A Change

In our weekly, wonderful email from Hermana Knapp, she informed us that she has left Ita Enramada and is now in La Floresta. The change was a little bit hard for her, she has grown to love the people of Ita Enramada so much. She told of how hard it was to say good-bye to the Ramirez, Gaonas, and Paniaguas families as well as Antonela and others. But change is good and La Floresta seems to be where she needs to be right now.

Here is Kaitlin's description of her new companion: "My new companion's name is Hna. Paipa.  She's from Colombia--my first Latina companion!  I'm excited about it.  I've been praying for a Latina companion just for the experience and so I can really improve in my language abilities, and she's helping me.  It's funny...I had heard a lot of not-so-pleasant things about her before coming here.  And she herself told me when I arrived here that she has a tendency to "explode" sometimes.  So I've been kind of walking on eggshells.  But honestly, she is SO wonderful.  She works super hard (hallelujah!), and she is teaching me a lesson I have desperately needed to learn my whole mission: how to be confident and bold.  She tells people how it is.  And they love and respect her.  So I'm eternally grateful that I have the opportunity to learn that lesson from her while here.  She's a feisty, fiery person, but I like that.  She gets things done and she doesn't waste time."

Jan. 14 was Kaitlin's birthday and she got a great gift: "As you may imagine, my emotions have been just a little out of whack lately--just jumbled around with the last change.  I can't let myself think too much about Ita Enramada or I get distracted and sometimes a little teary.  And I certainly wasn't expecting a certain surprise yesterday as I walked into the chapel.  As I was walking towards the chapel doors, I saw a familiar face sitting there, looking at me and smiling. It was Vanesa Britez.  As they say here in Paraguay, "me quedé ahí con la boca abierta."  I couldn't believe it.  We hugged and failed at holding back tears, and she told me, "Felíz Cumpleaños, Hermana!"  It was sweet.  And it actually helped me have some closure, so I haven't been as distracted since that little surprise, believe it or not.  It was the best birthday present ever."

We love Kaitlin and miss her! Yet the time has gone by pretty fast and we look forward to another trip to the airport at the end of June to welcome her home! Her brother Taylor left for his mission last week. We have created a blog for his mission and this can be found at  starsi-knapp.blogspot.com.