here though. There are so many religions here and so many churches, I had never heard a church bell until I came here and now there are at least three of them every hour.

 This is the tiny light house that we can run to if the waves aren't crashing over us. It is so pretty! 

The light house is red, the sky is pretty, and I was running.

No worries it is just Sprechers Root Beer, apparently it is a big deal here.

 This is my apartment building it faces the harbor so we have a pretty good view of the lake. It always smells like smoke inside, but I have gotten used to it, especially since everyone here smokes.

Sometimes on nice days we study in the park.

The Promised Land, Sheboygan

Hello Everyone,

I have decided that Wisconsin is just like Utah. There are churches on every corner and there is a big lake. Except in Wisconsin not a single church is LDS and the Lake is fresh water and it looks like the ocean, literally, even flying over the lake I couldn't see land. I am in the Promised land, a town called Sheboygan, it is on lake Michigan and it is the cutest little place, the people are great and the view is beautiful. The first thing my companion told me was that Sheboygan is nick named the promised land, I am still not sure if that is because of the people, or how beautiful it is, or if it's because it's the highest baptizing area. I actually live on the Lake and me and my comp get to run to the baby light house in the mornings. My companion's name is Sister Carlini and she is from Arizona, she is gorgeous and she is 22 and so sweet, and also geographically challenged, those words actually came out of her mouth, so I don't even feel bad telling you all that. But really I know the area better than she does and she has been here for 6 months, good thing I am the driver. But she is seriously the sweetest person you would ever meet. Also we have a car, so woohoo, we are so spoiled. I love pepoles accents here, not everyone has it, it is usually the older people who have the accent, but it is so great, it usually only shows up in certain words like "baby" or "basement" or "ya know" but I love it. We had a baptism this Sunday, what a way to start off your mission right? It was a 13 year old boy named Logan, his Dad was a less active member and he was able to baptize him, so that was cool. It is really fun to knock doors, you meet the most interesting people. You never know how people will react to you or your message. Everyone here is religious, or they say they are, we pray with people all of the time in the park, on the street, at their door step. This week has been great, and also kinda weird. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Sister Koyle

First Day in Milwakee

Someone texted Sandra a picture of Sister Koyle at the airport waiting to fly out.

October 20, 2015

From the mission website....www.wisconsinmilwaukeemission.blogspot.com

Their first day in the mission field is an exhausting one for our new missionaries. They have to get up around 2:00 am to get from the MTC to Salt Lake City to catch their flight. We meet them at the Milwaukee airport and take them to the stake center or to the mission home, depending on the size of the group. They're always happy to have a good homemade meal. President Cutler interviews each one while the office couples and assistants train them in various aspects of missionary life. The evening culminates with a testimony meeting, and then we put them to bed early!
This new group of 26 arrived on Tuesday, October 20th.....

President and Sister Cutler

First Companion Sister Carlini

First Area Sheboygan

Transfer Lunch
Wednesday, October 21st at the stake center

Sisters Schlosser, Christensen, Smeltzer, Gross, Koyle, Carlini, Roskelley, & Rosenblum

Read more here.....

http://wisconsinmilwaukeemission.blogspot.com/2015/10/special-delivery.html

M.T.C. Letter "I will be in Wisconsin in 4 days"

Hello Everyone,

First I want to thank everyone who has been emailing me and sending me packages and writing me through dear elder it is really nice to receive mail, so thank you all so much. I am doing great regardless of the tragedy that we had this week. I just want to bear testimony that the gospel is true and that includes the covenants that we make in the temple and the fact that there is life after death and that we can be with our families forever.

This week has flown by, we had two devotionals and they were pretty amazing. Also I was able to watch a special video of a devotional by Elder Bednar called Characters of Christ and it was so so so amazing and seriously life changing. The basic message of it was to turn outward, and help others even in times of trial or even when you feel like hiding in a corner and dying (those were NOT his exact words, but my interpretation). The president of the Seventy talked to us on Tuesday and that was uplifting. The spirit here is amazing it is so much easier to focus and learn and remember things. I decided that you could relate the MTC to a mix between the temple and college life, because you study all day and go to class and you have roommates and you make a lot of new friends, but the spirit is so strong and you learn about gospel related topics. I had like thirty minutes of down time this week and it felt so weird, like I couldn't handle just sitting and doing nothing, because normally our schedule is crazy. It is weird to think that I used to just sit around all of the time. I was able to attend the temple today and it was so great, it was a beautiful morning and I got to eat breakfast there in the cafeteria. It was nice to be able to spend some quiet time in the temple. I have had the opportunity to teach a TRC investigator here at the MTC, they are basically people who volunteer to be taught by missionaries who have no clue what they are doing. Some are LDS and some are not. But I absolutely love my investigator, we taught her the first three lessons and then asked her to be baptized, and she said no, but I still love her a lot, she has taught us a lot and she is the sweetest lady and she was very receptive to our message even though she didn't accept it. I will be able to teach her one more time tonight and that will be it, which I am actually a little sad a bout because I actually like her a lot. She is from Mexico and she catholic, and she has a little bit of a hard time with english, but she understands most things. So in the words of Sister Roskelley " We did our part, the Spirit did his part and she still has her agency" I am doing wonderful and I am excited for Wisconsin! Bring on the cold weather! 

Love Sister Koyle

These are the sisters in my zone, I room with most of them.

Sister Roskelley is gorgeous, and so full of the spirit.

 And Sister Roskelly and I again in front of the temple.

 This is my district on our Sunday walk. I love them all so much, we are like a family.

 This is my district again, after we were done at the temple. I promise we do a lot more than take pictures at the temple.

M.T.C. Letter " I Love this prison"

Hello Everyone!

Just before I left, my Dad told me that the MTC is a prison and I said well I am going to love that prison, and guess what? I do love this prison! So my P-day is on Friday while I am in the MTC . . . so for another week. I love the MTC so far, however I have only been here for a little over two days. But I love it! The spirit here is really strong and I have already had some touching moments. It is so fun and there are so many new people to meet. I have seen some of my friends while I have been here so that is fun and also weird because I can't call them by their first names. My companion is thee best ever. We definitely clicked as soon as we met each other. She is from Boise Idaho and her name is Sister Roskelley and she is a spiritual giant and so good at talking to people, which is a skill that I am lacking in. She is super adorable and just graduated high school. So pretty much things here aren't super exciting, we just learn things all day and it is great. My district has also had some pretty good conversations, and we have had some good laughs. I try to write down all of the funny quotes, but sometimes I forget. I share a tiny room with five other sisters and they are all great. If you want to know any other fun facts about the MTC just let me know. I would love to hear from ya'll. Have a great week!

Love,

 Sister Naomi Koyle

Of course I had to take a picture in front of the world map! The other Sister is my companion Sister Roskelley.