This week was definitely one for the books, haha! As crazy and embarrassing as it all was, it was a lot of fun! I have to say that this was just a really good week! I don't think that I have laughed so much in a week as I did this week!
Serving "With" My Friends
Monday was great! Writing home and all that jazz is seriously always one of the high lights of my week! I love being able to write home and receive emails and hear about everything that is going on back home and in friends' missions. It is seriously one of the coolest things ever to be out serving at the same time as SO many of my friends! I love it!
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| With Sisar Fronk eating out :) |
"Searching For Joy"
Well, one profession that Sister Fronk and I have started up is coming up with "Book Titles" for missionaries' missions from stories that they tell or things that are going on! So, for instance, once Elder Waite and Elder Hunter were talking about how they feel really separated from the ward out in Lohja and from everyone else because well.... they are! So they are "Lost in Lohja". We also had some sisters come and tell us how they were trying to find a former investigator named Fabrizio and how they used it as a door contacting approach, haha, by asking if Fabrizio lived there. So "Finding Fabrizio" is their book title! (though they haven't found him yet). Well, we finally came up with ours! We were with Gisel, a new convert, who is absolutely wonderful by the way, and she wanted to introduce us to her friend who isn't a member and also from the Philippines and her name is Joy. So we were looking everywhere for her in this big mall and couldn't find her anywhere and we just started joking about how we are all "Searching for Joy". So that became our title for our mission! And guess what! We found Joy! We also got to have a great lesson with her in the middle of this big mall that made her cry because the Spirit was so strong and now she is our new investigator! So the spirit really can work anywhere :)
Go Hide in The Woods
Tuesday was super great too! The Lohja elders were at interim training in Helsinki for the week and so they weren't going to be in Lohja all week but there were sisters in the ward that our relief society president really wanted us to go visit that lived out in Lohja. Well, it was the perfect situation because we got to "move in" for the day and take over their stomping grounds. The only problem was that the elders forgot to tell us that it was Lohja's personal 'go hide in the woods' holiday and practically no one was around! We had gone to what seemed to be a ton of homes to find that no one was home! So we decided to go and visit a half Finnish, half American family out in Lohja that has the cutest little 5 year old boy in the world, Toivo, that everyone just loves to death! And guess what?! They were home! The best part of the whole day was that when we went and knocked on their door, before the door even opens, we hear "OH MY GOSH!!" from this overly excited little boy who is just in shock to see us! haha He ended up showing us practically all of his belongings. He is the cutest! It was so much fun! We also got to visit the family that the Relief Society President wanted us to visit, Sister Blair, and they have 2 of the cutest little girls that just love to run and talk and so we decided to divide and conquer. Sister Fronk took over talking to the mom, while I took over distracting the kids! It was perfect! I love visiting Lohja!
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| Elder Ahlquist (center) in my district and from my MTC group accidentally forgot to wear a tie one day and went all day with out a tie and with his top button undone and he didn't even notice until the end of the day! So the kind elders in the district all showed up to District meeting without ties.... hahaha. I get to serve with some of the best elders ever! They are great! :) |
Running Crazy!
Wednesday was completely and totally crazy busy all day, much to my over planning things with not much time in between... whoops.! We were on exchanges and I was left in our area to run things! Talk about pressure to know how to get everywhere. Plus, that day we happened to have lessons at each corner of our area, which I have now learned might not be the best idea. We ended up running a lot to lessons, barely missing 2 trains (seeing them pull away right in front of us when we were already running on a tight schedule), watching a bus do the exact same thing, somehow getting on the wrong bus, managing to get us lost and finally having to call a member for directions to their house. But through the miles of running, the wrong turns, and missed trains.... It was SO much fun and we had some awesome lessons so it all worked out great!
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| With Sister Ladd on splits |
Lesson Learned!
Thursday was just plain embarrassing but makes for an awesome story. On Wednesday night we ended up getting home really late because of traveling from exchanges and lessons going way to late and everything. So Thursday...well, let's just say I was exhausted and not the perfect missionary and may not have gotten up on time and then didn't Jaksaa (feel like) to get dressed so I stayed in my pajamas through our studies and I figured that since it was planning day and we would be inside a lot that I had time to get dressed later. Well, lets just say that Heavenly Father had a great way of teaching me a lesson! So we were in the middle of this really great companion study when all of the sudden some people bang on the back door.... Oh No! The first thing that popped into my head was "Angry Drunk Guys" but then I looked at the my companion's face of terror as her face went pale and she said her thoughts out loud, "Trainers.... Temple... Oh No!" I grabbed her knees as we noticed people starting to open the back door and said, "Sister Fronk! I am still in my Pajamas!" haha. Immediately I followed Sister Fronk's great idea "Hurry! Get in the room!" which led to me diving over a couch and rushing into the bedroom... it was so bad! Sister Fronk covered for me, telling them that I wasn't feeling well. It happened to be like 5 of the trainers who were all going to the temple because their trainies were in language school and they wanted to see us. One was this elder that Sister Fronk had served with for a long time, along with practically everyone in my district, who I had heard a ton about and really wanted to meet but guess who decided not to get ready on time?! After they finally left Sister Fronk was dying because she had no makeup on and was so embarrassed. I was dying because I didn't get to meet the famous Elder Werjefelt that everyone talks about! It just goes to teach the both of us, but especially me, to get ready on time and wake up! hahaha It was a good lesson learned. Fortunately they stopped by again after the temple so I got to meet them all :) It was so embarrassing to get a million "get better soon's" even though I was just fine! We were both way embarrassed about the whole thing!
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| missionary night with the young women |
Friday we had Mission Leadership Counsel and so we got to go to the temple! I love being able to go to the temple! This was the fourth time I have been to the temple while on my mission and I just feel like the luckiest missionary ever! Some missionaries have been out a year and still never been inside the temple or only seen it once and I get to see it everyday! It is seriously one of the best blessings ever. The training also was really good and we learned so much and I was so grateful for it. It gave me a new perspective and I am just so grateful to be apart of this amazing work. Afterwards, we got to go and conduct a Young Women's activity focusing on missionary work and that was the coolest thing ever! Every single one of them is wanting to serve a mission and had so many questions for us and it was just great! They were awesome and it was so cool to see how much they look up to us. We had some of them pulling out cameras and taking pictures of us while we were teaching. haha. Its really amazing to be apart of the work and to see how the work really starts to grow and go forth!
Email Hijack!
Hi! I'm Sister Fronk and I have stolen Sister Knapp's email so you can know the truth about her. She is about the most gutsy, hilarious, wonderful person ever! She is doing so well at being a missionary in Finland, which isn't easy. She works really hard at the language and has a natural gift for it that really impresses.
Funny Answers
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| FREEZING!!! |
Saturday and Sunday were both really good. Saturday we did a lot of contacting and tracting because we are still trying to really get this area open and let's just say it was freezing! But fortunately eventually our feet just went numb and then we were fine! No worries, we didn't get frostbite or anything. But we did get to teach Hai our recent convert who is really struggling with jobs and housing and everything and guess what happened! Sister Fronk managed to get a bloody nose right as we got there! So she told him ,"And now Sister Knapp is going to give you a thought that will lift you up and make you feel better". Talk about pressure! But it all worked out :) Sunday was a really interesting day. Our investigator Anna came to church for the fourth time this month! She is amazing! And now she is going to institute too! The only problem is that she is still really busy so she never can meet during the week really but we are hoping to be able to do so at institute this week before she leaves town. She says she can meet next week so we are excited about that! It was really funny to find out that 3 people tried to give her a Book of Mormon on the same day we did. Haha, we just have some awesome members! Sunday was also really exciting because my companion has this habit of passing out on occasion but she never does it in front of other people, just with me. On Sunday she decided (I guess she really didn't actually want to, haha) pass out in front of the ward in the hall right after sacrament meeting! At first Gisel and I were just holding her up and she usually pulls out of it really quick. The elders were asking if she needed to be moved to a chair but I just said that she was fine because I didn't want to draw attention to her since she would hate that, but she didn't start to pull out! So I had to get Elder Waite to help me pick her up and take her to a chair. So we did but she was still having a tough time and all the members were really worried.. So I had to try and explain what was going on to them in Finnish! That was rough! But she ended up coming out of it and being fine! After church, however, she really needed to rest a lot and so she did and I got to study the scriptures to help prepare for the upcoming zone conference. It was the best! Plus I had been praying to know how I can better help my companion and take of the stress load that she has and I even got my answer while studying! Heavenly Father really does have a sense of humor :) ...
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| Hai and Sister Fronk |
D&C 75:10 -12
"Calling on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that is expedient for them-- Praying always that they faint not; and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them even unto the end.... Behold, this is the will of the Lord your God concerning you. Even so. Amen."
I have to say that I love this Gospel and I am so grateful to be here in Finland! I apologize that this is so long! I love you all!
Love,
Sister Knapp
Sister Knapp
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