Suicidal Rat - March 13, 2017

So this week was a pretty normal one, nothing to crazy besides having a ton of success right now! it was so awesome because we had 9 investigators at church! and whats crazy is that we have people who come every week who weren't even there so I think we can have over 10 there this coming Sunday.

So this coming week is transfer week, so next Monday I will have news whether I'm leaving Molweni or staying. I would be fine with both. Whoever is in Molweni next transfer is going to have a ton of baptisms soon.

So this week we found a rat running around our house and so we chased him out of the house, but then a couple days later our kitchen started smelling really bad. we tried to figure out what it was but couldn't, couple days go by and its getting worse so im trying to figure it out when all of a sudden I get the though to check the circuit breaker because it had been having problems ever sense the smell started. I took the cover off and sure enough there was the dead rat. it had fried its self on some exposed wires so we then had to pull it out and threw it off the cliff right behind our house, the smell is pretty much gone now which is great. It was a crazy experience.

All in all things are great, im doing awesome. its crazy that im just a couple weeks away from hitting one year, time moves so fast on mission when you are working!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Knutsen

11 months - February 27, 2017

So it's super crazy that March starts on Wednesday... It feels like I was just at home getting ready but now I have almost been out for 1 Year! It blows my mind how fast time moves when you are enjoying things.

This week was a pretty boring week because me and my comp were a little sick, he had a super bad migraine and I had a cold from Thursday till now. It slows us down but doesn't stop us!

So this coming Sunday we are having a baptism which will be super exciting. It's for a mother who's daughter passed away in a car accident about a year ago, the gospel has really helped her find peace and joy and she is looking forward to going to the temple to do work for her daughter and other family members.

This week we also have interviews with our mission president and are attending zone conference which will be nice. It's always good to learn and grow and become better. We also we get to see other missionaries who we don't see all that often.

For P-day today we went paint balling which was super fun, but I also got shot right in the throat, I hardly noticed though because we were playing capture the flag and I had the flag almost to the base but then I got shot and was more frustrated about not winning the game than the pain so it wasn't until we finished that I really noticed it.

Mission is awesome though and I have learned and grown so much, it really is the best thing you could ever do.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Knutsen

Nothing New - February 20, 2017

So this last week was a really low key one, not to much really happened.

We have one of our investigators preparing to be baptized on March 5th which we are super excited about! It always feels good to get baptisms and our President has a goal of 2 baptisms every week for every companionship, which is pretty tough but we working to get there. We have a couple people slowly progressing towards baptism and we are lucky that we keep finding people prepared to hear the gospel. One thing that is working well for us is helping part member families become full member families. There is a less active family where the father is not a member but he wants to learn so we have started teaching them and the mother who is a member is really excited about the chance to go be sealed in the temple.

Today we went hiking in the pouring rain, it kinda felt like I was home today. Like it was a typical Washington all day except it's summer here which makes it kind of weird. There is a tropical storm passing through Mozambique which is right next to South Africa and it's sending some heavy rain this side but not too much besides that. It's supposed to rain everyday this week which will be quite different from Saturday when it was 95, super humid, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Besides that things are great. I love my companion Elder Parsons, he is a super awesome dude! we are getting along super well.

I love you all and hope you have a great week

Elder Knutsen

New Companion - February 13, 2017

So this week has been pretty good! I dropped Elder Agabu off at the mission home as he finished his mission this week. It was crazy to see him go because we are such good friends, but it's also crazy to think that about a year from now I will be where he was.

So my new companions name is Elder Parsons from Panama city, Florida. He is a super cool guy and he is my first companion younger than me. He is only 6 months on mission and it's kind of weird to be the senior companion now because I am actually in charge of us and what happens to us, so if anything goes wrong its my fault haha! But, we are getting a long super great because he is such a cool and funny guy! Oh, also he is a vegetarian which has been funny for members to get used to. It has resulted in me eating lots of meat people give him, which I'm not complaining about!

Molweni is such an awesome area, we have some pretty awesome people we are teaching and preparing to be baptized, we have a couple part member families who we are working on because full member families. it has given us a bunch of people to teach without having to do much finding which is great because a teaching missionary is a happy missionary.

So on Saturday we were trying to help our branch start home teaching because nobody does it, so we met with some members to go visit some less actives which actually resulted in one family coming to church the next day which was great!  We got there a little bit before the members so we were waiting a bit and me and my comp started playing Frisbee. Nobody has frisbees here - but he brought some from home - so anyways we are playing and some kids wander over and I call them over and we teach them how to throw and catch it. It was so much fun and entertaining to watch them haha. They asked us to let them borrow "the red disc that flies" it was so funny!

That was kinda the big things this week, nothing to crazy!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Knutsen

Transfers - February 6, 2017

So this week was pretty boring except for the fact that we had 3 baptisms! It was super cool to have them, there were 3 young girls named, Amanda, Luyanda, and Nqoblie. I baptized all 3 of them and it was super nice because we have to drive to the Hillcrest chapel about 20 minutes from where we go to church, but they have the nicest chapel, and the font water was SO HOT. I wanted to just sit down and relax after I was finished baptizing them. I don't have pictures yet because the senior couple who attends church with us took all the photos for us.

This week was kind of slow because it was my companions last week on his mission so he was saying goodbye to lots of people and taking pictures. I'm excited to get my new companion on Wednesday - his name is Elder Parson, he is from the Florida USA. It's also cool because it will be the first time I will be older on my mission than my companion. I guess it means I'm finally getting old on mission being over 10 months.

Things are going well here, the work is going, we have tons of people to teach and people preparing to be baptized which is great.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Knutsen

Hunter - January 30, 2017

So today has been an interesting day, I received the tragic news of a good friends passing when I opened my email today. For this weeks email I would like to honor and remember him.

Hunter was an amazing kid. My heart was broken and aching when I learned of his passing this morning. I will always remember the times we spent together, first while I played football with him, then as his coach. I will remember his smile and laughter that filled every single practice. I will remember how he was always willing to do anything and play any position he was asked. Even offensive line on the scout team a couple times. As his coach he did everything I asked him to do, exactly how I asked him. In the weight room, his effort was unmatched. He was one of the hardest working kids I have ever met.

People wonder all the time, "what happens after we die?" I'm not going to go in to super great detail about it right now, (if you want to learn more, invite your local missionaries over) but what I do know for a fact is that death is not the end, it is merely a step in the process of life. We can and will see our loved ones again, we all will see Hunter again one day. We will see everyone we have ever loved and cared about one day. Because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, he has made sure we will see them again.

Our life on earth is short, it is simply a test, to see what we become, "our task is to become our best selves". It hurts to lose people we love, even 10,000 miles away I am in shock and pain at this loss, but it is just for a short time, it is not goodbye but simply "a we will see you later."  It hurts now, but things will get better. Happiness, joy and peace will come back into your life. I promise you it will.

I love you all so much, I love the emails I get each and every week. I think about many of you all the time. Stay safe and have a great week.

Love,

Elder Knutsen

 

 

 

Another one bites the dust - January 23, 2017

Yooooo so it's super crazy that this week I will hit 10 months on mission! It feels super weird to be this old because it still feels like just yesterday that I left home.

This week was another great one just like all my weeks in Molweni have been. Things are going great here, we have tons of people to teach, tons of people coming to church (we had 9 this week) and tons of people ready to be baptized! My companion and I are getting along great and I could not ask for things to be better!

Today we went on a sweet hike and had a braai (bbq) it was so much fun, it was just the 6 missionaries in my district who went so we had a blast spending time together.

This week we had exchanges with my district leader who is Elder Smith - my former companion! It was great to be with him again for a day, it actually was more than that because we swapped comps on Monday night and didn't swap back until Wednesday morning.

I'm sorry I don't have much to say today, just know that I am super happy and I love being on mission!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder K

 

 

Life's Good - January 16, 2017

So as you can guess from the subject, life is good right now. Things are going as well right now as they have been my whole mission. We have people to teach, people coming to church, and people ready to be baptized.

My companionship is great, Elder Agabu and I are getting along great, probably as well as I have gotten along with any companion so far. It's a bummer he goes home at the end of this transfer so I will lose a friend I've made.

The members here are awesome, they are giving us people to teach and love for us to come and visit them. They always are so kind to us and we have a great time with them.

Church attendance is improving, this week we had 47 people there compared to 34 last week. Also we had 8 investigators at church which was super exciting, everyone is being fellow shipped and loves coming each week. We should be having 3 or 4 people getting baptized on February 5th, which is always super exciting.

I want to thank everyone who wrote me letters for my Christmas box, opening and reading them was so special to me, I miss you all and love the kind words you wrote to me.

I love you all and hope you have a great week

Elder K

 

Attached are some of the views here in Molweini.

 

 

Happy New Year - January 2, 2017

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday!

So the new area is awesome! I have an awesome comp, an awesome house, and an house branch! I'm super happy right now, I think the happiest I have been for my whole mission right now. Life is just great.

Molweni is an awesome place, its super small but its actually kind of nice. It's not nearly as busy and loud as Umlazi. Its up on top of the huge hills/mountains. Its super beautiful. I have to try to take some pictures of the views.

Molweni is a smaller branch of about 40 people. We meet in a school. It's a great place though an the area is really ready to have some great missionary work done.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder K

 Me with my new comp - Elder Agabu

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - December 26, 2016

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, I know I did because I got to FaceTime my family! It was so cool to see them since it has been 8 months since I last called. It's crazy that I am now half way done with my calls home. Next year at this time I will be 21 months and just have a little left.

Christmas here is a lot different, no trees, lights or presents really - just family time and a nice meal. We got 3 huge meals back to back to back. I didn't think i would be able to finish it all but I did, we even had a 4th appt scheduled but we ran out of time, so they packed a container full of food for us.

So tomorrow I will be leaving Umlazi. It's crazy that have been here since the middle of August, I love it so much but it's time for me to head to my new area which is Molweni. It's a township about 45 minutes more inland, so still hot and humid, and I can't see the ocean every single day. That area is a small branch so there is a lot of work to be done there. Our Mission President called me this morning and told me he is putting one of the senior couple missionaries in that area and really wants me to work with them to help get things going there. It will be a challenge for sure but I'm super excited.

I love you all and hope you have a great new years.

Elder K

1 week left - December 19, 2016

It's so crazy that this Sunday is Christmas! It seems like just yesterday I had just gotten my misison call and was just starting to prepare to leave, now I have been out for almost 9 months, my how time flies!

This last week went rather fast, missionary work has been pretty tough lately because December here is the party month, people are always going to the beach or out of town so it has been tough to nail down appointments with people. this week we are changing our tactics and are doing a bunch of service this week, we did some this morning and have more planned for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Hopefully it will help people feel of our and our Saviors love for them.

On Saturday we had our huge mission Christmas party, there was about 50 missionaries there, it was a ton of fun to see some of the friends I have made on mission. because our mission is so big they have to have a second party tomorrow for the rest of the missionaries on the other side of the mission so I didn't get to see some people. If you would like to see pictures you can go to ldssouthafricadurban.blogspot.com , It's blog run by our mission president and his wife and they post pictures there all the time so it makes up for my lack of sending pictures home.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas,

I love you all

Elder Knutsen