I don't know if I already sent these pictures, but I know you (Devin) wanted
more fruit pictures so hopefully you like these!!
more fruit pictures so hopefully you like these!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
One more week gone.....
This week the Lord´s thoughts were not our thoughts! We worked all
week on a few people we are hoping to baptize soon, but then Sunday
arrived and none of them went to church. At first I was sad a little
discouraged, but I knew I couldn't stay that way so I focused on the
blessings. A family we contacted on Friday said they would go to
church, so we called them Sunday morning to confirm and they said they
really would come! They showed up and LOVED church. They are from the
"Congregação Cristã" but the lesson about the Church of Jesus Christ
Today was really good and they believe that this church really could
be true. They are going to pray about it. We also had a surprise
visitor!! A girl in our ward brought a friend and we marked with her
to teach her tonight. She seems really interested and elect!!
So even though what we wanted to happen didn't happen, the Lord had
other plans and blessings in store for us. He truly loves His
children and knows what is best!
I will give more details next week, I had to organize some photos to
send to recent converts in Osasco so that took up some time but know
that I love you all so much!!
Sister Knudsen
week on a few people we are hoping to baptize soon, but then Sunday
arrived and none of them went to church. At first I was sad a little
discouraged, but I knew I couldn't stay that way so I focused on the
blessings. A family we contacted on Friday said they would go to
church, so we called them Sunday morning to confirm and they said they
really would come! They showed up and LOVED church. They are from the
"Congregação Cristã" but the lesson about the Church of Jesus Christ
Today was really good and they believe that this church really could
be true. They are going to pray about it. We also had a surprise
visitor!! A girl in our ward brought a friend and we marked with her
to teach her tonight. She seems really interested and elect!!
So even though what we wanted to happen didn't happen, the Lord had
other plans and blessings in store for us. He truly loves His
children and knows what is best!
I will give more details next week, I had to organize some photos to
send to recent converts in Osasco so that took up some time but know
that I love you all so much!!
Sister Knudsen
Monday, April 11, 2011
Hey Family (and Friends!)
This week we had an awesome experience. We went to contact a girl we
talked to the other day and she wasnt home. As we came back I saw a
man in his yard and felt like I should talk to him, so we went over
there and started talking. His name is Douglas. He told us he is a
member but hasnt been going for a while now. He said he wants to come
back but that its harder said than done. He has two daughters and
said they are the principal reason he wants to come back, so they can
grow up in the church. We invited him to come on Sunday and he said
he would. We also marked a return appointment so we could talk to his
wife who is not a member.
They went to church yesterday and loved it. The older daughter is 6
and said she doesnt want to go to her "other school" anymore just
wants to go to "this school" everyday! haha. Her mom had to explain
that during the week she needs to go to her normal school to learn to
read and write so she can do so at the church school!
I seem to have a gift to do contacts with less active members. Its
happened 4-5 times in the last couple of weeks. The Lord knows what
He is doing!
The same night we met Douglas, as we were walking home another guy
stopped us on the street. He also is a less active member, Emerson.
We invited him to come to church as well and he came! He served a
mission and everything but fell away a little after he got home. He
said he doesnt think the church is the only true church anymore but
that it is definitely a good place. That made me sad. We bore our
testimonies of the restoration and invited him to pray again to God
and ask him if this Church is true. He said he will.
We have been working with another less active family too. A woman,
Sonia, and her 7 daughters!! She also has a son, but we have never met
him. There are 2 daughters and one granddaughter that aren´t
baptized. The rest are members but when one gets discouraged and
stops going, the rest soon follow after. We made a goal with Sonia,
and the 2nd oldest (I think...), Daiane, for them to go to church for
2 months straight to gain back their strengths. So far they are
keeping their part!! Sonia gets discouraged because the kids wont go,
but if they go, she is right there. She has a testimony. The older
daughters were baptized when they were little and stopped going soon
after, so they dont really have their own testimonies. We are working
on it. One of the middle daughters, Camilla, finally came to church
yesterday! That was exciting!! We are trying to get them all strong
and baptize the ones that havent made that important covenant with God
yet. They are a really cool family! Tonight we are going to have a
Family Home Evening with them!!
Other awesome story: (Sorry if I ever repeat myself...sometimes I
forget!) We were early to lunch the other day in a neighborhood by
our house so we looked around for some good doors to knock or people
to do contacts with. We walked passed a house and Sister White saw
some kids inside in wheelchairs and a woman running around making
lunch and taking care of everyone. She felt like she should talk to
her but saw that she was so busy so she just kept walking. She didnt
make it 3 steps before she stopped me and said, lets go back to that
house. So we turned around and got the attention of the woman.
The woman invited us in and we got to know her super amazing family!!
She has 3 sons that are special. They have body handicaps and are in
wheelchairs. They are SO awesome!! She has a total of 7 children,
but we only met the youngest 4 and a grandson who is 4 or 5 years old.
We met the 3 special boys and a daughter. The 11 year old boy in a
wheelchair, Giovanne, is twins with the daughter, Giovana. She is
"normal" but very special too! Of course, you guessed it, I thought a
lot about you guys and especially Erik and Ashley!! I showed them the
pictures of my family and they loved it. The mom, Salete, is a hard
working woman!! She never had formal schooling because she got married
young and had her kids. She doesnt know how to read, but we have
started giving her a few little lessons (we dont know much either so
its hard!) to help her out. She really wants to learn.
They couldnt come to church on Sunday because they already had a
birthday party marked, but they said they will come next week. We are
making arrangements with some of the Brothers in the ward to come pick
them up!!
I am so excited to be teaching them. They are sooooo awesome. Did I
mention that?!
I need to take a picture with them to send to you guys!!
Alright, the pictures that I am sending:
The Zone Pic at the end of the last transfer (Dont worry...I am
staying here in Votorantim with Sister White! wooot!! And Elder
Andraszczyk that is from Laguna Niguel (and was in Andrea's new ward...small world!) was transfered to our Zone. Fun
times!) Poor Elder Smalley´s head got cut off, but in the other
picture of the zone our hilariously inappropriate zone leader Elder
Bird showed his butt off (covered with his pants thankgoodness) so
I´ll just show this more appropriate one for now. The other can be a
...treat?...for afterwards! ;)
Milking Bessy for our District Meeting Snack....Oreos!!! Thanks to
Sam and Amanda for sending ´em!!
Elders go CRAZY for any type of food...especially American Delights!!
Elder Oldroyd´s super awesome powers.
Hope you guys had and will have an amazing week!!
I love you!
Sister Knudsen
Sunday, April 3, 2011
More pictures! Hooray!!!
Zone Conference. Sister Steinbeigle and I. She is going home on
April 6. I will miss her dearly. She is a great example to me!!
Some of the sisters with Sister Cooley and the Assistents. The one
of the far right is Elder Matthews. He was Sister Felipe and my zone
leader in Osasco before he turned Assistent. He is awesome and we are
grateful for our nice connection with the Assistents...good for
getting inside information. hahaha!
Package from Sam and Amanda. That was me pulling out all the
little candies and putting them on my desk until it turned into a huge
mountain of sugar!
Arranged nicely by Sister White for a more organized shot! I had
forgotten about oreos....we took one of the packages to general
conference and shared them with a girl named Bruna who speaks english
and was listening to conf. in english with us, and with the elders
that share the chapel with us. They were a big hit!! We even bought
pasterized milk from the bakery to dip them in. I´d seen the milk
before but this was the first time I bought it...its almost like
American milk! Almost...but close enough for delicious wettened
oreos!!
Zone Conference on Friday was fabulous. We are focusing more on
really have Faith and in trusting the recipe for success in Alma
26:22.
We are also going to make our Baptismal services more special and help
our investigators invite their family and friends to their baptisms,
so they can feel the spirit and become investigators too!!
I love President Cooley and Sister Cooley. I am SO pleased by the
fact that we live to close to one another and that I can continue
learning from them after the mission!!
General Conference was incredible like always!! The whole time I
thought about our investigators and how the words were so perfect for
them!! Of course, I also learned a lot of things that I need to be
applying in my own life too!! Pretty sure that talk about accepting
correction was exactly for me...I have such a hard time with that!
Pride is the worst thing ever...I pray everyday for help to not be
prideful!
Elder Scott is the cutest man...his talk was super special. I want to
have a marriage like him and his wife have. One day!!
Elder Holland = Iron Fist
He actually didn´t "burn" too much but he brough the spirit so
strongly as always. He has a way with words...He is amazing.
President Monson...so wonderful! I just love him! His life story is
amazing. If you havent watched On the Lord´s Errand, Watch it. He is
a man of God and it shows in the life he has lived!
Love you all so dearly!!
Sister Knudsen
Some of the sisters with Sister Cooley and the Assistents. The one
of the far right is Elder Matthews. He was Sister Felipe and my zone
leader in Osasco before he turned Assistent. He is awesome and we are
grateful for our nice connection with the Assistents...good for
getting inside information. hahaha!
Package from Sam and Amanda. That was me pulling out all the
little candies and putting them on my desk until it turned into a huge
mountain of sugar!
Arranged nicely by Sister White for a more organized shot! I had
forgotten about oreos....we took one of the packages to general
conference and shared them with a girl named Bruna who speaks english
and was listening to conf. in english with us, and with the elders
that share the chapel with us. They were a big hit!! We even bought
pasterized milk from the bakery to dip them in. I´d seen the milk
before but this was the first time I bought it...its almost like
American milk! Almost...but close enough for delicious wettened
oreos!!
Zone Conference on Friday was fabulous. We are focusing more on
really have Faith and in trusting the recipe for success in Alma
26:22.
We are also going to make our Baptismal services more special and help
our investigators invite their family and friends to their baptisms,
so they can feel the spirit and become investigators too!!
I love President Cooley and Sister Cooley. I am SO pleased by the
fact that we live to close to one another and that I can continue
learning from them after the mission!!
General Conference was incredible like always!! The whole time I
thought about our investigators and how the words were so perfect for
them!! Of course, I also learned a lot of things that I need to be
applying in my own life too!! Pretty sure that talk about accepting
correction was exactly for me...I have such a hard time with that!
Pride is the worst thing ever...I pray everyday for help to not be
prideful!
Elder Scott is the cutest man...his talk was super special. I want to
have a marriage like him and his wife have. One day!!
Elder Holland = Iron Fist
He actually didn´t "burn" too much but he brough the spirit so
strongly as always. He has a way with words...He is amazing.
President Monson...so wonderful! I just love him! His life story is
amazing. If you havent watched On the Lord´s Errand, Watch it. He is
a man of God and it shows in the life he has lived!
Love you all so dearly!!
Sister Knudsen
Monday, March 28, 2011
Exhausted!
This weekend was very exhausting!
Saturday we had an INTENSE lesson with Maria and Manoel. We got there
and Maria starting tearing us down....telling us we are not from God
that we have brought sadness and horrible consequences for manoel and
their relationship. That she knows we cannot be from God because of
the terrible atmosphere they have had since we began going there, etc.
A LOT of stuff....
I bore my testimony to her that we are servants of God and that we
have not broughten these feelings, but that Satan has.
She began to cry and ask forgiveness saying that she knows we are
trying to do our part but that she doesn't understand why Manoel is
being the way he is and why he makes sarcastic comments about going to
church just to see us (the sisters), etc. He had made a comment like
that to her just to make her mad and it worked. She used some
disrespectful words towards us, and I told her that she was not being
respectful.
The feeling was truly terrible in their house and I felt the power of
hell there...so strongly that I started bawling my eyes out. I
couldn't stop or control my emotions.
When she saw me crying so much it really softened her heart because
she started crying harder and started asking forgiveness to us and to
God. She pleaded and pleaded for forgiveness and said she really does
know that we bring peace. She was a bit hysterical. And I wasn´t
much farther from hysterics myself.
When I finally calmed down enough to talk I started testifying more
fervently of God´s love and of his plan and of how He wants to help
them and how He has sent us there to teach them. Then the spirit came
in. It came so strong as well and took away the evil that was there.
We sat them down and we said a prayer and we sang Where Can I Turn for
Peace?
The spirit intensified and we again bore testimony. Maria admitted
that she was at peace in that moment and again that she knew we were
sent from God. She said she had fallen into the hands of the devil
that day and really let him work through her. She said it was awful.
We invited her to pray and she said a most humble and pleading prayer
for forgiveness and for peace. It was very special.
I gave her a huge hug at the end and she hugged me back. We held
each other a bit and cried some more. She thanked us. I told her to
come to church, not for Manoel, but for her own sake and for her own
salvation. We testified that the Church of Jesus Christ is on earth
and that we need it to be saved. We scolded Manoel a bit for not
acting on the answer that God had given him. (Did I tell you he
received his response and knows that the church is true?) He said he
knows but that he is rebellious and doesn't know if he wants to give us
his beer and other drinks that we uses once in a while.
At the end of the night we had them both happy and laughing. And they
both confirmed their presence at church the next day.
It was a spiritually and physically exhausting lesson, but one that
showed me just how powerful the devil is and how much more powerful
the Spirit is.
Then on Sunday they didn´t go to church and I still don't know
why....but it made me terribly sad. Not discouraged, but horribly
broken at the fact that they are not taking seriously the amazing
miracles that God is putting in their path.
No one went to church. We had planned and confirmed with 6 and had
another 6 that were probably coming to. Satan is the worst....but he
will not win! We are stronger and we will not give up!!
We need your prayers and your love!! I know you are sending it already
and I do feel it giving me strength in the hardest moments. Thank you
for that!
But yeah...its been an exhausting weekend and I wanted to rest today
but then we had the zone activity already planned so that didn't work
out...but I will sleep really well tonight!!
The craziness of a mission!!!
Love you family!!
Sister Knudsen
Saturday we had an INTENSE lesson with Maria and Manoel. We got there
and Maria starting tearing us down....telling us we are not from God
that we have brought sadness and horrible consequences for manoel and
their relationship. That she knows we cannot be from God because of
the terrible atmosphere they have had since we began going there, etc.
A LOT of stuff....
I bore my testimony to her that we are servants of God and that we
have not broughten these feelings, but that Satan has.
She began to cry and ask forgiveness saying that she knows we are
trying to do our part but that she doesn't understand why Manoel is
being the way he is and why he makes sarcastic comments about going to
church just to see us (the sisters), etc. He had made a comment like
that to her just to make her mad and it worked. She used some
disrespectful words towards us, and I told her that she was not being
respectful.
The feeling was truly terrible in their house and I felt the power of
hell there...so strongly that I started bawling my eyes out. I
couldn't stop or control my emotions.
When she saw me crying so much it really softened her heart because
she started crying harder and started asking forgiveness to us and to
God. She pleaded and pleaded for forgiveness and said she really does
know that we bring peace. She was a bit hysterical. And I wasn´t
much farther from hysterics myself.
When I finally calmed down enough to talk I started testifying more
fervently of God´s love and of his plan and of how He wants to help
them and how He has sent us there to teach them. Then the spirit came
in. It came so strong as well and took away the evil that was there.
We sat them down and we said a prayer and we sang Where Can I Turn for
Peace?
The spirit intensified and we again bore testimony. Maria admitted
that she was at peace in that moment and again that she knew we were
sent from God. She said she had fallen into the hands of the devil
that day and really let him work through her. She said it was awful.
We invited her to pray and she said a most humble and pleading prayer
for forgiveness and for peace. It was very special.
I gave her a huge hug at the end and she hugged me back. We held
each other a bit and cried some more. She thanked us. I told her to
come to church, not for Manoel, but for her own sake and for her own
salvation. We testified that the Church of Jesus Christ is on earth
and that we need it to be saved. We scolded Manoel a bit for not
acting on the answer that God had given him. (Did I tell you he
received his response and knows that the church is true?) He said he
knows but that he is rebellious and doesn't know if he wants to give us
his beer and other drinks that we uses once in a while.
At the end of the night we had them both happy and laughing. And they
both confirmed their presence at church the next day.
It was a spiritually and physically exhausting lesson, but one that
showed me just how powerful the devil is and how much more powerful
the Spirit is.
Then on Sunday they didn´t go to church and I still don't know
why....but it made me terribly sad. Not discouraged, but horribly
broken at the fact that they are not taking seriously the amazing
miracles that God is putting in their path.
No one went to church. We had planned and confirmed with 6 and had
another 6 that were probably coming to. Satan is the worst....but he
will not win! We are stronger and we will not give up!!
We need your prayers and your love!! I know you are sending it already
and I do feel it giving me strength in the hardest moments. Thank you
for that!
But yeah...its been an exhausting weekend and I wanted to rest today
but then we had the zone activity already planned so that didn't work
out...but I will sleep really well tonight!!
The craziness of a mission!!!
Love you family!!
Sister Knudsen
PIctures of the apartment.....
Well our apartment has a few....problems. Its a good place but it has
lots of material for good stories!!
For example...
This was in the morning...a small creation beginning to grow.
What is it exactly? Hmm...
That night....its grown a bit...he´s getting bigger Little Bobbie!
For example...
This was in the morning...a small creation beginning to grow.
What is it exactly? Hmm...
That night....its grown a bit...he´s getting bigger Little Bobbie!
The next night....Full Grown and ready to be eaten! That´s
right...that would be our little MUSHROOM baby!!! He is growing out
of the broken bottom part of our door frame where inside is quite
nasty and humidly wet. Gooooood times!!
Today we had an awesome Zone Activity. This Brother has a pizza
oven and made us some amazing pizzas today.
We are all sweaty and gross because we played a
dodgeball like game at the chapel beforehand. Good stuff.
Thats the sign of a super full stomach...I ate 5 pieces of
Brazilian pizza and 2 slices of dessert pizza....yeah. Full and quite
happy!
You got to stuff yourself sometimes...its healthy. ;)
Love you guys!!
Sister Knudsen
right...that would be our little MUSHROOM baby!!! He is growing out
of the broken bottom part of our door frame where inside is quite
nasty and humidly wet. Gooooood times!!
Today we had an awesome Zone Activity. This Brother has a pizza
oven and made us some amazing pizzas today.
We are all sweaty and gross because we played a
dodgeball like game at the chapel beforehand. Good stuff.
Thats the sign of a super full stomach...I ate 5 pieces of
Brazilian pizza and 2 slices of dessert pizza....yeah. Full and quite
happy!
You got to stuff yourself sometimes...its healthy. ;)
Love you guys!!
Sister Knudsen
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Funny, spiritual, amazing!!!
The mission is full of so many different types of experiences. It is wonderful!
Funny.
On Saturday night, a member invited us to come over to her 9 year old
son´s birthday party. A few of our appointments fell so we headed
over to wish him a happy birthday (and lets be honest...so eat some
cake too!). Well when we got there we realized that this was the 9
year old birthday party of the century!!! She had all these Brazilian
party foods, soda, and loud music playing as all the kids from the
neighborhood danced around, ate, and chatted together. The
decorations were Halloween/Monster themed and way amazing. The cake
was beautiful and looked like a huge spider web. She of course said
that she had done very little...but she is that way! A little of her
effort and a "small and simple party" are equal to about 6 weeks of
preparing if I would to do that same party!! She is pretty amazing!
Anyway, so Sister White and I get there and we are eating a little bit
and talking about how the parties will be that we throw for our kids
one day. We just so happened to be talking about how we don't want to
be those types of moms that are "party poopers" when a song came on
that says the phrase "I´m in Miami, B*****" Yeah...***** meaning bad
word!! We looked at each other and tried to decide what to do. If we
should tell her since its in English so they don't know or if we should
just let it go. Well as it kept repeating the phrase over and over
again and then had a part that just says the phrase about 15 times in
a row (AHHH...clean missionary ears CANNOT hear that word!!!) we
decided we should probably mention it to her. When she came out of
the kitchen again she saw our faces (I guess we had a worried look or
something...dont know) and asked what it was. We laughed and told her
and she ran into the room and switched the music saying to the whole
group of children and her son in particulary that the song "has a bad
word...The Sisters said so." We heard her from outside and just
looked at each other...UH OH!! Now they are going to hate us!!!! What
were we just saying about not wanting to be party
poopers???....yeah....that went well!! He got a little mad since its
one of his favorite songs and he didnt know. But when Sister White
asked a little while later to listen to Justin Bieber, he got over the
madness real fast. He LOVES Justin Bieber so that made his day!
So funny. Gotta love it.
We also got to celebrate earlier that day, the birthday of two super
cute twins. They are the kids of a recent convert, Adriana, who is
amazing! Sister White made them crowns and we stopped by to give them
to them. They are ADORABLE!!! And soooooo full of energy.
Spiritual.
We have been teaching a couple, Maria and Manoel. Sister Santos and
Sister White had met them knocking doors and taught them about the
restoration. They had gone back once and Maria had been pretty
uninterested, while Manoel was very interested. We taught them our
first week together too and they agreed to go to church. That Sunday
they didn't go though. So we went by again to see why and Manoel said
that Maria woke up and said she wasn't going and started to fight with
him about it. Manoel started to fight back and so they just stayed
home mad at each other the whole day instead. LAME! Well Maria
continued saying that she wouldn´t be going to our church and would be
returning to her church and didnt want to talk to us anymore. Manoel
said he was giving up too and wouldn't go.
Well...that is when the Spirit came in and helped us A TON. We began
to bear our testimonies of the importance of the Restoration. That
God has truly restored HIS church on the earth. We testified that
they could know this for themselves. We also testified of the reality
of Satan and how he will do everything in his power to keep God´s
children from the truth. We invited them to follow Christ and not
Satan and to go to Christ´s church on Sunday. I´ve never been quite
so bold in all my missionary life....but the Spirit was so strong and
their attitudes completely changed. They committed to go to church.
We tried stopping by on Saturday but they weren't home, so we left a
note saying we would stop by there in the morning to go with them to
church.
We came by about 8:30 in the morning and much to our joy, they were up
and getting ready. We waited while they finished and eat breakfast
and then we all got in their car and went up to the chapel. It was a
good thing we went with them because they though it was a chapel for a
different church that is close by. That could have been bad!
We took them inside and sat them down and a man from the ward came by
and greeted them and told us he would get a member to go sit with
them. Awesome! Love the members here! So he sent over our dear
friend Maria Lucia and she helped them during sacrament meeting. It
was an AMAZING Sacrament meeting. A high councilman spoke and brought
the spirit super strong talking about how we are SO privileged to
have a prophet and inviting us to really prepare for conference and
remember that when the Prophet speaks it is scripture. I was blessed
to be able to sit behind the American family that is in the ward and
translate for the wife. It was super hard but gratifying to be able
to help her finally understand what was being said at church!!
Then we went into the Gospel Principles class and had an awesome
lesson about the Priesthood. And then Relief Society...the BEST
PART!!! We had an amazing lesson about Charity and the teacher was
very inspired. Everyone was teary eyed and Maria LOVED it. I gave
her a huge hug at the end of the class and she hugged me back super
tight and I felt SO much love for her. Her whole outlook has changed
since that lesson we had with her. I am so grateful for the Spirit.
It is Him who makes miracles happen.
Manoel also loved the elder´s quorum and agreed to go with them on a
service project they are doing this weekend. So awesome. They truly
loved the church and felt the spirit. We are going there tonight to
continue helping them towards baptism, their endowments, their
sealing, and eternal life!!
I love the mission!
Thank you for your prayers and I love. I love you all!!!
Sister Knudsen
Edilson, Rose, and Larissa from Osasco.
Some of the decorations and the cake
from the party we "pooped" (sorry I didn't rotate this!!!)
Twins with their cute
little birthday crowns!!!
Funny.
On Saturday night, a member invited us to come over to her 9 year old
son´s birthday party. A few of our appointments fell so we headed
over to wish him a happy birthday (and lets be honest...so eat some
cake too!). Well when we got there we realized that this was the 9
year old birthday party of the century!!! She had all these Brazilian
party foods, soda, and loud music playing as all the kids from the
neighborhood danced around, ate, and chatted together. The
decorations were Halloween/Monster themed and way amazing. The cake
was beautiful and looked like a huge spider web. She of course said
that she had done very little...but she is that way! A little of her
effort and a "small and simple party" are equal to about 6 weeks of
preparing if I would to do that same party!! She is pretty amazing!
Anyway, so Sister White and I get there and we are eating a little bit
and talking about how the parties will be that we throw for our kids
one day. We just so happened to be talking about how we don't want to
be those types of moms that are "party poopers" when a song came on
that says the phrase "I´m in Miami, B*****" Yeah...***** meaning bad
word!! We looked at each other and tried to decide what to do. If we
should tell her since its in English so they don't know or if we should
just let it go. Well as it kept repeating the phrase over and over
again and then had a part that just says the phrase about 15 times in
a row (AHHH...clean missionary ears CANNOT hear that word!!!) we
decided we should probably mention it to her. When she came out of
the kitchen again she saw our faces (I guess we had a worried look or
something...dont know) and asked what it was. We laughed and told her
and she ran into the room and switched the music saying to the whole
group of children and her son in particulary that the song "has a bad
word...The Sisters said so." We heard her from outside and just
looked at each other...UH OH!! Now they are going to hate us!!!! What
were we just saying about not wanting to be party
poopers???....yeah....that went well!! He got a little mad since its
one of his favorite songs and he didnt know. But when Sister White
asked a little while later to listen to Justin Bieber, he got over the
madness real fast. He LOVES Justin Bieber so that made his day!
So funny. Gotta love it.
We also got to celebrate earlier that day, the birthday of two super
cute twins. They are the kids of a recent convert, Adriana, who is
amazing! Sister White made them crowns and we stopped by to give them
to them. They are ADORABLE!!! And soooooo full of energy.
Spiritual.
We have been teaching a couple, Maria and Manoel. Sister Santos and
Sister White had met them knocking doors and taught them about the
restoration. They had gone back once and Maria had been pretty
uninterested, while Manoel was very interested. We taught them our
first week together too and they agreed to go to church. That Sunday
they didn't go though. So we went by again to see why and Manoel said
that Maria woke up and said she wasn't going and started to fight with
him about it. Manoel started to fight back and so they just stayed
home mad at each other the whole day instead. LAME! Well Maria
continued saying that she wouldn´t be going to our church and would be
returning to her church and didnt want to talk to us anymore. Manoel
said he was giving up too and wouldn't go.
Well...that is when the Spirit came in and helped us A TON. We began
to bear our testimonies of the importance of the Restoration. That
God has truly restored HIS church on the earth. We testified that
they could know this for themselves. We also testified of the reality
of Satan and how he will do everything in his power to keep God´s
children from the truth. We invited them to follow Christ and not
Satan and to go to Christ´s church on Sunday. I´ve never been quite
so bold in all my missionary life....but the Spirit was so strong and
their attitudes completely changed. They committed to go to church.
We tried stopping by on Saturday but they weren't home, so we left a
note saying we would stop by there in the morning to go with them to
church.
We came by about 8:30 in the morning and much to our joy, they were up
and getting ready. We waited while they finished and eat breakfast
and then we all got in their car and went up to the chapel. It was a
good thing we went with them because they though it was a chapel for a
different church that is close by. That could have been bad!
We took them inside and sat them down and a man from the ward came by
and greeted them and told us he would get a member to go sit with
them. Awesome! Love the members here! So he sent over our dear
friend Maria Lucia and she helped them during sacrament meeting. It
was an AMAZING Sacrament meeting. A high councilman spoke and brought
the spirit super strong talking about how we are SO privileged to
have a prophet and inviting us to really prepare for conference and
remember that when the Prophet speaks it is scripture. I was blessed
to be able to sit behind the American family that is in the ward and
translate for the wife. It was super hard but gratifying to be able
to help her finally understand what was being said at church!!
Then we went into the Gospel Principles class and had an awesome
lesson about the Priesthood. And then Relief Society...the BEST
PART!!! We had an amazing lesson about Charity and the teacher was
very inspired. Everyone was teary eyed and Maria LOVED it. I gave
her a huge hug at the end of the class and she hugged me back super
tight and I felt SO much love for her. Her whole outlook has changed
since that lesson we had with her. I am so grateful for the Spirit.
It is Him who makes miracles happen.
Manoel also loved the elder´s quorum and agreed to go with them on a
service project they are doing this weekend. So awesome. They truly
loved the church and felt the spirit. We are going there tonight to
continue helping them towards baptism, their endowments, their
sealing, and eternal life!!
I love the mission!
Thank you for your prayers and I love. I love you all!!!
Sister Knudsen
Edilson, Rose, and Larissa from Osasco.
Some of the decorations and the cake
from the party we "pooped" (sorry I didn't rotate this!!!)
Twins with their cute
little birthday crowns!!!
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