Firstly, Sunday I had my BEST missionary day ever. :) It was truly amazing! After Church, we hurried over to an appointment with a young man (21) named Jean Carlos, from the Dominican Republic, and his girlfriend Mai from Brazil. We had a great time teaching them and talking with them, and it was especially nice because they were both young people like us. At the end of the lesson, we gave them a pamphlet about the Restoration, and Mai started reading it all right there! She just couldn't wait to learn more. :) We called them today to check up on the reading and we will be meeting with them again this upcoming Sunday.We then went to the capilla [chapel] again and met with Roberto, a 25-year-old man from Paraguay who Elder Anderson and Elder Jewell had already taught once. While we were talking about his reading in the Book of Mormon, he said "Yes, I really liked this part:" and then proceeded to read to us almost half of 3 Nephi 11! It was amusing, but reading the scriptures like that right at the beginning, especially such emotional and spiritual passages such as 3 Nephi 11, really brought the Spirit into the lesson. We then watched the Restoration movie together, pausing it at times to explain what was happening. After bearing powerful testimony about all that we had discussed and seen in that lesson, we invited him to be baptized. He said yes! ^_^ We set the date for October 9th, and he seems very excited for it. It was truly an incredible experience.
After that, we headed to a park where we were going to meet Pablo, an Ecuadorian man of about 30 years of age who has a lot of faith in God. Since it was such a nice day and there was a rare patch of lawn nearby, we just sat down right there on the grass and started teaching! We shared our purpose as missionaries and explained some basic doctrines of the Restoration, all of which he accepted very well. The Spirit was very strong and I know he felt it. We extended the invitation to have him learn more and keep meeting with us and he emphatically agreed. We left him with some reading material and he offered a wonderful prayer to end the lesson.The most incredible thing about all of this is that it happened ALL ON THE SAME DAY! It's simply mind-blowing. I'm really still reeling from the shock. We feel very blessed to be in such a great area with such great people.
Another random event that happened: There had just been a leadership meeting in the office and all of the zone leaders and assistants were going out to eat with President at a Chinese restaurant. We (the office elders) were invited to go along, so we all hopped in cars and started on our way. When we arrived in the parking garage and approached the elevator, we saw that it had a clearly marked capacity of "8 Personas." President Watkins, eager to get us all our food, forced all 11 of us into the elevator (including himself) and pressed the button. We watched as the elevator sunk about 6 inches, and the display screen read "Sobrepeso" [overweight]. Realizing his error, President stepped out of the elevator backwards,
just in time to avoid being shut in with the rest of us. When we tried to open the door again, we realized the startling truth: We were stuck in an elevator.Now, let me paint a picture for you: 10 elders with literally no wiggle room, crammed into an undersized elevator with an array of hot, orange lights shining down on us. It was interesting to watch the different reactions of us all. The overall feel, however, was a kind of amused, jovial, ironic situation. Some elders jokingly theorized that President was "cycling out the leadership of the mission" and waited in suspense for toxic gas to begin filling the elevator. Others of us tried making phone calls, to no avail. Elder Driggs took charge of the distress signal button in the elevator, trying in vain to call an operator and, even when the lady finally answered, she could not hear our pleas for help. We soon discovered that the air lower down by our knees was cooler than the air at our heads, so we took turns crouching and letting other elders crouch so that they could rest for a moment from the heat.
After about 15 minutes of this, we heard some rattling and twisting sounds above us. All of the sudden, the cable came loose and the elevator fell down one level! We landed with a heavy bump on the 2nd floor and wondered what had just happened. Finally, after about 10 more minutes of waiting, the workers were able to open the door. They chided us for trying to fit
so many people into an elevator that clearly set a limit. It was all a fun adventure that definitely served as a "bonding experience" for all of us missionaries, and it made the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet that we then went to all the sweeter.Anyway, that was my week more or less. That and other little office duties.
Ethan, thanks for the sweet pictures of the Deploy CS-6. It looks way awesome! I can't wait to shoot you with it and be shot by it in return. :)
Well, that's more or less all of the time I have this week. Thanks for all of the love and support that you send me. I really enjoy being a missionary and I'm pleased with the way the Lord has been using me to help His children. I know He lives.-Elder Knorr
P.S. To all of my friends: I understand and appreciate that the "missionary bubble" is necessary to a certain degree to help me keep my focus. I am ok with that and I appreciate not being told "too much." However, it is nice to hear from you every now and then. To those of you who have written, thank you very much. And to those of you who have not yet, please do! I esteem you all very highly.Elder Christopher Knorr
Spain Madrid Mission
Calle Fuereventura 4, 2º, Oficina 8-B
San Sebastian de los Reyes
28703 Madrid
