Saturday, May 21, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Miracles......

So I will explain in more detail when I get home, but on Sunday we had
3 baptisms...


Carmelino, Susana, and their 9 year old daughter, Karen.

It was an amazing week!! Thursday we were on splits because Sister
Rieke who use to be in my zone in Osasco wanted to see me once more so
she came out to our area and we worked the day together. We hadn't
planned on going to Carmelinos but I felt like we needed to go all day
long so we went. When we got their he was excited to tell us that he
had received his answer and that he knew the church was
true!!!!!!!!!!! SO AMAZING. It was a very emotional and spiritual
night so we started planning the baptism for Sunday. There were a
bunch of crazy things that happened to stop the baptisms, but in the
end, it ALL worked out!!! The only set back being that the 8 year old,
Karoline, would have been baptized but she got so scared of the water
thinking she would be drowned, that she wouldn't enter no matter what
anyone said. haha. So she will have to overcome that fear and be
baptized still. The poor thing.

It was an amazing way to end the mission and what made it better was
that Juarez and Simone came to the baptism and are very excited to be
baptized as well when the wedding gets marked!

Last night the ward threw me a surprise going away party. I had no
idea!! It was awesome. Very nice to be able to say goodbye to the
ward since Sunday with the baptism made it hard to talk to everyone.

Well the rest you will hear in person...ATÉ LOGO!!!!!!!!!

Sister Knudsen

Monday, May 9, 2011

So good to talk to you!!

I LOVED skyping with you!! It was so amazing to see your faces!! Its
been so long!! But like Andy and I were talking about, its as if no
time has passed at all!!! I feel like we were just together!!

Things are still going super well with the family I was telling you
about! For blog purposes, let me re-explain:

Last Monday night our Zone Leaders called us asking if Vila Archilla
(a neighborhood) was in our area. We told them yes. They then told us
that they had a wicked awesome referral for us. A man named Juarez
had come to their ward on Sunday because he wanted to visit the
church. We found out later that he has an inactive friend who talked
to him all the time about the church and how true and good it is.
This friend said he would take him to church but never did (funny
right?!) So Juarez decided to go by himself!! The night before, him
and his wife, Simone, stayed up late watching Harry Potter (Sounds
like you guys, fam!) and he went to bed thinking, ´I dont think I will
go tomorrow. I will be too tired.´ Well it just so happened that his
internal alarm clock chimed at 7 am and he awoke with so much energy
and desire to go to church. (The Spirit!) So he got all ready and
walked over to the Barcelone building which is the stake center. He
didnt know about our chapel that is closer to him. He got there about
8:30 and saw the sign that says "visitors welcome: meetings are at
9am" and waited around a little until a member saw him and invited him
in. He said to the member, "this sign says visitors are welcome at
9am....so can I come in?!" The member said of course!!

So the Elders were introduced to him and got him phone number and
address. They marked with him to go on Tuesday at 3pm. That night
the Elders thought about whether he would be in our area or the other
elders in Votorantim. They called us up at that moments and passed
the referral to us!

So on Tuesday we met up with the Zone Leaders and taught Juarez and
Simone together. It was an awesome 1st lesson and we bore testimony
of the restoration! They explained that they were feeling great and
that it felt right! We followed up with them the next day and every
since it has been great!!

Friday was the best though. That was the day that we watched the
Restoration movie and Simone said she still had some doubts about
modern prophets. So I asked her to pray for us and to ask God in that
moment if all the movie and we have taught is true. We knelt down and
I felt impressed to explain to her the situation of Thomas when Christ
was resurrected and how he didn't believe until he saw the Lord and how
Christ said Blessed are those who dont see and still believe. She
then prayed and the spirit was SO strong. SO SO SO Strong. We all
cried and afterwards we waited for the response and she then kept
crying and said, "I dont think I need any more response than this!"

It was amazing!!!

I love this work and it is truly the Lord´s work!!

Next week I will be emailing on Tuesday so look out for that!!

Sister Knudsen

Friday, May 6, 2011

Erin will be home SO SOON!!!!

For those of you who read this blog & are wondering what's going on with Erin's return home....here is the info! She returns home Thursday, May 19th & will be speaking in church the following Sunday! All who would like to attend her talk are WELCOME!!!

Sunday, May 22nd 8:30am at the chapel on Lindsay & Elliot (Windrift ward.)

There will also be an open house that same night at the Knudsen home! Please join us to welcome her home! Beginning at 7pm.

1067 E. Bruce ave.
Gilbert Az, 85234

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Elder Andersen.......

Hello my wonderful Family and Friends!!

This week was quite amazing!!

Lets start with the most important part:

On Saturday morning we were able to have an awesome conference with
Elder Neil L. Andersen, and his sweet wife!!! She is so awesome, by
the way. She is this cute little woman with a super soft voice but
her testimony is powerful and she has a great love of the gospel!

I want to bear my testimony that Thomas S Monson, the First
Presidency, and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles are men called of God.
They hold the keys of the priesthood and communicate directly with
God. Of this I am sure.

The spirit that fills the room when an Apostle of Jesus Christ enters
is incredible.

His words to us were perfect. He joked around, he asked and answered
questions, he laughed, he bore bold, powerful testimony, he showed how
much he loves the Lord, the Prophet, and each one of us. He taught us
what it means to be an instrument in the Lord´s hand. We are all
capable of many miracles as we align our lives with the Lord´s.

It was great to see everyone at the Conferene but they didnt give us
much time to sit and chat so it was just a lot of quick hellos!! But I
was able to meet Sister Adamson who is the sister Sister Felipe is
training. Sister Felipe had said we are a lot alike, but I didnt
realize we would look so much a like too!! Like Avó like Neta!! We
took our 3 generations picture!! That made me happy!!

I also saw Sister Santos and arranged with her our visit to Osasco.
On the Tuesday before we go home we are going to go into Osasco
together and visit everyone. Its going to be great!!

We are teaching some awesome people right now. Pray for them please!!
Regilaine; Luciano; Carmelino, Susana and their kids; Jaqueline & Bia,
Sabrina.

The Pictures:

Taco soup at Richelle´s house! Finally some good american mexican food!!!


Brownies with ice cream, cashews all crunched up, and chocolate
sauce...oh yeah!!


Generations!!! Me, Sister Felipe, and Sister Adamson!! (Sister
Adamson is from a coastal city in Oregon, not too far from Newport!!
She was recently studying music at BYU-Idaho)


My new friend Elder Rolfe who is from Rigby Idaho! I told him that
thanks to my ancestors he has a place to live! hahahaha! He is
hilarious!! He likes to pull out his best hick accent to make us all
laugh!


Getting ice cream with the Zone Leaders real quick after Conference
on Saturday!


Ice Cream continued...Good times!


Love you all very very much!!!

Happy Mothers Day next Sunday!!!!!!!!!

Sister Knudsen

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Feliz Pàscoa Minha Família!!!

This week has been a bit of a trial, but there are always blessings
and miracles that come when we show our faith through the trials. I
have been learning a lot these pass 2 months here in Votorantim. We
haven't baptized anyone yet, and its been rough to see so many people
get close but then not follow through. Its so hard!!!!!!!!! BUT we
are working hard. We are self evaluating a lot and looking for the
ways we can be more faithful throughout each day.

Our mission is really focused on Faith right now. We have had some
amazing trainings and I have learned so much about planning and
praying with more faith. I am so grateful to know that God hears and
answers my prayers and that He is with me every moment of everyday. I
just need to call more on Him and His power to make His miracles
happen.

Last night we had an awesome experience. We were waiting at a bus
stop and a man came to wait as well. I asked him if he knew when the
next bus would be passing since we were running late to a FHE at a
recent converts house. He told us and then I started asking him if
he'd ever seen missionaries before, etc. He said he has an old friend
who he hasn't talked to in awhile that is a member and served a
mission. He started asking a bunch of questions and I explained some
things and bore my testimony. I got his address, and then I gave him
a pamphlet about the Restoration. I put our telephone number on it,
the address of the church and when we have out meetings, and invited
him to our English class on Saturdays too. He said he has a brother
that lives in Florida and that they both love English a lot. We
chatted a little bit more about the US and about the church, etc and
then we got to the bus terminal so we parted ways.

Later that night as we were walking home from the FHE, he sent us a
text message saying how grateful he was that we had talked to him, and
that he had been really needing that sign from God. He thanked us
again and wished us a good night.

Then, this morning he called us too! He said he was looking at the
pamphlet and it had only Sundays written for the meetings. He wanted
to know if there were any meetings during the week. I told him that
its just on Sundays but asked him what day we could come by and talk
to him again. He asked if we could tomorrow. I told him yes and we
marked for 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.

He seems very excited. I can tell that he could recognize the
truthfulness of our message even with such short contact. He is one
of those people who is away from the truth only because he didn't know
where to find it. Now he has found it and its going to bless his life
immensely!

I am excited to go there tomorrow and keep helping him get to know
God´s great plan for us.

I love the gospel and I know that it has truly been restored in its
fullness! This is Christ´s church. There is no other. It is here and
we that are members must open our mouths and boldly proclaim what we
know to be true or these special children of God that are searching
for the truth will not have the opportunity to be blessed right now,
like we are being blessed right now! Gods work will happen, but we can
accelerate it so much if we will but share our happiness with others.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!!

Sister Knudsen

Pre Easter pictures!

Splits with Sister Macedo, a new sister from the Bahia in Brazil.
She is super calm and sweet! We had a lot of fun together!


Sister White all decked out!


Me. A less active girl we are visiting wanted to dress us up a bit for fun!


Easter presents!!! Sister White made us paper Easter eggs and bunny
headbands. Yep, pretty RAD!! We have a picture of us with them on but
its not opening right now for some reason. The American family in our
ward went to the US to pack up their house and brought us back some
requested presents, peanut butter, taco seasoning, and a tape recorder
that Sister White wanted. YAY!! Thanks Bishops!!! (That's their last
name and I gave them your email, mom & dad, so they will probably be
emailing you one of these days!!) They are pretty awesome!!