Four weeks in the MTC!

 My sweet companion Sister Perkins.  We have been together for Four weeks already. 

All the Italian Sisters

Ciao Mia famiglia! 

Come va? Sono molto bene! Wow one month of my mission down already! That went by way fast! In exactly two weeks I will be in Italy!! Next week I'll email you with travel plans. It's crazy how soon I am leaving. I am so excited, but I dont' feel like I know the language well enough so I'm also nervous. I'm still loving the MTC (especially the devotionals and when we get to teach). I am kind of sick of the food here, but there's no way I'm going to complain about that after China. I'm amazed that a month has gone by already, I thought it would feel a lot longer being locked up here, but it's not too bad!

 

So with only two weeks left, all the Italians are definitely feeling the pressure to learn this language. At the beginning everyone would goof off a lot, but now everyone is studying a lot harder (which I am really grateful for). We've been trying SYL (Speak Your Language) as much as possible and it's hard, but it is so good. SYL is where you only speak Italian and that's how any of the concepts stay in your head. I feel like I know a lot, but everyday I realize how much more there is to know. But I LOVE this language! Everything sounds so beautiful and I love complimenting people in Italian. Haha especially to the cooks cafeteria: "Oh grazie! Bellissimo! Perfecto! Buono cibo! Grazie!"--with lots of hand gestures and air kisses. The workers probably all think I'm crazy, but it's fun (side note: I found out the Rome mission is well known for having lots of crazy people so I know this is meant to be).

 

I've gotten to leave a few times to go to physical training for my companion and I actually really like it. We get to leave the classroom for a bit, go exercise, and make new friends. The people are so nice and we go around and bare our testimony in Italian for everyone. Every week we also go to TRC (Teaching Resource Center) where we teach Italian speakers a gospel message--they are just volunteers and usually members. Oh I have to tell you about this one guy we met! His name is Alessandro and he has been coming every week for many years; he is probably the most interesting and funny person I have ever met. We had a lesson with him yesterday and we could hardly get a word in, because this guy talked so much! He said he was from NYC, his family is Jewish (he went on this huge rant about how Hitler is Satana), and he has seven cats (he called himself padre celeste (Heavenly father) of his cats!). I shared 2 Nephi 23:3 which happened to be his favorite scripture and on the report paper he wrote "They shared my favorite Scripture. God told them." Also Sorella Perkins told him she was from Australia and has eaten Kangaroo and he spent five minutes talking about how crazy it is that she ate kangaroo. Ah he was so funny and I can't stop laughing at how odd he was. What a gem.

 

Our schedule has kind of been messed up this week so we didn't really get to meet with our investigators much--just once each. Luigi is still a struggle, but I really think he is feeling it and we got him to pray at least (huge step for this guy). Yesterday we got to meet with Angela and it was a really great lesson! Last time she said that she was already baptized so we had to explain about the authority and I think it went really well! It's really fun teaching lessons and I learn so much! Also, although sometimes I wish I was going English speaking--the cool thing about speaking a language on a mission is that you HAVE to COMPLETELY rely on the spirit to teach. There's no way the people can understand us well enough, unless the spirit teaches them. It's very humbling to be apart of.

 

Vi voglio bene!

Sorella Knudsen!

MTC Life is Great!!!

A clay Kangaroo

My cousin Ashley and I at the temple

My district

Me and my companion Sister Perkins

Ciao! Come va?

This week has been so great! I just love the MTC. It's difficult to sit in a classroom all day, but I'd rather be in that classroom than anywhere else at the moment. My companion has physical therapy twice a week and they told me I could bring workout clothes and workout while I'm there! So guess who just got two extra hours of working out each week! Italian is coming along really well. I'm half way through the MTC now and I feel like I have learned so much--but I still have so much to go. Italian really is not too hard--just takes a ton of memorization and practice. 

 

So as I mentioned in my last letter--we're teaching two "investigators"--Luigi and Angela. I just love these two. Angela is great and very prepared for the gospel. She likes our ideas of prayer, Plan of Salvation, etc. We invited her to be baptized and she said she was already baptized in the Catholic church. We were running out of time so we now get to address that issue tomorrow, but I hope it will go great. She is just a really good person for us to teach and practice our lessons in Italian with. And then there's Luigi...who is...how we say...molto difficile! He is really difficult, but we love teaching him because he makes us think and work hard. We know he can feel the spirit when he's with us, but he has so many questions and worries. The other day we were teaching him and he asked us "Why would Christ die for me? Why can't I die for my own sins?" I was so shocked and thought "Luigi, why the heck would you want to do that?" I think the hardest thing is we'll tell him things and he'll say "That's nice, but I don't know if I believe it." We really love this old man (who is actually Brother Mortensen) and it has taught us how to rely on the spirit, because there's no other way we'll be able to get through to him.  I just love teaching, because I learn and think the most when I'm teaching. For example we were telling Luigi how Christ visited the Americas and it hit me--Wow Christ visited the Americas! How awesome is that? Well wish us luck on getting through to him!

 

Hmm...what else? Lots of things happen here, but I don't know how much everyone cares to hear. Hmm I'll just tell some funny moments I guess: 1. Sofferto means suffered and soffrito means fried. So instead of saying "Christ suffered for our sins", I said "Christ fried for our sins". 2. Oh this is so funny! We were teaching this guy in TLC (where Italian speakers come talk to us for twenty minutes and we teach them a simple message) and we were teaching this guy who just got back from his mission in Milan. Sorella Perkins was talking about distractions and she was saying how she gets distracted all the time. She started naming off some distractions and she said the Elders were one. She meant because they talk so much, but the guy thought she meant they were a distraction because she's attracted to them. Hahaha so funny!! 3. After going to the bathroom my skirt got caught in the back and I didn't notice it until I got back to the classroom. Hahaha the poor Elders in my District! It's fine though. You know...I'm embarrassing haha. 4. One of the girls in my room used to live on an Indian reservation (she is also the biggest redhead which makes it funny). Every night she mediates and does yoga before she goes to bed. Well one night she taught me how to mediate and so now I know how to do Indian mediations. Who knew you could learn that at the MTC? haha!

 

Times gone so Ciao!

 

Love Sorella Knudsen

P.S. tell my cousin Nicole that the Romanians are in my zone! They are some of the greatest people I have met here and I'm excited for Nicole to join them!

MTC Adventures and Kendra's birthday!

Ciao la mia famiglia e i miei amici!

My District

Awkward/Nervous photo before teaching

All my roommates

 

We practice our lessons on this orange

Girls in my district

Guess who's the oldest one in the MTC now! Haha just kidding, but kind of feels like it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the packages and Birthday notes everyone!! Especially the Birthday cake and package you sent mom! My Birthday was really great--just ate a lot of junk food and got sang to in different languages. Haha kind of average, but I don't mind, because Birthdays don't matter on missions! Hey could I ask a favor of my friends and siblings--if you send me a letter, could you do it through DearElder.com instead of email? That way you could make my day throughout the week and I could spend more time looking at it. Thanks!!

 Well good news--my companion's leg is doing better! Although she can't go running with me, she is off her crutch and can walk at a normal pace! The doctors scared us by saying she would have to get surgery and maybe go home, but all she needs is to go to physical therapy each week (more times I get to leave the MTC haha).

So we finished teaching Gabriele--who got baptized! Yeah! Oh funny story..we had to do a companionship exchange for one of the lessons and in the lesson before the other sisters taught Gabriele about how faith is like a seed that will grow. Well when he said he wanted to be baptized the next time, he said his seed has grown, it's not a tree yet, but a small broccoli. Sorella Hunter said "Ew I don't like broccoli" so he asked "Cauliflower? Carrot?" She said carrots are good and he said "okay, I have a small carrot of faith then." Then in the prayer he said "Grazie per la mia piccola carrota di fede (thank you for my small carrot of faith)" It was so funny! I'm sad we don't get to teach Gabriele anymore, but now the teacher behind Gabiele has begun teaching us and it was so weird at first to hear an American accent and have been teach us this time--but he's a really great teacher so it's great now. Also Brother Mortensen reminds Sorella Perkins and I of Mario from Nintendo all the time--he looks just like him (minus the mustache) and makes the "ahhh" noise that Mario makes when he hits the lava. It's hilarious. 

This week we got two new investigators: Angella (who's actually Sister Urban) and Luigi (Brother Mortensen again). It's funny how even though they're our teachers--they feel like real investigators to us! We only met with Angella for ten minutes so we don't know much about her yet, but we got a long lesson with Luigi yesterday. Luigi is a 60 year old man with two daughters and two grandchildren and he doesn't believe in God. It was a really awesome experience teaching him yesterday! At first we were just talking about normal things--family, where we're from, etc--when we asked him if he believed in God. He said that he used to be Catholic, but now doesn't believe in God because he doesn't like how other churches get so much money, never do what they teach, and there's so much bad in the world. We read some scriptures and we started bearing our testimonies and suddenly the spirit completely changed. In our broken Italian we told him that we know there is a God and that he loves Luigi and that is why we left our families for so long to teach others. Sorella Perkin's testimony was so strong (she later told me that in the lesson she felt like she was teaching her brother who doesn't believe in God) and that made all the difference. I feel like we really touched Luigi's heart and he invited us over for dinner and to meet his family. It was so sad to walk out of the room and realize that wasn't going to happen because...well...Luigi doesn't quite exist haha. But anyway the spirit is awesome and I Love being here and I really love teaching now! Wow I'm such a cheesy person now. Haha the mission will do that to you!

At the MTC there's a ton of devotionals and speakers and this week we got to hear two great ones!  Elder Russel M Nelson came and spoke to us yesterday about missionary work and the influence of the people on the other side of the veil praying for our success--It was so great and just great to have an apostle speak to us. Also on Sunday we had Janice Kapp Perry (the lady who wrote "I am a Child of God", "I love to see the Temple", etc) come speak to us for relief society and told us about some of the stories behind the songs and we got to sang a melody of all the songs which was really great! She also introduced us to her newest song: "The Sisters Of  Zion", which is basically a remake of "As Sisters in Zion", but it's all about this new wave of sister missionaries. It was a great song--see if you can look it up--and we got to be the first group to ever sing it! It was so cool and powerful!

Well thanks for everything and I'll leave you with a language mistake: instead of saying "Atonement of Jesus Christ" I said "The fat lady of Jesus Christ."  Haha yeah...

Con Amour, Sorella Knudsen.

p.s. I've seen my cousin Ashley (I mean Sister Naylor) a few times! We haven't really got a chance to talk but she seems like she's doing good!

First week in MTC and a trip to ER

Well so far I am really enjoying the MTC! My District is hilarious and it is just so filled with the spirit! All the teachers are wonderful and everyone is so motivated!  Have I mentioned how glad I am that I took Italian this past semester? It has helped so much! It's so cool seeing the difference between studying for my Italian class and studying in the MTC; I definitely can feel the gift of tongues because everything comes much easier here (why couldn't I get set apart for finals?). So we get to teach an "investigator" almost everyday and it is the hardest and best thing ever. He's actually just another Italian teacher, but to me he is Gabiele who has lived in Sicily all his life and is now visiting his cousin in Provo for a semester to learn English. His brother died a few years ago and he's really confused if there is a God or not. Also, when we teach him it has to be in Italian, because he doesn't know English. The first time we taught him was on Friday and Sorella Perkins and I were so nervous! Gabiele turned out to be such a nice guy so he's so easy to teach. During our first lesson, Sorella Perkins completely forgot all the phrases she memorized and somehow I taught the whole thing in Italian! It was so cool, because I have never spoken better Italian in MY LIFE than I did in that lesson! The spirit really took over and we were able to teach Gabiele! I was just so happy when I came out of that lesson! I can't wait for more of these experiences! But I'm still not perfect at Italian so don't be thinking too highly of me...

 Well you're probably wondering what is going on about my trip to the ER? Well...on Saturday night my companion and I went for a run around the MTC and then we sat down and started stretching. My companion got up and suddenly her knee locked and she was in so much pain! Some guys picked us up and took us to the ER. We waited there forever and finally she got an XRAY (which showed that all the bones were fine) and they took us back to the MTC around 1AM (only to wake up five hours later...haha). So they thought she had torn or stretched something in her knee and the doctors were worried that it was serious and she would get sent home. On Monday we got to go back to the hospital for an MRI and today we went to a specialist who finally concluded that all she did was pitch something and just needs some medicine and therapy for a couple weeks. I never thought that I would leave the MTC so many times for my first week! All of this from just stretching! (oh funny story--we met a guy who had this same thing happen to him and he was just praying when it happened! So be careful when you stretch and pray!) Also, because my companion's knee hurts really bad and she can't bend it she has to walk with crutches everywhere. This has definitely taught me patience and how to serve because it takes forever just to walk to our classes and I also have to help my companion with everything (getting food, opening doors, holding all her stuff, and sometimes even helping her get dressed haha). But it's great because I love my companion! Also, I was talking to my Italian teacher, Sister Urban, one day and she told me that I took Italian for a reason and since I'm the only one in my district that has any experience with Italian, she told me that I need to be a help to the other missionaries when the teacher is gone. But now that Sorella Perkins and I have had to miss a lot of our classes I'm beginning to think that maybe I had to take Italian, because I wouldn't be able to attend all my classes here at the MTC and that way I wouldn't get behind. Also, Perkins doesn't know any Italian and since I know some I've been able to teach her and help so she doesn't get behind!

Everyday I just get more and more excited to be a missionary! Also, I just feel so lucky to have Sorella Perkins as my companion! Seriously, we go together so well and that I don't think I could ever get sick of her. She got called as Corinating Sister (which is basically like District leader for the sisters) and I couldn't think of anyone better for the position. Also, since I'm her companion I get to be apart of all she does so it's basically like I have that calling too! haha!

Okay time is running out, but I love you guys so much! Tell everyone who emailed me that I will try to write them back! It made my day to open up my email and see so many!!! I will include some pictures next week, so get excited! The best feeling this week is just knowing that this is where I am a supposed to be, and working on becoming a better missionary!

Love Sorella Knudsen!

p.s. I'm writing fast so don't critize my mistakes :)

First Letter from MTC

(This letter was a handwritten letter from the MTC)

Hey Family!
         I'm in the MTC!  So crazy!  It was sad leaving you guys, but they make your schedule so busy that you don't have time t think about home, which I actually think is good.
          First thing I did was drop off my luggage and then went straight to Language Training.  I was the only one in my class/district that knew some of the language before hand and I could understand and communicate with my teacher Sorella Urban.  It felt so great to be able to understand while everyone else was wondering how they would ever understand!  I love Language Training and i am so excited to learn more!

My Austrailian Companion

Sorella Perkins and I

         I also met my companion--Sorella Perkins!  She is recently from Colorado, but originally from Australia !!  She is the best!  She's had the greatest Australian accent and says things like "Where's the rubbish bin?"  Most of her family is inactive and she came on a mission for the sole purpose to bless them.  I'm so grateful that she is my companion--we're already best friends!  The great part of our companionship is that even though we have differences--we both have the same goal:  to be the best missionaries we can.  We are able to push and encourage each other to work hard and so far we have learned so much!  Sorella Perkins is also into being very healthy so there's no way we're gaining weight here!  I just love my first companion!
          The Elders here are babies---they look so young!  I'm starting to get to know the Elders in my district though and I'm starting to respect them more (at first Sorella Perkins and I would just laugh at them all the time).  I really like the other Sorelle in my room, we all get along great and they have crazy life stories (one of the girls has lived on an Indian Reservation all her life!)
        Anyway I am running out of time but I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay--I'm actually loving it here!  Wish I could say that I'm missing you guys, but...hahaha jk.  But seriously, they don't give you time to miss home.  I have a ton more to say, but I need to turn this letter in soon so just look forward to my email on Wednesday!
         I won't be able to come to Granny's funeral, but I hope everything works our and give everyone my love!   Love you guys so much!!! Missing you guys a ton!!!But I am so happy to be here and I know this is where I'm supposed to be!  I can't wait to become a better missionary and serve the people in Italy!


                                                    Love you!
                                                     Sorella Knudsen

May 1st, Kendra entered the MTC

Today is May 1st and the day for Kendra to go into the MTC.  We made a visit to Granddads to visit and then we went to lunch at Sizzler with Grandma and Grandpa Naylor.  Then it was time to drop Kendra off to the MTC.  The missionaries were all there ready to take her luggage and pull her away.  Good Luck Sweet Little Kendra we will all miss you.