Natal, Sushi e Ano Novo!

Oi família e amigos!

Feliz Natal e Ano Novo! I hope you are all having a lovely holiday season! 

Christmas here was pretty much the best Christmas of my life. No joke. We got up really early so Sister Maeno and Sister Fuifui (my companion and another sister in our house) could Skype their families in Australia and Japan, gotta love time zones. But we got to come home and take a nap! I love naps, maybe cause of my name. ;)
On our way home from lunch, it started raining SO HARD that when we got home we were soaked, so we just enjoyed being in the rain. :) I also got to Skype with my family, which was the best Christmas present I could have asked for. They're pretty great. :) 

Another fun thing this week was on Saturday we had an activity at the church where Sister Maeno taught how to make sushi and yakissoba. I love having a Japanese companion! haha I've also been learning random phrases in Japanese, which I didnt really expect coming to Brazil on my mission. Best companion ever! 

We see SO MANY miracles each and every week. One neat thing that really strengthened my testimony about scripture study was that the day after I studied a certain chapter in the Book of Mormon, Sister Maeno shared that same scripture with our investigator E who is preparing for baptism. It was so cool to be able to share the thoughts I had just learned about Jacob 4:7 (please go read that scripture, its EXCELLENT!) and I know that Heavenly Father helped us both be able to be ready to share the message E needed to hear. 

I hope you all have a lovely new year! 2015 is going to be AWESOME! 

Muito amor,

Sister Knapp

Oi família e amigos!

¡Feliz Natal e Ano Novo! Espero que todos estéis disfrutando de las vacaciones

Esta Navidad aquí ha sido la mejor Navidad de mi vida. No es broma. Nos levantamos muy temprano para que las hermanas Maeno y Fuifui (mi compañera y otra hermana en nuestra casa) pudieran llamar por Skype a sus familias en Australia y Japón, con las diferentes zonas horarias. Luego volvimos a casa y ¡dormimos la siesta! Me encantan las siestas, tal vez por mi apellido (Knapp suena como nap, que significa siesta ;)

De camino a casa del almuerzo, comenzó a llover tan fuerte que cuando llegamos a la casa estábamos empapadas, así que simplemente disfrutamos de la lluvia. :) Yo también llamé por Skype a mi familia, y esto fue el mejor regalo de Navidad que podría haber pedido. Les quiero mucho :)

Otra cosa divertida esta semana fue que el sábado tuvimos una actividad en la iglesia donde la hermana Maeno enseñó a hacer sushi y yakissoba. ¡Me encanta tener una compañera japonesa! jaja También he estado aprendiendo algunas frases en japonés, ¡quién me hubiera dicho que iba a aprender japonés en Brasil! Ja, ja. ¡La mejor compañera del mundo!

Vemos TANTOS milagros cada semana. Una cosa muy linda  que realmente fortaleció mi testimonio sobre estudio de las Escrituras era que el día después de haber estudiado un determinado capítulo en el Libro de Mormón, la hermana Maeno compartía esa misma escritura con nuestro investigador E que se está preparando para el bautismo. Era muy interesante poder compartir los pensamientos que acababa de aprender acerca de Jacob 4: 7 (¡por favor, leed esta escritura, es EXCELENTE!) Y sé que nuestro Padre Celestial nos ha ayudado tanto a poder estar listas para compartir el mensaje que E necesitaba escuchar.

¡Espero que todos tengáis un nuevo año genial! ¡2015 va a ser FABULOSO!

Muito Amor,

Sister Knapp

Skype with family on Christmas day

It was so fun to talk to Sister Knapp on Christmas day!!
Best present ever for her family!

Some details that she mentioned. I (her mom) will choose ten that I remember most:

Daily life

1. It is VERY hot and humid!
2. Her companion and roommates are wonderful!
3. People are very friendly. Missionaries are treated nicely
4. Missionaries don't have any time for anything. Life is busy!
5. There are big bugs! LOTS of bugs!!
6. Her Portuguese is improving... she is forgetting Spanish!!
7. She is eating fruit!! (Who? Cristina?) and liking it!! (No! Can't be Cristina, it has to be Sister Knapp! :))
8. They walk a lot, on red ant-populated dusty roads in sandals
9. She feels privileged to have a washing machine, and appreciates walls and a ceiling more
10. Their shower has one temperature only: mostly warm, and that's fine

Now the most important stuff
Things that she is learning

1. She LOVES being a missionary
2. She is learning a lot (spiritual and life skills)!!
3. Overcoming the natural man: being exhausted and still continuing because she is on the errand of God
4. Increasing her faith
5. The Lord answers prayers, all of the prayers, even little details
6. Recognizing miracles every day and in everything
7. The Gospel is very simple and pure
8. You choose your eternal destiny, none can force it on anyone else, or choose for someone else
9. God is just. Loving and just
10. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is precious and pure

When asked what can we send her, what would she need, she said

                         letters!!!!  

She does not have enough time for email (to read and write to everyone) but she can read letters any day she receives them (and they take several weeks to reach her) She can also re-read them when she is thinking about you or needs strength and support.

Here is the address again. You can chose either one:

Sister Cristina Knapp Caixa Postal 2321 Teresina PI CEP: 64001973 Missão Brasil Teresina BRASIL

Sister Cristina Knapp Brazil Teresina Mission Rua Tersandro Paz Nº 2129 Salas 105-108, Centro 64001-380 Teresina - PI BRASIL

  

¡Fue precioso hablar con la hermana Knapp el día de Navidad!

¡El mejor regalo del mundo para su familia!

Aquí os resumo 10 detalles de la conversación que yo (su madre) mejor recuerdo:

La vida cotidiana

1. ¡Hace MUCHO calor húmedo! Es verano en Brasil

2. Su compañera y las otras hermanas con las que vive son maravillosas

3. La gente es muy amable. Todos tratan muy bien a los misioneros

4. Como misioneros no tienen tiempo para nada. Están muy ocupados

5. Hay insectos muy grandes… y hay muchos

6. Su portugués está mejorando ... ¡pero se le está olvidando el español!

7. Ahora come fruta (¿Quién? Cristina?) ¡Y le gusta! (¡No! No puede ser Cristina, que tiene que ser Sister Knapp :))

8. Caminan mucho, en caminos polvorientos y con hormigas…  en sandalias

9. Qué privilegio es tener lavadora en la casa y que la casa tenga tabiques y suelo y techo

10. Su ducha tiene solo una temperatura: tibia, y eso está bien

Ahora las cosas más importantes

Lo que está aprendiendo

1. Le encanta ser misionera

2. Está aprendiendo mucho (destrezas espirituales y de vida en general)

3. La superación del hombre natural: aunque está agotada, todavía hay que  continuar porque su misión es para servir a Dios

4. Su fe está aumentando cada día

5. El Señor contesta las oraciones, todas las oraciones, incluso los pequeños detalles

6. Reconoce milagros todos los días y en todas las cosas

7. El Evangelio es simple y puro

8. Cada uno elige su destino eterno, nadie puede obligar a otra persona, o elegir por otro

9. Dios es justo. Amoroso y justo

10. El Evangelio de Jesucristo es precioso y puro

Cuando preguntamos qué podemos enviarle, lo que necesitaría, ella dijo: ¡CARTAS!

No tiene tiempo suficiente para el correo electrónico (leer y escribir a todo el mundo en su día de preparación), pero ella puede leer las cartas cualquier día en que las reciba (y tardan varias semanas en llegarle) También puede volver a leerlas cuando piense en nosotros o necesite fuerza y apoyo moral.

Aquí está la dirección de nuevo. Podéis escoger cualquiera de las dos:

Sister Cristina Knapp Caixa Postal 2321 Teresina PI CEP: 64001973 Missão Brasil Teresina BRASIL

Sister Cristina Knapp Brazil Teresina Mission Rua Tersandro Paz Nº 2129 Salas 105-108, Centro 64001-380 Teresina - PI BRASIL

  

Muito Amor,

Sister Knapp

Caroling at a nursing home on Christmas Day

The mission FB page posted some pictures of the missionaries caroling and delivering goods to some nursing homes.

La página de Facebook de la misión subió algunas fotos de los misioneros cuando fueron a varias residencias de ancianos durante los días navideños para cantar y llevarles material y comida que recolectaron en sus conciertos en la iglesia y el centro comercial.

Christmas concert at the mall

The missionaries in the Teresina area had a Christmas concert at a shopping mall. Here are some pictures downloaded from the Mission Facebook page by Cristina's mom.

Los misioneros en las dos estacas de Teresina tuvieron un concierto en el centro comercial Riverside. Aquí hay algunas de las fotos que la madre de Cristina bajó de la página de Facebook de la misión. 

With the mission presidents

Merry Christmas!!

Batismo y bolhos bonitos

Oi familia e amigos!

FELIZ NATAL PARA VOCÊS!!!! I love this time of year that we get to share the gospel of Christ with everyone around us! There's this lovely video that I think is called He Is The Gift in English that I invite you all to watch (it should be on lds.org) because its wonderful!
http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

This week was the baptism of A!!!! He was so excited! We went to fill up the font in the morning and when the waterlevel was at 3 inches, the entire church ran out of water! So we prayed and prayed and right as we were going to leave the water came back! AND THE FONT FILLED NO PROBLEM! Prayer works! Also, Sister Maeno and I made two cakes for the baptism. Wow, they were....pretty hideous. haha But they were yummy and everyone wanted more! haha Just goes to show you can't judge based on appearance! 

Another fun thing was that Sister Maeno and I got to paint princesses on the wall of the room of a recent converts daughter. My companion is an awesome artist and I got to help by painting grass and outlining the dresses. Pictures of that and the cakes to come! 

Also, as of today, I am 2/18 done with my mission! Time sure flies when you're having fun! 

Muito amor,

Sister Knapp

Oi familia e amigos!

FELIZ NATAL PARA VOCÊS!!!!  ¡Me encanta esta época del año en que podemos de manera especial compartir el evangelio de Cristo con todo el mundo que nos rodea! Hay un vídeo precioso que se llama "Él es la dádiva" que os invito a todos a ver http://www.mormon.org/spa/navidad

Esta semana fue el bautismo de A !!!! ¡Estaba tan emocionada! Fuimos a llenar la pila bautismal por la mañana y cuando el nivel del agua había llegado a los 10 cms. de altura, se cortó el agua en toda la iglesia.  Así que oramos y oramos y justo cuando ya nos íbamos desesperadas, ¡volvió el agua! Y LA PILA SE LLENÓ SIN PROBLEMA! ¡La oración funciona! Además, la hermana Maeno y yo hicimos dos pasteles para el bautismo, que tenían.... uan pinta horrible. jaja ...pero estaban deliciosos y ¡todo el mundo quería más! jaja sólo para que vean que no se puede juzgar por la apariencia.
Otra cosa divertida era que la hermana Maeno y yo pintamos princesas en la pared de la habitación de una niña cuya familia se acaba de unir a la iglesia. Mi compañero es una artista increíble y yo la pude ayudar pintando la hierba y delineando los vestidos para terminar el mural. A ver si os puedo mandar fotos del mural y las tartas.

También, a partir de hoy, ya he terminado 2/18 de la misión. ¡El tiempo vuela cuando uno lo pasa bien!

Muito amor,

Sister Knapp

What is the opposite of white Christmas?

Ola familia e amigos!

Life is good here in Teresina! Its not real that its almost Christmas though because its SOOOO hot! haha But everyone is singing Christmas carols and I write December in my planner every day so I guess it must be true.

This week has been so good! We have a baptism planned for this Saturday! A has been coming to church with his sisters who were recently baptized and he loves learning more about Christ. He is so excited to be baptized! :) We also have been teaching our next door neighbor who is probably one of the most amazing humans ever. E came to stake conference with us this week and she loved it! 

I don't have tons of time left, but I just want to share with you all how much my testimony is growing each and every day. I know that even though this work is so hard, it is SO WORTH IT to be able to share what I know is true every minute of every day! I know that even though the language is super hard, just like it is promised in Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon, Heavenly Father will help our weaknesses become strengths through faith in Him.

MUITO AMOR from Cidade Jardim!

Sister Knapp

Mom's note: She didn't send pictures today so I post here some info about the weather in Teresina

Lições em Teresina

Oi família e amigos!

Well here I am, having survived my fist week in the mission! My preparation day is on Monday, but because yesterday was a holiday we are emailing today. Just got back from a zone conference that was amazing and testimony building and exactly what I needed to hear. One big message that I´ve been hearing lately is what is found in the beginning of Ether 12, that we don´t receive a witness until AFTER the trial of our faith. That´s how we learn and grow and gain more faith and trust in the Lord. But I know that He definitely helps us in so so so so many ways!

I´ve learned LOTS of important lessons here in my first week of the mission:

1. Bugs are not my favorite. There´s a family of vampire mosquitoes in my closet, cockroaches and ants, a rat that ran out from under my bed the other day, and lots of moths and butterflies (and it´s pretty common knowledge how I'm terrified of those...)

2. My Portuguese is not very good. 

3.Its super hot

BUT I´ve learned more important things to go along with those:

1. Cristina might be afraid of all those creepy bugs, but Sister Knapp isn´t afraid of vampire mosquitoes or giant moths or rats. Because I´m a missionary and my work here is too important to waste time being scared!

2. I can´t speak Portuguese on my own, but prayer and fasting and the gift of tongues are REAL! So when the people I'm teaching don't understand what I just told them and I have to apologize and have my companion translate, THAT'S OKAY! Because one day I´ll be able to speak well but until then I will do my best and just remember that with God all things (even speaking Portuguese) are possible!

3. Its really hot. But my awesome umbrella shields me from the sun and Heavenly Father answers my prayers for strength to keep walking and smiling and teaching!

My area, Cidade Jardim in Teresina, is awesome! The people are so amazing and there are so many great people to teach the life changing message of the gospel! My companion, Sister Maeno, is an angel (and shes from Japan so that's super cool) and super patient with me. Basically its awesome every day even though its hard hard hard work. But prayer is real and I KNOW that the message of the Restored Gospel is worth any sacrifice I have to make to share!

Muito amor para vocês!

Sister Knapp

Sister Maeno and Sister Knapp

Zone conference in Teresina

Safe and sound in the mission field

Cristina arrived to Tresina on December 2. Here are some pictures that the mission president's wife sent  today :) together with this message. So precious! (especally for a mom that is dying to know what's going on :)

                          Querida família

Sua querida missionária chegou em segurança.

Ela está muito bem e feliz.

As fotos da  missão estão no    www.facebook.com/missaobrasilteresinaoficial
Qualquer dúvida pode nos telefonar ou enviar um e-mail.

Sinceramente

Presidente e Sister Siedschlag 

Arrival- at the airport

Interesting fact about the missionaries that arrived with Cristina, it shows how the Cruch is growing and getting more diverse. Of the 11 elders and 3 sisters. 6 elders are from the USA, but none of them from Utah. 5 from Brazil and 1 from Honduras. 3 sisters: 2 from Brazil and Cristina.

One thing that made me smile is the the sisters that came with her, their last names are Nascimento and Maria. Perfect names for Christmas :)

New missionaries

Her first companion is Sister Maeno, who was born in Brazil and raised in Japan, so she speaks Portuguese as a native.

Sister Knapp and Sister Maeno

Eu sou grata por minhas bencaos! (no accents, sorry!) [I am grateful for my blessings]

Oi familia e amigos!

First of all, happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! We get to celebrate it here at the CTM (gotta love having lots of Americans) by watching the devotional broadcasted from the Provo MTC, so we're pretty excited! I hope you all have a marvelous day being grateful and eating yummy food and spending time with family. :)

So. Brazil. I absolutely LOVE it here! The weather is so nice and warm and humid (all of the sisters touch my hair because it's so curly and poofy, gotta love humidity) and it's super weird to me that it's summer and Christmas is coming. Also, the food here is just wonderful. The breakfast is always the same, which is not a problem at all because I could eat it all day. There's this hot cereal that I have no clue what it is (it was accurately described by an Elder in my district as "creamy mystery goodness") and these great rolls that you can put cheese and ham in and this wonderful hot chocolate. So good. Also there are all kinds of meat that I just don't question what it is but it tastes good and lots of rice and beans and fruit and veggies and basically I just should have been eating Brazilian food my whole life. And Guarana is awesome too. :)

Portuguese is really great too, I've had quite a few Brazilians ask me if I had Brazilian family or if I'd studied Portuguese for a long time because I apparantly sound almost native. Woot! I find myself thinking, dreaming, and praying in Portuguese all the time so if I suddenly forget how to speak English or Spanish I wouldn't be surprised. Also I seriously can't spell anymore, just in Portuguese, so combined with the fact that we don't have a lot of email time or spell check, I ask that you all would forgive my spelling errors. :)

More stories: my companion, Sister Pace, is SO AMAZING! I just love her to death, and it's awesome not being a solo sister! I had to change districts to be with her (her class is a week behind where I was) but it's so worth it to have a companion, especially one as awesome as she is. We have so many inside jokes and we have a goal to only speak Portuguese together so we're learning lots.

Another fun fact: as soon as I got here I was made the choir pianist. And you know who's in the MTC choir? The whole MTC. :) haha So we've done two musical numbers so far and I have another three lined up before I leave, so that's fun. I'm really thankful that I studied piano, it's really helpful!

STORY: So last week we got to go proselyting outside in the real world of Sao Paulo! We took the city bus to a park by a metro station and we had 4 Book of Mormons as a companionship and an hour to give them out. It was sooo amazing to talk to people who at first weren't interested at all ("No, sorry, I don't want to hear about your book") and then we'd quickly bear our testimony and then you could just see something change in their eyes, like a light turning on, and they became excited to hear the wonderful message of the restored gospel of Christ. Of the five people we talked to, only one turned us down. I cannot even wait to go to Teresina next week (NEXT WEEK!!!) and do this every day!

Okay so here's the funny story. When Sister Pace and I finished giving out our copies of the Book of Mormon, our instructor had us help a companionship of Elders. We (the 4 of us) were talking to a lady when this creepy guy came up and tried to put his arms around Sister Pace and I. I completely ignored him and continued talking to the lady we were teaching, and the Elders talked to him. Basically he just wanted money for drugs, but the funny part is that when he left he tried to hug one of the Elders and he stole his verb card (a yellow paper the Elders keep in their shirt pocket that has the common verb conjugations) thinking it was money! haha All is well that ends well, and we all got a good laugh out of it. Hopefully he can conjugate better now. :)

I hope you all have a lovely week! Next email will most likely be from the mission field! SO EXCITED! :D

Muito amor para voces!

Tchau tchau pica-pau! (The American sisters say that a lot, "bye bye, woodpecker!")

Sister Knapp

Sister Knapp and Sister Pace in Provo

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trip to Brasil

Ola minha familia!

I only have a few minutes to let you know I HAVE ARRIVED to Brazil, I am now in the CTM and I like it a lot. I My current companion is Sister Pace, who was in my roommate before.

It's funny becasue Brazil reminds me to Spain. It's hot but not much,nice and waaaaarm. I'll tell you about my trip:

When we were about to board the plane from Atlanta to Sao Paulo, us missionaries from SLC didnt have seat assignments. So they were assigning them and when it was my turn the phone rang. The lady talked for a bit and hung up and said "its your lucky day". I thought I had gotten the last seat and felt super bad for the other missionaries but then she handed me my ticket. My seat was 4B. THAT"S RIGHT BUISINESS CLASS!!!!! WOW! What had happened is the guy with that seat had his wife on the same flight but she was in economy and he wanted to sit by her, so he swapped seats. But anyway, flying first class. It was seriously the coolest thing of my life. I made tons of friends (the lady sitting by me and I are bffs now, she's from Sao Paulo) and got to talk a lot and be a missionary. I gave out one pass along card on my first flight, and on the next flight I gave out SIX (I had asked for some more from other missionaries because I only had 2) AND got the phone numbers of two ladies that were very interested in meeting with the missionaries. :D So I feel like my sitting up there was justified. haha One of the flight attendants teased me that I must have done something good, and I told Elder Porter (who had been behind me in line and was rather bummed out that he didn't get buisiness class too) that it was because I had volunteered to pray that morning on the bus to the airport. I learned the Portuguese word for fancy (chique) and my new friend and I said it a lot (like when we did a toast with our drinks). The food was suuuuper fancy (proschuto and ice cream sundaes and fancy pasta with brussel sprouts) and then the seats TURNED INTO BEDS so I got to sleep like royalty. The flight attendants and passengers around me would chuckle on occassion at how excited I was. The other missionaries were kinda jealous, but I reminded them that they had gotten Nutella with their breakfasts and I hadn't ;)

Entao.... Seriously, first class was legit. So the trip was actually really really really great. None of my luggage got lost and we didn't get lost and we made it to the CTM with no problem at all. The drivers here are CRAZY though (our bus driver was good), and the motorcyclist zoom between the cars and they look like they're going to crash and basically I have promised myself that I will never drive in Sao Paulo ever.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM IN BRAZIL! :D 

SAO PAULO MTC 

The cold never bothered me anyway

Oi familia e amigos!

So you might ask WHY the cold never bothered me? Because in less that 48 hours I will be IN SUMMER! (Two Frozen quotes in less than a minute. :) ) That is right, I GOT MY VISA! I leave tomorrow (hence the emailing today) for the Sao Paulo MTC. Tons of missionaries got their visas, so it's going to be a fun trip I believe. I have two weeks left at the MTC that I will be finishing up there, and then in the beginning of December I will start my mission in Teresina! WOW!! 

So receiving my visa was super exciting. I had pretty much been convinced that I would stay in Provo the whole time and possibly be reassigned, so I was super surprised. However, I KNOW that Heavenly Father has a plan with perfect timing, so I'm excited to see what I get to learn at the CTM!

Another really neat thing from this week was the events of Sunday. I think if the MTC gave awards for most participation in Sunday meetings I would probably win this week. I played the piano for sacrament meeting again AND gave a talk (all the missionaries prepare a 3 minute talk and then 2 or 3 are called up without previous notice to speak) in Portuguese. It was a great experience! Even though I really hate public speaking, it wasn't too bad! The rest of Sunday was pretty normal with meetings and such. Then for the evening devotional Elder Walker and I were able to do our musical number!! It was such an incredible experience. We arranged the piece ourselves so my music was a half a page of notes that pretty much only made sense to me. For the sound check, I was making mistakes like crazy and was terrified of how the performance would go. Before we went in, Elder Walker and I said a prayer with our companions. And wow, prayer sure does work! We played/sang better than we ever have and according to my companions everyone was crying. You could definitely feel the Spirit and it was so neat to bear our testimonies of the Savior through song. We finished and sat down and the speaker, Richard L. Heaton, thanked us and then said "Elder Walker, Sister Knapp, will you two please come up here?" I think I died a little bit. My brain said "What. I just performed. And now I have to be addressed in front of the whole MTC? I thought I was done!" We went up and he had us bear our testimonies about Jesus Christ. Remember how a minute ago I said I was scared of public speaking in front of my little branch? Yeah. So that's the story of how I spoke a bit in the devotional. :) BUT I am so thankful for that opportunity. It really strengthened my testimony that in our time of need, God will give us the words that need to be said. It was incredible to be able to tell my fellow missionaries of how much I love my Savior and how I know that it is only through His gospel that we receive eternal life and joy. 

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers and support! Watch out for my next email from Brazil!!!

Com amor,

Sister Knapp

At the airport

Big news from the MTC

Oi minha familia e amigos!

I can't believe I'm halfway through my MTC stay! Crazy crazy, time sure does fly! Sooo... Yesterday, in the middle of our afternoon block of class, my entire district was called to the travel office. Which could pretty much only mean one thing: visas! That is, my entire district except for Elder Walker and myself. So we ran down and sure enough, Elders Roundy, Nordfelt, Seely, Barker, Bond, Gunnoe, and Johnson received their travel plans. They're going to the Brazil MTC TOMORROW! It's interesting though, Elder Walker and I weren't really disappointed (okay, maybe a teeny tiny bit) but we both feel that we're not done here at the Provo MTC. Whether this has anything to do with our musical number or not, I don't know. But I do know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each and every one of us, and if we were supposed to have our visas along with the rest of our district, we would. So I'm just going to trust that everything will work out the way it should! But for now, looks like I'm in Provo for a little longer enjoying the BYU chocolate milk. :) 

My sweet companions, Sister Bow and Sister Gutke, left yesterday morning for their mission. Mozambique is getting two of the best sisters in the universe! It seems like I need to get good at saying goodbyes or something because seriously everyone is leaving! haha Tudo bem. This just means I get to become friends with more lovely sisters. My newest companions (I've been put in a trio) are Sister Anaya (she's my actual companion), Sister Mills, and Sister Smith. They all arrived the week after me, so hopefully I won't have to change companions again! They're going to Portugal, and I love them a lot. It's such a blessing to be able to make so many friends! :)

In other news, it looks like my district sickness (everyone's been passing around a cold it seems) finally caught up with me. Nyquil and cough drops and tissues are my new friends. But one thing that Elder Gunnoe (an awesome elder from my district) said that changed my view on being sick was "I'm grateful for my health. It could be a lot worse than a little cold." So I've been giving thanks for "minha saude" (my health) in all of my prayers, and it's definitely made a difference in how I feel. Being grateful sure does make life better!

Update on the musical number: Elder Walker and I had another practice with Sister Nally to fix a few key changes and such in our musical number and she really just loves it. We're going to receive an invitation to perform one of these days, which is SO EXCITING! I think she said next Sunday, but we'll know for sure in a few days. What a great opportunity!!! It's been such a fun project. :)

Muito obrigada for your love and prayers and support!

-Sister Knapp

My district with our teacher

Sisters!!

What is left of my district :)

Ola! Week 2 at the MTC!

Ola familia e amigos!

Week two at the MTC has been a success! It's gone by much much faster, and life is an adventure everyday! My days are spent learning Portuguese and how to be an awesome missionary and soaking up all the awesome devotionals and spiritual thoughts and everything! 

Here's something exciting: I've been able to play the piano a lot! I got to play in sacrament meeting this Sunday! But even better is this: Elder Walker, an Elder from my district, and I arranged a vocal solo for him (he's incredible!) with me as the accompanist of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. We worked on it together so it's very unique with some awesome key changes and a minor verse. BUT the best part is the very last verse (the 7th verse) he sings to the tune of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. :) We were able to audition for a musical number, and Sister Nally (the wife of the MTC President) told us that she LOVED it and wanted to work with us to brush up a few things and we'll most likely be able to perform it for some event! AND she asked us to prepare another musical number for Thanksgiving!!!! It's been such a fun experience!

Another (less awesome) event is that my sweet companion Sister Valentine received her visa to Brazil! She left this morning for the Sao Paulo MTC and although I will miss her, I am SO happy for her! What a neat opportunity! I am now in a trio with Sister Bow and Sister Gutke (who have been in my room and I love them to death) until this weekend, because they're leaving for Mozambique on Monday. Soooo.... I get another companion(s) on Friday. We're going to talk to President Brough (the branch president) and figure everything out. Two Elders in my district (Elder Lunt and Elder Thomson) got their visas as well and left this morning for the Sao Paulo MTC too. Visas! Ahh! I'll keep y'all updated if I find out anything about mine. :) 

I hope you all had a lovely Halloween! Nothing too exciting happened here, the sisters in my room and I matched in black skirts and orange (or as close to orange as we had) tops, that was rather fun. 

Investigator story! Our investigator that we've been teaching, Lucas, agreed to be baptized! Legal! (Cool in Portuguese and one of my favorite words :) ) But then surprise surprise (actually, I'd heard that this would happen so...) Lucas our investigator turned out to be Irmao Machado, our new teacher! haha Fun times at the MTC. So now we have two teachers, Irmao Rodrigues and Irmao Machado, who are both from Brazil and are super super funny. Class time is great!

I feel like the topic for my life this week has been on Being a disciple of Christ and what it means to be a true disciple. It seems that all of my scripture study, devotionals, lessons, everything have something about the importance of being obedient and being a true and loyal disciple of Christ. The question was asked in a devotional (I can't remember right now exactly who it was, I think Sister Wendy Nelson) of "How would a true disciple of Christ act?" We were asked to apply this question in just one situation a day, for example "How would a true disciple of Christ dress?" or "How would a true disciple of Christ read the scriptures?" I've been trying to apply this and its been helpful in motivating me to do little things to become better and better each day.

One more thing that I absolutely loved: last Tuesday Sister Rosemary Wixom (Primary General President) came and spoke to us. She told of a time when she was serving as a missionary and a guy at the store looked at her name tag and told her "The man on your chest is my best friend." What a privilege it is to be a missionary, to be a representative of my Savior and best friend, Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for His gospel and for the opportunity I have these next 18 months to share it with everyone I meet!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! 

My new companions

Muito amor,

Sister Knapp

Eu amo o CTM!

Oi familia e amigos!

Wow! I am just loving being a missionary! Email time goes by sooo fast though, so I'll type like the wind and hope I have enough time! :) I am having a blast here at the MTC learning Portuguese and how to be the best missionary I can be and most importantly strengthening my testimony and my relationship with my Heavenly Father. If there's one thing I've learned is that God loves and knows each of us by name, He wants nothing more than to bless us if we are obedient to Him. I know that He hears and answers our prayers, that's been the neatest experience in the MTC is to see how perfectly He comforts us and sends us what we are in need of (answers or comfort) through others. What a blessing and privilege it is to be able to teach others the restored gospel!

I am a solo sister, which means I'm the only sister in my district of ten elders. My companion is also a solo sister, Sister Valentine, and she's been here two weeks already. She's an angel and I just love her to death. Her district has 7 elders, so everyone refers to them as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The branch president's wife mentioned that, and then referred to my district as Beauty and the Beasts. :) haha But I love my elders, they're so great and funny and we have a blast learning Portuguese and how to become awesome missionaries.

Our days are spent learning Portuguese like crazy, I can already pray (which I love doing in Portuguese) and bear my testimony and say random words and sentences and TEACH LESSONS sort of! haha At first what I was trying to say would come out in a jumble of French and Spanish and Portuguese, but at least I understood my investigator and mostly got my message across. I teach with a companionship of Elders and it's great fun and an adventure to try and work together to teach. The most important thing I've learned is that it's not us who teach, it's the Spirit. He is the one who touches the heart of our investigator and that feeling of peace and truth and comfort is most definitely the Holy Ghost. 

I am so so so privileged to be serving as a missionary, it is definitely the best way to spend these next 18 months and I cannot wait for each new day to lean more and make new friends and strengthen my relationship with God. I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and know that it is through Him and His teachings that we find everlasting happiness and peace.

Thank you for your prayers and your friendship, I'm blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!

Tchau!

Sister Knapp

Sister Valentine and Sister Knapp

Sisters and Roommates

Solo Sister and 10 Elders!

Mission Call!

"Dear Sister Knapp:
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Teresina Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. 
You should report to the Brazil Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Portuguese language."

So begins the letter that changed my life! I couldn't believe it when I opened my mission call and read "Brazil Teresina Mission". It was absolutely not where I expected to go, but I know that Brazil is where my Heavenly Father needs me to be. I am so excited to dedicate 18 months to serving Him and His children in the Brazil Teresina Mission. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored gospel of Christ upon the earth today and I cannot wait to share my faith with others!