MTC Week 2

So this last week has been really good.  I will go in order of what we did the different days and then I will talk some about the things I have learned.


On last Thursday I had the opportunity to do early morning service.  At first I was not happy to have to get up 30 min earlier than how early I was already getting up.  However, after going and doing the service it was absolutely amazing how good I felt.  The spirit that came when I was serving my fellow missionaries (even though it was only cleaning one of the buildings that has classrooms) was just amazing.  It was also really nice because I got to go vacuum the whole building by myself.  It was so nice to be able to get away from my companion for a while.  I like my alone time but I haven't gotten any since I got here so it was just nice to be alone with my own thoughts for once.


On Saturday we went to play volleyball in the sand outside for gym time and it was soooo hot outside.  Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but the sand was like a thousand degrees and it burned like crazy,  but we played anyways.  Even though you couldn't stay still for more than like 30 sec, we put our socks on which raised the time we could stay still to a whopping 1 min.  Woot! It was pretty funny to watch everyone as they burried their feet in the sand and then moved as little as possible during the game.  It deffinately wasn't like any other game of volleyball that I have ever played before.  But it was... fun?  haha.


Sunday was amazing.  Sundays in the MTC are like Christmas (if that makes sense....  because it makes you feel so  happy and you feel the Spirit so much.)  You just learn so much and the Spirit is so strong all day. And then to cap it off you get to go to devotional and then to listen to one of the old recorded talks or watch old church videos after that.  The devotionals are always good.  This last Sunday the theme of the talk was the song, "Come Come Ye Saints".  It was the kind of a talk where he was just saying, "It's gonna be really hard.  If you haven't had a freak out time on your mission yet, you will eventually.  But just keep pressing forward.  Serve others, and serve the Lord and you will be happy.  You can overcome anything."  That was paraphrasing of course.  Just kind of a pump up talk.  Then after that my companion and I went to see an old talk that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC like 10 years ago.  It was amazing.  It was about recognizing promptings of the Spirit.  The whole point of the talk was to answer the question, "How do I know if it's the Spirit or if it's just me?"  He told a couple stories of how he figured out the answer for himself.  One of them was when he was at a church meeting that he had to be at instead of going to his son's championship basketball game.  He saw a man whose son was on the opposing team walk in, he also had to be at the meeting.  Elder Bednar knew he had to stay, but he really wanted to go see his son, so he took the guy whose son was playing against his and went to the basketball game.  He felt really bad afterwards because he thought that he had not done what his calling required him to do and instead, did what he wanted to do.  A month later, the son of the man who he took with him to the game died.  When he talked to the man, the man said that he was so thankful that Elder Bednar had taken him to see the basketball game because it was one of the last times he was able to see his son play.  Elder Bednar finished the story by saying that he didn't feel a strong spiritual prompting telling him that he needed to go to his son's game with the man, but he knew it was by the Spirit that it happened.  He then answered the question he posed at the beginning of the talk by saying, "It doesn't matter, quit worring about it."  Then he made a promise.  He said, "If you will be a good boy, or a good girl and honor your covenants and obey the commandments, your steps will be guided, and your mouth will be filled by the Spirit and you cannot go astray."  I thought this was an amazing lesson that if we have faith and we press forward obeying the commandments and fulfilling our covenants, we will be guided by the Spirit.  We may not always know right away or even ever if something happened because of the Spirit.  But don't worry about it, because if you are doing all the right things you will be guided to do what the Lord wants you to do.  I know that this is true.


I love you all.
Elder Michael Knapp

MTC Week 1

July 18, 2012

So my first week here in the MTC has been amazing.  It truly has oppened my eyes to what missionary work really is.  I always kind of looked at the missionaries as just going around and just convincing other people to get baptized.  I have come to realize in this past week that missionary work is not just about getting people baptized (although that is an important step)  but that it is about inviting the spirit into the lives of other people, and letting the spirit change them.  Missionary work is about bringing others unto Christ.  As I have discovered this I have been able to feel the spirit so much more.  I know that it isn't me that is going to convert people, but its the spirit of the Lord that is going to do it.  Pretty much this whole first week every talk, devotional, workshop, you name it,  every single one has been about faith in Christ.  It has caused me to realize that is a major part of missionary work.  If we can have faith in Christ he will give us what we need to be successful in teaching. 

My companions name is Elder Willoughby.  He is from Alberta, Canada.  He is a little bit socially awkward most of the time but overall he is a good guy, and we get along pretty well. My district is really cool.  At first we didn't really talk to each other much, but as the week has gone by we have all become pretty good friends.  There are 4 girls in our district as well, but they are leaving in 3 weeks to go to the MTC in Guatamala.  So they won't be here much longer.

Learning spanish has been really hard but it is going fast too.  It is really fufilling to to be able to speak so much already.  It is amazing how quickly I have been able to learn spanish with the help of the spirit here. 

Well I have a little bit more to say but I am out of time today so I will write it in a letter and send it.  Love you all, hope you are doing well.

Elder Michael Knapp

Before I leave

Hey, this will probably be the only post that I (Michael) will actually post on this blog.  Before i leave i just wanted to put a short post up here thanking all you that have influenced my life, and thank all you guys for being so awesome!  Now i am off for the next 2 years, so...  good luck, have fun, and all that stuff.  As a parting word of wisdom that I have recently learned, whatever happens, or whatever the situation may be there is always something to learn that can make you a better person.  Well I will see you all again in 2 years!