I do not know anything ... Part 2 haha

This is my last week of my first transer in the field!! I had a pretty good week, but so much has happened in the last 72 hours that I dont really remember anything that happened until Christmas Eve haha.

Christmas Eve we made a fancy dinner that we were going to eat with our new investigator because she lives alone and didnt have any plans...but she wasnt home. We ended up singing Christmas songs to a bunch of people with our neighbor elders and eating our fancy dinner with them and a nice member, who was also alone for the night.

Christmas was a little bit crazy! At like 8am all of our plans for the day fell through. We didnt have a place to eat or skype with our families, so we ended up walking around for like 2 hours trying to find an open computer lab. We ran into a Ward member who has internet and a bunch of computers and he let us go to his house and talk to our families! It was great to see my family :) We didnt have a place for dinner, so we ate hamburgers and hot chocolate at a tiny restaurant that is like one step up from a Street taco stand because nothing else was really open and we didnt have a lot of money haha. At like 9:30 that night we got a call from the mission president´s assistants and my companion got transferred the next morning. I didn´t sleep at all that night because we had to pack all of her stuff and we took a bus super early in the morning to another city to meet our new companions. No one really know why we had these special transfers...real transfers arent until the end of this week.

I am pretty stressed out haha. I barely know whats going on...I dont really know the streets or spanish or the people and now I am showing a new person around. My new companion is really sweet, but she has only been on the mission for 5 months and she doesnt talk or take the lead on anything. I have been here for 5 weeks and I have to make all of the decisions and figure out where we are going haha. It is all good though. Everyone here is super nice and helpful; they offer their time, families and homes to me :)

I cant believe that it is almost 2016! So far on my mission i havnt helped anyone...everyone has helped me WAY more than I have helped them. I hope that next year will be different. I know that this crazy transfer experience will help me grow a lot and I will be a more competent missionary. The two things that I have learned for sure here in Mexico are:

1. God´s plan is always better than mine. If it was up to me I would probably still be at school or something, I would have wanted to go to the Provo MTC instead of the one in Mexico, and I would still be with my trainer haha. But I know that everything happens for a reason and God only does what is best for us.

2. Prayer and time can fix anything. I have learned to take things one day (sometimes just 10 minutes) at a time, and how to completely rely on the Lord.

I love and miss everyone!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Hermana Knudsen

Mosiah 24

Feliz Navidad!

This week was pretty sweet! We had our mission christmas party on Wednesday; we watched a movie, got flu shots, and I met a bunch of new missionaries. That night was also our ward christmas party and my comp, the elders and I sang a christmas song in Spanish and wore Santa hats. Here they also have these little christmas parties called Posadas in the streets. Every night the week before christmas people go around and sing and then have a bunch of food and piñatas! The parties are like the only things that feel Christmasy though haha. It´s pretty warm, we don´t have snow, decorations or christmas songs, so I can't really believe that it is christmas this week haha.

So this was probably the funnest and most stressful week of the mission so far. The parties were great and we found this lady to do our laundry for us!! She washes, dries and folds it all for like $2 haha!! It was stressful because at the mission christmas party my mission president took me aside and told me that my companion is going to be transferred, so I really need to learn the streets and people here so that I can show my next companion around. I don´t think that anyone here understands that I literally know nothing haha!!

My favorite part about mexico is the prices!! I can buy a giant donut and a tamale for breakfast for less than a buck!! They also have these awesome flea markets every week with the coolest stuff! I bought a cool soccer jersey and a sick Mexico hat for like $20!!

I am actually kind of excited to spend my first christmas here in Mexico! Not gonna lie...leaving in october is kind of hard. I spent halloween in the MTC, my first week in the field was during thanksgiving (they dont celebrate thanksgiving here haha), and now its christmas and I'm still not really comfortable. But...I know that the things we do in this church are eternal. Bringing souls unto Christ will bring them happiness for all eternity...18 months is nothing compared to eternity. Also, all of the knowledge, experiences and relationships I have made in the last 2 months will last a lifetime...so being here for two christmases is totally worth it!!

Love and miss everyone!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Hermana Knudsen

Missionaries and Hermana Lupita, who feeds them!! <3

Yay for P-day!

Wow, I am so grateful to be writing this email haha. The other missionaries convinced me that we didnt have P day today! They told me that every fourth P day of the transfer we dont get P day because we have to go to this other city and do a big service project. All of the other missionaries in my district are at least 2 years older than me, are catholic converts, and are from mexico...Im new, american, dont speak spanish, and dont know nothing about mexico or the catholic church...so they make fun of me allll the time hahahah. They have made me do and believe so many dumb things because I have no idea what is going on here haha. Its ok though, I still find ways to make fun of them too :P

I had my first meal that I couldnt handle haha. It was tortilla and some kind of meat...which would have been good...but then it got dumped in this nasty brown, chunky sauce and I could only eat half of it. I tried my best and said that I loved it and asked if I could take the rest home with me. Luckily they believed me and gave me more to take home haha. In these 3 weeks I have learned to like and try a lot of foods. I now like onions, avacados, tomatoes and orange juice. I still wish that I liked spicy foods, sour cream and the weird cheeses and desserts everyone here feeds us haha.

Our investigator who was the most excited to get baptized on the 19th, cant get baptized. :( Everyone was super sad about it, and were working with him so that he can get baptized later! It is crazy to me how much you can care about people you have only known for 3 weeks.

Yesterday we went to the Tijuana temple dedication. We stayed for all 3 sessions, so it was kind of a long day, but it was incredible! I really felt the spirit, my testimony grew, and I had a cool gift of tongues experience during the third session!

I havent slept well at all this week. Our cell phone with the alarm keeps dying in the night, so we switched to a regular clock to wake us up. It ticks really loud all night and drives me crazy haha. Also, the big Catholic church has had fireworks and bells ringing nonstop day and night-so im super tired all the time haha.

Spiritual Thought:

 (HA, no I am not becoming a church nerd...i just dont want you to think that all I do is mess around down here haha)

This week I think that I finally gained an unshakable testimony. I owe it all to the scriptures. I know Im a missionary...so I have to like reading the scriptures and stuff haha :P but honestly, scripture study has become my favorite part of the day! I promise that if you read the scriptures with a sincere heart and real intent, they will help you and bless your life. 

Scriptures of the week: Mosiah 2-5

Merry almost Christmas!!

Love,

Hermana Knudsen

Week 2 in San Miguel

Ay caray! I am so tired because I just whooped a bunch of Latinos at soccer haha :P

Last Monday I got my first contact!! I spoked to him in spanish and everything haha, it was awesome. He came to a ward activity on wednesday but we are not sure if he lives in our area or not...

On Tuesday we went to a zone conference and after we got to costco!! i have been eating like 3 giant muffins a day haha. The food has actually been pretty good! The weirdest thing I have eaten so far is cactus (nopales?) and it wasnt even bad haha. 

This week my comp left our keys inside, and we got locked out. Luckily our house is really easy to break into because our door is made out of glass and metal bars and there is a hole in the glass right by the handle hahaha so I just stuck my hand through the hole and opened the door. I get to be in charge of the keys now, so that's cool.

We were walking to an appointment and I saw like 10 cops/military guys all piled in the back of a truck. They all had giant guns, so i was staring at them and they waved at me haha. On our way back from the appointment a few of them were standing outside a building, so I asked for a picture with them. My comp thought i was crazy, but its a cool picture haha.

We have 3 investigators with baptismal dates for this month!! I am not sure how many of them count as baptisms for me, because my companion was working with them before i got here...but 2 of them didnt have baptismal dates until after they heard my testimony...so I feel kind of accomplished haha. I really feel like the Lord has blessed me and my compaion for our efforts. I am working so hard on being the best missionary i can be, even though i cant really talk to the people haha.

Our investigators are crazy. They all have crazy personal problems that i wouldnt be able to help them with even if i could understand them. One of them cant read, so teaching about the book of mormon is really hard haha. My companion is super patient and great though! Its actually suuuuper hard having a companion who doesnt speak english. i thought it would make it easier for me to learn spanish, but its actually really hard because she cant explain anything to me.

Overall, life is good. I walk a ton and Im super confused all of the time, but I am learning a lot! See you all in like 16 months haha

-Hermana Knudsen

Hermana Knudsen and Hermana Cruz

ha, never thought id be living in the middle of mexic wearing a hula skirt

The big cathdral of san miguel at night

I Do Not Know Anything haha

Hola from San Miguel!

My last week at the MTC was awesome! The last night we had a party, and saying goodbye was really hard. I left for my mission Monday morning and I thought that I would be able to sit with Elder Marshall on the bus and speak English, but they separated the elders and sisters. I was the only American/English speaker so that was my first taste of complete spanish haha. 

We spent the first two days training, meeting the mission president and saying goodbye to all of the missionaries finishing their missions. Not gonna lie, I was super jealous of them haha. Those first two days I had way too much time to think and I was stressing. I spent 70% of the time having no idea what was going on because everything was in spanish, 20% freaking out and missing everyone, 5% reassuring myself and 5% having fun. I feel quite a bit better now though, I probably have fun like 20% of the time haha.

I am in San Miguel and its pretty cool. I guess it is really touristy so when we go down town I see a lots of americans and europeans who speak english! My companion is really cool and nice, but she does not speak any english and communicating is hard sometimes. We are next door neighbors with some elders and one of them speaks about as much english as i do spanish, so its really fun to be with them!

The food has been better than i expected! we have chicken, rice and vegetables everyday haha. We have lunch with members everyday around 3 oclock. We have not had time to go to the store or anything yet, so for breakfast we eat this mushy cereal and then we dont really eat dinner. We walk a TON so I will probably come home nice and skinny haha.

Our ward mission leader speaks english! He is the nephew of President Lyons at the MTC, and he has a bunch of brothers who speak perfect english in the ward too. They all lived in the US for a few years and on saturday they invited us and the Elders to their house for thanksgiving!! It was delicious and it felt so good to hear people speaking only english haha.

We have to wash our clothes by hand, the roads are suuuuper rocky and hard to walk on, our house has cockroaches, and i can barely understand anyone...but other than that I love being out in the field!! I love and miss everyone!! VIVA MËXICO!

HERMANA KNUDSEN

Last night at MTC - Hermana Roberts

Last night at MTC with District C

Last Week in the MTC!

Wow, I am really starting to freak out about leaving the MTC! This is my last P-day here, and we already had our last pizza day! :( On Monday morning I leave for Querétaro with Elder Marshall and about 7 other Latinos. I am really excited to start talking to and helping people, but I am going to miss everyone here. My teachers, district, and friends are so amazing and I was so blessed to get to know them!

This week was great! We had a birthday party with cake and everything for our district members with birthdays since we´ve been here. We had a really good devotional on Sunday night by Lane Steinagel. I think he is like the director of all of the international MTCs, and he is really cool! He speaks like 5 languages and he was involved in creating Preach My Gospel. I think we also really like his devotional because it was in English and he didn´t have a super thick spanish accent haha.

One of the Hermanas in my district went home on Thursday, so her companion got put into a trio with me! It is so much fun! Teaching people and having to be followed around by two people all day is pretty weird, but I love my new companion!

I had to give a talk in spanish for sacrament meeting on sunday, but it was super low pressure because there are only like 20 people in our branch haha. I have gotten a lot better and understanding and teaching in spanish but I know that I will still be super confused when I get into my mission.

Everyone tells me that my mission is very pretty and modern. I guess the city is growing really fast and they have lots of normal american stuff there! I´m excited!

I love and miss everyone!

Hermana Knudsen

Here is a picture of my district that Hermana Robertson and I drew. We are artists :P

One Month Down!

Wow, time is so weird here. I fee like I´ve been at the MTC for my whole life, but it´s also crazy to me that i have already been gone for a month! I only have 2 weeks left at the MTC. My district leaves for our real missions the Monday before Thanksgiving. Nothing super cool happened this week, but I had a lot of fun.

 Sundays are really good here, it´s just church, devotionals, a video and then our zone plays scripture roulette and it´s pretty inspirational haha. I gave the closing prayer in sacrament meeting in spanish, and I´ve gotten pretty lucky and not had to give a talk yet. Tuesdays are also our favorite day because it´s pizza day and we have service projects/devotionals instead of our normal class and teaching schedule.I´m getting a lot more comfortable with teaching people, but I´m still scared for teaching real people because they talk really fast and I can barely understand them.

Last night was probably the best night I've had here. My stinkin companion made me go to choir with her and sing for the devotional, but it wasn´t that bad. At the devotional I met a few Native elders who will be leaving for my mission in Queretaro with me! They seem really cool and I am excited start my mission! After the devotional the elders in my district gave priesthood blessings to an elder that was sick and about to leave for his mission in the morning, and to one of the hermanas in my district because she is going home tomorrow. I am seriously so blessed to have these people in my district and I am going to miss everyone soooo much in two weeks.

Hopefully more interesting things happen this week! Love and miss everyone!

-Hermana Knudsen

3 Weeks Down!!

This week at the MTC was pretty great! Even though everyday is kind of the same, so much happens in a week! In mexico city I guess that halloween is a huge thing here, and then they have 2 days of celebrating for Day of the Dead. On saturday night a bunch of the teachers were really excited to leave and go trick or treating 3 nights in a row. From the MTC we can´t see any of the celebrating going on, but we can definitely hear it! we were outside for class on saturday at like 8 pm when we started hearing english music! It was the first time I realized that I miss home a little bit. We only heard YMCA and Funky Town, but it sure beats spanish hymns, which is the only music Ive heard for the past three weeks haha. The partying goes on allllll night, everynight, for 3 days haha. Sometimes we would wake up to crazy music or giant bangs in the middle of the night. A teacher told us that if you dont hear an ambulance 5 minutes later, it was probably just a firework, other wise someone got shot or something haha.

 

My Spanish is coming along pretty well. We taught actual people at the MTC on saturday, who dont speak any english and they understood us! They´re usually just member volunteers or our teachers´ friends...not investigators...but it still got me really excited to get out into the field!

 

I have found quite a few people i know at the mtc! I ran into a girl from my high school, my pre school best friend, and a kid from my ward (skyler norton)! David archuleta´s sister is here, we heard her playing the piano and she is amazing! Also, the pop here is really good. I had my first Mexican coke today when we went into the city, and at the MTC they sell this Sangria pop that a lot of peple hate, but i love it!

 

 

Today we went to immigration in down town mexico city to extend our visas. the city is really cool! it looks a lot like europe with all of the big fancy buildings next to the really old cement ones. When we are on the MTC bus everyone stares at us. they usually smile and wave, but sometimes they call us gringos and its really funny haha. Today on the way to the city people were blowing me kisses and stuff. On the way back from immigration we went the long way and got a tour of the city. 

 

I cant believe that i am already half way done with the MTC! saying goodbye to everyone and going out into the field is going to be so hard, but Im excited! In the MTC so far i have memorized like 5 scripture verses, the first vision, and half of D&C section 4 in spanish. I love being a missionary!

 

-Hermana Knudsen

 

Week 2!

So I´ve been here for 2 weeks now and I am completely fluent in Spanish!...kidding that is a big lie. Today we went to the Mexico City temple and everyone spoke spanish, and I had no idea what they were saying. The temple is very pretty though! It´s huge and one of only five in the world to have an angel moroni with the golden plates and a trumpet in his hands. There is a little store by the temple and i got some scripture cases and a ring for really cheap!

My district is still amazing. I like it here at the Mexico MTC! I guess there was a hurricane in Mexico, but it didnt come close to us. They were saying that if it did hit us, we would have to be transferred to Provo. Yesterday it rained like crazy though and today while driving to the temple, the streets were still flooded with water.

Two elders from my district got called as zone leaders on suday and our "investigator" from last week became our night teacher this week. It´s been really weird getting used to him teaching us now haha. MTC work has been getting progressively harder. We have language classes morning and night now and next week we will have to only speak spanish.

That´s pretty much everything cool about this week haha.

 Happy Halloween on saturday! I miss everyone!

-Hermana Knudsen

Such cutes sisters! Comp: Hermana Lutze headed to the Mexico Torreon mission.

So excited!!

First Week

I made it through my first week as a missionary at the MTC!  On wednesday the 14th my plane left for Mexico City at 6am. There were lots of other missionaries at the airport saying goodbye to their families too, so that made me feel a lot better. We had a 2.5 hour layover in LA, where i made friends with some of the other missionaries. It was really nice to know that everyone else was freaking out just like me and most of them are going to missions in Mexico.

When i got to mexico city, i could tell right away that mexico would be a lot different than south jordan haha. We took a bus from the airport to the MTC and i saw some crazy stuff. the driving is sooo crazy, there are motorcyles weaving through everyone and people trying to see stuff in the middle of the street. Apparently Mexico city is the third largest city in the world so it´s really busy and dirty.

When we got to the MTC i found out that 46 elders and 19 sisters arrived on that day. in the mexico mtc new american/canadian missionaries arrive every week and stay for 6 weeks and new latino missionaries come every 2 weeks and stay for like 12 days. Elder Marshall and i are the only ones here here going to the Queretaro mission so far, and he is in my district so it will be nice to know someone when i get out into the field.

My district (MTC group) is amazing! I feel like I´ve known them forever. In my district there are 4 hermanas and 6 elders. All 4 of us hermanas live in the same room, so its like a party every night!...until 10:30 of course :P

The Mexico MTC is beautiful! there are palm trees and mountains with colorful houses everywhere. My teachers are really cool and spiritual, but all of them are native spanish speakers and learned english a little bit on their missions or from movies so its hard to understand them sometimes. I´ve gotten super used to hearing spanish everywhere but i still have no idea what they are saying haha. Devotionals are weird too because the speaker speaks in spanish, but they have an english translator repeating every sentence. We have learned a lot and had a lot of amazing lessons in just a week. Our 3rd day we had to teach an investigator in only spanish. IT went better than i expected and we have heard that the investigator will eventually become our night teacher!

The food here is kinda weird because they try and mix american and mexican food...but tuesdays are awesome because we get costco pizza! One day they had giant jello cups and i pressured our district leader into eating 5 entire cups...definitely one of the funniest things that has happened yet!

Everything is really cheap here. we get about $8 per week and i can easily get all of the snacks and drinks i want to last the entire week. Nights are kind of sketchy though...all night we here police/ambulance sirens and random dogs barking. I guess here the Catholoics celebrate their saints by light off fireworks. They randomly go off every few hours and they are super loud like cannons!

uh i hope this isnt too long and boring haha. Im sure the rest of the weeks wont be as exciting and my emails will be shorter. i found out you can send packages to the mexico mtc! if you go to mexicomtccarepackage.com or missionarypackagemx.com you can send me packages and letters and they will get here the same day! letters are free (hint hint:P)

I hope everything is going ok back home! i love and miss everyone!

-Hermana Knudsen

Off to the MTC

Getting ready to enjoy the journey with Sister Kourtney Knudsen, but first a tearful goodbye as she left for the Mexico City MTC on Wednesday October 14th! Love you, Kourt!! Can't wait to see you in 548 short days and hug you again.

The Lord is getting an awesome and valiant servant. ❤️