Venid, Adoremos

December 14, 2015

Hola!

So Olimpia was baptized on Saturday! It was so awesome! She has such a powerful testimony and it has truly been a blessing to have been with her since the beginning and see her progress so quickly. Hermanas Mendieta and Muirbrook came up for the baptism and it was so good to see them too! We met with Olimpia this morning and talked about her baptismal experience. She said quite simply, "I feel clean!" She also talked about how she knows she has work to do within her home to help her family embrace the gospel. She said she's going to work hard because "I want my eternal family." She is such an amazing example! It was really beautiful at the baptism as we sang the closing hymn, "Families Can be Together Forever," I looked and saw Olimpia's husband (who is not a member) with tears running down his cheeks. The spirit is so powerful and it will touch your heart if you let it.

We were also able to go to the temple on Saturday to see a beautiful couple from Hermana Rowbury's old area get endowed and sealed! It was really powerful. We're actually going to be going to the temple again twice this week, once as a zone and then again to see another beautiful couple from Chicago 2nd get sealed :) 

We've done quite a bit of caroling as a district this week which was fun! We had a cool experience when we went to carol to one of our investigators, Jose. He's an old grandpa he's adorable. When he opened the door and we started singing his face lit up he was so happy! The smile on his face didn't leave the whole time we were there. We also shared the new Christmas video with him and he absolutely loved it and was so thankful we came. 

Speaking of the Christmas video...if any of you haven't seen it already you should probably get on that! ITS SO GOOD. It's called: A Savior is Born. Here I'll make it easier for you.

English: christmas.mormon.org

Spanish: navidad.mormon.org

I especially love at the end of the video when it says, "discover why." As I thought about it a little more I realized, well that's exactly what we help people do everyday as missionaries! It's truly a beautiful thing to see people grow closer to the Savior and really understand the significance of why He came and what that means for each of us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Who do you know that needs a Christmas message? I invite you to share this video with whoever it may be that comes to mind. 

I know Christ lives. I know this work is His. I know He is at the head of the church and has provided a way that we can return to our heavenly home. I know we have a loving Heavenly Father. I know He lives. I know He sent His Son to come and be central to His great plan of happiness. I testify that the most pure joy we will ever find comes through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just like Olimpia, I want my eternal family and I am going to work for it. I love you all! Have a great week :)

Keep smiling,

Hermana Knowles

124 Venid, adoremos

1. Venid, adoremos, con alegre canto;

venid al pueblito de Belén.

Hoy ha nacido el Rey de los ángeles.

Venid y adoremos, venid y adoremos,

venid y adoremos a Cristo Jesús.

2. Cantadle loores, coros celestiales;

resuene el eco angelical.

Gloria cantemos al Dios del cielo.

Venid y adoremos, venid y adoremos,

venid y adoremos a Cristo Jesús.

3. Señor, nos gozamos en Tu nacimiento;

oh Cristo, a Ti la gloria será.

Ya en la carne, Verbo del Padre.

Venid y adoremos, venid y adoremos,

venid y adoremos a Cristo Jesús.

Temple Trip

OLIMPIAS BAPTISM! :)

Hay un Hogar Eterno

December 7, 2015

Hola!

Welcome to another edition of Hermana Knowles: The Chicago Missionary
Life. I have decided to entitle this entry: Seguimos en la Tierra
Prometida.

Funny story from the week. We went to go find some former
investigators, Artemio y Juana. We knock and their son comes from the
back of the house and invites us in. Artemio and Juana are a really
sweet older couple and when we arrived they were in the process of
making tamales! Obviously we quickly jumped in to help and long story
short we ended up making over 200 tamales with our little four person
team! Apparently they go out and sell these tamales and we asked them
how often they did this and they were like, "Oh not too often. Only
about EVERY THREE DAYS." They're great. The next day they called us
and said, "We're at the lavandería selling tamales come pick some up!"
 After some searching we found them and the tamales were delicious.

Olimpia is doing great! Her baptism is THIS Saturday! She is so
excited it's awesome. She brought her kids to church again yesterday
and they loved it! They're so adorable! Every time we teach her she
always shares her testimony with us and it's so powerful. After our
lesson with her this morning she excused herself for a minute and came
back with an adorable collared shirt/vest/tie combo that her son
picked out to wear to church because he wants to look his best. There
is seriously NOTHING better than sharing the gospel and being able to
see others get so excited about it and families brought closer.

Our recent convert Gabriel is going to get the priesthood next week! I
probably scared the people sitting around me in the chapel when they
announced it because I was so excited. We started teaching his kids
this week about the gospel and we're really excited to see them
progress. Yesterday he also went up to share his testimony during
sacrament meeting and it was absolutely beautiful. He talked about how
there's no such thing as coincidences in the gospel and he expressed
his gratitude to Heavenly Father that his children were able to hear
about the gospel this past week too. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Testimony meeting was simply amazing yesterday. One Hermano went up
and told us about how he has recently started coming back to church.
My companion made a comment about how there is so much power when
recent converts or returning members share their testimony. This
Hermano expressed so much gratitude to have the gospel be a part of
his life again and he also thanked his home teachers because they were
a major factor in helping him return. Something I got from that was
how no effort is wasted and we should never ever give up on someone. I
know the Savior doesn't give up on us and I know this gospel is true
and that will never change.

My sweet sweet family and friends, I wish I could express how much
being a missionary means to me. I'm sure no matter how hard I try it
wouldn't be sufficient. Not only is the Lord changing the lives of
those around me but He is most certainly changing mine. I love this
gospel and I know it's true and there's no way I could ever deny it. I
know Jesus Christ lives. And guess what that means! That means He
truly came to the earth and lived a perfect, sinless life. That means
He truly suffered for each of us and died on a cross in Calvary. That
means He truly performed the Atonement and was resurrected three days
later. That means we too will live again. That means we don't have to
go through anything by ourselves. That means we have a Savior and a
Heavenly home. And it means so much more. I love you all so very much!
Stay strong and please please please

Keep smiling :)

Hermana Knowles

190 Hay un hogar eterno

1. Hay un hogar eterno, lleno de amor,
donde todos cantan, donde no hay dolor.
Ángeles allá cantan, dando a Dios gran loor.
Algún día veremos nuestro hogar de amor.

Oh, dulce hogar, oh bello hogar;
morada de Cristo, oh bello hogar.

2. Miles de flores crecen en aquel hogar,
do los niños suelen al Salvador honrar,
y le cantan, gozosos, himnos de grande loor.
Algún día veremos nuestro hogar de amor.

Oh, dulce hogar, oh bello hogar;
morada de Cristo, oh bello hogar.

3. Pronto tendré la dicha de morar allá.
Rescatóme Cristo; mi protección será.
Lo veré ya muy pronto, en Su mansión celestial.
Ese día veremos nuestro hogar de amor.

Oh, dulce hogar, oh bello hogar;
morada de Cristo, oh bello hogar.

This one is from a baby shower.

Oh Mi Padre

November 30, 2015

Hola!

Tuesday was transfer meeting and it was so awesome to see everyone!
Literally all of the Hermanas in the mission were there so we took
ourselves a nice group picture. Every transfer meeting we have a
tradition where all the missionaries that are going home go up front
and sing the first verse of Hope of Israel and then everyone joins in
after that. Well this is the last transfer for me and the four other
wonderful Hermanas that I was in the CCM with, but three of them are
going back a week early to start school at BYU. So this being their
last transfer meeting President invited them to go up too for the
traditional departing Hope of Israel and it was so weird to see them
up there without me and Hermana Dowdle! Man I just love them all so
much. Everything is slowly but surely starting to feel super real and
I don't like it haha.

Anyway! My new companion is Hermana Rowbury and she's awesome! She's
from Idaho Falls and she's been on her mission almost a year now.
Since we got back to the area after transfer meeting its been nonstop
hard work. We've already seen some miracles within the first few days
of our companionship which has been quite the blessing. We met with
our investigator, Lizeth, and had an awesome lesson with her! We
taught her a couple commandments and afterwards we discussed a little
about how the lesson before she had accepted the invitation the be
baptized. Well long story short she accepted a date to be baptized in
December and we're extremely excited for her! We've made some progress
with other investigators too and even one of our less active members
opened up to us a lot this week.

Thanksgiving in Gurnee was pretty great! We went over to the house of
la Familia Perez for dinner and a few other members came too (Los
hermanos Obregon, Martinez, and Aguilera). Such a fun group! We most
certainly had a good time.

We wanted to do a finding activity as a district on thanksgiving but
it didn't end up working out so we got together on Saturday instead.
We went to the mall with two signs (one English and one Spanish)
asking people to write down what they're thankful for. It was pretty
fun! Afterwards we had lunch and Hermana Rowbury wanted to take a
selfie and there was a lady that was waiting for her to take the
picture so she could get by and we told her she could be in it so the
lady runs over and gets in the selfie it was really funny. As she was
walking away she was like, "If anyone asks who is in your picture,
it's Terry." Haha

We had another AWESOME Sunday! We had 3 investigators come and a less
active family that we've been working with was there too. Olimpia was
there and she was telling me that she's so excited and nervous for her
baptism on the 12th! She told Hermano Lugo (our ward mission leader),
"I wish it could be the 12th already!" So she's doing great! Our
investigator Jose came again as well and he really likes church and
we're excited to keep working with him! LIZETH CAME TOO! This was her
first Sunday at church. She left after sacrament meeting because she
had to start working at 3 but it was SO awesome to see her there! The
less active family that came was the Lopez family. We call them the
Pokémons because this Hermana has four kids and they all have Japanese
names haha (Yamy, Yashiro, Arumy, and Sayuky....Lopez).

Well family and friends the work is moving forward here in the
wonderful land of Gurnee and I'm so thankful to be a part of this
great work. I know this Gospel is true and I know it changes lives. I
know my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, live and love us
each so deeply and individually. I love this work so much. There's
nothing else I'd rather be doing right now than serving full time for
the Lord. I invite you all to take whatever steps may be necessary to
strengthen your relationship with our Heavenly Father. I know that as
we do so we can find the purest joy there is and nothing compares to
it. I love you all so much and hope everyone has a great week!

por favor KEEP SMILING,

Hermana Knowles :)

187 Oh mi Padre

1. Oh mi Padre, Tú que moras
en el celestial hogar,
¿cuándo volveré a verte
y Tu santa faz mirar?
¿Tu morada antes era
de mi alma el hogar?
En mi juventud primera,
¿fue Tu lado mi altar?

2. Pues, por Tu gloriosa mira
vine al mundo a morar,
olvidando los recuerdos
de mi vida premortal.
Pero algo a menudo
dice: “Tú errante vas”;
siento que un peregrino
soy, de donde Tú estás.

3. Antes te llamaba Padre,
sin saber por qué lo fue,
mas la luz del Evangelio
aclaróme el porqué.
¿Hay en los cielos padres solos?
Clara la verdad está;
la verdad eterna muestra:
madre hay también allá.

4. Cuando deje esta vida
y deseche lo mortal,
Padre, Madre, quiero veros
en la corte celestial.
Sí, después que yo acabe
cuanto tenga que cumplir,
permitidme ir al cielo
con vosotros a vivir.

Hazme Andar en la Luz

November 23, 2015

Well I'll tell you what family and friends, this past week wind chimes have most certainly been getting quite the workout around these parts. Also this cold, white, powdery stuff fell from the sky at such an intensity a few nights ago that it seems white is now the dominant color everywhere you look. After test and trial we've come to the conclusion that it only creates an increased probability of losing balance, but is otherwise harmless. So yeah it's windy, it snowed, and I'm freezing, BUT the work moves forward in the promised land of Gurnee, Illinois! 

On Saturday we received a transfer call and I'll be finishing my mission here in Gurnee and my new companion is Hermana Rowbury! She's legit. Sweet Hermana Mendieta will be going to my last area in Chicago 2nd. Exciting stuff!  

This week was kinda crazy, just the way I like it! On Friday we had an activity here at the church where we had all in attendance live Lehi's Dream! Our district got here early and set up an obstacle course with a rope that lead the way to the tree of life. It turned out pretty awesome! 

On Saturday a little boy in the ward (Elias) got baptized and Hermana Mendieta and I were asked to speak at his baptism. We made five little footsteps and put them on the floor in front of him. Each of the steps were the gospel of Jesus Christ leading to the celestial kingdom. Elias really liked it and we took a group picture with everyone that I'll send. 

Family and friends I love you and hope all is well! The gospel is true and I'm so thankful to have it in my life. I want you all to know that I know that Christ lives and I know that because of His Atoning sacrifice we all have the opportunity to be clean and start over. Through that same act of love I know we will all be resurrected and can live in a fullness of joy as eternal families. I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His perfect example. I love being a missionary. I love it I love it I love it! There's no greater joy than being able to dedicate your time to inviting others to come unto Christ and experience the purest joy there is. 

Mantener la sonrisa,

Hermana Knowles

"Elder Bawden what's your favorite hymn?"

"Teach Me to Walk in the Light."

"Thanks."

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.

 District family picture

Elias' baptism. He's in between me and Hermana Mendieta

Primary program!

Act naturally they said.

Soy un Hijo de Dios

November 16, 2015

Hola!

First of all shout out to dad! Happy Birthday tomorrow! I love you and
I hope it's awesome :)

Fun fact: At zone conference one of the office missionaries, Sister
Last, referred to phones as "texting machines." I thought it was
funny.

SUNDAY WAS AWESOME! We had two investigators come to church. Olimpia
came again but this time she brought her two kids and they loved it!
Our investigator, Jose also came which was a total surprise! He is a
friend of Hermana Blanca too (she's on fire!) We haven't been able to
see him in a while so when he walked into the chapel with his suit and
tie we freaked out! On Friday we went to help one of our investigators
fold some paperwork and there we met some nice people. Before we left
I asked if it was ok if we sang a hymn for them and they were so
excited they even recorded us sing haha. Afterward we gave them each a
card with our number and the address of the church and then we left.
GET THIS. Two of the people we met there actually CAME TO CHURCH on
Sunday too! Suit and tie and everything! They're in the elders area so
we introduced them so they could exchange information and they're in
good hands. This Sunday was such a blessing to see so many new faces
at church. Collectively as a district we had 11 investigators come!
#hasteningthework

This is the last week of the transfer and we have some exciting things
planned! On Friday we are having a missionary activity at the church
that we've been planning for the past couple weeks and Saturday a
couple beautiful people from Chicago 2nd are getting sealed! Que
exciting.

Sorry this email isn't as long as usual I guess most of the excitement
was on Sunday. Stay strong family and friends! This gospel is true! I
know it. I know we can find the purest joy there is as we live the
gospel of Jesus Christ. I know our Savior lives and I'm thankful for
Him, for His example, and for His Atoning sacrifice. I know that
because of Him we can move forward with faith and hope in knowing
Heavenly Father has prepared a divine plan for us to live with Him
again. I love you all and pray for you :)

Alma 7:11-13

Mantener la sonrisa,

Hermana Knowles

196 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.

Chicago 2nd. REPRESENT.

This is the Marquina Family that we're currently teaching. The guy on
the left is a family friend and the dad is taking the picture.
And I taught Marcos (Gabriel's son) how to play I Am a Child of God
during our lesson on Saturday!

Mandó a Su Hijo

November 9, 2015

Hola! 

Another busy week in the land of Gurnee. On Wednesday we had exchanges and I went over to Logan Square with my MTC companion Hermana Stout! It was great! One of my favorite things about that area is that there's people EVERYWHERE. So I made the most of it and talked to everyone I could because we don't have that luxury here in the buffalo grove area. I contacted a super nice guy who literally just arrived in Chicago from Germany and that was quite the experience! I just thought I'd throw that in here cause that doesn't happen everyday. Well something extremely similar happened on a separate exchange I had in Logan Square at the beginning of my mission. I was with Hermana Izu and we contacted a guy who also had literally just got off a plane from Ecuador. I guess when you come to Chicago from a foreign country Logan Square is the place to go. So yeah the exchange went really well! 

Our investigator Olimpia is doing so great! We meet with her twice a week and during one of our visits last week she basically shared her testimony of the Book of Mormon which was awesome! We invited her to be baptized on a certain date and as I was inviting her I paused and felt to change the date to a week later. I invited her and when I said the day she looked surprised and at first I thought it was because she thought it was too soon but she said, "I was thinking about getting baptized around then too! That's the Saturday before my birthday." The Spirit is a beautiful thing. AND SHE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY AND LOVED IT. I could go on and on. This lady is so awesome and so prepared for the gospel! 

Saturday morning we went to help clean the church building and our investigator, Lucrecia came to help! She's awesome but she's going through a lot of hard things right now so please keep her in your prayers! 

Oh my relief society! On Saturday evening the relief society had a thanksgiving dinner and our relief society president is awesome and she went all out. She comes in with some legit face paint and this turkey feather headband thing. She was like, "you know my parties are always themed!" She brought headband feather things for everyone too it was hilarious. 

Another cool fact about the week is that we had a member at all three of our lessons on Friday and various lessons throughout the week! These members are on fire! I'm super thankful for them and that they're so willing to help us out. So shout out to the members! Haha. On Tuesday we had two members with us at a lesson, one of the ward missionaries Hermana Montiel, and our recent convert GABRIEL! It was so cool to have Gabriel there to share his testimony. Afterwards he was telling us about how much he loved teaching with us and told us he wants to come more often! 

We went to subway for dinner on Tuesday night and ahead of us in line was this adorable baby that kept running up to us and back to his mom. Long story short after we got our food we found out this child loves to take selfies and he got a pretty great candid picture of me in the background that I'll send :) 

Well today for pday we're finally going to visit downtown Chicago! It's been quite some time so I'm way excited. We're going to meet Hermana Ludivia from Chicago 4th for lunch and I can't wait to see her! Also can't go wrong with a reunion with a former companion that I love very much :) 

Well family and friends! You guessed it, testimony time! I know this gospel is true and it makes me so happy to be able to share it all day every day here in the mission field. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it truly is another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know my Savior and my Father in Heaven live and love us more than words can express, and I know that we can find the most joy, comfort, and peace in this life by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope everyone has a great week! 

Mantener la sonrisa,

Hermana Knowles 

We were invited to sing this song at institute on Tuesday night :)

20

Mandó a Su Hijo

1.	¿Cómo podía demostrar el Padre Su amor?
	Mandó ̮a Su Hijo a nacer, pequeño Salvador.
	¿Cómo podía indicar la senda a seguir?
	Mandó ̮a Su Hijo a mostrar cómo ̮a los cielos ir.
	Y de la muerte, ¿cómo nos podía enseñar?
	Mandó ̮a Su Hijo a morir y a resucitar.
	¿Qué es lo que nos pide Dios?
	La fe ̮y la caridad, ser como Jesucristo fue
	y ̮a a otros ayudar.
	¿Qué pide Dios? Ser como Jesús.