Questions Answered...

We asked Kaitlin a few questions and here are the answers she sent. You'll have to guess what the questions were....

 

 

1. The weather is hot, hot, hot, and humid, humid, humid.  Poor Hermana Sorensen doesn't quite know what to do with herself.  The backs of her hands sweat even.  Thankfully, my body has adapted quite nicely.  But it's still...adventurous at times, we'll say.  Whenever I take my backpack off, you can easily tell where the straps were, thanks to the sweat marks on my shirt.  But I love it.  The flowers are all out now, and it just looks like a paradise really.  But yeah, it's about 95 degrees or so generally.

2. The city I'm in right now is called Lambaré, and it's a little smaller than Manhattan I think.  I'm not sure, really...they all kind of blend together, the cities.  But it's about a half hour by bus from Asunción. 

3. Yes, there are stores and shops and restaurants.  There's a "despensa" in about every block.  A despensa is a mini grocery store.  It has everything, just not much of it, so everyone goes to despensas during the week to buy things, but then about once a week they go to the regular grocery store.  There are a couple bakeries here as well, and a couple clothing shops.  But they're not super classy.  It's kind of fun, though, because in Paraguay if you want to start a business, you just find a spot and start one.  So a lot of people just open little shops to try to make money, but a lot of the products aren't very quality.  But it's kind of fun.

4. As far as paved roads go, it depends on what area you're in.  In the country, I don't think any roads are paved.  In my last area, Leopardi, just the two main streets were paved, and the rest were just calles pedradas, which are just rock roads.  In this area, there are a few paved roads as well--more than in Leopardi--but the majority are rock roads. Cobblestone!  That's the word I was looking for.  Sheesh, I can't speak english anymore.

5. Yes, we always see mules/horses pullling carts.  That is a very frequent sight. 

6. I sing all the time.  I think my companions get bugged by it.  So I've tried to mellow it out a little, haha.  And yes, we sing a hymn before almost every lesson.  I love music!  The Spirit's always stronger when we've sung a hymn. 

7. No.  You silly people.  Like I would ever dance in front of a mirror.

8. You better believe it.  I do my excited fingers after many lessons and every night when we come back to the house.  Missionary work makes me excited.

9. YEP!  By now, I probably have about 45 of them.  They multiply, you know.

10.  Well, I'll just tell you what a few of the investigators/members do.  It's really varied, like it is in the U.S., and there are many levels of prosperity.  For example, our bishop is an architect.  He actually works for the church in making plans and building chapels in southern South America.  I know a few lawyers and a policeman.  There are a couple high school teachers.  The collectivo system is one source of work for the people here.  Everyone takes collectivos (just public busses) to and from work, home, the store, etc.  One of the counselors in the bishopric drives a collectivo.  There are a lot of factories here--clothes factories, beer factories, etc.--that many people work in.  Lots of people open up despensas.  And the poor, poor people (many of the people who live in Yukyty, for example) walk the streets every day with big bins-on-wheels collecting plastic or rubber to sell. 

 

Thanks for the questions!  I hope my answers were sufficient.

Our favorite!

I am posting again today because I forgot about a funny incident in Kaitlin's e-mail from a weeks ago. I'll let her tell it in her own words:

Wednesday evening we were planning on teaching a man named José Dominguez, an old investigator that's been to church four or five times.  We made contact with him earlier in the week, and we were excited to teach him.  When we got there, a man that looked just like José walked out and told us that he was José's twin and that José wouldn't be back for awhile but had left the message that we could pass by another day.  Well, we weren't buying that.  Paraguayans have a way of making up some crazy stories just to avoid telling you "no".  When we asked him what his name was, he said, "My name's José Domingo Dominguez too, but they call him José and they call me Domingo."  Uh huh.  We walked away a little disappointed.  Hna. Hubbard's theory was that in his old age (he's over 60...not that old, but still), he had developed a dual personality.  It was kind of funny.

 

Later, on Sunday, Kaitlin and her companion were hurrying to church. They needed to get there because Kaitlin was supposed to speak. However, they had some things happen on the way to church and they ended up getting there late. Kaitlin still wasn't sure what she was going to speak about, so she was feeling a little stressed. Here is what she said:

 

I realized that Hno. Leguizamón was finishing up, and I had no idea what I was going to say for the last ten minutes of the meeting.  When the Bishop announced my name, I had a mini panic attack inside, but the Lord answered my prayer.  "Testimony" was the word that came to mind.  "Talk about testimony."  So I did.  I tell you, I don't even remember too well what I said.  I remember I shared an experience I had with bearing my testimony to a friend as a teenager.  I remember I shared Alma 32:17, 27-28 and talked a little bit about how to gain a testimony.  But I don't remember much more of what I said.  I do remember I was emotional.  I do remember feeling a lot of love for the ward.  I do remember that the chapel was quiet.  I do remember hearing myself express truth with a fluidity that I definitely do not possess, especially in the Spanish language.  And I do remember looking over at the doorway five minutes before my talk ended and seeing José Dominguez and his twin, Domingo, both walk in, smiling and waving at me.  That was the Lord's doing.  That was a miracle.  That sacrament meeting was an answer to prayer.  

 

That is probably our favorite mission story to date!  

 

 

Time Flies!!

Sorry we are not very punctual posters.

Kaitlin continues to love her service in Paraguay. Her weekly e-mails elicit excitement, laughter and sometimes a few tears around here. We love that girl and miss her so much!

Here are a couple of excerpts from a recent letter:

Let's see...I'll just give a brief day-by-day review I think.  Monday we climbed Cerro Lambaré (this big hill in our area...it's the tallest hill for miles, and it's not even that tall) with Antonela.  She's so dang funny.  She told us to bring a lot of water and to wear really comfortable shoes because it was a really arduous hike.  In reality, it took us about 12 minutes to climb up (she did have to stop and rest once), and she wore flip-flops.  Funny.  Paraguayans have a way of exaggerating, and I just love them for it.

Saturday was another day of torrential rain.  My goodness.  It was ridiculous--harder than the one two weeks ago.  It started raining during our studies that morning, and by the time we left the house, it was coming down hard.  Thankfully I found an old bright green poncho in our apartment, and I had no shame in putting it on.  I looked like a giant green monster, but I kept halfway dry, and that's all I was worried about.  It was rather comical.  People sure get a kick out of watching us trudge through knee-deep water on the streets. 

After buying ingredients, making phone calls, and contacting a few people, we got to the chapel five minutes before conference was to begin.  It was still pouring, and they were having trouble finding the signal.  For a solid hour, the satellite didn't work.  No one was in the chapel except about 14 missionaries a couple members, and the screen was blank.  I prayed a lot inside, and I knew every other missionary was praying as well, but I kept thinking we should all pray together.  I didn't really pay attention to that prompting like I should have, but after a few minutes, the zone leaders walked over to us and told us we were all going to go to another room for a minute.  We all walked out of the chapel and into a sunday school room, and Elder Piriz (my old district leader...he's now my zone leader!) said both he and his companion received the impression to say a prayer all together.  We all kneeled down, and an elder who's only been in Paraguay for two months offered a beautiful prayer.  The Spirit was so sweet in that little room.  We walked into the chapel again together, and just as we did so, Elder José Alonso of the Seventy came up onto the screen.  I mean, it was the very second we walked into the chapel.  It was such a tender mercy, and a very real answer to prayer.  How grateful I am for  Heavenly Father who loves each one of His children so much.

The "conference" Kaitlin was referring to is the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is broadcast worldwide over television, internet, and satellite twice each year, in April and October. If you are curious about it, go to lds.org and click on October 2011 General Conference. You will find lots of motivational and uplifting messages.

Kaitlin's reaction to her brother Taylor's mission call to the Czech Prague Mission...

WHOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can I even describe how excited I am for Taylor?!  No, I cannot.  Taylor, you will be the most stellar of stellar missionaries.

Miracles

 Last week and the beginning of this one were a little bit slow; we were experiencing a bit of a slump, but we weren't discouraged because I have certainly learned that "slumps" often precede miracles.  But you can't just sit and wait for the miracles to happen.  You have to evaluate yourself and pray and figure out what needs to be done to show greater faith in the Lord and greater diligence to His work.  Hna. Hubbard and I decided that we'd take seriously the counsel to talk to everyone, and that we'd teach in every single opportunity that arose.   We made this resolve on Friday night with the resolve to crawl into bed dog tired on Sunday because we had worked so hard Saturday and Sunday.  And that's just what happened.  Monday through Friday, we only taught 20 lessons, which is very few for us, but we prayerfully decided that meeting the mission goal of 40 lessons a week was still possible if we did our part, so we just talked to everyone and taught a ton of lessons Saturday and Sunday and ended the week with 41 lessons and 12 new investigators, plus several contacts we made who didn't have time at the moment to share with us, but whom we are going to contact again because we felt that the Spirit really led us to them.  Wow.  It was so neat.  The Lord works in miraculous, beautiful ways, if we will just do the little that He asks of us.  Miracles are real, and they are borne of faith. 

 

Speaking of miracles, I'll give you a few in detail.  Last Monday night as we looked at our schedule for Tuesday, we realized we didn't have many set appointments at all, which was weird.  That usually isn't a huge issue, and it was weird that we didn't realize it until Monday night.  So we decided to work an area that we don't work very often and went to bed, not knowing what would lie ahead of us the next day.  The next morning, we got a call from the relief society president, who told us that a young mother had just been abandoned by her husband and was left with two little children.  This young mother was falling into a really serious state of depression and needed immediate help, and we were able to go and be with her and clean her house and help her with her kids for the majority of the day.  I know that the Lord knew she needed us that day, and I know He provided a way that we would have the time she so desperately needed. 

 

Thursday we found a woman named Digna who just lost her son to a brain aneurism a year ago.  We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and the Spirit was so strong.  She accepted an invitation to be baptized. 

 

Friday was a huge miracle as well.  The night before, we had ran into a menos activo named Mariela and asked if we could pass by to visit her sometime.  She said yes, and the next day we passed by her house.  I could not remember her name for the life of me, and I hadn't written it down anywhere, but I kept thinking it was Mariana.  So we clapped outside her door and then heard this woman's voice, "Who's there?"  We told her we were the missionaries and if Mariana was there.  She said, "Yeah, that's me."  Then she opened the door.  When I saw it was someone different, I was a little confused, but as we talked I realized that she was a friend of Mariela's and that she and her husband lived there as well (not in the same house...they're two "piezas" right next to each other.  Pieza just means "room," or "super small apartment").  Mariela wasn't there, so we taught Mariana, and she liked it a lot.  Coincidence that the only name I could think of was Mariana and then a Mariana really lived there?  Definitely not.  That was the hand of the Lord.

The Many Blessings of Serving a Mission

 Kaitlin is not only sharing the gospel, but learning from those she is teaching.

 

Wednesday was pretty normal (and normal in the mission means wonderful); nothing out of the ordinary.  Every once in awhile we do service by helping one of our investigators study for her exams.  She's studying to be a lawyer.  We read her a paragraph from the text, and then she explains what it said.  Teaching really helps you learn, you know, so it's been a big help for her, plus it's helped us improve in our Spanish abilities.  You know, it's so incredible to look at just how many aspects of my life are being blessed by serving a mission.  Before my mission I wasn't as dedicated a student as I should have been.  I know that.  And little by little, my confidence in my ability to study well and get excellent grades deteriorated.  But I've been inspired by many examples of dedicated students here in Paraguay.  This lady, Estelvina, works full-time and then comes home every night and studies for hours until she goes to bed.  And she does it cheerfully.  There's a lot of people like that here, really, and partly as a result of their example, I've determined to be a better, more dedicated student when I return.

 

 Kaitlin is working with quite a few people who are investigating the church. One of them is Sani...

 

Thursday we had a really powerful lesson with Sani, a 14-year old girl we're teaching that lives in Yukyty (the super poor part of our area).  We had invited her to be baptized the week before, and on Thursday she told us she still wasn't sure about it because her grandma really wants her to be confirmed in the Catholic church.  She said she's confused because every church says that it's the "right one."  She paused for a moment and then said..."Just like Joseph Smith!"  We invited her to do just what Joseph Smith did--read the scriptures, attend church, and pray--with a promise that an answer would come.  She was going to attend church on Sunday--she was really committed--but her parents took her to the yearly Expo, so she didn't end up attending.  Next week!

Kaitlin and Hermana Little, her companion, are also teaching the Gaona family, whom they are growing to love.

We also taught the family Gaona again.  They're the ones with the autistic boy.  I think they're on the road to change.  Oftentimes, change doesn't happen immediately, but yes, I think they're getting there.  We have another appointment with them on Friday.  They are so kind to us.  After the lesson, Hna. Gaona called us into the kitchen, where she had prepared a very lovely dinner of pasta and chorizo, mandioca, and strawberry juice.  Delicious.

 

Kaitlin's faith and steadfastness are a blessing to us, her family.

 

Well, that's about it.  I love this gospel.  My testimony is the most treasured possesion I have.  We are so blessed to have a knowledge of God's perfect plan for us, based on eternal, unchanging truths that lead to eternal happiness.  This gospel is a reality.

 

More Adventures in Paraguay

We always look forward to Kaitlin's long, detailed, expressive e-mails. Kaitlin is always positive and upbeat. In one email she writes about some frustrations she has had with some of the people she is working with, but adds:

"I don't want you to think I've ever been discouraged.  I never have been.  Frustrated with the inconsistency of a few people? Yes.  Challenged?  Yes.  But never discouraged.  I just have a firm knowledge of the pure love and consistency of my Heavenly Father, and I trust Him completely.  So there is no room for discouragement."

Kaitlin usually adds something in her e-mail that makes us laugh. Here is an example:


"There weren't a lot of hilarious things that happened this week, but there was one pretty funny incident.  We were in a hurry to get to Lizzy's house on time, and as we were walking past this corner market, I recognized Gilberto Caballero, a recent convert of about a year.  He now lives in another area, so we never teach him, but we see him every once in awhile because he works in our area.  As we got closer to him, I could see that he had a large mug of beer in his hand, and a bottle of beer sitting next to him.  And he was a little tipsy.  First of all, you need to know that this man's heart is "as big as all outdoors," as they say.  He is such a good man.  But yes, he had evidently tripped up a little bit as far as the Word of Wisdom goes.  But we stopped to say "hi" to him, and his happiness to see us was a little exaggerated because of the beer I think.  "Hoooooooola, hermana!" he said, "I want to buy you something.  Anything!  Here are some plums, grapes, grapefruit, bananas, oranges, what do you want?  You name it, and I'll buy it!"  I tried to tell him we were in hurry, that we were grateful for the offer but we had to go, but he insisted.  So I said, "Umm, I would like one banana."  Devastated, he said, "One banana?!  No, no, no, you'll have more than one banana."  Then he proceeds to pick up an armload of bananas--22, I counted later--and dump them into my arms.  Then we walked into the store to pay for them.  The cashier was cracking up, as was Hna. Plummer.  Oh, my.  I suppose we can now make banana bread for the entire ward.  Maybe that will be our P-day activity today."

Kaitlin was transferred a couple of weeks ago from Leopardi to Ita Enramada. She writes of how she felt, leaving all of the investigators she has grown to love:

 "...my heart just hurt on Tuesday as I thought about not being there to see them progress and learn and grow to love the gospel more and more.  But I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity I had to work with them.  They were so much more than just "investigators" to me.  They were each individually very much a part of my life, and I love them."

She also was sad to say good-bye to Hermana Plummer. They were quite a pair and got along fabulously. But she was happy to hear that her new companion is Hermana Little, who Kaitlin roomed with at the MTC. She describes her first impressions of Ita Enramada:

"So yes, now I am here.  This area is a lot different than Leopardi.  It's much more "chuchi," as they say: there are a lot of really nice houses and a lot more cars and paved roads.  It was kind of a culture shock, to tell you the truth.  But then there's one area, "Jukyty" (which means "really salty" or something in Guarani) that is SUPER poor.  It's just a bunch of shacks.  So it's an interesting area.  There are people from all walks of life, and that makes it kind of fun and exciting.  Our apartment is a lot nicer too.  It's big, and the apartment in Leopardi was super dinky.  So that's kind of fun too."

One wonderful experience Kaitlin recently had was being able to attend the Paraguay, Asuncion Temple. She said she walked through the door and  "I just felt this overwhelming feeling of home.  And that's all I could think about as the little temple worker from Arizona led us to the dressing room.  I almost got a little teary, it just felt so right being there.  Ah.  The temple really is the house of the Lord.  And it's such a unique experience entering the temple after having been in a strange country doing the Lord's work for five months.  That feeling of home was even deeper than usual for that reason I think.  I don't know.  I'm not explaining this well.  But it was glorious."

Our family is thankful for this experience Kaitlin is having. It is blessing our lives in so many ways as we see her devotion, testimony, faith, and joy in the Lord's service. 
 

 

 

A Life of Service

Kaitlin's life has been filled with a lot of joy and happiness. One of her investigators (someone who is looking into the Church), Ruben, was baptized a few weeks ago. She and her companion were grateful for his decision and are both grateful to Heavenly Father for Ruben's decision.

In her email this past week, Hermana Knapp wrote, "[This week] was marvelous. Can I just tell you how good the Lord is to me? And I don't even deserve it one bit. But He is constantly blessing Hna. Plummer and I with little sweet experiences that build our faith and make us want to serve in more unity and with more dedication than ever before in this missionary work." Kaitlin's testimony has grown and continues to grow as she dedicates her life to serving the Lord.

Stories From the Mission Field (this is directly from Hermana's email on April 25)

Yesterday marked the end of "Semana Santa," a very notable week here in Paraguay. EVERYTHING shuts down, which I wasn't anticipating, especially Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...even the supermarkets were closed.  Tons of people travelled to the country to visit family, and most of the week, our area was like a ghost town.  It made it a little difficult to teach as many lessons as we wanted to teach and contact all of our investigators a sufficient number of times this week because many of them vacationed elsewhere the entire week.  But it was an adventure all the same.  You know what though?  The Lord always, always demonstrates His love and His awareness of me, even when I'm being kind of dumb.  For instance, this week I was a little...I don't know...not quite frustrated, but almost frustrated, just because we didn't teach as much as usual.  When we were reporting our numbers to the district leader (Elder Piriz from Uruguay) last night, I was thinking "dangit! We need to do better! We should have had more lessons this week!"  And then he told us, "Guess what, Hermanas?  Your companionship has taught the most lessons in the whole mission for the past two weeks!"  And then I felt really dumb for having complained.  The Lord has helped us so, so much.  We want to teach, and He has provided ample opportunities to do so.  I promised Him that I wouldn't complain once this week.  There's only ever reason to be happy and full of faith, knowing that such a wise and loving Father is in charge.  We are going to finish April out with a bang...I'm so excited for this upcoming week. (p.s. Can you believe that I've been in the mission field for almost 5 months? Holy cow! It's flying by too fast!)

Oh my heavens...I have to tell you a funny story.  But I'm afraid you'll all change your minds about me being a good missionary.  Earlier this week, we passed by an investigator's home.  His name is Carlos Coronel, and he's always just a gentleman to us.  He's had a hard life--he doesn't know either of his parents and he just kind of grew up in the streets--but he has really tried to make something of his life, and especially in this past little while has tried to make the Lord more a part of his life.  He was definitely prepared to receive the gospel.  However, he has a bit of a problem with alcohol.  When we passed by early this week, he seemed unusually happy to see us.  He opened the door and told us probably 7 times how happy he was to see us, then he excused himself to go put on a shirt (it is gross, but most men don't wear shirts when they're at home, so it's not unusual to be greeted by a shirtless man. Just so you know).  Hna. Plummer and I kind of looked at eachother with a "he is acting strange.." look, then he reappeared with his shirt on inside out.  I realized in that moment that he was drunk.  He looked so funny with this polo shirt inside out, and then telling us how happy he was and how great life was, and then he started spouting off doctrine about the Fall (he'd been reading in 2 Nephi), which was super unexpected.  Anyway, I'm not doing a good job of painting a picture of the situation here, but it was super comical.  And...I lost it.  I got the giggles so bad.  My companion told him we'd drop by another day, and he asked if he could say a prayer before we left, and before we even answered he started praying in a very Evangelical style, and I started laughing again, right in the middle of the prayer.  Oh, my.  I felt SO bad afterwards, but I'm serious, the whole scene was one of the funniest I've witnessed in awhile.

Transfers...

 Hermana Knapp is still having the time of her life. Her companion, Hermana Steadman, had one week of her mission left (around March 20), and came down with Dengue, a tropical fever almost exclusive to Paraguay. So, that was a little adventure for Kaitlin to go through. Anyway...

 First of all, for those who don't know, every six weeks during a mission, there are companion transfers. This means that the missionaries can be moved from one area to another within their mission, changing the companionships. So, on March 23, Herman Steadman went home and Kaitlin, who didn't transfer, got a new companion, Hermana Plummer. With the transfer, Kaitlin was asked to serve as Senior Companion. They both love teaching the gospel and are loving their experiences together.

On March 24, Hermana Knapp wrote, "I really love my life right now.... The joy I feel is something I haven't felt before. This is very much the Lord's work, and every bit of me wants to do it right, to do it His way and under His direction. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and I know that this gospel is real."

The One Thing Holding Her Back...

As Hermana Knapp began teaching the gospel to those in Paraguay, she still struggled a little bit with learning the language. (Spanish) She wrote, "I'll admit that it's been a little tough at times because I just can't understand what investigators say much of the time, and because of that and because I struggle speaking the language, I don't feel like I can teach to their needs." However, she knows that if she works hard and trust in the Lord, she will eventually be able to speak the language. She said, "Every morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Let's go and do!' and that's exactly what I'm trying my hardest to do. I hope you know that I'm working hard. I hope you know that I love my Heavenly Father, my Savior Jesus Christ, and his gospel more than anything."

Upon Arriving In Paraguay...

Hermana Knapp arrived in Paraguay on February 8, and she loved it from the very beginning. She wrote: "On occasion, I've found myself thinking that Paraguay was made with me in mind for a few reasons: 1) The trees here are beautiful. Some of them have huge leaves with brightly colored flowers. They look like they're made out of plastic or something at first glance--the leaves are just so shiny and green, and the flowers are so beautiful--but nope! They're real, and I love it. 2) The sky is fantastic here. The clouds are beautiful, the sunsets are beautiful. Bah. I'm in heaven. Plus, 3) It's humid. 4) There is always music playing in the streets--sweet, Latino folky music, and I just love it. So yes, Paraguay is like my own personal paradise."

Week Number One

During her first week of the MTC, Kaitlin was assigned a companion, Hermana Lewis. Kaitlin loved teaching and her study time. She said, "The biggest reason this has been such a phenomenal experience is because of the time we get to study every day. I have never delved into the scriptures like I have in this past week, and I. Love. It... During the day, I just study like crazy, and I am perfectly happy, because the gospel is home for me."

The Missionary Training Center

Just in case you wanted to know more about the MTC and LDS missions in general:

• There are approximately 52,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints serving as full-time missionaries.
• The MTC can accommodate about 4,000 missionaries.
• While in the MTC, missionaries better acquaint themselves with the Gospel, the language they are learning and they also learn how to become better teachers. 

If you want to know more about the MTC, tune into BYU-TV on Sunday, April 3, at 1:00. A documentary will be shown regarding the activities of the MTC.

Introduction

For the next 16 months, I will be posting summaries of my sister's letters and emails while she serves her mission in Paraguay.

For girls, a church mission is completely optional. Kaitlin decided to serve after many months of prayer and preparation. After filling out her mission papers, Kaitlin received a mission call to Asuncion, Paraguay. She spent 8 wonderful weeks in the MTC (Missionary Training Center), in Provo, Utah, and now is living and happily serving in Paraguay.