Last week in the MTC

This has been such a good week!!! But it has started getting sad. We
had to say goodbye to our favorite teacher early because he is going
back to Ecuador for school. So we threw him a surprise "party" with
balloons and stolen treats from the kitchen haha. Hermano Larrea
is the best. At the end, before he left, we all sang "God be with you
till we meet again." Wow. That was the hardest time I have ever had
singing that song. None of us were even able to get to the chorus,
because all of us got too choked up and were crying. We were so so
blessed to have him as a teacher. The same goes for all of our
teachers. They are all amazing! It's crazy how close we get in such a
short time, and how much love that you grow for people! I can't even
imagine how hard it will be to say goodbye to my district in four
days. They are all headed to Barcelona and I'm headed to Malaga. We
told president it's not fair to stick us together and make us love each
other so much and then rip us apart!! 

There are a lot of funny stories from this week but my favorite was Tuesday morning. haha we were in class during personal time and had opened the window, and a bee
flew in. So we were trying to shew it out but it kept flying into the
light. So someone had the bright idea to turn off all the lights and
then maybe it would be attracted to the light of the sun and fly
outside. So when we did, it went super dark in the room, and the bee
made a beeline (hahaha) straight for Sis McWhorter's face. She
screamed BLOODY MURDER. Not just an ahhh like an
aaaahhhhaahhhhahahhhhhh. hahahah and everyone ran out of their
classrooms to see what happened. It was too funny. Anyways I ended
up being the hero because I hit it mid air with a book and it died, but
that's a whole other story. 

We went to the temple this morning, and watched (most of) the session
in Spanish!! Which was soo cool! And it was my favorite session we´ve
been too. And then the temple pres and his wife took us on a tour of
the rest of the temple. It's been a great morning.

So there is a sister from Tahiti! So you know me and Sis lee were like
“Polynesian!!” We were so excited!! And we had her teach us tamure. It
was a good taste of my Hawaiian home to have here in Spain!

Anyways.. I'm going to miss everyone here so much! BUT, I am so so excited to serve the people of Malaga in just a few days!! This Sunday was amazing, and the most spiritual day we've had here yet. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, which I have seen before. But I felt the spirit more than I had ever before felt when watching it. I was able to go visit all those church sites this summer, and that was amazing, but nothing compares to the spirit I felt watching it as a missionary. I challenge you all to watch it, and think about the miracles and the responsibility we have now. You will be touched! 

Love you all so much! Thanks for the prayers and support. I'll send my new address as soon as I get it:) 

Love
Hermana Knowles

New address--MTC almost complete

Hermana Knowles completes the MTC next week. Her address at the mission home in Malaga will be:

Sister Alyssa Knowles
Spain Malaga Mission
Av. Jesus Santos Rein No.2, 3 D-E
Edif. Ofisol
Fuengirola
29640 Malaga
SPAIN

She'll be in the mission home for a couple of days and then will go to some assignment in the mission. But the mission home will always know where she is. She still loves letters.

One Month!

Hola! 

I have no idea how the heck it is already pday again.. Time is so weird here!! Days feel so long but the weeks flyyyy by! Oh. I have been here for exactly one month! And in less than two weeks i will be out in the field…. WHAT. 

So, there are a LOT of  things that i have learned in my first month in the mission and at the MTC, and here are a few…

#1 Missions are the hardest, but most rewarding thing in the world. I am absolutely loving it here! We spend 10 hours in class everyday, and run off little sleep, but honestly, it is the best thing i have ever done.

#2 Russians love two things.. nutella and whipped cream. And they put in on everything. And LOTS of it. Haha. Also do not ever play dodgeball with them. Its terrifying. Same with basketball, or really any sport. I LOVE THE RUSSIANS. 

#3 Peanut butter is our saving grace here. The food is even worse than the caf at byuh (which is saying a lot). 

#4 There are 3 universal languages.. love, food, and charades. (and the spirit. For sure) 

#5 i think i brought too many clothes (yes mom, you were right. hahah) its been a month and i am still wearing new things almost everday! I guess its not such a bad thing though right?

#6 your ability and capacity to love grows so much as a Missionary! I have so much love for people! For my comp, my district, my teachers, and random people on the Street! And i just want to help them all!

#7 General conference is like christmas for missionaries. So is receiving letters ;)

#8 There is no such thing as personal time on a mission. 

#9 Spaniards are the most beautiful and kind people i have ever seen! I am so excited to get out of this building  and serve them! 

#10 When you are doing the Lords work, He will bless you ten fold for everything that you are sacrificing. I was struggling so much when i first got to the MTC, and it was really hard for me! For about the first week or so. And then i was called to be an STL, and i had no idea how i was going to serve and comfort all these others sisters when i needed it so much myself. But the amazing thing is that since then, i have had no troubles with learning the language, no moments of dispair, or stress, or anger, or anything of that sort. I have honestly been so blessed! And because of that i have been able to focus on others instead of myself. I HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED. And i know that when you turn to the Lord, that he will help you through anything, and that he will bless you in so many ways. 

#11 i think i have an even worse memory than before, because i cant remember all the other things i wanted to say (oopsies) (hahaha hermana Lee is my favorite, and she has gotten our whole district to say oopsies. I love her) 

#12 I HAVE THE BEST COMPANERA IN THE WORLD. 

#13 Everyday feels the same. I never know what day of the week it is  or what the date is or what year in even is. (except that last one is always true for me.)

Anyways, i am doing great and loving my mission! And i am so excited to get out to the field in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS. Love you all! 

Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador  yyRedento , y que Dios es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial. Yo se que Thomas S Monson es un profeta llamado de Dios. Yo se que las familias son eternas. Este conocimiento nos ayuda a vivir feliz. 

Hermana Knowles

Third week in Spain

Good week for Alyssa. Sorry this late. 

Another great email from Alyssa. She enjoys emails but has little time to read them and would love letters.  

I've attached a link to her blog and remind you of her facebook page which shows her contact information as well. Those will have more photos. 

We appreciate all of your support. We're very proud of Alyssa. 

Mike 

Sister Alyssa Knowles 

Spain malaga Mission

Spain Missionary Training Center

4a. Planta

Calle del Templo N. 2

Madrid 28030

SPAIN

email address:  alyssaknowles@myldsmail.net

blog:  sisteralyssaknowles.blogspot.com

---------

¡Hola familia! and friends:) 

This week has been great! My time here has gone by SO FAST. Like I have no idea how it is already p-day again!?

Good news, my Spanish is improving! haha we are actually able to give lessons like fully in Spanish! we used to always have what we wanted to say scripted out, but we haven't had to do that anymore:) slowly but surely it is happening..

Nothing really exciting happened this week.. except for General Conference!! Oh my gosh conference is the best thing ever! Especially as a missionary. It is so amazing that we have modern day apostles and prophets that lead us today. I think President Monson's talk was my favorite! about walking the path that Jesus walked. Christ walked the path of disappointment, and temptation, and pain. And he also walked the path of happiness and obedience, and the path of prayer. He understands EVERYTHING that we are going through. He has felt the joy and excitement we have felt, as well the suffering and pain. And because of that he can help us through anything! President Monson said that we should "walk the path of our Savior and follow his perfect example." He has provided a PERFECT example for us to live by. And his path will lead us safely home. So if you guys have not heard that talk yet, I recommend that you go listen to it now! And if any of you want to understand a little more about why I am doing what I'm doing, listen to the talk by Elder David A. Bednar [I've attached the talk she's referring to.] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng&media=video#watch=video 

These last few days have been especially funny! I think we are all just losing it.. haha but the funniest one might have been in a lesson with an investigator when Sis. Lee accidently said the f word in spanish... hahaha and our teacher didn't tell us until after the lesson. But it was so funny! So my morning teacher, Bro Larrea (he's from Ecuador and he is so funny!!) is my favorite! We were in class when this Russian elder walked by and was making these sounds like errrrrrr really deeply. and Bro Larrea just said under his breath with the same voice "errrr I'm a missionary." haha it probably doesn't sound that funny, but we all found it hilarious! He says so many funny things everyday. But yes, we are all going crazy. haha

crazy thing is that we are half way done with our time at the MTC!! Time is flying!!! 

I love you all! I hope you enjoyed conference. (and if you haven't watched it.. go figure out what your missing out on.)  :) 

Love, 

Hermana Knowles

Week 2 down!!

Alright, TWO WEEKS DOWN! We are already on our third week here at the CCM! That means I only have like 3 and a half more weeks left to attempt to learn Spanish. Haha the language is such a struggle for me!! Its cool though, I didn’t want to communicate with people here anyways. Just kidding, its coming, just very slowly:)

So big news of the week… my companera Hermana Lee and I got called as SISTER TRAINING LEADERS! So basically we are the zone leaders for all the sisters here at the MTC! We don’t have that many set responsabilities, but we hold interviews with all the sisters to make sure they are doing alright and see if they need any comfort or have any other needs. We are also supposed to mediate if there are any issues between companionships or anything! Our last sister training leader just left this last week to Russia! And she was such a blessing, and seriously helped me out so much my first week because it was so hard for me! Fun fact she is from Meridian. Her name is Sister Killpack and she is awesome! So it was scary for me to think that I would have to go from being the one needing a lot of comfort to being one who would provide that for others. Ether 12:27 right! All I know is that the Lord will provide a way for me to do this. :)

So the Portugese missionaries and the Russian missionaries all left this week and it was so sad! Since it is so small we have seriously just become such a big family. And you just grow to love everyone SO MUCH! And it is so cool because we get to see our MTC President and his wife everyday, and get to have a close relationship with them. I was honestly not so excited to come to this MTC because it was so small, but I love it so much!! We just got like 20 new Russian and Ukrainian missionaries this week, so our number is up to about 30 or 40! Its so interesting and so cool.

This MTC is also cool because we get to go to downtown Madrid for P-Days!! We went and saw this palace and then went to the Plaza del Sol or something like that.. haha it was so pretty. SPAIN IS SO COOL. And we get to go back today!:) P-Days are the best day of the week!! We start out with a temple session in the morning, then we get to email home, and then go out and explore Spain. Haha we feel like we are like royalty in this palace called the MTC, but we just want to go out and explore the world like those princesses do in those Disney movies. I love it here! But I am so excited to get out on the mission and be able to talk to real investigators:) and I feel like I have no time for anything here.. especially with my calling now. But my president said that anything that we aren’t able to do will be made up by the Lord ten fold. Which is pretty cool!!

We got to go to the park again this week, and I had a lot of really cool experiences! We taught like the entire restoration to this Taiwanese  girl, and she said she’d meet with some more misisonaries. But then some guy asked if we believed in elves and witches.. HAHA.

 So, they don't have Dr. Pepper here in Spain, but I was talking to two elders who are going to Russia and we were talking about how much we loved it. So on P-Day they got to go to this American store...and they brought me back Dr. Pepper!!!!:) Haha week made!! They are the best!

Oh, and I basically have the BEST companera in the world. I have no idea how she puts up with me all the day:) but we are like the same person and get along really well! Which president said was necessary to be able to be a sister training leader. I LOVE HER.

Anyways, I am doing great! BUT, I would appreciate letters pleeeease! I have hardly any time to email, plus getting letters is the best:) LOVE you all!! Thanks for all the love and support!!

 

Love, Hermana Knowles