An Answer to Prayer
Well this week has been a lot better than last week! Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and support! I have honestly felt them a lot this past week! Well I am not sure where to begin so I will just "begin by beginning". To start I would like to challenge everyone to think of a question that they really want an answer to going into General Conference because I promise you will get an answer! Last week was really hard and I had really started to question why I am here. It would be sooo much easier to just give up and go home. So over the past week I have been praying to really know why I am here, but I hadn't really gotten an answer until Tuesday when my teacher Veli Stewart challenged us to write down a question and take it with us to church. I actually forgot to do this Sunday so I decided to do it on Tuesday at the devotional. I wrote down, "Why am I here?". To be honest during the talk, given by Gregory A. Schwitzer of the Seventy, I wasn't sure my question would really be answered since he was mostly talking about becoming a consecrated missionary. But when you sincerely have a question and have faith that the Lord will answer in His timing, He will answer! I got two answers during the devotional. One I would say wasn't exactly the gentle way of answering why I am here. #1. "You will not go home until you have done what the Lord has called you to do." So it doesn't really matter that I don't know exactly why I am here at the moment because the Lord called me to this work and I am not going home until I see it through. #2 "You are here to become disciples of Christ, to declare His word and gospel, and to bring joy to the world." So I am here to help and serve others. I know that God loves each and everyone of us and will hear and answer our questions and concerns. I know he answers them through so many ways, through speakers, prayer, and church. But all of those answers truly come when we rely on Him and listen to the spirit. :)
Finnish
Finnish is HARD! I love learning Finnish SO much! Even though it can be really frustrating and difficult. But it is coming.... VERY VERY Slowly. I feel like I can speak Finnish well but when one of the teachers is talking to me in Finnish... well you know... it is like they are speaking a foreign language and you have absolutely no idea what in the world they are saying! Which makes it a tad bit difficult to respond... So most the time when they say something in Finnish I just nod my head and say "Kylla" (yes) or "Hyvää" (good) haha. I am sure that many previous missionaries who have served missions know exactly what this feels like! :) But I got to meet with my teacher Sisar Shaw yesterday for an interview and I talked to her all about it so she is going to start to make sure that I am really understanding in class. So that will be really good! She said my grammar is great though! That was huge! That made me feel a lot better about myself to know that at least I am doing something right with the language! Most of the elders and sisters in the Finnish districts say they are the opposite. They can understand Finnish but they can't respond. I can respond but I don't understand! Thankfully I have my companions who do understand and they translate to me and then I respond in Finnish! But I know that the gift of tongues and gift of interpretation is real and that it will come! By the way, this is how you say 1820 in Finnish: tuhatkahdeksansataakaksikymmentä :)
Good Ol' Brian Regan
Best thing ever!! One of my companions Sisar Ross loves Brian Regan too! So we quote him all the time! Last night we had to clean our apartment for P-day since they come in the morning while we are at the temple. We have one of those AWFUL old cheap vacuum cleaners with the super long cords that has nothing to wrap around when you are trying to put it away. Do you know what I am talking about? Anyways, I was getting a little frustrated with it and all I could think was, "They can put a man on the moon but they can't make a dang vacuum cord that won't bunch up! They can put a man on the moon!!" haha Sisar Ross and I just about died on that one. She continued the quote by saying, "Sisar Knapp is that vaccuum cord driving you crazy?" Me: "Ah, Nah! They haven't even put a man on the moon yet! Why would I let something like this bother me?" Good ol' Brian Regan! making our day! :)
The Light Side of the MTC
Well, Sadly our Mexico Elders are gone! It is SO sad! It was so much fun playing Volleyball with them! Elder Park, Elder Tanner, and Elder Johnson could make us laugh like crazy! To be honest, I think I have laughed more in the MTC then I have ever in my life! (I think that all of the studying gets to us after awhile and makes everything 10x funnier then it really is...) But now that they are gone we get to play with the Hungarian and Estonian Elders that came in! They are so fun! One of the elders going to Hungry is from Ireland! How cool is that?! He has one of the coolest accents ever and so we all try and speak it. Especially Elder Call. He is sure that if he can pick up an Irish accent that he will be able to convert a lot more people... elders. :) Speaking of Elders...you know how they drank Coke and Mentos together last week? Well they did it again!! What!? I really don't know what goes through their heads sometimes... Plus one of the elders ended up drinking a bottle of Tabasco Sauce.... They are definitely still boys!
Overcoming Struggles
Well Missionary work is hard and a lot of work! But I love it and even though we have all decided that "it will hit and it will hit hard, but that is just Satan trying to kill you".... So I just have decided that on that days that I can feel Satan working extra hard on me to be down or discouraged, I just think that there must be something amazing that God has in store for me! :) So never get down on yourself! Look at the positive when life gets hard and just hold to the iron rod, especially when you start to question yourself. Because I know that the Lord has a special plan and purpose for all of us! I love this work even the ups and downs! It is a blessing! I have never been happier or laughed so much, but I also have never struggled so much. But the amazing thing is that the laughs and smiles far outweigh the down moments. This gospel really is the way to everlasting happiness!
Mina Rakastan Teita! ( I love you all!)
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Knapp
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