a new year is coming

Dec. 30 Email:
gayest computer ever. if you can guess i went to send a big long email and it didnt send so.. it will be shorter. but its been good we had a baptism day after christmas of sierra and maria bindley it went good except they hated the suits they had to wear that was pretty funny. got some good pics. and their moms old friend who isnt a member said the closing prayer. it was funny. we started teaching him and its going really good. he watches church on tv all day everyday so he has a bunch of hang ups but he says he would forget them all if you found out the book of mormon was true so that was cool. and he has a wolf. got some good pics of that too. monique is doin great had a good lesson she fed us italian cake and sparklin cider. and she's excited about her baptism the 9th and she's bringing her less active friends to church this week so thats cool. and teaching a bunch of other peeps but their not so close to baptism yet. had a good christmas went to a few dinners and tracting picked upsome good potentials. pretty funny story. we almost ruined our van. we got some new tires on it and their really nice. drives alot better in the snow and we were coming home from an apptmnt. and there is a big puddle that we have to go thru and we got stuck in it. and it took us like 10 minutes of going back and forth thru the ice and mud that was a foot deep to get out and the check engine light came on but it turned off so it think we are good. the muffler was under water the whole time but it was bubbling so i dont think or atleast hope water didnt get up there. but i think thats about it that happened this week i cant thank you guys enough for the love and gifts and things love elder knaphus

Merry Christmas!

Dec. 23 email:
well its good to hear from you all and especially that dad is ok. good to hear that you got my christmas card and pictures. haha to do a little explaining. the house that is a mess is anothers missionaries appartment and we destroyed it becuase they did it to us it was pretty funny if you look close you can see a live snake hanging from the ceiling. the pictures of the pond is right outside of our windows one morning. the Christmas tree wasnt ours. ours is really nice. we were 4 wheelin out in the boonies of our area its fun out there the van gets super muddy. the big house in ahwatukee was larry fitzgeralds that snake that was around my neck was just some members that we ate dinner with. if you have any other questions with the pics fill free to ask. but good to hear that trent is doing good. it will be interesting to see what happens this transfer its already almost here it goes so fast. but we have been having a good time. thats nice mom that the your able to enjoy the relief of being done with shopping and it seems like its going to be a really good christmas for you all and me too i cant thank you enough for all the packages you have sent the food and everything is so delicous and im excited to open my presents as is my comp he thanks you guys and mandy too he loves the shampoo and says its already working. well things have all been good this past week. yesterday it started to snow and we got like 6 or so inches again so that is sweet we bought some nice innertubes and were going sledding again so that should be a blast. last sat was the baptism of justin adams it was really good. he was excited as can be and it was realy good for his non member mom to see. they gave us some christmas fudge that reminds me of mandy's and a little card that said thank you for the gospel and stuff so that was neat. we have a baptism of sierra and mariah bindley this saturday and their really excited. then monique the frenchy is still awesome. we had a good lesson with her yesterday and she told us how smoking is everything to her cuz she has had such a hard life its been her holy ghost so we are trying to get her to replace it with the gospel and give her things to do. but its tuff she said christmas is her last day of smoking. but other than that we have a bunch of other investigators but we havnt got them to progress towards baptism quite yet but things are still looking great we are getting a lot of support from members and things so its great. but its should be a good christmas with 2 baptisms the day after we have a few party's to go too. one of the bishops the ones that are knaphus relatives invited us over for c mas eve and theres going to be a bunch of food and games and stuff and a talent show and we have to be a part of it so me and my comp are going old school and he's going to bust out the trumpet and im going to bust out the clarinet so it should be pretty good. play jingle bells or something. but i think thats about all i have to report thank you for everything think i love you all so much thanks for the support and everything tell tammy i love her and her cookies once again i just picked them up from the post office this morning and am excited to try one as well as all the treat you guys sent me but have a beautiful christmas!! love elder knaphus

Elder Garr's Christmas in Show Low!!
This is the lake in his back yard

a handicap robe thing

hello its good to hear from you. seems like everything is going great having a good time at bunko and things.. thats funny that dad went. man 20 things on the to do list today thats a lot but thats how most people are during the holidays i guess. and its kind of a bummer for us cuz the work slows down a little bit. but we are still staying busy. i received the packages that you sent im excited to see what they are thank you so much for it all. haha thats funny that your sending my comp some shampoo he'll love it. he's a pretty funny kid. a package with some homemade treats would be pretty sweet. man i love all your treats but i havnt had your big chocolate chip cookies for a while muddy buddies are amazing you know i love banana bread. toffee whatever you want to send but not too much cuz im trying to eat healthier remember haha. oh yeah and im not sure when she makes them but tammy's sugar cookies are incredible so if you could just remind her that that i love her and her cookies that would be appreciated. its hard to be healthy though especially around the holidays. seems like you guys are going to have a good christmas and christmas here should be good there is a lot of cool people that have invited us over and things. everything is going great its been a good week. we have been staying busy doing a good amount of teaching. justin adams is gettin baptized this saturday he's excited. his mom and brother arent there yet but, it was neat his brother is really against religion but he's come a long way and he's particapating in the lessons now and got mad at his parents cuz they didnt go to church cuz they were sick. he said if we are goin to go we got to go every week. so that was pretty cool. then we have the bindley girls that are on date for the day after christmas so that should be a way cool baptism. we had a good lesson with them yesterday. we had a really good lesson with a 13 year old girl. her mom just died but she is doing really good and came to church and loves young women she wants to know where and what her mom is doing and so we told her and how much god loves her and things and she really wants to read the book of mormon and go to church every day if she could so that was awesome. but those are the main people that we are teaching it was pretty funny today we went to the temple and they gave me a handicap robe thing so it was way small and short pretty funny everyone was laughing at me when i put it on. it was cool this week i went on an x change with a way cool missionary from new zealand. he is a really nice kid and he likes reggae like i do and stuff he said that i need to go down to his house and stuff and he would take me on a tour of new zealand and go to a reggae festival and stuff so i will probably have to take him up on it. he also taught me some really good card tricks so im going to buy a deck of cards today. but his companion is also really cool he's from utah but he's half eskimo half navajo but he likes a lot of really good music and he gave me some cds that he got approved. like sufjan stevens and iron and wine so. that would be awesome if logan or someone had some spare time made me some mixes of stuff like that and if the lyrics are appropriate and their chill then the mission pres's wife will approve them and then i would have amazing cd's instead of the same regular church music that every missionary has. thats would be amazing even some really chill reggae if you think it could be appropriate . oh we went down by the lake the other day and we got some really good pics that im going to try to make a christmas card with and we also saw 3 bald eagles they were on the tree right above us and all flew away it was neat. i think that is about it tell everyone i love them and mandy i have been writting a letter to you for the last few days its hard to find time sorry but i will finish and send it to you. but thank you so much for all the love and support you guys are the best love you so much and enjoy the holidays
love elder knaphus

mini van struggles in the snow!

Dec. 9 email:
hello how is everyone doing today. things are great here in showlow. thats cool you guys got some snow too. we got about 1 foot on monday it was fun to drive the mini van around in the snow but it struggled. it was supposed to get 2 ft of snow up here but it has stopped for now. but i have gotten some good pics and things that i will send home probably today and today we are going sledding so that will be fun. i have received all the packages i believe thank you so much, the tootie fruities are delicious but im trying to eat healthy,the cds are great thank you so much its always nice to listen to something new. im wearing the new garments today. and theyre great. the new shampoo i didnt think was approved by mandy but its doin the job it was funny i checked to see if it smelt good and it shot up my nose left me with a bad taste but... the gloves i use everyday cant thank you enough there and i used the jacket and i bought a winter jacket cuz it gets really cold at night im going to ask all the missionaries today if one needs that north face jacket. but the coat is doin the job i dont think i need any other sweaters or anything but thanks. im excited for chistmas you dont need to send a c mas tree or anything we have the lights and things. thats a bummer that mandy has had a crazy week and hilarios that logan worked at the er and had some choice experiences one of the members up here is the head doc at the er up here and he tells us some way funny stories. thats good to hear riley is havin a good time with his friends. keepin the hot tub occupied. seems like you guys have been enjoyin the holidays thus far with the shoppin and things it will be fun to receive gifts even when i get home!! thats fun that mom is tending adele i wish i could play with her there is a lot of cute kids but we cant play with them really or hold them haha mandy is never going to have kids. i believe she did say though before i left or something that she would be pregnant when i came home.but... thats crazy to hear spencer young is gettin engaged man thats pretty darn quick i wonder who the girl is if you know you should let me know. i do enjoy seeing the other kids blogs and things its coool. and good to hear that trent is doing ok i got a little email from him today. but quick question for mandy my comp is going bald and was wondering what is the best shampoo to prevent or help him with that. but im doin great my knees are hangin in there but i have kinda hurt them twice with the snow we were having a snow ball fight with some kids after a lesson and i slipped on the ice and hit my knees and then i was pushing a car and same thing but just little bruises from some fun. but things are going really good last week was a little slow for teaching but this week has been good so far we have some more peope who have accepted baptism dates. just one of the adams is getting baptized the 19th of december. but he loves the church. and then there the little french lady monique. she's so awesome we had a good lesson last week and gave her the date of the 19th too and she so she had to quit smoking today and on sunday she fasted for it and was all excited and pumped and she is doing amazing. then we put the 2 over aged youths on date for the day after c mas sierra and maria bindley sierra is really smart but they enjoy church and things. so the work is going really good we are teaching a lot and have a few new investagators that we are picking up this week and the recent converts are coming to chuch gettin callings and having a good time so its been really neat. things have been really good up here in show low i like it a lot thank you so much for all the love and support have a wonderful week
love elder knaphus

Staying in Showlow!

Dec. 2 email:
bummer my computer is about to break its just turned off on me just as i was finishing my email so its going to be short. but good to hear trent is ok. and everyone had a good thanksgiving and dad happy b day seems like it was a good one. thats really sucks that utah lost but it will be sweet to be at the next utah byu game. everthing stayed the same with transfers still with my comp in show low and things are still going great. had 2 baptisms last week seth and april. they were awesome. both had a lot of non member family and things and great crowds. well the work is still moving steady. found a new part member family who is really interested yesterday and then one who has met with missionaries and is interested but has a little hold up but shes coming to church this Sunday so thats cool. hopefully she will enjoy the r. s but everyone else is doing good. the adams family didnt make it to church cuz their dad was sick but they are really sincere and we have a lesson with them tomorrow maybe we will give them a baptism date. then the harris fam didnt come we dont know why but we have a lesson this weekend . but things are awesome i love it here in show low. it will be fun to hopefully see some snow for c mas. i got the package by the way thank you and it you could throw some shampoo in this one im not sure if i requested that earlier but im out. i think thats about all i have got to go but i love you so much thanks for all the love and support . funny quick story we sang some hilarious karaoke with an 75 yr old man i with i had my camera but we will go back and ill record it but it reminded me of the cruise but love you all and have a wonderful weekl
love elder knaphus

happy thanksgiving

Nov. 25th email:
hello. it seems like everything is going great again. thats always good to hear. and things are really good hear too. this week has been cold as well stayin below 50 degrees all day i think. the other morning it was pretty rough. i tried to go for a jog and it was freezing and im not used to the altitude and i almost made it a mile and my lungs just about burst. it was crazy. so i will probably never do that again. but the house is nice and warm like you said we just have a gas fireplace that maintains by a thermostat we keep it at like 64. seems like you guys are going to have quite the crowd for thanksgiving. im gettin pretty excited about the utah game my comp is a byu fan though but he's cool we joke about it a lot but hopefully we'll be able to sneak a little in some how and the utes will take it to em. thats fun that the boys have been having a good time with the x box turning into gamers haha. we are planning on having a good thanksgiving we have had like 10 invites all through out the day so it should be interesting to see what we can pull off but we dont have any dinners planned for this week so we are making room for thursday. thats cool the you guys are having the missionaries over and funny that one is pretty ready to go home. i think it will be tuff that last transfer but it still feels like a while a way. theres a lot of things im excited to do again though. thats fun the mom and mandy are doing their down town shoppin spree i bet that will be a blast and i guess on that note im a size 18 shirt i believe and you can just get some short sleeve ones. and you got the garments right just make sure to get the bottoms in the short size so they dont go to my mid calf. thank you so much. thats awesome that your finally remodeling the basement haha. that will be way sweet to come home too. thats pretty crazy to hear about all these kids gettin home from their missions i cant believe it but cool. things still steadily moving along. we had another good baptism last weekend of cassandra probably one of the biggest crouds i have seen like 60 peeps but this weekend we have 2 more baptisms seth and april and they are both way solid. yesterday we spent about 2 hours with seth cuz he works at the car dealership and our van broke down so we just waited to see what was up with him and he's excited but bad news it we are carless tell monday so... so were going to be like the missionary you have and rely on the members but our area is probably 20 times their size. but we will be fine. then the awesome little french lady monique is doing great. had a lesson with her yesterday about obedience and reading the book of Mormon and fasting and she has been still struggling with smoking but she said they taste terrible to her and she is going to be done for good she wants to be baptized before c mas so thats awesome. then we are working with 3 awesome families 2 of them the adams their dad is a member and the bindleys whose mom is a member both have a few kids came to church and had a great time and then picked up a really cool family of 5 all non members last night thats excited about church and all this week so things are still looking amazing i haven't experienced anything like this i just hope that me and my comp stay together transfers are next week. we had interview with the pres and he was pretty happy with everything and i kinda think we will stay together but you never know. today it was cool i got a call from one of the ward mission leaders i had out in st johns chad knew and he was outside our house and he came and talked with us for about and hour and half it was neat to see him and his wife works here in show low and i saw her yesterday at a restaurant for lunch and she is having her baby on tuesday so thats pretty neat. and today a lot of the missionaries are gettin together for a ping pong tourny so that should be fun. but i think thats about it. the mission is still amazing thank you everyone for your support and love your the best. have a wonderful thanksgiving
love elder knaphus

"we are being extremely blessed"

Nov. 18th email:
well hello its nice hearin from you again. and it seems like everyone is having a good time. sucks to hear that the utes lost. it sucked we were having dinner and they had the game on in the other room. it was torture. but. they'll still beat byu so.. but thats way cool that the bengals are tearin it up. im with fill theyre going to the bowl. thats sweet the pacquio had another good fight. i would like to see him fight. good to hear logan is doing well with his emt class and having a good time. that would be way cool if he did some fire fighting. also good to hear that the house is still being used properly with all the peeps coming over and things. thats a bummer that mom and dad have been a lil sick im gettin a little bit of a cold right now but it should be no big deal. thats cool that dad still workin up in canada. one of my companions elder woodruff is living in edmonton right now and i heard from him the other night and he's sending me a package he's
a pretty cool kid. thats fun that you guys are having a good crowd over for thanksgiving. one of the bishops just invited us over so thats should be a good time. but things are all going great up here. the weather has been really nice the nights get pretty cold though the gloves are sure nice thanks a ton. but we have been stayin busy. last weekend we had 2 baptisms. one was for the 8 yr old kenny and it was neat cuz he got baptized with another 8 year old child of record and it was neat cuz during the talks of the program they were asked a bunch of questions and kenny answered them all. then we had nick and he was really excited about his too and things went great. i got to confirm him so that was cool. but everyone else is doing really good. cassandra gets baptized this sunday then seth and april the following week and they are all set to go. monique is doing good. she smoked so thats a bummer. but we had a really good lesson with her yesterday and she had 2 more cigs in her pack so hopefully she can quit this time but she is really loving the church and she was invited to a fhe and loved it she has really had a warm welcome and she wants to get baptized a lot she just has to climb the mountain as she say's. last night we also picked up some more people who have been prepared. 2 unbaptized kids and then their moms friend we had a really good first lesson the kids loved it and so did john the dude he already believes it all so thats way sweet. and we have 2 lesson set up later this week to start teaching some more new peeps hopefully it all goes well. we are being extremely blessed. it was neat to go down to the valley. to meet with elder evans. he went to east high school and said he knew an ned knaphus who died in car accident and my comps dad knew him too. is that g pa's bro. but other than that my knee's are pretty ridiculous the other day i was gettin out of the car and the other knee popped out but it went right back in the other one is doin alright i was able to do a pretty good workout this morning so... they should last the rest of the miss. but things are good i tried to buy some g's the other day but they didnt carry the ones i want so if you could send me some that would be appreciated. i need like 3 or 4 pair of the mesh double xtra large and short bottoms. and also i could use like 2 or 3 new white short sleeve shirts i have had to get rid of a few they are fallin apart but i cant probably just go to the store and buy some if that would be easier just let me know next week. but i thinks that about it thank you for everything love you all and have a great week.
love elder knaphus

the Mckrill family got baptised!

Nov. 11 email:
well hello everyone i didnt recieve an email from any of you all this week but i guess its ok. probably just forgot about me. no big thing. just kiddin. i hope you guys got my email last week. the computer was having some problems. my first email i tried to send last week didnt work. so i tried to send another but.. well things have been really good. we have been staying busy. last saturday we had the baptism of the mckrills. the family of 4. it was neat. and they all got really nice sets of scriptures from family they were really excited. this weekend we have 2 baptisms. one is for kenny he is an 8 yr old kid and his dad isnt a member but lives with his g pa who is a recent convert and kenny is a good lil kid has a lot of energy but he's really excited for his baptism so that will be fun. then were baptizing a 10 yr old named nick and his mom is a member and he is solid. a really smart kid and really excited for his baptism as well. he participated in the primary program last week. that was neat as well. but we had a neat lesson yesterday. with monigue. she is a neat 60 yr old woman a french moroccan. she just showed up to church and we started to teach her and she has just accepted everything so great and she is on date for the 21st and she has to quit smoking 10 days before and we taught her the word of wisdom yesterday the day before she has to quit. and she smokes a half pack a day but we taught it and she had no problem accepting in and she had 4 cigarettes left to smoke that day and today she's clean she's pretty neat she really like the church but if you guys could pray for her that would be appreciated. i dont think there is any crazy stories really this week. we caught a salamander in our bathroom this week that was fun. but things are all going good. my knee is doing pretty good not back to 100 percent but just about there i think im going to try to play a little softball today but take it easy. the work is going great we are staying busy the mission is really trying to get the wards involved and going out and visiting and setting up lessons for us so we just teach all the time so hopefully we can make it work. how is riley's friend doing that came to church. hopefully you guys stay on him but the mission is the best having a lot of fun. monday i got to go work in st johns for the day. that was pretty cool. we were really busy so that was good but didnt get to visit anyone that i wanted too. and tomorrow we are going down to the valley cuz we have some meetings and conferences with a member of the 70, elder david evens. so that should be some fun. but i think thats all i got. i actually got to see the bengals highlights and they wooped up the ravens that was way sweet. and the UTES better take out tcu my prayers will be with them. but thanks for everything. love you all and have a great week.
love elder knaphus

Garr's zone leader

Nov. 4 email:
well that sucked i just wrote a huge email and it got erased the computer expired so im afraid im not going to be able to right down everything. but it seems like everyone had a great halloween. good to hear. to was great here too we just went to the temple and visited a recent convert and had some good mango drink. so cant complain. to try to anwser all your questions i got the packages. thanks so much. i dont think the zone needs presents, theres 20 missionaries. and i dont know what i need for c mas but i will start thinking. thats crazy that your gettin a new bishop that would be cool if it was dan jones. i dont know our literal house address but we live off old lindon road and 22nd ave its right by fools hallow lake and we live next to a big field with a few cows and 2 mini horses and a little pond maybe that will help. but things are goin great we are having crazy success like i have never experiences before. last night we put another person on date he has met with missionaries for 4 yrs and finally is ready. we should have 9 baptisms in our area this transfer. our zone is doin amazing too im pretty sure leading the mission we are having that baptism of the mckrills this sunday too the family of 4 so that should be really neat. but the work is rollin along really good finding new peeps everyday. but you got to love to people in the little towns of the az mountains theres nothing like it. but i love it here. but i think thats all i have to write hope everyone has a wonderful week oh and you can send those gloves it you want but no rush it is really nice out right now. it warmed up to like 65 so.. but thanks for everything love you all so much
love elder knaphus

it snowed!

Oct. 28 email:

well it seems like everyone is doing just great and likewise here things are wonderful. last night at about 8 30 it started to snow and then this morning we woke up to about 3 inches of beautiful snow. its amazing. i have got some good pictures. it was sweet we live with members like i said and its a side house and is right on a pond so it was sweet to wake up and open the blinds. man im still so jealous of hearing about that little moses i wish i could play with him i probably will have to buy me a little puppy when i get home. good to hear logan is enjoying school so is he going to go down to uvu uh oh thats provo i dont know about that. that will be a good utah game hopefully they win i believe they are playing tcu and that should be a huge game its good to hear byu lost. but things are all going great hear in show low. we dont cover any reservations but we are working with and indian couple that want to be baptized so thats sweet. but i think we will probably be able to baptize them this month that would be sweet. but we have 8 people that have dates this month to be baptized so that is way awesome. there is a family a mom and she has 3 kids and one is 12 ones 10 and ones 8 and they are the smartest kids ever and they love the church probably one of the coolest converts ive worked with. then last night we taught a part member fam and talked about baptism and she started crying cuz she wants to get baptized so bad so gave her a date that was awesome and theres a few others that are all awesome and we are still picking up new people to teach and working with some really good people that we should be able to babtize in the next little while. we are working with a way cool family from texas and they all have huge accents theyre hilarious and baptist but they love the church so hopefully things will work out. the area is awesome we have really been working with the wards about them going out and doing missionary work within the ward like is says to do in pmg and they have been really supportive so thats really good. and one of the bishops wife's is torliefs brothers grand daughter or something like that so thats pretty cool too. yesterday we saw a mini horse and i got a picture of it it was funny reminded me of rob and big. its hunting season so we are seeing quite a few dead animals and things yesterday we saw 2 freshly skinned deer i got some pics pretty crazy. i dont think theres much else to report me and my comp are zone leaders so its fun being with a really experienced missionary and zone conferences and things shouldnt be bad but its good to be in the mountains i haven't received the package yet but it will probably come today we will go check the mail right after emails but thank you for everything you guys are the best love you all and enjoy the snowy halloween
love elder knaphus

Show Low and a minivan here I come!

Oct. 22 email:
hello how is everyone doing im doing great. and mom guessed right i got transferred and it was far away. they send me to show low! it is awesome. it was a 3 hr ride up i think. we arrived and chilled for a while then went out and did some work visited some people that they had street contacted the other day and we talked with them for a while and set up a lesson so they will be some new investigators really nice people but im not sure about conversion but got to have faith right. everyone is really nice up here in the mountains its a whole different world its good to be back its about 45 minutes away from st johns were i started my mission so that will be fun to go back there on x changes and see some peeps. but. im not sure what to do for a coat i guess you could send me one if you havnt sent that package yet you could just send me like a fleece jacket thats black that i could wear out and about or if you have send the package i can go to walmart and buy one or something i will just wait tell next pday to find out i guess i should be able to make it by then. its seems like everyone is having a good time thats crazy the swine flu is spreadin like mad i dont think any missionaries have had it actually i have only heard of one but i have never been sick enough to stay in so that is lucky hopefully it stays that way. thats fun that you have been being like kellie mom she is the best its sad to leave her she is on a cruise right now but if you talk to her tell her she's amazing and thanks again for taking care of us. thats crazy though that football is almost over it goes by way fast you'll have to let me know if oly does anything in the playoffs. we dont do any cooking to answer your question we leave that to the members and in this new area that im in now we eat at like 5 different restuarants free one time a week so never have to buy lunch either. good to hear logan is stayin busy having a good time with emt stuff that will be neat if he's a fire fighter thats cool that tucker is workin for pops you'l have to tell him hi for me. and man i cant tell you how jealous i am of those cute little puppies man i wish i could play with them. but maybe we will find some puppies up here. it is an awesome area its a lot different from st johns. its a lot bigger than st johns but its more in the actual mountains in the pines so its neat supposedly elk and deer and bear come right into the town. my comp's name is elder bishop he is from idaho he has been out 15 months he is a really cool guy i like him lot. he's alot like me really laid back but good attitude about the work and stuff pretty good with people too so it should be good. but we live with some members in their guest house its really nice its heated by a fireplace so that was fun to fall asleep too. we cover a huge area we have a car and its a mini van! a dodge caravan so that is freakin sweet. we cover 4 wards and we have a lot going on we have 6 people who are on date to get baptized for the month of november so thats really exciting and we have a few others that we should be able to put on. so im lookin forward to being here for the winter enjoying the snowy weather. it was kinda sad to leave my last area i really like it there the members were awesome and there was a good amount of work. my last day we picked up some new gators and things. we had a really interesting visit with a part member family and he was an x communicated member of the quorum of the 70 his name is glen kimball you should google him or something he told us a bunch of bull crap but said we could teach his wife so thats funny. and i guess i failed to mention but olivia and kristen they said they werent ready for the commitment but the fellowship we had encouraged them that they were and they accepted the date of nov the 14th so that was awesome. and last weekend we had drew's babtism and it was really neat his mom is not member and she cried the whole time then came to church for his confirmation and loved it his dad is a members but doesnt like the church but still came and all his non member friends were there and had a good time so left ahwatukee on a high note and i have to thank you again for the package you sent the mangoes and jerky are amazing and there were some good ties too your the best i dont think i have too much more to write about but it would probably easiest to send mail straight here our adress is po box 1115 show low az 85901 it will get here faster if you do that i think we are going to the snow flake temple for halloween so that will be fun. but i thinks thats all i can report but thank you so much for all the support and love i will try to write some letters soon!
love elder knaphus

Sylvia's baptism was awsesome!

Oct. 14: hello, how is everyone doing? things are going really good. we have been staying really busy and it seems like everyone is doing really good. that was pretty awesome to be at Kelly's house when you were on the computer. oh man those puppies are incredibly cute i wish i could play with them. I received the package and thank you so much and its cool to look through the football roster and stuff but it makes me miss it. thats fun that cute Wes stopped by, he's hilarious, hopefully he doesnt go down to byu! im jeaulous to hear that mom is making cafe rio pork i have only had that one time on my mission and it was like a year ago that stuff is amazing i cant wait to have it again along with barbacoa and molca salsa and lone star taquira those places are legit. we do get free filibertos down here so thats sweet its kinda like molca salsa but not as quality. well it should be interesting to see what happens with transfers i thinking i will probably get transferred cuz we had interviews yesterday and pres asked my comp if he would be comfortable if i left so... but you never know, its pretty likely that i stay too. i would like to stay for a while though cuz we have quite a lot of work going on and things. on sunday we put 2 more people on date we had a really good lesson with olivia and kristen and they both have felt the spirit and cant deny it but they didnt feel ready for a date but there was some solid fellowship there. one was a recent convert and one was less active most her life but they told them what was up and we were able to give them a date so that was sick and we are going to the visitors center tonight to watch the joseph smith video with them. Sylvia's baptism was awesome there were a lot of people there she invited a bunch of her non member friends and things so that was cool. then drew past his interview to get baptized so he is going in the water this Saturday and there is supposed to be a big crowd so that will be awesome. the savior of the world was awesome we had a really good showing of our investigators they really enjoyed it and lots of members invited their non member friends and stuff and we have gotten 2 referrals already so thats sweet . but other than that we have still been waiting on a few frustrating people who we cant setup lesson with, some people have way too busy lives but we have some really good potentials so things are really going good. p days have been pretty good we have been playing a lot of basketball last week we played so0me football that was really fun today we are meething with the mesa zone to do a combined zone p day dont know what were going too but it should be fun. and i think we're going to do a little bit of fishing as well so that should be good. we forgot to buy hot dogs for bait hopefully we will have something but i think thats about all ive got, but i dont think i really need anything but i would love that cd of kalai if you can find it but thank you all for your support and love, have a great week

Just got to keep at it...

Oct.7th: the mission today is great. we are in kind of a rush cuz we are headed off to a bbq that sis Craig the mission Pres's wife is doing for our zone so that should be fun. It seems like everyone is doing great. that is funny that mom chats with sister Zeigler, i bet that's a good time and it is true that you guys have a lot in common she is awesome. haha. you finally sent my package maybe i will get it today cuz i will be at the mission home, that would be exciting. but i do have one huge request and it has an urgent sticker on it one of my favorite bands came out with a new cd! his name is kalai and he is mormon and he came out with a cd of hymns if you could get that to me it would amazing. i am so jealous that mandy is buying a puppy for tammy and herself without me being there. i miss max and puppies so much! yesterday i saw a cocker it was cute. thats funny that riley is going to homecoming you will have to send me some pics. and i cant believe it is 40 degrees there, its actually starting to be nice weather here, its amazing, feels so nice and incredible to know that i doint have to put up with the heat again. things are going great last week was a little rough it was slow didnt teach as much as we wanted too. but things are better this week. we had a really good time watching conference got to watch all of it. went to breakfast with our investigator Drew, he's still doing good, gettin baptized the 17th, Sylvia is doing great had a lesson last night she is gettin interviewed tonight and she should pass and she should get baptized this Saturday so thats exciting. we had another good lesson yesterday with a recent convert she is 10 yrs old and her dad is not a member but he sat in on the lesson and was really interested and asked questions and things and is going to read and pray about the book of mormon so thats really awesome and he is a black belt in ju jitsu and things, he fought mma for a while, he's intensely strong and big and all tatt'ed up, but a really nice guy. yesterday was really successful with street contacting we got 4 really good potential investigators just from talking to them on the street, all seemed interested and set up times to come teach, so thats exciting and all the others that we are working with were still trying to set up lessons but things are still looking promising. we should be able to put Sylvia on date this week and her friend really soon too. so we should set things up for next transfer too its crazy how fast time goes. this transfer is winding down quickly i dont really know is there is any cool or crazy stories this week except talked to a lesbian the other night who served a mission and everything. it was pretty ridiculous but funny cuz my comp really had hope and faith that she would come back and change and she said she was going to come to conference and she gave us a wrong number and stuff so.. i dont know it will be interesting if we come across her again my comp is pretty upset, but its all part of the experience, just got to keep at it. thank you so much for all the support and love the mission is the greatest enjoy your week and keep it rollin along.
love elder knaphuis

Love that smile

Thanks Sister Egbert for the cute little BofM (nice tie)

My little boy is doing good...

Sept. 30: hello. i sounds like all is well and everyone is having a good time. man how nice i would be to enjoy the utah weather right now the sun is still beatin hard but i think its supposed to get below the 100s from hear on. good to hear Riley is still tearing it up im excited to see the tape. good that the utes won as well that's a bummer that matt asiata is out. it was pretty cool last Sunday we were chilln at church greetin peeps as they came in and there was a big Polynesian couple that walked in so i started talkin to him he was quiet but he said he was from Provo and played football for east and i asked him what brought him to az and he said work. i asked what he did for work said he played football. it was pretty funny he plays for the Cardinals. it was Fui Vakapuna, byu's really good running back, he was really nice and huge. he's in one of the wards down here and he's going to feed us so thats pretty cool. good to hear the bengals pulled of the w over the steelers thats always wonderfuW to hear. boy is that crazy that wes just got home man i miss that kid you will definitely have to tell him hi for me. thats cool that Daniel had his farewell and that there were bag pipes that is pretty cool. we are going out with a missionary who just got back from England tonight. he said its pretty cool over there. thats fun you guys are going to have a fun uea weekend going up to the mtns. thats cool taht logan got to hang out with some of his mission buddies and that would be awesome if he went to hawaii. thats fun that the missionaries have been coming over and things and caught a little bit of the utah game. i havnt seen anything so thats a bummer but what can you do. things have been going really good training is going good my little boy is doing good he is coming along. we have stayed pretty busy. drews baptism was bumped back from this week to the 17th cuz his g ma is a member who lives up in slc and is coming down for it so thats neat but we are going over to his fellowships house this Sunday morning and watching conference those are the only plans we have set up. Sylvia is doing really good we had another lesson with her at the Egberts and i did know that their son was in Trents mission. theyre awesome sylvia is gettin babtized the 10th and she quit drinking coffee on her own so thats pretty sweet. we took jeff to a baptism last Saturday and it was really good he felt the spirit and knows he needs to get baptized and wants too but he just is struggling with the decision to get married or move out. then had a really good lesson with olivia we thought she wasnt doing as good but we called her fellowship and he said they had a really good talk and she is a believer so we had a really good lesson and she is praying about baptism and next lesson we should have her on date and at the lesson another kid brought his girl friend who has kind of been investigating the church for a while and she loved the lesson and is reading and praying and i think we will be able to baptize her too. so thats awesome. then we had a really neat experience that just turned sour on us yesterday but i will tell it anyway. we got a ref last transfer for a dude named chis that we have tried to contact forever and the other day we were with are ward mission leader and decided to stop by but didnt have his gate code. so i called him up and he invited us right up. he has stiffed us like 3 times and answered the door once and lied and gave us a bad name. so we were surprised he let us in. and he immediately apologized. and he let us now what was up. he was raised jehovas witness. but went through a rally bad divorce and got disfellowshipped and his family dis-owned him. so he came to az and met a mormon who was less active and they almost got married but didnt cuz he wouldnt get baptized and she was gettin active. so he's really depressed about that and his family and things and was praying really hard and then we called so he had to let us in and he said that he didnt believe in coincidences and that god had brought him to us so we taught him the first lesson he was going to read and pray and come to church and he was excited about meeting again but yesterday we got a text saying thats his x who was mormon and her family are the worst people he has ever met and he's not interested in meeting with us right now so that was a bummer we are trying to still work with him and find out whats up but... things are still going on i dont think i have and other good stories about hometeaching but i have heard so many conversion stories of part member families and things were the home teachers have been a huge part. and its so true you dont understand how important it is but were working with a less active lady and she wants home teachers so bad but they never come so we get on the ward every week and she finally got a call and they're visiting her and she's so happy its a great opportunity. but another story this ones a little funny we were going to an apartment complex the other night and it had a gate and we didnt have the code and a car was pulling in so i sped up and told my comp too so we could follow the car in and i flew in and he slowed down right at the end and it closed on him when he was in the middle it was hilarious he got a little banged up but he laughed it off. so everything is goin great lookin forward to conference hope everyone has a great week.
love elder knaphus

I almost got wiped out by a car...

Sept. 23rd: well hello family how are you all doing it seems like everyone is doing just great except for the crappy utes. that blows. but that is way cool that oly pulled of the w and awesome to hear that riley is tearing it up im excited to see the pics. its also good to hear that fill is doing good with softball and things hittin the big ones i cant wait to do that again havnt played softball for a while i think today were just going to play basketball but its true the weather the last few days has been nice i think its like 80 right now with wind so its really good it would be fun to play some football outside or something. its good to hear you guys are still watching the fights but not keeping me updated who is doing good and winning? but thats cool that alex came over you'll have to tell him hi for me and tell spencer young hi for me too its so crazy to think all the kids are working their way on home it goes by quick. i miss my puppy theres definitely no max's down here. but it has been a good week. everyone is doing good we have been working hard. we have a lesson with jeff so hopefully he has made up his mind and he wants to get married or move out and get baptized. we went to the mesa visitors center and watched the jo smith movie with sylvia last night with the eggberts that was good she is still excited for her baptism that is on the 10th and there was a good lookin sis missionary who like my brown suit. drew is doing really good had an awesome lesson last Saturday and he wanted to get baptized but he hadnt had the spiritual confirmation as strong as he wanted and so one of his friends who is on a mission told him he should go to the temple and pray and he did and it was neat he said as he pulled up to the temple and prayed he was overwhelmed with the spirit and he's excited to be baptized one the 3rd. then we had a lesson with olivia last Sunday we took her to a fireside that our mission presidency puts on and it was really good the president told a story about his neighbor came over and tried to save him from the mormon religion and he told everyone his experience of how he told her all the blessings he would lose if he walked away from the mormon church like having a prophet and revelation and book of mormon and temples and things and he told everyone in the room they should get baptized pretty much it was really good. and there are a few other really good potentials but we havnt been able to contact them for a while its been a little bit frustrating but things are going good the members are steppin up and helping us out a lot of fellowship and been gettin a good amount of referrals so thats always good. there was a pretty good story this week so we were riding home on the bikes one night and i almost got wiped out by a car. it was my fault though we were riding down the rode on the wrong side of the rode and a car was pulling out and i thought he saw me and so i drove in front of him and he started to pull out and he hit my back tire and bumped me but i rode it out and it didnt bend my tire or anything so that was pretty exciting. i dont think theres too much else exciting thats happened this week. and im not sure what else i need from my package the only might be a spiffy scripture case if you could find me one cuz the case i have been using wore out on me. but sis zeigler said she is buying me one i told her to buy the cheapest one out there but if you find something cool that would be nice and i think i mentioned earlier but i rather have things like jerkey and dried mango than candy the only other thing i could think of is maybe some more music if you could send me some really chill that doesnt swear that i could try to get approved that would be cool but i think that is about all i could ask for but i cant thank you enough i love you all so much thanks for all the support.
love edler knaphus

Knocked the skin off my knuckle...

Sept. 16th: thats fun that you guys had the missionaries over and
had a good time and fun that you talked to sis Egbert she is the
best she is providing fellowship for a few of our investigators and
she is incredible. but man im jealous of the weather you guys are
having i wish there were seasons here there is just summer and like
a month of a mild fall, but this week has been a little cooler i guess.
but next week i think its supposed to warm back up to like 107 so
thats a bummer. we have been working out quite a bit lately so thats
been good. i have been really working on my pullups we have a bar
so.. but before the miss i could do 7 and last week i could only do
1 so that wasnt acceptable, my goal is to be able to do 10 by the
end of the transfer i can do 3 now. Things have been going good we
have been staying pretty busy been teaching a few lessons a day so
tahts good for my comp. we taught one the night he got here but it
was just a little lesson. but his 2nd day we had his first real one
and it was pretty shaky but now we have taught over 5 and he's good.
we do a lot of practicing and stuff though so its all good. We had
a good lesson with jeff, we were planning on giving him a baptismal
date but he's not ready he is praying about getting married or not
this week and then next week we'll put him on date but he is awesome
really genuine he listens to conference cd's and is always reading
the book of mormon and sais how it makes him such a better person,
so its been neat to work with him. then we had a a few really good
lesson with sylvie, a mexican gal who we taught a few weeks ago
then she disappeared. but good old brother and sis egbert tracked
her down set up a lesson and we got her back on board and she came
to church was nervous but sis egbert comforted her she loved it so
we had another lesson with her monday and she is gettin baptized the
10th of October, so thats really awesome. and then there is drew we
had a good lesson with him last Saturday taught him some of the
commandments and he has been reading and enjoying things so we gave
him a baptism date for oct 3 so thats exciting as well. then we had a
really good lesson with Chad his wife is an incredible member and the
Egberts are his fellowship and he just isnt quite sure if he can
commit to baptism but we had a really good lesson and discussed the
importance of baptism and things and he is really praying and studying
it out hard and the egberts are taking him to conferecne so thats
really neat so hopefully we can give him a date. then there is the
new investigator Olivia and she is really good family friends with
some members and we had a great lesson with her she is excited to
read and pray and things and the members are awesome letting her
know whats up and explaining why their family is so good. so we have
been staying rather busy had some really good lessons and we have
also been working with some less actives so thats always a good
time getting back into the swing of things a few of them are gettin
ready to go to the temple so thats always neat. but i dont think
there is much else going on we have been having a good time went
tracting for a few hours knocked the skin of my knuckle and got
only one potential so its not very effective out here but its a
good time. the mission is the best so now its time to go play
some basketball my comp has never played basketball in his life
so it should be a good time but thank you for all the support
and love i got the stamps in the mail so i will write at least
one letter today but i love you all and have an amazing week.
love elder knaphus

I'm training a new missionary

Elder Phillips, he's a Utah fan!

that's what it's all about...

well it seems like the family is doing great. yep the call
came and im training a new missionary. his name is elder
Phillips from Whicita Kansas he is a pretty cool kid i think
it will be good. He is a utah fan so thats really good.
thats fun that mandy fill and logan and them went camping
i bet that was fun i miss the mountains, my last comp
is lucky he is a huge hunter and just got sent up to the
mountains where all the hunters and stuff are. its good
to hear max had a good time i miss him and its awesome
thats he like the four wheelers. thats fun that
you guys went up to fish lake and had a good time, its no
Lakewood lake, but im sure you had fun. we might go fishing
today or maybe go into tempe and play some ball but i dont
know. thats fun that yo;u guys are having the missionaries
over its always a good time at the knaphus household. we
are teaching a guy named jeff who is amazing at the bass
quitar he is in 5 diff bands. last week he had concerts 6
of the 7 days but last night we had a lesson and he brought
his 6 string bass and performed for us he is way good. his
name is jeff Leece you should check him out online. but he's
a really good genuine guy we're going to give him a baptismal
date next week. to anwser moms question im still a district
leader. if you send me food and stuff send stuff like jerky
and dried mangoes i like that kind of stuff more than candy.
thats awesome that spencer and phylls are goign to the temple
and the jones are coming down if they want to come visit
tell them to give me a call im only like a half hour away
from the temple. i have met a few people who knew the Eltons
its pretty cool. and one family the other night who loved
them their names the burns and jarret lived there for a while
they are really good people and we are supposed to be teaching
their friend this sunday. but everything else is going great
we had Brittani's baptism last Saturday and it was amazing.
it was a really good babtism there was a lot of support,
it was a solid program. i just got an email from her just
giving thanks and how she loves the gospel so much and how
its changed her life and some cool quotes she has found in
the Book of Mormon. thats whats its all about. we are
teaching a few other people who are doing good. last lesson
we had with drew was good we taught him the gospel and
really tried to put him on date for baptism but it didnt
quite work, but maybe next time. then there are a few
other people who we are trying to get set up and i think
they will progress really swiftly, so it will be good to
get in the groove with this new missionary and show him
the ropes here in Ahwatukee. but thank you for everything
all the support love you all and have a great week.
love elder knaphus

Caught 18 fish...

well hello. it seems that everything is going great that is amazing to
hear that oly got the rock and defeated skyline!! sister zeigler
called me and let me know it was pretty awesome but i also got
a call from my last companion and he said that mandy texted so
that is funny i have a new phone number haha
oh i was super close to going to the cardinals game against the
packers the zeiglers had 3 tickets so we were going to go with
brother z. we were just going to go but we figured we might
want to call pres and he said no so that was sad the stadium
isnt in our mission and it wasnt p day but.. it would have been
sweet. well things have been pretty good this is the last week
of the transfer thats pretty crazy it will be interesting to see
what happens im not sure. but the transfer will end with
a bang cuz the investigator, whos named Brittany, is getting
baptized this Saturday so thats is awesome. we had a lesson
early this morning to get everything set up for it so thats
pretty awesome. she loves the gospel and she's trying to
bring her sister in and things so it been neat. then the
other peeps who are doing well. jeff he is the guitarist.
we had a lesson with him yesterday it was really good
taught about the faith repent baptism etc and he enjoyed
and said he would get baptized and he loves the church
and the influence of the spirit he has felt, but he needs a
little more faith, so he going to keep reading and come
to church he's super busy with concerts and things but
he is going to do a mini performance for us next lesson so
i will have to film it but he's a really genuine guy. then theres
Drew and we went to the visitor center with him the other
day and he's doing really good kind of the same deal with
jeff though he's really enjoyed everything thus far he just
wants a little time to soak it all in and its frustrating to be
patient sometimes but what can you do. then theres a
dude named chad and he is really cool guy his wife is a
member and she is awesome she cuts our hair but we
had a lesson Sunday and taught him some basic
commandments like prayer and script study he's been
taught all the first 3 lessons and just wants some time
too, but its funny cuz his wife pushes him so hard to get
baptized but their awesome and i think we shooting on
baptizing him November so..but the lesson we had was
awesome it was with the Eggberts the Mathesons
relatives and they were amazing really helped chad
out alot. incredible fellowship. then there is a few others
but we havnt been able to work with them this week
theyre really busy with work and school starting back
up and things so.. but the work is going good we are
staying pretty busy and having a good time. this
morning we got up at like 5 30 and went fishing i
caught 18 fish and my comp caught 20 in under 2
hours it was sweet. but it is good to hear from you
guys hope all is well and everyone has a great week
love you all and thanks for all the support.
love elder knaphus

little video from elder garr

P-Day with the Zieglers...

Guess they don't sell stamps in Arizona...

Another fine day is what it is. It sounds like things are going great at the homestead. Logan cut his dreads off, that is sad but pretty sweet pics at the wedding. thats crazy Nate sealed the deal. That is awesome that Oly beat Hillcrest, hopefuly they can keep winning and tear up Skyline. That's good Spence Young is still a cutie, you'll have to tell him hi for me. Thats fun that you guys went to the Iron and Wine concert i bet that was sweet. and man just makes me jealous im the one who is supposed to be downloading those cd's, man i need that music so bad. and i see that there is some amazing concerts coming up that the boys will have to go to. Thats good that there is a new and approved team Musclehawk cappin of a W. things are going pretty good here. that family who takes care of us is the Zeiglers and they aren't very old, they have a son on a mission in Australia and an older son in the army. and we don't go over there everyday maybe a few times a week and we stop by just before we go in for the night and visit and he always gives us pop sickles and makes really good smoothies and things. they just like us coming around cuz they dont have anyone to keep them company, they are going bowling with us today so that will be fun. we went fishing this morning it was pretty good, caught a few fish, a nice sized catfish. the work is going pretty good though; we are going to the visitors center with Brittani tonight and we're going to give her a baptismal date so thats exciting. then were also going to the visitors center with Drew and he is coming a long. he went to church had a good time. then jeff is the guitar dude, we had a lesson yesterday, taught the plan of salvation, went great he's reading the book of mormon. we just have to get him to come to church but he lives out of our area so.. then there's Sylvia a nice girl we just picked up last Friday she is quite interested, her friend set up the lesson and she is reading the book of Mormon. we have had 2 lessons she didnt come to church but we have a lesson tomorrow with her, so hopefully things will all work out and she will progress rapidly. then we had another lesson with this cool lady from Panama who had long dreads, she was really nice, the lesson went great but she moved that weekend, and didnt come to church, so i dont know if we'll see her again. but we contacted her and gave her address to diff. missionaries. but i think that is about all the good teaching this week. but things are still moving forward. just trying to be really patient, but the transfer is almost over its crazy how fast it goes its good to hear from you all it sounds like every one is doing good, working hard, even in the gym, and we have been working out too! feelin good. I actually wrote Mandy a letter but havnt sent it i dont have postage so if you could maybe send me some that would be appreciated and then maybe i would send a few more letters? thank so much for everything love you all and have a great week
love elder knaphus

Enough now?

Mount Sinai?

What could these bags be full of?

The members are hookin us up...

hello. how is everyone doing this week. it seems like things are going well. man im jeoulous of the boys going to rebulution i bet that was amazing. im always asking other missionaries if they like the same music i like including rebelution. and no one has, but there is a brand new missionary from hawaii and he likes and knows of most the bands i like, so that made my day. but hopefully Riley will be able to cap off summer school. school down here has already started its pretty crazy. there are 2 high schools in are area and its fun to ride by on our bikes and see them practicing football it takes me back. thats good that Oly is looking good it will be exciting to see how they do. and that is awesome that you got tickets to the utah games too, i miss that so much. where are the seats this year. thats fun that Iron and Wine is coming to town, mom and dad, you should definitely go they are really good in concert. so nate had his wedding i cant believe it. and logan was the best man, thats pretty cool. hopefully he had his dreads in you will have to let me know. is nate living down in Provo or what. thats pretty crazy that the Elton's were in the 2nd ward i will definitely have to ask around and see who knows them. there are some really cool families in the 2nd ward, as a matter of fact, today for p day some kids who are headed off to college are having a ping pong tourney and we are in it. and were doing it at the Hoppers house and they are in the 2nd ward, so that will be fun. but you should ask them who they really liked down here or if there is anyone i should say hi to for them... man that is a bummer that steve and berrys went out of business you dont need to send me any shoes mine should last the rest of the time. thats pretty wild about brett favre, i cant believe he came back and for the vikings. we were talking to our crazy old neighbors i dont know if i have told you about them but they're hilarious. she is a 70 yr old European and he's a little older and he has parkinsons and just got a pace maker in, so she is always knocking on our door and having us help move him and stuff it was funny, she tried puttin and inflatable mattress on his lazy boy and he slipped right off so we had to lift him back up and he just loves it. one night we had to put him into bed and all. but they're a hilarious couple who love chicago sports- da bears and bulls and cubs its funny. thats a bummer that the Benglas lost their pre season game we cant be having that. you guys will have to let me know who they play, what the score is and who played well. for the bengals, utah, and olympus. thats nice that it has cooled down up there its still nice and warm here. yesterday was really hot i think it hit 110 but so far today it hasn't got over 100, i think so that is amazing. hopefully it wont get too hot cuz were going to go out to fish a little too. but things have been getting better. we have been working a little bit more effectively. and doin a little more teaching. yesterday we had 2 really good lessons. one of them was with Brittany her bf just got home from his mission and she is pretty interested but she already goes to a different christian church but she is reading the bofm and things, so i think we'll be able to reel her in. then we had a really cool lesson with a dude named jeff he is a guitar specialist hes teaching lessons to like all the youth in the steak, so he knows a ton of members, and he sees how good they are with their families and things, and he said he can tell there is something special about us and things. he just wants to learn and understand things a little more, so that is cool i think he will come around pretty quick. then we have a few other lessons set up for this week. we have one with a kid named Drew his gf is a member and he is really interested he said he would get baptized once he gets and answer to the book of Mormon, so things have been going really good. the members are hookin us up with lessons and friends to teach. thats what it is all about. we have got it moving forward hopefully we can keep it steady now. i dont know if i told you about the Zeiglers they're a really cool family and they will do just about anything for us, but the other day we rode on their chopper bikes! it was sweet, she is supposed to send you some pics of it. im trying to think if anything else really exciting happened this week, i don't really think so. we went to the temple this morning that was nice. but we were in too big of a hurry so i forgot to take my garments so i will probably have to wait 6 weeks or maybe i will be able to have a member swing by and do an exchange or something. well i think that is about all i have for this week thank you all for the support hope everyone has a good fun week love you all
love elder knaphus

Email from Kelly Ziegler

Hello,

My name is Kelly Zeigler and we are in the area your son is in now. We get to see him every day and he is such a great Elder. We have a son that left in July and we became empty nesters and we are checked on everyday by your son and Elder Heward!! They are the best!! Last night they took a ride on my sons bikes so I took a picture and wanted you to see it!!

We are so blessed to have him looking after us right now!!!

The mission is awesome and crazy...

well hello. i am sitting typing with fish scales on my fingers and smells like fish too cuz we went fishing today. we fished for 40 minutes cuz it got too hot but we caught 13 fish i caught 8. Most all talapia and one large mouth bass. there is a lake in the middle of our area so that is sweet. but it seems like everyone is doing good. staying busy with work logan is going to try to be an EMT or fire man thats cool and that awesome that riley is in the swing of football its going to be hard to miss another season but it will be awesome to see his senior yr. and that is way cool that oly is playing skyline man they better win! thats fun that you guys escaped to Carie's cabin, that must have been fun. im all for you gettin a cabin for us. all of the people here are always talking about their cabins and their beach houses that they have its pretty wild but they're all really cool. we get taken care of really well in this area people will give us whatever we need and we dont even need to ask, if that makes sense. thats fun that mom went to a movie with becky theyre a fun family how is Dallin and crazy little Benson doing haha. but i guess to answer the slue of questions. its a hard question to answer if im settled in my area, yes, but no, i wish i knew the people and the area for like directions and stuff but that comes with time usually by the end of the first transer or 6 wks. so yeah its a pretty big bummer once you get settled and start figuring things out, you get transferred, but thats how it goes you move on and you never know the next area might be better. i was really bummed about getting transferred last time but i really like this area. yeah we had a baptism last week that counted for us, we just didnt do the teaching cuz he goes to church with his gf and she lives in tempe. so he was taught by the missionaries out there but he will probably come to church out here every once in a while. i just take credit for the people that i have been involved in their teaching. but it doesnt really matter how many baptisms you get. thats something that frustrates me cuz you dont have to be obedient at all to get a lot of baptisms at all but other missionaries think their so good and are pretty prideful cuz they get baptisms but the people baptize themselves, or members do all the work, it just matters if your working effectively and that is something im trying to show my comp right now, he has had success but it all has come from the members so im trying to let him see that we can do alot by our own efforts. i really like my comp too, he is a funny kid a big hunter, we get along great so its been a good transfer i just wish we could work more effective . yes im still a district leader its kind of tough to think of new trainings and things and your always gettin criticized when you do something different to make it fun or interesting, so that kind of sucks but what do you do. but the mission is awesome and crazy, time goes by really fast but also really slow sometimes but its definitely true its not worth it unless your trying and working your hardest. but as of this last week things have been pretty good. we still haven't done a whole lot of teaching but we had a lesson with a returned missionary and his 2 non member friends it went well they are both pretty interested we were supposed to have a lesson with them yesterday but it canceled. and there are a few other people that we are working with but its just kind of frustrating cuz they are either really busy with things right now or we work through the members to teach them and things just arent happening fast enough. it is tough cuz i dont feel like the members see the urgency of things we want to get done as fast as we can, we are lacking right now and the members think there is no hurry. i havnt really had to deal with work like this before. usually we initiate all the teaching and make sure the members know whats going down but here its like the members do it all and we just show up and do our part, but i dont think there is much else to write about this week we did have a good showing of investigators who came to church we just need to get lessons with them and thats the process right now. but things are moving forward and having a good time. thats awesome alex is home and looking good you will have to tell him i say hi. but i love you all and thanks for all the support love elder knaphus

ps if you send a new package anytime soon. you dont need to hurry and rush one off but just the next one the requests i have are a new pair of starberry''s shoes the 10 dollar basketball ones. im a size 10. and a electronic tooth brush head i think thats it though love you again

15 months...

hello. things are going great. it seems like everyone is having good times, thats fun that mom went up near the old cabin i miss that place too. fill free to buy a new one i would love to come home to that. seem like dad is staying buys with work bidding new jobs hopefully he will get some and stay busy. i have gotten all the packages that you guys have send so i have received everything that i currently need i believe. i dont need logans camera charger i got mine so no worries. thats crazy that alex goes home in 5 days it sure goes quick. im coming up on 15 month. if your not counting. but thing are going good here. thats aweosome that the eltons lived here. i wonder where. i cover the awhatukee 2nd ward the foothills ward the lakewood ward and the mountain park ward and the members are amazing the do feed us really well. last night we had an amazing roast and the guy we ate with had millions of dollars worth of sports memorabilia that was autographed it was pretty cool. then the other night we ate with a member of the stake presidency the Eggberts and they are related and really close to the pat mathesons family so one of their kids sent a pic of me to hannah matheson and they sent me a pic back it was pretty cool. but everyone is really nice and all are work come from the members and they were all out of town but theyre coming back now so the work should start getting going my comp is cool but im just trying to get him to work a little more effective, i made him mad last night but everything is cool now. we have a free babtism this Saturday that counts for us but its a weird situation. we have some good potentials that we are trying to get going but we have been mainly teaching less active peeps and a lot of street contacting. yesterday we had a cool lesson with these members. their indians and they were just involved in a car accident they were hit by a drunk driver and he died. but the indian dude broke his femer and wrist and she was ok but it was neat cuz just before it happened they passed a truck full of a family and the kids were in the bed of the truck and they had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but everything was going to be ok, then 5 minutes later a drunk driver swerved and hit them head on. It was really cool to talk to them cuz they were totally cool with everything it was cool to see that they realized the Lords work but they were also from Paige so I'm sure they know dad, or c diddy is what they probably know him better by. but yeah things are good our area is like right in the deseret or foothills. there is a lot of rabbit and coyotes but havnt seen any and supposedly mt. cats and lions and stuff lots of rattle snakes and scropions. last night at dinner, right as we showed up, a girl got stung by a scropion, it crawled in her sandal and stung her. they killed it right away so i still havnt seen one alive. oh and larry fitzgerald lives in our area so maybe i will run into him or be able to knock on his door. we go bowling a lot on pday cuz its only 7 dollars for 2 hours and last week i bowled a 204! my best game ever these drunk guys next to us were pretty impressed. but we also have a bunch of lakes in our area that we fish in, but it is too hot right now, so hopefully it will cool down so we can fish soon. I think that is about all for today things are going great i appreciate all the support the garments were wrong but i will x change them the mangos are amazing and chocolate is great and those chewy candys were delicious. have a wonderful week and love elder knaphus

Mark your calendar!

Well how is everyone doing today things are going pretty good here in Tempe. That’s a bummer that team Musclehawk went defeated, that’s a struggle, but there’s always next year. seems like everyone is busy with work and all. one request, if you haven’t sent the package yet, could you throw in a few more pairs of garments, double x larges, that would be swell. hah yeah i might have to send some ties home, but I don’t know. The pres. hasn’t seen my collection, he's not the biggest fan of the polyester tie, but most the mission wears them so.. that’s funny that logan broke his camera again I have had no problems with mine. and i feel bad cuz I haven’t sent the pics home yet but I will do it today I promise. I’m mad cuz my camera ran out of battery and I couldn’t find my charger and this week there has been some awesome dust storms and thunder storms it even rained 2 days so that has been fun, but hopefully there will be more and ill get some pics. things have been going a little better this week. it was awesome, Matt finally made up his mind and he and his wife got married, so he's getting baptized Saturday, so that’s super cool. we got the family with 3 kids, who need to be baptized, to come to church, but then we were supposed to have a lesson with them yesterday and they weren’t there, so that’s frustrating. but i think things are on the change we have quite a few lessons set up for this week. We have a few new people that we are teaching who seem pretty promising, Jimmy and Ben, jimmy is a funny guy we talked to who met with missionaries before and has a quad, talks kinda funny but he's a good guy hopefully he will progress. then Ben works with a member in the university ward and is really interested. he is supposed to go to a different ward but the missionaries there didn’t contact him, so he is going to our ward. but it will be better that way, cuz his friend is in this ward. but we still have a few people like Penny Sarah and Paul that are still MIA so thats irritating, but we are working hard trying to fight through the summer. we have some funny stories this week the first one I wasn’t there for, but my comp was on x change with another missionary and they were trying to contact a former investigator, who lives with the 2 Rastafarian dudes, who are pretty crazy and your supposed to call first before you go, and they didn’t so when they knocked on the door one of the dudes opened the door with a gun and yelled at them cuz he is a music performer and sleeps during the day. so he kinda yelled at them for a little bit and he's actually a member of the church but he's gone crazy supposedly he's a nice guy as long as you call first so next time we'll have to do that. Then I was on x change with another missionary in his area and we went to this 25 yr old indian dudes house who was really funny. he is not all the way there and he was saying all sorts of funny things but he said that the holy ghost told him that Joe Smith and Brigham Young are going to show up at the salt lake temple on December 8 so you might want to check that out. but I think that is pretty much it for this week, I got your package with the salsa and it is scrumptious thank you so much. this is the last week of the transfer so it will be interesting to see what happens, I think I will probably stay here, but you never know. I love you guys so much thanks for all the support and have a great week,
love elder knap

Gnarly tie trades...

hello. things are going good how is everyone doing is slc.  it is warming up
here it has been 115 the last few days. the worst part is when you have an
appointment cancel during the day so you have to stay out and contact
people but what do you do. thats fun that mom and dad are in in Canada.
i bet that is awesome i would like to see what Canada is like i have
served with and around some cool missionaries from Canada, it will be
cool to go up there. man that is crazy that Spencer gets home in 2 weeks,
it goes so fast.  yesterday was my 14 month mark. Things have been
going pretty good here, we were able to have a decent week but things
are still up and down.  summer is just a hard time of year here in Tempe,
everyone is on the move and changing jobs and schools and stuff, so
its hard for people to settle down for something. but
we are working hard. Malinda went to church, but it was actually one
of the wards that is in my last area and it is the most boring ward ever and
she didn't really like it, but she said she would come over to our ward and
see what its like, but none of her friends were able to come to church. we
have another lesson set up for Saturday, so hopefully it goes good.  then
there is Matt who issupposed to be getting married Saturday and baptized
the next week, but they're really shaky with everything so its almost most
certain they wont be gettin married. but our ward mission leader went over
last night and had a good talk i guess and Matt really wants to get
baptized, so maybe he will move out or something and we will still baptize
him next Saturday. but then penny the cool black lady we finally got a
hold of her and we might have a lesson with her and hopefully she is doing
good and we will be able to give her a baptismal date asap.  then Sarah
has been really busy with summer crap so we havent been able to have
a lesson with her and she hasnt been able to come to church and we still
havnt been able to contact the Jewish dude Paul. so we are still shootin
a lot of blanks. but we are starting to do some tracting and a lot of finding
and we have some lessons set up with some new peeps and we got a
new dude yesterday; an old mexican, who is meeting with the jw'sbut
he really liked our message so.. things are still moving forward.  we had
a good lesson with a kid named Nick  who is kinda weird but he's
changing his life around and we came by at a good time for him and we
taught him what he needed to know so he's still pretty stand offish
but he's might come to church.  we have been talking to a lot
of people who are opposed to the church lately thats kind of funny
and we talked to one who was a hilarious drunk indian who pulled out his
guitar and played us neil young. i got a little bit of video of it on my
camera which i will be sending home today! what else. i have been having
some gnarly tie trades. there is a dude in one of my wards who has a
whole wall tie rack full of poly ties and i traded 10 ties to him and got
13 from him it was awesome he was impressed with my collection. then
i have been trading with missionaries quite a bit i have an incredible
amount of ties, too much for missionary to keep around, but its and
addiction i think, i always want more.  i will probably have to make
some sort of wall tie rack like this guy had when i get home. but i
think thatsabout all for today thanks for all the support and love,
love elder knaphus

A Plethora of Investigators...

hello everybody. its seems that everyone is having a good time. things are going good here. it is sure warming up though and to top things off are a c went out in are car yesterday so thats not cool it gets fixed tomorrow. but that is awesome to hear logan finally did the dreads im excited to see pics maybe there is some on his blog or something ill have to check haha i think he can have dreads and be responsible and get a girl at the same time. thats fun that riley is off boating for a few days that would be a good time. and fill and logan went to joes valley that would be neat. the other day we were walking and i saw some good potential for rock climbing right by the asu stadium it was when we were actually looking for a place to watch the fireworks, our pres gave us permission to stay out late and watch them, so that was cool. we ended up going up a big parking structure and watching them, it was neat we had a pretty good view. but that's about all we did for the fourth. thats awesome that the snow machine is such a big hit hopefully its still working for when i get home. logan and fill are planning a phillippines trip? sign me up! and thats funny fill using his nintendo coaching skills to put together his softball team that will be fun when me and my friends get home and can play. i heard from Scott Smith the other day, he is doing good with all the big black Guatemalans he says. that is fun that mon and mandy had fun with making a little project in our extra room, seems like its a pretty cool room. seems like mom had a really good lesson in rs too the John Moyle story is cool, i remember from a
conference talk i think that funny though that she dogged on michael jackson and by the way i hope you guys tevo'd his funeral i heard it was pretty funny. i wonder who is going to die next, that's crazy to hear about Steve McNair. tahts pretty crazy to that lance is back i would like to see that. you will have to let me know how he does. seems like mandy and fill are having fun went camping and went to lonestar man i miss taht place! and thats cool that mandy has been seeing erin you wil have to tell her i say hi and if she's ever in tempe to holler. but everything is going good here it was a pretty rough week last week most of our lessons fell through a few people dropped us and only one investigator came to church. but we regrouped and have gotten off to a good start this week. were reestablishing and gettin things going, hopefully by the end of the week everyone will be back on board, and we will have a plethora of investigators come to church. we had a pretty cool lesson with a girl named Malinda, we had taught her before and then were never able to have another lesson,and she never came to church but we showed up and she had 6 of her neighbors at her house and they all enjoyed the lesson, accepted books of mormon and stuff, so that was cool. we had a really good fellowship who is going to do everything he can to get them to church. that is always awesome. we taught a Muslim yesterday that was kind of interesting but he didnt really except anything just wanted to learn. we also taught some good looking russian girls yesterday that was pretty cool. but we still had a few lessons fall through; one being a lesson with this way cool Jewish dude we taught and he is really interested and said he was coming to church the morning of and all then didint show up and wont answer his phone, so thats frustrating. and then the 3 kids who need to get baptized, their mom is being a pain and didnt bring them to church and cancels the appointments, so thats not cool. but we are really pushing for things and we have one person who should be gettin baptized the 25 as long as his girl friend will marry him still the week before. then we have 2 others that we will hopefully be able to put on date for the 25,too. one is a 17 yr old girl who is just afraid of commitment and the other is Penny the sweet black lady who had to go out of town, but she is solid, so hopefully it works out with them this week. other than that things are going good there are definitely more people around on campus and stuff, we have been setting up quite a few lesson and handing out books of mormon so its been cool, just hot. but i appreciate all the support it was fun to get your letters and pics and stuff. i will send some pics home this week sorry its taken so long. im excited to get the salsa. i cant remember if there's anything else i should say but love you all and have a wonderful week. love elder knaphus

Cars and Snow in Mesa

My Mustang 5.0

Elder Navaro, Me, Elder Woodruff (3-some)
Holding snow in Mesa, someone had a snow machine

Then there are these three kids...

> well hello. how is everyone doing. it sounds like things are going just great from what i have heard mandy is the only one to email me this week but that is ok i guess. That is good, I guess that it is warming up there, it is doing the same here. It is above the 100 mark now so... but sorry i haven't sent any photos home I will try to do that asap. that's fun that mom and dad did a good jobon thier talks, I would have liked to hear, what did they speak on. we are staying busy out here. it has been a really good week. We didnt have too many investigators come to church but we have a few that are solid for baptism. one of them is named is matt, he is awesome, his girlfriend is not a member but they're gettin married the 18 of July, then baptized the week after. but it was cool cuz missionaries have taught him before, and he never really wanted to get baptized. then we found out about him and taught him and asked him to read a pray and all and he came to church and they met with the bishop and Matt said he wanted to be sealed in the temple and that he had prayed and found out that he needed to be baptized, so that's awesome. He is a really cool dude, when he was 12 he had cancer and stuff, he's got diabetes, he's been through a lot but he's super excited to be baptized. Then there are these 3 kids we had a lesson with, their dad is in prison and their mom is just gettin active again, so we're going to baptize the 3 kids. We had a good lesson with them yesterday and they were excited to do their homework. Most of our other investigators aren't really progressing right now, 2 of them have disappeared and the other 2 are really solid, its they just have really busy schedules so its hard to get lessons but its going to be a good transfer. There is a lot of success here in Tempe and we're getting a lot of help from the members coming to our lessons and stuff. I don't think we have had anything crazy happen recently just the same old same old missionary work but its good to hear from you guys love you all
> love elder knaphus