Monday, May 30, 2016
May 30, 2016 - Don't worry.
Today is super crazy because of transfers. Ladysmith is right in the middle of the mission so tons of missionaries come to our house to stay. I'll send a longer email tomorrow. We have to take people to and from the bus station all the time today and tomorrow. tonight at 2:30 AM we have to pick somebody up!!!! It sucks but ill email tomorrow so dont worry. love you
May 23, 2016 - Time is flying!
Hello Everyone!
This week went by so fast! Its crazy to think that today is the start of week 6 in the transfer. I'm almost halfway done with training. At the end of this week I will have been out for 2 months! time goes by so fast. This week we didn't do anything to crazy, nothing like the waterfall last week.
If anyone is curious about the animals I have seen, prepare to be disappointed. I have seen some Zebras, Impalas and one monkey. there is a game park close to us that we might go to on a different P-Day.
We had exchanges with the zone leaders on Thursday which was fun. Its always nice to get to know other missionaries. Today we had to do a lot of cleaning because house inspections are this week. after we email we have to go wash our car. it get so dirty from driving on all the dirt roads out in the villages around Ladysmith.
Im having so much fun. thanks for all the emails everyone sent me. I hope you all have a great week.
Love, Elder Knutsen
May 16, 2016 - What a week!
Hello everyone!
Man this has been a long week! It had some big ups and downs. Last Monday we went to this huge waterfall like I told you guys about. it had to be over 200 feet tall. It was so cool to hike around there.
It has been so nice too have the car back this week. it has really helped us get from one app to the next.
I had to take a little driving test on Tuesday but apparently I did great. It was just with Elder Taylor who is the senior couple who is in Ladysmith.
We had 2 more baptisms this last Sunday. It was fantastic. It feels like our hard work is really paying off. Their names are Nokubongwa and Zendile. It has been so awesome to help them be ready to get baptized. They both asked me to baptize them so that was really awesome. We have a couple other people that are almost ready to be baptized so that is super exciting. Its so much fun to get to know these people and help them.
My zulu has been getting even better. One of the members of the branch wrote down some things for me to practice saying. I can read a couple of words in zulu now too. Its so awesome to experince these people and their culture.
I hope everyone has a great week back home.
Love you all,
Elder Knutsen
To Mom: May 9, 2016 - Recipes
Thanks for the recipes. It will be nice to eat something else for once. Also they dont have rootbeer here which is crazy. or anything relating to mexican food or chili which makes me sad. I cant even make a baked potato. oh well.
Im suprised you didnt cry in the video yesterday haha.
I love you guys so much.
Im suprised you didnt cry in the video yesterday haha.
I love you guys so much.
May 9, 2016 - A week of travel!
Hello everyone!
I hope everyone had a great week last week. I did a lot of traveling. Wednesday morning I rode to Newcastle with the 3 other missionaries who I live with. Then that afternoon we drove to Durban. it took us about 4 hours to drive there. In Durban we had a ton of meetings. we got to the church where we were meeting at 10 am and didn't leave till 7pm. it was so long. but Durban is such a beautiful city. It was nice to be able to see the ocean again. We got home on Friday around 8pm. It was like a little missionary vacation. We had a lot of fun. it was so nice to get to talk to my family on Sunday night. I love them so much. today we got our car back! it is so nice to be able to drive again and not walk. we are driving to this huge waterfall today to go hiking so look forward to pictures and video next Monday. I now can greet people in Zulu. Hopefully by the time I get home ill be an expert haha. I hope everyone has a great week this week.love you all,
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
May 2, 2016 - To mom:
So i am calling home at 5 pm or 9 am your time. I should be able to use facetime is what the senior couple said. they have an ipad i can use they said. maybe set up a skype just incase though. thats funny about grandma, im glad she is doing well. I cant wait to see you on sunday.
love you.I forgot to ask, can you send me some recipes for food. we have 2 meals we can cook, chicken with some rice and pasta but its getting old. thanks
May 2, 2016
South Africa loves its holidays. We had one last wednesday and one yesterday. thats why im emailing today. Sorry about that. Anyways about me learning how to drive a stick... the car died last Wednesday so we have been doing alot of walking. it's fantastic (not). one blessing of not having a car is we found some people that we might not have found otherwise which is great. besides dealing with no car not much has really happened this week. sorry for the short email there really isnt much to say about this last week. we are working hard and im looking forward to call home this sunday.
love you allSunday, May 1, 2016
April 25, 2016 - To Dad:
You switched jobs??? That's crazy! why? I hope you new job makes you happy. There are not a lot of guys here in this branch. alot of moms and kids but no dads. Ive said it before but Im so thankful you are such a good dad and did a good job raising us 3 kids.
You switched jobs??? That's crazy! why? I hope you new job makes you happy. There are not a lot of guys here in this branch. alot of moms and kids but no dads. Ive said it before but Im so thankful you are such a good dad and did a good job raising us 3 kids.
I Love you a lot.
Brett
April 25, 2016 - To Mom:
That stinks that my plaque was no good.I miss you guys alot. going to church yesterday was pretty weird. Its just a tiny little branch where I am. we had the most people ever this last sunday which was 70 people. Thats great for the choir! Im glad they won again. I have been washing my face morning and night. between that and all the sun I get it looks better than ever. I dont really need anything right now.
That stinks that my plaque was no good.I miss you guys alot. going to church yesterday was pretty weird. Its just a tiny little branch where I am. we had the most people ever this last sunday which was 70 people. Thats great for the choir! Im glad they won again. I have been washing my face morning and night. between that and all the sun I get it looks better than ever. I dont really need anything right now.
what is your facetime account you want me to face time you on mothers day? I get one hour. Im going to face time you at 3 pm our time 7 am your time. thats when it works best because there are 3 other americans that have to skype home.
my companion and our house is pretty nice. Ive done alot of cleaning since ive gotten there though. he doesnt speak english very good and he is in charge of the phone since im the driver. Its hard not to get frustrated at times when he doesnt know what to say or how to say it. but its helping me become more patient I love you guys so much. It will be nice to be able to talk on the 8th.
Love you,
Brett
April 25, 2016
Hello everyone!
Hello everyone!
It feels like it has been forever since i last emailed. Alot has happened since my last email. I left the MTC last tuesday at 5:45 am. The two other guys headed to the same mission as me and I got on a flight to Durban. The flight was about an hour long. When we landed we met President and Sister Zackrison. they are such nice people. We went to the mission home and got to know them a little better. Then we went to the mission office and had to fill out some paper work. Elder Adlard and I then had to take a driving test. That was interesting trying to drive on the other side of the road and the other side of the car. I did alright and I told them I couldnt really drive a stick (the test car was an automatic). President then told me I was going to Ladysmith and my trainer/father/companion was going to be Elder Razafindrakoto from Madagascar. He has been out for 16 months. He is a pretty awesome guy and makes some really good rice. He has only been in ladysmith for a month and a half so getting to places has been a really interesting thing sometimes. oh ya about getting to places. They gave me one of the only manual cars in the mission. I havent killed us yet haha. Ive had to get alot better really fast. Its been fun though. We live with one other set of missionaries. they are pretty cool guys. We have taught quite a few lessons and since ive been here already commited 3 people to baptism in the next 3 weeks! it was so exciting when they said yes. We actually just had a baptism yesterday. I baptized a 10 year old boy named senzo. He was afraid of the water but after telling him how I had already baptized Alec he was ok with me doing it. It was so awesome and when we were done he was so happy. We are going over to his house for pizza tonight. Im really glad to read everyones emails. It really is exciting when I log in to my account and see i have emails to read. thank you everyone for taking the time to write me.
Love you all,
The Mission Home in Durban
April 22, 2016
Dear Knutsen Family,
This is just a brief note to let you know that your son arrived here in the South Africa Durban Mission on Tuesday, and spent the day with President and Sister Zackrison and the AP's, along with the office senior couples being trained. He left to go to his area on Wednesday by bus. He has been assigned to serve in Ladysmith, an area about 3 hours northwest of Durban. His companion and trainer is Elder Razafindrakoto, from Madagascar. It is interesting that he told us there were a few other elders in their group at the MTC that were also from Madagascar. He will also be working with Elder and Sister Taylor, the senior couple in that area until they go home in June. They are wonderful, and I am sure he will enjoy serving there. I have pictures to send you with him and President and Sister Zackrison, but I am having trouble opening up the dropbox, so I did not want to further delay the news of his arrival. Hopefully, I can send the pictures and information on mailing letters and packages on Monday. Monday will be his P-day, and you should receive an email from him then.
We know Elder Knutsen will be a wonderful addition to the South Africa Durban Mission, and we look forward to serving with him.
Sincerely,
Sister Sorensen, Mission Office Secretary
April 14, 2016
This week was one of the best and most frustrating weeks of my life. Alot happened so ill try ti keep it in order. writing this email is like 1/100 of how bad/good this week was.
Thursday- we had pday, nothing to crazy happened today. played more basketball.
Friday (the day of reckoning)- friday started out like a great day. my companion and I had one of our best practice lessons that morning and really felt like we were getting the hang of things. then the night came. we taught an ok lesson to our night investigator and when we were done the whole mtc (all 16 of us) got called to the big meeting room. President Ashton told us were we doing transfers. After only one week we all got transfered to different companions and some of us including me got switched districts. I kept my old companion but got another one. His name is elder Adlard. He is an 18 year old white guy. Hes pretty awesome. "Tell them Im super good looking" is what he just told me to say. Both my companions are awesome but getting switched districts/ teachers/ and rooms was tough. It has not been easy but I know it will make all of us more ready for the field.
Saturday- Our brand new companionship could not teach a lesson to save our lives. our teacher who pretends to be an investigator stopped our lesson and just talked with us for for almost 45 minutes. that really helped our companionship. That night we had one of our best lessons.
Sunday- sunday we watched alot of conference. we finished the sunday morning and afternoon sessions. those were some of the best talks i have ever heard Jeffery R Holland's talk was amazing.
Monday- Our morning lesson we taught went ok but it defenitly had some problems. then our night time lesson came. that was the worst lesson I have ever heard or taught. all 3 of us taught 3 different lessons. It was not good and of course that was the lesson president sat in on. we talked with him for almost 30 minutes after. we had to figure out a way to teach in unity something that we hadnt done yet. it was so frustrating. we had to talk till about 11 pm that night. we really had to get to know each other and talk about what makes us tick. It was really needed. since thqat night our lessons have been way better.
Tuesday- It was another good day. we had some government officals from the country of cameroon come and check the MTC out. They were very impressed with us and the church will be able to keep getting visas for that country. President told us that them coming was very important so that we can keep sending missionaries to that country. because they came we were unable to go to the temple again. I wont be able to go again till i get home. It was frusterating to not be able to go but being able to get visas to cameroon is more important.
Wednesday- this was one of the best days ever. we got to go proselyting in soweto, the biggest township in the world. we got partnered up with a missionary who has been out in the field for a little bit. we were out for almost 3 hours but it felt like 5 minuets. people are so willing to talk to you. we meet this little old lady named Ana. all her grandchildren live with her because all her kids died within one year of one another. it was so sad. we started teaching and she started crying. we gave her a book of mormon and the missionaries in that area are going to come teach her. it was so nice to be able to tell her she will be able to live with her kids again.
Thursday- finally back to the present. not much has happened today. Its 13:33 right now. we had to teach president today. I guess he was really impressed with how far we have come since he lasted heard us teaching. We all head out to the field on tuesday. The durban guys have to leave the mtc at 6 am. we have to take a flight down to durban to the mission home. we find out from there where we go.
I wont have pday next week so the next time I write will be on monday the 25th. hope everyone is doing well.
love you all
April 7, 2016
Bummer about the games. Hopefully you guys do better next time. You will have to let me know how the championship bball game is. After talking to alot of the SA guys I realize how lucky I am to have a dad. Alot of them dont know their fathers. Thank you for always being such a good example for me. Tell Adam and Mom I love them.
Bummer about the games. Hopefully you guys do better next time. You will have to let me know how the championship bball game is. After talking to alot of the SA guys I realize how lucky I am to have a dad. Alot of them dont know their fathers. Thank you for always being such a good example for me. Tell Adam and Mom I love them.
Love you,
Brett
April 7, 2016
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April 7, 2016
What a week! It feels like ive been here for so long! Just for those asking we havent watched sundays conference sessions yet. They were on at like 1 am so we have only watched saturdays sessions. We only have like ten computers that work and there are 16 missionaries so we all have to share. My companion's name is Elder Jonga. He is from East London SA. He is about 5 6 and 120 pounds. Hes a tiny guy but super awesome. I always thought I was a fast eater but he eats twice as much as me and twice as fast. The first day we were here we taught all the South africans how to play basketball. They all think im pretty good which isnt true but I wont tell them. I cant send any pictures until I leave the MTC. The internet is really bad here. The MTC is on the same grounds as a chapel, the regional CES services amd the Joburg mission president home. Its a pretty big compound. Everyone has fences and gates here, and i dont mean chain link fences. most of them are concrete walls that are 10 feet high with barbed wire on the top. Its crazy to see the difference here compared to Seattle. My district is awesome! It only took us like 3 days to have a great relationship. We are all like brothers after just one week. My district has just 6 elders in it and only 3 people in the whole MTC going to my mission. President and sister Ashton are awesome. they treat us just like their grandkids. They even said we are honorary "A" Team members. President is the son of an apostle. They are just like nana and papa back home. Sister Ashton even looks like nana. They love us so much. We went to the Joburg temple on tuesday. It is tiny! everything was on the same floor. It was my companions first time through so President, Sister Ashton, and I had to be his family. it was a special experince. we are going back next tuesday. I hope everyone has an awesome week! thanks for the emails. it was really exciting to read them all. Sorry if I dont reply to you we only have so much time.
What a week! It feels like ive been here for so long! Just for those asking we havent watched sundays conference sessions yet. They were on at like 1 am so we have only watched saturdays sessions. We only have like ten computers that work and there are 16 missionaries so we all have to share. My companion's name is Elder Jonga. He is from East London SA. He is about 5 6 and 120 pounds. Hes a tiny guy but super awesome. I always thought I was a fast eater but he eats twice as much as me and twice as fast. The first day we were here we taught all the South africans how to play basketball. They all think im pretty good which isnt true but I wont tell them. I cant send any pictures until I leave the MTC. The internet is really bad here. The MTC is on the same grounds as a chapel, the regional CES services amd the Joburg mission president home. Its a pretty big compound. Everyone has fences and gates here, and i dont mean chain link fences. most of them are concrete walls that are 10 feet high with barbed wire on the top. Its crazy to see the difference here compared to Seattle. My district is awesome! It only took us like 3 days to have a great relationship. We are all like brothers after just one week. My district has just 6 elders in it and only 3 people in the whole MTC going to my mission. President and sister Ashton are awesome. they treat us just like their grandkids. They even said we are honorary "A" Team members. President is the son of an apostle. They are just like nana and papa back home. Sister Ashton even looks like nana. They love us so much. We went to the Joburg temple on tuesday. It is tiny! everything was on the same floor. It was my companions first time through so President, Sister Ashton, and I had to be his family. it was a special experince. we are going back next tuesday. I hope everyone has an awesome week! thanks for the emails. it was really exciting to read them all. Sorry if I dont reply to you we only have so much time.
love you all,
Elder Knutsen
March 30, 2016
Brett
I had to rush to end my email I just sent to everyone because I had to meet with President Asheton. Him and his wife are super awesome. He used to love football but now that he has served a mission in New Zealand and SA he loves rugby. We talked about sports during my interview and he said I'm going to have to give the Africans a lesson about Triple Jump. I woke up at about 3 am this morning and couldnt get back to sleep. I guess that's just how jet lag is. They really like their sausage here. We had one that looked like a braught last night and a hot dog this morning. One of my roommates is Elder Wolfgramm, He's like 6 3 250, he said this morning hes gonna be 150 after how "interesting" the food has been so far. It was funnier in person. We had an egg this morning that looked like rubber. Anyways I hope you guys have a good rest of the week.
Love you,
March 30, 2016
WOW, 20 hours of flying is a long time to be on a plane. I would not advise it unless you are going somewhere as awesome as South Africa. I was also informed that the Atlanta to South Africa flight is the longest in the world. I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the plane which really helped once we landed. After making it through customs and getting our bags, myself and the other 5 missionaries that I flew with were greeted by a man with an ipad. It was kinda sketchy because he didnt have a name tag or anything but on his ipad he had a list with all our names. He then took all our passports and introduced us to our driver. The cars were like a mix between a mini van and a 4 door car. I thought the car was gonna tip over when we went around corners. We had to stop at a gas station to put some air in the car tires. The gas station looked like the pits at a nascar race. there we guys all in uniforms and the road that went up to the station just split off the highway then merged right back on. We finally made it to the Missionary Training center (MTC) at 8 PM. We were greeted by President Asheton and his wife, Sister Asheton. They showed us to our rooms, got us some food, and we went over some of the rules. When we got into our rooms for the night I decided to take a shower, while I was showering our rooms roof started leaking! Myself and the other 2 elders im staying with didnt know what to do so we threw some trashcans under the leak and went to get President Asheton. He wouldnt answer his door so we just left the leaks for the night. When we told him in the morning he didnt seem to really mind and told us "That's Africa". I have a feeling that we will be hearing that phrase alot. 11 other Elders get here this morning so for the next 3 weeks there will be 17 of us. Hope everyone has a good week!
Love you all!
WOW, 20 hours of flying is a long time to be on a plane. I would not advise it unless you are going somewhere as awesome as South Africa. I was also informed that the Atlanta to South Africa flight is the longest in the world. I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the plane which really helped once we landed. After making it through customs and getting our bags, myself and the other 5 missionaries that I flew with were greeted by a man with an ipad. It was kinda sketchy because he didnt have a name tag or anything but on his ipad he had a list with all our names. He then took all our passports and introduced us to our driver. The cars were like a mix between a mini van and a 4 door car. I thought the car was gonna tip over when we went around corners. We had to stop at a gas station to put some air in the car tires. The gas station looked like the pits at a nascar race. there we guys all in uniforms and the road that went up to the station just split off the highway then merged right back on. We finally made it to the Missionary Training center (MTC) at 8 PM. We were greeted by President Asheton and his wife, Sister Asheton. They showed us to our rooms, got us some food, and we went over some of the rules. When we got into our rooms for the night I decided to take a shower, while I was showering our rooms roof started leaking! Myself and the other 2 elders im staying with didnt know what to do so we threw some trashcans under the leak and went to get President Asheton. He wouldnt answer his door so we just left the leaks for the night. When we told him in the morning he didnt seem to really mind and told us "That's Africa". I have a feeling that we will be hearing that phrase alot. 11 other Elders get here this morning so for the next 3 weeks there will be 17 of us. Hope everyone has a good week!
Love you all!
The Call.......December 19, 2015
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