Sister Haley Knight: Pennies from Heaven

Temple pics after stake conference!

Saying goodbye to cute Abby-the daughter of one of our investigators- she's going to El Salvador for the summer!

G'day!

This past week has been such a blessing! During this last transfer, we had a lot of people kind of phase out of our lives and it was heart breaking but this past week some of them have come back AND we've met some incredible new people as well!

Last Monday we were hurrying, before P-Day ended, at Walmart and met a really cool guy named Avelino! He said he had met with the missionaries a year ago and pretty much recited the first vision to us! He was super excited to see us and we're going over tomorrow to teach his family! Miracle!

My favorite Elders! Left to right- Elder Leavitt, Elder Harris-from Hawaii, Elder Cottam and Eldee Randall! They're all leaving except Elder Cottam!

We also went bowling last Monday and the Elders just happened to be there too! It was a crazy coincidence and such a tender mercy because we had so much fun bowling our cares away and getting to know the Elders better- who 3 out of the 4 are leaving this transfer! I either really suck at bowling or I have incredible luck and everyone was laughing at me when the ball slipped out of my fingers and went flying behind me- whoops! I am the official dork of my district but I love it- I'm just adorkable! We also had time to stop by the Hindu temple here and it was interesting to see the similarities in our faiths and also the differences. I love that temples are so sacred to them as well. I love truly seeing how there really are parts of the truth in almost every other faith or church and how lucky we are to have ALL of those precious truths in one place. We had an FHE that night with Elvin in the Santiago's home and Hermano S was incredible and pretty much taught the restoration again but through the Bible and with perfect Spanish! It was exactly what Elvin needed and we all enjoyed leche con arroz after! Yum yum! The work truly does push forward with more power when the missionaries and members work together!

Elvin's new haircut for his bday!

The Hindu Temple

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to give a training during District meeting on Weekly Planning- something that I kind if dread every week!

Weekly Planning is when we take 3 hours on Friday every week to plan out the next week with people we will be seeing and what we feel like we need to teach them, how we'll find new people, involve the ward and etc etc. It was such a cool experience because as I studied and prepared I had my eyes opened to how important it really is and that we can enjoy doing it! In my preparation for it I read some scriptures in the BOM that blew my mind. They talked about how the adversary is always making plans and that he is diligent in his work- uhhhhhh whoa!

If the adversary is constantly planning and scheming and if he is diligent- then how much more important should it be as missionaries, and Saints, to be constantly planning to follow God's will for His work and for our personal lives and be persistent and diligent in doing all we can do to play our part of His great plan? It's SO important people!! If you're not planning to do great things and keep moving forward on your path to eternal life, than the adversary will be diligent in having you follow his plan for you instead- stay focused folks! Anywho, I shared that and some other thoughts in my training and suggested that we wear costumes or have some kind of theme during weekly planning so that it's fun and enjoyable. So I made a slide show of me with different makeup on- like a puppy, Harry Potter, a Lamanite and fun stuff like that. I couldn't sleep the night before so I went into the closet and used my giant eyeliner from my mom to paint my face. I'm so weird, but it was so fun.

Thursday I was feeling sick and slept in and when we were leaving the apartment for the day we just felt like we had no energy. Well, we went and taught such an incredible lesson to our friend Camilia. We taught the last half if the plan if salvation and she loved it and said she believed everything we told her! She also said she believe Joseph Smith had a vision and saw HF and JC! Well we walked out of the lesson walking on cloud nine and Hermana Schmit found a penny. And then I found a penny. And then we realized that the sidewalk was showered with old pennies and we just went crazy picking them all up! I was in Heaven! I have had a weird knack for finding pennies my entire mission and taught Hna Schmit about it. That day I experienced the song "Pennies from Heaven!" Heavenly Father must have been really pleased with us after that lesson! That night we had dinner with the Santiago family and they grilled yummy salmon and then their daughter Mayra came out with us and we had a miracle happen!!!

So remember those two young boys we met in the street like two months ago? Angel and Miguel? And then we met their mom Ana and she was so amazing! Well Miguel randomly text us and said that Ana didn't want us to come back and talk to Angel so we were super confused and heart broken and didn't try to go back over. Well, we planned to go over and just see how they were doing and the second we walked up Ana was at the door welcoming us in and asked where the heck we had been! She said she had been thinking of us that morning and wondering why we never came back. We told her what Miguel said- who's not really her

son- and she said that he was kind if a liar and that she never said that. He also moved a month ago without telling her- so he's kind of crazy. Anyways, she told us that she had been waiting for us to come back forever! We sat at her cute kitchen table with her son Angel and taught the Restoration and Mayra bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and how she personally came to know it was true. It was so amazing and I'm sad that we didn't go over sooner! Ana wants to read the Book of Mormon with Angel and she's really excited to find out for herself if these things are true or not! Keep them in your prayers please! Such special people!

Friday we had an amazing weekly planning session :) and at the end we just had this overwhelming love for one another and started to cry at the thought of one if us leaving for transfers. We really were hoping to stay together this transfer and team train a new missionary to keep focused and stay on fire. So, being the obnoxious missionaries that we are, we text President Andersen and said, "hey President! We just wanted to let you know that we received revelation that we will be staying together this next transfer and we'll be team training. Sure do love you! Have a blessed day! We'll see you Tuesday when we pick up our new trainee!" Well, we didn't hear back from him all day! That night we went to what we thought was dinner at the Kimbers and ended up being a birthday party for Brother Kimber and ended up staying all night as they grilled the food, had a piñata, ate cake and made us snow cones! But it was awesome because a)we love all of them- Hna Kimber is sisters with Hna Juarez who is our favorite so it was a blast being with all of them, I felt like I was at home with my family. B) their other sister Isabelle who isn't a member was there and she was so talkative with us the whole time! I guess she's taken all of the lessons but doesn't want to leave the Catholic Church but she did invite us to eat dinner with her sometime so we're hoping that by small and simple visits we will be able to help her gain a testimony of the restored gospel! We're excited!

Birthday treat with Elvin for his Bday!

Anywho, as we were leaving the bday fiesta, I looked at the phone and noticed that President called twice and text us asking us to call him back! Gasp! We called him back ASAP but didn't answer! So then we text him telling to call us back because he was giving us anxiety! Well, Hermana Kimber drove us home finally and as we were about to get out of the car, President called! I quickly answered and the first thing he said was,"I want to know how you knew!" And I was like whaaaat?? And then he said that he received the same revelation and that Hermana Schmit and I would be staying together for our last transfer and training! We were crying and asked him if he was serious and when he said yes we just screamed! We hurried and told Hna Kimber and she so sweetly said that this was a huge blessing for her and the members and that they would be thanking Heavenly Father that night. My heart is just so full of love for the members here and the people we teach and I am so so excited to stay and be with my best friend Hna Schmit and have the exciting opportunity to also serve with a brand new

missionary- fresh off the boat! We will find out who she is tomorrow and are super excited! I love trios! I started in a trio and now I'm going to end in a trio!

We had an amazing spirit at Stake Conference this weekend. Saturday night session was all about hastening the work and the spirit was so strong. I received so much insight for the kind of member missionary I want to be when I go home, I never want to be separated from this great work! President Watson, the stake president, is such a funny man and I just love him. He brings such a funny and powerful tone into the meetings. After the Saturday session, the Donaldsons- our favorite senior couple- took us out for ice cream. The next morning in Sunday, they made breakfast for us and the Elders and it was such a treat just getting to sit and talk for a while with all of them. The missionaries that I serve with are absolutely incredible. Each missionary has such an amazing story and such a love for the work. Sunday stake conference was excellent as well and it was cool to see the whole stake and feel the power of our unity as Latter-Day Saints- especially as we sang the Spirit of God. We had an amazing lesson with Elvin that night as we read from 2 Nephi 31 and let him learn for himself the importance of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He said he'll get baptized "someday" and we invited him to read from the Book of Mormon everyday this week and we know that "someday" will be soon if he truly reads.

I just want to share my testimony if the Book of Mormon. Everything that I believe hangs on that book. All one has to do is simply pick it up and read it to understand just how powerful it is. That book taught me that I have a Savior. That book taught me that through my Savior, I could start over new and have a fresh new page everyday. That book has testified to me that the heavens are once again open and that God speaks to His children in our day. I can confidently say that this book will change every single person's life as it has mine, if they will only take the time to sincerely read from it, with true intentions to be a better person and come closer to God. I invite you all to take time this week to remind yourself of why you love that book. I invite all who have not felt the power and love of that book yet to pick it up and read and pay attention to the way that it makes you feel. I promise it will being you peace, love and hope into your life.

I love all of you with all my heart. Keep me in your prayers as I embark on this last part of my journey here. I shall surely keep you all in my prayers as well.

Hermana Knight