Israel, Jesus os Llama

July 13, 2015

Hola familia y amigos!

 

We went to the temple on Wednesday to see Arlene and Josseline! It was quite magical. It was also so cool to see so many people from the fourth ward! Definitely a fun little reunion. We left our iPads in the car so I don't have any pictures but some members from the fourth ward will probably put pictures up on Facebook that I can steal later haha.

We had probably my favorite zone meeting so far on Thursday. My favorite part was when we spilt off into zones and the zone leaders had us do this awesome activity. The zone leaders along with the sweet Sister Woodbury took us all out to the back parking lot of the church and we each brought a chair and sat spread throughout the entire parking lot. After our chairs were set up we all met in the center and the zone leaders gave some small instruction. They didn't explain what exactly we were doing but said that everything would be silent and we would all be blindfolded. So after we were blindfolded and everything was quiet I just stood there for a while not really sure what was going on until Sister Woodbury guided me to a rope that I was able to follow for a while. After that we were asked to let go of the rope and she guided me to one of the seats that we had placed earlier. After sitting for some time and really trying to listen to figure out what was going on I heard our zone leaders and Sister Woodbury start singing, "Israel Israel God is Calling." And then it started to get louder and more powerful and by that point I knew that people were joining them so I somewhat hesitantly got up from my chair and walked toward the music! When I reached the group I took off my blindfold and saw the missionaries around me singing, and some still with blindfolds making their way to us. This was a really touching experience to me. Afterwards we discussed what we did and we could all feel the Spirit. I feel I learned a lot about faith and how sometimes even if we're not entirely sure it's what we need to do, we just have to follow the music. To me it just sounded like home! And then when we've found the source of that music we HAVE TO SING so we can help our brothers and sisters who are making their way. I absolutely loved that activity! I'd say more about it but I'm running really short on time.

Well we spent the day at our zone activity at the lake! It was so fun! We played ultimate frisbee and some other fun games. I really love our zone they're the best! Anyway I'm out of time but I love you all and I hope everyone has a great week! Write me sometime!

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

6

Israel, Jesús os llama

1.	Israel, Jesús os llama de las tierras de pesar.
	Babilonia va cayendo; Dios sus torres volcará.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos, y Su ira evitad.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos, y Su ira evitad.
2.	Israel, Jesús os habla; escuchad al Salvador.
	Ved romper un alba nueva para ̮el pueblo del Señor.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos; en sus centros paz gozad.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos; en sus centros paz gozad.
3.	De las cortes celestiales ángeles descienden ya,
	y poder dan a los hombres de lograr volver allá.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos; el Señor ya volverá.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos; el Señor ya volverá.
4.	Israel, ¿por qué demoras aún en sendas de error?
	Ved el juicio que señala el castigo del Señor.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos, y cantad a Dios loor.
	A Sión venid, pues, prestos, y cantad a Dios loor.

\

 

Soy un Hijo de Dios

July 6, 2015

Hola familia y amigos!

 

Well Cicero doesn't kid around when it comes to the Fourth of July! We could pretty much look out of any window of our apartment and see fireworks on Saturday night. It was crazy! There were just flashing lights everywhere and it was so loud! The blasting mariachi music made it that much better though. We literally heard explosions all day long starting from when we woke up that day too. Definitely a Fourth of July to remember! Hermana Anderson and I celebrated pretty hard core in the apartment. Nothing like Panda Express and watching the District 2!

We went on exchanges on Thursday with the wonderful midway hermanas! I stayed in the area and spent the day with Hermana SHIPP! Just like the good ol CCM days! We had a pretty busy day on Thursday just one appointment to the next. I learned a lot from Hermana Shipp during our exchange, especially acting with urgency and taking every opportunity to share the gospel and serve others.

Hermana Anderson and I have had a lot of work lately with less active members. It's been awesome! We've been getting in contact with members we've never met before which is way cool. We've also been able to work with our active members a lot more this past week especially with teaching people in their homes. I sure do love this ward and this work!

A particularly funny experience with teaching in a members home happened on Tuesday. So there's a less active Hermano that we work with and instead of bringing the member with us we thought it would be cool to bring him to the member and he was very on board with that as well. So there's an awesome Hermana that agreed to have us teach a lesson in her house but the Hermano we brought requested that we drive over to his house first so he could follow us over because he's not very good with directions. So we go meet the Hermano by his house and he starts following us to this Hermanas home and when we were about 5 minutes away we get a text from her saying that she wasn't home and that she wouldn't be home for a while. So Hermana Anderson and I look at each other like "What do we do? This man is following us!" So I call Hermano Jaime and ask if we could last minute teach a lesson in his home and he said yes! So we finally arrive at Jaime and Carmen's house (pictures of them will be included) and we had an awesome lesson! Good times.

We also have a new investigator! Her names Lucina and she's awesome! We found her looking through some former investigators and she totally remembers having the missionaries before. Our first lesson was awesome and we look forward to teaching her again this week! Please pray for her!

Well those were a few highlights from the week. I hope everyone is doing well and I would love to hear from you! I love being a missionary and I really love this area and my companion. Things are pretty great! I know this gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of the church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and along with the Bible we have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This Wednesday I'll be going to the temple to see someone from the Chicago 4th ward go through the temple for the first time! I'm so excited and I'll definitely talk about how that goes next week. I love you all and I hope everyone enjoys their week!

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

2

Soy un hijo de Dios

1.	Soy un hijo de Dios;
	Él me envió aquí.
	Me ̮ha dado un hogar y padres
	buenos para mí.
	Guíenme; enséñenme
	la senda a seguir
	Para que ̮algún día yo
	con Él pueda vivir.
2.	Soy un hijo de Dios;
	me deben ayudar
	A entender Su voluntad;
	no puedo demorar.
	Guíenme; enséñenme
	la senda a seguir
	Para que ̮algún día yo
	con Él pueda vivir.
3.	Soy un hijo de Dios;
	Él me bendecirá.
	Yo obedeceré Su ley;
	haré Su voluntad.
	Guíenme; enséñenme
	la senda a seguir
	Para que ̮algún día yo
	con Él pueda vivir.
4.	Soy un hijo Dios;
	Con Él feliz seré.
	Aprenderé Su voluntad,
	Y seguiré con fe.
	Guíenme; enséñenme
	la senda a seguir
	Para que ̮algún día yo
	con Él pueda vivir.

Hasta Ver y Asombro Me Da

Well I don't have a ton of time today but just know that the work is
moving forward and I absolutely love being a missionary! I love my
area, I love my companion, I love the people I serve, and I love the
Lord. Really can't get much better than that! Well I don't want this
email to be terribly boring so here's a couple videos of me playing
piano. Enjoy! I love you all :)

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

Para Siempre Dios Este Con Vos
Asombro Me Da

Amad a Otros

June 22, 2015

Hola familia y amigos! 

First of all I just wanted to give a Father's Day shout out to my daddio! I hope Father's Day was great! It was definitely weird not being able to spend it with you but I know we'll celebrate twice as hard next year when I'll be home for it! I love you and I want you to know that I thank my Father in Heaven each night that I have such an amazing dad. Before my mission as I was going through a lot of your old mission journals and such I felt inspired from your example and still refer to things you wrote today in my own missionary service. Thanks for all you do dad!

This week was pretty great! I'd say the highlight of the week was when Elder Martino from the seventy came to speak to the mission. Other than that not too much to write about really haha.

Elder Martino really got us pumped for missionary service that's for sure! The conference was centered on the Christlike attribute of charity. So we've been studying this as a mission for a while now and I feel I've learned so much. I just wanted to share what I learned in my studies :)

So charity is the pure love of Christ or the eternal love of God for all His children. Well I wanted to answer the question of "how can we develop this attribute or better demonstrate it" and the answer I got was pretty simple as a lot of other things I come across in deepening my knowledge of this gospel. We can have more charity, just as in all other things, as we follow the example of Jesus Christ. "That ye love one another; as I have loved you" (John 13:34). 

And then in wanting to answer the question "why is it so important" or "what is charity capable of", I really liked a quote that my grandpa wiberg sent me, "It opens our hearts in a way that nothing else can. Even in the midst of life’s challenges and difficulties, love fills us with a sense of gratitude, hope, and renewal. Love gives meaning to life, enlarges our hearts, and enables every other virtue—like compassion, patience, and selflessness." I also really like something that president Uchtdorf said, that as we develop charity "our capacity to love God and to serve others will greatly increase." That's a promise hermanos y hermanas! 

So I wanted to take it a step further and thought, perhaps a result of this extended capacity to love would be a greater understanding of why our Father in Heaven and Savior did everything for us. If we strive to love as He does and do our best to see things with a more eternal perspective I believe we can learn more about our divine nature and have more of a desire to help others come to that knowledge as well. Right now I have this increasing love for the topic of divine nature or in knowing who we are and that we have purpose. I have also realized that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes my purpose possible and that was the greatest act of charity ever performed. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I am so thankful for this time that I have to represent Him as a full time missionary. 

Moroni 7:45: "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." 

I love you all so very much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

203

Amad a otros

1.	Como os he amado, amad a otros.
	Un nuevo mandamiento, amad a otros.
	Por esto sabrán que sois discípulos míos,
	si os amáis unos a otros.\

Cuenta tus Bendiciones

June 15, 2015

Hola familia y amigos!

Man this week was pretty crazy! 

Well Tuesday morning we had transfer meeting and I got my new companion, Hermana Anderson! She's so great! I also love being able to see everyone at transfer meetings! I got to see Josseline and Arlene from the Chicago 4th Ward and GUESS WHAT. They both opened their mission calls the same day and Arlene will be serving in the Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission and Josseline will be serving in the ECUADOR GUAYAQUIL WEST MISSION. And they report the same day NEXT MONTH. Isn't that so crazy?! I'm so stoked for them! I still can't believe it. 

We had an awesome first lesson with a new investigator! Her name is Satu and we were finally able to teach her the message of the restoration on Friday! The spirit was so strong and Satu was so attentive as we testified. Towards the end of the lesson as we were explaining the first vision of Joseph Smith one of Satu's relatives came in (maybe her daughter) and she just started listening so sincerely to what we were saying. It was such a beautiful experience to teach them! We left them with a Book of Mormon and have a return appointment for next week! ALSO another cool miracle happened immediately after this lesson. We went directly across the street to visit a PNI (potential new investigator) and her son came to the door and told us how he's really been wanting to change his life and that wants to meet us at the church on Sunday. Miracles left and right! That was such a sweet experience! 

Saturday was an extremely long but great day! We basically had nothing but finding time so Hermana Anderson and I walked out of the apartment with the guitar and started talking about the gospel and singing to everyone! It was awesome! After that we went to a baptism for the midway ward which was great! When we were about to leave we noticed a lot of traffic outside of the building because the train had stopped. So it was a wonderful opportunity for contacting! Hermana Anderson, Hermana Warnock, Hermana Shipp, and I went out and talked to everyone in their cars and it was so fun! I brought the guitar with me too, of course. It was so great we would go up to a window and offer someone a card and some of them of course weren't very interested in that but when I offered to sing them a song they were like, "Sure! It's not like traffic will be moving anytime soon." So either way they were able to hear my testimony whether we just talked to them or sang, I Know that My Redeemer Lives. 

Last night as we were driving home my companion and I took a few minutes to enjoy the sunset. We parked our car and ran up a bridge to get a better view and it was so beautiful! This week I've really tried to take note of all the tender mercies my Heavenly Father blesses me with. I feel I've found true happiness in taking note of those things. That sunset was very sweet to me and I could feel the love of my Father in Heaven and just how precious each of His children are to Him. I love this work and I invite each of you to really strive to pay attention to the tender mercies or little things this week that brings you joy. O sea, cuenta tus bendiciones :) 

I'm also so thankful for all the things I am learning on my mission. This week we will have a member of the seventy come and visit us, Elder Martino. In preparation for his arrival the mission has been studying charity and I very much look forward to learning more about this attribute from Elder Martino and the other missionaries. I love this gospel and I love sharing it with everyone. I hope everyone has an awesome week! I love you all so very much.

Keep smiling, 

Hermana Knowles 

157

Cuenta tus bendiciones

1.	Cuando te abrumen penas y dolor,
	cuando tentaciones rujan con furor,
	ve tus bendiciones; cuenta y verás
	cuántas bendiciones de Jesús tendrás.
	Bendiciones, cuenta y verás,
	bendiciones que recibirás;
	bendiciones, cuenta y verás
	cuántas bendiciones de Jesús tendrás.
2.	¿Sientes una carga grande de pesar?
	¿Es tu cruz pesada para aguantar?
	Ve tus bendiciones; cuenta y verás
	cómo aflicciones nunca más tendrás.
	Bendiciones, cuenta y verás,
	bendiciones que recibirás;
	bendiciones, cuenta y verás
	cuántas bendiciones de Jesús tendrás.
3.	Cuando veas a otros que más ricos son,
	piensa que de Cristo es tu galardón.
	Oro no te compra lo que Dios te da:
	un hogar eterno donde Él está.
	Bendiciones, cuenta y verás,
	bendiciones que recibirás;
	bendiciones, cuenta y verás
	cuántas bendiciones de Jesús tendrás.
4.	No te desanimes do el mal está,
	y si no desmayas, Dios te guardará.
	Ve tus bendiciones y de Él tendrás
	en tu vida gran consolación y paz.
	Bendiciones, cuenta y verás,
	bendiciones que recibirás;
	bendiciones, cuenta y verás
	cuántas bendiciones de Jesús tendrás.

With Josseline.

With Arlene.

The Monday night FHE crew in Midway.

Hazme Andar en la Luz

Hola familia y amigos! 

Well this week was a blast and a half! It was so fun being in a trio with Hermana Warnock and Hermana Starnes. Since we were in a trio we worked both in Chicago 2nd and Midway! So we definitely kept busy the entire week. Most days it was appointment after appointment and I loved it! 

So last Monday we went to a missionary farewell and the Hermano's son has a little guitar so I was playing it while everyone was singing for a while. Afterwards the Hermano said we could borrow the guitar for the week! So this week has been filled with so much music! We seriously sang at almost every appointment and everyone LOVED it! Hermana Warnock came up with a medley of hymns and we even sang it at a baptism on Saturday with the elders. 

We had a lot of fun contacting this week too! It was so funny because we were determined to talk to everyone, so when the ice cream truck stopped you better believe we contacted the driver! Hermana Warnock was like, "we don't have to buy anything we'll just give him a card." So she goes up to him and starts explaining who we are then he's asking what kind of ice cream she wants. So she turns and looks at us and then back at the guy and says, "I'm going to need to get a powerpuff girls." Then of course Hermana Starnes and I joined in and got teenage mutant ninja turtle and Spider-Man ice cream. Don't worry we got in a good contact too and he accepted a card! 

Another awesome contact was as we were waiting for a train to pass. So there was a ton of traffic and clearly no one was going anywhere so we parked the car and got out and contacted people as they were waiting for this train to go by! I had a pretty cool experience talking to this man sitting in his truck. It was very clear that he was interested in learning about the gospel. He reached for the closest piece of paper and ripped some off and wrote down his name and all his contact information. So cool! 

There's an Hermano in the midway ward who professionally sings with his wife and since I've been bringing that little guitar with me everywhere he played a song for us! That HE wrote! I'll try to remember to send the video.

This week our mission president asked us to study faith and this is just some of my notes from what I learned. I really like in Moroni 10:7 where it says, "for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men." God has the power to do all things, but we can't partake of all the blessings of this power until we show our faith. I love in the bible dictionary under prayer where it says, "Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." Prayer is a basic yet powerful way we can exercise our faith. Because faith is such a powerful principle I know that is why each conference the general authorities counsel us to do very basic things that will help us to strengthen our faith. I was reading a devotional by Randall L. Ridd and I loved this quote, "Prophets past and present have pleaded with us to do small and simple things like praying and studying the scriptures. So, why doesn’t everyone do them? Perhaps one reason is that we don’t necessarily see dramatic negative consequences if we miss a day or two--just as your teeth don’t all decay and fall out the first time you forget to brush. Most of the consequences, positive and negative, will come later, over time. But they will come." I know that there are promised blessings awaiting us as we stay strong and make sure we are nurturing our faith on a daily basis. I know that our faith in the Savior will help us to progress and really understand and participate in the ordinances of Salvation which will help us solidify our testimony and increase our desire to share it with others. 

Well tomorrow is transfer meeting! I will be getting a new companion and she's so awesome! Her name is Hermana Anderson and she's coming from the Chicago 5th ward just next door to where I started. I'm sorry I don't have a ton of time left I wish I could say more about how AWESOME this week was! I love this gospel so much and I know with all my heart that it is true. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week.

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

198

Hazme andar en la luz

1.	Hazme ̮en la luz de Su ̮amor caminar.
	Muéstrame cómo ̮a mi Padre orar.
	Quiero vivir como dijo Jesús.
	Dime cómo andar en la luz.
2.	Ven, pequeñito, y juntos los dos
	aprenderemos las leyes de Dios
	para volver a vivir con Jesús,
	para siempre andar en la luz.
3.	Padre, las gracias queremos rendir,
	pues nos enseñas la senda ̮a seguir.
	A Ti loores cantamos, oh Dios.
	Juntos vamos a ̮andar en la luz.

Las Familias Pueden Ser Eternas

Hola familia y amigos!

What the June? Anyway, this week wasn't terribly eventful but it was good! We finally had our plan of salvation activity at the church on Saturday. It was SO AWESOME we had over 100 people show up! Each room was decorated beautifully representing each part of the plan of happiness and all the members were so great teaching in their individual rooms. We had a few different groups go through the stations and everyone ended in the chapel (celestial kingdom). As people entered the chapel I was playing piano and the reverence was beautiful. We waited until all the groups entered the chapel (which was FILLED) and all the missionaries got up and talked about the celestial kingdom. We even got some referrals from that activity! That night we also celebrated someone from the ward about to leave on her mission. So all the missionaries sang for her and I arranged some music for us. We sang a song called In the Hollow of His Hands and I mixed it with I Love to See the Temple. It was great!

We have a really sweet less active member that we've been working with. She finally came to church on Sunday and we was at the activity on Saturday AND she brought a friend! Blessings all over the place. 

There's a recent convert family we have breakfast with every Saturday morning and guess who joined us this last Saturday? Sweet President and Sister Woodbury! It was great but I felt pretty bad because the ONE day they come with us we get fed cow stomach...FOR BREAKFAST. I guess that's a usual thing in Mexico so I'll stop freaking out. 

We have a new ward mission leader, Hermano Pule! He and his sweet wife are so awesome! Our district has lunch at their house after church every Sunday now. 

Well for the rest of this week I will be in a trio! So Hermana Warnock and Mansfield were/are our sweet Hermana Training Leaders but since Hermana Mansfield's mission was extended she went home a little before the transfer ended so now we get to hang out with Hermana Warnock! We're so pumped to have her she's an amazing missionary! I look forward to all the miracles we will see together! El poder de tres! 

Sorry this email isn't super long but those were the definite highlights of the week! I love being a full time missionary. I love it I love it. It's just so beautiful to see the Lord's hand in everything and know that we are such precious instruments doing HIS work. I know this gospel is true. I feel like particularly this week my testimony of the plan of salvation was strengthened. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and it is SO PERFECT. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know He is central to this Plan of Happiness. I know that families can be together forever. I am so incredibly grateful for that knowledge. I love this gospel with all my heart and I love each of you! I hope everyone has a great week! Paz y bendiciones. 

Keep smiling, 

Hermana Knowles :) 

Las familias pueden ser eternas

1.	Una familia Dios me dio;
	la amo de verdad,
	y yo con ella quiero ̮estar
	por la eternidad.
	Eternas pueden ser las familias
	por el divino plan.
	Yo quiero heredar
	el celestial hogar
	con la mía por la ̮eternidad,
	por toda la eternidad.
2.	Quiero ̮esforzarme desde hoy
	por ser digno ante Dios
	para hacer convenios en
	el templo del Señor.
	Eternas pueden ser las familias
	por el divino plan.
	Yo quiero heredar
	el celestial hogar
	con la mía por la ̮eternidad,
	por toda la eternidad.