#graciasaqueÉlvive (6 April 15)

mi querida familia, 

I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE. If you havent watched it all yet.. you need to!!! there is nothing quite as spiritual or refreshing or eye opening or life changing as this oportunity that we have to listen to our modern day prophet and apostles. we luckily had the opportunity to watch all of the sessions.. in english! so that was really lucky for us:) and we got special permission to watch the sunday afternoonsession live, which started at 10:00 for us here! haha so we were watching conference till midnight. it was great! and inbetween sessions we had a great missionary easter egg hunt! and prepared an awesome dinner. Haha we were at the chuch from about one until midnight. 

It has been a pretty uneventful week. haha, we are in desperate need of new investigators, so we are working hard to find those! but had little luck this last week.. but, we are continuing to work hard!! 

OH. GUESS WHAT. WE´RE GETTING IPADS!!!! WOOHOO!! in a month! they just made the announcement this week! so we are having a huge conference with the entire mission, and we get IPADS!!! we are so excited! ahhhh!!!!

Also, this week was the semana santa, or holy week here in spain. Which, for those of you who dont know, is a catholic tradition where the remember the week of Christs life right before his death. So everyday they have prossessions with something new each time, carrying around these huge images of Jesus or some virgens. Anyways, if you want to know what really happened in the Holy Week, you should go to helives.mormon.org, and it has a great overview of easter week and the events that happened in Christ´s life. 

This is the time when a lot of the catholics here actually practice their religion, i think this next week they´ll go back to normal life. haha but we did have the chance to see one of the prossessions, which was really interesting. We saw the one on the night where Christ died, and the streets were dark, and silent. It was really powerful! 

But, as sad as this event was, Christ raised from the dead. He lives again. CHRIST LIVES. and because of him, we can live again. So this isnt a time to mourn, this is a time to give thanks, and to rejoice on the Living Christ. Our Heavenly Father gave us his beloved Son to come and to atone for the sins of the world, and to conquer death. We have this opportunity to be cleansed from sin,. and to be worthy to be in God´s presence. What a blessing this is! should we not rejoice? I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. And i know that i will do all that i can to serve him. 

Elder Holland gave a really powerful talk about the atonement of Christ, so if you have not seen that i invite you to do so. He said.. 

"So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced- to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of the events that transpired on a weekend like this more than two millenia ago in Jerusalem."

I know that my Redeemer lives. 

Love you all!!

Hermana Knowles

Starting off semana Santa with a baptism (31 Mar 15)

hola mis queridos amigos! 

it was a whirlwind of a week.. i dont even feel like it happened! im not even sure i remember everything.. 

last pday we hiked up the mountain to the castle again! super pretty view of the port and of cartagena. So you know how in utah you can play the game "how many chapels can we see?" here, we play the game "how many castles can you see?" 

Spain is the best:)

It has also been a week of crazy weather! About 4 days ago we were wearing our coats at night.. and it was windy and cold and rainy. but now it is hot as heck! woo. the summer hasnt even started to begin. wish me luck! 

oh.. and did i mention we had a BAPTISM!!! of our amigo Abraham!! he is the most humble and sincere guy i know. we are so so happy for him! he had a great baptismal service this last saturday night. He was so prepared. And he is the best new addition to the church! 

Anf after the baptism we went with him, and and a couple other members and missionaries and celebrated with CHURROS and chocolate! the best! 

The only sad part of our week was that a few of our really great and promising investigators dropped us.. one who said that she had gotten in trouble by her boss (she works in a piso taking care of an older man, so we would talk to her at the door) and said that she wouldnt be able to talk to us anymore, also our other promising one is moving to switzerland! ahh! and a couple others that just told us they werent interested.. that was a little rough. but we are finding!! all is well! 

also, last night we set a baptismal fecha for one of our other investigators! he has a bit of way to go though, we have been meeting with him for a few months and have still be trying to help him find faith in Christ. But, he ended his prayer saying "please help me for be baptized." there is nothing more sincere than that! 

Today, we had a sweet zone pday! visiting all these historical sites in Cartagena. we visited a castle, a roman theater, and some other roman ruins. Cartagena has some really cool history! 

This week is Semana Santa (holy week) here in spain! So there are prossesions and parades everyday. Hopefully we will be able to see one this week!

This is a great time to remember give thanks for what Christ did for us. Becuase of Him, we are able to be clean again. Because of him. we can overcome our shortcomings, and rid ourseselves of these feelings of guilt or sadness that we have. Because of Him, we can have more peace and joy that we can imagine!  Because He lives, we too will live again. I know with all my heart that these things are true, becuase i have tasted of this happiness and felt the hands of his mercy in my life. God loves us so much that He gave his only begotten son to atone for the sins of the world. I hope you can all take advantage of what He did for us, and taste of this joy for youselves. 

Watch and share the video #becausehelives :)

love you all! 

also, watch and enjoy general conference! this is a great time to here the words of our prophets and apostles of God! im STOKED:) 

have a great week! 

#graciasaqueÉlvive

hermana Knowles

Seis messes (16 Mar 15)

For all of you that dont know.. that means ive completed 6 MONTHS as of today! crazyy! haha

Okay but really, im not sure where this time has gone. But also i feel like i have been here forever, its this weird paradox on the mish..

sooooo.. IT HAS BEEN SUCH A GOOD WEEK. ill do a day by day so i can make sure i get it all in:)

monday- pday! we went and played sports at the capilla (surprise, its not like we´ve done that for the last 4 pdays, or like we´re doing that again today. haha jkits fun) then had a FHE at a members house!

Tuesday- we got 2 new investigators, one who is from ecuador, and one who  is from Africa, and we set THREE baptismal fechas with them both, and another investigator! milagro!

Wednesday- PISO PROBS. ill just say one of my biggest fears about training as far as the spanish goes was if we had some sort of piso problems. i know the spanish for the lessons and all, but for piso stuff no.. and guess what! Its been a week full of piso probs. Our above neighbors pipe broke and leaked water into our piso, and then these guys had to come paint this room, but as they were moving the washing machine they broke it and flooded the room with 4 inches of water! that was an adventure. and then we had to get our washer fixed! what an adventure. but hey all is well! and that day we also got another new inv! 

luckily, our neighebor is awesome and helps us out a lot. she also feeds us and does our laundry sometimes, and always lowers it down to us from her window. its hilarous! 

Thursday- weekly planning, plus an awesome eating cita at a members house, with no other lessons.. haha

friday- district meeting! and we got two more news! the mother and brother of my favorite member Leo! im so excited for them!! then we had clase de inglés and a FHE at Diegos. 

Saturday- cleaned the church, ate at a members house (everyone just feeds us pasta now cuz my comps vegetarian..) had some great lessons! and got ANOTHER new that our investigator brought along! 

sunday- we had two investigators come to church!! one has a fecha, and is preparing well for baptism! im so excited for him! 

So in all, we got 7 news! and set 3 fechas!! we saw some miracles this week! and i am so excited to see how everything plays out! i have definitely seen the hand of the Lord in everything i do. And i know that i couldnt do any of this without him. I have been able to see the change in people as they are making these changes in their lives so that they are living in harmony with the gospel. Ive seen the joy that it brings as we live it! This truly is the true restored gospel that we have. And it is the only path to eternal happiness. 

I also believe that that there are even more miracles when there is a new missionary. My comp is great! and is always wanting to work hard and talk to everyone! So we have seen a lot of success from that:) i am so blessed to be here on the mission! 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE.

Les quiero!!! 

Hermana Knowles

Mis amigos (23 Mar 15)

mis amigos!  

What a week it has been.. i have seen so many miracles in my short time here in cartagena! and i have gained such a testimony that the Lord will put those people in your path that are prepared to receive the gospel. 

First of all, we are having a baptism this saturday!!:):) if all goes well. With our investigator Abraham. We found him last transfer, but were able to finally teach him starting two weeks ago. But he is so prepared. He is GREAT! ahh im so excited for him! 

The coolest part about this story, is that we actually found his as we were toqu-ing doors, and he said we could come back and teach him. But he also happens to be a reference from a member! This member from the other ward had given us a reference to a guy that lived in his piso, but we gave his number to the elders in the other ward because we assumed that he lived in their area. But they had called him, and said that two hermanas (us) were already teaching him! It just goes to show that he was ready, and that the Lord was giving us all these ways so that we could find him. 

Short summary of our adventerous week..

monday- pday! played sports with the zone! we also set a fecha with our investigator Najim! pray that he will be able to get work off and come to church this sunday! 

tuesday- we had tri zone conference! my favorite day!! and we had a crazy morning and actually ended up missing our bus.. hahah long story.. but ended up making it there just in time! and then we got to do intercambios with the SHEs, and Hermana Birmbaumer came with me here to Cartagena! she had served in my same area a few months ago, so we went around contacting some of the investigators she had taught! also in our time together we got 2 new investigators! 

wednesday- had a noche de hogar with a member family and our recent convert.. and then had to drop another investigator... who had a FECHA.. because he said he was just interested in me. haha lets just say i was a little pissed! 

thursday- weekly planning! and found 3 more news!

friday- went out to narnia and ate with a member family! funnest day ever! then we had english classes and my favorite noche de hogar with Diego! he surprises us every time.. as an object lessons we made paper cranes.. and he asked "is this a paloma?? (pidgeon)" so we were like yeah sure? then he ran out of the room.. and came back with a real live pidgeon!! GOSH. haha he had saved it as a baby and keeps it as a pet.. he never ceases to suprise us. HAHA

saturday- we had an fútbol activity, and went around inviting all the kids we could see who were out playing fútbol! and we had a great turnout! 

sunday- church! and diego invited us to eat at his house, which was an adventure!

it has been a great week! the work is definitely picking up here in cartagena:) we are seeing so many cool miracles! i know that the harder we work and the harder we try, that the Lord will recognize and he will put more people in our path who are prepared, like abraham! we just need to put in all our effort and show that we are willing to do what the Lord asks of us. 

i LOVE my area and i love my investigators and all the members here! i love the mish! 

one thing a member said that i loved.. was that we shouldnt have fear as we talk to people and invite them, because fear is not of God. he is such a great example of a member missionary! 

Love you all! keep reading.. praying.. and choosing the right:) 

les quiero! 

hermana knowles

Updated photos from last couple of months

What a week

HOLA! madre mia, its been a good week! Full of some struggles and also some miracles, and a LOT of hours on buses! 

monday- normally its our pday, but all the trainers headed down to the mission home for a trainers training, so i said goodbye to my sweet comp in the morning and headed out on the treacherous 9 hour trip from Cartagena to Fuengirola. But it was a fun adventure! and we had a great training, with some cafe rio burritos from hermana Deere! Then we headed back to Malaga to sleep at the Hermanas piso, and we got lost on the way. 

Tuesday- Basically we had nothing to do until 6 when we went to pick up our hijos, so president let us have a pday since we couldnt monday. So we used that time and went and saw my old district in Fuen, ate some kebab, visited Andrea (my favorite investigator!) and Rafael (my recent convert).. so it was awesome! then we went to the mission home, and got paired up with our companions! I am training Hermana Swenson!! She is 20, from Sandy, Utah, has 3 siblings, is into theater, and is a vegetarian! (which now means that the members dont give us meat when they feed us. :( sad!!) she is GREAT!! the best! she also doesnt know much spanish, but claro i didnt know anything when i started either. So it has pushed my spanish skills a lot. But hey! i realized that my spanish is actually a lot better than i thought it was.. i am able to understand everything, and am able to communicate what i want to say! POR FIN!!  

Wednesday- We went and ate some lunch in the malaga train station (some good ole burger king. its like a little taste of home) then started the long bus ride back home. and got home at about 9:30, so that was all for that day! 

thursday- weekly planning! then we taught Juan Pedro, and some other investigators and had a noche de hogar. 

Friday- spent most of the day walking around. No one was home!! and talked to a lot of people in the street. But we had our NDH with my favorite member and his son! He always, without fail, feeds us sandwhiches, popcorn in a casserole dish, with two plates of chips, and coke. Its the best. 

Saturday-We cleaned the church buildings, taught a few lessons, walked around a lot again, and had correlation.

Sunday- Juan Pedro got confirmed a member of the church! and also received the priesthood! :) and a member of the 70 came and spoke to us. it was so spiritual! and then we had lunch at our bishops house which ended in a pushup contest haha:) and we found a great new investigator that we are meeting with again tonight!!:) 

This week was good! it had some rough points, but it was a great week:) and i have my great new HIJA! which has been such a blessing. she is so motivated and so willing to work. 

thanks for all the love and support! love you all! 

Hermana Knowles

I'm going to be a mom

Well... this has been quite the week! Honestly probably one of the craziest that i have had on the mission. let me begin...

Tuesday, we had interviews with president.He started by asking me ifi had any questions, and i said no, so he said he´d start with a question.. and he asked me how i handled stress. so here i am.. all clueless, saying prayer.. sciptures.. etc. and then he says "Oh good, because you are going to be  doing some pretty hard things coming up. You are going to be training a brand new missionary." and then i panicked. hahaha we were not expecting that! but, i can say that i feel very humbled that the Lord trusts me with this. Of course i am nervous, especially cuz my spanish is nowhere near perfect, and i dont have much experience, but i know that the Lord will always be there to help me through everything. And i am feeling not as stressed about it anymore.. but that may be because i have now hada week to process it;)

So.. that was crazy.. and then we had to start packing up all of my companions things and deep cleaning the piso!! (that was well needed) and my comp wasnt very excited to leave. we weresure there would be no changes because she had only been there for 2 tranfers, so it was hard for her. i sure am going to miss hermana Benavides! 

And then.. it was hna benavides´s BIRTHDAY! so we made sure to make that special for her!! 
and well, we got permission to move our baptism up, because he wnted my companion to be there as well. So instead of having it this coming saturday, we had it sunday night! WE HAD A BAPTISM!!:) 

Let me explain about him for a little. Juan Pedro was just a little miracle for us. We found him week 3 of this transfer, and he got baptized week 6!! He loved all of the discussions, and tells us how this gospel makes him feel complete again. He has had some problems in his life, but the gospel hasbeen able to help him feel this void. We were also able to help him quit smoking! We taught him the word of wisdom right away, and the elders came to give him a blessing to help him. and right after the blessing he threw  his packet of cigarretes on the table, and has not smoked since:) ahh! he is the best!! and he got BAPTIZED!!:) 

And well now, i am in Malaga. we had about a 9 hour trip yesterday from cartagena to get here, and had trainers training last night. So today is sort of our pday, because we pick up our hijos at 6! i am so excited!!:) 

anyways.. wish me luck! talk to yall next week:) 
les quiero!! 
Hermana Knowles