New companion! July 9, 2013

Um so training is really scary. I can already tell I am going to need to grow a lot from this challenge. My companion is Sister H (new Sister H) and she was actually in Women's chorus with me at BYU! So we are already friends on facebook and everything. She's a year older than me. I don't even really have the energy to talk about last week or think about what happened, all the weeks are kind of a blur now haha. I picked up Sister H. She was a little homesick, but got over it quickly. We went tracting right away and she got engaged quickly. She did a great job! We got a couple potential investigators in the little time we had. We got home and planned. It was hard to set goals and plan because she doesn't know the people or the area and normally I had  my former companion Sister H to tell us what we should do. I couldn't sleep for a good hour and then kept waking up all night long worrying about everything. Companionship study was nice I guess. It was weird trying to be the one in charge and teach someone. We talked about how we can together learn to depend on the Savior and that God will provide for us.

Then I made some phone calls and we headed out to our appointment with a less active family. We taught them the Restoration and it went really well. The daughter said she wanted to come back to church and would look for a job that would give her weekends off! Wow! no one says that haha. then we had Subway and now we are here. So yeah............ I could use all the prayers I can get.

Training - July 8, 2013

Okay, I'm emailing about my week tomorrow because I will be able to get on email again because I have to take my "greenie" to email. Wait what? yeah. I'm picking up a brand new missionary to train later today.

I'm pretty nervous because I've only been on my mission for 6 weeks so I don't know what I'm doing but I have to somehow train a new missionary. 6 weeks ago, I was that missionary getting picked up by my trainer!! I found out on Friday. Sister H was called as a Sister Trainer Leader and she will be staying in my district so I'll still see her a ton. Thank goodness I can still ask her questions.

I know the next 6 weeks will be really challenging but it will definitely be a time that I can be humbled and depend everything on the Savior. I'm super scared to have to know where to go, who to see, how to teach, what phone calls to make, how to handle certain situations, but I know this is God's work and he will be there with me every step of the way. I know I'm not alone :) I can't wait to get my new missionary pumped up about missionary work! I think I'll wake her up tomorrow morning by jumping on her bed and shouting "Ready to be a missionary?? BEST DAY EVER!" I will work so hard every day to make her feel excited and happy :) She will most definitely be older than me I'm pretty sure so I hope that isn't awkward.....

T B IS MY DISTRICT LEADER! July 1 the missions split and we took two stakes from Denver South and one from Colorado Springs. When they announced who was coming into the area this transfer they said "The Malley District leader will be a missionary coming up from the Denver South mission named Elder B." I stood up really fast and shouted "I KNOW HIM! THATS MY FHE GRANDPA!" It was a little embarrassing but I couldn't contain my excitement. For those of you who don't know TB- he was an RA in my ward at BYU, in my FHE group, and just super awesome. He's also serving in the same ward as me so I will be seeing him all the time and he will be calling me every single night. Crazy, I think it is a tender mercy from the Lord to help me get through the next 6 weeks that I'm training.

Anyways- I can't stay my full 2 hours since I'll be emailing tomorrow but since you can reply and I'll see it within a day. Anyone have good finding ideas besides tracting and working with members? I need to get creative here, we need some solid investigators.

Training advice?

Mom can you send my contacts anytime soon? I also would be down to get some EFY CDs- Deseret Book had some good ones. Thank you if you can :)

Missionary work is crazy right now. It is the most exciting time to be a missionary. I'll find out a lot more about the newly changed mission on Wednesday but, Sister H, being a spiffy STL (Sister Training Leader) told me some inside scoops. She said iPads are coming really soon and the best news of all- we can go to the temple once a month now!!!!!!! I'm so happy. Everything is changing; missionary work is all anyone talks about. Okay, maybe I'm hardcore biased because I eat, sleep and breathe missionary work but it really is changing. The work is hastening.

Please- do me and the Lord a favor, pray about who you can share the gospel with. Who can you introduce to the missionaries? We desperately try to get the members involved and it can be difficult at times but we NEED them.

Malley Ward aka District 12 - letter from 7-1-13

My email title comes from Ward Conference at church yesterday. All the stake leaders came and taught the lessons and it reminded me of when the fancy Capitol people visit District 12 in Hunger Games. That is really the perfect way to describe it. I was pretty impressed with my accurate comparison ;)

Another wonderful week in the mission field! Highlight: we were able to teach a ton! We got 29 lessons this week and this coming week we're hoping for 30. We are really working at getting lessons with members, that helps so much. Lowlight: N,  S, and N's mom got cold feet on Friday and they backed out of their baptism. Honestly, I was somewhat expecting that. They back out of their baptism a couple moths ago with some other elders. We are planning on S and N getting baptized this coming Sunday. N will have to wait a little bit longer.  I know that S and N are ready but it will take a miracle for their to be able to realize that and make that commitment. Please keep them in your prayers this week.

It amazes me how little I do as a missionary. I feel like we are literally just lead to those people who are prepared (with the help of the members). God knows where his children who are searching are and he just takes us there! And once we are there, we do our best to teach effectively so they understand, but it is only through God that they can come to know the truth. I really do nothing. Every lesson we are able to teach is a blessing the God gives us, every person we are able to meet is from God. It is SO DANG COOL.

On Monday we were trying to contact a Less Active, T, who lived by our dinner (another LA, surprise surprise ;) and we could not find her apartment so we finally went to dinner. After dinner we were walking to the car and we hadn't invited anyone to be baptized that day. I really didn't want to remind Sister H because she had forgotten and I was getting so tired of walking up to people and inviting them. But it kept bothering me and I finally reminded her. She pointed out a guy outside and we went over to talk to him. When we invited him and he told us that his girlfriend was Mormon. We asked "Is your girlfriend T??" And he said "Yeah!" and showed us where his apartment was and now we are going to try and meet with them! Like I said, God just guides us to people!
That night we went to have a lesson with an active member and they are this adorable old couple in the ward who houses the elders. She was telling about one missionary who was sick and kept moaning and groaning and being so loud. She says "I wanted to yell at him, shut up! I've had 6 babies and I never made that much noise!" hahahahaha.
We also had a lesson with S, N, and N.   N's friend Awas there too (J's son) and when we were talking about baptism he said "My dad and I are getting baptized at the end of July!" He had overheard us setting his dad with a baptismal date and assumed it was for him too! It's cool when we can set people with a date without even asking ;) I don't know that the end of July will actually happen because Jis not really committed to quitting smoking but we are trying really hard to help him find the strength to do it.

Wednesday we met with a potential investigator, B. She's 27 and lives with her 10 year old daughter. She told us how she is really confused because there are so many churches and she doesn't know which one to join. She is so prepared to hear the gospel! She was excited to read the Book of Mormon and find out for herself if it is true.
Then we had to go and teach N. and S. about the law of chastity. I don't know about you but I've never had to teach a 9 and 10 year old about the law of chastity. It was soooo funny. I started out "So, the law of chastity." and just kind of stopped then Sister  Htook over and said some very vague things trying to avoid actually saying anything. I was laughing to myself so badly. Finally I just said "the law of Chastity means you don't have sex until after you're married" and then of course explained because it is a sacred thing from God and all that good stuff. But I'll never forget that moment. Shows how immature we are.... But you would all be laughing too. So no hating.

Thursday we found a new investigator named S, her dad is a recent convert but he's pretty much less active already. She is 27 and has been through the worst life ever. Her mom was murdered, she fell into drugs and had to give up her daughter, got divorced, etc. This being said, she is now one of the happiest people. She has somehow found the power to forgive everyone who has wronged her in her life. She let it all go and is such an example to me. She is a pretty solid investigator, because she LOVES the church, just knows nothing about it!

Friday we had a lesson with our investigators J and his granddaughter J. We brought the Bishop with us to this lesson and thank goodness we did because J's ex wife was there and she was... I don't even know how to describe it. Let's just say that when we got out of the lesson Bishop said, "Was she drunk?" J is adorable she always answers the door with her Book of Mormon in her hand and runs to the table to eagerly tell us what she had read. This week she had put book marks in every section she liked and written down all of the verses in a little notebook. I was just beaming, she read way more than J haha. She said, "I have a question, did Jesus actually die for us?" And of course that is a precious question and we were so excited to answer but J's ex wife jumps in "No. It was all political." Ug. -_- That was hard to hear. But somehow we were able to feel the spirit in that lesson even with the ex wife inserting comments like that the whole time. She liked a lot of the things we said and we tried to find some common ground with her but some of her ideas were just so far out there..... When we explained that the age people are baptized is 8, J silently motioned to J, pointing to herself then flashing all her fingers mouthing "I'm 10!!" So adorable :)
That morning we did volunteering at the retirement home. SO FUN! Do you know what we did? We played a game called At the Horse Races with about 8 old people. I'll take a picture of it next time. It is a long piece of cloth with a start, finish, and 6 stand up horses. Every takes turn rolling the dice and moving whatever horses are rolled until a horse reaches the finish line. Absolutely the lamest game in the world but we had so much fun. Sister Hand I tried to make it exciting by getting super into it. My Horse won once. Best tasting Butterfinger ever. No greater reward.

Saturday we contacted a media referral of a woman who lives at a different retirement home we volunteer at. We taught her (A) the first lesson and she is preparing to be baptized and quit smoking. She told me how there was one time when she was really angry and threw a chair at the wall and said the Lord's name in vain and she seemed so upset and guilty from that. She looked at me with worried eyes and asked "A Jehovah's witness book I read said God will not forgive the wicked. Is that true?" And I reassuringly told her that God loved her and he will forgive her of anything she seeks forgiveness of. She sighed a huge sigh of relief and laughed and smiled, so grateful that she can be baptized and forgiven of her sins :)

Sunday we had another lesson with J where we brought a man in the ward named Brother R. He talked so much and totally dominated the conversation but it was GREAT! He's a former Bishop and he really pushed J to finally commit to coming to church. We'll see how that goes Sunday. We met with A again and brought Sister P. it was really helpful because A was too embarrassed to come to church because she has a walker and Parkinson's Disease so she shakes all the time. Sister P was able to reassure her that there were a lot of members in wheelchairs and no one would judge her. Also, she is already making huge progress with the smoking issue!
We were at dinner and the member, Sister M said to me "Are you as hot as you look?" Afterwards I told Sister H, "I should've just said nothing and winked ;)" We have a lot of funny quotes that we always write down.

Look up the Mormon messages video "Having children in faith" I think that is the title. The African American guy, 2 AfAm kids and his wife is a young family in our ward. They are perfect in every single way but they just moved :( All the cute young couples are only here for the summer and keep moving! Sister H and I love them. We talk about marriage basically everyday. I can't wait to have my own cute little family!!!! AHHHH <3

Like usual I wish I could tell more and more and that you all could just be here experiencing this with me. Missions are incredible. There is no way to describe my experiences everyday. One of my favorite parts of the day is the hour of personal study we have every morning. I am more and more grateful for my family everyday and that God has given us families so we can have safety and security in this crazy world. Mom, you know that 9 page letter you wrote on prayer to all the kids in 2009? You're going to hate me for this but I finally read it this morning! It was amazing and made me so proud to be your daughter :) I don't know how I was so lucky to be born into the family I was born into. I don't think I deserve the amazing life I have but I will forever be grateful for it. I love you all. This church is true. When we were meeting with J he always talks about how much he is searching and studying with every religion. He mentioned that God has spared him from death 3 times I finally said "J, I can boldly tell you that you can stop searching. God has spared you so you could find the truth. the message that we share is the truth, I know without a doubt in my mind that this is Christ's church." He then mentioned how he was amazed because no other church has ever asked him to be baptized and I told him that's because this isn't just feel good stuff we are teaching. We are trying to teach you how to return to Heavenly Father and that there are steps he has asked us to take to do that. Thank goodness for the spirit and that people can find out for themselves this is true.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARYYYYY! Why is life so awesome? Thank you for keeping me in your prayers, I keep you all in mine. You are amazing children of God and I know he loves you.

Love Sister Knowlton

Miracles Happen Once In Awhile When You Believeeeeee - letter from 6/24

 I can't even get over how everyday is a miracle.

Another title for this week would be "BEST DAY EVER" because everyone makes fun of me because I say that every single day. Sister H told me the other night, "S Knowlton when you get back from your mission I want you to count how many times you wrote that phrase in your journal and then tell me" and my MTC buddies always ask "do you ever have a bad day?" The answer is yes, of course I have bad days! I feel like I go through every spectrum of emotion in an entire day. For example, we have to do 10 hours of service a week and we almost always volunteer at a thrift shop "I'm gonna pop some tags, only got $20 in my pocket!" (I sing that a lot while working there) and it's pretty mindless work which is not good for me. When I'm not busy teaching or working it is easy to think about home and how hard missions are. I feel like this is one of the most nonstop jobs possible, no weekends, no movie nights, no breaks, BUT once I get out to work I forget all about that and my mood picks up instantly. Sundays are also hard for me because I miss being in a strong ward like Felicita, I got fairly homesick yesterday at church for a little, then I got over it. I know that this ward can become strong! That's why we are here! I love the Malley ward :)

Okay let's see how I can get in everything I want to say into this email.......... This week was awesome, the Lord blessed us so much! We had tons of meetings (including the big mission meeting), and two P-days (I'll explain, today isn't actually my P-day this week) and with all that we were still able to teach 23 lessons!!! It was incredible, the mission standard is 20 and a lot of people don't meet that. We have every week except last week we got 19 :( I'm going to go day by day again. I wish I could tell you about every single person we talk with and every single awesome experience we have but that would take me forever.

Monday-nothing super significant because it was P-day but an awkward moment when we were tracting: The lady opened the door and I stuck out my hand and said "Hi! I'm Sister H! oops... I mean I'm actually S Knowlton." and then Sister H says "I'm sister H...." So embarrassing.

Tuesday-We had the big mission meeting this day and it was amazing. Our mission has 56 sister missionaries! As I was looking around at them all I couldn't believe I was the youngest one! But it makes sense, 2 months ago I was 18. And we took a giant mission picture and I'm sitting right next to the mission president and his wife in the picture. SOLID. It was a very uplifting meeting. In the field it sometimes feels like Sister H and I against the world but it's a good reminder that there are so many other people doing the same thing as me everyday.
It was getting close to time to go home one night and we still hadn't invited anyone to be baptized and so we walked to the park and there were these two rough looking teenagers walking towards us and we asked if they had a minute. They said no and kept walking so I shouted  "Wait! It's really important!!!!" They turned around and asked what it was about and I said "Jesus!" Pretty much they weren't interested but Sister H makes fun of me for that frequently. It just shows how I feel all the time.
About a week ago we had dinner with a family in the ward and they had their 90 year old dad there who wasn't a member and they explained to us that they've tried to teach him but he is pretty against it so for the message we just stuck to something basic but didn't try to teach him. Later at church the wife made a comment in one of the classes that her dad had asked her "Let me know when you have those two nice ladies over again." Sweeeeet :)
Laura- I was listening to Alex Boye's "Have I done any good in the world today" song. So I heard you singing in that little background choir! So glad you can still be with me on my mission ;)

Wednesday- We were going to meet with our investigator K and as we were walking to the apartment we heard someone shout "Hey Elders!" and it was our 9 year old investigator N, he was visiting his friend who lived in those apartments so we chatted with him for a minute then went to go see K. Of course K didn't have time, like usual, and we started to walk back to the car. As we were almost to the car I thought, N is right here for us to talk to him we can't just leave without trying to teach a lesson. We normally teach him with his mom and his other siblings so that's why we didn't instantly jump on the opportunity. Plus it wasn't even his house. I told Sister H we needed to go back so we did and we asked his little friend if his parents were home, he came back and told us that they were busy so we started to walk to the car again and then a man shouted to us "Hello?" When we turned around it was the friend's dad, Jwho is a single dad living in a really messy apartment with no car. We went back to the apartment and asked if we could come in a share a message. He told us that every time he prays to God for direction in his life and what to do, Mormon missionaries show up! Of course we were stoked, nodding and smiling really big, we told him that his prayers are being answered. Then he said "And lately I've also been praying for a girlfriend because I need a wife to help me raise Alexander, and the GIRL missionaries show up" Hahahaha. Ohhhhhhh no... that part of your prayer was NOT answered J. Sorry, wrong idea. We basically ignored that comment and just nodded and smiled awkwardly and moved on. Don't worry, we are bring our Ward Mission Leader with us from now on to teach J. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes! He also told us "This may sound strange but you guys have some kind of light around you right now" I thought that was pretty cool :)

Thursday- We met with our investigator F and his member wife V. The meeting before we had taught the Restoration and challenged him to read Alma 7. When we came back we asked how it went and he said "I read it 3 times, and prayed about it before and after each time. I felt like this guy, Alma, was talking directly to me. I assume he was teaching a big group of people and I felt like I was in that group. When I prayed about it, I just felt so comfortable. It was this really overwhelming feeling. Then the next night I had a dream and someone came to me in my dream and I knew it was this Alma guy. I woke up in the middle of the night." Obviously this is the response you want to hear from an investigator so we were stoked on life. We asked if he thought these feelings came from God and he said yes. Then we asked if he believed the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and he said "No. The Bible is the only word of God" -_- Basically he holds very firmly to his Catholic beliefs and won't let them go. It was a really awesome experience for me to see someone who has never felt the spirit like that, receive and answer to their prayers.

Friday- We had a stake breakfast for the sisters in our stake which includes my MTC buddies. I can't believe we have been able to see each other this often. I know it won't last forever so I'm really grateful for it now. Every time Sister Cand I see each other we talk about how badly we want to be companions before we leave. She said she writes President T about that in her letter to him every week.
Carissa Earl- I don't know if you will ever read this but your sister is one of my Sister Trainer Leaders so I see her all the time! Cool huh? I hadn't made the connection till she came up to me and asked if I knew you! She is so sweet and doing an awesome job :)
We met with our new investigator J and his granddaughter J. He is so hilarious. He's really sweet and talks A LOT it is impossible to get out of appointments with him in an hour. He has a lot of questions and has studied with almost every religion so he's really open to the things we say. We invited him to be baptized and he said he would once he knows it's true :) We asked him to prepare for July 13 but we have to push it back because he didn't come to church and they need to come 3 times. J is the epitome of prepared, he is already so Christlike.

Saturday- Our second Pday of the week! The reason we had a P-day is because we went to the temple. A young couple with a 2 and 4 year old were sealed in the temple and they invited us to come! It was a big honor to be invited because there weren't very many people there since their families aren't members. We only get to go to the temple once every 6 months so I used one of my trips for this but it was so worth it. Seeing them be sealed together for eternity was amazing. When the 2 little kids came in I just couldn't stop crying. The little 2 year old girl was smiling SO BIG. It made me incredibly thankful once again for my family. You guys are the biggest blessing I could've ever asked for. My life would be completely different were it not for you raising me in the gospel. I appreciate it so much more as I'm on a mission, meeting people who are completely lost and are involved in negative things.
We didn't really take the full day off, we went back to work around 4:30 because P-days aren't as fun when you aren't playing sports with your whole zone. (Did I just put sports and fun in the same sentence? The mission is really changing me). But I did take my first nap since I've been on a mission! That was exciting. We left for the temple at 6am so I was super tired.
At 4:30 our whole zone did a huge fast because we made a goal to have 1 baptism each by the end of the transfer. It was really powerful as we were all working together. Our zone is really close which according to everyone I've talked to, is rare. I don't want transfers to come and split us all up :( These Elders are like my big brothers!
We then taught N, N and S who are supposed to get baptized this Saturday!
Also we taught Sister Ho., who is less active. Her dad just passed away and the elders, without knowing, showed up the very next day. What a coincidence ;)

Sunday- Sister. Ho. came back to church for the first time! She even made all of Relief Society cookies! It was so cute :) Getting less actives to come to church is just as rewarding as investigators. Also a less active we have been meting with Sis. M has come for the past two weeks :) And a less active couple came last week but not yesterday. Seeing them there is the best feeling ever
After church we went to teach J and J. We watched the Restoration DVD with them. You know you're a missionary when you quote The Restoration DVD and The District for fun. When I get back from my mission I could probably recite the entire 15 minutes of that DVD. After we watched it J said "How much do those cost? I need 5 to send to my family" We GLADLY told him they were free and we would bring him 5 next time we visit with him. How often do your investigators ask for DVDs to send to their family??? Let me tell you- never. He said the closing prayer, those are some of my favorite moments, hearing our investigators pray. He said, "please help me to know that what these ladies are teaching me is true."
Then we met with F and that did not go so well. He had a complete turn around from where he was before. He told us that he simply could not let go of his beliefs. He kept saying "I respect your beliefs and understand they can be true for you but my beliefs are true for me." Obviously we can't really argue but I wanted to say: Truth is not relative. If it is the truth than it is true for everyone. There is one God and he would not confuse his children by providing different truths. It felt like he was telling me, 2+2 may equal 4 for you, but for me it equals 5. I was pretty crushed to see him shut off so quickly but before we left I told him. "I'm 19 years old, I left my family for a year and a half to come and teach this truth. I really don't know what I'm doing, I don't know the Bible like a paid minister does, I've only been to high school and one year of college. Can you imagine how scary it would be to do this if it wasn't the truth? I would never come out and teach people if I didn't know that the Lord was right beside me teaching everyday. I couldn't not do this on my own and God would not help me do it if it wasn't the truth." We are still coming back for dinners and such, they are the sweetest couple and I know that one day they will be able to be sealed in the temple.

I think about that often, how would scary would this be if it wasn't the truth? Thankfully it is, so it isn't scary at all.

The A family only made it to the last 20 minutes of church so we are hoping they come next week and then they will get baptized after church!
I hope you can watch that broadcast from yesterday about missionary work. Everything is changing so much and it is the most exciting time to be a missionary. We're getting iPads soon! Crazy huh? My Zone Leaders keep telling me that I'm going to be the first girl Assistant to the President and Sister H thinks I'll be training next transfer but I doubt that, they have plenty of sisters to train!

I love you all so much a wish I was more eloquent with my words. I always feel the spirit so strongly when these stories actually happen but it is hard to portray that spirit in my emails. I'm having so much fun as a missionary. When I think about it, being a missionary is really hard so I just don't think about it! I love what I'm doing, I try my hardest every single day and am constantly trying to see ways to improve. GO SHARE THE GOSPEL! Teach lessons with the missionaries in your homes, find people for the missionaries to teach. As members you were baptized and made a covenant with God to serve him. As Joseph Smith said, "After all that said, the most important work is to preach his gospel."
LIFE IS AWESOME! The church is true, I know it.

Love,
Sister Knowlton :)
p.s. it is going to be really strange when people call me Collette again. I feel weird just typing it.
p.p.s Amy- I look forward to your letters every week. They make me laugh a lot. If I ever didn't get a letter from you, I'd probably cry. No pressure. ;)
p.p.ps. Tell Felicita Ward I love them and they are the best.
KENNA! You're going into the MTC Wednesday! I'll be thinking of you<3 Your bracelet has reminded me to be patient countless times.

It's a hard *knock* life for us!

Hahaha I'm sorry abour my subject titles. I spend pretty much the whole week thinking of them so I hope you appreciate them.

This week was pretty good, it was a little less successful and a little more discouraging than the past 2 but really not bad at all :) Gosh I never even know how to go about these emails. Mom to answer your question- my shoes are working out really well, my ankles hurt every now and then but not really because we have a car.

I realized that I've never really told you all who my investigators even are. We have 14 right now which isn't too bad for starting from scratch (the elders in our ward helped us a lot too). 0/14 are considered "progressing" and it is hard to get them to keep commitments but we are working on it :) I'll tell you some background on them:

-K.- she is the woman who lives in that sketchy apartment complex, 40's, we are having a hard time getting her to quit smoking and she just has a messed up life. I feel so bad for her sometimes. She came to church 2 weeks ago
-R.- K's daughter who is 13 but looks 16.
-S.- We met with this guy once, he is Hispanic and sometimes doesn't understand us. His wife is not super interested but we need her there to translate so she gets to listen anyways ;) They always have a lot of grand kids at home
-B.- 9 year old great granddaughter of a woman in our ward. Her dad is less active
-S., N., and N.- all children of Sister A. another less active member of the ward. She wants them to be baptized but they are really hard to meet with. They are all set to be baptized the 29th but they still need to come to church.
-B.- we haven't been able to meet with her yet but the Elders gave her to us and she seems super sweet from the times we have talked. She has a young daughter and her boyfriend apparently is a member
-The two B. girls- we've also only met with them once and then they've been out of town for the past 2 weeks. This is the daughter that had a son when she was 14
-F.- super awesome husband of a member of our ward, I'm excited to meet with him tonight! He showed up at church on Sunday and we hadn't even invited him so we were stoked out of our mind. When Sister H. pointed him out I was literally fist pumping in church.
-F.- Turkish lady, she is soooo sweet. The elders were meeting with her before- her husband is less active and they absolutely love the missionaries. They kind of just like to hang out with us and feed us food so sometimes it's hard to get around to the gospel, but we do it!
-B. and K.- I'll be talking about them later........................

ALRIGHT Y! on to the week :) This week I learned a lesson that I thought I knew but God didn't think so ;) This is the Lord's work and not ours, he is in complete control of what we do, who we find, what goals we accomplish, etc. On Wednesday we started out with a phenomenal zone meeting then went to do about 3 hours of weed pulling. The rest of the day every single appointment we had fell through, even dinner. Appointments falling through is pretty much a daily occurrence but at the very least we get to teach at least one lesson. We were supposed to have dinner with K. but she cancelled (I'll be honest I was a little afraid of what she was going to feed us anyways;) It felt like we were getting nothing done, we knocked on doors, no one answered, we knocked on more doors, more people didn't answer. No one was home. There are huge fires going on South of my area which you maybe heard about, I don't know a whole lot about it except that they are really bad and about 400 homes have been destroyed so far. So the sky was filled with smoke and it was covering the sun and I legit thought everyone was evacuated and we just didn't know about it haha. After every person we failed to see we would stop and pray asking where on earth are we supposed to go? Who are we supposed to talk to today? We weren't feeling very prompted and had no direction, finally around 8 we decided to go home and eat some dinner and share a message with Sister P. Boy do I love her, she could tell we were discouraged and she made us a quick little meal. Then we went back to work and again got nothing done. (Except inviting someone to be baptized probably at the doorstep because we still do it everyday) at 8:50, 10 minutes until the day is over we are driving home and all of a sudden cop lights come on and we get pulled over and Sister H. got a ticket for skipping lanes of traffic while turning. It was the perfect end to a perfect day <3 After that I knew that we pretty much had no control over what we get done, it is all in God's hands so I'm thankful he helped me recognize that.

It really wasn't that awful, we just hadn't had a day like that before. Throughout the week it was fairly hard to meet with our investigators and we ended up only teaching 19 lessons, 12 of which were active members haha.......

One day when we were teaching K. and R. we went to the sketchy apartments and of course the elders were already there, they love it there. The same people hang out outside so it was that little group. One girl's name is N. and she lives with her ex husband (yeah I don't get it either) They hate each other. So he was locked out of the apartment totally wasted and the elders were trying to teach him but N. wouldn't unlock the apartment for him so everyone was just yelling at everyone and us 4 missionaries were just like uhhhhhhhhh.......... Finally the elders got the drunk ex husband to go somewhere else and talk with them and Sister H. and I were able to pull aside K and R and teach them a lesson. During the lesson the cops came and arrested the ex husband. We live exciting lives eh? ;)

Lemme tell you about K and B. We found them yesterday because B was outside her house so we asked if we could share a message with her about Jesus Christ and she said "Oh, I'm Born Again Christian. My husband is an ordained minister and he could talk to you guys for ever." Sister Hsaid okay and Bwent in to ask K if we could come in, then she comes out and says "He says come on in! I hope you two brought your Bible!" and I'm thinking awh shoot....... thank goodness for Sister H.... I did not like talking to them at all, it was just starting to turn into a Bible Bash and he basically was telling us to leave the church and not waste our time because we don't know the truth. Finally I said "We could talk about our differences all day long and try to find proof who is right but we have other appointments to be at." Sister H asked if we could leave with a prayer and so I said the closing prayer and when I said Amen he said a prayer too. Not bowing his head, not closing his eyes, just talking into space he prayed that we would be able to find the real truth and not waste our time and some other baloney that I don't really remember. Then do you know what Sister Hsaid? She said "Can we set up a time to come back?" WHAAA. She gave them a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon about the God head because the whole debate was basically about the trinity. So we are going back on Wednesday. When we were far enough away I asked Sister H, "Why are we going back there?? They aren't going to listen to us" She told me we needed to give them a chance, they are God's children and they need to hear what we have to say. She asked me, how would we feel if God gave up on us after we ignored the truth once? I was so frustrated that I cried for the first time in the field (only like 3 tears don't worry). I know I should have faith that they can change and that God can soften their hearts but at the same time, they are free to choose.

I know that the spirit is the only thing that can convert people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. No amount of proof or evidence can convince people of the truth, only the power of God and his spirit. When the people are hardened to the spirit we can not do anything. I'm a 19 year old, I'm not a minister, I have studied the scriptures but I don't know them for memory, I can't provide archaeological evidence that the Book of Mormon took place but none of that matters. I know it is true by the spirit of God. That spirit of God is real, and I can never deny it. As M. Russell Ballard once told a large group of ministers "Even if I were to give you the gold plates to hold in your hands you still would not know the truth because the Holy Ghost is the ONLY thing that can testify of truth" (I paraphrased that a little). How can people be so quick to dismiss evidence from God with evidence made of man? That just doesn't make sense to me. I know that what K was trying to tell us was not from God because a messenger from God will make you feel love, peace, and comfort just as God would want his children to feel. The Book of Mormon is either true or it is not. It is either from God or it is from Satan and when you read that book with a sincere desire there is no possible way you can claim that it comes from Satan. A book the fills you with light, desires for goodness, and brings you closer to Jesus Christ is of God. The Book of Mormon is true and that is a fact. Basically I don't want to go back to B and K's because if they are not willing to listen to the Spirit than they will not be persuaded. Even if we were to counter every single scripture he showed us and find him proof, even if he saw Christ come to the people of America he would not believe unless he allowed the Spirit to testify that it was true.

So I didn't take notes of what I wanted to say this week until Friday.
One funny moment- we were talking to some neighbors of one of our members and they were very nice and Christian but aren't interested. The husband said "Oh yeah, my neighbor gave me a book about Joseph Smith." After I told Brother G (their member neighbor) he said "So he didn't read the Book of Mormon I gave him" hahahahaha.
Aly- Sister H. caught me saying ruff instead of roof. Just thought you'd get excited but don't get your hopes up ruff is still wrong.
With no one answering all week and it being so difficult to get a hold of people there were about two times where I just stood in the middle of the parking lot and shouted "I'm on a mission to tell people about Jesus Christ!! Please talk to me!!!" Unfortunately, I only got a few stares and no takers..... Also I have learned how to hide from peep holes so that people have to open the door to see who is there. That tactic still hasn't worked yet but I'm mastering it ;)
We have a new ward mission leader named Brother L, he is really young and SO AWESOME! I loved our old one too but Bro L is super energetic and stoked about helping us as missionaries. He makes me laugh, he would make you laugh too if you met him.

Okay I'm going to try and send pictures and stuff so I love you all so dang much!! This week really wasn't that bad don't worry, I'm ready to keep going and going for the next 17 months! People tell me that my "greenie fire" will go away but I'll prove them wrong. Thank you everyone who emails me I truly appreciate it. It would be so difficult if I didn't get to hear from you all every week.
Kenna-you are leaving SO SOON! I wear the bracelet you made me everyday and it helped me a lot this week as I remembered to be patient with the people here :)
Tash- um hi, are you alive?

Also, Sister H thinks I might be training next transfer. I would be scared out of my mind if I do. I will probably cry every night if I'm training after 6 weeks. That's an exaggeration but I really hope I can keep my trainer for 1 more transfer, you can pray for that if you'd like ;) Never stop emailing/writing me please! I'll never stop needing it!

I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
Sister Knowlton


NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged

"Wonder of wonder, Miracles of Miracles!"

Sorry, cheesy subject but I've been singing that line of that song a lot and it sums up the week pretty well.
Okay first off thank you everyone for emailing and writing me, I really mean that. I'm sorry my email replies aren't very long but know that I really do appreciate them so much. I start counting down to email around Wed or Thur. Not because I'm homesick but because I just love you all so dang much!!! I brag about my family and friends way too much. I can't even express how excited I get to email. Amy- I love reading your letters so much, I laugh a lot and it's so nice to hear about how things are going for you. I'm hoping I can write a letter back sometime today!
Sister Bessy- Thank you for your letters as well! I loved hearing about that Youth Conference, it's always uplifting to read the thoughts you send me :)

DAD! HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I can't email you before next Sunday so I'll do my shout out now. Basically I think about you all the time and love you so much. This week I have grown to appreciate you and mom so much. Every time I see any father or guy in a nice shirt and pants I think about you and how awesome you are. I wear the necklace you gave me every single day. You really are the best dad any person could ever ask for, I can never thank you enough for the lessons you have taught and the patience you have had with me. I hope your poison ivy, or whatever it is goes away soon, I will keep you in my prayers :)

So this week I decided to take notes in my planner so I wouldn't forget things I wanted to say. Hopefully that works out I'll take it day by day. This week went by REALLY fast, feels like just yesterday I was emailing about my first week in the field. Even though it went by quickly I feel like I've been a missionary for about 10 years.

Monday- P-DAY! We had so much fun as a zone. There are only 4 sisters in my zone which is surprising because the other zone has pretty much all of my MTC friends and their companions plus some. Get this- I played sports for about 3 hours straight with the elders. I know, I've changed, because I actually had fun doing it. I read in the handbook the next day that we aren't supposed to keep score and my zone does so I might not be able to play today :( Oh well, greater blessings come with obedience! The elders really like Sister H and I, they said we are the first pair of sisters that has ever played with them. Our zone leaders told us that we are leading the zone with missionary work! I don't know if I believe that, they were just impressed we met the goal of 20 lessons our first week in the area. (I didn't take notes this day so yeah....... that's all I remember) We bought a lot of food at the store.

Tuesday- We had meetings with our Zone Leaders and they talked about how impressed they were with how hard the sisters were working and since we were doing so well they challenged us to invite someone to baptism every single day. Wait what- that scared the heck out of me because as the missionary being trained I have to do all the invitations. But I was only afraid for about 3 seconds and then decided I'd just do it because they promised us that we would be blessed for it. At this point I hadn't invited anyone. So Sister H and I prayed that we would be able to accomplish this goal. The only problem was, after that meeting we only had one appointment and then we were going to be doing a mini exchange so the two of us wouldn't be together until the day was over, and that appointment was with an active elderly lady in the ward who we just wanted to check up on. When we got to her house, guess who was visiting? Her 9 year old great-granddaughter who wasn't a member! The whole time I was thinking "Thank you Heavenly Father for starting me out easy, I can invite a 9 year old" haha. So I did, and she said yes! (Of course it was an easy yes, she's 9..) God really does hear our prayers and if we have faith he will provide a way.
I wrote down to mention the skies here. They are beautiful! The clouds are always perfect and fluffy and the sky is pure blue. Occasionally it gets cloudy and rainy but only for about an hour or two. I took a lot of pictures of the clouds, it doesn't capture it but I will try to send them.
When we are either teaching or contacting people we often get the response, "maybe later" or "I don't really need it right now" or "I don't want to commit to coming to church every weekend" and I just am thinking to myself, this is eternal life, what do you mean you don't want to commit, you've already committed! This isn't just some church to attend, this is the way you get back to your Heavenly Father, you do need this, we all do!

Wednesday- The reason we had mini exchanges is because all of the new sisters (the 19 I came with) have been having a hard time with homesickness and everything. I get to see my MTC friends more than I thought and I was sad to hear that they had a hard week but they are all so amazing and I know they can do it. My MTC companion talked about how she hated knocking on doors and one time she thought to herself "I bet Sister Knowlton loves doing this." It's true! I love tracting, you never know what child of God will be behind every door.
One of the really less active girls we visited last week called to cancel our appointment with her but said "Oh, i read that chapter you told me (Alma 32) and most of Alma. It really reminded me why I believed in the first place" SCORE. Missionary pay day.
Around 8:30 at night we still hadn't invited anyone to be baptized so do you know what we did? We knocked on a door we felt we should go to and I invited the woman to be baptized right there at the door. HAHA if you think tracting is awkward try doing that! I laughed for about 20 straight minutes after that. She said she was already baptized but took a Book of Mormon and agreed to let us come back.
I'm the youngest sister missionary in the mission!
Mom- have you picked up my contacts yet? Pretty sure they've been ready to be picked up for the whole time I've been gone. No rush, I still have some old prescriptions just mail them when you can please :) Also, if you ever send a package, Sister Hand and I would love some more Mo Tab CDs. So far I have "Men of the Mo Tab, Come Thou Fount, and Called to Serve" If you see any more we could always use some variety. Not that we don't love jamming out to Alex Boye every change we get.

Thursday- was really eye opening. We started our day by doing a couple of hours of service in a less active woman's yard with the elders. I planted a garden for her mom, you would be proud.
We have a pair of Elders in our ward which I think I mentioned, and we see them all the time. Somehow they are always the same place we are. What is the point of two sets of missionaries if we go to the same place? But we are great friends with them, I'll try to send pictures. Sometimes I feel bad for them because everyone is So excited to have sister missionaries. Anyways- I get so side tracked- my letters are rambly sorry. So Sister H and I felt like we should go meet this one lady (K) the elders told us to visit and when we got there they were of course talking to her outside already. If you could imagine a group of really ghetto apartment buildings with a bunch of beat up people chilling outside smoking who knows what, that's where we were. (Every time we go there people tell us to be careful. But don't worry mom, we are only ever there in the day time with the elders) To describe K- she had no teeth (somewhat common in this area), tattoos all over, she even has tear drops tattooed under her eye which makes me sad, she was smoking a cigarette and drinking her coffee. When she spoke it sounded like she was always about to cough up a huge cloud of dust just because of how smoking had affected her lungs. After chatting for a while I found she is pretty funny. She told us all about the drug fight that has been going on in the apartments the last few days and I was just in awe that people actually lived this way. I knew they did but it's different when you meet them. This is when I gained a huge appreciation for you mom and dad, I'm so thankful I grew up in the environment I did because these kids that live here have no chance.
In this area missionaries are really popular, everyone knows us and likes talking to us. The Elders told K about her friend who had agreed to be baptized and she said "Oh yeah!! Good for her! I'll go over and give her a high five!" then she proceeded to tell us all the apartments that had people who "needed Jesus." I love when people say that, it makes me laugh really hard.
Later that evening we taught the M family the Restoration. The young mom and her sister are less active and the dad and 6 year old daughter are not members. After watching the Restoration DVD we asked what they thought and the dad said it answered a lot of his questions and the sister said it reminded her of everything she knew before. Then I felt the spirit really strongly and was able to bear my testimony of how I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was evidence of that.
Then around 8:53 that night I invited another random girl on the street to be baptized. yay. I love doing that. so much.

Friday- Sister H felt like we should go talk to a less active family we've been meeting with (the A family). The mom and oldest son are the only members and then they have 4 other kids. The mom isn't active but she really wants her kids to all be baptized because they aren't doing very good things right now and she thinks that will solve everything. Although it does help, baptism is not the foundation, the foundation is a testimony of Jesus Christ and a desire to follow him. We talked with the two kids who were there (S-10 and N-11) about baptism. They said they thought it was scary and we told them why being baptized is not scary and it's importance. We asked S to say the closing prayer and it was so adorable. She said "thank you for bringing the girl elders and having them tell us that it's not scary" So presh. We get called girl elders a lot. Also, I invited both of them to be baptized and they both said yes so we are working on that :)
That evening we taught another investigator F (mom in a part-member family) about the Restoration and I think it went well, it was the first time she was able to open up. When we told her Christ was killed when he was 33, she started crying. It was so sweet.
You know the missionary voice that people get in the habit of doing? I'm trying to fight it so badly. Sometimes I catch myself doing it and then I want to slap myself. Also, now I know why people gain weight on their missions. I swear the members have meetings where they plan how to make the missionaries fat by feeding them all the greatest food in the world and dessert at every meal.

Saturday-Funniest moment of my mission so far happened on Sat and it probably won't be that funny unless you were there. Our zone went to go sing at a retirement home for service (Sis H and I +12 elders) and when we got there, none of the old people wanted to listen to us. The workers finally convinced one lady to come in a sit, so we all introduced ourselves, her name was R, and then started to sing the hymn "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today" About 2 seconds into the song she gets her walker and slowly walks across the room and out of the door. And we just kept singing as she made her way out the door-so slowly- so much rejection. I was literally crying laughing for the next 3 songs but it was okay because we were singing to a giant empty room. By the end we had a lot of people and the spirit was pretty strong
Aly- we don't serve in Nebraska anymore, not in the Denver North mission
Kenna- you are leaving so soon!!!! I'm so excited you will be awesome!
The rest of the day we went to one of the elders baptism and there was a ward talent show where I sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I'll send the video.
I also invited K's friend N to be baptized that day.

DAY OF MIRACLES- I only have 20 more minutes and this was the best day. Why do I take so long to email.
We had a lot to do because we had to meet our weekly goals and this was the last day. Saturday night I just had a feeling that Sunday would take a lot of faith to get everything done. I think that was the most earnestly I had ever prayed to have faith enough to be guided where to go. I'm going to leave out some details which could take out the magic of it all sorry.
We prayed before everywhere we went so we would know where God wanted us to go. Sister H felt we needed to visit a less active member. When we got there it seemed like her hadn't been home in weeks so we decided to knock on his neighbors door. The last door we knocked on was a 13 year old girl named V. We taught her the Restoration and I invited her to be baptized on July 7 and she said yes.
We again prayed where to go and Sister H thought of a street that stood out to her lately (I like to think she gets the revelation because she drives;) When we got there we found that there were 2 names on the ward directory for one house so since our directory is a little out of date we went to find out who really lived there. The woman who opened said "oh hi sister's come on in" long story short, she was just moving in and was neither of those two people. I was tripping out, God specifically sent us to her. She was a return missionary but hadn't been to church in over 20 years. what are the chances we found her??? It was incredible I was so shocked. Then we went to her neighbors and he was a return missionary as well who hadn't been to church since who knows when.
Dang I wish I could say more details.
Then we felt like we needed to visit someone named R. when we got there we realized it was the same house as an older couple in the ward the D's. We only talked to him so I didn't know why we had to be there but he is a convert and told us all about the missionaries who tried to talk to him for 12 years and he would have nothing to do with them. But now he wishes he could go back and thank them because they don't even know he joined. I felt like he was an angel talking to me, like God really needed me to hear that. Then we left, prayed and I felt to go a certain house, we weren't able to find it and Sis H said we should go home. As we were driving home I knew we needed to do something else tonight so I grabbed one of our lists and the 3rd or 4th name lived on the street we were on and I said "wait! lets go to this house". We turned around and visited with a lady who had previously "studied" the church (I don't think that means much) I again felt the spirit strongly bore my testimony about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She told us she wasn't interest but I knew we were supposed to be there. And I knew we were supposed to be at the D's and hear how we will change people's lives even though we can't see it.

That was so scattered and not as amazing as it was in real life but This week was full of miracles. I'm sorry I can't talk about everyone we meet with because there are SO MANY. We work hard and teach a lot we have investigators, not totally progressing but they are there! I love you and miss you so much! write me letters!!! byEfbdjksagbsjkdf

Collette's first week as a missionary - "Hastening the Work!"

AHHHH BEST WEEK EVER! I love being a missionary so much. Thank you everyone for wondering whether I would have a great or horrible week. It's been great, no worries. I don't really know where to start. Summing up a week in the mission field is so much harder than a week in the MTC. I will try to address all questions but that won't happen.

Sister H and I get along super well. She's basically really chill and extremely stubborn so when we are debating something I've learned to jokingly say "You're right, I'm wrong. You're big, I'm small" Apparently it's from a movie. Hopefully I have time to put on pictures this time, I tried to take some creeper shots so you can see what she looks like. We were talking on Friday or Sat night, I can't remember, all the days are a blur, and she slipped in the conversation "Oh yeah, I was engaged for a year before I came on my mission" and I was like "WHAT THE HECK why did you wait this long to tell me that!!" So there's a fun fact about Sister H, got engaged at 18.

Sister P., the lady we live with is seriously like my favorite lady ever. She loves to talk-and I mean loves. Since she lives by herself I don't blame her. One day she told us "I wasn't able to get a dog, so I got sister missionaries instead!" It made me laugh so hard. Now whenever we come home I say "Sister P! Your dogs are home!" We sometimes have a hard time studying because Sister P comes in and talks and we can't really tell her to leave, but she's so precious it's okay. Speaking of dogs, everyone here has one and I love it, it's like I have a billion pets.

The ward is..... really different than Felicita. There are about 600 members and I think 100ish are active. Guess what that means, the missionaries say a lot of prayers and are asked to make a lot of comments in class. Even though it's small I'm growing to love them. This area is really humble, like I said earlier, a lot of people live in apartments and for most dinners we have sat on metal folding chairs. Since basically everyone is less active, Sister H and I spend a lot of time visiting very single dang person in that ward directory and 95% of the time they don't come to church, so it works out well! This week was basically all finding. There is a pair of elders in our ward also who had already been there so they gave us our only 3 investigators (2 are 11 and 13 year old girls in a part-member (less active) family) and none of our investigators are considered "progressing" since we've only been able to meet with them once.  I'm going to try and talk about all the cool things that have happened this week but my brain starts to explode when I think about typing it all.

The spirit REALLY guides us. A lot of the names we visit in the ward directory don't even live there anymore and I'm pretty sure every single time we've gone to a house like that, the people who live there now showed interest and we were able to set up an appointment with them for this coming week. How cool is that? One time we were driving off a street and Sis H said "wait, does anyone else live on that street?" I found one name that did and we turned around to go see them. When we knocked a 23 year old girl who looks about 16 opened the door and just let us in without us saying anything. The house smelled of smoke (most houses here do) and we were able to talk to them and they showed interest in coming back to church. Things like that happen a lot, we just always seem to be in the right place at the right time.

We rarely go knocking on doors, just sometimes because there are more effective ways to find people which I will talk about later, but after meeting with our investigator S. we went to knock on her neighbors door, Sister H skipped one and went to the next and I knew we would have to go back to the one we skipped. When we did go back, a tattooed woman holding a baby answered and we just chatted for a little then asked "We're sharing a message about Jesus Christ, would it be okay if we came in?" Then do you know what she said? SHE SAID SURE! I was really confused for about 5 seconds because I'm not used to people letting us in. Sis H still makes fun of my face when the lady said that. She said she wanted to tell me "Sis Knowlton, pick up your jaw" We talked to her about her family for a little and then gave her a Book of Mormon, asking her to read the Introduction, she read it in front of us and seemed to really like it. She told us she was Baptist so I was scared she was going to start a Bible bash but she was really open to it.

One of my favorite moments was on Wednesday, we went to meet with our investigators the B's. The mom, dad and oldest daughter are all less active members and they have two younger daughters who are our other two investigators. The oldest daughter is 16 years old and has a 2 year old baby boy because she got pregnant at 14. Apparently this situation was the cause for the family to be offended by some people in the church. The mom is renown for the one time she made an elder cry after he tried to tell her, the gospel is perfect but the people aren't and even though it's hard she would have to forgive the people that offended her. That most definitely was not the right thing to say so she told him off big time. As we sat there and listened to her story and situation I have never felt more love for someone in my life. I was almost crying when she would cry, talking about her daughter getting pregnant. She expressed that she feels guilty because she let that happen and as we talked to her, I knew exactly what to say and when I opened my mouth, I didn't know what I was going to say next, it just happened. As she expressed her guilt I had a very clear prompting to tell her that she needed to forgive herself. If she was truly sorry and had repented to God, he had already forgiven her and the next step was to have faith in Christ's atonement and forgive herself. The spirit in the room was so strong, it wasn't me or Sister H talking. I don't know how to describe it without sounding weird but I know this is God's work because he helped me very directly. He needed to communicate something to her and as a missionary I was able to be the mouthpiece.

Moments like that are really cool but unfortunately we don't teach many lessons right now since we are finding people. I wish I could tell all the cool finding stories, generally people are pretty nice when we knock on their doors and I've been surprised at how many people show interest. I think most people here are having a really hard time so they are open to anything they think would help them. We have been praying to find those 5 people who are ready for baptism and I feel like yesterday we found one of them. After trying to meet with a less active member we saw a man and his wife working in the garage and went over to talk to them. They were both really nice and chatted with us for a super long time. Finally the man said "So, what church are you from?" we told him, and he said "Oh, my neighbor (the less active man) invited me to his mom's funeral at your church and I really enjoyed it. I'd definitely like to try it out" I tried to keep my cool but inside I was like OH MY GOSH THIS IS A MIRACLE! YOU'RE GETTING BAPTIZED! Obviously I get a little overexcited sometimes. While visiting another less active, there was another couple with their door open and we stopped to ask if they needed help since they looked like they were moving. After chatting for a little we asked if we could give them a Book of Mormon, the wife seemed really cool with it and her eyes lighted up, she said she had Mormon friends and had never read it, but the husband wouldn't have it. We kept talking and gave them one anyways. Although they are moving and we will never see them again I could tell that Book of Mormon was going to do something in their lives. As we walked away Sister Hand said "see you on the other side Donna."

The mission president called a surprise zone meeting and talked to us about a meeting the mission presidents had had with Elder Cook. He was telling us about how we HAVE to work with members and instructing us how to do that. Elder Cook told them that with this mission age change this is now the time that the work will hasten. We have seen people joining the church in the thousands and tens of thousands but now it will be in the millions. That's a promise from an apostle!! Holy Cow! SO COOL! There are double as many missionaries because there are now double as many people being prepared my the Lord to hear the gospel. We now meet every single night with members and work really closely to get referrals from them. So far, they have all been really excited. Mom, I did bare my testimony in church, the Bishop had all 4 missionaries in the ward come up and talk. Bishop E is really helpful, he is all about the missionary work. The ward really loves Sister H and I, I kinda feel bad for the elders because they are all mainly excited to have Sister missionaries. (Especially little girls, little girls love us haha) We are becoming really great friend with our elders, we do a lot of things with them. Also we are required to do 10 hours of service a week which is kinda hard.

Some moments of the day can be discouraging and exhausting because no one will answer the door and we just drive around trying to find people and I get discouraged for a little but then I get over it pretty fast. Sister H and I have a good time, she's finally starting to think I'm funny ;) We love listening to our MoTab CDs. She makes fun of me because I didn't know we couldn't eat in the car and I was in the middle of eating a cookie so I stuck my head out the window, took a bite and said "strict obedience!!" So now she says that all the time. Okay I gotta go soon.

I love you all and appreciate your prayers, the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true and I know it. Now go read it and give the missionaries a referral! BYEEEEEE


Sister Collette Knowlton
PS I got my hand stuck in the seat of the car for a long time and we laughed really hard. The end. bad story sorry.
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