Soy un Representante de Jesucristo

Hola familia y amigos! Remember that picture of my swollen wrist I sent?  Well conveniently my branch presidente is also a doctor here en el CCM and he told me I sprained it nice and good so I got a pretty swagtastic brace to wear this past week but its doing much better now! So we finished teaching Felipe and now he's our evening teacher (awk), but let me tell you about our last lesson with him. I invited him to be baptized and at first he was hesitant because he said his wife didn't agree with his decision so Hermana Stout and I just bore our testimonies about how as we exercise our faith Heavenly Father will honor that faith and help us to be happy and everything will fall into place. Then there was a pause. Then I asked him again, but I recited the baptismal invitation from memory and looked him in the eyes as I said it. He then said he would be baptized. Then I asked him to say the closing prayer and it was beautiful, he started to cry when he talked about how thankful he was that we were there for him. Afterwards I shared with him the picture of me and dad when I got baptized and explained how it was one of the happiest days of my life and how close to our Father in Heaven I felt.

So Tasha sent me an email about how there's an Elder from her ward here and funny story! He was actually one of the first people I met at the airport and we even talked about how you guys were from the same town but I didn't even think to ask if he knew you haha, but after I got your email I found him again and were basically BFF'S now (not really), but we say hi every time we see each other now. 

Pete! On Saturday they served chicken sandwiches and waffle fries for dinner! It was SUPER mediocre but it was probably the closest thing I'll get to American food and I'm thankful for that. The other day Hermana Nelson from my district was excited because they had muffins en el comedor but she didn't like it so it was a little disappointing. She said it just tasted like everything else here so I said "I didn't know a muffin could taste like rice and beans" ...I thought it was funny. 

During our district meeting on Sunday our district leader Elder Geeding told us for our weekly goal we should memorize the baptismal invitation in Spanish and the representative from the branch presidency that was there was like "what are you talking about?" So I said from memory "the one that goes Seguira el ejemplo de jesucristo al ser bautizado por alguien que posea la autoridad del sacerdocio de dios?" And everyone was like welp shes ahead of the game.

So Monday we had our first lesson with our new "investigator" AKA Hermano Zumaya AKA Felipe and he played someone named Hugo. It definitely didn't go as planned which was a really humbling experience. I know through these practice lessons we will be better prepared for the people in Chicago. After the lesson we got feedback and Hermano Zumaya asked us what we thought of Hugo. I told him he reminded me a lot of Pete. I cried when I talked about him. There are a lot of major differences between Hugo and Pete, but the fact that there were so many similarities made it special. When I talked about Pete I felt the Spirit so strong that Heavenly Father is taking care of him. Every night I've been praying that I can know my family and friends are being taken care of while I'm on my mission so that experience was a huge blessing. Everything just makes me want to work harder! 

Oh! I forgot to mention that I see Elder Fairbanks from our stake here all the time! We basically have the same schedule. We took a picture together today at the temple I'm sure Sister Peacock will appreciate that! #youthcommitteecrew #comounjefe

The temple here is BEAUTIFUL and I thought of mom the whole time. The spirit there is amazing. I took so many pictures but I don't have a lot of time to send very many. Driving through Mexico City was way cool. The culture is awesome and we waved to a lot of people from the bus. Missionary life is super great I just can't wait to get to the field and get to meet all of those Chicagoans! This church is true! I know my Savior lives and He is right here with me every step of the way. The people in Chicago need me to be my best and I'm going to give them my best! No matter what. They're always on my mind. I'm determined to give everything Ive got to my Savior and His work. I love this church so much and received so many blessings from this knowledge. If I can help change at least one persons life for the better by bringing them the happiness of the gospel then this entire year and a half will be more than worth it. 

I love you all so much and I miss you too! Keep smiling :)

Hermana Knowles

P.S.  Also family and friends! Please check out dearelder.com and mtcmexicocarepackage.com love you!