Best Week Ever!

Well hello my fellow loved ones! I hope you are all healthy and happy!

This week has been quite a doozy for me! Let me recount for you just what has happened as of late.....

 

Monday- worst P day ever- the other sisters drove Hna Ihler and I around forever and we were in the car all day :/

Then at the end of the day I get out of the car to discover that I sat on my glasses and bent the right side and when I tried to bend it back it just ended up snapping off- awesome! I only wear them to drive now and look like a fool because they sit on my face crooked now or I have ghetto tape keeping them together which only lasts a day. Love it!

Tuesday- Got a call from Elder Hunt at the Mission Office telling me that my mother had called because someone had stolen my debit card info. I then called Wells Fargo to find out that someone had been having one heck of a fiesta in Colombia after making a counterfeit of my card- Booya! (As Hna Ihler would say)

Wednesday Night- Hna Ihler and I decide to make flyers for our Spanish activities and so as we drive to the church to do that. Well it's 8:05 and pretty dark and there are no street lights where I am- I begin to make a right when Hna Ihler points out that the church is actually straight ahead so as I begin to correct myself and stay on the road (or so I thought) we fell right into a beautiful ditch! Woop! Here's where it gets really funny- We get out of the car to see why I can't reverse myself out of it and Hna Ihler decides that I'm going to get back in the car while I drive in reverse- So Hna Ihler has her legs spread far pushing the car with all her might as I'm sitting in the car about to start crying. Welp. the car doesn't budge and we don't have a phone (booya) so we leave the car sitting in the dark ditch and run as fast as we can to the church- luckily the other sisters were there teaching a lesson. So I burst open the door on their lesson and tell them that there's been an emergency. When they find out what has happened they excuse themselves and all four of us run as fast as we can to the car. Sister Turner suggest that we say a prayer and after we do all three sisters decide that they can push it out and so I get back in the car as I watch these three sisters push with all of their might. No luck, still stuck. It just so happens that it was mutual night at the church and so as people begin to leave the building, they stop and get out to see what happened and before I know it I am surrounded by the whole dang ward! It comes to my attention from the amazing Brother Koonce that the car is high-centered and is not going anywhere without a tow truck. I make the unfortunate call to Elder Rodak who's in charge of cars and tell him what I had done. We then called a tow truck and he said he would be there as soon as possible. Welp, the tow truck guy got lost and couldn't figure out where we were, so he took a little longer than usual. As we were waiting, there were 4 teenage boys "assessing the damage" while other members of the ward joyfully kept us company. At the time I was a little flustered and wish that they had just left but now I'm grateful that they cared enough to stay with us and kept me calm. Oh, and the Zone Leaders were there too- more witnesses to my foolishness! The kind tow truck man- Bobby- finally came and saved the day and pulled the car out so gently. Seriously, he was so careful. About one hour, 20 witnesses and 10 jokes made at my expense later, all was well and we made it home just in time for curfew.

The next morning Elder Rodak called again and was so kind and so helpful and offered a lot of inspiring words to make me feel better. I did cause a bit of damage to the car but Hna Ihler and I are okay and life goes on! Elder Rodak asked that I send pictures of the damage to him and so I thought I would have a bit of fun with that- I had Hna Ihler take a picture of me laying beside the ditch showing where the car was and then at Walmart I added text that read "(Insert Car Here!)" Sure hope they have a sense of humor at the Mission Office!

 

After all is said and done, I can easily say that it is so obvious that someone does not want me here serving the Lord. He ALMOST got to me, I am not going to lie, I've had thoughts of just coming home. BUT I know that my Savior has called me to this work and that I need to be here. When life gets rough, just ask yourself A) What is Heavenly Father trying to teach me? and B) What great thing will I be doing or what blessing will I be receiving that the adversary is trying to keep me from? Wednesday night as Hna Ihler and I laid in bed, we sat and talked and she said something that gave me chills. She said that she feels like after everything that had happened, we must be so close to doing something absolutely amazing. We are on the brink of so many amazing miracles, I can feel it. The adversary can try all he wants but I'm staying right here in Paducah and following my Savior to the people and places he has prepared for us. When life gets rough, you have to make the decision to carry on and choose to follow our Savior. If you don't, things are just going to get worse and the light of hope that Christ offers us will grow dimmer and dimmer. Never let that bright light grow dim, no matter what life throws at you. If we keep an eternal perspective on everything, all is well. Nothing can ever seem THAT bad. This is my testimony that I know to be true.

 

One last thing....we have this man Billy Joe in our ward. Billy Joe is a convert of a few years, he's in his 70's and he's absolutely nuts- I LOVE it! He shares the Gospel with anyone he comes into contact with- he even gets kicked out of churches because he'll go in during their services and preach about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He came to church yesterday in a cub scouts uniform. He's the best. He got up to bear his testimony and he said some of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. I'll try and paraphrase what he shared: "You all come to church every Sunday, and every time you come you get cooked. This is a cooking process. Do you know why God cooks us? God cooks us to make us tender. These men come up here and cry as they bear their testimony because the Lord has made them tender. The Lord needs us to be tender so that he can manifest His power to us and witness that He is the Christ."

I don't remember his exact words but it was such a beautiful message. Always remember to be tender and to allow the Spirit to work within your heart. Be tender enough to feel the power of Christ within your life.

 

I love you all so much. We were able to go to a fireside last night where the Nashville Tribute Band played for just our mission and our investigators. It was incredible. We took our neighbor Kevin who we're teaching and he seemed to really enjoy it. At one point they had all of the missionaries stand up and we got to sing with them as they were singing a song from their album The Work- it was such a powerful moment and I was reminded of the incredible Spirit in this work and the incredible message that we have the honor of sharing with the world. They also talked about how so many people are praying for us and in that moment I felt all of your love and support and I just want to thank you for your prayers. I feel them everyday and need them- especially after this week! Please pray for our neighbor Kevin. We love him so much and know the impact that this gospel can and will have on his life.

 

I miss y'all so much and think about you and pray for you all the time!

 

Hermana Knight (or Hermana Noche- I have the tags now, so it's official!)

 

P.S. I could sure use some letters or pictures sent my way right now! If you've been waiting for the perfect time to write me- now is probably the time! :)

HOLA from Kentucky

Whoa my goodness, I'm in Kentucky! I'm in Kentucky? I'm in Kentucky! This is so crazy because when I came in  just a couple months ago, we Hermanas were told that we would probably never be outside of Tennessee because they don't have any Hermanas anywhere else. But guess what? President feels at this time that he needs to put Spanish Sisters in Paducah and we'll kind of be the guinea pigs and see what can happen in two transfers. So, as far as I know, Hermana Ihler and I are the first Spanish Sisters to serve in this area! We are opening and white washing the area. Way crazy. A lot of work. I feel SO lost...But I know that the Lord has called us here for a reason and there is work to be done! We are in the Paducah ward with another set of sisters(who we live with) and another set of Elders. (Our zone leaders) One of the Zone Leaders was in the Madison Zone with me so it's nice to have one familiar face! Everyone is kind of confused as to why there are Spanish speaking missionaries in this area but we have found so many Hispanic families in just the 5 days we've been here! We're not sure how interested any of them are but we know that they are here and need the gospel! We have met one investigator- Lesley- not hispanic- but AMAZING!! We taught her last night and the spirit was SOO strong and the Lord has truly prepared her for the Gospel. I feel so strongly that she will soon be getting baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Christ's true church once again restored to the earth. What a great message we have to share with others! God loves us so much that he's restored his Beloved Son's church and gospel to the earth! We have the power of the priesthood on the earth again! It's incredible!

Last Tuesday was a hoot because I showed up to the Mission Office with Hna Hendrickson and Garlitz and sweet Sister Morgan who drove us and all of my stuff. Within seconds I was rushed into like a 5 minute trainer meeting and then within another 5 minutes President McKee was talking to us and filling us with incredible uplifting words. Then five minutes later sweet Hermana Ihler opened her call and read outloud that she had been called to serve in the Paducah Spanish area with Hermana Knight wooooooooooo I ran up and gave her a hug and then Elder Hunt took our picture! Then we were off to pick up a bike for her at the mission home since we would be sharing a car and needed another mode of transportation. Next the Assistants loaded us up in the giant van with the trailer attatched and took us to Jimmy John's for lunch. Over the next 8.5 hours we traveled all over Tennessee and Kentucky dropping off supplies and dropping off two other Hermanas to their new area and playing road trip games and talking about just about everything before we arrived in lil ole Paducah Kentucky and were shown upstairs where we slept on two little mats from the mission home. Oh and one more cool fact- When I asked Elder Hunt(Senior Missionary in charge of the supplies) where our phone was he replied, "You don't have one!" We were told we would be receiving one in the mail soon but as of right now.....we just send smoke signals because it's not here yet! It's so fun! We walked for 2.5 hours Saturday to get somewhere that only takes 10 minutes to drive. Love it! As we walked across the bridge that goes over the highway I held up my Book of Mormon and waved at everyone. Love it! I have no idea what I'm doing but I love it. Everyday is an adventure and I know that the Lord will help us see his vision for this area as we remain obedient and faithful.

I got an update from Hna Hendrickson today- Rosie will be getting baptized May 24th, her mom's birthday! I am SO excited and will definitely be looking for a ride over there so I can be there. Keep her in your prayers, I know the adversary will work hard on her as prepares herself for baptism.

Always remember to be hopeful and faithful in our Lord and Savior. He is the way- He is the only way to eternal happiness. He is the only way to living with our Heavenly Father once again and being together with our families forever. The Atonement is so real in our lives, never forget to turn to our brother Christ and let him help you. He is ALWAYS waiting to help us in every way possible.

I love all of you so much. I feel your prayers and love everyday, thank you so so much.

Hermana Knight

Will be in Paducha, Kentucky!

Hot News Flash! - I'm moving tomorrow morning to Paducha, Kentucky!  I'll be opening a new area for our mission and training a missionary who is waiting for her visa so that she can go out of the country for her mission.

ROSIE AND DONALD! -and me holding their puppy gigi :) 

Hola mi famila y amigos!

 This week has been a week of miracles. The Lord has shown me this week the power of prayer. I can say with firmness of heart that Heavenly Father hears my prayers and answers them. On Saturday(After sitting in Traffic School all morning because Hermana Hend got a speeding ticket!)  we went to Mc Donalds for lunch and before we got out of the car we offered a prayer that we would find someone there to invite to church and share the gospel with. Not even 30 seconds after we had gotten out of the car we walked past a woman sitting on the curb, kindly said hello and then she asked us if we had Bibles in our hands. She quickly pulled out her little Bible and we started talking about why she loves the Bible and her journey to God and then we shared our love for the Book of Mormon with her and when we gave one to her, she was so grateful. We sat and talked with her while we ate and I was so grateful for the new friend that Heavenly Father had given us. That same day, while on splits, Hermana Hendrickson and I were driving down the road to another investigator's house when we felt prompted to pull over to a trailer park instead. As we pulled in I had an overwhelming feeling that there was someone there that needed to hear the gospel and that they were definitely Spanish speaking. We said a prayer specifically asking for the Lord to lead us to this family and not even 5 minutes afterwards we saw a Hispanic man from across the distance. His name was Luiz and he quickly introduced us to his wife Suzy and their two children. We sat and talked for a long time- probably too long- but it was so amazing and Suzy was so open and so ready for the gospel. Tears ran down her face as we watched the Restoration video with her. We are going back this Wednesday and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for this family.

 One of our investigators came to church! Rosie! Rosie was so excited to be there and she loved every second of it! We have a great family fellow-shipping her. We visited her and Donald that night and there was such a spirit and such a light in the two of them! Keep praying for Donald that his legs will work so he can get to church! It's so amazing to witness this transformation in people as they come to accept and love the gospel! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! This truly is the world's greatest mission. I feel so lucky to be here.

 Last week was transfers and to our surprise they transferred Hna Miner out of here and Hna Hendrickson and I stayed in our area AND we got a new missionary to train. Her name is Hermana Garlitz and she's the cutest little gal ever. We love each other and have seen so many miracles just in the one week that we've been together. We finally moved out of Madison and into White House and live off of a little highway in a duplex. It's gorgeous, there are just trees everywhere surrounding us and then there's even a cute 'lil cemetery across the street :) I wasn't going to say anything because I didn't want to scare my Ma but I feel so good being out of Madison because where we lived was GHETT to the O! Seriously- we'd see like drug deals all the time, people chasing other people with guns (we pretended they were bounty hunters so we wouldn't be scared), we would hear cops from inside of our apartment asking some other person to come out with their hands up- good times! I actually do miss living there, lots of fun memories. We still work in that area but not as much since we live in the country now. Madison, you'll be in my heart forever.

I could honestly write like 7 more paragraphs about all of the miracles we've witnessed and all of the people the Lord has guided us to. I was reading in Lementations chapter 3 today and am so grateful for the beautiful words we have in the Bible and Book of Mormon. To me, as I was reading this chapter I was reminded of the power that Satan can have on us if we let him, and the sorrow and darkness we find ourselves in at times....but then it speaks of the hope and the light that we find in Christ as our Redeemer. In Jermiah's words:

Starting in verse 21...

 This I recall to my mind,therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Then in verses 52-59 it reminds me of the dungeons that we find ourselves in but the Lord is always there to tell us to fear not as he has his hand reached to us to rescue.

What joy and comfort there is in the simple truth that our Redeemer lives. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by this love that the Savior has for each and every one of us. Let this love bring you beauty into each and everyday.

I love y'all so so much!

Hermana Knight 

The elders in this picture are Elder McCray and Elder George- the best!

-our favorite friend Johnny who loves us and takes us to lunch sometimes and calls us to make sure we're safe- he's a father of three girls and is just a nice man

This is me pointing to the Charlotte North Carolina sign -where my dad and his family is from- my dad was converted to the church in Charlotte in 1973 by missionaries knocking on their door :-)

This is me and Tootsie, the cat that was in our parking lot so we let it in our apartment for a little bit so we could pretend we had a pet!

Hola mi amigos y familia! 

    Como estan? Yo pienso sobre Ustedes diariamente! Estoy tratando hablar en espanol siempre pero hablo en ingles para Ustedes! Conference was soo soo beautiful! I found myself practically weeping during the first session on Saturday because the Spirit was so strong and I received so much peace and so many answers that I had been in need of. Conference is such a beautiful blessing and I hope that all of you partook of the miracle it is! It is a miracle and an incredible blessing to have modern day prophets and apostles and that we get to hear from them in such a marvelous way twice a year. 

I have no time but I'm going to hurry and sum this week up!

Tuesday- we were sticking peeps to the Elder's apartment door (because it was April fools week) when three giant trucks and cars come roaring around the corner and a swat team jumps out- I got so scared and thought in my head- they're only peeps! Then the SWAT team continued to go to the apartment across from us and started banging on the door with their little door banging thing and it was a sight to see! Gotta love living in the ghetto! 

We were lucky enough to have our first ever Spanish Conference last Thursday and it was amazing! Every single spanish speaking missionary was there so I got to see my beloved Hermana Knecht! We received special training pertaining to our call as Spanish speaking and it was so helpful and I am so grateful. Later that evening we went to a member's house from the Spanish branch for dinner. We sat and talked to Sandra about General Conference and the blessing it is to hear from the Prophet when a man from the other room yelled "Profetas?" and came in kind of trying to bible bash us. It was so incredible because Hna Hendrickson stood her ground and did such an amazing job of sharing her testimony of modern day Prophets and the most incredible thing happened....as we were both sharing the message of the restoration he (Armindo) was looking in our bible to try and show us something and I could physically see him begin to feel the Spirit as we spoke and he slowly closed the bible and handed it back to us. He just sat and listened and I could feel the Spirit testifying truths to him. Hna Hendrickson began to talk to Sandra's husband as I walked over to the other side of the small kitchen and began to talk to Armindo. I felt the Spirit asking him questions through me and I shared Alma 5:26 and with the Spirit being so strong I asked him "Can you feel it now? Can you feel a change of heart within you?" He humbly shook his head yes. We spoke some more and we left him with a Book of Mormon. It is such a blessing to truly be used as an instrument in the Lord's hands. Later that night we went to knock on Joanne's door but she wasn't home BUT her grandson and his three friends were outside talking and smoking. We begun to talk to them and began talking about the Book of Mormon when I felt this incredible feeling again- I was testifying of the Book of Mormon and I just felt the Spirit of the Lord telling me what I was to say and how. I will never forget that evening, I think that was the first time here on my mission where I could feel the power that has been given to me at this time to preach our Savior's gospel and share his message of hope and love. 

Brothers and Sisters, I hope that you paid attention to the words of our Prophet and Apostles this weekend. I hope you paid attention to what you felt. I hope you paid attention because everything that was said and unsaid was for you specifically- these people prepared these words especially for you. I had moments where I could feel my Savior speaking directly to me. That is why Conference is such an incredible blessing. I hope you read over these talks and listen again and again because there is such power in their words, such a power to help you in your life.  The things I felt during those two days were so special and so sacred. I will never forget what I learned and felt and I hope you won't either.

Thank you for your constant love and support. I feel it everyday. God be with you all.

Hermana Knight

Elder George and Elder Clark- such great Elders! 

Tootsie cuddling with Hermana Miner!

(Just playing with some dandelions for my workout this morning!)

(our favorite Monk again)

(our favorite missionary couple- the Sassers)

(Brother Ruiz in our branch got married)

This is me showing y'all their Sports Stadium down here!

Tootsie does not like having his picture taken :-)

All I want is to be a missionary....

I LOVE THE SOUTH!!!!! Oh my goodness, I feel so lucky to be here every single day. The people here are so lovely and so crazy and so fun and so amazing. The people have such an incredible testimony of Jesus Christ here.

This last week has been so amazing. Last Wednesday the Elders were giving us a ride into Whitehouse and all of a sudden Elder Clark mentioned that he sees this Buddhist statue on this hill everyday and has always wanted to find out what it was. We all have noticed it and have been curious so Elder Clark hurried and turned to go up to the hill. This sweet man came out and invited us inside of the building. Little did we know that it was actually a Buddhist temple and that he was a Buddhist monk! He was so sweet and took us to the room of the house that was the temple and taught us about the Gods that they had statues of and showed us the food that he keeps in the corner for homeless people. He banged the gong for us a couple times and then he was kind enough to teach us how to meditate. It was probably one of my favorite parts of my mission so far- sitting in this little beautiful room sitting in a circle around this little monk mediating for about five minutes. (I opened my eyes for one second and saw poor little Elder George looking as awkward as can be- he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing ha ha)  The monk had such insightful things to share with us and we actually ended up giving him a Book of Mormon! He happily took it and said he really wants to read it but his English isn't that good- so we ordered one in Vietnamese and are going to drop it off sometime this week :) He was so sweet and let us take pictures with him in the temple.

Later that same day we went over to Rosie and Donalds and watched 17 Miracles with them. It was my first time seeing it and I cried SO much. Rosie was a hoot because she was getting way into it and making cute comments here and there. I would look over at Donald often to find him with tears in his eyes, the Spirit was SO incredibly strong. The Spirit is so strong in Donald, he just hasn't fully realized it yet- he has a hard time because of his physical sicknesses. Keep him in your prayers, he and Rosie are so special to us. After our movie and lesson we had a brother from our ward who was giving us a ride come in and give him a priesthood blessing of comfort- it was such a special moment. After we left I was brought to tears throughout that whole evening because of the Spirit that I felt with them that day. The Lord is so kind to allow me to feel the love that he has for the people here that we serve.

Last Thursday we didn't have any appointments set up so we decided to knock all day in the apartments right next to ours. We had a copy of the new Bible video of Christ's last days on the earth. We met so many amazing people that day and the Spirit was so strong every time we watched the video or we shared a message of the hope and miracle of Christ's resurrection.

One funny story from that day:  We met two woman standing outside of their car and showed them the Easter video and one of them,Tina, started crying because she felt the Spirit really strong and felt bad because she admitted that she was totally judging us when we first approached them. Then her friend,Yolanda, started shaking her and telling her she felt the Holy Spirit and she kept chattering her teeth at her telling her to feel the Spirit- then we asked if we could pray with them and while I was in the middle of the prayer Yolanda stands behind Tina and starts shaking her and mumbling and it scared the bajeebers out of me but I just kept on praying and she didn't stop until I did. That was my first experience with a Pentecostal and it was interesting.....

I love you all so much! This is the true church of Christ that he restored to this earth. I feel the truth of it everyday.

I have to run but I hope all is well!

Hermana Knight