Sunday, October 20, 2013

"4th Times a Charm? Transfer Doctrine!" September 30, 2013


4th Times a charm?  Transfer Doctrine!    Sept 30
FAMILY! I love you! Here's the moment you've all been waiting for. I bet you have been holding your breath the whole week to find out more adventures of Sister Knowlton and what transfers will bring. I appreciate your concerns and thoughts but please be sure to carry on with your own lives instead of waiting by the computer every single day. Sorry, that was a failure of my goal to take sarcasm out of my language.

*I'm staying in Malley!* Wooohoooo going on 6 months in this ward. Obviously I need to figure out what I'm supposed to learn here because I haven't yet.

So Saturday was the trainer meeting for all who would be training next transfer. Because of that meeting you find out if you are training Friday night. Neither Sister Har. or I got a call from President that we were training which was a little bit odd because I always assumed I would train for the rest of my mission since that is what sisters do nowadays haha. We went on with our Saturday wondering what transfers would bring. Late into the afternoon (after the trainers meeting) we got a call from the President. He said he had transfers finished but he wanted to make a last minute change "S Har. we would like you to train a new missionary" (Sister Har. screams really excitedly ) "And Sister Knowlton, we would like to call you to be our new Sister Training Leader" uhhhhhhhhhhhh...... what?!? I've only been out for 3 transfers!! Needless to say, I have another very humbling calling ahead of me.

I am now one of the 14 STLs in the mission and youngest in age and time out on my mission. Guess who my companion is???? Sister M.!! You probably don't know who that is but she is my "grandma," Sister H.'s trainer. She is a straight up boss missionary. President  knew I needed a companion that could whip me into shape. I'm not sure exactly how long she's been out but it's over a year. You've seen pictures of her, she's the Tongan. So now I have to go on exchanges with all the sisters in my zone and attend Mission Leadership Councils once a month. I'm excited to get to see different areas and learn from all the other sisters in my zone.

S Har. is being swept into an area with her greenie. She's still in my zone so I will see her at least twice a week, thank goodness. She will be such an awesome trainer, she pretty much trained me! :) Elder G. is leaving the zone for his last transfer. That was really sad. He's been my ZL all 3 transfers and we are best friends.

We work with a less active 15 year old named S. who is really shy and has a lot of anxiety problems. I can picture exactly who she would be at my high school and know that she needs a lot of love. Since I thought I was leaving I gave her a bookmark with a Pres. Uchtdorf quote and wrote her a little note on the back, reminding her to always read her scriptures when she feels sad.

Yesterday we had about 10 minutes before an appointment so we quickly went to stop by a prospective elder's house. I've knocked on his door a fair amount of times and no one has answered even when I felt like people were home. This time someone actually opened the door! Him, his wife, and his little baby came outside to chat with us and the mosquitos. He kept saying how funny it is that we stopped by because he's been thinking about getting back to church. He told us, "I told her (his wife) about our beliefs and she's really interested" She said, "with our new son we have really been thinking about him and how we need to get to a church." Man, I love moments like that.

For zone awards this transfer I was deemed the award "Best White Girl Moves" I hope you are all proud.
   
Elder O. got permission from the  President to sing appropriate Broadway songs at the retirement homes so we are pretty excited about that.

Being a missionary is so amazing. I appreciate all of our prayers and will really need them as I go into this next transfer. I anticipate a lot of feelings of inadequacy but I know God is on my side so I will be fine. Who else is SO EXCITED for General Conference??????? We didn't get to see the RS Broadcast, I heard it was good. y'all are lucky. Thank you to Kimberly for emailing me and Amy for writing me, So far the only person who has emailed me weekly is the one and only: Aly Parco!! Izzie would've gotten that too but no email this week :( sad day. Do they still do missionary spotlights in Felicita Ward?

two other cool moments: At chick-fil - a couple weeks ago some guy gave us $20 to pay for our lunch. This week we were walking in (S Har. had lost her nametag) I said "Too bad you don't have our nametag because now no one will give us money. ;)" Right after I said that a lady came up and said "Are you sister missionaries? I'm buying you lunch. You have inspired my 10 year old daughter to serve a mission" I love moments like that.

The church is true. I know it, I live it, I love it. If it were not true, I would not be able to see miracles every single day. If it were not true this would be a total waste of my time. But it is! I never want to stop serving a mission!! Thank you Mom and Dad for all you have done for me. I feel so much gratitude for you everyday. Thanks to all those who read my letters, I really appreciate it :)

Love,
Sister Knowlton

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