Monday, March 26, 2012

26 de março de 2012

hello again!
this week has been pretty good and pretty busy! so last week i got
transfered from my old area in Jardim Campinas to Vista Alegre, the stake is
Embu. this is a pretty cool area but it is pretty much only hills... i thought
my other area was a lot, but it is nothing compared to here! but it is all good,
ill just get into really good shape! my new companion is Elder Lemes, he is a
really good missionary and he only has 2 months till he goes home! ha! but he is
still really focussed and we will work really well together! this week we marked
4 people for baptism, Lucas, Leninha, Jilvalda, and José Jackson. our ward meets
in the stake center and it is HUGE!!!!!!!! i guess they finished renewing the
building in december or january, so it is all brand new! but the members are
still getting used to the move of locations and the attendance is suffering a
little, but we'll work on that!
i am learning a lot in the scriptures and every time i read them i learn
something new! i am in alma 12 in portuguese now and it is awesome! alma 11
shows us what we can do when we are guided by the holy ghost! amuleque is a
great example, and the companionship of alma and amuleque is an example for
everyone! keep reading and you WILL see the difference in your life!
so i cant believe that you bought motorcycles!!!!!!!!! i feel like that
elder in the best 2 years that freaks out when he reads that his family bought a
boat. haha! but make sure you keep them all nice for me so i can have some fun
too when i get back!
so it sounds like dallins eagle project is coming along great! send me a
foto of the final product! hows trevors eagle project going? his bday is coming
up soon!
so how is seminary going? you know i kinda miss seminary... yeah i know
crazy!
i love you all so much! i know that this is the place i am supposed to be
and i wouldnt change that for anything! it is such a blessing to be able to
teach so many peole about the restoration of the gospel! if you dont have a
strong testimony about Joseph Smith or if you have any doubt, pray and ask! i
know with all of my heart that God will answer your prayer! he live and he loves
us! and he listens and answers all of our prayers!
EU SEI QUE VIVE MEU SENHOR!!!
Love
Elder Knudson

We were able to catch elder knudson
before he got off today and ask him a few questions with our emails going back
and forth! Alway a great day when that happens,
we miss our elder so much!! Here are the
emails below.

Elder:so how are things back home? did
you ride the motorcycles yet?Rebecca:Yes the kids went out for a quick ride
before it got dark saturday with dad, I stayed home.
Elder: haha! i want to ride! my
mode of transportation here is my 2 feet! it is good but sometimes it is
hard.
Rebecca: Where is your new comp from?Elder: i think he is
from Rio Grande do Sul, but i forgot at the moment, yeah, Rio Grande do Sul.
Rebecca: Oh so another native Brazilian, I bet that is good
for your language skills!
Elder: yup! it is good! it is cool because i dont really have
too many problems with portuguese now!
Rebecca: Do you have a new address? How close are you to the
temple in SP. I want your address so I can google where you are on google
earth.
Elder: my area is pretty close to the temple! i think 30 min
on the bus if the trafic is good. i dont remember the adress, but i think you
will be able to find Embu Das Artes, it is a really touristy area here, but it
isnt my area there, my area is Vista Alegre. no the adress it to the mission
office, so it wont change, but the adress to the house is obviously different.
ill get it for you for next week and you can look it up on google maps ok.
Rebecca: Make a new video journal with this comp so we can
see how well you speak in portegueese.
Elder: ill be sure we make a video. i keep wanting to write
in portuguese! haha!
Rebecca: We were wondering if it was getting hard for you to
write in english. I bet it is hard to talk in english now!
Elder: the little words like here and other little things
always come out in portuguese, but i have to fucus when i am
writingRebecca: We are hoping you can skype with us on mother day! is that
possible?
Elder: i would like to skype next time, so i will do my best
to get it all figured out! ok macie, como você está?
Rebecca: Macie and Daniel: We love you so much and miss you!
Have a great day!
Elder:gtg, i love you

Monday, March 19, 2012

19 de março 2012: TRANSFERS


hey familly
well i was transfered. i dont really know what to think about it
yet. im pretty excited but at the same time VERY nervous. i am going to miss
so many people here... saying goodbye is so hard. but i really will take all
of them with me in my heart. tonight we will have a little Familly night thing
so i can say bye to everyone and take pictures. the member that is sending
the pictures is Renato. he is pretty much awesome! he served a mission around
the same time as dad, back when it was memorized lessons. but he helps us out
so much in the work and last monday he took us to an indian reserve, it is like
litterally the lamanite village! it is so cool! but they are pretty modern
too, one of them had satalite tv! but it was really cool to go see! so the
pizza here is pretty good! and it is pretty much a missionary tradition and he
carried it over from the mission to his family too!for the transfers
everyone goes to the chapel by the mission office that is being transfered and
president tells you who will be your new companion and which area, so i dont
know where i will go yet... but it will be all good! i am excited to work in a
new area and meet new people, i think i am finally starting to figure out my
style of working and teaching.no, they dont celebrate st patricks day here.
it came and went and i didnt even know... ha! but oh well, everyday is the same
anyway so i dont know what difference it would make. but i'll get back into all
the holidays in another year and 4 months (roughly).so this week was pretty
cool, we worked really hard and we taught a lot of people! but the highlight of
the week was yesterday! we were walking up a road and we saw Gustavo (the kid i
baptized) and Italo (other YM in the ward) visiting the other young men in the
ward! and they were doing it without any leader being with them or even asking
them to do it! and they said that they were going to do it every
sunday!!!!!!!! i almost cried! it was so cool to see!so it sounds like
dallins project is going good! keep it up and hopefully it doesnt rain too much
for you! i cant believe that in 2 weeks i will have been on the mission for
8 months... it is going by so fast! soon it will be a year! the work is
amazing! the people are amazing! and i cant believe the love that i have
developed for the people here. the hardest thing that we see is when someone
tells us that they dont want anything to do with God... it is hard to see people
lost in the ways of the world and not be able to do anything about it because of
their agency. but i am learning so much! the scriptures are amazing! i am in
alma 10 in portuguese! it is so cool to be able to understand another
language! the church is true! i have NO doubt! stay strong and always
remember who you are and what you stand for!!i love you
all!loveElder Knudson

Monday, March 12, 2012

12 de março de 2012

hey fam!!another week FLEW by! i feel like i was just here writing you!
but so much has happened this last week. so this is my last week in this area,
on the 20th i should be transfered from here. but this last week was pretty
good, but very difficult. so on tuesdays we do a ward family night at the
chapel and it has been going really good! this last week we watched a movie
called 17 miracles. it is AMAZING! if you havent watched it yet, watch it!
and keep the tissues ready! it is a story about he martin handcart company and
all of the stuff that they went through. on wednesday we had a meeting with an
area 70, Elder Carlos Godoy. he is funny! he was baptized when he was 16 years
old and was taught by the sister missionaries. but the miracle was that we
showed up ON TIME!! we left the house at 600 and we got there at 830. it was
the first time that we didnt have complications on the journey. but the meeting
was very spiritual and really neat! one of our baptisms fell through but we
did have one! his name is eduardo and is 11, he is really excited about the
church and said that he wants to serve a mission! and after i confirmed him a
member of the church, he gave everyone that was seated on the pulpit a hug! it
was pretty cool! hopefully he can help reactivate some of his family
members.this week was SUPER hot here in São Paulo! but then on saturday it
decided to rain, it seemed more like a hurricane with all the wind and the DOWN
POOR of rain! but it was cool! we also had a bolt of lighting strick like 30
feet away from us! it was pretty much awesome! i have never heard anything so
loud before! but it was cool!yes we do have daylight savings here, but we
moved back an hour! so it was really nice for us! so that means that we are
only 4 hours apart now instead of 6 hours.oh, so last night we were teaching
some of our investigators, a couple that lives together but isnt married (one of
the most normal things here), but ozvaldo had an awesome question! he was
confused why he needed to be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost when he was
already feel the guidance of the spirit. he didnt see what difference it would
make. and with much help from the Holy Ghost i was able to explain about the
Light of Christ and the differences there are between the 2. and how the light
of Christ is preparatory for the holy ghost. it was super spiritual and super
neat!i love you all so much!have a great weekloveElder
Knudson

5 de

hello FAM!this week was SO amazing! the last 3 weeks before this one were
SO hard! truely the lord was testing us! but this week we met almost all of
our goals! it was amazing! and, saturday marked 7 months on the mission! i
cant believe it! it is going by so fast!so i dont know where to start... so
this saturday on the 10 we will have 2 baptisms! we are pretty excited and all
of the elders in the zone will baptize together! it is going to be a giant
baptismal service! so last week started out really hard. but we kept going
and on wed we taught 6 lessons and then on thursday we taught 9 lessons! it was
great! we worked really hard this week and you could tell because every night
we arrived at home and planned for the next day we pretty hit the bed already
asleep! but we also found 12 new investigators this week! this really was a
week of miracles! also! i am seeing that the members here in the ward really
like us! on wed night we had a member that bought pizza for us, and on thurs
night we had pizza again, then on fri night we had a churrasco! brazilian bbq
is REALLY good! but the work goes a lot easier when the members help! and we
are always with filled bellies! on wednesday we have a meeting with a area
70, elder godoy i think, but it will be awesome! it is so cool to be taught
right from the leaders of the church! so this week i finished mosiah in
portuguese! i was pretty excited! mosiah has so many amazing lessons for us to
learn! and i am already learning a ton from alma! the scriptures really come
alive for us when we truely study! and the examples that we have are absolutely
amazing! so it sounds like everyone bck home is so busy! i miss all of the
kids in the school! tell everyone that i said hi! and i am working on the
pictures still, but dont worry, they will be there sooner than you think!so
i will be here in this area for 2 more weeks then it is on to the next area! i
dont want to leave this area bt i think i am ready for a change of scenary. but
i will definately miss everyone here! i love you all! tell everyone that
they are free to write me letters whenever they want!love Elder
Knudson

27 de fevereiro de 2012

hello again!this week went by very fast. i am starting to think that that
is just how it is going to be. the time goes by so fast i dont know what to do
with myself sometimes. ths week on the 3rd will mark 7 months on the
mission! i cant believe that i have actually been here for that long! i still
feel like i have SO much to do here in Brazil and i am still working to find
what most of that stuff is. this week was pretty hard for us. we are having a
really hard time finding new people to teach, but hopefully this next week
everything goes good and we can teach a lot of people! we are working with a
couple to help them get married so they can be baptized! it is pretty funny how
it all happened! we taught them the law of chastity about 2 weeks ago and they
said that they wanted to get married in like 6 months... then the next visit we
had with them they had found out that she had gotten pregnant and they wanted to
get married "yesterday"! but then on the next visit she was talking about all
of the normal girl's dream to have a fancy wedding and that they would have to
wait intill june... so we talked about the blessings that come from keeping the
commandments and encouraged her to talk to her "husband". then yesterday we
were talking with him in the garage before the visit and he was talking about
how they were going to wait to get married to be able to plan everything, and
then she came down and said, "i want to get married really fast" and he made a
face like, "what... didnt we talk about this?" it was pretty funny! and elder
petersen and i were pretty happy! i think we are going to take them on saturday
to mark a marriage date. also yesterday, gustavo came with us for a few visits
at the end of the day! it is so cool the effect that the gospel has on people!
he talks all the time about going on a mission and he already bought a Preach My
Gospel! it is so cool!other than that not too many cool stories. carnaval
here wasnt that bad, we are far enough away from the center of the city where
you dont see all the crazy drunk people. but my companion was telling me that
there is a street call avenida paulista, where if you see a girl and you want to
kiss her, you can just grab her and give her one... but luckily in our area it
was problem free!so the story about the rat was pretty exciting! go
sophie! did you give her a dog treat?so i have 3 more weeks in this area
then i am off to the next adventure here in brazil, i dont quite know what to
think of it yet. i want to stay here, but at the same time i am excited for
something new! i have been in this area for almost 6 months now! wow... but i
have made so many neat friends and it will be hard to leave. i am able to
say almost anything that i want now in portuguese! it still comes out a little
rough sometimes but it is so cool to look back and remember when i got here
andhow i talked then and where i am at now!i love you all so much! dont
forget to share the gospel with EVERYONE!love Elder Knudson

20 de fevereiro de 2012

hey fam!!!!!i cant believe another week has come and gone! so much is going
on and i am loving it here! wed we went to the temple! it was ablsolutely
amazing, but like always, getting there was a NIGHTMARE!!!! we left our house
at 7am to be able to get to the temple at 9. our session started at 1030. but
because of the transit we got to the temple at 1010... luckily we made it JUST
in time! it is crazy how hard it is to travel to the center of São Paulo! i am
SO glad that i live in a little city and that i have a car! hehe! but the
temple was amazing! it was exactly what i was needing! but afterwards we went
to the temple we wanted to go to a churrascaria (brazilian bbq place) and we
decide to go to this one down the road from the temple called Búfalo Branco. in
the fron it said that it would be 35, so we dicided why not. but when we got
inside we asked how much it costs and he said that the part that we wanted was
really 47! too much for our missionary budget... and as we were leaving i said
to elder petersen, they must serve the WHOLE buffalo, huh? he thought that that
was pretty funny! but we ended up going to a smaller one that was a lot cheaper
but still VERY good!i cant believe that i am going to leave this area... i
have been here almost 6 months and you would think that i'd want to leave, but i
dont want to leave... there are so many cool people here that i have gotten to
know. but it is pretty much for sure that i will be transfered from here in 4
more weeks... the time will go by SO fast! but in a way it is good to know that
i will be leaving because i will have enough time to say bye to everyone and get
everyones addresses! i bought a little folder today to put eveyones addresses
and stuff in so i can keep in contact with everyone.so did you guys send me
my priesthood line of authority with my package that you sent? i really would
like to have that here with me. do you know if Dylan is getting my emails or
anything? if not, can you make sure that he is please! so lately i have
recently finished the part in the book of mormon where abinadi is talking to the
king noah and is killed. he says and teaches some very powerful stuff that we
can deffinately apply to our lives! the best example that he leaves for us is
the willingness that he had to die for the things that he believed in! we all
need to have that kind of a testimony, where we are willing to die to defend the
church and what it stands for! i am still working on that in my life too, but i
know that this is the only true church on the face of the earth! i know that
the Book of Mormon in true and that it is the word of God.stay strong! i
love you all! and thank you for giving Adria that hug for me! Love
Elder Knudson