A few excerpts...this is from an email two weeks ago...
Sunday I was a little worried because we hadn't been able to talk with José on Saturday, and he was supposed to receive the priesthood on Sunday. I was worried because this whole week he's been a little reluctant about receiving the priesthood. He told us he didn't feel ready, that he wanted to wait, etc., etc., but we had some really good lessons with good priesthood holders in the ward this week and bore testimony that this was the Lord's will, and we encouraged him to study and pray and find out for himself if it was something he should do. But we weren't able to follow up with him on Saturday as planned because I got sick, so I wasn't sure if he was even going to show up at church on Sunday. However, when we approached a corner on the way to the chapel, we saw a figure sitting there in a white shirt and slacks. It was José. And without a word from us, he told a counselor in the bishopric that he was ready to receive the Aaronic priesthood. Wow. I just can't believe sometimes how miraculous the Lord's miracles are!
Another HUGE miracle we saw yesterday... We felt the impression to pass by Eli´s house. It had been a few days since we'd visited with her, and she hadn't come to church for the past few weeks. We stopped by just as Gustavo was leaving, and I thought, "Noooooo! This happens every time! He always leaves right as we get here. He's always trying to avoid us." But he came back within five minutes and sat down of his own free will and started participating in the lesson. We read the story of the prodigal son and talked about repentance, and he had a lot of good commentary and a lot of good questions. We asked Eli and Gustavo how they would feel if God told them that they could start over, just start anew with everything. After a moment of silence, Gustavo said, "That would feel marvelous." We testified to him and to Eli that God could do that for them, that He had a plan for families through which we could start anew and live a life of happiness and even after death, live together forever. We told Gustavo that we'd like to start sharing with them both, as a family, more about that plan, and he said we could come over on Wednesday at 7:00. PRAY FOR HIM! We're sooooo excited for Wednesday!
Here was a funny moment of the week... We knocked outside of a door yesterday as we were doing contacts, and a little 85-year old hobbled up to the gate. She was wearing bright red plastic earrings and a matching bracelet and ring, as well as a teal leopard print shirt. She showed us how she knew how to dance the tango and the salsa and asked us to bring her some chewing tobacco the next time we stopped by. Oh, my. We got the giggles. Really, really bad.
Well, dear family, I love you a lot. I am reading in Alma 17 right now, and verse 2 made me think of our meeting in about 3 and a half weeks. It will be a glorious reunion. But meanwhile, I'm working my tail off, don't worry. I'm so happy. And I know that in 3 and a half weeks, not much will change. It will just be another transfer. I'm still going to be working hard in building the kingdom of our God.
Love you all,
Hermana Knapp
Kaitlin and her companions started teaching a young couple, Marcos and Veronica. They want to be baptized but..they have to get married first. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow!
Anyway, this week, we decided to focus on making more detailed, well-prepared lesson plans. We talked about our investigators' needs and wrote ideas down as the Spirit directed until we had an order and a focus we wanted to follow, and then we practiced it a few times, giving each other ideas and practicing again until we felt good about it. We did this a few times this week for a few critical lessons, including the lesson in which we talked to Marcos and Veronica about marriage. And it went so well. We really saw the blessings of following the spirit and being prepared. In the moment of teaching, everything went so smoothly, I almost didn't feel the words leaving my mouth. I mean, the Spirit was directing the whole lesson. He was doing the teaching. It was a sweet experience. One of the fruits of the spirit is love, and there was just an abundant feeling of love in that lesson. We testified that marriage was a part of God's plan. We asked them what blessings they wanted or needed from Heavenly Father for their family, and then we read 4 Nephi 1:11 and promised that they would see those blessings in their lives if they exercised faith and obeyed this law of the Lord. They are so dang cute. They were very attentive and nodded through the whole lesson and answered questions, but then when we invited them to get married, Veronica put her head in her Book of Mormon and said, "Nooooo!" and Marcos hid under the covers (they always sit on their bed when we teach them because the room is very, very small). But they were smiling and laughing, and i know they know it's something they need to do. Veronica said she wants to wait because they're still really young. And it's true, they are very, very young, but they have a year and a half old baby boy, and they're a family already. They just need to nourish their family now according to the commandments of the Lord. So that's where we're at with them right now. I don't think they have a problem getting baptized...it's just the marriage thing that has them doubting. But we'll keep praying, and they'll come around.
Oh my goodness... One of the biggest miracles of the week, are you ready? We went to visit Eli and Gustavo and we read with them Mosíah 27, which is what we'd assigned them to read, but they hadn't read it yet. The Spirit was strong, and after the lesson, GUSTAVO PRAYED. That is the first time in the six months that missionaries have been visiting Eli that Gustavo said the prayer. It was a sweet, heartfelt prayer, one of thanks and of humble peticion, and he said it perfectly--he opened addressing Heavenly Father, and he closed in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards, Eli gave him a huge hug (and a kiss) and had tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you ever pray before? You know how to pray!" she said. Gustavo was smiling and told her that he always listens when we come over, she just didn't realize it. It was such a sweet experience. They committed to come to church together Sunday.
But....it rained. Hard. And rain in Paraguay is like a large blizzard in Kansas. No one leaves their house. Eli still came to church, which was great because it was the first time in a month that she's come, but Gustavo stayed home with the girls because they've had a cold, and they didn't want to take them out in the rain. For that very same reason, Veronica and Marcos didn't come either because their little boy has had a stuffy nose. Blast. BUT! I have learned that Dad's garden mentality applies to missionary work. When we only had one investigator in church yesterday, I saw Dad in my mind, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Well, there's always next week!" And that's true. Next week we'll have a lot more.
Church was SOOOOO funny, by the way. Oh my gravy. I am just going to have to tell you about it when I get home. But in Relief Society, I felt like I was watching a comic movie. But an email just won't do it justice. You'll just have to wait to hear about it.
Oh my goodness... One of the biggest miracles of the week, are you ready? We went to visit Eli and Gustavo and we read with them Mosíah 27, which is what we'd assigned them to read, but they hadn't read it yet. The Spirit was strong, and after the lesson, GUSTAVO PRAYED. That is the first time in the six months that missionaries have been visiting Eli that Gustavo said the prayer. It was a sweet, heartfelt prayer, one of thanks and of humble peticion, and he said it perfectly--he opened addressing Heavenly Father, and he closed in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards, Eli gave him a huge hug (and a kiss) and had tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you ever pray before? You know how to pray!" she said. Gustavo was smiling and told her that he always listens when we come over, she just didn't realize it. It was such a sweet experience. They committed to come to church together Sunday.
But....it rained. Hard. And rain in Paraguay is like a large blizzard in Kansas. No one leaves their house. Eli still came to church, which was great because it was the first time in a month that she's come, but Gustavo stayed home with the girls because they've had a cold, and they didn't want to take them out in the rain. For that very same reason, Veronica and Marcos didn't come either because their little boy has had a stuffy nose. Blast. BUT! I have learned that Dad's garden mentality applies to missionary work. When we only had one investigator in church yesterday, I saw Dad in my mind, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Well, there's always next week!" And that's true. Next week we'll have a lot more.
Church was SOOOOO funny, by the way. Oh my gravy. I am just going to have to tell you about it when I get home. But in Relief Society, I felt like I was watching a comic movie. But an email just won't do it justice. You'll just have to wait to hear about it.
We love Kaitlin! Her joy in serving has rubbed off on us all and inspired us to do more and be better. We are quite excited for her to come home to us!
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