April 28th Letter - best week ever(;

hello my darlings!!

 

i am out of time!  so this will be short and probably on the sloppy side.. i apologize..

 

this week one of the best weeks ever!!!  we had the best numbers and great lessons and just pure happiness!!!  YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!  (:

 

we had a lesson with our peruvian family tuesday and it was amazing!!  we had sister delgado come with us-which made it so much better.  we will have to have a spanish speaker come with us every time for now on.  antonio and janilla both accepted a baptismal date for may 18th!!! :D so excited for them!!  The other two children weren't in the lesson but hopefully they will be there tomorrow night in our lesson.  they have so much potential and how we foud them is just a miracle in itself!  we are so grateful!!

 

we didnt have the car this week and i am still not able to bike.. so we walked everywhere this week!  which was actually helpful with finding!!  We talked to everyone we saw and taught lessons!  The weather was amazing all week long!  I felt so blessed!!!  (:

 

the other day while we were walking we met three teenagers who were "evangiling."  tommy, will & natalia. natalia was obviously the leader.  it was fun to talk to them and see how passionate they are about their faith and sharing it.  their beliefs are very different from ours.  sister hong hurt her back the other day running on the treadmill (i know I'm like bad luck or something) and natalia asks if she can give sister hong a healing blessing.  it was very interesting.  she put her hand on sister hong's shoulder and starts saying this prayer and then after is so excited and is jumping up and down asking if sister hong was healed.. unfortunately sister hong wasn't.. but it was sweet that natalia had that faith.  we offerred them copies of the book of mormon but they declined.  natalia's dad is a preacher at their church and she invited us over to talk with him.. well politly declined (: but it was an interesting discussion. they were only 14 years old. so crazy!  But it was a fun experience (:

 

we had transfer calls!  and both sister hong and i are staying!!  yay!!  i love my providence ward!!(:  i think i'll probably finish here, i'm okay with that(: the people here are amazing!!!

 

I love all y'all!!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Knell

April 21st Letter - Easter festivities (:

Aloha y'all!!! (;

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter Sunday!!  Sister Hong and I had an amazing one!! (:

So many miracles!!  We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday!!!  Yay!!

The beginning of the week started off as a wet day for Sister Banks and I!!  Thank goodness for those rainboots mom sent me!  Lifesaver(;  We had exchanges with the Sharon Sisters.  Sister Hong worked it Sharon and I stayed here with Sister Banks.  It was a lot of fun because Sister Banks came out the same time as I did!  Time is flying by so fast!  

I love exchanges!  We taught Barry (one of our recent converts) with Dagmar (our partner in crime!!  She's been baptized for a year now!) tonight.  We taught the Plan of Salvation and went a little over temples.  They are both excited about the temple trip coming up & the single adult conference.   It was so neat to see the differences of a fairly RC and one that has been baptized a year.  Dagmar has such an amazing testimony!  I learn something from her every time she comes out with us!  Or even when we go and have a lesson with her.  I get excited to think that Barry will be like that in a year too!  The gospel truly blesses lives and changes people.  I love it(:

Have y'all seen the new Easter video Because of Him, that the church came out with?  We have been sharing it and bore testimony of Jesus Christ with everyone!!  It has been amazing!  We've also been visiting a lot of less active members and been sharing the video with them.  They all love it too!  I love the Easter season!  Something new we have been trying with all the less active members we've been asking them if we could "practice" teaching on them & they agree!!  It is great!  Because we know it will help them feel the spirit more and hopefully help their testimonies grow(: 

We have a miracle story!!  

Last week we got this email from our WML (ward mission leader):

"Missionaries,

Got a call from someone in the Weddington ward. They met a new family at the church tonight. The Wife is a member, everyone else non member. Three kids:

15 Valerie
10 max
8 janilla

Husband and wife are:
Antonio & Lilly

Lilly was baptized in Peru. Her baptizing Missionary lives in Boone, got in contact with her, told her where the church building is.
They know when church starts and should be there next week.

In the meantime, can you go check it out? Get more contact info from them? Let's get them plugged into the delgados or de la Torres?

Best,

Andrew"

The Weddington Ward does the greatest thing ever!(;  every 2nd Sunday of every month they have "Meet a Mormon Night" at the church.  It is a very casual event where members can invite their neighbors and friends to the church to get a tour of the building & a 10 minutes spiritual thought by the missionaries.  That is what Lily & Antonio went to & they loved it!!

So Sister Hong & I jumped right on it!  We had a great lesson with Lily (member) & her live in boyfriend, Antonio & their daughter, Janilla (8).  They have strong faith in Christ and a desire to come to church especially Janilla.  She kept looking through the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets.  She seemed so excited to come on Sunday.  Antonio said he wants to be baptized but we know that true conversion requires diligent work on his part as well.  Left them a book of Mormon and are returning on Tuesday!  They were super excited & grateful.  We are super excited to work with them!  There is somewhat of a language barrier there (mom you should of taught me Spanish growing up!! (;, but the spirit was working with them and we are hoping the Delgados can come to our next lesson(:  we love the Delgados!

Lily, Antonio, Max & Janilla came to church!!  Denise came too!!  It was a perfect Sunday for them all to come to!  The spirit was amazingly strong!!  We are very excited to work with them all!  Hopefully we will be able to set a date with Lily & her family on Tuesday(:  we've been praying for a family!(: feeling so blessed!!

Denise's nephew Michael got in an accident and has been in a coma so we haven't been able to see her all week!  But yesterday she asked who Lily and her family were and I said, "they are investigating the church like you." And she said, "no, I'm not like them.  I'm not investigating-I belong here!!" (:  it was so great!  So hopefully we can recommit her to a date soon too!  It was April 25th but she won't be able to make that sadly.  But we have hope for the future!! (:

Yesterday we had dinner with the Anderson family!(: I love them!  They have 5 girls and 1 son on a mission.  We taught the plan of salvation.  It was the deepest lesson in the plan of salvation I have ever had!  Those girls 12,15 & 16 have the deepest questions ever!  But it was a great learning experience!  Brother Anderson is very knowledgable on the doctrine so it was neat to learn more about the plan of salvation.  One of the girls asked, "do we have soul mates predestined in heaven?"  Ha. So a lot of fun questions like that and other deep ones about resurrection and such.  It was a great way to celebrate Easter I think(: ha!

I love you!!  Have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Knell

P.s some pictures of this week(:

 

 

April 14th Letter - I want to know my Savior, do you?

Hello darlings,

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-KINS (tomorrow)!!

 

This week has been on the slow side due to meetings and my back and not having the car..  But we have continued to see little miracles here and there!  Which I am very grateful for (:

 

My back is lots better!!  Thank you for all the prayers!!  I have felt them!  I am recovering well(:  I have maxed out on my visits to the chiropractor.. but I'm feeling good about staying and my back so HAPPY DAY!!!  (:

 

We had another lesson with Mason & Leah.  We had Christina come with us-she did amazing!!  She is going to be a WONDERFUL Sister Missionary(:  Mexico will be lucky to have her.  The lesson was great!  The spirit was very strong!  But they are not ready yet.. ONE DAY THOUGH!!  I can feel it! (:  They have a lot of potential(:  I wish they were ready now.. they would be amazing members!

 

We visit with the sweetest lady every week.  Her name is Doris.  She cannot get to church very often due to her health/age but she has such a firm strong testimony of the gospel.  We taught her the Plan of Salvation last week and asked her what her thoughts were about it.  She shared an amazing testimony about how she wants to know the Savior.  She continued talking about how she wants to be able to recognize him when he comes-that has been her life goal.  As she was speaking I felt such peace.  Just the thought of really knowing who my Savior is.. His complete essense as he walks into a room.  She is a lady that knows her Savior and understands her purpose of this life.  She made me stop and think, "do I know the Savior that well?  Well enough to recoginze him if he came into a room?"  This thought has made me really think about, how am I building my relationship with my Savior?  Even as a missionary I can fall short of this sacred relationship and opportunity.  I want to build a firm testimony in Him!  I want to be able to know him that well!  I would love to invite all of us to really ponder on our own relationships with Jesus Christ.  Especially as we are getting closer to this beautiful Easter holiday.  He is our light and our life!  We are so blessed! (:

 

We had Zone Conference this week!  It was beautiful!!  We learned about the doctrine of the resurrection.  Wow!  The veil is a lot thinner than we think.  It is amazing!  We learned that our bodies house our spirits on this journey of mortality and we need to do all we can to take care of our bodies!!  If we do not have a strong healthy body, how are we going t have a strong healthy spirit?  We need to eat healthy, work out daily and treat our bodies as they are-temples of a loving Heavenly Father!  Another amazing blessing we are given!  It is amazing!(:

 

While studying diligence I learned that diligence is doing something carefully.  Which reminds me that we are all on this Earth trying to diligently follow our Savior, Jesus Christ.  But are we truly being careful?  I have a lot of changing I need to do (; 

 

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ with all my heart!

 

I love you all so much!

 

Have a lovely week! and a very HAPPY EASTER!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Knell 

ps typing fast, forgive my spellings and such (; xoxo

April 7th Letter - The gospel gives us wings not weight

Hi y'all!

How was your conference weekend?  Mine was lovely!!(:  don't you just love having a living Prophet(: I do!! 

This week was a little crazy..  I really learned the attribute humility..  It was very emotional because I thought I was going home..  I pulled my back out on Monday last week.  But things are looking up.(:  It was seriously the worse pain ever!!  I felt and looked like uncle Abe and Cassie when they hurt their backs.  I couldn't walk at all.  Sister Hong was my cane during all of this.  She has seriously been an angel!  I am very grateful for her.  She has been my rock this past week!  I am finally able to stand up straight and walk all by myself!  It still is hurting but the chiropractor has been helping a lot.  Now I just have shooting pains all the way down my right leg-which has not been the best..  But it is okay(:  I am very happy and grateful I am getting better!  Slowly but surely(:  this week has also been very slow and emotional.  I honestly thought I was going home..  A bunch of missionaries where telling me horror stories about missionaries going home.  But I talked to President Craven a little about it and he said to work with the medical advisors and we will figure it all out.  The church only permits 5 visits and then after that if you are not getting better they may send you home.. So Wednesday will be my fifth visit..  Pray that I will get better please!  I do not want to come home!  In September, yes!  But not april(:  I don't know what will happen after that.  It has been getting better through the visits.  The chiropractor is from my ward and isn't charging me or the church insurance so he thinks this 5 limit rule for visits is a silly rule..  And I agree...  He said he'd treat me as many times as I want.  But I know I need to follow the rules and The Lord will bless me. 

The first miracle of the week happened when we were in the computer room in our office complex.  A woman came in & we started talking.  She told us her name was Martha and she, "used to be in the Mormon church" but is currently attending another church.  But as we kept talking she opened up & admitted she felt guilty because she believed in the Book of Mormon and she has a desire to come back!  Her daughter isn't baptized and she wants her to start coming to church with us too!  It was such a miracle, ESPECIALLY because she willingly opened up to us and shared her true feelings with us.  They live in our complex too!  Which is so nice!  We are so excited to work with her!!(:

Conference was amazing I loved sister Jean Stevens talk and Elder Scott's talk(: so lovely!   She reminded me to turn to The Lord and to know everything will be okay(:  her talk was an answer to my prayers. 

The other miracle happened last night!!  We have 2 new investigators, Mason & Leah. Mason is training to be a minister at a Presbyterian Church so he is very knowledgable about the Bible.  We were a little nervous at first but they're actually really nice.  Last night he talked a lot about the trinity and how that is where our beliefs differ.  But he is very curious about what we believe.  He said he has been taught about the "Mormon church" but knows you shouldn't judge according to what others teach that are not In that faith.  So him and Leah are interested in learning more.  He is very passionate about what he believes and so at times we were nervous he was about to start bashing.. Haha..  Then he'd stop and Leah was like, "calm down, you're getting too excited, you're scaring them." But it was actually a really great discussion.  He didn't believe we lived with God before this mortal life. And he kept asking random questions if Jesus Christ was divine or "all human".... But he was pretty pleasant.  We just don't want to bible bash.  Because we know that gets no where.  We feel that they have huge potential!!  They are both very sweet!(:

Sorry this is all over the place!  Running out of time!  But I wanted to share a funny story!  So I was talking to Sister Hong about the family and showing her the pictures that dad sent of Easter festivities and what nots and I said, "oh that's my brother-in-law, he is related to Hyrum Smith! (;" she was like-in a very sarcastic voice, "NO WAY!  His last name cook or something!?" Me, "actually YES!!  Why?!"  And super long story short-Sister Hong has been to the Cook's house in Highland!  She knows Joe's girlfriend!!  What a small world, huh? (:  I just loved that! 

Well I hope y'all have a great week!!  Remember what we all learned in Conference(: and that this weeks study is Diligence(;

I love you es mucho!!

Love,

Sister Knell